In Which Sylvie Has A Birthday, and We Get A Lot Done

We had another really busy day today!  Jer spent the day organizing our office, taking care of Connor and doing some general cleaning, which Jake and I worked outside on the deck.  We hauled away just over a ton of debris to the landfill, which was a lot of fun because we'd rented one of those two-axle dump trailers and I got to push the button to make it tilt up and dump its load.  Those things are really cool.  We also hauled a ton of bushes and other landscaping I'd dug out earlier in the week from the site where our new deck is going in.  We spent most of the rest of the day shoveling dirt to level the site so that we'll have proper ventilation underneath the new deck.  This will be my "homework" for the week, and I don't think I'll be needing any additional working out, let me tell you!  The new deck is significantly wider and longer than the old one to accommodate the ramps and wheelchair turn radius while still giving us enough room to have our outdoor furniture out there, so there's a lot of dirt we have to move.  We also did the prep for the ledger board today (this is a board that is bolted to the house which the deck is securely attached to) by cutting away the siding where the board will go.  It's exciting to know that in a few weeks we'll have a beautiful new deck!  Then we get to start on the paver patio and the sidewalks.  We're getting there!

For the whole second half of the day Joanna was here, which meant that we were able to get some significant work done.  I don't regret using some "date time" for this sort of thing; it's often difficult to get everything done that we need to do while taking care of Connor at the same time, so it's great that he gets some undivided attention while we get our projects taken care of.  I think he enjoys playing with Joanna but still having his parents around too, because then he gets to have the periodic attention of everybody!  It was raining most of the day today, so we shut the cats in the laundry room this morning and he spent some time early in the day hanging out just on the other side of our sliding door with the glass open and just the screen closed.  He really loves watching everybody; he especially loves the oscillating and circular saws, which he finds hilarious.  I'm so glad that we're doing this project now because while it's really easy to keep him entertained, it probably wouldn't be so easy to do this project with an active kindergartener who would want to not only watch, but participate as well.

Today was Sylvie's birthday; she's now five years old!  I thought about her a lot today; wondering what she was doing, whether or not anyone celebrated with her, and how hopefully this will be the last birthday she celebrates without family surrounding her.  Probably it was just another day for her; Thailand doesn't put a big emphasis on birthday celebrations in general, and with the number of children in her large orphanage complex (over 2000 kids) it's not likely that they would single her out and do anything special for her.  Sylvie may not even realize that it is here birthday today; it may not ever have been explained to her as she didn't have any language before she came to the orphanage.  It's likely that she's never had a birthday party or received any presents, as this isn't a Thai tradition.

I also wondered about what Sylvie's birth mom, if she is still living, would be doing today; whether or not she would take any time to commemorate a day that must have been one of the most important of her life.  It must be such a bittersweet day for her, and I hope that she's doing well.   

So happy birthday, Sylvie!  The next year will likely bring big changes for you, and with any luck next year we'll be able to celebrate with you!

~Jess