A Moment in Time

I have so many thoughts about this picture I can't make them come out.

At any moment I could be completely flustered with any one of them, or needing hugs and face-to-face conversation with them.

I never saw myself as a mother of 6 children, but I am and this is EXACTLY what I want it to look like.

Glorious Unfolding

This is the FINAL ADOPTION UPDATE.

Our adoption was finalized on Thursday, November 6th at 8:40am, in the Pulaski County Court. We've been a family for awhile now, and this was simply the day we became "official." After several years of pursuing this day, this calling, we were not super crazy emotional, just relieved and thankful. The real miracle was that all the paperwork was signed, sealed and delivered where we were and on the right day!

It was such a joy to have Grandma and Grandpa there, of course, they've been there for the births of all our kids! Mimi and Gramps were there, and Rhea Lana too. What a room FULL of love for these children, for our family. Not everyone at the Juvenile Court building was there for adoptions, and we were the loudest group in the waiting room, for sure. But, you only get one ADOPTION day, and even I wasn't uptight with the noise or the size of our group.

We took in a little CFA after our court appearance, then went directly to the office of vital records for new birth certificates, with Richard and I listed as the parents, and their full names on them. The girls went back to school when we got home...imagine that they wanted to! Cameron opted to stay home with Grandma and Grandpa and got some good grandson attention while we processed the morning events.

I had been convicted in the last few weeks that this day  shouldn't be the best day of our kids lives. The day they are adopted by Jesus should be the best day of their lives. I am thankful that they both are so open to the wonders of creation and God's Word, and I pray that they want the hope of Jesus in their lives very soon. It's not enough that they are adopted here on earth, they MUST be adopted by Him as heirs in the eternal kingdom.

Quote of the Day

It's Drug Free week at school. Lots of extra counseling and extra talks about saying "no" to all kinds of drugs.

Cameron's retelling of the counselor's message today: "You know Mom, you can drink something like root beer, but it's different, but like root beer, and if you drive, you won't be able to see, at all. Then, if you hit someone, they will take you out of the car, and the other person, and you will go to prison." Moral of the story: Don't drink root beer. Don't go to prison.

Signed, Sealed?, and Delivered

Adoption Update #234...

From my email on Thursday: another form from the Adoption Specialist...then I got a phone call asking  if we could get them notarized and in LR by the Friday. I copied off the papers at home, and met Richard in LR at 11:15 on Friday. Fortunately, he was flying in from a 2 day trip in Houston. 

We met the AS at the DHS office, signed the papers, had the papers notarized in the office, and the AS followed us out of the building to FILE them. FILE them at the courthouse. LIKE, when they are "accepted" they'll put us on the docket...maybe in the next two weeks? Who knows? 

I had Sheridan take a picture of us signing...I think SOMEDAY we'll want to remember just how hard they made it all, and yet, how much we wanted to do it to have Jordan and Cameron as part of our family, officially. 

Quote of The Day: When we were waiting on our copy of the newly signed papers, Jordan asked if we were going to go to eat. (I mean, it was 11:30 and she's ALWAYS HUNGRY) 

Richard (jokingly) answered: "No, we're not eating today. At all."

Jordan: "Hey! You just signed a paper saying you would provide for me!"

Parent/Teacher Conferences : good news!

I've never been uptight about going to P/T conferences, I look at all the papers that come home, I keep up with what my kids are reading, and who they play with at recess. I'm always looking for a concerned look by a teacher, and I ask about their behavior...or anything else I should know. But, with one exception (not to be named), I've never been caught completely UNAWARE. So, this year, we've had the kids for only a half of a year, and even though we know them better than before, I wasn't sure what to expect.

It was an AWESOME day of conferences to hear all our teachers say that they enjoyed our kids in their classes. It's really what we want. We 've always encouraged our kids in school, not necessarily to always get As, and they don't always have to be at the top of the class, but they have to do their best. Both Jordan and Cameron are making LOTS of progress in school, have good grades and are being good friends to their classmates. They both have been warned about talking...but that's understandable, being Rogers and all.

Number 1: I'm thankful they like school and are doing so well.

Number 2:  I'm SO very thankful Sheridan is not only doing well in school, but ENJOYING it too!

 

INTRAMURAL CHAMPS

Lauren is on an intramural flag football team called SHOW STOPPERS. They won their first game 54-0, The second game was something like 48-0. The championship game was held in the ATU football stadium and was the closest game they've had: 25-6. And that was the ONLY touchdown scored on them all season!

I had no idea that intramural games ever went off-campus, but they have qualified for the regional intramural football championships in Stillwater, OK. No kidding.

They'll take their highlighter yellow jerseys, their armbands with plays and their big dreams to the big stage in OK on October 31. Big stuff for such a little girl!

DOUBLE DIGIT BIRTHDAY

Jordan has lived as a Rogers for 10 months. She's waited through all 7 of our birthdays for hers. It's been hard! She couldn't decide if she wanted a party like Sheridan (painting), a trip (Erin's) or a bounce house (like Cameron's). For a 9 year old, it would seem normal to want to talk about all the options a birthday party could entail...but for Jordan it was her VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY. It's hard to put my mind around that.

She has had limited exposure to the kinds of parties I like to throw...all kinds actually, but with the help of her sisters we encouraged her to have an after-school party with just a few of her friends and she chose tie-dye as her theme. She doesn't care that Erin had a tie-dye party when she was 8...she was just SUPER EXCITED to have the invitations to take to school and the girls who came.

We actually started the day with her breakfast choice: waffles AND eggs. She got to open all her birthday cards and a gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Richard met her at school with a pizza (her favorite food) and root beer (a treat). THEN, we picked she and her friends up from school and brought them home for THE PARTY!

Lauren came home to help and we had such a great day! It was beautiful outside, it was party-like inside and it kept a smile on her face for over 48 hours.

As much as Jordan has seen or been exposed to in her 9 years...she has an innocence about her because she hasn't been in a lot of different situations. Getting 4 birthday cards in the mail....never. Getting money from grandparents....never. Talk of starting a savings account...never. Having a day all about her...never.

Double digits are BIG. And it's going to be a great year!