I like to move it, move it.

I have tried to write posts with adoption updates, but even though a lot was going on behind the scenes, there wasn't a whole to actually say. I wrote one, but it came across very "Debbie Downer" so I never published. I tried again later with a more positive vibe, but it wasn't authentic at all so I didn't post it either. Then a couple days later... we were nearing the last-possible-second-to-get-approval-and-still-travel-in-July and I was about to lose it. I wrote something sharing our despair, but Debbie was so down at that point, she was practically laying flat on the floor. 

"This is the last week that we could get our approval and still travel in July. There are a million reasons why we need it to be July. He needs it to be July. Our other children need it to be July.  We need it to be July. For six months we have had our hearts set on traveling this summer. And it was every bit of plausible for most of that time. The mess of red tape and consequences our first agency left us in was a real doozy and quite frankly, they blew it. The wait is painful no matter, but waiting longer because someone made a deliberate, hurtful choice just plain sucks."

See. 

Have I mentioned the amount of mixed nuts I have consumed? All the mixed nuts. Apparently, they have become my anti-anxiety drug of choice. I eat all the mixed nuts all the times.

I lay awake night after night, desperate and pleading, trying to give it all away.  One million cans of mixed nuts later (and a lot, like... a lot) of crying, I finally realized I was silently screaming to God, "I GIVE IT ALL TO YOU! All of it!  BUT..." 

But. Except. Almost. Not really. 

And then Satan laughed and laughed and had himself a little field day with my heart. Blue Ribbon goes to Satan in these events: Fear, Control, Anxiety, Comparison, Envy and Confusion.

So when we missed our July Boat (quite recently), I had myself a good little pity party, dusted off my hands, and said, "Well... that's that." You take it. I don't want it anymore. Not even a little.

Now we weren't desperate to get there in July, and it didn't make all the difference in the world, and the only thing left to do was pray for our son. But then our social worker (God bless her pea-pickin' heart for putting up with me), messaged me with lots of exclamation points and finally, finally, we are movin'!  Still hard to tell how quickly we are moving, but we ARE moving! 

Yip! Yip!
Longest three months of my life, ya'll. 

Shew. 

Yeah, I know I know. 
So here we are. Moving. Going. Don't know when or how or whatever, but I will keep you posted! It's coming, I feel it in my gut (though it's entirely possible that what I "feel" is actually the onset of some sort of overdose of phytic acid from all the nuts.)

What's Cookin' Wednesday!

We are going to do everything we can to keep our selves busy and distracted during these summer weeks to avoid boredom and (try) not to be consumed by the painful stage of adoption we happen to be in.

It's working out pretty well so far! (Maybe not the distraction part, but the fun-busy part.)
I have no idea if we'll do it for a week or a month or whatever, but for now... it's good.

We are using this schedule roughly:

MAKE SOMETHING MONDAY:

Last Monday was just "Memorial Monday", but this Monday the kids learned to make buttercream icing and learned to pipe.

TIME TO "READ" TUESDAY:

We read every day. EVERY day. So, on Tuesdays the twins choose something out of their usual rotation (something silly, something harder, etc.) and Layla works on the book she's writing for RJZ... AND we do mandarin lessons :) Nothing formal, just basic words and phrases that we are trying to learn together. We ordered flash cards from another adopting family's fundraiser- they are handy for us and will be awesome to take to China for early communication/English with RJZ.

{Old pic.}

WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY:

Everybody's favorite! Each child cooks a meal that day. They are rotating meals. Everyone gets one-on-one time with Mommy and they are reading recipes/directions, practicing fractions, measurements, etc while they cook.  We even had a history lesson with our 'popcorn cereal' this morning. 

Biscuits and chocolate gravy, ya'll.

Bananas with greek yogurt, cinnamon, and almonds- frozen.

Bagels with cream cheese and apple "crabs"

Fettucini alfredo with roasted vegetables

Annie's job is really just to reap the rewards ;)

I only supervise and they do everything themselves!

THOUGHTFUL/THANKFUL THURSDAY:

For whatever reason, Thursdays are usually our hardest day of the week. So we practice more intentionally being grateful for what we have and try to do some little random acts of kindness throughout the day. 

FUN/FIELD TRIP FRIDAY:

Fun fun fun. 

We are only on week two (and this week's "field trip" will likely be several hours at Vandy- not so fun, but trying to work out something else to balance it out). Last week, we went to our local Farmers Market. They got to pick anything they wanted for lunch- a bit pricey, but it is a field trip, afterall.

They left with a peach and pear (Brynn), an apple and bag of fresh cherries (Cale), sandwich and popcorn (Layla), hummus, pita chips, and salad (Me and AG), but everyone just shared basically.

We picked a shade tree at the park and ate every last bite! So good.

So far, everyone is looking forward to each day. With appointments the next two days, things could easily get off schedule so this may end up a lot like our bathroom sign that I was going to change "every month" (it's been the same since February. Of 2013.) But for today, I have three busy chefs!

Happy summer, ya'll.

Oh, Darling, don't you ever grow up...

Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little...

Oh, Darling, don't you ever grow up, don't ever grow up
It could stay this simple.

Just try, to never grow up.

It's my last year of dance. It may very well be Layla's. I just couldn't let the moment pass us by.

Oh, Darling, don't you ever grow up... just stay this little.