So much for the help of our congressman! Still nothing from the USCIS. We've been in touch with our agency and another homestudy provider. Just waiting to hear what we need to do and how much it will cost. The director of our adoption agency, the person who told us we had plenty of time to get our paperwork done and logged in before the October 1 deadline, isn't there anymore! We got a phone call Friday afternoon telling us he is no longer with the agency. We don't know why, but we do know the interim director is the same man who was the director when we adopted Tessa and Jerremy. He had left the agency to do mission work with his family in Vietnam. They are back in the States and he will be taking over until they can find a replacement. We have a lot of respect for him, so we're not concerned.
On the school front, things are looking up! The kids are still doing cyber school, but just as I was about to crash and burn, God intervened and an angel stepped in and rescued us! I now take the kids to a cyber school building, with a wonderful real teacher who guides them through their lessons and has patience like no other! We're so thankful for Miss Patty and Achievement House. And when the snow flies this winter and I don't want to brave the snow covered roads to get them to school, we can still do school from our cozy home! Thank you, God! You're awesome!
Our exchange student comes from a very warm part of China, so he doesn't like our fall-like weather we've been having. He wore his big heavy winter coat to church on Sunday, and he asked if winter will be this cold! Oh my! He's in for a real surprise when it gets below 0 deg.
September 19, 2011
September 9, 2011
TGIF
I'm so glad it's Friday! This cyber school stuff is very stressful! I'm almost ready to give up, but I won't! Tessa and I don't like it at all, but Jerremy likes it a lot. We get started around 8:15 a.m., work until almost Noon, and are still at it at 4:00 p.m.! We stop just because we can't take anymore, and then after we eat dinner, we finish up what we didn't get done. I'm thinking I might be able to handle traditional homeschool better than this. It's just making us so unhappy and it's not a good feeling.
Our exchange student is very nice. He seems to be over the jet-lag-tiredness now. He told his mother he likes my cooking and he likes how Doug jokes around with him. I made him plain rice the second day he was here. He said, "I eat rice two times a day for 16 years. I no want anymore rice!" We laughed. One of our favorite meals is a microwave chicken and rice dish that I make every few weeks. So the night I served it, I made him leftover ravioli that he liked the night before. Turns out he liked the chicken and rice so much, he had 3 servings and didn't touch the ravioli.
It's almost October 1, and we haven't gotten our paperwork back from the USCIS. Our adoption agency told us to get our congressman involved. We did that, but it's too late now for us to get it back, drive it to Harrisburg for certification, overnight it to New York City to the Chinese Consulate and wait for them to review it and return it, and then have our agency send it to China and be logged in before October 1! It's looking like we'll be having to find a new homestudy provider, pay thousands of dollars more, and then send that to the USCIS for another 90 day wait!
There's nothing easy about adoption. I was thinking today that had we not decided to adopt again, our lives would be moving along at a comfortable pace, with the kids still at their small Christian school and me probably only working one part-time job. None of this crazy cyber school stuff trying to save money; no stressing about the paperwork getting back in time. It sounded pretty good, until I thought about Winn still in China with no family to call his own. And as much as the thought of a comfortable life is, I wouldn't give up one day of the process to bring him home! God will get us through, no matter what!
Our exchange student is very nice. He seems to be over the jet-lag-tiredness now. He told his mother he likes my cooking and he likes how Doug jokes around with him. I made him plain rice the second day he was here. He said, "I eat rice two times a day for 16 years. I no want anymore rice!" We laughed. One of our favorite meals is a microwave chicken and rice dish that I make every few weeks. So the night I served it, I made him leftover ravioli that he liked the night before. Turns out he liked the chicken and rice so much, he had 3 servings and didn't touch the ravioli.
It's almost October 1, and we haven't gotten our paperwork back from the USCIS. Our adoption agency told us to get our congressman involved. We did that, but it's too late now for us to get it back, drive it to Harrisburg for certification, overnight it to New York City to the Chinese Consulate and wait for them to review it and return it, and then have our agency send it to China and be logged in before October 1! It's looking like we'll be having to find a new homestudy provider, pay thousands of dollars more, and then send that to the USCIS for another 90 day wait!
There's nothing easy about adoption. I was thinking today that had we not decided to adopt again, our lives would be moving along at a comfortable pace, with the kids still at their small Christian school and me probably only working one part-time job. None of this crazy cyber school stuff trying to save money; no stressing about the paperwork getting back in time. It sounded pretty good, until I thought about Winn still in China with no family to call his own. And as much as the thought of a comfortable life is, I wouldn't give up one day of the process to bring him home! God will get us through, no matter what!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)