Florida with Gigi and Grandad - Pictures

Sorting shells after a walk on the beach:



The Sarasota Aquarium, including the sea lion show:



Ringling Circus Museum and Estate




Fun with Papi, mini-golf and pool time!



The Big Cat Habitat:

Valentine's Day

We had a brief family ceremony at 6 a.m. as Chris had to go to work and the girls and I needed to get ready to go to Florida -- hence the slightly tired vibe of these photos.

Go Seton Hall Pirates!

Once it stopped snowing, we were able to get over to Seton Hall for a women's basketball game, which gave us a break from our cabin fever. Go Pirates! They were playing the top ranked team, Notre Dame, so they lost, but they put up a good fight, especially during the first half. We got a picture of Fer and our neighbor and friend Sofia with the Seton Hall mascot!

Snowstorm Nemo - "It's a Family Effort"

All hands on deck to deal with the snow -- Fer and Wendy with the shovels, Papi clearing out the garage so the car could be inside, and Mami making hot chocolate and dinner for the workers! As Fer said, "It's a family effort."

Super Bowl Sunday

Hard to believe it's been a year since seeing the Sirota Clarks on last Super Bowl Sunday, but we had a wonderful time as always watching the Super Bowl together, enjoying a delicious buffet of hors d'oevres and snacks, and indoctrinating the children into the joys of gambling -- just kidding. We did do our usual boxes betting method to keep things exciting, and one of the kids won 3 out of four chances. They ended the evening with gymnastics in the hallway, and a good time was had by all.

Clinton Orchestra and Chorus Concert

Fer started taking violin in September, and both girls joined the chorus this year. It was great to see them in their Winter Concert performance!

Safe Enough to Get Sick

We reached another milestone this past weekend -- on Saturday Wendy woke up quite sick (with a bad headache and cold). For most parents this would not be something to feel positively about in any way, and of course I did feel sad for her that she wasn't feeling well physically, but looked at through another lens, it spoke of huge progress emotionally. In the more than 3 years that we have known the girls, they have never been sick. Other parents have kind of stared at me blankly when I have told them that Fer and Wendy have never missed a day of school due to illness, we have never been to the doctor for a sick visit, nothing. In recent months we have seen such change from our younger one as far as trust and bonding and connection to us, and it really seemed to me that on some level she finally felt safe enough to get sick and therefore vulnerable and to allow us to take care of her. She rested at home all day Saturday, missing all her activities that she usually greatly enjoys, and we spent the day shuttling tea and soup, setting up the steam machine, and generally coddling and caring for her.
Interestingly, I posted about this with my Facebook group of other moms who have adopted older children, and it came back pretty much unanimous that their children as well had taken quite some time after being adopted before getting sick, and it is apparently a very common dynamic -- the kids in some unconscious way shut down their physical responses to pain and discomfort until they feel secure to some level with their new family. So, though we certainly were sorry that Wendy wasn't well, we were so glad to be given the gift of being able to nurture her through her first real illness in the time we have known her.