Be Still

This post spoke to my heart.  I've linked this woman's blog before..."Jesus with skin on" This one is SO good as well.  Enjoy:)
http://www.lorimccary.com/2012/01/be-still.html

Completely Random Happenings of not much interest

I'm sure the rest of you clean under your stove more often than I do.....but if I cleaned more often, we wouldn't have such interesting science experiments....I leave it for the kids....really.

The pen was found!  "What is this" she says.......""I don't know, he answers,  "but there is something big under here!"  "I will scream if it's a dead mouse" she says!  "That would be hilarious" is the typical male response!

This is a typical Sherman moment.......No one look, I'm going to do something.....He comes out looking like this, and announces that he is "in the band"  We tried not to laugh......really we did!  But when the "band member" is dressed in a graduation gown tucked in, and playing Mary had a little lamb, while battling his flowing sleeves, ............all i can say is......we tried.

Moving on..........Moving on.............

The next event was a group effort to make this cute little owl pillow for the girls room. Sherman started out stuffing the skinny little legs and gave it up...handed it to Kyndahl, and said you do this, and stole the foot she was working on.  He also stuffed the main body of it. 

 This room is a work in progress.  I had high hopes, and lofty dreams for this girl retreat....But.....the budget wouldn't allow it.....and ........I HATE stripping wall paper.......SO....we left the sailboats.....we are just ignoring them, acting like they aren't there.......I decided it kind of has an English country house look.....cobbled together over time you know........you thought so too didn't you.  I knew you would get it.

The bedding is all stuff that i already had, and the curtain fabric and pillow was fabric I already had as well.  The foot stool at the end of the bed was in the living room at one time.  The bed frame is from Grandma Deaton, the bedside table on the right is from Great Grandma Knaus/Flora, the chest is from Great Granny.  Hopefully at 5 years old, they won't have too much fashion sense yet......I actually think it looks rather cozy!  Maybe not high end fashion.....but homey.

The curtains and chest from Great Granny.

Here is some detail on the birdcage in the corner.  Such a cute little Chinese dude holding a bird:) There are three of these that hold the bottom on the cage.

These toy bins go under a bookshelf that was built for Troy and his brother when they were little.  They are going to get a fresh coat of cream paint on the outside, with rasberry pink on the inside.  The shelves will be the same.....the bulletin board needs some help!.....stay tuned for an update.

All of these lovely treasures get to go in the freshly painted book shelves:)  We love books!

That's all folks.....told you it was random!

Failure and Hope

I have shed many tears, and wanted to stomp and scream!!!  I got my I800 back in the mail.  WHAT?? I went over that check list multiple times.  It didn't say anything about another $720.00 check to be included!!! Sigh......I guess it was on the original form the agency sent me on how to fill out this paperwork.    Soooo now i'm another 2 weeks behind schedule:(  Of course this happens on Friday, and i can't talk to the agency till Monday!!! This makes me feel frantic and like a complete failure!! My daughters are waiting because their mother can't get her act together!  But just as i'm agonizing and worrying.......my mom calls (don't ya just love mamas, I sure love mine:) and says look at the pictures behind the TV in the last update of Iley Xiaokui!!!!!!!  I think her foster parents must be Christians!!  Do look at them everyone, tell me.....is that a picture of Jesus with sheep, and some one kneeling in prayer in the other one?  Sure looks like it to me:)  I just bawled!!!  I had prayed over that paperwork, and went over the list a hundred times it seemed..........so maybe my little girl needs to learn about Jesus a little more... in a language she understands.......then hear it again in her new home. Thank you Lord for that whisper of hope, and thank you Mom for the call:)   I KNOW God has this in his timing.....but OH i'm so impatient!!!! 

 

I Love China Travelers.........

I just wish it were US!  A family traveling to bring home their darling, sent us  this picture with promises of more when they get back to USA and better internet service:)  Love this little face!

I finally got a cake ordered to send her for her Birthday.  She will turn 5 on Feb. 1st.  I ordered through a company in China.  They send the money to the orphanage, and the orphanage orders a cake from the cake people........then the orphanage  takes pictures and sends them to the the company that i ordered through (not the cake people), to prove that they used the money for what it was sent for (confused yet?) .......and.......I GET NEW PICTURES:).......AND.... my baby gets her first,  very own, just for her, Birthday cake....AND I get to see the pictures of her SMILE:)  It's an awfully cute smile if I do say so myself!  Not that I can claim it looks like mine:)

I just might feel another cake coming on............to get another beautiful smile, from another beautiful baby........let's see, early birthday?  forever family celebration,? Just because? Who cares!

 I SAY.... "Let them eat cake!"

We Have LOA/LSC!!!

For those of you who are not steeped in the abbreviations of this crazy adoption jargon.......that stands for Letter of Acceptance, or Letter Seeking Confirmation.  It also means that China has approved us to adopt these two specific children, and are seeking confirmation that we accept........DUH!!!  Hurry up already!!  Now we send that along with the request to bring these two specific children into the united states, to the USCIS (united states customs and immigration service).  When we get that approval, we send it to China along with request for visas.  Or something along that line..........I'm a little confused myself at this point.  Thank goodness for an agency that spells it out as we go! Whew.......it's confusing!  When we get a consulate appointment with the Chinese consulate.......we make travel arrangements.  This next part of the process usually takes 60-90 days:):)  Hopefully by the end of March we will be headed to CHINA!!!  In the mean time, we devour every picture we get.  Here are a couple of Wren, sent to me by a recent traveler.

Iley XiaoKui Update!

Just before Christmas we requested another update on Iley who is in Foster care. We just heard back today:) These are her updated pictures. With SMILES:)

We sent these questions, and they sent these answers.

Does she know she has a family coming for her?

Yes.

Does she know that Da Yu is going to be her sister?

Yes.

If so, how does she feel about this?

She is very happy.

Are her lips and fingers blue?

No, the foster family feed her soup everyday and she seldom feels uncomfortable since she entered foster family.

Does she wheeze? or breathe hard?

only when she takes part in violent activities.

Does she sweat alot?

She sweats a lot in summer. She seldom sweats in winter.

Is she toilet trained?

Yes.

Is she dry at night?

Yes.

Does she sleep well at night?

Yes.

What does her foster family say about her? Is she adjusting well to family life?

She is adjusting well to family life.  Her foster family tells she is an active, alert, lively,outgoing and bright child.  She brings much joy to her foster family.

Does she have any foster siblings?

She has one foster brother who just started work.

We are so thrilled to see her looking so well and happy!  Now i just want to love on her myself!!!

An Early Christmas Gift

Every update and snippet of information on our China daughters,  is truly a gift.  It's kind of like waiting for those monthly doctor's appointments when you are pregnant. You get to hear the heartbeat and measure and weigh to see how much it's grown.  I've heard several Adoptive parents say we are paper pregnant.  If that's the case....I feel big as a barn!  Paper overload!!!  as in ....a whole forest was lost to save these two girls:)  But I digress..........On to the important stuff....PICTURES:):) and information!! This is the message we received...

dayu - judy - sweet, sweet, sweet. she would giggle when i would touch her cheek. cute as a button. i also found out about Xiaokui, she is doing very well. her health is improving. her fingertips were blue when she went to the foster family, now they look much better because they are giving her special soup. she is well taken care of.

That "special soup" has me curious!  I've seen pictures from former travelers of the Medicine mart. They have interesting things.                                                   

Dried Snakes anyone?

                                                                                  

       Lizard on a stick

          Dried Sea Horses and Fish Stomachs

 Or Maybe a special cut of Meat???

I think I'm better off NOT knowing what's in the soup!

They also reported....Miss Zhong told me Dayu has no hearing at all.  And they are teaching her  a little from the tapes you sent.  I think Dayu is a little reserved.  She may be on the shy side but not timid.  She is open I believe.

This family is in China now, adopting the little girl in the bright pink on the right.  The little girl beside her is their daughter also, adopted as a baby.  This group of kids all have parents waiting on paperwork so they can go bring them HOME.  This picture amuses me.....The little girl beside Wren is the one that is partially blind, it looks like she is talking to Wren.....who can't hear.  Wren looks like she's looking and pointing out something to her...who can't see!  Precious:)  It also looks like maybe Wren's shoes are on the wrong feet:)

Wren sure likes that sucker:)  I wonder if the only time they get candy is when adoptive parents visit.  Of course my kids get candy often, and they still love it, so maybe she just takes after her Mother and is a sugar junky:)

I just want to give a big acknowledgement to Ms. Zhong.  She is the orphanage director on the left in the tan  jacket.  She really cares about the kids, and goes to a lot of personal effort on their behalf.   She is open and works with the adoptive parents.  She knows who each child is and where they are.  She only has 400 to keep track of!! She even came in on Sunday, her day off, so that they could get pictures of the older kids that are usually in school on weekdays. She works hard to get these kids families. When Cheryl, the mother there now, told her how much we appreciate what she does, she got tears in her eyes. She said she's only doing what is right.  She said she gets a lot of flack for the extra effort put into these kids.  So THANK YOU Ms. Zhong!