Please Pray

Would you please pray for us? We are needing to give up our dog, Rose, this weekend. We've had her for a year, but things are not working out in a number of ways. Its long and complicated, but we have tried so many things to NOT come to this point. We will be trying to explain it to the boys tonight. Saturday we will take her back to the rescue organization from where we got her. Please pray for ALL of us. This is a very hard thing for our family.

25 Things

I've been tagged by Mandi to post 25 random things about me. At least I think I have. I've got a pretty common name. Anyhow, here goes:

1) I interned in a juvenile detention facility and I liked it.

2) I've been enrolled at 6 different colleges, but only have a 2-year degree. Someday I'd like to change that.

3) I worked at Dairy Queen for two days in college.

4) I've been to Mexico, Costa Rica, Denmark, Austria, and Germany.

5) I could probably eat Taco Bell every day...but it would be bad for me.

6) I didn't get my driver's license until I was 19.

7) I have screws in my neck where two vertebrae were fused together.

8) I hate flying. If I could drive to Ethiopia I really and truly would.

9) I did the grunge thing in high school/early college.

10) I have a tattoo of a dove on my right shoulder.

11) I love Russian classic literature. (eg Tolstoy and Dostoevsky)

12) I dyed my long, beautiful, blonde hair red in college. Its never been the same since.

13) I enjoy writing...non-fiction.

14) My husband and I dated a month before we got engaged.

15) I love roller coasters.

16) I had c-sections for both my son's deliveries.

17) I don't like feet or anything to do with feet.

18) I didn't carry a purse until I had a child.

19) I've always wanted a Jeep.

20) I love the beach...even Washington beaches. Rocky, pebble beaches are my favorite.

21) My favorite passage in the Bible is Psalm 103.

22) I'm 1/2 Italian.

23) I really like suspenseful movies...but I usually figure them out before the end.

24) I love Thai food.

25) I really, really, really can't wait to bring home my baby girl!

Angela, Amy, Susan, and Becky E -- you've been tagged!

Wordless Wednesday

(What?: slippers -- Why?: Daddy is very silly)

It was the Best of Times...

And, yeah, we've had some pretty rough times too.

Its been a long time since I've actually sat down to write a post of real consequence on here. The past month or so has really been a roller coaster of moments for us. Obviously, we had our referral two weeks ago. That was one of those moments, like the birth of a child or a wedding day, about which you dream and plan and then the real thing is totally surreal and nothing like you'd imagined. A year ago we hadn't even thought about re-starting the adoption process, now there's no turning back!

At the same time, my husband and his brother have been working tirelessly on the manuscript for their new novel. Is "tirelessly" even the right word? It has been a huge undertaking. They are behind schedule due to so many unforeseen things that life threw our way, and are now working at a feverish pace to catch up. So, no, I don't think "tireless" is the right word. They are very tired! And we, their families, are too. It has been a difficult sacrifice on our part. Little boys don't do well for extended time without their daddies. And a boy with autism even more so. My husband and brother-in-law took a week and holed up in a rental house on their own so they could work whatever crazy hours their creativity required and not be disturbed by the phone calls and emails that normally follow two self-employed businessmen. I stood up straight and tall and braced myself for a challenging week, telling myself that although it would be far from normal, I needed to try to maintain some sense of normalcy for my boys and that, my goodness, it wasn't like my husband was being shipped off to Iraq for months on end like some women have to endure. Well, as it turned out, our house became its very own Iraq. Okay, so maybe that's exaggerating a little bit...but it really was ugly. There was screaming and there was crying...and it wasn't just me! It was not a good week in our home. In the meantime, I was trying to complete our referral packet as much as I could on my own, all the while feeling like a real schmuck for thinking I could/should bring such an adorable baby girl all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to such madness as there could be found in our humble home. Did I mention that the floods that made national headlines took place that very same week? Oy.

Our nutty family is all back together now, though Hubby continues his crazy hours. Today we were finally able to attend church for the first time in weeks. This we took on with mixed feelings. Our church has recently undertaken a merger with another church nearby. My husband and I support the church leadership in this move, but it is not without its own hardships. It had been ages since I felt at peace at any particular church, the last few I attended having undergone some serious troubles. Our current church revived my spiritual life in a way no other church had, and I felt safe there. It was very hard to attend the new, combined church this morning...for all kinds of reasons. Oh, I was worried for the boys -- how would my eldest, so wound up in routine and predictability, respond? (We have had to sit in roughly the same seats for the past year or so to avoid major meltdown.) How would the youngest, so clingy and unsure of himself, do with teachers he didn't know? But they ended up faring much better than I! Let's just say its going to take time...and some serious dying to self.

Speaking of our eldest son, he continues to do well at school. He couldn't wait for Christmas break to end so he could return. His teacher (and more importantly, the resource gal) have apparently felt no further need for the behavior charts they used before. We haven't seen one come home in weeks. He had a substitute for three days last week with nary an issue -- a huge deal for him. He had his first field trip and an assembly (all in one day, no less) and came home without issue. If only things functioned so well at home! We do rejoice, however, in the progress he has made.

The boys are very excited for the arrival of Baby Jo, as we have called her for years now. Today, as we drove to church, we were chatting about how far away she lived, trying to create an image in the boys' minds of where she would be coming from. A few months back we had happened across an IMAX movie in Seattle about the Nile River, which actually flows north into Egypt from the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Hubby reminded the boys of the movie and mentioned that Baby Jo lives (relatively) near the mighty Nile River. That got a huge response: "What?! Wow! We are getting the coolest baby!" exclaimed our eldest. Indeed, Hubby responded, the Nile River was were Baby Moses was found. "Oh my gosh!" said the eldest again, "We are getting the best baby ever!" It was pretty precious. Let's just hope he has the same attitude when his poor sleep-deprived parents stumble off that airplane!

I am, I said

I am: eager to bring home my baby girl
I think: sex offenders should be locked up for good
I know: God is good
I want: my boys to know God's love
I dislike: the irony of people judging all believers to be judgmental
I miss: the sun!
I fear: harm coming to my boys or husband
I hear: a Higher Calling
I smell: dinner cooking
I crave: coffee
I cry: when I sing hymns
I search: for lost toys on a daily basis
I wonder: when we'll travel to Ethiopia
I regret: neglecting friendships in college
I love: road trips
I care: about the cleanliness of my home
I always: check the news each morning
I am not: very brave
I remember: the trials God has brought me through
I believe: the world is getting worse, not better
I dance: only in my dreams
I sing: despite the protests of my sons
I don't always: drive the speed limit
I argue: only in writing
I write: less than I would like
I win: word games
I lose: patience with reckless drivers
I wish: the Lord would come back soon
I listen: to hymns AND classic rock (!!)
I don't understand: the economy
I can usually be found: at Target
I am scared: of flying
I forget: my coupons when I get to the register
I am happy: when my family is together

(meme courtesy of Michelle A and Keren F)

Our Best Holiday Photo

Yes, its our first official PINK gift. And you can well see what the boys thought of it!

My apologies for the lengthy absence! There is a multitude of reasons for it, not the least of which being Monday's news. We were also out of town, now Hubby is out of town -- We have an alarm AND a German Shepherd (sort of) if any bad guys are reading this! -- and we'll be going out of town again. Please pray for us. Life is full of good things right now, but it is not without its challenges. Perhaps next week will bring more freedom to wax poetic on our crazy household....