Doing the bedroom shuffle

This area use to be a very underused bar. So under used that we never updated it in the 7 years we've lived here! It is getting a new lease on life--as the boys' bedroom. Here are a few before pics:







This side of the area is a playroom. The girls playroom is being moved to their bedroom while they are going to be moved to the boys' old room.



Here it is after Troy demolished the bar.


Now we just have to get someone to cap off the water and drain, put down a little tile (thankfully we have enough in the attic from a previous redo on the other side of the room), and run some lights. We're going to have to do a couple of standing armoires as closets, but we're going to put them right here with their backs facing you and it will make a sort of closet. Add in some cool camo area rugs and voila! The boys are pretty excited. The area is even bigger than their other room!


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Daddy date

Troy took his precious princesses on a date to see the Cinderella ballet.


All ready to go!



Dinner at Ruth's Chris...

Sorry if it comes out funny, it is is a test blog from my iPad.


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Fingerprints...

Ours and God's!

Charlotte, Connor, Jacob, Shaoey, and Grace

This adoption has stretched me more than any of them.   This journey has had more twists and turns and ups and downs....

Up--Finally after 3 long years of praying, we found our TingTing's file!

Down--thought it would take 5-6 MORE months before we could bring her home.

Up--We received our LOA in record time and thought we'd bring her home in less than 3 months.

Down--we found out our USCIS approval had expired and that we would have to redo our homestudy and resubmit our I800A... No idea when we'll bring her home.

Zigzagging and wandering...pretty much sums this last week up!

I admit, I have had a difficult time keeping my eyes on Him and not getting discouraged.  But this week my eyes are finally opening to see His hand in this, how He is still in control and directing things.  

The stingray kept following Connor's thumb, almost as if he wanted him to scratch him. 

We did 2 sets of fingerprints last week for our FBI clearances.  On Friday, I went to ship them off to have our clearance done, but I was so frustrated to find the shipping place closed for Good Friday.  So I decided to go to the actual FedEx center.  I was frustrated there to find that I couldn't send a prepaid mailer back to our social worker.  (This will be important in a moment!) So I took my fingerprints and paperwork and dejectedly headed home.  

I felt like I was going batty...

"My plans" were to head out first thing Monday morning and drop off the paperwork at my favorite shipping place.  Before leaving I decided to make sure I could still drop off my state clearance form at the Louisiana State Police.  The wonderful angel on the phone told me yes and then OFFERED this tidbit--you need to submit fingerprints with it and it needs to be a money order!  Ok, then... Good thing I hadn't sent off those 2 sets of prints on Friday and that I called.   I snagged a set of mine and Troy's from our FBI packet and went to the post office for the money order.   The funny (haha, not weird) guy that works there gave me the tidbit that doing express would be a waste of money, that priority 2 day was what I needed.   I decided to run downtown and do another set of prints before heading to BR.  Ummm,  I found out they don't do prints on Mondays, but they did inform me that our city police do them (later found out it's a much nicer experience there!).  

Add in a few tears and that's about what I looked like leaving the sheriff's office.

I gave up on that and headed to the LSP headquarters, dropped off fingerprints and application, treated everyone to PF Chang's (except me.  I ordered the lettuce wraps because all my friends rave about them.  They forgot to tell me the mushrooms were diced and there were LOTS of them.  EWWWW!)  We went to the zoo and had a great afternoon.  I left in what I thought would be enough time to get back in town to do fingerprints and go to the shipping place.   Didn't work--missed it by about 10 minutes.  

He moved about as fast as I felt this paperwork was moving...

Tuesday's plan--TOP priority---get the FBI prints done and sent off!!  I decided to call the fingerprint company in IL to find out how they send them back so they'd get here ASAP.    Well, imagine my surprise when they said I couldn't do the same day service because we don't live there, BUT for the regular (read cheapest) route, we send them in and within about 36 hours they will send us an email link to the approval and then mail the hard copy snail mail--no need for a prepaid mailer!  What a sense of humor He has.  Quick call to social worker who okays it and we're good to go!   Off we go to get fingerprinted and ship it--they are finally on their way to IL.

Victorious!  

I have to admit, I sort of "knew" this is about how it would play out.  You know when your Monday morning devotion reads like this:

"Approach this day with awareness of who is boss.  As you make your plans for the day, remember that it is I who orchestrate the events of your life.  On the days when things go smoothly, according to your plans, you may be unaware of My sovereign Presence.  On days when your plans are thwarted, be on the lookout for Me!  I may be doing something important in your life, something quite different from what you expected.  It is essential at all times to stay in communication with Me, accepting My way as better than yours.  Don't try to figure out what is happening.  Simply trust Me and thank Me in advance for the good that will come out of it all.  

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

...that your day is going to be a wild one.

Holding on tight to His promises, doing my best to keep my eyes on Him, and remembering to thank Him in ALL things (not for all things).  It IS possible to praise Him even in the dark times.

Enjoy a few more zoo pics--

Like Jacob's hat?  Totally unplanned too!

Shaoey asked if the bird had a mohawk...she brings such laughter and joy to our family!

Our prayers have been answered!

God is so awesome!  We have prayed and waited so long to make this announcement.  It has been years in the making...  I almost can't believe I'm actually making it!

We are overjoyed to be able to announce that we are adopting Ting Ting!!!!

We received our preapproval last night.  The next step is to wait for our Letter of Acceptance which takes about 2-3 months.  The journey's not over, far from it.  Our best guess is that we will be able to travel in about 5-6 months which puts us around September.

 We want to thank everyone who has been praying with us.  There's no way we would have made it without your support and prayers.  Please continue to pray with us that this part of the journey would be smooth and quick and that God would be preparing her heart to join our family.  

God is good!

Sprouting update

My we're sprouting!

Saturday night:

Sunday morning:

 Monday morning:

Wow!  I knew they sprouted fast, but it's almost like you can see them growing!  Another day or so and I will be ready to rinse them and put them in the fridge to use later this week.  YUM!

Sprouting!

I have been reading all the benefits of eating fresh sprouts (see below) and have been wanting to try it.  I actually brought the sprouting jar MONTHS ago.  For some silly reason, I felt intimidated by it.  But this morning I overcame that intimidation and put my first batch of mung beans to sprouting!  This weeks menu includes spicy spareribs and stir fry bean sprouts for dinner Thursday--using our own freshly sprouted bean sprouts!  

Years ago the Chinese carried mung beans on their sea voyages and ate them in large amounts to prevent scurvy.   

It appears that while the nongerminated seed does not have vitamin C, the process of sprouting prouduces it.  Not only does sprouting produce vitamin C, it also changes the make up of the bean/seed.  It also increases vitamins A, B (including folic acid), and E.  Mung bean sprouts are high in fiber, have a low glycemic index,  a nice amount of protein, low cholesterol, and produce enzymes that facilitate the digestive processes...just to name a few benefits!  

One cup of mung bean sprouts has:

30 calories

3 g protein

6 g carb

.2 g fat

and all the nutritional benefits above!

My stir fry bean sprout recipe comes from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.  I love the information in this book.  It challenges so many modern "health" practices and makes so much sense.

SFCV--A must watch report!

Please take 10 minutes to watch this video, I really think you will be blessed.


Sigh, I SO want to live there....

Why should I buy a calendar in March??

I realize it is now March and many of you are probably thinking it's too late in the year to purchase a calendar.  Here are a few great reasons to purchase this special calendar (or two, or three!):

*The MAIN purpose of the calendar is to bring awareness to the children of SFCV,

*The proceeds go to helping the the children at SFCV, and

*Who wouldn't want to wake up to these precious faces every day??

Some friends shared their great ideas on how they use their calendars.   One way that really encourages me is that they pray for the children of that month every day.  What a great daily visual reminder to lift these little ones up to God.  The calendars also make great gifts to pastors and church elders to help bring awareness to our churches.  Many times the command to care for the orphan gets overlooked just because it is not right in front of us.  This is a great way to daily keep these angels in front of us to remind us of their need.  You see it's never to late to get one for  your home or to give a few as gifts!

And the best reason to purchase a calendar in March--

The SFCV calendar is now only $15 (includes shipping)!!!

You can email me at troyandcharlene93@yahoo.com to get payment details.

Precious lives...

On December 16th, Austin went to be with the Father.  He had a severe heart defect and needed surgery.   Unfortunately, his surgery didn't come in time.

Austin Xie Minhuang

March 14, 2011--December 16, 2011

But precious Amity's story doesn't have to end that way...  

Amity, one of our new arrivals, is a little 4-month-old girl from Hohhot Inner Mongolia who has a complex heart condition. When she arrived at Shepherd's Field last month, her condition was stable but recently her oxygen level has dropped. It is now at a point where heart shunt surgery is necessary in order to save her life. The Huaxin Hospital in Beijing has a bed for her and they can do the operation prior to the Chinese New Year holiday. It is important that we get this done ASAP not only because she is in great need, but also because the hospitals in China almost completely shut down during the holiday. The total cost for the operation was estimated at ¥80,000 RMB ($12,500 US) but they will take a deposit of ¥30,000 RMB ($4,800US) just to get started and we can pay the rest later. 

Update: Amity survived her heart surgery this morning and is in relatively stable condition, but she's not out of the woods yet. Please pray for a full recovery for her.  She is very weak and needs lots of prayer support.

If you would like to donate to help Amity please email us at HelpAmity@ChinaOrphans.org. Anything you give will go toward her life saving surgery. 

I also have a new batch of bracelets to sell. All proceeds go directly to SFCV and will go to help pay for Amity's surgery. If you're interested in purchasing bracelets to help Amity and SFCV, email me @ troyandcharlene93@yahoo.com.  Tell me which card number and which bracelets counting from the top. Bracelets are $10 each (price includes shipping).

Card #1:

Card #2:

Card #3:

Card #4:

Thank you for helping Amity!

Ever have one of these days?

I'm not one to give him too much attention, but do you ever get the feeling Satan's trying to stop a divine intervention?

I'm having an open house today to sell Thirty-One for our adoption and I have other stuff to help SFCV.  I have been VERY dizzy the past 3 days, the kids have dropped and broken more things than I can count, my shower head appears to be broken behind the wall and durning my shower this morning it flooded the a/c closet and part of the hall and my closet, and I put fresh coffee on for whomever shows up today and forgot to empty the morning's coffee--yes, all over the counter and onto the kitchen floor.

The last time I had this kind of morning was a few years ago.  I almost didn't go on this field trip, the obstacles were too many to recount.  But I pressed on (and on and on) and I still remember the moment I felt the higher purpose.  I met a sweet new friend and had the joy of following their journey to adopt their daughter from China.  (Hi, Mollie!)

So I wonder what, or who, today will bring?