Our Classroom has a New Addition

Most of you know that we are home educators.  It has been that way since the dawn of time... ok not really, its only been the past twenty-seven years.  Here is a view of our modest little classroom.

And a new addition just barely showing from the other doorway.

 

So it is still hard to tell what it is?  Let me move again...

Want a clue?

 

Isaac has his very own desk in the classroom now!

 

I've kept things down low so he can reach them.  Now all we need is for him to show up for class!

A Sneak Peek at Isaac's Room

Getting the Little Princesses' room set up was easy.  Canopy beds and princess decals set the stage very well.  Isaac's room required quite a bit more thought.  How does one choose decor for an eleven year old BOY?  We still don't have an actual bed or table to go beside it, so this is still a work in progress.  Some of you have been asking about it though, so here is a sneak peek.

Getting details about the child you are waiting to adopt is difficult.  I had to pretty much rely on reports and updates.  These few details weighed in heavily in the design of the room.   So here are the few facts we were told and how I worked them in.

1.  Isaac likes to draw, especially nature themes such a birds and trees.
2.  Isaac's favorite color is red.

To incorporate the nature theme, his room is painted a greenish/brown color with a dark blue horizontal stripe going around it.  The curtains have trees and birds on them. 

The bedspread has a nature theme.  I expect the bed and nightstand that we purchase will be black.  Above the bed are pictures that contain crowns to bring in that "Prince" theme also.

I combined a large tree/bird decal with a Bible verse from Psalm 1:3. 

Moving on around the room I've hung a couple of baskets to hold his shoes so they are up and out of the way as he moves his wheelchair around.

 

His clothes are hung low in the closet so as to be easily reachable from a sitting down position.  The boxes on the floor (one on each side of the closet) hold folded clothing and additional bedding.  

 

I included a table so he can pursue his hobby of drawing.  Nature and prince type things are on the shelf above.  The life verse we chose for him is to the right of his bulletin board.

 

And finally, a large shelving unit.  I've included a variety of baskets and drawers to hold whatever makes him happy.  The large leaf hanging above the shelves kinda makes me happy with its pop of color!

The girls jumped and clapped today as I worked on his room.  We are all pretty excited about Isaac's homecoming.

The Ramp Work Has Begun!

After waiting for several weeks for the county to approve the holes that were dug (really?) and then enduring some unusually freezing cold days, the work on the ramp has begun!

 

Our front yard and porch are a muddy mess, but progress is being made!

 

Four men from a local church (not even the one we attend!) are volunteering their labor on this chilly day to get the posts set for Isaac's ramp!

 We are very thankful for those who have a heart for the orphans who have come alongside of us to help in such a practical way!

 

The plan is for Isaac to be able to enjoy our front porch with the rest of the family.  We love to sit out there on nice days and just talk.  The ramp will come out in the middle of the current railing, have a turn around deck, then come down parallel to the porch to join where the sidewalk starts.  The posts you see are for the guard rails.  I'm so excited to see this coming together!

A Heartfelt "Thank you" and Steady Progress

I received a gift a few days ago that brought tears to my eyes.  We know a college student (who obviously doesn't have much money) who regularly contributes as she can to our boy's homecoming.   She has a big ole heart for the orphan and puts it into practical action.  This time her little sister watched as she was putting her gift into an envelope for us.  This little girl is only six, but was herself an orphan just a little over a year ago and knows first hand how great it is to have a family who loves her.  When she figured out what her sister was doing, she insisted that she wanted to contribute too.  So she took money out of her own savings and gave it to us to help get Isaac home.  Folks, that is GOLD!  The amount given by these two girls isn't large in the world's eyes.  But the spirit in which it was given, and the sacrifice it represents touched me so much.  They truly illustrated Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Thank you, girls!  May God bless you richly for the care and love you've shown to our Isaac.

This last week has been a very busy one.  The unexpected arrival of the hard copy of our LOA last Monday triggered a flurry of activity.  It apparently took our agency by surprise also as our referral paperwork wasn't even here yet!  They like to have it completed, notarized and returned to them by the time our LOA is issued. Ethan took a half day off work on Tuesday so we could complete these very important papers, and over night them to our agency.

Perhaps the most important of the bunch was the i800 immigrations forms.  These set in process our intention to declare Isaac - specifically -  as our immediate relative.  The i800 was sent on its way from our agency on Wednesday, and so we wait - again!  Most people have the approval in about two weeks.  It took nearly a month last year with our girls (we've never been the "average" wait time where USCIS is involved), so I'm not counting on that two week timetable.  But, hopefully we'll have an approval in a few weeks, anyway.  Once that approval is received our Article 5 paperwork is initiated at the National Visa Center.  We are getting down to the last few steps!

Since our LOA has been issued, our agency now allows us to send a care package.  I'm trying to gather photos (and my thoughts) to send Isaac a letter.  BUT, I really want to include a photo of his room. So this week has also included a lot of moving things OUT of the guest room to prepare it for Isaac.  I am finished painting, but there is still lots of work to do.  Maybe I'd better send a letter and photos now and again later? 

Another thing back in the works (finally!) is the ramp.  We waited literally for weeks for the county to come to inspect the holes that were dug for the posts that will support the ramp.   Then our area was hit with REALLY cold weather.  I got a phone call this morning that the crew is coming tomorrow to pour the concrete and set the posts.  Yay!  All around, there is steady progress towards Isaac's homecoming.  I can hardly wait!

LOA!!!

Wow, what a day!  Our i800a approval to our Supplement 3 arrived at last - just a week before it expired!  This extends our approval into 2015 and also updates our records to say that Ruth has married and no longer lives at home.  That was an exciting find in the mailbox!

A few minutes later I heard from our China case manager that we were Match Reviewed, meaning that the computer system was showing that our LOA had been issued.  Ok, NOW I am excited.

This was followed up just a few minutes later with a phone call saying that our hard copy LOA had actually ARRIVED.  Oh boy!  NOW we are ecstatic!  Tonight will be a crazy whirlwind of completing immigration papers so we can get everything back to our agency tomorrow.

We are looking at probably 10 - 12 weeks before travel!

Manifesto for the New Year

A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer.

Ever notice how life seems to whizzzzzz by?  It seems as though those things that are important get crowded out by the urgent.  This became so very clear to me yesterday.  My mother died.  I had been intending to print some photos and send them to her, but it was put off.  It is too late now.  It was just a little thing, but it could have brightened her days, and I feel badly that I missed that opportunity.  It really wouldn't have taken THAT much effort.

How about you?  Are the important things getting crowded out?  As we are preparing to go from a household with one easy going child to become a household of four children in about a year and a half span - three of them with special needs and from a hard place  - it becomes obvious that I need to be more intentional about my days.  I need to do a better job of prioritizing and making sure the "little things" that really are important don't get crowded out.

I had already been reflecting upon this past year, and how to make the coming year one that really focuses on the important when I got my all too real reminder yesterday of the shortness of life.  Instead of "resolutions" which I seem to keep for maybe two weeks, I'm looking at goals for the coming year.  I'm actually taking a huge hunk of today - choosing the important over the urgent - to write out an evaluation of where I am and where I want to be in 2014.  I'm using the SMART approach to goal setting:

**S – specific
**M – measurable
**A – attainable
**R – realistic
**T – time-based

If you'd like to join in, Motherhood on a Dime had a good printable for mapping out goals FOUND HERE.

Then I came upon a "Do-able Life Change Plan" today and thought it was so good that I printed THREE COPIES to put in the places in my home where I will most frequently see them and be reminded.  These twenty-five points are explained in the post by the author, Ann.  Check it out.  You just may find something helpful here.  She has the printable reminders in a variety of colors! 

 25 Point Sanity Manifesto

Yes, this takes effort, but as I've heard a thousand times over in the homeschooling community, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  Here's to a new year, with worthy goals and the focus on what is truly important.  I'd love to hear how you are planning to make this next year one that really counts.  Perhaps we can learn from each other!

We are REVIEWED!

I got an email from our China case manager this evening to tell me that the CCCWA's website had updated us to "reviewed" today!  This is great news, as our next step (which seems to come in a couple of weeks to most folks) is "match reviewed."  That will indicate that our dossier has been connected with Isaac's specific files, and the LOA has been issued!   Hurray!  One step closer!