The Big Brown Stork came to my house

Patience is not my strongest attribute. Scott and I were completely tired of waiting. It was after 3:30 and the kids were home from school before the truck came, but it finally arrived. I was on the couch attempting to read a book when I saw it stop in front of the house. I must admit I was probably a sight, trying to kick off a quilt while yelling, "UPS, UPS, UPS truck!!" Scott made it down the steps from the dining room pretty fast, and he barely beat me to the door. We both met the UPS driver on the front step, as he walked up the driveway. I refrained from tackling him right there on the driveway. I was pretty impressed with myself for the level of restraint to stop and stand on the front step. We thanked him, and I had the package ripped open before we even turned around to come in the house. (Deep Breath).

We made it in the house, and pulled the precious pieces of paper out of the envelope. (Another Deep Breath). Sitting on the sofa, we looked at each page in the packet. The Letter of Seeking Confirmation was printed in Chinese and English with a big red seal on green paper. Oh, how pretty it was. Even better, were the words on it. We were officially matched with our daughter. We had to check a box stating that we would accept the referral. (Like we would say no??? No way!)

We signed all the papers and filled out the different documents, and then Joseph, Jenna, and I were off to the post office to overnight it all back to St. Louis. We made it in the post office doors just before closing time, and off went those pretty papers. Pretty, pretty, precious papers.

Wow. God's timing is still perfect.

Waiting for the Big Brown Truck

I cannot read a book. I cannot take a nap. I have already done laundry, and dinner is in the crockpot. I can barely sit still to type this out. I have looked out the window 125,643 times already this morning. Our referral paperwork (adoption lingo for the official file about our new daughter) left the UPS distribution site at 7:43 am, and is currently "out for delivery." My wonderful, dear hubby is patiently working from home this morning. He is accomplishing something while he waits. I am just sitting here. As soon as this is typed I will pace some more. You know if I pace and keep looking for the truck, it will magically appear outside my window. I do solemnly promise to attempt restraint when the truck arrives. I will try very hard not to tackle the driver as she or he collects my package and gets out of the truck. I will not promise to remain in the house. How scary would it be for the driver to see me running out the front door to meet him or her as they are descending the steps of the big brown truck?

I need to get back to pacing now.... More later.

The Call

This morning at 9:50 the phone rang. For the last 3 months I have been waiting for this call. Every time I would answer the phone, I would glance at the caller id and secretly wish it showed Children's Hope International. This morning, it finally did. I have read other blogs and talked with other adoptive parents about their call. I have heard many reactions, from screaming to crying, or even just plain hysteria. I have wondered what it would be like to hear the words of our consultant when it was my turn for the call.

This morning, Monday October 27, 2008 at 9:50 we entered the next step to bring our daughter home. Here is a glimpse of the call from where I was standing.

Phone ringing

Glance at the caller id: Children's Hope International

holding breath, me: "hello"

voice: "hello, may I speak with Erika?"

trying very hard to sound calm, me: "yes, this is Erika"

voice: "good morning this is Rebecca with CHI. How are you doing this morning?"

standing very still, me: "you tell me."

Rebecca: "Well you are going to be doing good. We received your seeking confirmation letter."

(not really sure what I said, but the tears were pouring and I think I retained enough thought to say thank you.)

Rebecca filled in a few more details and confirmed our address and emails so she could overnight our packet to us and email the tracking numbers. Honestly I don't remember the details except the packet will be here tomorrow morning.

(still don't know what words came out, but lots of thank yous here.)

****end the call****

Screaming, no. Crying, yes. Not a whole lot of rational thought. Just relief. I wish I could regale you with something funny or silly that I did or said. Nope. It didn't matter how long I waited and wished and planned for the call. The call came, and all the work we had done for the past 370 days was in that phone call. Our call finally came. It was perfect.

Tomorrow we will begin our next steps.

A Day at the Funny Farm

Ever wonder what a typical day is like around here? Well here goes. Today I:

*Had one child home from school recovering from a fever last night,

*Got one kid out the door to the bus stop at 6:30 am,

*Got two younger kids out to the bus by 7:50 am,

*Enjoy a cup of coffee and newspaper, and explain stock market investing to 10 year old daughter,

*Cleaned the kitchen, boiled eggs for dinner salad,

*Ran the dishwasher,

*Ran two loads of laundry in the am,

*Made lunch for child at home, no more fever, yippee!

*Went to PetsMart for more kitty litter and a second litter box (mental note, NEVER run out of kitty litter), bird cage litter, bird treats, and fish food,

*Changed cat litter, and set up second litter box next to the original box so the two cats don't have to share,

*Put away clean dishes and start beans soaking for tomorrow night's dinner,

*Play card game with daughter,

*Visit with middle school child when he arrives home,

*Pick up younger kids from bus stop,

*Snack time, listen to Jenna state that she will not be eating dinner tomorrow night if I am serving beans,

*Return neighbor child's jean jacket that was found in the pile of our kids' jean jackets on the arm of the sofa,

*Check and sort the mail,

*Dinner time (simple tonight, salad with spinach, romaine, almonds, sliced egg, cheese and ranch dressing)

*Kids' shower time,

*Hunt down Halloween costumes for two youngest kids,

*Find a disaster under the girls' bunk bed (seriously, a small child could be lost under there for days) and haul in the trash sack to help get it clean,

*Haul 2 trash sacks and a full load of laundry out from under girls' bed,

*Start another load of laundry,

*Check the boys' room for garbage (they only had a half a sack) and dirty clothes,

*Take a break to type this up,

Right now it is 6:45pm. Somewhere in the day, I also got to sit and snuggle each of my three youngest (the 12 year old is "too old or that stuff" so he sits next to me while we discuss his day at school). Still on my list for today, brush kids' teeth, and put them to bed at 7:30 with a story, and then maybe I will get to sit down and call my hubby who is out of town for the night.

Tomorrow, it starts again.

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Here's a copy of my 4 or More: Lots of Kids post for today:

Blessed By Frugal Living:

These days, it seems that reading the newspaper or watching news on television has become scary. But some days it just makes me laugh. No, really. I sit with my cup of coffee and peruse articles online or in the paper about how families can make their dollars go farther in today's economy. These so called financial experts are recommending things that many large families, including my own, have been doing for a long time. It has been very encouraging to be reinforced by the "mainstream media" for some of the simple things that we have tried to do over the years. Now, I have not figured out how to keep my kids from having sudden growth spurts and needing longer pants, nor have they cut back on the amounts that they are eating. In fact, the older they get, the MORE they eat. But, we have found some simple ways to avoid waste if possible. My focus this year was to stretch our budget as far as possible and still provide for all our needs; and quite a few of our wants too. Our system is not perfect, but maybe one or two of our tips will be helpful to your family, or maybe it will just encourage you that you are on the best possible track. Either way, whether the economy is good or bad, living a frugal life won't hurt (after the initial lifestyle change). The easiest budget item in my control is the grocery bill.

So, here are a few things I have learned so far this year:
*We really don't NEED as much as we think we do. Once I got this through my thick skull, decisions became so much easier.
*I learned how to cook a whole chicken fryer or roaster. Yeah, I am way behind on this, and I hate to admit that I only bought boneless skinless fresh chicken for 12 years. Oh my, was that dumb. (see the next tip for more on this)
*Our family doesn't do well with leftovers. The kids say "this AGAIN??" Oh wait, that is me. OK, there are very few leftovers that I like to reheat and have for myself, so we were wasting a lot. Hmm, let's think about this, it doesn't save me money if I throw out half of it. So, I started planning completely different meals with planned left overs. For example, when I cook a chicken roaster, we have a big meal with roasted or rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and fixings for the first meal, then I can pull off plenty chicken to make chicken pot pie or soup for a different meal later that week.
*When I make soup, spaghetti sauce, or chili, I end up with a very big crock pot full. In the past, I would waste too much, so now, before I even serve it the first meal, I set aside half and freeze it. It isn't really leftovers 3 weeks later, right? Cook once, serve twice...I Love It!!
*Hang clothes to dry. My electric bill went down $20 per month versus last year by not using the dryer.
*Combine trips in the car. Yes, today I was out of kitty litter, and had to go out only for that, but before I left, I checked all other pet supplies, to make sure I wasn't going to have to return in two days for bird treats of fish food.
*Keep a master grocery list and check off items needed throughout the week. Oh yeah, I actually take the list with me to the grocery store now. Radical, I know.
*I add $20-50 to each week's grocery store run in order to stock the pantry with sale items. I am not disciplined enough to read the ads ahead of time, but I grab one when I hit the store. If chicken fryers are on sale for $0.79 per pound, I buy 5 and freeze the extra. I stock up and freeze or store seasonal items for use later. I plan meals around what is on hand at home, and rotate first in, first out for the pantry and freezer items too.
*We have a lot of pets... We love our pets, but they eat a lot too. So, I do the same thing with pet supplies that I do with stocking the freezer. I try to keep one on hand, and add it to the list when I open my last item (treats, bag of food, kitty litter). This way, when I find a good deal and save $3 per package of cat litter, I buy two, and rarely ever pay full price for anything.
*Swap babysitting time with the neighbors.
*Plan at home date night. Kids go to bed at 7:30 anyway, so we plan to have our couple time with homemade snacks or a carry out appetizer at home. A card game or movie rental is much cheaper than eating out or going to the movie theater.
*Look for sales on kids clothing and try to buy a season ahead for basics when they are on sale. Guess what, that cute little Gap t-shirt is just as cute on sale for $5 as it was full price for $20.
*Switch to a cheaper cell phone plan. I don't use a gazillion minutes, and I don't send text messages, why was I paying for it? I was able to cut $20 per month from my cell phone bill by going to a cheaper plan with fewer minutes.

Well, this certainly doesn't make the stock market any less volatile, nor does it make my retirement account look any bigger, but every little bit helps. Cooking at home saves a ton versus eating out, and these days every penny counts. If you have frugal tips, please leave them in the comment section, I am always looking for another way to stretch my dollars. If I could share one piece of advice with the world... Just remember, when things look scary, count your blessings. Family, Friends, Health, and the ability to do my best to care for those I love; these are all things to help me sleep well at night no matter what the stock market does.