Big things coming

We have been slowly healing and getting some closure with the failed adoption of Mercy. We all truly believe what happened was for the best. We still have sadness in our hearts for her sake, but are thankful she is in a loving and happy home in her own country.

During this time of prayer, reflecting and contemplating, both J. and I have decided we would like to become foster parents. We have hosted children from Haiti in our home before. It was such a blessing to the entire family. We feel like fostering through the state will be quite similar to that experience, yet with more support.

I started the training classes. Although I have taken them several years ago, I needed to retake them. Also, when I took the classes it was solely for the purpose of adoption. After the classes were over, we decided to adopt from Haiti instead. Now, our intent is fostering, not adoption. I am taking a lot of information home and finding it very interesting and helpful. I have learned a lot of tools that pertain to parenting our adopted and bio kids too.

Through experience we have learned that keeping the kids in birth order works best for us, so we put on our application that we want to care for a child birth to age 3. Infants would be ideal, since a child under one can sleep in our room which is quite large.

We are in the process of getting our home ready. When S. started outgrowing his baby things, we sold most of them at a fundraiser garage sale. Now we are starting again from the ground up. We need a crib, bedding, clothes, car seat. We do have our house somewhat childproofed, but we need to get a few more things for our license; a larger fire extinguisher, a few more outlet covers and locks, and a wood stove barrier/fence.

Since J. is CPR/1st aid/BBP certified through work, I am the only one who needs to retake these classes. It's only one day and the state covers all fees for all who take it, even older siblings! So I signed up with L. and C. too, in March.

We need to get our children and pets' vaccination records, our well water tested and our wood-stove cleaned and examined. We also need to fill out a bunch more paperwork.

We are excited and busy getting things ready. Once the application is filed, we have 90 days to complete everything. The pressure is on!

Free

I am liberated from facebook. I was going to wait until Tuesday to deactivate my account, but I decided to do it tonight. I feel great, like I have a newfound freedom and more time to do the things I want to do. By the way, facebook is kinda lame. They don't totally delete your account if you choose to deactivate it. When you want to return, all you need to do is log in and click a button to reactivate. So I need all my people out there to hold me accountable that I won't return anytime soon. Maybe down the road when my priorities are set straight and life is not so stressful.

My goals/activities for this week:

Clean the main living areas of the house, declutter along the way

Plan a menu and grocery shop

Read "The Connected Child"

Meet a friend for lunch on Wed.

Have a playdate on Thurs. morning

Visit a friend in the hospital, bring her family dinner

Go to C.'s orchestra concert on Wednesday

Figure out a plan for K.'s birthday (on Super Bowl Sunday this year)

Make a doctor appointment for myself

Eat less carbs

Exercise every day

Get to bed by 11 every night

To do:

Lots to do and so little time:

• DONE! Pray
• Bake and assemble ice cream sandwiches
• DONE! Blessed with one from a friend! Look for a twin mattress (a friend recently gave us their trundle bed frame, now need a twin mattress for it!)
• Clean and de-clutter
• Drop off garage sale items at the church
• DONE! Finish back to school shopping and organizing (L. and E. are ready, but the girls need some clothes)
• DONE! Pack
• Fill out visa paperwork
• DONE! Write and sign Power of Attorney documents
• Figure out school stuff for the homeschool students
• Collect contact information and other important travel stuff, figure out transportation in country, and confirm meeting with attorney.
• DONE! Grocery shop for family coming to visit
• DONE! Get haircut
• Pray

Simplify

I have been working on simplifying my life the last few weeks. So far it's going slow. Here are some things I have done so far...

• Started a token earning system for the kids. They have to do chores to earn them, and can spend them on a special treat or activity, or tv/computer time. They can lose tokens by naughty behavior.
• I am editing my memberships to the several yahoo groups I've been part of. I get lots of emails in my yahoo box and most of them are from group discussions that I never even read. I just spend my time deleting. So I am taking the time now to remove myself from the groups I don't need to be part of anymore (like some Haitian adoption groups) and editing some so I don't get the emails.
• We bought a cabinet like the one below to go in the family room (it's not the prettiest thing but it was pretty inexpensive) to store stuff I don't want the little guys into (games, puzzles, playdough, craft supplies). Now I have the storage space for the stuff to put it where it belongs (dishes in the china cabinet, shoes and coats in the closet, etc.)

• I am going through everything and packing unused or unwanted items in boxes for an early spring garage sale. We are storing all the packed boxes in a room in the studio.

Here are some goals I have for the near future:

• finish painting the girl's room. It's more than halfway finished
• start doubling up on recipes and freezing meals
• continue organizing and purging

Control

the kids playing in the woods

I have been feeling like an airplane spiraling out of control these last few weeks. The adoption process, dealing with a very busy toddler and a preschooler, and the whole schooling issue has been a lot. I feel like my house is always dirty, the kids are never getting along, our daughter in Africa will never come home, and no one is ever happy. I know that is not true, but it's how I feel. I love God's promises in His word:

Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

For today, my goals are

• spend time in God's word
• take a nap
• clean, declutter and childproof (even more) the living room
• pray for my husband

2010 Goals

This year I have some big ambitions...I can't see what the Lord has planned for us!

• This is the year I will finally get in shape and reach my goal weight.
• We are starting our grocery challenge: $100 a week.
• Spend more time reading the bible and praying.
• We pray we can travel to Africa in the next few months to bring home our daughter.
• Be better stewards of the money God has blessed us with.
• Use my time more wisely.

To Do List

This weekend is a busy one for us. We have family coming to the boy's dedication and we will be hosting a brunch afterwards. I have a lot to do before then, but I am not very motivated to get it all done. I tend to procrastinate and that is not good when I have little time to get things finished. So here's my to do list to try to help me out a bit...

• get allergy shots
• clean house
• figure out where mom and dad S. are going to sleep
• narrow down brunch menu and figure out how much to cook for 25 people
• grocery shop
• figure out clothes for church and iron them
• print out or mark in bible the verses we chose, practice reciting them a bit
• go shopping for gifts for friends and family birthdays coming up
• maybe if I am ambitious enough find Christmas gift to send home with in laws to save on shipping later (is this tacky?)
• work on paperwork
• spend time in prayer and reading scripture
• exercise and eat right
• take things to donate and consignment store

Here are some prayer requests.

• My mom found out she has some serious health problems and she needs surgery in the next few months. Pray for peace and healing for her. Pray that the surgery is all that she will need to get better.
• Pray for Isaac, Sarah's son, that his adoption will get straightened out quickly so he can get out of MOI and come home soon.
• Pray that E. will qualify for preschool if it's the best place for him. Pray that his issues will lesson so that we can bond with him more easily.
• Pray for S. and his health. He is starting to show some symptoms that are worrying me due to his birth defect.
• Continue praying for my school children, that they will be a light in class, continue to work hard and succeed WITHOUT the attitude that they are learning from their peers.

Project, part 1

It looks a bit crowded, but for now it's the only space I have. I moved the bookshelves around, and organized all the books. I do not need to buy any curriculum for a while! I put the little chairs and table over near the bookshelves and two tall stools for bigger people next to the bar. Notice the letters on the little phonics board? Nice, I just read what they say. Gotta love my preteens.

Have you ever heard of Time Tracker Tags? I bought these last year and they are such a great thing to help with time management. You can monitor 3 people by programing each "tag" with the amount of time needed, then the child can take it with them and be alerted when the time's up. It can count down and up. I really like it for the "do your math for 30 minutes" thing. Or, "you can play outside for an hour".

I was getting kinda excited for this school year as I was going through math flash cards, school supplies and books. I am also excited for L. to start Jr. High. I think he is really going to like it. I will be spending many hours in prayer for him in public school.

New Project

I was inspired by this blog to create a homeschool area for the kids this fall. While I have tried to do this in the past, the location I chose did not work well, for one reason or another. This time I am going to put a bit more thought in how I go about this. For now, here are my before pics. We don't have an extra room so we will be using our family room. Currently, the bar is utilized as a pantry. With a bit of de-cluttering and reorganizing I should be able to have a nice place for the kids to work. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Please forgive the mess...

More to do's

This has really been helping me get things done!  Sorry if I am boring you.

To Do:

Mail Jenny a check-DONE

Call eye doctor for K.-DONE

Call school district to request evaluation for E. in the fall-DONE

Send friend's daughter a card for graduation

Look for Father's Day gifts

Shop for groceries for company-DONE

Clean house for company-DONE

Take stuff to consignment shop

Take stuff to Goodwill-DONE

Call pediatrician to make appointment for S. and E.

Call Ann about S.

Meet family at children's museum on Wed.-DONE

Help set up gazebo and picnic table in yard-DONE

Make appointment for dermatologist- DONE

Make myself eye doctor appointment- DONE

Weekly Dinner Menu:

(Most dinners are from Easy Entrees...love that place!)

Monday: Taco Salad

Tuesday: BBQ Pork Chops with mop sauce, zucchini

Wednesday: Out to eat with family

Thursday: Hamburgers/hotdogs and sides

Friday: Coconut Tilapia with Tangy Apricot Dipping Sauce, salad, rolls

Saturday: Lemon Barbecued Chicken, salad, corn

Sunday: Beef Souvlaki, mashed potaotes, green beans

My week- To do list and prayer requests

This photo is E. and I. (his best buddy in Haiti).  Lately E. has been crushing on I.'s sister~ they have been kissing each other and holding pretend weddings in Sarah's living room.  It's so cute!

My to do list:  
Clean the house, social worker is visiting on Thursday for a post placement visit -DONE

Fill out paperwork for social worker -DONE

Fill out paperwork for the kids' school summer expenses-DONE

Call my dentist to make appointment for crown -DONE

Get allergy shots-DONE

Get haircut-DONE

Do weekly check in and month end reviews for kids' school-DONE

Mail friend's daughter a card for graduation

Mail Phoneraiser box-DONE

Find a working, cheap or free clothes dryer (ours stopped working last week)-DONE

Go to Easy Entrees -DONE

Speech therapist visit-DONE

Pay bills-DONE

Remember to pray and read God's word-DONE

Call doctor to schedule appointment for L.'s sports physical-DONE

Go grocery shopping-DONE

Prayer Requests:

For E's friend to come home soon

For the people at COTP 

For the people at RHFH

For adoption expenses to be provided

For a dryer to be found -PRAISE, found washer and dryer on craigslist for $150 including delivery.  They're all set up with their first load being washed and dried!!!

For patience

For a doctor and hospital to be found for baby S from Haiti

Praise for this wonderful weather we are having

Praise that we are all healthy!

Praise that we will be having visitors soon, family that we rarely have a chance to see!

Praise for J's job, our home, friends and family

Praise that E. is adjusting so well in our home