Any more gold for sale?

Per my mother-in-law's suggestion, I took some gold (and not gold) jewelry to Houston Gold Exchange this afternoon to see what I can get. Some of it was hers that she gave me to sell, some was mine, some was my mom's and grandmother's. About half of it was worth something and the other half I brought back home. I am happy to say, our Adoption Fund is now $1320 richer!!! God is great!

Now, to see what will sell on eBay.......

Last Christmas without a tree...

Chris and I decided to not put up a tree or decorate for Christmas this year, as it will be our last year to get away with it! We are looking forward to next Christmas season and all the fuss that will go in to pulling out the tree from the garage, finding all the ornaments (or buying new ones), stringing lights inside and out, etc.

We did have a good Christmas with family. We joined my sister, her husband, child, and my dad at her house for lunch as spent a nice 2 hours with them. Then we went 'down the street and around the corner' to Chris' mom's and step-dad's house. We spent a few hours with them and other family stopped by (step-brother & wife). It was a really nice time with all!

I am enjoying my last week off from school! As nice as it is, I will be ready to return next week. We are starting the sewing unit on the 11th and I always enjoy those 6 weeks! Chris is off from Fort Bend on Friday and is working at Wal-Mart all week (the only day Wal-Mart ever closes on is Christmas Day).

Our Adoption Fund is now at $5000! It is slowly but surely getting there (we still need about $35,000 more....). One of our friends at church gave us an autographed NFL football to auction/sell as we see fit. It is an NFL (has a serial number sticker on the box) football signed by Roger Staubach from the Dallas Cowboys. The football is engraved with the 5 Superbowls that the Cowboys were in and it also says that it is a limited edition of 5,000. It is in the original box (has never been taken out of the box). Can't wait to see what it brings in! Chris' mom gave us a calendar that she had been given to post on eBay: 1954 Golden Dreams with a nude picture of Norma Jean (later known as Marilyn Monroe). The calendar is in mint condition! It will be interesting to see what it brings in!

Well, I guess I had better get moving. I plan to take some gold jewelry and stuff to sell at Houston Gold Exchange. Chris' mom gave me some to add to what I already have. Anything at this rate will be helpful!

Hope you had a great Christmas and an even better New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day has started as nice as ours. Chris left to go to work (the part-time job at Wal-Mart) a little while ago and I got to sleep in till 8:00. Yes, Chris is now gainfully employed part-time at Wal-Mart! He went in Tuesday for the paper work and drug test, worked yesterday from 12:30 - 8:30 (doing the CBL's {computer based learning sessions} and other training things. Today he is back to {hopefully} finish the CBL's so that they can put him to 'real work' tomorrow, starting at 5:00 am. Yes, he will be working during Black Friday's morning rush at Wal-Mart. I will be at home, warm and snug in bed, hopefully still sleeping!

It is a great feeling to know that we will be able to put his paychecks directly into the Adoption Fund saving account. That will really help!

On another note, I have a good-sized deposit to make tomorrow into the Adoption Fund savings account. My 'catering' has really paid off this week (yes, the pun was intended). I have added to my menu: squash casserole, chili, green bean casserole, Italian casserole, lemon bars, brownies and a bacon & broccoli quiche. I am really tired, but no baking today! I made the pumpkin pie and squash casserole that we are taking to Chris' mom's house this afternoon last night after getting home from delivering all the goodies I made yesterday. Tylenol is my friend right now.

Well, back to finding something for breakfast and warming up the coffee! Enjoy your holiday!

Trying not to get frustrated.....

Okay, I have been researching grants and I am getting frustrated! We have passed our Homestudy, but it is not 'officialized' yet because it is only valid for 12 months. Our caseworker and I agreed to wait to 'officialize' it until we have the bulk of the funds we need so that it won't expire before we are able to finalize the adoption. Problem: in order to apply for any grants, we have to submit current homestudy papers. So, I will be calling Buckner to talk with Irina tomorrow (at some point, hopefully during my conference period) to get some clarification about all this. We may have to wait until next spring to apply for any grants.

On a good note, I had a call from a friend at church today to place an advance order for goodies: coconut creme pie, a dozen cinnamon rolls with pecans & raisins, a pan of cheese enchiladas & a pan of beef enchiladas! That will bring in $79 for our adoption fund. Slowly but surely it is growing.

Please contine to pray that we have patience while the funds are gathered (winning the lottery would be really, really helpful at this point!). Also, pray for our children and their current caregivers.

Update

Our Financial Plan to fund Larkins Family Adoption has been accepted by our caseworker, Irina. She said that she still needs to run it by the director, but thought it was really well thought out and planned. Since it took me about a month to put it all together, it was really well thought out!

We are still waiting to hear back from Wal-Mart about the part-time job for Chris. Apparently, they need to contact someone higher up in Human Services to 'drop' his name in the system from Tier 2 to Tier 1 so the management at the Sugarland store can call him in for interviews and hire him! Gotta love this technology....

Liz and I had a booth at a craft fair in the Heights last week and we did really well. Other than about 10 minutes of sprinkling rain (covered the stuff with tarps), it was a good day. We are going to be at the First United Methodist Church in Missouri City on Saturday, November 14. They have had a craft fair/festival for quite a few years now, and we are praying for a great success. Most of the vendors are selling jewelry, and our items are rather unique and we didn't see anyone last year that had stuff close to what we make. The lady that I talked with about the booth, was really excited to hear that we have baby & children's stuff. I have lots more blankets to make before the craft fair on November 14!

I have made baked goods for several people at school and will make a Chocolate Marble Cheesecake this week for our cafeteria manager.

We sold my car on October 5!!! Yeah!!! That money went straight to the savings account (Adoption Fund). Now we just need about $38,000 more......

I am working on a grant application right now; need to find papers that I thought I knew where they were filed...

Our Wish List with Wal-Mart is basically complete. Check it out sometime! I think we picked out really cute stuff for the kiddos bedroom & bathroom. Not too much out there is not gender specific! You can find it at the store or on-line under Wish List and both my name & Chris' is listed.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and our children as we go through this process of adoption.

Still planning, working, etc

We are still working on paperwork! It never seems to end! I haven't finished our written financial plan for Buckner yet (I am still waiting to here that Chris got the part time job at Wal-Mart - it's been a month and he has been assured that they want to hire him, they just haven't called him in for the interviews & finalization yet!!). Please continue to pray for this situation. We really need this second income for Chris to go towards the adoption expenses.

I have been working on a Wish List at Wal-Mart. I think most of the things we need for the kiddos is listed. It is a work in progress (like the adoption!). You can access it through my name or Chris' name. It is registered as a Wish List, not a registry. I put our anniversary next year as the 'event date' for lack of a better date. It will change as we get closer to bringing our children home.

I talked with Donita Potts a few weeks ago and got some great ideas for fundraising! I was originally told that they fundraised both of their adoptions. Apparently that is not the case. She said that they fundraised the first adoption 100% through donations & activities. The second adoption was a gift from God. They prayed and said "God, if you want these children to join our family, you will provide the money". They didn't do any fundraising at all!! Just goes to show how great God is and how He provides for His children.

I heard from Amy Norton, a friend of our pastor's wife, and got some suggestions for agencies that we can contact about financial assistance (scholarships, grants, etc). I will be working on that this week.

Please continue to pray for us: stress levels are lowered (especially for me), we get clear direction on fundraising ideas, our children as they wait for us.

On a side note, my sister and I will be participating in a craft show at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in the Heights area here in Houston on Saturday, October 3. Feel free to stop by if you are in the area. Money from the items that I make goes toward our adoption expenses. Also, I make homemade goodies (desserts, enchiladas, lasagnas, etc) and the money from that also goes towards our adoption expenses. So if you don't bake or cook ......

Oh, the car is still for sale if you know someone who is looking.....

Life is settling down...

Okay, life is finally settling back to 'normal'. School has been in session for a week and a day and we can get back to doing what we need to in regards to bringing our children home. We have been given the phone number of a family that fundraised 100% of two separate adoptions from Russia, both of them being sibling groups. I called and left a message this afternoon to get ideas and talk with them about their experiences. I am looking forward to getting some great ideas!

On another note, we have decided to put my car up for sale and use the Dodge minivan God gave us back in May. It is an older model than my car, but will hold more people and stuff. If you know anyone who would be interested in a 2000 Chevrolet Prizm, let me know (rlarkins@pdq.net).

Please continue to pray for our children and their caregivers, our fundraising and the paperwork that we need to complete. Right now, we need $680 for Buckner (Home Study part 2), $750 for US Immigration, $160 for fingerprinting, $3,500 for Buckner (Agency fee part 1). Overall, we estimate that we will need $40,000 before we can send our Dossier to Russia (that includes all fees and travel & hotels/meals/etc in Russia)

We are OFFICIAL!!

I got THE PHONE CALL today around 1:45 this afternoon from Joy, our Home Study social worker informing us that we are Officially Approved to Adopt up to 2 siblings from Russia!!!

After some crying, writing information down and trying not to break down, I called Chris at work to tell him the GREAT NEWS!! Since he could tell I was (or at least had been) crying, he thought something was wrong, but was excited once I told him about Joy's phone call.

We have been waiting and praying for this day for about a year and God has been faithful. We really appreciate all of our family and friends that have been praying with and for us during this time. Please, Please continue to pray for and with us as we begin the next step.

From here, we need to submit a written financial plan (just saying that God will provide isn't good enough) for financing this adoption process. We estimate that we will need about $40,000 by the time we are ready to go pick up our children. Yes, that is a huge amount of money! And no, we are not exactly sure where it will come from. The nice thing about Buckner is that you pay as you go. If you don't have the funds for the next step, you wait until you do. The down side is that most of the paperwork that we will need to complete is time sensitive. So, we need to have as much of the money as possible (or all of it) collected before we begin the Dossier paperwork. Once we send the Dossier to Russia, it could be as quick as 4-6 weeks to get the referral from Russia. Apparently the referral process is not as long as we had originally been told!!

Right now, we need about $7,000 to start the next step: submitting the USCIS (immigration) form and get fingerprinted, paying the first half of Buckner's agency fee and several other miscellaneous fees. Now that our Home Study is complete, we can start applying for grants with various organizations (unfortunately most of them prefer stay-at-home, homeschooling moms).

Anyway, we are really excited!

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers; our financial situation; school (starts on Monday and I am NOT ready yet); we have patience during the rest of this process.

Post Office Issues

Okay, I am really frustrated with the United States Post Office. The envelope (with the last of our Home Study papers) that I sent out on August 6, 2009 (at 10:10 am) has not arrived at Buckner's office and the online tracking system has not updated since the envelope was 'accepted' at the Richmond Post Office. Yesterday I sent out copies (made from the copies I kept before sending the originals on the 6th) via Fed Ex Priority Overnight. When I checked their online tracking system this morning, it showed that the envelope was delivered at 8:35 am to Buckner.

Let this be a lesson to me (and anyone else who has to send papers in the mail) to NOT use the Post Office and send EVERYTHING via Fed Ex. It does get expensive, but it is SOOO worth it!!! (It also helps that Chris' stepfather is letting us use his account!)

Now, we get to wait some more, but at least I know the papers are at Buckner!

Please continue to pray for us during this time as we wait for our Official Approval.

Papers are in the mail

I sent out the last of the papers this morning! Yeah!! I even paid to send the envelope via certified, return receipt. Don't want them to get lost or misplaced! I email our social worker (Joy) last night to let her know that they were going out today and she said that she would get back to us in the next week or two. It is going to be a very loooong week or two! At least I go back to school (in-services for the first 6 days) next Wednesday. I am really praying that we hear that we are "Officially Approved" before my birthday (August 25). That would be the Bestest Gift Ever!

Please continue to pray for us as we wait during these next 2 weeks (or so). Also keep the Wal-Mart job for Chris in your prayers (haven't heard from them yet for the interviews). We know the next set of fees to pay are: travel for Joy to visit the house ($117) and the second half of the Home Study ($500).

Required Reading is Done!!!! (for now)

I have finally finished reading the last book! I have written my report; put it in the envelope with the rest of the papers; typed, printed and signed the cover letter; and put the cover letter in the envelope. Tomorrow, I will make copies of all the papers and mail the envelope to Buckner. YEAH!!!! This is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now we just get to wait, pray and wait some more.

Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we wait. Also keep our finances in your prayers. Chris has applied for a part-time job with Wal-Mart to help with our finances, but hasn't heard anything from them yet.

Almost done with reading

While I was in San Antonio this weekend for a Quack Pack (group of friends from high school) Reunion, Chris finished the last book we have to read: Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina. Woohoo! Now he needs to write up his report and he will be COMPLETELY DONE with his part. I got through chapter 1 of the book while waiting for my car to get inspected this morning, but should be finished with it sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. Once I get my report written, I can make copies of all the papers (for our records) and send it off to Buckner!

We got an email last week from our social worker stating that her part is done, she is just waiting for these 'book reports' and a copy of the report from the psychologist.

Now we get to continue waiting, only this time we are waiting for our OFFICIAL APPROVAL to adopt. Please continue to pray for us during this time.

Only One Book Left!

Chris finished the second book tonight and wrote his report! Woo Hoo! Now, we just have one left: Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina. We plan to read it together and it shouldn't take too long. All the papers should be finished and in the mail by next weekend.

Reading and Vacation

Chris is on vacation this week (if he doesn't take it by a certain time, he loses it) and has been reading one of the adoption books. He started yesterday and read on and off during the day. He took a break and went with me to my dad's house to water his pepper plants and got a lot read. As of right now (5:41 pm, according to the computer), he is about half-way through! Yeah! Once he finishes this book (Adopting the Older Child by Claudia Jewett, 1978), we will read the last book together (Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina). Since Chris set a 'want to be done by' date of the end of July, we don't have much time left if we are going to meet it! Personally, the start of next week is okay with me.

On a different note, I joined Facebook today. Yes, I have gone to the dark side... It is totally addicting and if I am not careful, hours will slip by and I will still be staring at the computer screen (like I did this afternoon).

Anyway, we are plugging along on the reading issue; I am so proud of Chris (he is not a big reader!). If I am not careful, he will finish both books and reports before me!

Please continue to lift us up in prayer: finances available when they are needed, preparing the house for our kiddos, getting ready to take on a second job again (Chris is planning on applying at Wal-Mart this week for a part-time job to help out with the finances), and me getting ready to go back for another school year (I am looking forward to meeting my new students!).

We are NOT crazy!!

Yesterday I spoke with the psychologist that did our adoption evaluation, and we are good to go (according to his report) for adopting! So for all of you out there that asked "Are you crazy?" in regards to adopting an older sibling group, according to a psychologist, we are not crazy!

Okay, maybe we are just a little bit, but who isn't (in some way or another). Anyway, he has sent in his report to Buckner, so the last of the paperwork is on us. Chris has been reading one of his 2 books and I have been working on getting the house back to normal (it still smells a little like paint).

Please continue to pray for our children and for our finances {we got the bill for the psychologist's paperwork (test scoring and report writing) yesterday}.

Whoo Hoo! The painting is done!

Yesterday morning the last 'touch ups' and such were done! Now I don't have to worry about being in someone's way while they are working (I actually got to sleep till 7:30 this morning). Now all that is left is to put everything back where it belongs. This is taking longer than it took to empty cabinets and such. I should be able to get the kitchen totally done tomorrow (started on it today).

Now, if we can just get the books finished...

Okay, last night the fumes finally got to me!

The kitchen cabinets were painted yesterday afternoon and the fumes were getting to me by bedtime! Nothing like waking up at 3:30 in the morning with a MAJOR MIGRAINE. Then Sheba started to bark at 4:00 for some reason (maybe because she saw me getting up for ibuprofen?) and didn't stop until about 4:30. I will be really glad when this is all done and life can get back to normal.

I think they are going to do the final walk-through/check this afternoon, so it should be completely done by tomorrow night. Sheba has been really traumatized this past week as she has been cooped up in her kennel most of the time (including yesterday evening because of the kitchen being painted). She has been 'talking' with the guys, and occasionally they talk to her. :)

Everything is looking great!

House looks great, not sure about us...

So far, they have completed the front 2 bedrooms, front bathroom, hallway, laundry room, dining/living room. They worked on Saturday getting the dining/living room done. We had Sunday off and they were back here on Monday to finish the 'touch-ups' in the dining/living room, move some of the furniture back in place (Yeah, I have the computer to work on), finish the laundry room and start on our bedroom & bath. We spent Sunday evening emptying our closets and I finished the rest of the bathroom stuff Monday morning. All of the ceilings are painted and they are supposed to finish our bath & bedroom today. Originally, they were supposed to have our rooms finished yesterday, but only 2 guys were able to work yesterday.

I get to finish emptying the kitchen cabinets today. I started last night, have worked some this morning and will finish the rest later this morning. I hope that they at least start on the kitchen walls today. There isn't a lot of wall space, it is mostly cabinets. Oh well. There is a 'Men's Night Out' tonight at BerryHill Tamales & Tacos in Sugar Land. I told Chris that he needs to go, if for no other reason than a good meal since I don't know if I can get into the kitchen to cook dinner. I picked up hot dogs & buns yesterday in case the kitchen was a mess. At least that is easy to fix (less than 2 minutes in the microwave which will be on its cart in the dining room). The coffee maker is being moved into the front bathroom so we can have coffee in the morning. Not sure if I will be able to make breakfast tacos for Chris, but I should still be able to make his sandwich for lunch tomorrow.

Hopefully I will be able to get some sleep soon. I haven't slept well since they started working last Thursday! Most mornings have been tolerable inside, but the afternoons and evenings have been really, horribly hot! The front door has been left open quite a bit with stuff being moved in or out in the afternoon. Our poor air conditioner has been working overtime (not to mention the HEAT Index!). It will be nice when our doors are back in place, then I won't have to go to the store to use the bathroom (didn't think about that problem last week!) during the day. Maybe I can get a nap this afternoon...

Living with Workers in our house

We are getting our house painted! The entire interior of the house! We have had someone offer to cover the cost, so we decided to get it started while I am home for the summer. We sat down with this company on Monday (we had a total of 4 different bids), liked what they had to say the best, picked out colors that closely matched what we had already chosen, and called them on Tuesday to confirm the agreement. We got an email on Wednesday morning asking if they can start on Thursday morning (we didn't think that they would start so soon!) and the crew arrived right on time at 8:30 this morning. Talk about short notice.

Chris and I started taking stuff down last night (realized that we didn't clean out as much as we thought for Joy's visit) and getting ready for the guys to start today. They are starting in the front 2 bedrooms (the kid's rooms) and the front bathroom. They are also taking all the interior doors off site to paint them (they need to be prepped before painting as they are vinyl and have never been painted). I told the crew chief (Manuel) that the only door they couldn't take was the front door! That one has been painted before, so they won't need to take it away with the others. Hopefully, we will have them back by Monday.

We are keeping our nephew overnight on Saturday so my sister and brother-in-law can go to his sister's surprise birthday party. It should be interesting to see how he is without doors in the house! I hope they get the front room completely done by Friday night so we can empty the stuff off his bed that we piled on it last night (I thought that he wasn't coming over until next weekend)!

Oh the things to look forward to next week: emptying all the kitchen cabinets & pantry, the laundry room, the bookshelves in the living room, figuring out if I have to empty the china hutch or if it can be moved VERY CAREFULLY from against the wall, emptying our closets (gives me a chance to sort though my clothes) and who knows what else I will have to do.

They should be completely done with the painting by next Friday, if all goes well. I think they are just prepping today and will paint the bathroom & kid's rooms tomorrow.

Two books down, one left to go (for me at least)...

I finally finished my second book (Adopting the Older Child) this afternoon and wrote my report! It took a while, but I managed to sit down, ignore the tv that Chris was watching and read the book. Now I have to read the last book, Raising Adopted Children, and I will be done with my required reading!

All that is left is for Chris to read the books and write his reports, then our part of the Home Study will be done!

Almost done with Home Study stuff

Chris and I met with a psychologist yesterday morning for our "Psychological Evaluation" that is required by Russia. We each spent 1 hour talking with him while the other was working on 3 different tests/written questionnaires. We stayed an extra hour to finish the paperwork so that it would all be done. Last night, we completed an on-line Parenting Inventory and sent the results out in today's mail. Now we just get to wait for him to write up his report, score the tests and let us know the results. We are becoming quite good at waiting...

This afternoon we met with our family physician and went over the "Family's Opinion of Possible Acceptance of Child with Minor or Correctable Medical Needs". We did make some changes after talking with him and listened to his recommendations. He did agree to most of what we had originally put down, which didn't surprise us.

We each have one book finished and report written (The Connected Child by Dr. Karen Purvis). I am still about half-way through the second book (Adopting the Older Child by Claudia Jewett). Chris will read it after I am done. Then only one book left to read and report on: Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina.

Once we finish the books, we can send in the papers (after keeping a copy for our records) and our part of the Home Study will be done! I hope to have it done within the next two weeks, but Chris' deadline is the end of July. Once all the papers are in, we just wait for the 'Official Approval to Adopt from Russia'.

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers.

Home Visit Went Well!

Our Home Visit with Joy went really well! We were up early in order to pick her up at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Her flight was early and so were we. Chris and I made a sign with her name and she thought it was great (no one ever had a sign for her before as she usually gets a rental car for the day). It was a quick ride back home and we got to talk during the ride. After getting home, we gave her the "Tour", starting with the outside. She liked the space in the backyard! As far as the inside, she just checked for outlet covers, door & drawer latches, fire extinguisher in the kitchen and checked smoke alarms. We sat at the table and talked for about 2 and a half hours, before we had to leave to take her back to the airport. We got her there in time to check in for her flight, then went to breakfast at IHOP (which was around 2:15 by then).

We decided to pick her up and take her back instead of having her get a rental car for the day (it was less expensive and we have to pay her travel expenses for the trip). I think it was a great idea. Not only did we save on the cost of a rental car, we got to visit with her some more and relax a bit before the "Interview".

We feel that it all went well, and that we will be "Officially Approved" when we get all the other papers in. The only things that she said that she needs to talk with Buckner about are: the number of children we are able to take and the financial aspect of it all.

As far as the number of children, she is not sure that we would be approved for 4, probably 2 or 3 instead. We assured her that we are okay with the decision that they make (it is in God's hands anyway!).

Regarding the money, she doesn't think that we would be denied just because we don't have money in savings (like thousands in savings). We did talk about different ways to raise the money: applying for grants after the Home Study in approved, Chris picking up a second job (probably at Wal-Mart), various fundraisers/garage sale/bake sales that we can do.

Right now, we have an appointment next Monday with a psychologist for our "Psychological Evaluations" that Russia requires. Joy passed on the name and number of the guy that one of the other families that we know used. He charges $160 an hour/session and we are scheduled for 2 hours on Monday to meet with him. One hour is talking with him and the other is working on the 'tests'. I don't know how much it will cost for the test scoring, but he said that it usually isn't that long. We have an appointment with our family doctor to go over the 'Family's Opinion of Possible Acceptance of Child with Minor or Correctable Medical Needs' form. After that, just need to finish the other 2 books, write the reports and send it all in to Buckner; and wait.

Please pray that we have the money we need for the psychological evaluations, Joy and the Buckner staff make the right decisions, that we are patient as we wait for an answer.

Getting Ready for Home Visit...

Chris and I have been working hard this past week (longer, actually) to get ready for our social worker's home visit on Saturday. I never realized what we have collected over the years and haven't gotten rid of! It is amazing what people collect and don't throw away. It is so easy to become a pack rat and hard to throw stuff out, but we are doing it! I think that we are ready for the Home Visit on Saturday (or at least we will be by Friday night). We pick up Joy at the airport in the morning and will take her back in the early afternoon. I know it is not a 'white glove' inspection visit, but you never know.....

We have childproofed all that we can think of, put the 7 pound fire extinguisher under the sink (behind a childproofed latch) and double checked the 2 CPS lists we have to follow.

Now, we just need to finish cleaning, hanging fresh towels in the front bathroom and wait. I guess that means that I need to stop writing and get back to work (laundry, dusting, vacuuming/sweeping, cleaning the kitchen, etc).....

Things are moving along

Only 2.5 days left with the kiddos at school! Then I get to work on the house stuff and the Home Study stuff. It will be nice to sleep till 5:30 (that's when Chris gets up) every morning!

I talked with Joy this afternoon and she will let us know the day she is coming down after talking with her husband (he will have the kids that day). We should know tomorrow if she is flying down on the 20th or 27th. We will pick her up at the airport and take her back (saves the cost of a rental car).

She sent us the information for a psychologist that one of the other families in the area used for their Psychological Evaluation that is required. I don't think that insurance will cover any of it (at least that is what I've been told so far), so I need to find out how much it will cost us. Please pray that insurance will cover part, if not all of the cost (or that the cost will be covered somehow!).

I've gotten information from Texas Children's International Adoption Clinic, and it will cost us $500 to set up a file for one child (each additional child costs $300). This will enable us to sit down with a pediatrician in the clinic and go over the Medical Check List that we need to re-do and re-submit. Please pray that God will provide at least $500 to set up a file.

We are still waiting for a written estimate from one of the painters we had look at the house,but at least we have picked out the colors we want!

I am about halfway through the 2nd Adoption Book (Adopting The Older Child [written in 1978]) and still have one more to go!

God gave us a mini-van!

Last Saturday we were able to pick up a mini-van that God gave us! It is a 1998 Dodge Caravan that seats 7, so now we have plenty of seating for our kids! We are REALLY excited about this addition to our family! It is in great shape and runs wonderfully. I got to drive it yesterday (Chris wouldn't give it up until then!) and it is really comfortable.

Now, we just need to finish other things.......

Not much going on right now

Chris and I plan to have Joy (we haven't checked with her yet) come down at the end of May to do the house visit and last interview. Still haven't read the other 2 books yet, but we are getting more stuff around the house done. Chris painted the garage door yesterday, so it doesn't look so bad! I am still trying to get used to the latches on the cabinet doors and drawers. After 2 broken nails, I've decided that short is good. I haven't had time during the day to find out about a psychologist yet. With super needy sewing students, phone calls from the office looking for students, meetings in my free time, I haven't had much time. Lunch is usually during class, instead of the 15 minutes I might have during my lunch period. Oh well, 5 more weeks to go then I get lots of free time! Of course, that means I have more time to get everything done that needs to be done....

Overwhelmed right now, but it's getting better!

Chris and I are still working on the Home Study stuff. We got home around 11:00 on Friday the 20th, after sitting in the Seminar all day and then driving home afterwards. Talk about exhausted! It took us a few days to get semi-caught up on sleep, although I don't feel like I am rested yet!

It was a great 2 days, but we hadn't had much time to really talk about what we learned when we got an email from our social worker the following Tuesday evening asking when (in April) can she come down for the home visit. As she was going to be out of town the last weekend, and Easter wasn't a good time, that left the first weekend and third weekend of the month available. Talk about extremely short notice! Since we haven't completed everything in the house that is on the CPS check list, the visit will have to wait! It took 2 emails and 2 phone calls to convince the social worker that we are not ready yet (in more ways than one!), but she has accepted that this is our process and we will let her know when we are ready. The good news is that we don't have to have all the other stuff (2 books, psychological evaluations, financial plan, medical check list) done before she sees the house. It all has to be done before the Home Study process can be completed and Final Approval is given to adopt.

Of course, we will have to pay as we go (which is something we already knew and planned for), so that will slow the process down as well. We need $500 for the second half of the Home Study process, fees for the psychological evaluations & medical check list meeting with a doctor, and $3,500 for the 1st installment of the Agency Fee when we are given the Final Approval. Please continue to pray that the funds will be available when they are needed.
Chris has installed the drawer and cabinet latches in the kitchen, children's bathroom and our bathroom; as well as smoke/fire alarms in the 2 extra bedrooms and checked to make sure that the other ones work. You never think of all that is necessary until you get 2 check lists that CPS requires.

School has been rather busy lately, but should get better soon. My students are starting their sewing projects this week and that is always a good time for me. Chris is seriously considering going back to Wal-Mart part time this summer (after the home visit by the social worker) to earn more to go towards the adoption (and get the last 2 credit cards paid off). I have been working on more baby blankets to sell. Liz (my sister) and I spent the morning at the Seven Lakes High School 3rd Annual PTSA Garage Sale on the 28th and sold 3 blankets! One lady bought a nap mat from our online store: www.LandRDesigns.etsy.com when Liz reactivated it on Sunday the 29th! I am really praying that more will sell (when they all get posted). If you know anyone who is looking for baby blankets, Burpcloth Babies or children's clothing, please feel free to pass our store site on!

International Adoption Seminar

Chris and I attended the required International Adoption Seminar by Buckner this past week and it was great! We drove up Wednesday afternoon and came back after the seminar was over Friday night. It was a long and tiring trip, but well worth it all.

The Seminar talked about attachment & sensory issues our children may have and we will have to deal with as well. It helped that we both had finished the book: The Connected Child by Dr. Karen Purvis prior to the seminar as alot of what was discussed was in her book. We feel better prepared now, but we still know that there will be other issues that pop up when we get our children home. We also had a break-out session that was specific to Russia, and that gave us a better insight in what to expect as we continue in the process.

It was really neat to meet 2 other couples that are adopting from Russia that live in the Houston area (one is about 10-15 minutes away in Sugar Land, and the other is in the 290 area, which is still rather close)! They are both looking for 1 child, age 2 and under. We are already planning on getting together in May, probably at a support group meeting.

Chris and I are still really tired, but that is to be expected when given an overwhelming amount of information for 2 days and then driving home that second night! We did walk to the Celebration Station (it is next to the hotel we stayed at) to paly 2 rounds of Putt-Putt Golf Thursday night to de-stress. We had a lot of fun; Chris won both rounds (by just a few points)!

We now have a lot more to discuss and plan for, but God is with us and will provide. Attending the Seminar puts us about half-way through the Home Study Process...

One book down...

Chris finished one of the books we have to read "The Connected Child" and wrote his summary report. I started reading it yesterday at school, but didn't get very far. I should be able to finish it before we leave for the seminar on Wednesday. He started reading the next book "Adopting the Older Child". I had to find it on Amazon.com because it is out of print (was written in 1978), but it still has good information. Our social worker, Joy, said that she wanted us to read at least one book on adopting older children since we are asking for older children. I still plan to read the one my sister got us for Christmas, "Toddler Adoption" as part of my list since they may be older in age, but on an emotional/mental level of a toddler.

We are attending the required International Adoption Seminar with Buckner this next week in Dallas. We plan to drive up when Chris gets off at 11:00 on Wednesday and drive home after it is done on Friday so that we can pick up our dog from the vet on Saturday (it will save us about $60 at the vet's and one night at a hotel). It will make for a very long day, but we are okay with it. We had hoped to get together with friends in Burleson, but they are going to be in Houston visiting with their kids and grandkids.

As far as the other parts of the Home Study: psychological evaluations and getting the house ready, we are waiting until we finish with the Seminar this week. I have been a bit stressed out right now, so I need to wait and do one thing at a time. We have done little things around the house, but are waiting (for now) to do the big things.

More stuff to do.......

Chris and I survived our first set of interviews with our social worker! We had a safe trip to Dallas and back and were glad to get home last night. Our meeting with Joy went really well. It took a little over 3 hours in all. We talked with her together and then separately. Most of what we talked about was stuff that we had answered in the questionnaire that was sent out with the application.

We should be able to attend the required 2 day Seminar during Spring Break, but we are waiting for confirmation before booking a hotel room. We now have more stuff to do. In addition to attending the Seminar, we are required to read 3 books and write a short report on each, get the house in better shape (according to check lists she sent us) and have our "Psychologicals" completed. Yes, we have to have a psych evaluation that is required by Russia. It involves meeting with a psychologist (of our choice), taking personality tests and having a personal evaluation as well as a marriage evaluation. What fun. Please, no jokes at this time!

Oh, we also have to put in writing our 'financial plan' for the expenses that will be incurred during this adoption process. In other words, we have to tell her how we plan to get the money we will need to bring our children home. Chris said (in the car on the way home yesterday), "I guess saying God will provide, isn't enough". We know that He will provide, but they want a more specific plan of action, such as savings, fund-raising activities, donations that we know about, grants/scholarships that we might be able to qualify for, etc.

Please continue to pray that the amounts that we need will be available when we need them so that the process won't be delayed because of the money. As of right now, we will need $300 for the Seminar (plus travel costs & hotel stay), $500 for the second half of the Home Study and $7000 for Buckner's fee after the Home Study is completed. Oh, we also need $750 + $160 for the Immigration services forms and finger printing.

Interview time...

Chris and I will be on our way tomorrow afternoon to Buckner's Dallas office to meet with Joy, our social worker, for the initial Home Study interviews. We are meeting her Thursday morning and will drive home afterwards. Please pray for safe travel there and back, as well as our state of mind (the interviews will take about 3 hours!).

We have a social worker!!!

Chris and I got an email yesterday afternoon from our Home Study social worker! We are really excited as this means that things will continue to go forward. Her name is Joy and she is located in Dallas. Unfortunately, it means that we will have to drive to Dallas to meet with her, but that is just part of the whole process. I called and talked with her today to set up our first set of interviews. She is available on Monday and Thursday mornings only, so we are going up next week. Because of mandatory TAKS training at school, I will have to be there Wednesday morning. Chris and I are both taking a half day off to drive up, spend the night somewhere and meet with Joy Thursday morning at the Buckner office. She said that it will take about 3 hours total, then we plan to drive home. We will have a joint interview and separate interviews.

Today, we got an email that included 2 check lists: Environmental Health & Fire Prevention so we can keep working on the house to make sure it is ready when she comes down for the house visit. She also mentioned that we will need psychologicals (required by Russia), but I am not exactly sure what that means. I guess we will find out!

Chris and I finally picked out paint colors for the main living areas (living room/office area/dining area/ hallway) and trim for the doors and door frames. Now, we just have to finish cleaning, sorting and getting rid of stuff! I knew that we were pack rats, just didn't think it was this bad.

We should be able to attend the required 2 day Adoption Seminar that is coming up in March once we get past the interviews next week. Thankfully it is during Spring Break so I won't have to take 3 days from school (Chris still has to take the days off). We have the three books to read and will start reading them next week. In addition, Chris and I are attending the Wednesday night Adult Bible Study class at church on "Shepherding A Child's Heart". I am going to ask Joy if it will count towards our required training/education. Hopefully it will, but we are enjoying it even if she says no!

Please continue to pray for us during this time, as well as for Joy. Don't forget to continue lifting up our children and their current caregivers!

Now the money issues (or lack of money) begin....

Still waiting...

We are still waiting for the email and phone call to begin the Home Study. I talked with Buckner last week and confirmed that they had all our paperwork. It was being compiled and would be given to the director to review. She would then assign it to a case worker (social worker) who will contact us for the first interview. They have a contract worker in the Houston area, so hopefully it will be assigned to her (or him). That would make it easier for meetings and for them to come to the house (less travel). Please continue to pray that the funds show up so that each step in this process will be able to proceed quickly.

Just waiting for a phone call...

We checked the FedEx tracking website and found out that the papers we mailed on Saturday arrived yesterday around noon and now we get to wait for the phone call to start the Home Study process. It is going to be hard to just sit back and wait.

Paper work is done! (for now)

Chris and I finally got all of our papers done this week (Thursday night to be exact) and sent it out this morning. The first set weighed just under 2 pounds and this set weighed exactly 1 pound. Talk about a lot of paper! All of our other papers (doctor report, references, etc) are in, or at least will be next week. One of our references didn't get their form out until yesterday, but that is okay with us as it was in the mail before our last set of papers! Buckner should have the package by 3:00 on Monday. Now we get to wait.

Chris and I were talking about the financial stuff this morning while running errands. We figured that we will need at least $35,000 for just one child. It will take around $45,000 - $58,000 to adopt up to 4 children. Right now our most pressing concern is the $8,000 that we will need for the home study process (Buckner fees, Immigration form fees, fingerprinting fees, etc).

When will the paper work end?

We are still working on the questionaires for the application. Chris finished his rough draft the other day and is almost finished with transcribing it onto the 'official' form. I finished my copy of the rough draft tonight and started transcribing onto the 'official' form, but didn't get very far. Talk about hand cramps! It has been hard to put into written words what is much easier to talk about. At least it is mostly finished! We just need pictures of the house (front & back), a credit report for Chris, finish the 'official' forms, make copies of every thing and then get it all in the mail.

Encouragement

One of the Assistant Principals at the school where I teach gave me some encouragement today. She and her husband are waiting to find out when they will be able to go to Korea to pick us their 2nd child that they are adopting through Dillon International. They have gone through this process twice and it was good to hear that she is also anxiously waiting for her son. It is nice to know that we are not alone in our feelings. Even though we are in the early stages, we are ready to bring our children home. I am beginning to feel that I am out of patience, and the process hasn't really started in earnest yet!

Still working on stuff

Gave out the reference letters at church yesterday. We didn't think it would be so hard to think of people to ask, but it was harder than we thought. Only a few more things to go and all the paperwork will be in: credit reports, pictures of the house (need to mow the lawn first) and the questionaires. Those seem to be the tough ones to write. We knew that they would ask personal questions, we just didn't expect the level of depth they would ask. Sometimes it is easier to talk about all kinds of personal things than to put it in writing. Everything should be sent out by the end of the month, then we get to wait. And wait. And wait.

More paperwork done!

Chris and I had our adoption physical on Monday and all is good! The tests required by Buckner all came back as expected: negative or normal. It is nice to know that we are healthy (at least on paper!). We still have the references to get out, credit reports pulled, pictures of the house and our questionaires to finish, but everything else is done. Wow. It has been a lot of work. The last of the papers should all be done and sent in by the end of the month (if not sooner!). Then we just get to wait and wait, and wait....

School is back in session and I am already looking forward to the 19th which is a holiday! Chris and I both started getting sick late last week (me on Friday & Chris on Saturday). It was so bad Sunday that we both stayed home from church. It is hard getting up at 5am when you are not feeling good and only have a few hours of sleep, but my students have been great about it. It will be nice when the meds finally do their job and I can breathe easily, not have a raw, sore nose from blowing it every 5 minutes and hacking up nasty stuff. It will also be nice to sleep more than 2 hours at a time. Chris took off this afternoon because of feeling so bad.