Happy 1st Birthday!

My Niece turns one today!

I can't tell you how much it hurts not to be close enough to spend these kind of special days with them!

I love you My Sunshine, my only Sunshine!!!!

Have a fantastic first birthday today!

Bart is "the MAN"

Before and After!!!!! The hanging of the drywall is finished. As stated in a previous post this was one of the last pieces.

"What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man"

A typical day to Lucy.

Lucy started her day off by getting fresh with a boy, who who is just like Stone.
She then tired herself by doing her pilates at in the kitchen and fell asleep eating her yogurt. It was so much fun to get the head bob and nose crunch to the table all on tape.






After she woke up she helped me clean up and drew a picture for her dinner date. It seems to be getting kinda serious. I am sure glad I like his parents!



How romantic. A pizza dinner date! I wonder though, if he knows about her other man from this morning? I can't believe my daughter is such a tramp.

Bai Jai Bei....what?

I know now I am completely crazy! I have decided after a long debate back and forth to go ahead and try to collect fabric for a “100 Good Wishes quilt.”
To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt." It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. Please help me. I was against it because I thought I’d never be able to get 100, but it is worth a shot! I love the idea of welcoming our daughter into our home with a quilt that represents the good wishes for her from our family and friends. It is also special to be from her Chinese customs. Coming into this family, I hope to give her something that she can hold and know she is loved just as much from everyone around!

HERE IS WHAT WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO:
1. Choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a piece of clothing or from a fabric store. It just needs to have a design and color that you like.
2. Cut one (1) 7" square from the fabric.
3. On a separate note or card put a small piece of the fabric and include your "good wish note." Please include why you chose the fabric and your name and address. The fabric will be used to make a quilt, and the notes will be used in keepsake book for our daughter.

IDEAS FOR SELECTING FABRIC SQUARES: * Select a fabric that is meaningful to you. * 100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better. * If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than one good wish note and pieces of fabric. In China, these quilts were originally made from the garments of family and friends surrounding the child with luck and good wishes.

IDEAS FOR GOOD WISHES NOTE: Anything that comes to mind. Good advice about the family, well wishes, hopes, dreams, poems, bible verses, a simple I love you! Just remember to sign it!

You all are wondering how I am going to make a quilt, I bet. I am not, Bart is! HA! After the basement work coming to an end, he is a little bored.

All joking aside, I am going to find someone to do it for me. There are still many quilters in this area who do that sort of thing for money. I think there is a group at church. I also know of a local tailor shop that may be interested. But there is always the chance that any family/friend who knows how to quilt will step forward and help me. If I am lucky I will get to be involved and learn how.

I know it is a little early, but 100 is a lot. So tell your friends to tell their friends and send a bunch to me so the little girl with dark almond eyes can be wrapped up in love and ‘good wishes” when she comes HOME!

The Heat have been defeated

A great game against the Knicks ended in defeat. A score of 16-11, which up until the last few minutes was stuck at 14-11 for almost a whole quarter. The two teams both were undefeated when they woke up this morning. Dante was not his usually self, and when asked why he said, "I thought I sucked so I kept passing it to the other guys."
Bart did a great job explaining Koby Bryant's last few games. One scoring about 50+ points and the other 11 points out of 50+ shots! Dante felt much better and hopefully next week will be back on his game.
I enjoyed a great second half in the hall with the monster child. I bet you all thought I meant Stone. HA! He is the angel now! It is the little girl that looks so much like her momma and is so darn cute, smart, and for some reason gets her way more often then not. Dad is completely to blame! Who, by the way is putting up the last of the drywall.

I am sorry for saying such mean things about my husband, just to get the rest of the basement finished. Ha! I love that everyone only hears my side of the story. It makes life easier. HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE!

Please keep us in your prayers. The homestudy is complete and ready, but the notary lady was out on friday. Bart signed it and Monday morning I will get it and send everything to St. Louis, CIS (Immigration). Pray it gets there and is processed very fast, because I am growing ever more impatient and am really hard to live with. So that means pray for my husband to have patience with me. One step closer!

Is Bart hanging up dry wall or his tool belt??

I am always talking about how proud I am of My family. My husband included for all his hard work and dedication in relation to the kids and our needs. Because he is also dedicated to many filthy habits, too. I refuse to be proud of those! Well, the basement is drywalled and we are just waiting for the drywall man to come and do the finishing touches! Check out the great job!!!!!! This half wall and one other small inner bathroom closet wall is all that is left to hang.
So my next question goes back to the title. In this picture you see "the tool belt" and it has not moved for over a week. But I am not complaining! If I was complaining it would be a lot more obvious, like why doesn't he.......
He has still kept up on his beer consumption. Thank goodness the drywall has been 97% hung, or there would be millions of cans in those walls!

It has however created a monster... He wants to build, bigger and better things now. (BIG SIGH, BIG GULP) Maybe I'll start drinking more.

Bragging on Dante...

Bart came home with the best compliment a parent could want. The plant manager, who was at the MLK dinner, pulled Bart off the line to talk to him. He only wanted to compliment him on OUR DANTE! He was impressed with his manners, how he shook his hand and looked him straight in the eye when they were introduced. I always told everyone he was a good kid!!! I am just so proud!!!

Conservation Center trip

Stone, Lucy and I met our friend Dr. Bev at the new Conservation Center yesterday. It was very neat! Stone loved to push all the buttons and Lucy followed Stone around. Stone crawled through the beaver damn (great way to loose him) and Lucy was captain of the boat.

Stone almost had a potty crisis. I found him in "pooping position" (on his hands and knees) It is the facial expression that clenches the moment. It always sends me into a complete panic. We ran to the bathroom, and made a successful mission. I know most of you think, big deal, but for me it was HUGE!!! No going home early, or cleaning up a mess in a public restroom for the thousands time and he did not scream about yuckies in his pants!

We saw birds, fish, a really scarey horny turtle with his mouth wide open. Stone called it a dragon. Dr. Bev executed the turkey call thing like a pro. I bet Dave had something to do with that! And it all ended at the beginning with the Conservation Theatre. Stone was insisting we stay until the movie was over. He is all about completion. Once he wanted to start the movie over the patience was over too! We left looking for a gameboy and french fries, which we found both!

A good time was had by all and we just missed a bus of 60 kids. As we were walking in they were walking out. God loves me and was watching over Stone and Lucy. Because I am sure they both would have ended up on the bus. Oh, but I am sure they would have found me to take them back afte just a short while!

Lucy's first unofficial date.

Lucy and her boyfriend on date night.
He took her to our house for a movie, Garfield of course!

Do you think they can read the subtitles? 

A dinner with MLK III for the Big boys

Dante and Bart got all dressed up. Dinner was great. Dante's description of the food was completely different from Bart's, but remember Bart has a love affair with food and Dante will not eat it unless there is hot sauce on it.

Bart said Martin Luther King III was "interesting". He spoke of poverty being a major problem and anti-war issues. How do you think that went over in this part of the country?????
They had great seats at the P&G reserved table with all the top guys. And Dante behaved like a gentleman, or so I have not been told differently. There were over 900 in attendance. Pretty impressive.

Overall, a good time had by the those who went.
The best part for me was watching Bart tie his tie, over and over and over again. Too short, too long, too short, too long.... 

A day with the G-Grandparents

Yesterday we adventured out! It was a very nice day. Bart has put off working on the basement and decided to get some "help". He is not so stressed and has more time for us. It is really nice.
We discovered a new Chinese restaurant in town, and man was it good. I even had a lady stop on the way out and tell me she enjoyed our family. We were quite calm, so I think she meant it. It was a nice treat as we are in the Chinese New Year Holiday. January 29th is the actual Chinese New Year, and it will become the year of the dog. Dante is making Chinese Dragon kite's in school and has read a book about Chinese New Year as well as watched a video. I am so happy to be in a school district that devotes so much energy to many different cultures! I know this is a great big benefit to our family of many backgrounds.

We visited Bart's Grandparents for a couple hours and came out of there very pleased to have them still with us. It is often hard for Bart to watch his beloved grandparents to not only grow older but also see the damaging effects age has on a persons body and mind. For me it is just a sad reminder of grandparents gone and too far away to see as much as I 'd like.

We played a game of switch noses for a good half hour and everyone seemed to get involved. It is a favorite of Stone's, and Lucy has to do everything Stone does. Lucy also has to include everyone. We were lucky to get this great picture.

I got your nose grandpa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vic and Gertie are getting along well. You can see they love watching the kids and get a kick out of their energy. Grandma sat and rocked Lucy as she drank a bottle and Stone played catch with Grandpa. Grandpa also spent some time showing both Stone and Dante all the birds outside. It is a past time he enjoys. You would be amazed at all of the neat birds that come to eat off their bird feeders. He also was excited to have recently come across his fiddle and one of his daughters is having the bow mended so he can have a go at it. Of course they talked some Cardinal baseball before we decided it was time to head home.
I would have added more pictures but for some reason I can't get them to upload. And I had a great one of a big man (Bart) sitting on a little bitty stool.

The undefeated Heat

Dante played 2 games on Saturday. The Heat beat both the Nets and Magic. Dante's team is made up of 7 players and they all have talents in one way or another. The coach changes their positions and each player get his share on the court. You would be surprised how organized ten 3rd graders can get on the basketball court. His team is HOT when they work together and WILD when they don't. Over all they all have fun and they get along great on and off the court. The cutest thing about Dante is his smile as he is playing. His constant smile up and down the court almost seems out of place, but is so completely genuine that you see he loves it! The picture of his running with two of his team mates shows his golden SMILE!

We all had a blast cheering on Dante and all his team members. We are proud of him and how hard he works.
GO HEAT!!!!!!!

A priceless gift of Old Glory.

This was a Priceless Christmas gift Bart and I recieved at Christmas. His Dad was in Iraq for 18 months, returning only once for a short 2 week visit. As we spent Christmas in Germany, he spent Christmas on a United States base in Iraq. He spent a large part of his day flying American flags. Each of us "kids" got a flag and a picture of the exact flag he flew in Iraq. I think he did 5 in all. It was a very emotional moment as we all opened these gifts and realized how much he had given to us not just with this flag, but with his time and dedication to our country.
I am so proud to have this hanging on our wall and Bart has plans to build (he thinks he can build anything now. Just call him BOB.) a flag pole to fly this flag at least on Christmas day, if not more.

In case Harry is reading this, THANK YOU! You mean the world to us and we love you!

All about Lucy

Lucy seems to be growing up in front of my eyes. Here she is two night in a row. in her p.j.'s The closet is a favorite spot. She has a stash of toys in my closet and has created a little seat in Stone's. I could go on with an closet joke, but that's MY BABY! Her new favorite charater is Blue from Blue's clues. She will sit and talk to Steve, so cute. Big Bird and Ernie and her babies (plural) still are special. In fact every time we leave the house we are toting one if not two "friends" besides her blanket and drink and cheetos. She constantly has an orange fingers and mouth and coat! Last week I found her in Stone's closet after having gotten into Dante's wallet and taking his 2 Wal-mart gift cards. (Which have since been spent). The wallet was a little harder to find. She'd ditched it in the trash. Getting rid of the hard evidence that might pin her to the crime, I guess. She was quick to jump, thrust the cards out to me and then smile. All the while saying Thank You. She still confuses this with Sorry. Try not to laugh at this, while punishing her with stern looks and forcefull words.
So here was a little about Lucy.

The homestudy is finished, BUT we have to wait for it to be signed by St. Louis. It will not be ready until next week. At least I was able to see it and confirm it's accuracy. It was incredible. We sounded like a normal family in it. I guess a few hours is not suffecient time to see all. Please pray for my patience and for the LCFS to keep it rolling.

Dante has a basketball game tomorrow. I will try to get some good pictures and post them. I will also try not to fall down in front of 50 so parents like last week. I triped walking up the bleachers, while holding Stone. I went down...clunky, clunk, BANG, but I hung on to Stone and kept him vertical. My knee still is slightly soar when I kneel down. Oh course it was during the quarter break, so all eyes on me.

Score

Words are not even needed.

A bus full of "special" kids.

I seem to be writing many post lately, but I felt a great need to include this.
Stone every morning gets on a bus to go to school. We are met at the door by his helper Becky, and then she assists him to his seat to buckle him in. It is nice to have wonderful people in his life. As he leaves, I always stay and wave and blow kisses, and wave and blow kisses, and wave and blow kisses. Seat belts take a minute or two. What is so great is every child on the bus, (about 3-4, remember it is a shorter then normal bus) think I am personal waving and blowing kisses to them and do it back. Talk about a heart felt way to start a morning. These kids are soooo excited and happy to get this special attention and it shows. I take so much for granted and a moment like this jolts me into a complete gratitude for all I have. These kids make me smile every morning, and I look forward to blowing them all a kiss or two especially the strawberry blond with glasses.

Super STONE

This was actually part of Monday's adventure.

I came up from doing something in the basement and found Stone watching TV like this.

I stood and watched him sit like this for several minutes

before he noticed me and then got down and ran away.

Socks

Here are the kids and I in our socks made with German yarn.

It was a gift we picked up in Germany for Aunt Carla (who seems to be a regular on this blog). She returned it to us with 4 warm, cozy pairs of socks.

Bart did buy socks while in Germany but they are pretty much the same as American socks.

He also declined to include his bare feet.

If anyone has ever seen his toes, then you might know why.

China update

Our daughter in china seems so far away now. Reality of it is sinking in that we have to wait on a lot of other things to get done. I have done all I can and did it fast, but now it is waiting for other areas to to their job. The homestudy is what has us waiting now, and has been the case since before Christmas. All our homestudy visits were done on the 21st of December, but I still have no finished write up. This is due to the social worker being thrown into this position. The usual international adoption social worker had a conflict of interest, having worked with Bart some years back at Wal-mart. What are the odds??? And that time period??? He was incredible good at being bad. So anyway, we recieved a social worker who is learning as she goes, and still trying to take care of a full load. This agency also works with all areas of adoption and I know there are more important issues to be dealing with at Christmas, such as the expectant mothers and impovershed families. So I was understanding at that time. Well it is now 3 weeks past Christmas and still nothing.
Once we do get this then we have to send request forms to immigration. The homestudy must be included in this set of documents. We then wait for an appointment to get fingerprinted, most likely in St. Louis. And then we wait some more for another form called the I-171H. This is like gold to adoption families. This can take up to 8 weeks I have heard, but usually about 4-5. But the wait is then not over.....
I send this to our agency where the other 3 months of collected paperwork is waiting. This complete set of documents is called our DOSSIER. A very big deal. And our ticket to our daughter from China.
So anyway, the Dossier has to be sent to Jeff. City and returned to the agency to be verified. Did I mention the agency is in Texas? And then to the Chinese Consulate in St. Louis to be authenticated and returned to the agency. Only then is it "ready" to be sent! These steps take up to a month.
I really wanted to get our Dossier to China in February to ensure a 2006 trip, but I am now simply going to assume we will celebrate Christmas as a family of 5 and travel in 2007. If this keeps up we might be able to catch some of the Olympics. (Just one of the things we wanted to avoid.)
The waiting once the Dossier has recently increased. I have read several reasons why, I am not really quite sure. When we first started it was 5-7 months but is now closer to 8-10 and I have even heard some rumors of up to 12 months! Talk about a long pregnancy!
That is what is to come. I will update each step as it happens. God has really been so good to us and I have full trust that this wait is what is best. I take a deep breath and focus on the end result. Until then I have 3 children screaming for me to get off this computer and play games, do puzzles, and build paper airplanes, not to mention a husband he wants help with drywall.
Thanks for all your prayers. Please pray hard for us and all that waiting, for all the hands that cross over the stack of documents, and for our daugher, who just might be breathing her first breath someday, sometime soon, if not already half way across the world in China.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

We had a very successful birthday weekends. For some reason, unless it is my birthday, at our house birthdays last for at least 2-3 days.

Bart seemed to enjoy barbequeing in January. It was snowing and that is his breath in the picture. The steaks and veggies took an extra long time to get done with all the heat loss. Stone has love for birthdays. We have had more cake this year then ever! He really is about 16 if you count the number of cakes and "pretend" birthdays he has had. He was allowed by is wonderful big "birthday" brother to share this one with his own WHITE cake and candle.

Stone is in gamecube detox. It was hard on him for the first hour and then hard on me. He requires hands on in most any activity he does. Oh, except Dante's keyboard that Aunt Carla and Uncle Mike got him for Christmas. Thus, allowing me to type this up. (I wish you could hear Mozart at work) And I am sure Lucy is soon due to wake from a nap as he is "composing".

The boys all were able to have a day off thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. To some this is just another day off, but to Dante he is very proud of Dr. King's accomplishments (as well as getting a day off). Bart was able to finsh all the drywall except the ceiling! The annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast did not happen this year because, Cape Girardeau actually got Martin Luther King III to speak. So there is a dinner on the 23th of January instead. Bart really takes pride taking Dante every year to this, and I think this year will be even more special.

I will soon update everyone of the adoption and what is to come. Moving very slow! Not by choice. All in good timing. Good things happen to those who wait. Slow and steady win the race. You get the point.

9 years ago....

4 short years ago... Dante age 5.

Today is Dante's Birthday!

9 years ago Jan. 13, 1997, I was blessed with a baby boy. I was scared to death, as my Mom left me alone after a few hours being home. A huge snow storm kept everyone indoors, she wanted to get back home before it was too late.

Hard to believe this big guy was once just under 6 lbs. Now his feet are as big as mine and his fingers longer then mine.

His dinner of choice for his birthday is steak, grilled bell peppers, and a baked potatoe. He choose chocolate cake and frosting, "just like me" he said.

So if you catch this, leave a comment for him, or give him a call and wish him a happy 9th!

A new look for the basement

Bart's basement project has been going full speed. He has been on the job, everynight afterwork and every available weekend. He breaks for dinner (15 minutes). The dedication shows. He started with an empty basement and now has plumbing, wiring, cable and framed walls. Soon we will be the proud owners of a FINISHED 2 bedroom, livingroom, full bath, bonus room, utility/storage room basement. "The drywall sucks", quoted straight from my husband. He is not looking forward to the long boring process of mudding and taping. It is however, almost done, except for finishing up. ( A favorite of my father-in-laws!)

I guarentee the Natural Light stays in the wall! For some reason he assures me every house has at least one. I am not so sure, but for such hard work, he could leave a whole case, for all I care!

Also check out the toilet in Dante's future room. He is scared it will stay there! We tried to tell him of the conviences in the middle of the night, but he still wants it removed. Reminds me of a jail cell.

I especially like the half walls. When he (Bart) was able to get a night of help, (thank you Paul Douglas) he choose to hang the top first, since it is so heavy and he can't possibly do that alone.

So, once finished, there is plenty of room for all to come for a short visit.

Keep Bart in your prayers as he continues to work with hot wires, power tools, and sharp objects. Did I mention he did this all with the help of books and not much prior knowledge?
Add a prayer for me as I am upstairs with the kids listening to the banging!

God is Good!

A glimpse into the window of the Vandeven house

I have officially lost it! I was just telling Bart about a month ago how I don't get what is so neat about "blogging". And here I am. I could say it is experimental, to see what is so cool about it, but the truth is I have officially lost it and think it might just be a fun way to blast our crazy life on the internet for all to read. (At least a glimpse, thus the title.) So for all of you who WANT to know what Dante, Stone, and Lucy are up to, here it is! Of course Bart will be included, because for those of you who know us, he is a peice of work.
Please remember, I am just learning, so be patient with all the mistakes! Together we can laugh, cry, pray, and be completely amazed at all that is to come, including our additional child from China.
So buckle up, keep all hands in side the vehicle, and prepare to be enchanted!