Drawer Obsession & cuteness

I think you can see why I've been forming the opinion that KK might have an obsession going on with drawers. Climbing IN them and emptying them being the two favorite. I was telling Steve recently how very often I find her like this. And how very very often I need to fold and refold clothing that was neatly folded and organized in drawers.

She's just so sneaky quiet...disappering into a room and this is how we find her.

And the frig...she makes a beeline for the open door the moment you chance to reach in to take out a jug of milk an dset it on the counter. Turn around, and she's already clearing shelves.

My sewing cabinet...I've given up trying to organize crafts & sewing supplies in those drawers. Even the straight pins dont scare her. She loves playing with them (until I find her & confiscate them!)

                                                           No drawer is too small!!

Two of her favorite spots. Kitchen sink cabinet and the dishwasher

Oh yes, Writing on the walls is the latest fun discovery. (thank the Lord for washable markers & pray the few permanent ones stay FAR out of her reach!)

What she did to my neat stacks of pictures I was scrap booking. She even tore photos off completed pages......

And it dosent matter if we are visiting else where. This was at Aunt Mary Lous!

So busy, but so sweet. Her eyes melt me over and over. 

                                              You are so full of discoveries right now,

                                                       love those sticky hands!

                              Disposition changes without notice!!!!!

                 
                    Sweet baby girl, some days your energy makes this mommy exhausted. As I write this, I had to rush to the laundry room where you dumped a whole box of fruit loops on the floor. What a fun pile of colorful balls! Oh my! What were you doing in the laundry room with a box of cereal anyway!?  I feel like a broken record reminding your siblings MANY times a day to "Latch the door tight behind you!" that includes most of the doors in this house!  

Look at your bright face and sweet smile! How we love you, busy bee and all!

Lord, as I mother today, help me to remember to enjoy the moment. Dumped out drawers, scribbled walls and all.....

Happy Birthday Dear Derek!!

Celebrating six wonderful years with our oldest son Derek! What a gift your life is to us, sweet son! Your personality is so like your daddy in many ways!I love watching the close bond between you two. Saturdays are your favorite days because, as you always say, "Good! Then I get to be with daddy all day!"

 You were very pleased to be free from all chores and school on your birthday! But you suggested that since you dont need to do school maybe I could just read history to you instead! You LOVE history and never tire hearing about Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and all the great founding fathers.

Your requested birthday meals were scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon for breakfast.
Shrimp, macaroni and cheese,  root beer and ICE CREAM Cake! yummy!

Your birthday was extra fun with special friends to share it with. .....
and you were super impressed with your gift from daddy & mommy. A mini four wheeler, just your size! Just like daddy had when he was your age! We smile from the window as we watch you spin around !!

You are so loved Derek!! We often feel pained that you don't have your little brother here playing beside you. You and Jadrian would be so darling tousling together! You are so excited about getting a brother from China. We love your kind compassionate heart and know you will continue to be a wonderful, fun and protecting big brother to your siblings!
More than anything, we desire you to live life to the fullest from your heart. To become ALL that God created you, Derek Ray Glick to be!  Because YOU were created for a special purpose!
You make our home brighter and sweeter. Love you to the moon and back!!!

Spring is in the air!!!

On Saturday our Amish neighbor brought his team of work horses and plowed my garden! So exciting to see that freshly turned soil, and know its a step closer to the fun of planting and digging in the dirt!
It was novel having it done with horses and a one bottom plow! We all had to go out and watch :)

We have so many thorn tress on our property :) They look wicked , not to mention what a pain they are if you happen to get close to them. Steve cut down one big one, and we have a bunch more to go in an area we want to clear. Derek helped drag the cut limbs to a pile. Once that pile is really huge, we hope to burn it. (maybe a hot dog roast too!) 

Karilee made fresh lemonade for the hard working men.

Kianna cant get enough of being outside! She wasnt impressed with the  noise of the loud chain saw though and only wanted ot watch from a safe distance.

And our very dirty van got washed thanks to these two!

Ah....we are SOOOO Excited that spring is around the corner. So many  dreams for a fun busy summer!!

God is so good!!  My heart is bursting with joy. The LIFE of Christ within makes everything beautiful around you!

Home School Show n Tell

On Friday I hosted a show n tell for some of the local home scholars. The theme was "Learning is Fun!!" It was a time to celebrate what everyone is learning....anything from sounding out words, nouns and verbs to geometry etc. Every stage is amazing. I love seeing the bright faces of all the children and seeing their enthusiasm. 

EVERYONE is a genius! 

                   EVERYONE has amazing potential!!!

Natasha showing her magnifying glass

Sweet mommy and son moment

Janelle talked about the defeat of the Spanish Armada and Sharla talked about State Goverment

Brenda did a complicated diagram

Angela & Austin created an amazing poster showing all about a middle age castle, knights, lords, emperors etc. Austin drew the castle! Amazing artwork!

Samuel talked about wheat, and the process of milling it into flour

Karilee shared how much she is enjoying history and learning about the different states. She read some funny facts about a few of the states.Like, did you know in Louisiana it is against the law to gargle in public. Or to rob a bank and then shoot the bank teller with a water pistol.

Best friends! Krista read a great story that she wrote about the life of Corrie Ten Boom.

Daniel showed us this beautiful Easter garden he made, and talked about the meaning of nouns and verbs. Great work Daniel!

Isnt the banner pretty?! Karilee, Derek & I had fun doing it for craft time one day.

We had a great time together! Yummy food, and the children all had fun playing together afterward. It was so much fun hearing what everyone is learning! Such a bunch of talented children!

Defiantly will be doing this again!

Home Study Report

Our home study was this past Saturday and Sunday. Since the social worker was driving from 3 hours away she fit what would normally have been 3 separate visits into 2 days. It went wonderful! I got completely nervous 5 minutes before she got here, But it didnt last long. She was a lovely sweet lady and we soon all felt relaxed.  She did a sort of orientation, did a home tour, talked with the children (which made them feel important. It was pretty cute. When She asked Derek what his favorite show is he said "White Collar". lol)
The next day she did the separate interviews with Steve and I. It was very similar to what we did with the psychologist. It's quite a feat listing all 10 siblings! Not the names but the ages! Thats when its a blessing to have a dictionary sister in the family. A quick call to Ruth who can rattle all the ages off, and do I want the years too she wonders?!
So yes, the home study was a breeze! She told us she doesn't think she has ever done someones home study this fast. Often it takes a couple months but we had so much of our paper work done already. It was a nice compliment!
The social worker said she should have the rough draft done within two weeks. After we review it for corrections she will set the date for the final visit and that closes the home study chapter!

Next on the list is completing the waiting child application. As soon as the agency has a draft of our home study then they will do a conference call with us to explain how the referral of a child will work. This is the part we are very anxious to get too :)

We are waiting to get the final results back from our psychology evaluation as well. We were really blessed how God led us to just the right person. After we have that document, the home study packet and one final document for our tax accountant to sign then .............THEN!.....our dossier will be complete and ready to send to China!!!

Sweet Kianna is on day 5 of being sick. We miss our busy little girl!! Derek's flu bug only lasted a day so not sure why her's is lingering. She's fully weaned so its hard seeing her with hardly any appetite.
Now tonight Steve came home from work feeling sick, which is very rare It better be a quickie, nothing feels right when the king of the house is out of commission!  What we all need is a good dose of warm sunshine and green grass! Please pretty please!!!

Of pukes & Praise...

It started last night.....when baby dear suddenly had an explosive throw up. Hmm..that explained her crankiness and loss of appetite that day. I cleaned up the big mess and we went on to enjoy a very nice evening with Steve's family at the Chinese Buffet. Till we got home Derek was complaining of his tummy hurting. It does seem that when my kids get sick, the worst is often during the night! Kianna continued to throw up a few more times during the night. Making a flurry of flying covers and shaking bodies as we try to wake up in two seconds....hit the light...and grab a towel to trap the spout.....

Sweet baby...now fevering...so weak and exhausted. As long as she could be next to me, she relaxed and went right back to sleep. I sighed contentedly. I love comforting my children when they are ill.

Then comes Derek....at another odd hour of the night. Same story. More mess and stink to clean up. 

Oh my! Stomach bugs are no fun, how then can it be that my heart feels such praise. Such joy in getting a warm rag and wiping clean that crusty face and replacing the soiled clothes with sweet smelling clean ones.

I cant help but think of a dear mommy friend who this very day is in the hospital struggling for her life with brain cancer. She has 5 little ones. I'm sure she would give anything to just be able to be home caring for her kids.

It makes me feel so unworthy. I am healthy. I am strong. I am SO blessed. God's favor is on me. Not because of anything I have done, or have not done. But simply because I am HIS and He loves me. I feel so "cacooned" in His love today. And because of His love, I LOVE to pour love on my lovies.

So its gonna be a rock-my-babies and read stories sort of day. That is, in between keeping the washer humming with more soiled clothes and offering sips of water. Snow is falling gently outside. Worship music fills the back round. My body is tired, but my spirit is filled with praise. Jesus, I EMBRACE today with joy.

And as I rock my baby and cuddle her with love...............my mind cant help but wander to far away China. Where today waits a little boy, waiting to be held by a forever mommy.
 Who held him when he was sick? Did he lay in a crib alone with no one to quickly attend to cleaning up his mess. Who rocked him as he fevered. It hurts my heart to think of his loss, his pain. Jesus, you know who that little boy is today. Please hold him close. Prepare him to receive the love of a family. The love of a mommy and daddy who are so anxious to pour out love...to make up on all the years of loss.

Mommy is coming as fast as I can sweet China lovie!

Paper Pregnancy!

The adoption process has often been likened to that of a natural pregnancy. Being in the midst of the process ourselves, I would have to agree it does have a lot of similarities.
In my first trimester of pregnancy I am always plagued with horrible morning sickness. As in intense nausea  and puking 24/7 for four LONG wear dreary months that feel like sheer survival. I must say that it's delightful to skip over that dreaded part of a normal pregnancy  in a "paper pregnancy". It has non the less felt overwhelming at times. The amount of paperwork looked so huge, my feelings still felt so new to the idea, trying to grasp that we really, truly ARE "birthing" a new child into our family. I could feel a little seed of love growing in my heart for this new child. Awe and excitement that God would choose to bless our family with a new life to love.

Now I feel like I must be somewhere in the middle trimester... the once huge stacks of paperwork is now an almost completed checked off list. I feel a huge sense of relief  that that first stage is almost over. Last week  Steve made a trip to Albany for a rally, he knew he would be right by the secretary of state's office so he was able to hand deliver 8 documents to get apostilled. Our first documents to get that far! Now those are ready for the Chinese Consulate in New York City. It keeps feeling more real!!

That little seed of love continues to swell inside my heart. Enlarging.......Expanding......

I find myself dreaming about the birth, I mean "Gotcha day". What will that moment be like? What will he look like? What will he weigh? I feel the same expectancy as I  always feel as I approach my due date with my birth children. That excitement of seeing the person I carried for 9 months and travailed for. Those first sacred moments when your swelling heart bursts in gratitude as you behold the beautiful treasure God Had been knitting together...fearfully and wonderfully. Marveling over their sweet smell, silky soft skin and tiny toes.
At that moment, my heart feels content, so expanded with love. I don’t have to try to love, because love was already their the moment I knew that little seed was conceived.

It’s that same motherly love I feel growing in my heart  for our precious China son. When we lay eyes on him for the first time, whether it be his photo or his real face in person, I know I will feel that same kind of swelling love, “That you, precious child, is who we were praying and working so hard for. You are the one God destined to be part of our forever family.”

 I expect the waiting for a referral and  the waiting to fly to China stage to feel so like the last final weeks of pregnancy when time seems to slow down, and patience is hard to come by.

I don’t know if its nesting, I like to think of it as God preparing me. But I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking ahead to things like next terms school year. While this term isn’t even finished yet! What curriculum am I going to use? What will each of Karilee & Derek’s specific needs be and how can I prepare to best meet them. Having it in the back of my mind that we could be flying to China this fall, and  adding a child who will need a lot of one on one from me makes me want to really prepare myself now for when our schedules and lives will need to be flexible to accommodate the bumps that will come with integrating an internationally adopted child into the family, and to be able to focus on bonding / attaching with him.
I’ve also been focusing on  training Karilee & Derek to carry more responsibility with their chore charts. They do amazing and I cannot say enough how worth it  is to invest the time in training them to do chores, they are such a huge help!!! MY biggest challenge is overseeing the jobs consistently and making sure everything gets done correctly, and taking the time to re-do when it isn’t.

I’m SO blessed to see how God so tenderly guides my heart!! Often I look back and see how He prepared me in advance for a certain situation or time, and I have that same assurance about this adoption journey.

Thank You Jesus. I am so safe and secure with YOU!!