Double digits!

Samuel has officially reached double digit age. Amazing to thing that's happened at our house. Makes me realize how much I need to be praying for his teenage years right now.

He's such a sweet boy who shows great character and potential. Truly a blessing of the Lord.

We started the day by 6:30 so the kids could see Buddy. They've done that 4 mornings this week, and the kids have done better than I anticipated with the early start. Samuel got a Lego set from Catherine and a pocket knife from daddy to start the gifts. He was equally pleased with both. Our tradition is the number candle in the birthday child's bowl of hot cereal. Sounds strange, but Samuel did not want me to forget. It's so great that he's growing up, but is still such a little boy in ways.

My parents called us and wanted to come visit, but since we needed to take Buddy's work clothes to him, they joined us at Whole Foods for an early lunch. They suggested we go to Turkey Mountain, a place that I'd always heard questionable things about when I was in college. We decided to give it a try adn were so pleased to see some beautiful scenery. We decided to take one of the trails, not thinking about not having dressed for the cooler air, or that I'd have to carry Caleb over whatever terrain we encountered. What fun to explore adn discover some of the things we'd been studying- arthropods, reptiles, conifers, deciduous tree, and more. I spotted a green snake and we watched, fascinated to see it moving through the brush. Catherine braved it and picked it up by the tail. What a brave girl! She was so pleased with herself.

We got to have a lovely visit with a friend for me and for Samuel, whom Catherine happily played with. Now off to get supplies for the party on Sunday so we can spend Saturday cleaning and preparing food.

We made it!

Today was the first day of the new life as we know it. Catherine was able to see Buddy for a while before he left for school. Definitely need some streamlining of his morning routine, but all in all an ok start. The boys both slept in until 7:40, which is nearly record breaking for Samuel. Off to school we went and had the best day in my class since about week 2. I took time this morning to pray for my students and for peace. Hmmm. I think it's a winning formula. I also got this handy gadet from one of the moms in my class who felt my pain, that chimes when you hit it on a table. It catches the kids' attention and they stop talking. I only had to use it twice and was very pleased with the results. We started working on our tin whistle song. It went really well. It's a really good reminder to be thankful to my band and piano teachers growing up!

Because Buddy is gone most of the day, we have some conflicts with schedules in the evening/afternoon. Thankfully, my babysitter was able to come today so I could take Catherine to dance and run to scouts with Samuel. A huge help came from 2 moms who a) picked up Samuel before scouts and b) dropped Catherine off at home when dance was done. And then there was the friend who made dinner for us so I didn't have to cook! It was a pretty rough day on Caleb, though who only saw me for less than 3 hours today. That may not sound bad, but when you're used to, being together the whole time you're awake, it's tough. Needless to say, bedtime was a little rough. Grace for all of us in the season!
Tomorrow will be a much better day.

Off to pack Buddy's lunch for tomorrow.

The cool segmented worm outside our garage door. That's Samuel's size 6 shoe beside it. Catherine thought it was sooooo cute!

Not feeling the greatest today, but I love that sweet smile!

It wasn't that cold today, but Catherine helped dress him and he REALLY wanted his "hat" on.

Catherine and her favorite cat, Nora. What a great way to spend school time!Another moment of Catherine's creative play with Caleb.

Mini Elmer Fudd in his ear flap hat.

Catherine at ballet where she's supposed to be paying attention to Ms. Mary.

Buddy and I celebrating our 12th anniversary!

I'm surrounded by piles of folded laundry, the dishwasher is running, the washing machine is humming, the children are asleep, Buddy is working, and I am catching up on here.

There is an annonymous commenter who likes to remind me of the calendar moving slowly along with no change in our adoption status. I admit, I rarely look at the Reece's Rainbow website because I see all these other families committing to children and children who need the love we could give them. I looked today and saw our last update was February of this year- "still waiting." Wow! The time has gone by so quickly, I really don't notice it until I see things like that.

But is it all bad? Is it really so discouraging that we should just give up, change agencies, find a new child? Of course not! How can we say we trust God and look at the calendar and be moved by it instead of His words to us? I was reminded today of the verse in Jeremiah- "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and to give you hope and a future."

He has a plan and it's a good one! I don't have to be concerned that it's going to be more than I can handle or something I dread. It's something I can be confidently expentant in, that I'll see His goodness and it'll be a testimony of His love.

On that note, we have had some excitement here. Buddy and I celebrated 12 years being married this past Saturday. I admit, it was odd having a date and being without children. It showed me how much we need these times so we can kindle our friendship and caring we have for each other. How easy it is to be caught up in just the "have to's" of life and forget the little things. So, it was a joy to spend that time together.

Buddy is going to start school on Monday at a missions training school. It's called VWMTC (Victory World Missions Trainign Center) here in Tulsa. It's a good thing and we're both confident this is a step he needs to take. We're not sure what this all entails, as school is 5 days a week, 4 1/2 hours a day. This will change his work schedule quite a bit. We'll also miss seeing him some and may have to start taking trips into Tulsa for lunches on the run before he heads to work. Again, it's a good thing God has in the works for us. This week has been full of getting school supplies for him and school clothes. We were blessed with a really good sale and got a good start on that.

We were having issues with one of our cats and were not sure what to do. As I was resting today I realized that the issues we're having wouldn't change if we sent her away for awhile. We'd still have them when she came back. It's no fun for Buddy or I, and although she's techincally Samuel's cat, Catherine is the one who plays with her, but is bothered to tears when the cat comes in at night. We will be saying goodbye to her this weekend, hopefully. I think we just need to simplify our life some and this is one way to do it.

We're having great fun in our history time. It's so much fun to associate what we're learning with our Bible reading, world news, or stories we read. We did fall a bit behind this week because of Dr. visits and getting Buddy ready for school, but we'll catch up.

Speaking of Dr's, Catherine's therapy went well today and the therapist said she was very pleased with the progess she made! Thank you Jesus! Caleb went for his 2 year check up and was in the 95th percentile for height and 66th for weight. Amazingly, the boys were within 1/2 inch and 1.5 pounds of each other when I compared their 24 month check ups.

Have a fabulous weekend! We're (C & C and I) off to help Mom and Dad do some house things while Buddy and Samuel go to a camp out with the scouts.

Last call out for popcorn

Samuel is approaching the end of his popcorn sales for Cub Scouts. This Monday is the last day you can donate toward the military getting popcorn. Of course, if you're in the Tulsa area, you could buy popcorn for yourself. There are 2 levels to donate- $25 and $40. You can then mail me a check and the money turns into popcorn for troops. Pretty nifty. Please leave a comment and let me know you're interested and how I can contact you by Monday.
Thanks for your help.

All's quiet

It's so quite here, I'm amazed! Today was a scheduled field trip for school. Scheduled right in the middle of nap time for Caleb, who didn't nap yesterday and needed it. I didn't think I'd have a sitter, so I didn't even discuss it with S&C. However, one of the moms volunteered yesterday to take any kids with her who's moms couldn't go. So, off they went with her to the pumpkin patch. Buddy is applying to go to a missions school and needed me to run some errands for that. All accomplished before Caleb went down for a nap. I've had a cup of tea and read while I ate a late lunch, picked up a bit around the house, and now I'm looking at the pile of paperwork on my desk. Another chapter calls, but I must decline in favor of order!

We have had our washer and dryer for almost a month, now and I'm really enjoying it. I feel like I don't do as much laundry, but everything still gets washed. However, the dryer started acting up a few days ago and when I called the techline, they offered to either sent a tech out or give us a new dryer. Wow! I actually chose the tech since I'm hoping it's an easy fix. On Tuesday we should be up and running again.

We were blessed a few days ago by coming home to a bag of clothes for Catherine on our front porch. Don't know who it was, but we're very thankful.
Caleb hasn't gone potty since we got the new potty that sings. Yesterday I put him on the big potty, using the little ring. He went pee and poo twice! The singing will have to wait for Hannah, cuz it's not doing a thing for him. Whatever works, I'm all for it.

Convergence insufficiency

For a while now, we've had some serious challenges with Catherine's reading. It's been a huge frustration for both of us. She'll be able to to share some of what she read, but at other times, she can't remember anything. She was telling me her eyes were doing funny things and that she had a headache when she read. Honestly, we'd been through quite a bit of lying from her and I chalked it up to more of the same. I wasn't very patient with her. When I sat down with her, she could do it, so I really didn't think it was anything. I finally made an appointment for her just so I could show her how fine she was.
We met nice people at the Dr.'s and came home with a diagnosis of Convergence Insufficiency. They sounded like it was a very common thing and had a plan to get her into therapy- basically physical therapy for her eyes, weekly, for the next 12 or so weeks.
I felt badly about how I'd judged the situation. That goes to show me that you can't base some behaviors on what you've seen in the past and really have to rely heavily on God's help for this parenting thing.
Catherine seems excited/relived about going for therapy.
So, next week is dentist for 2, orthodontist for 1, eye therapy for 1, 2 days of dance, 1 cub scouts, 2 of football.

Decisions, decisions

I'm coming to realize that our choice in bedrooms may not have been the best. We don't know yet what Hannah will need when she gets here, so we thought the bigger room would be better for the girls. However, we've seen over the past weeks that Catherine has a really hard time keeping all that space clean. As with most things, play expands to the bounds you give it. In her case, it's big for a little girl. Clothes become an issue, papers and notebooks, and anything else her imagination can use for play. Honestly, the boys may be better off in a bigger room and the girls smaller. The thing for Samuel is that he enjoys having his clothes on shelves in the closet instead of dealing with trying to keep dresser drawers closed and is sad about having a dresser again. For Caleb, it would mean transitioning 2 times- toddler bed AND a new room. The room is already pink, but light enough we could paint over fairly easily. The current boys room is a pale yellow we could easily paint over. It's just time and a bit of money.
Next decision regards our cats. We have 3. Nikki has been with me for almost 15 years and is a dear, although somewhat pesty, he's also very loving. If he doesn't have food for a few hours in his bowl, he gorges himself when he does and ends up getting sick. Nora is Catherine's cat and is the quietest, sweetest of the 3. Her hair is long, so she occassionally has hair balls. Shadow is our most recently aquired cat. She is a special breed that's hypo allergenic. Our thought was to breed her and have kittens for those with allergies. However, we've been unable to get her papers, so we're stuck. Sadly, we've had about 6 accidents of one sort or another in the past 2 days! That's a lot when I'm the one who has to take care of it. We're sure it's not Nora, but not sure which is the culprit. We really like all our cats, but know that something must be done! How do you choose which one and what is to be done?
We know there's an answer and that God cares about all these things, too. No burning bushes or prophets coming to visit our house lately, so we'll take steps and see how it goes.

Update

My parents are doing much better. Mom was able to get in with one of the best hand surgeons in Tulsa early this morning. He said she has a fracture that almost always separates and is very painful. We believe God is holding everything together. She's in a long arm cast for 4 weeks and then to a short cast. Was given the option of pins, but chose the cast. I agree! They drove down to the hospital with mom driving one handed and dad navigating from the back. Just couldn't be there at 6 am this morning to help out.
On our way to the PAC for Charlotte's Web. Caleb is a bit sleepy, so I'm hopeful he'll make it through alright.
We had a meeting of the moms last night and I feel greatly relieved. It seems no one is actually doing everything on the checklist for the week. The assignments cover a lot, but they are designed to be the end product of 3 years of work. Here I was trying to make sure Samuel went over every little thing they had and feeling overwhelmed myself.