Gardening

I bought some ranunculus flowers last week. They were so pretty and I've never lived in an area where they did well. I put the pots in the backyard and planned to plant them the next day. The next day they were spread all over my backyard. My puppy Howie had a lot of fun. I wanted to cry. I picked up the pieces of my ranunculus and gingerly planted what was left. We went out to run some errands. When I got back, he had dug them up. Planted them again, and put dead rose branches upright next to the poor little limp flowers. He dug them up. They had nothing but a few roots left but I planted them again. He left them alone for a few days and one got brave enough to put out a few shoots. He dug them up.
I ordered a motion sensitive sprinkler online and put it near the flower bed. So far it has soaked me 4 times and the dogs not at all. I've had the sprinkler for a few days so yesterday I had enough courage to buy some more plants. I took all the girls to a nursery close by and we had fun shopping and picking out plants. I got one of those flat wagons that nurseries provide and all the girls rode on it while I loaded plants on. They had fun taking turns being the tour guide. They'd pretend to hold a microphone and say something like, "And over here we have a big green plant that will turn into flowers..." I have no idea where they get this stuff!

Today during nap time, Karianne and I cleaned out the flower bed and planted our flowers. I thought I'd get a picture of them before he digs them up again. Notice the nice sprinkler behind Karianne just waiting for Howie. Hopefully my flowers will still be there tomorrow. But if not, I'll always have the photo.

The Pheonix Zoo

The girls and I went with some friends with our local FCC group to the Phoenix Zoo. I am so glad for a GPS because I would have never been able to find it by myself. I had to get on 5 different highways across Phoenix!
It was a beautiful day, the girls had fun, and we made some new friends.

My kids say "CHEESE" but never look at the camera at the same time.

"Momma, GEE AHFF!"



Amy at the Little People Play area



The girls trying very hard to milk a cow.


Karianne and Amy at the petting zoo. I tried to get a picture of Angie petting a goat. I told her to go pet a certain big goat and she just stared at it. I said, "Go on, pet the goat so I can get a picture of you. She looked at me and said, "mom, it's pee peeing." Sure enough. Angie wasn't interested in petting goats after that.



Riding a camel with our friends.



Yes, that's Lucy climbing in to an Aligator pond while Momma takes a picture. Just kidding, I didn't actually see any Gators...

Girl needs to be adopted by March 9! fees waived!!

URGENT
Extreme Emergency Adoption

Girl from Asia, Blind, Aging Out Agency Fees waived* up to $12,650 financial aid available

Requirements:
Do you already have a dossier and an approved I-600 (not I-800) logged-in - including singles. Are you approved to adopt two children? Are you approved to adopt an older child with special needs? Do you have a cooperative USCIS office? If so, please contact us immediately regarding this girl.
She must be adopted by March 9. This child's adoptive family must have a dossier already logged in with China, with an I-600 approval, in order to complete her adoption before she turns 14.

Description:
YTY. Girl. Despite her small size, she is 13. She has been able to make the most of the opportunities offered in the boarding school for the blind which she attends. She has learned Braille, enjoys studying language and makes good grades. However, a family who can offer her love and attention as well as a full spectrum of resources for the sight impaired, will help her blossom. She has some vision in her left eye; she does not have a right eye and she has a heart issue (involving bicuspid II SM). When she turns 14 she will no longer be able to be adopted domestically or internationally. Agency adoption fees are waived for eligible families* for this adoption. PLEASE ask about possible additional assistance.

Contact:
Please contact a Family Finders Case Manager for more information.
WACAP (www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency. Please email us at FamilyFinders@ wacap.org 1-800-732-1887 or 206-575-4550

Financial Aid:
Waived means there is no fee.
Application Fee $250=WAIVED
Pre-approval fee=$500=WAIVED
WACAP agency Fee Part 1= $3000 =WAIVED
WACAP Intl Proc Fee part 1=$700 =WAIVED
WACAP agency Fee part 2=$1000 WAIVED
WACAP Int'l processing fee Part 2=$700 WAIVED
WACAP Intl processing fee Part 3=$1500=WAIVED
Required Donation =approx $5000 = Please inquire about financial aid for this donation

Families will be responsible for:
Homestudy fee- $1550-$1850
Dossier processing Fee $500
Document expenses-$400- $700
Transmittal fee=$100
Country Fee=$630
Immigration fee-$830
Visa=$400
Legal expenses $1100
Post placement -$600
Finalization $500-$1500
Travel= $3350 per person approximately
Please ask about additional private grants and loans for adoption.

Boy ageing out. He's been studying English in hopes of being adopted!

Holt has a boy on their website that will age out on March 27th. He is
healthy, has been in care since 06 because his parents died and his
uncle could no longer care for him. He is described as kind hearted,
outgoing, adaptable, and gets along well with others. He's a nice
looking boy too. My favorite part of his description though is that he
is so eager to be adopted, it says he has been researching international
adoption and studying English to prepare for his transition. I have
never seen anything like this posted in any description of a waiting
child. Unfortunately it looks like his dream is not coming true.

If you can move fast and are interested in an older healthy boy, he
really does look great. The website is holtintl.org, no password
needed. Click on waiting children in East Asia. His photo is #B09-80.

Somebody adopt this little cutie!

Isn't she sweet? This little girl is looking for her mommy and daddy, are you out there? She is in an orphanage in Korea and she is a year and a half.
She has Spina Bifida and it seems to be very manageable. She can walk with assistance and her bowel control seems to come and go. How they can tell at that age, I have no idea.

She likes to be cuddled, and is reported to have a sweet personality .

There is assistance available for her adoption.

Please adopt her or I will have to!

You can see more info on her on Rainbow Kids at:
http://www.rainbowkids.com/ChildInfo1.aspx?id=5728

you will have to sign in and create a password to see the page.

the Princesses and pink pancakes

I set the table and Brent made pink heart shaped pancakes for the girls for dinner tonight. We went big and put whipped cream, chocolate chips and cherries on their pancakes. They ate them up and wanted to know what was for dessert.

"I'm almost like an expert of everything"
--Karianne

Happy Chinese New Year

Today we got to attend our first event with Families with Children from China- Arizona. We went to the Chinese New Year celebration. We usually go to a CNY dinner every year, this is the first year we got to go to a CNY Picnic at this time of year! This is a great group and they really go all out for Chinese New Year. They did a great job. The girls got face painting, balloon animals, and made tshirts. They tried the rock wall, jumped in bouncers and played a lot of yard games. There were two inflatables and the smaller one was for 2 and under. Lucy had no interest in the "baby" one and tried over and over to get in the big kid bouncer.



There was a Province Parade, where kids came up as their Province was called. We told Amy there are not a lot of kids adopted from here province so she may be the only one, sure enough she was. Angie as usual, had several little friends from her province.




There were several dance performances, a kung fu demonstration and our favorite, the lion dance. I love the Chinese drums and All the girls got to give them a try. Angie was so serious trying to get the rhythm just right.



We met new friends and look forward to a great new year.

Hiking in our backyard

You know how they used to say that Ginger Rodgers was a better dancer than Fred Astaire because she could do everything he did backwards and with high heels? I kinda always feel that way when we go out to do things that eveyone else does with a baby on my hip and preschoolers in tow. I remember when Karianne and Angie were 3 years old we went hiking in a cave. It was a mile straight down. Brent carried Karianne and I carried Angie. Did I mention I was 5 months pregnant with Lucy too? People have no idea what a workout is unless they've tried it holding a baby.



Anyway, we went hiking today on on of the mountain just a few minutes away from us. It didn't look as steep as some of the other trails around so we brought all the kids. I still haven't gotten a good picture of our view out here, but it is just gorgeous. We are in a valley with mountains 360 degrees all around us. We got on the trails and did pretty good. We got a lot of stares from the serious joggers and walkers as we toted our kids up and over the trails. We only had one scrapped up knee and Lucy and Amy gave up about halfway through. I took Lucy and Amy back to the car and we drove around the mountain and waited for the rest of the hikers to come off the trail.

Update on Orphan Alert

The Boy I posted about a few days ago, J.D. has a family. Praise God!

Hudson Taylor is one of my heroes. He was a giant of faith serving out his life as a missionary to the Chinese in the 1800s. A friend shared this quote on Facebook and it is so good I just had to share:

“It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home.” (Hudson Taylor)

Happy Birthday to me

I had a fun birthday yesterday. A sweet new friend brought me a cake and was merciful enough to get the number candles instead of individual candles although Lucy would have loved to help me blow out all those candles. She kept trying to blow out my candles but she had her binky in her mouth so I got to do the honors.

Orphan Alert! This boy is so loved by God

Oh how I wish I could adopt this boy. Could you please help find him a family? Read his story:

JD came to the orphanage in four years ago when he was 9 years old, crawling on his \knees because his feet were deformed. Up to that point, he had survived by dragging himself along the side of the road selling newspapers and hiding his earnings in the bushes. At the orphanage, JD's feet were amputated and he was fitted with prosthetics. Today, he proudly stands and walks quite normally. But a profound piece of his life is still missing.



When we met with him, JD was so nervous he was shaking. His caretakers told us he'd had blinding headaches for days because he was so worried about meeting us. When I asked him why he was nervous, he said simply: "Because you're my last chance for a family."

JD is a 13-year old boy with a very sad history, whose time is running out. If he's not adopted before he is 14 he will be ineligible for international adoption, and never have the family he so desperately wants. He can't remember ever living with a family but does remember years of living on his own on the streets. He remembers surviving by crawling along the road selling newspapers and hiding his earnings in the bushes.

His hands appear somewhat different but he can do everything he needs to with them. He is able to write, feed himself and take care of his bodily needs.

Because he began school so late and has been hospitalized for surgeries, he attends classes in the orphanage where he is said to be good learner who works very hard at his studies. As he left, he looked at us pleadingly saying, "I wish I could have a family." We want his wishes to come true his id is JD.1096.16763.01 and we will be happy to share his information with you.

There is a $4000 Promise Child grant for eligible families for this adoption and a possible additional fee reduction. Please contact us at FamilyFinders@wacap.org or 206-575-4550 WACAP(www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency.

Please spread the word and help these precious children!!