Updates!

So today, before this week really gets-a-going, I thought I'd send out an update of things here on the home front! 

Because this week is shaping up to be a wee bit on the crazy side.  Why, you ask?  Well, only because I have four kids, that are not finished with school for the year, that are on the swim team.  3 of them have practices twice a day and 1 of them has practice once a day, except on Tuesday and Thursday this week when 3 of them will have practice once a day and 1 of them won't have practice at all on two days.  Got that? But, that is just because they have swim meets on those days.  4-5 hour swim meets.... during dinner and bed time. Which means we will eat dinner at the pool and get to bed around...oh, midnight!  Plus also, one of Isabel's bestest friends in the whole world {and her God-sister} is doing golf camp down the road and so I will pick her up everyday at noon and let her stay here for playdates....because when you have this many kids, what's another one?  AND, we are leaving town on Friday for 10 days {counting Friday}, so I have to clean the house, wash the clothes, pack suitcases for the 6 of us, wash the dogs and leave everything just so for the dog sitter {a wonderful teenager-soon-to-be-adult that lives across the street}.  Oh, and clean out the Monster Van, and pack it!  At least that thing is so big, I shouldn't have any trouble finding room for all our stuff!  Hey, I wonder if I really can take the kitchen sink? 

I'm so excited about our trip to St. Louis this year!  It's always a great trip anyway, because we love St. Louis and because we always get to see someone we love along the way.  Last year we got to stop in TN to see the Caudills on our way out and went on the Chicago to see the Gulkes after our doctor's appointment in St. Louis.  This year, the Gulkes and another family from our travel group, the Corkens, are going to join us in St. Louis and possibly the Caudills.  And then we are going to drive back to the Caudills (us and the Gulkes) and hang out there for the rest of the week!  So. Much. Fun! 

But anyway, an update:

Our homestudy is complete.  Done.  Finished.  I think I got the email that it was headed to SCDSS around June 3rd.....possibly at exactly 9:54am.  But, it's really hard to keep track of those things!  Why is it at DSS when it was completed by a certified social worker?  Yeah, don't ask me.  That is a requirement in our state.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the fee involved?  Hmmmm. 

What is next?  That would be USCIS.  We need to get our application for that in the mail this week before we leave.  I'm waiting on the funds.  Which is code for, I'm waiting on God. 

This beautiful photo is of our first state certified document that has come for our dossier.  We will begin building it with this employment letter fresh in from Indiana, folks! 

Unfortunately, the next document to come should have been here, but is being delayed.....due to having to pay the stupid tax.  Stupid tax is when you do something stupid and others make it worse and it costs you money.  We sent my birth certificate to GA for it's certification and forgot to include the $10 fee.  The nice lady called and left a message telling us to send the check {which we did the very next day}, and then proceeded to send back our document in our pre-paid Fed-Ex envelope!  So our check is there now, but the document is not!  That cost us close to 40 bucks in Fed-Ex fees!  So now I wonder if they will send our check back while we are sending the document back???  What do you think?  I think I won't pay that stupid tax again.  I will send the document and another $10 check.  If they don't want the second check they can send it back.  If they send back the first check, HA, I got them.  If they cash both, it's still cheaper than paying Fed-Ex a third time!!  UGGGGGGGG! 

So that is where we are at.  Homestudy done.  Dossier being built.  Next stop-Immigration.  And life goes on. 

 

Oh, is anyone interested in seeing pictures of our boy and hearing about how he has come to be our son?