The Five of Us, Spring 2014

The Five of Us, Spring 2014

Trains and Tradition

Sunday we saw a huge yellow train sitting on the tracks at the Depot while we were driving to church. On the way home, we stopped to see what was up. Apparently, they (whomever "they" might be!) parked the train there for us Boiseans to gawk at, and gawk we did. Punk did a great job with all the walking and standing in a line to peek into the engine control-cabin-thingy. But, now all I ever here about is "Let's check if the train is there!" It's not. It's Not. It's NOT! Fortunately there are construction vehicles all around town to distract us (quite temporarily) from the TRAIN.

So, we have a tradition around here that I thought I'd share with you all. When I was pregnant with Punk, Aaron asked one day, "So, am I supposed to get you some kind of present for this?" Yeah, buddy! So, we thought about it and decided it would be cool for me to have a ring with the baby's name and birthday engraved inside that I would wear all the time and he'd inherit some day. Since only 3 gems are approved for daily wear (diamonds, sapphires, and rubies) we were lucky that Punk was born in July with ruby as his birthstone. I scoured Ebay and found a pretty 3 ct ruby ring. I wound up paying $300 for it and it appraised for $2700! Pretty savvy ebayer, no?! ;) We call it my "Punk ring."

This fall, I began searching for my Pence ring. It's 3 pretty sapphires--an oval with round side stones, then surrounded by .25 ct diamonds. I got it for $160 and it appraised for $500-600. Not as great a deal as Punk's but really pretty and sparkly.

Now that we've paid for most of Pea's adoption and Aaron's expecting a bonus that'll pretty much cover our plane tickets, he let me look for Pea's ring. I found a 10x10 mm square ruby that I just adored, but it was unset. It cost $376 and my friend who's a jeweler is helping me get a setting for cheap. All told, it'll run about $600. I'll let you know how much it appraises for later! And, I'll try to take some photos. It's hard to get details on something so small...

Anyway, I'm starting to run out of fingers! I guess this isn't a tradition large families should embark upon! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool tradition! Do post some pics!

And awesome score on the prices!

Jamie

Tami said...

Hey, I finally catch up by checking in at your blog!! LOVE the new ruby, beautiful!

My Man and Me

My Man and Me
married 7/7/2001

Punk

Punk
ours through biology, born 7/25/2004, home 8/1/2004

Pea

Pea
ours through adoption from Liberia, West Africa, born 7/15/2005, home 10/25/2007

Pup

Pup
ours through domestic adoption, born 1/15/2011, home 2/10/2011, final 8/3/2011

Talk To Me

I blog for myself and my kids and I would do it even if no one else cared, but I do like to hear from you (and think it's a wee bit creepy of you to voyeurize us without my knowing it). So, please leave a comment from time to time, or email me anytime at xawilsons@hotmail.com. Much obliged, I'm sure.

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Round Two Timeline

  • 9/24/08 Home study update home visit for Ghana adoption
  • 10/15/08 Dossier sent to AOHG
  • 10/15/08 I600A application sent to USCIS
  • 10/30/08 First heard about possible domestic private adoption
  • 11/18/08 Last spoke with contact about possible domestic adoption; expected to hear back about meeting with birthmother
  • 12/3/08 Withdrew application from AOHG
  • 1/6/09 Found out another family had been chosen for possible domestic adoption
  • 1/21/09 USCIS fingerprinting appointment
  • 1/8/09 Received USCIS fingerprinting appointment notice
  • 4/11/09 Sent Pre-Application to Covenant Care Adoptions for Domestic Infant Adoption program
  • 6/8/09 Social worker visit to update home study from International to Domestic
  • 7/24/09 Received completed home study update
  • 8/25/09 Went "on the list" for birthfamilies to choose from
  • 4/28/10 Found out a birth mom had chosen us
  • 5/8/10 Met the birth mom
  • 5/11/10 Got the call that birth mom changed her mind
  • 5/19/10 Birth mom's scheduled c-section
  • 11/30/10 Visit from DSS sw about foster parenting
  • 11/30/10 Got the call that another birth mom had chosen us
  • 12/21/10 Met with the birth mom
  • 1/15/11 @1:42 PM BB was born!
  • 1/19/11 ICPC (interstate) paperwork sent to GA for approval
  • 1/31/11 ICPC Clearance Approved
  • 2/10/11 Placement Ceremony and Pup comes home!!!!
  • 8/3/11 It's Official! Pup's Adoption Decree was issued