3 months since our decision

It has been just over three months since we made our decision to not add John to our family.  I still miss this boy and think of him often.  One of the kids mentioned the other day that they missed his annoying habits just a little.   Then retracted quickly when it was passed on to us.  I know they are glad that we did not add another brother to our family. 

I am asking yet again if you know any family who would be interested in a very smart, cute 10 year old boy, please think about giving John a forever home.  I tried to really tell about him and his personality in the blog in hopes that if we did decide not to adopt him, then someone else might feel a connection to him. 

Decision has been made

Most of you know how crazy our lives are here..  We are hardly ever home and when we are we are playing catch up on mail, house cleaning and laundry....

We finally decided today that we would not be adopting John.  He is a wonderful kid... I hope he finds his forever family...  If there is anyone who reads this that would be interested leave a message or send me a note on Facebook.  I will put you in touch with the right people..

He was a pleasure to have in our home.  He was a bit over stimulated and his English was beginning to come along.  He tries very hard to please and he will eat anything you offer him. 

Please pray for John to find his forever family soon.....

Two and a half weeks later

Wow...  is that all!  It seems as if it has been so much longer!   We still struggle with what will we do and will it be the right decision for our family and John.  I worry about him and pray for his safety and continued good health.  I pray for guidance with our decision that we have not made yet.  The kids are worried that if we adopt him we will not have enough time for them.  I understand their worry because we have the same worry.  I know we will do the right thing when we do make the decision. 

I would like to say that part of that decision is not about the cost of all the agency fees, and government fees and donations, but it is...  We have grown comfortable with our lives.  We also know that if we are going to adopt one more, now is the time before we both age out of the requirements.

Based on the three weeks, I think we could handle it.  We would have this crazy fall season with band and fall sports, but we have started allowing ourselves to depend on others who offer assistance to take the kids to their events or bring them home if we can't.  It is a feeling of acceptance in the community.  That is what I like about this small town.

We will, of course update when we have made a decision one way or the other.  I miss John and his silly song "baby I like it" rendition.

John's goodbye

On August 25 John returned to the Philippines with the rest of the children and their chaperones.  I came to really liking John and his chaperones.  It feels like a small part of me is gone now.  
The days are quieter without all the fuss of the kids tattling on one another and the constant movement and noise.  The dogs are quieter now too.  Life is going on as we wonder, did John like us.  Did he enjoy his time here?  Did he start feeling the same as I did, or is he just a kid who was having the time of this life?

The airport was a very emotional time for me and others when the children left.  When John went to the restroom, he told Boyd, "Mom is crying".   That was his only statement.  I gave him a big hug and told him I would miss him.  Here are pics from the airport farewell.

This last picture is the last we saw of John.   He was heading to the security gate....

Last picnic of the three weeks

Sunday was the last picnic for the children before they return to the Philippines.  I didn't get many pictures because there were so many people to talk to and socialize with.  The photographer (Kaci) that I hired for free did not feel like taking pictures.  She made a new friend named Eliza.  I believe she lives in St. Louis. 
The kids all played a game or two of soccer and played on the play ground.  The water balloon toss turned into a water balloon throw.  Which is what I expected for children over the age of 4. LOL 

John goes back to the Philippines in just 2 short days.  He will be missed by Boyd and myself.  The kids, they just need a break.  Which they are getting now that school is back in session full time.

Football season has begun and playing around

Friday night was the first scrimmage of the high school football season.  I loaded all the kids up and took them to the field.  Paid our canned goods to get in and settled in for the excitment.   It was clouding up and looked like it could rain.  It sounded like it could rain too!  I brought three umbrellas just in case.  The players were announced one at a time to the crowd that attended and the scrimmage began!  The thunder in the distance was getting closer and then the lightening started in the distance.  Within 10 minutes of the actual scrimmage starting,  it was delayed due to lightening, then later due to weather...   We came home and the kids started fooling around on the tumbling mat with music from a cell phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2dvuG5hFyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTx5nbwRlCg


Saturday morning we went to Kole's first game with his team of 2nd and 3rd graders.  It was a great game.  John likes to watch the game, but not play football. 
Here are some pics from the day!

wrestling times.....testing Kole's patience...

Wrestling fun and caught!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDjGdM5fCYg

How annoying can one boy get...  much more than this! LOL  Just ask Kole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rEs1WoRVBM


It really is all in good fun.  I think John is getting very comfortable.

St. Louis Zoo trip

We had a very noisy start to our trip. LOL  ala John.  He was doing a great job annoying Kole.  He was singing the words to Baby by Justin Beiber, over and over and over and then saying somthing and then clapping his hands, then singing and then they were poking each other...  hilarious!  O.k. not so funny for Kole.  So we moved Kali by John and Kole by Kaci....  That seemed to work a little better.  We stopped at a rest area and Kali, Kaci, and Kole all sat in the far back and John sat by himself in the middle row.  Peace and quiet at last....  

It was very hot at the zoo, but we really enjoyed our time seeing as much as we could by noon.  The penguin house is an awesome must!  Nice and cold inside.    Our next trip, if there is one....  will be to take the train from point to point and see the stuff instead of walking it all.

Here are some pictures from the trip

watching penguinswith a snakeAll steamed up giraffeswith zebras

Wonderful Chaperone dinner

Tonight we had Imelda  and Jacqueline the chaperones and Sara over for dinner with us and John.  Menu was steak on the grill, sweet corn, baked beans and watermelon...  We chatted before dinner while it was cooking and during the meal...  a lot of laughs and embarrassing moments for the kids and their manners...LOL
Tomorrow is the boat ride and potluck!  More pictures then

Here we all are after a big dinner!  Even the dogs tried to get in on the picture

First big picnic

We had a wonderful time at the picnic today where all the children were able to see each other again..  There were games for the children and food galore!   A couple who had done some training for us was there with their 14 children.  It was really neat to see their family again.   Many other families interested in adoption or hosting were there as well.  We had a wonderful time meeting them and chatting.

Here are a few pictures of the picnic

EatingJohn with friend Joshuagetting drinksat the pondgetting tired

Busy fun

John has been with us for nearly 3 full days now and it has been filled with swimming, bike rides, dog walks, jumping on the trampoline, and swim party.  He has been having the time of his life.  The kids are having fun showing him things and teaching him words.  He has tried to teach them some words also.

Here are some pictures of some things he has been doing the past couple days.

playing in the poolsmiling for the camerapracticing his dog paddleloading the squirterjumping on the trampoline

Arrival!!! August 4!

The airport was packed if Springfield airport can be.. Five families and In His Hands Orphan Outreach reprsentatives and Madison representatives.  I think we clogged the area coming from the gate.  I got a couple bad pictures.  There were so many people waiting there for others and since the earlier flight had been canceled this flight was pretty full.

John is adorable.  He is quiet, which is expected.  He was helping his friends and the chaperones to get their luggage.  All the bags arrived!  YEAH!!!  The morning flight was canceled so John did not get to come until the noon flight that arrived at 1:00 pm.   When we arrived home we showed him the bathroom and bedroom.  introduced the dogs and the kids hit the pool.

I went to register kids for school.  whew!

Here are a few pictures!

getting luggageBoyd and the kidsall of us at the airport

in the pool kind of

Two days left

Only 2 days until Jan-Jan comes!  We will meet him at the airport Wednesday morning!  Then back to work for me on Thursday with days off here and there to enjoy time with our temporary foster son. 
We have a lot to do yet.  We should have most of the logistics taken care of today or tomorrow morning.  Everyone is getting very excited.     It will be a very exciting time Wednesday morning!

Pre approval to host

In June of this year, an acquaintance from church was looking for anyone who would like to host a 14 year old boy by the name of Raymond from the Philippines. This would be through a hosting program sponsored by In His Hands Orphan Outreach (http://inhishandsorphans.org/) in conjunction with Madison Adoption Associates (http://www.madisonadoption.com/) . Earlier in the year we became aware of the program from our friend through adoption, Michelle. She is the president of In His Hands Orphan Outreach. After thinking it through in April, we decided not to. But when we heard about an orphan with no chance of coming here we said we would host Raymond. What is 3 weeks in when it could mean a forever home for one child.

Well, we thought, what if we want to adopt him. We were told if we really wanted to adopt, we should look at a boy in Beijing named Hudson. Twelve years old and healthy. Several thousand in fees waived and grants. So we looked and thought why not. Well, we were crushed when we were told he was locked in by another family. So we looked through Madison Adoption Assoc's list of children to place and saw Jeremy. What a sweet boy with some mental delay. So we were going to lock him in. Before we could, we received a call that Hudson was available again and that Jeremy was more delayed than first thought and they thought we should adopt him. Well, by then we were set in our plans and gave up on both boys. We went back to our lives as they are. Yes there was an empty spot.. Those who know us, will say WHERE??!!. LOL

We have three children adopted from China (Kali age 14, Kaci age 10, and Kole age 8), plus three terrific Boston Terrors, I mean Terriers... a doberman (sweet girl), a Shepard mix (another totally sweet girl) and a kitty. So now you wonder where is this empty spot.. well, in our lives. We have everything we could need to be comfortable and live a stable life. Why not help one more orphan possibly find their forever family.

Then on July 3 we received a frantic call from Michelle, a family was no longer going to be able to host John aka Jan-Jan. He is 10 years old and in the Philippines. Would we be able to host him? We took one look and said yes. He is a very skinny boy. Not very tall either.So we had less than a month to get qualified to host this boy. A week before we took a weekend long training on adopting older children which was required and we are finally done with all the homestudy (abbreviated) and DCFS paperwork and most clearances. In ten days on August 4, 2010 we will meet John Robinson for the first time as our foster son for 3 weeks.

For those that do not know August 4 is Kali's referral anniversary from 13 years ago. August 5, is Kaci's. Kole's was April 28. A lot of fours here and Jan-Jan was found April 2...

If we choose to adopt him, he will be our 4th child.

So here is where we begin Jan-jans journey.