So it has been an interesting week. EXCITING news... our Part 1 application for CHSFS was approved on Friday and we recieved our Part 2 packet yesterday. This is all new to me as everything was in one packet plus several last minute emails last year when we did this. It is nice that everything is so organized but it seems a little daunting looking at the essay questions all over again. At least I kept an electronic copy of one of the pages of essays so I only had to update my answers. So we are completing our 10 hours of training this week by going through the Eyes Wide Open packet that reviews possible issues in International Adoption and finishing up the family physcials so by Friday we should have all we can do done and just waiting on our awesome Social Worker, Jan, from Gateway Woods to finish up the homestudy!!! We are moving along!!! We are excited...but still very sensitive about any negative comments, or inuendos that others dissapprove of our next adoption. Thank you to all of you who left awesome comments to encourage us...this time is so hard....I am a people pleaser and the fact that this is not pleasing to some important people in my life is hard...but it is important to our family and we have to learn to live for us...popular or not.
So this week we have taken a big hit in the wallet!! I, the half-blind in my right eye, can't drive at night or in the rain lady ran the Yaris up on a ginormous curb when trying to get to McDonald's through the new Starbucks parking lot. I popped the front tire, bent the rim, and left a rather interesting "accent" along the passenger side below the doors. Then after watching a 20/20 special on the tread of tires falling off I finally gave in and let Torrey convince me that the anti-tread on the van tires really could be a problem and the oil should be changed in the van more than once every 20,000 miles so I bit the bullet and coughed up the money to "save" the van. Then it suddenly became sweltering hot her in the hoosier state and the air conditioner that was pushed out of the second story window last year onto the patio by our sweet loving son needed to be replaced before we became puddles on the floor with 6 little bodies bouncing through the tiny house. Then the basement started to get musty and humid and we realized the the dehumidifer had finally conked out. And finally I couldn't convince Torrey to quit school so we had to fork over the dough for his summer class.... Don't you hate being an adult sometimes!!!! I do love being a parent of the cutest little girl ever!!! Here she is in the dehumidfier box:

Even as the laundry (seen in the background) and other issues stack up, it is always fun to stop and eat some imaginary cake with your kids!!!