Foster2Forever

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This 3-Year-Old Needs a Family

This little guy needs a family. His name is Oscar. When I look into his big, brown, engaging eyes, I can’t help but smile.

Isn’t he just adorable?

My kids and I just love chimps!  My fascination with primates began when I wrote my college research paper to question whether they could really communicate with humans using sign language.

Tomorrow, on Friday, April 20th, just in time for Earth Day, DisneyNature is bringing a true story of adoption that actually happened in the wild.

Oscar is a baby chimp born to a caring mother with a huge extended family living in the jungles of Africa.

This film explores how when Oscar suddenly loses his mother, an unexpected member of his clan takes care of him.  Oscar is adopted!

This film demonstrates that, even in nature, foster care and adoption happen.  Some opponents may try to demonize adoption and call for its abolition; however, adoption isn’t evil – sometimes it’s necessary for a little one’s survival in the world – and it can become a beautiful, fulfilling journey.

Can you watch this trailer without feeling a fullness in your throat?

I’m loving the Switchfoot song playing in the trailer: “This is home, now I’m finally where I belong…” We all need to belong.

I’m looking forward to experiencing this film with my boys.  Lil Bit is a bit too young to grasp its message just yet; however, I’m looking forward watching this film with 4-year-old Stinkpot.  At just over an hour (78 minutes), I’m hoping he can sit still that long.

How about you? How do you share stories of adoption with your little ones? What films do you recommend?

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Homemade Dinosaur Halloween Costumes

I love Halloween! I love dressing up with the kids and going trick-or-treating, even though begging our neighbors for candy isn’t the best lesson for our kids!  On this spooky evening of goblins and ghouls, our normally, quiet, sleepy subdivision morphs into a HUGE Mardi Gras-like carnival.  Pumpkins, skeletons, cobwebs, and even bounce houses line our streets.  Trick-or-treaters even parade through our subdivision on hay rides! Cars have to dodge families walking through the streets going from house to house. We believe our entire city shows up in our neighborhood on Halloween night!

So when Costume Discounters invited me to review their kids Halloween costumes, I was thrilled! Given our Halloween costume theme for this year, I knew Lil Bit’s Robin costume would be difficult to find and Costume Discounters had it in stock!

My first concern was size. With the costume sized as 2T-4T, I was concerned it would be too large for our 2-year-old.  Fortunately, we had Stinkpot’s costume from last year in that size, and found that it will work well for our Lil Bit that is not too little now.

When I first saw the price of $19.97, I was astounded that the price for a child’s costume could be that much. I remember as a kid in the early 1970s when $5 was an expensive costume.  However, when I took a trip to Target and the local party store, I saw that the prices at Costume Discounters are competitive.

The costume arrived within a few days of my order.

The Robin costume is officially licensed by DC Comics. The fabric is a thin polyester which will work well for our warm Texas Halloweens. The costume comes with a black mask and detachable cape.

I will be ordering Stinkpot’s Batman costume from Costume Discounters along with my Catwoman accessories. The jury is still out on whether FosterDad will join us trick-or-treating as the Joker.

PBS CHILDREN’S SHOW DINOSAUR TRAIN :

Did you realize that in the PBS show Dinosaur Train, that young T-Rex, Buddy, is adopted by the Pteranodon family? A preschool show about adoption? The show’s main theme isn’t adoption, but Buddy only refers to Mrs. Pteranodon as MOM! A great lesson in that a family doesn’t have to all look alike.

Check out this video!

The next lines in the theme song are:

But dear old Mrs. Pteranodon said:

“Oh, this is your family, and I’m your mom,
you may be different, but we’re all creatures,
all dinosaurs have different features…”

Our boys enjoy watching Dinosaur Train and we’re excited about –>

DIY HOMEMADE DINOSAUR HALLOWEEN COSTUME PATTERN!

Dinosaur Train Costume – Buddy  

Here is a do-it-yourself costume for Buddy, kids’ favorite T-Rex!  Jim Henson’s Creature Shop have created this Buddy costume that can be made at home!  This colorful Halloween costume can be made for toddlers ages 3-4, and children between the ages of 4-6.  There is also a No-Sew option!


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10 Tips to Ease Your Child Back to School

Stinkpot starts Pre-K today! We are very excited and nervous for him.

Last winter, due to his behavioral struggles, we were left high and dry to find a new day care.  We made the decision for me to take family leave to spend more time to focus on him.  He did very well, bonding with me and attending a Mother’s Day Out program. This summer, he stayed home with FosterDad while I went back to work, when he wasn’t attending a Mother’s Day Out program.

Now, today, Stinkpot returns to full-time care as a Pre-Kindergartener!  We chose to enroll him at a private school/daycare instead of half-day Pre-K in the public school.  All-day care at the private school would prevent him from having to go to another location for after-school care.  It wasn’t much more expensive than having to pay for the half-day after-school care.

So here are some things we are doing to hopefully make the transition back to all-day care easier on our Stinkpot:

  1. Visit school before the first day and meet the teachers.

  2. Establish your bedtime routines.

  3. Allow your Preschooler to shop for school.

  4. Read stories/watch videos about going to school.

  5. Lay out clothes the night before.

  6. Set alarm clock.

  7. Have a special breakfast together the first day of school.

  8. Pick up your child a little early the first few days.

  9. Prepare dinner ahead.

  10. Arrange a play date with new friends.

Are we missing anything? What are some things that you’ve done when your little one starts school?

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SeaWorld and Sesame Street

During Spring Break, SeaWorld San Antonio Texas opened a fantastic new venue – Sesame Street Bay of Play! What an incredible wonder world for the wee ones!  This is where it’s at! SeaWorld wanted to give the characters of Sesame Street a BIG Texas welcome.

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Grand Opening of Sesame Street Bay of Play with Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and a host of Sesame Street friends.

seaworld-sesame-street-bay-of-play-san-antonioStinkpot and I rode a number of the rides together. The merry-go-round is so whimsical and fun – the photo just doesn’t do it justice.

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Climbing and sliding for the adventuresome kid!

We stayed and played there until our tummies told us that it was time for lunch.  Not far, we found a great all-you-can-eat pasta & pizza buffet, Rosita’s Buffet. Perfect for the kids and us. And the price was less that $10 per adult and $6 for kids under 9. And it included the refillable fountain drinks! We felt that we got our money’s worth, especially inside a theme park.

seaworld-san-antonio-rositas-cafe

After lunch, we decided to stroll around the park and enjoy a show, or two, or three. Our first show was Azul: Lure of the Sea featuring our beloved sea creatures, dolphins.

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Even flying dolphins wouldn’t keep Lil Bit from taking his nap!

We also saw the entertaining Cannery Row Caper featuring sea lions and walruses.

We wanted to watch the special showing of a 4-D movie featuring the Muppets. The movie was aimed at preschoolers so Stinkpot enjoyed it; however, the older kids weren’t as entertained as the little ones. The show has since been replaced by Pirates 4-D. [A 4-D movie is a 3-D movie that adds physical effects such as vibration, air and water. It is a thrilling experience!]

We then went to enjoy one of the last showings of the Shamu show, Believe.  The show began with a trainer coming out and welcoming us to the show. Then — the recorded message came on that said due to threatening weather, the show had been cancelled.  We were surprised by this since there wasn’t so much as a cloud in the sky.  Then another trainer came running up and said, “Sorry folks, we pushed the wrong button.” The audience chuckled, and after a few moments, the show began, for real this time.  A few of the more entertaining elements were not in this Believe show, probably stemming from the death of a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando last year.  The show mainly focused on the splashing the killer whale does with his tail fin. The first 20 rows were drenched! However, toward the end of the show – the electricity went out! In the entire park! Only for a few minutes, but long enough to end the show. We just happened to be at the one show with a rough start and abrupt end.

However, we are excited that the all-new Shamu show, One Ocean, opens this month! We will be returning later this summer to catch this one!

We ended the day back at Bay of Play to play in the water!  We let Stinkpot loose, and he had a ball on the splash pads until closing time, which during spring break was 6 p.m.

We had such a great time that we are planning to return again this summer. Longer hours. A new Shamu show. We can’t wait!

Disclaimer: Although SeaWorld provided us tickets into the park for a video contest, the views and opinions of our experience at SeaWorld are my own.  The opinions in this post were not influenced by the free passes. I was not monetarily compensated since SeaWorld has no idea that I have this website.

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