We've gotten the "long form" birth certificates in for Camille and Caroline now, so they are very excited that they'll be receiving a passport soon. It was pretty funny how many trips to CVS it took to get the passport photo satisfactory per USPS standards, but we think we've got some winners now and will soon be government inspected and approved!

Next step is to start getting vaccinations. We'll get yellow fever because it's on again/off again at being required for entry into Paraguay, and it'd be bad to find out the day before the trip that it's NOW required and we don't have it. We'll be getting Hepatitis A, as well, even though it's only a recommendation. Didn't see any harm in that vaccine, especially since Hep A is so easily transmitted.

My mom has already sent off for her passport. She'll be accompanying us on the trip over, since she's never flown internationally before. We'll "show her the ropes" on her first time around. That's a huge plus. Not only will she be able to come back and tell the folks at home what it's like in Paraguay, but she'll make the transition easier for the girls, I think. Sort of like taking it in stages. Then of course, there's the added benefit of getting to pack some of our stuff in her luggage, since she and I wear the same size clothes! ;)

We've started going down the list of things we need to sell (which includes more things than I care to think about right now) before taking our big plane trip later this year. There's a lovely list of things that are too big to ship, so they'll be listed locally in the classifieds or the IWANNA. For those of you who live close-by, this would include things such as the treadmill and my beloved Lemond bicycle, affectionately known as Pierre.

Then there's a list of things small enough to mail out, and they're on a large ebay list. YUCK. I hate ebay auctions. All that pressure of having to log in each day and see if anyone's making bids and trying not to take it personally when they don't! :) And finally, there's the "yard sale/Goodwill" pile that's growing bigger each day.

There was a bit of a "cleansing" when I took boxes of books to our homeschool used book sale last night, but unfortunately, I came home with a lot of them still in that same box. HOWEVER, I did stock up on two years worth of the necessary curriculum for the girls. For those of you who homeschool, you know how ridiculous that statement is. We tend to be very eclectic in our approach, so usually, in the span of one school year, we'll change course at least two or three times. No more, I reckon! We're set in stone now. That should make for some great sticktuitiveness in "making it work!" Now, to figure out how we'll fit all these books into our luggage!!!