Refreshed and waiting...

We had a great weekend making Christmas magic and appreciating our hearth and home. I began the process of decorating the house and the kids were duly impressed when they got home from school. Friday evening was very laid back and the atmosphere was lighthearted...hope is a wonderful tonic for the spirit. We ate Thai takeout with Rick and Deb, our dear friends and the unofficial godparents of our kids...this is a regular Friday night ritual that we all look forward to.

Saturday, we bought our Christmas tree and the kids got into the decorating mood. Max helped me with our wreath for the door and put up window clings while the girls hung paper snowflakes all over the living room. We had everybody's favorite pizza delivered and ate it while we assembled and decorated our gingerbread train. (Tis the season of busyness...thank heavens for takeout food!) At 9:00pm, I settled the younger kids into bed and my teenager and I went Christmas shopping. (Kate has been begging me to take her out shopping late in the evening ever since I told her that I used to go to all the Midnight Madness holiday sales with my mom.) We left the house about 9:15 and returned home around 11:15, shopping 'til we dropped at Kohl's...my 13 year old was on Cloud 9 to be out and about so late!

Sunday morning was my Tanya's turn to shop with Mom; Tanya is an early riser who was thrilled to hop in the car and head to Wal-Mart at 7:30am while almost everyone else was still sleeping. The first snow of the season was falling and all the trees looked magical under the dusting of white...as Tanya said, "Look, Mom, it's a winter wonderland!" We finished Tanya's holiday shopping, then went out to breakfast. We had a lot of fun being silly and just talking. Spending one-on-one time with my kids isn't always easy in our crazy lives but it's so worth the effort!

Sunday afternoon was Mom and Dad's time to Christmas shop sans the kids; we finished all the important stuff and headed home for our traditional Sunday family movie night. I actually managed to cook a meal (pot roast and gravy, potatoes, carrots, peas, even ice cream topped with crushed candy canes for dessert) to assuage my maternal guilt over all that takeout food. We watched the new Prince Caspian movie...a hit with everyone. After that, it was time for the kids to head to bed...and Mom and Dad kissed each of our 3 kids as we tucked them in and thought of the two who are still waiting for us.

OK, the respite is over and it's time to turn our thoughts to our adoption process again. Alma will meet with the judge tomorrow; allowing for the 11 hour time difference, we should hear some news in the next 24 hours. I already have butterflies in my stomach and am beginning to compulsively check my email for any word...it's too early, I tell myself...then I check again anyway.

Keep your fingers crossed that the judge will meet with Alma in the office building pictured on the left and assign us a court date of December 18 or 19. While you're at it, visualize us walking into the courthouse building pictured on the right and having our hearing...