But this... This news...

I just can't hide it... I'm so excited! We received some exciting news earlier this week... We have a court date. A court date. A COURT DATE!!! Can you hear me screaming? I have to keep telling myself that this is all really going to happen... It has to happen... Right?

Did you know we were still in the adoption process? Yep, the one we started back in August of 2008.

Chapter 1 (Aug. 2008)
At one point during this adoption process we had plans to bring home a 16 month old boy... With a name... And a story... That story had too many loop holes... And we had to many questions... Nothing added up... End of that story. Leave the Agency- Summer of 2009

Chapter 2 (Aug. 2009)
Begin the wait again and we know the wait is long... But we are with a country we LOVE and we are prepared to wait... Start getting cold feet... Travel to the country to confirm my belief in the agency... All goes well... Start getting cold feet again... Because of conflicting emotions decided it's best to put the adoption on hold... Just waiting for change in their adoption system to protect the children... And maybe someday there will be one. January 2011

Chapter 3 (Jan. 2011)
Research, research, research... In the spring start process again with a new country... Shocked to learn it's a girl... Still shocked... Don't think I'll ever get over the "it's a girl" shock.... Pretty sure she was waiting for us.... To be continued

I haven't really blogged about our current adoption. I really didn't mean to leave you in the dark. As some of you may know my batting average with adoptions is just slightly higher then pregnancy. So not blogging about our current adoption was my coping mechanism for dealing with past disappointments. When things don't go as planned I've felt the need to tell people why. Frankly, I just couldn't. I was dealing with losses that always felt too great to put into words. It has been hard to deal with; the loss of a pregnancy, or an adoption. Heck, even changing countries and start all over again (even if it was on our own terms) felt like just another loss. So I ended up staying incognito on the adoption front. That way I never felt the need to explain much.

To be completely honest I've really only let you, my reader, in on the good stuff. Seems to me that it's just a lot easier to write about the good stuff. I really respect people that can put themselves and their situations out there on the world wide web. People that can be totally honest, and tell all the ups and downs happening in their life. I've learned a lot from people like that... Clearly not one of them. But I'll work on it.

Did I mention we have a court date? And it's a girl? Tell me this is really happening...

Fall Pumpkin and Apple Picking

We headed to the farm to pick pumpkins and apples on perhaps the warmest day of the fall (80 degrees). Cullen informed us today that this is his second favorite activity of the year behind going up north and Quarry Quest (which tied for his favorite activity). The boys seemed to enjoy the day as did the adults. The corn maze was their favorite activity of the day.

Geremu has been really tired the past few days. As I was looking at the pictures from today I realized just how run down and tired he looks too. Looks like we will be back to naps this week to see how that goes:)

Busy

It has been a LONG time... Really too long. I don't even know where to start. I feel like we are finally in a school year groove. Life has been busy and good. I've been coaching cross country which might possibly be the BEST JOB ever. The season is coming to a close very quickly. I also have a new job this school year which has been an amazing learning experience. But by the time I get home after practice I just want to spend time with the kids until they go to bed. Then I usually have work to work on, thus the blog suffering.

A little about my new job, I am now teaching teachers how to integrate technology into their elementary classrooms. So at night I'm often researching different programs (both web based and software), technologies, curriculum (for interactive whiteboards and other programs), apps, etc.

There are somethings I have found/discovered that I would love to share... only I just haven't quite figured it the educational purpose...

If you are interested in "trying-on" over 600 different hair styles this app is for you! Hairstyle Booth HD is usually $2.99 but today it's my favorite price= FREE!

Geremu's 5th Birthday

Geremu's 5th Birthday was on Labor Day! We celebrated with our good friends at Chuck E. Cheese the day before his birthday. On his birthday we spent a little time as a family and just had a low key celebration. Cullen helped me make a treat...

And Geremu wowed us with his charm...

Storm

We had a bad storm this morning with strong winds (I've heard up to 60 mile/hour)...

You wouldn't believe how far siding can fly... I found some of it on the far side of my neighbors front yard. Now we will be putting siding up for a second time this summer- AWESOME!

2011-2012 School Year Line-up...

Cullen had his first offical day of school today. He beat all of his friends to the bus stop because he was just SO EXCITED! The bus stop line-up consists of all boys this year...

Tonight Cullen was jumping on the bed and said, "I can't believe that I'm a first grader. I just love it!"

Geremu met with a few classmates and his teacher today for 45 minutes. He was so excited to go that he tried his backpack on serveral times and asked us how he looked.

Geremu's first official day of school is next Tuesday.

Recent Happenings...

I've been pretty busy lately, I'm currently coaching cross country (which I love) and I took a new job for this school year (which I think I will love when I get in the swing of things).

The kids are currently enjoying their last days of summer. Last week we took another trip to Bay Beach and the Bird Sanctuary...

Cullen created his own mud run... It kept the boys busy for a long time and they seemed to enjoy running laps around the house while spraying each other in the face with the hose. The yard didn't fair so well, we have now replaced grass with mud patches, don't even ask me how.
Nick took the boys out hiking with two of their good friends...

Cullen had his "Meet & Greet" today. When he woke up this morning he told me it was his "Most favorite day of the year!" He got to find out who his teacher(s) are going to be this next school year...

We will miss summer but it will be nice getting back on some sort of schedule.