PART 1: RAIN, RAIN, AND MORE RAIN
OUR "POND" OUT FRONT
My garden is sure growing, but some of it is taking a real beating!
Another pic of the front yard.
It has been raining in our area for 16 straight days. We've received more rain in a consecutive period than ever before for our area in history. We are on the verge of hitting our average ANNUAL rainfall total in the next couple of days.
Over the last few years, Oklahoma has experienced great drought in the summertime, going tons of days without any moisture. Now, when we are used to 90s/100s and dry, we're in the 70s with no end in sight to the rain. Swimming pools are closed, lakes and rivers are out of their banks. All we hear on the news is about flooding, crazy people who risk driving into high water, and the forecast of more rain.
Our yard is beginning to look like a pond. We're a little worried about our septic system. Some people's trees are even being uprooted and toppled over because the ground is so saturated.
Today, Z asked me when it was going to stop raining. It was a good object lesson on Noah and the Ark. We tried to imagine how it must have been back then and were grateful that God will never flood the earth again. I know our sunny days will be coming soon.
PART 2: GOTCHA DAY ?S
Our first "Gotcha Day" is coming up soon. We were officially declared L and El's parent on the 4th of July. We didn't actually get them until July 14, that's the date on all of the paperwork. Therefore, I have some questions:
1. Is July 4 or July 14 our Gotcha Day? (We think July 4. )
2. How do you/will you celebrate your Gotcha Day, especially the first one?
I wanted to do it up big and thought it would be easy because it was a day everyone gets together with friends and family. However, the problem is...everyone gets together with friends and family. Any ideas? I know it will be a fun day no matter what. I know they will think the fireworks are for them. I did find out today that I think my parents might come down to help us celebrate!
We celebrate the day we actually got our son in our arms as Gotcha Day. For our daughter, it will be the day we brought her home because we visited several times before she was really ours. For now, our tradition is to have a special family dinner. For some children, "Gotcha Day" isn't really a happy day and they tend to be miserable the whole day, not even knowing why. That's why I keep it low-key, with family only, so they'll never feel like they have to live up to any expectations. Gotcha day is a time to celebrate new life and a time to greive what is missed. You might want to keep this in mind over the years. If it seems like every 4th of July is miserable for the kids, you might want to switch to the later date so that every can enjoy Independance Day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Early Gotcha Day! (Just incase I forget.)
On second thought, we might need to change our duaghter's gotcha day. The day we brought her home was not neccessarily happy. We might need to celebrate the day the committee decided she was ours, instead. Thanks for causing me to think about this!!
ReplyDeleteWe will celebrate ours on September 5th. We had court the 4th (Labor day) but didn't get the boy until the day after. We decided that it would be the day we walked out of the orphanage as a family.
ReplyDeleteI originally thought of doing some big party for it, but his birthday is a month and a 1/2 later. I figure gotcha day will be a family event.
We are using the day we picked them up from the orphanage. Now for K that is the same day as court (10 days were waived) for O it was 8 days later (lucked out and got out a little early). I havent' decided what we will do to celebrate, but I plan on making it a big, humdigger of an event for them.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for their first 4th of July! That is what this country is all about.
wow, our weather is opposite. we have draught like conditions. i'm worried about people letting off fireworks and having the field behind our house catch fire!
ReplyDeleteI think you just have to pick which day you want to celebrate as Gotcha Day. I think most of us end up with several days that could qualify as such. With Slugger, the day we were matched, the day he learned about me, the day we met, and the actual Gotcha Day are all pretty important dates!
ReplyDeleteI'm not an adoptive mom, but I have two thoughts....
ReplyDeleteFirst.... I LOVE the fact that they were independent of the suppressive environment on our independences day! And there will always be a big party with fireworks because of it!
Second.... they may want a special day for them. But isn't that their birthday? (I'm REALLY not trying to be insensitive, I guess I don't get the gotcha part of being an annual celebration.) I would like to think I would celebrate every day as a mom...bio or adopted.
I think you get to choose. Since the 4th is such a big holiday anyway, I might opt for a family day on the 14th.
ReplyDeleteWho knows? I'm still working on terminology that I like. While the whole (more domestic, I think, than ia) match ya, metcha, gotcha is catchy...I just don't like it. To me it's too...snatchy and grabby. Family day doesn't have the same zing...I know this is just a personal preference and am not out to change the world. I just need to find something that fits me...and, eventually, us.