Posers

Inspired by a few football player costumes at Mayboory,
this is how three boys find entertainment while a waiting a hurricane ;)

We made shoulder "pads" with some extra pillow stuffing and duct tape.

We colored pieces of band-aids with sharpie markers for their "eyeblack"

And their batting helmets made for substitute football helmets.

They wore this all day on Monday until Daddy came home.

Thankfully we had no damage or power outage from the storm. It was not nearly as bad here as anticipated. Especially considering the kids missed 2 days of school ;)

Fun Before the Storm

Thankfully Sandy didn't interfere with our plans Sunday night to "break in" my dad's new pool table and celebrate his belated birthday. Of course lots of treats and tricks from my mom ;) Like a giant cheese ball cat, eyeball punch, pumpkin bowling and TP mummy making (which I didn't capture b/c I was the mummy) and pumpkin carving.

I am still amazed at the difference in their house. They did SO much work. It was so cozy and inviting in their basement. This is the first time we really hung out down there. I sure hope our basement can feel like that one day.

Bound to Happen

Well, it finally happened. Stitches! With 3 boys, it was bound to happen!

Saturday night, after a fun pumpkin carving party at a neighbor's house, at 8 PM, Ryan slipped and hit his chin on the toilet in their bathroom. It was small, but gaping. Not much blood, fortunately and he was easily consoled. Seeing as the Kid Med place was open two more hours and would not reopen until noon on Sunday, he and I made the late night trip.
He was so very brave, wrapped tight in a sheet and papoose board for about 20 minutes while the nurse sewed 2 stitches. 2 hours later he was home asleep in bed. Phew! Enough excitement for me for awhile. And now a huge storm is heading our direction. The boys are home from school today. We are waiting, just rain and a little wind so far.

mayBOOry

The boys' school has a fall fundraiser every year on the Friday before Halloween. The kids come in costume and play lots of games. It's pretty stressful keeping up with them once it gets dark. My parents came this year. EJ had a soccer game. I could NOT have done it without them.

Sneak peek at Ryan's bat costume.

Owen wanted a lot of space and freedom. UGH! It is starting. He was "too" cool for most of the activities and I spent a majority of my brain space praying he would make good choices with his freedom. We aren't talking big scary choices, but just decisions about who to hang with, whether to obey my instructions/time frames, whether "cut in line" b/c his "friends" think its cool, run around when they should be walking, etc. I am glad it was a "safe" place to practice these things, for him and me to practice. Overall he did great. My mom and I probably have a few more gray hairs, but it's only just beginning. So thankful that the LORD loves him, more than even I do.

Unbelievable

Our I800A approval, the I-797 (the thing we went for fingerprinting last week) ARRIVED in the mail TODAY. I nearly fell over. This is the fastest time I have seen yet. 38 days from the point we mailed it! WOW! Generally 2-3 months.
Unfortunately we are waiting for a copy of EJ's birth certificate and my updated passport before we can move forward with the Dossier. It's actually taking longer to get his birth certificate than the I-797. Crazy!
My passport has been delayed b/c just maybe I sent in the application and forgot to mail a check. OOPS! But the check arrived almost 2 weeks ago, so it shouldn't be too long.

As anxious as I am to move forward and get a Log In Date (LID) in China, I can't help but trust God has us waiting here for a reason. The lessons we are doing about Joseph in Genesis is really changing my views on why/how things happen. Hopefully soon I will be able to go into detail about what I am learning, but I am not quite there yet.

My Middle Pumpkin

I was able to go on the KG field trip today. My mom watched Ryan. Thank goodness b/c my group of four, was a handful. At one point two went missing in the "maze." Add some more gray hairs to my head.
It was fun to snuggle with him on the bus and talk without being interrupted. He has such a sweet heart. He tried talking to his friends about Sugar Plum ;) They were clueless. My ring, he kisses. Be still my heart. He wants to share a bedroom with her instead of Ryan.
He is doing great in school. It is much easier to get him out the door in the mornings. I think it's safe to say he has adjusted. And he no longer hides in his room with his legos all afternoon.

Hoop, There It Is

I have be super busy. Mostly by my own doing. That requires a post of it's own. Needless to say the house has seen better days. You know it's bad when 3 baskets worth of clean clothes are waiting to be put away (not counting the older 2 boys' clothes b/c they put theirs away before dinner each night) and before that can happen the drawers have to be organized b/c it's too messy to fit in the clean clothes. So, while I was refolding all of Ryan's clothes... he made a sport out of it. You know you are the 3rd boy, when an open dresser drawer warrants the retrieval of ball (which doesn't take much, we have them ALL over the place) and a game of hoops ;) All his idea!

Please pray for this family. http://followingourleader.blogspot.com/
Their newly adopted daughter had a lot of medical problems occur on an inter country flight. There athe China Dr. and U.S. Dr. are not in agreement about how to proceed. They are very nervous about the long flight back to U.S.

Swinging High

Look what EJ made this weekend. With the help of a 100ft rope donated by our favorite neighbor, Joe. Joe also planted the idea in the boys' heads ;0
And yes, I still cringe and pray the whole time they are on it ;)

Fall Fun

Our neighbor friend was over playing after school on Friday. I looked out the window and saw them raking. I couldn't believe my eyes. On their own initiative. How sweet, right? A few minutes later it dawned on me they were merely raking a pile big enough to jump into :) 

Each with his own style!

#1 Fans

The boys and I enjoyed a picnic dinner on turf and cheered for EJ. The other team didn't show :( Fortunately, they had enough players plus a few stragglers for a pick-up game. It was fun sitting under the lights.

Fingerprinting Done

Today was the day for our fingerprinting with immigration. yahoo! It could not have been more smooth. Such a blessing! EJ had taken the whole day off from work b/c we had to drive 1.5 hrs there and back and we weren't sure what traffic would be like or how long the appt would take.
We got there an hour early b/c traffic was fine and they took us right away. No one was waiting. Crazy!
Since we didn't need to be home for several more hours we stopped off at an outdoor outlet mall. It was a gorgeous day to be outside! We even got some Christmas shopping done.
Then we picked up the older two from school and took them for their passport appointments. We still aren't sure who is going to China, but we wanted to be covered. We would love your prayers. This seems a harder decision than I would have expected.
Just waiting on a few more documents and then our Dossier will be ready!

Somedays...

You've just got to blast the praise music and remind yourself over and over again that HE knows what HE is doing...

Swinging Solo

He has patiently waited for an opportunity to show me his new "trick." He has learned to swing by himself. (He knew the leg pumping part, but never quite got the body leaning back and forth, etc.)
Sadly, we don't make it to the park much and he has waited almost 2 weeks.
He and I were out by ourselves getting his haircut. My mom babysat the other 2 (Owen was home sick again). Afterwards we stopped by the school so he could show me. Apparently this is how he has been spending is recess. Fun for me to get a glimpse into his day. He doesn't say much about school and never really mentions recess. That's usually the only part Owen talks about ;)

Bless His Heart

I just had a 2 minute extemporaneous song sung to be by Mason about Sugarplum. Hilarious! At least I am not the only one with a brain full of sugarplums ;)
He is ready for her to be home!

Happy Monday

Got a sick one home from school. The one not pictured. Doesn't seem too serious.

My Biggest Boy

Look who else is playing soccer ;)

I attended not just 1 game or 2 games, but 3 games yesterday. Owen, Mason and EJ each played.

Normally he will play Friday nights. This may have been our only chance to see him play. At least not without hiring a babysitter ;)

He definitely had the biggest fan club!

Jibber Jabber

Just a few months ago, I was thinking our lunch times would be very quiet without Mason. Little did I know how Ryan's language would explode. Our lunch times (days) together are anything but quiet. He talks with his words, hands, eyes and body motions. I only understand about 75% (which is way more than most people understand) but if I nod and look interested he is content to keep on going ;) Every so often he cracks himself up, the joke must of been a good one, I just missed the punch line.

So so thankful for his words. I love our lunch dates.

Part of the Journey

Lately, I am being bombarded with "I will not leave you." Isn't that an awesome truth to have hit you from every angle? What a gift!

Here is one example.

We are currently studying Joseph (from Genesis) in Wellspring. We are back in Genesis again and I am so excited.

This is a quote from this week's lesson.

"Scripture insists that... 'we know that God works all things for good for those who are called according to His purpose.' Joseph was assuredly called 'according to God's purpose.' He wasn't aware of it at that moment and there would be many more such moments, as we shall learn...It is put in the Bible as a testimony to us. And it is an encouragement to those of us who are still somewhere on the road to Egypt, with hearts broken by the rejection of loved ones, feet blistered by the sharp rocks of affliction, and with a thousand questions racing through our heads and no answers in sight."
Liam Goligher

When I learned we would study Joseph, I didn't anticipate how it would speak directly into my heart, the heart of a mother waiting to welcome her daughter home. But it is becoming clear to me, that God's timing is impeccable (surprise, surprise) and I am eager to soak up all He has to show me.

Joseph's life was hard. His journey was not a walk through the park. While he was being rejected and betrayed, did he still know God was there? It's not always clear in the Scriptures what Joseph was thinking/learning along the way. Surely he did not know God's whole plan.

In many ways Joseph's journey looked similar to that of Jesus. Jesus' life was not easy. He was rejected and betrayed. And there was a clear path he had to take. Unlike Joseph, he knew the WHOLE story. More importantly he willingly entered into it all for our salvation.

My daughter's road has not been an easy one. Even without knowing the specifics, the basic facts tell us this because she is an orphan. She is not with her birth parents. If she was, she wouldn't be needing our family. I do not know the road she has been on and is currently enduring alone. No matter how loved she is by us in the future, she will forever be scared (somehow) by the rejection of her birth parents. This story of Joseph will speak to her heart in a much deeper way than I will ever understand.

Sometimes I think "we can't do this (adopt). It's going to be so hard." And each and every time, He is faithful to whisper in my ears and remind me, that HE IS ENOUGH.

I won't be able to heal her. I won't always know what she needs. I won't be able to speak straight into her broken heart. But her Creator can. He is with her even now. The journey she is on is part of his plan for her. This gives me incredible peace.

I imagine MY road is going to get a lot bumpier. But just like Joseph, it's not outside of God's plan. And just in case I forget that, I have written here ;)

Ryan's Dance Moves

(he is not watching anything, we stream pandora through our t.v.)

One step closer

Yesterday, we received our fingerprinting appointment date!

Game Time

#24 is mine. I can hardly believe it.

It's a different game this time around. Bigger field, goalie, referee, keep score and they play their positions (or at least recognize there are specific positions to be played).

 He's the blurry one in the background with the ball. Just love how everyone looks as they run.

I think he'd rather be playing football or baseball. This might be the end of soccer. We'll see.

Just a little Crazy

Ryan had a friend over today. So fun!

I am here. Well, my body anyway. My head and heart are kinda in China ;) I have more time to think now that the paperwork is mostly done. Now I get why this is the harder part. Time to think isn't always good ;)
The other day when we went to the art museum there was a large group of Chinese adults in a guided tour together. They stopped in 1 small room that was the Japanese "Temple" room. I steered Ryan's stroller over and squeezed us in. I found myself breathing deeper and listening intently to their Chinese conversations. Hoping just maybe I could feel a little more of her while I was in their presence.
Sounds totally crazy. But what part of this process isn't crazy? We didn't have a "heart" for China when we started this process. But God is giving us one. I am currently ready juvenile fiction just b/c the author is Chinese and the story is about 3 sisters Taiwanese-Americans who travel home to Taiwan for their summer vacation. It was on the new book table so I picked it up. Seriously?!? Who am I?
I really am trying not to wish the days away. But it's so tempting!