FOCUS

     I need to get focused.  Unfortunately the ONLY time I am truly focused is when I am supposed to be sleeping.  Then my brain starts to remember and think about all the things that need to be done before we leave.  I jump out of bed to try to write down all those things I was laying there thinking about.  I open up the screen to the "To-Do" page and.... can no longer remember what it was that was racing through my brain only minutes before!!

     Has anyone else had this problem or is it just me?? 

     We leave on August 23rd.  I am nowhere near ready to go and am so consumed with just getting on that plane and getting back to Aaron and finishing the process, that I am struggling to remember everything that needs to be done before we leave.   Rob is trying to finish up the house he is building.  He is working crazy hours to get as much done as possible in order to take off for weeks on end.  Both our "To-Do" lists seem endless.

     In the midst of the frenzy, over the last week, I have been confronted with the reality that my boys need me.  They need Rob.  This has been a lousy summer for doing anything fun.  We have spent little quality time together.  Adoptions are hard and it has taken a toll on this family.  We are leaving BOTH boys behind for 3-4 weeks.  They are going to be home, alone, in the house for weeks on end.  Dad will be next door to see that they have food to eat, to watch over them and to get them to their various activities.  But that is a long time for us to be separate as a family.
     We desperately need to spend quality time with them in the next week.  So in the midst of getting ready to go - we are working in just plain having fun with our kids.  Yesterday I took them to the river.  Oh what fun to watch them swim, to hear them laugh, to wade in the water with them and to sit in a chair and just read.  Tonight we are going to watch a fun drama production with a group we have been a part of for many years.   Next week we are going to King's Dominion for a day. 
     My allusive 'To-Do' list is important.  Focusing on crossing the globe to bring home a precious treasure is important.  Aaron is well worth the lack of sleep and frantic preparations we both are doing to get ready.  But our two precious treasures here are just as important.  They need us.  They need us to be focused on them and their needs.  They need to know that we treasure them, love them, enjoy them and will deeply miss them when we leave.
     So in the midst of trying to get our heads on straight to get Aaron... I am working at finding things we can do here with the boys.  Just for fun.  Just to laugh and be a family.

BECAUSE THEY ARE WORTH IT!

P.S. - Getting one decent picture of these two goofballs was quite the production!  What in the world am I going to do when I have to get Aaron to cooperate too???