"Dad's gonna 'prize us"

A popular topic of conversation at our house yesterday was that Dad was coming home (left Monday morning for a business trip).  Each time my son asked if Dad was coming home, my response was something like -  "Yes, Dad is coming home today.  But he won't get home until after bedtime, late at night, after even Mom goes to bed.  You will see him in the morning."  My son's response was consistently something like, "I think Dad's gonna 'prize us and be home when its still up-time.  One day he 'prized us and came home at up-time, remember?" 

Of course I thought it was sweet that he remembered the day a few weeks ago when Dad drove home earlier than we expected him.  He didn't understand that this time Dad was in meetings all day with an evening flight, followed by a 2 hr drive home.  I didn't want him to be disappointed when bedtime came and Dad was still not home.  No matter how I tried to explain it, my logic did not sway him.

As we snuggled to read his bedtime stories, I thought I heard a noise but the dog didn't bark so I kept reading (our dog barks at everything).  Then in walks Dad! (who paid extra to catch an early flight home)  And what does my son say after he runs to hug Daddy, "See Mom, I told you Dad's gonna 'prize us!"

As I think back on my thoughts yesterday, how often don't I do the same thing in my relationship with God?  I let my idea of "logic" and "knowledge" of what is possible limit my prayers and my expectations, when instead I should be remembering those moments of amazing blessing in my life that show with God nothing is impossible.  I need a child-like faith to be able to pray that God would surprise me.

Hello Mornings -- Second Month Update

I realized I hadn't posted a second month update -- so here it is a week or so late :)

Overall it is still going well.  We went on vacation at the end of February which threw me off for a few days when we got back (I did not get up early on vacation and my kiddo was waking up earlier than his "usual").  As I mentioned before, I definitely notice the difference between days I am able to have at least a half an hour to myself and the days he gets up soon after I do.  Even if he gets up earlier than I expect, I try to get a short version of my devos in while he watches a cartoon. 

As the weather has warmed up the last few weeks, I've been able to go running a handful of times.  I was surprised how much I missed it -- especially since I can run on gravel roads again!  To make it work though, I have to plan ahead in order to finish my run before my husband has to leave for the day... which doesn't work if he's not at home!  I've thought about a jogging stroller so I could go other times of the day but there is something special about running alone on a gravel road in the morning -- especially if there's a little fog or some wildlife near the pond.

I've been thinking about signing up for a 5K this summer to help keep my exercise goals a priority.  I asked my husband if he'd run with me as he's been running on treadmills when travelling quite frequently (about 4 miles each time).  He gave me a definite "no" declaring he does not run in public :)  He has been great in encouraging my new habits though and hasn't grumbled when my alarm goes off early on his day to sleep in.

Loads of Fun -- Inside and Out

We've been busy...  With the warmer weather, we've been outside lots.  Here's some of what we've been up to lately.

Isaac made a St Patrick's Day card last week to send to a special set of Great Grandparents:

The new playset came out of the shed and is getting a permanent place in the yard!

(notice the big toy in the background Dad got to borrow)

A serious helper spreading the playground rock

Other outside fun:

Home Visit and Adoption Update

This morning our adoption social worker visited our home on "the gravelly road".  Even though I tried not to, I stressed about cleaning and getting ready.  We got enough done around the house, even though the vacuum stopped working and the rain yesterday meant lots of puppy and kiddo footprints on the floor to clean up.  Of course it was just a simple walk through of the house, nothing to have stressed over.

The interviews went fine, no big surprises in the questions asked.  Isaac did a good job of playing quietly with whichever parent was not being interviewed.  She was here about 2.5 hrs in total.  Over the next month she'll finish writing up our official homestudy.  The agency is still running background stuff and waiting for references, etc.  Getting closer...

We still have plenty of things to finish up -- some reading summaries for the training requirement and one form that still needs to get sent.  Then we need to focus on writing our "Dear Birthparent" letters -- what words even come close to what you'd want to say to someone making an adoption plan and considering your family?  Of course creating our profile book is also on the list.  I've been collecting pictures and pondering outline/format but haven't actually started.  Honestly, the pictures and layout are easy -- its the text that will take time.  I'm hoping we can get it done in the next month!

It is crazy to think that after we are officially "approved", we have no idea if the wait will be 2 months or 2 years.  I just keep reminding myself that God is absolutely in control and His timing is perfect!

Sock Puppets

We made sock puppets yesterday.  I was not as prepared as I hoped, but they turned out ok.  The main reason Isaac was excited about the project was that it meant we could get out the new hot glue gun (or as he calls it "Mommy super glue").  Of course, he didn't get to use it, but he was excited about seeing how it worked since we just bought it last week.

I quickly grabbed some old socks -- including one that apparently had walked through paint drips during our remodel -- plus some felt, glue, markers, googly eyes, etc.

We tried on the sock to figure out where the "mouth" would be and marked where eyes should be. 

We added googly eyes, felt ears, noses, and tongues.  

We had fun trying on the puppets and playing while we put them together.  All the playing though meant we kept the decorating pretty simple.  Here's our puppets and Isaac playing :)

Next time, I think I might try to make puppets out of a few winter gloves that are missing their mate -- I think it would be fun to add faces, hair, etc to each finger.

More Paperwork Mailed!

Yesterday afternoon we mailed another stack of adoption paperwork, a majority of the paperwork list for the home study process.  I know it doesn't look like a lot, but 18 pages of it was typed responses to all sorts of questions about us, our family, our childhoods, our reasons for adopting, etc.  I'm so glad we created a deadline for ourselves or I would have spent way too long on some of our responses.  We still have plenty on our to-do list but it felt great to send the 50+ pages on their way!

To celebrate, Isaac and I stopped by DQ on our way home from the Post Office (and then ate the ice cream on the couch).  Too bad Jason wasn't home to join in the celebration.

Busy, Snowy Week

Its been a busy week, plus a storm dropped the most snow we've seen all winter.  Most days we've been playing out in the snow, so less crafts/activities and more sledding, snowmen and snow forts.  Yay!

Isaac with his snowman

We did make "Cat in the Hat" Hats, following the instructions from the site "I Can Teach My Child" using paper plates which was fun.   I read the "Cat in the Hat" book while he colored his hat.  (Go the site linked above for pics of the final result -- I forgot to take one)

We also made a car slide/ramp using toilet paper rolls, as described on "Click. Pray. Love".  We made it a bit more challenging by setting up a bucket at the bottom for the cars to try to land in (and I encouraged Isaac to try adjusting where the bucket was as cars missed or bounced out).  He also spent a lot of time pretending that the ramp was a race and all the cars had to travel across the living room to get to the race.  Even the puppy found it entertaining!

Crash!

Such concentration!

And just for fun -- another snow picture with the trees along our gravelly road in the background :)