We're Pre-Approved

We're pre-approved not for a new Visa, Discover or Mastercard..... But to adopt Ty. The DHL package arrived at the office in Oregon this morning and Tiffany called to let me know the good news. This letter basically states that based on the information we sent, China will allow us to adopt and we can proceed as planned. Now we will finish getting all of our papers(dossier) together and submit it to China ASAP.
The exciting part of this it that we were told it may take from 6 - 8 weeks to receive this PA(pre-approval). It only took 3 WEEKS!
We can also now request updates on how Ty is doing and we can send him care packages until we arrive. It may take a long time to get an update but we can ask because the Chinese governement considers him OURS!

AWANA

Ever since we moved here we have been involved in AWANA club. This year Mia is able to be in the Cubbies program. Every week the kids have bible verses to memorize and recite to their leader. Mia even has a weekly verse. It has been a wonderful way for the kids to learn scripture. It's even helped me to learn many verses, plus last year Zane had to learn all the books of the Old Testament. Which I am fairly sure I knew at some point but I am now current on them again.

Contentment

I was sorting through some pictures for my upcoming Scrapbook Retreat Weekend and found this picture I don't remember taking. Is that not two perfect looks of contentment?

Future Make up Artist

Can I just say, she had never been more pleased with herself.

BOO!

Last night we got "Booed" About 8:30 the doorbell rang. David went downstairs to see who might possibly be at the door at this late hour. (I of course was hoping it was someone with a cashier's check ready to buy the house.) But, anyway when he got to the door there was no one there. Only an orange pumpkin bucket, full of Candy and a note saying we have been "booed". The good kind too, Snickers, Reese Cups, Twix, etc. Our Boo phantom spares no expense. Here's the Boo bucket now, less than 24 hours later. You can see with 4 kids and 2 adults who think they're kids, the candy doesn't last long. We're hoping for a "Boo"fill later next week.

*disclaimer* Daddy you can quit worrying about the candy being tainted I have a real good idea who my Boo phantom is, (Just think wife of the furniture man)

Because we all need something funny....

Soccer Season

Soccer season has begun and this year we have 2 players on the field. Trent is playing for the Jr. Tigers and Kaylee is playing for the Lady Mustangs. Both of them really enjoy playing. And we enjoy watching them. I enjoy the game from my folding chair and David enjoys watching while coaching on the sideline. Trent even made 2 goals last week.

The process

Some of you have asked how the adoption process goes for a SN child. So here is the best I can explain it.
1. Accept the referral (child is pre-identified)
& Sign with the agency that has his file
2. We send a Letter of Intent to adopt this child to China (1 week)
3. China Sends back a letter of Pre-Approval (6 -8weeks)
4. Submit our Dossier(paperwork) to China (as soon as Pre-approval returns)
5. China sends back a Letter seeking Confirmation to make sure you still want to go through with the adoption (12 - 17 weeks)
6. We say YES and then they send a Travel Approval (2 - 4 weeks)
7. Travel to China to complete the adoption (2 weeks in country)

Total time for the process 9 - 13 months.

Currently we have completed steps 1 & 2. We are now waiting for our Pre Approval (#3) and are working on our dossier(#4) The social worker is coming to our house this evening for our last meeting so she can write our homestudy.

Even though we have already adopted from China we have to do all the paperwork again. (Seems like they could dig up the old file but we follow their rules)

Slidin'

A friend of ours took this picture of Trent at his birthday party. I think this pictures sums him up quite nicely.

Because humor can sometimes lead to me in overdrive

The other morning I went through the Starbucks drive through. (The fact that Starbucks even has a drive through is a wonderful act of kindness) I ordered my usual Tall White Chocolate Mocha. (When Mia sees a coffee cup on a dish towel or something she asks if it is a Chocolate Mocha? So, you now know how often we frequent the establishment.
So the lady in the building says, " OK one Triple Veggie Mocha?" Quickly I begin scanning the board for something "VEGGIE" because this just really doesn't sound like something a Star. would make.
Then it hit me that OH she's being funny. I tell her yes, you got me that will be all.

We exchanged money for coffee and while driving away I realize that I have been given not a Tall but Venti size cup and I check my receipt and have a triple shot of espresso in my drink. (The young man preparing the drink apparently heard the Triple Veggie and thought Triple Venti)
Well, it was to late and to much trouble to go back through the drive so I drank it anyway.
It tasted the same but can I just say that I was in overdrive all day and into the wee hours of the morning. (Me in overdrive is a somewhat scary thought, especially if I am talking)
Lesson learned here is that when you are in need of a cleaning marathon or all night study date a Triple Venti White Chocolate Mocha is what you need to order.

"I thought China only adopted Girls?"

Great question thanks for asking...... Here's my take on the situation......China does adopt girls primarily. Because of the one child law the older generation places more importance on male children so girls are abandoned more. However, there are many boys available for adoption in China. Sometimes the child may be perceived to be small or weak, have some type of birthmark, or sickness. In these cases the birth parents will abandon the child. (Yes, abandon) We are not talking, going to the local adoption agency and telling them you can't take care of your child and want a nice couple to raise it. It is illegal to place a child for adoption in China. So the alternative is abandonment. The children are literally left until someone finds them. Usually a police officer in the early morning, near daybreak. But back to the boy issue.
In China if an orphan is not adopted from the orphanage they are given what is equivalent to an 8th grade education. Then the child is sent to work or put out on the street. Tradition has it that young people will marry only those in their "class". So, a girl left in an orphanage will at least have the hopes to one day be a wife. In a country where there is a severe shortage of women there's a good chance all the girls will be married regardless of "class" and education. However, in a country with this type of situation an orphan boy has no chance of ever making it past a menial job and likely won't marry because he has nothing to offer a wife without an education or family.
So, yes China does have boys available for adoption. There are several you can take a peak at on the agency web-site. www.allgodschildren.org click on adoption and then waiting children

Here he is

Due to some agency rules I've had to take the picture of Ty off the internet. If you would like to see him email me and I'll send you the picture. dszkwalling@kingwoodcable.com

We have some exciting news to share. We are in the process to adopt another child. We will likely be returning to China next summer to bring home a sweet little boy. He is currently two years old and is 11months younger than Mia. So by the time we travel he will have just turned three. His name is Tao Yun and we will likely call him Ty. Ty was born with a cleft lip and palate but was surgically corrected last year. He is considered Special needs because of this fact. Most China adoptions take about 2 years now, but because of his special needs classification we will probably be able to adopt him in 9 - 13 months.

Since the day Mia was placed in our arms we felt strongly that we would adopt again. We really weren't sure when or how but lately God has really shown us that the time is now. We are being obedient to His call and the way all the circumstances just keep working out leads us to a place where we know this is ordained by God. Just one quick example is that before we knew his Chinese name we had decided that we would like to name him Ty. And then when we opened the email with his medical information we noticed that his name is Tao Yun. I don't think there are mere coincidences where God is concerned.

We look forward to introducing the newest member of the Walling crew to all of you next summer. All the kids are so excited and can't wait to see him.
Please keep us in your prayers as we go through the next few months of paperwork. With this type of adoption everything goes a little faster and we pray that it will go lightning fast. The sooner he can come home the better

On the Road again...

Where to start? Around these parts we have an internet site called har.com. It is a fascinating site that has all the houses for sale in the houston area on one web-site. Well, I have somewhat of an addiction at shopping for houses. I never buy any but "I'm always looking" (truth be told some of my friends share this same addiction ) Anyway, a few weeks back I happened upon a great house in the next neighborhood over with a POOL. The price was right and the floorplan was even better. It has an extended garage which we can make that portion into David's office and it is a ONE story. (my calves are thanking me already)

So we innocently called the realtor and went to take a look. (That is always the wrong thing to do if you're truly just looking.) Because you might really want to buy the thing. Negotiations went on back and forth for a few weeks and now we're buying it.

Do we have our house sold yet? NO. Do we even have our house on the market yet? NO. But there's time....... We have a close date for the new house in mid November and we can push that back if need be. The owners are building and their new digs won't be ready until February.

So we're moving...... A whole 1/2 mile around the corner. But a move is a move and man this can get stressful if you let it.

Anyone wanting to move here? Just let me know I can get you a great deal on a 4 Bedroom house.

Here's a picture of the pool at the new house. Because we all know this will be the kids favorite part of the whole thing.

High Fivin'

Trent had a great 5th birthday party. He has had his last 2 birthday parties at the pool so this year we offered something different. I was hoping for something indoors with air conditioning. But for the last 3 months he has had his eye on a monster truck Pinata at Wal-Mart. He really didn't care anything about the party as long as he could have the pinata. So, back to the pool we went. Because an outdoor party in the south in August must be at a pool.

Trent with the much anticipated pinata.

Future Beautician

This morning while I was getting dressed Mia was sitting at my make-up table in the bathroom. When I walked in she said, "Here's the scissors Mommy, Chop chop" Then she ran out. I turned to see black hair all over the white tile.

Thankfully, it was only her bangs and her hair grows faster than a tallow tree.

Geaux Tigers

It's a Boy's night out for David and two of his Bulldog friends. (Lance- left and Mac-right) Tonight LSU plays Mississippi state. This morning they were all smiles but someone will have lots of humble pie to eat. Let's hope it's not the person in the middle.

Back to School Go the Girls and Boys

Thanks to a new Texas law that schools cannot start until the 4th Monday of the month, we just started school today. I was glad to have the extra summer days. As you can see everyone was all smiles this morning. I got up and got dressed and by 7:00 Kaylee and Zane were completely dressed and were fixing there own breakfast. They were excited. Trent, on the other hand and to be carefully roused from his warm bed.

Today was Trent's first day of Kindergarten. I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and he said "When my teacher left the room to go to the bathrooom and we were all alone" (By the way the restroom is right next door.)

Kaylee started First Grade Spanish Immersion. She has the same teacher Zane had last year. She was very excited and even fixed her own ponytail this morning.

Zane is in 5th and is the Top Dog of the school. He is super excited about this. He was dreading school a little but seemed to have had a great day. (I think another few weeks of couch time would have suited him fine)

Watermelon Festival 2007

We visited Rush Springs, Oklahoma for the annual Watermelon Festival. David's parents were born, raised, and married there before moving to Louisiana. As a kid David traveled to OK every year during festival time. I have a couple of times but this was our first time in 10 years. There were 20+ of us, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandma.

There are a lot of Watermelon farmers in the area and each year the town has a festival in August. There are craft booths, carnival rides, music and at 4 p.m. on Saturday is the Free Watermelon Feed. (Everyone is welcome, provided you haven't passed out from heat exhaustion by that time)
On Sunday after the festival we traveled over to Mt. Scott and the kids had fun exploring. The night before the festival the city hosts a Rodeo. It's a small town and a small Rodeo but still fun to watch. We spent most of the time wishing we had stopped at a bookstore to purchase a "Rodeo for Dummies" book. By the end of each event I think we had all collectivley decided on the rules and scoring. The kids took part in the calf scramble and tried desparatley to pull the ribbon off the calf's ear.

Now what I found very interesting about the Festival,(other than the man with a pet raccon on a leash) is that there is a Watermelon Queen. She was crowned the week before so that she could rule over the festival. We got a local paper to check times for the event and included in the paper was a list of prizes that the Queen was awarded. She was given standard things like a tiara, manicure, outfits, and a HORSE TRAILER. Yes, a Horse Trailer....... and it probably is something very useful for the Watermelon Queen to have.

Prima Ballerina

Today was Mia's first day of Ballet class. She was so cute in her little slippers and leotard. When I told the lady at the dance store that we needed a size 7 she thought I was nuts. I don't think she knew they made them that small. But they fit Mia perfectly.

She had a great time dancing around and getting to do fun things like the balance beam, somersaults and just being "girly"

Sleeping Innocence

When these two are asleep it may be the only time they are both innocent