Tiger Cub

Last night we signed Miles up to be a Tiger Cub in the Boy Scouts!  Chip was a Cub Scout when he was a kid, and I was a Girl Scout briefly, and I've always wanted my kids to be in scouting too.  I'm hoping Miles will stay in it much longer than Chip or I did, though, all the way to Eagle Scout. 

Miles is super-excited!  He's ready to start going on hikes and camping trips and to learn how to use a compass.  And he's eagerly awaiting his first issue of Boys' Life Magazine.  I'm just so proud of him already.  He looked so cute last night in his Tiger Cub hat his grandaddy gave him!

Next year when Hannah is 5 we'll sign her up for American Heritage Girls.  It's a new organization similar to Girl Scouts, but it's Christian-based, and unlike Girl Scouts, is supported by the Boy Scouts.  I can't wait to have two scouts in the family!

I am just so excited about scouting!  I wish that I had been in scouting for longer as a child.  I love that it's all about being a good citizen and having good values, and so much more.  I think the biggest draw for me is the emphasis on spending time outdoors in nature.  I so want my children to love nature and to be knowledgable about things in nature.  I hope to learn a lot along with them too.  In fact, I've heard of some homeschoolers who use scouting as their "curriculum," which I think is a wonderful idea, so I plan to use it as a big part of ours, since they will learn so much earning their badges and participating in activities, etc.  The ideas of "hands-on" and "real-world" learning in scouting fits well with my ideas for homeschooling our children in a natural way.

Our troop's first family campout is October 1st.  I'm hoping we can make it, but we probably won't be able to.  We've got a lot going on in October, including a trip to North Alabama!  The trip will be part vacation and part checking out the area to see if we want to move there.  I lived in the area for 5 1/2 years as a child, and have wanted to move back ever since we moved back to Texas.  Even though I was born in Texas, and have lived here most of my life, North Alabama is my home.  It's a wonderful place to live and to raise a family.  My most precious memories are of living there.  So, depending on how we feel about it when we're out there this fall, and trusting in God's guidance, we hope to move there within the next year!

I'll end this post with a shot of my adorable Tiger Cub:

The Griffin Four

Wow!  I can't believe I haven't written in this blog since we got back from China!  As with many others who have gone to China to adopt, the trip was quite a whirlwind!  In fact, sometimes when I think about it, it almost doesn't seem like we even went.  It's that surreal.  But, of course, I know we did, because we now have this fourth person living with us.  In fact, in my opinion, we brought home the best part of China!

The first week back was one of the most difficult of my entire life.  I was suffering from extreme anxiety and depression, as a result of all of the changes, and not quite knowing how to deal with them all.  The biggest change of all was having two kids now instead of one, which honestly made having just one feel like having none at all! :)  While I'm still learning to deal with having two, I'm now at the point where I'm starting to enjoy it, which is such a blessing.  Some days are better than others, as it is with all moms of young children, but those "better" days are getting better and better all the time.  We do have our bad days, but they're no where near as bad as they were at first.

Hannah has had very little problems adjusting to her new life.  Aside from the language barrier, she is doing great.  And the language thing is getting better as she learns new words and phrases.  She understands way more than she can speak, so there aren't a whole lot of problems with Chip and I communicating with her.  She does have tantrums, though, when I don't understand her, but it really doesn't seem too different from a typical 2 or 3 year old whose language hasn't fully developed.  So life is pretty normal around here.

We have really embraced being a family of four.  It's as if adding that fourth person suddenly made us more of a family.  Of course, we were already a family before, but the dynamics have changed so much that it makes it that much more fun to do family activities together.  For instance, when we go to the playgound, the kids each have an instant playmate.  And in other things we do, Miles and Hannah interact with each other in ways only kids can.  At other times, Chip and Miles share experiences while Hannah and I do.  I love that our family is now even in the number of people in it.  It's nice that everyone can pair up and no one is left out.

If you've read our adoption blog, you know that I was seeing a therapist and taking a low-dose anti-depressant.  Well, I switched to a different therapist, a hypnotherapist rather than a traditional therapist, one who helped me with anxiety and organization last year, and I haven't taken the anti-depressant in a few days.  I've only had one session so far with the hypnotherapist, and she's already helped me so much!  I may not need to go back on the pills, but if I do, it won't be forever.  For me, hypnotherapy is so much more powerful and effective, that I may not need the medication again.  She gives me instant solutions that work, and that's what I've needed for the past few months.

Well, that's all for now.  I'll do my best to post again soon about what's been going on with us since May.  I'll leave you with a few favorite photos: