Dove's Campaign

Dove's Film - Evolution

If you have not seen this yet, please take the 1 minute it takes to view it. Amazing evolution of a woman to model and all that goes into it. Our daughters NEED to know this is how it is done. Our daughters (and sons) need to know what REAL BEAUTY is.

If I had 5 minutes...

If I had five minutes to myself, I'd

#1 I'd check Rumor Queen
#2 I'd drink a Dr. Pepper
#3 I'd check my Mommy blogs
#4 Find a book to read
#5 Eat something chocolate!

If I had $5 to spend, I'd

#1 Buy a new fluffy romance novel
#2 Buy a package of playdoh as it keeps S entertained for hours
#3 I'd rent a movie for the kids, so I can read that fluffy romance novel.
#4 I'd call my best friend who is long distance
#5 I'd take the kids to buy a treat from the dollar store.

Five Items I'd love to get rid of:

#1 All sibling rivalry in my house. AMEN!
#2 All whining in my house. AMEN again!
#3 Excess hand-me-down furniture that causes my house to be cluttered with junk
#4 The clutter all over my desk and Dh's desk.
#5 The waiting for our daughter's referral.

Five Items I wouldn't part with:

#1 My books.
#2 The hugs and kisses from my kids (and Dh too I guess) ;)
#3 My Bible
#4 My friends
#5 The internet

Five Words or Phrases I'd love to hear:

#1 This is Amy/Allison from your agency, I have a picture here of a beautiful little girl for you!
#2 This is your agency, I know you just got your referral today, but we have your Travel Approval in hand and you leave tomorrow.
#3 Dh to me, "Just sit down and read your book, we're going to clean the house spotlessly clean"
#4 Dh to me, "I'm taking the kids out for the day, the house is clean, please do whatever you would like to do all day long."
#5 "Mom, I'm totally caught up on my school work, can I have more to do?"

Well, my five minutes are up! If you haven't done this one, consider yourself tagged! Let me know in the comments if you do it, so I can come visit yours:)

Please support Hunter!

Over the past few months I've been following this little girl name Hunter. I've never met her, only know of her through a friend who has met her and her family. Hunter is fighting cancer again (she relapsed), and Hunter is 4 years old.

"Hunter is the 2006 "Taco Bell kid" for Taco Bell's annual Jimmy Fund fundraising campaign! From today, October 18th, to November 8th, Taco Bells in New England and parts of New York will be asking for donations to the Jimmy Fund. Hunter's cute little face is on all of the promotional materials."

her Caringbridge site is here.

Reading this journal, and others like it, remind me everyday that our children are truly blessed to be healthy. I hope that all these little warriors survive, but I also pray for a cure...and soon. I can only imagine what their courageous parents go through, what these precious children go through, and I pray I never find out because I'm not strong like that. I don't want to be a downer, but truly, the Jimmy Fund needs all our help and these little kids need our prayers and support as well.

Brown envelope and profound thoughts...

Got our Brown Envelope yesterday!!! :) Nice surprise in the mailbox, and it made it all seem so much more REAL to Dh and I. Now, I'm impatient for that referral. LOL I have...what...23 more months to WAIT?!

okay, here's the profound thought for the day.

The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

http://www.miguelruiz.com/teachings/fouragreements.html

* Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

* Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

* Don’t Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

* Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Celebrated my youngest's bday

We had a Pirate party theme, and despite the wanting to switch a week ago to a Star Wars party...it went great. Moon bounce, running around, and playing Pirate when you are 4 is just grand.

I made "Great Mommy" status today though with the party. S LOVED his cakes. Yes, I had a "brain fart" when I saw the cake on Family Fun's website. What in the world was I thinking? Okay, other than "COOL CAKE!"



Okay, the 2 "Pirate Ships" were indeed cake and frosting (and probably about 2 pounds of wood after all the toothpicks and wooden skewers I had to use to try and hold them together). I put Playmobil pirates on them, made the sails, Nestle treasures for "treasure" on the ship, and a Playmobil treasure chest on the cake-taker. Rolos were for "gold" and MilkDuds were cannonballs. Pretty clever of Family Fun I thought to use those (see I'm not even trying to take credit for THAT creativity).

The 2 blue circle cakes were "ocean" cakes and what we actually ended up eating. Again, playmobil pirates and Disney pirates for decorations. Plastic gold coins on the table in place of confetti for decorations. I do take credit for this creativity, although the "ocean cakes" were always my plan for backup if I could not get the ships assembled. I had not thought of the scenario of getting the ships assembled but they probably are not edible!

The kids all LOVED it of course, which made it worthwhile. But oh my am I ever TIRED now.

all these referrals...

I'm so excited to read these referrals and see the pics of the babies. It's always a happy day. But this month, oh THIS month is even more exciting to me than before. Why? Because this month I can cross off DAYS from where they are referring to where MY LID is!

So, August 9, 2005 - August 9, 2006 = 365 days
August 9,2006 - September 9, 2006 = 31 days
September 9, 2006 - September 14, 2006 = 5 days.

Grand total = 401 days!

(let's use EASY numbers of 400 days and 20 days of LID per referral batch)...at this rate, it will be 20 months until we get a referral. Still within that 18-24 month range I've prepared myself for. :) I like that it is closer to 18 months though. I still seriously doubt I'll know anything before 2008 (for NSN).

1. FIRST NAME? Carla
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? umm...recently but I don't remember when, I was probably frustrated though
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING. No
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? None. Can't stand it. Tomato sandwhich please!
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? does an online blog count?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nope
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries, or something chocolate
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sometimes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Monkey Bites from Cold Stone, or Mint Chocolate Chip from Breyers
14. SHOE Size? 7.5
15. RED OR PINK? PINK!!!!!
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My skin condition
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My best friend from High School
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans, no shoes
19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? S fighting sleep, playing with a toy in bed, and Dh is watching the Monday Night Football game.
20. WHERE IS THE ONE PLACE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE RIGHT NOW? In some Civil Affairs office, In China, being handed my baby girl!
21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purple
22. FAVORITE SMELL? Buttercream Yankee Candle
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Gina...no I think it was Christy...NO! Dh on the cell phone tonight trying to find out where I was parked when he got to the softball game!
24. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO?
25. FAVORITE DRINK? Dr. Pepper
26. FAVORITE SPORT? for me to do - Snowskiing, to watch....ummm...baseball?
27. WHATS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? Purple
28. HAT SIZE? 7 3/4? Is that a hat size? It's quite large due to the hair.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate - anything chocolate
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings
32. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? rose colored
33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
34. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs
35. FAVORITE DESSERT? anything chocolate
36. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Restricting myself until I'm caught up on business, but it'll be a romance novel of some sort by the end of the week.
37. WHAT'S ON THE MOUSE PAD? Nemo
38. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Amazing Race
39. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SOUNDS? Silence these days. ;) Samuel's BELLY laugh/cackle.
40. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Home? which home? furtherest from where I live now? or furtherest from where I lived at the time I did the travel? LA or San Diego (from here), furtherest "travel" Bahamas
41. WHAT ARE YOUR SPECIAL TALENTS? Photography, cross-stitch, painting (not pictures though)
42 AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Not gonna answer this one. ;) If you are curious, ask me in person.
43. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Got it from Angela
44. WHAT DAY IS IT? Monday, September 25, 2006

Now here's the deal:Leave me a comment if you are going to answer these questions on your blog so I can follow, and get to know you better.

We have LID!!!!!

Got word this week, that were Logged In on September 14, 2006!

wow...almost a full month from DTC to LID. Oh well. Now is the time to START counting down to our referral day!

Last month they made it to July 22, 2005, so 365+54= 419 days of dossiers ahead of us! If they average 15 days of dossiers a month, then we are looking at...oh...roughly 28 months until our referral. To keep to 14 months, oh my they need to do 30 dossiers a month. Yeah, I think realistically we are looking at over 14 months for our referral (non-special needs that is).

Regardless, we're excited to have that LID and we celebrated by eating Asian tonight!

Another ladybug sighting!

Okay, having watched the LID appear for the August 2006 DTC group, I know my LID is coming up soon. :) Basically DTC August 14, 2006 was LID early September. So, 4 days later for our DTC we should be fairly close.

Tonight while out taking photos of a baseball team, I noticed a ladybug on my camera bag. Admist all the rambunctious boys, no flowers to be seen anywhere, just a ball field and there on my bag was a ladybug. Okay, it was a dull orange color and did not have many spots at all...but it was a ladybug. Wonder if our LID is today? September 8, 2006? 9-8-06? Hmmmm...could be. :)

Ladybug Sighting

Last Wednesday, August 23, our cat had escaped the house. Knowing he hides during the day and comes home for food at night, I left the back door open for him to come in. After 15 minutes, and LOTS of moths later, I closed it. Dh was standing by the lights and saw something red flying around. I guess it was around 9:30pm. It landed on a light and it was a LADYBUG! Our first REAL Ladybug sighting. :)

2 days later (thinking the cat who did finally come home) had gotten all the moths (and that little ladybug) I saw a speck of red on my oldest son's door while I was cleaning. Upstairs and opposite corner of the house from original location, but I'm guessing it was the same one.

Hmmm....since we're considering special needs, want less than 12 months...could she have been born on August 23rd? That would put her roughly the correct age for a spring waiting child list! :) What a wonderful dream.

Ah...dossier is at CCAA

and I've sat here for 2 days, relaxing with nothing to stress about with the dossier. I noticed the house. Hmmm...I think I neglected the housework in order to get certain things done! LOL

I currently have a Mount St. Foldme waiting for me. The kitchen is in decent shape, the boys rooms are...well...kids rooms. The main living areas are okay. OMG when did the stairs get so many stains on them? LOL I've been busy, and I'm now attacking the housework. I was feeling pretty good until I walked outside and noticed the flowerbed. I've not had to "stalk the mailman" lately, so no weeding has been done. Coupled with some rain...and it's now affectionately named "weed bed" by Dh.

I want to post photos, but Dh is having a fit since this isn't password protected and we don't know you....tried to explain it was okay. I took the kids out this weekend to play, bought them Pirate costumes, and we had a blast together. I took photos of them, the kids played Pirate. When we got in the car I heard, "That was so much fun Mom! Can we do it again?"

Now, to start thinking about Christmas card photos and designs for cards. :D

DTC today!!!!!

Henceforth and forevermore August 18, 2006 will be known as "Dossier to China for Katie" day! :D

I have fed ex tracking number....dossier has been picked up from the agency.

done with paperchasing. done done done (well until it's time to renew something)

Dossier to Agency!!!!

It's going tonight (well in a little over an hour when UPS picks it up...)

Why UPS and not Fed EX? Fed Ex would only insure documents for $100. ummm..NOPE. That dossier would take close to $2000 to re-do rushed services. I insured it for $2000 with UPS. $50+ to get it to our agency tomorrow insured for that amount...yeah...fun stuff.

so...anyone wanna watch the skies with me tonight? Please, no UPS plane crashes. Please no UPS truck crashes...let me documents get to the agency okay.

On a hot, humid, sunny day....

it arrived! Mail even ran EARLY. :)

We have our 171h form (well 797). It is now "copied" and "notarized copy of an original"

Monday = county certification day

phew!!!!! here's hoping we're DTC by August 18

10.5 weeks and still waiting

For a process that started in November 2005, this paperchase has been the pits. I knew it could take longer than 4-6 months we were "quoted" but 9 months? When as our family coordinator said, "You are one of my most proactive families."

10.5 weesks so far for USCIS to get us the 171h form. Yes, it "bad word here" that we are still waiting when people that were "behind" us in line have their form. I do know that our application was processed and approved on Tuesday (thanks to calls to USCIS we know this much). But we are just waiting for the mail to get it to us. I thought, since someone from my area had one processed last Tuesday and got it Friday that today would be the day. But no. We were told it could take up to 14 days to get it us. GAK...that's a LOONG time still. So...we wait. Hopefully tomorrow.

It's not here

It's now passed the day of our "homestudy to USCIS" and my date has been skipped. We have no idea what is going on, but it's looking like our homestudy did not make it to Atlanta. So, well...guess we've done 10 weeks of waiting in vain.

oh...my....gosh.....

Still waiting...

but hopefully for not much longer!!!

Today, someone I know who is a day ahead of me at the USCIS office with their paperwork got their 171h form!!! Hopefully this means tomorrow or Monday for my own.

Please...please...please...please!

Yes I was a band geek in high school

I had a good chat with a friend last night, who was also a band geek. We compared music we loved playing, fight songs, etc. :)

We both agreed that Russian Christmas Music was awesome. Chorale and Shaker Dance was fun but not as hard as Russina Christmas Music. Then, she had a fight song stuck on her mind (not Rocky Top or other Univ. of Tennessee fight songs), and I thought of "Washington and Lee Swing". Yes, that was it. LOL It was my high school fight song (which is how our whole conversation got started in the first place).

Well, the piece of music that I remember the most from high school is this one:

Helm Toccatta by David Holsinger

I played French Horn, and let me say...this has such a LOVELY horn part...lots of "high notes" lots of LOOOW notes. Rips. hard sequences. etc. Just...well...lovely. I remember the subtitle to this one was "Death by Trumpet".

So, there's my geeky high school band showing itself.

Would you believe me if I said, Still Waiting?!

well we are. Over 8 weeks now and quite honestly I've found that I'm checking the mailbox less. I'm not eating as much chocolate. Basically my mind now thinks it's never coming. LOL

In an effort to distract myself, I've read lots of books lately. You know, those mushy, fluffy, romance novels? It's been nice. Plus it gives me something to do while waiting on JM at swim lessons. Of course since I wait in the van with S, who is watching a movie, it qets quite warm. BTW, vehicles with DVD players are wonderful! It makes waiting in the van pass quickly, except for yesterday. S didn't want to watch Dumbo, he "raced" his matchbox car from the back of the front seat all the way to the back seat over and over again. I finally had to open the side doors as it was getting hotter and hotter in the van even with all the windows open.

I had taken some water for S, in a small water bottle. He told me "Water is yummy!" ahhh...I love that. Water is yummy. AT least I could understand him with this one. A few weeks ago I asked the kids where they wanted to eat dinner. S answered, "Jumpers!" Huh? What's Jumpers? I asked where it was. "It's way far far away." Okay, then I realized that to a 3 year old "way far far away" could be on the other side of town. I remember thinking, while growing up, that going "into the city to the mall" took forever and I needed a book to read to pass the time. It was a 30 minute drive. LOL So, I asked S what he ate at Jumpers, "SHICKEN!" Okay, another bad question as he only eats Chicken when we eat out, or Chicken means "something I liked and good" I'm not sure. I asked who he ate with (as he sometimes eats out breakfast with Dh and JM only). Well, it was all of us. No grandparents, which was helpful. So, Jumpers is "way far far away" serves "shicken" or at least something S really likes and he ate there with Mommy, Daddy, and JM. Okay. I couldn't figure it out.

Last week, I didn't want to cook. Surprise surprise. So, we were thinking of eating at this sub shop, and pulled into the parking lot beside it. We were discussing where to eat (did we really want the subs?). S says "JUMPERS! Eat at JUMPERS!!!" Dh, having no better luck on figuring out Jumpers, said, "Where is Jumpers?!" S says "right there!!!" and points. Where did he point? IHOP. OH my...I got it. "I Hop" or "I jump" which can easily translate in a 3 year old mind to "Jumpers." Glad to have figured that one out. LOL No, we didn't eat at Jumpers. We ate the subs. I think Jumpers would have been better.

trying to stay positive

Well, still no sign of the 171H. We have not gotten a reply to our fax sent a week ago either. Nothing from the USCIS office, and I'm not feeling too hopeful now. It's so hard to stay positive and upbeat when rumors fly about wait times extending longer and longer and you can not even get to DTC part. I am having a tough time being happy for others who are DTC (and started AFTER our 1st meeting with the homestudy agency). It's so hard. It's very reminiscent of infertility treatments...no knowing if you will even get to the END of anything and have a child in your life.

So...there we are. Still waiting. Still getting frustrated. Still trying to learn patience.