Details, Details....

First let me apologize, we have known some of this information for a week or so. We just couldn’t share it until we knew our dossier was complete along with the rest of our paperwork. Even now it seems a bit surreal…

Shortly after we signed on with our agency we knew there was a little one who they were wanting to place. But we didn’t know if we could get our dossier and home study done in time. In the meantime they would be looking for another referral for us as well. (Since we are hoping to adopt two from Russia).

It was actually last Friday that we got the call asking how close we were to completing our paperwork, in particular the home study. The reason: They found another little one for us! So, we took the weekend to pray and continued working on our paperwork. We knew we needed to go to Russia to meet these little ones. At church we shared with our Sunday school class the information we were given about the children, and what needed to accomplish for us to get our dossier done. Plus, I got on the phone and started calling some prayer warriors.

As you saw from our previous post, our dossier is complete and was sent FedEx Thursday. I got the call from our director today, that it looks “great-perfect-good job”! It is going on a plane tomorrow morning, and will begin translation Monday. Other paperwork needs to be complete on our agency end…… BUT are you ready for this? They were hoping to have us travel on the 13th of September! Thankfully the additional paperwork will not be ready, so as of now they are looking at us traveling either the week of Sept 21st (most likely) or Sept. 28th. How is that for CRAZY???

I have been told I can take the weekend off to relax and catch my breath. Lol! Then on Tuesday it will be back to more paperwork updates etc. Fat chance on the relaxing part!! I feel like it’s a whirlwind! Especially after waiting so long. And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t stressful. It has been! My stomach has been in knots a lot, just trying to get everything done (a herculean effort), and just imagining the steps we must take to get ready to travel. Breathe….just breathe….

My parents have been wonderful with re-arranging their entire schedule so that they can come down and watch the boys while we are away. They are officially “on call”, for whenever we get the travel dates. I cannot even think about what we need to bring, and yet I know I NEED to be thinking about these things! I need to be getting things ready. Lots of things ready! This on top of our regular schoolwork and of course the very stressful football season. I’m a list girl, so I suppose I better get started on some lists. But at least for tonight, I’m going to relax and revel in the fact that our dossier is on its way, and we’ll actually be traveling soon to meet two precious children!

Forgetting something...

Um.... I knew there was something I was forgetting to mention......

(More news to come.......... )

And It's Off!!!

By the time I post this entry our dossier will be off in the air to arrive at our agency’s office. It will get there just in time to be reviewed page by page and then hand carried via airplane back to Russia. Wooohoooo!!

If you knew how many things we had to accomplish to get this done.... It was a miraculous feat! I shouldn’t be surprised, as we shared it with our Sunday school class and a few close prayer warriors. We knew it was almost humanly impossible, the key being humanly…. I am reminded of the verse “But with God all things are possible”! Sunday we didn’t even have a home study. By Wednesday not only did we have a home study, but all the rest of the documents we needed.

So, it’s complete......the home study and the dossier! As of Saturday, our paperwork will be in Russia! A HUGE thanks to my friend Kim who kept me sane during some key moments of the recent paperwork stress…. And my sister who just listened to me vent as I talked through all we needed to get accomplished!

Weird

I had to use my husbands computer this evening while he downloads some stuff for our trip tomorrow. So, I checked my blog and low and behold what do I see? The Upgrade template button! Seems that little icon or button is not working with anyone who has IE version 6. Dh has IE-7.... so the button showed up! I also read on the help board that it shows up with Firefox as well. Whatever....my blog is slightly messed up again, but the bones are back to the Layout mode. Yeah! I had a nice little lesson in HTML while I waited anyway.

More stress on the paperwork front. One page of our home study was incorrect. The financial that has to match with Chris' s employment letter. I can't believe I caught it this evening. I will have to get it fixed tomorrow morning, before we make the trip to have it apostilled! UGH! I am sooo not looking at anything else before we leave tomorrow! I don't even want to know if there is a mistake!

Looking Better...

I am so proud of myself that I have been able to figure out some of this stuff to code my blog and make it look closer to what it was... thank goodness I saved the source code!

I have been playing around with html coding and it's looking better. I at least have a few of my links back in place, and the colors are readable again. No, it isn't back to where I want it to be, and I have to practically code everything to get it in it's place. But for a basic blog it will work until blogger fixes it. Sheesh, this wasn't exactly the blog makeover I had in mind though!

Please leave me a comment so I know that is working and to say "Kudos" for a job well done, even without Blogger's help. (sticking her tongue out in a very grown up way). :-)

Too Much Drama

Good grief, there is just too much drama going on in my life right now. I don't necessarily mean anything bad, I just mean.... bleck. That's a good word for it.

1. My blog is not fixed yet, if anyone has noticed. Through this, I am finding out a bit about myself. I like things in their neat little places in my life, and my blog seems to be one of them. I like being able to see that everything on my page has a place, and that it is easy to maneuver and fix and add things and change things. So, this has been difficult, as I feel a little lost at sea. But I am also finding out with this blog that it can become a preoccupation. And that my friends is a waste of time, especially since I have no control over the people who will eventually fix my blog. (At least I hope they fix it). My dad always said, don't worry about the things you have no control over. He's right in this case.

2. Football
This area is certainly dramatic and full of politics. I am amazed at the politicking in youth sports.... Really blown away by it. I guess my eyes were just getting to see it a little at the end of baseball season. But football is a whole 'nother scenario. I will be on my knees praying for this season, and for my boys coaches.... as I really want the season to be a positive one for the kids. Chris will be stepping in as an assistant coach, and I have a feeling before too long he will be coaching more regularly. It works for us now, and I completely support him. We also will be asking for special permission for our boys to play on one team. As both are first year players. (One will play a league down). Chris just learned he could do this, and we are going to ask about it tomorrow. That will make everything so much easier in the evenings with one field and one practice. Plus, if Chris is in the loop as an assistant coach, then I can be in the loop. I will be the first to make sure I have email addresses of each parent so information can get out to people in a timely fashion. I'm the organizer of the two of us! (Which again brings me back to point one and my blog).

3. Home study. Well we are just waiting on that now. We are officially complete with our part of the dossier. Our papers just need to be county certified, and I will be photocopying pictures of our house and family tomorrow.

I guess that is about it, for an update on our life. Say a prayer that blogger fixes this problem soon. I am going crazy without my normal looking blog!

Still not back yet....

I'm frustrated pure and simple. I know my friend Kris would be too... she posted that on a comment. :-) The bad part is that there are very few that this has affected, so I am not sure how long blogger will take to fix this.

I have thought about starting a completely new blog... it's a thought. But the rational side of me wants to wait until at least Monday for them to correct this bug. (It is the weeknd, ya know.)

I am trying to look on the bright side of things. At least I can still post, even though I can't read any of my friends blogs, or find any of my links etc etc etc. The thought of re-creating everything makes me feel sick to my stomach. Bleck. However, it could be worse, and I could have been locked out for two weeks like Crystal at Money Saving Mom. She had to switch her blog over to Typepad. She likes it much better... and Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer also uses Typepad. Hmmmm.... maybe they are onto something.

Blogger: Please fix this bug quickly... I don't know if I can handle re-designing an entire blog on top of everything else on my plate!

Caught a Blogger Bug

And NO this isn't a good one, where you are all happy with the design and layout of a new and improved blog. No this is the BUG that you get when you try to redesign your blog and it wipes out everything you had practically.

There is a known error going on since Blogger updated their new dashboard. Unfortunately since I was redesigning my blog, I guess I was one of the lucky ones it affected. My blog has reverted to the old Template mode (not the Layout mode it has always had). So Now I can't add gadgets or anything. I can't correct it either until the bug is fixed on Blogger's end.

How frustrating! I hope they fix it soon..... I would hate to start over!

Remodeling

Nope, not our home, just my blog. Sorry guys... I got it in my head to remodel my blog a bit. But I think it's going to take a little while. So bear with me as I try to figure out what in the world I am doing!

New Agency

I have to say that I really like our new agency. I was very skeptical, coming from where we came from. But I have to say once again...it is like a breath of fresh air..... Yet at times it's also completely surreal.

Our new agency is small and so it naturally seems more personal. The director is quite accessible and has excellent communication skills. She always takes our calls, and is on the ball. She understands a lot about adoption first hand. Seriously she "gets it", the ups and downs and difficulties. I never feel like she doesn't have time for us....

One thing I have to laugh about is the paperwork. With our old agency, I swear if you just looked at a document wrong it would have to be re-done. I felt stressed if something wasn't perfectly filled in. This is not so with our new agency. I can't tell you how much more laid back they are. . I'm not jumping through a dozen hoops... and the paperwork is definitely more streamlined. It's weird and I don't get it. Wouldn't Russia require the same things? I'm not even typing in my own documents. About half of them come to me fully prepared to print and sign. How easy is that? If we didn't have to re-do our entire homestudy.... our dossier would have been finished by now. It boggles the mind.

I have had a few people ask about our current agency in comments and some via email. However, for now.... I am hesitant to post that information via this blog. I will be happy to share our agency info via email though, so if you have any questions.... please click on the EMAIL US gadget on our sidebar!

Paperwork Update

Okay, I finally can come up for air to at least update everyone on the progress of our paperwork. We are "running" that's for sure.... There are so many things/tasks flying around in the thoughts above my head! Trying to get all this done speedily, while still maintaining order for my children's school, has been a balancing act. I am grateful to say that somehow by God's grace we stayed on track this week. I attribute that to regular Quiet Times first thing every morning.... for all of us.

So here is an update on the paperwork:

CIS- Request for fingerprint renewal has been sent, they should get it on Monday. Hopefully we will hear back from them quickly.

Homestudy- We have one more piece of paper to turn in which is our fire inspection form. I will try to schedule that one on Monday. Hopefully we will pass. Our home visit is tomorrow, and then our part is done. I pray that we are able to get our HS completed as soon as possible, so that we can submit our dossier post haste!

(What is post haste, really? Is it after (post) you were hasty? Maybe it's like we need it there yesterday....... I don't get it.......but it sounds like the right word to use....)

Dossier- One final medical appointment on Monday. I will also have to get our home deed that day as well. This weekend I will be copying family photos. Then we just wait for the home study portion to complete our dossier. Naturally we will get our documents notarized and county certified. I anticipate a Wednesday completion date of our stuff. Yeah!

That's all for now... back to dusting and cleaning up the house.... you never know when they'll do a white glove test.... (just kidding!)

Fingerprint Issue Resolved!

Thanks to Billie and Dede for responding to my plea for help... You were both pretty much correct even with your being in different states!

A big thanks to my friend Kim who forwarded me the step by step information I would need to get that re-done. I will be sending off a letter Fed-Ex today! I cannot thank you enough for helping me out with that one.

I'll post an update on how our home study and dossier is going a little later.

Fingerprints Expiring-HELP!

Okay, here is a question for all of you who had to get your fingerprints re-done in the state of Tennessee. Ours expire next month, and I am in urgent need of how to get re-fingerprinted. I have been all over the web trying to find this info. Our agency is out of our state, and as each USCIS office handles things differently.... I thought I would ask here first. I do have an old overview sheet we received from CIS back in 2006, that states you can walk in and have them re-done after 14 months. But I'm not sure if that still applies, or if there is a fee. (There used to be a fee, but now with the one time I171H extension, I didn't know if fingerprints would also be a free re-printing). I do know that getting re-printed is completely separate from renewing our I171H which expires in January.

I know this sounds jumbled, but can anyone share how they got re-printed? Did you just take a copy of your I171H and a check? Did you have to mail a request or did you just walk in? Naturally there is no number to call.....

I would really really appreciate your input either via comment or email!

Thanks so much!
Jackie

Marriage questions

I know that sounds so serious... lol! It isn't meant to be.

Chris and I had to fill out some questions about our marriage for our home study. There were about 21 questions.... and I just had a great time filling them out. I don't know what it is with this home study, but this is FUN. lol!

So, as I am enjoying filling this questionnaire out, I thought, "Ya know... I want Chris to hear this." With that in mind, every so often I would pop into the living room, where Chris was filling out his questionnaire. As I sprawled across our oversized chair, I would ask a question..... "What did you answer for question #1 - Describe your spouse?" As I listened to his answer it brought such joy to me. And as I shared what I wrote about him, he felt the same. This went on and on, as I went back to my office to fill out a few more questions, and every so often I would come back to the living room to share.

It was uplifting to share those answers with each other! It was also encouraging to take the time to focus on questions and aspects of our relationship that we normally wouldn't have time to reflect on. We got to discuss a lot, and found out how much we have grown in our marriage. It's a great feeling to see how far you have come, and to see how much love and respect you share as husband and wife.

I'm so glad that I thought to share those answers.... who knew a home study could be so enjoyable? :-)

First Home Study Meeting

Well we had our first home study meeting yesterday. It went so well! I really like our social worker, she is quite personable and we just hit it off. I can see enjoying our post placement visits with her down the road. I just liked her!

She was blown away by how prepared we were with all the documents for our home study. Seriously! She had never seen someone pull everything together in a week. Last Friday she was headed on vacation, but I spoke to her probably an hour before she left work and she put all the forms together in a packet with a checklist and mailed it to me. From there I just started to WORK. One week later... home study docs just about complete! I was pleased as punch... let me tell you. lol!

I have my second meeting with her on Tuesday of this week, and the final three documents will be in her hands that day. Chris has his meeting with her on Thursday, and our home visit is Friday. But she literally has so much info to begin preparing a home study, even before our visits. We are happy about that!

Now we are on to preparing for our home visit. The house looks in okay shape... just a few area of clutter (like our playroom and garage). So today once Chris comes back from hair appointments for him and the kids... and a few errands, we will begin to work on that. I really want to begin getting the kids closet together so I can begin to hang some of those toddler clothes that I have! We really DO think we will be referred two boys and we are both more than happy about it. I'm not sure what I will do if it ends up being girls and I have washed and hung all those boy clothes. I have not a stitch of girl anything... lol! I think hanging the clothes will begin to make this more real for me.... it's been such an intangible thing for almost 2 years....

I'm also going to knock out 1/2 of our dossier this weekend as well. I have a question for those of you who filled out your dossier. (and you would think we would know this.....) but on the registration forms etc. did you just print them on regular white paper? The first time we did our dossier we used white resume type paper..... but I am wondering if that is even necessary. I would love to hear what someone else did!

Okay, that's all for now. I have a few closets to work on cleaning out!

Braves Game

Last night we had the opportunity to go to a Braves game in Atlanta. (Becky I thought of you soooo many times, wishing I could contact you and tell you to bring Andrew to the game!) When we got there we were wondering what was up, as usually flashing police cars are directing traffic on the streets. Yesterday there were hardly any vehicles with flashing lights, and traffic itself was really light! I told Chris to check the tickets to make sure we actually had the right night of the game! (We did!)

We got there and the weather was just beautiful. Unfortunately the game was not. Apparently the Braves played a double header that day and we were witnessing the second half of the double header. They lost the first to the Cubs 10-2. The second was not much better.... 8-0!!! Zero!

This is what I noticed though... it could have been Wrigley field for as many Cubs fans as there were. I think they seriously outnumbered the Braves fans! I mean they could have started a wave and had plenty of people all around the stadium. Our entire section was 2-1 Cubs fans. Our team was losing so badly, that there wasn't much to cheer about. Thankfully Chris took the boys to run in a kids track area... so watching the game was less painful!

We got home after midnight, and had homeschool and drs appointments this morning. The doctor's visit was for our home study report. The boys part is now complete! Yeah!! We meet with our social worker tomorrow and have a stack of paperwork to give her. It's the by-product of all our hard work this past week!

Posts on Attachment

Some noteworthy blogs I read posted great posts on attachment and the adoptive child. Please read them! They will be invaluable to our friends and family to recognize and hopefully understand what we will be experiencing when the children come home!

Susan's post on attachment with excellent comments

Adrienne's post on attachment and their progress after one year at home

Paperwork Update....

My friend Becky commented that I would be amazed at how quickly a dossier can come together the second time around..… and she is correct. Actually, we haven't started on our dossier yet.... but our home study paperwork is coming together quickly. Part of it is knowing what we need and having copies available.... another is knowing what constitutes dossier requirements and home study requirements. (And knowing the difference). We have a meeting this Friday with our new social worker and every form is just about together. All but our references and medicals. (I want to check and see if we can use our most recent medicals, since we just had them re-done.) Also I am waiting to tell our references where to send the letters. Each one has kept a copy on their computer, so sending it out again to a different social worker will hopefully be easy.

What I am amazed about is the medical forms required for our new dossier. They are so much easier to fill out. I really think our doctor is going to like them a lot better, and of course we do too….

The only thing that is different this time around for our home study is we have to get a fire inspection form filled out by the local fire department. We have a friend at Sunday school who is a firefighter, so we will be asking him for his input on how we can make our home “fire safe” to pass an inspection. Next week we will also have our home visit. This will require some definite cleaning up, especially in the garage…. And some additional baby proofing!

I will keep everyone updated on the process and when we can actually say we are finished with this. I know that I will be headed to have all the documents apostilled in Nashville in about two weeks (I hope), so if anyone wants to get together for lunch… we would love to meet up!

The Paper Chase

So, we've switched agencies.... what does that mean? Well.... it means a lot more paperwork, that's what it means! It could be worse.... much worse! My office could look like this one... Thankfully it doesn't!

Unfortunately we will have to completely re-do our home study report, as our previous agency had done that. So, we are working as quickly as possible to gather all the necessary documents. My photocopier is just humming along! This I think will actually be good though, as the we have a local social worker this time, recommended to us by our adoption attorney.

We have chosen a new agency and will begin working with them to gather up our dossier next week. Working on the two simultaneously (home study and dossier) will be interesting, to say the least! But I am determined to get it gathered as quickly as I can. One good thing about this agency is that adopting siblings is not a requirement. The two children can be unrelated, so hopefully this will reduce the wait time for a referral.

I know I am in paperwork mode right now, but I've also had time to reflect and just stop and dream for awhile. This past weekend, as we were fairly sure we were going to make this decision, we began cleaning out the guest room to prepare to add two siblings. I found two bins of boys clothes from when my boys were babies/toddlers. I just went through a few of them on the top, but it was a joy to do that and daydream about those clothes being hung in the closet!

We've also found out about a large children's consignment franchise that is held here about 4 times a year. They just had a back to school sale at an arena here in town, but because we don't know the ages or gender of our children yet we saw no need to attend. I emailed the franchise owner and found out that Chris and I qualify as first time adoptive parents for a presale event. This is an event that lets first time parents come in and shop before anyone else does, to look for furniture/strollers/car seats/high chairs/ clothing etc etc. We have of course gotten rid of everything we had as our children are waaayyyy past that age. The only thing we have saved is a pack n play to use when family or friends visit. So this will be a huge help to us! We hope that we will know something about the children, so we are able to attend the next pre-sale and hopefully get some things we will need!

So, aside from the paperwork that is swirling about my office...I have some day dreams also swirling about my head! I am sure that the feelings of hope I have will expand even more as we complete our paperwork and get re-registered in a different region!

I guess that's my update so far.... I'm headed back to my photocopier! :-)

Changes in the Wind.....

My blog description says this… “Join my husband and I as we take two steps forward one step back on this crazy, turbulent and often unknown journey to adopt from Russia”.

Little did I know how crazy and turbulent it could get. And we haven’t even boarded an airplane! I should have said, two steps BACK and one step forward. For indeed we need to take two steps back to move forward. Back….. as in a completely new dossier…. with a completely new agency.

Yes, you read that correctly. This was a very difficult decision for us, as we had invested a great amount of time and money with our last agency. We have been disappointed with the lack of communication, ever changing procedures and requirements, plus the lack of leadership and turnover. We’ve had a bad-gut feeling for awhile, but now their Hague accreditation was denied. Though we were informed the Hague denial doesn’t affect Russian adoptions directly, it added to some serious concerns that we were having…..

So, we began researching new agencies and hope to settle soon on a new smaller agency who doesn’t have a backlog of applicants. I have hope again, which I realized I haven’t had in a very long while.

It’s like a breath of fresh air……. I know several of you have switched and felt the same way, so you know exactly what I am talking about. I’m so grateful to have your blogs to refer back to…. I have gone back to each one when you made the decision to switch agencies, read your accounts and then of course continued reading as you received referrals and traveled to meet and bring home your children. I hope that we can join you this year!

So there is our news! Two steps back…but one GIANT step forward!

Football Season

Typically I love football season.... I love the cooler fall weather. (Which I don't experience here so much). I love Sunday after church, as we all sit around and watch football. (Yeah I know.....but it's a family tradition started waaayyyy long ago). I even can handle Monday Night Football......But this year football season brings with it a little more trepidation.

It’s the first season of my boys playing football. I need to be honest and say that I have had many concerns and reservations about this. I have talked to several mom’s at our church whose kids have played football, and they felt the same way their first year. I can’t even put it into words… as it makes me think about it too much. KWIM?

Contrarily, Chris has played football all his life…it’s his favorite sport, and he is just "pumped" to have the boys playing this sport! I grew up with one sister and though we were both athletic… we never played “football”. (As in full helmets, pads etc.) Of course seeing her get her teeth knocked out playing field hockey (our sport of choice) was quite difficult!

So this evening ds1 has his first football practice. Ds2 does as well, but he won’t be going out to practice until he is feeling much better! Dh bought their football equipment last evening, and it made it very “real” for me. Yikes! It should be an interesting season for everyone…. I’ll post pictures of them in full gear later this week.

Feeling better and we have Air!

I am so happy to report that we now have air flowing cool and free through our downstairs vents! Thank goodness! The stifling heat is clearing out and I am now ready to cook dinner again in my kitchen.

On another note ds2 is doing much better! He has eaten today and is happily playing Wii in the living room. :-) We kept him home from Football, which is a whole 'nother post for later today.

I have lots to get accomplished this evening, so I'm outta here.....

A visit to the ER

Well, ds2's stomach virus was not getting any better, and he was not holding down even the smallest sips of water. I was more concerned with the pain in his stomach he was feeling.... so at 11:45pm I asked dh to run him down to the ER, just so they can check for appendicitis. I probably wouldn't have sent him down there if ds2 didn't have the pain all day. I guess I was thinking that typically I don't have a lot of pain when I have a stomach virus, and am able to sleep in between episodes of... well you know. But he couldn't even sleep much because of the pain.

A funny thing happened at the hospital as ds2 was his entertaining self, even while sick. (He just needs a willing and sympathetic audience.) Dh was talking about toothpaste and all of a sudden ds2 said as if a light bulb went on in his head. "THAT'S IT! (the reason he could be sick and throwing up with a stomach virus) MOM SAID I COULD USE ANY TOOTHPASTE I WANTED! I USED CREST CINNAMON RUSH!"

The nurses got a kick out of that. As did I to hear him on the phone. I joined them down there at 1am and relieved dh who needed to get to sleep for work the next day. It was a good thing too as he was given an IV and some anti nausea medicine. Fena...something or other. And we didn't get home until 3:30am. He slept from the time they gave him the IV, through the time he came home. Since dh was still in the quarantined room, I put the littlest one in our bed, so I could be there in case he got sick again. Thankfully we both slept until about 11am!

That's my second day of school for you... lol! Hopefully tomorrow will be much better!

A Tough First Day of School

Well it wasn't exactly the stellar first day I was hoping for....nope not really.

The air is still broken downstairs where our schoolroom is located. While we were okay in the morning, this afternoon was quite warm. We moved upstairs to continue history and science.... but sweet ds2 was complaining of a tummy ache. Yes... you can go there with your thoughts, especially after dh was sick all day yesterday in bed. Poor ds2 has a stomach virus, and I have been comforting him all afternoon. He has dry heaves now poor little guy. I am not even giving him water yet as his stomach can't handle it. I'll wait and see how he does in an hour or so.

Poor little guy. I am sure it's headed my way after all this... and ds1 better watch out too. I think it was here before I ever broke out a Lysol bottle. :-)

So, this week looks a little precarious at best for schoolwork. I am glad that I can be flexible and we'll work around how everyone is feeling. (Including myself). If you feel like sending some prayers up on our behalf... I know we could use it!

No Air....

We have two central air conditioning units in this house. One for the upstairs and one for the downstairs. Since we moved in two years ago, both have been serviced multiple times. I'm getting increasingly frustrated by the number of calls I need to make each year (this year so far 3). Even though we thankfully have a home warranty on these items, it still adds up and it's a pain. Our house is going on 20 years old. So, like my good friend Michelle, our units will have to be replaced soon. Probably within the next year or so.... A major expense to be sure!

So right now our downstairs is a balmy 86 degrees. I'm "glistening" while I type this. Thank goodness our upstairs unit is still working, as that is where dh is, and if he felt sick and it was hot... well that is a bad combination.

I don't even want to think about using the stove, so the boys and I may head out to get pizza. And school tomorrow will be held upstairs for the day! It's amazing how used to central air my body has become! I don't think I could hack it in a much warmer climate like South America. Ugh! Perish the thought!

Sick Hubby

My poor dh is sick in bed with a stomach virus. Bleck. I have to be the first to admit I am not the most nuturing wife when he is sick.... the germaphobe in me just wants to stay far away.....I'm much more nuturing with my kiddos.... I guess I just feel like I'm bound to get it with taking care of them.

So, needless to say he is quarantined in the guest bedroom, and I am trying my best to be supportive from the doorway.... (I tossed him a banana when he requested one.) However my bottle of Lysol spray and wipes have been in regular use as I wipe down banisters and door knobs etc etc etc....

Anyone else do this kind of thing? Probably not. ;-)

I'm Alive....

I am here, alive and pretty well. ;-) I have been away visiting family and friends for 10 days and got back mid last week. Since then we have been unpacking and gearing up to begin a new school year.

We had a wonderful time traveling and visiting old friends. You know when you go and visit really close friends who are almost like family that you call them family? That was the beginning of our trip, and oh it was so hard to leave! We had a completely awesome time with uplifting transparent conversation, and lots of fun and laughter....

We next headed to my parents house and had a great time there. We had a little ministry opportunity to weed their front brick paver pathway. It took a while, but the results were so worth it! And I remembered why I love that Pennsylvania weather. It gets so cool in the evenings that it's actually enjoyable to garden.... I realized that I really miss my flowers and planting ever since I moved south. But the heat has kept me away....

While at my folks, I took the boys to my old stomping ground as a kid. It's an old historic hotel still in operation with a beautiful golf course set right on the river. I used to swim and play there all summer long and help my dad somedays however he needed. But mostly my sister and I did our own thing riding our bikes all over that property or rollerskating, swimming or golfing. I took the boys everywhere, and while it was a trip down memory lane for me, the boys told me later it was kind of boring. LOL! They were patient though...bless their hearts!

Finally we stopped by my sisters in VA and spent the day and evening with the M's. We went peach picking with all the kids and got some ice cream afterward. Her second oldest daughter helped the boys pick songs off of their ITunes to download onto a CD of their own. They were thrilled!! They listened to them on the drive home. Of course while there I heard Girl's Night by Hannah Montana more than I could ever imagine! I haven't heard it since our trip home. LOL!

We've been home for about 4 days now and are getting geared up to start school soon. Monday to be exact. No news on the adoption front... but I bet you guessed that, huh? I'm not even gonna go there tonight....