Caroline's Bedroom

I'm getting Caroline's room completed....new furniture.....new Christmas tree. I am incorporating a 'butterfly' theme in the bedroom, and of course, the Christmas tree has to have all butterfly ornaments. Mom made the valance and is in the process of making the quilt and bedskirt out of the Daisy Kingdom pattern "Singin' in the Rain." I'll include more pictures when the quilt/bedskirt are done.

I'm Giving Thanks

I'm giving thanks (on this Thanksgiving Day) for my friends (the Sonnefields) who welcome Mom and I into their home. For the last two years they have invited us to spend this special day with them as if we were family.......we ARE like family.

I'm thankful to God who has blessed me in so many ways.......

I'm thankful for a Mom who loves me beyond measure. Besides the fact that she is a VERY GOOD cook, she and I are able to live together and be very happy. Not many mothers and adult daughters can say that.

I give thanks for my profession. I am able to spend every day doing what I love - teaching music. Not many people can say that they love their job.....I do.

I'm thankful that I have a new purpose in life - Caroline. I think about the Thanksgivings in the future, spending it with my new daughter. I'll have to start being the 'responsible' adult who prepares the fancy meal at holiday time. My only qualm is that I fear I will need to learn how to cook a turkey and all of the trimmings. Oh, my. Perhaps next year, I'll start this process by producing something low key like a pumpkin pie. Or yams. Well, I'll worry about that later. I guess I should now give thanks for the fact that Mom has lots of cookbooks and lots of patience to teach me how to use them.

Life is crazy

My life is crazy right now. I'm realizing that the schedule that I have now MUST change when I bring my daughter home from China. A typical day at school is at least 12 hours long, and that won't be possible with a baby daughter. So, I'm going to 'enjoy' this schedule while it lasts, and know that I'll have to let some things go - extra rehearsals and lessons at night, and working late in my office. When I bring Caroline home, my life will belong to her, just as it seems to belong to my students right now. I also need to be 'scoping' out some good student babysitters on those nights when I do have to be at school late. :)

The Long Wait

For several years, my life has revolved around my students. I love to be around my students, and I love to see them grow in terms of their knowledge and skill. I love to see them grow emotionally and spiritually. That is very fulfilling to me. A big piece of my heart belongs to my students. I am sincere when I say that I love my students.
Now, my life revolves arounds my upcoming adoption from China. I felt called to adopt from China in April 2006; then, I began the process of the adoption agency application, home study and dossier preparation culminating in my China log-in date of April 13, 2007. My adoption agency is Children's Hope International.
I am currently 49-years-old, single; years passed, and I got to the point that I just didn't think that I would ever be a mom. I just closed that part of my heart. Over the years, I thought about adoption, but it was never 'the right time.' So, when God tapped me on the shoulder very firmly (thanks Anne and Pam), I had to start believing that I could, in fact, be a mom to more than my students and my doggies. God has allowed my heart to soften to the idea of really being a mom. It's an amazing feeling.
So, I've already endured a very long wait - getting to the realization that I needed to be a mom.......now, I've got a long wait to bring home my daughter from China. I don't know when that day will come - China is taking a very long time to place their children - but I think of her and pray for her every day. I have chosen the name Caroline Anne.