Candice-and-Todd.com

We are open to adopting a boy or a girl who is Caucasian or Caucasian-mixed race.   Actually, we think it would be interesting to celebrate many different cultures under one roof.  We would prefer to bring a younger child (newborn to 18 months) into our home, but feel that we would be receptive to welcoming an older child into our home in the future.

We were both raised in a Christian environment.  Todd was raised Greek Orthodox.  Candice was raised Baptist.  We have always discussed raising a child in a non-denominational Christian church. 

We already have a number of things at home to enrich children.  Candice has a collection of children’s books (she gives them to friends with children).  Some of her favorites are:  Architecture Shapes / Architecture Animals / Architectural Numbers /  Architectural Colors, Play with your food,  If the World Were a Village,   and The Lorax (by Dr. Seuss).   

Above:  Candice with her cousins' kids posing for a shot after playing all afternoon.  They were the best of friends!

At left:  Todd playing with his nephews in his sister's pool.

Since Candice likes to cook, there will be all sorts of "experiments" in the kitchen with children.   Todd will, undoubtedly, play ball with the children.   We have already talked about getting the back-pack child carrier for going hiking and can outfit our bikes with a child carrier on the back as well.  We want the children to explore the outdoors as much as possible.  The pond in the back yard will be the beginning of their explorations!

We understand that kids (more than likely) do not want to look at buildings; we are planning more family-oriented vacations in the future.  We will take them camping, skiing, and hiking… but will occasionally slip in a little “culture” such as going to a museum (we can start with children's museums) and will expose them to different types of architecture.

Regarding homework, Candice will cover science, math, music, and English / writing.  Todd is stronger in history and geography and will help out with those studies.  Both will participate in art lessons. 

We will encourage the child to take on up to one extra-curricular activity at a time -- such as sports, theater, ballet, or horse-back riding.  It seems hard to focus on each child if shuffling around to too many sporting or dance recital events every night of the week.  The two would like to engage in the practice of having a family dinner every night. 

There are two playgrounds within walking distance.  One has a pint-sized train and slide that kids crawl all over.  The other is next to a softball field, tennis courts, and a dog-run.  We will walk (or bike) to the park on weekends and play.  We both look forward to taking kids to pick apples in North Georgia in the fall as well as going to a farm to pick pumpkins.  When the child is old enough, we will explore hiking in the woods and going on white water rafting trips.

 

 

Above photo:  Neighbor kids feeding the fish

At left:  We are teaching Todd's nephew, Nathaniel, to kick a ball on his first birthday.