Carrie's engaged!!!

Friday night my litte sister Carrie (26) got engaged! She and Lcas met in Omaha, and are planning to get married in June. This is my first sibling to get married, so I'm really excited!! Of course, we did think my cousin's wedding on New Year's Eve was going to be our last for awhile, but alas, I guess we can handle one more. And, oh yes, Jesse will be ringbearer. From May 08 to June 09, we will have gone to 6 weddings, with one or more of us involved in the wedding for 5 out of the 6. Busy year!

Carrie, I'm so happy for you, and I pray you and Lcas will have not only a beautiful wedding, but a beautiful life together. I love you.

On December 12th, my students had a piano recital with an Animal theme. I think it's the most fun we've ever had at a recital! Each student played pieces with an animal in the title. They chose pictures of their animals, and I made them into a slideshow, which was shown while the students played. A few of them even dressed up like their animal. It was really fun! My plan is to have a different theme each year for the fall recital, so if anyone has any ideas for themes, send them my way!

Adoption Update

Tuesday we went to Baltimore to get our fingerprints done for USCIS. Our "appointment" was at 9:00, and we only had to wait until 10:00 for our turn. They were able to get all 10 of Heath's fingerprints, which he said was the first time for that. His fingers are always worn down from his work. We have everything ready for our dossier, and we just need to wait for USCIS approval before we can send the dossier to China. Meanwhile our agency said we could start looking at referrals (ie choosing a child) in January or February. We were hoping to be travelling to get her this spring, but it's looking like it'll probably be mid- to late summer, at least. (I wonder if the "adoption ticker" on this web page will reset when it gets to a year...it's quickly approaching the end of the chart!)

Quote of the Day

From the book cover flap of "Fields of the Fatherless" by C. Thomas Davis:

In this word you are an orphan--
eagerly anticipating your adoption as God's child.

In this world you are a widow--
longing for reunion with your Bridegroom.

In this world you are a stranger--
a pilgrim waiting to become a citizen of Heaven.

And in this world, God has called you to care for the orphan, the stranger, and the widow.

Wedding #3

On November 22nd, Heath's friend since high school, Kris Roberson, married Kristin Shields. Heath was a groomsman, and Ethan was ring bearer. This was Ethan's first time to wear a tux, and boy was he cute!!! (Heath was cute too, of course.) :) This was an adult-only wedding, so Ethan was one of 2 or 3 kids there, and we had a really special time with him at the rehearsal dinner and formal reception. He was such a little gentleman! Jesse enjoyed his first time having a babysitter and then Mommom and Granddad all to himself! Kris and Kristin are in the Bahamas for their honeymoon, and I'm trying not to be jealous as we sit under cloudy, gray skies and cold rain. It was a very nice celebration, and I'm very happy for you two! =) So, that's 3 weddings for us since October . . .only one more to go!

I-800A (adoption update)

We have submitted our I-800A to USCIS (immigration) for approval. This is what gives us permission to bring a foreign-born orphan into our country as our child. Unfortunately, this step of the process is supposed to take 3-4 months! Good ol' government at work. But, anyway, it's good to know that our part of it is done. According to USPS delivery confirmation, USCIS received our application on Wednesday. Within a few weeks they'll process it, and we should receive instructions for getting fingerprinted (yes, AGAIN). And then we continue to wait.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could have the virtue of patience without actually having to use it? =)

Jesse turns 3!

Jesse turned 3 on the 7th, and we had his party on the 8th. We just had a small group of friends and family over to our house. He had a great time! (Here he is playing with "Mater", his gift from Ethan.) He wants everyone to be sure to understand that he is now a BIG BOY, NOT a baby. The morning before his party he woke up crying, and I went to comfort him and made the mistake of singing "Hush, Little Baby." He got all upset and started crying, "I'm NOT a baby!!!" So I guess he's too grown up for lullabies now. He's growing fast in so many ways, and it's exciting to see all that he's learning. He's very expressive, so we get to hear his thoughts on things, which is lots of fun at this age. I'm sure this year will be full of excitement as he continues to grow.

Fun Day at the Farm!

Today we had a very fun family day! Since Ethan's party at Summers Farm was rained out, they gave us four free tickets! So, after church we headed to the farm. It was quite cold, and none of us had sweatshirts with us, but despite the cold we had a great time. Ethan shot apples out of a cannon, they raced rubber ducks using a water pump, we pet pigs . . .one big, three tiny, and three that must have been toddlers because they never stopped running, goats, mini horses and donkeys, and Jesse even attempted to pet the turkeys. We got his hand out before he lost a finger. :) They had slides, a pumpkin "train", hayride, pedal carts, corn maze and other various mazes, and even a giant bouncy thing that all 4 of us enjoyed (see picture). I think we'll try to make it an annual family tuition.

Wedding # 2

November 1st was Heath's youngest brother Joey's wedding. He married Danielle Clark, whom he met on a missions trip to Malawi (Africa) this past spring. For this wedding, Ethan and Jesse had a break from "service"; Heath ushered, and I played the piano. Everything went well, and it was a very nice day. Jesse, once again wore us out with his energy, but since I was playing piano Heath was the one who had to control him during the ceremony. :)

That completes Heath's family's marriages. The picture is of his family, everyone except his brother Josh, who is in Cuba for the Air Force right now.

ALMOST HOMEstudy

Since the last adoption update, we successfully passed both our fire safety inspection and (finally) our water test. We ended up getting a UV light to purify the water from our well. Quite a pain, but at least we have healthy water now. :) We received the rough draft of our homestudy report, sent in our editing suggestions, and are now awaiting the finalized version. That's all very exciting! A little disheartening is that we thought the next step (approval from USCIS immigration) was a quick one. Unfortunately, I remembered the time frame wrong, and it's actually taking 3-4 months! So I'm pretty bummed about that. But, in a couple months we should be close enough that we would be allowed to request a specific child from the waiting child list. (We have to have our entire dossier to China within 3 months of requesting a specific child.) So, maybe by the end of the year we can start watching the list for our little girl! Your continued prayers for finances, wisdom, patience, and God's blessing, are greatly appreciated.

Ethan's 5th Birthday!

Ethan turned 5 on Tuesday. We had a wonderful party planned for Saturday . . . we were going to go to a nearby farm, have an outdoor party enjoying pumpkins, corn mazes, tractor rides, pedal carts, corn cannon, etc. Planned more than a month in advance. Everything ready to go. And then. . . it rained. The day before and the day after were 60 degrees and gorgeous, perfect fall weather. But THAT day was a torrential downpour. The farm closed, so we couldn't have even had the party in the rain if we had wanted to. So, with all our guests planning to come to Frederick (and the fact that our house wasn't ready to host a party), we didn't want to move the party home. So what else is there to do nearby? The only indoor last-minute activity we could come up with was Chuck E. Cheese. Heath and I had once vowed never to go back there, but alas, that's where we ended up. Along with every other child in the county whose party got rained out. The place was a madhouse! But rather than rant about the nightmare it was for the adults, I'll just say that the kids had a very fun time, and Ethan really did enjoy his party. I know that's what matters. (Though, I must admit, the 5 year old in me had quite the temper tantrum about it.) The girl in the picture with Ethan is Miranda, one of his cousins. It's hard to believe Ethan's a five-year-old already! He's growing fast, and tells me he'll be as tall as me by the time he's six. He's starting to learn to read, he's learning so much and is so curious about the world. Most of all, he loves to be working outside. He enjoys hands-on projects just like his dad. Lately, his favorite activity is cutting down weeds and small trees on the hill behind our house. He'll spend hours out there working on it, and it really has made it look nicer up there! Ethan is a wonderful blessing in our lives, and I'm looking foward to enjoying this last pre-school year with him!

Wedding #1

Heath's brother Matt got married on October 4th to Rebekah Laughman. They make a very sweet couple, and the wedding was beautiful. Heath, Ethan, and Jesse were all in the wedding party. The boys did well, but by the end I was exhausted from trying to keep Jesse out of trouble all day! He added some entertainment to the wedding I guess, and fortunately Bekah really likes kids and enjoyed having all the kids' "contributions" to the ceremony. :) We'd been a little worried about how Ethan would do, since he didn't want to walk down the aisle. But at the rehearsal he made friends with the flower girl he walked with, and that helped him overcome his fears. He did a great job and ended up having a fun time. One wedding down . . . three more to go!

Adoption Update

We both had our individual interviews with our social worker last week. Mine took 45 minutes; Heath's took an hour and 20. Hmmmm..... But it seemed to go fine, and she should have a write-up for us to preview in about 2 weeks. Then just a couple more things before our homestudy is complete. One of them is having a fire inspection of our home. I sent the form in last June. Since they hadn't contacted us yet I asked our agency to check on it. The Fire Marshal claims he couldn't get ahold of us to schedule an appointment, so she told him to try my cell number. So Saturday he calls me at my home number, to ask if he can call me on my cell phone number! He says he gets a busy signal when he tries the home number. Perhaps that's from us using the internet, but I really think he could've managed to get through at some point during the last THREE MONTHS! Plenty of other people do! So he wants to use my cell #. I thought he meant we'd be having a series of phone calls, so I said that was fine. Then he says, "OK, I should be calling you soon to set something up." WHAT?!!! I was totally confused, and before I could even think the conversation was over. Why he didn't just set an appointment then is beyond me, but I didn't think fast enough to stop him from hanging up! So, now I'm carrying my cell phone everywhere I go--even to check the mail and stuff. No call from him yet. Heath tells me most of the fire inspectors he deals with on the job are quite arrogant, so he's not surprised this guy is acting like this. But hopefully he'll call soon, and we should have our homestudy wrapped up in a couple weeks. Patience is a virtue. :)

Counting Blessings

I've had plenty of days where I run errands and everything goes wrong. But today was the opposite! This morning the boys and I went out to get some things for the upcoming weddings. I don't know why everyone we know has decided to get married at the same time (6 weddings within 6 months, 4 of those between October and December, 3 within 55 days of each other; Heath and/or the boys in all 4 this fall, plus 3 bridal showers). So anyway, we had to get 3 wedding/shower presents today. Fortunately, they were all registered at the same place--Bed, Bath, & Beyond. And I had 3 coupons--two 20% off, and one $10 off a $30 purchase. So I saved a lot! And they even gift wrapped it all for free. Then we went to the mall to get the boys dress shoes for the weddings they're in. I figured it would be a major pain because it's always hard to find shoes that look good AND fit well AND don't cost too much. (Ethan needs wide sizes, which are hard to find sometimes.) So we went to Payless, and the first shoes I laid my eyes on in the kids section were exactly what we needed, and in 13W--Ethan's size! They fit great, and then we easily found matching ones for Jesse. Perfect! Just before I paid I remembered I had 2 coupons that I'd gotten on my last purchase there (one was for doing their phone survey). I didn't think I could use both, but the cashier let me, and then she said "I can do even better!" And she proceeded to give me another coupon they were running for another $5 off. So the shoes would've been $35, but I paid only $21!

I wasn't going to buy lunch at the mall even though it was getting late, because I'm trying to stick carefully to the budget. But I happened to find cash in my wallet (which I rarely have)! So we went to Subway, and had a Buy-One-Get-One foot long coupon. So we got that, and even have a leftover sandwich for tomorrow's lunch. The boys were great the whole time we were out, which is never guaranteed. On the way home Jesse fell asleep, and--miracle of miracles--stayed asleep when I brought him up to his bed! Jesse has been refusing naps for weeks, so this was a true blessing. They both slept for over 2 hours. When they got up they were happy! (Imagine that!)

They played outside for awhile, but we also needed to go to the grocery store before dinner. We stopped at CVS first to use some "Extra Care Bucks". Between coupons and their sales, we got about $42 worth of stuff for $27, and then got $14 back in extra care bucks! (I may go back to use some of that for the great Diet Pepsi sale they're having.) Then we went to Weis. Nothing too spectacular there, but we should have enough points to get 15% off in a couple weeks!

The boys were well-behaved all day. Dinner was easy and tasted good, and now Ethan's at AWANA and I'm using the library's NON-DIAL-UP internet!

I often post about life's frustrations and complain about everything that goes wrong. But this day was just a nice blessing from the Lord. We've been a bit stressed about finances lately, with the adoption and the house situation on top of regular life, and this morning I was praying about that. (You'd think I'd be praying about it all the time, but usually I think of worrying first, and prayer is just an after thought.) Anyway, God answered in a very tangible way and caused all these little things to add up today. It's more than just financial savings. It's a little reminder that God does care, even about the small details in our lives. And He'll take care of us in the big things too.

Quote of the Day

I always seem to come across things that I want to remember, but never get around to writing them down, so of course I forget. So I thought I'd record them here on this blog. That way I can't lose the paper I write them on, and whoever reads the blog can enjoy the quotes with me. So, here's my first one:

The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.

I love this reminder, and I hope I can get better at living it out. I seem to alternate between pride and self-pity. But in Jesus, there's no need for either of those. The quote is from The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller. Great book for Christian and non-Christian alike. He answers lots of questions that thinking people wrestle with. I highly recommend this book!

Ground Breaking!

No, we haven't started building our new house yet. But this Sunday we had a Ground Breaking ceremony for our church. Mountain View Community Church (Urbana, MD) has been around for 11 years, and we've been going there for almost 6. All this time we've met in a high school. But we have purchased land about a mile away from the high school, and the building will be going up soon! We're all very excited about the new building--not only for the convenience on Sunday mornings, but also to have a place that we can use throughout the week for all kinds of activities, and to be more visible and accessible to the community. The ceremony was really neat, and even the kids got to help dig. I think Ethan was expecting us to actually dig the entire foundation out, so I had to explain that the big machines would come in to do that. We were just giving them a little help getting started. :) After the groundbreaking, we had a church picnic, and got to meet our new Pastor of Discipleship, who will be starting next month. It was a very exciting and encouraging day for our church.

Homestudy Interview #1

Well, that was much easier than we thought! This morning we just had our first interview with the social worker for our homestudy. She came to our house for it. We were told it would take 2 1/2 - 3 hours, and we were wondering what on earth she'd be asking us about for so long! But it only took an hour, and it was easy. She took a tour of our house, and wrote down a list of the rooms we had. Then she just talked with us about how we decided to adopt, how we handle conflict, who does what in the household, and so forth. She was very conversational, not at all an interrogator. So, we're thanking God that it wasn't as big of a deal as we thought! Ethan wouldn't talk to her of course, but hopefully she won't hold that against us. :) Next we each have a one-on-one meeting with her. Then a few more documents to submit, and then our homestudy will be done. Yippee! Hopefully just a few more weeks to wrap that up. It feels great to have one more step completed!

8 Years Together!

September 2nd was our 8-year anniversary! Since we're trying to save money for the house and adoption, we decided to spend our "weekend away" at home. We went to Medieval Times Friday night for dinner and a jousting tournament. And Saturday we spent the day touring Frederick (the small city about 20 minutes from here). It's amazing how little you can know about something so close! We visited lots of historical sites on the walking tour, and saw the old covered bridges on a driving tour. We went to Olive Garden for a delicious dinner. Sunday morning I coerced Heath into watching our wedding video and looking at wedding photos, and then we visited a large church in the area that we'd always wanted to see. The kids had a great time at Heath's parents' house, and we enjoyed our "weekend away."

August visitors

We enjoyed 2 visitors last month. At the beginning of the month, Carrie (my sister) came for a long weekend. We went to the Howard County Fair, which is where this picture was taken. It was great to see her!

At the end of August, a long-lost acquaintance came to visit. A student that I had in China in 1999, Jane, contacted me to say she was working in the States this summer, and wanted to visit me. So, she stayed for 4 days, and visited Baltimore and DC. Ethan and Jesse practied their Chinese on her. "Ni Hao" (hello) is the only word they know, so poor Jane had to listen to that over and over again. =)

The HP saga continues . . .

My new printer has been working well, and I am very pleased with it. The 3 printers I had to ship back have been received according to FedEx tracking. So I checked my credit card online, to make sure I'd been refunded for the returned printers. Well, it appears that even though HP has no trouble CHARGING my credit card immediately, REFUNDING must be a more time-consuming task. The printers were all delivered more than a week ago, and yet, somehow, no credits have been issued. Of course, their website will only allow me to send a customer service email with an order number . . . and it says my order number is invalid. Of course. I guess this means I have to make another phone call to HP . . . but do I dare? . . .

Never Pray for Patience!

Having patience has always been a struggle for me. So I often ask God to help me get better at it. The only problem with that is that He gives me opportunities to practice! Last week, just as I was getting ready to print a MAJOR project for my piano students since lessons are starting soon, my printer toner ran low. No big deal. I took the cartridge out, shook it around a bit, and put it back in. I got a few more copies out of it before it started fading again. Well, having to buy more toner was the least of my worries. Soon, a horrible screeching noise could be heard throughout the house! Something was obviously very wrong with the Trusty Printer that had served me well for 6 years, so I cancelled the print and opened up the printer. As long as it was open, there was quiet. As soon as I would close it, the screech would return.
Time spent: 10 minutes

Later, after unplugging it for awhile, I tried plugging it back in, and letting it make the horrendous sound while it warmed up. It did finally stop the noise, but sent an error message and refused to print. I tried this a few more times. Next, my mechanically gifted husband took it apart to see if there was an obvious problem he could fix. No success.
Time spent: 30 minutes

That evening I tried the online support. I followed all the advice, but to no avail. The error message I'd received was a "critical failure" message, so they recommended contacting Hewlett Packard.
Time spent: 45 minutes (we have dial-up, remember)

Friday I called HP. I must say, their customer service reps were all very friendly, and I could almost understand them all. But, their system could definitely use some improvement on getting you to the right place! I talked to a machine for awhile, then finally got a person. The first conversation was with a technicican who listened to my story, and suggested a trade-in. After explaining everything, he then told me the cost. Only a quarter of what I'd paid for Trusty Printer, so I went ahead and did that.
Time spent: 30 minutes

Monday my printer arrives. Lo and behold, it's an entirely different model. The guy on the phone neglected to tell me that. This is a newer one and better-featured, but it didn't have a flat-bed scanner, which I need to use quite frequently for piano lessons. If you were the guy on the phone, don't you think you would've mentioned that? Then again, maybe he did, but not in English. So, I call them back. The friendly female machine voice that answers does not give options that sound like what I need, but I pick one and plug along. After trying to give the model number 3 times, she gives up and connects me. To the on-hold music, that is. . . Chinese. I listen to that for quite awhile, before talking to someone, who puts me on hold again. Spanish guitar this time. Quite nice. Finally I'm able to explain that Wrong Printer will not work for what I need to do; I need a different one. OK, they can do that for me. For triple the price. Lovely. But, still cheaper than buying a new one, so I say yes.
Time spent: 40 minutes + unpacking and repacking the printer

Wednesday printer #2 arrives. The FedEx woman knows me personally by now. I try to send the other one back with her. (HP does pay the shipping, praise the Lord for that!) But she's only for Express, and Wrong Printer must be shipped Ground. I thank her and go inside, very excited to get this working. The boys help me unpack, and set up the printer. I get the hardware connected and test the printing. Great! It works! Then I try to test the copying. The feeder isn't working, so I open the flat-bed, and there's a 2-inch strip of glass that had broken out, and was lying inside the machine. You've got to be kidding me!!!
Time spent: 30 minutes

Back on the phone with HP. More machine voices with bad options. More failure to recognize my model number. (I think I actually told the machine I hated her. Real mature, I know.) More Chinese music. More Spanish guitar. Two more reps (one of whom speaks English so well you think she might've actually visited the US for an extended time!) More failing my patience test while I whisper-yell at my kids to be quiet (again and again). Resorting to Dad's snap-the-fingers-with-a-threatening-look-on-your-face technique. Finally, HP resolves the problem. Oh wait, that was for a refurbished machine. Let's do it again so I get a new one, with a full-year warranty. I could go on describing all we went through, but why torture you all?
Time spent: 45 minutes, plus pain and suffering

Did my best to shove Trusty Printer into Box #2 as told. Not the same size, so I chiseled the styrofoam and made it fit. Ran out of packing tape. Went to Walmart (for the 2nd time that day). Last night took Trusty Printer and Wrong Printer to FedEx Ground shipping center. Nearest one--20 minutes away and I couldn't find it.
Time spent: at least 1hr 15minutes, plus vaccuuming up styrofoam (not finished with that yet)

Fortunately, Broken Glass Printer could still print, so I was able to take care of a couple urgent printing matters before returning it.

Today, the FedEx lady and I had a heart-to-heart conversation about the slope of our driveway since we've gotten to know each other so well. I took the box but hesitated to open it, for fear of having to endure another phone call to HP. A couple hours later I opened it. Nothing broken!!! I hooked it all up, installed the software, tested everything, and it all works!! Of course, now I can't get the paper feed tray to come off of Broken Glass Printer--it's permanently attached I think, so I can't get it back in the return box. Hopefully Heath can fix that when he gets home. Then tomorrow I can go back to the FedEx place 20 minutes away, and send that one back. Then, barring any complications (like HP charging my credit card for 3 machines) this mess should be behind me!
Time spent: 1 hour and counting

I have not yet mastered the art of patience, but have had plenty of time to practice during this situation. So, in summary,
DEALING WITH HP--3 hours;
INSTALLATION, UNPACKING, AND MAILING--4 hours;
BLOGGING ABOUT THIS TO RELEASE MY PAIN--35 minutes;
HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE PATIENCE IN ANNOYING CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE THESE--priceless!

Another Step Completed

The adoption journey continues. Back in April we submitted our application to Creative Adoptions, to do our homestudy. With that application, we had to read and sign a bunch of papers, send a picture of our family, and the application fee. Then we met with a social worker who told us what the rest of the application process would involve. Now, four months later, we have finished preparing our "Addendum to Application." We've been taking our time since we're hoping our house sells before we complete the adoption, because we need the money from the sale of the house in order to pay for the adoption. So, we're not hurrying through the adoption process, but we also haven't been stalling. We're eager to add our daughter to our family! So I guess we're just doing what we can do, but not stressing out when things take longer than expected. God's been working on me to have patience and trust His timing for both the adoption and the sale of our house. (Both easier said than done!)

In case you're interested in what a homestudy actually involves, here's the list of what we had to do just to finish our application!
-ask 3 friends to write reference letters for us (and make sure they really send them) One of them has to be interviewed in person.
-obtain birth certificates for all 4 of us (newly certified, as if the old ones might've changed)
-obtain our marriage certificate from NJ
-doctor's reports for all 4 of us (the kids were easy; just a form to fill out. But Heath and I had to have whole physicals, including blood work, which Heath had to have redone because the lab messed up. Fortunately, it was all good news.)
-apply for a Home Sanitation Inspection/get our well water tested (There was bacteria in the water, so we had to follow a bleaching procedure. When running the bleach out of the water afterwards, the well quit working. Fortunately, it was just a shorted wire, which Heath fixed easily. We were worried the whole pump might've gone up!)
-apply for a Home Fire Safety Inspection (we applied, but have yet to find out what that really involves. At least we know the fire alarms work. This morning they went off because I was running the bleach out of the hot water in the shower, and it set the alarms off. Moment of panic, but everything was fine.)
-Employment letters stating Heath's income and that he has a secure job.
-Financial statements with verification of all assets and income
-a written statement of how we plan to provide space for the child. (This is complicated since we plan to move and may be living in a small apartment when the adoption happens)
-Apply for State and Federal background checks for both of us (They take our fingerprints twice--I guess state and federal don't share these things? We pay them a bunch of money, twice, and they send us a paper listing all the felonies and misdemeanors we have not been charged with)
-fill out forms for child abuse clearances, for every state we've lived in since age 18
-same thing for child support payment clearances
-obtain our driving record from MVA

So, all of this is now in a big envelope ready to go to the post office. After they review all that, we'll be scheduled for our interviews with the social worker. One is each of us separately, and the other is us together. They're supposed to take 2-3hours each. I can't imagine what we could possibly talk about for that long, so it has me a little worried. Once we get through all of that, if the social worker approves us to adopt, we send the completed homestudy to our agency, Living Hope, and go on from there. Please keep us in your prayers, especially for us to trust God's timing in everything. It feels good to have another step completed!

New Bikes!

We'd been planning to get Ethan his first 2-wheeler for his 5th birthday. But, a couple weeks ago Heath found two 16" bikes on Freecycle (a yahoo group for giving and getting free stuff--I HIGHLY recommend it!) So, we went ahead and got the bikes, both with training wheels and in excellent condition. We figured Jesse would be too young, but he actually learned very quickly and rides right along with Ethan. They're having a great time, and so far they haven't attempted to ride down our driveway, which is what I was worried about. Now we just have to figure out what to get Ethan for his birthday.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Monday began with my usual mental agony as I tried to submit to my alarm clock's inisistence that I start the day. I rolled out of bed and began my exercise video. Heath was starting work late that day, so he was just leaving as I got up. Yay for his extra hour and a half of sleep. However, as he proceeded to open the garage door and start up his turbo diesel F-250, the boys decided that (rather than sleeping through that like they usually do at 5 am), since it was 6 am, they might as well wake up. To some moms, this might be no big deal, but to my anti-morning, ritual-following self, this is always the signal that a bad day is starting. I need to have my exercise, devotions, and shower before they get up, or the day does not bode well for any of us.

So, they both woke up and within 5 minutes were whining and fighting with each other. Skipped the devotions; skipped the shower. We went downstairs for breakfast and found a pleasant surprise left for us by Shadow our dog. She normally has no problem with her toilet skills, and she's not sick, so I just had to conclude that she knew how bad my day was and wanted to be a part of it. By 8:00 I had a headache and was losing my patience, so I sent the boys back to their rooms for a rest period and thought we'd start the day over. Didn't help much, but did give me a half hour to regather my sanity. We sludged through the morning (with the help of CARS, the movie) . . . me with a stomachache and headache, the boys with some severe problem that makes them fight and whine constantly . . . and then we had our lunch. We had plans to meet a friend at the mall at 1:30. Normally I don't schedule things for early afternoon because of how dearly I treasure naptime. But this was a chance to see a friend we don't often see, and Jesse had been staying awake during nap time consistently for over a week, so I figured we'd go ahead and do it. So after lunch, I told the boys to rest or play for a short time in their rooms, while I took a little break, and then we'd go to the mall. The first 20 minutes of my break were interrupted by two potty trips for Jesse. Then I had 10 quiet moments before it was time to leave. I went up to get the boys, and lo and behold, they're both asleep. Why oh why does Murphy's Law rule my life?! I reluctantly got them up, and proceeded to the mall. It was great to see Kelly and her kids, and we had a good time walking around with them. However, 4 kids age 4 & under in the mall is not exactly relaxing. Kelly and I even had the nerve (or maybe insanity) to take them into the Yankee Candle shop. Fortunately, there were stress-relieving scents in there for us to sample.

We came home, and I put on another movie and lay on the couch with them until Heath came home. I know . . . great Mom award for me! When Heath saw how pathetic I looked (still with a stomachache, headache, and mental problems), he made dinner and sent me to my bed. (Praise the Lord for my wonderful husband!) He took care of the boys for an hour or so, while I read a book in uninterrupted silence.

After my refreshing hour, I came down to see what they were doing. I found them outside shooting the BB gun. I was recharged physically and emotionally and ready to spend a quality evening with my family. I sat down in the grass and gathered Jesse onto my lap. As he sat down, I immediately jumped up. Evidently there was a hornet who didn't want to share my lap with a toddler. It took out its anger on me. Fortunately, this sting hasn't been as bad for me as many I've had in the past. Apart from two intense itching attacks today and a bit of hobbling around, I'm OK.

We put the kids to bed, me hobbling up and down the stairs, and then collapsed on the couch to watch TV. My wonderful husband gave me a massage as we watched Bones. Of course, this episode turned out to be about a cannibalistic serial killer. When that was over, I decided I'd had enough of this day and went to bed. The nightmare I had about the serial killer was a fitting conclusion to my day.

Now that it's 24 hours later, and I've had a much better day today, it's kind of humorous to look back on yesterday and see all the little things that went wrong. Nothing big even happened, and had my attitude been better I'm sure I could've enjoyed the day. I'm so thankful for Heath and for Ethan and Jesse. I'm so glad I have 2 little boys to drive me crazy all day long. I'm thankful that I have a house to have to keep clean. I'm thankful that I don't have a serious, life-threatening allergy to wasps. I'm very thankful that my bad days really aren't that bad, and that God gives me a fresh start each morning, even after a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Visit to Omaha

For our birthday presents, my parents bought us plane tickets to come out and visit them. The boys and I were there for a whole week, and Heath just came out for the weekend. We got to see the entire family, plus my cousin Ben. Michael was on leave, home from Alaska, and he provided our July 4th entertainment by creating a (rather huge and terrifying) smoke bomb. We visited Worlds of Fun (and had worlds of fun there), and we also went out on a lake for boating and jet skiing. The rest of the time we just hung out and caught up with everybody. It was a very good visit. The boys did pretty well on the planes, which is good since I had them to myself. (While we didn't even get peanuts on our flights, Heath enjoyed fresh-baked cookies and first-class seats on his. I won't let him forget that for quite some time.) Thanks for the trip, Mom & Dad!

Car Trouble?

It began a few weeks ago, when I couldn't use the A/C or fan in my car without a horrendous noise coming from somewhere under the hood. After a couple weeks of that, and thinking I should have Heath take it apart and see what the problem was, one day we noticed a horrible stench as soon as we got in the car. It smelled like death! And, lo and behold, it really was death! A mouse had died in there and was stuck next to the fan. After a week or so of living with that, trying not to gag every time we went somewhere, Heath was finally able to get it out with the help of a mirror and a shopvac. It was quite disgusting, but the fan works great now. And the smell is ALMOST gone.

Mike & Stacy's visit

We had the pleasant surprise of seeing Mike & Stacy (my uncle and aunt) and their family last month. They were on their way home to PA from Disney World, and their car broke down (unfortunate for them, but fortunate for us)! We saw them for just a few minutes that day, but when they came back to get their repaired car, they spent the night here. Ethan and Jesse had a blast with the kids, and Heath and I had a great time too. Just a nice little surprise for our summer.

The world is a stage . . .

Or at least our house is! As we get ready to sell our house (so that we can start building our new one), our realtor did the courtesy of sending a Professional Stager. Now, me being the naive person that I am, I had never even heard of such a profession, let alone used one. It turns out, a Stager is a lady who comes over to your house, tells you everything that's wrong with it, and tells you to get rid of everything you use and replace it with unnecessary, useless items! She also tells you to replace anything meaningful (ie family photos) with expensive impersonal objects (ie "Do you have any framed art you could put here?" "Oh of course, let me just run out to the garage and grab my Monet.") For a very practical and frugal person like me, this is torture! Thankfully, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have items they're letting us borrow to meet these stringent decorating rules. So I've just been working on the decluttering. Thankfully, my brother-in-law is also a generous person and is letting us store things at his house. I've actually had a great time going through all the boxes in the attic, reminiscing over all the things Heath thinks I should get rid of, and clearing out lots of space. I've also had the perfect excuse to get rid of some extra toys, and Heath has even put up some trim that has been missing (and plaguing me) since we built the place--commenting that "the carpenter" should've just taken the extra 10 minutes to do that job when he first built it! (His words, not mine.) So it's been good for us. And, as hard as it is for me to admit, when we get done with Stager-Lady's 3-page list, our house will probably look quite a bit better. I'll never admit it though! =)

Our Wishing Pot

We received a very special birthday present from some friends of ours (Thanks, Dan & Lynn!). It's a "Wishing Pot" to help us save for our adoption costs. I explained to Ethan what it was for. He's very eager to get "our new baby/toddler" (as he calls her), and without any prompting from me, he said that he wanted to put some money in the jar. I told him that if he put it in, it'd have to stay in there for the adoption, so he should think about it and make sure he didn't want it for a toy or something. He got a very serious thoughtful look on his face, and said, "I want to use it for the baby." He ran up to his room, came back in saying, "I only have one," and gave his only quarter as the first donation to our Wishing Pot. It was such a sweet moment, something that I'm sure will be special for his little sister to know one day. For those of you praying for our adoption, please pray that our "wishing pot" fills up quickly!

Happy Birthday to Us!

Since Heath and I are both turning 30 this year, we decided to throw ourselves a party! On Sunday, we ordered a 6 foot sub (which is way bigger than it sounds!), and we had a great time with family and friends. Thanks, everybody!! Only a few more days until Heath officially joins me in our 30's, and I don't have to feel old anymore! :)

Here we go again!

Well, if you've read the first few posts on this blog, you know that we recently finished our house--a 5 year process. So, any normal person would assume we'd be staying here for quite some time! However, we're getting ready to start all over again! Back in March we stumbled across a beautiful piece of land in Jefferson, Maryland (about 1/2 hour from where we live now). We'd found a different lot on the internet that was in our price range, and went there to see that. But, adjacent to that property was a 5-acre piece of land also for sale. It didn't show up on our internet search, because the price was too high. But the seller came down a significant amount, and (after what seemed like forever) on Friday we bought it!! It's absolutely what we were dreaming of, and the first property we visited that we BOTH really, really loved. The property has a large clear area, surrounded by trees on all sides, with a good amount of woods in the back, and it even has a stream running through it. The boys have loved the stream we have now, and I thought that was one thing we'd have to give up if we found a new place. But the Lord has worked this out beautifully for us...the way we "stumbled" across it, the price reduction, the fact that it's exactly what we've been looking for, the perfect location, and His gorgeous creation that we'll get to enjoy there! It's on a very secluded road that makes you think you're way out in the middle of nowhere. (Let's just say that if you continue past our lot on the mostly-gravel road when it's been raining a lot, you may have some trouble at the ford in the road. Yes, you really have to drive through the water.) However, it's only about 10 minutes from the convenience of the city of Frederick. It's exactly what we've dreamed of, and we are so thankful!

Now, the next step is selling (or renting out) our current house, so that we can afford to build our new home, and not have to enjoy the beautiful piece of property from a tent! We have our house plans already, though we've changed a few things from the plan pictured here. Heath's going to do most of the work himself, so it'll be a very busy year or so while he's doing that. Please pray for his physical strength and safety, and for my mental health having him away so much. And also pray for the financial and stress-level aspects of this. While we're waiting to sell our current house, money will be very tight, especially with the adoption going on, and moving complicates the adoption process a bit. We wouldn't have planned to be adopting and building at the same time, but that's the way it's worked out, and we know the Lord will see us through. But we can definitely use a lot of prayer for wisdom, and for peace during a stressful but exciting time.

Can't wait until we can invite you all to see our new home! We'll keep you posted on the progress. Here we go . . . !!!

The Big 3-0

Yesterday was my 30th birthday! It's hard to believe I'm really 30! Not that that's old . . . it's just older than I've ever been before. =) I had a very special day with my family. The boys and I went to Port Discovery (children's museum) in the morning. And we had a delicious lunch at Panera. When we got home, Heath had come home early from work! So I got to take a nap, and he even let me keep sleeping once the boys got up! When I did finally wake up it was due to the dog barking at the UPS delivery, which was presents from my mom and dad. After opening those, and gifts from Heath and the boys too, we went out to dinner at Cacique. This is a Mexican/Spanish restaurant in down-town Frederick. It's probably the nicest restaurant we've ever taken the boys to . . . no kiddie menus, real glass water goblets without straws, white table cloths. But they did REALLY well. I was very proud of them (though I did try to sneak out before anyone noticed the very UNwhite table cloth we were leaving behind!) Fortunately, by then the rain had stopped, so we walked around the old section of Frederick, stopped at the park for a bit, and then drove home. When the kids went to bed, Heath and I watched "August Rush", (which is my new favorite movie which he had given me for my b-day), while enjoying the Godiva chocolate he had also given me. I also had some nice emails, cards, phone calls, and spending money from other friends and family. So, all in all, it was a very nice birthday and a great start to a new decade!

Jesse's first bee sting

We have swarms of yellow jackets outside our house lately. They seem very attracted to the plants in the flower garden by our front porch. We haven't had any problems with them though. However, a couple weeks ago, a simple little honey bee was in the house, and Jesse managed to step on it. This is a picture of his injured foot. Fortunately, he was totally fine within a couple minutes and didn't even have trouble walking on it later that day. I thought this was his first sting, but when I went to write it in the babybook, I discovered that he was stung last August. Despite my lack of memory power, I guess I can be glad these stings weren't bad enough to be memorable!

The Paper Chase Begins

We have chosen Creative Adoptions, Inc to be the agency to do our homestudy (because Living Hope isn't licensed for Maryland). So, we've begun compiling the documents. Wow. I'm the "administrative assistant" for our family, so I do all the paperwork. And let me just say, when you fill out enough forms the mind starts getting a little numb. It starts to all blur together. Was I born in Maryland, or was that Heath? Who's social security number is this? When were our kids born? How do I spell my name?!!! I spent one afternoon doing all that, plus passport applications. By the end I couldn't think or see straight! And I'm sure there'll be plenty more to come! Monday night we have a meeting with CAI to go over the homestudy process in more detail. We also just requested our driving records, criminal background checks, child abuse clearances and so forth, and soon we get to go be fingerprinted! It's a bit crazy, but at least it's for a very worthwhile purpose!

Here we go!

Well, we successfully finished our adoption training classes. Ethan and Jesse are quite happy that we've finally learned how to be parents! Actually, the training was pretty specific to adoption, and we did manage to learn a few things along the way. Today we received our Parent Workbook from Living Hope, which gives us instructions on compiling our dossier. Wow. We'll be busy. There's a lot to do, and a lot of time and money required. (For anyone trying to get rid of excess in either of these areas, we'd be happy to help you out!) =) They say it takes 4-5 months to compile all this stuff, and then send it off to China. After that the timeframe is much less specific. So we really don't know how long it will take before we actually have our child. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunity to learn patience along the way!

The boys and I enjoyed a week-long road trip in March. We spent one night with the Spink's (my dad's sister and family) in Ohio on the way out. Then we spent several days in Illinois visiting old friends (Kelly, Carrie) and family (Becky). On the way back we visited Josh & Liz (college friends) in Ohio. We had a great time visiting with everyone, but it's always nice to get home. I couldn't get pictures of everybody on here, but here are a couple of the kids. Thanks for your hospitality, everyone! It was great to see each of you!

Stranger than fiction . . .

OK, I know this isn't earth-shattering news, but I had to share this story. :) Yesterday, the boys and I were looking through a photo album at pictures from the beach. I noticed Jesse was wearing the same shirt in the picture as he was wearing in real life yesterday. Then I saw that Ethan was too! Finally, I turned the page and saw this picture of the three of us, and, you guessed it, I had the same shirt on too. Unbelievable! =)

Back to School...

Well, we are very excited to be working our way towards adoption! So when we got our packet of info, I could hardly wait to start! But it turns out it was a bunch of homework! We have to do 12 hours of adoption training (online courses) before we can begin compiling our dossier! Heath and I have to do it together. Do you know how hard it is to find quiet time to study together, when you have a 2-year-old and a 4-year old!??? It basically leaves 8-9 or 10 pm (after the boys' bedtime and before ours). Of course, last night we couldn't do any studying because we had to watch LOST. Priorities must stay in order of course! =) Seriously though, I'm glad that we get to study this and get prepared. And it gives us stuff to talk about, which is nice too. But I'll be really glad when we move onto the next step!

Storms

Our family's had a rough week. Some news and some burdens are just too heavy to bear. How often I forget that I don't have to carry those burdens alone. God is helping me to slowly give it over to Him and to trust Him. I am so thankful for the friends and family and Savior that I have.

I hope this doesn't break any copyright laws, but here's a song that has really spoken to me today.

I was sure by now, God, you would have reached down
and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say Amen and it's still raining.
As the thunder rolls, I barely hear your whisper through the rain, "I am with you"
And as your mercy falls I raise my hands, and praise the God who gives
. . . and takes away.

I'll praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands
that you are who you are, no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried you hold in your hand, you never left my side
And though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
you heard my cry, you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on if I can't find you?
As the thunder rolls, I barely hear your whisper through the rain, "I am with you"
And as your mercy falls I raise my hands, and praise the God who gives
. . . and takes away.

I'll praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands
that you are who you are, no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried you hold in your hand, you never left my side.
And though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm

I lift my eyes unto the hills. Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

And though my heart is torn, I will praise you in this storm.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." --Lao Tzu

We have begun the journey to adoption! We just signed a contract with Living Hope Adoption Agency to adopt a child from China. No guarantees on how long it will take, but we're excited to actually be getting started! Adoption has been an almost life-long dream of mine, and we are both excited to be able to add to our family in this way. (Even Ethan asks when we're going to get his baby sister from China!) Please keep us in your prayers for all the decisions that have to be made, for finances, for things to run smoothly, and especially that God would lead us right to the little girl He has created to be part of our family. Keep checking our blog for updates on our journey!

Welcome 2008!

We ended the year with our annual New Year's Eve celebration. Heath's brothers and a few of our friends came over to ring in 2008. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

No Room in the Inn

A house full of 45 people is a little insane. But such is the norm at Stuenzi-family gatherings. We rented a beach house in Kill Devil Hills, NC, for our whole group. 3 cousins were missing, but everyone else in the family made it. As usual the week was filled with games, lots of laughter, and tons of food. (I don't think Jesse ever stopped eating except to sleep.) My cousin Justin got engaged while we were there! We also made a "grandparent interview" video, involving all the grandkids. Though we came back exhausted, it was a wonderful way to end the Christmas season. This picture is of Grandma & Grandpa, with (almost) all of their grandkids and greatgrandkids.

'Tis More Blessed to Give than to Receive

Christmas morning had a lot more "hustle and bustle" than usual. My family was all here, except Michael (who's stationed in Alaska and couldn't make it home). Carrie also brought her boyfriend Lcas. With all the commotion, Ethan and Jesse didn't even open all their presents--it was just too much for them. (So we've got a head start on next year's Christmas shopping!) =) This picture captures my favorite moment of the day . . . Ethan was thrilled to death to give Heath his present. A remote controlled airplane that he'd been keeping secret for weeks. We all had a fun morning together and then packed up and headed to North Carolina to join the rest of the Stuenzi clan.

Visit to Grandmom & Grandpop

While my family was here visiting, we all went up to Lancaster, PA, to visit Grandmom & Grandpop Taylor (my mom's parents). Our cousin Taylor was also there. We got to see their new place, videotape a "grandparent interview", and enjoy a great meal together. It was a long day, but definitely worth it.

Ethan's Debut

Ethan had two special performances this Christmas. At CBS (the Bible study we go to Thursday mornings), he got to "sing" with his class. Of course he didn't actually have any sound coming out of his mouth, but he did stand up there and look cute. Then, in our church Christmas pageant, all the 4-year old boys got to dress as shepherds and sing a few songs. Again, no actual singing took place on Ethan's part, but he did look really cute.