Happy Valentine's Day!

Odds and ends that are memories

....hiding the jelly from Grandpa.....

Cafe Elite in Michigan City

Need a laugh? This is TOO cute :)

Watch this little girl do the Smarty Pants Dance!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDqXcxZpsE

Adoptions from Guatemala....Today

As many of you know, adoptions in Guatemala halted soon after we brought our precious Maya home. Ostensibly, there was to be a reorganization and adoptions were to be overseen by a government agency instead of private attorneys. In addition to the children born since then, and available for adoption, who could have been placed in loving homes, there were 5,000 "in process" adoptions. Many, many, many of those children are still waiting.

I am continually thankful for the precious, beautiful gift of my daughter. Words will never adequately express my gratitude. My heart aches for other children and other families who are not as fortunate.

The Joint Council on Children's Services wrote a position paper about the state of adoptions in Guatemala today, I'll show it below. A friend has also created a video about the "in process" famililes. Please help us.


"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it . . . but I'm afraid God might ask me the same question."


Please take a moment to write your legislators and ask them whenever and wherever possible to think of the children of this world, specifically at this time, those in Guatemala. Here's a link to find the email addresses of your representatives, http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml



This is my letter:



Dear Representative,



Please read the position letter from the Joint Council on International Children's Services regarding the state of adoptions in Guatemala, at http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.pdf. I would appreciate any assistance you can provide to help the children of the world to find safe, healthy, and happy homes where they will be loved.

Many families have "in process" adoptions and have been waiting for over a year for completion of their adoptions - even though they have been matched with children all this time. Please help them bring the children home.

THE POSITION PAPER

117 South St Asaph St ● Alexandria, VA 22314 USA ● Tel: +1 703-535-8045 ● www.jointcouncil.org ● jcics@jcics.org February 4, 2009

Joint Council Position Paper
Guatemala: One Year Later

On January 1, 2008, under significant scrutiny and amidst allegations of corruption, child trafficking and unethical practices, Guatemala implemented the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Guatemala’s participation in the Convention was applauded by the many governments and NGOs who had insisted on changes to the practices in Guatemala and vigorously supported Guatemala’s participation in the Hague Convention. The implementation was seen by many as the answer to corruption and unethical practices.

Now, 12 months since its implementation, has the Convention truly been the answer? It appears that one year later there are more questions than answers, more needs than funds, and for the children in need of a family, more despair than hope.

Since the implementation of the Convention, Guatemala has in fact seen an end to allegations of ongoing corruption in inter-country adoption. Children now have strong protections against child trafficking. Birth families are free from the unethical practices of unscrupulous practitioners. And a Central Authority governing all adoptions has been established in Guatemala.

Over this past year, in addition to these protections, has the Convention’s implementation in Guatemala also served children? Has it enabled children living in institutions to find a family? Unfortunately the manner in which Guatemala implemented the Convention has not resulted in an ethical intercountry adoption system; it has resulted in no intercountry adoption system. The implementation of the Convention has indeed succeeded in adding protections. But it has also failed in its role to serve children. Despite an estimated 6,000 institutionalized children and few domestic adoptions, not one child has found a permanent family through the Convention.
When the Convention was implemented the law stated that the estimated 3,000 adoptions that had been initiated would be completed. One year and countless investigations by the PGN, MP, CNA and Guatemalan courts later, over 1,000 children have yet to have their adoptions completed. Joint Council supports efforts to ensure that each and every adoption is done in the best interest of the children, and recognizes that investigations are a part of that protection. But the cost should not be born by innocent children. Joint Council calls on the Guatemalan government to swiftly bring each pending adoption case to a final resolution and thereby end the deprivations of institutionalization.

Protecting children and families from harm is one of the primary roles of the Guatemalan government and their efforts must be recognized and supported. However, much like the scrutiny and attention by the international community exposed the corruption of the prior system, this same community must now refocus their attention to bring to light Guatemala’s ineffective implementation of the Convention and its subsequent impact on institutionalized children and Guatemalan families.

As recently published by Nuestro Diario, a leading Guatemalan newspaper, children are being abandoned to the streets at an alarming rate. With few government institutions to provide care and the closure of many private institutions, some birthmothers are simply leaving their newly born children in trash dumps. Nuestro Diario reports that in Guatemala City alone, 91 children were found abandoned with 70 being new born infants. Twenty abandoned children in Guatemala City were found after they had already perished. What is being done to build a social service system which not only protects children from corruption but also from a tragic death?
The lack of services to children as a result of the poor implementation of the Convention has yet to be addressed by those who supported its premature implementation. With prior knowledge that Guatemala lacked the capacity to properly implement the Convention, why were alternative reforms not considered? Who will assist the Guatemalans in replacing what was the only effective means of finding families for children? Who will help preserve families? Who is building an effective and safe domestic adoption program? Again, one year later there are more questions than answers.

The reform of the previous adoption system and the implementation of the Convention required the collective efforts of many governments and NGOs, including the U.S. and European governments. Building an effective child protection system in Guatemala will necessitate another, similar effort. Given the many challenges the Guatemalan government and its children are facing, no one entity can accomplish this task alone. Joint Council calls on the U.S. and European governments along with UNICEF, the NGO community, and The Hague Permanent Bureau to provide the necessary technical and financial assistance needed to appropriately serve the children of Guatemala. After 12 months and little progress it is apparent that only a collaborative effort can create the full range of desired services.

The formation of a spectrum of services including Family Preservation, Kinship Care, Domestic Adoption and Intercountry Adoption is desperately needed to ensure that children retain their right to a family and are protected from the detrimental effects of institutionalization, or even an unnecessary death. Joint Council calls on all stakeholders who previously asked for reforms to move with speed in order to provide these much needed services.

Some efforts have already begun. UNICEF and the governments of Chile and Brazil have provided limited technical assistance, and USAID is planning two pilot programs focused on family services. These efforts represent a start to services but are clearly not enough. In the past 12 months less than 60 domestic adoptions have been completed. Zero intercountry adoptions have been initiated. And significant family preservation is only in the development stage. When a child protection system results in more children being abandoned and less children finding families, is it not obvious that more needs to be done?

It has been one year since the implementation of the Convention; the children of Guatemala await our answer.

THE VIDEO FROM AN ADOPTING FAMILY

oops link didn't work, will add later......gotta run now....

No Camera - I'm Lost!

I'm lost without my camera! Maya and I broke it :( Equal responsibility, we both reached for it and dropped it on the ceramic tile - ouch! I sent it in to Canon, hopefully they will be able to fix it. In the meantime, I'm lost!

Saturday - picture George and Claudia, me Wayne and Maya, at a colorful Mexican restaurant smiling..... IF I had my camera, the picture would be right here. We had lunch at El Salto, it almost felt like being in sunny Mexico for a couple hours. Then back out in the cold :) It was so nice to see G and C again, it had been too long. Now I know who to call if I get a speeding ticket in Hammond, their son, Dan, is a Hammond police officer. It seems like just last summer, we were watching him play baseball in the park.......

With my typical calendar-itis, I mixed up the date of when we were supposed to see Jeff Allen perform and we showed up early - a WEEK early. Jeez! So, we went to a movie instead since we had a babysitter (Grandma and Grandpa). We saw "Revolutionary Road". I can't really recommend it. It wasn't poorly made, the acting was good, but it was just depressing. It reminded me of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf - lots of marital dischord, drinking, sadness.... I did get the bug to see movies though and today I went back and saw "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Taken". I do recommend those two. "Slumdog" is excellent. One review I read called it redemptive, a pretty good description. "Taken" is more formula, predictable, forgettable but good if your in the mood for a Charlie Bronson/Die Hard type movie with lots of chase scenes.

We had a Superbowl party (just the usual suspects) and loved watching the commercials. Mom and Maya won the squares. Lots of laughs, Maya is into running an obstacle course - it's funny just to hear a three year old SAY obstacle course, let alone do it. If I had a camera, I would post a video :( Okay, I'm whining. Time to go!

What you need to bake a cake

What you need to bake a cake.....according to Maya and Max and Ruby....

FFF: Looks of Love

For Favorite Foto Friday pics from other bloggers, go to www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com.

Edit Note

Snackville Junction

In looking for that, I also ran across

Plush Horse

and Purple Cow.

Ahhhh, the memories!

Tyler's Tenders

Did you go a restaurant as a kid where there was a train that brought you your food? It's one of my earlier memories......the restaurant was on Cicero Avenue......I'll have to ask my Mom for more details. If I think about it for awhile, I might be able to remember the name, something Junction....

This will be Maya's train memory, Tyler's Tender! We've been there a few times and not only are there fun things for her to do, but the food is good. Waiting for the train to bring our food..... Reuben for Grandma, Burgers for Mommy and Grandpa, Hot Dog for Maya - homemade chips and ice cream for Maya.

Time to ride the train, Maya got to ride in the Engineer's seat and ring the bell :)

ANOTHER train ride -

Even a model train -

Let Freedom Ring and Hope Fill the Land

Maya and I watched the Inauguration today. So many things to celebrate! There will be disagreements with the views of every candidate, but today was a day to celebrate the amazing historical moment of our new President taking the oath of office. There are many messages of courage that this moment spoke to our children. (I'm inspired by a blog called The Simple Dollar.)

You can do anything if you follow your dream and work to achieve it. Our dreams of tomorrow do not have to be limited by the conditions of today. I am five years older than President Obama and when I consider the option of an African American or a woman becoming President, it was an unlikely dream in my youth. When I was very young, people would laugh at the idea of a female attending Notre Dame. But the circumstances changed, and by the time I was old enough, it was a reality. Thankfully, my parents did not consider the limitations of the current time when they dreamed of my future.

There are other means to success than those of people before you, there are many ways. Just because the way to achieve your dream was by a certain way in the past, doesn't mean that you must follow that same path. Don't give up a dream because it appears impossible today.

We live in a great country. To think of the way that power changes hands in our country, versus that of many others in inspiring. Our democratic systems and beliefs make our country rare and great.

And to not be too serious.....here's a picture of Maya watching the election, yes that is a bowl on her head :) Even though I dream of a wonderful future for the adult-Maya, today, she IS three years old :)

FFF: Eyes

Beauty Doubt
Delight

Superhero

Giggles

Caught!

Happiness

Peace

The theme this week of Favorite Foto Friday is Eyes......to see more bloggers' Favorite Foto's go to www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com

Surprised by Gran Torino

Last night, we braved the blizzard (I didn't know it was so bad. It wasn't snowing in Chesterton or Valpo when we dropped off Maya, but when we got close to the theatre in Portage, wow!), to have dinner with Bill and Dianne and see Gran Torino. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think? I was very surprised. I kind of expected a typical Clint Eastwood "shoot-em-up" with chase scenes and lots of blood. I don't want to ruin the plot surprises, but it wasn't as violent as I expected. Kind of a "kindler, gentler" Clint. I had a vague feeling of being old, if you would prefer to remember Clint as the Dirty Harry guy, this may not be the movie for you. It wasn't exactly a chick flick, but it's not a totally-guys-only movie either. I give it a thumbs up.

We originally planned to go to Cappo's, but when we got there it was closed because of the weather! We went to Buffalo Wild Wings instead - yummmmmm!

Maya had big, big fun at Grandpa and Grandma's. She's telling us all about it and how much she loves Grandma and Grandpa, awwwww. Spaghetti, her favorite dinner. Playdoh, her favorite craft. Grandma and Grandpa, her favorite favorite and her best!

more, More, MORE SNOW, you say?

This is a picture of another Guat-cutie. When I saw it as a FFF post, it reminded me of what my mom has been saying about all the cold and snowy weather we've been having.

Oprah Alert - Mark Your Calendars

Oprah Alert - Mark Your Calendars - Exercise Those Redial Fingers

The reservation line will reopen on January 14 with February dates. The reservation line will be open from 10am - 4pm CT and the phone number is 312-591-9222.

You can reserve four seats.....if you can call and have "openings", please add me and my mom! Janet Carpenter and Elizabeth Sherman.

We want to go to Oprah! We want to go to Oprah! We want to go to Oprah! We want to go to Oprah! We want to go to Oprah! We want to go to Oprah! We want to go to Oprah!

UPDATE: The date was changed to the 21st. More time to find an auto-dialer phone.

Favorite Foto Friday - COLD

Today's FFF theme is "Cold". It sure was cold today! But those awesome kid's snowsuits seem to protect them from cold, wind, wet, even provide padding if they fall down :) besides being adorable.

To see other families' FFF posts go to www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com ; put your feet up; sip a cup of hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows; and follow the links!


Cousin Pat is here visiting from Arizona. YES, she is very brave :) Yesterday, we went to the Christian Women's Club luncheon in Valpo - the theme was, There's No Place Like Home. The table decorations were so clever, a red shoe (new, of course, LOL), with a cute little topiary. We didn't get it at first, then someone called it a ruby slipper....ah, click Dorothy, click your heels.


Pat is originally from Northwest Indiana but hasn't been here to visit in the winter for twenty years. She's enjoying the cold weather and we're enjoying her company! Pat retired from teaching six days ago, and we're looking forward to more visits now that she won't have a busy work schedule. Congratulations on retirement, we hope you love it Pat!


We were watching old, old movies (my parent's wedding sixty years ago) and it's motivating me to finally get around to having the video tapes transferred to dvd. I just hope I won't be too late to save some film of special memories.


Speaking of special memories, UGH, I think I deleted tons and tons of videos I had taken of baby Maya. UGH!!! Picture me banging my head on the wall. I had moved my videos from my laptop to an external drive to make room on the laptop. I forgot, thought the files on the external drive were just an old backup and deleted them. UGH!!! I bought a restore program but so far it hasn't worked on the video files. I'm going to take it to a shop - I haven't lost hope but it's getting dim. UGH!!!


I finally joined Facebook. Kristin convinced me. I've heard lots of people comment on how much they love it, so I joined. It's already put me back in touch with someone I had lost contact with. How cool! If you are on Facebook, look me up, or let me know.

Vanenture Day

Being silly, pretending to be a duck (those are rubber gloves on her feet!)






Another chapter in Grandma and Grandpa Vanenture (adventure) Day!

We started at "Locks of Fun". Maya drove a Barbie Jeep, played on the playset, ate popcorn, drank a juice box, watched a little Einstein movie, got sparkles in her hair and oh, yeah, got her haircut :)

Then we stopped at home to open the (drumroll please) Harry and David COLOSSAL TOWER OF TREATS. In my crazy bargain hunting of late, I got an unbelievable deal on this and split it with Mom and Dad....oh, the yummy, yummy treats!!

On to Sears Portrait Studio for Maya's debut as a supermodel :) She did SO well (unlike our previous photography attempts). She followed the instructions of the photographer like a pro. Mommy did well too, usually I go crazy, but I was good this time and stuck to my coupon offer of 35 photos for $4.99. The photographer was so nice, she even threw in a 10 x 13 to make it 36 photos. Even with tax, it was less than six dollars.

Last stop, lunch at Applebees. Maya made a new friend, a little girl named April. They had a blast.

Zzzzzzzzz, Maya napping in the car, Zzzzzzzzzz, Grandpa napping in the car. Another successful Vanenture Day came to a close.

Meghan and Maya

We had such a nice time with Joel, Lori and Meghan on Sunday!

Good Dog, Brickie, Good Buddy

We had to say goodbye to Brickie today. Even though we knew this day was coming, it was still so hard.

Memories of our dog - our puppy - our buddy:

Brickie was born on Oct 15th 1993. He had a good long life, 15 years is a long time for a lhasa apso to live.

Wayne and I had lost two of our pets, fairly close together, my cat Kecia and his dog Muffin. We still had little Fred left, but we were pretty devasted. We called our good friend Mary Ann, who played volleyball with us for years, and is an amazing veterinarian. She referred us to a breeder. As with many of the things in our life, Brickie was "as is", we used to joke. He was born to be a show dog but had a physical defect that prohibited him from being shown. His breeder had kept him for six months hoping that it would correct itself but it didn't so she had to sell him "on sale" :) Actually, I always thought God had him waiting for us to be ready for him. The breeder told us that we had to immediately establish that we were "the boss" with a lhasa or he would rule our lives. LOL You know how that ended up :)

His name was Jelly Bean, but we changed it to "Brickie". Wayne's high school mascot is a "Brickie", they chant, "All my life I wanted to be a Brickie, etc". That's where the name came from.

It was love at first sight for us. When we first got Brickie, Wayne carried him everywhere! I thought Brickie might forget how to walk.

I would tell my Mom that we were making this accomodation or that, for Brickie and she would say "You are the master, he is the dog." Well, eventually she came to understand, years later when Brickie became her dog. He was pretty pursuasive.

Brickie loved to go camping. We took him on all our camping trips and he was a great camping buddy. He would go for early morning walks with me to see the deer at dawn. He would sit around the campfire with Wayne. Just a good dog, our Brickie.

When Maya came home, we had a dilemma. He was a bit grumpy and we didn't want him around the baby. I remember he would be very jealous when we had company, especially children. Grandma and Grandpa agreed to come to our rescue! They took Brickie to live with them.

Brickie and Grandma bonded immediately. She gave him toast in the morning. Shared her banana. She gave him his beloved "chewies". Took him for SO many walks. He followed her everywhere and loved her dearly. We were afraid at first that he would be sad to leave Wayne and I but nope, he knew what paradise was like at grandma's house.

Goodbye, Brickie, we hope you are healthy and running in heaven with all the treats and chewies you can eat - we will see you again one day.

Beauty of Nature

We never tire of seeing the deer in our backyard.