A Day in Medieval Times

Mark's class (and chaperone me) went on a field trip yesterday to a museum that had a huge Medieval Times display. There were 21 stations for groups of 4-5 kids to go to and do all these neat activities. They have been studying this for a couple of months now and the kids are all fascinated with castles and armour etc. so this trip was a riot for them. Here's Mark writing with a feather pen.

The helmet he made.

They call this (above) chain mail. And believe me it's heavy! I thought the poor kids hair was going to get caught and then I thought I was going to have to rip his ears off to get the thing off of him!

This is a catapult. Mark made one last year for science that shot farther than this one did! There were 3 full classes in this museum and it was organized perfectly. No group was on top of each other and it was fairly quiet considering there had to have been close to 60 kids in there.

I still needed a nice glass of wine when I got home!

I've been reading some blogs where some people have been feeling angry about questions/comments they have received since returning home from China. I remember feeling the same way, and honestly it DOES go away. You forget that your daughter looks distinctively not like you because your relationship together is exactly as it's supposed to be - mother and daughter. You will soon not even notice the second glances, that at first were so obvious to you. Eventually the comments might even make you laugh. Like the one we got in Costco one day. The lady asked me if Jade was my daughter. When I said yes, she said "Do you know she looks Chinese" Honestly, it was so stupid it made me laugh. Most people assume she's my daughter, saying right away "Your daughter is beautiful"

Tomorrow is our 5 year anniversary of Gotcha Day. 5 whole years have passed and Jade has felt like our daughter right from the day we got our referral picture. We did not need to touch, hold and smell her to varify that we loved her, we knew as soon as we opened our package and saw her face. It's similar to when you deliver a baby....you loved it while you were pregnant but as soon as you lay eyes on it it is immediate love - without the need to touch, hold or smell it to varify that love. Being pregnant is different in the sense that you, as a mother, change. Your body is not your own for 9 months. Everything you do for 9 months has an effect on that child's life for 80 or so years. So there is a difference there, but I feel the same amount of love and admiration for both my biological and adopted children. They are mine, however I got them.

I often think of Jade's birth family, especially around her birthday, Gotcha Day and Mother and Father's day. I wish there was a way to let them know how happy and smart and creative she is. I wish I could share the funny things, like I do with you, with them. I try to imagine how they felt putting her in front of a fruit market. Were they watching to see if someone picked her up? Were they crying? Just recently, I've wondered if they've had to do this twice. Do they wonder where their 2 sweet girls are? They don't know if they are dead or alive. How can they function all day? We are truly blessed with our girl...she is one of the 4 people who completes us as a family.