Wow!

It's been awhile since I posted! So sorry for the lack of communication. We arrived safely in North Carolina on June 14th despite Tropical Storm Alberto trying to drown us. We found a house about four days later only to find out that we couldn't close on the house until August 1st! It was good -and bad- to know that the general who owned the house couldn't even do anything to speed up the transportation office; he couldn't get movers in until the 30th of July. Just this once, it would have been nice for rank to have greater privileges. :)

So we stayed in a two-bedroom apartment with no internet access until we moved in here on the 3rd. I actually had to go to the library to check email. I mean, how uncivilized is that?? I realized how completely spoiled I was, and Daniel and I both realized that, books and La-Z-boy aside, we really don't need the other 80% of what we own. :) It would have been nice to have one more bedroom in the apartment, though, since all the kids were sharing. Jackson liked it tremendously because he had company for the first time since he was born. The girls liked having him in there a little less. I tried to call around to find another place to stay since our wait would be a long one, but I couldn't find a place that had the triumvirate: it had to be furnished, it had to be short-term, and it had to accept a big basset hound mix named Roscoe P. Coltrane. No deal. The apartment stay was actually not that bad; the only thing that made it stressful was that we had a downstairs neighbor who complained about the noise because she slept during the day and worked at night! How in the world am I supposed to keep four children and a dog quiet enough for someone below us in an apartment building to be able to sleep during the day?? We tried to get out soon after breakfast and stay out until lunchtime. We definitely explored Fayetteville! My mom and stepdad graciously took in the displaced persons, and we spent some time in Tennessee as well. What a gorgeous drive over the mountains!

So we are (somewhat) settled in our new place, and it's beginning to feel like home. The girls like having stairs and a fireplace - their only two requirements for a home. Jackson enjoys the stairs as well and tries to break his time record each day for sliding down backwards on his belly. Ouch! I enjoy having big pine trees and not being able to hear my neighbors when they talk in normal voices. Roscoe enjoys sleeping on the sunny deck. I think Daniel will enjoy his study (think wall-to-wall books) once he's able to actually sit down with all the projects yet to do in the house. He's in Germany right now for work, but he returns on Thursday night.

We have been in IBESR (Haitian social services) since April 17th, and it sounds like dossiers are starting to move a little faster through the system. We're praying that Adah and Nathaniel will come out of IBESR in September and be ready to come home in October. We really don't like the idea of them being in Haiti for hurricane season, but we trust that the Lord will protect them. He can certainly do a much better job than we can!

Well, I need to get our day started since we are back to school. Shiloh's favorite subject is art, I believe, judging from the prodigious amounts of artwork she creates. I bought several art books to help with her technique, and we'll be exploring different mediums as well. I'm enjoying learning Latin along with Shiloh, and Cora's favorite subjects so far are math and science. Okay, whose child is she?? I guess my Dad's engineering brain skipped a generation. She especially likes bugs, so we've been checking out books and videos from the library on beetles. Wow, I really like to read about beetles (said sarcastically). I'm with Shiloh when she says, "yuck." But I admire how the Lord gave her such an interest, and I'm doing my best to feed it. :) She really wants to catch the HUGE spider that hangs out outside our kitchen window, but I draw the line at spiders. I'm letting the spider stay there for now to encourage her observation, but sooner or later the spider has to die - whether naturally or by my hand, I can't say. I guess I have to live by my own rule when I tell the children, "if it's outside and it's not trying to hurt you, you need to let it live." Abigail is learning to read, and has just started blending three letter words. What a big step! As long as I keep the lessons very short, she wants to "do school" each day. She's also learning math concepts and some handwriting. I want to start earlier with her on correct positioning of the pencil in her hand since I've had to correct Shiloh's and Cora's to their - and my - exasperation. :)

I hope to post more often now that we are settled. Thank you to all of you who prayed for us throughout this move. We are very conscious of the Lord's mercy to us.
Love,
Casey