For T.J.'s Birthday, we asked for donations to the Lenawee County Humane Society, in lieu of birthday gifts. T.J. collected $120 in Birthday donations. The kids were so excited to take all of the money to the Humane Society. Our Humane Society is a no-kill shelter and it is in danger of closing, so it felt nice to help out in some small way.
There was a cute black kitten there named Boo, that I wanted so badly to take home with us. Jili is trying to understand why the "puppies and kitties" don't have homes, and why the little kitty named "Boo" was left in a picnic basket with his sibling, "Yogi". Hopefully, someday she will have the fortitude to understand why she was abandoned in China, and use that compassion to help other orphans, human or furry.
Thanks to everyone who donated to the Lenawee County Humane Society. Every little bit counts, and it gave my children a wonderful lesson on giving and making a difference in their community!
Sincerely,
Jill :)
This blog is intended for our family, friends and other adoptive parents, as we share our daughter's adoption story from Gaoyou, China to Michigan, and our Faith journey through God’s Amazing Grace. *******ALL RIGHTS RESERVED*******
"When life gives you rain, God gives you rainbows." ~ Unknown Author
Friday, June 17, 2011
First Bullying Incident
We had our first bullying incident at the park in late May. Jili's hat came off, exposing her scarred, partially bald head. A boy, probably in fourth grade, starting yelling, "Oh my God, her head scares me! Get away from her!!" He proceeded to encourage other older children to run from her. Of course, I was right there, and I snapped at him immediately and retorted: "You should know better. She's just a little girl." He kept lingering in the area, and I watched him. My glare apparently scared him so much he started stomping his feet, saying, "You're scaring me lady! Why are you looking at me like that?" I said, "I've got my eye on you, kid, because you were being mean to my little girl. Where are your parents?"
Then, he ran to his mom and tattled on himself. I walked up with Jili at my side, and explained the comments that he had said to her. His mother told him that his actions were inappropriate, and said, "I talked to you about not doing that. How would you feel if somebody teased you?" I thanked her for her talking to her son, and we walked off.
I knew that day would come. I just did not know how I would respond. I know that I will not always be there to protect my daughter, but I hope that I will possess the strength to teach her to be proud of who she is and to be resilient against unkindness or ignorance. Despite the fact that Jili was unaware that she was being teased, Jili and I had a conversation about bullies. I told her to never cry if someone says something mean to her. To walk away. To say, "Whatever, I don't listen to mean kids." Of course, we role played, with me being the bully. I said, "I don't like like your shirt...hat...hair." Jili said back to me, "I don't care what you think YOU STUPID KID!" Wow, maybe she can take care of herself after all.
I am forever looking for ways to help my children and my students learn about adversity, compassion and empathy. I am on a path to discovering how I can do more, as I write, as I parent, and especially as I teach. I do have an idea for my book to bring everything into the forefront, but only pray that God can enlighten my perception and bring it all into focus for me.
I am considering setting a non-profit organization in the future, with a similar interest. It is a common interest in my life that keep resurfacing, and am I trying to decide which path to take. If there is anyone out there that has experience with setting up a non-profit organization, please contact me privately at: jillkoeppe@yahoo.com
Jill :)
Fortitude: Strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage - Merriam Webster's Dictionary
Then, he ran to his mom and tattled on himself. I walked up with Jili at my side, and explained the comments that he had said to her. His mother told him that his actions were inappropriate, and said, "I talked to you about not doing that. How would you feel if somebody teased you?" I thanked her for her talking to her son, and we walked off.
I knew that day would come. I just did not know how I would respond. I know that I will not always be there to protect my daughter, but I hope that I will possess the strength to teach her to be proud of who she is and to be resilient against unkindness or ignorance. Despite the fact that Jili was unaware that she was being teased, Jili and I had a conversation about bullies. I told her to never cry if someone says something mean to her. To walk away. To say, "Whatever, I don't listen to mean kids." Of course, we role played, with me being the bully. I said, "I don't like like your shirt...hat...hair." Jili said back to me, "I don't care what you think YOU STUPID KID!" Wow, maybe she can take care of herself after all.
I am forever looking for ways to help my children and my students learn about adversity, compassion and empathy. I am on a path to discovering how I can do more, as I write, as I parent, and especially as I teach. I do have an idea for my book to bring everything into the forefront, but only pray that God can enlighten my perception and bring it all into focus for me.
I am considering setting a non-profit organization in the future, with a similar interest. It is a common interest in my life that keep resurfacing, and am I trying to decide which path to take. If there is anyone out there that has experience with setting up a non-profit organization, please contact me privately at: jillkoeppe@yahoo.com
Jill :)
Fortitude: Strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage - Merriam Webster's Dictionary
Jili Updates and Koeppe Happenings
I have been so AWOL on blogging lately that I am not sure if anyone if checks my blog anymore, but I will do it anyways ~ especially for you family and friends that lurk and don't comment. :)
Over the last three months, things have really started to settle down in our household. My work schedule in Ypsilanti was longer than when I worked in Ann Arbor, and my commute a little longer too (45 minutes). During this harsh winter, many commutes to work exceeded 90 minutes. I miss my Ann Arbor coworkers so much!!! The Ypsilanti people are really great too, and have really made me feel welcome.
T.J. also did soccer and swimming this spring, and Jili is eager to do the same.
Scott had an emergency gall bladder removal in early April. He left three hours before the end of his 24 hour shift at the fire department, and drove himself to the Emergency room. He never takes sick time, so everyone knew something was serious!! Nine hours later, he had it removed and he was home for four weeks, much to his dismay. However, the unwanted time off turned out to be a blessing, as it proved to be a much-needed Father-Daughter bonding time.
When Jili first came home from China in February of 2010, she was really attached to me, and did not understand that she had two parents; and didn't have to choose between us. Nonetheless, Scott was really patient with her, and allowed her the space and trust that she needed to understand that he was not going to take her away from her mom. Slowly, over months, she got closer to her Dad, but the time home with him for a month was a really much-needed father-daughter time. Now, when he is gone, she says, "Where's Dad? He's really taking a long time." She is trying to understand the firefighter tour of duty shifts. Now, she begs for shoulder rides, rocks with him in the rocking chair, and plays with him more than ever. She even lets Dad put her to bed - without delay - when I am out. It was really a blessing in disguise.
This spring, I was able to take Jili to see Dora the Explorer (Treasure Island-Pirate Adventure) on stage at The Croswell Opera house in Adrian, MI. She loved it. We were actually scheduled to go the day that my husband had his gall bladder removed. However, they were kind enough to give me tickets to another show, due to the circumstances. We ended up going to see it twice. After the second show, Jili was able to go up on stage with Dora and the other cast members and have her pictures taken. A young cast member was dressed as Issa, and invited her to sit next to him. She liked that.
Memorial Day Weekend was fun. We went to the parade in town and Jili wore her new Hello Kitty flag shirt. Later, we planted our garden in the very hot, hot sun. We also made our tadpole pond. Some of the them already have four legs now. Every year, we do our little frog pond, about 36 inches in diameter. As the tadpoles metamorphis into frogs, they just hop down to our creek. We also did butterflies this spring. We were contemplating raising praying mantises, but after a few surprise youtube videos, we discovered that they might grow up and devour our hummingbirds; plus T.J. was afraid one might escape in the house and eat his hamster, Sun Sun, or eat the crickets in his bug garden. No praying mantises.
We did lose another hamster, Felix, this winter/spring. My kids are really accepting the cycle of life. Sunny is our LAST hamster, and she is blind in one eye, so the kids give her extra pampering and feed her fresh nuts, fruits, and veggies by hand. Jili often asks, "Mom, why our animals don't live a long time?" I try to explain that animals don't live as long before they go to Heaven, so we need to treat them special every day, and my kids do.
That's my motto: Live and appreciate each day to the fullest, especially with those that you love!
Jill
Writing My Book!!!
What a busy year it has been! I got my first, long-awaited, teaching job last December. Hence, blogging and finishing my book - that I hoped to finish last August - took a back seat. However, I have come to understand that there are no such thing as coincidences in life, for the ending to my book was yet to unfold.
Today was my last working day of the school year, and I am looking forward to spending my first summer devoted entirely to my family, and concluding my book on The Journey to Jiliang.
One of my aspirations is to advocate for special needs adoptions, or differently-abled children, as I prefer to say. In fact, there are so many would-be adoptive parents that would bring children with special considerations into forever families if they had the financial means that adoption demands.
Writing has become one of my greatest joys, and I can only hope and pray for the ability to pay forward all of the love and support that was shown to my family throughout Jili's adoption process and heart surgery this past year and a half. I promise to write something amazing and heartfelt.
Tomorrow, I will post some updates and new photos. Until then, blessings to you all.
Jill :)
Today was my last working day of the school year, and I am looking forward to spending my first summer devoted entirely to my family, and concluding my book on The Journey to Jiliang.
One of my aspirations is to advocate for special needs adoptions, or differently-abled children, as I prefer to say. In fact, there are so many would-be adoptive parents that would bring children with special considerations into forever families if they had the financial means that adoption demands.
Writing has become one of my greatest joys, and I can only hope and pray for the ability to pay forward all of the love and support that was shown to my family throughout Jili's adoption process and heart surgery this past year and a half. I promise to write something amazing and heartfelt.
Tomorrow, I will post some updates and new photos. Until then, blessings to you all.
Jill :)
Monday, May 9, 2011
What a Close Call!
We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday as a family, since Scott had to work on Sunday. On the actual Mother's Day, my son woke up at 7:20 a.m., dying to give me my Mother's Day gift. Of course, I ordered him back to bed until a decent waking hour. Finally, the kids both woke up at 9:00 a.m., and presented me with two new birdfeeders and bags of birdseed - I was so surprised!
Later, I took the kids to Bob Evans, thinking it would be reasonable and kid-friendly. It was pretty packed, but the wait was only about 10 minutes, so we decided to look at some of the Bob Evan's food items in the checkout area. A maple-scented candle caught my eye, and I pulled one off the shelf to smell. Jili moved from her original spot to test it out with me. Just then, another male customer decided to try one too. He pulled a candle off the approximate 6 foot shelf, but he grabbed it by the lid. Sure enough, it came down hard on T.J.'s head! I was so upset, yet tried to be calm. My poor six-year old son didn't even cry; although a nice "goose egg" swelled up on his head in no time.
There was a sign posted on the shelf, stating not to pick the candles up by their lids. Subsequently, I asked the cashier to kindly move the candles to a lower shelf so another child wouldn't be clunked with a large, glass candle with an unsecure lid. Then, all I could think about was how Jili had been standing in that same spot seconds before it dropped, and how T.J. was hit in the exact same spot where Jili's skull contained no bone. I was so sad for my little boy, who showed no effect from the blow to the head until last night, when he requested an ice pack and Tylenol.
The last day has left me sad that someone hurt my baby, although not intentionally. The other part of my is thankful that it was not Jili, because the situation would be so much different, possibly grave. An angel was certainly looking out for my baby girl.
After taking all of the necessary and unnecessary precautions, I can say without a doubt that T.J. is absolutely fine. Today, we hung up the finch feeder on the front porch. I watched my children stroll up and down the driveway on their bicycles, while our black labrador chased in tow; and then the entire family went to T.J.'s swim lesson this evening. Thankfulness is such an awesome thing; and having the whole family happy and healthy is a wonderful feeling.
Jill :)
Later, I took the kids to Bob Evans, thinking it would be reasonable and kid-friendly. It was pretty packed, but the wait was only about 10 minutes, so we decided to look at some of the Bob Evan's food items in the checkout area. A maple-scented candle caught my eye, and I pulled one off the shelf to smell. Jili moved from her original spot to test it out with me. Just then, another male customer decided to try one too. He pulled a candle off the approximate 6 foot shelf, but he grabbed it by the lid. Sure enough, it came down hard on T.J.'s head! I was so upset, yet tried to be calm. My poor six-year old son didn't even cry; although a nice "goose egg" swelled up on his head in no time.
There was a sign posted on the shelf, stating not to pick the candles up by their lids. Subsequently, I asked the cashier to kindly move the candles to a lower shelf so another child wouldn't be clunked with a large, glass candle with an unsecure lid. Then, all I could think about was how Jili had been standing in that same spot seconds before it dropped, and how T.J. was hit in the exact same spot where Jili's skull contained no bone. I was so sad for my little boy, who showed no effect from the blow to the head until last night, when he requested an ice pack and Tylenol.
The last day has left me sad that someone hurt my baby, although not intentionally. The other part of my is thankful that it was not Jili, because the situation would be so much different, possibly grave. An angel was certainly looking out for my baby girl.
After taking all of the necessary and unnecessary precautions, I can say without a doubt that T.J. is absolutely fine. Today, we hung up the finch feeder on the front porch. I watched my children stroll up and down the driveway on their bicycles, while our black labrador chased in tow; and then the entire family went to T.J.'s swim lesson this evening. Thankfulness is such an awesome thing; and having the whole family happy and healthy is a wonderful feeling.
Jill :)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Bedtime Prayers
Jiliang is really adjusting to her family. She asks me every day, "Mom, you love me and you never leave me?" I am always happy to reassure her.
Recently, we were naming people in Jili's life to be thankful for: Mom, Dad, T.J., Papas, Grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins, Godparents, dear friends, nurses, doctors, helpers. Jili responded, "Wow, I got a lot of people!"
Recently, we were naming people in Jili's life to be thankful for: Mom, Dad, T.J., Papas, Grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins, Godparents, dear friends, nurses, doctors, helpers. Jili responded, "Wow, I got a lot of people!"
Saturday, March 5, 2011
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