We have been "favorably determined!"

What is "favorably determined" you might ask? Well, yesterday we received a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to notify us that they have "favorably determined that we are able to furnish proper care to an orphan as defined in Section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act." This is a huge deal and we are so glad that we have this important documentation! It was the only thing we were waiting on (in terms of paperwork) and we must have it in order to accept our referral! (Which gets closer each day!) As far as we know, we are still sitting at #12 on the waiting list for our son! This important piece of paper cost a lot of $$ and a trip to Atlanta for fingerprints, but it is all going to be worth it when we get to see our little boy's face! Just wanted to share our good news and keep you updated!

I am so humbled when I think about how I have been adopted into God's family, not because of anything that I have done, but because of His glorious grace and amazing love. I know that God has so much to teach our family through this adoption and I anticipate each new lesson with great expectation. I want to share a verse that I was recently reminded of that speaks so beautifully to how believers have all been adopted. John 1:12-13 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or of a husband's will, but born of God."

Thanks for your continued prayers! We are so honored to be joining God on this journey as we walk out His plan for our family!

Just a Couple of Pictures!

I had not updated our blog in a few days, so I thought I would add a couple of pictures that I took of the kids today. Helen LOVES strawberries! Here is a picture of her as she enjoyed her strawberry snack this afternoon. This was after she had just had a big bowl of blueberries! Glad she loves her fruit!
Here is a picture that warms my heart. Beckett is finally choosing to read when he has free time! He is really into The Magic Tree House books and now I will find him reading when he hasn't been asked to! Here is a picture of him reading "Sunset of the Sabertooth" and enjoying a strawberry snack! It doesn't get much better than that!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Beckett Met a Famous Author Tonight!

You probably don't know this lady, but she is a wonderful children's author. Her name is Mary Pope Osborne and she writes The Magic Tree House series of books. I began reading these chapter books to Beckett when he was four years old and he is now reading them to himself! Beckett and I had the opportunity to meet her at our local Border's book store tonight and he had his picture made with her. It was a great night! Check out Beckett's blog, "The Slam" to find out more about our evening! (Just click on "The Slam" and it will link you to his blog!)

Before and After

I've had a couple of comments asking about Beckett's hair, so I thought I'd share the before and after pictures. He REALLY wanted to grow out his hair, so we have been working on it all Fall and Winter. I've mentioned before that he has a "chia head" and his hair grows straight up in the back around his crown. Once we made it through that stage and it began to lay down, it was looking pretty nice. However, I'm just not used to Beckett with all of that hair, and Sean couldn't stand it! Sean nicknamed him "Sonic the Hedgehog" because of the way his hair looked every morning when he woke up. It stood up all over! It was definitely much more difficult to manage. Sean says that whenever you have to put gel on a boy's hair and use a hair dryer, it is too long. (No, he isn't very opinionated! Ha!) Anyway, last Thursday, I took Beckett and Helen to Target to have their 7 and 4 year old pictures made. Beckett had his picture made "with hair"! We left Target and went to straight to see Will, Beckett's new barber,and let him cut it all off. I think Beckett felt a little naked for a couple of days. He wanted to keep his toboggan on all of the time but I think he is getting used to it now. I love it! He looks like himself again! And it is SO much easier to take care of! So, enjoy the before and after shots!

WITH hair......

WITH VERY LITTLE hair......

Leprechauns and Rainbows

Last night for dinner, we had loaded baked potatoes and salad. We were reading about why potatoes were so important to Ireland and about the plant disease that attacked the Irish potato crop in 1845 that eventually led to the famine. So during dinner, our doorbell rang three times and the kids answered the door to find no one there. This has happened for the last three years on St. Patrick's Day! They found a note from their friend the leprechaun and some magic powder. They were instructed to add magic moo to the magic powder and it magically makes a green yummy treat! Here is a picture of Helen after she shook up her magic powder and magic moo and another pic of her tasting the green treat!

Yum!

I made a new St. Patrick's Day treat for dessert last night. It was a rainbow cake! This was SO fun and it turned out pretty cute! Here is a picture of the sliced cake and another couple of pics of a slice of the cake, including one with a "cloud" of Cool Whip! I thought it turned out so pretty!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We love St. Patrick's Day here at the Harper Hullabaloo! Hope you all have a happy day! Beckett and Helen are waiting for their special leprechaun friend who visits every year with a little "Magic Moo" surprise! They never see him, but he always leaves a little leprechaun magic to keep them guessing!
Beckett has been taking the Stanford Achievement Test for the last two days at our umbrella school, CAK. He finished testing this afternoon at 1:00 and we went to the park with a whole crew of our friends who had been testing also! What a beautiful day and what a great way to end two successful days of testing! :)

March Madness

I guess that this is some type of rite of passage for little boys! Beckett is SO into the NCAA basketball tournament this year! He was so excited to fill out his brackets with his dad last night! I had fun watching and listening to them make their picks. Here is a little clip of a few decisions being made! Have you filled yours out?