Artwork, Computer Skills and Ginger

Eliza's first school picture!! Not smiling, but I'm impressed that she was actually looking at the camera.

Eliza's teachers have been very pleased w/ her progress. Though they are still doing some hand-over-hand work w/ Eliza, for the most part her daily report is that she is working more and more independently at coloring inside the lines, cutting on the lines, glueing and her new favorite: stapling! Last week they made a turkey and a cornucopia (sp?).

P.S. Doesn't our granite look so pretty? And the backsplash that Derek did all by himself while we were in Kansas...

As you saw in my last post, Eliza loves getting on the computer these days and doing the Barney Dance Along Jukebox at pbs.org. She has such focus. I caught a great shot of Eliza and Allie side-by-side on the couch last night focused on their laptops (okay, dad's and mom's laptops). Allie was playing a "light the Christmas tree" puzzle game. It's pretty fun and hard to do. I'll have to look for the link and post it. It's a great on-line puzzle.




Lastly, here's the newest little stray that wandered (or was dropped off) to our farm. Like we need more wandering cats out here. She won't let us touch her, but she appreciates that we are feeding her. She's probably 10 weeks old. So tiny (that's a small pumpkin that she's next to) and really pretty (a tortoiseshell, no white). When I first saw her, I thought she was a raccoon. She has taken over our front porch and spends the days and nights sleeping in the rocking chair that used to be our cat, Rosie's, spot. Rosie is very miffed, as you can imagine. This little kitten tho, named her Ginger, took right over. For a kitten shy of people, it's funny how she has stayed right by the front door. As I always tell the kids, don't get attached. We have many strays (cats, dogs) that call us home for a short time and then wander on. It's sad because some have been so friendly and have stayed for months and months, then suddenly disappear and we never know what happened to them. So, for now, this is "Ginger".

Catching up on photos...

Sorry that I wrote so much in my previous blog and then didn't even post any pictures! How dare I? Well, been sick here, sorry! Here's a few from the last 3 weeks...

The 3 Witches (Eliza, Allie w/ friend Stacy): "TAKE #1"

The 3 Witches: "TAKE #99"...finally one where the hats or wigs stayed on and everyone looked!

Hogan, couldn't quite muster keeping a witch hat on him afterall!

Exhausted, sorting the loot!

Eliza on a sugar high, looking on at the sorting of candy!

On the computer, her new favorite activity!

Barney dances to songs at pbs.org!

I've always wanted to adopt...

First of all, my new header captures Eliza almost perfectly. She's always got one shoe off. She's really into watching you tie her shoes these days and tries to do it herself. So, she knows if she takes a shoe off, you'll put it back on and she can watch you tie it. She's such a smarty pants!

So, we're moving along on our paperwork. Almost ready for our agency to submit our LOI to the CCAA for a little girl. I'm so excited. Hoping that we are her family. If you don't already know, the new rules do not allow an agency to lock-in a child off the shared list for a family until CCAA approval. Meaning that other families could be applying for the same child. Still have a lot of dossier to get to, but this is going on simultaneously.

Onto today's post "title": I've always wanted to adopt... As you all know, each adoption journey is filled with paperchasing tails. I had a good one happen this morning. I went to our family dr to pick up our physicals that he was supposed to sign/notarize. Well, he signed them w/out notarizing. (The same exact thing happened for Eliza's adoption.) Big sigh, from me, in their office. They know me quite well and I feel like I've been there every day for weeks now w/ all our illnesses. Anyway, I figured I'd take the paperwork over to the Town Hall (like I did for Eliza) and get "lucky" again finding a notary that knows our dr (it's a very small town) and who would notarize it (like I did for Eliza). Get the picture here... Of course, I didn't get as "lucky" this time. She was a new notary and not comfortable notarizing his signature. Another big sigh, from me, in their office. Last resort, play the adoption card: "My agency is holding a child's file for us and is waiting for this paperwork so they can apply to China. It has to be there today." Well, the woman starts asking around to the other clerks if they know or have a document w/ our dr's signature on it that she could look at. They start pulling permits, etc. Uh oh! I quickly decide this might take a while and maybe I could ask her to drive over to the dr's with me (1/2 mile away). She looks out the window at the glorious fall day and to my surprise, says "Sure!". So, we did and she notarized it there in my dr's office. The best part of it, was when one of the young nurses overheard us and asked, "Are you adopting?" I told her this was our second adoption from China. To that she said, "You're so lucky! I've always wanted to adopt." I smiled and I said, "It takes someone who always wanted to adopt to recognize that I'm the lucky one. Usually, people say that the child is lucky. Listen to your heart and I hope that one day, you will be lucky too." She was in her early 20's. Made me think back to myself at that age. I always knew I wanted to adopt too. It took me nearly 20 years to get there. I hope she acts on it. Something tells me that she will and that made me smile for a child waiting.