First Social Worker Meeting

We met the social worker that will be doing our homestudy for the first time yesterday afternoon.  The meeting went well (I was a little nervous as we'd spent 14 hrs in the car the day before, 3 more that morning so we were tired).  She gave us another stack of paperwork to complete.  Most of it won't be too bad, but a few forms will take some thought and prayer.  We also need to go get fingerprinted (at the jail) plus have forms filled out by a physician for all three of us. 

First impressions of our social worker were good.  She's easy talk to and answered our questions.  I appreciate that she's an adoptive mom and has sat where we are 3 times.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was shorter and simpler than I anticipated.  Plus I was treated to Caribou!  (Normally we would have met in her office but the heat was out)

Off to work on paperwork!

Beauty and Silence

I'm on vacation.  A vacation filled with people and noise and tools.  Yet, I've been drawn by the beauty and silence the last 2 days. 

Yesterday I traveled here by myself (my husband came earlier in the week).  I spent almost an entire day on planes or in airports.  It was luxury to be able to sit and read, or think, without feeling like I needed to be doing something else.  I was just waiting.  I had a lot on my mind.  My aunt was in surgery all day yesterday at Mayo and I felt blessed to be able to pray with little to distract me.  Thankfully, the surgery was a success.  The surgeons removed the brain tumor and sight has returned to her left eye.  I'm filled with joy for answered prayers of so many.

"Be still and know that I am God" -- Psalm 46:10

Finding silence in my day and being still is hard, especially as a mom to a 3 year old.  During most of the trip, my husband will be working all day.  I'm trying to be intentional with how I spend my days -- to both spend time getting to know a few other women here but also to find some time to be by myself.  Of course, there's also big dinners planned, awards ceremonies and a party bus that won't be silent.  But for this afternoon, I'm treasuring that I can choose to be silent, to spend time alone, to walk the beautiful indoor gardens here, and to listen to the indoor waterfalls.  My soul sings in the silence.

Winter Blessings

It has been such a mild winter thus far, its hard to believe February is nearing the end! Though I've thought a few times it would be nice to have a bit more snow (sledding, snowmen building, and beautiful white to cover the brown), I feel so blessed on the timing of this beautiful weather.

If this had been a "normal" MN winter (let's not mention all the snow from last year), we would have been snowed in a number of times and unable to go to the Mom's Group and Gym Time that are so often the highlight of our week. Most likely, some the snow would have fallen when Jason was out of town, meaning I would have had to plow the driveway with the ATV or wait for a neighbor to help dig us out.  Jason's travel home after several days away could have been delayed, causing worry for me and disappointment for a little boy who loves those evenings when he gets to stay up "just a little late" to wait for Daddy's return.  Plus, all this mild weather has meant lots of opportunities for walks and playing outside.

This mild winter has certainly helped with the transition to a rural area and being home full time.  I know many have been impacted, especially those whose business rely on snow, but for me I count this winter a blessing.  Thank You Lord!

Morning Buddies :)

I'm always thankful for the moments when these two decide to relax together (instead of chasing each other around the house).  I just can't resist pics of my little boy and his dog.

Robots

 

We found instructions for toilet-paper-roll-robots in the Family Fun magazine (March issue) yesterday, so it was our activity today since we didn't have any plans or errands.

Isaac had lots of fun decorating them with the paint, wiggly eyes, construction paper, glue, pipe cleaners, etc.  The magazine included the idea to add a toothpick to the toilet paper roll before painting which helped. 

Only one ended getting painted so we didn't have to wait for them all to dry.  The others were covered with construction paper or foil.

To stay with the Robot theme, we also read the book "Casey Finds a Friend" and later watched the movie "Robots" :)

Hello Mornings Challenge Update -- First Month

Well, I've finished the first month of the challenge and it seems to be working...  I'm consistently getting up 30 minutes to an hour before Isaac.  It has been a blessing to have that time set aside to read the Word.  I often even have time to just sit, drink my coffee and be quiet.  I have no idea how mothers of 3, 4, or 5 kiddos do it -- sometimes my 3 year old is just too much noise for me to handle!  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that for years a significant portion of my day was spent programming with headphones on....

I haven't yet worked in the exercise or planning goals into my mornings.  A few times when Isaac slept late, I did finish a Xbox Kinnect workout.  It can be pretty fun to do the workouts with Isaac around though -- he's great at cheering and loves to join in when I do the kick boxing! 

The accountability group online that I'm in has been very quiet -- there are around 20 people that are supposed to be checking in but many days its just a few.  For me it matters more that I've made a commitment to do this so I want to see it through

Some Days...

Some days, even though its hard, I stand back watch my son put on his socks by himself.  I quietly encourage him to try "one more time" even when the 4th attempt ends up with the heel of the sock on top and almost results in a meltdown.

Some days, even though I want to say "hurry up" (especially after the socks), I wait while he struggles to put his shoes on.  First the wrong foot, then the tongue gets stuck, oops forgot the velcro.  Repeat.

His proud face when he does it all by himself is worth it! 

But other days, I'm the mom who's son is wearing snow boots at the grocery store, with no socks.  That's ok too.  Let's not start on the inside-out shirt and backwards pants...

I'm so thankful God is always patient with me and His grace is available EVERY DAY.

Adoption Update - February 8th

The adoption agency let us know that our Formal Application has been approved!!  In the next few weeks, we will start working with our social worker on our home study.  And create our profile.  And, well I'm not sure yet what all else... that's the social worker's job.

On the subject of the profile -- if you happen to have any good candid shots of our family, please send them my way.  Almost all the pics I have of all three of us are posed (mostly using a camera timer).  Otherwise I tend to be behind the camera.


I'm in the process of creating a new "page" on the blog with a little more adoption-related detail.  I'll try to keep updating the page as we journey through this process (once I get it up...).  Keep an eye out for it -- it'll be up next to the "About" tab.

Fun in the Kitchen

I love that Isaac enjoys helping in the kitchen!  We did a few fun cooking projects in the last week to share --  

Fun Shaped Pancakes
We put batter in a squirt bottle for more interesting shapes.   Isaac added powdered sugar.

Cookies!

* One of the steps included flattening the dough with a floured glass -- perfect task for a 3 year old
* And then of course we added frosting and sprinkles!

Other favorite kid tasks in our kitchen:
* Stirring ingredients (under supervision)
* Mixing/shaking ingredients in ziplock bag
* "Painting butter" -- if I need to butter bread I melt the butter in the microwave and let him "paint" the bread with a basting brush.  Great for grilled cheese, garlic bread, etc.  I used this one a lot when he was little.

Many other times in the past when he wanted to help but I didn't have an age-appropriate task for him, I would make up one :)  Putting measuring cups in order by size, filling containers with water in the sink, emptying the tupperware cupboard (oh wait, that one was always his idea!). 

I want to make sure to treasure this time when he asks to help!

A Wonderful Change of Plans

I was planning to run errands this morning. I was in a hurry, trying to get my son ready to leave. As he put on his boots he asked, "Please can I stomp in the snow for a while?" I paused. There was no real reason to hurry, nothing urgent that couldn't wait so I said sure. I'm so glad I did. It was a beautiful sunny day. Quickly my previous plans went out the window. I went back into my house to put on my snowboots (and grab my camera) and we went for a long walk through the trees at the edge of the property. Spending time exploring the beauty of God's creation with my son -- priceless.