Round Two

So, I am proud to say that I am, or have, reclaimed my adult status.  ;)  It has been a rainy weekend, which has allowed me to get caught up on a lot of things.  Except for my email, I'm still behind on that.

One thing this rainy weekend allowed me to do was browse airlines tickets online.  We do not have a date yet, but I thought I'd check out the most recent prices for the month of June.

Now before I describe the state of shock that immediately overcame me, let me explain that I have not flown a lot in my life and although common sense should dictate that summertime would bring about very expensive airline tickets, that one little thought never crossed my mind.

Gulp.

When we flew in February, our tickets cost us $1300 a piece.  So for this trip I budgeted a little more, around $1800, because that is what we were told the average cost would be.

Well they are a little more.  Or a lot.  More like a lot.  Am I rambling?  Instead of $1300 a piece, or $1800 a piece, they are upwards of $2400 a piece.  I even saw them for $4000 a piece. 

So, needless to say, we are behind on our fundraising.    :(  And we were sooo close..... 

To kick off a new round of fundraising ( fun!), I have the auction blog ready to go.  If you click on the picture of my hunnies to the right, it will take you to the blog.  I only have a few things on there right now, but we obviously need to get this thing rolling.  We would very much appreciate it if you could take a gander on over there, and see if there is something you would like, or something you know someone else would like.  I know they aren't the coolest items, but most of them are handmade and were given from the heart to help us get our future daughter home.  And please keep checking back for additional items.  I have a tutu and some handmade birthday cards on their way!  :)

Submitted, warm weather, and a video

We have had such beautiful weather here the last week and this has caused me to ignore ALL things related to inside and adult responsibility.  The laundry is piling up, the entire house is an embarrassing disaster, emails have been left unanswered, blog posts have gone unwritten, and the mail is stacking up.  Aye yi yi.  Slowly but surely I shall resume my adult status and stop playing outside all day.  :o)

We are officially waiting for our court date!!  Our paperwork was submitted on the 16th, and we are hoping to know a date sometime next week!!  To say I'm excited is an understatement!  I can't wait to share the news with you guys!  I am now rushing to get her room together so that I can take pictures of it and put it in the photo book that I just might need in court.  A previous family that just had court two weeks ago were asked about the child's room, and so we want to be prepared.  I will post pics here soon!!

I mentioned before that I was getting our auction blog back together.  Stiiilllll working on that.  In fact one the of the items I still have hanging storing on my wall and you can see it in the video below.  So adorable!!

We help a friend train dogs on Saturdays for Schutzhund work and bite work.  One of the training techniques used is to spit treats (rewards) from the mouth to the dog instead of from the hand.  This trains the dog to look at your mouth when heeling.  Seth, our youngest, thinks this is HILARIOUS and even more so when he tries it himself.

Did you know that....

Did you know that...



it's fun to reminisce...

little boys LOVE to help...

batman needs to take baths too....

 toy soldiers sometimes hide in rice...

it was warm enough here to wear short sleeve shirts...

brothers rule...

Marines like to snuggle...

my baby is not really a baby anymore??!?.....

and that May 23rd is taking forever to get here?!?  We were told that we should know our court date on May 23rd.....I'm tellin' you, it's been May 8th for a week already. 

My dearest Josie!

Josie.


She was the first little girl on RR that stole both my heart and my husband's heart.  She is the one that sparked the fire under our tushes.

Long story short: we wanted to adopt her but couldn't.

I have been stalking both hers and Amanda's profile on reece's rainbow.

And guess what??

Josie has a family fighting for her!!!!!!!  Praise God!!!! 

This little girl is so dear to my heart, and always will be.

If you feel so inclined ( please do), please hop on over to Heather's blog.  She has a few fundraisers going and it would mean the world to me if you could help her out.  It would mean the world to Heather.  They are in the beginning phase of raising funds, and it's just so hard.  Frightening, taxing, worrisome, exhausting...you name it.  Even just a little goes a long way to encourage a family who has such a long fundraising road ahead of them. 


And let's not forget Amanda.  Always Alaina to me.  She is still waiting for a family and it hurts me to the core.  Please keep praying for her.  Please.

Tuesday afternoon ramblings

Soooooo, we had our garage sale Saturday.  It did not go well, with sales totalling $58.  As we were setting up, our neighbors walked up and informed us that garages sales are never that great around here.  They were right.  We didn't put an ad in craigslist this time, since that hasn't seemed to work out well in the past.  Nonetheless, we will not give up, and will try again.  With double the advertising, or maybe even triple the advertising.  ;)  I think maybe we will do a bake sale along with it.  And get balloons from RR to sell as well.  I just learned about those and think it's a great way to spread the word about RR and the children waiting for families.


My computer isn't letting me upload any pictures.  It's frustrating me.  A little box keeps popping up stating it's blocking a pop up from Lauren's PC.  I have no idea how to fix it.


I am on day 5 of my first juice fast/detox.  It's going pretty well.  I'm learning a lot about myself in the process.  I don't know how long I will do it for, I guess until I just can't take it anymore.  I read two books on the matter, and I'm supposed to listen to my body and not put an exact time frame on it.  I do know that I will keep juicing even after I'm done with the fast.  It's a great way to get more veggies into our diets. 


When we were in country to meet our future daughter, we had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with another American family that was there adopting.  In fact, their son came from the same orphanage and group as "Zoey".  Well, this sweet family sent a surprise package for us for our little girl.  I opened it and couldn't help but crying....inside was a girly, beautiful little dress!!  Her first dress!!!!  Complete with ruffle butt bottoms!!  I wish I could show you a picture, but my computer is being uncooperative!!  :(    Thank you so much Sherry and Paul!!!!!!  We love it and can't wait to see her in it!!!!


We were hoping to hear something about our court dossier being submitted tomorrow, but that doesn't look like that's going to happen until after May 16th.  :(  :(   One piece of paperwork and holidays in "Zoey's" country are preventing that from happening anytime before then.   Totally bumming about that today.


I am working on getting our auction blog back together.  We are also thinking about trying another giveaway.  We tried that before and didn't have much luck, but there are more folks following now so maybe we will have better luck this time.  I will keep you all posted!!  I want it to be a fun one!!


If you hung with me this far, thank you.  But I must leave you now, as I have two boys sitting next to me longing for my attention.  Must.go.snuggle.now.

:o) 

Once Upon a Time....

....on a warm, sunny day, a little caterpillar traveled many miles in search of the perfect leaf.  Instead, much to his dismay, he stumbled upon

 a sweet little boy.  Against the caterpillar's will, they were instant friends.

The sweet little boy named him John, and they did everything together.

They flew to the moon in their space shuttles

and went for rides around town.  The little boy took great care of him 

and even made a bed for him to sleep on. 

And just what happened with the caterpillar and his new friend?

Well, they lived happily ever after.

I think.

THE END.

Adventures at the beach

The adventures of little boys...

.......can be just oh so exhausting.

*******

 A sincere thank you for the most recent donation to our FSP.  We are so, so grateful!!