Spring Plantings

I love that Tori enjoys doing crafts just as much as I do. Here's yesterdays...

Aren't they eggdorable?

What's on the reading list

The other day I realized how much my temporary bookshelf reflects what is going on in my life. It's temporary because I know if I add these books to any of my bookcases they will be forgotten. In fact I just realized that a few of my parenting books have been miss shelved and they haven't gotten much attention lately. If you can tell from this collection... I LOVE to read. Thanks Mom & Dad for paying me a dime a chapter to read when I was little. It's a priceless gift. If you're looking for a great deal on books check out http://www.half.com/ . I found that sight recently and my bookshelf has grown a lot recently. I've got a back up of books and not enough time to read them.

In this photo you'll see that building our addition is on our list. So is our adoption, church stuff, my book club. Book in different locations include my gardening books which are currently outside being used. We expanded and planted our garden this past weekend. The South Beach diet is in the kitchen... yes, I'm going to start that diet but not until after Easter. My parenting books have been moved back to the temporary shelf. My many magazines are in my favorite reading spots. I love Sunset, Family Fun, Lasting Moments (CM) , and Better Homes and Garden. My bible and study on the life of Daniel are in my book bag ready to take out to the sunshine to study and pray.

You know what is missing??? Travel books! Those are all in the permanent book shelves... but we do have a lot of them and we do plan to do something this summer to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.

Talking about all of these books and magazines makes me want to get outside and read... bye bye.

Adoption- Here's what we're doing

So, over the past few months I've mentioned our plans to adopt in our Christmas letter, our blog, and on Facebook... and it's making people curious. I would love to answer every ones e-mails individually but I thought I'd blog about it so that if (I mean- when) I get side-tracked and forget, you'll know I'm not intentionally ignoring you.Here's the deal- Jeff and I were having a discussion about how many kids we want and we couldn't come to an agreement. I said at least 3 and he said, "we don't have the infrastructure to support more." I'm not kidding- he's such an engineer. Me, being a great debater, pointed out the fact that- "infrastructures are built". Ha, got him on that one! So the conversation continued.One day in church we were watching a video and there was an African child living in extreme poverty. It was heartbreaking! (We witnessed this kind of poverty when we lived in the Dominican Republic for several months and it's something that we will NEVER forget... and don't want to. It changed the way we view everything.) OK, back to the day we watched the video- when we came home from church Jeff said to me, "I don't want to bring another child into this world when there are little ones Tori's age living on the streets in cardboard boxes." As we watched her playing in the front yard, He continued, "Where she will sleep and what she will eat today is the furthest thing from her mind." Ahh... I love this man.Well, we had always talked about wanting to adopt but I had thought it would be further down the road when our kids were older. So, I spent an afternoon talking with God asking Him if we should adopt. During that time I felt that I needed to give up my desires to physically have another child, fears of my ability to love this child as much as Tori & Siah, and fears of a difficult adoption process. My prayer time was amazing! There are times in my life where God speaks to me so clearly that it's almost audible... this was one of them. He told me, "it's not, IF you adopt? It's- WHEN!" Oh, that got me excited and truly my fears were calmed. (Another child without being prego and without having a 3rd C-section= total bonus!) I'm sure I'll have to surrender more fears as the process continues, but I'll cling to my absolute assurance that God has a plan for our lives and it involved someone that we haven't met yet but already love. Here are the details- we are going through a local Christian agency in Scotts Valley called Hand In Hand. They work with a lot of the state agencies. So far, we've almost completed our paperwork... it's long and it doesn't help that mine got erased (thankfully I had a hard copy and now only need to re-type it.) We also need to do all sorts of things like background checks, physicals, CPR, and trainings. We're hoping to complete everything in March and then do the home study. After that... we're not sure about the timing. We're not planning to specify a boy or girl but we do want a child younger than Josiah by at least 9 months.We also need to add on to our house (ah, infrastructure) and we'll probably be buying a minivan (more infrastructure).Check back here occasionally and I'll update everyone on what's going on. Oh, and please be praying for our family and the family that will be involved in bringing our little one into our lives. Feel free to contact us any time... I really do try to get back to e-mails it just takes me some time.

Adoption question

Jeff is working on his part of the adoption application. I loved his answers to the following question-

o Please discuss briefly each of your children and how each is special to you.

Tori is my little princess. She is definitely a sensitive personality that likes to do girl stuff. At the same time she likes to get dirty and throw dirt clods. What a great combo! She is sharp as a tack, always keeping me on my toes.

Josiah is already a man’s man. He can bust down the door to the room while riding the dog bare back and then charm everyone with his smile and personality. It will be my challenge to train him to use his skills for good.