Laundry by the dozen

When you live in a house that was built for the average American family size, including 2 adults and 2.5 children… there are bound to be some serious renovations necessary in order to transform that house into something do-able for a family of 14!

One of those areas in the house I have always hated the most is 
my laundry “room”.

It’s a closet. With bi-fold doors. 
Right next to the bedrooms on the upper level of the house. 
While I first thought that having the laundry upstairs would be awesome since that’s where the clothes live, I have since decided that I need more space for the clothes that the 9 of us (soon to be 14) accumulate in a day or two. 
And the folding situation… it’s horrible.

My typical laundry routine goes something like this:

1. Grumble about pile of clothes.

2. Announce implementation of naked-day if people don’t stop putting doll clothes and folded clothes they just didn’t want to put away back into the dirty clothes pile.

3. Decide empty threats don’t work, but throwing clothes into the goodwill bag does.

4. Cram as much stuff into the front-loading washer as possible, add soap and softener, press start and plan to outsource the moving to the dryer to a child in an hour.

5. Grumble because said child didn’t move the clothes to the dryer, or they set it on “touch up” instead of “high” and everything is still damp.

6. Move dry clothes into baskets for “curing” until folding can take place.

7. Threaten to kill dog when she knocks over clean basket of clothing to make her nightly “nest” to sleep in.

8. Repeat.

Clearly – not working out for me.

Insert, hubby to the rescue!!

He borrowed some tools, used some Christmas gift cards to Home Depot, and solved my horrible laundry problem!! Here are the pictures!

Before… but not really. I removed the boxes of stuff from the shelves, all of the piles off of the washer and dryer and the doors came off months ago… THEN I decided to take a photo for this little before and after story!

Then… I painted the walls inside the closet with the leftover kitchen paint, and hubby started making boxes! Once the cubbies were up, I said… “gosh, it sure would be nice to have a counter top type thing for folding clothes…” and VOILA!

Folding table!

He added some trim, we put a few coats of white paint on everything… and POOF!

Isn’t it BEAUTIFUL!!?

Thank you, honey!

A dream realized

An excerpt from Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech - 

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today."

Dr. King... you'd be welcome at my dinner table any day.

I think you'd like it here. 

Thank you for fighting for the rights of children like mine.

Thank you for opening the eyes of the self-righteous, for blurring the lines between shades of skin, and for making a way for families like mine to be accepted and loved even in this broken, fallen world.

Sisters. 

Ewedeshalo, Ethiopia!

I'm waiting for the final leg of my trip to take me home.

It's been a long week,

but in a lot of ways - not long enough!
Here's a recap:

Friday, Jan 6th - landed in Ethiopia! The smell when I walked off of the plane and down the ramp made me smile! I'm "home"! The driver was there, Binyiam - love him... such a great guy! As we were walking to the car, he called our agency rep (in-country boss) to let him know I was there and he asked to speak with me. He says there's a problem with my paperwork, and that we may not pass court on Wednesday, but not to worry... he has the letter, the judge may just not see it in the stack of papers! Uhm... okay. I had not slept in over 32 hours... so I don't quite remember anything else he said, or what I said in return! I got to the guest house, got checked in, met Missy, Jamie and Brent... and unpacked a few things before collapsing into a mild coma-like sleep!

Saturday, Jan. 7th - Woke up when Missy came to my room to check if I was awake! I forgot any sort of time-telling device, so I never quite knew if it was time to wake up or time to try to get a few more moments of sleep, so I relied mostly on other families schedules to let me know it was wake-up time! Super fast shower, threw on clothes, ran to eat breakfast then Binyiam arrived and we drove to the care center to meet the kids!!  There were 4 families total there on that day, so they took my camera and little video camera and captured the moments when I met them for the first time! It was sweet... and I don't know how else to describe it! I knew them when I saw them... I didn't want to smother them with kisses right away... but I wanted to smoosh their little faces and kiss their sweet cheeks.. and mostly, I did just that! That day also happened to be Genna - Ethiopian Christmas! They had a whole "thing" prepared at the care center so we stayed there for the coffee ceremony and a big lunch which included every  part of the goat the families had purchased for the care center the day before!! Yes, they bought a goat, tied it (alive) to the roof of the van, and delivered it to them for their celebration!! It was tasty. I drank lots of coffee.

Sunday, Jan. 8th-Tuesday, Jan. 10th - Same morning routine just about every day. One family left on Monday, one other on Tuesday, but Monday night another family arrived! Each day we did pretty much the same routine, or at least *I* did. Breakfast, any errands, shopping one day, then went to the care center for a little bit and brought the kids back to the hotel to play in a smaller-scale environment.  5 kids, 1 adult, 1 driver and no seat belts or 5-point-harness carseats... I may have gone a little bit gray during those car trips!!  We had so much fun at the hotel - soccer, coloring books, playdoh, snacks... it was nice to get to see them and spend time away from the other children who compete for attention. I got to see their real personalities (or as much as they will show me at this point in our relationships) and spend more one-on-one time with them than I think I would have at the care center.

Wednesday, Jan. 11- Court date! Had a hard time getting to sleep with the nervousness of the pending court date! Woke up, coffee, got dressed, ate breakfast, and waited for the driver. He arrived and the 4 families who had court the same day all piled into the van to go. Arrived at court, got the security pat-down, entered the building and found the room where we would wait. Signs on the walls in the institutional-feel room warned us all to "Silencia!" because the classroom-like waiting area was one doorway away from the Judge's office! There were many families in there. Some were from Germany, others France, one sounded British, and there were other Americans. Missy, Nicole and I prayed together as Mommies desperately in love with our children, and waited some more. Soon, appointments began. The secretary would call the name of an orphanage, and their representative would move to the door signaling them that it was their turn. Missy's kids were from a different area than the other 3 families, so she went first from our group. She walked in, I held my breath, and moments later - she walked out and they motioned to us to come! I looked at Missy and I couldn't decide if she was holding back happy tears or sad tears, so I asked her and she said "we passed!" I gave her a hug and quickly walked inside the judge's office. The "court room" is her office. There are two desks - one for the (probably) court clerk, the other for the judge. There are about 8 chairs for families to sit in, and their two desks, and the room is full. The agency rep told us to sit, and we nervously found a seat. The judge called the names of our children to verify our appointments. We answered a few questions together as a group - do we know this is final, do we approve of our children, do we agree to help them maintain their culture, etc... then she began with the other families specifically. It took just moments, and they were approved! Then she started with our case. She started off using different words, so my heart fell into my stomach. She said our paperwork was missing a document and that she would reschedule our court date for next week, but that my part was finished and correct. We would not pass court today. She specifically asked me about our other children at home, about if they were adopted or not, and if I had a job (ha ha ha..). After she did the math on how many kids we'd have she said "Whew! God bless..." (why Thank You! God has indeed blessed us!).  Then we were dismissed. Suddenly it hit me that I'd be flying home without passing court and I felt the tears coming. I quickly walked sprinted out of the room and past the waiting families, Ethiopian nationals and police down the hall to a stairway where I felt the tears starting to fall. I couldn't breathe and my heart was racing. Why was I flipping out?? I was told to expect this... it will be okay... and then Missy came over and gave me a hug. I really lost it then. The agency representative walked over, looked at me and said "It's okay - wait here." (like I was leaving??) and he went into an office and talked to a woman at a desk. He returned moments later with a piece of paper and said "please come, we will go back!" Uhm... pretty sure you can't just 'go back' to court! But we did! He waited for the door to open and stuck his arm in with the piece of paper - it was our "missing" document. He explained to the secretary something in Amharic, and looked at me and said, "it's okay - don't cry." I think my crying made him SUPER uncomfortable. It's okay though, I was making all the other families in the room uncomfortable. ha ha! Suddenly, the secretary opened the door and said "Yes, it is Approved!" My mouth fell open and I think I may have squealed! I couldn't believe it!! You know my court story would look and sound different from everyone else's... but sheesh!! I had no idea THAT could happen!! I was so relieved and shocked and just ... EEEK!! We PASSED! I walked out of the room -now crying happy tears and practically ran back over to our group and threw my arms up and said "Approved!!!" Hugs all around, and we were done! Just amazing. God literally goes before AND after our family in this. It's just miracle after miracle!! We are so blessed!

After court, we stopped by the guest house to let families change clothes and I send my hubby a facebook message about court since it was like 2am in the USA! Got back in the car and went to the care center to see our newly legalized family members! We hung out for a little while, but had some doctor stuff to take care of , then went to the guest house with the bigger kids for a bit to play before our awful goodbyes. 

Later that afternoon, when I took the kids back to the care center, I asked the nanny to translate to them that Daddy AND Mommy would be back as soon as we could, and for whatever reason, our oldest child kept telling me "March! Mommy, Daddy, Ethiopia... aeroplane America... MARCH!"  Please, Lord - don't allow that sweet boy to be disappointed! 

Awful to have to say goodbye for now, tears in the van, back to the guest house to get packed up.

The trip was amazing. 

I do love Ethiopia...the people especially. 

I miss my kids at home, and I miss my kids who are waiting there for us to return.

It's an amazing thing to have your heart broken in half and shared across two continents.

A Mother's heart doesn't divide to share with more children, it multiplies to share with them all.

Here's what you're waiting for...

some pictures!!

Arriving at the Care Center.

I'm here!!

Me and the youngest of our new 5! This was our first "hello!"

Both girls!

Group photo!

Having lunch together at the guest house!

Our last day together, but the day they became legally OURS!

Oh, my heart...

I love these kids! They are just so great!

2012...

the year I became a mommy to 12!

Amazing...

only God could write this story!

Hi from Germany!

Hi everyone!

Thanks for checking in,

I made it to Germany...

with no sleep...

so I'm a little...

well, crazy.

I bought coffee, again...

so I'm sleep deprived, but very hyper..

which is always fun.

I will be taking off from here around 6am CST, 

so around the time you wake up/woke up today...

and until around 3pm CST...

I will be in the air.

Ugh. 

My legs hurt from sitting.

However, this morning

(while I wasn't sleeping)

I got to see the sunrise over the North Sea and the shore of England!

(Great Britain?)

It was gorgeous.

You could see a few lights still on,

the line of waves crashing on the beaches...

and the pink highlights from the sun.

Just gorgeous!

I hope to be able to check in and update you about my trip...

but if not, I will hopefully be able to post photos when I return!!

Blessings!

The day we were tarred and feathered with blessings!

I've been wanting to write about this day 

for almost a week...

but with the chaos of trying to pack for my

court trip (leaving THIS THURSDAY)

and, of course, also trying to organize and de-clutter the house

RIGHT this MINUTE

because, you know...

there's no better time to totally tear apart all of your closets

and re-arrange your house than 48 hours before you 

leave the country. Right?

Anyway...

you probably read my last post 

where I linked to all the stories

leading up to right now

in this current adoption process.

I had lots of new visitors to my little blog

because they found their way here

from a fundraiser website we had set up!

Well...

let me tell you about THAT!

I think it was Monday of last week

when a friend of mine

(who goes by Captain Murdock online)

approached me about testing out

her hubby's new website!

www.acharityproject.com

They had been trying to figure out some way to 

help adoptive families, charities, and other non-profit type people

fundraise for their project or cause

by using the power of social media to draw awareness.

SURE! We'd do a test run!

I mean, we needed money...

adoption costs money...

lots of money...

and we have this pick-up trip coming in a few months

where we will need 2 round trip and FIVE one-way tickets home!

The total of those fees makes us wonder if it may be more cost-effective to charter a direct flight home...

but hey, it's a goal!

So I went to their website, 

set it all up,

hit the "publish" button...

and sent a quick note saying "it's up! Looks good!".

Then...

We got a donation!

Then another one!

Then another!

And suddenly, we were up to $100 in our fund!

Then $200, then $300...

and by bedtime, we had hit $1000!!!

We were AMAZED! 

It was so much fun to read comments by the people donating.

Some were anonymous,

some were funny,

some were warm-fuzzies and brought tears to my eyes.

All of them were so, incredibly appreciated and graciously celebrated over!

I barely slept!

I woke up and we had received $500 in donations overnight!

By the time my husband left for work we were up to $2000 and still climbing!

My email box was filling up with donation notifications,

people were sharing our link and blog and I was shocked and

brought to tears multiple times that morning.

Then, suddenly...there were whispers that we might

meet our ENTIRE GOAL by the end of the day.

I was almost afraid to mention that out loud!

How could that be??

We had this huge number...

but people were just dumping blessings on us

left and right!!

When we hit the half-way mark by lunch...

I thought I was going to pass out.

Multiple times throughout the day, I just stopped and prayed and just thanked 

the Lord for bringing these donations to our family,

for providing our needs, for not waiting till the last possible moment to bring us the money we needed,

and for the wonderful people who believe in us and were sending us such kind words to treasure forever!

And our goal??

Well, that giant, looming mountain we were looking at...

crumbled into dust by 9pm!!

We suddenly had every penny we estimated for the trip,

and people were still donating!

Even today, we are still receiving gifts from people

who feel like our trip might require a little more than we estimated!

We are so incredibly thankful to each and every person who

blessed us with $7 or hundreds!!

The Lord took your money and multiplied it

and did a "loaves and fishes" kind of miracle

right before our eyes!!

So, to everyone who donated...

Thank you, from the depths of our hearts.

We can never adequately express how touched we are by your generosity!

To everyone who shared the link on your facebook, twitter, blog or through email...

you were a major reason why we met our goal so quickly

so thank you SO much for using your connections to help bless our family!!

To everyone who remembers our family in your prayers,

we are grateful.

Please pray for my trip...

I leave Thursday.

I am incredibly excited to meet our kiddos,

and nervous to fly alone,

and sad to leave my family here for a week.

It's such a confusing swirl of emotions!

I'm boldly asking for you to pray specifically

that we would pass court while I am there. 

I know that it's rare now,

with the way the process has changed,

but I would sure love that.

(And then I could show you pictures!!)

Thank you all again!!

And if you want to see the fundraiser or read the comments..

click this link:

http://www.acharityproject.com/f/7for7tickets