A Day in the Park

Yesterday I took all four of my kids and three of my daycare kids (yes, that is a total of 7 and yes, I am a bit crazy) on a field trip. First stop was IPFW (the college I attend) to drop off some paperwork for the fall. Boy did they love every minute of that. NOT! Anyway, after that we went to the Library so the kids could turn in their summer reading program sheets. Then is was off to the new park that we have been hearing so much about. It is huge and has so many activities for so many ages. Mylee was not the only one I tried to get pictures of, I did try to get pictures of the other 6 kids but they were all too busy running around playing tag, so Miss Mylee got to be my model for the day. Of course, she didn't protest a bit.

Drew Update for June

Drew (Jeremy) is 3 Years 3 Months Old.

Drew’s foster mom wrote this update:

Drew is really healthy. He has grown taller and he is very diligent. He likes to help me wash dishes and peel peanuts. He always says, “When I grow up, I’ll help my mom by working.” He is well-behaved and he likes when teachers praise him. He listens carefully during class. Every time we bring him back from preschool he always asks, “Mom, where is dad, big brothers, and big sisters?” I think he has really grown up.

Because of a generous donor the kids at New Day were able to visit a science museum earlier this month. From the pictures it sure looks like they had a wonderful time.

We also go to talk to Drew last night via Skype. I am hoping to be able to get a video of it on later today. We have taped all of our Skype calls with him but when I go to upload them to blogger, it does not work. Last night Matt saved the videos to a different program, so I am hoping it will work this time. But for now, you can just enjoy the pictures.

Explanation and Some Pictures

Many of you have asked what happened to Emma. Last weekend we were at the lake celebrating Father's Day (pictures following) and Emma, Matt, and Mylee took Sadie (our dog) for a walk. Well, Sadie decided that walking was just not working so she took off running while Emma was holding onto her leash. Emma did not let go quick enough and was drug a few feet on the pavement. When Matt asked her why she didn't let go, she said "becasue I didn't want Sadie to run away." She is actually healing quite nicely. Yesterday she went swimming and the scabs fell off so she looks much better. We are putting anti-scaring cream on three times a day and so far it seems to be helping. My only concern is that she is now going to have a small area on her cheek where she will not have any freckles. :( I LOVE her freckles, luckily she has plenty more.

Other than the issue with Emma, we had a wonderful weekend at the lake. The kids went swimming, they fished, they rode the boats, it was such a nice relaxing weekend. Enjoy the pictures.

Daddy caught a fish and Mylee could not wait to check it out.


These guys LOVE to fish. I honestly don't know where they get there patience.








I LOVE this picture. Emma looks so deep in thought.




FOREVER SISTERS

Wordless Wednesday

And The Winner Is...

First and foremost, Thank You to everyone who donated to our Vera Bradley raffle. I truly did not expect to have that many donations. You guys rock! I am also excited to let you all know that the adoption fundraiser garage sale we had this weekend was a huge success. We were able to make enough money to cover the cost of our immigrations feel of $830.00! We had so much stuff from our home as well as what was donated from family and friends.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated something. Whether it was bog or small, every little bit helped. I put an ad in our local newspaper about our garage sale being a fundraiser for a China adoption and was completely surprised by the amount of people we had show up just because of the ad. We even had one family come from Ohio (we live in IN) because they saw it was a fundraiser for an adoption.

Before announcing the winner of the Vera Bradley, here are some pictures from our sale.









Okay, and now for what you have all been waiting for, the winner of the beautiful Vera Bradley is Donnie Statom! Congratulations Donnie, I will be mailing your bag our tomorrow.

Thanks again everybody!!!!

Adoption Update & Raffleaway

***ADOPTION UPDATE***

Earlier this week we had a conference call with our agency. Things are moving along, slowly, but at least moving. Our home study was finally approved by our agency and as of June 4th was sent to immigration for processing. Now we wait for confirmation that they have received our application and wait for our fingerprint appointment. This step of the process is taking about two months. So, we are praying and hoping to have our fingerprints and immigrations approval back by early August so we can be DTC (Dossier to China) by sometime in August. According to our agency, IF we are DTC in August, we will more than likely not travel until after the first of the year. As much as I would love to have Drew home for Christmas, financially it will be in our favor to wait until after the first of the year so we can possibly use our tax return to help with the funds.

Tomorrow and Saturday we are having our first adoption fundraiser. For the past couple of weeks we have been working on getting a garage sale together. Our Church was kind enough to allow us to put an announcement in the bulletin and we have been blessed with many donations from friends, family, and complete strangers. We have tons of stuff and are even having a raffle for a new Vera Bradley bag that my neighbor graciously donated (thanks Lydia).



Speaking of Vera Bradley, I am also going to give my bloggy friends the chance to win this beautiful Vera Bradley bag. This is the Sherbert pattern and is for the Satchel duffel bag. The colors on this are so bright and summery. There are also several pockets on the inside to extra storage. This is a great bag for those summer trips to the lake, or a weekend getaway. At the top of my sidebar you will notice a rd Chip in button. All you have to do is click on that to make a donation. It is safe and secure. I myself have made many donations using Chip In and have not had any problems. Here's how the raffle is going to work. Each $5.00 donation will enter you for a chance to win this beautiful bag. To be fair to our garage sale patrons who enter the raffle, it will end at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday June 13. The winner will be chosen on Saturday evening and will be contacted through e-mail or by phone right away. The bag will be shipped priority mail right to your house. Thank you in advance for helping us to bring one more China blessing home.

Drew Update

Once a month we are blessed with an update from New Day. We get a picture and an update written by his foster mom.

Dear Friends,

We hope this note finds you doing well, and that you enjoy reading this month's update.

Drew (Jeremy) is 3 Years 3 Months Old.

Drew’s foster mom wrote this update:

Drew is very healthy this month. He was especially happy one day when he was eating. He smiled to his big brother and said “I like pies and big shrimps!” “Ask the nannies to make them for you everyday then,” big brother said. “What other kinds of fruit do you like, Drew?” he asked. “I like watermelon, banana and strawberries!” “This is easy, I will buy it for you.” The way they talk, the brothers are like scenes in a play. It made me very happy to see this cute display of love between the two of them!

In addition to the monthly updates we are also blessed that on New Day's site they have a scrapbook that tells what the kids are doing. This week they celebrated China's Dragon Boat Festival by making Zong Zi which is the traditional food of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Making Zong Zi





The children at New Day were also able to visit Beijing's Botanical Garden thanks to a generous donor. Below are pictures from their trip.

"Hi, my name is Drew and I will be your tour guide."

Dance Recitals and T-Ball

It seems like so long ago that I updated our blog. For those of you who check it out on a regular basis, I am sorry it has been so long since my last update. Before I begin, I first want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been so supportive during the passing of my dad. Your thoughts and prayers have appreciated more than you know. My dad was a great man. He may be gone, but certainly not forgotten.

And now on to the updates. Things here have definitely been busy. Gabe started playing t-ball this year and is having so much fun. I don't know if he is more excited to play ball, or play in the dirt. Either way, he is having fun and that is what it is all about. The kids on his t-ball team are so much fun to watch. They are so funny and don't even know it. They all definitely keep the parents in the bleachers laughing.

If you look closely you can see that Gabe is running from third base to home in a nice little zig zag.


This is Gabe playing in the dirt DURING the middle of the game.



Emma had her dance recital this past Sunday so we spent half of Saturday at the rehearsal and Sunday afternoon at the actual recital. I could not have been more proud of her this year. She has really grown, matured, and worked so hard this year with dance. At the beginning of the year I signed her up for tap and jazz, but once the first classes started she begged me to put her in ballet as well. I am so glad I did because she really enjoyed it. She will be taking tap, jazz, and ballet this summer as well.













My beautiful girl!