6 More Weekends

With only six weekends left living in Washington State we're working up a storm packing up our house. Since this move is our choice while Matt is deployed we are required to do all the work ourselves.

So, for the past several weekends, Matt has cleaned out the garage and we've begun working on the indoors. The garage was so full of our stuff that we couldn't get the van parked inside. In fact, it was so crowded in there that we had to walk a specific trail just to get to the stand-up freezer. We couldn't even store the garbage cans in there... They just wouldn't fit!

Needless to say, our van is now able to park inside the garage... With TONS of room to spare! I LOVE it and will enjoy the remaining six weeks of getting from the house to the van without getting soaked from sprinting through the rain.

In the mean time, I have boxes just waiting to be filled. Oh we'll need lots more, but at least I have stuff that I can work with for the next week or two.

We also scheduled our housing pre-inspection and final out inspection. On February 3rd, between 8:00am and 12:00pm the inspector will come out and see what we need to repair and clean (I'm hoping he won't have us clean the carpets, but I have a feeling he will since we have pets). And on February 23rd, between 9:00 and 11:00am another inspector will come out to ensure we did everything that was on the list to do (properly, of course), at which time we will turn in all the keys we were issued along with the garage door openers (which we are now able to use) and then we will be on our merry little way to California.

So... The busy little bees that we are: We have lots of work to do and only six weeks left to do it in!

Talk About "Thank God"...

I received a FABULOUS phone call this morning from M's reading teacher, Mrs. V. She sounded a bit concerned when I initially answered, so I was preparing myself for a much needed "mother-moment".... You know, that's one of those phone calls where the teacher says, "Mrs. So-And-So, your child is misbehaving and you need to talk to him or I will have to send him home." Okay, well, maybe you don't know what those phone calls are like, but I can tell you from personal experience that my son abhors those phone calls. You see... I don't just sit at home and yell over the phone. I drive myself down to the school, fling myself dramatically into the classroom like a tornado and proceed to make his life a living hell. Thank God I've only had to do that once. Afterwards, all they must do is ask if he needs them to call me into the classroom and his behavior changes like a catepillar changes into a butterfly. It's dramatic to say the least.

But, I digress. This morning's phone call was specatular and had me cryin tears of joy. We had spent the three weeks of winter break (two weeks for winter break and the week prior were snow days here in Washington) playing and just having fun. We didn't study or read or do anything remotely close to what would be considered studying. This was not my intention at all as I had their things set out ready to be read and studied for a brilliant day back at school. This information is vital because it makes the news so much more brilliant!

Young Mr. M PASSED his Chapter 13 reading test! Albiet he did not get a 100%, but he did score enough points to pass. This is so amazing because he has only ever passed one other test after the first month of school! What a pure joy it was to hear this news. Even better? Mrs. V actually cried from joy once she learned that he didn't study at all while he was on Christmas Break!

Needless to say, we're so extremely proud of him and we are giving him a very nice reward: He's having his first sleepover and pizza party (granted, it is with only one friend, but he'll be thrilled)!!! We're even going to allow him to stay awake until 9:00 (his usual bed time is 7:00-7:30). Little Ms. C won't get the extra reward and will still have to follow bedtime rules since she didn't get all of her points this week (making M's reward that much sweeter, of course)!

Oh, Thank God!!!

It makes one feel almost joyous when a long school break is over. The kids have both been out of school now for more than three weeks, making this one of the longest holiday vacations I have ever endured... Ooops, I mean, enjoyed!

The break was long due to winter weather that hit our area so hard the week before the Christmas break. The kids enjoyed the decent amounts of snow, as did Matt and I (to some extent).

Unfortunately, though, the days kept getting longer and longer. M even started acting out from shear boredom, I'm sure. He has enjoyed having his new toys and was saddened when we tossed most of his old ones (although he felt some relief knowing that some other child would be able to enjoy them in the future just as much as he has enjoyed them in the past). But, three plus weeks of nothing to stimulate his (and C's) growing mind (because I utterly failed in the education department during this long break) was ultimately too much for him.

So, it was with pure relief for all four of us that the kids went back to school today. I know it will be rough getting back in the groove of school for M (and a pure joy for little miss C), but it will be well worth every minute!

Finally... I get some much needed peace and quiet! Woo-Hoo!!!

It's A New Year Already?

Wow has this year flown by. So much has happend that I am thankful for and so much has happened that I wish hadn't. But, as I sit here typing this post I bear in mind that each fall from dreamland gives us something new to learn from and something unique to look forward to. Whether it be a new life or a new car, getting rid of old things or saving old memories, or simply seeing out an old year and being able to rejoice in the new I try to remember that everything has it's purpose in my world.

These last several months have seen friends who have waited for years for their children are finally bringing their little ones home. And they've also seen friends hurt and devastated by the loss of children they had fallen in love with and hoped to adopt. Even Matt and I have experienced this type of loss this year, with the loss of a beautiful 4 year old little deaf boy whom we had applied to adopt from China. But, he was adopted within his own country and we are thrilled for him. He is such a doll and he deserves to have a beautiful life with people who will love him just as we would have.

We've also attempted to help our family grow through other methods. Adoption through foster care is finally back on our plate. We are more ready to take on that risk of heartbreak again.

Matt's father has slowly begun having contact with us again. this has been a huge surprise, but welcome. I'm sure it's been just as difficult for him as it has been for us. We can easily forgive, though it's often difficult to forget actions and words that have been done and said (by both sides). We sincerely hope we are all able to continue to work through these early days of a renewed relationship and are hopeful that, one day, we will be able to be closer. Although we have no clue where Matt's sisters or step-mother and the rest of their family stands on the issue of a renewed relationship, we are grateful that J has taken this huge first step in opening communication. If I had to pick the single greatest surprise of 2008, this moment would be it! Thankfully it was a pleasant surprise.

Speaking of Matt's father, this past year Little M has been interested in learning about his extended family (both biological and adoptive). He, in fact, now tells me that he's going to tell my mom, his Nana, when I do something he doesn't like. He often asks about Matt's family and doesn't quite understand why his daddy's daddy isn't known.

I completed writing two books this year. One is titled "Adopting An Angel" (the link is at the top of the homepage) while the other is entitled simply "Honu". Adopting An Angel has two versions. The first version (completed late 2007) is a private version that is a detailed account of C's journey into our world, while the public version (completed in 2008) is less personal with names of our guides and coordinators changed for privacy, though it contains all other non-personal details as the original. Honu, on the other hand, is a personal book written solely for our son and is mainly a photographic history of his first years. They were both such fun and worthy projects and I've decided to do one for each of my children in the future.

C has also grown by leaps and bounds. The progress she has made both in her education and her personal abilities (such as bonding/attachment abilities) has been tremendous. At the beginning of the year, when Matt returned from his one-year hardship tour in Korea, C was obnoxious, telling Matt to leave and she didn't like him, every day. But now she sleeps in his arms and cuddles out of the blue... It's such a precious sight to see! In addition, she has grown so much taller and has thinned out, lossing much of her baby-fat. Her hair is luxurious and lays all the way to the center of her back. She's so beautiful! I can't stop looking at her!!!

M, too, has grown emotionally (and physically). He's made such huge strides in school, though he'll still repeat 1st grade this upcoming school year (which will give us two 1st graders). He's better able to focus and is less angry and touchy with his peers. He's able to follow directions and complete tasks. I am so proud of him. In addition, he's grown so tall that, at just 6-1/2 years old, he stands at the top of my breasts (and I'm no slouch at 5' 7"). He's so skinny that I worry about his health, though I know he's perfectly fine. He's in 8 slim pants, though he's growing out of those so quickly we're going to have to buy him 9 slims before too long. He's a weed that I just can't control!!! And he, too, is so beautiful that I can't stop looking at him.

I love my kids and can hardly wait for next year when we can begin the process of adopting another child again.

2009 holds many trials for our family... Matt will deploy in March and the kids and I will be moving home to be with family for support. But, we'll be as strong and as willing to make this sacrifice as our many predecessors, for whom we are hugely grateful.

Wishing each and every one of you a Happy New Year, a peaceful resolution to all of your dillemmas and many huge thanks to all of our men and women in uniform and their families who, too, must sacrifice so much!

Just For You, SGM...

These past three weeks have been horrendous for Matt's office. Between the weather and the Christmas Exodus that soldiers are treated to, work has been at a standstill (according to Matt). The kids and I have loved having Matt home so much, but I think his SGM would rather work a bit more. They're prepping to deploy and, if he's anything like Matt, the SGM is anxious to get the ball rolling. :)

Anyway, I'm directing this post to Matt's SGM because he, according to Matt, paid me a compliment that I just cannot ignore. Apparently Matt's SGM expressed his appreciation of my writing skills. I was very encouraged by the compliment and am thrilled to be able to give Matt's boss a detailed account of Matt's where abouts at any given time (SGM found a post stating that Matt went to work at 7:00am, which is normally utterly rediculous since their report time is 8:30. This made SGM question what I was reporting, but, after looking up the date, he found it to be accurate due to it being a deployment training day). lol...

As for the rest of our happenings:
Matt rented a storage unit nearby and we've (okay, so I meant to say that he's) started working on getting our things moved into it. Matt took down our indoor Christmas decorations and has already stored them. Then we (and yes, I actually helped) went through several boxes from the garage. We ended up giving 7 medium-large boxes to Goodwill. They were stuffed full of toys, crafts, clothes and miscellaneous items that we no longer wanted or needed. The idea is to downsize our rather large holdings in order to make future moves more efficient. Besides, there are not going to be too many places that will have a nice sized garage to allow us the space to store all of our junk in our future locations (especially if I get my way and we end up in Hawaii [or even Korea, which is another location I'd really like to live at some point]).

Little Mr. M suprised me this morning. He was playing his Nintendo DS; Brainage, which I bought for myself. I've learned it's quite a unique, fun and interesting way to help M (and C as soon as I teach her) keep up with his addition and subtraction as well as some of his reading. It's been a wonderful introduction to multiplication, too. This morning he ended up reading a portion that I thought he was totally incapable of deciphering by sounding out the words. This is a HUGE accomplishment for M because he has never quite understood how the "sound it out" process worked. He is able to say the sound of each individual letter but isn't able to sound things out fluidly to make the word more coherent. Well... He did just that this morning when he sounded out "blue", "black", "red" and "yellow". I'm so proud of him!

C is still doing marvelously. Her kindergarten teacher mailed a packet home to enable us to work with her on her "DIBELS" test (this is a test that checks how well the kids are learning their phonics). Sadly, it was a wasted envelope, paper, time and effort since she is unable/unqualified to take the DIBELS test. Due to being profoundly deaf she must learn to read via sight words and memorization, which she accomplishes with great skill. I can tell you that she is excessively excited about returning to school. She asks every day when she can get on the bus and go, and I just had to show her on the calendar exactly which day she would be returning. Hhhhmmmmm... Is it me she's tired of or the boredom of being home with Mom all the time?!? LOL!

M, on the other hand, is rather enjoying his newfound freedom. 3 weeks off of school will make anyone feel like they are on summer vacation, even with the snow piled in the backyard (although that's finally nearly gone). I know that's how I feel... And I, too, am ready for them to head back to the drudge of being educated! ;)

Well, things are progressing fast, now... Christmas is over, the decorations are down and we're packing to move. Valentine's day is just around the corner followed shortly by St. Patrick's day. So, it's not long now before we begin the new chapter of our lives.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays

It's been a while since I posted, mainly because my parents arrived last Saturday and stayed until just this morning (Saturday, December 27th). We so enjoyed their visit, but between the weather and my latest girlie remedy we were stuck in the house for the most part.

The weather had been horrendous and we worried about Mom and Dad's travel last weekend. For the preceeding 5 days we had heard about how the "newest system" would "arrive on Sunday". But on Friday afternoon the meteorologist moved the timeframe up to Saturday. Mom and Dad had initially intended on meandering up on Sunday and arriving on Monday, but changed the date to Saturday with the hope of beating the Sunday storm. I phoned as soon as I heard the new forecast, but Mom and Dad were celebrating Christmas with my sister and her family that day so were too distracted to comprehend what I was trying to tell them. So, up they drove on Saturday, hitting the major part of the storm just 20 miles south of Portland.

It took my parents 5-1/2 hours to drive what normally takes 2-1/2 hours because of the massive amounts of snow and ice just swamping the roadways. Wow!!! Needless to say, they were exhausted after their extremely long day. They had woke up around 4:30am, left the house around 5:00am, stopped at my aunts house in Longview for about 40 minutes and arrived here around 10:30pm... What a day!

The kids were just thrilled to see Nana and Papa! They were completely surprised when they came downstairs and found Nana relaxing on the couch. C shadowed Nana for the entire week! My mom, of course, loved every minute of it.

Then came the day for Santa to show up... I kept signing to C that Santa would visit that night and would bring toys. Every time I told her she would get excited all over again. We forgot to have the kids leave out the cookies and milk, but Daddy did it for them. They didn't even notice when they woke up. Oh well. Too busy checking out their gifts, I guess! lol.

M and C had a blast opening their Christmas gifts. Even mom enjoyed herself. She got a new laptop, which my dad had shipped to our house (he gave me a secret code phrase so that I would know when to bring it out, but I forgot and made up my own: "The purple whale spout green algae in the gray grass..." lol). M and C have not put down their new Nintendo DS games (they each got their own). But Mom and I stole them as soon as the kids put them down so we could play "Brainage", which I bought for myself. Hmmm... I may not get any work done around the house... I'm having too much fun with it!

The weather remainded cold and blustery during Mom's and Dad's entire visit this week. But, I think everyone enjoyed the awesome white Christmas. It was a very nice and unique treat for the Seattle area and us!

So, I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and will have an awesome New Year. And I sincerely hope the coming year is a peaceful and happy one for all.

Winter Weather Photos

We've been enjoying some beautiful winter weather. Here are some photos and a video... Enjoy!