So What Do The Boys Think ?

I am OFTEN asked ' So, what do the boys think about Maggie" ?

The boys are so happy about having a sister. They love her with as much love that a seven and an eight year old boy can understand. They blow her "kisses" and pray she can feel them all the way in China. They pray for her, think of games to play with her when she comes home and talk about how beautiful she is. Maggie is their sister, and they are already very protective of her, as big brothers should be.

Will wrote this note the other day and gave it to me. I though it was so sweet !

Another dress for Maggie !

 

 

I am having WAY to much fun sewing these dresses. It definitely is more fun than cooking, cleaning and doing laundry !

I made a dress !

Isn't it so cute ? I wish I could say it was easy peasy, but the directions were not as detailed as I would have like them to be. I cut out the pattern wrong, and had to go back to the fabric store and buy all new fabric. But, after I got it cut out and penned together, it was pretty easy to sew. I really enjoyed putting it together and now I am a hooked on sewing these cute dresses. The fun part is picking out fabric and imagining it on our Maggie !

Sewing Project for Maggie !!

I am going to make Maggie a little A-Line jumper ! I have always wanted to sew little dresses and now I really get to. When the boys were little, I smocked them little John-Johns. My mom used to sew me clothes when I was little and my Grandmother sewed too. So, I learned a little about sewing from them. Stay tuned...I hope it turns out pretty and straight !!!

There's A Horse In Our Front Yard !

There have been many animals spotted around our house. Mostly we see deer, wild turkeys, neighborhood dogs and lots of birds. But, this was the first time we have seen a horse right out side our windows ! You see we have a neighbor that helps take care of some horses nearby. She has started exercising them in our neighborhood. She sometimes hooks them up to an old Amish type buggy and takes a nice buggy ride down our street. It is very charming to see the horse and buggy slowly trot along. She says that you really see life differently when you slow down, breathe the fresh air and enjoy the quietness and beauty of a buggy ride. I wonder just how much we miss out on by riding in cars everywhere, with our windows up and radios on......

How we celebrated !

Early Friday morning, August 14th 2009, we signed our Letter of Intent( LOI) saying yes !!!! We want to adopt Gao En Xiao ( Maggie). I slept about an hour the night before and couldn't wait to sign the papers and fax them to our agency.





Then, we cancelled school for the day and let the boys decide how we were going to celebrate getting Maggie's referral. Of course, Chuck and I were thinking Chinese food - but, the boys were thinking Pizza !!! So, we went to Shakey's Pizza and celebrated Maggie.







Then I went shopping for some little, cute, pink clothes !!



OH ! It was fun !! I got her a tiny, pink tu-tu and a little sundress for next year.
I am working on her room now and it's so fun too !!! I really had not done any shopping for our daughter prior to receiving our referral. But, now it's time !!!

Our Daughter Maggie !

We are so AMAZED that we have a daughter !! We are still pinching ourselves and staring at her pictures ! She is so beautiful ! We can't wait to see her smile - in all her pictures she has her pretty pouty lips closed with a sad expression that is so common in the photos of children in orphanages.

She was born on Oct. 29, 2008 and is actually just 9 and 1/2 months old ! She weighed 6.6 lbs at birth and at 6 months old weighed 13.5 lbs. she is described as "lively and gets on well with friends, not afraid of strangers and has a strong curiosity". She "likes sound toys, playing games with adults with great interest and happiness. She'll smile and ask for huggs." She "laughs aloud,has an active personality, a ready smile,fond of listening to music and playing with toys". How perfect for our family !
We are so in LOVE !!!!

She has three minor special needs :
1. Her right ear is under developed
2. Her Right ankle turns in
3. She has a small VSD

We do not see her as a special needs child. We see her as our daughter, complete and perfect. Her ear can be fixed if she chooses when she gets older, her heart should heal on its own or through a catheter procedure and her ankle will need either surgery,casts, braces or nothing. We have a wonderful International Adoption Clinic nearby and will have her evaluated by all the specialists there.

Looking at all the different special needs was intimidating when we decided to pursue a special needs adoption. We first started out considering only minor SN, then slowly we researched club feet, missing limbs, complex heart issues, and other SN. We researched, talked to doctors,read blogs and talked with families that had adopted SN children. But, the best thing we did was pray. It was a constant prayer in our hearts for wisdom. We also prayed specifically that we would both be in agreement when the time came. And we were in agreement on Thursday, Aug. 13th 2009 when I saw her picture for the first time and knew she was our daughter. There is so much more to her story and I am still so AMAZED how it all happened.

It's A Girl !!!!!!!!!

We have accepted a referral today of a beautiful 10 month old baby girl !!!!

God is so faithful and He knew all along who our little one was.

So, we will be introducing our daughter.....Maggie Caroline soon !

We can not post pictures of her yet, but let me tell you- She has the cutest little cheeks, beautiful pouty lips, and is described as being happy and curious !!!!

She is perfect in our eyes and I will share more later about her. For now, we are hanging around cloud nine for awhile !!!!

The Shared List

The Waiting Child shared list came out Wed. night some time. We have not gotten "the call" and it is a difficult time for us. However, We are praying for the babies and children on the list and thank God that they are getting a chance to be seen and reviewed, to be able to get rid of their orphan status and find a forever Family.

Praise God for all the families that have said "YES" to adoption and are stepping out on FAITH !!!

Even though we do not SEE that God is working, we know that He is working mightily in our behalf ( and our daughters ). We are willing to wait indefinitely for God - as long it takes.

We inherit the promises of God through faith and patience. (Hebrews 10:36 )

Wordless Wednesday

Back To School

We officially start back to school tomorrow at 8:30 AM. No more sleeping in for us !
I am using SonLight Curriculum this year and am so excited. All the lesson plans are already done for me !!

The boys are really ready to go back to school ( gasp !). We do A LOT of read-alouds and it makes learning fun and interesting. I am amazed at how much they remember too. The other day some one was talking about getting a surveyor to come look at some land and Walker said " hey, George Washington was a surveyor !". It's funny the things they remember.

This will be our 3rd year home-schooling and we are loving it. It's not always perfect or easy, but it has been such a blessing to all of us.

wall of memories.

i have collected a lot of pictures over the years ( before i received my wonderful, yummy digital camera).




this is the divider that my sweet and very handy hubby made the first year we started home schooling.

it divides our school room from the play room - an essential thing for two very active boys and one focused-on-getting-our-school-work-done-mom.

on the other side is a giant white board for the boys to do their spelling words, math problems, grammar rules or whatever.

i decided to put all my extra photos on the board - a kind of collage of our life.

i love pictures. they tell so many stories that i forget to tell or just plain forget.

i can't wait to hold my daughter on my hip and point to the pictures as i tell her story after story.

there are pictures of birthdays, holidays, and just plain old days (my favorite).

hopefully, our wall of memories will turn into her memories.

happy and funny memories that seem like they have always been there for her.

there is a lot of space left for pictures of her and us.

i'm sure it won't take long to fill up the board with new memories and stories !

LID !!!!!

We have a LID ! YEAH !! Our Dossier made it to the CCAA and they have us logged in!

Our LID date is 07/20/09. ( SPECIAL NEEDS only)

*** A LID just means that China has officially received my Dossier and they
have given me a date that my Dossier was received and logged in *******

seven.

Happy Birthday Will ! I can't believe my little boy is seven years old !

We had a great LEGO party last Saturday. I attempted my first LEGO birthday cake, had a LEGO assembly table for the kids, and beautiful fall like weather.

187 Million.

It is estimated that there are 187 Million orphans WORLD WIDE.

34% OF Christian families consider adoption and yet only 1% of Christian families actually follow through and adopt.


Our family was almost not part of the 1% statistic. We felt called to adopt back in 2004. We cried, felt all the emotions and talked it over a little. Then we found out we were having a baby. But, it sadly ended in a devastating miscarriage and we decided that we would not try again. Our lives were now busy with two little boys that kept me running all day to keep up with them. Our dream to adopt just lay dormant for several years.
Then, in 2007, we started talking about adopting again. But, Chuck had a job change, I came home from work to home school the boys and life just seemed to have too many changes. So we decided to wait a year. I never stopped thinking about our Chinese daughter and I talked about adopting to our sons. They were always asking me questions about adoption and Will especially was very excited about having a sister from China. He seemed to be the one always asking when we were going to adopt his sister. He seemed to be the one that held on to the hope that we really would adopt one day. It's funny how God used a 6 year old boy to bring God's perfect plan of adoption to our family.
In the fall of 2008 ( exactly one year since we last talked about it), I asked Chuck if we were ever going to adopt ? I mean we are not getting any older and if we are not adopting I needed to know !! Chuck said "yes, let's start the process and find an agency". Glory to God ! I think it was Christmas morning every day ! Chuck and I seemed to cry at the mention of any one adopting - we were so filled with LOVE for our little girl that we had never met. After more than 11 months now, we still cry when we think of her or when we read or see another orphan story. God has laid the burden of orphans on our heart and we are "pregnant" with the vision of caring for orphans.

“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.” Ps 82:3-4

Why I love My Small Town.

Since I have no new adoption news and the new Shared List doesn't come out until August something, I am sharing about "Why I Love My Small Town".

Our little town put together a Summer Celebration Downtown. It was so Americana and I loved every Southern bit of it. Here's why....



Free Watermelon ! Oh, if you could have seen how cute all the little kids were walking around with huge chunks of watermelon in their hands. And, check out the red wagon with balloons...so cute.



They let the kids screen print their own shirts ! How cool and crafty is that ?



You can hang out with your friends,

and wear your new screen printed T-Shirt.



Hula Hoops everywhere.

Small town band playing by the railroad.



Home-made ice cream.



Lots of smiles.

So Charming.

Love it !

entertainment.

 

the boys became sumo wrestlers last night.

they came up with the costumes themselves and "wrestled", laughed and rolled around.

oh my goodness ! it was so funny !

My new buddies.

 

How can you recognize a Special Needs/China Adoption parent to be ?

They have at least two phones by them at all times.

They may become a little panicked if their cell phone is not charged or they can't find the home phone.

They check and recheck their e-mail.

They have personified their phones and affectionately call them - buddy 1 and buddy 2.

Beams Camp-o-ree Part 3

Our family learning philosophy is that we are and can learn ALL the time, not just Monday through Friday, 8-3:30. This camping trip was filled with learning that was so fun and hands on. Here's some of our favorites:



Learning how to make an awesome smore is an essential life skill.




The boys helped Chuck put up the tent and were very eager to hammer in the stakes.



Walker became an expert on building a good, solid fire for us.






My favorite part of the trip...the pioneer village at The Great Smokey Mountain National Forest. We never grow tired of learning about the pioneer way of life, their courage, tenacity, and beauty.



The boys "mined" for gems and absolutely loved it ! They learned about the different gems and even found some rubies.



A local Bluegrass band played at the Depot for the 4th of July. We love Bluegrass music ! The boys were very intrigued by the stories "told" in the songs and watching the musicians play their instruments a little different than what they are used to. The fiddler was amazing and held his violin so very different than Will does.




Learning about clogging... I love LOCAL COLOR !

Beams Camp-o-ree Part 2

We visited the Joyce Kilmer National Forest near Robbinsville, NC. Joyce Kilmer is known for his poem - TREES - and was also a WWI veteran. The forest is layered with huge Tulip Poplars, waterfalls, streams, caves and beautiful meandering paths. Take a look....

















TREES

by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

"Trees" was originally published in Trees and Other Poems. Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914.

Beams Camp-o-ree Part 1

Our family is now officially a tent camping, white water rafting, hiking, camp fire building, rock collecting, ruby mining, smores making, dutch oven cooking, bath house bathing crazy camp family ! Here's some pictures from our wonderful trip in the beautiful smokey mountains. I took 547 pictures, so I will post several times. Kinda like a southern baptist sermon - this is part 1.



We stayed at an old fashioned camp ground - Lost Mine Campground in Wesser, NC (near Bryson City). There was a perfect little stream that ran right behind our camp site. You could hear the stream rippling over the rocks and it just put us all right to sleep at night.



Chuck cooked a lot of our meals in a dutch ovens and on the trusty Coleman stove. We had Bar-BQ chicken, chuck roast with potatoes and carrots, rolls, peach cobbler, hot dogs, hamburgers, cinnamon rolls, pancakes,and eggs. There's nothing like eating and cooking outside. Everything tasted so good !!



The boys found these heart shaped rocks at one of the waterfalls on the Nantahala river. So cute !



We went white water rafting on the beautiful Nantahala River. For the most part, it is a calm river with the highest rapid being a category 3. We all managed to stay in the raft, but we almost all fell out on the last rapid, Nantahala Falls. The boys loved rafting the river and can't wait until the are old enough to raft the Ocoee River.