Update

Yes, I know it's been a full two weeks since I last posted, but I have been BUSY!!! We are up to our eyeballs in adoption stuff right now (more on that later), it got cold this week and Paul just happens to be on call, so he's been AWOL from home all week long, I spent 2 days in Waterloo last week, Sam's birthday is this Sat, as is the town Halloween party that two neighbors and I are planning and executing. Also, I'm trying to learn my new job of city clerk, Will is still playing football (last game is tomorrow), today was Special Olympics for Ben, and we're getting all kinds of things done on that house. For example, we moved the washer and dryer to the basement. I now have a dining room again! But I also have some holes in the walls and some painting to do where the laundry area once was.

Other than that, I just don't know how to fill my time!

As I mentioned, today was the Special Olympics bowling event in the Des Moines area. Ooh, what a madhouse that was! But Ben did well and left with a first place ribbon! I am so thankful to his coach, Maureen. Ben's practices were on Monday nights. But our adoption classes are on Monday nights. So Maureen has not only been picking Ben up from school on those nights, but she would bring him all the way back to our house, which was an extra 20 min round trip for her. She did that just so Ben could get a full practice in! And today Ben's aide drove all the way up to the north side of Des Moines to watch Ben perform. And then she insisted on taking him out for lunch before they headed back to school. She told me that somebody recently commented to her at school that she has the "best job" in the entire school because she gets to work with Ben all day. Isn't that cool?

Our foster care/adoption classes are going well. We had our third class this past week. We've had one couple drop out. We just keep getting more and more paperwork to do! They want to thoroughly vet us, I guess. I heard yesterday that several of the references we provided just received long questionnaires to fill out about us and then they are asked to provide other references to tell the state about us! I feel kind of bad about that, that they are having to do all this paperwork for us. Our first home visit was this past Tuesday. Our case worker is actually one of our teachers, too. I haven't decided if that's in our favor or against us! Paul didn't make it home for the interview, but that was ok. I spent all day cleaning, which was good because she asked for a tour of the house! There's a few things we need to take care of, like installing another hand rail, some carbon monoxide detectors, and hanging another door on the bedroom, but it's minor. She told us to go ahead and start getting a bedroom ready, which I think must be a good sign (!). Of course, it is hard to say how long it will be before a child is actually placed with us, though. She thinks it would be best if we used the big bedroom upstairs. So we are going to move Ben and David to the basement and we'll tuck Sam's bed underneath Will's loft. Then when (if) he leaves for college in another year and a half Sam can just have his bed. I need to find a bed, mattress, and dresser for our new daughter. And we have just got to replace that bedroom carpet. We don't really have the money for all that, but it would be silly to not replace the carpet while we have the furniture out. Maybe we can find a remnant piece at Menards or something. Our next visit will be on Nov. 15. At that meeting, we are going to be questioned about our marriage, losses we've experienced, and the boys will also each be interviewed. At the meeting this week, I was asked about my views on education (I homeschool - suppose I have a few views?!), some of my own history, and things like that. It was very non-threatening but I still found myself physically shaking during it! More and more I am finding myself really ok with the possibility that we may be given a child we have to give back at some point. Adoption is still my primary focus, but if we have to do foster care for awhile, it's ok. I mean, I know there will be things I won't like about it, such as being more of the "caregiver" rather than the parent. But I am slowly seeing all of this as part of a bigger picture that God is painting. And, you know, it's hard to say what the timetable on all this will be, too. We may rush, rush, rush and get the paperwork done, the room all ready, the approval stamped,...and then wait and wait and wait for a child. Who knows?

Well, what else is new? I am hobbling around on a broken toe and sprained foot. I was in Waterloo last week, jumped up to help Ben, and ran smack into the wooden leg on my parents' loveseat. Oh, man - that HURT! I couldn't believe just how painful it still was the next day and began to wonder if I had broken my foot or something. So after we got home, I drove back to town and went to Urgent Care where they took x-rays. I did break my little toe and they said my foot was severely sprained. So, I got this orthopaedic sandal thingy to wear since my foot was too swollen and painful to wear a shoe. By the second day of that I had really bad cramps going up my calf! But a 75 yr old friend at church brought me a different sandal she had from her foot surgery because she thought the one I was wearing looked too small. It was, but it was the biggest one that the clinic had. I like this one a lot better. It has a little heel on it, and that took care of my cramp problem. Now I'm just waiting for it to heal.

Other than my accident, I had a really nice couple of days up north. Matt and Kirsti were in town. So, I got to hang out with Kirsti quite a bit. She drove me downtown to pick up a copy of my marriage license that I needed for the adoption. I couldn't believe that we didn't have a copy of that thing! But we didn't. And I got to run over and see Sara for a little bit. She's popping out with the baby. This week the dr. moved her due date back by a day, but I bet this is a late February baby, anyway. She turned 40 yesterday, which kind of cracks me up, too!

Well, I have more to write, but I need to get some more work done around here, first. So, I'll be back in a little bit to post more.