I love to run...

Truth be told, I love to run. I love everything about it. I love the fact that you're outside with the wind in your face and moving toward a goal. For me I guess it's like a mind game. I'm going to run to the lampost...then you run to the next lampost and so on.

I turn 40 this year and my goal is to run a marathon in October. Crazy sounding, I know...but I don't want to jump out of a plane or anything. I just want to run for 5 hours and go 26 miles. (O.k., putting it that way it is a little crazy... but I am determined). I have a fantastic running partner, my 7 month old Vizsla puppy. She has boundless energy and is built to move. I believe she loves it as much as I do.

I liken this adoption to a marathon. You can't run one overnight and it takes months of training (paperwork, actually). You have to make it to one "lampost" in order to make it to another one and another. So as I train here in the states for my marathon, I can't help but think that I am getting closer to my Ethiopian finish line...even if it's just one lampost at a time.

In the blink of an eye...

My son turned 11 this week.

I remember when I woke up my husband to say that "it was time" to go to the hospital. It took 22 hours of labor to get my 10 lb. baby boy into this world. I remember falling in love with him the moment I saw him. I remember his first words and his first steps. I remember crying along with him at all of his immunizations. I remember all the laughter and the tears we have had. What I don't remember is where the time all went.

In the blink of an eye, eleven years have past...and my baby boy grew up.

Progress...slow, but it's progress

Many people have asked us lately about the progress of our adoption. As of today, we have filled out the TONS OF QUESTIONS needed for the homestudy and are now waiting on one thing...the FBI fingerprint report to come in. Nothing like waiting on the government to hurry..."ain't happenin' fast".

On a positive note, some progress is being made. Our social worker has contacted us and we have scheduled our two visits with her (one in the office and one in our home) to be made this month. Also, we are taking our 2 of the 3 needed "parents in process" training classes needed next weekend. Ahhh...progress...it made be little slow but we're moving closer to our goal. As my father would often tell me..."never take your eye off the ball". So with a little luck and a whole lot of prayers we hope that the homestudy is done sometime the end of this month, early next month. Then it's on to the next thing....the dossier.

My little snow angels

We woke up the other morning to yet another 5-6 inches of snow. Yippee!! were the shouts from the kids...ugh! came from my direction. The kids saw the endless possibilities of snowmen, sledding, forts and snow angels. I could only see the pulling out the snowblower yet again and my hands and feet frozen by the time I'm done. Kids see the world as kind of a "glass is half full" (of hot chocolate that is...). I think we forget to take the time to just remember what it's like...to plop down in the yard, spread out your arms and legs and make that snow angel. (Even if your neighbor thinks your crazy...truly, they're just wishing that they had the guts to do it too!)

May God always grant me the ability to see the world through the eyes of my snow angels...

The one that no one ever saw...

Our Christmas photo this year was a fluke, really. You see, I posed all the kids (our 6 month old puppy included) in front of our beautiful tree in their Sunday best, combed hair and smoothed out all the wrinkles in their clothes. What many people fail to realize is that I take probably 30 pictures or more in order to get "the one". After 10 seconds my 4 year old is tired and plops down on the floor, followed by the puppy. At 15 seconds the older kids are flopping down begging for this "photo session" to be done. And at 20 seconds it's chaos...that's the picture that no one ever sees. And every year that's the one I love the most!