21 years :o)

Tomorrow is our 21st wedding anniversary, but we celebrated early by going to see Jim Gaffigan in Rapid City, SD, with my sister and her husband. This is something we wouldn't have splurged on if we'd know about the adoption at the time we bought the tickets (before Christmas), but it sure was wonderful to get away! We left yesterday morning and spent some time eating and shopping (ok, well, a LOT of time eating!) before the performance. (Concert? What do you call a comedian's performance, anyway?) We had yummy tofu pad thai and tofu curry for lunch, and for dinner we had some awesome vegan pizza on whole wheat crust at Beau Jo's. So we were stuffed and practically sick when we got to the concert/performance/whatever it's called, and then we laughed so hard our faces and stomachs ached. Jim Gaffigan did mostly new material, with a little "hot pocket" as an encore at the end. He was hilarious, as always, and even the guy that opened for him was funny.

This morning we got up early and headed back home because Curtis had to be at work at 1:00 We ended up adding 40 minutes to our trip because we missed a turn-off and had to double back. Thankfully my mom was able to go pick Beck up from kindergarten for us and keep him until we got home. We arrived to a relatively clean house with the laundry nearly done, and that was awesome. :o) Joshua stayed with the kids yesterday and last night and got everyone to school this morning, and Zoe shuttled kids to activities and concerts and did laundry. They did a great job. Joshua is back at the dorms now, recovering from his night of parent duty, I'm sure. ;o)

Happy birthday, Maizie!

Maizie's birthday is technically tomorrow, but we celebrated it today so everyone could be here. It's so hard to believe that she is now in double digits! Sometimes it seems like such a long time ago that we were standing in a hotel lobby in Nanchang and waiting to meet her for the first time, and other times it seems like it was yesterday. Today it feels like it was yesterday.

Here's my big girl, then and now. :o)

Maizie has been saving for an iPod Touch forEVER, so we used her savings, chipped in our standard birthday budget amount, and bought her a used one. She couldn't have been more thrilled. :o) She's excited to work on her Mandarin with some of the new apps that are available, and is already learning the ins and outs of texting from it.

Here are some more pictures from her special day.

$2500 so far!

We are THRILLED with how successful our homeschool materials fundraiser is turning out to be! We've sold about 75% of our stuff, and have made at least $2500. What doesn't sell right away will go to eBay next, so I hope the money will continue to trickle in. We're so grateful to those of you who have participated. Many of you sent a few extra dollars with your purchases, and we were so touched by your kindness. We're also thankful to those who took the time to post the information on forums or Facebook walls. We have been getting emails from all over the place, so I know there is some serious networking going on. :o)

Thank you again from our whole family!

Weekly menu

Here's our oh-so-exciting menu for the week! Since our Bountiful Baskets today were chock full of all manner of lettuce and cabbage, they're playing a big role this week (soup, Chinese salad, taco salad). We ended up with a boatload of potatoes too, so they're showing up in the soup and a potato bar later in the week. We'll also be trying canary melon for the first time ever. I hope I like it. I'm not a big melon fan.

In addition to our baskets, we got a Mexican pack add-on which I used to make salsa verde (blazing hot salsa verde, I might add), plus sourdough bread, and the hugest, most amazing tortillas like they serve at Q'Doba. I can't wait to eat them tomorrow!

The kids will be having pancakes for dinner this Tuesday since Curtis and I will be going to see Jim Gaffigan for our 21st anniversary. My sister and her husband are going, too. We're so excited!

Our homeschooling fundraiser is ready to go!

If you are a homeschooler, please take a look at our fundraising blog and see if there's anything you might need. Please also help spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested. Thank you!!

Homeschool materials fundraising blog

Oh happy day!

We found out today that we are getting a $1000 adoption grant from our local Down syndrome organization! We are so excited and so grateful! We still have a long way to go, but every little bit helps. :o) It's going straight into our Reece's Rainbow account to help with our travel expenses.

I also got a call from the Colorado Secretary of State's office to verify the type of authentication needed for our one Colorado document. It will be on its way in the next day or two. That means only our home state documents are left to authenticate.

I'm also very nearly ready for our homeschooling materials fundraiser to go live. Just 20 or so more things to list. For those who've been waiting, thanks for your patience. This was a far bigger undertaking than I ever imagined it would be!

Are you missing a daughter?

This little girl is 12 years old and is still waiting for a family. She lives in China with her foster family, and has a repaired cleft palate. She is also a Thalassemia carrier (which only means that she'll need to have genetic counseling with her fiancé when she is older to be sure he is not also a carrier.)

She has foster siblings who've already been adopted in the US, and she is still in contact with them. She wants very much to have a family of her own, and her foster family is hopeful that she will also be adopted soon. Because of her age, she does not have much time left.

Currently she is listed as "Gemma" at Lifeline (scroll down).

With her foster mom

Please, please, think about who you know who might be interested. Examine your hearts to see if you might be her family. If you're not, please spread the word about Miss Gemma. She deserves a family of her own. :o)

I have Gemma's file and lots more information about her. I am a speech pathologist and my husband is an audiologist, so we can help you understand what to expect about her speech and hearing issues and answer your questions. Please leave a comment if you'd like me to email you her file, and again, please spread the word!!!