Meet “L”

May 22, 2014 Molly Leave a comment

I said that we wouldn’t be hosting this summer. I should probably never speak with any certainty.

We were originally hosting with New Horizons for Children. All of our fundraising went directly to them. I have only the best things to say about them. I would highly recommend them.

But, when our host kiddo was no longer available, there were really no other children still available and listed with New Horizons who fit our criteria. We had decided to host pretty late in the game.

In my tight-knit adoption group, I mentioned how I wished we could host one of the children available with a different organization, but all of the money we had raised was with New Horizons.

“Why don’t you ask if they’ll transfer the money?”

Ohhhh.

So, I fired off the email, just to ask, even mentioning that I knew it was a “long shot”.

Meanwhile, I drafted another hesitant email to my contact person with Project One Forty Three, “can you tell me more about this girl ‘L’?”

I heard back about L first. I was led to two different people who had met her. In less than 24 hours, I learned more about her than I had known about any of my kids before I met them. Birthdate, region she’s from, her orphanage, what she likes to do, her approximate clothing size and more.

She sounded like a sweet girl and like she might fit in here.

It took several more emails, but New Horizons agreed to transfer the money!

We said, “YES!”

So, meet L.

1521464_10202321568833874_304896620_n — Here she is making a Ukrainian soup for her winter hosting family.

We’re super excited. She’ll be with us for just over 10 weeks this summer!

So, because L had a grant AND we had already done quite a bit of fundraising, her actual hosting fees to the agency are covered.

However, she will be flying into JFK, which works out well with our summer plans to visit family, but it means that she’ll also be flying out of JFK at the end of her trip. So, we’re going to keep on selling more Moose Prints to pay for plane tickets for one of us to fly her back to JFK at the end of her stay.

Are you ready to help?

I’ve added many sets of notecards to the Moose Prints store. They’re all ready to ship as soon as they’re purchased. Selling those out will get us pretty far along with paying for that plane ticket. Purchasing prints will help, too and I have a few ready to ship prints as well.

I have 3 copies of “Pink!” in the 8×10.

And I have 2 copies of the Blood Moon Timelapse in 8×12.

I’m also happy to order what I don’t already have ready to ship. You can find the notecards and rest of the prints on the Moose Prints page.

And you can order by filling out the form and using the Paypal link here.

Ready, set, order! Thank you!

Everyday Life

Gymnastics!

May 15, 2014 Molly 1 Comment

A few months ago, Lena came home from school and told me how good she was at gymnastics. The next week, she came home and told me the same. They had been trying gymnastics in gym class, and she really loved it. So, we asked her and Reed if they would be interested in taking it. To which, we got a resounding YES.

So, we signed them each up for a 7-week class. This was their last week. They had a parent’s observation day, so I got to go in and see what they’d learned.

Lena’s class was first.

Then, Reed’s.

He rocked this rope. Made it look easy. It’s really high!

So, my thoughts after one gymnastics class? I’m not sure we’ll be doing it again. Don’t get me wrong, the program is great, but I think gymnastics didn’t really meet their expectations. They both enjoyed it, but neither one of them was very disappointed that it was over. I think they were both expecting more open-play and less focus/working on skills. We’ll see if Reed or Lena expresses an interest in the future and then maybe we’ll reconsider. At the very least, they learned some new skills and got to try some new things!

Everyday Life

Black and White

May 14, 2014 Molly 2 Comments

I never used to be such a fan of black and white. I have a wonderful photographer friend, who would give me discs or folders of images, often with both black and white photos and color. I always preferred the color. I really didn’t understand the appeal of black and white. Why have just the grayscale with ALL the beautiful colors out there?

But, I’ve developed an appreciation for black and white photos. And, I’ve even started converting some photos TO black and white. I thought I’d share a few I’ve done recently and why I converted them, as well as a color edit of the same photo.

Reed

This is not the same photo I shared six ways last week, although it was taken just before that one. In the one I shared last week, he has more of a smirk on his face. Here, he has a more intense look. I think a black and white edit really draws out that intensity. It makes the image more piercing and more timeless. I love this photo of him because it says so much.

Here’s a quick color edit. It’s okay, but I think it lacks the intensity of the black and white.

Lena

Lena loves to blow dandelions. She was in the moment and I loved it. But, I wasn’t so crazy about what she was wearing. And, on top of that, doing something like blowing dandelions is such a timeless moment that it translates well to black and white.

Here’s the color photo. Do you see what i mean about the red sweater, navy bandana, pink hair tie and green background? It’s a lot of color for one image and I find it a bit distracting.

Gus

My reasoning here was pretty similar to the others. I love the intensity and contrast in his eyes. I love smiling photos of him, but someday, I will look back, see photos like this and remember the agony of being 3. Those big, big feelings that come along with all of the growing up. The color photo also had some bright colors, which were not working. The brightness of the colors really doesn’t go along with his emotion.

So, what do YOU think? Do you agree with me about the black and whites? Or do you prefer the color images? Either way, I’d love to know!

Hosting

Endings

May 13, 2014 Molly Leave a comment

“Let me see redemption win, let me know the struggle ends.”

I heard this song on the radio today, and while I’m not usually such a big fan, it summed up my feelings.

When we first decided to adopt, we decided to adopt two children from the same baby house. From the children on Reece’s Rainbow, we were draw to “Quinn” and “Erika” (Lena) and committed to them. About a month after we first committed, we were told that “Quinn” had been taken into foster care (in Ukraine). It was okay. A bit sad, but we knew it could be good for him, if he found his forever family in Ukraine. “Ilya” (Reed) was added a few days later and we were instantly drawn to him.

I wondered about “Quinn” from time to time. Then, out of the blue one day, I got an email.

It was Quinn’s mama. His forever mama. Telling me how she met both Ilya and Quinn. She loved them both and knew they would both be good sons. But, it was Quinn who “captured her heart” and she couldn’t leave him, knowing he’d be moved to an institution after his fourth birthday, which was creeping close.

So, filled with pain and guilt (her words, not mine) over leaving Ilya, she adopted “Quinn”. And like any mother, she wondered about Ilya. How he had grown, how he was doing in his family.

Then, she stumbled upon my blog. She saw Ilya… and emailed me. She told me this whole story, sent me photos of Ilya (Reed) that I had never seen before and told me all about Quinn and even sent some recent photos of him.

My heart about burst. How their stories were tangled up in ways I never knew before. And, this gift, this sort of closure. Knowing not just that Quinn had a family, but that he was thriving.

—

“I want to know a song can rise, from the ashes of a broken life.”

While we took “losing” Quinn in stride, losing “Helen” was devastating. We had met her. We had held her. Played with her. We were ready to bring her home.

She, too, is thriving in her forever family. Her mother doesn’t email me, but I’ve found updated photos. She looks happy and healthy.

Losing her was difficult. But, we found our Gus. We chose his name quickly, and our family referred to him as Gus even before he came home.

Around that time, the song “Beautiful Things” by Gungor had recently become popular. We heard it everywhere. On the radio, in church. We listened to the entire album at home.

As a late English language learner, Reed struggles with his comprehension sometimes and often confuses a more common word for a less common one. So, it was purely a mistake when he started singing, “You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of Gus.”

And that’s just it. Gus is the one we never knew we needed, but he is one of us. He fits.

—

The question of the day today seems to be “how are you feeling?”. Thank you for your concern, dear friends.

Disappointed is a good word for it. Concerned for our host girl. Wondering if or how much she knew and if her heart is aching.

But, with our adoptions, I’ve seen how God has taken our desire to give 3 children a home and in the end, 5 children have homes. I doubt that “Helen’s” family would have stepped forward to adopt her, had we not been so close to bringing her to America.

With adoption, I learned quickly that there is no promise of easy or painless, but it’s always worth it. In the end, it’s all beautiful.

I think the same might be true of hosting. Or, any time we step out in faith.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28

I know this is not the end of our host child’s story. I hope her story will become a beautiful one, and known to us in this lifetime, like those of “Quinn” and “Helen”. I know that’s a lot of hope for, but that’s never stopped me. I have crazy hope for all of those beautiful things.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” -Isaiah 43:19

Everyday Life

Hope Deferred

May 13, 2014 Molly Leave a comment

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick. . .”

We got that call today. The bad one.

“Molly? …this is (coordinator) at New Horizons for Children. We got some bad news today. [Host child] will not be able to come this summer.”

They were unable to get her documents together. I do not know all of the details, but this is specific to her and (obviously) not anticipated. New Horizons was really wonderful and after 2 failed adoptions and getting notified via email both times, I thought it was so wonderful of them to call and talk to me on the phone. They asked if we’d like to pick a different child. Unfortunately, most children have either been chosen (yay!) or it’s already too late (boo!). There are only a handful left and both we and New Horizons agreed that none of them would be a good fit for us.

However, they will hang on to all donations so far and allow us to use them towards winter hosting.

For the auction, because the money was not yet in, we decided to have all of the donations go to the Smith family. They are hoping to host a boy named Valera and have a long ways to go with fundraising. We hope that this auction will give them a good push.

A few wonderful friends have asked me to keep Moose Prints up. I really have no interest in starting a business for profit– it just seems like a lot of work. But, I’ve contacted the hosting agency to see if we can raise the money proactively throughout the summer and fall and keep accepting donations for winter hosting. They are looking into it for me.

As for our sweet host girl. I do not know if she was aware that she had been chosen. Either way, it is difficult. Either to know of hosting, but not be chosen or to know you were chosen but not get to go. At the suggestion of a friend, we’ve offered to send her a care package if possible. We’d love for her to know just how loved she is, even if she can’t be here with us. We would love to fill it up with goodies– some necessities and some fun things to send it back to her. New Horizons is also looking into this for us.

And, I ask that you keep praying for her. We “lost” both “Quinn” and “Helen”, but yet, they both have families of their own and miraculously, we’ve even been able to see updates on how they are doing. And, if we hadn’t “lost” them, we wouldn’t have Reed or Gus. We are praying that our host girl’s story will be as beautiful. So, keep praying.

“. . .but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” -Proverb 13:12