Ordinary Time

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 32 Today's list of accomplishments: Made the week's menu and did the week's grocery shopping Made dinner Drove to Iowa and back Served dinner to 9 people But it's all fun and worth it because I get to spend a long weekend with two of my nieces. That's A. and P. in the middle and my nieces on the ends Does the photo seem a bit odd to you (as far as how they are sitting)? That's because these silly girls got it in their heads that they needed to recreate a photo of them from 2006. I told them to stop growing up, but do they listen?

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 31 That slow learner would be me. Sometimes I have to be hit over the head multiple times before something really sinks in. Over the past few months I have been confronted over and over with the idea that God wants good things for us. First it was when we studied Luke 18: 1- 8 in the girls' Bible study that I lead. The second time it was the sermon on Luke 11 . The main lesson in both of these passages is the same... God is the perfect parent and He loves us and desires good things for his children. I have been finding it difficult to keep this in mind with the wait to bring our daughter home. (Well, that among other things. Property taxes were due around her a week or so ago. That always stretches my faith... and indebtedness.) Anyway it just all seemed to fall at the same time and life felt precarious and when life feels precarious it is a very easy jump to becoming a puddle of se...

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 30 Today my oldest turns 22. I had to check that I got that number right because she and I have discovered that recently I've been getting her age wrong and telling her she's turning 23, which isn't right. Anyway, she is in her 20's. (This seems odd to me since on some level I feel as though I was just in my 20's... ) M. is a remarkable and talented person and we love watching what she creates and is interested in. Right now she is being offered a nice amount of theater design jobs, especially for someone just out of college. It does make for crazy sorts of schedules and hours, but she likes that. J. and I are learning the ropes of parenting an adult child and on some level it feels a little like starting all over again at this parent game. Have you notices no one tells you this? We'll have a party tonight for her. She has invited some college friends who are in ...

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 29 If that isn't a SEO (search engine optimization) grabbing title, I don't know what is. I'm afraid that the reality of the post isn't going to live up to the hype of the title, but it's what I'm writing about, so there it is. Right up front, I'm not even going to pretend I have these things figured out or that I'm even close to being an expert (whatever that is), but I've had these thoughts brewing through my head for some time now. The other day, while wasting time doing important computer work, I happened to take a look at a fairly well-known blogger who I keep up with every now and then. (I'm not going to name her, because my complaint isn't something she did on purpose and this post isn't really directed at her.) I saw on her blog that she was having a give-away for a gift-certificate. This was in relation to two nativity sets she had...

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 28 This is what happens when you are gone all afternoon with a child at a doctor's appointment and you leave the littles with a big sister.  A. was cleaning her room in anticipation of cousins visiting later this week and the littles were 'helping'. Actually, life is more of a party sometimes with A., so they decided it was a hat party. These are just of a few of the dozens of pictures A. took of her little models wearing their big sister's hat collection. G. L. K. It wasn't all fun and games... the room looks really good. And under the category of complete randomness and not all fun and games, P. wanted to show off her bruise. This is the side of her right thigh and you can see the red scrape surrounded by the the lovely yellow color. She got this bruise when she fell of the horse at her riding lesson last week. It was her first fall ...

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 27 I was planning on showing pictures of the cool weaving projects we worked on yesterday. I still hope to have something to show you on Monday but it seems as though it was one of those craft projects that was better in the abstract than in actuality. I keep moving the pieces from surface to surface hoping to convince people to finish them. I think they'r cool looking, but children don't seem to share my enthusiasm. More successful was our celebration of A.'s birthday. Here are some pictures. A. chose berries for her birthday dessert. Some of us had ice cream as well. (Photo) This picture is A. taking a picture with her phone of her berries. What? You can't see it? Sorry, that's because I really wanted to post it but A., having blog veto power, exercised that right and told me I couldn't. Bah. A. and L. This is M. and TM showing A.'s birth...

Number of days we have lost with our daughter due to the negligence of the state of Illinois : 26 It is always nice to be able to give an adoption update that forward motion has been made and today is one of those days. Yesterday we received an email from our social worker saying our child abuse clearances FINALLY came back (after 10 weeks) and our home study is now officially complete. The next step? On to DCFS for state approval. It kind of feels like an out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire sort of thing. Currently time frames for DCFS approval seem to be running between 5 to 7 weeks and that is if the Intercountry Adoption Coordinator doesn't want more documentation. Please, we would love your prayers to help move our home study through this step as quickly as possible. (There is also a possibility that the position could be done away with if a bill which which is due to go before the IL General Assembly is properly amended. Believe me, if I find that the bill includes this a...