Camp to Belong

I haven’t written about adoption since last August when Iris decided to end our contact.  I guess you could say that I’m “off” adoption these days.  With no contact with Liam’s Mom either, I needed to step away from adoption topics and let myself heal a little bit.

But adoption is still  a part of our lives every day (and always will be), whether I want to think about it or not. 

Just the other day Liam asked out of the blue if he looks like his older brother “C.”   I hate not being able to answer those questions for him, and it is one of the reasons I had really wanted his adoption to be open.   The best that I can answer is that I think he probably does.   The few photos we have seen of “C” from when he was younger have a  very remarkable resemblance to Liam.  In fact the similarities between “K” and all her children is uncanny.

I think for Liam one of the hardest parts of his adoption is knowing that he has siblings, but not being able to know them.  I’m sure that any child growing up as an only child has fantasies about having siblings to play with and have around.  I know that I did.  So for him it’s part fantasy but with a smidge of “what if” reality.

While I may be “off” adoption, I still follow a few blogs on the topic.  One of my current favorites is “Love is not Pie”, written by an adoptee who is also an adoptive mom who is a great advocate for open adoption.  She recently shared a video and link to a non-profit group called “Camp to Belong”

From their website:

CAMP TO BELONG, (CTB), an international non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, has been actively reuniting brothers and sisters placed in separate foster, adoptive or kinship homes through Summer Camp Programs and year round events since 1995. Founded in Las Vegas by Lynn Price (biography), Camp To Belong Summer Camp was created to offer siblings in foster care and other out of home care the opportunity to create lifetime memories while reunited at camp.        

Siblings may not have the opportunity to read bedtime stories together at night, have breakfast together, cheer for each other at school functions or share precious holidays – all the things that typical siblings get to do each day. Siblings are often taken for granted. Yet, the sibling relationship can be our longest relationship in life.

What an amazing idea!  I can only imagine the joy Liam would have at the idea of being able to spend a week with his big brother!   Siblings are often a forgotten part of adoption.  Unfortunately since we don’t have contact with Liam’s Mom, I don’t see him ever being able to do something like this. 

But I can continue to wish and hope for him.

Oscar's 2012 - Mexican edition

This year for our Oscar feast we will be doing Mexican food!  Here is the menu, with some definitions below. 

Watch Today's the Day I Cook for the recipes over the next week or so.

Menu:
• Tomato and Black Bean Tamales
• Tostados de Carne Asada
• Turkey Mole
• Carne de Cerdo en Salsa Verde
• Mexican Rice
• Chicken Empanadas
• Fajita Salad
• Guacamole and Tortilla Chips
• Salsa and Tortilla Chips

• Tres Leche Cake
• Incan Mousse

Definitions:

• Tamales: A Mexican dish of seasoned meat wrapped in cornmeal dough and steamed or baked in corn husks. 
• Tostados: A Mexican deep-fried corn-flour pancake topped with a seasoned mixture of beans, ground meat, and vegetables. 
• Carne : ground meat 
• Asada: roasted, grilled, broiled 
• Mole: A highly spiced Mexican sauce made chiefly from chili peppers and chocolate, served with meat. 
• Cerdo: pork 
• Salsa Verde: A Mexican sauce of finely chopped onion, garlic, coriander, parsley, and hot peppers 
• Empanadas: A Spanish or Latin American pastry turnover filled with a variety of savory ingredients and baked or fried. 
• Fajita: A dish of Mexican origin consisting of strips of spiced beef or chicken, chopped vegetables, and grated cheese, wrapped in a soft tortilla. 
• Tres Leche: 3 milk

Eye Surgery Update

We finally had Liam's 6 week post-op appointment today.  Yes, his surgery was 15 weeks ago... but what can you do.

They have declared the surgery 100% successful!  His eyes do not turn at all with his glasses on, and his right eye only turns slightly without the glasses, which was expected.  He doesn't even need an update to his prescription for his farsightedness right now.

All of this means that we are done with the ophthalmology team at the children's hospital and he can go back to having regular yearly check ups with our family eye doctor.  

What a relief! 

Drumming

Liam had to build a drum for school. With some a lot of help from Mama, he has a nice 2 foot tall drum made out of a cardboard tube used for pouring concrete posts and a piece of a reusable Sobey's bag to make the drum head.  We fashioned some drum sticks out of straws and rubber balls.

It sounds pretty good!

Daring Kitchen - Patties

Blog-checking lines:The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties!

We have several pattie recipes that we love.  Zucchini, corn, potato....  For this month's challenge I decided to make 2 different patties for one meal:  Crab cakes and Potato patties.  The potato ones are a repeat from the Daring Kitchen Tea challenge.  We loved them so much that we have added them to our regular repertoire.

I decided on crab cakes (something I don't even normally think that I like) at Hilary's suggestion because fresh Jonah crabs were on sale.  

 While the end result was amazing, the amount of work to clean 5 fresh crabs, to only yield enough meat for a half-dozen crab cakes, was too much.  Next time I would use frozen crab meat.

The potato patties are simply a mixture of potato, green onion, wasabé and horseradish.

The crab cakes were only covered in Panko crumbs, while the potato ones have flour then egg then Panko crumbs.

The both fried up at the same time making it easy to serve the meal all together without having to keep anything warm.

These tasted so go on their own that they didn't need any kind of sauce or dip to go with them.

Another successful challenge!

Toe-Toe Covers

My SIL bought me these lovely sandal socks for Christmas.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to wear them, as the idea of something between my toes gave me pause. But I tried them on today and they were quite lovely!  I don't think I'm ready for flip flops, but I will certainly wear the socks again.

My new hair cut

It was time for change.