Mom's Blogging?!

I feel like I just posted yesterday--I was shocked to see that it had been a week! The school week flew by as it was our last week before fall break and this weekend was nice and restful. Brian got measured for his tux for Billy's wedding which is just around the corner. I'm sure there is lots of wedding fun (and stress!) going on in Tennessee right now. Saturday we did some yard work and then went to Cane Creek with some friends. We had a great time--my camera didn't have batteries but hopefully I will be able to steal some pictures from friends' blogs soon. :-D

Next week I will be teaching intersession which is a light week and then I have a week off! Woo-hoo! I have lots of little house projects planned including working on Molly's room. The social worker will be over tomorrow to update our homestudy since our move. We are ready for our referral which could come anytime between now and Christmas.

Today we had lunch with my parents and I was showing my mom how to upload pictures from her digital camera when she said something that shocked me. She said, "I want a blog!" So Mom and I set up a blog which was SO much fun. Check it out!

www.grandmamarysplace.blogspot.com

Special Family

One of the families that God has spoken to us through on our adoption journey has been the Donahues. We met Brad and Annie Beth after Zeke was born (Zeke and their daughter had therapy together) and they have become some of our best friends. They have a very special adoption story and the Charlotte Observer did a story on them which was in today's paper. I'm so excited that Charlotte is going to get a glimpse into the lives of these special people. :-)

http://www.charlotte.com/267/story/289426.html

Jena 6

Brian and I have been talking this week about the Jena 6 case. This morning I watched a documentary that was posted on another blog I read and I am just so shocked and saddened about what's going on in this small town in Louisiana. I think living in my racially diverse town in my racially diverse neighborhood, teaching kindergarteners at my racially diverse school that are too little to have any thoughts on racial prejudice--it's easy for me to forget that the problem still exists. My heart goes out to this town and the people in this town--both the blacks and the whites. My prayer is that God will soften the hearts of the people in this town--it is so obvious that He is working through this very sad situation. This documentary is SO worth watching:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4120415818465787991

Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Well, I am very happy (and very sad) to report that we closed on our old house today. The couple that bought it was a young couple expecting their first baby and I am just so excited about the way God worked it all out. I pray that God will give them blessings through that home the way He blessed us there. I am just so very thankful for the way everything has fallen into place. God is just so good to us. :-)

Closing Early?

Brian called me today and said that our realtor called and the buyers of our house want to close THIS Friday! Closing on the old house would really take a lot of stress off of us so we are trying to get our paperwork together and get everything ready to close. We are sure praying this works out!

Autumn Nights

The NC weather has been AMAZING this week. After over a solid month of 90+ days it has been so nice to have some autumn weather. I've been really sad to have to come in from recess everyday this week--it's been just beautiful! Brian and I have been trying to get outside everyday. Brian's friend, Josh, fixed the brakes on my bike so we even got to ride last night. It was SO nice!

It's hard to believe it, but my kindergarten friends are almost finished with their first quarter of school. Next week is our last week of school before intersession--it has flown! I will be teaching intersession for the first week of our break but then I will have a week off to rest and hopefully get to some projects around the house.

We have now been DTV for one month which means we are getting closer. Our agency has said to plan on waiting six months for a referral but so far no one has waited longer than four and some families have gotten referrals in as little as one month. Basically, since there is no waiting list, it could be anytime between now and next spring. We are anxiously awaiting Molly's arrival and talk about her a lot. There is a good chance she's born which has really put a since of urgency on my heart to pray for her and her birth mother. We're very exciting about meeting our little girl!

Off to enjoy some more of this FABULOUS weather! :-D

Dog-In-Law

My in-laws have been looking for a new dog for quite awhile now and finally found the perfect match for them--meet Sadie! She's a six month old lab/boxer mix. Isn't she cute?

Books for Molly

My friend, Dana--who is also adopting a little girl from Vietnam--told me about a book called When You Were Born in Vietnam. I was so excited to find out about this neat book and ordered it for Molly today. Well, it just so happens that Amazon has free shipping for orders over $25 so I ordered her two more adoption picture books--I Don't Have Your Eyes by Carrie A. Kitze and The Day I Met You by Phoebe Koehler. (Not sure how to underline with blogger...hmm...)

Being a kindergarten teacher, I know that one of the number one contributors to reading readiness is the number of books a child owns. I'm only thinking of her future education. Really! (Do you think Brian will buy that one when he sees the Amazon bill? HA!)

Labor Day Fun!

For Labor Day weekend, Tara, Anna, and I went to Tennessee. I was a little hesitant about going with all of the work that still needs to be done at the new house, but I'm glad I went--it was very relaxing. We had some really good girl time--pedicures, shopping, and soaking up some rays. It was also my first "Booms Day" experience. We walked around Knoxville and watched the fireworks from Anna's parents REALLY BIG boat. It was a lot of fun!

On the way home, I even got to stop and have breakfast with my brother and his fiancee, Kim. It had been awhile since I'd seen my brother, so I'm glad we got to hang out. Their wedding is in less three months so they've been VERY busy with wedding plans.

While the girls were relaxing in the sun, the guys stayed home and worked on some home improvement projects. My wonderful husband pressure washed the patio, hung up the blinds in our bathroom, installed a new (MUCH needed) light in the kitchen, installed a new shower head, and hung up the shelf in the froggy bathroom completing the bathroom that will be Molly's in a few months. At Matt and Tara's, the guys installed new solar lights and the pictures look great!

I just had to post a picture of the shelf with the froggy. Cute, huh?!