I Went Off.... In a Nice Way

The other morning, I was reading a story about another celebrity adoption. Now, say what you will about celebrity adoptions and the coverage that they receive... Cuz there's lots to say about it and those within the adoption community always seem to be split on the issues. This time around, I have nothing notable to say about any of that. Rather, my post today is motivated by the rude and judgmental things said by a couple of folks who were commenting on the article.  You'd think I'd be used to it by now and able to just "letitgo" to a certain degree. And normally, I probably am. Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe I just have a wild hair up my nose. Maybe it's all the emotionally-charged stress going on here in The Gang's house as of late. But I couldn't let it pass.... I couldn't.

The comments were mainly along the lines of "why can't people like this adopt from this country?" and "sure, another rich celebrity throwin' their weight around and going somewhere else for 'the perfect baby' while older kids sit here in foster care," and "people go to other countries to avoid birthmoms" and other such nonsense.

After several edits and re-writes, here's what I said.

As a mom of an internationally adopted child, and in the middle of our second adoption from the same nation, I can tell you with certainty that it is NOT easier to adopt from another nation. It's not a choice we made to AVOID birthmothers either. And there really, really are lots of problems, the likes of which NEVER EVER happen here in the States.

Most folks who choose international adoption do so for very personal, private reasons that are about their individual families and their individual desires to build their family. For example, one of the many, many reasons we chose our daughter's birth nation is because it has a proven, stable track record of resulting in a child at the end of the long, arduous process. We already had four kids in the home and we needed to choose some program that would limit the heartache of a failed system or a failed referral or a failed adoption. Too many other programs (here AND across the world) at that time were struggling to consistently take families from application to actual adoption with minimal surprise and interruption along the way.  Additionally, we have always, always been drawn to the Asian nations when feeling the pull to further build our family.

The bottom line is that EVERY child, in EVERY nation, deserves a permanent, healthy and loving home. And every system, in every nation, has its pro's and con's that families must consider carefully for their own circumstances. Rather than make assumptions or judge families or systems, I would urge you to consider finding a foster family or adoptive family in your community and find ways to support and encourage them, if you yourselves do not feel the unction to adopt or foster. Because really, it's about the children and finding them a forever family they can call "HOME."

And I must say, I said it all way nicer than I had originally planned to. Way gentler than the first two or three "editions" I wrote before I self-edited.... And far vaguer than I'd planned also. But I'm learning along the way that our story is just that: our story. And while I am happy to go off on the occasional rant (and really, who isn't? Occasionally and anonymously? I'm just sayin'...), I don't feel the need to bolster that rant's validity by over-sharing our experience. Cuz folks like those commenters? They usually don't really want to know the "why." At least that's how their "drop and run" harshly worded comments come across.... If they did really want to know, I tend to think they'd say it differently. Or they'd speak up as someone who is doing about the broken systems they are griping about. Something more tangible to speak up or even act on behalf of THE CHILDREN. And that's really what adoption is supposed to be about, right? THE. CHILDREN.

The Mother of All Give-Aways... Just For Mom!

Ever since I discovered blogs, even long before I started writing a blog myself, I've been following the goings-on at 5 Minutes for Mom. I love their sister sites, their efforts to educate and inform their audience and their regular introductions to all manner of things new. But what I love most of all???  (And don't mess with me, I'm betting you love this, too!) Is their Mothers' Day Give-away.

Each year it seems to get bigger and better. More cool products that I'd never buy for myself. New trends in jewelry and clothing that I'm totally not "up" on. Gift cards to places I love to shop. Or would love to try out but have never just jumped in to. Tickets to shows I'd love to see. The list of prizes this year is growing by the day.

Really. You need to head over and check it out for yourself. It served as my little "stop and dream indulgently" moment today. And don't we all need that a little more often these days?  Who knows? You might even win something for yourself that is truly indulgent. Wouldn't that be totally fun?  Go. Surf around. And have a few minutes of fun. It's my treat.

Wordless Wednesday {paperwork}

There's been a sudden influx of government

paperwork in the Gang's house.

Take a look-see!

On Monday, The Boss and I received our

I-800A Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child

From a Convention Country - Approval Notice.

Can I get a WOOT WOOT?!

On Tuesday, Dr. D proved his pre-driving skills

by taking AND PASSING his driver's permit test.

My prayer life just got a whole lot more serious!

But WOOT WOOT for him too!

So, not terribly "Wordless." But it IS Wednesday.

And it's all worth celebrating and capturing here, for sure.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun,

head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Mostly everyone is, in fact, NOT wordless.

I mean, we are moms, after all...

Where, Oh Where Have Your Readers Gone?

Oh where, Oh where can they be?

I think I might know.... I mean, after someone else totally told me and explained it all to me in really simple, easy terms..... It doesn't explain where I've been, but....

Lately, I've been pretty far behind in my reading and commenting on ya'll's blogs. I know, I know. I heartily apologize. It's not cuz I don't love ya. Really, it's mostly cuz I'm trying to sort out the new normal that is hopefully very, very temporary, all while trying to manage a couple big things that are going on here at home.

Things that are fairly "every day real life" stuff for The Gang, but still big projects. Things that are BEYOND the big huge employment issue that is looming over the regular every day real life stuff.  Things like seasonal clothes change-overs. Inventorying who needs what for spring and summer once the clothes are changed out. Running the on-line yard sale (prayers for continued sales would be appreciated, thankyouverymuch), and managing the calendar for 7 busy, active Gang members. Phew. I'm tired again, just typing it all.

And in the middle of all that, I'm falling behind on the things that aren't connecting to hungry little (and big!) eyes begging me to find them a snack (again!) or naked little hineys asking me if their pretty brown capris are clean yet. Sheesh, don't these darned kids know how much I miss catchin' up with ya'll?! The nerve.....

Anyhoo, I found something today that I think many of you will really appreciate. It doesn't affect me in my READING of blogs and commenting. No, I already gave you all my whine and excuse for that above. Rather it should help all of you who are wondering where your readers and commenters went.  It's a techy-schmecky kind of thing, particular to those of you who do your reading on a smart phone. I'm still pretty old school. I do all my reading on my desk top. With a big mug o' hot coffee flavored with the sugar free hazelnut creamer cupped in my hands in the wee hours of the morning while the kids are getting themselves up and dressed for school. When I'm really only capable of being an adult presence in the house and not much else. Not that you really care how I read your blog... I know, I'm sorry. I'm working on it.

But this little gem of a post might help you explain why OTHER folks have stopped commenting frequently on your brilliant, witty expositions of life, love, liberty and disco

Oh, wait. That's a Newsboys tune. Sorry. I got caught up in the moment.

Anyhoo, again.  Go HERE and read. It's so easy. I changed my settings and I'm hoping that helps those techy friends of mine to drop me a line a little more often. And if any of you know of a magic pill that would settle things down to a dull roar around here so that I can drop YOU a line a little more often, I'll considered it a fair trade. Got it?! Good.

We're Nesting Again!

No matter what other changes go on in our lives, one thing remains a constant: we are always working on SOMETHING around this house. The latest project is to start the switching of bedrooms that is necessary to move Li'l Empress into a bigger room suitable for sharing with her mei-mei.  We've been talking about it for months, kind of laying the plans out for the kids, prepping Li'l E and introducing the topic as matter-of-factly as we could, for the sake of helping her see that it's one of the "okay" changes in life. So, while The Boss is job hunting and has some free-er time than the normal pace of a full-time job, we decided it was wise to get started now. We are trusting the Lord for a career position very soon and trying to be sure that there are fewer pressures and "to do's" on his list to accommodate the learning curve that comes with any new job placement.

So, Saturday afternoon, the kids cleaned the baseboards and window sills of both the affected rooms and began packing up Baby Blue Eye's front bedroom and Li'l E's smaller back bedroom.

Li'l Empress's room - Before

Baby Blue Eyes' room - Before, sorta...

Two months ago, I sold all the fire dog and fire truck pics and poster

thinking we'd have started this project much sooner.

I didn't know about all the "surprises" that would distract us

for the last month.

We watched Li'l E carefully (without saying anything to her or the other kids) through the processes of packing up and moving her bed into her brother's room, as we know big changes like this can sometimes trigger anxieties. And frankly, as tired as we are, neither of wanted to be up in the middle of the night with a freaked out four-year old if we could avoid it. She did great, until it was actually time to crawl into the actual bed in her soon-to-be-actual room. Then, she got a little anxious. But we talked about it right away, just matter-of-factly phrasing it as a sleep-over for several days with her brother and as great practice for sharing the room someday soon with mei-mei. She calmed right down and went from her classic over cute "I'm okay" mode into a state of peace and settled right into bed like a champ. I take that as a little victory, considering that all the other changes that have been going on in the house this month have definitely required extra patience and prayer for her to manage. That's a whole 'nuther post for another day....

She definitely was expressing a bit of concern
about the big changes

that were happening to her room. 

Nobody is really sure what to call this.

Is it still BBE's room? Is it Li'l E's room yet?

They have fun trying to figure that out when they talk about it.

I won't tell you everything about the project just yet, rather, I'll leave you with a little bit of a peek to see who of you can figure out what we are doing in there. It shouldn't be too hard, for those of you who know our Baby BlueEyes.

I'm quite excited about the plans for this room.

And Baby BlueEyes is OVER.THE.MOON.

Poor kid - this was the only gift he "really, really, really" wanted for his big 10th birthday. Back in Sep.TEM.ber. Ummm, yeah. Slacker parents. I know.  But really. We still hadn't totally figured out who was moving where and when to accommodate our little Brynna (who didn't even have a name yet, let alone a place to sleep!). So, slacker? Maybe. Indecisive and inconclusive? Definitely.

Keep your eyes peeled, there's more fan-tastic photos of the progress coming soon.

Did ya like how I dropped a big ole

hint on ya there? In that last line? 

I know, I know. 

I'm da bomb.....

It took me forEVAH to come up with 

that little teaser cuz I??? Am. so. fried.

Friends should let friends blog fried.

It's just not pretty.

Wordless Wednesday

Yes. I really did find her asleep like this.

Yes. She really did give me the evil stink-eye

for disturbing her slumber.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun,

head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

I'm pretty sure mine is the only kitty

embracing a Honey Ale.

But it's still lots of fun.

A Book Review {Daddy, Come & Get Me}

Several months ago, I connected via the wide, wide world of F@cebook, with another adoptive parent, this time a dad. Since I am not a dad, but I am married to one, I am always intrigued by another dad's point of view on all things parenting. Especially adoption parenting. Mostly cuz it's still kind of new to The Boss and I. In our various interactions on FB, we'd had some good conversations. As a result, I was further intrigued to know that this adoptive dad is also an author. How cool is that? An author.

For those of you counting, and that know my weird tendency toward obsessions and crushes, that makes four real life authors that I have "met" via the big world of adoption.

Ooooooh, I'm giddy thinking that out loud.

You'll remember a long, long while back, this gal stopped by my blog a couple times and commented on my travel posts while we were in China for Li'l Empress.  I was tickled to death.

This gal and I have "bonded" over our desire to see EVERY child find a forever home. If you aren't reading her blog, really, you should be. I am regularly amazed at the selfish and consumer-minded patterns in which I indulge in my own life when I read her thoughts.

And then, more recently, this lovely lady became a "real life" friend and huge supporter of our adoption journey to Brynna Rose.

So having this guy in my circle of adoption-minded friends was an added bonus. I feel so well-rounded in the assortment of authorship represented here. I'm so tickled to say that I know FOUR real, live, published authors. I know, I know. It's a strange little tic I have. Just keep reading and ignore my crazed fan-groupie behavior. Please. I'll be okay in a minute.

So this book. The point of this review. Yeah. I'm on it.

Daddy, Come & Get Me by Gil Michelini is billed as "a dad's adventure through Guatemalan adoption." And it's really worth your time. It's worth purchasing for the adoptive dads in your life. No matter the country, no matter the journey, Mr. Michelini writes his story in a real and vulnerable manner that completely grabbed my attention and held it, in the midst of some of the hardest days I've experienced in a very long time. It often feels like peeking into his personal journal in its conversational tone and heart-felt pleas for God's interventions and answers.

I happened to pick up the book as a diversion that would also be productive, since I'd promised months ago to do a review for Mr. Michelini. I needed the diversion that particular week because we were running full steam ahead with this online yard sale project and I was beat. Weary to the bone.

About three or four chapters in to my reading of this story, The Boss informed me after dinner one night that his employment circumstances would be changing and that our lives were thus also changing in many, many ways. I admit, for the first 48 hours after The Boss's news, I was angry. I felt truthfully angrier than I had felt in a long, long time. I felt defeated. I kind of shut down and said not much of anything during those first two days. But I read. I holed up on the couch with my fleece blanket and read this book. So, in the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that this book became very, very personal for me.

The Michelini family feels like every-American-family. They had some cute kids, an active faith, and a fairly typical suburban life-style. They were plugged in to their community, to their church, and were doin' okay. But they weren't typical for long. Mr. Michelini's story of how diving in to the journey to finding their daughter and building their home as God called them to do was just what I needed at the very moments that I was reading it. He is searingly honest (in my opinion) and doesn't spare himself at all in his self-doubt or his steps of faith toward the daughter in his dreams. His vulnerability and soul searching connected with me. Pulled me in to his story and gave me a bird's eye view of the big picture. And not just of what he was recounting in his story. It made me look at our own story. From the big picture view.

There were many similarities between Mr. Michelini's trek to his daughter and my own life. He faced unemployment, failed referrals, agency hiccups, in-country stresses, uncertainty in the process, documentation problems, all of it. All the "stuff" that most adoptions, no matter where they are heading, face at one time or another. The thing that came through loudest and strongest for me was his focus on his mission: he had a daughter in Guatemala. God revealed it to him in a dream. God confirmed it to him and he was pushing on toward that goal, often in spite of great opposition. That resonated with me, given what we have recently been experiencing. I pored over the details that God wove into their story. Mr. Michelini's belief in that dream for his family came through loud and clear and he testifies to each detail as glory to God and His Master plan for them all. My faith was encouraged and built up with each event that pointed him to give glory to God.

I highly recommend this book to any adoptive parent. There are things in the story that ALL adoptive parents can connect with. But if you have an adoptive dad that wants to know that he is not alone, that God is in the details, and that those details MATTER in the big picture of our lives, then this book is a must. From where I'm sitting, several week out now from news that rocked my world for a couple days, I can hold this book up as just one more detail that God is using to weave OUR story for His glory and our good.

Wordless Wednesday {love notes}

Someone has been writing love notes to The Boss

and leaving them around the house.

I'm a little chagrined to note that I did not know

that she knew how to write all those letters

all. by. her. self.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun,

head to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Join in the blog hopping

and leave me a comment

if you've come by from there.

Surprise!

The last two weeks have been full of surprises. Unfortunately, not the happy-variety of surprises. Rather, startling, disappointing, and frustrating varieties of surprises. These surprises have taken us some time to digest. It's been a rough two weeks here.

I'm not intentionally being vague, (and I am happy to chat with you in private should you desire to know more) but as this blog serves as a chronicle of our lives together here at The Gang's Headquarters, I feel pressed to get some of it down. To record what we know, what God is doing, and wrap my brain around how this is going to change and grow us as a family.  Yesterday on F@ce-book, I posted this status:

"When I am faced with a hard season in my life, my goal (and my prayer, really) is to face it and move through it with more grace and more maturity than the previous times I faced hard times. Some days, that feels pretty attainable. Other days, not so much. Today, I am thankful for friends who spur me on to that grace and encourage me to seek to persevere."

This post (and likely the many that will follow in the coming days!) is my attempt to stand on the foundations of the hard things we have faced before and look forward to the grace and maturity I desire to see in my life as we face these surprises. To encourage myself, through the encouragements offered by others over these last two weeks, and to affirm my Cornerstone.

Here is what I know. What I am standing on today.

He is Faithful. It's His character and He cannot and will not lie about who He is. To me, to this season, or to any of you. This is just one of His many promises to that end:

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains –

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip -

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you –

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm -

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

He is Our Defender. Again, it's His character. He covers and protects and champions those who seek His face and call Him "Father."

Psalm 37: 1-9

Do not fret because of those who are evil 

or be envious of those who do wrong; 

for like the grass they will soon wither, 

like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the LORD and do good; 

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 

Take delight in the LORD, 

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD; 

trust in him and he will do this: 

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, 

your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD 

and wait patiently for him; 

do not fret when people succeed in their ways, 

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; 

do not fret—it leads only to evil. 

For those who are evil will be destroyed, 

but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

He has a plan for us. He has a GOOD plan for us. Over the last two weeks, that didn't FEEL true. But thanks to my amazing parents, I have learned that this walk of faith is NOT based upon what I feel. It's based upon HIS WORD. HIS TRUTH. And it's just that: a walk of faith. It's standing on the Word and saying, "I choose to believe THIS, even if I feel that." I'm choosing. And I'm standing.

Romans 8:26-28

From The Message

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting,

God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along.

If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.

He does our praying in and for us,

making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.

He knows us far better than we know ourselves,

knows our pregnant condition,

and keeps us present before God.

That's why we can be so sure that every detail

in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

and

Psalm 71:5-8

For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,

my confidence since my youth.

From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

And so praise Him we will. Even when we can barely choke out the words. Even when we cannot see right now how it will all work together, let along together for our good. He does. And for now, I am trusting in that.

Come on back later in the week and I'll attempt to share more of our journey. In the meantime, your prayers for peace, continued faith, and perseverance for the path ahead. This Gang appreciates it more than you know.

Snapshot Sunday {DIY'ing}

This summer, the neighbors had a flood in their basement.

Before the entire neighborhood had flooding from Hurricane Irene, that is....

Anyhoo. I picked up this little piece by the side of the road.
Outside their house.
Alongside their massive dumpster.
It was free.
I HEART FREE!

It really needed some TLC.

The kind that Dr. D was happy to provide for a small fee.

That we are more than happy to pay.

Not all of it was real wood but all of it needed some

of life's grime sanded away.

(Heh. That's a sermon that'll preach, huh?)

The shiny laminate top stumped us for awhile.

But The Boss did some asking around.

Meanwhile, Dr. D did some more sanding.

And then the staining began.

The Boss figured out a really inexpensive solution for the laminate.

Voila! It's amazing, isn't it?!

Now, Baby BlueEyes has an amazing new desk for

what will soon be his amazing new room.

We have to move some rooms around to make room for Brynna.

So there's gonna be a heavy emphasis on the DIY projects around here

for quite a while. Hope you don't mind me sharing....

If you have any good DIY's to tell me about,

say so in the comments.

I love gleaning new ideas from my smart and crafty readers!

God Made You Beautiful! ~ The Repost ~

**REPOST with corrected/repaired link. My apologies for the error.

I've been having problems with some links for a while now.

I have a sweet little gem of a book to share with you all today. Written by a fellow adoptive momma, it's a celebration of the unique beauty with which God has created each of us. Each page is a lively, fresh, and engaging picture of a pretty little girl with reddish blonde hair. (Yes, I'm partial. I love me a red-headed heroine!). This darling little girl is doing all the most favorite-est things that little girls do: playing princess,  dressing up, enjoying a spot of tea with teddy bear friends, swinging at the park with her friends, and thinking about her world. Each page is an encouragement to be proud of who she is, just the way she is. I love the pictures and the emphasis that each girl is made so differently and yet so similarly beautiful. But my favorite thing is that each page is summarized with a Scripture that speaks TRUTH over our girls. The TRUTH of their inherent beauty as they are made in the image and likeness of their Father above. The TRUTH that who they are is exactly how God created them to be and being His image bearer makes us special. This book is simple, sweet, and direct with its message: God Made YOU Beautiful. Just the way you are.

Stephanie Farley has recently become a personal friend, through connections made in an online adoptive moms group that has formed in our region. At the beginning of the month, I hosted a huge brunch for these moms here at The Gang's Headquarters and Stephanie graciously offered to share the ministry of this book with any of the moms who were working to bring home children via adoption.

I am VERY excited to tell you that for every purchase of this book with our family name designated in the on-line order form, Stephanie is donating $5 of that purchase to our "Adoption Jar."  How cool is that?

You can find the story, available for sale here, at Stephanie Farley's website. If you wish to order this book and you desire to support our efforts to raise the travel expenses for our current adoption, we would be so very grateful.

You will need to make sure that the order page (via Pay Pal) indicates that this is for The Whitney Gang's adoption, so that our efforts get the proper credit. Here's how:

You will see a note under the "Shipping Information" after you load all of your payment/contact information that looks like this: (only smaller!)

Personalize? How did you hear about it?  

Simply click the "Add" link (it's blue!) and enter "The Whitney Gang's adoption" or something similar to indicate to Stephanie that you intend for our adoption to benefit from your purchase.

You can also order the book by "snail mail" and pay by check. The address and information is on the website link above. Again, you will need to indicate "The Whitney Gang" in the memo portion of the check.

Whether or not you actually purchase the book with the intention of supporting our fundraising efforts, I highly recommend this book for the little girls in your life. We can't start pouring The TRUTH of the Word over them too early and this book is a sweet and engaging way to do just that. LadyBug and Li'l Empress are hooked and have read it together several times already. And in this culture of the lies that get thrown at our girls every day about what beautiful looks like, I am thrilled to have one more tool that points them to the source and the Creator of real beauty.

God Made You Beautiful!

**REPOST with corrected/repaired link. My apologies for the error.

I've been having problems with some links for a while now.

I have a sweet little gem of a book to share with you all today. Written by a fellow adoptive momma, it's a celebration of the unique beauty with which God has created each of us. Each page is a lively, fresh, and engaging picture of a pretty little girl with reddish blonde hair. (Yes, I'm partial. I love me a red-headed heroine!). This darling little girl is doing all the most favorite-est things that little girls do: playing princess,  dressing up, enjoying a spot of tea with teddy bear friends, swinging at the park with her friends, and thinking about her world. Each page is an encouragement to be proud of who she is, just the way she is. I love the pictures and the emphasis that each girl is made so differently and yet so similarly beautiful. But my favorite thing is that each page is summarized with a Scripture that speaks TRUTH over our girls. The TRUTH of their inherent beauty as they are made in the image and likeness of their Father above. The TRUTH that who they are is exactly how God created them to be and being His image bearer makes us special. This book is simple, sweet, and direct with its message: God Made YOU Beautiful. Just the way you are.

Stephanie Farley has recently become a personal friend, through connections made in an online adoptive moms group that has formed in our region. At the beginning of the month, I hosted a huge brunch for these moms here at The Gang's Headquarters and Stephanie graciously offered to share the ministry of this book with any of the moms who were working to bring home children via adoption.

I am VERY excited to tell you that for every purchase of this book with our family name designated in the on-line order form, Stephanie is donating $5 of that purchase to our "Adoption Jar."  How cool is that?

You can find the story, available for sale here, at Stephanie Farley's website. If you wish to order this book and you desire to support our efforts to raise the travel expenses for our current adoption, we would be so very grateful.

You will need to make sure that the order page (via Pay Pal) indicates that this is for The Whitney Gang's adoption, so that our efforts get the proper credit. Here's how:

You will see a note under the "Shipping Information" after you load all of your payment/contact information that looks like this: (only smaller!)

Personalize? How did you hear about it?  

Simply click the "Add" link (it's blue!) and enter "The Whitney Gang's adoption" or something similar to indicate to Stephanie that you intend for our adoption to benefit from your purchase.

You can also order the book by "snail mail" and pay by check. The address and information is on the website link above. Again, you will need to indicate "The Whitney Gang" in the memo portion of the check.

Whether or not you actually purchase the book with the intention of supporting our fundraising efforts, I highly recommend this book for the little girls in your life. We can't start pouring The TRUTH of the Word over them too early and this book is a sweet and engaging way to do just that. LadyBug and Li'l Empress are hooked and have read it together several times already. And in this culture of the lies that get thrown at our girls every day about what beautiful looks like, I am thrilled to have one more tool that points them to the source and the Creator of real beauty.

Wow.

Last week I launched an on-line yard sale as a secondary means of raising funds for our journey to Brynna. OMIGOSH.

WOW. It's become a second part-time job. Complete with crazy hours, unreasonable demands, and plenty o' drama.

And while I have you here, can I just say? The drama over a used $5 thermal tote, a $1 book or an $8 ceramic pig? It. Is. Crazy. Wow.

Really, you never can tell what is gonna spark the crazy. Or just how crazy some of it will get. WOW. And that's all I'm gonna say about THAT.

In the week since I started the sale, I've made almost $200. I've met some really nice gals along the way. One, in particular, was so nice and so excited about our journey that she brought a trunk full of donations from her own home. She and her husband are also believers and attend a local church with lots of other adoptive families that have plugged in there. She has watched them all and seen what they experience in the process, so her heart was really tender toward our efforts. Turns out, she's moving and doesn't want to bring it with her and didn't really have time to list it all herself. So she gave it to us and agreed to pray with us for a big yield from it all. Wow. What a blessing!

In the meantime, we finalized our home study.  Can I get a WOOT WOOT?

Aint' it purty?

Oddly enough, one thing that was JUST NOT COMING TOGETHER nicely was the family shot for our dossier. It had to be all 7 of us, in front of our home, facing the camera. Seriously, it was the hardest thing in the last two weeks to make happen. Either it would rain when we were all home, or it was dark by the time we all got home. OR, we'd have 5 or 6 of us home but not all 7. WOW?! It was bordering on hilarious!!!! 

Miracle of miracles, Tuesday afternoon, between the teensy tinsy time slots of returning home from work (The Boss), coffee with a friend (Shaggy), track practice (LadyBug and Dr. D) and heading back out for prayer service (Shaggy), we actually had daylight. And 7 bodies. {Cue angels singing!}

Ain't we purty?

The finalized home study led to the finalization of the I800 form that The Boss has been working on behind the scenes, in anticipation of just such an event.

Ain't it purty?

And today, when the post office opened, Li'l Empress and I were there to send the forms and the money and all our private, most personal data winging on its way to the USCIS office in Dallas. Praying speedy delivery, safe transit, and quick processing over the whole envelope.

The bags under my eyes will not be traveling, sadly,

with the package. Not sure I could afford that postage.

WOW.

The Elephant In The Room

Last week, Shaggy spent several hours with our youth pastor talking about the options he considering for life after graduation. {Ack, I can barely type that.} I haven't talked about it here but trust me when I say, it's been a long, long season in our life, working through the ideas of future plans, education, careers, and callings with this boy. He's such a thinker and processor and all the paths stretched out before him, all new to him and in many ways to us, have been overwhelming for him to tackle. We've been patient, trying to guide when asked and trying to stay silent when he's not asking. It was so good for him to talk with someone else, get another perspective, and hear his own thoughts echoed back to him. Frankly, it's been hard to strike the right balance with him, letting him seek out the information that he's most interested in and placing the right opportunities or conversation starters into the mix without overwhelming him further. The last thing we want to do is take advantage of his desire to please us, by guiding him toward what we want these first few years after high school to look like. (It's tempting but it's so wrong, oh so wrong. Right? Right?)

We know this kid, how he is wired. It's surprising him, actually, how well we know him. (He thought he was harder to peg! Heh...) We know he needs to research and gather information and weigh it out for himself. We know his struggle to take steps forward without knowing where those steps might lead. We know how hard it is for him to trust without seeing exactly what it is he is trusting. This boy of mine, he has a tendency toward suspicion (I'm not telling tales, he freely admits that about himself!) and that checking facts (and history and reputation and references and recommendations and word of mouth and, and, and.....) is a huge part of his decision-making process. Let me tell you, this boy is so far from impulsive and spontaneous it almost makes me giggle into fits to think about what sweet, lovely young lady God has waiting in the wings for my Shaggy. (Someday, a long, long, long, loooong while from now, are we clear about that?)

Early this past fall, we were talking about college planning. It occurred to me that Shaggy didn't know that while we certainly expect him to earn a four-year degree, we are open to other options in addition to heading straight to college. He had been so "in the mode" of seeking out some good four-year schools to which he could transfer from the local community college, that he was, literally, flabbergasted that we would offer the opportunity to take some time off and pursue a ministry experience before college. He has a friend who, at that time, was preparing for a 7 month stint with YWAM. When we offered that same kind of time away as perfectly acceptable, he just did not know what to do with that. It was kind of amusing, but that conversation made me realize how lightly we'd need to tread with this boy and his process of tracking down what it was God has for him this coming year. And lightly we've tread, for sure. In fact, we left the conversation alone for a while so that he could research and pray. But then we found that we had to give him some parameters for his incessant researching and fact-gathering process: we asked him to please have a community college application ready to submit, along with an application to his chosen ministry experience in process, by the end of February.

Last week's conversation with the youth pastor sparked some great thoughts and helped solidify what Shaggy has been sensing from the Lord. Focusing on ministry experiences has delayed the application to community college a wee bit, which is okay with us. We're not telling him, but the deadlines were pretty soft in our minds. So the ministry experience application is in process right now. He feels settled with his plans and is starting to think about the "when" of what is coming next. So much so, that after Tuesday's appointment, he came home and wrapped his arms around me. He just stood there hugging me for several minutes.

"What's up? What did I do to deserve this?" I asked him. (Man, this kid gives the best hugs. He is so like his  dad that way.)

"Nothing in particular. I was just wondering if you'd given any thought to what it's going to be like when I'm gone for 7 or 8 months."

And there it was.

The elephant that has been sitting

in every room of this house

since the day that senior year started.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I think about it all the time. ALL.THE. TIME. EVERY DAY. Not a day goes by that I don't think about what it will be like NOT to have you here every day!" I was rather proud of myself. I said all that, without crying. Small miracle.

And can I just tell you? I canNOT get away from that elephant, 

no matter where I go. It's not just in the rooms of the house anymore.

It's following me - to the grocery store, to the library, to church,

to the local K*hl's, everywhere I go.

It's there. Tiptoeing behind me,

shaking my very ground with its heavy tread.

"Really? You've already thought about it? Are you okay with it?" he sounded so surprised.

"Am I okay with it? Noooooo. I'm not okay with it. But it's not about me. This is about you. And what God is leading you to do. Cuz face it, Shaggy. If this was all about me and what I want?! You'd be home for two years at community college and then you'd transfer to XYZ college (literally in the next town over from us) and live here at home for that too! No, I'm not okay with it. But you aren't the only one trying to hear from God and follow His plan for you. This is me, trying to follow God's plan for you, too."

Yes, my friends, I was almost shouting at this point. And there might have been a tear or two. Or ten. Maybe.

I could almost hear the elephant's offended sniff. 

It's been outed. Acknowledged.

And it stinks.

I'm just sayin'....

Mini Make-Over {The Big Reveal}

Okay, Okay. I've tortured you all long enough. But really, I needed you to know the back-story of the gift God gave me to really appreciate the final outcome. One thing I've learned over and over and over in my life is that God loves to give good gifts to His children. And in this season of utter-frugality and pruning of extra expenditures toward our mission to Brynna, He deserves the glory and the credit for loving me in this very tangible way. He knows me, He knows my heart, and I am humbled at His care.

When The Boss gifted me with the gorgeous comforter, my wheels immediately started turning. I knew that our current lamp set was the right style but that the color was all wrong. If you look back on the original post of our re-do four years ago, you'll see that they were a soft olive-y sage green with matching shades that were a bit "frou-frou" for me. But they had been purchased many years before at a massive clearance sale and I was more than content to live with the "frou-frou" for the sake of the deal I'd scored. But they were NOT working with the new bedding.

We brainstormed. We had some hammered bronze spray paint in the basement from a previous project (read: FREE!) that had to be abandoned, so The Boss set up a painting station one Saturday in January and I headed to a couple local discount stores to find simpler lampshades. VOILA! We have new lamps that make the light in our room much softer and, ahem, more mood-appropriate. {grin}

And without further ado, here are the pics of our beautiful, "new to us" Mini Make-Over. Just remember while you are peering in, this is the handiwork of God. His fingerprints are all over it and I feel so spoiled by His attention to detail.

Yes! It's orange! Officially, the accent color I've pulled out of the bedding is called "Warm Spice" and I love it. I scored the throw pillows on a big sale at K@hl's back in early January, with a coupon and K@hl's cash to drop the price even further. (Might I add, the K@hl's cash was also an unexpected gift! How cool is that?) And that darling table was a wedding gift from my aunt and uncle. I am super-protective of it and we took it out of the living room at Christmas because the cat had taken to sitting on only one side of it. It was starting to list to one side and I couldn't bear the thought of it being ruined. Bringing it into our room was just the perfect touch. The details of the legs echo the pattern of the comforter beautifully!

In this light, the colors look almost red.

But the close-up is to show you the beautiful pattern of the bedding.

I've had that candle holder for-EVAH and finally have the right place to use it. I'm still hunting for a better candle (proportion- and scent-wise) for it. And that silk orchid was another clearance find at my local R@ss. The flowerpot is almost identical to the new finish on the lamps. (Dude. Really. I know.)

And the piece d' resistance?! LOOK! The curtain rods that The Boss scored at W@lm@rt feature finials that repeat the pattern of the decorative trim that I spent months babysitting to earn money for, more than four years ago!!!! Seriously. NEITHER of us were even planning that. AT. ALL. I know. God is the coolest, isn't He?

Finally, here's one last shot of the big window. We're experiencing a couple little glitches accomplishing the final look we're trying to achieve. First, the sheers (also free, remember?) are a tad uneven and are peeking out from under the drapes in a couple spots. Second, between the texture of the drapes, the texture of the rod, and the width of the rod, the drapes are not staying open. I'm a huge fan of lots and lots of natural light, so I tend toward open drapery in pretty much every room of the house.

We think we've come up with a plan, and a back-up plan to boot, for letting light in through the sheers. But it might take us a while to implement it. As for the sheers? Well, if the first plan for the drapes works, we can just move the longer sheers around and the problem just kind of disappears. If that doesn't work, I'll have to save up some money to have the sheers hemmed from the top (so I don't lose the pretty scalloped bottom hem). I'm good with that. It's barely noticeable.

There you have it. The beautiful mini make-over of our master bedroom. The Boss worked extraordinarily hard on Saturday to hand the curtain rods (there were glitches galore and he overcame them all!) and to even lend a hand with the ironing. I'm so grateful for his handiwork. And the next time you wonder if God cares about your details and desires, remember how He pulled this room together to bless us like this!

Mini Make-Over For Momma

Noooooo, not the make-up and hair and clothing kind of make-over... A room make-over! Some of you might remember the re-do of our master bedroom that The Boss did while we were waiting for Li'l Empress to come home.  It was so necessary at the time (Lord, how did I live with all those white, bare walls for more than four years before we finally tackled it?), but we stopped just short of finishing it. It's not customary of us to do that at all, in fact, I have a rather strong "rule" about finishing things around here before we move on to other projects. I'm a little fanatical about that rule, actually.

I know, I know.

You are so surprised that I'm fanatical
about my rules.  heh.

But we never finished the room. Mostly because I was stumped by the search for curtains. Could.NOT.find. what I was looking for. Don't get me wrong. It was done enough. And beautiful. I still find myself stopping to admire The Boss's handiwork and the soothing, warm feel of the room. But I spent the last four years looking off and on for curtains. I knew they were out there. I just had spurts of time in which I went crazy trying to find "the perfect curtains." Just spurts, cuz that level of crazy can't be sustained for very long around here.

To be fair, I had a whole list of qualifiers that had to be met in the search for "the perfect curtains."

• They had to be very energy-efficient, preferably thermal, to protect us from the drafts that pour in through the original, 1970's windows. And from the AC that pours out the windows in the summer months. (Seriously, when this current adoption is completed and paid for, that might just be my first call.)
• They had to be lined, to buffer against the blinding sunlight that streams in that side of the house.
• They had to be rich, warm, and inviting in both texture and appearance.
• They had to be affordable. I have four windows to cover, if you count the bathroom.
• They had to be solid. I just cannot get behind patterned wall treatments in this house. I have no idea why. Meh.

In December, I was surfing eb@y and found a comforter set that I had fallen in love with four years ago. The Boss got all sweet and generous and told me to buy it for Christmas. He didn't need to tell me twice. But the search for curtains began in earnest again. This time around, knowing that we have adoption expenses lurking in the background, I was much more focused on the "affordable" and "energy efficient" part of the qualifying list.

And wouldn't you know? God blew me away with His love. Through the hands of a generous and loving family friend, He blessed me with a gift to purchase curtains. And we found some last week that fit every single of my weird little criterion. Between the little nest egg I'd been saving up (thanks, FPU and the envelope system!!!) and the extraordinary gift that God sent my way, I was able to purchase curtains for the bedroom. With .07 change! And knowing how He cares for me and these little details of my life, I'm gonna wait on the bathroom curtains and trust Him for when that project comes along on our To Do list.

Here's our room BEFORE the mini-make-over.

As we've been living with it for most of the last

four years. With a couple exceptions that I'll tell ya about

later... Yes, that means this post is a teaser.

...heheheheheheheheheh...

 This is how our windows have been dressed
for four+ years now.
I like simplicity as much as the next gal.
But this very quickly became stark and cold feeling.
Not exactly how you want your master bedroom
to feel at the end of a long hard day.

Come back tomorrow

for The Big Reveal.

God is good. All the time.

All the time. God is good.

(Even for home improvement projects)

You Got Dat, Momma?

This is a snippet of conversation that Li'l Empress had at me this morning. Yes, you read that right. She talked at me, and I barely got a word in edge-wise.

Running feet down the hall, calling me before she even could see me.... "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

"Ye...." I rarely get to finish my words when she's this adamant.

"I hab a kesschun to axe you!"

"Oka...."

"Umm, Ummm, I hab a fabor I need you to do foh me."

"Reallee......" I replied, trailing off as she jumped to explain.

"Uh, yeah. When we go down stays, can you please gib me my pink med ah cin? From da doctor?"

"Ye......"

"Cuz dat's a fabor I need you to do for me. Cuz da doctor said so," said with one hand on her hip while pointing at me in a very serious manner. "Okay?"

At this point, without giving me ample time to answer, she ran off back down the hall.  And turned right around, running back to me.

"You got dat Momma? You got that fabor I need you to do foh me? I need you to do me a fabor and gib me my pink med ah cin dat Daddy bringed home last nite," again with the hand on the hip and the other pointing at my nose.  She's gonna make a great Momma some day. Heh.  "Do you do dat fabor foh me?" she pressed.

Yeah. I think I've got it.

I'm All Out of Love... But NOT Out of Coffee

The other day, The Boss was working from home in order to be here for the "whole family" home study meeting. When he is home all day, he tends to drink a lot of coffee.When he drinks a lot of coffee AND he has the gang around as a pretty captive audience, he tends to get a little wacky. As the kids are getting older, they have all had varying reactions to him busting out of his "regular dad mode."  We especially like LadyBug's reactions to his wacky.

This is The Boss on coffee.

He's belting out "All Out of Love" by Air Supply.

He'd been randomly singing along like this all morning

to the oldies radio station I was blasting 

while we cleaned for the home study.

This is LadyBug.

She's eating her lunch and wondering when on earth

his embarrassing behavior is going to stop.

Poor kid.

Hasn't figured out yet

that THIS REACTION 

is exactly what keeps feeding his behavior.

Well, that and the big ole' mugs of coffee he sucks down.

Heh heh.

Sometimes parenting this gang is just too darned much fun!