I miss you today

I was just was able to download this video last night.  I got a lot of footage of Frankie while in Haiti.  A lot of it is personal and not for everyone to see but I did want to share this one.  So many people are supporting us on this journey and are sharing in our story so I wanted to put some realness to this process we are walking through.  There are no words that can describe the love our family and this mother has for this little fellow.  It’s hard watching this knowing we have at least 2 more years of waiting.  As much sadness this brings to me today it also brings with it so much joy.  This is our son and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. 

I don’t have any more updates on where we are in the process.  We are still currently waiting to be entered into IBESR.  Although hard we are truly thankful that we even get the opportunity to wait.  Because it’s in the waiting that we know this whole journey is out of our control and in the hands of our loving father who knows each step of the way.

My little girl not so little anymore….

Thanks Walker for this beautiful picture!  Although happy here… Emma had a very sad and emotional morning as we could not find her library book (moms fault..should have made sure we had it last night).  She was late for school and still no book to be found.  She won’t be able to check out a new one today.  My heart broke as she left for school so upset.  I have no clue where the book is.

White Boards, markers and a room of ears….

Lately my pure joy has been playing tennis again.  And what about Dave???

Hmm. Let’s see, white boards, markers, people who will  listen, and some things to share about God…. Pure Joy!  I loved getting this picture from an event he did this past weekend.  When I picture Dave in his element, this is exactly how I picture him!

Get back in the game.

Above:  In the day(13yrs ago) this racket was on the top list of ones to play with.  Not so much anymore as it probably looks like an ancient beast out on the courts now but me and my trusty racket that just got some new strings will be heading out to rekindle our long lost relationship.

Maybe some of you know this and maybe you don’t but I “used” to be a decent tennis player.  I played tennis in High School and really enjoyed it and then when I went off to college in West Palm Beach. FL I continued my love for tennis as I had the opportunity to play on the college level.  I love tennis.  I even worked Crosspoint a few summers and was a tennis coach.  And then, I finished my senior year of college in Alabama to be closer to Dave and with that transition… the game of tennis was no more.  Work, Marriage, young children have all played a role in having time to even think about playing tennis again and if there was time then where would I play, who could I play with and how would that work?

In a time of recession and cut backs and a lot of financial uncertainty even in our own family now certainly is not the time to have the opportunity to get back in the game…. or is it?  The past few weeks I have have had the opportunity to go and play tennis a local club.  I wish I never had went the first time I was invited.  I did not expect the huge tennis void in my life to be cut wide open and filled with extreme joy as I got back on the court for the first time in over 10 years.  It was not pretty but I can tell the game will come back to be in time as I get to play more.  But to play more?  What would that mean?  Not doable on many fronts right now.  Certainly some day but right now… the worst time for an opportunity like this to come up.

And then the unexpected….  the unexpected blessing of given the chance to play tennis on a ladies team this coming year.  Through some very generous people and connections of others I have been given the chance to get back in the game.  Given a chance. 

In our lives right now God is really calling us to sacrifice on many fronts.  We don’t mind doing that.  Our lives are his and we will do whatever it takes to keep plugging away at the mission he has called our family to.  And even in such times of uncertainty… to sit and be blessed with the chance to play tennis.  Well just one more time I sit in amazement as God continues to bless us in ways never thought possible…  He has blessed this 33 year old mother of 3 with the gift that life can still be enjoyed when all arrows pointed to the road of maybe someday I’ll be able to do that again… Well I never thought that someday would be now!

Someone’s Missing

We had a fun night last night.  The girls and I went with G-ma and Kayleigh to walk around the mall.  It’s been a LONG time since I’ve stepped foot inside a mall with girls in tote.  They were wonderful and the best thing is that we walked out with nothing and everyone was happy.   But the whole evening I kept thinking to myself…. someone is missing… I was often thinking about Frankie.  I think about him all the time but some days more than others.  Last night just was one of those nights.  We’ll have a fun family night and there is a space in our lives where it’s just not complete.

I follow A LOT of adoption blogs.  I have found such wonderful blog community with other families who are in an adoption proceess through Haiti and are as like we are, in the waiting…  I thought it was interesting as I looked at the titles of their latest posts this morning….. It’s just good to know that we are not alone.  That we are all in this together.

• I could not resist
• I want to cry and scream
• Adoption Update
• Journey of love makes my day
• What people see but often miss
• Attempting to be proactive
• Haitian Carnival
• Grace
• Breath of Life
• This is Hard
• Friends to Journey with

Needless to say I find much comfort and rest in the story’s of others journey’s.  It really brings out a range of emotions for people.  I’m waiting for an update this week on where our files are at and what is currenlty happening.  No news is always good news.  In three months it will be May and May is the month that ignited this adoption process for us.  I really can’t believe it’s coming up on a year of the beginning of this journey in our lives.

I miss you dearly Frankie….  Wish I could be in the same room with you right now and tell you for the millionth time that Mamma loves you.  And in our waiting to do life together I pray for you that your days would be filled with so much happiness and love and that our hearts would be given daily peace as we wait for the unknown process that we walk day to day.

Emma’s (mom’s) school project

Emma did all the writing.. cutting…pasting…. and then mom filled in the blanks.  Why is it again that they think 5 year olds can do this kind of a project?  Izzie was telling us this morning that it was hers…. hey why not?

Izzie’s project:

Running

Rule #1 – want to consider running?  Go out and buy a good pair of running shoes….even if they sit around for a month or so before you get motivated!

I’ve been hesitant to even post on this but now that I am ending week 4 of training I feel that what lies ahead is doable and even a bit “cough” enjoyable?  Ok, enjoyable may be a little extreme but I can see it possibly getting there.

My friend Courtney and I are running a half marathon in Charlotte in April and we are just ending week 4 of training.  And finally I am feeling like I’ll be able to do this thing.  I really don’t like to run.  But it’s getting better and now the 2 mile is pretty easy as we just hit our five mile run this past Saturday and will do it again this weekend.  So in some ways I can see myself hanging in there for the 13.1 that will await.  13.1…. is that right?  Or whatever the half is.

I think even more than the running is that I’ve enjoyed the discipline it brings.  Ever having an issue trying to commit to something?  May I suggest running?  Or better yet may I suggest running with a friend.  I’ve so enjoyed the time Courtney and I have had on our long runs and the encouragement that comes through the week as we try and hit our running goals that are mapped out for us.  I seriously can’t wait till we cross that finish line together in April.  It will be a goal that will mean so much to us and that we were able to do it together.

And the bad news?  I’m thinking if you are wanting to loose weight maybe try something else besides running. To this day I have yet to drop 1 pound.  I mean seriously… going from 5 years of being dormant and non active to 4 weeks of running at least 8-12 miles a week and like I said,  not 1 pound.  Not that it matters but it would be nice if there were some other benefits I was reaping right now besides the satisfaction of knowing I accomplished my goal for the day.

So there you have it.  I can’t promise that it will be pretty but I can promise that there will be a finish line that is crossed.  And if you ever think that you could never do something like… run a half marathon… just look at these two 30+ year old moms and know if we can do it…(well we hope we can do it) so can you!

And by the way, I talk about running but this post right here really inspired me this past week as I struggled at times to run.  Tara is a great runner and I just loved…loved…loved her post here on running in Haiti.

School Project

Emma has a project due tomorrow for school which means mom has a project due tomorrow!  Anyhoo…. We have a lot of old historic homes in little Reidville and she is to make and tell something about Reidville.  I’ll post picture tomorrow but we went down to Reidville and took her picture in front of this building which is currently a Dance Studio.  But in 1859 it was built and used for a girls dorm since Reidville had a college located just next to the building…

Delta adding routes to Haiti, Bermuda

This is GREAT news for our family.  Most of Dave’s travel is on Delta which means we have lots of miles on Delta to redeam.  Currently American fly’s into Haiti and we don’t have miles stored up with them.  Needless to say… Great, Great news for us for down the road!!!!  Thank you Delta!  We will fly your friendly sky’s!

Why you should not let me watch your kids