House full of kids... where is Calgon to take me away???

Cool presents!!

I don't really know why I allow such silliness to happen in my life, like letting my 10 year old have a sleep-over birthday party (belated by now). I think this has definitely filled his "cup", though. Which is ever so crucial-- always, of course, but especially with Daddy on his Big D. and the newness of having two new siblings becoming ever more a reality. And really, all EIGHT kids are doing very well!! That is no joke, either! That is for-real! :) They loved the taco dinner-- chosen by Wyatt, of course; and the ice-cream cake was a HUGE hit! It was semi-homemade... can you believe it?? I just didn't feel like spending money on one of those gross ice-cream cakes from the store-- they are only sorta good, and then they just sit in your freezer and take up space. So, I invented the "Team Dragovich" version of the ice cream cake. I made and baked a graham cracker crust; let it cool and let three different kinds of ice cream sit out to soften at the same time. Then I spread the softened ice cream on top of the crust-- in 1/3's (1/3 vanilla, 1/3 chocolate, 1/3 chocolate chip). On top of the ice cream I put a thick layer of crushed oreo cookies-- the boys LOVE to help with the crushing, of course; and then spread cool whip (softened) on top of that. Finally, I made the number 10 out of green m & m's and VOILA!! Wyatt watched me make his cake and he said, "Wow, Mom. You are really going all out for me! I mean, your just going way above what I could ever expect!" :) That was pretty cute.

Wyatt's homemade ice cream cake

Lighting the candles

Ha-ppy Bir-th-day To YOUUUU....

I finished putting together two cute care packages for our new ones in Ethiopia. Sammy helped me pick out some of the contents. It was pretty funny watching him at work. Here is what we put in each kiddo's 1 gallon sized ziploc bag:

T-shirt
underoos--Star Wars--Clone Wars (surprise) for Joshua B.
undershirt and fairies undies for Rebekah S.
beanie bears
photo albums
books: Good Dog, Carl, The Mixed up Cameleon, Harold and His Fairy Tale
vitamins
mini-football for Joshua B.

Yes, I know. It is weird that I sent underwear. And books that they can't even read, yet. I couldn't help it. I felt this need to take care of the necessities-- underwear and vitamins. And I can't do ANYTHING without including a book. I am not sure I expect to ever see any of it again. Other than the photo albums. I'm sure all the rest of it will get re-cycled (the clothes) or used. I did put their names on the beanies-- but I'm really not sure if we'll come home with them. That's okay. I just want them home :)... and Daddy should just come home, too!! :D

A friend of mine said to me the other day that as she was praying for us, she had this realization that almost half of my family is on the other side of the world. Yup. This is true. And someday, our kids will understand that their daddy was in the same time zone as them, wanting to come get them, wanting all of us to be together; and waiting patiently for it to happen. That's pretty awesome.

I am anticipating our court date now. Every family who adopts knows the mounting pressure of waiting for their court date. For us, this waiting is magnified by the reality of Tony being able to travel to Ethiopia to pick up the kids. It will be within a month of his original coming home time-- yet, he will most likely have to receive special permission to get out of there. Then, depending on how quickly he gets out and gets home... well, he will have MAYBE a week before turning around and flying BACK over the ocean to ET to pick up NEW kids, when he has not even really gotten to see the OLD ones for the past 7 months. It all sounds very daunting and overwhelming, to say the least. But... I believe in a God who causes ALL things to work for the good of those who love Him and call on Him! He will uphold us with His righteous right hand, and we will be stronger as individuals and as a family for having to walk through this refining fire. We covet your prayers and support during these next several months!!! Thank you, so much :)!

Grace and Peace,
Shari

The scattered thoughts of a new "referral" mother

Now that we are 2-days post-referral, I have to share some of the crazy things that have been flitting in and out of my mind over the past 48 hours.

"How is it that I can be so surprised to finally see their faces, and yet somehow in my heart, I have seen and known them all along."

"YIKES!!!!!" upon looking at the amount of money needed by AWAA to accept our referral. "THAT'S not happenin' so easily!!"

"Why isn't Tony here so he can deal with all 'dumb' financial side of the paperwork?"

"How in the world can I re-arrange the rooms to be adorable AND fit an extra boy?"

"That smile. Those eyes. My God truly is the Master Craftsman and Master Artist."

"MORE PAPERWORK?????"

"What if we completely overwhelm them? What if they can't deal with the dog? (that wouldn't be so bad) How in the world am I going to communicate with them??"

"Are we crazy?"

"Wow. Wow. Wow!!!!!!!!"

"I hope Sam doesn't corrupt B. TOO much!"

"Five kids. How FUN!!"

"Five kids. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"What bozo created all this paperwork mess anyway? OBVIOUSLY s/he is NOT an adoptive parent!"

"DRESSES :)"

"How in the world am I going to have time to do all this paperwork, be single mommy right now AND decorate rooms?"

"God is in control, God is in control, God is in control..."

"HUGE shoes to fill. Overwhelming. Wonderful. Beautiful. Terrified. Here we go!!!!"

Grace and Peace,
Shari

Hey... I didn't even have to call-- AWAA Called us!!!!!!!

Well, it happened! "THE CALL" came yesterday morning around 10:45 am. I was in shock, to say the least. In fact, the conversation went something like this:

Phone rings. I see AWAA on the caller id. I think, "hmm. I wonder what they want? I know we paid our last installment. Did they lose the check? No... I saw it was withdrawn... hmmm???

me: "Hello?"
terra: "Hello! Is this Shari?"
me: "Yes. Hi Terra! How are you doing?"
terra: (giggles in a sort of funny way) "I'm doing fine :)"
me: (finally dawning on me that THIS is THE CALL!) "Oh.. wait a minute.. this is the call isn't it!! Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! (now I am sort of pacing the kitchen, starting to shake, totally surprised and looking for something to write on???)
terra: (giggles again) "Yes, it is! I have good news for you today!"
me: "Okay. Oh my. I'm ready. Not really. WOW!!!!"

Conversation proceeds from there :)

So... Team Dragovich is two more strong-- a VERY handsome boy who is 6 and has Dragovich ears-- I could say Monke ears, too. And a PRECIOUS little girl who is 3 and has the deepest, most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen.

I spent the next many hours trying like crazy to reach Tony on his cell phone that he "keeps with him all the time"... but apparently not :). Of course, I knew I couldn't tell anyone until I was able to tell him. Which made the next several hours VERY HARD :) Finally, in one last desparate attempt, late in the afternoon-- knowing it was nearing the middle of the night his time-- I reached him. HALLELUIA!!!!!! He was as surprised as I was and wanted to know all about them, of course :)

So, now we begin another flurry of paperwork to update our homestudy, USCIS paperwork, scrounge money from SOMEWHERE (we were not expecting a referral so soon and so a little thrown off by this last chunk of payments)-- God is SOOOO good and in control and He is the God who Provides... He has provided and He will continue to provide :)

Please pray that the paperwork gets done and I understand the right things to do-- especially with Tony on the other side of the world right now. Pray for our new littles... that God would continue to protect them, keep them healthy and loved while we all wait to be united and for all our hearts to be prepared for the new transition and season we are entering. Also pray that the financial aspect would be worked out-- we know it is and will be... it is more a matter of my trusting and releasing it to God to work out the details.

Grace and Peace to you all,
Shari

We're Ready for our Referral!

Sam loves his new ride!

Today I spent the entire day at a dealership in Fayetteville, trading in our van for a suburban. I have been on the hunt for a couple of weeks and last week, I found "the one". Whatever that means. It was hard work getting the best trade in for our van, getting the dealers to get to our numbers and do it on my own. Then, if that wasn't hard enough, trying to purchase the the Yukon XL with a Power of Attorney was an ENORMOUS pain-- almost as enormous as our new superburban!!!

I don't think this is a good idea...

Yeah. That's better!

Now, we can get our referral for our two new kids-- I can't wait. Think I should call our agency and tell them they can go ahead and give us our referral now???

Grace and Peace,
Shari

Room for 6 kids!!

And room for LOTS of stuff :))

Team Dragovich and the Big Snow

Hurray!!! Snow-- and its even the good sticky kinds for snowballs!

Yes, they DID get a snow day-- don't ask how that works... here's my excuse-- "Everyone else was off!!"

Once upon a time in the land of Sanford, North Cackilacka, there lived a beautiful family with the most lovely but somewhat haggard from her husband's recent deployment, mother in all the land... oh, sorry-- sidetrack... There lived a most interesting family with THREE crazy-- I mean, well mannered boys in it. One day, when those sweet, angelic, completely obediently children woke up, what should they find? Why-- it was SNOW!! Snow had fallen from the sky and completely covered their entire yard, trees, flowers, toys that they perpetually leave outside every day... why, even their lovely, eternally patient, completely joyful mother's mini-van was vanished by mounds and mounds of crystally white, sort of damp and clumpy, but absolutely stunning snow...

This may be the only picture we ever have of our house coated in snow

Anyway, it snowed :)! Just like the beginning of my tale which you would NEVER believe-- well, it really can happen. Snow really CAN fall out of the sky in North Carolina!!

Shall we go out to enjoy a glass of wine on the back porch?

Grace and Peace,
Shari

You gotta give the boy credit :)

Wyatt had a math test yesterday-- first one in over a month, since we have been off and he has had his cast. There was a problem he didn't know regarding measuring liquids-- how many pints in a gallon... He couldn't remember and I wouldn't budge on giving him the answer, so he got creative. Next thing I know, he comes downstairs from where he is taking his test, he starts rummaging through the refrigerator, pulls out the almost empty milk carton, a one pint container of whipping cream and goes to work. He drank the rest of the milk so it would be empty, then he found a cup that looked the same size as the pint container of cream (thank goodness he didn't drink that, too!!), then he found a funnel with the science experiment stuff (I'm impressed he knew we even had that) and started pouring full cups of water into the now-empty gallon jug of milk... spilling and and sloshing as he went.



I was in the middle of teaching Isaac his Math, but I just had to stop and take a couple pics of my boy at work. I was proud of him for putting so much effort into this one problem! Unfortunately, he still got the problem wrong... but I think he deserves some credit for trying!!

In adoption news... two more families received referrals and several families are waiting to pass court in the next week, so they can go pick up their precious little ones!! I think it is so wonderful that there has been such a rush of activity this month... so many people are praying for children to be brought home to their forever families and Almighty God-- El Shadday-- is certainly working and answering the prayers of His faithful.

My love to you all! Stay warm and praise God for His sweet providing!
Grace and Peace,
Shari

Yea!!!! We're HOME!

We made it through all our travel adventures-- I feel so brave and all grown up :). The boys and I had a great time on the farm in IL... boy, it is COLD there! I am spoiled in sweet NC! And, of course, we were welcomed just perfectly to a cold arctic blast as we pulled into the driveway of my parent's farm-- negative temps and 30mph winds for the first 3 days we were there. I opted for being a yogi instead of a runner for those days :). But, it warmed up to tolerable, and even veered into mild for a couple of days! We all managed to catch the flu bug in between Christmas and New Years-- I have become good friends with Clorox and Lysol.

Boys with their favorite new toy--funny, where's the Wii?
Oh wait, that's Mommy's favorite new toy!

Santa brought a Wii this year-- they must have been making an overload supply this year at the North Pole. It seemed to be the gift of choice. Funny, the boys didn't even really recognize that they got the Wii when they were frantically looking at all their treasures! They noticed all sorts of other things and even a couple things they DIDN'T get, but the Wii elluded their attention for quite some time. It was Aunt Emily and Mommy who went wild about it, and then they recognized its existence. BTW, Aunt Emily and I LOVE Guitar Hero :) I'm really bad at it, but it is still fun. I think I can still hear "Slow Ride" in my sleep and sadly, "Baracudda" still has the best of me... but not for long-- I SHALL prevail!!

My gladiator and God-warrior... forces to be reckoned with!

Tony is doing well on the other side of the globe. He is in a good routine, getting to do some pain medicine stuff and seems to have plenty of time to eat healthy, workout a lot and read a lot. He begins every conversation with, "I'm so huge, you should see my _______ (arms, shoulders, traps, abs, etc)!" I'm happy for him. And once I can run more than 2-3 sporatic days a week, finish any one of the books I started three months ago and lose my new and ever so lovely hive rash all over my torso, neck and arms, I'll be even THRILLED for him. Until then, happy is good enough :)

Creation Museum in OH with the Harbaughs on the way back to NC-- VERY FUN!!

Last, but not least... adoption news. There is none. But this is not to be un-expected. We have been waiting 7 1/2 months now and are in a line that is a bit sporatic. The sibling group line. Right now, I am starting the process to have our USCIS approval broadened a bit to include any sibling group or two children ages 0-6 years with one or both of them being a girl. We have always been happy to be this broad, but somehow during the paper chase process, we let the wording be too narrow-- I don't know why-- it is all so confusing when your going through it. Anyway, our fingerprints expire in April and there is not a chance that we will get a referral, go to ET and get back with our kids before then. So, I have to do this whole hoop jumping thing again anyway-- might as well get the age range right this time :).

Even though there is no DIRECT news for us, there has been a lot happening in our agency's program. Ten referrals for the month of January have already been given and this is unheard of for so early in the month. That is very exciting! There is fear on the YG that this is it for the month. I don't think so. I won't believe it. I believe that more children are going to be referred to their forever families this month and I even believe that the wait times for court and travel are going to start to shrink. Why do I believe that? Why NOT? :)

Well, Happy New Year to you all!!! Thank you so much for praying for our family during this deployment and adoption time!! Thank you for leaving posts and comments on our blog and thanks for faithfully checking in, even though I am the sporatic blogger :) My love to you all!

Grace and Peace,
Shari