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