thief.

There's daily evidence that something has been stealing from our trash.  You'd think those diaper bombs would keep every living thing out of that barrel, but nope.  Some little rascal has been enjoying a nightly scavenge through our trash and often leaves the remnants of his meal on the recycle barrel next to it. 

I thought raccoons were nocturnal, but our neighborhood coon made a morning appearance one day as we ate breakfast.  All of a sudden Buddy yells, "I see a raccoon!"  I didn't believe him until I looked out and saw this not-so-little guy...

He had just dug through our trash and then headed back over our fence.

That same day just before bed, K went out to throw another bag into the barrel.  He heard a faint "UH" in the dark, came in to grab the camera, and captured this guy trying to crawl out from under the latest deposit.

He's actually kind of cute!  

hot.

This summer has been insanely hot.  Our grass out back agrees.  We spent many a day inside because it was nearing 100 and this mom becomes quite the prissy girl when temps go much over 90. 

This little guy likes to help fix things.

Buddy plays games with us now!  The balloon game is a favorite.

"Sing me another song!"

Most importantly, Buddy learned to cross his eyes.  So proud.

Blessings, angela

sweetpea beauty.

Peanut is the queen of organization.  I didn't think it could get much worse than myself until I birthed a mini me.  Scary.  

Each of our family members has their assigned "favorite" colors, and she likes to keep everything in perfect order.  Only Buddy should use the blue bowl, and K should always use the red gingerbread man when we play Candyland.  She reluctantly uses the yellow at that game since there are, unfortunately, no pink gingerbread women.  

Here's a typical picture of our family:

Red K, pink Peanut, green me, blue Buddy and purple Sweet P.  I certainly hope Sweet P doesn't mind being branded as the purple one of the family because Peanut has eternally staked her claim on all things pink.

Below is a picture she drew for my mom of us at the beach.  Sweet P is purple, she is pink, and Buddy has blue shoes.  Oh, and no, my mom's name isn't TuTu.  Her grandma name is Juju, but Peanut hasn't quite mastered those Js.

Moving right along... I'll admit I lack extensively at creativity and being the "fun mom."  ...but Peanut saw an ad for the new Veggie Tales movie Sweetpea Beauty in a mailing from Lifeway bookstore, and I decided it would make for a really fun family night.  

At the last minute I also found a recipe for cookie cake and baked it.  Unfortunately, my baking stone was no where near big enough and I had chunks of dough spilling over the edges all over the oven as it baked.  See evidence below.  You could not see one square centimeter of the baking stone.  Forgot to take a picture of the oven.

Nothing a bunch of brightly colored icing won't cover.

Every pretty princess needs plenty of jewels from the treasury.

The truth is, I'm the real princess around here and my prince is perfectly charming.  Love him.

Blessings, angela

still matched.

Yep, you are correct if you thought... "I think she used that title for a blog post already."  Nonetheless, we were told on Thursday of last week that we are "still matched."  Hmmm.  Confusing?  My thoughts exactly.


J from our adoption agency visited Sweet P's orphanage in April and let us know we were matched when she returned.  J retired at the end of May and KB took over for her.  KB forwarded a message on Thursday saying we are still matched and that our case must now be submitted to the Adoption Board for approval.  Glad they finally figured that out four months later!


But, honestly, it was good to get a word telling us that something is happening with our papers, even if it's a tad overdue.  Here's the timeline of events we're awaiting:

1. case approval by the Adoption Board
2.  they send us Sweet P's child history documents and a "To Whom" letter (I'll let you know what that means once we see!)
3. we sign the agreement papers, which are emailed to the country
4. we file an I-800 form with our govt (approval usually takes 3 weeks), then is wired overseas
5. an Article 5 letter is issued from the Embassy (generally takes 2 months to process)
6. we are ready to travel over to pick up Sweet P!  

I'm not saying we will pick her up anytime soon... in fact, one family waited over a year for their child history documents to arrive, but some families wait much less.  We would love any prayers for speedy handling of her papers so we can finish up the process and get Sweet P home!  

Blessings, angela

smile.

Baby smiles are the best.  

I will try not to forget those cute gummy smiles from my Peanut and Buddy but thankfully have pictures to remind me... especially lately as they seem to have grown up into big kids overnight. 

We're still waiting to see our Sweet P's smile.  I doubt there is anything about a white person with a camera (both of which she probably hardly ever sees) that makes her want to smile.  

A family from the midwest went to pick up their son on Friday - yesterday!! - at Sweet P's orphanage and took the doll to her.  They said she had just woken up from a nap and has a cold, so she was a bit groggy.  They were able to take a bunch of pictures for us, and we are so thankful. 

No smiles though.

I guess we will have to wait until we finally get to see her in person.  That day can't come soon enough!

Blessings, angela

Pocket Shop for Sweet P: BOYS

UPDATE:  Thanks to so many of you for your support of our adoption in this way.  All the boy Pockets are sold out!

Keep your kiddos quietly occupied in imaginative play during church, long waits at doctors offices or restaurants.  Fit perfectly in diaper bags and in most (mommy-sized) purses.  

$25 each (includes shipping)

All goes directly to bringing Sweet P home!  

Please leave a comment with your email address to arrange an order or contact me by email/facebook if you know me already!

From a no pet and no smoking home.

SOLD OUT! POCKET ROADWAY

Each Pocket Roadway is carries six of his favorite vehicles for play on the go.

(no toy cars included)

Choose from a blue or green car on the cover.

Open it up and get ready for a race!

SOLD OUT! POCKET RUNWAY

Each Pocket Roadway carries five small airplanes.  

(no toy planes included)

Ready for take-off at a moment's notice!

SOLD OUT! POCKET TRAIN STATION

Each Pocket Train Station carries four of his favorite train engines or train cars to take along.

(no toy trains included)

All aboard!

Pocket Shop for Sweet P: GIRLS

Keep your kiddos quietly occupied in imaginative play during church, long waits at doctors offices or restaurants.  Fit perfectly in diaper bags and in most (mommy-sized) purses.  

$25 each (includes shipping)

All goes directly to bringing Sweet P home!  

Pocket Pony Farms include three ponies.

Please leave a comment with your email address to arrange an order or contact me by email/facebook if you know me already!

From a no pet and no smoking home.

POCKET PONY FARM

Each Pocket Pony Farm includes three ponies but is perfect size for many small animals.  

Five pockets to carry her favorite animal friends for play.

Let the ponies roam free, stop for a drink, or keep them corralled inside the fence.

Choose from seven different front cover designs:

pink cover with green or striped barn

orange cover with green barn

yellow cover with striped or green barn

purple cover with striped or green barn

Each Pocket Pony Farm comes with a set of three ponies.  

SOLD OUT 

POCKET PRINCESS

Each Pocket Princess has a royal castle inside just ready for a fairy tale to begin!  

Six pockets hold her favorite little princesses or people to take for a magical adventure.