Our summer, so far & Adoption Update

Our house is always busy.  Most households with children, no matter their ages, are busy!   Here is what has been keeping us busy.......

PROM!  Everyone looked amazing!  And the dresses, boy have they changed since I went to prom.  I think the styles and colors are much, much more beautiful!!  Here are Adam and his friends.....

A gentlemen.....

Peter, Waling, Sarah, Adam

 


Miss Emily had her annual Dance recital again - as usual a fun time!!

Emily really gets some height here.... 

Her Dance Class

Adam also graduated high school this year.  Many different emotions come with this milestone, excitement, happiness, sadness, loads of worry, and a LOT of Pride!  We are so proud of him!!  There were many times we struggled, we didn't agree, and assignments were rough....high school is hard, even from a parents point of view.  But he accomplished it and very well too,  graduated in the top 20% of the class, Member of the Nat. Honor Society and several other clubs/activities.

This is HALF of the Class....I couldn't get them all in one shot.

Receiving his Diploma!!  He did it!!

Traditional Cap Toss - Adam is front row, center

Bianca - another "friend"

Adam & Peter goofing again

One Very PROUD Mom  <3

Tiffany & Emily

And yes, we had another birthday for Adam.  Boy, I wish I could slow that aging process down a bit!  He is now a legal adult!!  Yikes.  He's 18 years old.  And we threw him a party, for both his birthday and graduation.   And True to form.....never dull here...........

 Here's the chuckle because my life always has one.......The party planning.  Of course all of our family was invited.  Big families on both sides.  I asked him if he wanted to include any of his friends.....we added a few to the list and sent invites to them too.  He then said "let me check Facebook".  Ok, I didn't think any more about it, cleaned up the table, got the stack of invites ready for the mail in the morning and moved on to the next project, laundry I think.  The next day Emily comes to me and explains that her friend B received an invitation to Adam's party.  What is she talking about??  I didn't see her name in the pile??  After seeing the puzzled look I had to be showing, Emily then explained that Adam created an Event on Facebook.   Awww, crap!!  Now I'm not a Facebook person, only when time permits,  maybe I check my page once a week.  I have no idea the details and the real workings of Facebook, so imagine the thoughts going on in my head at this point.  I asked Emily if she was invited on Facebook and she wasn't !!?!?!  What?  I checked my page, and I wasn't invited either.  OK, what the he11(o) is going on here???  Emily then added that B saw the list, (apparently its on the event page) and  he invited  138 people on Facebook.   A D A M !!!!!!!   (I think our friends in PA could hear me at that point)  He strolls into the kitchen with his typical Adam-ish laid back look he is sporting today, with not a care in the world.  Of course not, he's not feeding all these people, right??  After catching my breath again, and drinking about a gallon of water, I casually asked him if he had a list of friends for the party.  "Oh, yea", was his reply, cool as a cucumber.  He told me he sent invites out on FB and made sure to include that there would be no alcohol, plenty of food, the pool is open so bring your appetite and  towel.   When I asked just how many people did he invite, he shrugged his shoulders, (totally Adam-ish here), said he wasn't sure, but "don't worry Mom, they don't all come anyway".  Oh. My. Heavens.  Trying to contain myself, I asked him to please check FB, RIGHT NOW!!!!  Panicked, he ran to the computer.  He confirmed the number, and I thought I was going to pass out, right there, in the kitchen,  on the hard, cold, tile floor.   Ahhhh, teenagers.

Now there are many things wrong with this picture.  First, I take a lot of the blame because as a parent I should have set a limit here.  But, he's not 12 yo anymore and I had NO idea that he would do this.  Reality check for parents, set limits for everything!!   I normally do and I have no idea where my Mom mind was when this happened.   Next, it's the techno age, kids today need a computer for just about everything, and they use it for everything.   Tidbit.... Many places do not even have paper job applications anymore, you need to fill it out online, so you need a computer.  Back to the party.  Where in the world were we going to park cars for that many people?  We have a decent sized back yard, but this is a LOT of people!!  Our pool, can it hold that many people?  Oh heavens, what about food for this many people?????

For about a week after this day, I stressed ALOT about this!  Adam offered to cancel it but I couldn't do that to him.  It wasn't totally his fault, although he did get an ear full after the real panic set in.  Chris, my calming husband, tells me,  "don't worry, we will make it work".  And we did.  Our neighbor is building a house next door and said we could use the yard for parking, done.  Shopping, we went the next weekend and stocked up on all the paper products we needed, done.  Food, family offered to make things to bring, and I took them up on their offer, salads & veggies, done.  My brother in law, who loves to cook, owns this huge, professional grill, offered to cook for us, done.  Chris & Brother went to Sams Club, picked up all the meat for burgers, hot dogs and chicken, done. We planned for 80 people, thought that would cover it.  I borrowed extra tables, chairs and coolers from the local fire company, done.  My brother in law also works for a rental place (side job) so a tent was rented, shade was taken care of, done.  I put on my hard hat, had lists for everyone.  It was all washed, cleaned, put away or set up.  By Friday night, we were ready, I think.  Saturday, the day of the party, Emily &  I head off to my niece's dance recital at noon, of course, because it can't be just one event today, right?  The guys have their To Do List, I will be back in an hour.  Breathe.  Breathe.

Party time rolls around, the places looks great.  Balloons, sunshine and food is cooking.  At the end of the day, about 50+/- family members showed up and about 15 of the FB friends.  Yes, 15.  I think there are still hamburgers in the freezer in the basement.  We will be having them for the next month.  Rolls, I have plenty, still.  Salads, I had to give them away, I couldn't eat them all.  The deer, squirrels and birds, got the veggies.  And I had no place to store it all.  We had soooo much food left over, I could've had two more parties!

The lesson, set limits.  And the worst part, Bad Parent Award here,  I only took one picture for the whole day..... of the cake. It was good too, ice cream cake!!!

Fresh from the Freezer to the Table

That's our summer so far...........

On our adoption, well it's moving, I think,  I hope!!  Our dossier was submitted into the courts in early April and we are waiting on our final decree!!  I wish, I wish, I wish  it comes soon!!!!  Our agency explained that this wait could be 90-120 days, ugg.  This week brings us to the 90 day mark of our paperwork going to Taiwan, so lets hope that is a  good sign.  Wouldn't be wonderful to hear of our final decree any day now???   I think so!!!!

Package #1

We have sent three care packages to Kyle so far, not very exciting, but its not easy to send things in a gallon zipper bag.....I think we did ok....

Thanks to my friend Cindy for the idea of sending a Build A Bear!  We added a recorded message too....Emily said 'I love you' in English and Chinese.  And Yes, he did fit into the bag!

Under wraps Teddy Bear

He looks better out of the bag  :)

Package #3 

Oh, remember Aunt Jemima?  (State over charging clerk)  Well guess who came through for us?  She did!!  About a month ago, (I know I'm behind) we received a check from the state for $140.00 !!  Can you believe it!!?!?  I didn't think we would ever see that refund, especially not for the full amount!!!  I put that check right back in the bank - it will cover some shopping in Taiwan!  :)

I've been cleaning and sorting and shipping things to friends and family......check the previous post!  There are still a few dolls that need to be adopted!!!!!

I haven't done too much in our Little Man's room, I'm kinda afraid to.  Please don't hate me for this, but I don't want to jinx anything.  All the "what if's" keep popping in my head, delays, problems, etc.  We did paint and clean the carpets.  Chris is ready to set up the crib, me, I'm chicken.  But I think we will set it up this weekend.  Here's a peek so far.......Chris picked the color, it's BLUE!   His first choice was Texas Longhorn's burnt orange, so I'm happy with the blue.

Work in progress

I have to be honest, this wait is hard!!  Most days I can get by with just walking by and peeking in his room, so far, for now.  But soon, I hope and pray for SOON, he will be here so I read to him and cuddle!  For now, we will keeping working on his room.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our summer!  Don't forget to think about the dolls!   A BIG THANK YOU to those that have adopted several of the dolls !!  You are all very special friends!!