Looking for mad mom skillz? Inquire elsewhere....

Mad mom skillz? I have none. Let me tell you how I found this out....

This Saturday, we were lucky enough to be able to participate in the Ordinary Hero Halloween Outreach 2010. Each child was paired with a volunteer, and was able to enjoy this wonderful fall festival at a church in Nashville. More about that in a bit. Right now, let's talk about how I'm in charge of making sure one gorgeous two year old little boy has fun.

First thing, he wants to get something to eat. So after asking what he wants, he tells me he wants pizza and juice. Wonderful...easy peasy. The pizza stand also has juice. Woot! Shortly after we order pizza, we had this conversation.

Me: What kind of juice do you want? (points out the juice)

Boy: Juice!

Me: Do you want grape juice, orange juice, or fruit punch?

Boy: Juice!!

Me: (trying to take a new angle) Do you want purple, orange, or red?

Boy: Juice!!!

Me: We'll take the fruit punch please.

Paul was so kind to point out later that I picked the only one of the three that was NOT juice!

Later, after eating, we are going to check out the very cool inflatable slides and jumping things. We get there and once he sees how big they are he decides he doesn't want to go up. I'm now trying to get his shoes back on. (You have to take your shoes off to do the inflatable thingies.)

Me: Ok, buddy, let me put your shoes back on. (I then proceed to lift his leg and just as swiftly...I knock him over. Flat on his back. Who knew toddlers would topple so fast?)

Then we went inside to find balloons. So while holding a coat, juice that is not juice, candy, and nachos, I try to tie a balloon to his arm. It took me three tries!! The first two attempts floated straight to the ceiling as soon as I let go.

Now...we have balloons...what next? He was a little too nervous to do the slides outside, so we did the games inside the church. He seemed to really enjoy these. As we are wondering around, we find a puppet show. What a great idea!! We could sit (I rest) and enjoy a puppet show. Now up to this point, all this little boy has said to me, is juice, yes, no, balloon, or candy. We go in to the puppet show and this is what follows...

Me: Ooh a puppet show! Where do you want to sit?

Boy: (looks around) I don't want to sit down!!

Wow, I guess the puppet show was not as good an idea as I thought.

At the end of the day, I find Paul and we team up. More snacks for the kids then to the swings. It takes Paul at least 5 minutes to get the balloons untied from my little boys arm so he can swing. In the meantime, I'm pushing his little girl. Finally, I say, "Are you ready to get off? Wanna go to the slides?" She says yes. What do I do? I stop pushing so she will slow down. After about 2 swings, she jumps! The swing comes back empty! Oh my!! She was fine, though.

I'm glad my home study is done and no one was judging me on yesterday! LOL So...I may need to work on my mad mom skillz before Clarissa gets home.

But seriously, yesterday was a wonderful day. God has been working on Paul and me so much lately. We want to do more. We want to give more. This was a great opportunity to help with this wonderful outreach, and to learn more about how to make outreaches like that happen here. Stay tuned because you are going to see more of Ordinary Hero!! We are praying, thinking, and planning. If you are a friend, family, or church member, be prepared. We are going to need help giving and serving. They'll be lots of opportunity heading your way.

I heard a song that says exactly what I'm feeling...

I don't wanna live like I don't care
I don't wanna say another empty prayer
No, I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself
Oh, I could choose not to move but I refuse!

What can I say?

Hmm, what to talk about....what to say. Still a couple of weeks til our next phone call. I don't have any kiddos yet to give me funny stories to talk about. My dog sleeps all day so he isn't giving me any stories either. Hmm...I know!

I going to this retreat! http://createdtocarewomensretreat.blogspot.com/

I'm excited! It will be wonderful to meet other moms. I have to admit I'm a little nervous. I don't go places on my own. I go with Paul (hubby) or with some friends. So, I'm happy I'm going and I'm happy to get to meet the other moms but I'm also a little afraid I'll be lonely and won't make friends. I'm a little boring, I'm a lot a geek but at least we'll have adoption in common. Well, aside from my crazy musings, check out the website. Maybe buy a T-Shirt.

One more thing, check out the Shop for a Cause button I added to the blog. If you are already thinking about Christmas gifts, try to buy something that also gives back. Follow the link and you should get all the information you need.

Just a quick update....

We got an e-mail from AGCI (our agency) yesterday with an update on the progress in Rwanda. It said that the goal right now with MIGEPROF is to review one dossier a day and that their main focus is reviewing dossiers. This is wonderful news! This means that all the families that have been waiting so long (so so long) and those of us who have just joined the wait will be matched with our child soon. Soon being a relative term. :-) Some people might not consider 4 or 5 months soon but I'll take it!

I thought this wait would be easier. I felt so guilty during the paperwork process if we let a day go by and didn't work on something. I kept telling myself that once it gets to the point of being in someone else's hand I can just sit back and live just like I had been before. I was wrong. I have just gotten worse. The night we heard that Rwanda was closing its doors, we were in a state of panic. I searched websites and blogs and counted the hours til we would know for sure if we made it. Now that we made it, I worried constantly that putting the new standards into place would be their main focus and all the dossiers would be put to the side. When we got our September call, it was so early in the month, no one really knew what was going on. So again, I counted the hours til our October call. In the meantime, I would stay on the internet for hours looking for any tidbit of information that would let me know what they were doing over there. The searching and worrying has just gotten worse and now I'm just mad at myself. I have let the house go, meaning laundry and dished has piled and everything else you can think of. I cleaned some yesterday but I did it in such a bad mood. Why can't I let it go and just wait? Other people have done it, I should be able to do it too. When I start thinking about my wait, I feel so selfish because others have waited SO LONG before me. Its just a roller coaster of emotions. I may be going crazy, I don't know.

One thing I know for sure is I want worry about the wait one second when Clarissa is home!!

We got our first number!!

OK, OK, I know this seems like a big number to some of you, but here's the deal. The fact that we even have a number means our paperwork was accepted and registered in Rwanda. This is the ultimate conformation that everything is done and in order. We thought that we would actually have a bigger number so 136 is good with us. This information immediately resulted in songs being created starring the number 136 and a little bit of bouncing around the house.

We still don't really know a timeline. They are working on the dossiers but no one really knows how fast it will go. I just keep praying that if it doesn't mess up God's plan, I would prefer that He speed it along.

So, we got some information, but not a ton. Let's all just keep praying!

Want to hear something funny?

So let me give you some background. My husband, Paul, is 6'6 and two hundred and some odd pounds. (He's probably going to kill me for this post already. No need to tell you exactly how much he weighs.) This man is outgoing, opinionated, and stubborn. When he makes up his mind about something it usually stays made up unless there is hard proof that he should change his mind. Now don't get me wrong, he is a wonderful man and husband but we all know how are husbands can be sometimes. So, this husband of mine is an only child. This is something to keep in mind when I get to the funny part. OK, so let's fast forward a little.

When we were talking about having kids, I always said I wanted at least two. Paul, though, said one was enough. He liked being an only child and he said there was nothing wrong with it. Now, all throughout our marriage I have wanted to adopt and would randomly bring this up. I finally got him to say adoption would be fine after we had one of our own. There we are...two kids now. Let's fast forward just a little more now.

So, we found out it would be really hard, if not impossible, to have kids on our own. We start to adopt. Since almost the beginning of the process, we decided that we would be adopting two. I guess since the one of our own wasn't coming we could adopt two and still be sticking to the plan. Fast forward a touch more.

Just a few days ago I was talking about what we would do once we had bought into the Disney vacation club. Paul said, "we aren't ever going to buy into the Disney vacation club." What? That was the plan. Adopt two kids and then the next year (every how many years that is from now) and then buy into the Disney vacation club. He said, "if you see we have money from tax refunds or whatever, you are going to want to go back for another child."
"But we are only adopting two, right?" All I got after this statement was a sideways glance and a sheepish smile. I let this drop. It wasn't a good time to have a deep discussion. Deep down I chuckled and was very curious. Now fast forward just a little more.

So, once we were at home a couple of days later, I asked him about what he had said. "What are you thinking about? We always said we were going for two kids. How many are you thinking about now?"

Here is the funny part...."Oh, I don't know...four maybe." FOUR?!?!? Four? I just laughed. This from the man that started out at one. One was enough. LOL I guess this adoption process has changed his mind. Well I have to say this was a shocker to me. All I could say later was "If we are adopting four, we'll need to start fundraising and we are going to need a bigger house." Oh my! How God can change our minds.

Paul is probably going to kill me for this post. I just let out the secret that deep down he is just a big softie. I have more examples of him being a softie but I can't write a book on here. I can tell you this though, Clarissa will have him wrapped around her little finger before we ever get home from Rwanda. :-)

I love my husband!!!