Summer Blast-Off

Wow- the Summer Blast Off was a huge success even though it did rain off and on. We had tons of preschool families mingling with our church family and it seemed like everyone had a great time! The kids LOVED the new playground to say the least! It's going to be a popular place for years to come! God continues to bless Bright Beginnings at SHCC and I am truly so grateful!
I think I did okay talking on the radio, but I guess I will never know for sure! A few too many "ums" I am certain, but I think I answered the questions and got the right information out there!

I didn't mention this last time (I don't think)... but my heart is still breaking for the Steven Curtis Chapman family. Their youngest daughter was killed in a tragic accident in their driveway. I love SCC's music and his passion for the Lord. But my real connection to him is China adoption. Little Maria was one of three precious daughters from China. This kind of tragedy is sad, but I think as an adoptive parent, you just feel like it is even more heartbreaking. My prayer is that the family will continue to seek comfort from God, who is the only one who can ease the pain caused by something so terrible. I cry every time I hear the Cinderella song that SCC sings. I will be hugging both of my girls much closer every night. This is a reminder that bad things happen to the best people and life can be taken away in a matter of seconds. Thank God that Maria Sue Chapman got to spend her short life being loved and cared for by such a wonderful Christian family. I am sure this little angel is dancing with Jesus now.

I think it is my last day of babysitting today. Lindsey didn't show up this morning. I am assuming that Nick is being born today and that they just forgot to call me. So, our last day together and she didn't even come! But Justin and Madison are here and I have been a bit sad all day. Justin is such a sweet boy and he and Reagan love eachother so much! He has always been a perfect child for me and I can't imagine how hard it will be to say good-bye later this afternoon. I am still praying that his mommy and daddy will bring him to Bright Beginnings, but as of now, it's not the plan. I hope we keep in touch, they are a special family. If my other babysitting families are any indication, though, we won't. Sadly, once I am done, it seems people move on. Maybe they don't realize how close I become to their children and what a bond we all have. I guess this is the one downside to the preschool. My old life at home babysitting is over- I am happy, but today it is bittersweet. (Ask me tomorrow when I get to sleep in and have the whole day with just my family!!!!!!)

I am getting things ready for our trip to Wisconsin. It's always so much fun to pack!

Praying for cheaper gas and well-behaved kids in the car!

OOPS! I missed a week!

Well, things are just too busy around here! I missed my thankful Thursday last week, but that doesn't mean I am not thankful for anything, because I sure am! So, here's the list for the last 2 weeks!

1. Girls Night Out- last Friday was a super fun time with the girls, going shopping at the lake and eating at Dominico's. I laugh so much with these friends that I almost pee my pants! It is so refreshing to be able to be yourself and talk and laugh! Knowing these woman are all Christians, too, is so nice. They pray for you when you are down and celebrate with you when good things happen! GNO keep me sane! I LOVE it! Thanks to Stacy, Erin, Jill, and Tonia for being such great friends! I am so thankful to have you in my life.

2. Thankful that Erin didn't get a ticket even though we got pulled over on our way home from GNO! I could go into the details of the creepy cop, but there's no need...

3. Christian teachers- we got to visit Maplecrest (where Ryleigh will go for 2nd and 3rd grade) and it was quite a shock. It is an old building with the same smell as my elementary schools! But there are some great teachers with Christian morals and values, so I think we will be okay! I am way more nervous than Ryleigh is!

4. Summer is almost here! I will be done babysitting in the next week. What a relief! I am thankful for the chance I have had to care for Justin and Lindsey, but it is getting really hard to entertain them and work at preschool. Things will be much simpler around here when I am not waiting on kids to get here or kids to get picked up or kids to nap, etc. etc. etc. I have never had time with just my girls and I am so looking forward to this summer!

Well, that's a short list, but I do have a million things to do today! Our Summer Blast-Off/Ribbon Cutting for the playground is Saturday and for some reason I am doing most of the work for it. I don't mind, but as soon as I found out the radio was coming to broadcast live, I knew I had to really do a good job getting ready! I am praying the weather cooperates and that we have enough food for everyone!

In one week I will be leaving with my kids to go to Wisconsin for a few days. We are going with my mom, sister, sister-in-law, 3 nieces, and one nephew (poor Ben!) to visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. I am so excited to get away and see everyone! We get to meet my cousin Travis' fiancee, Katie. She is beautiful in the pictures we have seen and we look forward to getting to know her! Pray for safety on this trip and that we can afford the gas there and back. It's ridiculous, isn't it?

Have a great Thursday!

Another Thankful Thursday

Well, the week has flown by and it's time again to focus on what I am thankful for! Very appropriate for me to do today since it's raining and cold and I am grouchy!

1. Praise and Worship music- I haven't always listened to Christian radio, but recently I decided that I can't listen to "regular" radio because it is not appropriate for my kids (a lot of it anyway). Now I absolutely LOVE listening to Christian music! My favorite song now is Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) and I got the CD for Mother's Day!

2. Lenita- the secretary at church. She has been one of my biggest supporters and helpers with the preschool. She is such an awesome person and I love working with her. She has been there through the hard times and pulled me through with her honesty, compassion, and knowledge. I love her!

3. The Wednesday night KID-MO group at church that I have worked with for 3 years. They did a Bike-A-Thon last night and raised around $900 for Bright Beginnings at SHCC!!!!! My children are blessed to have this group of kids to call their friends! They are a blessing to me, as well.

4. Safety from natural disasters. There is so much going on in the world with earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, etc. and I am so lucky to be safe and sound with my family. My prayers go out to the people suffering now, especially the children of China because they hold a special place in my heart, for obvious reasons!

5. Ryleigh learning to ride a bike! Tim and I thought this day would never, ever come! But, a few of the other parents and grandparents at church helped her last night and she finally did it! I was so proud of her. She even wrecked a few times and got up and rode again (after a few tears and bandaids!).

6. All of the friends and colleagues that have been so supportive of Tim during this time of uncertainty with his job. So many people have called and emailed and talked to both of us about how appalled they are about how he is being treated and how wonderful he is as a teacher and leader in the school. These kinds of sincere comments are what is making this nightmare tollerable. He still has not heard and answer and none of the science openings have been filled as of this week's school board meeting. Kind of late in the game to be finding good teachers, but what do I know?

7. Spring weather- hoping the forecast is correct and we will be feeling the 80's this weekend!! I love spring!

8. The motivation to get up and exercise in the morning. I still have it and am enjoying the feeling of doing something good for myself first thing of the day. I am too chicken to weigh to see if I have lost anymore, even though I can tell I have. I think I will just weigh once a month or so for now. I do not want to be discouraged because that has happened before and it's the beginning of the end if I feel like it is not worth it because of the number on the scale. I am sure most people don't understand my struggle, but I am slowly coming to terms with it and trying to prevent those negative things!

9. The tv show Criminal Minds- one of my favorite weekly events is watching this with Tim after church on Wednesday nights. We both love it and it's a great feeling to snuggle and watch a show that is so different and new every week. There's no stupid twists or corny story lines. I love all the characters and truly enjoy each episode, even though it is a bit graphic sometimes. In my opinion it blows all the CSI shows out of the water.

10. Reagan's expanding vocabulary. All of a sudden she is saying the most grown up things and expressing herself so well! She has been so funny lately and can come up with the most hilarious come-backs! She is becoming a real thinker, too and can try to reason her way out of all her mischief! How lucky am I to be her mom????

Have a great weekend! Only 10 days of school left! HOORAY!

Thankful Thursday

Okay, I know a few people who do this kind of post every Thursday and decided that it is a really great idea to focus on what I am thankful for! So here goes...

I am thankful for...
1. My Lord and Savior, for loving and forgiving me, even when I don't deserve it.
2. Losing 12 pounds, so far!!!
3. Other people's blogs that entertain me and help me see things from other points of view.
4. My husband, who works so hard for our family.
5. Ryleigh, who keeps my mind functioning with all her questions (that are getting tougher!).
6. Reagan, who is so happy and full of energy.
7. Reese's birth parents, who may have already made the decision to bring her into this world.
8. The feeling of clean sheets-I am washing them and love the feel of climbing into a clean bed!
9. My mom, who made me the person I am today!
10. My church family, who is full of people who have made a lifelong impact on my life as a mom, wife, friend, and Christian.


It feels good to focus on positive things for a change!

We had a great weekend in Kansas City. It was emotional for me to watch my uncle remarry (my aunt died 2 years ago), but I know that he is happy and that life must go on. I think it just makes it so final that Nancy is gone. I am glad we went to show Alan our love and support. The girls were so incredibly well-behaved, too! They were the only kids there and the reception was fancy and looooooong, but they both acted so sweet and nice! I was very proud of them both! They had a blast swimming in the hotel pool! Reagan is such a natural in the water and Ryleigh is completely over being scared. It was fun to have the whole pool to ourselves Sunday morning to just play and relax. It was good to get away from the whole school mess with Tim (still nothing has been decided, I guess it takes awhile to figure out exactly where to place the knife in someone's back). We visited a place called Deanna Rose Farmstead on Saturday. It was a lot like Grant's Farm and equally fun! The girls liked seeing all the animals and it was a beautiful day to walk around the gardens. Reagan was a little grouchy because she was tired, but she still enjoyed it! My nieces and nephew were all there, too, so it was fun to be together!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! To me, there is nothing better than being a mom!

Frustrations on the Homefront

Okay, so the situation keeps getting worse and my husband is applying to other school districts. This is so stressful and frustrating, and in my opinion so completely unnecessary. He deserves the science department head job and he is more than qualified and he has a resume full of all the wonderful things he has done for this school and community. Apparently it doesn't count for anything. I suppose this is why we stay out of politics and the corporate world because we have more integrity and honesty and goodness in us than those kinds of people. How do people sleep at night when they spend their days screwing people around, excuse my language?!?!?

I am left wondering how a move to another district will affect our family. I trust Tim to make the right decision and trust that God has a plan. We must love the ones we could easily hate because of their actions and words ( our sermon just happened to be on this topic yesterday!). We have to be the shining light that doesn't let the worldly problems weigh us down. Stay focused on Him and remember your rewards in heaven far outweigh anything we can imagine here on earth.

Moving on... we shopped on Saturday for new clothes for both the girls- it was fun, fun, fun!!! They both did great trying stuff on and we got lots of good deals at Target, Marshalls, and The Children's Place. I am looking forward to all the fun things we have going on in the next few months, and now they have cute clothes to wear! And a few matching ones, of course!!!!

I love our new treadmill! I have been running and although I am super out of shape, I am proud that I have started back up again and am taking one day at a time to improve my health and my looks. I bought a book the has stories, tips, and information about The Biggest Loser. I read quite a bit of it this weekend and really enjoyed it. It's so much easier to swallow advice from someone who has been as fat as me and who struggled for years with it, than from some skinny-minny who couldn't gain weight if they tried!!! The most important thing to me is to be a good example to my girls so they can feel good about themselves and never feel held back by their weight.

We had our Moms in Touch Thanksgiving ceremony yesterday at church. All the groups got together to pray and talk about all the ways God has answered prayers this year. What an awesome feeling it is to be surrounded by such beautiful people who know the power of prayer and importance of praying for their children and schools. I found out that my friend, Janice, started praying for her younger son, Ryan when he was in 4th grade and in my class! How cool is that- she was praying for me and I didn't even know it!!! It must be why that was my favorite year of teaching! Ryan is getting married this summer and is such a great young man! I love the whole Shoemaker family so much! I am so proud to be a part of the SHCC family! Janice is now praying for her granddaughter, Addie, who will be in the very first 2 year old class at Bright Beginnings at SHCC!

Please be in prayer that the hearts of our administrators can be softened and that they can see how much Tim could bring to the position of department head. Thanks!

Life Lessons

I am taking a school situation that Tim is dealing with right now to gain some perspective about the kind of director I want to be for Bright Beginnings at SHCC. Tim has applied for the Science Department Head position and is by far the most qualified person for the job out of the teachers who remain in the district (and not just because he is my hubby!). There is a large turnover in staff this year, for various reasons, and it seems like it would be so important for the whole department to come together and choose the next leader. This is not the case. The really upsetting thing is that people have lied and manipulated things to deceive him and what they are trying to do is lure someone from another district by promising him all this extra money for all this extra things. It's so sad to me, as well as infuriating, the politics that is involved in schools. I hate politics on all levels, and this is why. I will never be the prettiest, skinniest, richest, or most popular, but I do know at the end of the day, I serve an awesome God who is the only One I will have to answer to. When people compromise their integrity to please the world, they are not putting Christ at the center of their lives. I really wish I could use names and more details, but I don't want this to come back and bite me in the "B.C. alert" later. For now I will vent and learn a huge lesson... I will do everything for Christ, who strengthens me.

I am so proud of Tim for being the best daddy and husband anyone could ask for. He takes care of us as the head of our household and he never acts selfishly. He puts us at the top of his priority list and works so hard so I can pursue my dreams with the preschool. He is so supportive of me and the girls. We will make it through this obstacle together because we lean on eachother in good times and bad. I LOVE HIM!

Okay, enough venting... we had beautiful weather yesterday and we (mainly me) got the garage cleaned out. We have so much junk, it's ridiculous! I did my best to organize all the stuff and left it at that! We also purchased a treadmill on Saturday, as soon as we got our tax return! I am very excited. Ryleigh and I have both worked out on it and I hope we can keep it up. Anyone who knows me knows how much I have struggled with being the "f" word (the 3 letter one, not the REALLY bad "f"word). I have been in denial for quite some time that eventually I would get back in shape, but I think I have put it off long enough. It's embarrassing to talk about it because I know most people do not understand. We watched most of this season of The Biggest Loser and I learned quite a bit and felt so inspired by the contestants. I am going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes. I don't want to set unrealistic goals for myself or get discouraged if I screw up, which I will. So, I will do the best I can to walk/run each day.

Funny thing Reagan said... She likes to cheer for me when I play cards with Ryleigh. We play a game called Spit and it is super fast paced. So she chants, "Go, mommy, go, mommy...." The other night Tim and I were looking at some emails on the computer and we had one from Go Daddy about the preschool website. Tim said something about Go Daddy and Reagan chimed in, No! It's go mommy!" It was so funny! I hope she always thinks so highly of me (yeah, right)!

I had a Girls Night Out Friday night! I can't remember ever needing one more than I did last week! We ate dinner at Applebees and then talked and laughed and talked and laughed and talked and laughed some more! I love my girlfriends! We stayed out until after 12:30! That is super late for a bunch of mommies! What a blessing to have them in my life! No matter how old I get, I know the importance of good friends! I am so glad God created us to be in relationship with others and gave us each a sense of humor. Tim and the girls rented Alvin and the Chipmunks and had a great time together. They all told me about the raisin part and Reagan was laughing so hard about it! We watched part of it again last night, but I fell asleep- Friday night caught up with me! I love picturing the three of them snuggling and eating popcorn and watching a movie. It's good for all of us to have GNO once in awhile. Of course, Ryleigh said "Good, I can go, too, because I'm a girl" I changed it to Mom's night out to stop her!

I also had a meeting at church this weekend about a bunch of preschool stuff. It went great! I feel so good about the things that are going on and the tremendous amount of support I have from the elders is amazing! I was put in charge of the inspection report action items and even got labeled the Project Manager! I almost laughed out loud thinking about The Apprentice- look out Oma Rosa!!!! God continues to bless me and this ministry! I hope I can continue to do things to the glory of God and make my church family proud. We got a lot of the financial side of things figured out, which is a huge relief for me, since I stink at finances!!!

Hope your day is sunny and bright, like it is here!

A Little Bit Cheerier

Wow, I felt so gripey in the last few posts! I am feeling a little bit cheerier now! I look around at all the blessings I have been given lately and I am so amazed! I absolutely love going to my office and working on preschool business. The kids are so well-behaved and I am getting quite a bit accomplished! Despite a few oppositions within our church, people are so supportive and so incredibly giving! Things are falling into place beautifully! Our playground equipment was delivered this morning! AWESOME! There was a crew of guys there to unload it all from a semi!!!!! I didn't realize it would take that large of a vehicle! My heart was singing praises for this giant gift! The kids will love it, not just for the preschool but for MOPS and our church kids, too! I am praying that a lot of people will show up for the work days to assemble it! I know it will be quite a job. The kids didn't quite understan why they didn't just put it all up today. We will have a ribbon cutting on the 31st of May- if you are in our area you should come by for a super fun time!

The girls are just as goofy as ever! I have been filling up our summer calendar and I am so excited about all the fun stuff Ryleigh gets to do- church camp, Drama camp, basketball camp, swimming lessons! Reagan will do swimming lessons, too, and then the 2 of us will have some alone time while Ryleigh is busy with her stuff and Tim teaches summer school. I will miss Lindsey and Justin, but it will be so nice to have that time with Reagan, like I did with Ryleigh. I want to treasure every minute with her (especially since she will soon be a MIDDLE child- yikes!). I say soon, but that's a bit of an exaggeration, it will still be years!

We are planning to visit my grandparents twice this summer. In June I will go with my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and all the kids! I hope they are ready for this rowdy bunch! Then in July, Tim and I will take the girls for a little bit quieter vacation! I am glad we will have the chance to do this! My grandma and grandad are such special people, we will be celebrating grandma's 89th birthday and grandad's 90th! I hope Tim and I can be just like them! We will also get to see my aunt, uncle, and hopefully my cousins! It's a long trip, but totally worth it! I am so thankful that Tim enjoys going as much as I do- I am blessed by a wonderful husband!

Not much else going on around here!

Give it to God

The lessons I am learning throughout the whole opening a new preschool process are priceless! I am learning to turn it all over to God. In the last couple of days I have had some bumps in the road, but realize quickly that praying about it and then letting go is the best way to handle things out of my control! When I was teaching 4th grade, I was trained in a program called "Second Step" and it was all about teaching kids to handle their emotions. One of the biggest things I tried to get across to them was that it's okay to be angry, hurt, mad, etc. But how you deal with it is important. There are ways to make good choices when you are having those emotions. So, I am choosing today, right now, to give my hurt feelings over to God and be over it! I am finding that it is hard for me to not take it personally when people I assume will enroll their children in Bright Beginnings at SHCC do not. Most of the time I see there is a reason that is not a reflection on how they feel about me or my beliefs or the program we are starting. But there are a few cases where I do not understand and I feel like it is a slap in my face. Enough said...

We are having a steady stream of enrollment and that is great news! I love talking to new families and hearing their enthusiasm for our program! I am going to be on a panel Thursday night at a Parents As Teachers meeting about all the local preschool programs. I am excited to spread the word and hopefully increase our enrollment!

I voted today. The only thing on our ballet was school board. I honestly don't know that much about all the individuals that were running, but I do know that I don't believe wanting to be on the school board to fire the football coach is not my idea of a good reason. I hope and pray that there is enough of a Christian influence on the new board that things can get better in the schools. I am so worried about what things will be like when my kids are in high school. It's time to put God back in school and counsel students with Christian morals and values.

Wow, am I getting controversial or what??? It's why I didn't fare very well in the whole "sucking up" game when I was teaching. I believe what I believe and I don't want to change that to fit someone elses way of thinking. And I refuse to try to weasel my way into the "good ole boy" network in this town! That's me, take it or leave it.

Okay, here's the scoop on Reagan. The child is obsessed with "boobies". She wants to talk about mine, hers, and everyone elses constantly. We ate at the Chinese place (Great Wall) Sunday after church and Ming gave her a Miss Piggie doll. Her comment after she said thanks was "she has big ole boobies". How embarrassing (but true!)! I have tried to tell her we don't say that word because it doesn't sound nice, but she thinks it is so funny! And of course everyone laughs at her!

Ryleigh got her gradecard for the 3rd quarter. She is doing so well, I am so proud of her! She is one smart kid! She did get a check mark (needs improvement) for her handwriting. She doesn't want to take the time to do neat work and I am always hounding her about it! Maybe now she will take it more seriously! Her grades and behavior couldn't be better, though! I can't believe only one more quarter and she will be in 2nd grade.

That's all for now!

With God All Things are Possible

When I think about my life, I can clearly look back and see how God has had His plan for me laid out long before I realized it! I encourage you to focus for just a moment on the blessings in your life. Think about how things just seem to work out, ALWAYS! We may have to go through pain and suffering, but in the end is a blessing that is directly from God. Sometimes it is really difficult for me to be happy for people who are pregnant. That is the brutal truth. I am jealous, I want it to be me. I don't understand working moms sometimes. That is the honest truth. I try to bargain with God and say if you will just give me a baby while I wait for Reese, I will be more patient more kind, blah, blah, blah. I remind God all the time that Tim and I sacrifice for our family so that I can be a full time mommy, blah, blah, blah. It doesn't seem fair sometimes. It makes me mad that people get pregnant everyday without even trying, without even wanting to be, without even caring. Some days I feel like I can't get over it. Like I will always have a whole in my heart for another baby. Is it because the wait is so long for Reese? I could not be more ready, more excited, or more anxious to go to China and get my precious Reese. The wait wears on you, even when you are not thinking about it. Nobody wants to talk about it because it is so far off, it's like a taboo subject 99% of the time.

But through all this confusion in my head, I do have faith that with God all things are possible. He is in control and He knows best. It is possible for me to get over my jealousy and anger. It is possible for me to be a mother of 4. I just have to give it to Him. Some things are too big to handle on your own and He is there, ALWAYS! I should not question, I should not doubt, but I do because I am human and not perfect. I am thankful for forgiveness and love that I do not deserve.

I don't know why that makes me feel better to type all that out and get it out of my head! The Bright Beginnings at SHCC Open House was great! We have 21 kids officially enrolled for the fall! WOW! What a blessing! I am so proud of this preschool. I am proud of my teachers and of myself for working so hard to get ready! Things are looking so awesome! I can't imagine why anyone would consider any other option for their child! Yes, I am bragging! We offer the whole package as far as education is concerned and I know that the families who have put their faith in us will not be disappointed!

Okay, family update... Ryleigh cut 10 inches of her hair and donated it to Locks of Love. She looks so incredibly cute with short hair! She has a whole new (and improved) attitude that came along with her new hairdo! Maybe because we don't have to brush out tangles twice a day! I am so proud of her! She is growing up so fast!

Reagan got her hair cut, too. She looks so much older! She is loving being independent these days, with everything! I try to give her plenty of freedom in things that don't matter to keep her smiling! Gotta love kids with a mind of their own!

We had terrible weather yesterday. Ryleigh's school had damage at the bus transfer station- a bus was even blown over. Our yard looks like a tornado hit, but they say it was just straight winds during a severe thunderstorm warning. Our trampoline may be a goner- it is folded up like a taco. Our little swing set was turned over and the girls' play house lost its roof. There are even more limbs to clean up now, too. I am so thankful that nobody was hurt and the things that were damaged are no big deal.

That's about it for now!

Bright Beginnings at SHCC

My life is consumed with preschool stuff, but it is so exciting! Our Open House is in 17 days and there are still a million things left to do! I wish I had time to be a faithful blogger, because I love keeping up with friends and family and even strangers through blogs, but sometimes something's gotta give- and well, obviously, I let go of trying to keep up with this blog. But, I had a comment on my last entry and I thought it would be a good time to post again!

Like I said, I am eating, breathing, and sleeping Bright Beginnings! I am so proud of the work that has been accomplished and the friends who will now be co-workers! God has blessed us so much already! Check out our website www.brightbeginningsatshcc.com for the whole scoop! Tim did a great job on it! He has been my number 1 helper and supporter and I am loving him in new ways all the time! My girls have been such troopers, too! We spend every weekend working on the rooms and my office and they have done very well entertaining themselves and each other. I have lost my patience in more ways than one, but all in all things are fantastic! I am so blessed with awesome kids and the best husband ever!

This weekend marked the one year anniversary of our log in date. It has gone by pretty quickly. I guess when you know it's going to be such a long wait, there is no sense even worrying about a referral or planning when it might be coming. "Someday" is now my answer!

My surgery concluded that there is nothing wrong with me. Which again, was good news/bad news. Dr. Lehnert referred me to another dr. who is a fertility specialist. Not sure if we are going to call or not. Still thinking through what's best and praying for guidance as to what God's plan for us is. We would appreciate in prayers that can be lifted up about this situation. Thanks!

Ryleigh got glasses! She looks so grown-up and so smart! She LOVES them and couldn't have been happier to get them! They have made a huge difference in her mood. We have had so many snow days this winter, she has kind of had a hard time again wanting to go to school and she is really looking forward to Spring Break next week. We don't have any plans, except work on the preschool, but at least we can all sleep in!

Reagan had her big 3 year old birthday! We had a fun Snow White party and she really enjoyed it! Three is such a great age for parties! She has changed so much in the last couple of months, in good ways and bad ways! She is very fond of coloring on things that are not paper- like her clothes, her skin, furniture, books... It's very irritating. Ryleigh never would have dreamed of doing that!!!! She is also getting quite the sense of humor and is so funny, especially at the dinner table. We are constantly cracking up at her! She is learning to speak a little bit of Chinese from the show Ni Hao, Kai Lan. She loves it and is going great picking up the correct way of saying things. Ming at our favorite Chinese restaurant is very impressed with her!

So, that's it in a nutshell!

Thanks, Stacy!

Okay, I say this in every single post, but... It has been forever since I posted! I am terrible. I spend too much time lurking on other people's blogs to keep up with my own. But now, my great friend Stacy, put a link to this site on her amazing blog, so I better get with the program!

So much is going on in our lives and for a while I hesitated to post a lot of our "business" but now I feel like we are in a place that it's okay!

I have been working so hard on starting a Christian preschool at our church and it looks like it is going to happen and it is going to be opening in the Fall of 2008! So, there are close to a million things to be done, details to work out, etc. and I couldn't be more excited! I have always dreamed of running a preschool and I have felt God's guidance in the whole project so far. With a tiny step of faith, everything is falling into place! I am amazed and humbled at the amount of support and I am so thrilled to be taking on a new career! It will also be a Parent's Day Out program, so Reagan will be with me! Yeah! It's the perfect job! More later...

We have been a little down about the wait for Reese. For one, the new statistics about the number of children in orphanages is drastically different than it was 2 years ago. I guess the hundreds of thousands of kids just disappeared into thin air. As much love as I have for China and their culture, I have no respect for a government that can't be upfront about the problems that have come about because of their own rules. It's ridiculous to be so secretive and downright mean to make the wait go from 6 months to over 3 years (the new projected wait). I get mad and frustrated and then I stop and think about Reese and that she will be our perfect daughter someday and I will know she was worth the wait.

But in the meantime, we are researching other options. Since we never had any type of fertility testing or answers for our miscarriages, we decided to see what we could find out. The first step was taken last summer when I just talked to my regular dr. about it. I confessed all the problems we have had and how my ob/gyn blew us off and never cared. She was sooooo nice and easy to talk to once I started and she said what we had experienced was not normal and referred us to a wonderful dr. that did not hesitate at all to help us. I had several tests run and Tim had a few and everything was normal, which oddly enough was kind of disappointing! The next step is a surgical procedure, which I will be having next week. Hopefully this will tell us if there is anything "in there" that is causing us to miscarry after only a few weeks. This is extremely emotional for me. I have very mixed up emotions about talking about miscarriage because I am so blessed by the miracle of adoption and I know I had to go through that for Reagan and I would do it again in a heartbeat for her. But, now I feel like I need to stop ignoring what my body is doing and face it, find out what the problem is, and then go from there. Do I want to get pregnant? I can't even answer because I cannot think about getting my hopes up, it's happened too many times in the last 5 years. But I think we would regret not doing these tests on down the road because not knowing in 10 years and not being able to do anything would be really sad. It's in God's hands, and I just pray that we are at peace with whatever may happen. It's ironic how so many people get pregnant, have babies and move on with no problems, no thought, no struggles and then there are those of us who go through so much thought and heartache and confusion to build our families. But I wouldn't trade if for the world. The things I have learned throughout this roller coaster ride are priceless to me. They have molded and shaped us as individuals, a couple, and a family. There is one thing I know I have in my future and that's another unforgettable journey to China for another sweet, precious daughter!

Wow, that was a lot to get out! Moving on...

The girls are doing great! We had a nice Christmas and 2008 is off to a pretty good start! We went to the hockey game in St. Louis and had a blast. It was a super fun weekend and we have all turned into quite the fans of hockey! It is so exciting to watch live, in my opinion, the best sport ever to go to! Other than that, life is full of the usual stuff with the added busy-ness of the preschool stuff!