March Madness according to the Strickland's

March was a busy month in our household......

Chris' bracket is falling apart and I'm  not holding out for a big win there---

(other than that  there is nothing about basketball in this post (sorry))

 

March 17th---Eden Dawn turned 10 years old!!! Can you even believe it?

She got her big girl Bible and some yummy Los Cabos on her bday

 as well as a 9 other crazy girls at our house for a sleepover (on the 15th).

   I'm on the Board of Directors for Hannah's Refuge---a non-profit long term safe house for women and children.  We held our first trivia night and it was a huge success....but with a late night (Eden helped sell bake goods) here and the night before---I began to be sleep deprived.  :)  For more information on Hannah's Refuge go HERE.

 

March 24th  Palm Sunday, Winter Storm Virgil came by and dropped the biggest snow fall in years to the STL (10+ inches)---so it was a snow day for us. Sunday church was cancelled and then no school on Monday.  (Welcome Spring???)  We opted for mini-snow people rather than one big snowman. 

March 26th--Chris and I celebrated 14 years of marriage.  I love the man more every year.  He is so good for me and to me (and our growing family)

 

Speaking of growing family.....March 28th there was a referral (Big Woohoo right here!) which made our new number #15.  Even more exciting than that, were hints that we might be higher up the list for a toddler than we thought.  Bottom line:  Any day, week, or month is still an option to see her face.  (Others have made it to month 26 and we will be 21 months waiting in 1 week!)

 

March 31st---He IS Risen!!!  Celebrated Resurrection Sunday at FCC.  I love my family and our church family.  Do pray that Eden will fit this dress made by my friend Cynthia Frame because we have a matching outfit for Chloe. :/ (Insert Wes King's song:  "We Thought You'd Be Here By Now")

My kids make me smile!!!

"The Wheels Are In Motion"

Whew.....The wheels are really in motion on our adoption journey. In some ways it is going so fast, we can't necessarily keep up. But God is good and I have been reminded that His hand is guiding me and holding me fast and I praise Him for that.

You can check out the Adoption Timeline periodically to see where we are at on our journey. Early March will be our home study visits and once the home study is completed we can officially apply for grants and adoption loans. This is good news as we have had set backs in the financial area. I am still looking for a job (another long term sub position is open right now---that I am praying to get and you can join me in that request :) ). And I guess I never blogged about it, but my Chris had an emergency appedectomy on Jan. 28th. We literally got the bill today and at this point our part is $900. (Chris says $900 isn't too bad to save his life---which I have to agree. :)) He never was really sick and bounced back very quickly, however, that thing could have burst any second and we are grateful that we got it out before things could have been worse (another HUGE praise). Of course, $900 is our next major fee due to Citizenship and Naturalization Services, along with $500 to complete the home study. Please pray that we can get the job & that perhaps we will qualify for payment assistance/scholarship with the hospital.

My best friend and I are working together to put on our first fundraiser. It will be a 5K run/walk and 1 mile fun run (for the kids), tentatively planned for May 7th, the saturday before Mother's Day. So that is exciting--anyone and everyone in the Franklin County area can save the date and participate!!! I am debating on what other events to hold or do in order to raise funds, however none of these ideas can just be pulled off quickly. So that is prayer request #2, for wisdom and such so that people don't easily tire of our fundraisers too soon and that we will know when to or when not to stop.

So....story to warm your heart: Sunday after church, we were eating lunch when Eli (5 yrs) says, "Mom, there are six of us here." I, confused, said "Six? Who are the six people here?" And Eli quickly counts all physically present in our family and then smiles at me and adds "Chloe makes six!" My heart just lept for joy, as I know that I am constantly thinking of her, but to know my Eli knows she is present in our hearts and minds is mindnumbing to me (in a good mindnumbing kind of way).....Even though she isn't physically here, God knows where she physically is and we are all over here praying for her to join us as quickly as God will allow. Meanwhile, below is a pic of our family having fun on an upteen snow day in January. Based on some of the referrels some families have been getting, it is not unrealistic to think by next January our family picture will be different with, all six of us in it.

Make your own free slideshow

Here is a winter slideshow. Even though winter is not over, I shall go ahead and post in hopes that it will get over sooner than later. lol. I really have been an awful mom on the upteen snow days we've had. Not very creative and a lack of energy for playing outside with the kids in the snow. ( I HATE playing in the snow...so I put it off as long as I can. Not sure when this Hate occurred , being that I distinctly remember enjoying it as a child--but just like your taste buds can change, I guess so can your seasonal playtime preferences)...so I got real excited when a fellow MOPS mom shared about snowcream. I had not heard of it before Friday. And lo and behold, I had all the ingredients to mix together in my house (very rare). It only has 3 ingredeints plus the snow, so I guess that might not be as impressive as it initially sounded. Anyways, I let the kids help me with the measuring and mixing and we made a HUGE bowl of snowcream and it was delicous. Eden shared that "from now on this is a new family tradition!" We were having lots of fun. Eden said "Dig in!" and so we did. A bit later Eli shouted "NECK FREEZE!!!" and then he said "Heart Freeze!" He is such a funny kid. Anyways snowcream was a big hit in my house and a tradition I don't mind, because it brings the snow inside where it is warm & cozy---where I like it.