The Crickets

The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer's ending, a sad, monotonous song. "Summer is over and gone," they sang. "Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying."

The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year--the days when summer is changing into fall--the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.

Everybody heard the song of the crickets. Avery and Fern Arable heard it as they walked the dusty road. They knew that school would soon begin again. The young geese heard it and knew that they would never be little goslings again. Charlotte heard it and knew that she hadn't much time left. Mrs. Zuckerman, at work in the kitchen, heard the crickets, and a sadness came over her, too. "Another summer gone," she sighed. Lurvy, at work building a crate for Wilbur, heard the song and knew it was time to dig potatoes.

"Summer is over and gone," repeated the crickets. "How many nights till frost?" sang the crickets. "Good-bye, summer, good-bye, good-bye!"

Taken from Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Wordless Wednesday - I'm a Pirate on my Pirate Ship... ARRGH!

One Step Closer

An exciting announcement was delivered to my inbox today. Our dossier (as of yesterday afternoon) is on its way to China!

This means it passed the inspection of our agency and has been translated.

In 3 -5 days our agency's representative in China will hand deliver those precious documents to the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs).

Then we wait for the CCAA to "log-in" our dossier - typically within four weeks of receipt.

And then we wait again; only this wait has a picture at the end of it. We wait to see the precious face of our daughter for the first time!

With each milestone the fact that we are working towards bringing a little girl, our little girl home, becomes a little more real. Most days I am excited about this prospect. I dream about and pray for our little one.

But there are some days when the fear and insecurities creep in and I start to question everything. I wonder if she will really feel like she is ours. I wonder if we are doing the right thing. I question my motives. I worry that our life will get too hard. I get scared.

In the midst of those moments I feel paralyzed.

Deep down, I don't think the fear and the unknowns ever leave. But even deeper down, the assurance that we are on the path God has placed us doesn't leave either.

I know God has a heart for the orphan. I know that he desires for every child to have a home. I want to be a part of that.

Yes the fear is there. Yes it will be hard.

But, He will be there with us. And as much as that sounds like "the right thing to say", it is the truth and I'm clinging to it.

So we keep moving forward on this adoption journey he has placed us on and I'm excited (and a little fearful) to say we are one step closer.

Paperback Swap

Has anyone heard about Paperback Swap?

I had, but never tried it, until a recent conversation with a friend.

The result, I decided to give it a go!

If you haven't heard about Paperback Swap, this is how it works. You sign up for a free account on their website and then start listing books you would like to pass on. If any one of their millions of members wants your book, you get an e-mail.

Then for about $3 per book (the cost of postage) you send off your book (you can print postage on their site, wrap your book in Saran wrap and computer paper and never have to enter a post office!). In exchange you get one credit for every book you send. If someone has a book you want, you request it and get it mailed at no cost to you.

They give you two credits to start with. Two credits equal two books or one audio book.

Its a great way to exchange books you don't want anymore for ones you do at very little cost!

I listed 11 books and got requests for five books right off the bat!

That means I have seven new-to-me books coming my way. The problem is, of the 11 books I have on my wish list, none are available.

Anyone have any book suggestions for me? What are some of your favorite must-reads from the summer?

Wordless Wednesday - Perfecting the Art of the Bellyflop!

A Ray of Beauty

I didn't really mean to yell.

But when she gave the bowl of cereal to the baby who immediately turned it upside down sending the lucky charms scattering, the harsh words came out of my mouth.

Condemning words wondering why she didn't know any better.

I felt remorseful immediately.

After getting the baby settled in his high chair with breakfast, I sought out my little girl who was picking up the spilled cereal.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"

She gave me a teary nod and returned my hug.

And then she finished picking up the cereal and told me a story.

All was right with her world. She forgave me that quick.

In the midst of my "ugly," forgiveness sent a ray of beauty.

It was a wonderful gift to unwrap.

For more Tuesdays Unwrapped, visit my friend Emily at Chatting at the Sky.

The Year of the Zucchini

People with the "green thumb" ability impress me. Flowers and plants and such are something I appreciate and admire. They are something I would like to learn to grow but the process of getting there completely overwhelms me. I typically admire flower and vegetable gardens from afar, slightly in awe of the people who put them together.

This year we decided to try something new because, well, all the pieces were there.

We had a little box of dirt behind our house. My in-laws gave us some leftover seeds. The sun was shining. The kids wanted a garden. We had nothing to lose and vegetables to gain. So we gave it a whirl.

We planted zucchini, pea pods, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions.

The tomato plant I put in a pot on our back porch. We actually have a few tomatoes growing on it, but the plant itself is starting to turn yellow. I'm not a gardener, so I don't know what that means, but I'm not counting on tomatoes.

As for the other vegetables, they might be growing. I can't tell for sure because the zucchini has taken over our garden!

I probably should have paid closer attention to the directions on the seed packet but all I could read was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I have since learned that zucchini plants grow very large and (if left unchecked by novice gardeners) can completely cover up a garden. Especially if you plant a lot of them (which we did)!



Even though our plants were huge, I did not think we would get any produce. Call me a garden skeptic, or a green-thumb realist if you want; I just don't trust my garden "skills." But to my surprise, we picked our first two zucchini last week.

They were huge.

Note to self: Garden needs to be checked more often than once every two weeks or the produce may grow too big. Not a bad problem to have, but maybe not the ideal.

Which brings me to another problem... I almost never cook with zucchini.
Therefore, I'm not sure what to do with it.

If you have a favorite zucchini recipe or zucchini art projects, please send them my way. I may even send you a zucchini thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Its looking like we will have oodles of those wonderful green vegetables to practice on.