Summer School (such as it is...)

We have enrolled David into kindergarten for the fall.  Because of this, we have been working with him on an almost constant basis every day to get him ready (at least as ready as he can be).  He will be one of the younger ones in the class (his birthday is the second day of school this year), but we believe that he will do just fine.  We have already talked with the school counselor about him and his educational background (as much as we know about it and what we have observed) and she believes that he will do fine.  We are prepared to deal with any issues that arise as well as the possibility that he may have to repeat kindergarten and we are okay with that. 

In order to get him better prepared, David has been attending 'summer school' classes with Rachael.  They have been working on basic writing (holding the pencil correctly was a challenge at first!), numbers, colors, shapes, letters (both upper and lower case), visual discrimination activities, etc.  His basic fine motor skills are okay, but he does have a problem holding crayons correctly as well as staying within the picture while coloring.  Overall, we are impressed with his progress.  He may not be entirely on level with some of these basic skills, but he is getting there.  We don't think that anyone really worked with him prior to us, but he is doing well.

We allowed him to pick out some of the school supplies that he is working with right now, as well as some of the posters that now grace our dining room wall.  He has some really cool pencil grips that force him to hold the pencil correctly (even though he says that they hurt his fingers!) and is doing great!

Here are some pictures you may enjoy!

Ready for Summer School!

School Posters

More School Posters

David's Reward Chart

Michael's Reward Chart

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

School Work

Back to work...

Chris returned to work today at Wal-Mart.  He is going to go full time now instead of part time since he is no longer working for Fort Bend ISD (his choice, not theirs!)  He left this morning at 8:30 and should be home around 6:30ish tonight.

The boys and I are on our own today. 

Should be interesting today since the boys both work up rather fussy and whiny.

I know: Welcome to Parenthood!!

On a side note: for those who have been reading the blogs and thinking that Chris has written them, sorry to say that all the writing is done by Rachael (even when it is written in third person).  Chris has only contributed to a few of them and didn't even read most of them until last week.

Dossier Instructions are here!!

Our Russia Dossier Instructions came via email this morning!! Whew!

AACK. UUUHHH?? HUH??

Okay. Read them, saved a copy in our Adoption file on the computer. Left the house, ran errands. Got home, read them again, printed a copy, read the copy and decided that it can wait till tomorrow to go back over and start working on it.

Several forms have to be typed and signed in blue ink while being notarized. Have to make sure to follow very specific directions regarding notarization. Hmmm.

Need to create a Picture Book while following specific directions of that (and will need to get it notarized and signed by the social worker). Hmmm.

THINGS TO DO: Clean house so we can take pictures; get yard mowed, edged, cleaned up so we can take pictures; empty bedroom (& hopefully get furniture in it) so we can take pictures; get stuff we want for the bathroom so we can take pictures; bathe the dog so she will look good in the pictures; find money to pay for all the stuff we need......

I plan to get certified copies of our marriage license this next week and drive up to Denton with a friend to get certified copies of my birth certificate. And wait to get Chris' birth certificate copies in the mail. Hopefully they will get here in the next few weeks (or sooner!!).

As soon as we get the go-ahead and all the papers are in order, I will take a road trip to Austin to get it all apostilled (ap-oh-steeled).

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers. Also continue to keep our finances in your prayers. We have enough for the fees related to the adoption, but still need furniture for the children's bedroom (we found storage beds on Wal-Mart.com that we really like that has dressers and such to match). The furniture will cost around $800 (not including mattresses). We still don't have bedding, towels, etc. I have set up a Wish List with Wal-Mart for things we would like to have. Unfortunately the furniture is not able to be listed (no gifting options). Gift cards are always welcome! :)

YEAH!!! We are getting closer......

Home Study Update meeting

We heard from Pat (the social worker who is doing our update) Thursday afternoon (5:00ish) and found out that she wanted to meet with us this weekend, preferably early Saturday morning. I was able to convince her that Sunday afternoon (3:30ish) would be better. So, she should be at our house around 3:30 Sunday (May 16) to meet with us and go over any changes that have happened since our first Home Study meeting. Shouldn't take too long, not a lot to report. Okay, the fact that we have $26,000 in the bank is a GREAT update to report! Thanks to family, we were able to get there!! Chris' Wal-Mart paychecks are also helping (about $450 every two weeks). I will add $270 after next weekend (I am delivering cinnamon rolls & catering a graduation party). Oh, and our IRS refund came in today. That is going to pay for the Home Study Update and getting the air ducts cleaned out this summer.

I was really praying that I would have a large amount to deposit today, but the rain made it impossible! Liz & I had scheduled to be at a craft show in the Heights area today (scheduled it several months ago) and when we were there in October, we both did really well. Liz sold 5 of her toy cloth balls and that was it! The forecast in Houston was 40% of scattered showers. We had RAIN (not showers) starting at 9:30ish and it never stopped! It did seem to lighten up several times, but when the lightening & thunder showed up around noon, we decided that it was time to go. Over half of the vendors had already packed up or were in the process of packing up at that time. At least we got the rest of the afternoon (after lunch & two shopping stops) to get things better organized & packed back up. Now, I just need to finish drying my blankets (about half got semi-soaked) and they will be ready to go back to Liz's house for storage (at least until they sell).

Anyway, God has & still is blessing us tremendously!

Now to eat some dinner, clear off the dining table, put stuff in the garage for storage and finish cleaning for our visit with Pat tomorrow. Probably another night of little to no sleep (okay I will probably get about 5 hours), but it will (and is) so worth it!!!!

Oh yeah, only 12.5 school days left (weekends don't count)!!!

Update

It's been a while since my last post; here's what is going on right now....

1. Working on 10 blankets right now (ordered by Family to Family Adoptions to give to their new adoptive families). 6 are completed and 4 are still a work in progress. The proceeds will go into our Adoption Fund.

2. Working on menu and stuff for a concession stand at the Greater Houston Ham Fest (run by Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club) on Saturday, March 6. Our stand is called "DX Kid's Cafe" and we are hoping to bring in a fair amount of money for our Adoption Fund.

3. My students at school are now working on their sewing projects and I am really enjoying it!

4. Chris is working at Wal-Mart, with his paycheck going into our Adoption Fund. He is still a cashier, but is hoping that they will move him to another area soon.

5. My sister is donating a portion of items that she makes and sells (from today till January 31) through our Etsy shop: www.landrdesigns.etsy.com to Compassion International that will go to help those in need in Haiti. Stop by our shop and check it out.

6. I sent the paperwork yesterday to renew my passport. Pray that it gets processed quickly.


It doesn't seem like much, but we are busy!

Please keep us and our children in your prayers! We currently have just under $7,000 in our Adoption Fund. We need about $40,000 before we can send our paperwork to Russia.

Back to the blankets; they won't make themselves!!