Calling all LDS adoptive parents and hopeful adoptive parents! :)

I want this blog to be a place of support and information for adoptive parents who share my faith. To make sure I’m fulfilling my goal, I’m seeking your input! If you’ve been hoping to see a particular topic covered or have an adoption related question you’d like answered, this is your chance to say so. Just leave a comment below with your topic ideas or questions, and you’ll be eligible to win a $25 e-gift certificate to Amazon.com!

Here are the rules and details:

1. You do not have to be LDS to submit a topic idea or ask a question, but your submission must be relevant to adoption and The Church... more

Book Review: Fine Haitian Cuisine: A Broad Collection of Haitian Recipes, by Mona Cassion Ménager

I’ve been pining away for this book for quite some time, but given its hefty price tag of nearly fifty bucks and the fact that I own three other Haitian cookbooks, I felt I couldn’t justify it. Thankfully, a dear friend of mine bought it for me as a gift and I thus eluded purchase guilt. ;)

The book begins with a brief history of Haiti and an explanation about the culinary influences (Arawak, African, French and Spanish) that came... more

One of my favorite sayings is a line stolen from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (which hearkens back to my high school days): “Something’s afoot at the Circle K.” And ever since we announced our desire and intention to adopt not one, but two, children from Ethiopia, I’ve felt “something’s afoot.”

I have no doubt that we made the right choice, because this choice was confirmed through fasting and prayer. Even the manner in which the idea sort of fell into my husband’s lap at the same time I’d been considering it points to my Heavenly Father’s... more

Looking for something fun and interesting to do with your family this summer? If you have adopted children or are considering adoption, an adoption “culture camp” or “heritage camp” may be just the thing! Here’s a list of some 2007 camp dates and locations. Be aware that many are accepting registrations now, so if you find one that’s of interest, don’t delay!

AFRICA

African/Caribbean Heritage Camp June 28-July 1 Snow Mountain Ranch, Fraser, CO

CAMBODIA

Cambodia Heritage Camp July 19-July... more

Are you looking to connect with other LDS adoptive families? Do you know of a good (public!) LDS adoption blog? Want to have yours listed? Please leave me a comment with the name of the blog and I will add it to the list. :) Newest additions will appear first. I will update the list periodically, and as it grows, I will categorize it as appropriate. For now, please enjoy the following:

Rusted Sun---Domestic, LDSFS Casa de King---International: Haiti HUR Family---Domestic, LDSFS Puderbaugh... more

If you read the other parts of this series, you know that I consider homeschooling to be a great option for older, internationally adopted children, but I thought you might like to hear the perspective of some other moms. It’s significant to note that while many of these families were already homeschoolers at the time they adopted, for some, as was the case in our family, the adoption was the catalyst for choosing homeschooling.

Sharee, a homeschooling mom of four, including Sarah, who was adopted from China at nearly six years of age, had this to say:

“During... more

First, wipe out your expectations. Assume you’re starting with a blank slate, and think of any skills you identify right away in your child as bonuses. This is not to say you should expect your child will be unintelligent, but chances are that he will be behind, will have learned things differently, and in the case of international adoption, will have limited English skills.

Second, don’t worry too much about doing formal “school” for the first few months. Just play! Read together, sing, dance, go for walks, plant flowers, go shopping, visit the park, go on picnics, cook, do art projects, play games, draw pictures, watch movies and just get to know your new child. In our case,... more

I came across this news story this morning: Children Bad for Planet

Having large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and failing to reuse plastic bags, says a report to be published today by a green think tank.

This scares me. China’s one child policy, for example, is grounded in similar concerns about the negative effects of overpopulation, but I don’t think most people could look at China’s decades-long experiment as evidence of the wisdom of limiting population. On the surface,... more

As I wrote in part one, I believe that homeschooling can be a great option for older adopted children, particularly when they come from an orphanage environment in another country. I think it deserves real consideration when parents begin to contemplate what their child’s education will be like once they arrive in their new home.

My very favorite reason for homeschooling our new 8 year old daughter is that it has given her the chance to do myriad things as part of “school”... more

When we adopted our daugher, Lulu, she was nearly eight years old but had had very little formal education in her birth country of Haiti. We knew from prior visits with her that she couldn’t write (and didn’t draw well), and that she couldn’t do basic math or even recognize letters and numbers. We also knew that on top of her limited academic experience, the language barrier would be an issue. During our adoption wait, we began to give some thought to homeschooling her as a way to help her catch up. I worried a little about how she’d feel being the only “big kid” not going to school, but over time, we started giving heavy consideration to homeschooling all our kids.

About this... more