LOI

LOI is adoption terminology for Letter of Intent. It is the letter that you write when you want to be matched to a certain child. I had to write my LOI last night. It was one of the hardest pieces of writing I've ever done. How can you adequately describe that you would make the best parents for a certain girl. How do you describe yourself and your family so that a complete stranger will think you also are the best parent for that particular child.

It took me a couple of hours to draft my letter. I sent it to our China facilitator and got the news that my letter was "wonderful." Stephen signed it this morning. We have some pictures that we're including with our letter and we're going to email it all to our China facilitator this morning.

We should hear in about 3-4 weeks that we've been approved to adopt her as our daughter. Can't wait to show you those pictures! (It's the reason that we started this blog in the first place!!!)

Adoption...

I'm so excited!!! We have finally sent a letter of intent to adopt a precious little girl from China. Our letter and updated pictures will probably get to China the first week of May. We are hoping to hear of our approval to be her parents in early June. It's going to kill me not to be able to attach a picture with this post, but I can't post a picture until we receive confirmation that we have been matched to her - it'll probably be a couple of months.

When I spoke to our china contact at our adoption agency, she said that it would probably close to 4 months before we would travel to China. Late August or early September! Holy Smokes! That's soon! That's also the same time that we're going to MN for a family reunion. I told my family today that I won't be in MN for the reunion. We're going to save the money we would have spent on that trip for our trip to China. You know, be a good steward and all.

I'm about jumping out of my skin, people! Like a kid who gets news of a Disney World trip and can't sleep for a few months! But worse! I'm excited and nervous and bubbly and prayerful and really happy all the time. We've been praying for this little one for years now and I'm so very blessed to see our our Father has answered those prayers.

Keep our daughter in your prayers also as we begin down the quick road to adoption. (Quick meaning it only took 4 years so far, huh, maybe not as quick as I thought.) But it's hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. We have lots to do this week and then the wait part begins. Pray for her continued health and quick trip to pick her up. Pray that I'm able to calm my excitement so I can sleep. I'll be one tired lady if I don't sleep for the next 4 months due to excitement! I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

The New Mommy!

Sea Enemy!!!

Yesterday, Stephen and I took the kids to Rockpile Beach in Laguna Beach, CA. It was a beautiful day to visit the tide pools. Twerp #2 is learning about marine life in Kindergarten the past couple of weeks. She sure knows a lot!

Enjoy a piece of Southern California on this fine Sunday morning.

Twerp #3 is learning to read

Stephen and I had a neighbor a few years ago that loaned me this book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." It's an amazing book. Looks kinda weird...but it works so well. I'd recommend it to anyone that has a 4-6 year old who wants to learn to read. We don't do it in 100 consecutive days. We take our time and do it over a few months. But our children go from not knowing how to read anything to a 2nd grade level by the end of the book. Twerp #3 is on lesson 16 or so and I took a video of him learning to read.

He loves reading with us. Sometimes we'll do two lessons a night, sometimes only 1/2 a lesson. He's a sweet boy who just wants to catch up with his sister. I love teaching my kids to read. I know that they learn in school, but it's so amazing to see how their brains work and how much they love to figure words out. Hopefully on our trip to MN this summer, the kids will be reading in the back for awhile each day. It'll allow me a little peace and quiet. Think it will work?

I forgot one picture...

Yeah, I guess Stephen is artistic, right? Nothing more needs to be said. I love you, Stephen!

Noah's Ark

We went to the Noah's Ark exhibit at The Skirball Museum last Saturday. It was amazing. I couldn't believe how exciting that single exhibit was. I'm a sucker for Children's Museums, but this one was over the top. It was a two story exhibit that was so much fun. You could touch everything and play with many of the animals. All the animals were made from recycled materials...and they used those materials so cleverly.



They had this model of Noah's Ark sitting in one of the rooms so that the kids could play with it.


There was an elephant that was up in the climbing area. The kids could pull on a rope and the elephant would move it's trunk and make elephant noises...lots of fun. I love how the whole thing is made out of rope. Cool.

Stephen and Twerp #2 had a great time cuddling in the hammock...for about 30 seconds until it was time to go and clean up "animal poop." They had a pooper scooper, a broom and a bunch of poop that you could scatter all over the floor. It was engrossing to the kids. No so much for me.

Cool lion. It was huge and sitting right above the main room just like the king of the jungle should.

My dad's favorite animal is the Yak. He sees them everywhere. Curious, huh? Not everywhere like the park or the zoo or even the National Geographic Channel. He sees them in his curtains. We got new ones made. The whole Yak thing was a little freaky.

My Mom and Stephen hung out on this cool swing. Stephen wants to make one. Hmmmmm, think I'll try Ebay for his birthday. Might actually get one this summer that way. :)

Such a cool giraffe. You could stand on the bottom floor and twist your body on the handles attached to the wall and the giraffe would move his/her head from side to side.

This is the head of the first alligator. The way they used the gloves to make the head was so great...and the eye - creepy.

They used an open violin case for the mouth of the second alligator. Tires were the back of the animal and the teeth were needle caps found at the doctors. These people are so creative!

Finally, there is the whole Africa/Zebra/Elephant combo. The body of the zebra could be turned and it would make this cool spinning noise. I loved that they used a keyboard for the mane of the animal. The elephant's trunk was made from steamer bamboo baskets. My favorite part was the floor mats for the elephants ears. I think they used to be mine.

If you're ever in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend the exhibit at The Skirball. Call me and we'll go with you!

So handsome...

You might expect this post to be about Stephen. It's not.

My oldest is getting handsome. Twerp #1 has a difficult time with pictures. He seems to try "too hard" to smile just the right way. He usually ends up looking a little constipated...worried...sometimes even a little angry. But not this day. The day before Easter we went to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Museum. He was happy. He was making art in the studio and happy as a clam. He didn't even have to try to smile...it was just already there.

He's an amazing kid. I love him to death. He's happy, kind, sweet, athletic, fun, a good helper, smart and interesting to talk to. I want to be around him. I love being his mother and I can't wait to see who God has created him to be. I love my job. Twerp...you are such a pleasure to be around.

The Pillow Fight Room

It's Spring Break and today I took the three twerps and a cousin to San Diego to The New Children's Museum. So much fun. I asked all four of the kids on the way home what their favorite part was and they all answered the same..."The Pillow Fight Room!"

Yeah, an entire room dedicated to pillow fights. What could be better than that? I took some video of the kids playing and thought I'd share it with you.

They also had this thing called the Porta Party. It was shaped like a MP3 player and a porta potty all at the same time. The kids were rocking out to music inside when it was "in use" complete with a disco ball and everything!

A great day with great kids. We got a pass and we're going to go back another few times to get some more pillow fights in before the year is over.