pictures.

I'll admit, I'm not always in the mood to read a long blog post that has not one picture.  Here's a long post where the pictures will do most of the talking...

We survived the first Chuck E. Cheese visit and Peanut gave it a big thumbs up.  Buddy, on the other hand, quickly exited this ride.

He had an abundance of self control, seeing as the cupcakes were set withing six inches of his face.

Look who found the sandbox at a friend's house...

Be sure to note the red eyebrows in the background of this one... since day one with this little guy, it's no guesswork to tell he's upset.

Father's Day!

I never want to forget that my oldest loves to eat fresh herbs.  Many a day she'll come in from playing and has onion breath from eating chives in the backyard.  This year she's moved on to the mint, sage and basil too.

A fitting end... translation: 

By Alannah 

(written for Mommy about her and Buddy)

"my kids are silly"

Indeed.  

Blessings, angela

patience.

When you are waiting, it's easy to get bored or even get a little irritated.  Think back to your last doctor visit as you sat in the waiting room.  That's how I feel quite often.

It's all too easy to get bogged down in the irritation and the "hurry up already!" feelings.  Thankfully, I serve a Lord who knows a lot about waiting, and He's the model of patience.  He also knows the exact number of days we will be waiting to bring Sweet P home.  For that reason, I think He delights to give us little reminders that He cares... He cares more for Sweet P than we ever could.

On many of those bogged-down days, the sweetest little reminders have surprised us.  One day I sat sewing and thinking of Sweet P when the phone rang.  I picked it up to a lady named Heather calling.  Heather is the daughter of a couple who have lived across the street from my parents for nearly 30 years.  She was already out of the home by the time I would remember her, but her mom is like a grandma to me.  Heather has adopted two children from Sweet P's country!  She was full of helpful ideas and tips for our travel, and it was encouraging to be able to ask questions of someone who has walked this road before us.

Here's a sampling of what I was sewing that day, which leads me into my next story.

POCKET RUNWAY

POCKET ROADWAY

POCKET TRAIN STATION

POCKET PRINCESS

While K was on a work trip a month or so ago, I got on a sewing kick.  I made up one of the pocket roadways for Buddy out of fabric on hand.  A friend saw it and asked to buy one for her road trip.  That quickly led to more orders and soon I was in business -- accidental entrepreneurship!  

I heard Steven Curtis Chapman was coming to Busch Gardens to sing for the summer concerts and was aching to go.  He has an amazing voice and an amazing family.  If you don't know about his adoption story or sweet Maria, go here.  Inspiring, to say the least.  I asked K what he thought about buying summer passes if I could sell 12 pockets (to cover the passes and my costs) by that Friday.  I sold 12 exactly!  So, we bought tickets and were on our way to BG to hear Fransesca Battistelli, Building 429 and Steven Curtis Chapman.  I knew it was a God thing since I sold exactly 12 and because the guy who took our parking money was from Sweet P's country.  I'm sure he was super-duper excited to have some lady telling all about our adoption, when you're just supposed to hand money out the window and drive on, but oh well.  ...and just because I love details, I have to add that he checked our passes again the next week at the gate.  

I love my God.  I love that He is in control and He cares for even the smallest, most insignificant details.  He knows my heart aches to have Sweet P in our arms and He cares enough to give sweet reminders as we wait.      

I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for them.  

Blessings, angela

here.

Still here.  Still waiting.  Still praying.  

I know it's been a while since I posted news when some of you start asking about Sweet P.  Some of you know there was a - well, let's just say not-so-small - hiccup with our Immigration paperwork.  Good grief.  A man who loves the power of his position a little too much left a not-so-nice message on both our phones saying he would deny our paperwork if it wasn't cleared up that day.  Thankfully I was able to have our social worker here take care of it, so I assume everything is moving along again.  

If you haven't noticed from previous posts, I love an excuse to call our adoption agency.  It gives me the chance to ask questions that have been on my mind that don't warrant a call of their own.  That day I called to clear up the chaos with them and asked about some timing issues, as we're expecting to move within the year.  I'm not sure how to sort out the answer I was given, but I do know we may not have our Sweet P home by March as expected.  Originally we were told the timeline to pick her up would be a year after our dossier was sent.  However, there is currently a family who has been waiting since February of last year with no date in mind.  

The hold-up is paperwork called the Child History.  We'd be most grateful to have you pray along with us for Sweet P's Child History to arrive in record time.  Once it arrives, we sign an agreement to adopt her and then should be able to pick her up shortly after.  The country seems to have no system for sending out Child History paperwork... it arrives when it arrives.  Our hope is that Sweet P's will be simple to compile and send since she is so young and since she has been in their custody for about 16 of her 20 months of life.  We'll see if that's the case.

Thanking the Lord for our praying friends who hold us up during this waiting time.  Blessings, angela

love.

Peanut's first love note.  


K is to be the only  recipient of such letters for as long as I have a say!

Peanut: DO YOU LOVE ME (flirty, shy smile as she looks up at her Daddy)
K: YES!
Peanut:  ME TO (fluttering eyelashes and smile)
Peanut: Wi DO YOU LOVE Me
K: BECAUSE YOU ARE MY LITTLE GIRL!
Peanut: (big smile)

whew.

Tonight is going to be a really good night.  In about an hour I'm going with my kiddos to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party.  This inaugural trip to the big Cheese will be memorable for sure.  I've heard the stories on some of your blogs about the infamous pizza-hawking rat.  Good times are ahead, my friends.  


But actually, that is not why tonight will be so great.  Tonight my man K gets back from two weeks away on a work trip.  Aah.  Mom will get a well-deserved break.  ...and I should have the perfect opportunity thanks to this long weekend.  We've had a really blessed two weeks and the Lord has sweetly taken care of us, but it's always tough to have Daddy gone for that long.  I am always renewed in my appreciation for all K does for us!


No real news on the adoption front, but I thought I would take a minute to explain what we are waiting on currently in the timeline:

• Sweet P's file and our dossier is presented to the Adoption Board for approval (this may have already happened!)
• Her medical history and birth certificate are sent to our adoption agency
• The I-800 form is filed with INS to approve her for us to adopt
• Once approved from both fronts, we will get an appointment to meet with the Adoption Board in her country
• About a month later we will fly over to finalize paperwork and be interviewed by the Adoption Board and then bring her home -- this trip is usually 14 days since there is much to complete in country 

While K has been away I've been occupying myself with projects.  I have searched the web to find things I could make with supplies I already have on hand, and here's what I came up with:


Not worth the mess it makes in your muffin pan, but the kids had fun watching them melt...

new crayons from old pieces

a cute pin cushion 

(are you happy, mom?  I've graduated to using one instead of having a zillion pins in a tiny case!)

LOVE this one:  an I Spy game!  

My kiddos love I Spy books, so I knew they'd love this one.  Collect a bunch of tiny objects from around the house and in the toybox...

... mix up some rice (I only have brown in my pantry, but white rice would probably look best) and beads for a little more color...

...then add the objects and pour into a clear jar.  I have yet to print up and laminate a list of items to search for, but that will go on a rubber band around the jar cap.  

Confession:  this is a huge plastic parsley jar from Costco but I ran it through the dishwasher to clean it out first.  Not the smartest thing I've ever done.  It warped up from the heat, as a smart person might likely imagine before pushing start on the dishwasher.  Anyhow, I like to think it makes the game more challenging.  :) 

I'm also 75% done with a little dress for Peanut and may or may not post a picture when I'm done.  We'll see after she tries on the final product.  Blessings, angela

continued.

Our last full day with my parents and Drew was Mother's Day.  I already posted pictures from the morning, but then K prepared everything for a trip to the beach....  complete with picnic, kites and pictures in the sand.  I could not have planned a more perfect evening.  Thanks, K, for making the day so special!

I am not sure whose grand idea it was to let Buddy hold the kite all by himself, but he proved trustworthy and never let go.  

I'm convinced the beach is not the place to get pictures with cooperative smiles from kiddos!

These kids adore their Uncle Drew!

I love being a mommy.  I also loved being with my mommy for a few days!

We did end up getting pictures of our Sweet P and I am happy to email them to any of our friends and family if you want to see!  ...or I have one in my purse if you see me.  It is a treasure to have pictures of her from April 29 to see how much she has grown since the video of her in September.  The report we got says she is walking, saying a few single words, and healthy. 

It's a joy to have news about our Sweet P to share since we don't get news often.  We now wait as paperwork is processed back and forth across oceans.  It cannot happen soon enough.

Blessings, angela

zoo.

My parents arrived with my little brother for four days of fun before going to D.C.  We made the most of our short time together, and began the visit with Peanut's request to go to the zoo.  Embarrassingly, we've never gone to the zoo here, I guess because the zoo where I grew up is amazing.  The zoo here was high quality, but no so much on the quantity of animals.  It was just right for a morning visit though.

Traffic was light so we got there a little early and played on a great park outside the zoo.

Peanut pretending to be a rhino.

Buddy's favorite was the train.

Time for this sheep's dental check-up?

The day didn't exactly end as planned.  Buddy started having breathing issues on the way home and by the time I was getting dinner going, he was really working to breathe.  My dad went with us to the ER, where they took Buddy back immediately for breathing treatments.  A few hours later and three treatments later, the doctor admitted him for the night so they could watch him and give treatments every couple hours. Needless to say, it was a long night for K and Buddy.

Buddy was an excellent patient, putting his arm out or turning his ear every time nurses needed to check him.  The meds made him overly energetic though, so by lunchtime he was ready to break loose.  Thankfully, he got to come home by about 3:00.  (Obviously, it's best to get sick on weekdays when doctors make their rounds early... on weekends they make rounds at their leisure.)

Buddy is doing much better and now has the meds needed to prevent asthma attacks in the future.  This mommy now feels a bit more confident on what to do if one happens again.  Scary!  

More of our visit when I have another free minute.  Blessings, angela