paperwork is alive and moving along/school starts

At times it seems like our paperwork is sitting and wasting away in some far-off land. Within the last week, we've received word that someone is looking at it!! Small things seem big in this whole process. First of all, last week we got an official letter from the U.S Custom and Immigration Service that our paperwork is logged in and they have it. That's good. It's too bad that it took almost six weeks to even get in the system. Oh well. Back to good news. I, Julia, got a letter yesterday that confirmed I have an appointment to get my fingerprints taken in a few weeks. Yeah! Good news! However, Andy didn't get a similar letter. We should have probably gotten notified at the same time. We'll wait until next week to figure that one out. And the sweetest news of all...today I just received a package from Michele (who was in China in June and met Caleb)!! She sent a video of her and her family spending time with Caleb! I can't figure out how to get the video onto this blog for you all to see it. I'll keep trying. But I'll just say that as soon as Caleb laid eyes on Rick (the dad), he ran into his arms, wrapped his arms around him and wouldn't let go. So incredibly lovely!
In the meantime, we have officially started school today. Nathan finally gets to be a real student this year with real subjects. He is super excited. Just like our bedroom situation, all the kids swapped and moved into new desks. Now we have one ready for Caleb, should he want to sit and color! And how has our first day been? Well, so far, so...can't really say so good. I guess it's more like: so far, so totally predictable. One child has completely lost it emotionally more than once, crying and tears began within the first five minutes of the school day, one child hasn't left my side all day, we ate lunch an hour ago and someone is already hungry and asking for dinner, the cute/organized/perfectly placed school desks in the basement are all empty b/c one child is upstairs alone in a bedroom, one is right under my feet (literally) and one is on the couch. Ah, yes. The joys of homeschooling. And it's only 2:30. So, if you think, "oh, I could never homeschool b/c I don't have the patience" (yes, I hear that usually within the first two minutes when someone learns that we homeschool), just know that I don't have any more patience than the average mom. Just a whole lot more time to practice getting it!
I'm off to make brownies so that we can all end our day on a sweet note! Do you remember the book "The Little Engine That Could"? That's me today. I think I can, I think I can...and I sure am trying, I sure am trying! julia.
P.S. Andy just called me and is bringing me dinner just because, well, because that's Andy. He wanted to do something special for the teacher on the first day of school. And while I was on the phone giving him my order (Qdoba, mmm!), my emotionally charged, crying, always testing my patience child comes to ask me where the sign language book is. "Huh?'" I respond. "I need it so I can memorize my Bible verse for today," she adds. "That way I can learn sign language at the same time and it will help me with memorizing the words." I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. One minute I am tearing my hair out and the next I am laughing at completely random things like this. Add a three year old that doesn't speak any English in the mix and I may need professional help!