Nursing school

Erin has talked about being a nurse for a year or so now. She and I went to an orientation given by a community college in the neighboring county a few weeks ago to get the scoop on prerequistes, classes, degrees earned, and the like. Since then Erin has been very determined to finish her senior year strong. She had been talking about being a nurse with Erik who has since decided he is interested in that field also. I was very surprised when he announced he was considering nursing because he had never shown much interest in anything like that. But actually I think he would make a good nurse. He loves to make people laugh and he is very caring. Anyway, we're going to the local community college this afternoon to hear their orientation on nursing school. In Florida good high school students can dual enroll in college during their jr and sr year in high school to get both college credit and high school credit. If you're in this program, college is free. So we'll see what we can do! Or rather, what the kids can do.

Meet Sarge, Karl's new Kitty

Karl has been lonesome for all his animals we left in Wisconsin when we moved. It was a tough decision but we didn't know how things would be here so we didn't bring any animals along with us. This weekend we were able to get a kitty from a friend for Karl. Karl is very happy and as he told me, " Ahhh, Now I remember what fur feels like!". Maybe he'll be a vet?

I took Karl's picture and he took the rest. One picture is of Sarge's short tail. He looks like he is part Siamese and part Manx.... Sarge, that is.

Craig's Braces

Hi this is Erin, mom asked me to put a picture of Craig after he got his braces. So that is what I'm doing. Craig got his braces on Tuesday morning and his teeth had started shifting by Wednesday already. But not to worry, Craig was popping the ibuprofen. Here he is! Isn't he so cute with his braces.

Another teenager

I have to apologize to Craig for missing his birthday announcement. He became our newest teenager on Saturday. We took Nancy and Megan and the family to see alligators, manatees and other Florida critters so he didn't have his usual birthday supper. Our family tradition is the birthday person gets to pick what they want for supper. Since we were out we had sandwiches and stopped at Sonic for favorite drinks. Craig didn't want cake so we had ice cream when we got home to open gifts. Then, Sunday morning Megan and Nancy left, we went to church and had company for the afternoon. Craig decided to cook his own birthday supper. He made
Pork Loin Stir Fry & Rice. He's a pretty good cook so it was yummy.

Happy Birthday, Craig! We love you!

Megan's flown the nest...

Megan and Nancy have headed to Wisconsin this morning. Megan sent a number of boxes and requested that we send the remaining boxes that wouldn't fit in her car. We were watching the weather reports for hurricane Gustav and thankfully, they will be through the Gulf region and into Tennessee before the bad weather comes ashore. They finished loading and after prayers, hugs, and tears, the girls took off. Karl had to sit next to me in church and pat my hand telling me that he missed Megan already. I'm sure it will take a few days to adjust, the same as when the other girls left home, but Megan's ready for her big adventure.

While Nancy was visiting this week we played tourist. We took her to St. Augustine, Manatee Springs, Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, and Homassassa Springs. I think she enjoyed all the variety Florida has to offer. We saw bamboo forests and huge water lilies, the Atlantic ocean, dolphins, alligators, manatees, and lots of other unique Florida sights.

Fay is visiting

For all our family 'up nort' who have been wondering how we're doing... it has been raining all night. I haven't checked our rain guage but I'm sure we have a couple of inches. Thankfully we are on high ground and although our driveway slopes INTO our garage ???, it hasn't been heavy rain so it isn't flooding our garage. The center of the storm is about 15 miles away to our northeast. According to the hurricane center the areas to the east of the storm are getting the more severe weather. As the storm tracks to the west I'll let you know if we get more severe weather.

The storm did blow in a visitor... we had a little black dog named Gypsey visit yesterday afternoon during a dry spell. Del and Karl tried to read her nametag last night but she ran away. This morning we found her on our back porch notifying us that she's ready to come in the house. We read the phone number off her tag and her owner just picked her up. Karl was very excited to pet some real fur again!

Braces for all....

Well it looks like we'll have put all the kids in braces before we're done. Although we're crossing our fingers about Abraham. His teeth look so straight! Anyway, this time it was Erin and Craig's turn to be evaluated. Actually we had Erin evaluated about 18 months ago when we had Erik checked. However, it was pricey to put both of them in at the same time so Erik got them first. This is new orthodontist said Craig could use braces now but he referred Erin to a specialist at UF for TMJ disorder. The specialist found that Erin has a slipped disk on her left jaw and recommended that she go through treatment before getting braces. Otherwise, her jaw will continue to bother her and any orthodontia treatment will eventually be wasted. So I have to check with the insurance company first but it looks like Erin will get a rigid splint to relax the muscles in her jaw to allow the disk to slip back in place in the TMJ. THEN she gets braces to help hold the disk in place. Craig will get his braces in September. Unlike all his siblings, he won't get the spacers for a week first and then the bands. This style of braces gets put on during the first visit. I'll try to get pictures when he gets them on.

We're getting close to traveling... Megan, too...

We haven't heard anything back about Abraham's age testing but we're getting close to being done. I've checked out a few travel agencies and am working on which gives us the better deal. Also, I'm working on what to bring. We've got some donations to bring over and then we pack what the kids will need because they leave the orphanage with the clothes on their back and that's about it.

It looks like Megan will be gone before the kids get here. She is moving back to WI in a couple of weeks. She and Theresa will be roomies. Megan gave her two weeks notice and has had to endure her co-worker's sadness this week. Of course, the Floridians wonder why anyone would want to move back to the north country. I've told her that it didn't matter if she was going to college, going to the military, getting married, or just moving out it was all the same to us: we're sad to see her go. As our oldest daughter said, we have " issues with letting go" of our kids. I guess that is a problem when you actually LIKE your kids and enjoy their company! :-)

New Layout, sunburn and boiled peanuts....

I thought I'd try a new layout. The old one only uses the center of the screen. If you have a preference for the look of the wider layout vs the narrow, brown layout, leave me a comment.

Wednesday we went to the Atlantic ocean to visit Del's cousins. Becky and her family were down from WI for a visit to Connie and her family in FL. Del and Karl went swimming in the ocean while Erin and I dodged jellyfish on shore. We saw a couple of sea turtle nests and some sand crabs. The waves and the jellyfish were a result of Hurricane Bertha's affects on the ocean, I guess. Del and Karl got sunburned while they were there but are recovering nicely. Lots of aloe lotion helps. Yesterday, Karl and his cousins got to play in the cool springs for a little bit which I think helped his burn. We also had boiled peanuts and pulled pork BBQ for supper so the Wisconsinites had a taste of the south.

Visitors for the 4th...

Del's sister and her family are visiting for a bit. They came on the 4th so that was our celebration. The kids were so excited to see their cousins we didn't even hear about going to see fireworks! Of course, some neighbors were kind enough to shoot some nice fireworks off so we could share with them.

We went to the Gulf coast and saw the sights of what was a town bigger than New Orleans (back in the day) before hurricanes wiped it out. It was never rebuilt as a big town but it is a nice, quaint fishing and artsy town. We plan to see some alligators and swim in one of the famous springs around here before they head back. Tonight is Del's birthday so the menu is BLT sandwiches and of course, cake and ice cream! I'd better get the cake in the oven before it gets too hot in the kitchen to bake!

Braces evaluation.... again

Craig and Erin have an evaluation for braces scheduled today. We're pretty sure Erin's wisdom teeth need to be removed soon, too. So we should have an interesting morning. Then we get to decide if we can afford Erik's current orthodontist or if I have to do some more searching. It appears that all our kids will have or have had braces. I'm trying to steer someone into orthodontia or dentistry as a career, along with being a chiropractor but so far no one is interested. The closest is Erin who wants to be a nurse.

At least the pictures we have of Abraham don't look like he needs braces. Maybe we can break this trend! Speaking of Abraham, the DNA has been ordered on the dad. This is pretty customary now in Liberia. We found out another of Abraham's friends will be coming home in a couple of weeks to Iowa. Hopefully, the DNA testing will go quickly so we can get those kids home. I'm collecting clothes for them and have spoken to a hairdresser about what to use on their hair and scalp. Now I need to start getting all the paperwork ready and my packing list ready.

No news yet...

We haven't heard anything for a couple of weeks now about the adoption. Other families in our "group" that received referrals a year ago are moving forward in the process. We are pleased to see things progressing in Liberia again and hope to hear that our case is also moving forward. As soon as we hear something, we'll definitely share.

In the mean time, Romeo and Juliet has finished! Yay! Erik has decided that he doesn't like being an actor as much as being backstage. I'll post some pictures when I get copies from a friend. My camera decided to die this past week. Treasure Island has started rehearsals and Erik is student director, which he loves. Karl got a small speaking role as a pirate so I predict I hear a lot of "arghh me mateys" in the next few weeks.

I heard from my daughter my eldest granddaughter gave herself a haircut! She thought she did so well that she played barber with her little sister. They are 4 and 2. Evidently the oldest had enough hair left to salvage into a pixie cut but the youngest has short short hair. I was laughing when Jessica told me what happened but it hit me that I am now part of the older generation! Yikes!

My other granddaughter who is 1 just learned to walk unattended yesterday. Our daughter sent a video to share the moment via their blog. Technology is so great now that we can see the milestones like walking and haircuts almost as soon as they happen.

Latest news

Still not much to report about the progress of the adoption. Our case is in front of a Liberian judge to have the adoption decree signed. However, there is some confusion if we will be considered a new case since AOH found the additional birth mom or if we will be considered an old case since we've been in process for so long. Since last fall when the new US consulate arrived adoption has been in upheaval in Liberia. The new consulate runs a tight ship and has forced the orphanages and the Liberian government to improve their procedures and policies as well. This is a good thing for the kids but slow for us. The issue of whether we're a new case or an old case stems from the fact that Liberia is revising their policies for adoption and it seems that new cases are on hold until about June or whenever they get their policy revision finished. So we wait in the Lord.

In the mean time we have company! Del's parents are here this week so that is a welcome break. Megan is still struggling with whether to move back to WI or not. Erik has lured Craig to the playhouse for the Romeo and Juliet production. Erik has learned theatrical fencing for his role and has assured me they are NOT to wear tights. Craig will be helping with the technical crew. I get to sew three doublets for the end of the month production. Erin is wrapping up school and researching dual enrollment for college and job hunting. Karl is busy riding his new bike. Del has been traveling and working long hours. Hopefully, this will diminish in the next month or so. I'm deciding when I can go back to WI to visit Grandma Bahr again. She is failing now, the cancer has progressed to where they are giving her higher doses of pain meds. Unfortunately, this confuses her and causes her to sleep more. I haven't been able to call her on the phone for a couple of weeks. That's it for us for now.

Still waiting ....

We now know that Abraham's mom was the one that died and that the girls are full-siblings. Their mom is the one that is still alive and on whom we're waiting for her relinquishment signature. Time is different in Liberia. Some families that have traveled this adoption road before have said that 'right now' is in about 45 minutes in Liberia. So I'm not surprised that 'any day' has been drawn out to several days. This combined with the state of flux that Liberian adoptions are in right now is the reason why we're still waiting. When we started the adoption process, Liberian adoptions were taking about 6 - 9 months from the time you received a referral to the time you brought home your kids. Now with all the changes being made to improve the system, we are caught in the middle of the transitions. So we are trying to be patient.

Karl is really getting anxious to have Abraham home to be able to have a buddy. We are slowly finding new friends here but there is always a sorting out that occurs. He did play at a homeschool snowbird friend from Wisconsin yesterday. They head back to WI this weekend, though, so Karl will miss them until next winter. I've been having him help me collect orphanage donations to keep him busy. Things like OTC meds, clothes, school supplies, toiletries, pediasure and liquid breakfasts for the caustic kids are all in demand over there. You can go here to see and read about two girls that have ingested caustic soda that are now in Houston for surgeries to repair the damage.

To keep us busy, we're selecting photos to be included in a family digital picture frame for my Grandma. She has a large family of about 80 grandkids, great-, great-great-, and step-grandkids. So we're hoping to get a bunch of photos to keep grandma company when we can't visit. I'm trying to figure out how to put captions on the photos to help jog grandma's memory.

Our weekend visitor

Theresa visited from WI this weekend. We picked her up from the airport and took her for a picnic lunch. We had hoped to see alligators but we didn't get a very good view. There were wild horses, though. Then we went to an quaint old town to see a flavor of old Florida. It was fun, lots of antique shops and book shops to see. Tuesday we went to a state park and were rewarded with seeing lots of manatees close up. They are such unusual creatures. Although the weather was cooler on the weekend, it did warm up into the 70's so Theresa could experience the Florida warmth before heading back to the cooler 40's in WI. It was so nice to have her visit, we had a great time. However, it was bittersweet because now we're reminded of how much we miss everyone up north.