We're still here!
Well, two months have come and gone! I've written a summer full of posts in my head but obviously never gotten them onto this blog - ha!
It was a great and adventure filled summer: backyard camping, zoo trips, story time at the library, Backyard Bible Club (me teaching and the boys attending), children's concerts, trips to the beach, trips to the spray park, a over night trip to Sheboygen courtesy of my parents, free evening concerts, $1 movies, friends taking the boys and I to Great America, Green Bay getaway, outdoor theatre (they made it through both kids' movies!), Wisconsin State Fair, and the summer always ends with a neighborhood block party. I completely enjoyed my summer and kept the boys mostly to myself, not a lot of play dates, as the reality of John being gone the whole day at school drew closer.
So with that said, here's pictures of their first day of school - aren't they so handsome!
John is in first grade and LOVES his teacher. After attending the Back to School Night, I am excited for all the year has to offer too. Ryan is in afternoon kindergarten with the same teacher as John had last year. He is also LOVING going to school.
On the adoption front, things are moving faster than we expected - PRAISE GOD!! Our home study is done and has been approved by DCFS and our international agency. We have sent the paperwork in to the federal government (the I-600A form) requesting to adopt a child internationally and will wait for that approval as well as our fingerprinting appointment. While we wait we will be gathering the remainder of our documents for our dossier. Excitement is building!
My sincere hope would be to publish on the blog more often - I would relish any suggestions from busy Moms on when you all have time to add to your blogs!! Thanks in advance for your ideas.
It was a great and adventure filled summer: backyard camping, zoo trips, story time at the library, Backyard Bible Club (me teaching and the boys attending), children's concerts, trips to the beach, trips to the spray park, a over night trip to Sheboygen courtesy of my parents, free evening concerts, $1 movies, friends taking the boys and I to Great America, Green Bay getaway, outdoor theatre (they made it through both kids' movies!), Wisconsin State Fair, and the summer always ends with a neighborhood block party. I completely enjoyed my summer and kept the boys mostly to myself, not a lot of play dates, as the reality of John being gone the whole day at school drew closer.
So with that said, here's pictures of their first day of school - aren't they so handsome!
John is in first grade and LOVES his teacher. After attending the Back to School Night, I am excited for all the year has to offer too. Ryan is in afternoon kindergarten with the same teacher as John had last year. He is also LOVING going to school.
On the adoption front, things are moving faster than we expected - PRAISE GOD!! Our home study is done and has been approved by DCFS and our international agency. We have sent the paperwork in to the federal government (the I-600A form) requesting to adopt a child internationally and will wait for that approval as well as our fingerprinting appointment. While we wait we will be gathering the remainder of our documents for our dossier. Excitement is building!
My sincere hope would be to publish on the blog more often - I would relish any suggestions from busy Moms on when you all have time to add to your blogs!! Thanks in advance for your ideas.
New Additions
No we did not get our referral yet - but we did get 2 kittens!!!! Pretty (name picked by John) is a girl and Henson (named after one of Mike and mys puppeteer heroes) is a boy and they are almost 3 months old.
They are crazy fun to have and are getting used to our house. They love to wrestle with each other and play with all the free cat toys we have - ribbons, yarn, empty cut up toilet paper holder - as opposed to the $4 feather on a stick toy each boy picked out - HA! They are also curious about any opening in the house: cabinets, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc. They will come lie next to the boys and John and Ryan are so excited they are here! (And I am too!!)
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| John with Henson (black cat) and Pretty (ginger cat) |
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| Ryan with Pretty |
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| sleeping on the couch after a day of playing |
Adoption Update
We have all our home study paperwork in, have completed all necessary training, and all our clearances are in except for those from the FBI. Once our social worker gets those, she can write up our home study, have it approved by her supervisor, DCFS, and our international agency, and then we can send a copy in to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration) along with our I-600A form, which is the form requesting the adoption of an international orphaned child. WOW!
I also think we can begin our training with our international agency. Since they are in Indiana, we will do most of it via Skype. They also require a written paper about our child's country which I am very excited to do!!
NEXT STEPS: Download Skype onto our computer so we can participate in the training and contact our international agency and see if we can begin their classes!
PRAISE: Almost everything is done for home study!!
PRAYER: That the FBI clearance would come as soon as possible (I really wanted to type yesterday!) or at least within the next 30 days. If it's after 30 days, a social worker has to come back and visit our house. And I'll take prayer that Skype would work on our computer too!!
I also think we can begin our training with our international agency. Since they are in Indiana, we will do most of it via Skype. They also require a written paper about our child's country which I am very excited to do!!
NEXT STEPS: Download Skype onto our computer so we can participate in the training and contact our international agency and see if we can begin their classes!
PRAISE: Almost everything is done for home study!!
PRAYER: That the FBI clearance would come as soon as possible (I really wanted to type yesterday!) or at least within the next 30 days. If it's after 30 days, a social worker has to come back and visit our house. And I'll take prayer that Skype would work on our computer too!!
Summer Is Here!
Happy Summer to all!
We are off to a fun start of a summer (hopefully) filled with play dates, dollar movies, trips to the beach, playing outside, riding bikes, children's concerts, fabulous garage sale finds, lots of time to draw and color and paint, fires in the fire pit complete with cheese filled mini hot dogs and smores, camping (in the back yard, at my parent's house, and with our Yahoo Group friends!), fresh home grown green beans, running through the sprinkler or careening down the slip and slide, trips to the zoo and children's museums, Backyard Bible Club, the Wisconsin State Fair, Green Bay Packers training camp, and more!!!!
However, the following conversations both occurred with the boys the week school ended:
John: Don't I go to school on Wednesday?
Mommy: No, there's no school until August.
John: I can't wait until August!
Ryan (right before going to be): Do I go to preschool tomorrow?
Mommy: No, baby, you're done with preschool and don't start kindergarten until the fall.
Ryan: (very disappointed): aaaahhh!
There's nothing like a box to play in!! Ryan is driving the train through the savannah while John is narrating the trip and filming it all with his ipad! Hilarious!!
We are off to a fun start of a summer (hopefully) filled with play dates, dollar movies, trips to the beach, playing outside, riding bikes, children's concerts, fabulous garage sale finds, lots of time to draw and color and paint, fires in the fire pit complete with cheese filled mini hot dogs and smores, camping (in the back yard, at my parent's house, and with our Yahoo Group friends!), fresh home grown green beans, running through the sprinkler or careening down the slip and slide, trips to the zoo and children's museums, Backyard Bible Club, the Wisconsin State Fair, Green Bay Packers training camp, and more!!!!
However, the following conversations both occurred with the boys the week school ended:
John: Don't I go to school on Wednesday?
Mommy: No, there's no school until August.
John: I can't wait until August!
Ryan (right before going to be): Do I go to preschool tomorrow?
Mommy: No, baby, you're done with preschool and don't start kindergarten until the fall.
Ryan: (very disappointed): aaaahhh!
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| taking a safari |
Adoption Update - Step 1
Things are moving!!
We are getting ready to put all our step 1 documents in the mail to our international agency! Just some notarizations needed and approval that all looks good and we'll be able to check this first step off the list!! (Our adoption has been divided into 11 steps, with step number 9 being when our new son or daughter comes home. And just in case you're wondering what steps come after he/she comes home, they would be the readoption process and post placement requirements.)
We've also met with our new social worker and are being to sign papers and gather documents for the home study, which is part of step 2.
NEXT STEPS: Finish signing papers, take an online class called Journey of Attachment, and write our autobiographies - all for the home study process.
PRAISE: That we have been able to so easily schedule physicals for all in our family (we told the boys they were helping us get one step closer to new brother or sister, which was especially helpful when they needed to have blood taken!), that our doctor eagerly went to her bank to get our health letters notarized, that we love our social worker, that everyone is so excited and supportive, and that I am not feeling overwhelmed with completing all the paperwork while doing life at the same time - a VERY God thing!!
PRAYER: That completing the paperwork would go smoothly, that the Lord would continue to bless our fundraising efforts, and for the boys who would like brother or sister here now. (Ryan: Are they coming today? Mommy: No, not today. Ryan: How about tomorrow?)
We are getting ready to put all our step 1 documents in the mail to our international agency! Just some notarizations needed and approval that all looks good and we'll be able to check this first step off the list!! (Our adoption has been divided into 11 steps, with step number 9 being when our new son or daughter comes home. And just in case you're wondering what steps come after he/she comes home, they would be the readoption process and post placement requirements.)
We've also met with our new social worker and are being to sign papers and gather documents for the home study, which is part of step 2.
NEXT STEPS: Finish signing papers, take an online class called Journey of Attachment, and write our autobiographies - all for the home study process.
PRAISE: That we have been able to so easily schedule physicals for all in our family (we told the boys they were helping us get one step closer to new brother or sister, which was especially helpful when they needed to have blood taken!), that our doctor eagerly went to her bank to get our health letters notarized, that we love our social worker, that everyone is so excited and supportive, and that I am not feeling overwhelmed with completing all the paperwork while doing life at the same time - a VERY God thing!!
PRAYER: That completing the paperwork would go smoothly, that the Lord would continue to bless our fundraising efforts, and for the boys who would like brother or sister here now. (Ryan: Are they coming today? Mommy: No, not today. Ryan: How about tomorrow?)
We're still here!
So life has been crazy good lately:
But seriously, as I reflected on what to say in this post to let you all know we are still here and doing well, I tried to think of a clever way to explain my absence in writing posts or list some of the fun things we've been doing. And I began to think of the ordinary things that fill my days such as laundry, making meals, taking the boys to the bus, etc. and how I can't seem to manage to add a few posts a week. And then it hit me - I am so blessed by the ordinary day to day things: there is a husband and two little boys who love me and I get to do their laundry and cook them meals (and thank you Mike for doing the dishes each night!) and clean their house (some weeks much cleaner than others!) and wave good bye to the bus and read stories together and all the other little moments that make up life. And what a wonderful life it is!!
So Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
But seriously, as I reflected on what to say in this post to let you all know we are still here and doing well, I tried to think of a clever way to explain my absence in writing posts or list some of the fun things we've been doing. And I began to think of the ordinary things that fill my days such as laundry, making meals, taking the boys to the bus, etc. and how I can't seem to manage to add a few posts a week. And then it hit me - I am so blessed by the ordinary day to day things: there is a husband and two little boys who love me and I get to do their laundry and cook them meals (and thank you Mike for doing the dishes each night!) and clean their house (some weeks much cleaner than others!) and wave good bye to the bus and read stories together and all the other little moments that make up life. And what a wonderful life it is!!So Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
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