Curious...

......has anybody read a parenting book called "Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys" ?

I have a feeling that I'll soon be able to write the sequel.....

My graphic artist buddy, Sara, over at A Life Less Ordinary-- lukecommasara.blogspot.com

highly recommends it and is even giving a copy away today. Check out her blog to enter for the giveaway AND check out her website www.less-ordinary-designs.com to see Sara's work. She creates beautiful printed cards, stationary, invitations and other great stuff.

Sara did Calvary's prom invitation and will be doing our adoption announcements for sure.....just as soon as I can get the new guys to be still long enough for pictures.

Home, sweet home

I'm happy to report, that after 26 deliriously-long hours of travel, the new guys and I arrived at the Greensboro airport a little ahead of schedule last night where we were met by a happy bunch of friends and family. We made such a racket and hung around so long, the airport security guards asked us to keep it down (twice) and then actually called in one of Greensboro's Finest who----can you believe the nerve?---asked us to take it elsewhere.

Maybe we were being a tad noisy.....twenty kids and two red balloons can be that way......but we were hardly a TSA security incident waiting to happen.

My mom was waiting for us here at the house when we got in and had a huge supper ready---ham, fried chicken, rice, green beans, deviled eggs, banana pudding and coconut cake. Clearly doing her southern best to feed and love Amos and Kalee. My sister, Kari, her husband, Jim, and their daughter, Sophie, were all here for the celebration, too.

I slept like a rock for about 8 hours then got up to be with Brant, Will and Babe before they left for school. So much happened while I was gone the last two weeks. Exams were taken....report cards issued....B took the SAT......Drew and the boys traveled to Hilton Head for spring break......Little League and Calvary baseball have begun their seasons now.......Babe is almost back from his rotator cuff injury.

Amos and Kalee slept until about 8:30 (yay, box fan!) and after a big breakfast of muffins and peanuts (what else?) Drew took over and I went back to bed for a few hours.

The boys spent today exploring every thing they could get their hands on. Imagine the curiosity and mentality of two, 2-year olds, but in bigger, stronger, more dexterous kids' bodies. They are fascinated by the washing machine, running water, telephones, the tv remotes, Kit's retractable leash......and their new remote-control cars. These guys love to push buttons and turn things on and off. They've removed batteries from things I didn't even know had batteries.

When they started chasing the cats, Drew took them on a big walk to burn off a little energy. That helped. For a while.

Still, all in all, I'd describe this as a very successful first day. I know it's early to make any calls, and there are bound to be huge challenges ahead---all sure to be exacerbated by my being old and impatient---but Amos and Kalee seem happy to finally be here. They have especially loved being reunited with their big brothers.

And they have started calling me, Mom, and Drew, Dad. That makes my heart soar.

Headed home....

The boys and I will be on a 9p flight out of Monrovia later this evening. I'll have multiple copies of the clearance letter ready to pass out and if any airport officials give me a hard time, I have the cell number of the official who signed it. The airport/Immigration folks are welcome to call this Ministry of Justice official to discuss, if they like......

After flying all night, we'll arrive in Brussels first thing in the morning. We lay over there about 4 hours and then will be headed to Atlanta.

The ATL connection is a little close; I only have about an hour and forty minutes to navigate Customs and make the flight to Greensboro, but hopefully I'll have enough time.

If all goes well, I should be in GSO around 5:30p Thursday night.

GOT IT!

Yesterday was a long, difficult day spent being bounced around between various Liberian government offices and officials....first told one thing and then another. Waiting here. Waiting there.

I'll spare you all the drama, but just know that first thing this morning, I was given the clearance letter for which I've waited a week. According to the official that signed it, it is every thing I will need to pass through all the inspection points at the airport with the boys.

I've got this woman's phone number just in case!

First flight out of here is Wednesday night at 7p (Liberia is 4 hours ahead of EST). Drew is working with the travel agent on my itinerary, but the boys and I should get to Greensboro sometime Thursday evening.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, emails, comments and posts. They've been a huge encouragement to me. Drew and I may never know what God had in mind with all the delays, waiting, shutdowns and holds......but I'm excited to see how His plan for Amos and Kalee and the rest of our family plays out over the next years.

As my friend Cheryl is probably saying about now, "Go, God!"

Taking it easy....

With very limited options, the boys and I are just hanging out this weekend.

We are staying in a one-room apartment that I rented from one of the ELWA dentists. It's "ocean-view" and is working out just fine. We all have a bed and there's a small kitchen area with a hot plate, toaster oven and dorm-sized refrigerator.

Saturday morning, the guys and I spent some time on the beach together and I was able to get some good pictures of them both. Amos met up with a fisherman and was given some little fish that this guy was using for bait. When we got back home later and I was getting changed in the bathroom, Amos decided he was going to try to cook up those guppies for lunch---directly on the hot plate burner. The smell was awful....... and that burner still has scales stuck to it.

After lunch yesterday, about 15 of the older Addy's kids came down to enjoy the beach. They stayed about two hours with their teacher then went on to spend the night with a local pastor who had invited them to sing and dance at worship this morning.

Amos started running a fever right after dinner last night---it came on so quickly that at first I actually thought he might be faking the shaking and moaning and that he got in bed for attention. I took his temperature and when I realized it was 103, I knew the chills, shakes and confusion were for real. Fortunately, his temperature came down with Motrin and as long as he has it in him, he seems to feel okay.

Because of Amos being sick, we didn't go to church services this morning and so, didn't get to see the Addy's kids' program. I hate that, but decided I better keep an eye on whatever it is Amos's got.

The boys have been teaching me lots of the praise songs they know, so we are worshipping in our own way. I can sing along and keep up with the words, but not the clapping, drumming, foot stomping....and...uh....tongue clicking.

Yep. WAY too white for that.

I think God heard me anyway.

Close, but no cigar.

The clearance letter I needed wasn't issued today.

Too many twists and turns to even describe....multiple trips to the Ministry....unsatisfactory conversations with the the US Embassy, dozens of calls to and from those advocating for me.


When it was all said and done, I got NOTHING.
(Except consolation from my driver, Kla, whom I thought might just cry with me.)

It's gonna be close....

Embassy staff did not, in fact, have the boys' visa packets ready at 8a when I arrived at their office this morning. Essentially told me I was just plain out of luck and that they'd see me at 3p. I resisted the urge to give 'em some Dixon, but barely....

Went immediately over to the Ministry of Justice and left copies of all necessary documents, exluding the visas, in hopes that someone could review every thing and get started on the clearance letter.

Picked up the visa packets at 3p....then went again to the MOJ where I learned that the decision maker had been called out of the office all day by the President and had only just arrived at her desk.

I ratcheted down my expectations....and then got the official word that the letter would not be forthcoming today.

No promises for tomorrow either, if you want to know the truth.

But I'll be back over there first thing.

No news....

Didn't get a reply from the Embassy today on whether or not the visa packet will be ready in the morning or not.

So. Incredibly. Frustrating.


I think my best strategy is to be there with Amos and Kalee when the Embassy doors open at 8a........and just camp out in the Consular Affairs office until it IS ready.


I'll let you know how that works out for me.

It's gonna be a nail biter....

Things are going fine here in Liberia, but just as I have worried, it's going to come down to the wire on whether I can get the clearance letter I need to travel by the end of the day Friday when I am booked on a flight out with the boys.

Turns out the Embassy wanted a full 5 days to print the visas and prepare a packet to take to the Ministry of Justice for clearance. Drew and I understood our email from the vice-consul to read that I should plan to be on the ground here 5 days......total. For every thing.

After hearing all this at the Embassy today, I had to rebound quickly. I mustered all the southern charm I could to talk the man down to 2 days. He told me every thing would be ready Thursday at 3p.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself until I went over to the Ministry of Justice where I was told that unless I have the visa packet to them by 10a Thursday, I won't be able to get the letter that day. And if I don't get it Thursday.....dealing with it on Friday will be incredibly stressful since we are to fly out at 7p.

I got Drew on the horn and in turn, Drew got the Consular at the Embassy on the horn, to strongly "suggest" that they expedite our packet so I can leave on Friday. He got a "we'll-see -what-we-can-do" response. No promises.

I know this will all work out. God has it all under control.....and really, the worst-case scenario would be that the boys and I would just stay into next week until we can pick up the clearance letter.

Still......I know I've got some absolute prayer warriors out there. Anybody willing to kick it into high gear??

It might be just about that time....

I'm here!

I survived my flights to Monrovia and arrived here last night (Sunday) at about 8p Liberian time. Friends, Rusty and Jamie, met me and a couple other folks at the airport and we went straight over to the orphanage to retrieve Amos and Kalee.

I met up with Scott Bolitho in Brussels and it was great to finally meet him face to face . He and his wife Carolee, my cyber-bestfriend for the past two years, are also adopting from Addy's Hope and Scott is here to pick up their daughter Mary.

It is a holiday here today. In celebration of Liberia's first presidents's birthday, every thing is closed and no one is working. The boys and I are taking it easy this morning and hope to get out to the orphanage to visit with the other kids later today.

Kalee and I spent some time looking at alphabet flash cards and I'm glad to see that he knows all his letters and nearly all his colors. (Green tricks him up for some reason.) It's kind of funny to hear Kalee call out the pictures on the cards--his teacher has obviously taught with some similar cards or maybe a poster or picture book. Kalee recognizes lots of things he has no first-hand knowledge of like quilts, queens, igloos and oranges.

I'm not sure yet, but I think Amos might be able to read some. He can definitely pick out some names and other words as I type and he can read some commands on the computer screen. I'll do a little more research and get back to you.

I'm having trouble downloading pictures so far but I'll keep working on that. My laptop does things differently from the Mac at home and I can't figure out how to get everything to sync up. Makes me miss the guys in my IT department, for sure.

Tomorrow I plan to be at the Embassy first thing when it opens at 8a to meet with the vice-consular for the boys' exit visas. This is the last step on the US side then my next challenge will be to get that clearance letter from the Liberian Minister of Justice. The letter will give me permission to leave the country with the boys. Ideally, I will have that by Friday and can leave as scheduled, but I am preparing myself that I might need to stay on a few more days to get it. But I hope not.....

Thank you so much for all your blog comments, emails and Facebook comments. I'll keep updating as long as my internet connection stays up.

This is it!

Bags packed and heading out--next stop ATL, then Brussels....and on to Monrovia!

Flight Plan

Whew! It took most of the last two days, but I finally got flight arrangements for my trip to Liberia worked out today.

I leave Greensboro this Saturday around noon. And return with the new guys next Saturday the 20th at 5:30pm.

Better get my act together, huh?

All systems are GO!

Drew spoke with Embassy officials in Monrovia this morning and got the long-awaited and positively great news that our adoption has been approved and our case is a "go!"

I can't even believe that I am writing those words after more than two, full years of being in process!

Since I last posted....

the boys' physical reports came back just fine.

the biological mother's death certificate was turned in.

the boys' birth certificates were re-printed for the fourth time---this time to correct our nationality.

I am to make my travel plans and then let the vice-consular know so he can reserve time for our exit visa appointment.

Once I'm there, and have the visas, the Liberian Minister of Justice will write a clearance letter for me to leave the country with the boys. We don't anticipate any problems in getting approval to do that, but since the letter can't be written until the visas are actually issued by the US Embassy, I'll just need to allow several days on the ground for the processing.

Can you feel me beaming through cyberspace???

I've got a call into the travel agent.....I'll keep you posted!

The latest...

Amos and Kalee were taken to the embassy clinic as scheduled on Friday. Bloodwork was done but their physical exams were not completed.

We haven't gotten a good explanation why.

Hopefully they can be seen for an exam early this week, the results will be forwarded to the embassy and our agency will produce a copy of their biological mother's death certificate.

The embassy tells us that as soon as they have those two things, they can schedule our appointment for the visa exit interview.

(That means Drew or I will need to get on the next do-able and available flight to Monrovia!)

Good news/Bad news

It's only Tuesday, but it's been an up and (mostly) down week so far when it comes to our adoption.

Good news: Amos's and Kalee's biological father interviewed well and "passed" the questioning at the US Embassy on Monday.

Bad news: For reasons as of yet unexplained, our agency rep did not take Amos and Kalee to the meeting, so the bio father and the boys have to return to the Embassy tomorrow for another round of questioning.

Bad news: The boys' physicals have been postponed until Friday.

Bad news: Neither our agency, nor the Embassy, can produce the boys' biological mother's death certificate. It exists, or at least once did, because it was presented to the Liberian judge before our court decree was issued in 2008......but......no one can find it. It will have to be reissued.

Bad news: The Liberian government is requiring an additional step before they will sign off on clearance letters for Amos and Kalee to leave the country. They are requiring that we submit the results of our criminal background checks directly to them. This is in response to the beating death last week of a Liberian girl adopted in 2007 by a family living near Sacramento.

Good news: No skeletons in our closets! Other than a few (err.....several) speeding tickets on my part, Drew and I check out squeaky clean. We've already emailed our files to all the necessary parties.

You know that expression, "So close and yet, so far away...."?

I'd say that pretty well sums things up from here.

Big sigh.

Adoption news

We got really encouraging news on the adoption front yesterday.

After several weeks worth of waiting for corrections, our new and improved case history was delivered to the US Embassy on Tuesday.

The boys' birth certificates and passports (issued three different times to get them right!) were delivered to the Embassy Thursday.

The boys' biological father is scheduled to appear at the Embassy for an interview on Monday the 22nd.

Then, Amos and Kalee will have a physical with an Embassy doctor.

Assuming every thing goes according to plan, and DNA testing is not required by the Embassy....

...it might not be long now.

Stay tuned!

Snow Ball, 2010

Brant and his friend, Emily Kait, had a big time at Calvary's winter dance Saturday night. It was rescheduled from January 30th because of all the snow and ice here, but sounds like it was worth the wait.

Brant said he definitely chose the right date. Emily Kait is really outgoing and has had years of dance training which meant he had someone fun to dance the night away with.

I think his actual words were, "I got my groove on.......oohhh yeah." Then he showed me some of his moves.

The next morning, Brant woke up sore and complaining from dancing all night long.

Took me all the way back to 1980 when gangly David Moore and I went to Carmel Junior High's Christmas dance. I couldn't even hold a pencil, I was so sore from snapping my fingers.

Good times. Good times.

Snowbound!

Happy 254th, Mozart.

Check this out! Will got to portray Mozart tonight at his school's celebration of Mozart's 254th birthday. There was a big faculty concert followed by a cupcake & punch reception where Will and his friend, Hannah, dressed as Mozart's wife, Costanza, worked the crowd.

Thanks to the students in the wig and makeup studio at UNCSA, I actually think Will really resembled a young Mozart.

That high forehead helped.......don't you think?

Prayer answered; Wish Granted

Drew got exactly what he wanted for his birthday.

We got the word late last night that our agency social worker in Liberia was holding our case history. He had it in his hands---the report for which we've been waiting 18 months.

The information in it is all correct and the document is signed, sealed and ready to be delivered to the US Embassy.

Things are finally moving.

A birthday wish.....

Drew says all he wants for his 42nd birthday is a signed case history from the Ministry of Health in Liberia.

I'm hoping and praying he gets his wish.

Pix from Liberia

I have uploaded photos from our Liberia trip to Snapfish. Check them out and let me know what you think!

Click here to view photos

This Will make you smile, #4

I have found that one of the annoying things about international travel is having to deal with the metric system. I thought the whole world had given up on using it at about the same time the US did.....sometime after 1976 when I finished 4th grade math.

But no......not so! We had to do lots of conversions, especially when it came to figuring out the temperature and ultimately, at what point our brains were going to cook in the Liberian heat.....but alas, that's another post....

Anyway, as we were leaving Liberia and waiting to check our bags at the Monrovia airport, I noticed that the scales the agents were using displayed kilograms not pounds.

Worried that our bags might weigh too much, I turned to Will and said, "How do we convert pounds to kilograms again?"

"Okay, Mom....you first divide by the temperature in Hong Kong. Then subtract the number of characters in the Greco-Roman alphabet. And finally, invert that number, reverse the first digit with the second-to-last and multiply by π. Got it, Mom?"

"Errrr........yeah. Got it, Will."

Home again....

Well....Drew, the boys and I are back from Liberia after something like 30 (gosh-awful) hours of traveling. We got in late last night......slept like rocks.....and I'm hoping that after another good night of sleep tonight, we'll all get back to feeling like ourselves.

It was an incredibly bittersweet trip. Bitter because it was so very hard to leave Amos and Kalee behind after spending the week together as a family.....playing on the beach....singing and laughing together....eating together around a big table every night. Both boys cried as we packed up their things and loaded up the car at the house we were renting. And both cried again when we said our goodbyes at the orphanage.

The trip was sweet, though, because we made incredible progress toward finalizing the boys' adoption:

-Just prior to our trip, the State Department announced that the US Embassy in Monrovia was moving ahead in tandem with the Liberian government to process adoption cases like ours that already have valid court decrees.

-On December 22nd we had a very positive meeting with Consul Steven Harper at the US Embassy where he confirmed the few remaining steps to complete our case.

-On December 23rd we met with two key members of the Liberian Ministry of Health who agreed to complete our case history. In fact, while we were there last week, MOH staff tracked down and interviewed the boys' biological father and visited the boys' mother's village to confirm her death and other necessary details.

All this to say.......Drew and I are oh-so-cautiously optimistic that the case history will be written up and complete in another few days. Having the case history will allow our adoption to quickly proceed to the US Consular's office where DNA testing should confirm that our boys' biological father is in fact who he says he is......and then....visas will be issued for Amos and Kalee to come to the United States. If every thing goes smoothly (and I hesitate to even write this) the process could be complete by the end of January.

After my first visit in August, I said goodbye to Amos and Kalee not knowing when I'd see them again. I didn't know what was going to happen with adoptions in Liberia or when things would move forward.

This time....I said goodbye without such a heavy heart. I left being able to say that Drew or I would be back for them very soon. I could tell Amos and Kalee that this long, painful wait is almost over....that it won't be long now until they can come home.

This time when I waved to them and said, "I'll see you soon," I really meant it.

Please continue to pray with me that God will make it all so and that He will see Amos and Kalee safely home to us.

Merry Christmas from Liberia!

Leaving on a jet plane....

Despite the snow all along the east coast, we are heading up the road (with 500 lbs of luggage) to Washington, DC where we hope to catch our flight to Brussels this evening and then go on to Monrovia, to arrive late Monday.

There are a lot of variables at play and we are not sure whether we'll actually be able to fly out or not. Don't know if Dulles will be open.....whether Lufthansa will cancel our flight.....or whether we'll even be able to make it out of our driveway, much less up the interstate to get to DC.

But......after talking to our travel agent (twice) we don't have many other options other than to try to make it and then see what happens.

I'll keep you posted!

That's my girl.

Have I told you about my niece, Sophie?

Blogworthy if ever there was such a girl.

She came home from China to my sister and brother-in-law in 2003.

She is all kinds of cute.

And smart.

She takes ballet. And tap. And Chinese. And all sorts of other stuff that make my head spin.

I love that girl. I could dish her up with a spoon. Except when she cries. And then I don't know what to do with her.

Having her around satisfies my occasional need to buy something pink. Or to do foam crafts. Or to talk paper dolls. Or to try on various headbands just for fun.

The boys love her just a little bit, too.

Make a wish!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

sweet, sweet WILL.

Will (aka "Dubya," "Willby," "Someone Thrilling" or our "Spare Heir") turned 14 fabulous years old today.

We are celebrating down at Topsail with steaks and the traditional M & M cake.....what else??

If you look closely at the frosting, you'll see where Will either licked it or swiped his finger through it.

He's not saying which.

("I won't yell at my son on his birthday. I won't yell at my son on his birthday. I won't.....")

This Will make you smile, #3

Will was sitting next to me at the Orphan Sunday concert the other night. We listened as things got going and the broadcaster in Nashville announced the program for the evening. She rattled off the laundry list of performers and speakers:

"With us tonight, Jim Daly from Focus on the Family.....Dennis Rainey of Family Life....and from the Christian Alliance for Orphans, Jedd Medefind!"

Will leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Jedmedefin?? Isn't that the new cholesterol drug?"

Orphan Sunday, 2009

Yesterday was Orphan Sunday in the United States. Did your church acknowledge it? Did you know there even was such a day?

I got to be part of logistics planning for a local "live-stream" event here in Winston-Salem. Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, some guys from Focus on the Family and the Christian Alliance for Orphans all spoke and performed "Live from Nashville" and the event was carried via satellite all across the country.

Attendance here at the local event was dismal. Maybe 25 people showed. All the radio spots and FaceBooking and Twittering and emailing didn't bring people out.

I won't lie to you; I was so, so disappointed.

Drew and I alone invited 139 families. One of them came.

You know....

I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure why people didn't come out. Maybe it was the beautiful, warm weather or because it was a school night. Maybe turnout was low because the Carolina Panthers were on tv.

Or maybe....it was because people find thinking about the world's orphan problem too difficult......too overwhelming.....too uncomfortable. Maybe people think that they aren't gifted or called to serve that way. Maybe folks think that "someone else" is handling the 140 million orphans that live in our world.

The thing is........it seems to me that the Bible couldn't be more clear about how to walk in God's will. Praising God and serving Him by caring for the orphaned and widowed and poor seem to be exactly what we are ALL called to do.

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow,

and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. (Deut. 10:18)

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,

Is God in His holy habituation.

God sets the solitary in families;

He brings out those who are bound into prosperity. (Ps. 68: 5-6)

Pure and faultless religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. (James 1:27)

"But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (I John 3:16-17)

If I'm reading even just those Bible verses right, I get the idea that we can't call ourselves Christians and say we love God if we aren't caring for widows and orphans and showing needy people around the globe the love of Christ.

I don't think we can serve God and be selective about it. His call is so clear. Being the hands and feet of our Saviour must mean doing the tough stuff....the overwhelming stuff.....doing the stuff that challenges us and makes us feel uncomfortable.

And doing it in His name, to His glory.

Baby, we were born to run....

I got to see Bruce tonight.

Our 14th date.

And I have to say, it was just as special as our first time together.

That sweet man sang every song on the Born to Run album from start to finish.....plus "Bobbie Jean," because that's our song.

He laid off the whack political ramblings. He was only mildly jealous that Drew was there (singing every word to every song, loudly in my left ear).

Bruce made it a night to remember and at the end of our time together, we caught eyes and said our secret goodbyes.

Until next time, Boss. Until next time.

This Will make you smile, #2

The house got a little too quiet tonight so...... I started looking for the boys.

Drew was watching Game 1 of the World Series, Jay was reading in bed, Brant was practicing guitar......

Will was working out on the tread mill.....with a sleeve of Oreos in one hand.

Adoption update...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful as far as the adoption goes....hence my lack of posting.

On October 2, I contacted Senator Richard Burr's office (again) and while his staffer would not agree to contact any Liberian government officials, she did make an "official" inquiry to the US Embassy in Liberia on Drew's and my behalf. On October 9th, we received a letter from Senator Burr saying that the US Consular in Monrovia indicated that "the Liberian moratorium would not be lifted....until sometime after January, 2010."

Three loooooong, sad months away.

On October 7th.....there was an announcement made on the State Department website saying that, despite the moratorium, cases would be processed for those with "full and complete" adoptions. I immediately confirmed with our agency director that our Liberian court decree does, in fact, make our adoption full and complete.

I felt hopeful for a time.

Until....our agency director cautioned, that, even with our court decree--- even IF the Minister of Health completed a case history (the very LAST piece we need)---and even if, the US Consular issued visas for the boys, there is still the possibility that Amos and Kalee would not be allowed to leave Liberia because of the moratorium!

What circular craziness. It doesn't stop there.

Today, our director emailed to say that another adoption agency was being allowed to move forward with 7 adoption cases. She was thrilled; she suspected the Liberian government was finally feeling some pressure from stateside inquiries. An Addy's Hope employee was on his way to the Minister of Health's office to inquire about getting case histories completed for those of us with court decrees.

I spent the afternoon feeling encouraged---perhaps the State Department announcement was correct after all.

A little while ago.......another emailed arrived from our director. Apparently, no one at the Minister of Health's office knew any thing about case histories being written.....for anybody. She's going to follow up on the rumors and try to get to the bottom of it all tomorrow.

So, tonight.............as I head to bed......I'll pray again that God will keep Amos and Kalee safe and well until Drew and I can bring them home. I'll still seek God's will in this thing.....I'll try to discern what He's trying to teach me....what He has in mind for me and Drew to do.....how we might encourage other people to adopt. I'll ask God to show us what He would have us do to help the Liberian people.

I'll thank God, too, for all of you who are keeping us Dixons in your prayers. I'll thank God for those of you who have asked how you could donate to the orphanage because you want the children fed. I'll thank God for the people I've never met who have left voicemails and sent notes of encouragement because they've heard our story or seen our name on our church prayer list. I'll thank God for all of you who ask about the adoption because you are interested. And I'll thank God for all of you who don't ask because you are afraid it might be too hard for me to talk about.

Because, on days like this......it is.

This Will make you smile.....

Will and I were coming back from his high school a little late tonight.....windows rolled down, just catching up and sharing our days. Kit was snoozing in the back seat.

I noticed how clear the skies were above us and the falling leaves swirling on the road. I had forgotten since last year how great a wood-burning fireplace smells.....

I said to Will, "Don't you just LOVE fall? The crisp air, the leaves changing, the smell of....."

He interrupted,

"Arson.....yeah....nice."

My life with a bunch of yahoos....

Soccer Balls and Baby Dolls

Jay and his best friend, Josh, partied in their traditional Labor Day style to celebrate their 12th birthdays today. This year, they asked their guests--all buddies from their travel baseball team---to bring toys for the orphans at Addy's Hope.

Their Canes teammates came through in a big way and Jay and Josh collected 11 soccer balls, 2 footballs, 3 Tonka vehicles, a remote-control car, 15 Matchbox cars, 10 baby dolls and 5 Barbie dolls. Yahoooooo!

In between some fierce dodge ball matches and plenty of fast-paced basketball at the old high school gym, the partygoers also put together nearly 50 treat bags for the Addy's Hope kids. Josh's mom and stepdad very generously donated all the loot for the bags and each one included a pack of crayons, a tennis ball, stickers, markers, tissues, a toothbrush, party favors and noisemakers......plus PLENTY more to show the kids in Liberia that some one here in the US is thinking of them.

Our family will look forward to taking every thing over when we travel next.......but in the meantime, thank you Canes friends for your wonderful generosity and for remembering the children of Addy's Hope in Monrovia.

Our own.......Captain Underpants!!

Thank you to every one who contributed to Brant's "Undies for Orphans" drive. All tolled, he collected 782 pairs of kids underwear for the children at Addy's Hope in Liberia! He and I were able to take about 500 pairs (100 lbs!) over when we traveled in July and will take the rest when we go back to pick up Amos and Kalee.

Who knew there were so many Disney Princess underwear options for girls! Amazing.

You know, collecting "panties and briefs" (as the Liberians say) wasn't a glamorous project, that's for sure. Brant could have collected school supplies, or flip flops or toothbrushes or myriad other things for the kids, but he saw a need and decided to go out on a teenage limb to fill it. Thank you for supporting B as he grows and stretches and learns how to be the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth.

Who can believe.....Jay is 12!

Jay set his alarm for 6am and got us all up early to celebrate his big day before school!

Babe was really, really happy with his new Nokona catcher's mitt, a few other trinkets AND the above-pictured box of taco shells. Will apparently dared him to put those on his birthday list--

just "to see if Mom is paying attention."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BOY!

I love the smell of pencil shavings, Part 2

Today was Will's first full day of class as a freshman in the high school program at the UNC School of the Arts.    There are only 11 other 9th graders, only about 100 kids in the high school altogether, so Will has very small academic classes.  After two weeks, his music classes will start and he'll study privately with his cello professor and also take part in a studio group with other high school and college students. He can't wait....

Being that UNCSA is an arts school, a wacky mascot is a complete given......so let's hear it for the Fighting Pickles!    

Will and I spent all day Friday and most of the weekend in various orientation meetings with riveting topics like:  "H1N1 and YOU,"  and "Don't get in a Pickle---Be Safe on Campus."  I'll spare you all the pickle puns.....though they sure were CUKE!

Anyway......if you don't know Will, can I just tell you that he is one neat kid?   Most days I'm amazed that he is my child.   He composes music and loves words.  He draws and paints and reads like crazy.  He writes and re-writes story after story.   He thinks and wonders and asks loads of questions.   Will requires very little sleep and when he does sleep, he dreams.  In color. Or in Spanish.   

Will makes me laugh and laugh....especially at the end of the day.

My prayer, and I hope yours too, is that Will will grow and thrive at UNCSA; that he'll perfect his art and play and write beautiful music to the glory of our God who created him.

Country roads and a family reunion