Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Making Turkey Cupcakes.....
We had a lot of fun making these, even the teenagers participated! We used candy corn and jelly beans for the feathers, Hershey kisses for the head, candy corn for the beak and little M&M's for the eyes and chocolate frosting to hold it all on. If you want both dark meat and white meat than use a white cupcake instead of a chocolate:)
We finished the night off while watching the new Santa Buddies movie. I am going to confess that I fell asleep before the end, but Paige seemed to love it.
Happy Thanksgiving my friends. I feel like I have so much to be thankful for this year.
p.s. Still no drivers license. Sigh.
Labels: Adoption, Family Fun, holidays
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Bleary Eyed!
I went with Samantha and a bunch of other 13-14 year old girls to the 10:30 showing of New Moon last night. By the time I droped all the girls back at home it was almost 2:00 a.m.. I am feeling it this morning.
The movie was good. Much, much better than the first one. However, I do have one beef.
If you are over 30 please, please, please do not hoot and holler when Edward or Jacob come onto the screen. That totally freaks me out.
Sends me back to memories of Mary Kay Latterneou? I am sorry, that is just gross. I'm just sayin..................
The movie was good. Much, much better than the first one. However, I do have one beef.
If you are over 30 please, please, please do not hoot and holler when Edward or Jacob come onto the screen. That totally freaks me out.
Sends me back to memories of Mary Kay Latterneou? I am sorry, that is just gross. I'm just sayin..................
Labels: Family Fun, teenagers
Friday, November 06, 2009
The Party!
My mom turns 90 next week. So, besides all the excitement over our court date and trying to get the house organized and ready for two new additions, we decided to throw my mom a giant celebration.
Because, you know, we have nothing else going on.
Seriously, I love my mom so much, and am thrilled to have this party for her. However, the timing, it could have been a little better.
The party is at our house. Tables and chairs have been delivered. Catering ordered. Cake ordered. Etc. Etc. Etc......
My brother and sisters have been a huge help getting everything ready. It has just been a much larger undertaking than I had originally thought.
We are expecting around 90 people. Please pray for no rain. There is no way I can put all those people in my house.
We went and had our hair done.
Samantha modeling her new do.
Because, you know, we have nothing else going on.
Seriously, I love my mom so much, and am thrilled to have this party for her. However, the timing, it could have been a little better.
The party is at our house. Tables and chairs have been delivered. Catering ordered. Cake ordered. Etc. Etc. Etc......
My brother and sisters have been a huge help getting everything ready. It has just been a much larger undertaking than I had originally thought.
We are expecting around 90 people. Please pray for no rain. There is no way I can put all those people in my house.
We went and had our hair done.
Samantha modeling her new do.
Our sweet friend Shauna cuts our hair. Paige brought her giraffe for a quick trim too!
Very intently watching Shauna do her magic on Mr. Giraffe.
Doesn't he look great.
Our friends have been so fantastic to us during this adoption journey. Samantha and I both had our hair washed and styled plus our eyebrows waxed. Shauna charged us $20.00. It was the "adoption" special apparently. Yes, we are very blessed.
Well, it is 5:00 a.m. and I am off to Walmart to pick up a few extras for the party tomorrow. I'll post pictures after I take a long nap tomorrow evening.
Labels: Adoption, Family Fun
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Our Trip To The Country
We traveled up the freeway about 30 minutes to a large park that is situated on around 500 acres.
I decided this was a great way to spend the day because if we had stayed home I would have been forced to deal with all the Christmas decorations still all over our house.
Yes, this would definitely be more fun.
Except it was freezing outside. For those of you in the North West that would be around 50 degrees for us wimpy California people.
Paige was thrilled to feed the ducks.
Garrett had fun feeding them to0, they were really hungry. Ignore my fat butt and the very bright pink sweater I had on in the picture below please.
I decided this was a great way to spend the day because if we had stayed home I would have been forced to deal with all the Christmas decorations still all over our house.
Yes, this would definitely be more fun.
Except it was freezing outside. For those of you in the North West that would be around 50 degrees for us wimpy California people.
Paige was thrilled to feed the ducks.
Garrett had fun feeding them to0, they were really hungry. Ignore my fat butt and the very bright pink sweater I had on in the picture below please.
Paige rode on a Pony.
Her Dad walked her around the ring.
Her Dad walked her around the ring.
We took a train ride around the entire park. Even Jo Jo got to come with us.
Paige kept saying she wasn't cold. The rest of us were freezing.
We all fought over who got to hold the dog. She was a great hand warmer.
Here is Samantha's annoyed face at having to wait for her Dad while she is freezing. He seems to be enjoying his conversation over in the corner there with his friend and Garrett.
While we were waiting for hubby to finish his conversation Jo Jo decided she wanted to be a conductor.
Paige, not wanting to be out done by a dog, thought she would give it a try also.
Poor child, Laura Ingalls Wilder she is not.
Paige kept saying she wasn't cold. The rest of us were freezing.
We all fought over who got to hold the dog. She was a great hand warmer.Where ever we go our children complain that we always see someone we know. In the picture below Hubby has been called over to the pony area by a Dad that wanted to talk baseball. If your kid plays baseball within a 100 mile radius of our house you probably know my husband.
Here is Samantha's annoyed face at having to wait for her Dad while she is freezing. He seems to be enjoying his conversation over in the corner there with his friend and Garrett.
While we were waiting for hubby to finish his conversation Jo Jo decided she wanted to be a conductor.
Paige, not wanting to be out done by a dog, thought she would give it a try also.
We hung out in the park for about 90 minutes and then the cold was just to much. We told the kids it was time to pack up.
As we were driving out of the park Paige asks me "Are we going back to the big city now"?
Umm, yes, honey. You will see the big city again in about 5 minutes. We are now leaving the big woods.
Poor child, Laura Ingalls Wilder she is not.
Labels: Family Fun
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Good Brother
Our oldest son has some concerns about our families decision to adopt from Ethiopia. He has fears that it will feel like company is visiting. Not like they are all brothers and sisters.
I am sure this fear is not unlike that of many adoptive parents who ask themselves if they can really love a child they did not give birth to as much as one they did.
I am blessed to not have this particular fear, though I do wrestle with others.
I am praying for a way to take our two oldest with us to Ethiopia. I believe once they are there and see all those kids, meet them, form relationships, the fears will go away. They will understand.
Even if a way is not made available for them to go I know that oldest will still be a great big brother to his new siblings. Once he holds them in his arms it will be all over. His fears will be gone.
I believe this peace was given to me by God.
Before we adopted I prayed hard about the effect this decision would have on ALL of our children. God gave me peace then that all would be OK.
Zach is a good big brother.
Here he is helping Paige make sand castles in her sand box.
He helped her make a little river around her castle.
Then he discovered me taking pictures and put his head down.
The kid hates to have his picture taken.
I predict next year at this time there will be a few more kids in the sandbox enjoying the attention of their big brother.
I am sure this fear is not unlike that of many adoptive parents who ask themselves if they can really love a child they did not give birth to as much as one they did.
I am blessed to not have this particular fear, though I do wrestle with others.
I am praying for a way to take our two oldest with us to Ethiopia. I believe once they are there and see all those kids, meet them, form relationships, the fears will go away. They will understand.
Even if a way is not made available for them to go I know that oldest will still be a great big brother to his new siblings. Once he holds them in his arms it will be all over. His fears will be gone.
I believe this peace was given to me by God.
Before we adopted I prayed hard about the effect this decision would have on ALL of our children. God gave me peace then that all would be OK.
Zach is a good big brother.
Here he is helping Paige make sand castles in her sand box.
He helped her make a little river around her castle.
Then he discovered me taking pictures and put his head down.
The kid hates to have his picture taken.I predict next year at this time there will be a few more kids in the sandbox enjoying the attention of their big brother.
The big brother just doesn't understand that part of it yet.
Labels: Adoption, Family Fun
Sunday, December 07, 2008
The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round......
We have had a busy three days with no blog reading or posting. I am going through some major withdrawals. I'm not really sure when I became so connected to all my blog buddies but I obviously have. I couldn't wait to get up this morning and check in on a few of you to see what you have been up to. Also, if I haven't visited you in a few weeks please don't be offended. I told you a while back that my charger broke on my laptop, well, I still have not replaced it. All of the blogs I like to read are saved on that computer so I am having to find all of you by memory. Have I mentioned lately I don't have a very good memory? Anyway, if you aren't normally a commenter please leave me one today, that way I can find my way back to you.
I have good news for all of you. The economy isn't nearly as bad as we have all been told. How might I know this you ask?
Well, we have out of town guests from Colorado and we went to Disneyland on Friday. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO DISNEYLAND WHEN THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE! We had twelve people in our group (from our family it was just me and two of our kids) and we literally had to have the first person hold up one of those light up swords so we could all follow behind. Without that we would have lost each other many many times. Cell phones also came in very handy. Main Street was so packed that you COULD NOT MOVE. I am not exaggerating. It was awful. I really think they went over there maximum capacity for the day. It seemed a little dangerous.
Of course, me with my wild imagination was thinking to myself that this would be a perfect opportunity for a terrorist attack. What better way to strike fear into the American people than to attack a large crowd at the Happiest Place on Earth?
Disneyland has a no fly zone over their airspace, I assume just so this won't happen. So, when about 9:30 p.m. when I heard a plane overhead I will admit to a mild moment of fear. It was a large jet and I have no idea why it was there. My cousin and I looked at each other with the same thought at the same moment, and I had a little bit of sadness over that later, that these are the realities of the time we live in today.
Yesterday we went to Palm Springs for more family fun and today after church we are headed back to Disneyland.
The wheels on our bus keep moving along. There will be time for rest another day.
I have good news for all of you. The economy isn't nearly as bad as we have all been told. How might I know this you ask?
Well, we have out of town guests from Colorado and we went to Disneyland on Friday. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO DISNEYLAND WHEN THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE! We had twelve people in our group (from our family it was just me and two of our kids) and we literally had to have the first person hold up one of those light up swords so we could all follow behind. Without that we would have lost each other many many times. Cell phones also came in very handy. Main Street was so packed that you COULD NOT MOVE. I am not exaggerating. It was awful. I really think they went over there maximum capacity for the day. It seemed a little dangerous.
Of course, me with my wild imagination was thinking to myself that this would be a perfect opportunity for a terrorist attack. What better way to strike fear into the American people than to attack a large crowd at the Happiest Place on Earth?
Disneyland has a no fly zone over their airspace, I assume just so this won't happen. So, when about 9:30 p.m. when I heard a plane overhead I will admit to a mild moment of fear. It was a large jet and I have no idea why it was there. My cousin and I looked at each other with the same thought at the same moment, and I had a little bit of sadness over that later, that these are the realities of the time we live in today.
Yesterday we went to Palm Springs for more family fun and today after church we are headed back to Disneyland.
The wheels on our bus keep moving along. There will be time for rest another day.
Labels: Family Fun
