No real news

but I'll take what I can get.

To recap, we're waiting on the judge in India to sign off on our case granting us guardianship of Dorothy. There's another step after that before we can travel, but we're taking one step at a time.

If you remember, the courts were on holiday for the summer and I suspected when they were back in session based on the high court's website. I can now confirm that they are, indeed, back in session because another family (with a daughter at the same orphanage) received their guardianship yesterday after a longer wait than us! I'm thrilled for them and thrilled for what it means for us- that something is happening over there.

Sadly, though, it seems that they will be the next family with our agency to go to that facility (in early August). Without any families traveling there sooner, we won't receive updated photographs before then. The start of May was when we last got pictures. :-(

All in all, I feel renewed hope that we *might* get guardianship in July and August travel isn't ruled completely out at this point.

A hint of what our summer is looking like

There's been a lot of this:

Some of this:

A heap of this:

And a good bit of this:

Our boys are on the swim team this summer and we've been at the pool every day. Tonight, they participated in their second meet. I AM SO PROUD! Dean and Grant have both improved so much in the past few weeks, and Dean shows real promise in this sport- he's a natural! Both of them pound the water like their life depends on it, and have gathered some lovely ribbons.

So, I said that this was their second meet tonight, right? Well, it was only the first meet that I was able to actually attend. Why wasn't I at the last one? Oh, that's because I was doing this:

... in the Vanderbilt Children's ER. Yes, we were just there last month.

Lael suffered from a power hug. No joke. She and Dean were squeezing the love out of one another when he lost his footing and she caught their fall- with her head. She cried and didn't feel good, but she hadn't lost consciousness. We did ice (though she didn't really feel like keeping it on), and prayed hard and fast. This was all before we had to leave for the first swim meet. In the end, we still went because it just didn't seem like there was much that could be done. She felt uncomfortable and was whiny, but apart from that, I had no reason to believe it was serious.

Until she threw up.

About an hour after the accident, she "spilled the graham crackers" all over me in the parking lot of the pool where the meet was to be held. It was at a neighborhood pool, and I have two friends that live near the pool and were present. One hooked me up with a bath, while the other, along with our family, took care of the boys. Eric was on his way from work to attend the meet and showed up not too long into the bath. He was there. God provides for me in this area and it never ceases to amaze me. The Lord knows what I can and can not handle on my own. For each and every major accident with the kids, Eric has been with me. I would be a basket case, otherwise. Blood and guts don't bother me, but my own children are a different story- panic doesn't even begin to describe it! So, we spoke with the nurse on the phone and just as she was telling us to monitor her, Lael threw up again to which the nurse responded, "Go now to Vanderbilt ER- do not come here- I will call ahead and let them know you're coming!". Into the car, then.

It was a long night. A CT was ordered (and the result was normal). Vomiting continued for some time (even after anti-nausea drugs), but then she turned a corner and was FINE. Completely fine. Praise God!

Things I know now:

- you can hit your head and vomit once, but if you hit your head and vomit twice, doctors take it VERY seriously and you'll need to go to the ER

- kids should ALWAYS wear helmets because- heck!- even *hugs* are apparently dangerous!

Always my baby...

... but now he's NINE!

We had a great birthday party here at the house for him this week with a bunch of his friends. The party was such a great collaboration with my son; I truly enjoyed planning it. About a month out from his birthday, he began making seating charts and party ideas on all sorts of pieces of paper. (He also wrote a pro/con list about a birthday gift request he was making of Mom and Dad!)

The birthday was to be "football themed". His ER visit and busted knee must have left him craving more football (he only got to play 3 games). We sent out football invites, made a football cake, and played a football-themed scavenger hunt in the neighborhood.

I love this age group! Even with 9 boys, everything was super smooth, and not very rowdy. The activities took the perfect amount of time, and I think everyone had fun. Hooray!

More importantly, I am crazy proud of my nine year old son. He is turning out to be mature, respectable, and smart. This past year, I've seen him mellow, too. Some of the attitude and rebellion that seemed to be creeping up, we've been able to address, and crowd out with love and generosity, and selflessness. I really enjoy Grant. I love talking with him, and getting to know how he thinks. And, gosh, I love his smile.

Happy NINTH birthday, Grant!

And, for anyone who's curious, here's the [mostly] football-themed scavenger hunt list I came up with:

- a penny from the year 2000. (Fun fact: The Tennessee Titans made the Super Bowl in 2000, but lost to the Rams) [5 points]

- a birthday candle (Fun Fact: Grant’s birthday is also Flag Day.) [5 points]

- 6 squares of toilet paper (Fun fact: A touchdown is worth 6 points in football.) [5 points]

- the Sports section of a newspaper [5 points]

- a handful of Wheaties cereal, “The Breakfast of Champions” or a handful of ball-shaped cereal [5 points for Wheaties, 3 points for round-shaped]

- a used stamp [5 points]

- eye black marks applied to your entire team (Fun Fact: This was first worn in 1942 by Redskins Andy Farkus) [10 points]

- a spool of thread [5 points]

- a dip recipe written on a napkin (Fun Fact: On Super Bowl Sunday, 15,000 tons of chips are eaten in America.) [5 points]

- a plastic fork [5 points]

- an old sock [5 points]

- a Christmas card [5 points]

- 1 hair bobby pin (Fun Fact: Bobby Pins are used to put hair in a bun; many football player practice ballet to strengthen and train.) [5 points]

- a ticket stub to a sports event [5 points]

- a take-out ketchup packet [5 points]

- a Gatorade bottle, empty or full (Fun Fact: The first coach to get a “gatorade shower” was Bill Parcells in 1985) [5 points empty, 7 points full]

- anything with an NFL team logo on it [5 points]

- a hanger [5 points]

- a “paper football” like the kind usually played on a desk or table [5 points, gain an extra 2 points if you can show everyone how to fold it]

Everything's Fine

I've been super busy and haven't had time to post, or the desire, if I'm being honest. BUT, all is okay with our adoption. I should have clarified that we were never in danger of *losing* Dorothy (some of you inquired), we just had some changes in our process that left us frustrated. At some point, maybe I'll go into it. Maybe I won't. It doesn't really matter- she'll come home at some point and I continue to be reminded that Eric and I have no control over it in ANY WAY. It's out of our hands. But, the courts do re-open soon here from their summer break, so lets keep the happy thoughts coming for guardianship to be granted this month.