Ways to raise funds

I am trying a new way to raise $ for our expenses. I have found a Kids Consignment Convention that occurs here every 3-4 months. So I will now start looking for new and like new/very good condition items to sell at this convention in November. So if you're reading this, are local, and have an item or two still sitting around that you wouldn't mind donating to our cause, please please let me know. I have to have a minimum of twenty five items by the beginning of November.

Thanks for stopping by :0)

Joanne

Here's our little peanut!!

A nice surprise

We had a wonderful surprise yesterday from an 'angel' on one of our yahoo groups. Yesterday we received three pictures of Daniel at a birthday party in his orphanage!! I can't post the pictures because there are other children that I cannot show. But we were just thrilled to see new pictures of our little one. He is a -peanut- !! He was the size of a couple of the two year olds in the photo. But they all looked like they were having a wonderful time eating a GIANT cake!!

So, thank you to my 'angel' ~ you know who you are!! I hope that one day we will be able to do the same for another adopting family!

Three little letters~~!!!!!!

Three little letters that have BIG MEANING. We are now D*T*C !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What this means is our dossier has been completed, reviewed, approved and is now on it's way to the China Center for Adoption Affairs in CHINA. Our official DTC date is 9/25/09.

Now we will wait for our Dossier to be "logged in". Then it will 'sit' for a while until it makes it's way to the "Review Room". This is where the Chinese officials go through our paperwork to make sure everything is in order and we are fit to become Daniel's parents. This process and the Letter of Approval that follows can take anywhere from three to five months to complete. (I am counting on three of course!!) I can't begin to tell you what a relief it is to get to this milestone!!!

I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with myself this weekend!! Maybe I will take the kids to the beach!! Yeah, sun and sand... that ought to do it!!

Thanks for following our progress. So exciting!!

Out of our hands

Well, it is now out of our hands. The last of our dossier documents, placement agreement and dossier fee are on their way to our agency. We can only hope that the Fedex plane and truck arrive safely and our documents arrive in Oregon in the morning. It is funny, now I am going to have to find something else to focus on while we wait for our paperwork to be logged in and for CCAA to approve our paperwork. Just as well the kids have lots of home work and Halloween is just around the corner!!

Lady Luck, please shine down on us!!

I spoke with our dossier specialist today. If they receive our last couple of documents by 10 am on Thursday they will be able to ship our dossier to China this Friday!! Our last document is being processed in Washington for authentication as we speak and should be ready on Tuesday. I should receive it back by noon Wednesday to turn around and Fedex to the agency. Please, Mr. Postman/woman, please don't lose my package this time. I will be holding my breath until I get that email from the agency on Friday afternoon!!!!!!!!

My children are not destined to be interior decorators~!! I don't know where I went wrong.... They went to Mommy & Me. They learned the "clean-up, clean-up" song.... but they still do not know how (or maybe don't want to...) clean up when they are done playing with something and before moving on to the next thing. So, when they told me they "made a play room for our new brother" in my Living Room, I went in ready for war.

First, I found this:

Another view, closer:

Then, I saw this:

I LOVE MY KIDS !!!!!!!!

(The lizard is "A Chinese Dragon")

Dossier service or not to Dossier service? That is the question!!

I am beginning to wonder if doing the work for our dossier by myself was such a great idea. One document has cost us more $$$$ and more time to get done than the rest of our documents all together. TG I have a good courier in Washington DC who will help me get around the latest hurdle. (if you ever want her info just pm/email me ~ she's GREAT.) I am just ready for this process to be DONE already!!!! ("Do this. NO! Do that! No that's not right either".)

Can you tell I'm fed up? Yet I know it will be oh so worth it when we are on that plane to China.... we're coming, Daniel, we're coming

Moving along slowly

My I797c is in Houston, and my passport copy is on it's way to Washington today. These are the LAST TWO DOCUMENTS before we can post those three little (BIG) letters (DTC!!) Barring any additional trip ups, everything should be at our agency next week.

Nice little saying:

take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every
sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.

Another step back

Kapow!! We had to get a copy of dh's passport page notarized, certified, authenticated. I FORGOT to get it state certified FIRST. First, the post office lost the package and took over a week to deliver it. After another three weeks.... threeee weeks I got the doc back from the Dept of State. There doesn't seem any possible way to get DTC by the 18th. Guess we will have to wait another week. SO frustrating!!

One step closer

Allelujah!! I have our I797c which I will be sending via Fedex to my courier this week for certification and authentication. I have one other document floating around Washington, DC.

I sure hope that one doesn't hold us up. My goal is still to be DTC one week from Friday.

Fingers and toes crossed!!!

We spent a quiet weekend watching old home videos. It has been a while since I've seen them, and I forgot how absolutely cherubic my little ones were. First time DS has seen the videos of himself as an infant. His reactions were great!!

My house is a paper magnet!!

What is the one thing that most overwhelms me in this world? Paper!!! My weakness, and also my husbands (although he would never admit it!) is the accumulation of things paper... Bills, old receipts, old magazines, expired coupons, children's art work, children's school work, paper paper paper. Seeing stacks of paper and having to go through them gives me waves of anxiety like nothing else!!! Worse than spiders and stray dogs!!!!

It pays to be proactive

If this paper chase has taught me anything, it's that you can't just sit back and "let the process happen". For a lot of procedures, not all, but some, you can move things along faster with a little effort. Sometimes it pays to take the side roads, not the main highway. While our original fingerprint appointment was set for September 18th, I'm glad to say that not only is that done, but so is our I797c. We have to wait for the hard copy, but I can do that!!!!! If I had sat back and waited (like I was "supposed to") we would be into October with no approval and no DTC. I am over the moon, because I am really starting to believe we will meet our Sept 15th deadline for shipping our Dossier to China!!! Now to relax and enjoy this long weekend.

Thanks for stopping by our post :0)

Joanne

Life's little ups and downs

Our Honda CRV has been a fabulous car. It is like the energizer bunny. Keeps going and going and going. We have had it for 12 years and we have had few if any problems. I was thrilled then we we bought our Odyssey when our daughter was an infant. Other than needing a new battery every two years it has been a great minivan. Fast forward eight years and the wear and tear is beginning to show. I know, some people lease or get a new car every couple of years. But I grew up with parents that squeezed every mile they could out of their cars. Maybe it's just that the cost of repairs has gone up astronomically. Last year the van needed about $900 in repairs for a throttle malfunction. Today as I left to pick up the kids from school in the drizzle, the automatic window motor went. (IE. the thing that makes the window go UP when you press the button on your door. Window....down...) Not a big deal unless you live in the subtropics in wet season. Down to the dealership we flew. Estimate $250-300. If only!! We walked out with a $700 plus bill. Also found, a leak in one of the motor mounts. It reminds me of a comment made by a coworker long ago when she received a repair estimate... '$xxxxx.xx for a piece of tin!!!' This is just a part of life but it's really hard when you take one step forward to then take two steps back. We're going to have to proffer a lot more chocolate!!!