Editor's Note: Window on the Clearwater has joined the Wednesday's Child network to help spread the word about children that are waiting for families to give them the loving care that they need. Each Wednesday we will profile a different child. For more information about Wednesday's Child and how you can be involved check the web site at: http://www.idahowednesdayschild.org/.

Austin & Angel

Age: 9 - 11

Hopeful about their future place in an adoptive family, Austin and Angel envision a traditional home with a mother and father, a big brother for Austin and a big sister for Angel. "They would take us camping and do fun things together", one dreams. They also express a desire to have access to the outdoors and maybe...just maybe...a puppy. Because the children are not yet legally free, interested adoptive parents need to be licensed for foster care and have approved adoption homestudies already completed.

Healthy and smart with an active and serious nature, Austin is a child who likes to get down to business. He is a natural leader and will take on a challenge willingly if it allows him to exhibit his responsibility and skill. Younger sister, Angel, is equally eager to please and also takes great pride in her accomplishments. She is a happy child with a quick smile and lots of affection to offer her adoptive family. She loves life and enjoys being around people, socializing and having fun. They are quite the sibling pair!

Austin enjoys an active lifestyle, playing sports like basketball, baseball, and cross-country, and trying things new to him like fishing, camping, and beach-going which he was recently most grateful to have experienced. He is not a sit around the TV kind of kid! Getting out in the fresh air, even if it means getting dirty, is a welcome invitation to this warm-hearted young man.

He loves to earn attention with his good behavior and leadership abilities. In school he was trusted to perform the duties of lunch monitor, reading buddy, and assistant yoga teacher. These activities gave him a great sense of pride and filled him with self-worth. These types of opportunities are where Austin shines the most, situations where he can be independent and is rewarded with praise by others who show him that they are confident in his ability to be responsible.

Austin likes to read and excels in math and creative writing at school. He has been well-liked by his teachers, even being described by his fourth grade teacher as "one of the smartest fourth graders I've ever taught", though he could benefit from some assistance in the area of organization. He is also a talented artist, taking time to draw and sketch pictures in his notebook. Austin will be transitioning to Middle School in the fall of 2012 and is nervous and excited about attending a new school.

Austin can be sensitive to criticism as he ultimately wants to please those who are charged with his care. A family that can be patient and supportive will earn his trust gradually with kind words and rigid structure that's implemented from a safe, seemingly removed standpoint. His confidence is rising but still fragile, and his ability to succeed independently is a characteristic that is important to him. Providing Austin with positive role models, rewarding him for his strong points, and encouraging his growth will get both him and his adoptive parents far. He will need to be handled with care and great consideration.

Austin needs to be reminded that he is acceptable as he is and offered the security of genuine parental love. He will do best when supported and surrounded by adults who demonstrate the characteristics he finds admirable - independence, responsibility, capability - and also provided with active models of healthy relationships. He is skilled in his ability to be reflective when pressures arise, and responds well to verbal guidance from adults. He is currently utilizing therapeutic support and medication to help him maintain optimum achievement.

Angel is creative and energetic. She has a variety of interests and will choose to swim, jump rope, sing, and craft. She plays well with others, sharing her favorite activities in order to get in a little social time. A great companion and well-liked among her peers, she is a good listener and will offer a hearing ear to friends and family alike. In accordance with her age group, though, she can at times hear what she wants to hear.

Angel will be entering fourth grade during the 2012/2013 academic year. She genuinely enjoys school and earns good grades with a little assistance in the subject of reading. Not one to miss the social opportunities school has to offer, she is excited when allowed to participate in special events like talent shows and class performances. She currently uses a pair of cute purple glasses to help regulate her vision. She is handling an age of self-consciousness well, but can benefit from a family who can monitor her perceptions and be sure she is maintaining healthy and positive self-images.

Angel gets much pleasure from the attention she receives from being a "good child", and can be sensitive during times when she is being reprimanded. Kind words to guide her work best, and when she does not get her way she benefits from a little distance, humor, and an invitation to rejoin the fun. She will need to be shown that there are peaceable ways to solve conflicts. A family who can provide rules clearly and employ them with appropriate structure will help Angel perform at her maximum ability.

Her capacity to be assertive and confident in her power to exhibit control over her own relationships is still growing. She can behave in ways that are initially very desirable - making a minimal fuss, for example - in order to get her way and maintain her praise and role. She needs to know that she has authority to take on appropriate challenging situations, that she can make good decisions and navigate her life successfully, that will still be loveable and loved if she makes a mistake, and that there are people there to pick her back up and help her dust off when she falls. She will seek out adult intervention when there are problems. Like her brother, Angel benefits from therapeutic support.

The family who is chosen for these two will show comfort in their ability to be assertive in school and in therapeutic settings in order to advocate for the children's needs throughout the years. Both children have mentors, whom are very bonded to them. Some sort of ongoing contact with their mentors during and after the transition into their adoptive home will be advantageous, and will likely help adoptive parents in addressing the siblings' needs for attention and positive adult influence. Continued contact with members of their birth family could also prove to be beneficial for this brother and sister. Adoptive parents will need to be open-minded about this possibility. Austin and Angel are not yet legally free.

Austin and Angel exhibit a healthy dose of sibling rivalry, but have a strong bond and a shared desire to be loved for who they are as individuals. They would do best in a home where they will be the true focus of the family.

Photos by Kerri Ann Garfield

To find out more about Austin & Angel, adoption or becoming a foster parent, email the Idaho CareLine (Please include your zip code and city.) or call 1-800-926-2588. Austin & Angel are available for adoption through the State of Oregon.

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