Home Schooling On The Run

Today we had an appointment to have our new car receive it's 3 months service (can't believe it has been 3 mo. already!). Problem is that the appointment was at 8AM which just happens to be the same time Jude needs to be at school. So a little shuffling happened and Jim took the van and went into work a little later then usual so that he could drop Jude off at school. My quest was to have the other 4 kids dressed, fed, and school work packed to head out the door by 7:30 AM. This is HUGE for me since I am not used to having to leave the house until around 10AM at the earliest with the kids, and even that is a challenge.

So we make it to the dealership at EXACTLY 8AM (I was quite proud of us!). We handed over the car and hit the lobby to begin our school day. Kyle and Johnny set up shop with their laptops at a table. Luke sat in a big comfy chair with his 2nd grade work on his lap. Lovenie and I snuggled in another chair and worked on learning how to draw and say "square". We decided to take a break and hit the free hot cocoa machine. It was really just a lovely time! Afterwards we stopped in at a McD's with a coffee shop type lounge area where, once again, laptops, workbooks, and notepads made their appearance. After a while the kids took their "recess" on the play scape. I sat outside watching them play, soaking up sun, and sipping sweet tea while listening to our children play. Many times they would return to me to dish out hugs and "I love you Mom" 's. What sweet sweet children. They are such a joy to me!!

On Thursday mornings Kyle has started a drama/choir club. While he is in practice the rest of us set up school at a picnic table in the sunshine and midway take a picnic snack break. So lovely!! At least 4 out of 5 days a week we find ourselves spending at least some time outdoors for school. I've just been overwhelmed lately at what a joy, honor, and blessing it is that I am able to home school our children. I'm often asked by people "how do you do it" or hear "I would never have the patience to home school my kids". It's just not that way for me. I find myself being far more stressed trying to get Jude off to his public school by their set time, pick him up again at their set time, and then spend the same amount of time helping with his home work that it would take me to just home school him! I can't wait for the day that we think he is ready to be home schooled too!! I love the freedom we have in home schooling. I love the things that our children are not being exposed to before an age appropriate time.

This morning I was reading an article called "Parenting With No Regrets" and it was about a family that had decided to home school their children. Just seven weeks later they were in a terrible car accident and only the Father survived. His wife and 4 children were killed. He talks about how very thankful he was for so much family time in those last days. After reading that I was just soaking up the moments that I got to hug the kids, laugh with them, reward their good work in hugs and kisses, and think about what a huge blessing it is to have each of those moments with them. This is a time in our children's lives that we will not be able to get back and I am SO thankful to have so many precious moments with them!!

Crazy Hats & Rodent Treats

This week has given me some fun opportunities to be a little creative. Recently our kids started Awanas for the first time. We take them and drop them all off and Jim and I find ourselves alone for 1.5 hours every Wed. evening. We LOVE it!!! We've been making it our date night and having dinner alone at nearby restaurants. This Wed. was Crazy Hat night. Being short on crazy hats around the house I grabbed my balloons and pump and started trying some new things with these results~ Strange little happy people sitting on our children's heads

UCO~ Unidentified Creature Objects

I made many extras to leave for children that came without hats. They were a huge hit. It was so fun when we picked our kids up and I saw so many kids and volunteers running around in my silly little hats!

Earlier in the week I made the kids these peanut butter and chocolate Rodents. Who doesn't love a little rodent for your afternoon snacking pleasure? (I thought of you Mom)

Fun week. Good Times~ Can't believe it is Friday already!!!

Much Needed Approval

We were not watching for it. I was not checking day after day, hanging around the mailbox. None of the things that usually happen when we are expecting exciting news. I simply went to the mailbox hours after the mail arrived today. I was enjoying a light conversation with Jim while sorting through the mail when my eyes caught the envelope that sent my heart pounding.

I've shared on here much about the many challenges we faced in getting our I-600 (immigration paperwork) filed before the deadline. I've also shared the seriousness of our one and only shot for everything to go right or Jacques would not be able to come to America. We could not file again due to his age. Well, tonight we received word from USCIS (immigration). We were so shocked to see the envelope because we were not expecting to hear anything for months from now while it was being processed. So when I saw it my heart sank knowing that it was a denial. That is the only explanation for receiving it so quickly. It takes far less time to deny a petition then to approve it. So, again... imagine our total shock when we read that the I-600 had been APPROVED!!!! Done deal Baby!!!!!!! When everything is completed in Haiti Jacques WILL COME TO AMERICA!!!!!

For everything to unfold the way that it all has is nothing short of a miracle. It all seemed so impossible so many times, and yet, an approval has happened! To this we give ALL the credit to God who amazes us time and time again!

We continue to wait for Jacques' passport and visa. As of a few months ago we were being told that he would be home to us in time for Christmas. Now we are being told there are suddenly "complications" with the paper work. We are not being given any reason as to what those complications are but we think we know the answer. We are now being told not to expect him home until June of next year at the soonest. Maybe that will be the case, and then again.... maybe not! It's the kind of thing we just have to hand over to God and trust His will to unfold exactly the way it is meant to. We cannot trust in Him and fear the words of man at the same time. So trust in Him we will, and we look forward to celebrating and sharing with you all as even more exciting miracles unfold!!!

Latch Hook Extensions

Yesterday I finished re-doing Lovenie's Latch hook extensions for the second time. I think they are just darling on her! I've promised a few friends to share how to do it so here it goes~


To prepare the hair deep condition it for about 20 minutes to make it soft and detangle easily
Make a part in the hair right down the middle of the head and then five equal parts on each side, front to back of the head. Then cornrow or piggyback braid each of the parts. Use a generous amount of palmade on the hair as you braid it. Once you have 10 braids you are ready to begin with the Latch hook extensions.

Slide a latch hook carefully under the braid.

Cut the extensions in 3rds or half (depending on the length you want). I cut some in 3rds to use around the front of the face to make bangs and layers and then switched to cutting the extensions in half for longer hair. Fold one piece of extension in half and place the middle of it inside the hook. Close the latch hook and pull in back through the center of the braid.

Pull through enough to make a loop on the other side of the braid. Remove the latch hook. Grab the two loose ends and pull them inside of the loop you created. Gently pull it all the way through the loop and it will create a tie to the braid. I usually do another loose tie (like the beginning of a shoelace tie) to further secure the extension. Do not worry about that making it more difficult to take out later. It is incredibly simple and quick to remove.

Now repeat a few hundred times, covering each braid as you work your way down to the back of the head. You can space them to make it as full as you like. Expect the process to take around 4-6 hours. It is rewarding work as it looks great and is very low maintenance for the next 4-6 weeks.

End Result with cutting the extensions in half.

End Results with the extensions cut in 3rds

So Much Going On

It's been 15 days since my last post. I can hardly believe it! There is so much that I am excited to share but have been having some computer issues. Hopefully I'll be up and running again soon with photos and family adventures galore!

Happy 17TH Sweet Son!!!

Today we celebrate the birthday of our newest family member... Jacques Obain Laughlin! How I wish we could spend it with him. It occured to me recently that the very first time we'll get to spend his birthday with him he will be turning 18, a legal adult! We've managed to miss every single birthday of his childhood but will be here to celebrate all of his adult birthdays. The day he promises forever to his bride... we'll be there. When he has his first child... we'll be there. For every holiday, heartache, and celebration.... we'll be there. Because a "child" does not need parents just when they are little but parents are needed all through out our lives. It's an honor to be Jacques' family! We thank God again today for creating him and allowing us to belong with him!

Our plan was to go celebrate his birthday at a waterpark but it ended up being a cold day AND Jim needed to be at work all night tonight. So, me and the kids are headed out in a bit to have a mellow celebration and then will hit the waterpark next weekend.

We are asking, as a gift for Jacques' birthday, that our family and friends please remember him in prayer today.

Another Lesson I Learned From My Kids

I am constantly being taught lessons about kindness and love from my kids. Today's teachers were the above brothers. Jude (11) and Johnny (8). We had been out running errands for hours and the kids had been little angels. I decided to treat them each to their very own scoop of ice cream. They roared with excitement! Ice Cream treats are serious business with our kids. Half of us got our ice cream in a cup and the other half got theirs on a cone. Johnny had not even had a chance to enjoy his cold delight when it rolled off the cone and on the floor. His little face just fell. Jude (who had his in a cup) immediatly asked Johnny for his cone. I could see the wheels turning in Johnny's head as he processed that by giving Jude his cone he would have nothing. He handed his cone over to his brother. Jude began to scoop at least half of his ice cream onto Johnny's cone and handed it back to him. Johnny's look of shock was priceless. Sheer awe and joy!! It brought tears to my eyes to see my boys acting so beautifully towards each other.

What if we all behaved this way? What if we gave even thinking we would get nothing in return? What if we shared generously and unexpectedly with others who have nothing? Wouldn't we all live happier lives?

A VERY Exciting Announcement

News just in~ An adoption decree HAS been issued making Jacques our legal son!!! We've waited over 2.5 years to see this happen. It's surreal to know that it's really happening. Nothing can ever change him being our son for the rest of eternity!!! Such JOY!!!!

We are still on a major deadline for his immigration paper work. We are receiving the papers we need from dear friends that have picked them up in Haiti and are hand delivering them to us tomorrow. Now we just need to keep praying that his passport and visa will be approved so our dear son can come home!

Thanks for your prayers and for sharing in all the ups and downs that has brought us to this great moment of celebration!!!!

A Welcomed Break From Stress

Sometimes the sadness and muck of life can becoming overwhelming but I am so very thankful that God knows when we need a lift and He sends one our way. Not only does he send it but He sends it PERFECTLY! The lift He sent us this time was my very dear Mom. She drove to our home to stay with us for a few days and told me "Think of me as your live in Nanny while I'm here". How could I not LOVE that! Within hours of her arrival I found myself running errands without children. I love my kids but sometimes need a break. I ran those errands with a giant grin on my face and spring in my step. It was then that it hit me that I used to nearly always be this cheerful and seem to have lost a lot of it with the demands and stress of life (especially since the adoptions). It was so great to feel "myself" again for a while. Not only was she wonderful to me but she is SO FUN with her grandkids! She spoils and spoils them. It's out of control really, but I try to look the other way because... really, shouldn't grandparents be all about the out of control spoiling? I LOVE how much she enjoys them and they enjoy her. She just brought so much FUN to us all and we really needed it! The above photo is of the kids with their gift from Nana. The worlds longest gummy snake candy!





THEN, she told Jim and I to head out and enjoy a date night together. I was SO excited as we had not been out on a date in 7 months! We got to ride in our new car together for the first time and headed to San Francisco to Ghiradelli Square. We had a late night snack in a nice restaurant overlooking the ocean. Then we headed to the Ghiradelli shop and restaurant while we had a ridiculous amount of yummy chocolate and ice cream!

Afterwards we decided to take a stroll on the beach. It was very late on a Monday night and there was almost no one around. We had to cut through a little park to get to the beach. Once there we realized we were being followed by someone sipping out of a brown paper bag and acting shady. He kept watching us and slowly moving more and more towards us. I pointed out an area where we could somewhat see and hear other people hanging out so suggested that maybe it would be a good idea to move that way. Once closer we found it was a large group of people totally drunk and acting crazy. Okay, maybe not my best idea! Meanwhile the guy that was originally following us was moving in closer to us. So we decided to quickly cut back through the park. As we hurried along the trail we caught some movement ahead of us. It was a SKUNK hanging out on the trail. We laughed outloud when we realized that we were now having to make a decision between passing the skunk or going back to the drunks. Hmmmm.... Everyone has to make that decision on a date, right? Totally normal. So we picked the drunks and made our way past them without incident.

The following morning was my "date" time alone with my Mom. My Mom is one of my favorite people on this planet. She's just a BLAST to hang out with. We left early in the morning and rode the Bart (train) to Union Square in San Francisco. It was my Mom's first ride on a commuter train. I kept trying to mess with her and telling her to get on or off at the wrong places. She endured me with great humor. While everyone else sat quietly she and I talked and laughed totally having a BLAST!

Once in SF we found a yummy bakery where we had our breakfast together in this Galleria. The rest of the day was spent "shopping" at Saks 5th Ave, Tiffany's, Barney's, and more. It was so fun to see the many designer things. The clothes, shoes, jewelry... it was all more works of art then just merchandise. The price tags were the kinds that make your eyes bulge out of your head so that was fun to check out too. At Saks we spent time checking out designer shoes like Prada, Jimmy Choo, and Manolo Blahniks. I couldn't resist seeing what it would be like to walk around in a pair of Manolo's so put some on and OUCH. If I were to spend thousands of dollars on one pair of shoes I would expect to feel like I'm walking on clouds, not being tortured!

The next couple days continued on with my Mom jumping in and helping with the home and kids. When she wasn't doing that she was entertaining us. We were so sad to see her go but enjoyed so much what a gift she was to us while here.

Us Mothers Should Be Able to Understand, yes?

Johnny gave himself an assignment to write a report on mosquitos. I thought you might enjoy some of the fascinating details that are presented in a "Oh So Johnny" style~

Do all mosquitoes bite? No. In fact, only the females bite. The females suck your blood for her babies. I know you don't like it but it's all part of being a good mother. When it sucks a lot of blood it starts to look like a red balloon. This happens when it sucks blood of half it's weight. There are a more then 3,000 kinds of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are among the deadliest of all creatures. It's real size is like the size of a flea. It's this tall l and this wide --- . A female mosquito's wings can beat an amazing 500 times a second. That's half the speed of time!!! By Johnny. (according to Johnny~ time is 1 second. 1 second is 1000 milliseconds. So, 500 times a second is half the speed of time. Lost? Don't worry~ so are we... because it doesn't make sense, but it sure is funny!)

Bet you didn't know that eh? Now the next time you get a bite you will know it's just a fellow mother trying to care for her young. Be kind~ skip the repellent. Then again... it is one of the deadliest of all creatures.......

Mystery Solved~ A diagnosis for Lovenie

Many of you know the story that lead us to our children in Haiti. It all started when Lovenie had a "stroke" that left her in very bad shape. What has been unknown was if it was a stroke for sure or something else, or what caused that to happen in a baby. We have wondered these things for over four years now. Now that Lovenie has been home with us for a while we have had a chance to take her to many different doctors and specialists. Many tests were done and we now know that Lovenie did not have a stroke or any other neurological problem. To have done as much damage to her as it did there would be signs that show up on the MRI. They also ruled out illnesses that may have brought on her disabilities. They ruled out everything they could think of before sharing their diagnosis. They are very confident that they know what happened to disable our little girl.



Lovenie is a victim of shaken baby syndrome. Her disabilities and injuries are exact to the damage caused by shaking an infant. After all these years of believing that what happened to her couldn't have been helped, it was a real blow to learn that someone DID this to our precious little girl. A few seconds more would likely have killed her. They evaluated her to be about 60% brain damaged and while you never know... they suspect that she has peaked and that she will continue on in her life at this level. Furthermore, Lovenie has some problems with her eyes that will require surgery. We were told the only way for her to have the kind of damage she has is to have received a hard blow (or blows) to that side of her head. We are unsure if this happened during the shaking episode, and her head was hit while shaking her (which is common to happen) or if it was done at another time. However, we suspect that this part was likely done to her at an early age by her birth mom. Stephanie and Jude have told us many stories of their Mom beating them repeatedly in the head when she is angry, using rocks or hard metal objects. So it is not a real stretch to suspect the same was done to Lovenie. What's really concerning is their two little brothers still in the home with this abusive mother. PLEASE pray with us for their safety! Abuse is a sad and ugly thing. :-(



So we've been adjusting since that appointment to the idea of what really happened to disable our daughter. Strangely it seems so much more a tragedy that this was done to her rather then a natural health issue. She's such a delightful and precious little girl that we can hardly bare the knowledge of how hurt she has been. She is doing amazingly well at home with us. She is so loved on and just thriving. We'll do all we can to see to it that the rest of her life is safe and happy from here on out!



I would also like to ask for prayers for Jim and I as we need to make some really tough decisions based on other concerning information that has come to our attention. We are unsure about how to proceed but want to make sure we do it with wisdom and truth and do it in the right way. Also prayers for our family as something really bad happened to one of our children again a couple days ago that has us really upset. For privacy reasons I will not post what happened but please pray for the healing of our family as we continue to go through more heartaches. Adoption is a worthwhile and wonderful thing but it does not come without it's risks and trials. Thanks for your friendships, your prayers, and your support!

Ticking towards the deadline...

I had posted an update recently regarding things going on with our adoption of Jacques and decided it is time to update the update. Our home study is nearly complete and we were looking forward to being done with it last Saturday. However, I managed to come down with a flu right before and have been in bed for days. Obviously, we had to reschedule. So it is currently the plan to have our home study interview this coming Saturday. I am still sick but seem to be getting better. Just praying I am well enough by Saturday as we are out of time for rescheduling. We still have not received the paper work needed from Haiti. We were told we should have that by the end of this month. That would mean by tomorrow~ not holding my breath on this one! It HAS to come soon. There is no other option, as further delay could very well mean not bringing Jacques to America! He will be our legal son with no way to bring him home. It's crazy really!



Saturday is also the one year anniversary of our children coming home! In some ways I can't believe it's true, and in other ways it's hard to believe so much could have happened in just one year. I'm sure I'll post more soon about our first year together. I think it is fair to say that we have experienced some post adoption challenges that go way beyond the regular post adoption challenges. A lot of joy but also a lot of pain and tears. It's been a very full year.



Unfortunately, some parts are not getting better just yet. We received another blow of just awful information last week that I'm still reeling from. I keep making the mistake of thinking "How could we possibly receive any worse information then what we've already learned"... and then it happened! It's not something I feel able or ready to share just yet. However, it has caused Jim and I many hours of discussions about our moral responsibility of what to do with this new awful information. Please pray for wisdom for us as we decide!

Just Wanna Go Home

It is not often that we get photo's of our handsome Jacques Obain so I was thrilled to get these pictures from my friend Amy when she returned from Haiti.

Just a few days prior I had received a photo in the mail (which now resides in my purse) along with a letter from Jacques. It was brought to the US by my friend Bryn when she returned from her trip to Haiti.

Getting a very rare communication from Jacques is a treasure indeed! However, it also was a bit hard to read as he shared his desire to be home with us. In part of his letter he wrote: I finished school and will be in the twelveth grade. But I don't want to go to school in Haiti again. I just wanna go home.

And we just want him home too!

"Let's Be Logical In Our Insanity"

This post title is an actual quote from my dear husband last night. It was really funny because it's SO us. We tend to do things that makes me wonder~ are we GENIUS OR TOTALLY INSANE? On our most recent shenanigan the jury is still out.

Once a decade I throw my husband a big bash. His 30th birthday I really went all out and we had a very memorable Luau party complete with a real roasted pig turning on a spit in the backyard, a dunk tank, a HUGE beach backdrop and props for souvenir photos (that were taken by a Polaroid camera and placed in a keepsake photo frame), cool decorations everywhere, and catered with Hawaiian food.

So this year I am attempting to top last decades party as Jim is turning 40. No over the hill party for this youthful guy! Those who know us well know that we are glued to our TV on Wednesday nights to watch Lost. So we will be hosting a Lost themed party this time. Lost takes place on an island so we need us a beach.

So far not too much sounds real insane about the party plans but here comes the crazy part~ We managed to get in touch with a paving company that had ordered $15,000 worth of really cool, colorful, high quality sand for a project they were going to do for the Crowne Plaza Hotel. For whatever reason they ended up not using it so wanted to get rid of it. They allowed us to take it all for FREE if we just pick it up and take it away!!!!! We had wanted to find "some" sand for both decoration and a couple of party events we had in mind. However, we never thought we could get our hands on enough to turn areas of our own back yard into a private beach!

Last night Jim pulled into our driveway with a 16' Ryder truck full of what we figured was around 5 TONS of sand that Jim and I now needed to unload. This is the point that we stood gazing at it all and wandered if we were just totally nuts to be doing this.


All of these green tubs are Large outdoor garbage cans. We figured each can to weigh as much as up to 500 lbs each.

It really is beautiful sand. It even FEELS good to the touch as it is specially made sand. It is hard to see well in this picture but this tub had this pretty blue, brown, and tan sand. We also have a lot of black and white sand, and another mix of very pretty light red, orange, and gold sand. We are going to have a seriously exotic beach! This sand is not as dusty as regular beach sand and does not stick on you as much as regular sand.

The kids were so excited to crawl around in the truck checking it all out.

Kyle, Johnny, Luke, and Lovenie laugh hard as they all tried as hard as they could to move a can and couldn't get it to even budge. UPDATE~ Johnny informs me that they DID move it 3 inches. (where that estimate comes from only he knows)

How do two people move 5 tons of sand by themselves? Well, the plan was to use a hand cart until we discovered that we had a flat tire on it and it was no help at all. We were at least very thankful to have a lift gate on the truck! When we attempted to move the tubs this is when my engineer (I'm convinced the mind of an engineer just works differently then the rest of us) analyzed the situation and came up with the most clever and efficient way to get the job done. I told him how impressed I was with him and this is when I got the response of "Yes, let's be logical in our insanity!". Okay, well, at least there was some logic used at some point!

Oceanside Exercise

These days EVERY day is a full and busy day. I can't believe how busy we have been. These last couple of weeks have been a not-real-fun-busy of long days with back to back medical appointments, paper work, and errands.

Today started off with a bang as all 7 of us had dental appointments. I was worried about how all the kids would do but they were total ANGELS. They make their Mama so proud! However, the good behavior ended with the kids as the staff and dentist were so rude and yuck. We will not be returning. Does anyone that lives near us have a dentist that they love and would want to share with us?

Then we had to run a really yuck appointment~ to CPS, groan. I can't tell you how much it bothers me to have a file with CPS. I guess we assumed that if you are a good parent you will not have to deal with them, but with adoption (especially of older children) there are risks. Anyways... I need a copy of the report from when they had to come to our home due to the situation with Stephanie. I've been calling and trying to get it for 3 weeks but I keep reaching voicemail and leaving messages but no one would return my call. We need it to wrap up our home study. So today I decided to jump in the car and drive to Oakland and show up at the office and not leave until I had it in my hands. Once I got there I learned that you can not approach the office as you are stopped in the lobby by police officers behind a window. When I told them why I was there they told me that I could not get a report by coming to the office and would need to CALL to request the report and then wait 2-3 weeks to receive it. Not being intimidated by the badge I pressed on and (politely) insisted that I had tried that route and it wasn't working and I needed that report ASAP. They finally called the office and managed to get me on the phone with someone (which I had decided already made the trip worth while!). She too started to tell me that she would take the request but then I must wait the 2-3 weeks for the report. I don't know if it was sweet talking or the near hysteria in my voice that won her over but she decided to make an exception for me and do the report. 45 minutes after arriving I walked out with it! Woo Hoo!!! Here is hoping that this will be my last interaction with CPS~ EVER!

I was aware that the many errands like this are just no fun for the kids, and they have been so very good for me through them all. So, I decided it was time to forget all that needed to be done and go and have some fun with them. So off we went to a Marina and park that someone told me about. It was so great to breathe in some ocean air while we did the par course together. We had taken Maisy (our sweet dog) with us and you could tell she was just as happy as all the kids were. Then we ended off the outing with dinner at a nearby Marina restaurant that we've eaten at once before and loved. Jim was working late (to make up the time he took off to help at the dentist) so it was just me and the kids. They are fabulous dinner dates!

Seven Groans

because we have seven dental appointments this morning. Our life of adventures is sometimes fun and sometimes.... well.....

Johnny's New Look

NOTICE ANYTHING NEW?

The Race To Our Goal Continues!

Update on how the Home Study is coming together~ Oh man... it has been non-stop (or so it seems) working on doing all we need to do for the home study. First it was the stacks of paper work. I had piles of papers all over our big desk and even in stacks on the floor all around it. It was crazy! There are just so many papers and so many details to take care of.

For the last week and a half we have really been swamped with the medical exams that need to be done for every family member in our home. Yes, that would be 7 physicals we need done in a matter of a couple weeks! Beyond that, Jim and I need all sorts of lab work done. So, that would be enough alone but in the physicals for the kids so many other things are coming up. Especially with Johnny and Lovenie. They are being referred out to so many specialists for so many different things that I have lost count of it all. Last week we took Lovenie to the eye doctor to learn that she will be sent on to a specialist and will be needing eye surgeries. She is also being sent on to a neurologist, development specialist (for her delays from the stroke), speech therapy, and so much more. This week was Johnny's turn. Some of his highlights are that his poor little hips are such a mess that he may need to use braces, his vision is so bad that we ordered glasses for him today, his doctor thinks he may have tourettes (something we have been told by another doctor in the past too), and ADHD, in addition to his aspergers (high functioning autism)! Many many specialists, X-rays, prescriptions, injections, etc. There are also the more minor things like his sinus infection and bad allergies. Also last week we did an X-ray on Jude's wrists to get an idea of how old he really is. I feel like I'm juggling one appointment or testing after another and it doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon but I'm so very thankful that our kids are getting the help they need! Between today, and a couple days last week, I am clocking in 31 hours of non-stop running errands and appointments, in 3 days, with 5 kids. Need I express how very tired I am?

All that being said~ The home study is coming along wonderfully! The agency we are working with has been so good to us. Our new home study has basically already been written and is just waiting for the last of our medical exams (Kyle gets his done next week and we'll be done with those!), a couple referral letters, and a visit from their social worker (which happens on Saturday the 25th). Looks like everything is falling into place. The pace set to make this all happen in such a short time has been tough but it's working! We've also been told that we will receive from Haiti all the paper work that is being requested by USCIS (immigration) by the end of this month. This all makes our immigration deadline of August 21st very likely doable!

That miracle we were praying for seems to be unfolding. Thanks for all your prayers!

Last First On The Fourth

So the kids have been home 11 months now and we realized on the 4th of July that it was the last first Holiday we would experience with them! Pretty cool. We decided to take a gamble and stay home, hoping that we would be able to see a firework show from our home (being new to the area we had no idea if we would be able to see some or not). We scored big. Not only did we see a firework show, but from our view point we saw FOUR going at the same time. Way Cool!!

We also made a fire and enjoyed some gooey smores while we waited.

We found that the best place to catch the show was from our bedroom balcony. It was great to be huddled up together to keep us all warm. After the fireworks we busted out sparklers. It was a first for all our kids. The highlight was setting off tons of party poppers in the house that left confetti all over. The kids thought that was a blast!

Today, Sunday, we went to a bbq. The kids had a blast swimming. This great photo caught Jude mid-flip.

A Very Happy 6th Birthday!

A very big Happy 6th birthday to our darling Luke! He managed to get 3 different days of celebration this year~



This evening was our family birthday celebration. At Luke's request we dined at Pizza Hut. Then we returned home for SpongeBob cake and presents.

Earlier in the day we had a very special treat. Friends of ours came to see us during their move back to the US from Spain. The Brownwell family is one of the sweetest, funnest, and most adventurous families that we know. They have 3 daughters adopted from Haiti and the oldest, Kerline, was at NLL/HFC with our children. I had the honor of traveling with Kerline and her Mom as she was being brought home to America. What an honor that was! It was a sweet reunion.

Kerline and Lovenie~ Lovenie would not leave her side.

The Brownwell and Laughlin kids together. Just as soon as they left we all were saying we wished they would come right back and hang out with us some more!

Over the weekend we took the family for Luke's birthday activity request~ Glow in the dark miniature golf at Super Franks!~

Even before these celebrations, Luke had a little celebration at his Nana and Papa's house as well. One of the highlights was that 6 is the jackpot age that he is no longer, by law, needing to use a booster seat. He sat for the first time with only a belt buckle and grinned all the way to the pizza parlor. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's all grown up now. His presents were WII games he really wanted so the boys have been given permission to stay up all night playing together (as long as they are quiet enough to not wake up Mom and Dad)!