Hey Christine,Love your Digests but my questions never seem to make it.. LOL (I know your busy)I love Sveta's accent.. Does Anna have one as well? Or Rachel.. I would love a video of each kid saying hello! They are all beautiful in their own special way. Love Andrew's hair color!!Any holiday cookie recipes you'd like to share..
Hi Stacey, I don't mean to make you feel excluded, LOL. It is not my intent. Anna does not have an accent, nor does Annalyn, but Rachel does. I don't have a favorite holiday cookie recipe unless you count this one which is an all time favorite around here.
Anonymous said...
Hi Christine -I have a question for you. We are considering adopting our two foster children. I'm wondering what to say to them about their mom who is a recovered meth addict who did not do what was required to keep them, such as getting her own place to live and a job. What do you tell your children about their birth parents faults? I'm not a sugar-coater by nature but I also don't want them to get defensive about their parents. Right now, they are only 6 and 3 years old. Thanks Debbie
At that age, I would say nothing. As they get older, I would definitely be open to sharing about their birthparents, and I would keep it as positive as I could. I am certain that my children's birthparents loved my kids but were unable to care for and love them. Without having good role models, support networks in place and an economy that gives a parent the chance to go out and work so that they can financially provide for their children, it is very hard to raise a child. This leads to alcoholism, neglect, abuse, and in many cases abandonment, and not because the parent wanted to do this, but because they just didn't know any better or how to make things better. Most if not all of these statements are true, and yet it doesn't make the birthparents out to be horrible people either.
Annie said...
Adorable movie. :) Made me smile. Now here is my question:HOW do you get everyone to come to the table at once? I have a couple who want to "finish this game", etc. or who will pretend they didn't hear. It makes me so cross!
I always give a five minute warning. If they don't come to the table on time, they usually have to be the one to clear off the table or they might even lose a privilege depending on why they didn't come.
Karen said...
Love to watch your family in action! I love Sveta and Dolly.... what a great a sweet dog! Thank you for sharing! I have a question...you may have shared this in one of your posts.. Where is Annalyn from originally..Russia?
Annalyn, Anna, and Sveta are from Russia. Rachel, and Dennis are from Ukraine.
Life in Fitzville said...
Am I the only one who only buys one type of socks? All the exact same, so there are no odd matches!
I've heard of that, but the kids wear different sizes. Plus, what would I do with all the socks we already have?
Annie said...
Comment moderation! How sad is that? I need the instant gratification of seeing my comment. :(
Nah, it's gone. I don't have moderation on because I trust all of you... well almost all of you. 99.9% of all of you are just so wonderful... even the anonymous commenters, and I do want to allow for conversation without constant supervision because I feel like we can all be respectful and reasonably nice to each other..... even if we disagree.
Sar said...
You tree looks awesome! I love it. Could I ask a question? Remember how I left the message saying your blog had really helped me to feel God and try to grow close to him? Well, when you were starting to believe and find out about your faith, did you ever doubt it? I am not sure what I feel/think at the moment. Thanks.Sarah
Of course, I have doubted my faith before, just like I go through phases when I feel like I am on fire for Him and other times I am just going through the motions. But, as time goes on and you grow closer to God through reading His word and you begin to feel more connected and then you start to see His works all around you... well that is a wonderful place to be, and I am certain you will get there.
Living Life with Sophia said...
I am happy he is feeling better.I wanted to ask you a question in regards to soap in the mouth. I used this on my 2 bio kids growing up but not with our adopted daughter. When we picked her up from the orphanage and I gave her her first bath with us she screamed and cried and covered her mouth when she seen the bar of soap. Obviously it was used as a form of punishment. She was so afraid of soap. Now she still closes her mouth tight when I bathe her she doesn't trust me 100%. My question is this should I use the soap when she lies or says a bad word or something else. Someone even suggest Hot Sauce and I am NOT doing that. What is your thought on this?Thank you and God Bless you for your Patience. Patricia
Hi Patricia, I personally would not use hot sauce, but I have used soap for lying and or bad language, but not in a very long time. It is still a known rule in our home that you will get your mouth washed out for soap for one of these infractions, and I guess the kids would just rather avoid it. John and I have made it very easy to tell the truth, with little to no punishment for honesty. If my daughter was afraid of having her mouth washed out with soap, I would tell her that she has nothing to worry about because I will never ever, ever, ever, wash her mouth out with soap just for the heck of it. She has all the control. With all of this said, I can't recommend what you should or shouldn't use with your daughter because I am not her mother, but I am sure you will decide the best way to handle it. (And for those anon commenters who may be licking their chops, please read the second response up)
karen said...
HI!I really, really like your glasses. What design are they?Is there a reason they are tinted?
They are made by Cover Girl. They are tinted because they are transition lenses which makes them get dark when I go outside.
Jamey & Catherine said...
Good Luck for Dennis tomorrow!!! and for your whole family who will be rooting for him during and afterwards. Strength and Courage!Bless you all!
Thank you so much! And thanks to everyone else who is praying for Dennis. I hope Dennis does so well that we can come home on Friday! Please pray for that. (I am excited that we may be meeting a fellow blogger while we are at the hospital)
Now I am off to bed........ so that I could be up at 3:45 in the morning. Surgery is scheduled around 7 am.
18 inspiring thoughts:
Good Luck tomorow. We are praying for sweet little Dennis.
I personally would not use soap in the mouth. It's a punishment and maybe a deterent (sp?) but I don't know that it accomplishes much else. I have a child who steals and lies and when he does, two things happen-he gets two hours of work on Saturday and he loses my trust which means he cannot be out of my sight until he has my trust back. Of course he is older and I am trying to teach him that when he is an adult if he does these things, there will be more serious consequences.
Good luck tomorrow. Hope it goes well.
Sarah - take some time to read how Jesus responds to Thomas when he doubts. He doesn't rebuke him - instead he eases his doubt. There are some Psalms where David expresses doubt too. I think doubt is part and parcel of being a Christian. The best way to work against doubt is to keep reading your bible, keep praying and keep spending time with other Christians. And I just remind myself of what I know - there is no other reasonable explanation for Jesus besides the biblical accounts. Hang in there.
We use soap - but if I thought it was going to be traumatic I would find an alternative. I like the mouth consequences for poor use of the mouth. Maybe just something that doesn't taste fantastic - there'd have to be some options... lemon???
Praying for Dennis. You are such an inspiration. HUGS
love the answers...so i would love to jsut say thanks for doing the answer posts!
Praying for Dennis this morning!!
BTW, I`ve been wondering if you`ve started your private blog, yet.
Praying for Dennis too and your whole family.
Renia
I think the soap remedy is fair. Punishment and deterrent is what I'm looking for! As Christine says - all the power is with the child! Rarely are there such clear, immediate and fitting forms of punishment available! That said, Ive only used it once. My first two, and Sergei are just naturally sweet natured. That's all it took. I didn't have bar soap at hand, and squirted some dish soap in Anastasia's mouth the first time she said a bad word to me. WOW! So much came out! I felt terrible. But, it didn't kill her, and she learned that lesson.
thanks so much for answering me, Christine. I can tell you really care about sharing Jesus with people. I have a question for your next digest, but if it's too personal then feel free to ignore me. "Rachel" and "Analyn" are not Russian/Ukrainian names, were the girls names changed when they were adopted by their first American parents, and what were their original names? Just wondering.
I've been praying for Dennis and that God would give skill and wisdom to the doctors and that Dennis would heal very quickly.
I hope Dennis did well at his surgery today. I'll be looking for an update.
Also, I wanted to let you know that everytime I see a pomegranate, I think of you guys! I used to eat them alot as a kid, but not so much these days. I saw a recipe on tv for a yummy looking pomegranate vinaigrette. You take 1 1/2 cups of pomegranate seeds, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp of lemon and you blend in a blender until pureed. Strain through a fine seive and season with salt and pepper. YUM! Also, I'm not sure how you seed the pomegranates, but this show I watched showed a great way to do it. Get a large bowl filled with water, quarter the pomegranate and immerse in water and pull apart while under the water. The seeds sink to the bottom and the skin floats to the top! Easy, and keeps your fingers clean too!
Isn't today Dennis's next surgery. If not I know it is coming soon. Good luck you are all in my prayers.
Thinking of you today during Dennis' surgery.
We use vinegar instead of soap. It works great and it doesn't matter if they swallow it. ;)
Thinking of you today.
i had BRAIN SURGERY two weeks ago today and i'm still recovering so i'm especially praying for the little guy! my "you'll be home tomorrow" turned into nearly a week, i have complications including some minor brain damage. three incisions, one of which is still incredibly painful. saw the neurosurgeon yesterday and all is okay, just gonna take awhile to adjust to life with an implanted device in my brain. :-P
best of luck - will be checking back for an update on Dennis!
- michelle
washington, dc
This child sounds like she is traumatized by the use of soap- her reactions just by the sight of soap are extreme and fearful. I would say that to use soap as a consequence would not be fair in this case. Soap has a different meaning to this child and it will likely evoke a trauma- based experience and accompanied terror and distrust- rather than the logical cause and effect we are going for. I dont think this is what parents are seeking to accomplish when they discipline their children- particularly when the child is in the midst of learning to trust them. Of course this does not mean that consequences should not exist. This a child and she WILL make mistakes, that is part of growing and learning, but those consequences need to be provided in a way that love and trust is maintained between the child and parent. Writing an apology letter, extra chores, loss of privileges etc can all work too.
Hi,
I started following your blog through the Cornish's blog since before you went to get Dennis! Your family is awesome! I love the new family picture. I do have to say it is hard for me to understand adoptive families giving up there adoptive child. You don't give up a child by birth if there are difficulties. Isn't the commitment the same? Aren't we suppose to love our children unconditionally, like God loves us.
My prayers have been over Dennis today! Update us a soon as possible please :). I pray God's peace over all of you and quick healing!
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