Say What?

A few lines from the girl for the week:

While sitting and snuggling with Mama on the couch, completely out of the blue, "I want to paint my teeth."  "You want to paint your teeth?  What would you paint them?"  As if there were any other correct answer. "Rainbow."

In the car while driving home from church on Sunday, while D and Kenson were discussing something loudly, she puts both arms emphatically down and in an authoritative voice says, "Side Yard!"  Hmmm...side yard?  I was pretty sure I had her figured out.  "Silence?  Conleigh, do you mean silence?"  "Yes, silence!"  followed by her arms going out to her sides again just to demonstrate how she was a voice to be listened to.

TA!

Adoption Timeline for Zeke 
(Waiting child from an agency specific list)

Submit LOI (Letter of Intent) to China that identifies a child you'd like to adopt.  (Submitted LOI December 20)

Wait 1-4 weeks for Pre Approval/PA (Received January 3)

Complete homestudy and start assembling dossier (3-4 months)

*Complete homestudy (started mid December, homestudy completed by homestudy agency March 1)

*Send in I800a paperwork (can't apply for the I800a until you have your completed homestudy, application received by USCIS March 8)

*Be fingerprinted  (Received original fingerprint date of April 17, walked in to Omaha USCIS office to be fingerprinted April 5)

*Receive I800a approval  (Received verbal approval April 12, will hopefully have it in hand at the beginning of next week)

*Authenticate documents at the secretary of state's office  (All are done)
*Send documents to the US Department of State and then the Chinese Consulate  (Have to have the I800a approval authenticated by the secretary of state before we can send our documents)

Send dossier to China on May 11 (DTC)

Wait for LID (log in date) which is China acknowledging that your dossier has been received (LID of May 23)

Wait for LOA (Letter of Approval) which is China formally approving you as parents for your child-July 18

File I800, I864 (US immigration paperwork).  Wait for I800 approval (USCIS received our I800 7/23 and we received our approval letter back on 8/4)

Have I800 approval cabled to US Consulate in China (August 13)

Wait for Article 5 (August 28)

Wait for travel approval, TA (September 10) 

That's it.  That's all she wrote.  We're done.  Now it's scheduling our consulate appointment and booking travel.  If it had been any other time of year, we would have been able to travel in just a few weeks.  But due to the Chinese holiday the first week of October, we are unable to go until after that.    But it will be here before you know it.  Not sure if I'm ready to welcome a two year old into our midst (I mean, because really who is ready to welcome a two year old?) but I'm excited to finally be done, traveling and home.  Just a few more weeks...

A Few of My Favorite Things

Since we got moved into our new house, I've had a few people ask how we are liking the house. 

Things I'm loving...

• Having my husband home by 4:30
• Being able to quickly run to school, to Walmart, to church, etc..
• The open layout which makes us feel more connected especially at meal time as I'm preparing food in the kitchen

Things I am not loving...

• The fly invasion, apparently from open doors from the builders and during the move
• The muddy yard which is a bit of an oddity since it has not rained all summer long; it's really due to us watering plants, hitting the grassless yard with the sprinklers, and then the kids, the grown ups and the dog tracking it in

I also have a few diy projects that I'm really thankful we did in the new house, things that I love because they are functional or just because they make me smile.

Kitchen-I really like our penny tile which ordered from Overstock.com.  (2.95 shipping made it completely affordable.)  I love our grey black laminate counter tops.  And I love the barstool which we ordered online from a school supply catalog.

Kitchen-if you could take the above picture and turn to the right, this is what you would see.  It's actually a large black stripe of chalkboard paint with cream on the top and the bottom.  The frames are Goodwill finds which we painted and distressed.  I love having my calendar right in front of me.  I have been putting our verse for the week on it plus a prayer chart.  And, it's also handy for writing up consequences when you don't have time to enforce the consequence right away.

Kids bathroom-I used some old pieces of molding to make these towel hooks.  The vertical one has a Mason jar attached with wire to hold the toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Love these prints that I found on Zulily.

Love the light fixture which is actually from a farm supply catalog.

Living room-perhaps the item I am most excited about...our entertainment center.  We made it from our old dresser and two old doors.  I think it maybe cost us $50.  The oil can on the bottom left shelf is from D's grandpa's gas station.

Dining room-This bookshelf makes me smile.  I bought it many years ago at an auction.  It was painted a reddish orange.  I added the gingerbread brown and distressed it.  The sign we found this summer at an antique mall.  I actually spent $50 on it which my mom thought was crazy.  The painting is from Haiti.  The top shelf has Jadite from Derek's mom and grandma, Derek's grandma's nut chopper, my granny's rolling pin, and a few other bright bowls.  The second shelf has a display of marbles, dominos and blocks with the first two being from Derek's grandma. 

Entryway-The chalkboard was Derek's mom's when she was little.  The hooks are from an auction and are wonderfully chippy.  The cubbies are a bookshelf I found at my grandma's.  I painted it and had Derek cut part of it off so I could turn it sideways to use for shoes.  The handprints were a gift from Derek to me and each clipboard below the handprint is for the kids to hang their favorite pieces.  I'm hoping to get the words "Our Gallery" to put above the handprints.

Otherwise Known as Ekjodld

I wish I could explain my daughter.

She really defies explanation.

There is no putting her in a box or matching her with a label.

She is a girlie girl who likes pink and purple and skirts but she often gets the best of her brother when wrestling and fights like the devil if a blood draw or shots are involved.

She is thoughtful and compassionate if you are sick or sad but will dig her heels in and battle you the next minute over some small thing.

She is quirky, dramatic, funny, giggly, determined, and a little too smart for her own good.

The latest evidence of her uniqueness came home via her school work.

I mean, why just write your name on the line when you can write other letters?  Surely that is a much better way to show your teacher just how much you know about the alphabet?

Princess Conleigh

I wish I could bottle Conleigh's attitude and put it online.  The little girl whose update photos from the orphanage came with the memo "Princess Conleigh" is certainly full of it.  Spunk, sass, hutzpa, whatever you want to call it...  I'm not always sure how to deal with it because a lot of the time it's not meant as disrespect.  (Although there are definitely times where it is and we have to nip that in the bud.  I am certainly not one who thinks it is cute when kids are called princesses and really they are just bratty, rude, and contempteous.) 

Yesterday, she was relaying to me the plans she had made with her friend, Nick, regarding school lunch.  "Nick and I decided on Friday we were going to match.  I need to bring an apple, watermelon, a peanut butter sandwich and carrots."  "Hmmm...I don't think we have any carrots, " I replied.  "Well," she told me, "I just expect it!"  (Actually what she said was "I just respect it" but after doing a close mouthed chuckle, I asked if she meant expect which was what she did mean.)

She also had art class with her papa yesterday and was aghast to learn that the rules he sets forth for the entire class actually apply to her too.  After being told to draw 5 lines, she drew way too many.  D stopped by her workspace, asked her about the directions, and was quickly told, "But Papa!  You're my Papa!"

You will also all be pleased to know that she and Nick are still getting married but after a quick discussion on the playground after school on Tuesday, they will not be living in Africa or Florida.  Nick doesn't want to move; he wants to stay here.  And live on a farm.  So he can have a horse.

Zeke Update

Adoption Timeline for Zeke 
(Waiting child from an agency specific list)

Submit LOI (Letter of Intent) to China that identifies a child you'd like to adopt.  (Submitted LOI December 20)

Wait 1-4 weeks for Pre Approval/PA (Received January 3)

Complete homestudy and start assembling dossier (3-4 months)

*Complete homestudy (started mid December, homestudy completed by homestudy agency March 1)

*Send in I800a paperwork (can't apply for the I800a until you have your completed homestudy, application received by USCIS March 8)

*Be fingerprinted  (Received original fingerprint date of April 17, walked in to Omaha USCIS office to be fingerprinted April 5)

*Receive I800a approval  (Received verbal approval April 12, will hopefully have it in hand at the beginning of next week)

*Authenticate documents at the secretary of state's office  (All are done)
*Send documents to the US Department of State and then the Chinese Consulate  (Have to have the I800a approval authenticated by the secretary of state before we can send our documents)

Send dossier to China on May 11 (DTC)

Wait for LID (log in date) which is China acknowledging that your dossier has been received (LID of May 23)

Wait for LOA (Letter of Approval) which is China formally approving you as parents for your child-July 18

File I800, I864 (US immigration paperwork).  Wait for I800 approval (USCIS received our I800 7/23 and we received our approval letter back on 8/4)

Have I800 approval cabled to US Consulate in China (August 13)

Wait for Article 5 (August 28)

Wait for travel approval (TA), 2-4 weeks

So now we are just waiting for travel approval which is basically the Chinese government inviting us to visit China.  After that, we will be able to make our travel plans.  If we followed the short end of the TA wait, we would have our travel approval mid September.  Even with the travel approval, it is not like we will be taking off as soon as we have TA.  We have to schedule an appointment for adoption paperwork that has to be completed in China so that means submitting a handful of dates and waiting to hear what date you will have your appointment on.  You need to know that date before you start buying tickets and booking travel.  Also, China has a national holiday the first week of October.  Government offices are closed for that week so adoption paperwork cannot be processed.  I am hopeful we will be able to travel to China to sight see and pick up Zeke the first week of October with the second week of October being used to do adoption paperwork in the province that processes that.  But as of right now, I'm just hanging tight until we know a bit more.

Kenson is 6...plus a few of my favorite cake decorating recipes

We're a few days late but Kenson turned 6 on the 6th! A golden birthday and I didn't even realize it.  We had a small party with Grandma, Grandpa Dave and Grandma Joann, Grandma 2 and our family and then invited a small group of friends over for a playdate with a pinata.  His wishes included a Husker jersey cake (which actually started in Kenson's mind as a Husker stadium cake but I talked him out of that one), a toy ambulance, and a pinata. 

I used my all time favorite birthday cake recipe, Sour Cream Almond Wedding cake.  It starts with a boxed mix but tastes nothing like a boxed mix.  It's also a nice, dense cake which makes it great for carving.  And I've made it with oodles of variations by adding in extracts, fruit juice, and different frostings.  Definitely worth sharing.  I also did fondant again for the stripes and number.  I used a marshmallow fondant recipe I've used before and it always seems to turn out well.  (I did have red fingers for a day or two from kneading in the food coloring paste but I knew that was highly possible since I didn't use gloves.)  Last, I love the mini footballs my mom hand cut out of brownies.  So easy to add icing laces.