Mira got a hair cut

 Mira got her hair cut today. We haven't really CUT cut it since she came home, and it's so long and pretty...and more than she really needs right now! Even though we've kept the bottom third of it trimmed right up to her head for the last few months, she's got enough volume that there was more than enough to donate.

So this morning, we did it! Look in the mirror on these two to see the before, then the pony-tailed prep...

And the final result is VERY cute.

And look what we get to send off to share with a child who's lost their hair!

I think it's pretty neat that Mira, who has so little ability to actively contribute to the world around her, is able to share something really beautiful that she made.

I've spent a lot of today thinking about Toni, the adoption lawyer on the Bulgarian side that we worked with on all three of our adoptions. She is no longer living, so we can't share this with her, but I'm certain that she would have been more than pleased to know that Mira's beautiful hair is going to improve the life of another child! As Toni and I spoke on the phone one night during our week in Sofia waiting to get visa to bring the girls home, she told me that while with most of the children she helps place, she's excited to hear about all of the new milestones they'll reach and the accomplishments they'll have, but with Mira, her single request was that we make her hair pretty - to symbolically show the world that this little child is worth caring for! Well, that girl definitely has pretty hair, and now it's not only pretty for her, but it's going to be pretty for another little girl who is going through a tough time!

Things in Rings, round 3

Two sets here!

Ha ha! (Though this only happened once - not quite as satisfying for him, apparently.)

I thought this was a pretty clever adaptation!

He always likes it when I photograph his work!

There's three of them in there!

 

Krassi at school

 He's a junior this year! 

I just have two short stories to share that relate to school (and photos above that have nothing to do with school, since I don't have school photos, but I DO have photos of him and Ebenezer hanging out. Ebby plays lying down on the floor just like Krassi way more than any of the other kids did! And in the above photo, Ebenezer is reading a book to Krassi...who is just about as interested as he looks! ☺)

Story one:

A week before school started for real was "start-up day" when all of the high school students had to go in at some point during the day and get their photo taken and pick up their schedules, etc. I had time to do it myself, but asked Owen if he'd be able to take Krassi...and he said he probably would. It was delightful to come home later and find that Owen and his buddy, B (a senior this year), had already been through to pick up Krassimir so the three of them could get their stuff taken care of. It delights me on two levels - first of all, that Owen's cool with bringing his atypical older brother along with him - and secondly that all of Krassi's school mates who were there at the same time got to see Krassi come in as a regular kid with a couple of other high school guys, and not with his mom. Even better was when Owen came home on the second day of classes and told me that B had texted him that morning saying that he was in class with Owen's brother - they have sculpture together!! 🤣

Story two:

This one came via email from Krassi's teacher this morning.

I wanted to send you a note because the most spectacular thing just happened! 

The teacher across the hall, Mrs. H, is in a wheelchair and she and Krassi (actually, I think you may know her from Mendota?!) anyways, they often bump into each other in the hall, race to the classroom, etc. It's lovely. 

Today he was looking at her and so I helped him scoot quicker out to her to say hi. I told her that he just got his new chair and has the extra handle so K can steer/drive with his 1 arm. I told K we'd have to show her sometime so she could see how cool it is. He then started to scoot away (I figured he was just done with us, lol). He crawled all the way over to his chair. I asked him if he wanted to go show her now and he did the hand slap yes, rolled over and we got him up. He then wheeled over to her, bumped her chair to get her attention and grabbed the handle and showed off being able to drive it. She of course told him how cool it was and he had the BIGGEST smile. It was so fantastic! 

Total day maker :)

 One of these days I've got to share his growing collection of Things in Rings. (For earlier editions, look back here and here.) He's definitely way outside the range of "normal" for a seventeen year old, but I'm so proud of the way he is figuring out more and more how to be the best Krassimir he can be. He has a contentedness with his life that many people I know could benefit from!

Bobbi's art

 Just occurred to me that I should share here a link to the blog that I keep to record the artwork that Bobbi's been doing. There might be some of you who are interested...

The ART of Bobbi

Baby steps

 

It's incredibly slow and cumbersome, and not at all a practical way to get around yet for Bobbi, BUT every gain that we've made has come this way: tiny, tiny, tiny incremental forward progress, and to have reached the point where her therapist wants her to practice this once at home between each session means that we're poised to begin to see some more rapid growth!

I don't think anyone has ever picture Bobbi being able to walk without any assistance, but THIS (crutches only) would be so crazy different from bunny crawling (like she did when she first came home before her surgery), the wheelchair, or ever her walker. And it's so exciting to see it getting closer!

Krassimir's birthday!

Seventeen years old - next year he will be officially an adult (whatever that means!) AND will break even on number of birthdays celebrated with his family instead of without. *Almost* there.

As a food hater, there's not much to make for a fun supper, so we did pasta and sauce, which is a less-hated meal, and Rinnah made home made chocolate pudding, which was robust enough to hold seventeen candles!

He doesn't blow, but he's seen enough birthdays that he knows what to expect, and likes have the fuss made over him!

 We certainly don't need any more *stuff* around here, so presents were few, but one thing Matt and I found for him hit the nail on the head - it's a rubber dog toy - a textured ring - and he and his new ring are inseparable!

Family vacation: Day 1

 First step was to bring Mira to her buddies at Crescent Cove. They do a *really* good job there of knowing the kids who stay and of caring for them while they're there.

Kisses goodbye, and she's off.

Next step: load the van! (AND the trailer!) We don't usually use all of the seats in Big Blue because it's pretty tight, but when we need to, we can do 3 (the wide one which used to be the old back row), 3 (the narrower one) and 4 instead of the normal setup where we have the narrow 3, then the 2, and then the four. With this set up, and Mira not with us, and Owen coming up a day later, we had room for the girls' friend, Hope. Here we go!

Our first step was at our dear friends, the Martins (if you've read this blog long enough, you'll remember Chad as the guy who came and helped Matt with all sorts of things on the addition!  (He's mentioned in this post and here are some of his kids at the bottom of this post! Oh - and one with a photo!) They moved away a little over two years ago and WE MISS THEM!!) This was our first chance to visit at their house and see their farm-in-progress, and they made room for us to spend the night.

All of the girls (except Bobbi) in one room!

Got a kick out of this - this is our old bathtub that we removed from our old bathroom before putting on the accessible bathroom! They're using it in an outdoor shower area he's creating.

A few couch cushions, and the trailer behind the four-wheeler worked to bring Bobbi (and the rest of us) on a tour of their property!

It was hard to leave the next day. These people are so special to us, and their home was such a welcoming oasis permeated by the love of Jesus. I hope we can make it up there again!

Our whole crew...and Hope. I just realized that we're almost all color coordinated! Pinks and teals and royal blue? You'd think we planned it!

This one just makes me smile. :)

And then we were off for Duluth, aiming to arrive there at noon...but that's another post.