Taming the Beast

I know most of you won't be impressed with this but to see our cat Uhura on Camden's lap almost brings tears to my eyes. When Camden was younger we had to hold (or drag her out from under the bed) Uhura for him to even get a hand on her and now she will crawl into his lap for a good brush. She sure has come a long way or is it because she is almost 18 years old and loosing most of her senses? It's true...she can't hear very well anymore which we have found has made for a much more relaxed and friendly cat. Camden is going to be so sad when her time comes. In fact we will all be very sad. We all just love this cat!

After Easter Egg Hunt

The things we do for our kids...

This year we hadn't planned on doing any kind of Easter egg hunt. Normally we are traveling somewhere over Easter either to see family or do something fun. Last year we were at the Easter Egg Roll that happens on the White House Lawn. Well, this year we were home for Easter and on Sunday Camden asked if we were having an Easter egg hunt. I kind of brushed him off and said no. But the next day it hit me that he has always participated in some kind of Easter Egg hunt. It's just always been somewhere else. I was feeling a bit like a worthless Mom at that point but still not planning to do anything about it. But then on Tuesday after he got home from school he said that we should check our backyard because maybe the Easter bunny came while we weren't here. And Alexis (from his class) said that the Easter bunny left Easter eggs in her backyard. Yikes! What is a Mom to do? I can't let him go in the backyard and find ZERO eggs. So I deflected and distracted. I told him that it was getting late and that we needed to have dinner and do homework and that after school tomorrow we could check and see if the Easter bunny had come to our house. Luckily he went for it. So guess what I was feverishly doing the next afternoon before he got home from school? Yep, filling Easter eggs with all sorts of things and hiding them all over the backyard. So on Wednesday after Easter we had an Easter egg hunt. Camden was so happy and wondered out loud how long the eggs had been out in our back yard (twenty minutes to be exact), how the Easter bunny knew he loved things like basketball and smarties and how he knew that he had lost his cat jibbitz for his crocks (a new one was is one of the eggs). I could not believe it...my boy still believed in the Easter Bunny. In fact, I didn't realize that he ever thought the Easter bunny was real. What an eye opener! Well, guess what will always be included in our Easter festivities? :)

Just a few pics from our after Easter egg hunt:

6 1/2 Today

Guess who is 6 1/2 today? It just makes me laugh how preoccupied Camden is with age and height for that matter. He loves to ask "Am I tall like a second grader?" and then adds "some people think I am in second grade because I am SO tall." For some reason he couldn't wait to be 6 1/2 even though we haven't ever done anything to mark half birthdays. Anyway, he is thrilled to be able to tell everyone he isn't just 6 anymore! He is 6 1/2!!! You are growing up far to fast sweet boy!

Old Tucson

Today we headed to Old Tucson Studios for the day. It's one of those things that we have talked about taking Camden to for years and never quite get there. Doug and I went there back in our courting days which (yikes) was nearly 17 years ago. Let's just say after that we haven't felt the burning need to go back. And even though we enjoyed our day I think we would be fine if another 17 years went by before we go back. Unless of course some out of town friends or family come and then we would be HAPPY to go. :) Seriously, it was fun just a bit hot and touristy. It's actually an old movie Studio were hundreds of western films have been made since 1939. One of our personal favorites was an 80's classic, The Three Amigos . One of the shows they do was a take off from the movie which we all enjoyed (Camden especially).

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Easter Egg Fun

Nothing like an afternoon spent coloring Easter eggs. This year we went for the tie dye glitter look which Camden loved as he thinks tie dye is SO cool. Dad wasn't as impressed as he thought he would end up eating glitter if he ate one. I am happy to report that no one died from glitter poisoning this Easter.

2 Year LID Anniversary

It's certainly not an anniversary that we ever thought we would be celebrating! In fact, unbelievable I almost forgot that is was today. If it weren't for my Chinese adoption buddy, Jenn calling earlier today I don't know if I would have remembered. But I guess I have just been trying to put it all out of my mind. So anyway today marks 2 years or 24 months or 52 weeks or 730 days or 17, 520 hours since our papers were logged in at the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs on 3-13-2006. A part of me still can't fathom it. When we signed with our agency in September 2005 the wait was 7-8 months which means families received a referral of a child 7-8 months after their paperwork was logged in. As we went through the home study and put together our paperwork we saw the wait slowly grow to the point when our papers were mailed to China and then logged in the wait was 11-12 months. Since then things continued to change even more drastically. Before we were logged in the CCAA would refer a whole month of LID's each month. In the last year they have referred anywhere from 2 days to 11 days a month which means the wait continues to grow substantially each and every month. This month they referred 8 days which in comparison to previous months isn't too bad and the good news is they finally finished referring all of 2005 LID's and are on to 2006. They referred up to 1/4/2006. What does this all actually mean for us? Well, it means there are 68 LID's between 1/4/2006 and our LID of 3/13/2006. If the CCAA continues to refer 8 days each month we will see a picture of our child in 8 -9 months and then travel to China 6-8 weeks later...YES we are clinging to the hope that by the end of the year we will see our child's face. But we also continue to trust in God's PERFECT TIMING for our family. Our family is not what we envisioned it to be. Doug and I thought we would have somewhere in the vicinity of three children at this point. But God has had different plans for us. One that we know will be much greater than we could have ever planned.

Scripture that gives us tremendous hope & peace:

Do not be anxious about anything , but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 5-7

Do not be afraid for I am with you; I will bring your children from the East and gather you from the West. I will say to the North, "Give them up!"and to the South, "Do not hold them back. "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Isaiah 43:5-7

I think we will have to have Chinese for dinner! :)

Bontanical Gardens & Butterfly Magic

Today I joined Camden's Kindergarten class as they ventured to our local Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Exhibit. The kids absolutely loved the Butterfly exhibit. I did as well probably more than the kiddos. If it weren't for the suffocating humidity in the exhibit I could have spent all day in there! After seeing the butterflies we toured the Botanical Gardens. That didn't hold their attention quite as much as they seemed to be more concerned with who was going to be first on the path. We finished the morning with lunch at the park which of course the kids loved.

Here's a few pics from our morning:

Rails in the Garden Tour

This weekend we were out and about and enjoyed the Rails in the Garden Tour . Eight train enthusiasts opened their backyards to the public to show their amazing garden railways. It was so much fun as the railways, models etc. were so amazing. This railway was one of our favorites as it had just about every possible thing you could think of.

Milk Jug Wars

It amazes me the things that Camden gets such a kick out of. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. If it has to do with war or fighting etc. boys just love it. Well, my boy is a total milk monster so we go through a lot of milk around our house. Today we happened to finish 2 two gallon milk jugs. Now don't be too impressed...one was 1% which is for Cam and the other is fat free for his Dad and I of course. Anyway, Dad & Cam had so much fun sparring with the milk jugs all around the house. I thought it was so cute until they turned on me and started pummeling me in the behind. Even with all the padding I have there in the back it still hurt!

Walking School Bus

Camden's school is doing a Walking School Bus challenge once a week for seven weeks. It's an attempt to get kids (and their parents) out of their cars and either walking or taking the school bus to school. Well, a wonderful neighbor of mine, Janelle decided to organize some of our neighborhood to walk a mile of our route to school. We all have really enjoyed it. In fact if we would let them the kids would probably run the whole way.

Here's our group on one of the days: