Worth Celebrating or Not???

So today marks our 20th month anniversary {that's 1 year, 8 months OR 611 days} since we were Logged in for our baby girl from China.

And though my mood doesn't even come close to this picture of a cupcake with fabulous sparklers - an event to be celebrated, the picture to the left is I think a better representation of our reality!

Rather than "20 Zone, slow down" it means we are in the "20th zone slow down".

It's truly a good thing that I have home - schooling and whiplash to keep me occupied these days! And yes, things are getting better on both accounts. Each new day brings new healing as well as a more comfortable routine with the boys at home. All your thoughts and prayers have been felt and appreciated!

Whiplash & Crackerbacker

Much to my own chagrin, it turns out the accident left me with more pain than I thought it would.

Today I ended up with so much discomfort in my neck, shoulder blades and back that it was truly a no brainer that I should see the chiropractor.

Easy right?? Think again. Apparently (for those who have never been in an accident), you don't just get to make an appointment, show up, get adjusted, go home and feel better. No, you must first spend 1 hour on the phone with the other drivers insurance company only to find out that in order to file a claim for "bodily injury" it must go through my auto insurance company.

So hang up phone and call my auto insurance (spend another 30 minutes) and ask them to open up a bodily injury claim (hopefully you have bodily injury on your policy), they will ask you all the same questions you've already been asked twice before, fill out a form and tell you someone from the claims office will call you back.

[All I want is a crackerbacker for crying out loud].

2 hours later, claims office decides to call you back issuing you a claim number which really means you no longer have a name but just that all important number! NOW, you can call the chiropractor to set up an appointment to be assessed.

Let me just say that is just about enough to drive anyone to drink!

I am happy to report that my youngest and I have been seen, assessed and adjusted and are hoping to feel better any minute now! My older two will be assessed early next week to see if the accident caused them any spinal damage as well. Your prayers are welcomed.

1st day of school...and???

Well, I am happy to report we made it through the first day of homeschool. Or rather, should I say, they made it through their first day of homeschool.

Can I just say how hard it is to know how much is too much and when is not enough! I worked really hard at having continued patience, to allow them each to have a little bit of space so as to not freak out completely since they are coming from at least 9+ years of public school experiences. DETOX is the common word I hear from experienced mom's. And no that's not for me but rather for the kids. Allow them time to come down from "whatever experiences have shaped/molded their ideas/opinions" about what school is.

Okay, so with that said, I felt like I totally ran around in circles constantly remembering what I forgot, or maybe it was what I didn't remember to forget, or was it what I forgot to forget? Oh my word. I would get one settled into a subject and move onto the next one only to remember something I forgot to tell the first one about the lesson and so on and so on. Calgon... where are you when I need you. Well for goodness sake, what was I really thinking it was going to be like after all???

Oh and wait, here is the clincher! After all their work was completed, we headed out to pick up a friend and go to where her horse was boarded for some riding. While I was waiting to pull out onto the highway I hear CRUNCH ~ you guessed it, I was hit from behind by a ginormous FORD F350 truck whose bumper was as tall as I am. Injury?? None emergent. Though a few days will tell, but we weren't moving so hopefully no. Damage?? YES - crunched the right side of my back hatch to my Caravan and now I cannot even get it open, crunched it completely shut! As if I needed this. I think I was already mentally exhausted from the morning, but now I get to be soulfully tired from the "I can't believe what just happened to me". I didn't know whether to cry or scream, laugh or get angry.

And yet, I remembered what I had read earlier this morning about how much God wants to be a part of every moment of my life and how this situation wasn't excluded from that. I just cried out in prayer, thanking him that myself and my 4 other passengers weren't injured. I surrendered my crunched up back end and all that's involved in fixing it (hopefully not an insurance company nightmare) and I willingly asked God what it was that He was wanting to teach me/us through this whole process. It truly was all I could (can) do.

So, for now, I will tuck my children into bed, pray for a great nights' sleep and wake tomorrow with a new day!

My Knight in Shining Armor for 18 years

Indeed you really are looking at my 'knight' in shining armor!

You see, I was blessed with an incredibly romantic man who planned and orchestrated a magnificent proposal. He proposed to me in a suit of armor at a park near his house. Yes, we'd talked about marriage, but the conversation was always after college. The day was a Sunday, November 13, 1988 to be exact, and I had seen him that morning at church. He was planning to go to a Seahawks game with his dad that afternoon and my plan was to visit with a girlfriend before choir practice that night.

After I got home from church I called my friend to ask her if we could schedule our visit another day cause I was so tired. She said yes, of course but panicked and called B to ask him what to do. See it was her job to get me to the exact location at the exact moment. He told her to call me back and tell me it was marital problems and I wouldn't say no (boy he knew me well even back then). So I come downstairs to wait for her in my jeans, sweatshirt, tennis shoes and jean jacket. My mother looks at me and says "Are you going to wear THAT?" She knew about my adventure since B already came and asked permission a week before. I told her I was and she quickly backed off to avoid suspicion. So friend arrives and we're off to a park in Bellevue. I decided not to ask her where we were going but just to let her talk, afterall she's the one with the marital issues right? HA. We get out of the car and walk toward this big pond. As we are walking around the perimeter of said pond, out of the corner of my eye I see this guy walking toward us in a suit of armor. It sound like this: "clang, clang, clang, clang." Red velvet pillow and all. I truly did not think anything of it cause there were always plays, vignettes going on in the park.

I slowly began to notice that my friend wasn't really that close to me anymore and this guy was walking right for me. Do you think I had a clue - DUH NO! He got about 5 feet away and took off the helmut but all I could see was the chainmesh around his nose, mouth, eyes. I instantly recognized his mustache but it still didn't phase me what was happening.
I said "Hey what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at the Seahawks game?" Again DUH! He proceeded to get on one knee and asked if I would marry him?

Now this is the part where the girl jumps up and down and screams so everyone can hear with tears streaming down her face right? No joke, I said "What? I don't understand what you are doing here?" CAUTION, men don't usually want to ask twice!
So he said it again a little differently so that maybe this time I would understand.
"I want to know if you will be my wife?" Okay so insert jumping, screaming, crying right? NOPE. I walk backwards into bushes in shock. Okay so took me a few seconds to realize what was going on and I ran forward wrapping my arms around him - nearly knocking him over and said
"I guess so"! Psych. I said yes about a billion times. Of course now, out of the bushes comes family, friends who were talking photos/video of the whole ordeal. We even made it on the cover of the Eastside paper only the newspaper got B's last name incorrect. The reprint was a few days later on the last page in really tiny letters. Aww my claim to fame.

So, we decided to rent the suit of armor again for the wedding and beforehand had pictures of us taken together and then had a friend wear it for the ceremony to deliver our rings. Very cute I must say!

And so 18 years later here we are - 3 boys, waiting for our daughter later and more in love today than the day we pledged our love for one another.

So to My Love ~ I give you my heart! My love is and always will be forever yours. Thank you for saying YES to God's call so many years ago.
You are the greatest Man I have ever known! I love you.

Happy 1st day of School

Best wishes to all of you who will be welcoming this method of transportation tomorrow morning.


And also to all those whose transportation isn't yellow with 50 anxious children in it, but rather a smaller version maybe a white, blue, green minivan, suv, small sedan ~ best wishes to you all as well.

And to all the mom's who will meet that bittersweet moment of pure elation and joy of freedom while fighting back the tears of having to "let go" another year - a very special "Happy Day" wishes to you.

I'll Cry if I want to

Here is the official statement from the China Center of Adoption Affairs in Beijing.

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before June 30, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 25, 2005.

To be completely honest, I don't know whether to cry or scream. I mean afterall, what was I expecting, a miracle! Expecting ~ NO, hoping ~ YES!

I admit I fell prey to the murmurings that were around (I thought I had learned my lesson not to frequent certain sites that didn't offer facts) that talked about the possibility of referrals making it into the month of December. And all to find out they only matched 4 days - FOUR!!!

I think I will have my party and definitely cry cause I feel like it and then I should be all better - at least hope is more like it.