Just Stroll-ing Along . . .

hearing my 21-month-old niece say, after much coercion ("soph, say you're a tiny bucket ... soooophieeee... say you're a tiny bucket!!") , in the smallest, sweetest voice ---

"i a tiny buckit."

Our presentation meeting was rescheduled for Thursday, March 8th at 1:30pm. If anyone can think of any good questions for us to ask, let me know. I've got a few pages filled, but we're looking for more!

Today was Aoife's open heart surgery! She went in at 6:30 this morning and I've just recently received word that the surgery is over and her doctor is very pleased with the result! I'll update as I know more, but thanks to everyone for their continued prayers.

Hopefully I'll be spending the majority of this weekend painting. I am going to attempt something similar to this on the wall in our smallest bedroom. We had wanted to stay with a piratey theme in that room, but nothing was working out very well, plus I hate matchy-matchy stuff, and I was afraid it would end up going in that direction. I'm going for the tree on the wall simply because the room is small, and I want things on the walls, but don't want it to feel crowded. This is my way of filling a wall without the bulk.
Basically the room will have a vintage/mod feel. I am pulling together fabrics for a simple brick pattern quilt and keeping my eyes out for the perfect mix of old and new.

1. Pray for my best friend KD's sister, Bekki. She's having a lot of health problems & the doctors aren't quite sure what's going on yet, but she's scheduled for a PET scan today.
2. We're yet again frustrated with the county -- our presentation meeting for next Thursday was canceled and we haven't been given a new date. Urgh.

to sum up, the concert was incredible. you know how some people suck live? yeah, josh groban totally didn't. he was amazing and our seats were amazing. we had a fabulous time, even though, yes, brian is STILL sick and we spent most of our long weekend on the couch or at the doctor's office. (brian's uvula was swollen 4 times its normal size and he couldn't breathe, plus he kept coughing up blood. BLOOD, people!)

have a wonderful weekend, lovelies! i sure will! i'll be back on tuesday with concert details.

brian & i have set up two registries for kid's stuff @ amazon & the land of nod -- mostly books, a few cds and some toys. a few people have asked if we needed some things, so we decided to just set up some links.

spent st. valentine's day more in love with my hubby & our cosy home (in which we were snowbound!). we spent the day in the kitchen -- cupcakes (yellow batter recipe from here -- with almond extract rather than vanilla -- and vanilla buttercream recipe from here) with pale pink froth on top, tenderloin steaks wrapped with bacon, with crispy deep-fried onion straws on top, a double potato mash & sauteed sugar snap peas on the side. we curled up on the couch with our babies & ate in front of american idol (one of two reality shows we can stand - the other is project runway).

bliss.

Our meeting with our new general caseworker last night went really well --- she is very nice, logical, and knowledgeable. She was with us for about 1 1/2 hrs and we went over a lot of things. She recommended some parenting books to us & said she would check in with the adoption assessor for us (our adoption presentation meeting is scheduled for March 1st @ 1 pm) to get us things like photos, more information, etc. We learned a few things, such as if we sign an adoption agreement right away (which is what will happen if the biological family's appeal is overturned), we would be responsible for daycare costs (which is something we aren't 100% about yet) instead of it being covered by Medicaid (which is how it normally works with fostering). All in all, a good meeting, more things to think about, more papers to read.

Brian is sick with a really bad cold, so he's home today. He's supposed to work at Meijer all weekend while I do our respite care, but I don't know if he'll be able to work or not. Poor fella.

We met three wonderful children last weekend that we will be doing respite care for this coming Saturday & Sunday. Very lively, sweet & playful. They've been through a lot in their short lives and are being cared for & loved by a great lady - their "Gamma Jo." We spent about 2 hours with them on Sunday and they latched on to us very quickly -- especially the youngest. Last month their case worker & the county decided to stop the reunification process with their biological mother, as she couldn't follow the case plan, and are filing for permanent custody. Their current foster mother is unable to adopt them & she told us before we parted ways on Sunday that she was hoping we would be able to take them. What a heartbreaking thing for us -- had we not been approved for Kayla & Joshua (we are still waiting to hear word on a possible presentation meeting for them), it would have been very easy to say yes. Anyways, we will be taking care of them this weekend, and in the meantime we are praying that a wonderful family will step up & want these beautiful kids.

Aoife went to the cardiologist on Monday and the doctor is pleased with her weight gain. They still have not scheduled her open heart surgery, but they estimate she will be in the hospital for about two weeks or so.

Check out the March issue of Romantic Homes -- it has a lovely 10-page spread of Alicia Paulson's (of Posie Gets Cozy) gorgeous Portland, OR home.

This is for Joshua's room. It reminds me of the Lost Boys.

Mar & I were talking this afternoon about sundresses & smocking & pinafores for Kayla.

I am getting excited about the little things -- the fun, added bonuses of bringing these children home -- but I think I will be terrified when the actual day arrives!

I'm a little upset that we have not been contacted yet with a date for our adoption presentation meeting. I'm also a little upset that we have not been contacted by the foster mom about the kids we're supposed to be doing respite care for next weekend. Grr.

We're having 5 people for supper tomorrow -- but I only have to make a salad! Kelly & Craig are bringing steaks & potatoes, and Dawn, Dean & Britty are bringing dessert. Scrumpy!

I heard we are getting a Sephora. O, happy day! I will probably have to get a job there, since I will be there all the time anyway.

Okay, Thai chicken pizza is awesome. Here's my adapted Rachael Ray recipe:

Preheat oven to 425. Marinate a couple of chicken cutlets in about 1 tb. peanut butter, couple shakes of soy sauce & hot sauce and throw in some grill seasoning. Let sit for 10 minutes. Unroll Pillsbury pizza crust into some type of pan (I used a cookie sheet with sides). Spread crust with duck (or plum) sauce. Sprinkle over shredded provolone or monterey jack cheese. Top with thinly sliced red or yellow peppers & crushed red pepper flakes. Bake for 15 minutes. While pizza is in oven, grill marinated chicken for a couple of minutes on each side. Thinly slice on the diagonal. Take pizza out of oven and top with chicken. Throw on some spring onions, bean sprouts or some type of crunchy green veggie. Scrumptious!
(Sweet & sour sauce would probably be good too -- and really, any veggies work with this!)

Tonight I am making French onion soup.

Brian's truck STILL isn't working and he's been having to drive the Camaro in the slippery snow. Camaro's are NOT good on snow.

I bought a few little girlie shirts the other day. Oh my word. The pink. The ruffles. The embroidery. The butterflies.

Tonight we're going to work in the bedrooms and the basement. We're turning part of the basement into a play area. So we somehow have to get rid of, like, 30 years worth of spider webs.

My city sister is becoming a bird-watcher. I love that.

We rented The Illusionist on Sunday night. Loved it. But who doesn't love Ed Norton.

I have an orange to eat & a bit o' work to do. Thus ends the randomness for now.