Trae's project

Today is the academic fair that all the 4th and 5th graders participate in. This is our 5th time being part of it. It's actually pretty interesting to see all the different topics the kids come up with. Things like "How does a sewing machine work?" "What Happened at Pearl Harbor" or even "How much water can a Penny hold?"
This is like the Science Fair we all did as a kid, only the topic can be pretty much anything.
Trae did his on Mount Rushmore. They have to do a display board and write a report. He did a good job and used a lot of great pictures from our trip there in 2006. Looking at them for the first time in years made me, and the boys, really want to go back. That was a great vacation!
Here he is.....and he got an A!

What a week

Things have gone by like a bit of a blur since Wednesday. I really cannot yet wrap my head around the thought of leaving for China in just over 3 weeks....really??

I've been thinking about Livi and wondering what she'll look like and what she'll act like when we see her.

The whole thing gives me some serious butterflies.

I know I want a smile on my face for her when she first sees us.....but I'm not sure I can muster the strength to not be a complete wreck.
I get emotional just thinking about it....what the heck will I be like when I'm actually living it. Good grief.

Today, a woman in front of us at church turned around and counted, then looked at us. "Five boys?"
Yep.
Then she looked at them and asked "So have you ever wanted a sister"
Definitely. They jumped right into telling her about Livi. They tell it with such excitement that you can't mistake their feelings about it.
They can't wait either.
I told the woman that we will meet her 4 weeks from today (most likely)....and it hit me how soon that was and how fast that time would fly.

This is just so fun.

The whole thing.

All the waiting, all the paperwork, all the changes, all the delays, all the excitement, everything.

It's gonna be so worth it.
I mean...just look at that face and those chubby little legs.
How could it not be.

Ever wonder

....how much can change in an hour?

One hour ago
I was still excited about getting our article 5
One hour ago
I was getting everything together to begin applying for our visas
One hour ago
I was thinking we were counting down the days to our TA
One hour ago
I was thinking we had about 3 more weeks before we'd get it

But now?
Now....
We have our Travel approval!
We have a tentative date of Feb. 28th to leave for China
And we know that March 6th looks like it could be a very, very good day that we will be celebrating for a very long time.

In place

Everything is just falling nicely into place for us to go get Livi. I'm getting more and more excited as each day goes on. Her room is just about done....I still have to order some baskets for her shelf and then I will post pics of it....I've started a long packing and 'to do' list for our trip, we're applying for our Visa's to go to China, and it's February....which means, only a month on that calendar away from when we will probably get to go meet her and hold her. I simply cannot wait.

Step 4....Done!

Last week I emailed our social worker to just check in and see if there was any word on our article 5. This is the step that goes to the US Embassy in China and the last one before the TA (Travel Approval). They said they hadn't been notified but that they would contact the liason there and see. Well, I got word this morning that our article 5 was sent on to CCAA (The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) LAST WEEK! Now, it is in their hands and they are the ones who will issue our travel approval. This step generally takes about 2-4 weeks, but with Chinese New Year coming up and that being a long lasting event in China where nothing Governmental is open for a bit, there could be a slight delay. But still.....2-4 weeks is so close and we're already a week into it!
Once we get our TA, we will get the specific dates to travel nailed down and will be on our way about 2 weeks after that point. Oh my gosh, it's really gonna happen quickly all of a sudden. We're suuuupppppeeeerrrr excited!

Livi's package

I recently got a package together to send to Livi at her orphanage. I had sent a small one back when we first got our LOA that had a Ni Hao Kai Lan sticker book in it, but wanted to do something bigger and more fun. I wanted to wait until it got closer to when we would be going there to send her the photos of us because I thought our pictures would be more fresh in her memory. I'm really hoping that the people at the orphanage will show her the pics and help talk to her a bit about them. I've heard many stories and it could go either way....some are really great about it and some don't do much, so we'll see.
We got a doll, some hair bows, some Hello Kitty stickers, some socks, some pj's,
a coloring book with crayons, and a photo book with our pictures.
I printed out the Chinese characters to label our pictures.








The address label for her orphanage....

Spelling Bee

On Wednesday last week, Tyler was in the school spelling bee. He won in his classroom so he got to move to the next level. There were 12 kids between 6th and 8th grade. It was at 1pm at the school and he wanted to make sure I was going to be there, which of course, I was. I admit, I wasn't too overly excited about it. I certainly didn't mind going and wouldn't have missed it, but I just figured.....I'll go, listen to some words being spelled, and go home. In fact, I thought if Tyler got out early on...I'd just sneak out sooner.
Somehow this sounds worse as I write it than it did when I was actually thinking it....
I got there just as it was about to start. The whole gym was full of students and teachers and the kids in the bee were up on the stage. The principal gave a quick talk about how it was going to work and what to expect and then said they would do a practice round first.
Tyler was #9 of the 12 kids to have his turn. When it came time for him to step up to the podium, he was given the word..."citizen".
"Citizen....c-i-t-e-z-e-n.....citizen"
"I'm sorry, that is incorrect"
Tyler sat back down, shoulders slouched, with a grin that told me he was slightly embarrassed about getting his first word wrong. I looked at him, I looked at my watch....1:05pm....Dang, I thought, I can get outta here pretty early. As I was thinking this, I started to laugh.
Actually, I started to get the 'church giggles'. You know, the laughing you do at totally inappropriate times....where your shoulders shake and you're trying so hard to be quiet.
I don't know why....it just happened.
I just couldn't help it. Something about the look on Tyler's face and the fact that my first thought was "yay, I get to go" rather than "oh, my poor baby" just struck me funny. Maybe it was guilt and I was trying to mask it with laughter.
The worse part is that there were other parents sitting behind me wondering, I'm sure, why the heck I thought it was funny.
Within a couple minutes, once the last kid spelled his word, and just as I was about to sneak out the back door....the principal got up and said "okay, that was our practice round....now we will begin round 1".
Oh my gosh, the practice round....I had totally forgotten. That didn't even count.
My whole focus shifted and suddenly I was clapping and rooting on Tyler....which if I would have really thought about that, would have made me start laughing all over again.
Well, long story short.....not only did Tyler NOT miss his first word, he went on to win the whole dang thing. Each round as more and more kids got knocked out, there he sat....having gotten his only misspelled word out of his system back in the practice round....and spelled every word after correctly.
I was so excited, I never knew spelling bees could actually be so much fun! I guess it really doesn't matter what it is...if it's your child involved, you can't help but like it.
As they started to hand out the ribbons and trophy to him, I nudged another mom with a camera and asked her if she could take some pictures for me since I hadn't brought mine with (seriously....who would have thought I needed a camera for a spelling bee).
I was really proud of him and now he will be going to the state competition in March. I"m afraid we might not be here for it since it could be while we're in China, but if we are I will be there in the front row.....with my camera....cheering him on....and NOT laughing.




I'm sure am glad I didn't leave early.