whats going on at our house.... too much really!

It's a busy time of year for most of us. I know I am trying to find Christmas gifts while staying on a tighter budget, hard at work on our next and final fundraiser for our fast approaching trip to Ethiopia & organizing all of us for our Thanksgiving trip to Disney. This is happening while picking up and getting kids to speech therapy, basketball practices, dr appt's, geography bee, youth group events, etc. The problem with high school being almost an hour away is that well, it's almost an hour away! Today I have to figure out how to get Rory to a therapy (thewapy) session and how to drive down to pick Finlay up after school. She is staying after to take a test that she will miss tomorrow when she flies out to Kansas for a Catholic youth conference. As well as all that Reece and I are working on high school application essay's and scholarship essay's. Reece is a smart dude. There are no 2 ways around that. He is rather exceptional. He reads at college levels and has for years. The highest results they can give with the system they use at our school is 12.9 (meaning a high school graduate) and Reece has tested at that forever. He now is into reading Stephen Hawking, Jeffrey Archer and David Baldacci. He is on science related web sites all the time reading about fusion and propulsion. He wants to be an Aerospace Engineer who specializes in Astronautical Travel. Yep, that's actually rocket science and it's all Greek to me. Anyhow, Reece is trying to obtain scholarships based on merit so we have our fingers crossed. I know he is not the only smart guy around so he may or may not get the scholarships we are hoping for... He takes one test December 2nd and another big one January 16. He also has to go and do a presentation on Feb 6. So while I am flying home from Ethiopia I will be praying that my boy does well!
Anyhow, I started this to explain that we are heading to Disney soon for Thanksgiving and I am so excited! Marin cannot wait to see all the princesses and she cannot wait to meet her very favorite, Tinkerbell! I am going to be all teary when she sees the Magic Kingdom for the first time! She will feel as if she has died and gone to 6 year old girl Heaven! It looks too like we will get to see A. a girl we had wanted to go back to Ethiopia for who was adopted by a lovely couple who live near Disney. They are going to meet us there. I cannot wait! I so hope that we don't overwhelm them! The 12 of us can be a bit much! David and I and kids, Jessika and Luz and my mom and dad. It will be chaos but it kind of always is!
Oh, quick prayer request for a girl I have known for 22 + years. I met her on my first trip to Ireland, before I even met my sweet David. Her name is Yvonne and she married one of the Irish fellows I met working at a beach on the East Coast in 1988. They started dating after he went home just before I went over to see all of them. They are so happily married with 3 healthy, beautiful children and one in Heaven who died not long after being born. Anyhow, it seems Yvonne was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. She is either 39 or 40. Too young to have this. Please, please, keep her and her family in your prayers.

visitors

Milagros is here. Staying for a few days and then she heads back to Peru next Monday as her au pair year is up. She is a sweetie and we love her so....

them bones, them bones....

Every day, smervery day! I have really dropped the every day for a month blogging commitment! Glad that there is no penalty!

Anyhow, a quick shout out to my precious Ethiopian birthday girl... Yesterday was Marin's big day. Or was it?(it is the day on her Ethiopian birth cert but not her real bday - though since there is NO way to know the real date it is the one we will use!) On paper, as we still have not done the final readoption in court, (good parents, smoood parents!) Marin turned 5. We are going to try to change her birthdate back by one year so she would've turned 6. Although my opinion is that she is a bit older then 6 already. Ahhh, I know, I go on about this a lot, sorry! This time though I have something intersting to share. Take a look at this:



This is the result of Marin's bone scan done late last week. I think the plus or minus 11 months makes the whole thing very interesting indeed! We are hoping to finally submit all of our court documents tomorrow morning so that in the not too distant future Marin will be re-adopted in our state and have that bdate changed!!! Then maybe I will finally give this is she or isn't she thing a rest!

Warning - I am grumpy!

Ida is here, raining on our parades and on literally everything else for days now. Not supposed to stop til Saturday afternoon.... ugh. I would bet that there is no beach house in front of us down at Nags Head anymore. They say it is a mess in that area. I don't really want to know. It all just stinks! I am in a bad mood. For the first time in my life I am dealing with a bit of depression and anxiety at certain times and I do NOT like it at all! I know it makes me a bear to live with, but, believe me, it's no fun being me either! I have felt like no one in my house is doing much to help out. I know they are all busy but darn it, so am I! Everyone is doing just enough and in a half-ass way,(see I AM in a bad mood!) So who does it all fall on? Moi.... It's just too much and this afternoon I snapped. I yelled and carried on and used words that I am sorry I said. I am not at all proud of me. But, I did feel a bit better. And then I got to cleaning. Cleaned for hours. Hours. Didn't clean anywhere anyone will see but I felt better knowing I have so much accomplished.
So, now I am going to crash. I know my old body will be screaming at me when I try to haul it out of bed in the morning... Maybe Ida will cause some school cancellations? Hmmm, things are looking up!

good grades and a mothers (or fathers) love

Tonight I am feeling kind of emotional. We have had a great day. Got the kids report cards and I feel blessed that these 6 are mine. They never cease to amaze me with their gifts and abilities. They all did beautifully. Finlay got a 4.5, Reece got straight A's and Seamus who started the year off with a rough transition to jr high finally pulled it together and ended up with only 2 B's (our school is rough too since you have to have a 93 for an A and an 85 is a C!). Rory who is in 3rd grade doesn't get A/B grades yet, but he did well. Actually this is his best report card ever. It seems as if his 4th eye surgery really made a huge difference and this year he can actually focus on words without his eyes wondering off and giving him headaches. What a relief to know that it has begun to click for him. His teacher told me that she had been told by last years teacher of his frustration with reading. She said that she saw a lot of hair twirling and fidgeting at the start of the year. Rory actually had a bald spot on the back of his head from twirling and pulling out his hair. How sad. But, yay, things are looking up! (And the hair is finally growing back too!)
After the report cards we took the kids over to Alexandria to see and movie and eat at one of their favorites, a Silver Diner! (Who doesn't love being able to get breakfast or whatever you want all day long!?)We drove home through DC and Rory especially got excited just seeing the museums, monuments and the Capital. My kids set a lofty goal for 2010. They want to go to each of the 19 Smithsonian's! I am urging them to make that a 2 year goal because I just don't see it happening! Will keep you posted!
So if you are wondering why I am emotional since all that seemed less then tear jerking I will fill you in now. Tonight David is on his laptop trying to get all the re-adoption paperwork ready. Yep, Marin has been home nearly 20 months and we still have not had her adoption finalized in our state! So we are now going to through all the home study, post placement and Ethiopian paperwork and whoa, there is a TON of it and it is so moving. Those of you who have adopted know that when you wait for so long to meet your new child it is strange to look back and remember a time when you didn't know her/him. It brings to mind all the countless fears, the true agony of the waiting, the realization of the sadness that your child must go through in order to get to you. In Ethiopia the children most often have one or even both parents still living. Before you know about Ethiopia you assume that your child will be an orphan in the traditional sense but as you learn more about the situation there the reality is that most of our children will leave behind a parent. As part of your Dossier parents-to-be are required to write a letter to the birth mother. I don't know if the birth parents ever actually see this letter. Maybe it is just written so the Ministry of Woman's Affairs can get a feel for you? I honestly do not have a clue what happens to it. But tonight as I searched for the date of our home studies completion I came across my Dear Birth Mother letter. I remembered writing it and feeling my heart breaking thinking of the pain such a decision must cause a birth mother, or in Marin's case, a birth father. This letter is not a great letter now that I see it over 2 years later, but, it is from the heart. It is my honest attempts to put into words the overwhelming emotion that I felt at the honor of knowing I would soon be given the chance to raise the child born to another couple who just were not fortunate enough to raise her themselves. I hope you don't mind me sharing it. Here goes:

Dearest Birth Mother,
What a very hard letter to write. I know that no matter how much thought I put into this letter I can never convey to you how grateful I am to you for your gift to me. I have longed all my life to adopt a child and I have prayed for that child and for her birth family since our adoption process started. I wonder have you felt my prayers? With the adoption of your precious child into our family we are linked forever. I promise to continue to pray for you to be well and happy and healthy. You may be facing some very tough times for whatever reason and having made the plan for your child to be adopted into another family could not have been an easy decision for you. I thank you for your decision though. Thank you dear birth mother. I promise to you that I will love and care for your daughter with all of my heart and being. I will love her just like I have loved the five children that I have given birth to. She will be no different to me, she will be loved just as much and I will tell her of the birth mother who loved her enough to share her with us. I admire your strength and your courage dear mother. To place this daughter with us must be painful for you. I wish I could make this easier. I hope it helps to know that she will be with a family who will only feel complete once she is home us. To say "thank you" just seems too simple and common. I wish there were a better word to use besides thank you. Know please dear birth mother that I will be forever grateful to you for your gift to us and for your love for your child.
You will be in my heart forever and I will think of you and pray for you always.
God bless you dear birth mother,
Kristin

So now I need to go and kiss my baby girl. She will be sleeping and sweaty but I will put my cheek to hers and feel her warmth and thank God again for the courage of birth mothers and fathers who make this choice for their children. I love you my Marin Tigist Samara Dakamo!

Sometimes we are better off for just knowing of certain people....

Today I want to share the story of a young man named Jordan with you. He started high school 3 1/2 years ago at the school where Finlay goes. He grew up in the area and had lots of friends. By all accounts he was just the nicest, nicest guy. While running cross country in 2008 his hips began to hurt. Bad. So his parents took him, their only child, to see a doctor. The doctor gave them some bad news. Jordan had bone cancer. They vowed to fight it. And fight it they did. For a year and a half Jordan did treatments while he tried to go to school and live a normal life. He also formed teams to walk in order to raise $ for a cure. He inspired many. As he got worse, he had to switch schools because the local public school was better able to help him throughout his sickness. LHS bestowed an honorary high school diploma to him recently in a ceremony at his home. A wonderful priest gave Jordan the sacrament of the sick and anointed him in preparation for his journey to the Lord. Jordan slipped into a coma just over a day ago and died yesterday. His 18th birthday would have been this Friday. Think of him that day and think of the parents he leaves behind. The sadness has overwhelmed me. Jordan supposedly told some of his friends not to cry about a week ago. He told them that not only was he ready to die but that he now looked forward to it. He was ready to see God and be out of pain. I never met Jordan and neither did Finlay but his life has touched us profoundly. I hope in some way his life touches yours too.

NaBloPoMo rolls on.................

I am doing what I said I would a few posts ago, giving NaBloPoMo "the old college try". And sadly, this is how I performed in college, missing things here or there...
Shhh, don't tell my kids!
Some of my favorite photos of Chicago:
View from our hotel window -- gorgeous!

Backing the bid.

Two of these circular towers sat right next to each other - can you see the cars? I cannot imagine backing into a spot in this tower!

Leg sculptures in the park -- so fun!

While in Chicago I got word that a girl I have heard of for years through mutual friends had passed away due to complications from the Swine Flu. She was only in her 30's and was healthy other then having diabetes. She leaves behind 2 little girls.
Tomorrow there is a clinic in our area. David and I are not "priority" but our kids are and they are all getting the vaccine. Thought long and hard and have decided that the risks from this horrific virus outweigh the risks from this vaccine....

a h%^# of a town....

We are in the airport, waiting for our plane. Of course we had a problem when we checked in, our first flight was delayed which meant that we would miss our second flight. They were able to put us through another way, getting us home at about the same time, phew! I am ready to see my babies. I miss them terribly. (how in the world will I ever be able to be in Ethiopia for 16 days?!)
It's been a great trip. Everyone has been friendly and we have had a ball.
Boarding soon so I will sign off and promise lots of pics all this week!
Sing it with me, Chicago, Chicago....

Oops

I guess I should never make a promise I know I might screw up! Yep, I missed yesterday after promising to blog every day this month -- my excuse is that I am in Chicago with my sweet and wonderful hubby and just got caught up in having a great time out here! Lame I know but it's all I've got!
By the way, I love this city! I have been taking a TON of photos that I will upload after we get back home. This place is amazing. Safe, clean, fun, with lots to see and do. The food is great (as I type my hands smell like Chicago dog! Ummmm!) I am in love with this city and hope to get back here again and again now that my hubby works out here!
So that is it for now. Gotta hit the hay. We have to be up at 4:45 so we can leave the city and head to South Bend, Indiana by 6 AM. We have a big day of tailgating and football ahead! Who are you for, Notre Dame or Navy?