improved my mood a bit

ok.
a lot.

got the mail and our passports were in it!

WE CAN GO GET OUR KIDS!!!
{well, not really..but you know...}

and in other adoption news...this is sitting on our counter...
once we get our home study back from our agency -- NOTARIZED -- we just have to stick it in this envelope and put it in the mail!!!

then we wait...again...
{"they" say it can take up to 3 months to get approved...but it seems like it typically takes as little as a month...we'll see!}

bailey

this afternoon...
a neighbor was driving by.
we were playing in our front yard.

she stopped.
we were chatting.

bailey ran up and said,

"guess what?!?"
what?
"in a long time we are going to africa to pick up some kids!!!"

:-)

an observation

as i've been cleaning...and looking around my home "through someone else's eyes"...

there are LOTS of...

WORDS...

BOOKS...

and PICTURES!

just an observation...

_______________________________________________

now for the real stuff.
it's been insane.
i'm insane.
seriously.
it is a GOOD THING that we only had 2 days notice of this home study meeting!

had to ask pat's forgiveness last night because any little bit of kindness i might ever have flies out the window SO quickly when there's something "stressful" on my plate (kindness really isn't my strength. i hate that. we're doing a book study on it in our Shepherd group and it's ugly...my heart, that is...UGLY!)

had to ask joshua and bailey's forgiveness this morning...for hurrying them through things that they shouldn't be hurried through.

it's been quite a day.

cleaned the whole house...
and, in the midst, decided that this morning i should highlight my hair.
like...with a kit...you know, the cap and you pull your hair through it?
i've NEVER done it before.
just bought it...um...3 weeks ago...and decided to do it THIS MORNING??

see...i'm INSANE!

sawyer had a dr appt - he has these weird spots on his leg (for about 6 months)...they are just some form of ezema...but we had to go to the dr. to get it diagnosed and get some cream for it. well, dropped the prescription off for the cream...who knows WHEN i'll get a chance to pick it up!

and then, after rushing home and feeding the kids lunch and getting joshua on the bus, we ran to Target to buy more shirts amd a couple other things! (YAY! for shirts selling!!! and YAY that they had them!) but i would have much rather been sitting reading books to bailey.

so...here i am.
didn't get to mopping.
didn't get the last basket of clothes put away {kids are sleeping in the rooms i need to put them away}.
but it's good enough.

we are ready to take the next step in this fight for 2 children's lives.

{and i'm sure i'll have to apologize again before the day is over...}

we knew it wouldn't last...

and it was really getting on my nerves this week...

THE mohawk...

i like it.
i think it's cute.
and SO many people comment on it...

but i already do 2 girls' hair every morning.

i don't need another child's hair to "do."
and i have to do his twice a day...the gel wears off...

so i knew it wouldn't last.

but then we got a call yesterday!

from our home study social worker!!!
she's coming TOMORROW!

{some last family pics with the mohawk...and our water shirts!...and some silliness :-) i LOVE joshua looking at me in this one!}

so...the mohawk is leaving {i KNOW, i know...it doesn't have to...but it was just a good thing to put me over the edge}...

good thing Monday is my cleaning day!

{so basically, once our social worker meets with ALL of us (which we are hoping she has time to do it ALL tomorrow...it "normally" takes 2 meetings) she will write up our home study and we will be DONE with at least 1 major part of this process!!!! we are ready to check something off...did you know there is a 99% chance that our kids are born now? did you know that i think about that every day...many times?}