Eating Cake

I've gotten to eat cake twice this week (and who wouldn't love that?!) for two very different reasons. The first cake was a peace offering of sorts. After an unusually rough day, my kids "surprised" me with this cake and flowers. They bought it on their own while I was grocery shopping. It was fun watching them run around the grocery store hiding things behind their backs :) It was a very sweet gesture and was better than any Mother's Day present ever!
On Friday night we headed to the Bentons to celebrate the Moon Festival. We jokingly called this the "plaid couch photo" (for those in the Chinese adoption world you'll get the joke). We celebrated with Chinese food, lots of giggles and play and of course, moon cakes. These are the traditional cakes eaten at the Mid Autumn Moon Fesitival. Legend has it that messages in these small filled cakes (round of course for the moon) helped the Chinese defeat the Mongols (who evidently did not eat mooncakes ). They have been eaten in celebration ever since. We had coconut (with an egg yolk in the middle), mixed nut and red bean paste. My favorite was the coconut (minus the egg yolk) but the red bean paste was a hit as well (it is sweet and a popular ingredient in Chinese deserts).
Sarah looks so good in the bright colors (and yes, she got her bangs cut today)!
Anna is practicing her big sister skills on Alex :)
Jacob and some of the other merry party goers!

So much for losing those extra pounds before we go to China!!!

No TA this week...

At least we are consistent. We aren't going to be the quickest for anything this time around!! We're down to 35 seats left on the flight for the 25th but it is still too early to make reservations because of the holiday (or holiweek as I call it) next week. It is possible we will have to leave a day early and spend an extra night in Beijing. Not the end of the world but of course we'd rather leave the 25th. We'll keep you posted!

Urgent Prayer for Adoptions in Guatemala

This comes from one of my best friends, Dawn.  I've asked for prayer for them before.  I'm asking once again that we fall before God's throne and carry these families and children before Him.  While our process has not been the smoothest around, we know that in a few weeks, we will be getting on a plane and bringing Caleb home.  Right now, Dawn and Gareth do not have that assurance.

Please read this and pass it on to those who will join in our prayers!

 

For a long time, there has been rumor that the
government of Guatemala
was going to cease adoptions with the U.S. However,
a few days ago
the U.S. Department of State published a document
saying that is
exactly what is going to happen. Apparently, certain
government
officials in Guatemala have made known that currently
all adoptions
with the U.S. are to cease by January 1, 2008. The
way things are
going right now, there is not even a chance to begin
adoptions again
possibly until April of 2008.

The U.S. DOS and some adoption organizations are
trying to convince
Guatemala to include "Grandfather clauses" in the
legislation they are
passing. This would allow families already in the
adoption process in
Guatemala to continue. There is also a chance that
the Jan. 1 date
could be pushed back.

There are hundreds of families in the adoption process
right now who may not be able to bring their children
home. There are thousands of children in Guatemala
who will not have the chance to be part of a family,
and there are no social services to be able to
provide for them.

As you know, this has already been a stressful and
very emotional process for us. We have been at this
for 18 months now and we have a little boy who will be
a year old in just 2 weeks that is waiting for us. We
have no idea how much longer we will be in this
process or if we will be done prior to this taking
effect.

PLEASE PRAY
1. For the families and children who are in this
process...they are
going through tremendous stress and heartache right
now. We have many friends that are adopting from
Guatemala as wel that really need your prayersl!!!!

2. That the leaders in both countries will focus on
the children who
are involved, rather than their pocketbooks or
reputations.

3. God will use on e of these possible changes or one
of His own
miraculous design to allow these children to join the
forever families
who are waiting for them.

44 and counting...

There are still 44 seats left on that flight from Dulles to Beijing on the 25th....Boy we'd like a ta so we could take 7 of them!!!!

Clarification

I just want to make sure that everyone understands that I am NOT anti public education. I have experience in all 3 arenas (public, private and homeschooling). All 3 have their pros and cons and all 3 have their place. It just irritates me when anyone one type of schooling (public, private or homeschooling) thinks that they have the corner on education and that anyone who doesn't do it their way is wrong. I've met people in all camps that think that their way is the only way. My beef with the NEA is that they are so influential when it comes to public opinion and they feel threatened by anything that isn't public education. It is hard enough to school my kids - having to constantly defend our decision against well meaning but not all knowing educators makes it even harder. I guess I'm more sensitive to this because of my education background and the fact that at least one of my kids has spent time in a public education that just didn't work for him. So, to Donna and all my teaching friends - I so appreciate what you guys do! I know what you do is hard and that it is often a thankless job. Do not for a minute think that I am attacking you or the role that public education has in our society. There may come a day when one or more of our kids attend a public school (it sure won't be until HS though - our MS is awful!). But it just doesn't fit every kid and it gets old having to listen to the old arguments about how we are ruining our kids by schooling them at home. If all 3 camps would listen to the ideas of each other, I think all kids would benefit. I've learned a lot from my public school teacher friends as well as my homeschooling friends. All have a passion for teaching kids. I just don't understand why it has to be a battle between the two.

Burr under my saddle

This little tirade is not directed toward those who are not homeschooling their kids and is not a bash on public schools. It is directed at the NEA. Yep, the NEA. I was just reading their annual meeting report and the synopsis is that they think that children who are homeschooled don't get an adequate education and that only state certified parents should be able to homeschool as long as we pay for it (which we do by the way, every single penny with no tax break at all), teach exactly what we are told to teach (by them of course), take all their silly tests and our children don't participate in extracurricular activities (which if our children are at such a disadvantage, you'd think they would want to "help" them all they could if they really had the kids' best interest at heart) . When I brought Nathan home to be schooled 6 years ago, his reading specialist had a fit (I do believe it had to do with her "program" being messed up but that is a different story). She thought I was doing him a terrible disservice. When I asked her point blank if she knew any homeschoolers, she admitted that she did not. As someone who is trained in the education field, this just drives me bonkers!!! If I were in their classrooms, doing what they told me to do, I would be a professional. But since I am schooling my kids at home instead, I am a fringe parent who is doing my children a disservice. Amazing. I have to go and teach now.

Resting or Nesting?

First of all, thanks for all the sweet comments about Caleb's pictures. I know that we weren't the only ones who were concerned about the pictures we got of him in July. It is such an answer to prayer to see him look so much more alert and filled out. Thank you to all who continue to lift our little guy up - your prayers are keeping him safe until we can get him home!
I know that Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest but I had a 2 hour block of time this afternoon with Ken home and no other plans. So, I decided to stock my freezer. I know that once we get home, life is going to be hectic, to say the least. I ran to the store and bought 2 chickens, ground beef, sausage, chicken breasts and beef steaks. 2 hours later I have the makings for 9 different meals in my freezer. I'm going to try to do this one more time before we go so that my freezer is full and we won't be eating Chinese takeout every night when we get back!
We also got the crib up! This is at least the 7th time we've put this thing together so it didn't take long. We've put it in the nook in Jacob's room right now - we'll have to see if that works. I've put the motorcycle quilt that my mom made for Caleb on (it isn't easy to find baby quilts that coordinate with Jacob's dirt bike theme....) and will be working on making this little corner all his own. I'll post photos once I'm done.
So today wasn't very restful but it was productive. I'm not happy about the wait but I'm going to try to make the most of my time.
Anyone want to go Christmas shopping?!