Halloween After All

 We were not going to go trick or treating. We usually go to the church, but it is on Saturday this year. So I said no. Daddy came home and guilt tripped me into it. He's taking them, so yay. I'm chilling with Extreme Couponing and Pizza Pasta! So here's what happens when you trick or treat last minute.

Two football players and a hunter.

This is hubby's high school jersey and helmet. Complete with icky old mouth guard!

SIGN!

We receive our first set of adoption papers today! They were signed and sent back within hours. She's opening our adoption file tonight! Next step is Adoption Worker is writing her report to send to the lawyer then more signing, then wait on the judge. However, today I signed the first paper, Intent to Adopt!!!!! First papers with adoption on them! So exciting.

Here's hubby signing!

For Today....

*I borrowed this from a blog on my roll and now I don't remember which blog it was, so to whoever, thanks:

Outside my window..it is dark and rainy and windy. And kind of chilly too.

I am thinking...  I need to get school work done, but a nap sounds so good!

I am thankful...  that my power is still on!

In the kitchen... there are three boys who should be cleaning up.

I am wearing... a hippie skirt and a pajama top and hot pink socks. Yeah, I'm a hot mess today.

I am creating... a list to Christmas projects!

I am going... No where today.

I am wondering... if I should crank the heat up in case the power goes out.

I am reading... 1984 and The Fatherless Generation.

I am hoping... that this storm will blow over, but not destroy anything.

I am looking forward to... Christmas decorations coming out in three days!

I am learning... we must do something!

Around the house... Hubby is napping, kids are cleaning, babies are napping.

I am praying... protection from this storm, His will to be done, and a speedy adoption process for M and Carleigh.

A favorite quote for today... "Everybody s a genus, but if you judge a fish on it's ability to climb a tree, it will live the rest of it's life thinking that it is stupid." (Oh, me too)

One of my favorite things... Family movie time.

A few plans for the rest of the week: School work, lots of laundry, I'd like to break out the knitting needles, decorating for Christmas

Sandy Ramblings.

Sandy. You lovely lady. You're fashionably late my dear. The end of October is no time for a storm. You may want to turn away before you embarrass yourself.

All kidding aside. Our hatches are battened and the batteries are charged. The generator is full and I even remembered to buy extra diapers and wipes. Storm wise I'm not overly worried, it's the power outage that is pretty much a guarantee. I am holding great hope in the tree truck people. They are been all around our streets and surrounding neighborhoods the last few weeks, trimming the limbs from the power lines. Fingers crossed.

If all else fails, me and the five kids will head to my mom's house. The house where my mother, father, brother, and two nieces live. It'll be fun, really.

We have a generator. We've failed miserably in the secondary heat source. Our fire place smelled all gassy. We unhooked it two years ago, meaning to call. Opps. Think they'll come out in a hurricane like event? Praying the power stays on, and if it does go out that it doesn't get too cold. This summer when we lost power, it was the worst ever. 6 days in July heat. Horrid. We drove around in the van to cool off. Might have to drive around to warm up this time. Thank goodness we *I* have a hoodie compulsion. We'll be toasty and babies have footie pajamas. Hmm, they have adult ones at Walmart, maybe we should all get a pair.

Okay, enough rambling from me. Oh, and some super good news! We got a call last week saying "You've been officially approved to adopt M" Just waiting on paperwork now!!!!!!

I want to help, but.......

Have you ever wanted to help foster youth? There are A LOT of reasons why taking a child into your home isn't for everyone. However, you still want help, but how. I stumbled upon this site: The Camellia Network. This grassroots site help foster youth aging out of the system.

The statistics of youth that leave foster care without a family are staggering. Twenty-five percent will be in jail within two years. Twenty-five percent will be homeless within two years. Sixty percent will have a child within four years, and those babies are twice as likely to end up in foster care. Only three percent of these children will graduate college.

So, what can you do? It's easy peasy. Sign up to join the Camellia Network. Look through pictures of youth that are aging our or have aged out. They have wish lists of items they need. I remember when I left home. I went to work and when I got home the kitchen table was piled with gifts. Grown up gifts. A microwave, a hair dryer, utensils, and a turkey baster. Image leaving home with nothing more than a paper sack of clothes. You can purchase an item for a youth and it ships to them.

What about work? That's another aspect of The Camellia Network. You can list job openings, internships, etc. They hook them up with opportunities.

You can even send email notes of encouragement. Remember waiting on letters from your parents or phone call or emails. Imagine that they never came. Nothing. No hope, no 'you can do it', not even a "I miss you." A simple email can mean the difference between loneliness and a feeling that someone cares.

We can help these young men and women become productive members of society. They can go to school or work without worrying about household items.

Also, another way to help easily is simple. Contact your local Department of Social Services. Help a youth right in your area.

I urge you all to click the link and peek around. Make a call, send a letter, give a gift. You don't need to adopt to change a life.

The words that stuck.

We go to Women of Faith every year. I've been for three years. The first year my friend Heather, said every year one thing sticks with her. Sometimes she didn't even realize what would stick until later in the year. This year something I didn't think of at the time has really stuck with me.

Brenda Warner told her story. It was pretty powerful. You can read about it in her book One Call Away. The gist of the story was that her son was injured. He was dropped in the tub and sustained massive brain injuries that would effect him his whole life. She then had a baby girl a few years later. She said that they grew up together and her exact words were "He needed her, but she needed him." and that she took care of her big brother and stood up for him and loved him. That he taught her how to be compassionate and loving to those who are different.

That phrase "He needed her, but she needed him." is the phrase that has stuck. My M and Carleigh are 8 months apart, closer than any siblings. Carleigh is older than M. But M will be the big sibling. She'll need him, but he'll need her. They will be there for each other.

Matthew 6:26

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

After recieving the diagnosis I left home. I went and shopped for a new plant. I just needed to distract myself for a minute. I didn't want to get home until after she was in bed. I just needed some time to myself to gather my thoughts. I also wanted some pizza pasta. Pizza Pasta is my chocolate. I took the long way to Walmart and parked in the back, where I don't normally park. When I got out of the van, I heard this loud noise. I couldn't seem to find it's source. Then I realized it was the birds in the trees.

A few years ago when we first started Sunday School, a friends father passed. He told the story of digging the grave, he and his brothers dig the graves for his family, he said he was sitting on a tomb stone and just wanting some sign that God was still with him. He said "God put the birds in the trees for me." I didn't even really know what that meant. Since then I've read the verse and I really love it.

So when I got out of the van and heard the birds chirping away, I remember his story and the verse.

I know God is in this, He's got this, and there is a reason. I have NO clue what it is or why Carleigh has to live this way, but there's a reason. That I know.

He will care for us and for her, we are more valuable than the birds. 

5 Seconds

There is a scene in the first season of LOST....Jack is telling Kate a story about being scared. In his story he's doing surgery and accidentally slices something and nerve endings came pouring out. He was scared stiff. He told himself that he had five seconds to be terrified. He counted to five, opened his eyes and fixed the problem. This 5 second rule comes into play a few times during LOST when things went all cuckoo on the island.

Well, I'm not running from 'The Others' or a Polar Bear or being swept around in time. However, I'm scared all the same. Terrified. Carleigh doesn't have Autism. She has brain damage cause by an issue with her birth. (for her privacy I cannot disclose the actual facts). Her brain injurt is irreparable. The damage is done. We have to work with what's left. Her new adjusted level in only 6-9 months. In terms of her adoption, we were told that she very well may need life long care. It's too early to tell.

So, I'm giving myself tonight. Tonight to mourn the life she won't have. Tonight to be scared out of my mind. Tonight to be terrified of the future.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will wake up and thank God for her. That she was brought into our home. That we're where she's supposed to be. Tomorrow, I start researching. Tomorrow, I make more calls. Tomorrow, for her, I fight!

From Now Until December 31st.

So it's not quite a bucket list, but I've been inspired. So what to do before 2012 falls into the past:

1) Celebrate M's adoption and dedication with all those who love and support us!
2) Attend a festival as a family. All 7 of us.
3) Suck it up and take a hike with my boys. (must find another baby backpack)
4) Knit my sweet baby girl a hat.
5) Try out some awesome Pintrest inspired Christmas photos.
6) Reach 1500 in my 1000 Gifts Journal.
7) Make the last Twilight movie a grand affair with my girls.
8) Prepare a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner for Community Group.
9) Frame all my West Coast photos.
10) Book 2013's Forks trip.
11) Finish the books on my nightstand and replace them with new ones.
12) Get the boys rooms in order.
13) Donate new toys to Social Services, the visitation room is sad.
14) Complete 5 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas (one from each child)
15) Figure out the perfect birth father gift.
16) Write letters to birth familes.
17) Research West Coast life.
18) Find a class to take, in real life or online.
19) Get Closet Elementary in order and full speed ahead.
20) Make this years Advent really meaningful.
21) Christmas Cards.
22) Visit the Richmond Zoo and feed the giraffes.
23) Let each boy pick on place to visit before it's too cold.
24) Write personal thank you cards.
25) Girls night out.

Right Now....

This Moment:

Watching: Once Upon a Time and Season 3 of Glee

 Preparing: For two doctors appointments today.

Paying attention: Baby M signing more and more :)

Listening: Baby M 'chomp chomping.'

 Cooking: Chicken Parm and Baked Ziti.

Celebrating: Getting into an allergist for Carleigh!!!!

Waiting: Finalization to make M an Anderson

Planning for: Community group starting tonight.

Working: My never ending to-do list.

Loving: that all my pictures are in and hung!

Reading: The Meaning of Marriage

Anticipating: Having adoption papers in my hot little hands.