we've enjoyed the summer off from accepting new placements, but are now back to taking in more. we've added our name back to "the list" and listed our vacancies, and we'll see what happens! i wouldn't expect any calls until the beginning of the month, though. still praying for that special child(ren) to come up for adoption, though. we've let all the social workers that we know aware that we're looking to adopt, and we're just waiting for God's timing. while we have no problems at all with international adoption, we just feel wrong every time we look into it. nevermind the financial issue -- if God's will was for us to adopt internationally, he would make a way -- it's just that every time we try to forge ahead with a "plan" to seek out adoption, we feel God gently pushing us back, telling us to wait. but waiting is so hard!! ah, well. He knows best. in the meantime, we'll just keep doing what He's called us to, and take in children as they come, helping them get back to their families. we're getting pretty good at it by now, i think! and i think shiloh is starting to understand it better, although she definitely longs for a permanent sibling. *sigh*...
anyhoo, that's that. here's some pictures taken over the last couple of weeks. our other kids, tyler and rachel, aren't in these b/c we can't post pictures of them publicly while they're still in state custody. rachel is gearing up to go home within the next few weeks, and we're still not sure how long tyler will be with us. his case keeps dragging on...
first of all, here's shiloh at an impromptu photo shoot i did with the kids at a local park. they all looked so cute one day, that i couldn't pass it up! shiloh wouldn't stop laughing, though!
shiloh and i on the back deck. i was taking some pictures of tyler's new haircut, and of course, shiloh couldn't be left out. she wanted to take a picture of us both:
okay, not sure if you'll be able to see them or not, but there are two teeny tiny frogs in there. at the beginning of the summer, we left for the weekend and came home to about three hundred tadpoles that had hatched in our pool. we kept some and watched them turn into frogs. they've got an actual mini terrarium-type thing now, but this was our makeshift one until we got to the store. they literally sprouted legs overnight! the picture is sort of sideways and it's blurry -- sorry! there's one stuck on the right side, near the top and a little green one sitting on that big rock in the middle. they're still only about a half inch long! the kids had a good time going out back and finding rocks for them. :o)
rachel and lump. just thought this was funny. i can post it b/c rachel's face isn't showing. the reason i took a picture is b/c , as spastic as lump is, he actually let her cover him up with a blanket! i took three or four pictures before he moved. he must have been really tired or something... (notice the baby is walking in shiloh's dress-up high-heels. diva in the making...)
...wonder where she gets it? :o) here's shiloh dressed up in snow white the other day. she had to dress up her dog. that dog is actually my dog that my mom got me from Build-A-Bear. when rick and i got married, we had a beagle named Penny Lane, so mom got me this, and I loved it. I soon discovered Mom's odd sense of humor, though, when I pressed its paw, expected a beagle bay, and heard a cow moo instead! she thought it was hilarious! weird.... ;o)
this is our current beagle, Ruby, in "her" spot in front of the window. she likes it b/c the afternoon sun comes in and makes that spot all nice and warm. :o)
all righty, that's it for now. the kids are chasing each other around downstairs with a giant orange bouncy ball, our licensing worker just left after a home visit, the baby just woke up, the dogs need to go out, and i need to leave to pick rick up from work! gotta get! :o)
