Fall Festival

 

On Friday, our family enjoyed BB's school fall festival.  Her school, which happens to be at church, puts on a fabulous fall festival with jumpys, pony rides, train rides, petting zoo, indoor games, dinner, a balloon artist, magican and great fellowship.  It is the only fundraiser that the school does, and it is always a hit.  BB has a wonderful school and we are sooo blessed. 
  
The weather looked questionable at best, but it cleared out before the festival began.  It ended up being a great evening.
  
Daddy and the girls enjoyed the photo opt before heading in for dinner.  (I was working the indoor games.  I managed to make it to dinner right as everyone sat down - perfect timing.)
  
 

Uncle M and Aunt K joined us for the festival.  They join us every year, and the girls LOVE having them around.  The girls are truly blessed to have their support.

 

It's a bird...It's a plane...It's Super Girl!

 

The first thing that AB wanted to do was ride the horses.  Well, they were really ponies, but she didn't care.   

 

BB's favorite activity was the petting zoo.  Her favorite animal was the bunny. 

 

AB was a little disappointed that she wasn't going to her school's fall festival. But, after I told her that her best friend, Ellen, was going to be there, she quickly got over it.  They have known each other since birth, but go to different elementary schools.

BB enjoyed hanging out with her friends.  It's so great that my girls have so many great friends.

The biggest hit of the evening was the balloon artist.  We waited in line forever for a balloon.  He did a great job with the balloon and with entertaining the audience.  Here he is proposing to AB.  She thought he was funny. 

Gentry's Farm

 
On Friday, it was cold and drizzily...did that stop a 4 year old from having fun on the farm...NO!

 

 BB playing cashier in the farmer's market center.

 

 

The folks at Gentry's Farm do an awesome job explaining the different aspects of the farm.  Each stop is just the right amount of time and at just the right level for the children.  We go as a family every year, but this is the first time that I got to go on a school trip.  It was sooo nice...not crowded...personal tours and expanations - not to mention the nice pumpkins.  

 

Who needs fancy toys with music and flashing lights when you have a feeding trough of dried corn and dried wheat.  BB and Taylor Marie having a great time!

#17

 
We got the call today...we are officially #17 on the boy's waiting list.  WOW!  We are in total awe!  It won't be long before we head to AFRICA to pick up OUR SON who will be a TODDLER!  We find ourselves stopping just to soak it in. It is a feeling that I can't describe in words.
   
Now, we wait and prepare.  We have a guest room that needs to be changed to a little boy's room, we have shots to get, and we have more classes and reading to do.  How do you say potty in Amharic? 
   
In the adoption process you rush and rush to complete all the never ending necessary paperwork, and then it abruptly stops and you breathe.  The paperwork process is a necessary evil.  It plays a vital role with checks and balances to assure that the children are being placed with capable loving people.  It is an absolute neccessity.   Just to give you a feel of what you do to get on the list...
 

• completed pre-application
• completed application
• AGCI orientation call (International Adoption Agency)
• signed International Adoption Service Agreement & notarize
• signed Post-Adoption Services & Reporting Agreement & notarize
• signed Service Plan & Program Orientation Sheet
• signed Agency Release Form
• signed Client Grievance Procedures
• 4 meetings with Catholic Charities (homestudy agency)
• signed contracts with CC
• autobiography - including general background info, description of your family (father, mother, siblings, relationships, discipline, chores, positive memories, negative memories, etc.), education, work experience, friendships, dating history, marriage (high point, low point, how do you resolve conflict, how fulfilling, how unfulfilling, how is anger expressed, commication styles, etc.), current children (describe parenthood, rewarding aspects, discipline, etc.), self-concept (your weaknesses, strengths, social life, personal philosophy, interests, etc.), etc...
• medical reports - personal medical history, current physical condition, HIV test, TB test, drug test, etc. - signed by doctor
• financial statement - real estate, monthly expenditures listed individually, income, savings, loans, credit cards, list of all assets and liabilities, how much spend on food monthly, health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, copies of W2s, tax returns, life insurance, and health insurance, and letter from employer verifying income, etc...
• birth parent questionnaire - what are your preceptions of birth parents, how do they fit into the triad, how will you describe them to your child, etc.
• marriage questionnaire - what is most fulfilling, what is least fulfilling, conflicts, in-laws, money, communication, what are you working on, etc.
• adoption questionnaire - what is your preception of adoption, how will race play a role, role birth parent play, how will explain to child, what information might the child want, etc.
• letter of reference from family member
• letter of reference from co-worker (2)
• letter of reference from pastor
• birth certificate
• marriage certificate
• information on pet - vaccinations, temperment, weight, type, etc.
• evacuation plan written with a diagram and posted in the house
• safety plan
• our children's info - general descritption, interests, favorite school subjects, how they feel about adoption, etc.
• high and low points of life
• FBI background check
• Eyes Wide Open Workbook - about 200 pages
• online - Conspicusous Families class - 2 hours
• online - Let's Talk Adoption: A Lifetime of Family Conversations class - 2 hours
• online - The Journey of Attachment class - 2 hours
• online - Finding the Missing Pieces: Helping Adopted Children Cope with Grief and Loss class - 2 hours
• online - Adopting the Older Child (12+ months) class - 2 hours
• online - Medical Issues in International Adoption class - 2 hours
• another set of birth certificates and marriage certificates
• another medical form - signed and notarized by doctor regarding TB
• another criminal check - local police
• employment verifications & notarized
• 2 more letters of recommendations - notarized
• application letter written to Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia
• another financial statement & notarized
• power of attorney - notarized and county certified and state certified
• post-adoption letter - signed & notartized
• passport photos
• family photos - individual and complete family
• house photos - inside rooms, front, back and child's room
• Adoption: a life long process class - 2 hours
• Bonding and attachment: What is it? What Can I Do to Help It Happen? class - 2 hours
• Impact of Transracial/Transcultural Adoption on Adopted Children and Adopted Families class- 2 hours
• Adoption: Losses and Gains class - 2 hours
• The Special Needs of Adopted Children class - 2 hours
• misc articles and books recommended by agencies

 
So, #17 is good and worth every second of paperwork. 
 

 Kevin, our long-time friend and notarizer.  And, after all he knows about us, we will forever have to be nice to him :)

 

  Yeah!!!  It is done!!!

 

Uncomfortable and Loving It

 
"God never called you to be comfortable."  This was something that our late pastor, Dr. Olds, said on several occassions.  It has always stuck with me.  I believe it.  I feel it.
   
Today, we submitted our dossier!  In the adoption world, that is big!  It is months of pouring yourselves out on questionnaires, doing workbooks, lots of paperwork, notarizing, taking classes and meetings with a social worker.  It's the step before getting on the waiting list - one step closer to our son!
 
Well, I find myself uncomfortable, and what a blessing it is! God is giving me strength and faith that I didn't even know I had.  He's teaching me.  You see this adoption has put me "out there".  My life, with all its blemishes, becomes a novel for a domestic social worker, an international social worker, a translator, a judge, and all those in between to read and judge worthy.  When I tell people that we are adopting, I am "out there" for Jesus, for what He has put on our hearts and for what we believe.  It is our calling!  Telling people at church is one thing.  Telling a stranger is completely different. When I tell people that we are adopting from Ethiopia, I am "out there" educating people on the orphan crisis in the world.  There are millions of orphans - children who will die a harsh death, who will literally starve to death, who will become sex slaves, who will become domestic slaves, who will never know the love of Jesus Christ if no one becomes uncomfortable.    So, when I tell people that we are adopting, I am "out there".  And, since our son will be black and we are white, we will forever be "out there."  And, Jesus will always be "out there" with me - with my son - with my family.   Wow!  It is good to be uncomfortable with Jesus!
 

$36

  
Well, it's not really a stay-cation, but it comes pretty close.  This weekend we headed to Henry Horton to go camping with some friends.  How much stuff do you need for a family of four?

 

Yes, we were packed!! I think next year when we are a family of 5, we will need to get one of those things that go on top of you car for storage.   Of course, we could have done without a few luxuary items, but it wouldn't have been the same without the...

   

 

Yes, that is a portable potty.  Not the toliet training kind, but an actual working potty complete with special chemicals and flusher.  One of SB's friend gave it to us.  We opened it straight out of the package.  Let's just say that with 2 girls, that it was awesome!!!  The girls loved it, and it will accompany us on all future camping trips.

   

 

 

Uncle P and Aunt A let us borrow their tent.  We used the same one last year, and it worked out great!  Of course after we got everything set up nice and neat with 4 sleeping bags in a row, we realized that we will probably need to buy a slightly bigger tent next year.  The girls kept saying that little brother could sleep between them next year.  It was so precious.

  

   We met another family there. We have been friends with them since before kiddos, and our girls just love their boys, Bennett (5) and Will (4). The neatest thing is that they are in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia too - from the same orphange. How amazing is that! Our little Ethiopian babies will grow up together! We feel so blessed to have them as friends and can't wait till the little ones join us next year!

 

 

 

  

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful!  It was in the low 70s.  Last year, it got down to the high 30s, so this year was  perfect.  We tried our hand at fishing.  Marc caught 1 small fish.  We called it the group fish.  The kiddos didn't seem to mind.  They just had fun trying. 

 

  

There's nothing sweeter than seeing a dad with his daughters! 

  

Even if she didn't catch anything, BB looks so cute!!  She's using her Dora fishing pole that Papa S got her.  She thought she was so big!  AB really did a great job learning how to cast.  Even though it was pretty windy, and she was using a little Barbie pole, she could cast it half-way across the river.  It was pretty impressive.

 

One of the best parts about camping is just being able to hang out without any distractions.  The kiddos just play!  One of the kiddos favorite pastimes is playing charades and making up stories.  Mindy is great at getting the kiddos going.  Marc is our chef and he makes the best burgers and campfire breakfasts complete with hashbrowns, pancakes, bacon and eggs.  It is sooooo good!!!  And of course, you can't have a campfire without smores.  It is a must!!

   

   

  

 

Another thing we learned from last year...go ahead and buy firewood.  Even though it was perfect weather, it did get a little cool at night, so you needed a good fire for atmosphere and keeping warm.  (My comfort level is between 70 and 80, so I need my fire.)

     

All of this fun was just $18 a night!!

 

12 - 24 Months

 
...draw a picture of your future child...use your imagination to picture your future child in your mind...what is it's age, race, gender, etc....

This is the first exercise from one of our required adoption workbooks.  Yes, I attempted to draw this child.  I am no artist, so you can imagine what he looked like.  From the onset of this process, we knew that we would be adopting a little boy and pictured a toddler.  The decision came with relative ease.  However, after hearing "the younger the better", over and over, we really began to doubt the age part.  (In the adoption world, an older child is any child over 12 months.)  We were struggling! Our age preference shifted from day to day.  One day we would say definitely an infant, the next day we would say toddler, and it went back and forth for weeks.  I would tease SB and ask if he'd gotten an email from God stating the age perimeters for us.
 
After many hours of researching, talking, praying, listening and finally "being still", 12 to 24 months is our age perimeter.  It's funny how God gives you a revelation; we've always known, we just needed to "be still" and trust.
 

Posh Camping and Culvert Creeks

 

FROM POSH CAMPING:

     

Friday night when SB and I were suppose to be gearing up for our last on-line adoption classes, the girls ambushed him.  After they finished eating dinner, they immediately got on their pjs and got their sleeping bags.  BB even made sure that she put on daddy's favorites, even though they are too small.  They wanted to sleep in the playhouse or as Fancy Nancy would say do a little posh camping.  SB along with Granddad, Papa and the Uncles built the girls a playhouse several years ago.  It is complete with electricity and heating/cooling.  You wouldn't think that you'd need that much stuff for a simple overnight in the backyard...wrong.

They needed air mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows, books, leapster, crayons and paper, Nitendo DS, DVD player, movies, lovey, special blanket, laptop, ipod, eggshell mattress, small air compressor, bottled water, a couple of stuffed animals - you get the idea :)  And, yes it was raining, so SB had to make several trips.

   

 

 

The girls were so excited.  AB even wanted to take one of the Ehtiopian books that we checked out from the library to look at.  Daddy didn't have a chance!

Their bliss lasted till about 12:30 am.  AB couldn't sleep with BB moving on the make shift bed SB made - 1/2 air mattress and 1/2 egg shell foam.  She had gotten the crease, and it wasn't working.  By this time, SB's air mattress had partially deflated, so he decided to call it a night.  Poor BB was sleeping fine, but still had to get up and come inside.  O-well, we'll have to figure out a different arrangement for next time.

     

TO CULVERT CREEKS...

  

On Saturday, after SB's great Aunt Helen's 90th birthday party, we headed to Mt. Juliet to visit some friends.  SB's Aunt Helen is an amazing woman.  After lunch, she had to be sure that she reapplied her lipstick.  I just love that!!!  Anyways, we arrive and the girls immediately want to play in the water.  It has been raining for what seems like weeks and the little creek behind our friends house is more like a river.  So...we tell them that they can play in the little creek instead.

 

 

   

Yes, the little creek is runoff from the culvert.  That's fun here in Tennessee.

   

 

 

Our friends have 2 beautiful girls, Carson (7) and Cate (5).  They all play so great together.  It's too bad that they don't live closer.  Our friends also suprised us with a donation for our travel expenses for when we travel to Ethiopia to pick up our son.  It won't be long!  Yeah!!  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful support group.  Everyone is eagerly awaiting the arrival of baby boy Bonner.