Surprise, Jaybird!

My husband was gone all last week on back-to-back business trips.  And while he was gone I was VERY busy.  I tend to take on house projects when he's gone as a way to surprise him when he gets back.

Saturday before he left, I scoured the house top to bottom.  It smelled so nice and Pinesol-y.  There was a reason for my madness - a surprise visitor arriving that next week (more on that later).  Saturday night we finally got our TV mounted on the living room wall as well.  That felt great!

Then on Sunday we went to church, ran to Walmart for some travel toiletries for Jay, then back home for lunch and packing, and at last we were off to the airport.  From there, the story was a big secret.  My kids and I were on a mission.

Instead of going home, the kids and I drove an hour and half north to Austin to the Ikea.  Queue the Hallelujah Chorus!  I told L walking into Ikea that it was the land of my people.  Oh, Sweden!  One day I'll get there to see the land of my ancestors and hopefully meet an adoption friend and her handsome little China man too.  But I digress.

Oh my!  Did she ever ENJOY this place!
She climbed on everything and was so excited!
Giggles, giggles and more giggles.

Super C pretending to be a Financial Advisor.

They loved the orange couch under a loft bed.

My boys still love stuffed animals.
The boys begged me to take their pictures.

They wanted to bring every one of them home.
And at cheap Ikea prices, I almost wanted to as a reward
for making the trip with no complaining!

We picked up 5 Laiva shelving units for my husband's home office - my official project for the week.  For nearly a year we had been living with all my husband's ministry books in LARGE boxes in the closet of an empty upstairs bedroom.  Every now and then my husband would need a book from one of the boxes for his Bible study and the room would be left a shambles of books everywhere and boxes barely holding together.  With my husband's new office being located at the North edge of town, meeting with more local clients might be best suited from a home office, so it was time to get it ready and shelving was the first start.

I treated my kids to hot dogs, chips and drinks at the cafe near the exit and we drove home, missing much of the Austin rain storm.  No, we didn't get the Swedish Meatballs, I make those at home from scratch.  I should have picked up some Lingonberries though, as they are hard to find in San Antonio unless I go on base with my friend Brandy.

She ate a hot dog!  Last time I made hot dogs she refused it despite eating them in China.
She was either really hungry or she really likes Ikea dogs.

Sunday night the boys and I stayed up until midnight assembling shelves.  One set came out broken and I phoned Ikea for a replacement part.  Upsetting to say the least.  But 4 out of 5 shelves was better than none.  I just left space for the remaining one on the office wall.

Building until midnight.
And L slept through the hammering.

On Monday we did school, doubling up on curriculum, making it a very long day, but I had good reason for the extra work (our surprise visitor).  That night the boys helped me alphabetize all the books and I stayed up late again putting everything up on the 4 shelves that I had available.

On Tuesday we had our homeschool co-op, so the day was pretty much packed, but after dinner I went to sand and prime the desk that I received for free from another local homeschooling family.  Thanks, Nicole!!!  It was laminate furniture, but I followed this website and prayed for a good outcome.  Tuesday night before bed I applied the first coat of paint and it was looking good.  I would like a layer of polyurethane on top of the desk to protect against scratches or water.  I still hope and plan to do this in the days to come.  In the meantime, I need to get Jay some coasters!

Rolling out the primer late at night after a full day of school and co-op.

Super E loved to paint just like his mama.
The desk had some water damage to it, but I was able to sand it down for the most part.
At some point, we may put a glass top on it as our neighbor is in the custom cut glass business.

On Wednesday we did schoolwork and rolled out another coat of paint.  Then I did something weird.  When we moved to TX, some of the hardware came off our bedroom furniture and was never found.  So instead of buying new hardware for the desk, I took the hardware from my dresser and used them on the desk.  When I go to paint the dressers (maybe when my mom visits next) I'll get all new hardware for the dressers since some of the originals weren't found.  During the drying process, one of the desk drawers tipped over onto one of the others and peeled paint.  Oh, I was not happy.  Everything was looking so good and just needed more drying time.  I also decorated our house for Fall/Halloween and it was fun to see all that decor again after being in boxes for over a year.

Doesn't photograph well at night, but I love my monsters
in my upstairs windows for Halloween.
There are 2 more windows to the left, but hidden a bit by trees.
Thanks, Pinterest!

Thursday morning we did school and spent the afternoon putting the office back together.  I touched up the desk drawer from the mishap the day before.  It didn't come out looking perfect, but that would have taken sanding the whole thing down again and I didn't have ample time for that before Jay returned home.  We cleaned up the mess of other books and junk needing a place in our home.  I vacuumed and enjoyed time with a friend who came by that afternoon with her son.  Everything looked ready!

The office "before."
Hardly anything more than an empty room.

The office "after."
Still need an office chair and a sofa bed and maybe a coffee table.
You get the bonus of seeing my Halloween monster silhouettes in the window too.
Some curtains would be nice too for color, but I'll wait for my mom to find
the steal of the century at her favorite resale shop.  She has a knack for finding $3 curtains.

Still waiting on my 1 replacement piece for shelf #5 when I took his photo.
Thankful it arrived on time for the reveal.
We technically have space for a 6th shelf, but we don't have the need right now
and things look better in odd numbers, so I kept it at 5 shelves.

Friday morning was supposed to bring surprise #2 -- a visit from my father-in-law.  But he cancelled his trip because he wasn't feeling well.  Instead, we spent the day finishing up school with the boys, hoping our replacement bookshelf piece would arrive (IT DID!!!), enjoyed dinner, watched a movie, put jammies on and then picked up Jay at the airport at 11pm.

I wondered if we could keep Jay out of his home office until his birthday on Monday (not that he'd have any reason to go in there anyway).  We successfully kept him out just by telling him is present was in there and I hadn't wrapped it yet -- which was true because the kids had small gifts for their dad that did indeed need wrapping.

Monday was Jay's first day in his new office on the North side of town.  It was a good busy day.  When he came home the kids gave him his birthday treasure hunt.  I found used copies of Star Wars I, II and III and each child gave him 1 DVD.  The last DVD was on his desk in his office, so he opened the door and saw his office -- the thing I busted my tail to complete while he was gone for 5 short days.

Now all we need is an office chair and a sofa sleeper in there so that clients can sit on the couch, yet the room can still be used for overnight guests if need be.  I may even bring in an old coffee table up there once we get a couch.

And now I'm beat!

Happy birthday, Jaybird!  Hope you liked all your surprises!

The Office

Last night I asked my Facebook friends to pray for a family decision we had to make in a very short amount of time.  I thank you for praying!

The decision regarded where my husband's new office would be located.

You may recall that after 17+ years in ministry my husband lost his last pastoral role just weeks before I went to China for our daughter.  Since our Nebraska house was sold and awaiting closing, we decided it best to let the sale continue so that we didn't have a mortgage over our heads while facing unemployment.  So, we hightailed it to Texas and moved into my mother-in-law's condo.

After a summer of searching for ministry work and coming up empty handed, we decided it best to leave ministry and start a new career in the marketplace in the financial sector.  My husband trained for months and then his firm suggested we set up shop in San Antonio, sharing an office with a seasoned investor while my husband set up his business and proved himself profitable.

Jay has done a great job and has worked hard to make his business a success.  He has won a prestigious award from the corporate office and he has outperformed many of his fellow classmates to date.  And he has now left "level new" and is officially "level one," and soon to be "level two," and is ready for an office of his own.

We recently decided to take a day trip to the Gulf of Mexico to see the Texas coastline.  But this trip was not purely for family fun.  There is a branch office down there that my husband could take over immediately.  We owed it to ourselves to check it out in order to make a fully informed decision.  We drove around the area for quite a while, looking at the town, the office and the neighborhoods before enjoying a couple hours of family time on the beach.  An office by The Gulf was certainly a possibility.

The beautiful Texas coastline.  So beautiful and inviting -- except for the jellyfish!

This week, while we hadn't made an official decision about the office location at the Gulf, another office here in San Antonio became available for immediate occupancy.  This office possibility isn't on our end of town and would be a 24 mile commute one way (and in SA rush hour traffic, it won't be pretty).  The office is also known to be in a high rent area, which could make building a successful business a bit tricky and difficult.

But having an office of his own would mean Jay would get the administrative support he needs to be truly successful, something he gets very little of currently and isn't in his own gift mix.

At the same time, my husband knows that this move has been the hardest move for me.  He knows I feel trapped in the LARGE state of Texas and I'd like to be back in the Midwest closer to family.  So, Jay also did some calling to see if there would be any offices available in the Minneapolis area where I have family and lots of college friends and one of my very best friends who I miss terribly.  Right now, there are no offices available for Jay in the Twin Cities, but it doesn't mean one might not open up eventually.

So, The Gulf, San Antonio or Minneapolis/St. Paul?  That was our question.  We had only 1 business day to make our decision about the San Antonio office.  That's why I sought after your diligent prayers.

Today we have decided to let go of the idea of the office by The Gulf and take the San Antonio office.  While it may be a risk, Jay and his associates think this will be a great boost for Jay's career.  At the same time, it does establish us in Texas all the more.  That's not to say we can never move away, but it would be difficult to leave an office behind and then start "from scratch" in a new locale should Minneapolis come calling.

Since the office is located at a different edge of town from where we live currently, we can think about relocating to that area in the next year or two.  Schools are very good in that area and we can consider sending the kids back to public school.  We also have some friends who live over in that area and my boys would have a good friend nearby.

Downtown San Antonio at night.

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not sad to say goodbye to the dream of moving back home.  I am sad.  That's all I have to say about that.

So, I thank you for your prayers.  I'd appreciate it if you'd continue to pray God's hand of blessing on Jay's career.  Please pray for more clients and more successes so that we can afford more van repairs and some home improvements so that we're ready for market whenever God leads us to move onward.

Thanks, friends!  I really appreciate my prayer warriors!  How can I pray for you?  Comments section is open and I won't "publish" your comments if your prayers are of a sensitive nature.  But I'm happy to pray for you!

Happy Birthday, Super C!!!

Ten years ago my first baby was born.

Ten.

T-E-N.

10

Double digits.

This is his story on his tenth birthday.  [In other words, grab a cup of coffee.  This story is a long and crazy and funny one.  But I want to document this for him.  It's his story, it's my story, it's our story.  And I love it.]

Late in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy I became pre-eclamptic.  My doctor prescribed fairly strict bed rest and weekly non-stress tests at the hospital in addition to weekly check-ups at my doctor's office.  I had been working full time at our home church, in the catering department and our church was coming up on a big anniversary so it was not the best time to leave work, but I had doctor's orders.  I left work the last week in August with stacks of trashy tabloid magazines that one of my dear friends put together for me for my down time as well as a stack of work related items I could work on from my bed at home.

My original due date was September 28, so it was to be nearly a month of bed rest.  

I laid on the couch for the first 2 weeks of bed rest, working on decorations for the church anniversary, watching daytime TV, and lots of Trading Spaces on cable.  At the permission of my OB/GYN we attended child birth classes at the hospital weekly.

On September 15 we had a scheduled non-stress test at the hospital, followed by a scheduled doctor's appointment in the late morning and our final childbirth class and celebration late that evening.  To add to our long day, we had a scheduled appointment for our dog to have his teeth cleaned at the vet's office.

For a non-stess test, the hospital requires the patient to first call the hospital OB floor to see if they have a bed available and nurses available to administer the test.   Before leaving to drop off the dog that morning, I called the hospital to see if they had room for me and they invited me to come by.  So Jay and I dropped the dog off at the vet's office and went to the hospital from there.  When we arrived, maybe 40 minutes after my original phone call, there were suddenly no beds available for me.  We were asked to wait or come back in the afternoon.

We killed some time and then we went across the road to our doctor's office for our scheduled appointment.  The appointment was standard, nothing unusual, no surprises.  Baby was still breech, which we had known all along and opted not to do a version (turning the baby) due to it's risks.  I was sent back home for more bed rest for another week, the doctor insisting that baby wasn't coming for quite a while.  From the parking lot of the doctor's office we called the hospital again to see if they had a bed available.  Again, they invited us over.  Hospital stop #2.

When we arrived not even 10 minutes later, they did have a bed available, but they didn't have a nurse available to monitor me and my baby.  We chose to wait it out in the waiting room since our home was nearly 30 minutes away.  Thankfully we didn't have to wait more than 15 minutes and I was in a bed, in a gown and strapped up to a fetal monitor.  An hour of monitoring later and the nurse surprised us by saying I had had 1 contraction during that time!  I didn't feel a thing.

Having not received a call from the vet that our dog was done with his procedure, we drove home, had lunch, watched a movie and then had dinner before our last childbirth class, all the while waiting to hear about our dog.  And throughout the day I felt my first contractions, very irregular, some strong but most were very tame.

We got the call from the vet late in the afternoon but we didn't see an easy way of picking him up, getting him back home and still making it on time to our class.  Our vet had 24-hour emergency services and offered us the ease of picking him up after our class that night.

With pillows in our arms, we went to class at 8pm that night.  Hospital trip #3, if you're counting.  We practiced our exercises for the first hour of class before a break at 9pm.  The class got exciting just following our break when one expecting mom and dad didn't return to class after our bathroom break.  Before class ended, the husband ran in to gather their belongings and announced that his wife's water had broken in the restroom during break time.  Excitement was in the air for sure!  After class was over at 10pm, another family went directly to the OB floor instead of going home.

For us, we walked out of the hospital talking about the excitement of 2 families' babies coming into the world.  Before I could hardly say much to my husband, we ran into our Senior Pastor as we walked out of the hospital.  For those of you who know us, we worked at Willow Creek in South Barrington, Illinois.  That's Bill Hybel's church, if that name rings a bell.  He's a pretty big guy in the Christian church world.   He recognized us and we stopped to chat, asking what he was doing at the hospital at nearly 10:30 at night.  He told us he was visiting his sister and we talked briefly.  The funny thing that makes us chuckle is that Bill then asked us what we were doing at the hospital.  Um... BIG pregnant wife, BIG fluffy pillows... seemed kind of obvious to us.  But we just smiled politely and told him that we had our last childbirth class and were on our way back home.  With that, we said goodbye, gave our best to Bill's sister who we knew well as I had shared an office with her for a year, and we were on our way to pick up our dog and head home for the night.

In the parking lot of the hospital I confessed to Jay that during class my contractions became extremely regular, like clockwork, 12 minutes apart.  We knew from class that the hospital wouldn't admit us until contractions were closer to 5 minutes apart.  Jay joked that we'd be back in to the hospital for a 4th trip in a matter of hours.  I grinned and agreed.

We picked up our dog, our glassy-eyed, drugged from his teeth cleaning/pulling dog and picked up his pain meds and drove home.  Of course, I had my hospital overnight bag packed already, but I threw my toothbrush, hairbrush and cosmetics into my make-up bag before going to bed.

Yes, with contractions 12 minutes apart, yes, I went to bed, people!  That surprises most folks.  And their surprise makes me laugh.

Around 5 in the morning my husband's groggy, half asleep voice woke me up.

"Hon, do we need to call the doctor?"

I wondered why he was asking me that.  I had been fast asleep!  Why on earth would he wake me up and why would I need to call the doctor?  Then I realized I was biting the pillow and had obviously been having contractions in my sleep and probably making some noise.  I watched the clock like a hawk and 2 contractions came right on queue, each 5 minutes apart.  I called and woke up my doctor.  She waited on the phone with me for another contraction to come, which it did right on schedule 5 minutes later and then we were off to the hospital.  Trip #4 in less than 24 hours!

It was still dark in the morning as we drove along the heavily wooded Algonquin Road and I was doing my breathing exercises learned in the childbirth class.  My husband loves to laugh that in the middle of contractions and breathing exercises, I was spotting deer.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo, hee.  Hoo, hoo, there's a deer, hee!  Hoo, hoo, there's another one, hee!"

He may make fun of me mercilessly for it, but really, as if we really needed to hit a deer on the way to the hospital at that very moment.  Seriously!

We checked in at the ER and were wheeled upstairs to the OB floor, only it seemed all the rooms were taken.  You'd think it was a small hospital, but no.  No room for me and by this time my contractions were coming 2 minutes apart and I was nauseous.  I was screaming in my head for a bed and an emesis basin instead of being parked at an empty nurse's station.

Finally in my own room maybe 20 minutes later, in a bed, an IV hooked up to my arm and a portable sonogram confirmed baby had not yet changed it's breech position and I'd be having a c-section.  The odd thing about the sonogram was that my husband read the results, not the technician!  One of baby's legs was in the usual bent, fetal position but the other leg was flexed at the hip, completely straight like in the pike position, baby's foot being right up by the ear!  The technician said, "What are we looking at here?"  And it was my husband who had said, "That looks like a foot to me!"  He was right.  It was a foot right up smack next to the ear.  Quite odd.

I was given meds to stop the contractions while I waited for my surgery.  I called my mom and she ran into her office to leave a note for her boss and she headed to the hospital to join us.  The doctor arrived and was ready to take me back but then another laboring mom needed an emergency c-section and took my OR.  More meds for me and more waiting.

Once in the OR I was introduced to the all those assisting the surgery.  They turned music on and I was given my spinal block.  And before I knew it, at 8:45am, my baby was born.

"It's a boy!" [We never found out during the pregnancy what we were having.  Too few awesome surprises in life, in my opinion.]

7 pounds 7.5 ounces and 19 inches long.  [For the record, a few days later at the pediatrician's office, my boy was 21 inches long.  His measurement in the hospital wasn't accurate as breech babies are difficult to stretch out after birth.  So, the pediatrician counted him as 21 inches long at birth, not 19.]

While our boy was being cleaned up, we were immediately asked what his name was.  Problem.  We had one girl's name chosen and 3, that's THREE boys names chosen and hadn't yet decided.  Jay asked me if I wanted to see our son before choosing his name.  Minutes went by.  Minutes.

Thankfully, I was too tired, too excited, too shocked that it was a boy, and too new at all this childbirth and c-section stuff to realize that my boy hadn't come of out screaming his head off.  Maybe I wasn't freaking out because my mom told me how my brother didn't make a sound either when he was born; he just opened his eyes and looked around.  But I hadn't even seen my son.  They didn't hold him up to me after they pulled him out as I laid on the table.  Then I heard the words from my anesthesiologist, "Don't worry.  Sometimes it takes awhile for them to get suctioned out before they start crying," and I started to panic in my head realizing how much time had gone by.  Before I could verbalize my fear or even shed a tear, he cried.  Oh, joyous sound!  My baby boy announced his arrival to the world loud and clear.  Tears, this time from mommy.

Then it was back to the name.  The doctors and nurses were pestering us for the name.  Jay asked me again, "Is it 'Super C' (a name we both equally liked - sorry, I keep my kids names off of the blog so you have to live with Super C if you don't know us personally), Carter (his choice), or Chad (my choice)?" [Nothing special with all names happening to begin with C.  We just liked all those names and it was a mere coincidence they all started with the same letter.]  He paused as we smiled and listened to our son scream.  "Do you want to see him first before picking a name?" he asked.

"No," I said through tears, shaking my head.  "I know that voice.  That's 'Super C.'"

We had a name.  A name that was our third choice all along at that, but I just knew that voice.  I knew him.  I knew my son.  The middle name we knew all along and that was no debate.

Then I saw him.  Whoa.  I felt like I was looking into a mirror or at least one of my own baby pictures.  He was certainly my son complete with dark, dark brown hair, slanted eyes and fair skin.

As I was being closed, our bundled baby was taken to the nursery for more evaluation (his original Apgar score was a 4 out of 10, but I didn't know it at the time).  Jay was at his side all the time, allowing our hungry son to suck on his finger until they could get him to me.  It was the only thing that calmed him down for over an hour.

I was wheeled back to my room where my mom was waiting.  I told her she had a grandson.  She left me to go see her grandson in the nursery window where Jay was quick to point out through mime behind the nursery glass, that our son had his ears.  Ha.

Turns out that that particular night/morning there was a record number of births at the hospital and nearly all were boys!

But I had the best one of all.

My baby on the day he was born.  September 16, 2003.

Today he's a Lego-loving, swimming, cooking, helpful, kind, smart (too smart), sensitive, goofy 5th grade boy.  His favorite color is red.  His favorite book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  He even loves to read this blog!  His favorite school subject is science.  His favorite TV show is Lego Ninjago.  He loves animals.  He really wants a bird.  He'd like to go to Japan to see where mommy lived in college.  He'd like to be a veterinarian or a chef or a video game designer when he grows up.  His favorite sport is swimming.  He loves the Olympics.  He loves tubing up at Aunt Patty's lake house with his cousins.  He loves Sea World, particularly the Journey to Atlantis water ride.  He loves God.  He's a great big brother.  He's my first baby.

I'm proud to be his mom.  

And I love him more than he'll ever know!

Super C today on his 10th birthday.

Happy 10th birthday, Super C!  

She's Not Lucky

Many well meaning, sweet people comment on how lucky adopted kids are to come home to new families.  We've heard this ourselves a few times.  For the most part, I smile, I say we're the lucky ones, and I'm on my way, fully understanding that the person really meant well.  I get it.  The kids are lucky at a second chance at love and life, lucky to be home, lucky to have a future.  I understand it.  I'm not bitter about people saying how lucky she is at all because it was meant as a compliment.  It doesn't ruffle my feathers.

But the truth is, friends, there is nothing lucky about adoption.

Three years ago today my daughter was found at the gate of the orphanage in Yulin, China.  

Three years ago today she lost her mom, her dad, her family, her home.  

Three years ago today she lost good nutrition (her dental exams prove it) and a proper standard of care that she had received from her birth mom for the first seven or so weeks of her life.  

Three years ago today she lost 

everything.  

And that's not lucky.  

My daughter's finding spot.  The entrance to the orphanage.

My daughter's intake photo at the orphanage.
Either the day she was found or within days thereof.

Here's the kicker: my Quiet Tiger remembers it.  No, she can't verbalize it, but her brain recalls that traumatic day.  Medical studies prove that children do recall the traumatic events of their lives and we read about it in our required adoption training.

The past number of months since her 3rd birthday have been really hard in our household.

My daughter refuses to potty train.  She'll have a good day free of accidents and full of excitement, treats and stickers, followed by a day that is accident after accident after accident because she flat out refuses to go on the potty and doesn't give a rip if she's wearing wet or filthy dirty underpants.  Ew.  I've given up because I can't take it anymore.  I worked with her for week after week after week all summer long.  I'm exhausted.  She's wearing diapers again and perhaps we'll try again before Christmas.  I need a good LONG break.

Her food issues have reared up their ugly head and my daughter has returned to screaming hysterical fits when I remove her from the kitchen table after a meal.  She'll stare at me with a distant, blank, wondering look on her face as I'm cooking in the kitchen, making sure that there is enough for her.  She'll eat as much as her 9 year old brother and still cry for more.  She'll eat spilled food off the floor.  She'll cry if I so much as eat one Cheez-It cracker without offering her one.  She scarfs down all her meals in record time again, often finishing an entire plate of food in less than 5 minutes while the rest of us have hardly touched our food.

She screams something HORRIBLE at church when we try to check her into the nursery.  It's beyond normal toddler screaming.  This is off the charts.  I actually heard her through the walls, closed door with worship music in full swing as Jay tried to check her in a couple weeks ago.  She's that loud, that hysterical.

This girl has broken toys, thrown toys.  She hits, she kicks, both people and the dog.  She screams at every little thing.

At first I thought it typical 3 year old behavior (not the food issues obviously).  But then she woke up one morning COVERED in hives and she hadn't been in the pool at all (we always thought the hives were a chlorine allergy).  She's acting out the blanket thing again too.

So, food, hives and blanket issues were the dead giveaway.  

She remembers.

She is not happy.  She is angry.  

She is recalling her past and is acting out.

This regression has been the longest.  It's hard to love her through this.  The boys get easily annoyed by her and will often say, "Here she goes again," when she throws a fit.  They don't really want to play with her either because she has broken many of their toys or will scream at them if she doesn't get her way.  My husband gives her his very best when he gets home from work, but once she starts screaming for one reason or another, it gets hard on him too.  At the end of the day I'm ready to collapse into my pillow and cry my eyes out, only I can't sleep because I've had no down time to myself, so I'm often up 'til midnight enjoying the QUIET and waiting for sleep to come.

No, she's not lucky.

Adoption is loss FIRST.  

And that loss is TRAUMATIC.  

I would really appreciate your prayers for an end to this current regression and that my daughter would be able to be free from her traumatic past.

Pray for her healing!

My Quiet Tiger today.

School Days

Collins Christian School is back in session.  Today we celebrated the first day of school!

First day of 5th grade and 1st grade.

Is it really the same to celebrate the first day of school when we homeschool (especially since we do math and reading over the summer)?  Sure, it is!  You're right, the boys didn't get back to school outfits, new backpacks or lunch bags.  They don't need to stock up on school supplies, other than a couple of spiral notebooks that they needed, because we have enough in our own home.  They happened to get new shoes because both boys have been wearing sandals that have been falling apart, not to mention how grossly small E's sandals were (his toes hung over the edge).  I gave them fresh haircuts the other night too.

Even though I homeschool, yes, my boys are not as thrilled with starting school because they'd rather be playing and swimming.  They are typical, playful boys.  But we'll always mark the first day of school whether we homeschool or not.

I found used Sonlight Core E curriculum for Super C on Craig's List and Core E science on eBay.  An adoption friend sold me Teaching Textbooks 5 for math.  I may order a handwriting book for him for more cursive practice. We'll see.  Could just re-do the same book from last year since it's all copy work anyway.  All in all, I spent less than $200 on curriculum for my 5th grader.  That's a bargain, folks!

Super C with binders (teacher's guides) and his stack of 5th grade books.

My friend Amy helped me keep expenses low this year by lending me her used Sonlight Core A curriculum including Science for Super E.  Thanks, Amy!  For math I ordered Singapore again from Christian Book Distributors.  At least for the first semester we'll use Singapore but we'll probably switch to Saxon for second semester because my brother has been using it this summer to help his daughter with with her 5th grade math and he loves Saxon.  That takes care of everything for my 1st grader.  Super E will also be evaluated by the school district to see a speech pathologist for his lisp.

Super E with his binder (teacher's guide) and his stack of 1st grade books (math book hadn't arrived yet).

We'll utilize free online tools for things like typing, grammar, spelling and vocabulary for both boys.

We joined the same homeschool co-op that we were a part of last year.  I haven't heard any schedules yet, but I'm hoping they'll have PE every other week like last year.  I signed up to volunteer for holiday parties, so I'll be getting more involved this year myself.  I also learned of another co-op in our specific area that I may look into because there are no fees but require volunteering.  We'll attend our first park day with that group on Friday morning.  And if we keep this homeschooling gig up in future years, we hope to join into another really large co-op in our area that has great sports programs.  The only reason we aren't joining now is because it's pricey and we're still watching the budget.

The kids really enjoyed their first day.  I love the smile Super C gets when he gives me a recap of the chapters he read.  And I love Super E's enthusiasm over Science.

Here's to a great year!

Three Years

Copied from my Facebook status yesterday (August 6):



3 years ago today we were grieving the loss of our Nepal adoption.

2 years ago today we left our furnished home for sale in Nebraska for a new ministry job in Sacramento. 

1 year ago we were living at my MIL's while my husband desperately searched for work after losing that "new" job after a year on staff. 

Today we are in a home of our own again, we have a daughter from China, my husband has a new job he loves and is quite good at. God saw us through all that ugliness and we're still standing. To Him I owe my thanks.

And I still pray for the children of Nepal.

I got a lot of likes for that status, probably even more than when I posted pictures of my new daughter in China.  That surprised me.  It really blew me away, and I'd shake my head in confusion as the likes grew in number and say, "Whaaaaat?"

When it comes down to it, I think many people can relate to life's ugliness.  

In actuality, August 6th nearly slipped by without me noticing.  I had 3 kids who woke up on the wrong side of bed.  I hurriedly zipped said kids out of the house in the morning to make it to summer Bible study on time (we were nearly 10 minutes late).  I have 1 daughter whose food issues have been resurfacing this week (they come and go).  Said daughter is also potty training and had messy accidents yesterday.  I have a house I simply cannot keep clean.  I have bills to pay, a yard and a pool to tend to, laundry mounting, doctor check-ups and teeth cleanings on the calendar, school starting soon.  I'm overwhelmed.

The truth is, I needed to write that status yesterday not for you but for me.  Because today on August 7 I needed the reminder that God saw us through pretty much utter disaster.  Today I worry about paying bills with my husband's new, one-paycheck-a-month, fluctuating, commissioned salary (scares me to death).  Today I worry about not having what we need to get by.  Today I worry that we won't have enough to pay for our insane electric bills in 100+ degree temps for weeks and weeks with no end in sight.  Today I worry about paying for all the repairs needed on my stupid ghetto van.  Today I worry about what tomorrow will bring.  Today I worry that my daughter will never, ever listen and obey.  Today I worry that my daughter will always be a control freak, fighting me tooth and nail of every stinking little thing.  Today I worry that she'll never ever stop wearing diapers.  Today I worry that my boys will never stop fighting.  Today I worry that I'll never have enough time for 3 children.  Today I worry that I just can't handle any more on my plate.  Today I'm jealous of friends who have high paying salaries, big huge houses, nice cars that aren't falling apart, extra funds to pay for anything their hearts simply desire.

I'm a mess, right?  Right!

I need to look back at the status I wrote yesterday and remember what God did.  I meant what I wrote yesterday.  Yes, we had disaster, horrible, ugly, tearful, punch-in-the-gut, breath stealing, painful disaster.  And God saw us through it all.  Even though we're still getting back on our feet and times are tight as we are slowly rebuilding our lives, He'll give us enough to face today.

That has been my daily prayer this summer:  "Give us this day our daily bread."  

And He does.  

He gets us through.

So today I have to lay it all down at His feet again.  I have to let go of worry.  I have to stop jumping ahead to tomorrow.  I have to look back on His faithfulness.  And I have to trust Him because it's all in His hands.

And that's exactly where I want my life to be.

Happy Birthday, Quiet Tiger!

Our Quiet Tiger turns 3 today.  It's her second birthday home in the US and by now she certainly understands what birthdays are all about -- CAKE!

Her first year home has certainly been full of it's ups and downs.  There have been days when I post all her cuteness all over Facebook.  Oh, she's darling!  And there are days when I call my adoption friends, sobbing huge tears over how hard it is to deal with her issues.  Oh, she really exasperates me some days!

Here are some fun facts on our Quiet Tiger on her 3rd birthday:

Favorite Food:  

Noodles - Italian style or Asian style, doesn't matter

Favorite Color:  

Yellow (ugh - my least favorite)

Favorite Activity:  

Coloring

Favorite Toy: 

Anything Minnie Mouse is by far her favorite.  Hello Kitty and Nemo would be tied for 2nd

Favorite Songs:  

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me and Old MacDonald, in that order

Random Things:

She's a chatterbox!  Her language is simply exploding!  Her latest funny phrase while sitting in a large Rubbermaid container: "Hey mom, guess what?  I'm stuck."

She gets really goofy at bedtime!  Slaphappy is a good description.

She loves Sea World and shouts "I see Sea World!" when we drive by.

She is just now learning to sit and listen to books.  She's still not interested in TV.  Movies are tough for her to sit through as is story time at the library.

She loves the pool and even jumps in (lifejacket on) and goes underwater.

We do believe the hives she has had in the past are from chlorine but bathing immediately after swimming seems to keep them at bay.

She's mesmerized by the garbage truck.

She's also thrilled by the aircraft that fly over our home from nearby Lackland AFB.

She's still in diapers (mommy is not happy) but she screams on the potty.  She's not ready.

She's starting to give up naps but still needs them and gets one a few times a week.

I'm amazed at how BIG her world has become.  From an orphanage in Northern China to garbage trucks, swimming pools, military aircraft and killer whales.  What a HUGE world is in front of her!

I'm really looking forward to the next year.  This year she'll grow to communicate better and maybe even be able to verbalize what's bugging her when she's having a rough time.  This year she'll master the potty and will be free of diapers (Oh, Lord, please let it be so - sooner than later!).  Hopefully her attention span will grow so she can sit still and enjoy books, tv and movies.  This year she'll leave some of her toddlerhood behind and grow into a little girl.   And hopefully, this year will bring more healing from her broken past.

This day would not be complete without mention of my daughter's birth mom on the other side of the globe.  Please keep her in your prayers as she remembers her daughter, mourns her loss, thinks of her daughter and wonders where she is now.  This woman chose life and for that we are grateful.  My heart is with her today and I know her's is with the daughter we share.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Quiet Tiger!