Braces Update

Andrew and I had orthodontist appointments this week.  We've been going every other Tuesday for awhile now.  Dr. Lay activates our bull loops aka tightens the wire.

These appointments last about ten minutes and most of that includes chit-chat with Dr. Lay.

It all seems very anti-climatic.

But this week...

My gaps are almost completely closed.  It looks like I have one more appointment before I'm ready for a new wire.  Things are moving right along.  I'm about half-way through my braces adventures.

Andrew's gap is closed.  He got what will more than likely be his last wire.  He will probably get his braces off in the next few months.

I'll admit that makes me a little jealous.

It's not so bad doing the braces thing together.

I'm about to be alone on this journey.

But I guess it's not too bad.

Happy Sunday

Life Lately

This past week has been filled with lots of little moments than I want to record for our own memories.  It's been a good week.

We are getting ready to build The Barn which will serve as storage, a shop for Andrew's tools, and his new home office.  To prepare for the construction of this monstrosity we had a few trees removed from our backyard.

The fence on the left is going to be even with one side of The Barn so yesterday we took advantage of the AMAZING weather and moved the fence out.  This will allow the LBs to still enjoy their backyard during construction.

Andrew's mom sings with Arkansas Master Singers.  They had a concert in our town last week which allowed us to hear them perform and spend some time with Andrew's dad.  It was such a blessing to attend their concert.  God has gifted them with some amazing talents.

I received a gift basket I won through a blog giveaway.  It contained a children's book about adoption, a stuffed gorilla, a toy train, some candy, and an Amazon gift card.  I've already bought a few books with that gift card.  Do you have any recommendations for must read books?

Thursday we had our class Valentine's Party at school.  I made my class pancakes for breakfast and then gave them what I think might have been the perfect Valentine for 6th graders.  Though I may have forgotten that my neighbor can hear everything that goes on in my classroom.  Pretty sure I owe her lunch or something.

School dismissed early for Parent/Teacher conferences Thursday.  I dare say that those were some of the best conferences I've had in all of my years of teaching.  My students have come so far this year.  They have improved not only academically but behaviorally.  I even teared up during one conference because I am just so stinkin' proud of my kiddos.  

Thanks to those conferences and President's Day, I'm currently enjoying a 4 day weekend.  We were out on Friday and are out again tomorrow.

A winter storm is supposedly going to show up tonight so I may be enjoying an even longer break.  We shall see.  It's crazy to be preparing for bad weather when it was 70 degrees yesterday.

SSMT Verse #4

God is doing so much more than I could have imagined through the Siesta Scripture Memory Team.  He is allowing me to see things in a different light.  His Word is alive. 

My 4th verse is Colossians 3:23-24.

Happy Sunday

Weaver, Party of ?

A few posts ago I asked you if you had any questions for me about our adoption journey.

It's funny how three of the questions asked are the very questions I've been purposefully avoiding here on the blog.

But here it goes!

What ages are you willing to accept?  Are there any conditions that you are not willing to accept when it comes to adopting?

Adoption is a funny thing in that you have some control over what type of children you bring into your home.  At the beginning of this journey we had to sit down and answer these two questions for ourselves.  There were pages and pages of conditions and behaviors that we had to consider.  It became clear to us very quickly that no matter what child or group of children they match us with, we are going to pray about it.

The easy answer to both of these questions is that we are willing to accept whatever children God has for us.

But that seems like I'm not really answering your questions doesn't it.

Ages?  We are truly wide open on this one.  We feel more drawn to older children because they are harder to find homes for than the little ones.  We also feel like this might be a bit more doable for us since I'm a teacher.  The kids simply ride to school with me.  No worry about day cares.  We will have the same schedule - even days off.

Conditions?  There aren't really in specific conditions that we are currently saying no to, however we have to be realistic.  If a child has some pretty heavy medical needs, we might not be the best family for him or her simply because of where we live.  They probably need to be closer to some amazing doctors.

Again, right now our answer is that we will pray about it and see what God wants us to do.

We believe God will make it very clear who is supposed to become part of our family.

With that being said there is a group that God has placed on our hearts.  

If they have not found their forever home before we are open and ready to adopt, we plan to inquire about them as soon as we are open.

That leads me to the next question...the one that I've been a little fearful to answer here on the blog.

How many children do you want to eventually adopt?

The sibling group that God has placed on our hearts is a large sibling group.  Large enough that you may very well think we are crazy when you hear the number.  It's why I'm a bit fearful.

But God has given both of us peace about seeking adoption of this group.  No matter how crazy it sounds or looks, we believe that God is leading us to pursue these beautiful babies.

So are you sitting down?

Hehe.

We are currently praying about a sibling group of ten.   

Oh it makes my heart explode with happiness when I think about having a big ol' family.

They range in ages from 6 to 16.  There are three sets of twins.

I've always wanted twins.

No matter how many we adopt, right now we feel like this is a one time deal.  We do not see ourselves going through this process a second time.  God might change our hearts on that, but right now our plan is just this one time.

When will we have children in our home?

Good question.  And I wish I knew the answer.  Oh how I wish I knew the answer.  We have officially completed our PRIDE (foster/adoption) training.

 We will attend CPR training later this month.  Other than that we are at a standstill until our background checks come back.

Will you pray with me that those come back quickly?  It's hard to wait when all you want to do is bring your children home and love on them.  I hate that they are still sitting there waiting, not knowing that we want them to be a part of our family.

Once our background checks come back we will go have fingerprints done.  At that point our home study will be ordered.  They are supposed to have 45-60 days to complete our home study.  When it has been completed  we will probably have a three or four week wait before we are declared an open home.

Being an open home means we are ready to be matched with a group of siblings.  

So ideally we hope to have kids sometime this spring.  We would LOVE it if God's plan was for them join our family at the end of the school year, but we know oh so well that God's timing is better than our own.

I'm going to end this post by saying thank you again.  I've heard stories where families adopt with ZERO support from their family and friends.  That is not our story at all.  We are covered with support and we are so thankful.  It means more to us than you could possibly know.

So thank you!

We love you all!

SSMT Verse #3

It's time for our third verse in the SSMT (Siesta Scripture Memory Team) and I love what Beth Moore says about scripture memory in her post today.  You can check it out on her blog.  She just talks about praying through your scripture memory and how it is about so much more than just memorization.

My third verse is John 14:27.