We homeschool our children. We haven’t always homeschooled them. We started our first two children in Kindergarten at public school, like most people do. We had issues here and there, but told ourselves that homeschooling was a last resort—something to fall back on if we had no other options left.

We started having more and more issues with one child in particular. Our confidence in our local elementary school was quickly declining. And then, we adopted a nine and a half year old girl from Ethiopia. Just getting her registered in... more

Continued from Part Two…

We left Sears and went straight to Wal-Mart, where we were faced with an almost identical encounter to the one we’d just had at Sears:

Experience #2: The cashier looked at my kids and said, "Are they adopted or are they foster kids?" I was miffed by the question, thinking, "Grrr...WHY does it matter?!" I curtly replied, "I adopted them and now they are mine."

The cashier looked them over... more

Continued from Part One…

As I mentioned in Part One, it doesn’t matter how used to intrusive questions or comments one gets, you can and will still have times when you are thrown completely off-guard.

In the past couple of years, we have become accustomed to hearing comments about our family size more often than adoption-related questions. We still get plenty of them, but they are usually harmless ones, and most often kind... more

Adoptive families are a curiosity, and multi-racial adoptive families are even more so. When you adopt a baby or child that does not resemble you (as you most likely will if you adopt from Haiti), you can be guaranteed a rude comment, question or look here and there.

In the beginning, the questions and/or comments can be upsetting and often catch you off-guard. You are unfamiliar with the attention and feel irritated about having to explain your family. You are often unsure of the best or correct way to respond. On one hand,... more

I'm officially back (but it probably wasn't very obvious that I was even "gone". I managed to get quite a few posts up using my husband's computer). My husband surprised me with a new computer this week. He bought me a MacBook. I have spent the last couple of days trying to figure it out. It is quite a bit different than my old laptop. From everything I've read and heard, I will soon turn my nose up at any non-apple computers! For now I am mostly enjoying it, but also feeling rather frustrated, too. It may be awhile before I feel completely at ease with my new computer. But I am feeling very grateful for the ability to immediately replace my old one.

Right now I am... more

Continued from Part One...

Troops on tour?

The threat from the criminal gangs is the main reason why the United Nations force of 7,000 soldiers from many different countries is staying on in Haiti for another year.

They are the only ones with the weapons and the logistical backup to be able to take on the criminals and win. So far, though, their success has been strictly limited.

Recently one patrol was caught out when their armoured vehicle broke down in Cite Soleil - or Sun City - the ironically named vast, dark slum down near the capital's seafront.

The UN... more

Here is a fascinating article that I came across about the safety in Haiti:

Trying to stay safe in Haiti

As the United Nations decides to keep its peacekeepers in Haiti for another 12 months, Nick Caistor travels to the country to find out how dangerous the situation is for himself.

Whenever possible, I like to travel into Haiti by bus from the neighbouring Dominican Republic. It is a long seven-hour ride, but it allows me to take the political temperature at the border and to see if there is any improvement in the crippling poverty immediately obvious in the Haitian countryside before I am submerged in the sprawling mess of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

I... more

Usually when I do “Love Thursday,” I try to pick photos of our girls in Haiti. However, my computer has crashed and I am using my husband’s computer. I am therefore limited to using whatever photos he has on his computer.

This photo is of my daughter, Claire (born in the U.S.) and my son, Ezra (born in Ethiopia). They are both three years old. Claire is older than Ezra by two months. We adopted Claire at birth and Ezra when he was seven months old (Claire was 9 months old when Ezra came home). When they were younger,... more

Continued from Part Four...

The day we returned home, I flew to Idaho for a reunion for another orphanage. I had become acquainted with and developed a friendship with their wonderful, intuitive orphanage director. She invited me to meet some of the board members and staff because I was considering becoming a volunteer for their orphanage. One perk would also be to meet Mr. Cadet and his assistant. I asked him why he did not sign our... more

Continued from Part Three...

On his 6th birthday, we met for the first time. The moment my eyes met his, I knew him though I feared that I would not recognize him. Oh, to hold him was a sweet experience. The same as when I held my newborns for the first time at their births. This was our birth, our first meeting. I was able to spend four glori-ous days at the hotel with Nathaniel.

I studied Kreyòl before I arrived, but it was not enough.... more