We headed for Mizzou (Univ. of MO) last week so Kellen could attend the Summer Welcome and the Rush program for Freshmen. I was amazed at how well run the Summer Welcome program was for both parents and students. We attended meetings about safety on campus, dorm life, requirements for grades and more. It was very informative and I came away feeling better about sending my 18 yr. old off to school there next month. www.missouri.edu
Kellen actually found a fraternity he liked and joined it that weekend also. Having the name of ‘Farmhouse’ caused me some concern but did learn it is a national, Greek, IFC fraternity. www.mizzoufh.com He is excited to be living in the house this fall, since the dorm of his choice was not available. They are a frat that is one of the best at scholarship and grades…which is comforting for a parent to hear! I am sure that because they are one of the best at Intermural Sports on campus had some influence on Kellen…who loves sports. The other factor we noticed was that FH had green and gold for colors (same as the Packers)…and we all know that Kellen bleeds green & gold! He smiled at that comparison!
As for our weekend, while Kellen was at Rush…we had a great time hiking the National Park in that area where we waded through creeks and saw a cave. Tania & Alex, of course, loved the hotel pool and spent a lot of time there. The trip home was long but they good. Everyone was happy & tired…the good kind of tired.
I know we have to make this trip again in August to move Kellen into the frat house. I am sure it’ll be 100% humidity then…and I was very uncomfortable with the heat there in June! I am very glad Kellen is so happy to go to Mizzou but I am a little sad that I will be missing him at home. (I know he will return..just like the others!)
Until next time….
Debbie Mumm, The Adoption Coach, www.everythingforadoption.com
I ran across this little video today and thought it was worth sharing with you. As I type this Alex is whining that he has nothing to do…week 2 of summer vacation. Tania is crabby after 2 nights of sleep overs with friends. However, as I saw this video I am reminded that even though other people in public appear to not have problems, most of them do.
So take a look at this video…and enjoy!
Get Service Video
Have a great day!….& maybe try to help someone else have a great day!
Deborah Mumm, The Adoption Coach, www.everythingforadoption.com
Here is Tania, around age 6, in Russia. We noted that many little girl photos from Russia have them with the big bows. Notice how Tania appears to be squinting. Well, she probably is trying to see the camera/photographer…as she needed a very strong prescription for glasses once she got to America at age 10.
It would have been nice to have had Tania when she was a little girl…but it was not meant to be. We are happy we have her now and for the most part she is a great kid. She is a very strong willed girl, but that is what made her survive her experiences in Russia. I wish we could go back and take away all the bad experiences she had as a small child. We are working our way through them now though, in the hopes she’ll have a ‘normal’ adulthood someday! (Whatever normal is!)
Her Mom,
Debbie, The Adoption Coach, www.everythingforadoption.com
Things did go pretty well this Father’s Day. Both Travis & Kellen (now 23 & 18) actually came to church with us. So the whole family, except Brandon, now living in Ripon, WI., went to church, had a nice lunch at a local Italian restaurant, went out for a round of mini-golf and topped it off with ice cream before coming home. The weather was nice and warm…and no rain for a change. We all had fun and enjoyed each other.
All in all it was a great day! However….I did have a slight run-in with Tania later in the day. I had to pick up and later drop off a girl friend of hers. I was not real impressed with how she dressed, her style. Of course, Tania is totally into the ’scene’ or skater look these days also. Tania happened to spend the night at this girl’s house the other night and her mom helped both of them dye black stripes into their hair. I guess I am from the old school, where I would have asked the other mom if that was ok. This did not happen, however, and Tania now has striped hair that sticks up. It is just another thing I have to cope with. I mentioned to Tania that I was not real happy with her choices of friends these days. She went into hysterics because I am judging her friends by how they look. This may be partially true but I also see how they act and have learned a little about some of their families. I guess I had hoped Tania would find some nice girls that I could trust her hanging out with and that had families that I could trust would watch her when I leave her in their care. This is not the case and I have to be the ‘mean’ mom and set rules she doesn’t like. So…she was furious with me that I don’t think she has great friends and then immediately calls them on the phone to tell them this. I again got upset because she is telling her friends that I don’t like them…don’t like their hair, their clothes, etc. Gee..everything a teenager loves to hear, right? I tried to explain to her that if these girls are her friends then she wouldn’t be hurting their feelings by telling them these things, right? She seems to think she has to tell them everything…and I think this is the main reason she has such on-again, off-again friends…because she tells them too much.
I must say, having a teenage girl is so much more difficult that teenage boys! Pray I get through the summer! I did tell Tania we signed her up for camp in July. She had a meltdown but then recovered. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I am hoping she can just have a good old-fashioned camp experience…make some ‘normal’ friends…like summers are supposed to be.
More on this later! Sigh!
Deborah Mumm, The Adoption Coach, www.everythingforadoption.com
As a mom, I sat on the bleachers in the Carmel Catholic High School gym and felt two distinct emotions yesterday as our son, Kellen, graduated from High School. I was very happy and proud that Kellen was graduating with good grades and knew he had many friends with him who had created some of his happiest moments. I was also a bit sad (and admit to tearing up a bit) to think I wouldn’t be sitting in the Carmel bleachers anymore to watch him play. I wouldn’t be seeing him or his friends much after this summer…and I really enjoyed them all, laughing in our home.
There is something about high school graduation that is a rite of passage. After years of taking care of a kid, washing his clothes, making his meals, making sure he is safe…day after day, year after year….it suddenly just changes. One day you are doing ‘mom’ things for your kid like usual, and the next you are driving him far away to another world called ‘college’ and leaving him there. You return home to an empty room with no dirty socks on the floor or football equipment in the laundry room. It is a huge void…yet a necessary one. Your child has grown up and is independent. This is what you have been working towards for 18 years. It seems like just a short while ago he went through that cute little kindergarten graduation with the paper caps. But now you wish you just had a little more time with that little boy that used to sit in your lap.
We did have a nice day. The weather was perfect. We took pictures and did lots of hugging. We had a graduation party where everyone had a great time!
Time marches on. It is wonderful to see our son grow up to be such a fine young man. But it is a hard time emotionally on moms. I realize this as I type this….I know that he will love college just like my older two. But I also know that life at home is not the same once they go off to college.
Any comments from Moms (or Dads) on Graduation???
How does one adopt a child internationally? It takes a lot of time & money! Most people get scared off just at the thought of all the work ‘adoption’ will be.
However, there are millions of children waiting for someone to take them home….and we are giving up on these kids because we are afraid of the paperwork or the travel, etc.
My son at age 5, after being home with us a few months asked, “Mama, what took you so long to come and get me? I was waiting and waiting.” It broke my heart to think of the time he wished he had a family instead of living in a Russian orphanage.
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Deborah Mumm, The Adoption Coach… www.everythingforadoption.com
Well…it has been a full weekend.
On Friday I went with Alex’s class on their field trip to the Milwaukee Zoo. Although it was a nice trip and a great zoo, we had a total of one and a half hours to tour it with our group of kids. It took almost that long to get there and then another hour or more to get back to school. They had to have the buses back early so the older kids could be picked up…seemed silly to me to have such a short time at the zoo. However, Alex thanked me that night for coming with them. So the kids didn’t seem to notice as much as the parents.
Later that day, Alex decided to cut the front of his hair off. Tania is always cutting her hair, so he figured he’d do it. Suddenly he had a bald spot right in the middle of his forehead. It then became time for Dad to get the trimmer out and give Alex the ’summer haircut’… a buzz. He liked it though.
Over the weekend Alex and friend Peter found a fun activity of throwing little Lego guys out his bedroom window through a hole in the screen. Once we discovered Legos all over the roof and driveway we lectured them on the expense of toys and how that didn’t seem like a great thing to do with Legos. Dennis told him that was the end of those Legos. Alex acted like he didn’t care.
However, the next day when he and Peter were in his bedroom and again, it was too quiet, I discovered that Alex had gone out the window onto the roof to retrieve his lego guys out of the gutter. (This is a second floor bedroom!) Needless to say, we were not happy with the choices these 2 were making. We hope Alex understands why he can’t do this again. It was amazing to me that while we were scolding the boys they’d still ask if they could have a sleep-over that night. I think NOT!
All this had me exhausted. We still celebrated Memorial Day at my parents home and had a nice time. The kids were good so the adults could talk awhile. Let’s hope summer is not a long line of poor choices by Alex….could actually drive me crazy!
Debbie Mumm, The Adoption Coach
http://www.everythingforadoption.com
Words cannot express the pain the Chapman family must be feeling right now with the loss of their youngest daughter, aged 5. This story came to me today and I thought I’d share it with you since Steven Curtis Chapman is a huge activist for International Adoption. (His 3 daughters were adopted from China)
His beautiful children inspired him to write music and sing about adoption. You can hear one of my favorite songs at Steven Curtis Chapman Adoption Song.
Here is the story from the local TN paper—
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee authorities say the 5-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman has been struck and killed by a sport-utility vehicle driven by her teenage brother. Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman Laura McPherson says the girl, Maria, was hit in a driveway at the family residence this afternoon south of Nashville. McPherson says the Toyota Land Cruiser was driven by the girl’s brother. McPherson says several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident. Chapman is originally from Paducah, Ky. McPherson says the brother apparently did not see the little girl. McPherson did not have the name or exact age of the brother. Vanderbilt Medical Center spokeswoman Laurie Holloway says the girl died later at the hospital.
Our thoughts & prayers are with the Chapman family at this time.
It’s really done! It’s finally here!
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Please pass this on to those interested or thinking of adopting a child internationally. Adoption Highway
Let’s keep helping others to see the need for adoptive parents. Thanks!
Deborah Mumm, The Adoption Coach… www.everythingforadoption.com
