adoption update

It's been a long time since I've done any updates on our adoption, because honestly, there hasn't been anything to report.  Sometimes the journey to adoption can feel a lot like drifting.  Sometimes it feels like it's not even happening.  Like I dreamed it all up.  But that's never for very long.  I still yearn for our third child.  It takes every ounce of self-control that I have to not run up to trans-racial families and hug them all. I still read every adoption story I come across.

I'm still ready.

I've mentioned before that our agency is tiny.  The three women who run it work tirelessly to take care of their birth mamas.  Therefore, if we want to hear any updates from them, it is usually up to us to make the call.  And we hate to feel burdensome.  We are those types of people.  Nevertheless, sometimes, we just can't stand the "not knowing" any more and have to touch base.

John called our agency yesterday just to see how things were moving.  Our case worker told him that last year was the strangest that they've ever had.  They only placed 6 children.  They had numerous near placements, with the birth mom changing her mind at the last minute.  They had even more near placements with birth dads stepping in at the last minute to claim their rights.  Some of these dads even stepped in after the child had been placed.  We have to keep all of this in mind as we move ahead.  Adoption is not a done deal, until it is.  You can be told one thing, only for the situation to change in a matter of hours.  So we step forward in faith knowing that whatever comes our way can be handled through God's grace.
And let me just add this, in case there is any confusion- we are 100% about orphan prevention.  If a birth mom decides to keep her child, we rejoice in that.  We rejoice when knowing that the child is with a loving parent that can and will parent.  Sadly, this is not always the case, and it is hard when a person who is not ready to parent chooses to parent.  Our agency has seen this countless times, only to see Child Protective Services have to step in and remove the child only a few months after birth.  We want to prevent orphans, yes, of course, but we also want to prevent abuse and neglect.  And that is one of the reasons we have opened our hearts and our home to adoption.

Back to our update.  We still have not been chosen by a birth mom, but our family book is currently being shown to three moms!  We are excited about this and we know that before the foundations of the earth were put in place, that God has planned the children that are to be a part of this family.  What a peace and a comfort we find there.

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If you would- please pray for these moms.  I mean, can you imagine that kind of decision to be made as a young girl (sometimes as young as 12)?  Please pray for our case workers.  They are machines.  Except they're not.  They are sweet ladies that need to rest and need respite.  Would you pray for their stamina, their comfort, their wisdom?


Thank you!

this moment {chick days}

joining soulemama

ash wednesday

I've been deep in thought over the past week about Lent.

About what I want to give up.

What I want to gain.

I have identified an area that needs some reigning in, so this will be a season of practicing self-control.  I've also been prayerfully seeking things in my life that may need to be completely abandoned.  Areas of the heart that are hindering my relationship with God.  What I've come to discover about Lent (and as a protestant, Lent has been a wonderful discovery!) is that it is not about focusing on what I am doing wrong, rather, it is a time to focus on greater intimacy with the Lord.

And if that means giving some things up, I pray for the strength to do that.

If it means adding some things to my life, I pray for the courage to do that.

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For the next 40 days our family will be sharing in the same devotional we have done for the past few years.  We do ours right after dinner while we are all still seated around the table.  During my personal study time I am adding this again.

If you would like to read more about Lent, Christine Sine will be blogging daily through the journey.  Read what she shares today.  It is beautiful and moving.

snacking

nesting

I have really been enjoying making this new house of ours feel like our home.  Like I've mentioned before, we do not own this house, so we will be making very minimal changes.  I am not going to change out light fixtures, and I probably won't paint- much.  We have a goal to save, save, save, for a future piece of land and I'd much rather have my money go there.  With that said, we have been gifted with some lovely pieces lately that I've been reworking to fit into our space.

This is a very old piece that was given to us by a family friend (she also gave us a beautiful bed for Buddy).  I usually am drawn to more streamlined furniture with simpler finishes, but I found this piece to be charming and an upgrade from my garage sale cart that ( I'm using it in the picture below) I had been using to hold our record player.

I painted it with some leftover No-VOC paint from our bathroom at our old house (which I also used in our current bathroom).

Look how cozy our records are inside!  The whole collection fit perfectly!

Another poorly lit photo.

I really love how it turned out!   And I was able to finally hang the plates my sister and John gave me (they were in cahoots and had a big box of lovelies shipped to me from ModCloth).  I actually painted the chest that color specifically to match(ish) my plates.  I love them just that much!

valen-heart dance

We had such a wonderful Valentine's Day around here.  The kids both made us tons of love notes and gifts, and John planned a super fun scavenger hunt at lunch for them that led to their gifts from us.  I like to buy them a book for every special occasion.

After a dinner at home we got gussied up and had a bonafide Valentine's dance in our dining room!  Buddy opted out of dancing, preferring to be our photographer.  

We had such a fun time dancing to disco and funk, working out some new moves and laughing at ourselves!  We ended the night with ice cream and cuddling up with our new books.

Love these valentines of mine...

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How was your day?  Did you do anything special?

wildlife habitat

{{{HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FRIENDS!!!}}}  Quick- go hug somebody you love!
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Our yard backs up to some acreage that is part pasture and part woods.  I love looking out over the yard first thing in the morning, it's like being at summer camp.  Every day.  Being so close to woods has offered us the benefit of lots of wildlife spotting.  This morning Moonpie and I counted 31 robins in the backyard at one time!

photo source:  Bird Watching Journal

We have also spotted three hawks

photo source:  wiki

some Cedar Waxwings

photo source:  Cornell ornithology dept.

Aren't they beautiful?  I have never seen one before!  I had to go running to my bird identification book to find it!  (in retrospect, I probably should have entitled this post {{{nerd alert}}} )

We have also spotted an owl, many male cardinals, wrens, mockingbirds and house sparrows.  With all of these birds around, we have decided that we want to have a Certified Wildlife Habitat.  It looks like a fun family goal that we can all work towards to accomplish.  We are pretty good on most of the criteria, but we need to up our native plants and water sources.  I also really want a great pair of binoculars so we can get an up close view.  We have a wall of windows in our dining room that is the best spot in the house for bird watching.  Oh!  Maybe I'll win a pair in the Cornell Great Backyard Bird Count (or the GBBC, if you're cool- like me- ahem) that I may be entering.  

Yep- nerd alert indeed...

setting in

this rose bush was the only living thing on the lot
when we moved into our old house

Our recent move has started feeling not so recent any more.  We are feeling at home and very comfortable in our new town, our new church, our new home.  We love that we are close enough to our old town to still see friends, run into people we know at the store, and make it to story time at the library every now and then!

my calendula was doing so well!  I was very pleased!

Our house has been on the market since December, but has seen very little foot traffic.  We get tons of internet hits, but only one couple has taken the bite and actually scheduled a showing.  They went out yesterday to see the house, and we are still waiting for some feedback from that visit.  I found myself speaking blessings over their visit all day- "They are going to love the way the light dances across the hardwood floors", "they are going to love the giant closet in the kid's old room", "they will love the butler's pantry" etc.  This was better than my original thinking of "Oh!  I hope they don't mind paneling popping off of the walls!", or "Dang- our backyard looks rough!".  Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

the rosemary was out of control!  I wanted to pack all that
goodness up in my pocket and bring it back home with me!

We went to the house this week to prep it for the showing.  It is empty, but we wanted to work on the yard a bit and dust the place.  While sweeping the rooms, my mind was playing tricks on me.  I could see my couch, our baskets of books (everywhere!  Oh the baskets lining the base boards in that tiny house!), and children running in and out of the door.  When I walked into the kid's old room to give it a good sweep, I was overcome with feelings.  We bought that house when Buddy was six weeks old!  I could see his little crib in the corner, hear his little knees swooshing on the floor as he crawled across the room to me.  I could see Moonpie in tutus and wings dancing around their room.  I could see their bigger selves jumping on beds and snuggling up together at bed time.  It finally settled into my heart that we were really done.  Not just with the house, but with that season of our life.  And as wistful as I can get about my two bitties not being so bitty anymore, I'm also comforted to know that this home we are now in is the perfect one for this season of our life.

possible garden plans (still in revision)

And we are making plans!  We spent some time the other night mapping out what we wanted to see happen in the garden.  Moonpie has an up and coming egg business, and Buddy is going to help with market garden we have planned.

Buddy's market stand

Market garden!  I am beside myself!  The goats and the bees are on the back burner for now as we focus on the work of the garden, expanding the bunny yard and setting up for the chickens.

Moonpie's proposed bunny area

I know that this isn't our forever home (we do not own it), but for this season of our life it is just right.