THANKFUL!

I realize it's been awhile since I've updated.  Two months to be exact.  :)  Between dishes, laundry, school work, home study updates, birthday party plans, sewing Halloween costumes, and well, just LIFE, my blog has kind-of taken a back burner.  And really, I'm OK with that.....one less thing on my "list" is fine with me right now.  Buuuutttttt...... many of you have asked about Charles' new job and the status of our adoption, so I thought it was time for an update.

Here's how life has been treating us.....

ON THE JOB FRONT - Charles working again has definitely been an adjustment for the entire family, but we are so THANKFUL he has a job!!!  His new job comes with very early mornings, however, it (most days) leads to earlier afternoons as well.  THAT makes mama happy. :)  Overall, we have seen some wonderful things come from this new position.  Things that we may not ever have thought to have prayed for.  Things that we know could only have come from a detail-oriented God.  So, so THANKFUL!!!  THANKS friends for your prayers!

IT'S A PARTY!!! - Since my last post, we celebrated a birthday around here!!!  My second oldest, Joseph, turned SEVEN!!!  We are so proud of the little man he is becoming.  This year he celebrated with a Star Wars themed birthday party in our backyard.

A Death Star Birthday Cake for one very special Jedi

I had a gazillion more pics, but unfortunately they were lost to an untimely incident between a mug of hot chocolate and my MAC book.   Ahhhh......life with kids.  :)

Joe's most favorite present (besides the gobs of Lego Ninjagos he got)???  Losing a tooth right before bed.  And then, he literally LOST it.  So......he wrote the tooth fairy this little note......

Apparently in our house, if you lose a tooth ON your birthday, it gets you $5.  Lucky dude.  :)

HURRICANE NEWS - Unless you live in a hole, you've undoubtedly heard about a little Hurricane named Sandy wreaking havoc up and down the East Coast last month.  Fortunately, we live far from the coast and didn't experience any damage in terms of water.  The biggest concern where we live was the wind.  More specifically:  trees falling down due to the wind.  And OH!!  were there a TON of trees that fell!!!  During the height of the storm, we took our flashlights, pillows, and blankets down into the basement and camped out for the night.  Despite losing power early in the evening, we made the most of it by eating ice cream (Hey!! You can't let that stuff go bad!), playing Pictionary (by candlelight!!), and reading Detectives in Togas.   Memories were most certainly made!!

When we awoke the next morning, it seemed that everywhere we went, trees were down.  Blocking roads, on top of houses and cars, and resting precariously upon telephone wires.  In my brother's wooded backyard, approximately 20-30 trees fell, all piled up in a neat, not-so-little stack.  This is actually where we spent the week.  Our power went out on a Monday night and wasn't back on until the following Sunday afternoon.  With temperatures drastically dropping, it made for one really cold house.  :)  Honestly though, seeing the stories of the victims in New Jersey and New York, we felt quite fortunate that we merely experienced a slight inconvenience.  We spent the week at my brother and sister-in-law's house. My nieces had off from school for the WHOLE WEEK due to the storm, so we got to spend time with cousins.  It was an instant party!  So THANKFUL for family and friends in the area who helped during this time!!!

IT'S HALLOWEEN!!! - Really, I'm not sure where the year went!  Just a minute ago it felt like the beginning of 2012!!  Before I knew it, Halloween was here, and with it came the costume demands.  So......out came the sewing machine, and with a little bit of creativity, here is what we came up with.....

An Egyptian Princess...

A red ninja...

A green ninja...

And a princess....

SCHOOL - As if hurricanes, birthdays, and job changes didn't keep us busy enough these past couple months, there is always school!!  Our year has gotten off to a great start.  We have managed to keep quite busy.   Here are a few of the highlights so far....

Making mummies using paper mache.....poor Barbie. :)

Haha.  An attempt at marshmallow pyramids....

Class trip to Crystal Caves

Inside the caves with my little love bug.

Apparently soaking a raw egg in vinegar for 72 hours creates a "naked egg" (the shell has dissolved) that you can hold in your hand!  Who knew??!  My kids had so much fun with this experiment!

Field trip to the local dairy farm....

followed by a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

Gearing up for the Presidential Election....took a tour of the Capital Building in Harrisburg, PA.

The outside was beautiful, but OH MY, the inside!!!!  So fun!  We even got to tour the Senate, House of Representatives, and Supreme Court!

Voting Booth!!!  Tonight's decision??  Honey, I Shrunk the Kids or Orphan Annie and brownies or ice cream for dessert.

 (for the record, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and ice cream won)  :)

The three oldest stayed up late watching the results come in and coloring in their Electoral College Maps.   

Philadelphia Art Museum field trip!!!

By far, the kids favorite was the Arms and Armor room.

Taking a break to play some chess.....

ADOPTION - And finally, our adoption.....all is trucking along there as well.   Due to Charles' new job (and the fact that 18 months are up), we are having to update parts of our portfolio.  Financial statements, insurance information, medical records, FBI fingerprints, clearances, and such.  I'm not at all excited to be back doing paperwork again (it's A LOT!!!!), however, THANKFUL to still be in the process! Once we finish up with our updates, we can be added back onto the wait list at the number we were "frozen" at.  Looking forward to moving DOWN that list again real soon!!!

THANKS again friends for all your thoughts and prayers!  We are certain that without them, we would have struggled much more than we did during this time.  We have so much to be THANKFUL for going into this season of THANKFULNESS.  We even managed to steal away last month for a little date night:

Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit - Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Have a wonderful THANKSGIVING!!!

Kirsten