Long Night and News in General

As usual, my precious son Brady had a school project. As usual he waited until the last minute. The thing that really caused problems, I had bought the wrong printer cartridge for our printer and poor Bo improvised until 2 a.m. trying to get things printed. So he's exhausted, Brady had to get up early to finish his project, and I have to remember 21 not 15 when buying printer cartridges! I have a feeling it may be a long day for my poor husband. I'm trying to lay low!

I wanted to recap the weekend. The boys went to golf clinic Saturday afternoon and loved it. Ashton really enjoyed it. It goes right along with his competitive spirit. They have it again this weekend and have been in the yard practicing. Brady had a great time at the dance Saturday night. He looked too cute and really enjoyed himself. When I picked him up, he couldn't stop smiling. (Think girl.) He was still smiling Sunday morning getting ready for church. We had homecoming at church which means food after the service and then we took the boys shopping. Ashton had gift cards left from Christmas and couldn't wait to spend them. He did really well. He has an eye for clearance items and managed to get several good deals. His best deal was a pair of jeans for $6.99. It was tax free weekend, so he was really excited. We bought Emma a couple of dresses on sale at Gymboree that were too cute to pass up. That about wraps up the weekend.

Melissa and I walked 3 rounds yesterday! I was really proud of both of us. I have golf this morning to add to the work out and then I have to come home and cook for Angel. That lets me go see baby Mason!

Ashton is finished with AAU. His coach had a meeting with the parents yesterday and is having to stop coaching due to some health problems. I hate to see Ashton miss out on the games, but I completely understand. It will be nice to have our weekends back.

Yesterday was not as bad as I thought it would be. I tried to stay busy and not spend a lot of time thinking about things. I guess it was just another milestone in this journey of adoption.

2 Years Later

2 years after our LID and some of the things that I have learned:

• When God leads you to take a great big leap of faith, be prepared that the return on that investment may take a while.
• I am more patient than I thought I was. Some days are much harder than others.
• A few words in Chinese. (very few)
• Fingerprints don't change after 2 years, but you can't convince the government of that. (We will be having ours taken for the third time soon - at a cost of $140 - AGAIN)
• We have been waiting 17,520 hours for Emma.
• I am older and I feel it.
• Most people in the adoption community are very supportive. I have never read more blogs in my life!
• I think that my boys will be wonderful big brothers to their sister. 2 years ago, I probably couldn't have said that.
• When you love someone so much, even when you have never seen them except in your mind, you don't give up on them or the dream of having them home.
• When people say things that are hurtful, even when they don't realize it, sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and accept that they don't get it. Other times, blast them.
• I have a daughter and she has us. We will be together someday soon.
• My favorite verse: Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart, wait I say on the Lord. Psalms 27:14
• I am only human and God has a plan for us. Even though I know that, I don't always want to be reminded of that. Some days I just want to be sad and feel sorry for myself.
• Gymboree. Need I say more.
• Little girl clothes are so cute. Bows, ribbons, lace, smocking. Words that I have not used very often in my life.
• Female great whales have only one calf every 2 years. So that means somewhere in the ocean, a whale calf is being born today and we still don't have our daughter:)

Recital night was a hit!

Brady did great at his recital. He was very nervous and I think I may have been more nervous than he was. He was chosen to go second, so I think he was just really glad to get it over with. Tonight is the dance and the weather is looking great. He and his "friend" are just meeting at the dance. Whatever!

Ashton has no games this weekend, so that is refreshing. They both get to attend a golf lesson and then it's home for the dance. Ashton wants to go to the mall and spend his left over gift cards during tax free weekend, but I think we may not make it tonight.

Work was okay last night. Now that Angel has had her little bundle, I guess I will be working some extra shifts. With ball camps and church camp around the corner, I can certainly use the money. Kids are so expensive:)

Not a lot to write about, so I won't continue to bore you!

An Afternoon with Grumpy Young Men

I'm not sure if the stars were in some kind of weird alignment or what the deal was, but my 2 boys were absolutely horrible yesterday. From the moment I picked them up from school, they argued, complained, fussed, you name it! We had an orthodontist apt. and all the way there Ashton bothered Brady by looking at him, touching him, pretending to touch him, touching his backpack, MAJOR infractions such as that. Brady's response, yell, threaten, complain, whine. A really good approach to problem resolution that only pours gas on Ashton's fire. I absolutely felt like beating them both! After we got home, Ashton went to get the eggs from the chicken house and some how, Brady ends up coming to the house with his pants covered in egg yolk. Ashton's response, "I was aiming at the tree." Yeah, right! Ashton did get disciplined for that one by Bo and then he got to wash the jeans and get the yolk cleaned off. He did not enjoy that at all. Boys! What is the deal? I hope they come home in a better mood today.

I had a good walk with my mom and her little dog Jack this morning. She does pretty good for and "old" woman. It was such a nice morning to be outside. The breeze is wonderful. So I have managed to get in 2 walks this week and go to the driving range and hit numerous balls. Of course yesterday I couldn't hit anything. I really want to play golf, but yesterday made me almost decide against it.

No new adoption news. Referrals should be coming in the next week or so. Hopefully the CCAA will refer more than 5 days worth, but who knows.

YEAH! I made our final Washington payment today. If Brady manages to pass 8th grade (and he will), then it's a go. I am looking forward to it. If only I could some how escape from all of the kids going on the trip, I'm sure it would be even more fun. Brady is looking forward to going to the Holocaust Museum and we may be able to go to the White House. I really love history, so this is right up my alley. Brady's number one concern, "Can I order the biggest item on the menu when we go to the pizza restaurant?" A never ending appetite.

Brady for President

I think my son looks too cute in his suit! As of right now, he gets to attend the dance, so that's a good thing!

A beautiful Spring day

This is the most beautiful day! The sun is bright and there is such a nice breeze. It even got better when I resolved the .3 cent error in my checkbook and got my checking account balanced. Now I realize that is a bit anal retentive, but I can admit to that. There was a time when I never balanced a checkbook, I just started a new account, but thanks to Internet banking, those days are over!

I managed to get a nice walk in this morning. I am so out of shape! Our little road is the greatest place to walk because of the hills. It's very challenging and there is no traffic to contend with. I really wanted to walk another round, but I didn't have the wind left in me! I've got to do better. I keep thinking about all the energy it will take to keep up with a little one and how I'm a lot older now! I have got to become more disciplined about taking care of myself. My biggest problem is that I love to cook and I love to eat! Food isn't the enemy, my lack of discipline is.

I have not gotten as much done this morning as I had planned. I was so behind on reading e-mails that I decided to get caught up. I read some great devotions, so that was a huge plus. I read a line from a book listed on one of my devotions: Trust that God allows certain circumstances to happen to you so that something good can happen IN you. I loved that. I know that God has the huge plan all worked out with all the I's dotted and the T's crossed, but I have a hard time understanding it all. So while I'm learning and waiting, I want this wait and all things that go along with it to produce a positive outcome in me. I want to have the right outlook and spirit about it all. I know that I can't be happy all the time and God knows that to, but I may be uplifting to someone else who may go through the same thing in the future. I want to be able to use my experience in a positive way. I'm not saying that on many days I will not be complaining about this wait, but hopefully I'm gaining more positives than negatives.

Another answer to prayer was that Brady and I found him a suit yesterday and it was on sale. Now the question is whether he is going to get to attend the dance. He had a day in ISS a few weeks ago over something silly, but he may not get to go because of that. I hope he does, especially since we found the suit. He looks cute in it! This is the child who never wears anything but jeans and t-shirts. Of course, Ashton wanted to buy a suit jacket to wear with his jeans. Now that kid has style!

It's Monday AGAIN

The weekend came and went again. Ballgames Friday night, Saturday and again Sunday (but not during church:) I went to the game Saturday morning instead of coming home and going to bed after work. Our team won, and Ashton played well. It wasn't his best game, but he did okay. He had games again in the afternoon, but my loving husband brought Brady, my mom and Dale and me home so I could go to sleep. Brady was supposed to go to a golf lesson, but he was tired from his party the night before and he wanted to take a nap as well. Totally worked for me! I didn't get to go to the games yesterday due to a shower for Melissa and Rory, which was a lot of fun. Rory was very entertaining! Ashton's team won the first game and played for the championship game at 4:30. Bo said the crowd was very rude and heckled the kids a lot. I think they must have really gotten into Ashton's head according to Bo. He was shooting a free throw and missed the first one completely and the crowd laughed at him. The next shot was nothing but net and I think Ashton gave them a look to remember. I'm really glad I wasn't there. In all the years my boys have played sports, I have never been tossed out of a game, but yesterday might have been the first. Don't be messing with momma bear's cubs!!

TCAP monitoring this morning and thank GOD it's over. What a boring thing to do! After that I took off a huge load of recyclables and then went to golf lesson number 10 (only 2 to go) and now home for a quick change of clothes and off to Sylvan for the math tutoring that Brady doesn't need (lol). He is quick to tell me it's a waste of his time. I'm debating about taking the boys to the mall after tutoring since Brady needs some dress pants and a shirt for recital Friday. The poor child has nothing nice to wear since all he wears is t-shirts and jeans. I am not looking forward to shopping with him. He's a bit of a pain to shop with if it's not what he is wanting to look at. I think I will have to think on it some more before I decide if that is worth the hassle.

That about wraps up my exciting life for a few days. No adoption news. I keep looking at the little count down from LID and realizing that next week it will be 2 years. I'm really not looking forward to that milestone.

I read this verse last night and felt it really applied to me right now and I wanted to share it:
Psalms 28:1 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. God isn't being silent to me, I guess sometimes I just am not listening like I should.