Who's Driving this CAR?

Another busy day, but I managed to get in 2 walks today and really enjoyed them. I loved my middle of the day walk with Dede, but I really loved my evening walk with Melissa and her adorable girl. Okay, Melissa was fun, but looking at Rory was wonderful. She is so beautiful. Very solemn, no smiles to me yet, but she is a beauty. So petite!

So I get in the car last night on the way to church and Bo is in the passenger seat and Brady is in the drivers seat. Do you see a problem with that, since he's only 14 and has never driven except in the driveway! I white knuckled it all the way to church. Brady did a good job for a beginner. His greatest statement of the evening was while on the way. "I don't think we need to go to church tonight, I think there's a lot of praying in this car right now." Too funny. I made a decision last night that I don't mind taking care of a lot of things. Give me the stomach bugs, the dirty clothes, the yucky stuff, but Bo can teach the boys to drive. I just don't think I can do it.

The boys are counting down to Disney. Now I just have to get them all packed. I know they are going to having a blast. They have already devised their plan of action and are ready to go.

Swinging Clubs to help with Stress

I finally got to try out my new golf clubs that my husband gave me for Christmas and I love them. Of course, I didn't hit any better with those than with the old ones, but I really loved them. Hybrid clubs are the bomb. Thanks Dede for calling and saying lets go hit a bucket of balls. What great therapy right before you go to a meeting with your child's teachers:)

I had another chance encounter with an adoptive parent this afternoon. I'm calling these my God moments. I was talking with the ladies at the post office (while mailing e-bay items to raise money for our girl) and they were asking questions about the adoption and how much longer. I of course use my standard "who knows, they are waiting until I get really old" line and then I left the post office. While I was putting on my seat belt this man knocked on my window and I opened the door. He said "I know you don't know me, but I heard you talking in there and I just wanted to tell you that it will be worth the wait when you get your daughter." He then introduced me to his daughter who was adopted (not Chinese) and she was adorable. He said he just wanted me to know that the wait was worth it and he was so thankful for his beautiful girl. What a great God moment!

On another note, my boys are going to Disney World next week with Bo's parents. They are so excited (the boys:) I know they will all have a blast, but I am sort of jealous. I'm sure that I will think of something to do while they are gone!

Daily Life

It's been few days since I posted due to working several extra shifts. I must be getting old because I'm just exhausted after working extras and messing with my sleep schedule. Friday night was the best night we've had in the ER in a long time. The snow and ice started around 5:15 and it really helped our night out. Only 2 pts. However, it melted on Saturday and then I paid dearly for that good night.

No new adoption news. I had received an e-mail from our agency yesterday stating thay had received 20 waiting child referrals (formerly called special needs) and they would be contacting people if there was a match. No call, as I suspected. It's understandable since we have not been on the Waiting Child list for very long, but it's still hard not to get your hopes up.

The boys have been pretty active. Due to Brady's loss of privileges, he's spending a lot of time wandering aimlessly. He is getting some reading in and playing his guitar. We get report cards tomorrow, so that should be loads of fun. Ashton never slows down, so you just have to try to keep up the pace. I often think what he would be like if I allowed him to drink caffeine. A constant whirlwind would best describe him I'm sure. He spent the night at a friend's house on Saturday for a big birthday party with his ball team. He was rated one of the top 3 for good behavior by the hosting parents, so that was good. I was told their was a little "ruckus" by a couple of the boys resulting in one of them hitting the other. When I asked Ashton what happened his reply was quick "boys will be boys mom". Too cute.

Tomorrow is my only day at home and from the looks of my house, it will take all day. It's a complete mess. That's another hazard of working extra shifts. Nothing seems to stay together. I really admire moms who work full time. I remember how hard it was as well. However, it's supposed to be really nice out and I would rather be playing golf than cleaning house.

Pretty boring read, so I guess I will call it quits. Not a lot of excitement in our lives right now and I guess that can be a good thing.

Moma Said There Would Be Days Like This

No matter how well your day might begin, a sharp decline happens when you get a phone call from the teacher. Of course, when the call was placed yesterday and you are just now getting the message via voice mail and you haven't even left the house yet, you know your day may be headed downhill. And they say labor is hard! Labor was the easy part, raising these little darlings is the part I'm trying to figure out. Needless to say, when Brady returned home from school today and his room had been "robbed" of his TV, stereo, IPOD, and gameboy, I think he realized that mom was a little ticked. I will give him kudos for being very mature and discussing it with me like a man. Of course, he didn't get anything back, nor will he until his grades improve, but he did handle himself in a very mature manner.

I had started reading a Beth Moore devotion this morning and as I was reading it later in the day, she had written about living your life in a whirlwind or a earthquake, wherever you might find yourself, and while you are there, what do you do. When the ground is moving and shaking all around you and everything is caving in, how do you handle it? And then she wrote from Psalms 46 - Be still, and know that I am God. Isn't being still the hardest thing in the world to do? We are all in such a rush with life just whirling about us. But while reading that, I just thought how great it is to know that in my rush, God is watching over me and wants me to know him more personally. When I'm worried about my boys and life in general, he is there for me and I just have to take some time to be still and know he's in control. Why do I have such a hard time with that? Just another area in my spiritual life that requires a lot of work and attention.

Excuse me, but are you adopting?

I had the nicest chance meeting in the grocery with a lady that I had taken care of before in the hospital. I noticed this lady kept looking at me and I thought she looked familiar, but I wasn't sure. She stopped and and said "Aren't you the lady that's adopting?" I immediately remembered her and she was quick to pull out a photo of her granddaughter who is adopted from China. Adorable and according to grandmother, just the smartest child ever! She was so sweet and wanted to know how much longer and all the details. Well, at least I could refer her to our blog and tell her to keep watching. Eventually something has to happen! It's the eventually part that is killing me.

Okay, so Ashton is the funniest kid in the world. After discovering that someone had a wildlife camera in the woods by our house, he decided the only thing to do was wait until his buddy Payton was here and then go for a walk in the woods. Did I mention he was wearing a huge Chewbacca (spelling?) mask and walking like Bigfoot? Okay, so I would love to be the person who looks at that footage. I can only imagine how silly these guys were in front of a camera. Wonder if they will make it on the news as the latest sighting.

TEENAGERS, NEED I SAY MORE

Okay, so I have spent my day with my dear, precious, sweet son being evaluated by Sylvan Learning to start a study skills/organization class. My dear Brady is so smart. He always has been! His problem is that he has difficulty applying himself. Well, in addition to lots of other methods, this is our latest attempt to get him out of middle school and hopefully teach him how important it is to do your work and even more important - TURN IT IN. The teacher at Sylvan was great. She came down to talk with me after he completed the reading comprehension session and was quick to point out he had no deficiencies. "You're 8th grader scored at a 12th grade, 9 month level - he's very intelligent, he just needs to apply himself". No duh! After I got control of my desire to go beat him, I felt a little better. I know how smart he is, but if he doesn't do the work and turn it in it's hard to convince his teachers how smart he is:) So now we learn to study. In all honesty, they don't teach that in school. There really isn't enough time and everyone learns differently. I hope we find the method that works best for him and that these classes help him. I am getting older by the moment and I can easily lay the blame at his feet! On a lighter note, the Sylvan teacher did comment on what a sweet and polite boy he is! I could have told her that too.

Referrals came yesterday and went through Jan. 4, 2006. Our agency did not receive any. Our next referral batch is Jan. 6, 2006. At least CCAA is finally out of 2005. At the rate they are going, the average wait time has increased to 27-28 months from Log in date (LID) with a steady increase of 1 month each month. (Long time would sum it up!) At this rate, the soonest we are looking at would be very late this year, more likely spring of 2009. Depressing.

I am dying to check on Brian and Melissa, but I have not called. I hope they are doing well. No posts on their blog. Can they possibly be a little too busy:)

I read a devotion over the weekend that really hit home with me. It was on faith and based on 2nd Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. The writer states "God's word and His promises are either 100% true or they are not. Since His word is true, your faith is the difference." That has really hit home with me today. Life is so hard. Raising children, dealing with people, finances, waiting on an adoption, etc. I know that I struggle with faith and I also know that I am not the only one. I know Satan must love it when we question or grumble about things. It's an area that I am constantly having to work on and I guess I always will. God's word is true and my faith, or lack thereof, really is the difference. It's days like today that I really am thankful I can pray and ask Him to keep me grounded and show me the way.

Banquets and Babies

Ashton had his last junior league basketball banquet/dance last night and I think all the kids had a lot of fun. The theme was the 70's and some of those kids and parents really went all out. They were too cute. Watching the dance was really the fun part. Several of the boys and girls went together (as much as you can at this age:), but most of them didn't have a dance partner, so mostly they just stood around. Ashton had one girl ask him to dance via her messenger and he sent word via his that he didn't "feel" like it. Of course, it wasn't the girl he really wanted to dance with and that made all the difference. We tried to explain to him it was okay to dance with someone without liking them, but he wasn't so sure. As Bo put it "one dance doesn't mean your going to buy furniture with the girl". Kids are so funny!

Our original plan was to meet Brian and Melissa at their house along with several people from church around 10 p.m. Well, airlines have a way of changing things and their 8:30 flight turned into a 10:40 flight. After some discussion, we decided that midnight wasn't too late for us to go visit people arriving home from a foreign country with a new baby and are we glad that we did. They got home around 12:15 a.m. and Rory was very alert and more adorable in person than in pictures. She is beautiful and seemed to be doing well considering all of the craziness surrounding her. Big brother Camden seemed unfazed as well. So we made a quick food drop and gave some hugs and we hurried on out. I hope their night was not too eventful. She's on Korean time so her day was in full swing.

Well, as a waiting adoptive parent, it really meant a lot to see them get home last night. Of course then I couldn't sleep even though I was physically exhausted. When Bo finally came to bed he said what I was thinking. "Well, is it me or did that just make this wait even harder?" My answer of course was yes. I'm not the least bit jealous of Brian and Melissa. I couldn't be more thrilled for them, I'm just so ready for our time to come. Along with the entire desire for our daughter, it's a feeling of not being complete yet. We know we have another child and we just want her home and we want our lives to become more normal. Waiting is truly the hardest part. Even Brady was wired up after visiting her last night. He just kept saying how pretty she was and how he just wants us to get our baby. It was really sweet. Ashton didn't say as much, but it was obvious by the look on his face that he feels the same way.

So we wait. We wait on an office in China to match us with a child that they deem is a good match. We wait on all that goes along with it, the good and the bad. But at least during the wait I have the assurance of knowing that someone greater is in complete control of this situation and He has the perfect little girl for our family. Our time will come and I am sure after it's all over with and our life does return to normal it will seem like it didn't take that long. But somewhere in another part of the world our baby is waiting. We know that she is going to be worth the wait.