Remember the "Decisions" post awhile ago? I had three things with which to make a really big decision. Option 2 closed itself, by itself. Option 3 became harder to manage, and Option 1 became the option we were going for - we decided that that option was the right one and were getting very excited about it and doing lots of planning! Well, we took steps to finalize that option when we were told that that option was not available anymore. Mark is upset about it, but I am crushed.

So we are giving up on our options, and just leaving things the way they are. I will be wallowing in my own special pity-party for awhile, but I'll get over it eventually. Prayers for peace and comfort would be great.

Just wanted to let you know whatever came of the big decision we had to make. :o( No decision at all.

First, I want to pay tribute to my two fathers:

First, to my dad, Keith. My dad was like a god to me when I was little. When he was around, I was in awe of him. I wanted everyone to know that he was MY dad!! When he talked to me or paid attention to me, I felt like the most important person in the world because he noticed me. When I was 10, he went on a Bike-a-Thon with me and we rode 12 miles all over New Orleans. (Neither one of us thought we could make more than a mile, but we did 12 pretty easily!) It was one of the best days of my life. I was a real pain in my elementary years, and I know I stressed him out a LOT, but he did his best and I know he still loved me, even so. I didn't see him much during my later growing-up years, but I've always held him in the highest honor. I love you, Dad!



Next, to my stepdad, Joe. Joe married my mom when I was 19, I think. He never had kids and was never around teenagers, so he was really nervous whenever he had to spend time with me (like in the car when it was just the two of us, for example), but he never complained in front of me and I didn't know he was so scared. lol He has always been good to me (and my mom) and though we don't really have a traditional father-daughter relationship, I do consider us to be friends and I dearly love spending time with him - you will never laugh as much around Joe as you will around anyone else! When I graduated from college, he and I drove a U-Haul from WA to TN, where I landed my first job. We spent 5 days together (by then he wasn't quite so scared of me!) and had a blast, yelling our guts out out the window at cows, doing a little sightseeing, and teasing each other constantly. What a fun trip!! Joe, I love you like a father and I'm so glad that you've been there for me for so many years! You've never complained when I've needed you time and again, and you've accepted my kids as your own grandkids. I love you, dude!!

My kids have a new father, as well. Mark and I married almost 2 years ago, and he accepted my kids 100% as his own. They look at him as their father, nothing less, and the "blend" has been incredibly smooth. For Father's Day this year, we went to a restaurant called "Fishlips" in Cape Canaveral as one of Mark's favorite exasperated expressions is "Fish lips!!!". We had a nice day. Thank you, God, for bringing Mark into my boys' lives.

A rite of passage: mowing the lawn.

When I was 9, my grandpa let me drive his riding mower in Iowa - over a HUGE, beautiful hilly green lawn. It was one of the biggest days of my life!! Then, when I was 12 (I think - maybe 11), he let me actually MOW the lawn, and it was the best chore there could be. I looked forward to it every summer when we visited!! (My grandpa was the BEST!!!!!!)

Reese is 14 1/2, so I figured it was time he started mowing. He's been wanting to for some time, and I let him drive it on the street on our dead-end when he was 12 or so, but today he became a Man.

He did great, too!! We have a lot of debris in our yard, which makes it a difficult yard to mow (which is one reason for the delay). Lots of sticks, dog toys and plaster chunks from all of the remodeling and the room we put on, but Nikolai and I helped pick up as much as we could and I let Reese do his thing.

He's trying to be modest, but I know he's as proud as he can be at his new responsibility!!

Here is little "Simey". Poor kid doesn't have a new name picked out for him yet, but we're working on it. We're also working on GETTING OUR DURNED DOCUMENTS PERFECT. It seems that the SDA (Ukraine officials in charge of adoptions) is being picky about one document and is making Mark write a letter re: his employment status (he is self-employed). UGH. We already had the homestudy agency write an addendum (they are the ones who screwed up initially) and sent it over, but I guess it wasn't good enough. So, in the meantime, weeks tick away while our boy is sitting over there waiting for us. No, he doesn't know about us, nor does he know any world exists outside of his orphanage, but still... We are SO ready to go get him!! Also, the boys have camps that they wait the whole year for (Reese has amputee and church camp and Nikolai has church camp) and the timing of this is going to seriously mess up their camps, not to mention school this fall, as they were supposed to go to Seattle to my mom's for several weeks while Mark and I traveled!!

I'm whining, and I know it. So what. I feel like it. It has been that kind of day.

Here's Issue #2 in our house. Poor little Daisy and her ongoing leg problems. Because she has had so many issues on her right leg (the left leg problems have been minor), her "hamstring" muscles are very, very tight and her leg won't reach down to the floor. The vet today removed her sutures and showed me how to stretch, stretch, stretch her, but the poor thing acts like she's in so much pain I hate to touch her!! He did give us some more pain medicine, thank goodness, and the stuff he gave seems to help her.

But it's so sad. She's not the happy, wiggly, "every day's my favorite day" dog that she used to be...!! She goes in her bed far more often, she doesn't chew on bones, and she just doesn't have that "spark" that she used to have. She seems depressed. She does give LOTS of kisses like always and she loves attention, but she just... acts like an old dog. She's not even 2...

So today hasn't been the best. Not the worst, but certainly not the best... :o(

*sigh*

Reese loves to play ball. ANY kind of ball. But his favorite is baseball, followed by softball. He held out on Little League this winter as he was trying to get a job, but the job never came, and it was too late for LL so he was really looking forward to playing softball. His games finally started, and I just got a new camera, so I thought I'd pair them up and see what happened. ;o)

While it's not 100% perfect, Simon's room is ready for him!! We've sort of had to piece it together, with some stuff borrowed from the boys, some stuff bought used from second-hand stores, and some stuff bought new, but we don't think he'll mind. ;o) Here's what Simey will come home to:



His closet full of clothes of various sizes and types. ;o) (Buying clothes was the fun part and very therapeutic for me as I "nest"!!!) The weird contraption that looks like a red and black torture device is actually Nikolai's standing table that he doesn't use any more. If Simon needs help bearing weight through his legs, he can stand in this device for 15 - 30 minutes at a time while coloring, eating or whatever. He may not need it, but Nikolai doesn't, so it's in Simon's room.

His dressers and some of his toys. The TV won't be hooked up to anything but a VCR where he can watch little kid movies. (Normally, I don't allow TV's in kids' rooms, but he can benefit from the stimulation of the music and language, I'm sure.)

And here is his bed!! Mark and I picked this 4-in-1 crib (crib, toddler bed, daybed, full-size bed convertible) out at Burlington Coat Factory and got a great deal on it!! The bedding is Pooh, and kind of babyish for a 5 year old (as is much of his bedroom stuff), but from the sounds of it, he is still very much like a baby and if this stuff is too young for him after all, we'll sell it or donate it. You gotta admit, it is cute, though!!! (Mark and I both grew up with Pooh and love him!!) We also assembled it to be a crib, because I think that is what he uses at the orphanage, but we can always convert it to a toddler bed when he's ready. :o)

We are getting so excited!! We think that we will get to travel as early as the first part of July!!

Poor Daisy!! Her second orthopedic surgery in 4 months!!! The vet said everything went great, however, and he expects her to have a fairly easy recovery (though I doubt Daisy would agree to that!). She is resting quietly with her beloved daddy at her side, and is being waited on hand and foot until she recovers. (And probably after...) Our poor little baby girl. She's been through so much!!!