Happy New Year!

This year is starting out with changes and the promise of great things to come!
We decided to get the boys a set of bunk beds, so the girls could also have a set. Samuel, Catherine and I took apart the part that was Samuel's bed and 1/2 of Catherine's so we could reassemble them into a bunk bed. Today when we were discussing it, Buddy and I decided we needed to move Catherine into a smaller room. I think it will be a great help to her in her organization and having less to keep clean. I also think Caleb has way bigger toys that need more space. Another consideration is Hannah. We don't know what her sleeping situation is, but I think cozier will be better for her.
That meant we took apart the bed we just put together, moved it out of one room and put it back together in the other room, and put the boys' bed together. It was very exciting for Catherine to be able to sleep on the top bunk AND to have Caleb in her room tonight. We still lack a mattress for him, so he'll stay put until we do. Samuel was disappointed to have to wait until Catherine woke up to be with Caleb, which I think is so sweet. He also didn't like the idea of sleeping in a pink room. However, the big thing is that we have this together before Buddy leaves for Mexico on Sunday morning.
I think we have the easy part behind and the big part ahead- moving the stuff from one room to the other! That can be a slow project over the next week.
Looking forward to seeing all the good that God is going to bring our way in 2010.

Merry Christmas!

I'm so thankful for this season, and the reason behind it all. Catherine and I were getting ready to go to my brother's today, and were singing "Mary did you know." I got so overwhelmed with God's amazing love for us and all the things that we have because of the gift of Jesus, I began to cry. We have done nothing to deserve His goodness, yet He pours out goodness daily.

We went to Mark's and had a nice time while we were there. We hadn't looked out in 2.5 hours, but when we did, inside was a much better option! When we left, Buddy in his truck and the kids and I in my vehicle, it took us over 1.5 hours to get home! This is a 25-30 minute drive, max. It's so beautiful to have a blizzard in OK! The last time we had snow like this, it was 2000 and Samuel was just 1 year old. We ended up staying overnight at my parents' house and had a blast. Hopefully, it'll clear up and they can join us tomorrow.
Merry Christmas, everyone! May you experience the love of God like never before this year.

Christmas Break!

After 83 days of school, it's finally time for a break. We did take a few days at Thanksgiving and one or 2 days where we just couldn't do school because of busy schedules. This morning, it was hard to know what to do with myself. The kids, however, had no trouble. I do believe we have an engineer in the family. This is the creation they came up with to make use of the train track since one of the train cars broke. They have tweeked the creation until I believe they have it working just right. 5 stars for creative use of household objects. They've used the phone, remotes, legs, stools, a nutcracker, etc. to make this go. If you look closely, you can see our sad tree. I'm really hoping it makes it just a few more days! Things keep falling off of it since the branches are drooping ever lower as it dries out.

Obviously, we'll not be traveling this year for Hannah. This puts us possibly the end of January at the earliest. Not sad, not discouraged, just moving along and trusting God to continue working on our behalf. I did find a winter coat for her, so that's ready. Wishing we could shower her with gifts this Christmas and hold her tightly to celebrate. However, these will be the last days she'll not be with her forever family, and the last she'll be with her foster family that she's grown to love these last 2 years. I'm so thankful she's with a good family. Not much longer now....

Yesterday, our Power of Attorney got shipped to ROG, so we're ready for the judge's ruling!
I got my much needed 3 crowns started today. (Who knew it was going to be so painful after everything wore off?) I was supposed to do 2 in May and delayed, thinking we'd travel and I'd be in another country with temporary crowns. Now, it's turned to 3 and I don't care. I'll bring a tube of glue with me and stuff them back on if I have to!
I bought a book for Hannah on amazon.com called "I Wished for You and adoption story" by Marianne Richmond. It's so good- explaining why the birth mom's wish became finding a family for her baby, why they look different, the waiting process, so many things that we're experiencing and ready to share with Hannah. Be ready, though, because you'll need some Kleenex!

Got our powers of attorney papers in the mail to Hopscotch on Wednesday. I had to run around a bit to get everything I needed for our immigration update, but that finally got in the mail today. Looking for a bunk bed and a Yukon XL and we should be ready! Oh, and a pair of nice warm boots will make a good Christmas present!

Mom came over and I got part way to meeting Buddy so we could go to a notary, and the car started acting up. Thank God, I was close to the dealership and I could stop by. They NEVER have loaner cars unless you make an appointment. They did for me today! Off to meet Buddy- in and done in 5 minutes and he was back to class. They let me have the car for the day, so I still got to go to OKC. This let me get our paperwork off to Robin today instead of waiting for them to get it, process it, and it make its way out of the capital.
We needed to finalize some things on our immigration papers, and unfortunately, that has to wait until tomorrow moring. It'll work out fine, though, since we have to pick up our car in the morning. That will be in and done and we'll wait to hear from USCIS.
We could have interesting Christmas plans, and I hope we do. Looking forward to making plans to travel to far away places...

News

We've been having such a great, full time lately, with our Christmas school program, our trip to Branson, our Pastor's homegong celebration, getting car things taken care of, homeschooling, decorating for Christmas. The kids did a really nice job at their program- they played a song on the tin whistle and recited some of their memory work. My class did an awesome job, even though we were short 2 students. It was a lot of fun for everyone. Mom was able to join us, and Buddy, who had something he was supposed to do for school, was able to get there, too. I'm already missing my friends while we take this short break.

Catherine had her recital for dance and was so excited about her outfit! They did a nice job, and had enough time to perform it twice. Grandma, again, came to support her kids. What would we do without her?

We got a real tree this year, the 1st since Samuel was about 6 weeks old. I tucked him inside my coat as we andered around looking at trees. Look how big he is now! I'm already having some fun keeping the needles vacuumed up, but it sure smells great! We had Hope and Ava over while we decorated the tree, and everyone got to help. That picture is on my phone, and I'll have to figure out how to make that move.

Saving the best for last. I got an email that the attorney in ROG needs another set of Power of Attorney papers. There are so many things I wish I could explain about what has happened in this process, but until it's over, I can't or shouldn't, and after it's over, what difference will it make? It does seem like the things that have been hindering our progress are out of the way and we're actually seeing the good things happening. I'm off to meet Buddy during school so we can get papers notarized, then on to OKC to get apostilled. Funny thing is, I just got a letter telling me I had a credit at the SOS office and they were going to refund it. I'll need all but $10 for the apostilles I get tomorrow. We're cutting things a little close with our immigration approval. We had to ask for an extension and got a letter back requesting a bunch of other information. If things are moving quickly here at the end, as it appears they are, we need to get this new paperwork in tomorrow. Unfortunately, I could've taken it to OKC with me and not mailed it if I'd coordinated better with our Social Worker. Oh well. God is still faithful and will give us favor to get it done at the perfect time.