Does it all seem to come down in one day?

I am posting this blog as hopeful medicine. I have had a horrible day and it's only 4:30. I'm ready for bed. Actually, I would like to go to bed with a box of Hostess cupcakes and "check out." I know this is not what I should do but it would make me feel better for the time.

Swirling around me is a storm of hopelessness. Not with me but with others that are tied into family and friends. I know it is just a bad time and this too shall pass. I am trying to be strong but feel I am busting loose at the seams. You know how you try to keep things together and fill in a hole that is leaking only to find another hole has sprung up in the meantime. I have built my trust in the Lord. He is my savior. I cast my cares on Him. When I see others hurting and stressed and carrying way too much for them to handle it is exhausting. I am emotionally exhausted.

For those of you who think that I always have it together, please know that I don't. I have bad days just like everyone else. My life is not perfect. For my fellow believers, please pray for me.

This and That

Will went to Elijah's birthday party and had a great time. Luckily, Lexi was there snapping pictures. This is such an awesome picture. I think she should consider entering it into a contest. The water is so pretty with the apples matching Will's shirt. Notice the gum in his pocket that he had just gotten out of the pinata.

Will Graduated Too!

I don't want to leave out my little man's end of school program. He and Kara both have been at Trinity since they were babies. I am putting him in a more preschool geared school next year. This makes me so sad. I just feel like he is ready for a more structured enviornment.

I have loved Trinity and the way they love kids. He has learned a lot and has become a little independent person. I hope to send the Thai baby to Trinity for mother's day out when he/she comes.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was so relaxing. Joel's parents came in for my niece, Kelsey's, birthday. We went downtown Sat. night with my family (Mom, Dad, Greg, Jamie, and Hudson) to see the Sunset Symphony. It is one of my favorite things to do. The weather was perfect and my kids had a really good time. This year they added an air show before the performance. I have never seen one in person and it was really neat. The last plane was a dare devil. He was awesome. The Temptations sang with the orchestra. Very nice. Our evening ended with fireworks.

Sunday we ate barbecue and swam at Debbie and Glen's. Both Kara and Will are becoming great swimmers.

Monday we went downtown again but with Joel's family. We met at "Texas De Brazil" and ate. Awesome. We then let the kid's see the ducks at the Peabody. Afterwards we rode a trolley down to the fountains at City Hall. I brought their swimsuits and they ran through the fountains. They had a blast. I will post pictures soon.

I hope that Joel's parents move back soon. Their house is on the market so I hope it sells quickly. We had such a good visit and my kids love them so. They need both sets of grandparents in their lives.

I did think of Memorial Day and remember why we celebrate. I am so appreciative to the men and women who have served in the military. We had our accountability group meeting tonight at a restaurant and when we finished we prayed. I am so thankful that I live in a country that is free. Where I am free to pray in public and not worry about persecution. God Bless America.

Vera Bradley Inspiration

I finally copied and pasted the print that I want to use for the nursery. I received a make up bag, brush bag, and large diaper bag for Mother's Day. I also bought some notecards with the print on it. I am using the diaper bag as my tote bag with files, books, magazines, etc. I want to have the paislies and elephants stenciled on the nursery walls and have solid bedding to match. To me it looks very Thai. It makes me happy to have with me as encouragement during our adoption waiting.

Approval letter came today!

God is so good. His love endures forever. We received our I-1600A approval today! After waiting almost 3 months it's here. The local Memphis office was so good to respond to my email and get our letter right out to us in 3 short days. I feel like now we are truly ready for our match. Maybe we will hear something by this time next month.

INS Update

Well, after almost 90 days I have become increasingly worried about hearing from INS regarding our I-600 A approval. I have heard such horror stories about trying to get in contact with them that I kept putting it off. Hoping to find a letter in the mailbox. I finally emailed them Tuesday. Believe it or not I heard from them Wed. morning. They said that our paperwork had been put in the wrong area and had now been retrieved. They were going to work on it immediately and I should recieve a letter by the end of next week. Nice. Just another reason to believe that we are being shown favor.

2nd Grade - Here We Come!

My baby girl is not in first grade anymore! I asked her if she wouldn't mind repeating it again next year. She politely said "no way"!

This has been such a wonderful experience for us. We could not have asked for a better teacher. Mrs. Roberson is so full of life. So excited to teach children. This was her first year to be a teacher but had assisted in years past. She also has a first grader. You could just tell she truly understood the children. Best of all she liked Kara. It was obvious. I was blessed to be her room mother. Although it is a lot of work I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope to do it again next year.

I had so many bad preconceived ideas of how public school was going to be. I found none of them to be true. There were only 23 kids in her class with 2 teachers. Mrs. Cagle is a friend of the family and she is a sweetheart like her mother. Kara is going to miss both of them as well as her friends.

At their classroom awards Kara was awarded the "friend to all". That's my baby. She has Christ shining through her even at this young age. She also made honor roll for the year. I am very, very proud of my children. I want to enjoy every second of them. I don't want to miss a thing!!!

12 Wonderful Years

Or 11 1/2 as Joel says. The first six months were not so hot. Our anniversary was Sunday. We had a great time. We went to church Sunday morning. We took the kids to our small group Sunday evening b/c my parents were keeping them.

We went downtown, which is my favorite, and ate at Capriccio Steak house at the Peabody. Very good but expensive. We then went to the Peabody Place and watched Spider Man 3. I was not too excited about this but it was the only thing decent on. I was pleasantly surprised. It had a nice plot to it. I am not too fond of all action and science fiction movies.

We left downtown and I called my parents. I just assumed that they were going to take the kids home and put them to bed. Kara had school the next day. Boy was I wrong. It was 10:30 when we got to my parents house and they were not inside. My mother, father, Kara and Will were on the Ranger riding around with flashlights looking for frogs. I was in shock. My mother was in her night gown. Now for those of you who know her, is that not hilarious?

I am in such a happy place. I truly love my life, my Lord, my husband and family. I am truly blessed. I hope the next 12 years and beyond are this wonderful.

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. J was so sweet and pampered me all weekend. We got up early enough Sunday morning to eat breakfast at church. They are raising money for missions. We went to lunch at "The Boiling Point". Mom, Jamie, and Jelynn and I went to the Helen Britt show downtown at the Cook Convention Center. We had a great time. J cooked steak and homemade ice cream for dessert. Kara was so excited to give me her gifts from school. They are very precious to me.

J got me a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag and brush bag. I wanted it b/c it has a pattern on there that looks very Thai. It has a black background with pink elephants and paisleys. I had a corsage to wear at church. My mom is always so generous and gave me a lounge outfit and a Vera Bradley purse. I am probably going to use it as a diaper bag. She also gave Kara and I a pair of necklaces. Mine is a black necklace with a piece of pewter that has the heart in the middle cut out. Kara's is also black but her charm is the heart that goes inside my cutout. I hope this makes sense. She wears one and I wear the other. She truly will always be in my heart. Mom also got me an angel that is beautiful and sits on my buffet in the entry. Tell me, isn't she excessive? Aren't I the one to shower her with gifts? I do try to get her a nice present but there is no out giving mom.

Saturday Mom, Grandma, Kara and I went to lunch at Red Lobster. It was very nice to have four generations sitting at one table. In hind site I wish that I had brought my camera.

I thought a lot about my Thai baby Sunday. Just knowing that I had a child somewhere made me a little sad. I told J that this is my last MD with only 2 kids. I am excited about what the year will bring.

Frogs

Kara and Will love frog catching and it is that time of year here in Mississippi. We have to constantly stay on them about not bringing them into the house. Last week my mother bought Kara a "frog habitat" as a "happy" from Target. The kids have gleefully enjoyed finding frogs and sticking them into this plastic surrounding. Will then loves to take them out and squeeze them very hard. Just yesterday we woke up to find the newest frog dead a a doornail. Ugh! His eyes were open and looked half way decent until he got pushed over and stayed in the same position. Gross. About a month ago J put Will to bed and found a frog under Will's pillow.

Last Thursday I was out and Joel went outside to cut the grass. He told the kids to take a bath and get ready for bed. I could have told him that this was not such a great idea. He said that he came inside and the kids were in our whirlpool tub in the master bath. They had two critter cages with one frog each in them and had them submerged under the water!!!! They thought they were giving them a "bath". J got very angry for one having frogs in the house and two for mistreating animals like that. He called me all upset and was giving the toad frog MOUTH TO SNOUT resuscitation!! I was laughing so hard and he kept telling me that it wasn't funny. I ask you, is that not hilarious? Well, he saved one frog but sadly the other frog just couldn't handle the soapy swimming. J then told the kids that they were going to be punished by not catching frogs for a month. Kara started crying and said that she would rather take licks. J told her fine but Will said no he would rather not catch the frogs. Kara then told J that she needed to talk it over with Will. I just laugh thinking in my mind about Kara and Will having a conference. Well, they both agreed to get licks. J punished them and they promised that they would never do that again. My mom has laughed and laughed and has told everyone about it. J is slightly worried about our frog population. If they are smart they will stay away from those G kids!!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

**This picture is of Kara and Will in their Hill Tribe outfits**

Well, here we are in May. Time is moving right along. Today I am filling out my application to get my passport. You can only apply for one from 12 -2 Mon. through Fri. Joel already has his passport from his trip to Thailand last November. I sent a copy of my social security card with our dossier. They didn't require a passport at that time. Starting in Feb. the US is requiring that you have a passport to travel anywhere outside of the US. I think some of the virgin islands are not included in that. In my dreams we will take a Disney cruise and I would have to have a passport for that.

Anywho, Joel is going to Kara's school on Friday to talk about Thailand's culture and traditions. He is going to bring some of the things he bought there.

Our church is hosting the MS district council meetings. This means that all pastors from around the state will be meeting at our church this Tue., Wed., and Thurs. We have not hosted since 1993 and boy have we grown!! I am so proud of our church and its people. Tonight's service is going to be about missions. We are going as the night meetings are open to everyone. Missions...a new love for me.