Catching Up

The Princess Party:

In her glory with 7 little friends, Malía couldn't have been happier to celebrate her 4th Birthday.  None of the prinesses knew each other, but they knew Malia, and those of you that know my little social butterfly, know she soon had everyone happily playing tea party, rolling play-doh and helping her blow out the candles (three times b/c you KNOW it has to be done in Portuguese and French, too :) like they'd all been friends forever.
She got lots of cool gifts, but true to form, most of it is still in boxes; it was the friends and their presence that mattered to her. :) 
We lit Enat's Candle and Malia wished, unprompted, for Little Sista as she blew out her candles. It was lovely to have so many applauding her wish :)

Note to self:  Yes, it was fun, but next year let someone else (maybe Colasanti's?) deal with the mess :)


The Mama Party:

Mama was honoured for 25 yrs of teaching with this school board (in actuality, it has been 27) and Malia made a splash when she ran up to hug my legs as the Director and Superintendant were presenting me with my certificate. I think I was the only candidate who got a belly laugh instead of a smattering of applause :)

The Parent-Teacher "Party":

Malia was pronounced "one of the few strongest in French, Faith and Math", and "loved by everyone", HOWEVER my little miss needs to a) wait her turn instead of blurting out answers b) quit dawdling when putting on shoes, coat, eating etc and c) basically keeping her little motor mouth shut, especially at nap time.
Oh, and bribery doesn't work with her. She out negotiates the teacher.
I am glad, though, that her teacher didn't even try to suggest I send Malia 5 days a week for "consistency". I would never take Fridays away from my parents, and certainly not for J/k!!
We ARE working on the listening-  it drives mama batty, too, so I can imagine how Mme D. feels :)

The Hoping to Have a Reason to Party:

This one has been hard, these days.
I finally got it out of our agency that I was NOT in the matched group about to get referrals, though I had been sooo sure I was-  no real explanation, just that I was not, and so had to get going on updating my HomeStudy b/c it expires in January.  The thought of working with my old AP again, of having to deal with her abrasive manner and suspicious nature finally got to be too much-  I wasn't sleeping, I was over-eating etc and so, rather than endure her in my house, ever again, I chose to switch APs. I found one 2 hrs away, based on other parents' recommendations and began a crazy 2 week "battle" to switch over. Basically, my old AP was hurt and mightily pissed at the dismissal and wasn't going down without a fight. BUT, in the end, she went away and, albeit grudgingly, did say she continued to support my 2nd adoption. The latter was in a call with my new AP that is Ministry required when a switch happens.
And, so now, back to our regularly scheduled program of WAITING.
According to the database on the yahoo board I belong to, there is only ONE little girl referal ahead of me, but referrals are coming in out of order all the time, so who really knows...
This week has been amazing with loads of families being matched with children, and I just pray that our turn is coming; that our Christmas gift will be the answer to this prayer.
I found the cutest coordinating Big Sister/Little Sister outfit the other day and bought it.  Let it be a concrete symbol that we are READY OVER HERE!!!! (and btw, the doll, plus coordinating outfits Malia and her dolly have was her b-day gift from my parents. The doll's name is "Sheila" on its certificate, and Mal wants to name her sis "Shaila"-  hmmmm!!! :)