Horse camp in Colorado

Anyone interested in attending or volunteering at a horse camp for children ages 7-14 from foster/adopt families! The camp will be held in Kim, Colorado at the brand new Mustang Pavilion July 10-14. The cost is $125/child. There are only 15-20 slots for kids and a need for 10 horse handlers! This will be a great opportunity for these children to gain leadership skills using horses, a low ropes course and other team and individual activities! Therapist Dr. Cheri Meadowlark founder of Bridge Building Youth and Family Services (http://bbyf.webs.com/) will conduct the camp based on her Biblical world view, personal life experience and extensive background working with horses and foster/adopt children. Right now our biggest need is for volunteer horse handlers, ages 16 and up, to spend the week with these children. Horse handlers don't have to be professionals but some experience is helpful. This is not a riding camp, it is a camp to assist foster/adopt youth in building relationships and using their unique life’s experiences to become leaders.
If you know of anyone interested in an opportunity to serve foster/adopt children in this way please put them in touch with us: Ruth Long - roolou@ hotmail.com or David Long - dellong@hotmail.com 970-302-7911 Thank you!

Horse Camp Under the Stars flyer Colorado.docx

open ·

download

The Dark Matter of Love

The Dark Matter of Love

A movie you can download and watch regarding adoption and the tricky issue of love.
I am intrigued by this and am interested to see what it says. Maybe you would like to do so as well.

Here is the post from Rainbow Kids:

  The Dark Matter of Love

Heard about it yet? This documentary is making waves in the adoption community. Watch a trailer, download the movie, and read an interesting commentary on Huff Post. I'll be watching as well.

New adoption book:

For Immediate Release

Announcing New Book for Adoptive Families

ZIMMERMAN, MN, February 1, 2013 — Adoptive Parent Intentional Parent: A Formula for Building & Maintaining Your Child’s Safety Net by Stacy Manning is an invaluable resource for all adoptive families. The author's breakthrough concept of intentionally creating a safety net to help adopted children heal combines the value of knowing yourself, the power of knowledge, specific tools and techniques that work in everyday life, and the keys to maintaining the net over time. This book is unique in that it arms parents with hands-on, everyday tools to use, along with the knowledge needed to help build a safety net. “Every child who has been adopted has suffered a breech in attachment; no adopted child is exempt,” states author, Stacy Manning.  Manning offers tools, knowledge, support, and hope to all adoptive families. 

About the Author

Author Stacy Manning is a mom of six teenagers, three biological and three adopted, and is a post-adoption family coach and educator.  She has worked with hundreds of families with adopted children, including those struggling with difficult behaviors due to trauma, RAD, FAS, and grief. Stacy specializes in empowering parents to be the healing force their child needs with education, support, and tools to use in everyday life. Stacy works one-on-one with families across the United States, coaching them via phone, Skype, or in person, teaches workshops/webinars, and offers training to families in the process of adoption.   Stacy believes that adoptive parents are their child’s best chance at healing and her goal is to teach them how to be intentional parents who are armed with the specific knowledge and tools they need to best help their child.    

Contact

For more information about Adoptive Parent Intentional Parent: A Formula for Building & Maintaining Your Child’s Safety Net, please visit www.tohavehope.com or contact Hope Connections at (763) 633-1477.

On Amazon

23 and me DNA testing

I have just learned of this really neat tool that can be used for genetic testing for inherited health risks as well as family history genetic mapping. Personal DNA testing. This is a really cool tool for adopted kids who have no family history. In one case I heard of the family actually learned that the kids they had adopted at two different times were actually relatives. Pretty cool! It could really benefit your child as they grow up with medical precautions. Filling out the 'family' form will be less in the unknown category with this useful test.  I just looked at the site and had to post it here as a great resource. Check it out.
https://www.23andme.com/howitworks/

From their site:

Our Technology and Standards

23andMe is a DNA analysis service providing information and tools for individuals to learn about and explore their DNA. We use the Illumina OmniExpress Plus Genotyping BeadChip (shown here). In addition to the variants already included on the chip by Illumina, we've included our own, customized set of variants relating to conditions and traits that are interesting. Technical information on the performance of the chip can be found on Illumina's website.
All of the laboratory testing for 23andMe is done in a CLIA-certified laboratory.

note to readers

Well, if you have read this much, you will note that I have not been updating much. There are a few reasons for this. Most of the info here does not change much. I have compiled a lot and more might be in excess. Maybe. I will continue to post when I find useful information. I will also add to the links.
Second reason, my four kids are growing and as that happens a mom's energy is directed elsewhere. I just don't have the time to surf for more helpful info. Of course, when I find things that I am looking for, I will post them here so others can use them too.
So, this blog will remain here for those who may need the information. I will post new things upon occasion. So, if you are looking for something or know someone who is, take a look here. It is likely that you will find something you are looking for.

care for uncircumcised boys

Well, most of us who adopt boys from Ethiopia have to deal with this issue at some point. Most boys are not circumcised in Ethiopia for one reason or another. This is a great article addressing a fairly common yet unnecessary practice in medical offices here in the US.
It is a good lesson.

word cards for communication with verbal children

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-obhHD6VxLWYjNwZkt3czByV0U/edit

This is the link to the word cards that we used in ET to communicate with our sons. They have a picture on them and the English words. I suggest laminating them and then when you get there ask for the phrase or word in your child's native language. It gives you a way to communicate. I put these on a lanyard and wore them to use when communicating important things like: use the bathroom, go to sleep, are you hungry, what do you want, give a hug, etc.
This was really helpful and I would suggest some sort of communication tool for those adopting children over 18 months. This worked with 3 year olds.

Our most important words:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-obhHD6VxLWOFlJMHlPMWNqVnM/edit

Words and phrases:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-obhHD6VxLWcnZmMnNGNHBJbDA/edit

Paperwork once you are home: return of documents

6. Return of Documents. forms here. This is how you get the papers back which you turned in at the airport immigration (sealed packet from the US embassy in Addis) when you came into the US with your child. It is called the G-884 Return of Original Documentation. It is FREE!

If you do elect to do this they will not be in any file anywhere official anymore. Therefore you can not retrieve them later should they be lost. Of course USCIS will still have all their pertinent immigration info entered in the system. But, original paper work/documents will not be. 


There is not much in there ordinarily. If you were not given the Ethiopian court papers or the documents when you went to immigration in Ethiopia, you can not retrieve them. Ask for copies then.

Paperwork once you are home: Passport

5. Some families get a passport (link form and procedure) for their kids right away.  :) We are not getting these until we plan to go abroad. Not anytime soon for us. See above note from SS administration.  This SHOULD prove citizenship, but has been problematic for many. Therefore, we are not going this route. In order to keep it valid you will have to personally see to it being renewed. Will they do this themselves as a young adult? You can not guarantee that. I think this is just too risky. To apply for the passport your child will need to have one of these documents. (this is from the US passport office) :

You can prove your US citizenship with one of the following:

• Original Birth Certificate (if born in the United States);
• or Old (undamaged) passport;
• or Original Certificate of Citizenship or FS-240, DS-1350 ( if born outside the US );
• or Original Certificate of Naturalization issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Office.

Paperwork once you are home: social secruity number

4. SS#. (form and explanation of procedure) This is free!!!! Yippee!!! If you do this before the validation and or citizenship you will have to re do the name, if you are changing that. You can get a temporary # like a person on a work visa can get, this is the ATIN -link here-. You have to finalize it after the validation. Some offices will give you a hard time about it and will try to get you to have the cert. of cit. first and validation too. You don't have to do it this way, but we have opted to wait until last so that we have all the needed papers the first time through. We hope anyway. This also will not prove citizenship. If you go after validation but before Certificate of Citizenship or after *Certificate of Citizenship* this is what you need:
*US birth certificate (this is not going to do you any good as it is a mere formality and considered a "souvenir" paper as it is only a certificate saying your child was born in another country). Useless. Sometimes they take it and other times they do not. Especially if there is a name or date of birth change from USCIS info (pre COC).
*US passport or *Certificate of Citizenship* (COC) I have heard of people being refused with only a passport if the info is different than that of USCIS (pre COC).
* my driver's license
*a filled out SS card application
*validation court decree (if you changed names or date of birth and it no longer matches USCIS be prepared for them to reject the application until you get a COC or a new COC)

This should take 14 days. There is the possibility that they will have to verify your child's paperwork with USCIS and that will take an additional 14 days. We have that issue, likely because we changed the date of birth and we DO have the Certificate of Citizenship.

Notes on SS#:
While some have been refused a SS# based on not yet having the COC, you should be able to legally do this with a passport.
The birth certificate you get with the validation is a certificate of foreign birth and some offices will not accept it as a birth certificate. Many will make an acception if it comes WITH the validation.

*“Your Social Security Number and Card,” available at:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10002.pdf*

* *Citizenship or immigration status: We can accept only certain
documents as proofof U.S. citizenship. These include: a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. consular
report of birth, U.S. passport, Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate
of Citizenship.

*“Proof of Citizenship / Naturalization,” available at:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/hlp/isba/10/hlp-isba005-ctzn.htm***

We can accept most documents that show you were born in the U.S. If you are
a U.S. Citizen born outside the U.S., we need to see a document such as a:

  - U.S. consular report of birth,
  - U.S. passport,
  - Certificate of Naturalization, or
  - Certificate of Citizenship.