Day 87!  Holy Cow we are crazy happy right now.   China here we come.  We have to wait a few more weeks for our Travel Approval, but this is the big one.  We will be in China in May!  

YIIIIIPPPPEEEEEEEEEE. 

I know I'm the Mommy, but seriously, How cute are my girls????

She didn't get the nickname Mama-two for nothing..  She loves being a big sister and loves doing anything Mommy does.  Mina has no problem with my 2nd string Mommy.  I don't know what I would do without her.   

Day 76 waiting for our Letter of Approval from China, and I am growing old and weary of waiting.  I am really in need of some progress here.  Once we get our LOA, we will probably travel about 6 weeks after that.  Mama's coming baby,  hang on!!!  

My worst Mommy idea so far...

I am always coming up with great "ideas" 

 or so I think... Day 1 of this project I realized that I made a big mistake.  The kids and I LOVE a good project.  So during the snowy wet week last week, I came up with this one.  I had this grandios idea of making the perfect paper mache' globe and teaching the kids about the different continents and cutting out different animals and landmarks for each different one. You know, like panda bears in Asia, zebras and tigers in Africa, US flag on North America..  All that great stuff. You can see what we ended up with.. It wasn't even round... What a HUGE mess, what a huge pain.  If I didn't like y'all I would tell you to go here and follow these instructions and a week later, after layer upon layer of sticky messy nasty pasty newspaper shreds all over your house,  you too could have a lumpy bumpy misshapen easter egg pinata.  I know you want one.  But what ever you do don't go here.  You will regret it, I promise.  Even my kids say they NEVER want to make a pinata again... 

Will he or won't he???????

So Collin, our teenage son, submitted a scholarship application for an exchange student program to live in China for 6 months next year.  I figured the scholarship was a long-shot, so he submitted it without much thought. On Saturday he had an interview to be chosen for one of the spots. We will know next month if he will be going or not, but now my Mommy panic is starting to set in.  Holy Cow, could my baby actually be living in China next year for 6 months?? I was thinking about how great it will be having Finn home and not to have to be waiting and worrying about one of my babies in China, how ironic that I may be in the same boat, next year... for the third straight year, but instead of waiting for my new baby I would be waiting for my oldest "baby" to come home!!! 

I am not sure if I want him to get the scholarship or not.  I know that the experience would surely be life changing.  I am praying that if it were to change him for the better than he get it, and if it will have a negative impact on him that he will be overlooked.  We shall see...   

Our Love Language..

There is a very popular/famous book called "The 5 Love Languages", it's actually a great book, but I think they left out a Love language the one shared by all of our family members... Our true love language is FOOD!  We love making food and especially love eating food.  The kids all LOVE helping, and Mina is no exception. This morning we let her dump ingredients and stir the cake mix. Can you just see her beaming? Why do all kids love this so much? So cute. 

(I don't usually dress the girls the same, but they both do have a few of the same things, and for some reason they both squeal with delight if they are dressed the same... Hokey, I know but they get so excited.)

I don't know why I love this photo so much.  We had a GLORIOUS weekend!  We spent the whole time outside in shorts and flip-flops.  I love it.  I actually got too much sun, I guess we need to pull out the sunscreen-- far cry from my last post a few days ago, when we had the biggest snow of the year.  Yes this is just 5 days later!!  

Snow day.

Our snow day. Fun day but now we are over it, thank you very much.  We are ready for some major sunshine please.. Kobi has been sick the past couple days, poor thing.  Hopefully she didn't share 

Our little guy is so full of character, he keeps us laughing. He is getting ready to go play in the snow at 7:00am.  What's the point of getting dressed just to put your snow clothes on?  

"My love of hats is interfering with my ability to see clearly, does that mean I have a problem?"

Swingin' Smiles

Oh how I long for the days of spring... Oh wait this was just 2 days ago!  Now we are smack dab in the middle of a cold rainy weekend and we are even expecting some snow.  I am not a big fan of big the cold, maybe if I could cuddle up by the fire with a cup of coffee and a good book and just wait out the "storm" I wouldn't mind the cold so much, but that is NOT my life.  So I long for warm weather where we can laugh and play and run through fields of daisies,  or at least something like that.  Or just letting the kids burn off their energy in the great outdoors rather than in my living room on my furniture.  These are some cute photos of the kids playing on the swings a few days ago when it was nice and warm.  Fun, Fun!

Udate on the Wait:  No news is not good news in this case, we are still waiting with no word.  I was holding out for a miracle that we would be able to travel to get Finn before the Trade Fair which is at the end of April...  It looks like we have passed the point of possibility.  We waited 63 days for our LOA for Mina, we are passed that point in our wait for Finn.  I hope and pray that things move along quickly from here.  This is tough stuff. 

Mina feeding our dog, Maggie, out of the empty peanut butter jar.  Mina makes Maggie a bit nervous, but she is lured in by the promise of yummy peanut butter...

Mina waiting patiently for her Buddy, Mia, to come over to play. Definitely the highlight of her week.



Yeah, she is finally here! Mina is thrilled. ( Do you like my substantial empty planters on my doorstep, nice touch, huh? Empty planters are so much nicer than planters filled with dead dried flowers... Keep a look out for more gardening tips, I'm full of them)She even came bearing gifts of the finest sort, donuts (or is it spelled doughnuts?, what is wrong with me these days...)!!!

Today marks 60 long days of waiting for our LOA, Please oh Please put me out of my waiting misery!

SLAM DUNKS & STITCHES , RACE CARS & RIBBONS, that's what weekends 'round here are made of..

Jack had his last basketball game of the season (honestly not my favorite of the parental spectator sports, lining us all up on the sidelines doesn't go over so well.  Soccer starts next week & Mina and I can kick around a soccer ball during games and practices so it is much more fun)  But Jack got this trophy and I think we saw his head grow a little bit more.  He was so proud of this one.  His first substantial trophey.  He was jazzed!So I had to fade this photo to black & white so it is a little less gross.  Mina ate it today,  she is usually the most coordinated of our cast of characters.  She usually climbs into and out of her high chair before you know it.. not very safe.  So we let her sit up on the bar stools with the other kids after church today and she ended up busting her lip.. Big time... she busted it from the inside out..  Yeah, there was a "hole" all the way through... so she had to have it stitched up on the inside and the outside.  3 hours in the urgent care, and a box of popsicles later, she is running around here like nothing and scaring her Mama to death.  

Kobi & Papa had their annual Pinewood Derby race this weekend, they basically take a block of wood cut it down (then their special little trick, sink fishing weights into it) and race it with hundreds of other little ones.  Kobi's car kicked tail!!! She was proud toting around these ribbons this weekend. 

Because I feel horrible about my bad attitude- whining over waiting post yesterday,, here is all the cuteness I was talking 'bout. Although the waiting is tough, I have nothing to complain about. I am one blessed Mommy.

Kobi was nominated for Terrific Kid award at her school. Her teacher wrote the sweetest thing about her... She said "In my many years of working with children of all ages I have never seen a child so genuinely giving, caring and willing to help others" Her teacher has been teaching for 2o+ years, and I could cry like a baby with pride over my little girl. I wish I could take credit for this child, but she teaches me how to be a better person. She is truly a gift from God!

This is Mina's "Puppy" she has either been wearing it or clutching it in her little paws for the last few days.  She always loves to wear hats... I think this one is a riot.  

And lastly, my new favorite recipe... Kung Pao Chicken,  it almost rivals PF Changs... It is so worth making, and OH so Yummy!!! Click HERE for the link with the recipe and photos, or here are the instruction below ( I personally Love a photo of what I am cooking up) I tripled the sauce ingredients and used fresh ginger, ooohh I love fresh ginger! 

Ingredients:
1lb boneless-skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” pieces)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons green onions (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in wok over medium heat, add chicken and stir fry 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from wok.
Step 2: Add green onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and powdered ginger to the wok and stir fry for 15 seconds.
Step 3: Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and add the sauce to the wok.
Step 4: Return chicken to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts. Heat thoroughly. Top with additional green onions if desired and serve over white rice.

The most useless place... The Waiting Place

By far my FAVORITE book to read my kids, I get all sing-songy when I read it to them, I don't even have to look at the words anymore. Great book-great moral, (Beth, do you remember buying me this book FOREVER ago). 

I hate that I have caved and I find myself in a waiting slump. I am all consumed with waiting on word that we can travel to pick up our baby.

  I keep thinking of all these neat little happy family posts for the blog, cute pictures of the kids, Kobi getting her terrific kid award at school & her teacher writing the nicest letter ever, brought me to tears. Mina and her new Puppy hat, that she hasn't let go of for days. Jack just being his cute self. I also have thought about posting some of my very favorite Asian recipes that I have found recently... 

But I am in a slump, and in the words of the great philosopher, Dr. Seuss, Unslumping yourself is not easily done. I usually find myself fantasizing about holding Finn, wondering when will we meet her, how will she react, how will Mina react, when will she give us her first smiles. My heart aches for her.

 My heart also aches for the millions of children around the globe that await their families. I look at the photos that I posted last week, just 5 little kids, 5 of millions, I have no idea if these other little ones have families. They all need families, so many kids.

 For anyone who thinks we are nutty for wanting more kids, I was thinking about this the other day. Adoption, for OUR family, has little to do with our desire to "parent" more children, and has a LOT to do with the desire for more children to have Parents! 

Pretty deep huh. That is what a slump will do to you 'round here.

My face hurts from smiling!

Happy late birthday baby! (Finn is in the red)

My baby finally got her Birthday cake!  And I got new pictures.  She was in the hospital during her first birthday, and then Chinese NY was going on,  so this is the first chance they have had to deliver her cake albeit 6 weeks later, but I am so happy that she received some special attention, had a little treat with her friends and her Mommy got the biggest gift, new pictures to calm my heart during this tough wait.   We also received an update that says she has started to walk!  We were also told that she may be going back to the hospital.  She keeps getting an infection, and they give antibiotics by IV in China, so they have to send her to the hospital.  

Papa's little Helper.

I LOVE that the weather has been nice this week.  Come on spring!  

Hiking on a BEAUTIFUL day.

I underestimated this crew, I thought we would go for a easy to moderate trail,  not Papa.  He said if we were going to do it we were going to do it right.  So we all headed up the most difficult- almost 4 mile round trip hike up to the top of a mountain!   This kid is the energizer bunny!  I truly believe she would have hiked the full 4 miles if it weren't for the steep & rocky parts. 

This little guy melts my heart.  He is ALL boy, but also so cuddly and sensitive.  He loves to crawl in bed with me in the morning and snuggle for a few minutes before we both hit the ground running for the rest of the day.  It is one of my favorite parts of my day.   (This is his favorite shirt, I personally can't stand it and wish I never bought it off the after Halloween clearance rack at Targe*.  So of course he wants to wear it ALL the time, and even looks through the dirty laundry for it.)

My Kids ROCK!

My dad is ______________.

a)stronger than your dad

b)a softy

c) a sucker

d) all of the above

Our whole group after we made it to the top!

These guys are growing up so much. It is so fun to be able to take them to do stuff like this and they can hang like champions, and have a great time as well.  This is our favorite way to spend a beautiful day.  Outside and Together!

Taking in the sights and having some reward Brownies.