33 Days and Waiting

33 days since we sent our letter of intent (LOI) to adopt Rebecca. Not that I'm counting ...

This wait is difficult for me but I do trust that God is in control and it will happen when it's supposed to happen. I believe that. At the same time though, my heart is set on getting to China to get our precious daughter.

On a different note, Emma was a little aggravated this morning in my choice of clothing for her and as I was fixing her hair she told me she was mad at me. I told her that it was okay to be mad at me, that I love her even if she is mad at me. She paused for a minute and then asked "Does Jesus still love children when they are mad at their parents?" Bless her little heart. I assured her that yes, Jesus loves us even when we are mad. Just like parents still love their children when they are mad, except Jesus loves us more!

Sibling Sweetness

We have days where Ryan & Emma aggravate the "bejabbers" out of one another ... and then we have those moments where you just couldn't ask them to get along any better. This was one of the latter ...

Waiting for Rebecca

Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of us sending our LOI (letter of intent) to adopt Miss Rebecca. This letter is one that is sent to China after you have been pre-matched by your agency. There's so many things I want to share about Rebecca but really do not feel like I can until we receive either our PA (pre-approval) or our LOA (letter of acceptance).

The process we are following isn't at all like the process we went through when we adopted Emma. The paperwork steps are completely different and there also doesn't seem to be a specific order/method in which paperwork is sent back. We really thought/expected to receive our PA within two weeks of sending our LOI but we haven't. China was shut down for a week for their national holiay so maybe that is why. From what I've read though, some people completely skip the PA step. Will we? We have no idea.

Emma is telling her teachers and friends that we are going to China in December. I can't help but feel that our window of opportunity for doing so is getting slimmer by the day, but you never know. Maybe Emma knows something I don't. :-)

For now though, I'm in nesting mode and worked on their closet this weekend and also went ahead and boxed up 3T clothes to hand down. I took care of the 18, 24 month & 2t sizes last weekend. We've been given her latest measurements and she outweighs Emma by 1/2 lb and is taller by 1/2". Future hand me downs may end up either being duplicates or handed "up" instead of down!

The Chore Store

A few weeks ago I shared my frustrations with a messy home and asked for ideas on engaging the short people of the home to help without having to ask them for help. I know, I know - big wishes. Well, I took a little of what I read from the pioneer woman site and changed it up a bit and implemented a "system". Ryan & Emma both have 3 chores they must do each day to earn a token. They must do all 3, no partial credit here. The tasks aren't huge and only take a few minutes of their time but goodness it's a huge help.

Ryan's chores are: keep the den picked up, put up the clean dishes and take out the trash.

Emma's chores are: belongings placed on the stairs are to be taken to the appropriate room, setout the napkins & silverware for dinner and placing the pillows on the sofa in the den.

First of all, it's an absolute hoot to hear Emma say she needs to take things to the "appropriate room". There's nothing funnier than hearing a 4 year old say "appropriate". But the absolute best thing that's come out of all of this is the sofa pillow thing ... Prior to the chore chart, I swear Emma could just walk through the den and leave a path of destruction of pillows. It drove me NUTS. I felt like I was always picking up pillows. But boy how that tide has turned now that she is the one responsible for the pillows. Brian & I both were trying to keep our laughs to ourselves the other night when we heard Emma fussing at Ryan to not mess up the pillows! She event went so far to tell him that if he messed them up, he was picking them up!!!

They are able to redeem their tokens at the end of the week at the "mommy chore store" that is stocked with sugarfree gum, mints, some dollar store things and even a few movies. It was priceless to watch them shop the first night the chore store was open.

I think this system is going to work!

Ryan's 5th Grade Diorama Project

Ryan's social studies class recently had an assignment to complete a diorama of an American Indian region. Ryan picked the pacific northwest for his area even though he is part Chickasaw by birth. I know, I know - we don't look Indian, but we are - a small part, but nonetheless a part.

He did such a good job on it and was so enthused about it! I was very proud of him for starting early enough on it such that it was done on time and without having to pull any late nights working. It also gave me an opportunity to check out some sections of hobby shops that I wouldn't normally venture into. I had no idea there is a whole line of 'stuff' out there for dioramas. There were two things that we bought for him that were pretty neat. The first one is a product that is called plaster sheets. It comes in a roll, almost like a roll of wallpaper but you cut it into strips, dip it in water and use it to form things like mountains by using wadded up newspaper under it. The other thing is a product that makes it look like real water! I'll have to admit, that was the coolest thing to me! Ryan made a river/stream by his mountain and made little salmon for it and then poured the water stuff over it. He also made a waterfall that I personally thought was neat but he said his friends had to ask what it was!

We were so enthused about the water thing that he ended up making a separate piece for the diorama to represent the ocean. This piece has waves, a whale and an Indian in a canoe.

A school project just shouldn't be this much fun!


We learned that the pacific northwest indians lived in homes made of wood as opposed to teepees.


He made the "salmon" out of modeling clay, then poured the fake water over that.


He made the canoes out of clay as well.


The "fish cooking over the fire" scene was somewhat of a last minute decision but I liked how he added the orange and yellow in it to symbolize the fire. Now the fish ... hmm, those look more like flathead catfish than salmon, but the effort was there!



To the right of the totem pole, you can kind of see the "water fall". I thought it was cool.





And last but not least, is the ocean scene - before and after.

Hay Time

These were taken at the Moon Festival this past weekend. The young man pictured with Emma is the son of a couple that we met after starting the process for our second adoption. During the wait for our first adoption, the big online thing was yahoo groups and I was a member of several of them. It was a fun way to “meet” people from all over that were adopting at the same time we were. There was one group in particular that was lots of fun and had just a wonderful camaraderie about it and we did things such as cyber showers and post card exchanges. When we started the process for the second adoption, I received an email from a friend I had met through this group that knew we were adopting again, although at that time we were not officially logged in yet. She asked me if I would join a new group that she had started for people logging in during the June 2006 timeframe because someone from Louisville had joined it and she wanted me to welcome her. Well, long story short – I did & through a series of events outside of that yahoo group we have become really good friends with this couple and their children. They traveled earlier this year to adopt their little girl Jenna who is 3 & is the cutest little thing!

Anyway, we had plans to meet up with them at the Moon Festival. Both of their boys just adore Emma and it’s evident by the way they play and interact with her. You can tell from the glee on her little face how much she enjoys them … and how much she enjoyed playing in the haystack. Adam jumped with her, jumped while holding her and even pitched her in a couple of times. This went on and on and on. How in the world can a teenager have so much patience?!

Pumpkins

Not much to share today, other than a picture of a pumpkin that I took out at Gallrein Farm. I just love my new camera :-) Fall is in the air around here and it feels so good!