Fun In The Snow

There's not much to report on the adoption end of things...still waiting on fingerprints, so in the meantime, life goes on...and because God has chosen to place me in the Arctic, I have 500 pictures of children in snow.

I really do not like the cold, but I have a daughter who does! 

So she takes Johnny and Lily outside for playtime.

 Well, last week she took them out, went down a hill with them, played, etc. 

I took a bunch of pictures and then darted back in the warm house for shelter. I came back out ten minutes later and this is what I found: 

Yes, Brianna had dug a pit and stuck her sister in it. 

Can you say, "Joseph and his coat of many colors, anyone??" Lol.

(Bible lesson for those of you who have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about...Joseph was thrown in a pit by his brothers...only they weren't funning around...and he wasn't chubby and Chinese.)

So...

Was Lily upset?

Sure doesn't look like it to me!!!

She's Ruining My Photography Class!!!

Well, not really, ha, ha. But SERIOUSLY...do you know how hard it is to do a photography class when your subject thinks it's one big joke???

Look at her!!! The only time she's serious is when she's not fed on time or she's tired. Other than that, when my camera comes out, she turns into this:

Or this:

 She just started doing the rabbit ear thing, but this is kind of a whole new level!

 

Ok, Johnny struck a really cool martial arts pose before this, so Lily gave it a try...this looks more like a creepy, chunky version of the Karate Kid pose from the '80's. :)

No idea...no words. She makes this face all the time. For no reason whatsoever, except to amuse herself and anyone who's watching.

Ok, I gotta admit, this is my favorite...it cracks me up...and she also does this 

all. 

the. 

time!!

This is just a selection of HUNDREDS of pictures she's ruined, I mean, made my photography class a joy!!

Actually, I'm totally kidding...these are the pics that childhood is made of...and why I want two more kiddos!!!!

 I would be seriously depressed if I had normal children!!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Apparently Johnny has grown some rabbit ears!

Nope, just sister tormenting her big brother!

It will be very interesting seeing the personalities of the next two that come into our home!

Fingerprint Drama

Well.......my fingerprints were rejected...again. Too smudgy, too blah, blah, blah....yada...blah, blah. So now they run the background check using my soc #.  Wow. That's a BRILLIANT idea...and it's quicker. Just a thought...how about do that the FIRST time??????!!!!!

 I swear I would love to be on a panel called "Let's fix everything wrong with the adoption process." Instead more rules are made that keep adoptive parents further from bringing their children home. Agh! Don't get me started!!!

Ok, because I have nothing to report on our current adoption (except that the home study is DONE, minus my fingerprints), I will post some pictures that I'm taking for my photography class.

I was taught to look at pictures in layers this week (not all the time, but sometimes). So we were told to take pics with something in all three layers, foreground, main, and background. I focused in on Lily Anna laughing at Johnny's antics. I informed the class that if you could hear the belly laugh with the picture, you'd be in stitches too. She has the best laugh and sounds like E.T. I really have to post a video of her talking sometime...and yes, I have taught her how to say, "E.T. phone home," and "be good." Sorry...I couldn't help it...it had to be done!!!

This was taken for pattern (window) and empty space (also window). Brianna was beyond thrilled to have the camera in her face. Can't you tell?

This picture of Johnny was taken for the leading lines of the window/trim behind him, with camera angled. I love this pose...he always strikes this pose when the camera is on or if you want to wrestle with him. He's stronger than you think!!

This week my goal (which is out of my hands) is to have those fingerprints come back so I can move on to my dossier!!!

For those of you who don't know what a dossier is, let me translate: 

it means more paperwork!!!!!!!!   ;)

Wrapping Up The Homestudy

Can I take a side note before I even begin? Is it spelled homestudy or home study? I'm completely irritated by this word! I personally think it should be one word...it's actually a document, so it should be one word, but every time I type it, my computer wants to correct it. Btw, I don't care if the dictionary has it as two words (I haven't even looked it up). It should be one. There, I'm off my soapbox now. 

So, we're almost done with it, but with one minor setback, which I never even mentioned because it was in the middle of Gotcha Anniversaries, etc...we are waiting on my fingerprints (for the second time) because they looked smudgy. So, today was our last visit with our social worker, and she hasn't heard a word about the prints...so prayerfully it will be soon. 

The minute our home study (stupid computer just autocorrected...whatever...home study it is then)...ANYWHOOOO...the minute our HOME STUDY is done, we can move on to preparing our dossier...which I'm already sort of-kind of-round about doing already because I've done this before.

And then we will send our documents to China!!! 

This is already going much quicker than our last adoption. We'll see. It took 18 months before...a huge part of that was our home study, which was supposed to take 6-8 weeks and ended up taking 5 months. Don't ask me what took that long...I do everything I can to not look back and re-live those months! 

So right now, I'm getting things done for the dossier and I'm in the middle of my photography class...in other words, I'm keeping myself very busy...intentionally. I don't do well with idle time. My mind goes and goes all day long...so I make sure I don't have time to think. (Don't worry...there's not much going on upstairs in my brain anyway, tee hee.) 

Here are some random pics I took for my photography class:

Lily Anna looking so sweet. I should have increased my aperture so more of her face was in focus...sure is a pretty pic though! She was super tired and I took advantage!

Love this pic of Johnny...once again, when I begin editing my pics (or learning, I should say) the things such as dry lips will be a thing of the past.

Many times I have to pinch myself because I can't believe we're adopting again!! Johnny and Lily Anna have been such a tremendous blessing in our lives and I'm so thankful that we're in the process to bring home two more little cuties from China!