In the mail

just heard from our worker Jackie, she said good news is in the mail to us!  I'm sure that means our certificate is on it's way and we should have it by saturday.  She has started the process from her end on getting us more information on this group
http://tare.dfps.state.tx.us/search/SibDetail.jsp?SibGroupNumber=30308
Time will tell if these are the ones we will bring home or not. 
My heart is overflowing with joy as we are at this point in the process!  Our family will be expanding soon!

Rejoicing!

Just got an email from Jackie and we will have our approval next week!  The long awaited information that we need was put in the mail today!

An email

I got an email from Jackie today asking us to consider a pair of sisters.  They are into basketball and we don't do organized sports so I replied that I didn't feel they would be happy here.  Jackie also said they have still not heard back from hawaii.  I said they probably wouldn't without some SERIOUS badgering.  She responded to that asking me to write out a little about us and what we are looking for in a group of kids so that she could send out something written by me to her connections.  I really wonder if this means they are going to work around not having that paper.  Guess time will tell.

new listing

There are several new listings on the TARE site.  One is a group of four that we all got rather excited about very quickly.  Only time will tell if these are the ones..... With three boys and one girl I would lose my schoolroom, but we quickly worked that out.  We have struggled for almost 2 years to make our multipurpose living/dining/school room work well furniture and space wise, but it wasn't until last night that everything suddenly fell into place. Now to find a sectional sofa at the right price! We have found bunk beds at a GREAT price and are picking them up this afternoon.  So our preparations are coming together nicely and we are almost ready.  Still waiting to hear back from Hawaii and the FBI.  All in God's time!

quick update

Not much to say except that we did get an email from Jackie letting us know that the background checks from Arkansas had come back.  Now we are just waiting for the forms from Hawaii and our FBI fingerprints to come back.  No idea how long either of those will take, but there is still much to be done between now and then!

some confusion and re-dos

The background check forms for Hawaii and Arkansas had to be redone.  Not a problem there.  The offices of those states have been giving Jackie a really hard time and run around.  She says she thinks she finally has it all figured out, but needed us to get the forms filled out again. That was easy and I then scanned them and emailed them back to her.  So we still wait, and in our waiting get more things ready here at home. 

One part complete

The homestudy process is now complete!!!  We are still waiting for the background checks from Hawaii and Arkansas and for the FBI fingerprint check to come back.  Once that is done then we will be approved and can work on getting kids!!!  Jackie still thinks we will have our certification before Christmas....what a gift that will be!  When Jackie arrived today she asked if we would be willing to take a group of 4....all under the age of 7.....I let the kids think about it while I talked to Jackie and then when it was Russ' turn I asked the kids what they thought.  They all said "too many littles all at once".  So I kindly told Jackie no thank you.  I have to say I agree with the kids.  Three seems to feel just right to all of us.  Kerrie is moving bedrooms.  She is moving to the front bedroom so she can share with her new sister.  We are turning her old room into a school room/play room!  I'm very excited about this!  Mykhal has decided to go ahead and rearrange his room so that there will be room for the bunk beds when we are ready to put them in.  Things are moving along!  And even Lex is catching the excitement!