Finally Friday

Yes!

Waiting

Right now we're trying to patiently wait for our homestudy to be updated. It's the only thing that we're waiting on now to take the stuff to be apostilled. As I look back at how long this has taken, one of 2 things happens. Either I see that the Lord has been faithful, or I fall into sin and get upset that it's taken so long. Which right now, that's what I'm trying to avoid.

It's easy for me to worry about when we'll be traveling because of the "perfect" scenario I can build in my head, but then I remember that with God in control, it will be perfect. It will be His perfect.

Blessings never cease

So, we didn't have school Monday because of the ubiquitous power outages. But then we didn't have it Tuesday or Wednesday!! My school and one other still don't have power as of today.

So what have I done with all my found time? Worked on the dossier of course!! We have all the documents, but we needed to go back and edit so that they all reflect this new approval for 4. I wanted to take it to the clerk of courts today too, but then I realized that when i changed our letter, we also needed to have it notarized. So the Clerk will have to wait.

I also finished or photo pages. (Thanks Rene for the info!) I've been working and working on them, and then I realized that I had too many pages. So I had to go back and condense it. But they're done and look really nice.

Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child

by Patty Cogen

This is a gem of a book I found at Half Price Books over the summer. I was browsing, like I always do, in the parenting section, when I saw the shiny binding. "Oooh, a new book!" I said. I pulled it out and checked the date. It was 2008!

I've only gotten through the first quarter of the book and it's EXCELLENT. It's thick (about like the blue Adoption Parenting) but the author covers issues from infancy through the teen years. And she gives very specific things to do with your kids. The best part is that it's completely geared toward international adoption.

I highly recommend it!

A hurricane in Ohio??

Evidently, the winds were strong enough that they would be classified a Level 1. All those years living in Florida, and I never experienced a hurricane...and now in Ohio I do.

It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. The most interesting part to me was that while it was super windy, the sky was still blue; cloudy, but blue. So it was very strange to have this wind ripping shingles off roofs, toppling huge trees, and blowing yard furniture and trampolines 20 feet into the air...and still see blue sky. We lost power for 5 hours, but evidently we're on a large "grid" so we got it back quickly. Some people won't have it back until Sat or Sun. All the school districts were closed yesterday, and most of them are today too. Somehow mine wrangled up enough manpower to get most of the schools back open....except mine!!!!!! Yippee!

So, I went to the grocery store yesterday because when I went Sunday they were all closed: no power. But Walmart was still closed, and Target was open but mostly dark! Meijer's parking lot was PACKED so I avoided it. Kroger was open but had no refrigerated items out yet. That was a little eerie to see all the empty shelves. Great time to clean! ;)

At Target I bought some items that made me smile all day. They were all on clearance for 1.50, and I figured I might as well start now! ;) (I'm still smiling about that. :)

Approved

As of Wednesday, we're approved for 4 siblings!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) You'll have to wait for more info. ;)

Swiffer Fixer

I like the Swiffer. I don't like how much those disposable cloths cost. Even with a coupon they're expensive. And the cheap ones really aren't worth it. But with the addition of our dear doggie, the floor needs washed more frequently. So I was trying to figure out how to use the Swiffer so I wasn't actually paying for new cloths all the time. And as I was laying in bed one night, it struck me. Why not use the wash cloth after I"m done doing the dishes? That way it can go right into the wash! So i tried it today, and it worked! it's a little too big and flops over the spots where you press it in, but it did the job!

I like little things like that. :)

II Corinthians 4

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”[c] 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,[d] will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are[e] being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.