Haircuts & More!

Wow. Has it really been 5 days since I posted?  I am in withdrawal!  LOL  We have been so busy since Sunday. It is funny how easily you get accustomed to "chatting" with your virtual pool of friends (from all over the world) each day while in China.  Getting home, as so many of you already know, is a bit of a reality check.  Back to the real world!  Well, sort of. The real reality check will come on Monday when I return to work and Tom and the boys begin the figure out what normal looks like for them.

Tuesday was a happy day for Tom! Anyone who knows my husband knows that he can not STAND when his hair (or the hair of anyone over whom he has control-lol) gets long. And by long, I mean "touching the ears-- AT ALL!)  So, this week, we finally made it to the salon for haircuts.  Of course, Colin did not get much of a say in his "doo".

Check out "the look"!

Tommy was next in the chair....  He is quite used to this process.

Look closely. Colin enjoyed taking the pictures this time! (Look behind the stylist)

 Next, is "Big Tom".  A much happier face than the one that walked into the salon...

He would probably shave it all off if I didn't object.....  Last, was me. But, of course, once the boys were done, they all ran away to get popcorn and no one was left to take pictures.......

After two more days of school, we were all ready for Mrs. Jackson's Pool invite!  So, a bunch of us met over at the indoor pool today  for some lunchtime fun!  The boys had a great time playing with their friends.

It was nice to have lifeguards on duty....

We moms had a chance to sit and visit while the kids had fun in the pool. 

After pool time, we all went back home to finish lessons for today. Later this afternoon, I find my boys cuddled up together like pretzels on the sofa enjoying the classic tale, "Robots". (In English)  It was nice to see them together that closely without all the squealing, poking, and yelling that usually accompanies the two of them in the same space! lol  I didn't even hear, "MOM!  Colin ....." or "Mom! Tommy....."  It was a little piece of heaven. (Sadly, it was short-lived).

Tomorrow brings our first post-placement visit from our social worker.  We are excited to introduce her to Colin since she played an important role in us being able to bring him home.  And, sticking with the apparent theme of "God is in the details" that seems to flow through most of these posts, I received an email from a fellow home-school parent regarding a carpooling issue we were having.  I have never met this woman before, and was not even corresponding about Colin or adoption, when she just happened to mention that she was a native mandarin speaker and offered to help if we ever needed assistance. WHAT?  SERIOUSLY?  I tell you, every other day I am shaking my head in amazement at how God provides even that which we don't yet know we need.  I emailed this kind woman today asking if she might be available to help us translate tomorrow and she responded almost immediately that she would be here.  So, now, our social worker can actually talk to Colin, with her help, and better know how he is doing.  

Lastly, I want to speak a moment to all of you that have been secretly lifting our family up in prayer all these months.  I hadn't realized until recently, just how many prayer warriors we had!  Lately, everywhere I go, I run into someone who shares with me how they have been reading the blog and "following" along with us on this journey.  I firmly believe that each family, each child's prayers, each man and woman who stopped a moment to pray for our family-- each one of you has been used of God to bring Colin home to us.  I can't tell you how many times I have been asked something like, "How can you be so calm?" "Why aren't you worried?" "You need HOW MUCH money?" "By WHEN???"  It is without a doubt due to the prayers of so many Godly men and women that I-- ME-the most type AAAAAAA personality on the planet! (Right, Kim?) that I was able to calmly trust in a plan I could not see. To look into logically (the realm I prefer to live in) the most ridiculous situation and KNOW without a single doubt that we were following God's plan for our family.  I am not the easy-going one. I am not the laid back, go with the flow, take a risk and see what happens sort of girl!  NOT AT ALL! But, your faithful prayers and God's immeasurable grace have allowed me to walk through the past 5 months with a truly supernatural peace that only came from above.  My family and my blood-pressure thanks you all.

Angie