We had a pleasant surprise this afternoon while attending open houses for graduation seniors. One of my daughters has a birth sibling graduating from high school this year. Of course, we were invited to the open house. We have maintained contact with him by having periodic visits and phone calls throughout the 11 years since their adoptions. We have done the same with the other four birth siblings as well, although we had more visits when the children were younger. There were six siblings, who were adopted by four separate families. When we arrived at the open house, two... more

We all had a fun cultural experience this weekend. Our tribal representative suggested that we go to a Native American powwow that was in a neighboring town. It has been about 10 years since our family attended a powwow so some of my adopted children had never been to one.

The children were quite excited by the sites and the sounds. We watched the native dancers move to the beating of the drums dressed in feathers, bright colors, and fine leathers. Apparently, the beating of the drums made Amigrace feel like dancing too, but nobody seemed to mind.

We... more

While attending junior high or high school, did you ever look around at your classmates and think, “When I grow up, I am going to parent your children?” Hopefully, parenting children was the farthest thing from your mind back then. While I didn’t actually think these thoughts in school or ever, this actually happened to my family.

When we agreed to accept the sibling group, we didn’t know too much about them. We knew their ages, first names, and they had lived with their maternal grandparents for two years. There was a return home plan that their mother seemed... more

My little sister Gracie and I are eleven years apart. She is two and a half and I am fourteen. Some of my friends with adoptive siblings do not have that big of an age difference. My point? How do you connect with your sibling when there is a big age difference? Maybe there is a small age difference between you and your sibling and you are looking for ways to connect with them? I have found that doing some things that Gracie enjoys doing are actually really fun.

For the girls I have found that having a tea party is a great... more

As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations for 10 days I thought I would share some more interesting facts about Chinese legends. As I shared in my last post the Chinese legend about the animals is the twelve animals quarreled one day as to who was to head the cycle of years. A contest was held and it was agreed that whoever was to reach the opposite bank of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years according to their finish. The gods were asked to decide. The twelve animals gathered... more

Looking up facts on the Chinese New Year has been fun and exciting to learn more about my little sister's culture. Although I do not believe in fortunes or horoscopes, the research I did on their holiday was very interesting. In the Chinese culture the people celebrate their New Year for 10 days. The concept of the New Year is that there is a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. The animals represent a cyclical concept of time. Here in America we have a linear concept of time. The Chinese lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. According... more

Sunday marked the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is known as the Lunar New Year. The appearance of the new moon marks a new month according to the Chinese calendar. Each Chinese New Year is symbolized by 1 of 12 animals. The 12 animals are the rat, ox, tiger, dragon, rabbit, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. 2007 will be celebrated as the year of the pig. Chinese folklore is said that if you are born under this sign then you are a splendid companion, an intellectual with a very strong need to set difficult goals and... more

Xin nian yu kuai (Mandarin) or Sun nienfai lok (Cantonese)! Happy Belated Chinese New Year to everyone. As I have said in many posts before, we adopted my sister Gracie from the country of China. I have added a new section in the Adoptive Siblings called “Plugging Into Siblings Culture.” In this section I will write about ways siblings can interact with their brothers or sisters by doing activities that involve the country they were adopted from. I would really love members of Adoption Blogs and our readers to tell... more