Men

I am heading off to dreamland last night and I hear giggling. Our three boys share the basement bedrooms and we often hear talking - which I love. I love it that they are close - they enjoy being together - that is so special to me. But last night - I am hearing giggling. (Which I love too, by the way) But what really grabbed my attention is the different kinds of laughter - I have one that still laughs very much like a giggle - a high-pitched, fun laugh. I have another that is just bordering on leaving the high-pitched giggle behind and heading into the more "manly" laugh. And the last one is full-man laugh now. His laugh is deep - his voice is deep - you can see the changes almost daily. While I was smiling at their antics, I was also saddened - where does the time go?? I remember being told when I was pushing a double stroller with a toddler walking beside to not rush it - to enjoy every minute as it would go so fast. I didn't believe those well-meaning elderly ladies - I DO NOW - it goes WAY TOO fast. My tiny boys are turning into men before my eyes. And although that is the plan, this momma wants her babies back. I didn't enjoy them enough - I was too crazy busy. So now I'm trying to enjoy this time - I know it's the teen years, but you know what?? I'm liking it - it's a new stage - they are fun to talk with and laugh with - I do like it. I'll just sit back and try to enjoy it - it's going WAY TOO fast!!

Don't Worry Bella

SO we are headed into the vet with our pup, Bella. Bella does not like car rides - probably our fault - she just doesn't do well in the van. She whines constantly, won't sit still, sits and shakes - you get the picture. Chloe and I loaded Bella up in the van and she is starting in on her VERY LOUD whining and I hear Chloe say, "Don't Worry Bella, God can be in two places at once."

It made me smile and I AM SURE it reassured Bella too.

KidZui

I am so impressed with this kids' online browser that I must share! KidZui was developed by Scholastic and KidZui - they came up with this ingenious idea for a web browser. Once you sign your child up - you can have them help you make a Zui - an online character just for them. Then, once the parent approves the account - the searching begins. I love it because they tailor it to your child's age - so my 4 year old daughter has pictures that pop up like "Hello Kitty", "Carebears", etc. She can then click on those links and it will take you to that website. The kids earn more points by exploring - I think this will be a hit with my daughter! I am very impressed so far - it is a great way for kids to search AND parents to know where they are searching. The parent's page is wonderful! You can track where they have been, who their friends are, etc. I highly encourage you to check it out. You can download the free browser here:
http://www.kidzui.com/?camp=inthepages

By the way - if you download - PLEASE leave a comment and let me know what you think. IF we get the most comments on this promotion - we are all eligible for a PREMIUM membership for free!!

More Scrappin'

So - I'm not a pro yet, but I am enjoying this fun program!!Building pages like crazy over here - feeling like MAYBE I am working on getting caught up AND even considering holding a class on it - way too fun!

Brag

Sometimes you just have to brag - BUT before you leave now - I must say - I'm not bragging on myself but on my VALENTINE! That guy is something. He surprised me this year for Valentine's Day - and told me he had tickets to the Symphony. What a treat - I enjoy going to the symphony, but it often isn't in the budget - and to be honest, it's not Joe's FIRST choice of a night out, so I knew this was VERY special! We headed out Friday night - did some shopping, ate out, and then headed for the big symphony - we found a parking spot - VERY CLOSE - which should have been our first clue something wasn't right! We walked up the theater and it was dark - yes, the sign said it was SATURDAY night - not Friday. I gave Joe a hard time the whole way home - what a guy won't do to go out with his wife TWO nights a row!

OF COURSE, we headed back Saturday night- and I must say - he SO outdid himself. This wasn't the symphony (well, kind of). The orchestra was "backing up" ARRIVAL - a group straight from Sweden that sings ABBA songs - oh my - I was just sitting there in my glory and had all I could do not to break out in song with them! That is THE CLOSEST I will ever be to a REAL ABBA concert and it was MARVELOUS!!! I am all for the class and sophistication of the symphony, but sometimes this is exactly what I'd rather do! Go listen to music from the 70's that makes me smile and takes me back! I love it - thank you, my favorite Valentine, for TWO fun nights out AND one amazing concert!!! It was ALMOST as good as the time with you! :)

Related

I just had to make this a post so I can look back and remember this when Chloe is 16 and "bucking all the way."

Yesterday we are eating dinner and Chloe asks, "Mom what does related mean?" I answered, "Well, it's like you are in the same family." She sat there for a minute, SMILED her BIG Chloe-smile, hopped down from her chair and walked the two steps to mine, laid her head on my shoulder and gave me a GIANT hug and said, "I am so glad you got me in China - Thanks, Mom - now we're related."

That girl makes me smile!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Leaving Our Friends

We had such a great time with our friends - we hardly wanted to leave - I know, they were ready to push us out though!!! They provided us with such a wonderful weekend - we had a great time together. We are blessed with dear friends.

Our Chinese New Year celebration was such fun - this is just a taste of the fun...more to come!

Not All Play

Ok, lest you think we are just PLAYING - we are also working - HARD at work - getting ready for the Iditarod!!!

See where we are this weekend???

Chloe and Mya (one of the families we travelled with to China) are having TOO much fun this weekend - oh yes, and Noah !!!! :)

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad WEEK

For the past two days, I have been living with major frustration - ok, now I know some of you will think - "that's not so bad - you should try my life" but I do want to take a post to dispell the rumor that my life is always glamorous!!!  (I can hear the laughter now!!)  You see, it all started getting ready for the Superbowl Party - I was making a dip that required shredded swiss cheese - because of the frugal wife that I am, I thought I would shred some I had at home.  I put it in my wonderful food processor and clicked on the lid and started shredding.  Well, no one warned me that swiss might be a bit hard and could clog my machine - nope, I just stuck it in there - the lid shot off - even the blade almost shot out AND it broke my food processor.  Seems minor, I know, but NOT TO ME!  I LOVE that food processor - we got it as a wedding gift - and have lovingly sung its praises for the past 16 years.  In my state of grief, I turned to Joe (my rock in times like this) and said, "And I know we're a little tight right now so we probably can't even buy a new one."  To which he replied, "You are right - we will need to find a way to do without it."  *sigh*  It is at this point that the tears started - should I even admit that!?!?  Somedays are just bad, you know!?!?  So Kitchenaid - if you are reading this - I would be happy to try your NEW 7 cup food processor and blog about it's wonderful qualities!!  (You never know who may be reading!)

But that was not to be the end of the badness...Monday we go to get our taxes done - we have them figured by a professional - who are you kidding, we have to - I can hardly do 6th grade math somedays!!  So he tells us we OWE this year.  Ok, we kind of knew we might owe if our second adoption didn't go through this year, but I don't think we dreamed he meant owe as in ALMOST FOUR DIGITS!!!  Oh my - I'll admit it - when I found out, I sat down and cried. (I think by this time Joe is wondering if I am pregnant as those are about the only other times in my life when the tears were OUT OF CONTROL!!)  BUT, I think today, that my wheels are already turning, I mean really - look at THIS GUY - he owed TONS and didn't have to pay, and now he works for the president.  So I have started praying for that - a new job!  OR that the year of jubilee will be re-enacted and all will be fine - that is my new plan.  I like that law in the Old Testament - why can't we start it again today!?!?  And here my positive side is showing through - at least I got to use MY money for the last year - that's positive, isn't it!?!?

I'll be real honest on another front - I love being home with my kids - most of our days are very good together.  I enjoy teaching them school - they are fun to be with and USUALLY good workers, but yesterday was another story - no one wanted to work and then when they did get finished - they had so many corrections that we were doing school until 8 pm.  I did not do what every homeschool mom does at least ONCE every week, I did not threaten them with the old "I can put you in school" routine.  But I wasn't very gracious either, I did handle it well and so I had to apologize.  But I can do that, and they can see a REAL mom - one that fails often!

So - I wake up today - ready to take on another day, be more patient, be more loving and gracious, handle our struggles with more strength.  And as I sit and type this - I look over at the dog - dragging her bottom on the ground.  (I know TOO MUCH INFORMATION, but hey, it's real!)  I know she needs to go to the vet and have her anal glands aspirated again - I am thinking positively here - remember, it's a new day.  I smile - first of all, I know I won't have to do the cleaning out of those glands.  And secondly, I am glad I am not the poor dog that has to have it done as I'm sure it's not a pleasant process.  Then I wonder - is that comparable to hemorrhoids??  I suddenly have a whole new sympathy for the dog!  But it's a new day - the dog and I will keep our chins up and face it fresh!

Nothing like a good dog SMOOCH!!

TROUBLE with a capital "T"

So you know I design blogs, you know I scrapbook, but have I ever combined scrapbooking AND designing digitally??? NO - not until now and we might be in trouble!  I just got my Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus yesterday - and off I went.  All I can say is "oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."  NOW I may REALLY never leave my laptop!  This wonderful program has the ability of Photoshop and other high-end software, but the ease of many other programs I have used - it is SO easy to use.  I know - I have all these paper scrapbooking supplies - I can hear Joe now - BUT I am thinking what if I started 2009 and forward digital!?!??  Hmmm - might have to think on that.  I will show you my two FIRST creations!

 

 

The wheels are spinning - my mind is a-flurry.  Joe just better go on more business trips - look how productive I am!!! 
(Now for my shameless self-promotion - if you don't have a Creative Memories consultant and would like to order this wonderful program - feel free to email me - I am a consultant (should I even admit that since I am JUST NOW using this program!?!?) and I would love to help you order it if you'd like to get started!)

My Baby Boy is 11!

Oh my - this boy has been something from day 1.  I will never forget that infamous day 11 years ago when the doctor said, "We are going to have to induce you - you are running a temperature and it isn't good for your baby or you."  SO off we went - here was the BIGGEST problem - a little man had decided to turn himself breech at 39 weeks!!!  (We should have known then!!!)  So, my doctor encouraged me to try a version (where they manually try to turn the baby - you DON'T want the details - it wasn't pretty!!) - and in my moment of weakness - I allowed them to do it a SECOND time as he didn't stay head down after the first try.  Then, my doctor thought it was a great idea to have Joe hold little Aaron's head down in the birth canal (yes, that meant he pushed down on my belly for an hour!!) until the pitocin kicked in and Aaron would engage.  Did he???? Nope, that stinker, the minute Joe let go of him, flipped right back in the breech position again.  From then on, it was only a cesarean for us.  Little Aaron made his appearance but we were never sure he REALLY wanted out.  No matter the method, we are SO glad we have him - he may have been a lot of work to convince to make his appearance, but he's been worth every minute.  He's our comedian, our sensitive little brother, and our constant source of smiles!  We love you big guy - Happy 11th!

Antics

This is Chloe thinking:

 

And then she got an idea:

 

In Chloe's words:  "If I leave my mouth open while I think, and you guys drop money in, then I will be rich."

The child is an entrepreneur!!!

Chinese New Year Books Post #2

Because I have been asked a few times for recommendations on books for Chinese Celebrations, I'm going to post a bunch here - this will be a long post, sorry. I am also posting them this way so that in case you were interested in buying them from Amazon - if you click here off of my site then I can earn money towards our next adoption. This is from a previous post with NEW ADDITIONS added on the beginning of the links. So, here goes:

Just G**gle It

So - is it bad if your four year old says to you, "Just Google It - then we'll know."  Hmmmmm

Support

We just want to say thank you to all of you that have sent emails and cards to remember us this past week with Joe's dad's passing. We are back now from Michigan after the funeral. It was not an easy funeral - as they rarely ever are. But he was quite young, and we are sad to lose him. If you think of it - please pray for Joe's stepmom - that really leaves a void for her. We are glad that God allowed us to travel there for the funeral - it was a nice time to see family while we were there.

Joe's Mom and some of the grandkids!

Flickr Slideshow

2009 Begins

Happy New Year Everyone!  I woke up this morning and wondered what 2009 will hold - a new year, new possibilities - sounds good to me!

No big party plans here today - just taking down the Christmas stuff - you know that's my favorite part of the holidays - getting everything back to normal!  It's been nice while it's been here, but I love it to return to normal.  Enjoy your day and the New Year!