A referral in the group!

We have this tight lil adoption group on Facebook. 11 women from Canada, US, Germany, Iceland (Denmark) and the Netherlands... who gather during the few hours that we are all awake, so usually early morning and late night, since are time zones are almost opposite from one another, to discuss everything from shoes to every facet about adoption that you can imagine. We have been connected for over 9 months now, holding each other up and cheering each other along... occasionally gaining a new member here and there.

Well today (or her yesterday), we had our first official referral in the group! We are so elated and overjoyed for her! She is American currently residing in Kenya. You can find her here.

It is truly encouraging to see this happening! It reminds us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel! We got to see a couple snapshots of him... which was the best, encouraging, eye candy we could possibly have!! Many of us are waiting for NAC approval news right now, so it is a great distraction for us to live vicariously through her as they meet their little boy and get to know him.

Congrats Jessica... we are so very happy for you!! (You can watch her blog... you may be able to even catch a sneak peak of him. ;)

Stow Away...

I apologize as I have lost my gumption to post anything adoption related. Until we hear about our approval (hopefully late this week, early next), I will just be journaling our summer. ;)

The kids and Dan were treated to a helicopter ride a couple weeks ago. There was only room for three, so I hung out at home and enjoyed some rare alone time. ;)

After they returned, Mister went under the van to retrieve a ball that had rolled under and noticed this...

See the little furry tail hanging down - centre of photo?

So I opened the hood, and saw this...

Pack Rat, Pika? We weren't sure at first... so we left the hood opened and returned 30 minutes later and found this...

About the size of a small cat. A marmot. Poor thing. Apparently, when the babies are weaned in early summer, they go in search of sweet tasting food and many times find it in the brake lines and radiator hoses (antifreeze/coolant)... after chewing them up.

So after prodding him gently with sticks, we decided the only way to get him out was with a water hose...

And it took 40 minutes to convince him to come out! Once out of the engine... he would jump from wheel well to wheel well. Until finally... soaking wet, cold and scared, he scuttled off up our yard and took a rest.

Look right at the center...

He sat there for about an hour, in shock I imagine and then disappeared. Luckily, we live on the edge of the town with forest in our back yard, so he will find natural shelter/food. I daresay that he has learned his lesson and will never hitch a ride in the engine block of a vehicle again!

Waldorf doll... my latest obsession.

You may know that I love homemade, and natural things. Seriously then, what is not to love about this?

With sweet little options like 'freckles'...

Hair that is made from natural yarns, often hand dyed and spun...

'Dread yarn'

'Curly' Yarn

Fluffy

'Nubby' Yarn

Wefted Fur

Most all these photos are from Dragon's Fly Hollow. Look for them on Facebook, as most of their activity takes place there.

These dolls are not cheap however. The patterns are made, natural cloth cut and sewn, stuffed with wool, shaped, faces sewn on, cheeks colored and hair that is sewn or crocheted on. That's a lot of work... and of course they wouldn't be complete without homemade underwear and an outfit! These dolls are all over $200, and they are very hard to get. Only limited amounts are made, and the demand is very large.

Dragon's Fly Hollow has developed the Mama Made. The body of the doll that you can purchase for $85, and then you can sew your own face and hair on.

So... I took the plunge and ordered a brown skin body, and am currently having some yarn dyed and spun for me! So exciting!!

Sneak Peak..

12 Hours

I am starting to feel like a broken record!!

Our dossier has been in Kenya now for 4 months now, waiting for approval by the governing body. Once you have been approved, a referral (or match) happens quite quickly. For us, there is a lot at stake this month. If we get approval, we will be moving in Sept to get the kids settled in and start our homeschooling in Kenya. Hubby may or may not be accompanying us then... depending on the estimation to referral.

I feel like a yo-yo, not knowing if my life direction is headed up or down!

In 12 hours, between the hours of 9-11, the NAC will be sitting down to review adoption files. Please, please, please let ours be close to the top of that pile, and please find nothing else missing or wrong with it.

July is my birthday month - and this is the only present I want. Approval.

Regardless of the result, we will not hear any news for 2 weeks, so please bare with us as we wait another agonizing 2 weeks.

July NAC meet moved

It has been confirmed by our Kenyan agency that the meet is not until the 18th.

Summer Sun

After all of our rain this year - we are lapping up this sunshine with play dates at the park, beach and picnics. 

Our local beach - much is still under water.

Picnic at the park!

My long haired hippy has finally agreed to allow me to make him a haircut appointment - now that it is getting into his eyes! ;)

Enjoying local market fair. 

View above my favorite bench in the park... funny tree swoops out right above your head. 

On a different note, yes, I have heard that the NAC may have been changed to the 18th. I am on it - and will let you all know as soon as I know! ;)

July meet - NAC

... drum roll...

The next meet is July 11th! This is where I feel guilty about not being public... I know there are many waiting for this info.

 Please share if you have a Kenya adoption blog. ;)

And the sun is shining...

I realize that I kinda left you all hanging, sorry. I update on facebook frequently, but must remember that some of you aren't Facebookies.

It turned out that there was a delay in the FedEx program. The package was indeed delivered. Our Kenyan agency has also confirmed that it would be presented in July's meet. No one seems to have gotten a date for that yet. Hopefully it's the middle of the month again.

... and as you can see from this photo taken from this morning at our local park, the sun decided to make an appearance, and it looks like it is here to stay for a while. ;)

Missing

Hmmmmm.... Dejavu?

Rainbow please!

Seriously - it has been raining for at least 40 days and 40 nights. It's been raining for so long, that I can't remember a time when it wasn't raining - other than last year.

These are photos from Canada Day yesterday. Festivities and fireworks were cancelled.

We are flooding. Well, our town is on a mountain... but everything in the valley bottom is flooding. Our lake is at a 45 yr high.

Our soccer fields, parking lots, parks etc. are flooded.

My backyard has a creek running through it. A muddy creek.

Water sprays up out of our manhole covers on the streets.

My plants are all waterlogged and dying - but my weeds are thriving, and given the fact that it never quits raining, there has been no weeding accomplished. 

See all these dang weeds? I'm simply going to excavate the whole darn thing, and start from scratch. These weeds I have been battling from the time we moved in. They were quite established, and now they have won the war.

Despite the rain, we did celebrate Canada Day at friend's house playing games. We also got news that our documents landed in Kenya and were out for delivery. Yay! But wait... not so quick.

This am, the tracking number informed me that our documents were not delivered. Fedex has opened an investigation.

Just when you think you are up, you get slammed down. This is just beyond ridiculous now.

The docs have to be submitted to the Kenyan governing body by Thursday, but they have to be delivered first!, then prepared by our Kenyan agency and then couriered.

Will there ever be a rainbow at the end of this storm?