Sherry's Blog

Surprise...Surprise...Surprise....

2011-01-09T20:50:00.008-06:00

Yesterday wrapped up yet another long stretch of planning and organizing in my life. It seems as though that is what "my calling" in life is. My closest and best friend, Karri turned the big 5-0 and the last 6 months of secrets and planning have been called a big success. With only a few mishaps, I'm satisfied with the outcome....because what's important is that she was surprised and that she knew how truly loved she is by all.

The party was catered by a local catering company and they did an excellent job. A big thanks to Josh and Caitlin for bar tending for us...I think it added a personal touch and no doubt they enjoyed free access to the alcohol.

It was a first time for me to see my older children all dressed up and WOW...they looked awesome! Amanda was quite beautiful in her dress and her hair all fixed up. She certainly didn't look a mere 17 years old. Joshua was very handsome in his pin-stripe suit...I honestly thought that the first time I saw him dressed up like that was going to be his wedding. Both kids standing with their "significant others" really hit home for me that they are not my babies anymore, but grown, mature, beautiful children. I have to give myself a little credit for raising such wonderful kids!

So despite the limo going to the wrong place at the wrong time, people who RSVP and never came and Keith Urban not showing up..(just kidding), it was a memorable night. It was my pleasure to create such a special night for a very special friend. Happy Birthday, my friend!

My Bucket List

2011-01-05T22:08:00.010-06:00

As I get settled into a new year, I can't help but think about my own bucket list and what I hope to accomplish this year. Of course there is the usual stuff such as exercise more, eat healthy, work less, yada, yada, yada.

But since I like to challenge myself, lets start off with skydiving. I am scared to death of heights but something about jumping out of an airplane at 12,000 feet strapped to a stranger and plunging towards earth at a speeds I don't even want to know...sounds like an amazing rush and a life appreciating experience to me.

Run a marathon....Well it's not at the top of my list but none the less, it's on my list. As out of shape as I am, I should start training. Well maybe next year!

Sell everything and move to a foreign country. Not sure which country and really, I'm not picky...but life has so much to offer each of us and I feel guilty, like I am cheating myself, for not exploring everything that's out there.

Take helicopter flying lessons. I know this is an expensive hobby, but it's something that I have always wanted to do. I guess I should start out with baby steps and ride in one first.

Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in person. Something about seeing those huge balloons and floats makes me feel like a kid again.

Volunteer to work in a soup kitchen for the homeless on Thanksgiving Day.

Ring in the new year in Time Square, NYC. Amidst the freezing weather and a bazillion drunk people...it's a celebration like no other.

Spend a week of pure relaxation on the warm beaches of Tahiti. I have always wanted to stay in one of those little huts that are out in the middle of the water with glass floors; watching the fish swim by and taking a moonlight dip in the warm salt water sounds amazing.

Ride in an old fashioned cattle drive. I'm sure my butt will be sore after the first few hours and my back sore after the first night, but count me in for the cowboys, campfires and beautiful scenery!

Fill up my new passport with Stamps from all over the world. Particularly France, Italy, China, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Greece and Germany.

On a simpler note, I plan to donate blood, join the National Bone Marrow Registry in hopes of saving someone life, spend more quality time with my family and try to not sweat the small stuff. Although I don't plan to cross everything off my bucket list in 2011, I hope to chip away at it the best I can.

Goodbye, Farewell....

2010-12-31T06:11:00.003-06:00

As a child, my brother and I would spent New Year's Eve watching TV, enjoying the occasional soda pop, and stuffing our faces with french onion dip and ruffles while my parents were out celebrating. Of course that was if we could keep the food away from our annoying baby sitter long enough! Funny how those memories come to light each year on this, the last day of the year. It's probably due to my guilt that we are going out tonight and leaving the boys with a babysitter...but hey we all have our own memories, right?

I can't say that I will miss you 2010...what a year it's been. Full of good times and bad. I do, however, feel like I have learned more about myself this year than any other thus far. That in itself makes it all worth it.

The highlights of the year for me were the new places we visited. Taking in the sights of San Francisco last April, touring Alcatraz definitely hits the top of the list for me. What a city....I still have visions of selling everything I own and moving there on a whim. Okay, Okay....maybe a little harsh, but someday! Spending a fun filled week at Disney World...feeling like a kid with all the magic, riding the rides and smiling when I saw all my favorite characters. Walking in the rain with my family from ride to ride and getting baked by the 106', record breaking Florida sun. Flying to Memphis, TN for Tommy's birthday and touring Graceland as a surprise. Learning of all the humanitarian things that Elvis did left me with hope and the need to do more to make the world a better place.

Of course watching my children grow and learn is always a highlight. I have definitely been blessed with four amazing children, who have all filled the year with funny stories and comments. I just wish that I could remember every single one of them.

I finish this year with a smile on my face, a spring in my step and a cold Miller Lite in my hand! I want to thank my friends for being my sounding board, my husband for putting up with me and my children for listening to my unnecessary rants. I love you all.

Goodbye 2010....I wish each of you a fantastic New Year filled with happiness and success.

Let the Game Begin...

2010-12-25T19:19:00.008-06:00

I really thought keeping the boys up for hours past their regular bed time on Christmas Eve would allow us some extra extra sleep time. Boy was I ever wrong...(yes, you heard me right, I said the "W" word). Samuel woke up at 1 am eagerly wanting to open presents. Thank goodness he was sleeping with Amanda and she made him go back to sleep. He woke again at 3am to the same response. Finally, at 5am, she could not hold him back anymore...I awoke to a 7 year old whispering in the face..."Mommmm"! I have to say getting Josh out of bed that early only happens once a year!

It was another successful round of my Christmas game. Amanda was victorious once again and claimed the $100 prize. Everyone received as many presents as the letters in their name. Each gift was addressed to a word that started with letter. To help me keep things straight with the multiple letters that were shared in their names, I simply gave Carter 3 letter words, Sam 4 letter words, Amanda 5 letter words and so on. It was no surprise to me that she won again....I had another theme started, presents labeled and under the tree several weeks ago but after she snooped at the gifts, unbeknown est to her, she guessed the original theme. So I had to scramble to come up with a new one and re-label all the gifts. It was all worth it because I love this tradition I have started with them.

The kids made a haul as usual. Samuel's favorite gifts were a new pro-skateboard that Josh gave him, a purple hat that Amanda bought for him and his roller blades that we got him. Carter, is such a simple, sweet soul. His favorite gifts were his spongebob hat that Amanda got him and the squishy slime that Santa left in his stocking. Amanda loved her Tiffany earrings and the shoes that her boyfriend, Bailey gave her. Josh had a hard time choosing his favorite gift, but it was a tie between his bamboo iPhone cover and Salvador Dali painting. The top of Tommy's list was the rifle I bought him and coincidently my favorite gift was the pink pistol, followed closely by the James Avery ring that he bought me. Guns and jewelry...what more could a girl ask for?

All in all it was a very nice day with my family. I slaved in the kitchen cooking a traditional Ham dinner but if I don't step foot in the kitchen for another 365 days, that would be soon enough for me. I am happy to be relaxing in my recliner, watching movies and eating popcorn with all the kids. What a great way to end an already GREAT day!

Merry Christmas!

Holy Jingle Bells, Batman...It's December Already?

2010-12-15T19:16:00.004-06:00

Someone please pinch me because somewhere in the last 360 days I have lost track of time. Hopefully, that is all I have lost, but only time will tell. I just can believe that December has arrived so quickly. The boys have gotten a year taller, Amanda a year smarter and Joshua a year older.

I didn't anticipate being away from you this long Mr. Blog and trust me when I say it wasn't because I was at a loss for words. I don't recall that ever being a problem, but I will do my absolutely best at catching you up.

The beginning of the year brought big career changes for me as my job moved locations. I had worked in the lake area since 1995 so moving 59 miles west to a very small farming town; was like culture shock for me. I adjusted and am very content and happy there now.

It was also a busy time for little dribblers basketball. It was the boys first time to play and Tommy's first time to coach. Both were equally entertaining to watch. It was a good experience for all of them and as my Mom would say, 5 year olds playing basketball is like watching a Chinese fire drill.

In April, Tommy and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in San Francisco. I completely fell in love with this city and it's surroundings. We took in an Oakland A's baseball game, toured Alcatraz Island and explored Muir Woods, which is part of the Red Wood Forest. Personally, I was in awe with Alcatraz...the tour was spectacular and it's a part of history that has always intrigued me. I found myself starring out at the island every chance I got.

Over the summer, we enjoyed a 2 week family vacation. The first week we spent at Disney World, taking in every park during Florida's recording breaking 106 degree temperature. But with me being the big Disney fan that I am...it was well worth it! We drug the kids on all the rides we could and probably scarred them for life, but it was definitely a week we will all never forget. The second week we spent relaxing on the beach of Destin, FL and despite the BIG oil spill, it remained open and beautiful as always!

Samuel endured another unsuccessful ear surgery in July. It is unsure why the past attempts at reconstructing his ear drums have not worked but we will continue to push forward from doctor to doctor until we are able to find some success. As of now, we are giving Samuel and his ears a break until next year when we will try again with a new doctor.

The boys started 1st grade with much exuberance and are doing their very best. Speech therapy is still necessary for them both and continues to help their articulation and reading skills. Amanda started her junior year with a schedule packed full of AP classes and is ranked in the top 5% of her class. This year she began taking nursing classes and spent the first semester at the nursing home where she earned and passed the Texas State Certified Nursing Assistant exam. I am extremely proud of her.

Joshua learned that college wasn't his cup of tea and began working for me at Carquest in June. He has done a great job there. His accomplishments afforded him a new car a few months ago. I thought we would never find the right one that met his never ending list of demands, but sure enough, he ended up with exactly what he wanted. It's a 2006 Chrysler 300 all blacked out. This has become his baby so to speak and he spends countless hours a week washing and waxing it.

Earlier this month, Tommy and I were able to visit Graceland. Actually, it was Tommy's birthday present, and although it wasn't the surprise I had hoped it would be, I really enjoyed it. I never considered myself a big Elvis fan, but touring his mansion and learning more about him caught me hook, line and sinker. Not sure I will be blasting his music anytime soon, but I definitely admire him as an artist and as a humanitarian.

With Christmas only a few days away, the annual Christmas game in our family has definitely spurred on the snooping of presents. As much as I'd like to let you in on this years theme, I will save it for an after-Christmas post. You can't ever be too careful when money is on the line with my children!

I promise to keep this updated more frequently this year....it will be my New Year's Resolution.

Perspective Brings Wisdom

2009-12-30T13:45:00.006-06:00

Santa arrived bearing excellent gifts for our family this year. The boys, of course, made out like bandits and were riding their new bicycles, scooters, and skateboards within no time. The older ones loaded up on clothes and electronics while I was estatic with my new Nikon camera, pandora bracelet and various items from Victoria Secret. Tommy had his new flat screen TV set up within an hour....funny how a new TV seems to motivate men!

It was an upset this year with our annual family Christmas game. Miss Amanda thought she had it in the bag (for the 3rd year in a row); she studied the gifts under the tree all month. But it was Josh that was declaired the winner of the $75 bonus, while Amanda did win the $25 bonus to the bonus. Poor Samuel and Carter will never have a chance as long as Tommy plays for them!

As most of you know, my family owns two Carquest Auto Part Stores. I have spent the last 7 years managing the one in Austin. My parents have decided to move back to Colorado and retire for good, therefore we have sold the Austin store. I will be transfering to the other store, located in a small farming town 80 miles west of Austin. Since Marble Falls is in between, my commute to work will be the same; just in the other direction. It will be a big change from what I am used to but with this economy, I'm just happy that I have a job.

We come to the end of 2009 - Yes . . . a bit “bruised” by life, but perspective brings wisdom. This year has definitely been a unique year, full of “life-changing” events! But, some years just seem to stand out compared to all the rest. As we close 2009 and look forward to 2010, time is moving way to fast . . . and then, in other ways . . . the days are never-ending! However, through it all, I would like to “dig in my heels” with Father Time and slow down one particular part . . . my children's zealous push through Life. :) Somedays I have a hard time with the fact that my children are now 19, 16, 6 and 5 years old. Where did all those years go? Reguardless, I treasure all of our wonderful blessings . . . health, accomplishment, growth, purpose, childhood, family, laughter and love. And, yes, moments of sadness, challenges, disappointment and pain, but opportunities for blessings as well.

MEMORIES...

2009-11-24T10:02:00.004-06:00

This past weekend, I enjoyed another visit with my great friend, Brandi. We have been friends since our early teenage years and I'm grateful to still have her in my life after all this time. I flew to Denver and although I do love Texas; Colorado will always be home to me and I miss it more each time I return.

After scouring the mall for the best deals...Brandi is much better at this that I....we sat through the Twilight Movie, New Moon along with at least a hundred 5 & 6 year old girls, their mothers and only 20 or so men....yeah, who takes girls that young to a love story/vampire movie? Although the movie could have been better, the little girls kept quiet and the shirtless scenes weren't that bad either!

We ended a perfect weekend in our pajama's, watching TV and looking through all our old yearbooks. We laughed so hard at times we were actually crying. It's amazing how one can be sooooo ugly at the age of 13-14 but really turn it around by the age of 16-17. What a difference 3 years makes!

The weather was perfect and even the flight home was quite relaxing. The kids were excited to see me and the house was clean....

oh, let me repeat that.....

THE HOUSE WAS CLEAN!! Another great memory! :)

Technology...It Makes Spying On Your Kids So Much Fun

2009-11-18T09:59:00.002-06:00

I love technology! And to go one step further, I love the fact that it sucked when I was a kid!

This past weekend, I secretly installed a "locator" on my daughters cell phone. She hasn't done anything (yet) to arouse my suspicions, but she is my only daughter and do I need to remind you that she is 16 years old? I was 16 once and lets just say that for the most part, I was a good kid. However, I was not always where I was supposed to be and not doing what I was supposed to be doing.

Yeah, we'll just leave it at that!

Anyway, for precaution sake, I thought the Verizon Family Locator was a good investment for a small $10 a month. I have only "located" her a few times, mostly for my own entertainment, and so far so good. In fact, yesterday was the first time she drove into Austin, alone, for a dentist appointment. Yes, I was nervous, but tracked her location every few minutes until she arrived safely. It also lets me know how fast she is driving, which would have been a great thing to know when Josh was 16!

So far she is unaware of the application on her phone and I plan to keep it quiet as long as possible. When and if she ever notices it, I have already decided to tell her that its for her safety. Should she ever be in an accident and unconscious, I will know exactly where she is. Although that reason is true, I will admit that it's also to check up on her and to spare my own worry.

After all....I'm afraid that once all the hair on my head is white it will migrate to other places on my body! Yikes!

2009 Christmas Game

2009-11-11T08:30:00.002-06:00

Just released.....it's the newest version of our family's annual Christmas game. Those who know me, know that each Christmas I create a game with our gifts. I started this many years ago when I realized that the kids were peaking in their gifts and/or getting too good at guessing what they got.

What? Peaking?

Of course, we all did it. I remember when I was 12 or 13 years old, I carefully unwrapped all my gifts one year to see what was inside. Then I wrapped them back putting tape exactly over the old tape....and wal-lah, good as new! Although my parents never knew, Christmas just wasn't as much fun that year.

Anyway....in previous years I have numbered gifts (assigning 1-10 to one child 11-20 to another and so on), I have assigned a different group of animals to each person (birds, water animals, zoo animals and so on) and last year was states and capitals. Half the gifts were addressed to a state and half were addressed to a state capital. They each got an answer sheet and had to keep track of all the gifts and come up with the correct answers. The one with the most right and spelled correctly won a bonus $100. There is always a bonus for who ever can correctly guess the theme. Since Carter and Samuel are too young to understand, Tommy always plays for them and if he wins, the boys split the bonus. So far....Amanda has won every year.

Since I am confident that my children don't read my blog, I am sharing with you what this years game entails. For those of you who are my friend on Facebook you may have noticed that I posted a status update yesterday that said, "26 Christmas presents.....finally have 9 bought and only 17 more to go and only 45 more days to do it!" What a big hint and neither Josh or Amanda picked up on it. How would I know that I will have 26 presents before they are even bought? Well, the gifts are named for a word that represents each letter of the alphabet. For example, Samuel has A-E, Carter has F-J and so on. As we open our gifts in random order they will have to recognize the pattern that develops...first one name the theme wins $50. And the bonus to the bonus is that each word is the first word in our dictionary for each letter. That extra bonus is worth another $50.

I love doing this because it adds an extra amount of fun on Christmas morning, and will be a tradition that I hope they will pass down to my grandchildren someday. It also keeps the kids from knowing what gifts are theirs and also from peaking. Of course they love that extra bonus money too. I may need to solicit ideas in the future because I am sure I will run out of them eventually.

First Date....Oh my!

2009-11-08T16:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess I should have predicted it....she turns 16 years old (the age where dating officially begins) and it took Amanda exactly 1 month to have her first "official" date. Last night was the 1 month anniversary, yes I dad say 1 month, that Amanda and Bailey have been "going out". They went to dinner at a nice Italian place here in town, just to text me frantically wondering how much of a tip to leave.

Awww....to be young and in love! I have to admit it was super cute and the two were so excited to be celebrating such a milestone! I'm sure there will be many more first dates in the upcoming years, but I couldn't resist snapping this picture of the very first, first date!

Lesson in Fender Benders

2009-11-05T09:25:00.003-06:00

I didn't realize how relaxed I have become with just one teenage driver. With Josh almost being 19, It's taken me 3 years for me to not freak out every time he calls. Well, now that Amanda is driving, I have to admit that I am back to square one. Every time she calls I can't help but wonder if something is wrong.

Yesterday, was the day that I had been dreading and knew eventually would happen. You know it's not going to be good when before you say hello, you hear your daughter yelling "OH MY GOD!" Apparently while leaving school, she was stopped in the long line of cars going slow over the speed bumps when the guy in front of her rolled backwards and hit her. It was very minor and only dented the license plate frame and license plate, but still enough to scare the bejesus out of both of us.

I know it could have been a lot worse so I'm just thankful that her first lesson in fender benders was a small one. She was scared to drive to school this morning, but hopefully that fear will translate to her being more careful and cautious of her surroundings. All of this however, will not ease the stress on my heart!

Volleyball Rocks!

2009-10-31T10:14:00.003-05:00

The regular season of volleyball is finally over and although our JV team won some and lost some, the Varsity team made it to playoffs. Normally, I wouldn't be posting about this, however, Amanda a few other JV players were moved up to varsity as alternates. It's not likely that she will get any playing time, but it is exciting none-the-less.

Last night was game #1 and it was a dozy of a game. Lampassas put up a good fight but our girls were able to pull out a win in 3 straight match wins! I am so impressed with the playing ability of these young girls....nothing compared to the ability of my team or I when I played varsity volleyball light years ago.

On an unrelated subject....Amanda is the proud owner of a new car. Yes, this will make #3 for her at only 16 years old. Before you think how spoiled she may be, let me explain. Car #1 was a standard and she just couldn't learn to drive it...safely that is. Car #2 spent more time in the shop than she did driving it. Everyday, she was stranded somewhere in it and with me working 45 minutes away, I was a nervous wreck to say the least. So that brings us to car #3....last week we bit the bullet and got a newer, better car for her. We surprised her with a 2007 Jeep Liberty. Its perfect for her and did I mention that I really like it too? Hmmm, may have to think of an excuse to borrow it sometime. It is a huge relief to me and especially since Amanda helps out so much getting the boys from point A to point B. No more frantic calls that she is stranded. And better yet, the payment is small enough that she can afford to pay it with a part time job. The best part is, no more driving to the high school late at night to pick her up from an away volleyball game! Another reason why volleyball rocks!

New Birthday Haircut...Compliments of Himself!

2009-10-22T14:26:00.003-05:00

I am a bit late in posting about Samuel's 6th birthday. Our entire household had the swine flu that particular day and for several days thereafter.

Anyway, I can't believe that this was the 4th birthday that we have gotten to spend with him. Seems like only yesterday we endured the long flight back from Russia with him. As you can see, it hasn't taken him long to really rack up those gifts.

Oh, yea and the crooked haircut....ya, that was complements of himself the day before his birthday. Which also happened to be the day before picture day at school. Thank God that we were all sick....maybe it will grow out before retakes. I honestly thought that when he did this around age 3, that we had seen the last of it. Obviously I was wrong. Seriously, it doesn't look half as bad when you comb it over, but hey....he is 6 and hair doesn't stay put that long.

His favorite gifts were his new bike and football jersey. Okay, so we really aren't Cowboy fans, however even though this is Texas, the Houston Texas don't seem to be very popular. I was just looking out for his best interest in knowing he would fit in at school with a Cowboys jersey rather than say a Bronco's jersey! Actually, he didn't seem to care at all. It was football and that is all that mattered!

The bowling party was a hit with Sam and his friends. Probably safe to say that we won't be expecting him to become a pro-bowler anytime in the future, but at least he didn't confuse the sport of baseball with bowling much like Carter did!

P-A-R-T-Y....San Antonio Sytle

2009-10-14T11:04:00.006-05:00

The party went exactly as planned! (with the exception that one friend couldn't make it at the last minute) The girls all had a great time and my friend, Karri and I enjoyed sharing in their fun. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott, which is a new hotel right on the Riverwalk. It was very nice...well, until the morning after that is. Their room was a mess and I am just waiting to see if there are any extra charges on my credit card. So far, so good! There was confetti EVERYWHERE! When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere....in the beds, bathtub, sink, floor, balcony, desk, just about anywhere you can possibly think of. We also wrote with lipstick on the mirrors of the bathroom "16 Reasons Why We Love Amanda". The balloons added a cute touch, however really irriated the girls when they found them hovering around their face the next morning.

I made a sash for Amanda to wear with the 16 tasks that she and her friends must find on the Riverwalk. I was afraid that she may resist the fun....but she was a good sport and really started getting into in once the night began. Here are the 16 things she had to do/find:

Ask a stranger to kiss your hand

A Starbucks cup signed by an employee

The Harley Davidson logo

A take out menu

Ask a stranger to write you a birthday message on a napkin

Buy something for exactly $1 including tax

Ask a stranger for a quarter until you get a Texas quarter

Find a cute boy and take a picture with him

Get someone to give you a birthday spanking

Take a picture of bathroom graffiti

Find a police officer, security guard or bouncer and take a picture with him

Take a picture with a man over the age of 50

Take a picture of a guy with a mullet

Buy a postcard

Get a book of matches with a hotel logo

Ask of group of people to sing you "Happy Birthday"

I think finding a cute boy to take a picture with was the task that took the longest. She was just to embarrassed! It was a lot of fun and I think the other girls got a kick out of watching Amanda squirm! Needless to say, the weekend was full of laughter.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Rainforest Cafe! What a cool place! Other than the long wait...the food was great and the atmosphere was really enjoyable.

I hope that it created as many memories for Amanda as it did for me! She really is an awesome daughter and deserved every minute of it!

Awww...to be 16 Again!

2009-10-08T12:49:00.003-05:00

Where have the years gone? I just can't believe that my baby girl turned 16 years old today. Happy Birthday, Amanda! She is excited to say the very least! We got up early and arrived minutes after the driver's license place opened so she could get her license. Then she happily drove herself to school! I have to admit that I felt a little tug at my heart as she drove away knowing that she was all grown up!

We have big plans this weekend for her Sweet 16 Party! I am sure I went a bit overboard this year, but really, how many times do you turn 16? I let her invite 3 friends and I am taking the 4 of them down to the Riverwalk in San Antonio for the weekend. They will have their own room of course to stay up late, talk about boys, listen to music and eat all they want! I plan to completely decorate their room while they are busy shopping at the River Center Mall all afternoon. In addition, I have set up a little treasure hunt along the Riverwalk of 16 things that the girls must do or find. (For example: Take a picture with a cute boy! Have a group of people sing you Happy Birthday! Buy something for exactly $1!) Things to completely embarrass her....after all, isn't that my job? All 16 things are printed on a sash that she will have to wear. Of course I will be hiding out while photographing the entire charade.

In any event, it should be a great weekend! I just wish that it was me turning 16 again! Oh, the value of hindsight!

The Return of Snoop Deville

2009-10-05T18:29:00.007-05:00

Oh the joys of having a child in Kindergarten. This year Samuel's teacher has implemented a "Treasure Box" reward system. At the end of the day children who have followed all the rules gets to choose something from the "Treasure Box". Now you many think that these treasures amount to a small items such as a yo-yo, bouncy ball or maybe even a pencil holder, however we were surprised when Samuel came home with a remote control car, large stuffed animals and even used clothes. At the time we weren't aware of the treasure box and I couldn't help but wonder if Sam was stealing toys from the classroom or maybe the lost and found. And what about the clothes? Is his teacher trying to tell us something? I always thought I dressed the boys nice in jeans and little polo shirts.

One day I politely emailed the teacher asking where and why Samuel was coming home with these large items. That's when I learned about the Treasure Box. Of course I was relieved that my child wasn't a clepto; although I already knew that. Apparently this teacher is also associated with the local thrift store where they are over loaded with children's toys and clothes; thus the reason for the types of items in the "Treasure Box."

So a month or so ago, Samuel brought home this hideous, green, low rider remote control car, which we called the Snoop Deville. It is definitely the most annoying, ugliest toy he has. Well, last Friday while the boys were at school, I completely cleaned out and rearranged their room. I took the opportunity to put good ole Snoop in the donate box. I happily dropped off several boxes and bags of unwanted toys and clothes to thrift store before picking up the boys after school that day.

Today, 3 days later, Snoop Deville made it back home with Samuel from school. It took the thrift store less than 72 hours to get rid of good-ole Snoop. It's so bad that they didn't want it either. Who knows what his teacher is thinking....there can't possibly be more than one of those hideous looking low riders here in this small town. However, Samuel picked Snoop today because he wanted to give one to Carter so they would both have matching cars to play with. Awwww...I just don't have the heart to tell him that this is the original Snoop.

I'm just hoping that the rest of the crap that I dropped off doesn't make it back to our house. And I am keeping my fingers crossed that Sam's teacher doesn't quiz me about it at his parent teacher conference next week.

Redneck, Texas USA

2009-09-21T13:48:00.011-05:00

Well, we really don't live in Redneck, TX, but any out-of-towner may have thought so this past Saturday night. My husband lives for the annual Demolition Derby where he spends endless hours for months on end fixing up an old hunk of junk into what you see to the left. For those of you who have never been...this is where perfectly grown men take these old cars (all decorated of course) and crash them into each other in a small arena full of testosterone until the last car moving/running wins. Sadly, they have a round for just women too. Nope, sorry, not for me!

This annual event seems to bring out all types of people, half of which don't have teeth. While it is fun to watch these grown men crash into each other "just for fun", I also completely enjoy drinking beer with my friends and doing a little people watching. It's always good for a night full of laughs. Certainly not the type of crowd you would find any other time of the year, anywhere else for that matter. But the kids love it, so count me in.

I am proud to say that Tommy won 2nd place in the final event. This is the 7th year he has participated and last year was the first time he placed (3rd). So if you see the patten developing here you can guess that he has his eye on 1st place next year. Of course, I am not complaining about the $600 prize money that he quickly handed over to me. And first place is a much bigger prize!!

Struggles of Teenage Girls!

2009-09-10T09:16:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, the Mustang JV volleyball team placed 3rd in a local tournament. Now that probably doesn't sound like headline news, but for these girls....it is! This team has played together for 4 years now and I have to say it has been a long road with many tears shed along the way.

During the 7th and 8th grade seasons, we couldn't buy a win. In 9th grade, they were able to pull it together enough to win a few games but could never pull it out enough to win the match. This year however, our team is currently 4-2. They are finally playing and communicating as a team. Our 3+ year loosing streak is finally over. I am so proud of them and how far they really have come. It has been endless hours of conditioning, practice, and numerous summer camps.

Don't get me wrong....they are still 15 year old girls. They argue enough to make one think they are all related. They all have their good and bad days....which happen to not be at the same time. And there is still so much unnecessary bickering going on, but again...they are still 15 year old girls who's lives revolve around drama!

Keep up the hard work girls.....it's your year to kick some BUTT!

The Chaos Has Begun...

2009-09-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

It's September already, which means that I am swamped and pulling my hair out. No, literally...it's really falling out thanks to these wonderful drugs I am on, but we won't discuss that.

The kids have all started school. Josh just completed his first week of college classes. He is loving life in Lubbock and has stayed out of trouble so far...thank god! I have been very good and only called him a few times. I am sure it is safe to say that he enjoys being out from underneath my wing.

Samuel and Carter are really enjoying Kindergarten and their new teachers. They are in a brand new school this year and besides the rattle snake found on the playground yesterday, all is good! Samuel just started flag football and really loves it! Which is a great means of negotiation when he decides to misbehave.

Amanda is already overloaded with homework from all her AP classes. However, I am so proud to report that she has gone up 4 spots in her class rank since last year. She has finally made it into the top 10% (28/286) of her class. She has worked real hard to get there. She is also playing on the JV volleyball team this year which we currently have a record of 2-2. Her goal was to make varsity, however she seems to be content on JV with a lot of playing time.

I am slowly healing after my year of medical hell! My back seems to be healing nicely according to my doctor. Physical therapy is going good and my legs and muscles are definitely getting stronger. I am anxious to finally be free of antibiotics after this month...and my body can get back to normal. Will also help my super low iron levels, which explains above hair loss!

Samuel had ear surgery last week....apparently the boy put some sort of foreign object in his ear. It looked to be berry from a tree or maybe an unpopped popcorn kernel. Either way it was big enough to completely block his eardrum, which ended up being good news because his eardrum has began to regenerate itself. He could possibly have "normal" hearing in that ear without the need for more surgery....wish that was the case on the other side too...but no such luck!

I am definitely looking forward to less chaotic months ahead.

And It's Down To Three....

2009-08-21T13:55:00.004-05:00

Yes, today was day I have been dreading for months. I watched tearfully last night as Joshua finished packing all his "stuff". He woke up early, and you know he must have been excited to be up before 6am, we loaded up his truck with bags of clothes, fridge, microwave, snowboard, computer, printer, ect, and he was gone by 6:45am. I am happy to say that he is already in Lubbock safe and sound.....probably enjoying a cold beer with his friends as I write this....but I just can't seem to get past the fact that he is gone. I always assumed that the first one to leave the nest would be the hardest, however, looking forward, I can't imagine that it's going get any easier with the remaining three.

As parents, we go through so much....it starts small, like with not wanting our help with the little things. Then it progresses to not wanting to be seen with us as teenagers; then finally moving out and not needing us anymore. Well, not financially speaking of course! I feel like this all happened within the blink of an eye. It really wasn't that long ago that I tip-toed into his room in the middle of the night, carefully getting him out of his crib, just to hold him and watch him sleep. Obviously, I didn't require as much sleep back then!

I'm sure I will continue to worry about things like if he is going to class, if he is parting too much, if he is getting enough sleep, if he is eating decent food, ect, ect, ect. I'm positive that the worrying doesn't stop once they are gone. Actually, I'm reminded of this all the time by my own mother.

I am sure the level of noise in my house won't be effected in anyway....we are now down to three!

Is It Too Much To Ask?

2009-08-07T11:25:00.005-05:00

Ok, so it's my birthday! All I asked for was a bumblebee! Sorry bumblebee....you would have loved me as your owner! Between you and me.....I didn't think it was too much to ask!

So do I feel 38 today? Hmmmm....my mind still feels 18 while my body says, "ugh". I am the type that loves to celebrate my birthday, after all am I not the only person in the world born on August 7th? Well, probably not, but I like to think so! Should be a national holiday if you ask me....obviously no one ever did!

When I walked into the kitchen this morning, I had a few presents waiting patiently for me to rip open. In addition, my husband stayed up late making his famous/my favorite salsa for weekend away with my girlfriend. Definitely a bonus....we love to eat chips and salsa to drink with our beer.

Oh, yea...the weekend....I'm not sure where we are going; it is still a surprise. Karri and I love to celebrate each others birthday's! Some years it's been things such as a George Strait concert, others have been lazy days on the lake. Either way, I always seem to figure out the surprise. I don't try to do it on purpose and I can't help it. It happens after they tend to give out too much or just the right piece of information. However, this year....I'm still boggled, but have a few guesses. :) We'll see! I just know that I was instructed to bring a few clothes, a swim suit, and my i-pod. Could be just about anything here in sweat ville, but regardless, It sounds like a blast!

So again Mr. Bumblebee, I'm sorry....guess it was too much for me to ask!

Oh, What A Month.....

2009-08-05T13:44:00.004-05:00

Well, this blog has sure gone to hell and a hand basket (as my mother would say) this summer. I had been so good at keeping up with it until I had surgery. Guess I have been pre-occupied with things such as, walking, that I have completely forgotten about my blogger duties.

So to fill you in.....I finally went back to work full time at the beginning of July. That is only to say I was physically present. My legs had a hard time understanding the concept of being on my feet all day and my mind was missing those afternoon naps. Well, not so much, as I did take a small one in my office recliner each afternoon. Shhhhhh...don't tell my Dad!

My pick line IV was removed just a few days before July 4th, just in time for me to enjoy the cool 104' heat in the swimming pool. At that time, I was still using a walker to get around but I found a way to get in that damn pool anyway! Getting out...now that did pose a problem. Also, I was able to manage hosting a B-day party for Carter the very next weekend. It was a lot of fun, I was at least partially back to my normal self, but was exhausted by the end of the day! The party was a hit! Carter loved all the attention/gifts and probably wonders why it doesn't come around more often. It was his first birthday (5 yrs old) with us; we officially picked him up August 19, 2008. His official birthday day is the 23rd (same as my Grandfather's), however, since we would be out of town then, we celebrated early.

The end of July was my much anticipated 20th high school reunion. I had worked hard (with the help of a few of my friends) for over a year and was afraid that I wouldn't be well enough to attend. Of course, that put a fire under my butt and walking with a small limp....I was there! Everyone seemed to really enjoy all aspects of the 3 day affair...and I was relieved that I didn't end of being responsible for a flop! It was so much fun to see all my old friends again. No one seem to have changed much and we all had matured a lot. I was great to feel young again! It seems as though I was recruited to do the 30th reunion as well. Since that seems to be "my thing", I guess I will take another stab at it!

The kids enjoyed the trip to Colorado too. We visited the Royal Gorge, Sand Dunes National Park, saw (the super hot) Rodney Adkins in concert, took in a few parades, went to the local drive-inn as well as a few other small trips. And the week away from this dreadful heat was a bonus! The 14 hr drive wasn't event that bad, thanks to ipods for the older two and the DVD player for the Sam and Carter. Can you believe, no fight or yelling? Ya, me neither!

Josh and I attended his freshmen orientation in Lubbock. I can't believe that he will be leaving in about 2 weeks for college. I am already dreading it....getting my Kleenex box ready as he waves good-bye to me; much like I did to my mother 20 years ago. Paybacks really are a bitch!

I began my long journey in physical therapy yesterday. OOhhhhhh, I am really hurting today. My muscles, muscles are even sore. Its pretty pathetic when your only homework is..."Just don't fall down!" Usually something you don't hear directed to an almost 38 year old person. I know I just need to suck it up, but I may need to do so with the help of my walker!

Summer Update

2009-06-25T08:24:00.009-05:00

We are in our 15th straight day of triple digit temperatures (104' today)....that's to say that if you don't want heat stroke, you should stay inside between the hours of noon and 7pm. Unless of course you find yourself in a nearby 90' pool. The dogs are even fighting to breathe during these hours.

I am doing my best to recover. I have to say that this is really the hardest thing I have ever had to endure. I feel physically that I am doing very well. The movement around my back is getting better and stronger every day. I am finally able to do the little things that we all take for granted such as putting on socks and shoes, shaving my legs, and even showering without help. My mental state, however, is not as strong. The doctors have said that it is all the spinal meningitis and that my brain swelling has had many consequences including exhaustion, depression, lack of sleep, vomiting, headaches, ect, ect, ect. Yep, I have all of them and seem to be able to cry at the drop of a hat. Really, I just want to feel normal again. Some days are better than others and I am sure as supportive as my family is....they are very sick of all the tears. I still have the IV/pick in my right arm and administer this super duper strong antibiotic every 12 hours. I am very anxious because exactly one week from today...July 2nd...I get this IV taken out. I have been looking forward to that day for 8 weeks now. That means, I can take shower without a bag taped on my arm, I can swim with kids, and I don't have to worry about what I'm doing at 8am and 8pm.

Josh has been working all summer, I feel like I hardly get to see him. Guess I had better get used to it since he leaves for college in August. His dorm room is reserved up at Texas Tech and orientation is next month to visit the campus and choose his classes. I can't believe all the hoops you have to jump through for college registration and financial aide.

Amanda has been a god send. She has been amazing helping to take care of me and the boys at the same time. She has driven me to doctor appts, cleaned house, cooked dinner, and so much more. While Tommy is at work, she is certainly my support system. I will really miss her when she goes off to volleyball camp next month.

The boys are both doing good. Carter is anxious to get back to school....Samuel likes to hang out at home and watch as much TV as I will let him. The heat keeps them inside most of the day, but they have swam a few times, and really enjoy going to softball practice and games with their Dad in the evening. I am very excited to take them to Colorado next month for my 20th High School Reunion. Since we had to cancel our two week family vacation to Florida, this one week trip to Colorado will be welcomed. We are all looking forward to this trip as hopefully, I will be back to normal, and our family will feel back on track.

Long Road to Recovery

2009-06-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I jinxed myself by saying that tomorrow I would be better on my last blog. As you know, I had back surgery and was released from the hospital. I was doing pretty well that first week. I was walking without the walker, bending a little and even walked the boys to the bus stop at the end of our street. I even had a post op with my doctor and he said I was doing well.
On Mother’s Day, I became very sick and threw up all day long. I couldn’t even drink water with tossing it a few minutes later. I went to the minor ER and was given a few bags of fluid and some nausea medicine. I felt better when I got home.

The next day May 11th, I woke up feeling very strange. I began to hear voices in my head and had conversations with people who weren’t there about nothing that made sense. Tommy laid beside me on the bed and just held my hand as I really felt like I was dying. In fact, I was so out of it that when Josh came into my room to say he was headed to work, I told him that I was going to die and that I wouldn’t be here when he got home. I still feel awful for saying that to him…I can’t imagine how scary that was for him. Tommy thought I had taken too much pain medicine, but I hadn’t. In the mean time, I was beginning to develop this god awful headache. I had never experienced anything this painful. So, Tommy took me back to the Minor ER and I laid in a dark room for about 5 hours. They had no idea what was wrong with me. They told Tommy that he could take me back to the hospital in Austin (1.5 hrs away) or take me home. I begged to go back to the hospital via ambulance as I knew my head could not survive the ride by car.

I had somehow developed spinal mengenitis and my brain was swelling. Once I arrived to the hospital they took me right up to a room. I was in so much pain (in my head) that I was crying and yelling. They were doing everything to control my pain but nothing would touch it. I had been given so much medication that they had over dosed me. I was unresponsive for 4 minutes and they were about to reverse all the medication when I finally came around. Finally, my pain was getting more bearable and under control and I could finally be scheduled for surgery the next day. After surgery, I was in ICU for a day or so and was still hearing voices and talking non-sense, but at least I wasn’t in pain. During surgery they also discovered I had a staph infection. So needless to say, I was fighting an uphill battle and am still trying to climb out. It took days for me to start feeling better, but slowly I was coming around.

On May 19th, I had a CT Milo gram. It was a test that showed I had tears in my spinal sac and leaking spinal fluid. At the time we had no idea how the tares got there, but later learned that the harshness of my vomiting since the surgery on the 13th caused the tears to happen. So again I headed to surgery for the 3rd time on May 20th. The tears were repaired and we kept our fingers crossed. I was put on a super strong antibiotic via IV for the next 6 weeks to kill the mengenitis. Bad news is this antibiotic makes me sick and I have thrown up a few times which scares me because I don’t need any more tears.

Finally after being bed ridden for 2 weeks, I was able to get out of bed. This was a huge set back from the first back surgery, however I was released on May 23rd. I still have an IV in my arm and have to give myself this antibiotic every 12 hours until the first of July. My leg muscles completely lost everything. It has taken me two weeks to gain enough strength to be able to rise from a chair without help. I still need help getting dressed as my right leg and foot are still numb. It’s very difficult to walk when you can’t feel your leg or foot, but I am getting there.
My doctor said that in all his 22 years of experience, he has never seen anything this bad. There were two specific times that I knew I was on the edge of death. Thank God that I was strong enough to pull through. I never expected this to happen or I would have put off the original surgery. I know I can’t change what I didn’t know, but I could just kick myself every day. Good thing I couldn’t literally do it.

So for now…two week out of the hospital, I am still at home, using my walker 100% of the time, but I have managed enough strength to get out of a chair on my own. I am struggling with depression on most days, but know in my heart that I will get better eventually. My husband has been amazing and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes for those long two weeks. I really missed my kids and I am happy to be home with them, although my two older ones really took charge and helped out endlessly with the little ones.

I feel confident in saying that I am finally on the long road to recovery.

Hanging in There, But Barely

2009-05-04T15:12:00.005-05:00

Here I am....home from the hospital and still in one piece.

I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am on Thursday morning...yes that meant waking up at 4am. I was glad I got an induced sleep later, but I felt sorry for Tommy. Everything went as planned....kissed Tommy good-bye at 7:30am and headed back for surgery. I remember thinking as they wheeled me back, "Wait! Stop! I've changed my mind!" I was very scared. I assumed that I would already be sleeping when they wheeled me back, but I wasn't. The surgery doors opened and I remember seeing so many people scrambling around doing their part. It was very cold and I really started to panic. I had to just close my eyes and tell myself that I was going to be okay.

I remember being told by a doctor that this medicine might sting a bit....yep, he was right...my arm felt like it was on fire. That was the last thing I remember....scary how fast a drug can put you out and how you will never be able to recall those lost hours. This was the first time I had ever been put under general anesthesia, which is why it was very difficult for me to wake up in recovery. Apparently, I had been in there for 2 1/2 hrs, but never really fully woke up. I just couldn't open my eyes and was soooo tired.

The surgery went well. The L5 disk was as damaged as the doctor had expected, which is to say there was no disk left. The S1 disk was questionable and the extent of repair would be determined once they got in there. The S1 disk was in pretty bad shape and needed to be replaced and fused also. There was quite a bit of nerve damage that wasn't expected which has left my right leg numb from the knee down. The left leg had some numbness too, but has already regained most of the feeling there. This could take a few weeks to return to normal. It is very hard to walk when you can't feel one of your feet.

I have to say that I am a big fan of muscle relaxers and hydrocodone....it makes everything better! I feel 50 pounds lighter (now that's a way to loose weight) and apparently I can fly with the best of them. The warm and comfy feeling I get with those is wonderful. It keeps the pain away and lets me rest, which is what is important I guess.

Meanwhile, Tommy now has a terrible virus. He has been down in bed since yesterday afternoon and I haven't seen much of him. I hope he starts to feel better soon because I am exhausted doing things on my own without his help. Amanda has been in school all day and Josh has been here off and on running errands, going to job interviews and taking to boys to T-ball when needed.

I'm hanging in there, but barely...maybe tomorrow will be better!

The Week From Hell

2009-05-01T17:59:00.005-05:00

My week has been far less than ideal. Here is what unfolded for us this week.

Tuesday night we arrived home from work to find that Samuel had a fever of 102.3'. Poor baby, he was very winy just like sick kids are. His fever broke about 11pm that night. Just in case, I took him to work with me on Wednesday and kept him out of school. Just after 4pm Wed. afternoon the fever came back and was 102.9'. I was very worried; #1 because of this swine flu and #2 because I would be headed to the hospital the next day for surgery and would be gone for 3 days. So we had him checked out and he was tested negative for A-type flu. However, they couldn't rule out the swine flu so we were sent to the Urgent Care Center for more testing. After another hour of waiting, he was cleared and of course it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

Meanwhile, at home on the same day, same time, Amanda was watching Carter. The boys play outside all the time in our yard and we check on them every 5-10 minutes. When Amanda went to check on Carter, he had followed our dog out of our yard and across the street. We live on a small, quiet cult de sac, however a slightly busier road is a few houses away. Well Carter had crossed the busier road when Amanda had found him. Carter was fine, however, the bad news came when he was spotted walking alone with the dog by a CPS worker. The worker and Amanda got to Carter at the same time, but this didn't stop the worker from calling the police. Amanda was devastated and crying when she called me while the worker yelled at her to get off her cell phone. So, yes we are now being investigated by CPS. Just another worry I didn't need the night before surgery. I tried calling the case worker when I got home from taking Sam to the Urgent Care Center, but only left a message. So far I haven't heard from her, so I'm not sure what the status of that is.

I sure hope that nothing comes of all that, I know its their job, but my kids are hardly neglected. Carter has never wondered off before, I guess with Sam not being there that day got him to wondering.

As we speak, I am still in the hospital. It went very well. The doctor said that it was a little worse than he had anticipated...I had some nerve damage on my right side. I am not in any pain, in fact this morning they took me off the automatic drip. I can dispense it myself if and when I need it. I was up and walking down the hallway yesterday, and did fairly well with that. My legs have some numbness in them from the nerve damage, however that will go away slowly and it already has.

I should get to go home tomorrow...I'm ready for my bed and to see the kids. I can't that all my friends and family enough. Your support has been uplifting and very helpful.

I will keep you all posted on the "happenings".

We Don't Want To Go Home!

2009-04-27T21:13:00.003-05:00

I'm not much of the camping type, which is to say that I haven't been camping since I was a teenager. The accommodations in the picture above were far from a tent, sleeping bag and bug spray, but still it wasn't my bed.

The boys seemed to like getting away and sleeping in their new "Cars" sleeping bags, but for me it was just another house to clean. However, it did take far less time.

A few of Tommy's friends from high school planned this camping trip. I feel guilty calling this camping, so I will just call it a getaway. We all met in a quaint little town southwest of here called Fredericksburg. The town is of German decent and is full of antique stores. In fact, the tourists flock to the streets year round for shopping.

I wasn't able to partake in the shopping due to the fact that I had to work Saturday. I drove from said getaway to work, a total of 1.5 hrs each way, on Friday night and twice on Saturday. I didn't miss too much though...the visited a museum in the morning followed by an afternoon of playing dominos.

I did manage to throw around the football with the boys, play volleyball with Amanda, sit in the hot tub, drink some beer with a few new friends and just enjoy getting out of the house. Of course the boys had a blast...so much so that they didn't want to go home!

No, It's Not Dinosaur Remains

2009-04-22T19:24:00.003-05:00

In just a little over a week, this is what my lower back will look like. Today was my pre-op appointment with the surgeon and he took new x-rays of the "area". I had an MRI done a few weeks ago but it's been a few years since my last set of x-rays. In comparing the two x-rays....2 years ago I had only 50% of my L5 disk left. Today, I don't even have enough disk left to measure and it's mostly bone on bone. And, from the pain I have been in, I can't say that I'm surprised.

So the plan is to extract bone from my spine instead of my hip. No reason to make another incision and I couldn't agree more. I guess you could say that I'm ready, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I have only been in the hospital 3 times ever....2 c-sections (which I was wide awake) and a colonoscopy. I always fear that I might not wake up, but I guess that's due to too many movies.

On a brighter note, we are only 52 days away from vacation. The kids and I...which is mostly me, are counting down the days. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my back will be as good as new by then or at least good enough to avoid a walker or wheel chair. We plan to drive to Mickey Mouse Land in Florida (that's DW for those who aren't with me) and spending 5 days wondering aimlessly to catch a glimpse of Mickey. Then we are headed north to spend the second week recuperating in a beach side condo in Dustin, Florida, where I plan to veg in the sun everyday with my sunglasses, I-pod and miller lite.

Good thing we aren't flying...not sure I could get through security with that contraption above!

Viva Las Vegas, Baby!

2009-04-22T11:44:00.008-05:00

This past weekend my hubby and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. I had to ponder for a bit when I remembered that my previous marriage lasted just over 9 years. Wow, what a different place I am in my life now. It's amazing how one can't recognize how unhappy you actually are until you find happiness again. So for the record....there is absolutely no comparison!

Anyway, we flew to Vegas on Thursday after sending the kids off to school. Thank goodness for my Mom and BFF, Karri, who is always willing to hold down the fort while we are gone. It had been 3 years since I had been to Vegas and 14 years for Tommy who was last there on his honeymoon with his previous wife. I was glad to see Vegas still hoppin especially with the state our economy is in right now.

We had a room booked at the Imperial Palace. It is an older hotel but we choose it because it wasn't outrageously expensive and also because it is a prime location on the strip. I enjoyed the impersonator dealers which were always a hoot to watch including Billy Idol's fabulous performance. The down side to the hotel was the food literally sucked...(I can cook better than that) and the wait for the elevator was just ridiculous. Seriously, waiting 15 minutes for an elevator that wasn't full became a big thorn in our side. Enough so that we opted to take our lazy asses up the stairs most of the time. Needless to say, for those two reasons alone, we will stay somewhere else next time.

On the first night, I had surprised Tommy with a Limo that took us all over Vegas. We got to see many of the water and light shows without all the walking and crowds. It also took us to the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign and Fremont Street all in the comfort of a stretch limo stocked with champagne and beer. It doesn't get much better than that and we had a blast!

The next day, after sleeping in which we rarely get to do, we explored the big name casino's and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We also took in the Madam Tussuad's Wax Museum. It was so much fun to see the actual size of these famous people. We got to interact with the wax figures even touch them. I played basketball with Shaq, Tommy played golf with Tiger Woods, we rode Evil Knievel's motorcycle plus so much more.

That evening, we had dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris Hotel. The atmosphere was so nice and the food was wonderful. We both really enjoy treating ourselves to a fancy dinner each year on our anniversary. Tommy is such the gentleman ordering my dinner and picking out the wine he thinks I will like the best. He knows me so well and always does a wonderful job at picking the best one!!!

Each afternoon we would retreat back to our room for a nap and some relaxation. It was so nice to just relax, which of course is what the trip was all about. On the final night of our stay we took in a Hypnotist show, which I always wish I was brave enough to volunteer, but the fear of humiliation always changes my mind.

It was great to be home and see the kids....we really missed them.

Oh yea, and we didn't win shit! I mean not even $5....so good thing we didn't rely on our winnings to get us home!

A Walker at the Age of 37?

2009-04-11T10:28:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I had an MRI done on my persistent lower back problem. It has been causing me pain for the last 10 years, but with the help of modern medicine and drugs, it has been manageable. However, with the uncertainty of Tommy's job and our insurance plus the harmful effects these drugs, I have decided to move forward with the surgery.

According to medical terminology, my L4-L5 disc is very degenerated and narrowed. There is a modest predominantly central herniation which indents the thecal sac and impinges upon the L5 roots as the begin to enter their lateral recesses and exit the thecal sac. The L5-S1 disc is also degenerated but not as bad. All of this is considered advanced degeneration of the lumbar spine for my age. Since I have severe arthritis in this area as well, disc replacement is not an option for me. Instead, I will be having lumbar spine fusion.

An incision will be made in my lower back and a bone graft will be taken from my pelvis. The spine will be lifted in the areas of degeneration and the graft will be inserted causing the bony surfaces to grow together.

It's a 5 hour surgery and I'm expected to be in the hospital 3 days. I will be out of work about 10-12 days before I have to get back. I am looking forward to finally being free of this pain. So please keep me in your thoughts on April 30th as I go under the knife.

Note to self: Don't ever go cliff jumping again....it may be fun, but it's dangerous and you could land wrong resulting in a decade of back pain.

Yard Sale Stupidity

2009-04-06T16:24:00.003-05:00

This past Saturday was our annual yard sale. Normally, I'm not a big procrastinator, however, yard sales are my least favorite thing to do therefore I tend to put them off as much as possible. I'm sure you wondering, then why do you do it? Well, it has always been a nice source of income for an upcoming vacation, new furniture, or whatever. Typically we make between $600-1200 in one day. This year was no exception; at the end of the day we made $731. As great as this is, I'm not sure if the stupidity we have to put up with is really worth it.

I have to first give credit to my husband who really did 90% of the work in preparation for it. He saved my back days of pain and numerous bottles of Advil.

As soon as the sun breaks the horizon, people are practically knocking on your door. So we drug our tired butts outside at 6am. I like to price things to sell, because if I really wanted them in the first place, they wouldn't be for sale.....but also because it's a game to us to have virtually nothing left. What is left, is boxed up and taken to the thrift store. Good-bye junk

So onto the stupidity part..... we had a men's pair of new/never worn camouflage boots. The price was $5....he wanted to know if we would take $2 because he needed to buy new shoe laces for them. Please! Can people really be that cheep?

Samuel spent the day being the "money collector", a boy after my own heart; while Carter spent the day trying to save every last stuffed animal from being sold to various other children.

At least our garage cleaned out and our shop is free of all that junk, which makes my husband very happy. And we have $731 more to spend in Vegas for our 9th year anniversary later this month. Who knows maybe we can turn that into more and forgo the yard sale next year!

One can only hope!

Please Just Shoot Me....

2009-03-30T10:26:00.003-05:00

As the month of October approaches, I have been dreading Amanda trading her permit for an actual drivers license. My parents made me purchase my own car when I turned 16 and I have happily passed down that belief down to my children. Amanda has babysat for the past several summers and saved up enough to pay for half of a decent car. So last summer, we purchased a used Mustang for her with a 5-speed manual transmission. (I think it's important for kids to learn how to drive on a standard) We started practicing when she got her permit in October. It was a very slow process but she seemed to be doing very well driving in the country. When the time came for her to drive inside the city, I thought we were doomed or at least a heart attack was in store for me.

I would like to think with 4 children, I would have an abundance of patience, however, teaching Amanda to drive a stick has just about killed me. I finally threw my hands up last week and put the car up for sale. Her anxiety about a standard transmission almost caused 3 different accidents on one single day.

Luckily, her car sold two days later.....so yesterday with cash in hand we went looking for car #2 and most importantly an automatic this time. Trying to find a "pretty" car and reliable at the same time...all within her price range proved to be somewhat challenging. First, we looked at a Honda Civic...certainly a good car, too bad the people couldn't speak English. And why was a private seller selling a car without a registration sticker or a license plate? Hmmmmm.... something funny about that. NEXT! Then we went to see another Honda.... Accord this time, it had been drove hard and needed some serious rest. NEXT! Finally, after driving half way to Dallas we looked at a cute Kia Sportage. It fit exactly what Amanda wanted (small SUV) you wouldn't have caught me dead driving a "soccer mom mobile" when I was 16, but whatever... It drove good and got Tommy's mechanical stamp of approval! Whew....thank god! I rode home with her and was so pleased at how relaxed she was and what a great job she did. Guess I made the right decision there.

All is well that ends well....but I know I grew many gray hairs over this.

Yep...I'm Bragging

2009-03-24T08:35:00.009-05:00

Last night was the first game of our T-ball season. With just a few practices under our belt, I was leary if our team was ready...well they are only 4 & 5 yr old so I guess it didn't really matter. This is Samuel's second year playing T-ball and I have to brag....he was awesome! Major Leagues here we come! He had 3 powerful hits and even made an out at first base. I was so proud of him. He kept his head in the game the entire time, always with a look of concentration. It's amazing what a difference a year makes. I can't wait for coach pitch. Samuel is certainly into athletics and is very serious about it.

Carter did a great job too, especially since it is his first year. He kept us laughing when he skipped from 1st to 2nd base and started to run to the pitchers mound instead of 1st base. I was just proud that he was able to hit the ball. At the very first practice he had a hard time lifting, much less swinging the bat. Carter was more interested in posing for the camera, but that's ok....maybe next year.

But for now....they are both my all-stars!

What A Difference A Year Makes

2009-03-22T07:57:00.008-05:00

It was exactly one year ago today, March 22, 2008, that we saw Carter for the very first time. We traveled across 13 different time zones twice in just 7 days. A total of 40 hours was spent in an airplane while we travel 6,633 miles just one way. We traveled to the south western mountains of Siberia to a good sized city called Novokuznetsk, which is located in the region of Kemerovo. The key industries are mining, chemical and machine building. The wages there are very low. The average worker makes about $2800 a year while the slightly richer people make about $4800 a year. The cost of living is very low as well; you can rent an apartment for about $35 a month.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. We landed in Novo at 6am, with snow on the ground and freezing, blowing wind. We were absolutely exhausted from jet lag and nervous about seeing our son for the first time. We had 3 hours to get to our hotel, eat, rest, shower and compose our emotions. I will admit that more than once I wondered if we were doing the right thing. We were very lucky with Samuel, 2 yrs earlier, and what were the chances that we would be just as lucky this time? I couldn't help but think of all the adoption gone wrong stories that I had heard and just hoped that it wouldn't happen to us. I remember walking up the long drive of the orphanage with a big lump in my throat.

The temperature change from the cold 25' outside to a blazing 90' inside was just stifling and quite the shock to our already scared and nervous bodies. We were led upstairs into a playroom and waited...after a few minutes I could hear these heavy little foot steps getting closer and the lump in my throat getting bigger and bigger. Then there he was....walking towards me arms out with no smile on his face. He gave me a hug and a once over look and was off to play. Carter was very active and had gross motor skills of a 2 year old. We played there for at least an hour or so before it was time for Carter to get back to his schedule. He happily gave us a kiss and wave good-bye and was gone. I was relieved that our visit had gone well and was looking forward to our final visit the next day.

In the last year Carter has gained 11 pounds (is 43 lbs. now) and has grown 5 1/2 inches to be all of 42 1/2 inches tall. What is more amazing to me is all the new things he has adapted to in that short amount of time. All the while, maintaining the sweetest most loving personality. I am thankful that we never encountered any bonding problems or attachment issues.

Besides learning a new language and adapting to a new family of 5 people and 3 dogs, Carter has experienced playing soccer and T-ball, a slue of holidays including his first Christmas, Sea World, video games, jumping on a trampoline, learning to ride a bike, playing on a playground, swimming, bowling, going to the movies, plus so many more that one forgets during the course of a typical day. Everything Carter has experienced has been a first for him, and all at the age of 4.

Carter is still a Mama's boy...always telling me I love you, and climbing in my lap for numerous hugs and kisses. His is still very active, but also loves to be cuddled and held. His personality is still very even tempered...not much bothers him although he is very sensitive. Just raising your voice the slightest when he does something wrong will bring him to tears. He didn't used to smile very much, (the care takers in the orphanage didn't smile either), but now he is always laughing and making silly faces.

He loved the toy cell phone that we brought him in the orphanage. Today an old broken cell phone is still his favorite toy to play with. Who he talks to and in what language still remains a mystery to us.

Carter and Samuel have both brought so much love into our home and confirms the positive side of international adoption every time I look at their faces. I can't, for a second, imagine not having either of these boys as my children.

I realize now that we are the lucky ones!

Belly button....I'm sorry!

2009-03-17T09:20:00.004-05:00

For weeks now, Amanda has been practically begging me to let her get her belly button pierced. I have always been an opened minded mother. My kids have had every color of hair imaginable....it can be cut or re-colored, I'd always say. I prefer to choose my battles with them and I tend to go easy on the things that don't really matter in the whole scheme of life. So, of course I said yes...in fact I went one step farther and got mine pierced too.

I will admit that I was hesitant about doing it....Yes, I do have two tattoo's that hurt like a mother...and self inflicted pain is not high on my priority list. However, Amanda is absolutely the BIGGEST baby I have ever seen. She insisted that I go first so she could see the look on my face. That was even more pressure that I didn't need, but like the good mother I am, I put on my brave face and went first.

I have to say it wasn't anything like I expected. For some reason, I expected a gun like device that they used on my ears many moons ago. Quick and painless.......NOT! The man had a needle about 3" long and he shoved it through my belly button. Talk about pressure.....and all the while I am smiling...when I really want to cry. I was so relieved when my turn was over...but I was worried about how Amanda was gonna take this.

It freaked her out!

Her turn....she squeezed the shit out of my hand and I have to say was very brave after witnessing my experience. She did moan and flinch a little...maybe because she has zero fat on her body...but went through with it. And I have to say...it does look very cute!

So here is to another experience shared with my daughter....but I'm sorry belly button that I hurt you!

Five Little Criminals.....

2009-03-14T12:47:00.004-05:00

This morning as we were headed Grandma's house to drop off the boys for the day, Samuel was singing songs. Five little criminals swinging from a tree...... Believe me, I had to listen more than once to be sure of what I was hearing. I said to Tommy, "I sure hope this is not an indication of his future."

I guess that could be taken several ways....

I'm glad he can count backwards from 5...

In his mind, maybe the criminals were there for an old fashion hanging.....

Anyway, his funny little song made us laugh, thus starting our day off right!

Rain Rain, Come This Way!

2009-03-11T13:55:00.002-05:00

Please, mother nature....unleash the rain on us!

Spring fever here in central Texas means people are gearing up for the lake. Well, not so fast as our lakes are very low. (25-30 feet down in some areas) We haven't had a good source of moisture for months and with our rainy season 1/2 over....we are in trouble. Don't get me wrong....I'm not wishing for the 19" of rain we got in one single night a few years back, thank god we live up on a hill over looking the city, just several days of heavy rain would be fine.

We don't spend a lot of time on the lake anymore now that we have a pool in our back yard, but seeing the lakes full of water with all the boats is such a relaxing site. The drought is also very bad for business at the store as people rely on us for their boating accessories.

No boating=No accessories=No money

So please mother nature....send us some rain!

Unproductive

2009-03-08T07:48:00.005-05:00

With Tommy out of town again this entire weekend, it gave me a chance to be completely lazy.

I started off Friday night, taking my children out to dinner, then off to Blockbuster to rent a few movies. It was all chick flicks and cartoons for us.

If you ever get a chance to rent My Best Friends Girl....watch it and make sure there are no impressionable children around. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Great comedy and Dane Cook....he is hot!

Anyway, half of Saturday was spent catching up on my DVR recorded TV shows. Something I had been meaning to do before I ever went to Colorado. I was very behind to say the least. The weather was perfect...the boys spent hours playing outside on their 4-wheelers.

Just to get out of the house for a while, Amanda and I took the boys to McDonald's to eat lunch and play on the play scape. I remember several months ago Carter didn't have enough coordination to play on it and would get stuck half way up those small tubes. Today, he played and played without any problems. We got home just in time for Carter and I to take a long nap and I have to say that was the best part of the day.

Then it was off to T-ball practice...a sure sign of spring along with my flowering Bradford pear trees in the back yard. I managed to escape my parental duties of cooking again by just ordering some pizza...although I am looking forward to my husband's home cooked meals when he gets back.

After giving the boys a bath and tucking them into bed, Amanda and I were free to begin our slue of movie watching. We both lasted until midnight before heading off to bed. Every time Tommy is gone, I have a new bed mate. It would be great except she talks to me in her sleep and I always wake up startled with her just staring at me.....kind of creepy if she weren't my daughter.

So yes...it was an unproductive weekend, but it was GREAT!

Calling All Baseball Fans....

2009-03-04T06:16:00.007-06:00

Last night was our first T-Ball practice for 2009. This being Carter's first year to play and Samuel's second year. Both were very excited to say the least to get to the field. They were both dressed in their baseball garb at least an hour before it was time to leave.

Practice started with the coach hitting grounders to each player. Carter, of course, thought it was his turn every other time....Just loved to play the game I guess. He is the smallest child on the team, but certainly has the biggest personality. Overall he didn't do that bad for his first time and I think

he really enjoyed being out there. It was a much better experience than fall soccer. Carter's turn for batting practice went great, which is to say that he made contact with the ball and it rolled about 15 feet. Oh well, not to bad for his first time!

Samuel got out there like a pro. Fielded the ball and was able to make a throw to first base without any problems. However, when it was his turn to bat...each child got 5 hits and would run on the 5th hit. Samuel's first hit was a doozy....landed just past 3rd base and rolled all the way to the fence. Even the coach's were shocked as they expected this little Russian to play somewhat like Carter did. Well, Sam got so excited that he ran to first base...while we were all shouting for him to go back and hit again...he got very embarrassed and would not do it anymore. I hate how incredibly shy he is and I hate it that sometimes when your so proud of him you can yell and holler for him. He does not like attention to be put upon him.

So with the first practice under out belts....I am looking forward to a good season... after all it means spring!

"That, That That Don't Kill Me, Can Only Make Me Stronger

2009-03-02T08:33:00.004-06:00

Anatomy 101: Humans have more muscles that you can imagine.

I am still working out to the best of my ability. Yesterday, I had a treacherous workout. Miss Amanda decided that we needed to do some weights....Yea! So we headed down to the gym way to early for any morning much less a Sunday morning.

We decided to only do 30 minutes of cardio since we had planned to also do weights. Thank god the gym was completely empty of people, so no one could view my pathetic display of lifting weights. The circuit consisted of squats, which were not pretty, arms, legs and finally our abs. I was doing real good until....we got the our abs. She suggested that we do 3 sets of 25 with an 8 lb medicine ball on our chest. OMG...thought I was going to die after the first set. It was so nice of Amanda to suggest that I only do 20 for the next two sets.

She does love her mother.

So at the end of the work out, I was happy that I was able to "keep up" with a 15 year old girl....who weighs 70 lbs less than me. I am hurting today and feel somewhat like a 37 year old mother of four.

Oh wait....

I am a 37 year old mother of four!

Can You Hear Me Now?

2009-02-27T09:50:00.005-06:00

I am happy to say that Samuel's hearing aid appointment went better than I ever anticipated yesterday. Maybe it was because of the in-depth conversation that I had with him prior to the appointment. He was very eager to try on his new "superman" hearing aids and was actually happy that he was able to hear better. It was a huge relief to me that he liked wearing them and didn't seem to pick or tug at them.

It's amazing how something so little can help so much. Samuel choose blue and white swirl ear molds and the hearing devise is see-through. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he won't get made fun of by the other kids....I guess I will know if and when he decides not to wear them anymore. I hope that the ability to hear better will over rule the cruel things that children can say to each other...but I guess we will find out.

To some very sad news....our dog Macy (a 3 yr old female weimaraner) ran off a few days ago. I had hoped that she would find her way back like she has before....however she was found along the side of the road yesterday. My heart breaks that she had to die of such tragic death. I complained a lot because she was such a pain....she loved me the most and always was attached to me, which irritated me most days. Today, I would do anything to have that back. She just loved my attention. I hope she is happy in dog heaven....I will miss her beautiful eyes and spunky personality!

On to some better news.... Things are looking up for Tommy's job crisis. There has been quite a bit of talk that our state representatives are not behind the City taking over the MUD. I don't believe that it will happen during this session...however, that's not to say that it never will. The City is pretty serious about doing whatever it takes to acquire the MUD. Just as long as Tommy can still retire as planned with his full benefits...I don't care. Also the board of directors have made it clear that the employee will be taken care of...so that eases our mind somewhat.

Back into the Grove...

2009-02-24T11:23:00.006-06:00

I loved visiting Brandi...however, I am glad to be home. You never know how much your loved and needed until you go away. The boys missed me...Amanda really missed me....and Tommy, well lets just say he is glad the maid, chauffeur, keeper of peace, and leader of the monsters; is finally home.

We really had the best time. On Friday, we spent the afternoon watching "He's Really Not That Into You", eating popcorn and enjoying each others company before heading to the mall. It felt like old times walking around browsing just like we did in high school. When we left the mall after a wonderful dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, we were greeted by old man winter and some beautiful snow. I felt somewhat like a little girl....it's been years since I have seen snow. On Saturday, it was a very relaxing and fun day. We spent the better part of 6 hours pouring over old photo albums and scrapbooks. We really did have some spectacular times together. Growing up was so fun and carefree...I say that now...back then it felt like work and drama.

Later that evening we met up with our old friend, Mike Mansanares and his wife for dinner. It was so much fun to laugh at old memories and stories. We did a little class reunion planning, but overall it was just a big catch up session.

The plane ride home was very relaxing....a time to collect my thoughts without..."Mom, can I have a drink? Mom, he's hitting me. I'm hungry." It was a great end to an already fantastic weekend. Next time, I won't let 12 years pass until I do it again.

Things are back to normal around my house. I am still scrambling around at 6am looking for two little shoes that match, signing the boys homework (can you believe they have that in pre-K?), and leaving money on the kitchen counter for the other two. I got back into the swing of working out...I really did miss it....really! It has given me time to clear my head and I find that on stressful days, my workouts are even better. I think I am seeing my body changing shapes...at least I hope so. The results have to start showing soon.

Just Push Pause

2009-02-21T10:05:00.004-06:00

Thus far, my get-a-way to Colorado has been nothing less than perfect. Brandi and I have had the best time catching up. I have to admit that I was very nervous upon arriving. Twenty years since saying goodbye after graduation, and twelve years without seeing each other is enough to make anyone nervous. Our lives are very different than it was all those years ago.... but I feel like our friendship has picked up right where it left off.

We spend yesterday pouring over old photos and high school memories....and so many to memories that we both had forgotten. Big hair days, old boyfriends, and drunken nights of chaos, drama, drama and more drama. Later, we enjoyed a girls day out complete with a chick flick, shopping and nice relaxing dinner. It really is what I needed after a super stressful week.

Today, our plans include more girl talk... you can never get enough of that. We do have plans to meet a few other high school friends tonight for dinner tonight. It will be a fun evening full of memories, laughs and I'm sure good company.

Tomorrow, I will head home...back to the kiddo's and hubby. As much as I enjoy some "me" time, I am very anxious to be home in the company of my family. I will admit that as hectic and busy as my life gets...it is my life and I love it!

I am so glad that I made this trip and we are absolutely going to do it again without letting 12 years pass us by. I am so happy that time, family, and life in general has not changed our friendship. It's like someone just pushed pause on the remote for 20 years......

Life is Like A Roller Coaster...Not A Box of Chocolates

2009-02-19T08:21:00.003-06:00

For once...everything with the boys is settled and going good, however, I feel like the "reality devil" watches over me just to spring something bad on me just when it starts getting good. This week has been such an emotional one for me for many, many different reasons.

We got word a few days ago that after 22+ years of employment...my husband's job could be in serious jeopardy. We are trying very hard to hold on to each thread of hope, however it's not looking good. Tommy works for a municipality utility district (MUD) which has never been associated with the city. Now that his district is 99% full, the city is taking a bill to the legislature next month to take over the MUD. This means at least the top four people, which Tommy is one of, will most likely be out of a job. This is devastating for us as he is only 4 years away from retirement. I don't have to remind anyone about what an awful time it is to be looking for another job....and although he won't loose the money in his retirement fund..it will be 20 more years before he can collect from it. So, as you can imagine my stress level...along with all my other mental demons....is sky high.

Certainly a position that I would have never in a million years thought we would be in.....so now we just wait. I refuse to loose all hope....as I am just not a negative person...but it is very hard.

On a brighter note...because anything could be brighter....I am sooooo excited to be heading up to Denver today. I am so happy to be visiting my old, but very young looking, friend from high school. Brandi and I have not seen each other for at least 12 years, so this will be a very fun weekend of catching up. We do have an additional agenda...which is to finalize our 20th year class reunion for this summer.

So regardless..it sounds like the perfect remedy to my stress.

Thanks Cupid For A Wonderful Night!

2009-02-16T05:59:00.002-06:00

Thank god that Valentine's Day was a Saturday this year. However, it all started for me on Friday.....after 10 years, I think he finally has the hang of it. Tommy has never had flowers delivered to me, he has always believed that delivering them himself was so much better. I have to say, he's right about that. So Friday afternoon, he stops in to deliver my mix of red roses and pink star gazers...after all they are my favorite. In addition, he knows that chocolate covered strawberries will score him extra points. I did indulge myself with 3 of the 4 strawberries that afternoon and ummmmm they were good.

Saturday, I did have to work and it was.....miserable. I knew that he had plans for Saturday night, which were a surprise. That means....I have to act surprised because he has yet to pull one over on me. With 18 years experience of being a Mom (always having one eye open) and 4 children....it takes lot to surprise me.

So I was dressed on time in my nice white shirt and denim skirt for dinner at our local Italian Resturant and night out of dancing afterwards. I also knew that our good friends, Chris and Jaime, were joining us. Our dinner was very good, wine was great and friends were fantastic. We had such a fun time. The club was full as usual and over all the night was a lot of fun. I did indulge myself with a little too much alcohol....however, it was light beer and how could 6 shots of a buttery nipple hurt anyone? I absolutely love whoever came up with that one....should be served in a tall glass and not a small one. Bunch of teasers!

This Valentine's Day....it was awesome!

I Miss Them Already......

2009-02-12T21:28:00.002-06:00

It has been a very good week for both boys at school. Samuel is finishing his 2nd week, while Carter is finishing his first. Both are doing very well and have adjusted great! I spoke to Samuel's teacher yesterday and she had high praises for him, which of course made me very proud. "Samuel has very good manners in the classroom and is a very good boy." Now what mother doesn't like to hear that? I know he plays hard while there because each night about 7:30 he literally asks to go to bed. Which is very good for Mommy and Daddy time!

Carter's teacher doted on him as well saying he was the sweetest child. He is always in such a great mood and full of hugs and kisses. Riding the bus never bothered him, in fact, we laugh because he is so little he has to crawl on all fours up the stairs just to get on. It's cute! His little legs are just not big enough for that first step.

Yesterday was my first day off without the boys....and it was awesome! Don't get me wrong, I love them to death. It was a full day of running around, but not having to take kids in and out of the car ever 5 seconds really helps. I started off taking Samuel back to the Audiologist to get fitted for his hearing aids. They should be in next week and I am just keeping my fingers crossed that he wears them without too much trouble.

Then it was back to school for Samuel....After that I was able to meet a good friend for brunch, which was awesome since I never get to do that. Then came my workout session and boy did it feel good. After that I treated myself to a pedicure before picking up Amanda from school and taking her to physical therapy. Yea...got to see that hot therapist again! Then home to get the boys off the school bus...back to pick up Amanda from PT and drop her off to get her hair highlighted. Rush to the store for some last minute Valentines Day shopping....pick Amanda back up and drop her off for a quick tan at the tanning place....then finally home! Ugh.... exhausted but happy with my day. Can't wait for the next day off....oh wait.....next week I will be spending my time off with my BFF from high school. Traveling to Colorado will be such a fun get away for me! I can't wait!

Carter's First Day

2009-02-09T09:30:00.002-06:00

Now.... I really feel old. All my babies are enrolled in school full time, which leaves me feeling somewhat abandoned. We dropped Carter off this morning without any problems....he was a big boy as I expected he would be, and as for me...well, I was a big girl too. I have to say that it is very quiet here at work this morning and the drive home will be very peaceful for Tommy and I as there will be no arguing in the back seat.

Yesterday, Amanda and I spent 12 hours painting her room. I wasn't really excited about what she wanted to do....however, it turned out very cute. We bought pink and purple paint and painted 15" horizontal stripes around the room. Super cute if I should say so myself. Tommy, took one look and rolled his eyes practically out of his head. Guess that means he doesn't like it. My legs feel like jello from climbing up and down the ladder all day long in addition to the hour work out that we did in between colors.

Oh...and by the way....I am so happy that I have lost 8 lbs. in the two weeks that I started working out. Really, I only have 39 more to go to reach my initial goal. I will just keep working at it the best I can...but I am encouraged!

The Close of A CRAZY Week

2009-02-07T07:15:00.007-06:00

What started out as the week from hell as ended well.

Samuel is really enjoying school and has adjusted to riding the bus. He is really beginning to act like a school aged child....he said last night very excited, "So I get to sleep in tomorrow and stay home from school?" Never has that been a concern of his, and of course 6:45 am does not constitute sleeping in in my book. Which is why I am sitting here typing this at 7:15am on a peaceful Saturday morning.

Carter finished his last day at his old school yesterday and is anxious to start his new one on Monday. I promise not to be a basket case next week. He is my brave one so I don't anticipate any problems, crying, ect. It will be very strange not seeing either of them all day as one or both of them have been with me at work for the past 3 years. Maybe now I will get some work done.

Joshua is officially assigned to a dorm room for college next fall. It makes this too real for me. I can't believe that small baby that I rocked in the middle of the night while watching the Gulf War on TV is grown up now. We are still in FASFA hell as we continue to finish this financial aid packet. He started applying for scholarships yesterday and I am just keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out okay.

Amanda attended the funeral of her friend Hyatt yesterday. Finally a little closure for her on this. Time does heal all wounds and she is doing much better. While I am talking about her....I wanted to pat her on the back a little as I am very proud of her. I talked to the H.S. Counselor yesterday to find out that Miss Amanda is ranked 32 out of 289 in her class. Her GPA right now is 5.6. Since she is a perfectionist...wonder where she got that from....she isn't happy that 31 others are smarter than her. Seriously?

Tommy is out today pretending to be 20 years younger than he is. He is competing in a trials competition. That is skill motorcycle riding for those who aren't familiar. I hope he comes back in one piece, but just as long as he has fun.....

I have been very happy with my progress on working out. It has gotten easier and satisifing. Now maybe I can loose that extra 50 lbs that has been looming over/on me for years. It certainly has been helpful in dealing with my already hectic lifestyle.

Everyday Is A New Beginning!

2009-02-04T08:18:00.003-06:00

Thank god yesterday is over! It truly was the day from hell for me.

It began with Samuel clinging to me as he got on the bus. Everything was fine until he walked up the stairs. Then he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, "No Mom...I don't want to go." It just broke my heart. The bus driver wasn't much help either because she never said one single word (Hi, it's ok, don't worry he will be fine), NOTHING! Of course that made me feel even worse. I said to Samuel, "You will be fine. I love you. I will see you here when you get off this afternoon." and turned around and walked away. Of course I was crying like a baby....it just killed me.

Later on in the day I picked up Samuel from school for an ear doctor appointment. The school wanted us to see a local doctor in case he needs special hearing devices for school. The doctor recommenced Samuel have hearing aids. There is no question that he can hear, but the tests show not very well. The doctor thinks that he has learned to adapt to his environment. The bad news is that our insurance does not cover hearing aids for children...only adults. They are expected to run between $2-3K. I have to admit....I didn't see that coming.

Amazingly enough when I took him back to school just before lunch...he didn't even cry. Must be the bus... However, I spent the rest of the afternoon getting Carter all registered for school. He will start Monday. In doing so, we walked past the play ground where Samuel happened to catch a glimpse of us. Yes, he started crying all over again, and he was crushed that he couldn't leave with me. I broke his heart twice in one day.

He was happy to see me when he got off the bus. Yep...they remembered to drop him off this time. In fact, this morning he didn't even cry when he got on. YEA!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that we are over the hump. It will help next week when Carter starts riding the bus too...At least they can keep each other company.

Oh.... what a day it was....hope I never have one of those for a while. Made Samuel cry twice, made Carter cry with his THREE immunizations, Joshua is sick and went to the doctor, got the shock of the hearing aids, my husband wasn't very sympathetic of my stressful day and Amanda...well....she is the typical teenage girl.

So at the end of the day....I took my frustrations out at the gym. I spent an hour on the elliptical machine. I managed to burn 600 calories, and go 5 miles. I was so proud of myself as that is the longest and hardest I have worked out in a very long time....and it felt soooo refreshing after the day I had.

Yep...I Knew The Bus Would Ruin The day!

2009-02-02T17:09:00.003-06:00

The day went fantastic for Samuel up until he got on the bus. I had a feeling that would be where the problems began. Since I am an overly organized person and feel the need to instruct my children exactly step by step....I guess I forgot to mention the bus ride in detail to him.

According to the driver...He got on the bus just fine, however, when the first stop came and it wasn't our street...he panicked. Obviously, I forgot to mention that the bus follows a route and would not be taking him directly home. oops! She said he cried from the first stop on.

Then to make matters worse....while Amanda was waiting patiently at the corner....the bus kept going while Samuel's little face was pressed against the window. Of course she called me in a panic that they bus never stopped to let him off, so I quickly called and the driver was quick to turn around and drop him off. Poor baby.... I knew something like this would happen. He told Amanda..."I saw you, but she didn't stop." sniff, sniff

We got word today that Carter has been approved to start pre-K also, so I get to do all this again next Monday.

I'm Not As Brave As A 5-yr Old

2009-02-02T10:18:00.002-06:00

I am so happy to say that dropping off Samuel for his first day of "big" school went great! He certainly was brave and excited as we walked him in. I was so nervous...just short of a full out panic attack... complete with a big lump in my throat and tears just about to fall from my eyes.

We walked him into the cafeteria to meet the teacher and the other kids. He walked in confident and ready. The room was buzzing with K-5th graders eating breakfast and wondering why this little boy had his Mommy and Daddy walking him in. Oh well.... We reached his group and Carter sat down and made himself at home like he was staying.

We said our brief good-byes, love yous, and have a good day. Tommy bent down to dote on him a little more before I poked him in the ribs with "Lets go". As I walked away...almost in tears...I looked back to see him looking around with an excited look on his face.

I will admit when I got to work around 9am, I did call and see how he was doing. One would think this was my first rodeo....but noooo I have several other clowns too. I was just so terrified that he would be scared. I guess he could have been, but he kept a brave face. I guess it might have been the bribe of a new toy at the end of the week if he acted like a "big boy". Who knows.....

At Least We Can Bond

2009-02-01T19:17:00.004-06:00

A few days ago, with the encouragement of Amanda and a few good friends, I joined the Anytime Fitness that is just a rocks throw from our house. There is no question that I need to loose some weight and Amanda...well the girl doesn't have an ounce of fat on her...just wanted to keep in shape for two a day volleyball that will be starting mid-summer.

I have to admit that so far is has been very refreshing and I certainly feel better about doing it. I have even managed to get my ass out of bed at 5am and drive down there. Maybe this will be the summer for me to look decent in a swim suit. If all else fails...at least it will be a bonding experience for us.

A few days ago, Amanda experienced the loss of a dear friend. Hyatt, a 16 yr old sophomore at a neighboring high school, died in a car accident Friday night. We have had several talks about Hyatt and his death. I just don't know how to help ease her sadness. She keeps saying she doesn't know how to get past it, especially without crying. I have tried to explain that death is all a part of life. While it hurts our hearts and we miss them, our life has to go on...and I am sure that is what Hyatt would want. I told her to remember him, talk about him to insure that he isn't forgotten.

And to make matters worse, the "boy" never got the chance to take the grocery store test....he said he just wanted to be "friends." Another broken heart for me to mend.

On another subject...I am so relieved and happy to have Joshua home. It's been 10 days and I feel like this was a trial run for college. I am sure I will survive, but I really missed him and I am so happy to have all my kids home under the same roof.

Samuel starts school tomorrow and I hope for all our sakes,I can hold myself together. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that he has a fun first day.

Carter's appointment with the Russian translator was what we had expected. He was not able to understand or communicate with her at all. After hearing what we describe as jibber jabber, she confirmed that small children in orphanages develop their own type of language that only other orphans can understand. Lack of stimulation forces them to find their own way of speaking. So...with no Russian, and a small amount of English under his belt, he definitely needs speech therapy. The therapist says that he is basically learning the foundation of language skills at the age of 4 1/2 vs. birth. Unfortunately, the law is very funny about this...so she is trying to find a way to bend and twist the rules so that Carter can qualify for speech services without being labeled as "special ed".

And these are the days of our lives.......

Can He Pass The Test?

2009-01-29T12:54:00.003-06:00

I am very happy to say that when it comes to boys....Amanda is the pickiest person I've ever known. She desperately wants a "boyfriend", however, no one seems to measure up to her standards. This makes me happy because.... When she does find a boy, he will be a good one..at least I hope!

Well, there is this one boy that she has liked forever..that means 6 months or so. They met at the movies over the summer, but he had a girlfriend up until last week. Now, they are "seeing" each other but not technically going out. Whatever that really means....He seems nice enough, but that only to say that he is one of a very few that has the nerve to come over to our house and meet me.

Amanda and I have what we like to call the "grocery store test". If a boy can pass the grocery store test, then she will continue to pursue them, if not, they are out of there...... I have to say that so far, NO BOYS have ever passed the grocery store test. We go grocery shopping every Sunday afternoon and the "boy" of the day is invited to go with us. The rules are very simple, no throwing anything into the cart (these are our groceries not yours), no throwing food like a football (because Amanda is not impressed), no eyeing or flirting with other girls (bad way to start a relationship), and last but not least....don't act like an idiot (it embarrasses us).

The new boy will be put to the test soon. For Amanda sake and my sanity, I hope this one can pass the test. Not that I am trying to marry her off, but she is less moody and cranky when she has a boyfriend....even if it's for one day.

If I were a cat I would only have 8 lifes left....

2009-01-27T16:18:00.003-06:00

With Joshua all finished with high school....he was eager to leave town for a few days to visit his girlfriend in Lubbock. With very little money, he set out very determined last Thursday. I was a little nervous..he has never driven that far or long alone before, but felt better knowing that the GPS I got him for Christmas would come in very handy. I tried to encourage him to wait until he got paid...but noooooo, mother's are never right! So, I decided to let him go and understand the repercussions.

Needless to say...I didn't hear much from him all weekend as I am sure he was parting it up with his new found friends and freedom. It was quiet, well kind of, all weekend which gave me the chance to finally paint our living/dining room. It was a project I had been wanting to do for at least a year. Trying to choose a color is like trying to find a cute puppy...there are just to many to choose from! So I finally decided on a classic taupe on all the walls with a sage green on my big living room accent wall. I also used a bronze sponging technique over the sage green and it turned out soooo pretty. I just love my new living/dining room, it almost feels like a new house.

Anyway...back to my story. Today, Joshua was headed home from Lubbock. The weather here is quite cold and is supposed to turn ugly tonight...that means we are supposed to have ice and snow... but since he was leaving at noon, I felt like he would be home in time to miss it. Now, with no money and a full tank of gas, thanks to mom's Shell card, he headed out around noon. The first text I received said that he had spent the last 20 minutes getting snow and ice off his truck, but he assured me that the roads were fine since people had been traveling them. It wasn't 30 minutes later, I got the phone call that every parent dreads....Mom, I just slid off the road, through a fence and into a field... Oh, I just knew this was going to happen. Yes, he was okay...just shock up as was I. I was relieve that he was able to drive out on his own with no damage and a very dirty truck. Needless to say...I made him turn around and go back. He is now safe and sound back in Lubbock and will hopefully try again tomorrow or Thursday.

My worst nightmare is for any of my children to be in a car accident. Especially when they are so far away from me. I am just happy this turned out ok. Me, well....I just gained a few more gray hairs.

Timing Is Everything...

2009-01-23T15:48:00.002-06:00

One year ago this week we began the adoption process for the second time. I am a member of our adoption agency's yahoo group where old and new families chat about the process. So much is going on in Russia right now...I am so thankful to be done.

Kemerovo, the region where Carter was adopted from, is currently closed thus leaving many families in limbo with their adoptions. Keep in mind these families could have already received photos or even traveled to see their children already.

Last July, you many have read about the man in Virginia who's newly adopted son died because he forgot and left him in his SUV for 9 hours in 90' heat. http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2008/dec/17/father-acquitted-manslaughter-sons-death-car/?local
This was big news back in July, at least for people adopting from Russia. I remember being scared that this would delay our trip in August. Mostly because back in March just after our 1st trip something similar happened, and it closed our region for a few months. We waited with several other families to be assigned a court date.

Well, now Russia is in an uproar again because this Virgina man has been acquitted because his conduct did not meet the legal standard for manslaughter, which requires "gross negligence." What buffoon, adoptive parent, or judge can think for a moment that death by heat stroke is neither horrible nor grossly negligently? Let's lock that judge in an SUV for a couple hours and see if he doesn't change his mind! How can a man "forget" to drop a child off at day care? Okay, we have all experienced going somewhere on auto pilot. So he gets to work and gets out of his car and starts his job. He spends the WHOLE DAY at work without a thought for his newly "acquired" son? What was HIS level of interest in that child? Something close to ZERO. Very sad to say the least.....

It just makes me appreciate the fact that we are done waiting and with the economy right now, NOT in the middle of another adoption. I feel for those who are and hope it isn't a long wait this time around.

Ready, Set, School...

2009-01-22T17:01:00.005-06:00

Today was a rather hectic and stressful day.... It didn't start that way.. I had hoped to being painting my living room. However, a meeting with the speech therapist and elementary school came up which turned into an all day thing.

After our meeting, I was informed that Samuel could start pre-k as early as tomorrow. Since this is my only week day off, I rushed around getting necessary paperwork to enroll him.

In hopes to make this transition easier on Samuel (which really means easier on me) we went to meet the teacher and see the classroom. Inside the first door...my heart dropped into my stomach. He would be the only Caucasian child in the class and...what???...the teachers were only speaking Spanish. I immediately scolded myself for ever thinking this was a good idea.

Thank god...the director quickly told me this was not Samuel's class. Two doors down....now that's more like it. The kids were so sweet all saying hello to Samuel while he hid behind my legs. The teachers were very sweet and I am hoping for a smooth transition.

After running around getting copies of this and that all afternoon, Samuel is now officially registered for pre-k. The thought really makes my stomach ache. I have always been a tough mother...but the thought of putting this shy, crying, 5 year old on a school bus at 7am, scares the hell out of me. Yep...I will be the mother calling two or three times to check on her child. I'm not sure if I could get through it otherwise.

So...my fear has put this off one more week...mainly to give myself a few more days to stress over it. Samuel will start in February. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep it together on his first day.

We did end the day on a good note. I took the boys for a much needed hair cut (see Samuel's before picture) and I have to say they are soooo adorable! This was Carter's first hair cut since being here. He was shaved bald when we picked him up in August. Their little faces just make my heart melt.... why can't they stay this way forever?

NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL...

2009-01-19T13:56:00.002-06:00

I have always led a very busy life...to say the least. I didn't realize how busy and hectic until I emailed a good friend a few days ago. By the end of my catch you up email, I had written a book. I guess more happens each week then I realize.

With Joshua all finished with high school, I do feel like a small weight has been lifted off me. I do mean small....because he is self sufficient. Now I just worry about what time of morning he will wander into the house and how much beer he will consume during a weekend of beer-pong. He will be heading up to Lubbock soon to spend a few weeks with Chelsea and see how the college kids live. Won't have to worry about him one bit those two weeks......NOT!

Amanda is being nursed back to health by her very good on the eyes physical therapist. She injured her shoulder and knee during volleyball season. I am trying to find a reason to see him myself...as I am sure he could fix all my problems. :) Anyway... the coach has not being very cooperative of doctors orders to sit out 4-6 weeks. I finally had to take it to the head of the athletic department before the doctors orders were followed. A very stressful situation for me to say the least.

Tommy's cardiologist ordered a test on his adrenal glands (because of his high blood pressure) a few weeks ago. The adrenal glands came back fine, however there appear to be some notches on his lungs. He doesn't smoke, but his parents did and since lung cancer has been in his family he was referred onto a Pulmonologist (lung doctor). So now we wait again to see what these notches are.....I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I took both Carter and Samuel to a new speech therapist at the elementary school last week. Next year is kindergarten and I thought getting them in now with that therapist would help ease the transition when school starts. Since Samuel has hearing issues, they are concerned and want him admitted now into the Pre-K program so he can receive special services. This classifies him as a special ed student which is very hard for me to swallow. He is a smart boy and I hate for him to be classified this way so young just because of hearing issues. Apparently the special ed department is quite different that it was when I was in school. It would mean putting him on a school bus everyday. He would be in a regular classroom with all the other kids, but taken out each day for one-on-one speech therapy and if necessary would be fitted for special hearing equipment. I know the one-on-one would be great for him and I really believe they have his best interest at heart. However, this has all been overwhelming to me.

As far as Carter is concerned, although his English needs the most work, he isn't eligible because its a language barrier not a language disorder. They are bringing in a Russian translator to be certain. So, I am just going to have to keep working with him and hope that he learns enough by August so he doesn't start out behind.

I knew that adopting these boys could lead to challenges later in life for them. Both of their mothers were alcoholics and drank heavily during pregnancy. FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) can show up at anytime during their life. I knew there could be hurdles but so far these boys have done wonderful. Regardless, I know I am so lucky to have them as my children.

Thank god that I am the only one that doesn't need anything medically speaking. knock knock

I will just have to continue to be the glue that holds us all together......

It Only Took Her 5 days!

2009-01-16T11:49:00.002-06:00

Well...finally after 5 days of being grounded, Miss Amanda, finally apoligized. She had been playing the silent game with me since Sunday and although the peace and quiet was nice, I did win that standoff!

I am sure her lack of communication with the outside world finally got the best of her. (No cell phone, no computer, no friends, no activities...just us old foggies, a dumb brother and two loud 5 year olds)

I'm still not sure if she is really sorry for her behavior or if she thought that by apoligizing she would get her stuff back. Which is why I told her that "Since it took you 5 days to admit what you did wrong, you will have 5 more days of being grounded."

See what being stubborn gets ya? If she would have only taken responsibility days ago, she would already be off the hook. Just a little bit of information you withhold until after they apoligize. (learned that in parenting 101)

You know as unfair as it might be...as parents, we get to make the rules! At least thats what my Dad told me when I was a teenager......

He Did It!

2009-01-16T07:39:00.006-06:00

Today is Joshua's last day of high school and it brings an abundance of emotions for me. Yep, I am a crier...especially when my children are involved..

I am so proud of his accomplishment, although at times it was very rough, he made it though to the end and did whatever he had to do to get there. Including summer school, correspondence courses, cheating, ect. (Don't judge, we all did it)

I am sad because I know that in a few short months he will be going off on his own...and wow...I am really going to miss him. I love his sense of humor and how he makes me laugh every day.

I am scared because this is really the true test of parenthood. Does he know enough to survive on his own? Did I teach him everything he needs to know in order to be an honorable person in society? Did I teach him enough about how to make the right decisions? Does he know not to call Mom at 3am, when he's in a drucken stupier at a party?

I remember when I moved out on my own the day after graduation. My Mom was crying as I drove away and I remember thinking to myself, "Good Lord, I'm not dying, just moving out on my own." Well, now I know how hard it must have been for her. I am dreading the day when I he leaves for college, I know I'll be a basket case.

Josh is really a good kid. He has gotten in his share of trouble over the years...however he always seemed to learn from his mistakes. He accepted his punishments with maturity because he knew that he deserved them.

Josh...it was an uphill struggle at times, but I can't tell you enough how proud I am of you. I know that you will have a great time in college and I am confident that you will make an excellent art teacher. I love you!

Worries of a 5 Year Old

2009-01-13T12:37:00.005-06:00

So this about my best attempt to draw my kitchen/dining room and living room area, please keep in mind these skills were learned in drafting 101 in high school Yes, that was 20+ years ago and although I did pass, I am not sure I learned anything. I did get carried away adding the dining room table and furniture, it was fun!!

Any who..... You will notice the two black dots that are sitting at our kitchen bar. Those are my two youngest sons, Samuel and Carter, who every single day argue over sitting who will sit on the end. I am not real sure why they fight over it....one would think because the one on the end could see the TV, however in the morning we don't turn on the TV so I guess they argue just to argue. The stools are exactly the same...I just don't get it.

Thrills and joys of parenting, I guess.

So to maintain my sanity, I am teaching them how to take turns. In doing so...they are about to drive me crazy. At least two times a day one of them will ask me, "It's my turn to sit on the end of the bar, right MOM?" They ask this while driving to school, sitting on the potty and even when tucking them into bed. Oh, the woes of being 5 years old and having your biggest worry be when it your turn to sit at the end of the bar.

At least they have mastered the idea of taking turns, which I am happy to be breaking my arm to pat myself on the back.

Little Russian Faces

2009-01-11T08:45:00.013-06:00

January 7th marked Christmas for the Russian Orthodox Church. So each year we get together with our local FRUA Chapter (Families for Russian and Ukraine Children) for the annual Father Frost Party. Unlike Santa Clause and his elves, Russia has Father Frost and the Snow Maiden. I love going to this party each year because it really puts into perspective how many children have been spared the institutionalized life with loving new families. Watching these kids grow and play together is so satisfying.

It is mostly a get together for the kids to play while adults retell their stories over and over again, but non the less I love hearing them. The event is catered by the local Russian Deli and although it isn't to my liking, it fits the mood and celebration perfectly.

It was great to see our friends from Georgetown and their precious children. Carter and Jena (who were friends at the orphanage) really were happy to see each other. I wish I knew what they were thinking and what they remember.

This really is an event that most of the kids look forward to each year. It amazes me that they all seem to understand that these kids came from Russia just like them. It is a connection that they will remember and cherish forever.

Oh these sweet faces...I am overwhelmed with joy just watching them play and be happy. I wish that every person could visit those orphanges and really get an understanding of what a difference has been made in their life. We will be looking forward to the next get together in the spring. Maybe by then, more children will have made their way home.

15 Yr Old Serves Hard Time

2009-01-11T07:39:00.003-06:00

I try very hard not to be naive with my children, in fact I feel that I am pretty insightful. So last night Tommy and I met up in Austin for drinks and dancing with some of his old friends. Amanda had one of her friends over and they wanted to go to the movies with a few of their "boy" friends. Joshua was in charge of watching little ones for us. Joshua agreed to drop the girls off, but since Sam and Carter would be sleeping, he would not be able to go pick them up. So after what seemed like hours of pleading, I agreed to let the "boy" friends give the girls a ride home. (After all it is only 2 miles tops)

The rules were very clear....

You better come straight home. (I gave them no more than 10 minutes to walk in the door from the time the movie got out)

The "boys" were to drop them off only. They were NOT to get out of the vehicle and they were NOT allowed to stay and hang out (inside, outside or otherwise).

She was to text me the second she got home.

I made it clear to not screw this up or it would for sure NEVER happen again!

So, her text came in with a few minutes to spare saying they were home., which Josh confirmed. I was happy and satisfied that my rules were followed and she was one step towards trustworthiness.

However, about 5 minutes later....another text arrives from Joshua, "Those boys aren't supposed to be here, right?" Well for her sake its good that I was actually an hour away in Austin. Since the dance hall was sooo loud, I sent Amanda a text, "Those boys better be gone in 60 seconds or I will call the police to escort them out...oh and let them know they are never allowed back!"

No response from Amanda......

Josh texts, "Geeze don't sell me out now she knows I told you. We gotta work on that one..... I just got offered $5 to keep my mouth shut so they could stay 30 minutes." (Don't you know that it costs more than that to bribe your brother?)

The "boys" were gone in 60 seconds of course, but still no response from Amanda. After making my way outside to 40' freezing temperatures, I make the call I knew she was regreting.

Sometimes, I wish that we had phones like the Jetsons did, you know the kind where we can see the other person and then I could have rung her little neck! She had the nerve to argue with me....of course that enraged me more! "It's no big deal, MOM!" We'll see how big of a deal you think it is when your ass is grounded (no cell phone, no friends, no laptop, no basketball games, no movies, no anything) at least for the next 2 weeks, and if I hear how it's not a big deal again, it will be twice as long until you understand just how BIG of a deal it IS!

I swear...just as you think you can trust them and that they make good decisions, then they go and pull crap like this!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-01-09T08:14:00.003-06:00

Well, yesterday was my first week-day off work in quite some time (holidays excluded). Anyone that says being a stay at home Mom is an easy job, obviously hasn't done it. I knew my day was full so before I got going I made a list of all the things I needed to do. In all, I had numerous places to go, a dozen people to call, housework to be done, shopping to do, doctors visits, physical therapy appointments, ect, ect, ect. As I crossed things off, others got added as I remembered them. At the end of the day, I had managed to get almost everything done, however, I was exhausted and ready to pull my hair out if I had to hear one more argument from a 5 year old. Getting those two in and out of the car (while disturbing their movie) was a fight at every stop. I have to say that going to work is much easier, at least for me.

Although... going to work for me means dealing with the boys there too. I converted my office into half a play room when Samuel came home 3 years ago. They stay busy watching TV, riding scooters and playing out back. Things get hectic sometimes and I have to excuse myself from a customer to break up the latest argument. So I am taking my hat off to all stay at home mother's today. It IS the hardest job out there!

On another note....from the cutest things my kids say file, here is a conversations that Samuel and I had this morning on our way to pre-school.

Samuel: (with the up most seriousness he could muster) "Mom, I really want to get a girlfriend. How do I get one?" (like we could just stop at the store and pick one up)

Me: "Well, Samuel... you don't get a girlfriend, you ask a girl that you like to be your girlfriend."

Samuel: "Can I get one from Russia?"

Me: "Maybe when your older, but not now. A girlfriend is someone like Chelsea is to your brother, Joshua. They go to the movies together, hang out, and hold hands."

Samuel: "Well, I really like Claire in my class. She is pretty!"

So later when I picked the boys up from school, Samuel says to me, "I didn't ask Claire to be my girlfriend today, I will ask her on Monday."

In telling Tommy this story, after laughing his only comment was, "It's good news that he doesn't want a boyfriend."

I would love to know how the young minds work. Where in the world do they think up this stuff. It's just priceless.....

The Little Red Balloon

2009-01-07T08:08:00.004-06:00

I'm not real sure if it was so long ago that I don't remember, or possibly that I was so young I didn't pay that much attention to the innocent things Joshua or Amanda said when they were little. I was only 19 when Joshua was born and 22 when Amanda was born. At that time in my life, I was in a far from ideal place in my marriage (but continued on for 9 years) that I now regret not paying attention to the little things that my kids did to make me laugh or smile. I hope that doesn't make me a bad mother, but if so, at least it's something I work very hard on now.

Anyway...yesterday Samuel and Carter were given a balloon while shopping in Wal-Mart with my Mom. She explained to them to hold on very tight because once outside the balloons could fly away. Of course I could have predicted that either one or both would fly away once outside.

It happened to be Samuel's little red balloon that got away. (Carter was holding his for dear life!) Naturally, he was upset. Well, great thinking on my Mom's part...she said "Don't be sad, you just made someone in heaven really happy today." This got Samuel asking questions about how the balloon would travel there and who would be getting it. He asked if maybe his Grandma Gail (Tommy's mother that passed away a few years ago) would be getting the balloon. My Mom say, "Maybe". Samuel thought about this for a few minutes before saying, "I wish I could go to heaven to see Gma Gail and get my balloon back." My Mom said, "Oh, I don't want you to go to heaven right now...I would miss you way to much." Samuel responded, "Oh, I will be right back...I will only be gone a minute."

I have to say that when my Mom told me this story, I just sat here wondering if I was ever going to remember these precious stories. Honestly, I don't remember very many from Joshua and Amanda younger years and that makes me very sad. I hope by keeping this journal and sharing it with my friends that somehow they won't be forgotten.

To Wii or not to Wii...

2009-01-05T13:44:00.002-06:00

Believe it or not this weekend was my first experience playing and watching for that matter the Wii. We went over to some friends house for dinner and a Wii bowling tournament. The company as always.. wonderful, the beer was..oh so yummy, the enchilada's were AWESOME (especially for a white girl) and the Wii was so much fun. The bowling game was quite the challenge (It was different from the one that comes with the Wii) enough that Tommy threw in the towel and quit in the 6th frame. It seems that you have to throw the ball just right or you drop it behind you, which I did many times. After the poor display of bowling, we decided to try boxing. I am happy to say that I kicked my husband's ass in Round 2. Now that is a great way to take out a lot of frustration and get a hell of a work out all at the same time. Two days later, muscles that I didn't even know existed are still sore. What a great invention....wish I had thought of it, especially since all the store are still sold out. The playing of these childish games continued far into the night. Needless to say, I was up the very next morning and placed my order (I found one on eBay) for the Wii complete with the Wii Fit too in hopes to finally full fill what seems like years of New Years Resolutions to loose weight and exercise more.

I have managed to stick with one resolution so far which was to cut down or out, if possible, my excessive habit of drinking diet coke. So far I am 9 days into nothing but water (and the occasional beer on weekends). If you know me, you know that itself is a huge accomplishment.

As for other resolutions....I didn't make any more as not to disappoint myself later.

Amanda-isms

2009-01-03T08:27:00.003-06:00

My beautiful daughter, Amanda, is an excellent and dedicated student with straight A's. However, this blond child will sometimes say the dumbest things. So much that I have started keep a list of what I call "Amanda isms". To start off the year on a laughing note, I thought I would share some of these with you.

In 2005 at the age of 12 years old, as we were preparing for a family vacation to Hawaii, Amanda asked, "Are we gonna fly or drive?"
This past Christmas Eve at the age of 15, we were discussing the Christmas game of capitals and states. Amanda said, "There must be a lot of Mexicans in Iowa since the capital is Des`moines." (You had to hear the spanish accent she put on that word)
During the same discussion above, one of the presents had Juneau which is the capital of Alaska. Amanda says with attitude, "Alaska isn't even in the US, why did you pick that one?"
In September 2008, we went to watch a Texas Tech/Red Raider football game. One of the star players last name is Crabtree. We went to a shop to buy a few T-shirts and there was a big inflatable crab over the doorway and Amanda says, "I didn't know they were the Texas Tech Crabs!" (This one was enough to keep us laughing all weekend long!)

I will continue to share these bone head statements with you throughout the year (I get several a month). We love them because she always makes us laugh, especially since she is so serious about it. I can't wait to see what she comes up with during our 24 hr car ride to Florida this summer. In her defence, she really is a smart girl, her mouth just works faster than her brain.

Reflection.....

2008-12-31T08:54:00.026-06:00

As I look back at 2008, I wanted to share what I consider my highlights of the year. I am greatful to have been healthy this year. Most of you know that I was dianosed with ulcerative colitis in 2007. It is a very nasty disease that I unfortunately inherrited from my father (he has been battling it for 30 years). Although it isn't life threatening, it really is a serious and awful thing to have espically for women. The medication I take plus my regular 8 week infusion treatments seems to keep it under control as I only had one flair up in 2008. I am greatful that Tommy's health has improved. Just two years ago he was struggling with heart problems. His heart was only functioning at 19% and was very close to being put on the transplant list. Today, he is up to 60%, which is unbelievable since the doctors said that it would never be possible. He still has blood pressure issues, but his massive pill box keeps that under control. So, given all this our 2008 ended up to be a fantastic year!

January started out with an unforgettable George Strait concert, that I treated my best friend, Karri, for her birthday! He was great and although aging a bit, still super cute! January is also the month that we started our adoption journey to bring another precious child home. We hired a private investigator to find Samuel's biological mother. It took a few months, however, we now have photos of her, his grandmother and one of his brothers. I am so thankful to be able to offer this to him someday.

In February, we got the "the call" from our adoption agency. Understand the adoption process is always long and difficult road, but we were SHOCKED when we learned that we were already given a referral. Carter (born Ivan (Van-ya)) was 3 yrs 7 months old. He was born July 23, 2004. His orphanage is located in the city of Novokuzetsk in Kemerovo region of Russia. That orphanage houses children from birth to age 18.

March was a very busy month for us. Samuel started his first season of T-ball. It was awesome to see him come out of his shell. He is sooooo shy, I kept my fingers crossed. We traveled to the Bahama's for the yearly Carquest Convention. I know...can you believe the torture... we had to go there? It was a great get-away for Tommy and I and since I love the beach...it couldn't have been any better. Just BEAUTIFUL! We were only home 2 days before leaving for trip #1 to Russia. We traveled across 13 different time zones twice in just 7 days. A total of 40 hours was spent in an airplane while we traveled 6,633 miles just one way. I am including a few entries from my hand written journal from that trip. Of course this was "the highlight" of my year!

THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008

Hello from Moscow!!!!!
It was a very long and exhausting flight. I didn't remember it being so tired the first time during Samuel's adoption. The jet lag really hit us hard this time arriving on 24 hours without sleep. We had roomy seats however, they were right by the bathroom so people in general kept us up. The audio didn't work on any of the movies and this annoying bell kept going off very loud above our head every 5-10 seconds for hours. They didn't know what it was or how to stop it so we had to deal with it. We both were at our wits end at the end of the flight.
It was cold when we arrived and is snowing now. We managed to get about a 3 1/2 hour nap in before sending out this message. Our room is small but nice and it feels like 90' in our room. I am having the maintenance man come over in a while to turn it down or it will be another night without sleep because our window doesn't open. :( Oh and did I mention that since it's Easter weekend hotel prices are outrageous! For this holiday weekend the prices ranged from $600-1200 a NIGHT! Yes, I said night! Thank god we will only be staying for 2 nights. We will be staying at the Marriott Tverskaya and the Renaissance Moscow both of which appear to be very nice hotels. I am not sure where we will be staying while in the region, but from what I hear it will only be about $60-70 a night.

We were excited to get here knowing that we are closer to seeing Carter in just a few days. However, standing in line at immigration with 200 Russian people trying to crowd you out, reminds me why I am always anxious to get home. This really makes me feel uncomfortable.

As we were headed to our hotel, I immediately remember how awful they drive here. I felt like we could have crashed at least 50 times. I just wanted to cover my eyes and scream. So as I sat, half scared to death looking for my seat belt, it crossed my mind how much I can't see Samuel living this way of life as an adult. I guess that is what the good ole USA will do for you.
Anyway, we will head out in the freshly fallen snow here in a while to find some decent food (I hope). Just know that we miss everyone and truly can't wait to get home. To those of you who feel like we are on vacation, shame on you!!! Other than seeing Carter, I would much rather be at work!

Take care and will send more tomorrow, hopefully!!! Hugs and Kisses to Josh, Amanda and Samuel. We miss you and love you very much!!
Love,
Sherry

FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2008

Hi again!
We ventured out in the cold for dinner last night and found a little bar that looked like an Irish pub. The food was good but everything seems pretty expensive. They had American music playing which was nice. Guess we must look somewhat Russian (NOT) cause they immediately gave us Russian menus until we had to ask for the English version. I went out on a limb and had a burger and chili cheese fries, while Tommy had beer battered fish and some Russian soup. All in all it was good.

We went straight back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. I tried to watch a movie but fell asleep about 7:30. We both woke up at 3:00am like it was morning. After a few hours we were both able to go back to sleep until about 9am this morning. Although we are both still tired, we feel much better.

Mala, our tour guide will be by in an hour or so and she will show us around for a few hours. Our flight for Kemerovo leaves Moscow tonight at 10pm and will arrive at 6:30am. (Remember there is an additional 4 hour time difference. It is 8 hr difference from Moscow and then another 4 to Kemerovo. I had forgotten that they didn't observe Daylight savings time). Check in for today's flight is at 4:00 so we will have to sit and wait again.
It is sunny today and appears to be a nice day. It is still cold and I figured out how to open the window this morning and let some cool air in.

Hope everyone is doing good. We are so anxious to see Cater tomorrow. Hopefully he won't be to scared of us. We will take lots of pictures and post them as soon as we can. I hope to be able to send another message tomorrow sometime after our first visit with Carter. Dana, I will ask the questions that you wanted me to and Sherry, I will see if I can see your two boys as well. If if is possible will try to sneak a picture of them if I can.

Take care and we will see you all next week.
Love, Tommy & Sherry (yes he is awake and with me this time) :)

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008
Back in Moscow again!
It is Monday about 1:15pm. We arrived back this morning. Sorry there was no Internet available to us in Novokuznetsk. Let me catch you up a bit.

We left Moscow on Friday night at 10pm. The airport was very nice, a different one than we used in 2005. It had signs in English (yea) and was nicer than some airports in the US. We arrived in Novo at 6am Sat. morning. Yes another night without sleep!! It was cold and there was some snow on the ground. Lena dropped us off at the hotel about 7am and said she would be back about 9:30am to pick us up. We were so tired, however, it was not enough time to take a nap so we opted for a cold shower and breakfast. We were very anxious to see Carter so we made the best of it.

We arrived at the orphanage and was led up to the play room to wait for him. Shortly after you heard small heavy foot steps coming in. He looked exactly like the picture and didn't seem afraid at all. As he walked towards me, I held out my arms and he willingly climbed in my lap. It didn't last long as he is a very active boy. He has a very even personality and a bit more outgoing than Sam. He doesn't seem to smile a lot unless you can get him to laugh. He played ball with us for a while and he loved the play cell phone we brought him. (they use them as much or more than we do at home) We couldn't call him Carter (mainly because he wouldn't answer) so we had to call him Ivan (Van-ya). It felt weird to me! He was more drawn to me than Tommy, but he did warm up to him more later. All in all it was a great first visit! It lasted about an hour or so. He called me Mama a few times and was eager to give us both a hug and kiss bye. We were warned about the temperature there and they were right! It was sooooooooo hot in there, at times I felt like I couldn't breathe. We were all sweating including Carter who was wearing two shirts, a pair of shorts and socks and pink sandals (yikes). As tired as we were the heat didn't help! We went back to our hotel and got a 2-3 hour nap before heading back to the orphanage for out second visit of the day. This one was just as good or better than the first. We didn't have the social worker there watching us this time. Not that it bothered Carter or us the first time! He is so full of energy, we may need something real strong in order to make it home with him. We are just so tired dealing with ourselves. This 12 hour time difference is really kicking our butt!!

Later that night we were having dinner at our hotel (Hotel Siberia) and in walks this young guy (maybe 20-25) He starts talking to Tommy in Russian and we just look at him not knowing what he is saying to us. The waitress walks in and you can tell she is trying to tell him to leave. He continues to talk to us and I am sure she has already told him we only speak English. Then he grabs Tommy's plate and starts scraping food from the plate straight into his mouth. We are just shocked!! The waitress is almost in tears. Tommy says, give him some of your food, he is hungry! What??? I feel sorry for him that he is hungry, but giving him more just lets him know that what he did was okay and seemed like egging him on to me. Finally the waitress was able to get him out. Not that it was a huge deal, but when we got our bill we were more than surprised that we were still charged for what that man took. Customer service isn't focused on there apparently. In the states, we would have comped the entire meal!! Oh well. By this time we figured we were going on 36 hours with no sleep, so we really didn't care. We both fell sleep at 6pm that night and slept with the windows open again!!

Sunday we were able to see Carter two more times. You could tell he was starting to wonder what was going on. We just played and played!! I was sad to leave him knowing that it would be 3-4 months before we saw him again. We were able to trace his shoe and foot as well as his hand just for fun. I also bought some disposal cameras in Atlanta and left them with the care takers. Hopefully they will take photos of him during this time.

So we woke up extra early this morning as our flight back to Moscow left at 7:40. We arrived here about 8:30am (remember 4 hour time difference) and are now staying at the Renaissance Hotel. It is very nice and comfortable. All the flight crew from Delta (that we guess will be traveling back with us tomorrow) are here as well.

We will leave here tomorrow at 11:30am and arrive back in Atlanta about 4:30 (3:30 Texas time). We are very anxious to get back. I am really missing the kids. It seems like it has been forever. We haven't had time to shop much this trip but we hope to do more in June when the weather is warmer. It was warmer in Novo than here in Moscow!!

Well, I plan to go take a short nap. Take care and thanks for all your thoughts. We will be so happy to be home and eat NORMAL food.

Love, Sherry

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
We are finally home!
It was a very difficult trip, however we are back! We arrived back in Austin last night about 8:00pm. Our luggage wasn't so lucky as it didn't make it. We went home empty handed, but Delta should be delivering it to us sometime today.

Our trip was full of highs and lows. The highs of course were all about Carter and the lows were all about lack of sleep. This trip was so much more difficult on us than when we brought Samuel home in 2005. I believe that it has to do with all the time changes. Stavropol was in the same time zone as Moscow so it wasn't difficult to adjust once you got over the initial jet lag. But Novokuznetsk is a 4 time zones away from Moscow for a total of 12 from Texas and it really killed us. I figured yesterday that we were gone a total of 6 nights and we actually got to sleep 3 of them. I am still trying to catch up, but I do believe that I can function at work today.

Carter is such a sweetie. He is very healthy looking and isn't too far behind developmentally. I believe that he will catch up a lot quicker than Samuel especially since he has the help of another 4 year old. He speaks 100% Russian and only said Mama and Dada in English. (I think that is pretty universal) It will be a challenge for the first few weeks, but I am confident that he will pick it up rather quickly. He is very active, which will make for a long plane ride home. He was born to a young girl who was 20 when he was born. Like Samuel, there is no information about the father. They said that she kept Carter for 1 year and then her maternal rights were revoked and he was put into the orphanage. She apparently was an alcoholic. They said she has only called the orphanage once to check on him since he arrived in July 2005 and that very early on. Since then there has been no contact. Dana, Lena said Jenna and Carter are in the same room and are already friends. That will be great since you live near us and they can continue to be friends once they get home. Wouldn't it be great if we were able to travel at the same time?!

Moscow was uncomfortable at first, but then you go to Novokuznetsk and that makes Moscow feel like home. Novo was so remote and NO ONE speaks a bit of English, where people in Moscow get bits and pieces. I much prefer Moscow. I am so glad that we will be going back during summer which will be nice. The days weren't that cold there, but we were made to wear coats anyway. Our guide would have made us wear hats and scarfs too, but I lied and said we didn't have them. It was just too hot!!

We appreciate everyone thinking of us and Carter. I will keep you posted!
Love, Sherry

April brought us some bad news. The Governor of Kemerovo (where Carter is located) has decided to suspend adoptions effective immediately. The reason was because of a recent death of an adopted child by US adoptive parents in Utah. I was shocked and devastated! However, we were lucky that families who were waiting for court or are already scheduled to attend court sessions in Kemerovo are not affected by these new developments. I remember something that someone said during our first adoption and it is so true. "Adoption teaches you faith and patients." I am a "want it now, get it now" type of person so this was especially hard for me to just wait. I have to believe that somehow it builds my character.

In May we took the kids to Fiesta Texas. It was Samuel's first experience at an amusement park. We took him on the Road Runner (a relatively small roller coaster), he was terrified! The bumper cars and kids rides were definitely more his speed. It was such a fun day...wish we would go more often since it's only an hour away.

Samuel endured his first ear drum reconstructive surgery in June. It went great and although we still have one more ear to go, I am happy that he can finally hear better. It has put a damper on our swimming, but at least he can hear better. June was also a month of many pool parties in our back yard. I always said with living in Texas, I wanted a pool. It only took me 11 years to get one. Last summer we had an in ground pool put in our back yard. It's GREAT! Midnight swims are even better! :)

In July, we took a long weekend and went to the beach with our great friends. It was Samuel's first time at the beach. We had sooooo much fun...flying kites, skim boarding, playing volleyball and of course drinking lots of beer! July 23rd was an emotional day for me...Carter's 4th birthday. I was sad to not celebrate with him, but happy because we also finally got a court date for August 18th.

Wow, August was just an awesome month.... Happy Birthday to me on the 7th...I always love to celebrate my birthday. We went to a local bar and celebrated with a few friends. This is also when we learned about the war that just broke out between Russia and Georgia. Just great....we wait all year to bring Carter home and now there is a war! Tommy and I agreed that regardless, we were going over to get our boy, war or no war. So on August 13th, we headed back to Russia to attend the over rated court system and bring Carter home. Here are a few of the entries from that trip...

August 14, 2008
Moscow 11:15 am/Texas 2:15 am
We have arrived safely. No problems at all. We are just tired from lack of sleep. I slept off and on during the 12 hour flight but Tommy didn't sleep at all. We met the family from Ohio that will be traveling with us at the Atlanta airport. Patti and Adam are very nice and are adopting a 2 year old. Its nice to have someone else to talk and share this experience with.

Our friends from Georgetown that had so many problems last week will be headed home tomorrow as planned. (Yea!). We will meet them later tonight for dinner after we catch a nap.

Traffic hasn't changed here at all. It is still slow movin, bumper to bumper with no identified lanes. The weather is great. Warm, no humidity and somewhat cool. Our driver is wearing shorts. If I had know that was okay I would have packed some. I thought I was brave to pack my flip flops!!

Well, I appreciate everyones well wishes for us. I was certainly hesitant to travel but now that were here I am good.
Hope the kids are being good. Hugs and kisses!

August 14, 2008
Moscow 10:45 pm/TX 1:45 pm

Hi all....
We just got back from having a 4 hour dinner with our friends from Georgetown (Rick, Dana and their two new children Jenna, 4, Zach, 1). They were so adorable and we had a good time playing with the kids on a roof top restaurant on old Arbat St. It made us more excited to bring Carter back to Moscow. The weather is great!!! We took the Metro/subway to Old Arabat and did fine. We did, however, get lost on the way back. I haven't figured out how that happened. But between the 4 of us (Adam and Patti went to) we walked back part way. I guess I got lucky because the two people I asked for directions from both spoke decent english. I can't express how much better it is to have another couple with us. It makes it all so much easier and fun. There are several sidewalk restaurants by our hotel so tomorrow we plan to relax there for dinner and drink a few beers. Our hotel is directly next to the Red Square so there is a lot to do.

Tomorrow we head to our medical exam. Hopefully it won't be a big deal. We are heading to bed for some much needed sleep.

Good night from Russia!! I hope everyone is doing well.

August 15, 2008
Moscow 12:35 pm/Tx 3:35 am

We had a very nice breakfast this morning in the hotel. I could use more sleep of course but I think that will always be the case over here. Our room, like always, is too hot for us. The air conditioner is as far cold as it will go. I even broke out my battery operated fan that I brought along, but it was still too warm.

We are at the medical clinic waiting for our turn as I type this. It is a little unsettling because from the outside this clinic/hospital is an old purple building that could resemble an insane asylum. Yikes! We were told it would take about three hours to be examined by the 8 different doctors. Hopefully like everything else here, most of the time will be waiting. We warned of a few questions that will be asked. "Do you own guns?" "Are you an emotional person?". How do you answer that. Either way you could be screwed. I am hoping that Olga (our translator) will help answer the right way.

Moscow 3:30pm/TX 6:30 am

Well we just finished 3 hrs later. We were supposed to be seen by 8 doctors. First we saw 5 doctors at one time. We had to take our shirts off while they took our blood pressure, reflexes, and felt our glands. Yes...awkward! They asked a few questions about our medical history and our families medical all of which we said was fine. Then we saw the "drug" doctor. On the way in Olga whispered to me to be sure and say that we DON'T drink everyday. Tommy didn't hear that part and when we got in they asked us at what age we first tried alcohol. I lied and said mid 20's (I didn't want it to appear that I broke the law). Tommy said 15 or 16 yes old. So then they asked Tommy how often he drinks. He said "I don't drink". They said then "how do you get rid of your depression? Everyone needs a drink". He says "swim". I have to say at that point I almost busted out laughing. I was glad when they never asked me anything cause I didn't know if I should go along with Tommy's answers or not. After that we were done, however all 8 doctors that we didn't see signed off on us. It confirms that this is all a way to collect more money from us. This "exam" cost us $900 each.

Anyway...we are all done with that. We are headed back to the hotel and plan to have a few drinks. (Guess Tommy will watch since he doesn't drink. Lol). Our flight to Novokuznetsk is tomorrow night at 10 pm. So we will have the day to relax and sight see.

August 16, 2008
Moscow 8:50pm/Tx 11:50am

Last email from Moscow. We are currently at the local Russian airport waiting for our flight to Kemerovo. It leaves here at 10:05pm and is a 4 hour flight, however with the 5 hour time change we arrive at 6:30am sunday morning (5:30 pm Sat in TX). This part is very hard because we loose a nights sleep and won't get it back. As soon as we arrive we are taken to our hotel and given maybe an hour to get settled and to freshen up. Then its off to breakfast and then to see Carter. Last time the orphanage was only 2 blocks from our hotel, but this time since its summer the kids are up in the hills/mountains at summer camp. We will have to drive 45 minutes up there for our visit. At least it might be cooler up there than in the 95' room of the orphanage like last time.

Everything is going good. We had to check out today at noon from our hotel but our driver didn't pick us up till 5pm. It was a long, hot afternoon trying to pass time. We layed on the grass in front of the Kremlin with thousands of others just people watching and laughing at the drunk guys in suits passed out drunk. Tommy misses his dr pepper and I would do about anything for a chicken express ice tea. We ordered two beers earlier (Tommy was feeling a bit depressed) and they served us them at room temperature. (I though about you Karri and how much you would have hated that). It wasn't good so I switched to warm coke. Nothing is served on ice it is always extra. They drink everything either hot or at room temperature

Anyway, I hope I still have service in Novokuznetsk but if you don't hear from me in about 6 or 7 hrs then don't panic. I will have to wait till wednesday when we get back to Moscow.

Take care and wish us luck. Court is only a day away.

Novo 12:35pm sun/TX 11:35 pm Sat

Well we just finished seeing Carter. Wow! Let me start from the beginning. We headed for the summer camp up in the hills. It reminded me of the foot hills of Colorado. I almost forgot we were in Russia. Lena told us that we were driving to pick up the kids (patty and adam's son too) and we were taking them from camp back into town to take their passport photos. So we arrived at the summer camp. It was really pretty, cool and rainy. We went inside and they brought them to us. Carter walked from around the corner wearing a pink sweater (yes I said pink) blue pants, sandles again and a baseball cap. He had grown a little. He ran straight to me and gave me a big hug. I picked him up and gave him a big kiss. It was so good to see him. We climbed back into the van and he sat on my lap. He wasn't scared at all of the ride back into town. We played with some toys, he drank all my water from my water bottle and snacked on some crackers. He is very smart. We already taught him words that he picked up right away. He said "bump" everytime we went over a speed bump. He knows shoes and water. We also looked at a small photo album that I brought. We pointed to Sam, Amanda and Josh's name and he said them very clear (except amanda) and even remembered who everyone was. I am very encouraged with the language barrier so far. He is going to be a big boy when he grows up. I loved looking at his hands and fingers. They are very long and thin. The shoes we brought are just a size to big but oh well. We weren't able to try on any clothes but I am sure what I have will be fine.

He did great taking his picture. He stayed still and didn't cry. I can't wait for his hair to grow. They shaved his head.

So now its back to the hotel for lunch and then some much needed sleep. Court is tomorrow morning in Kemerovo City (3-4 hrs drive). We won't get back until late so we will pick him up the next day.

Just wanted to fill you all in. Can't wait to bring him home.

Novo 8:23pm sun/TX 7:23am sun

I still can't believe we are here and that he is almost ours. Well, he is ours in my mind. Our visit earlier today was so good and seemed so natural. I am glad that our visit was outside the orphanage to give us an idea of how he will react with us. He did so well in the car, just sat still and played and talked to us. Once we got to town, he walked beside us, holding our hands on both sides of him. We didn't have much time when we got back, it was just to drop them off since it was their lunch time. He certainly talks a lot, most of which we don't understand. Lena says that he speaks pretty good Russian now, but the small amount of time we had, I have no doubt that the english will come very quickly. I still think he looks so young, like a baby, not a boy of 4 yrs. But now I think its because his head is shaved. All the boys have the same cut (shaved all over except a small spot of bangs that is about an inch long). Yes I will cut that quickly.
Carter doesn't know his name yet of course but soon he will get it. He is still very active and talks non stop just like Samuel. I can't wait to bath him and put him in clean clothes.
So on the way down from camp, Lena our guide/translator (who we can never communicate with just right, I think we just have a different way of life obviously) anyway she asked us if we wanted to stop and get flowers. I honestly didn't know what to say, but I was thinking: for who? I am so glad that Adam spoke up and said "for what purpose". She seemed offended when everyone said no thanks. Why would we want to spend even more money on flowers none the less??? We just down the road, we pull over and she hops out and starts picking flowers. Tommy laughed later because they were all just weeds. Then a short time later (please don't forget we so exhausted and it has been 36 hrs since we had sleep and we are delirious) Lena asks I'd we want to stop at the flee market to buy some fruit. Yes Dana she asked us if we wanted watermelon. NO we don't want fruit, we WANT sleep!!!! But of course we stopped anyway. There were so many people buying all types of fruit, bread, meat, ect. Of course there were flies everywhere landing on all of it. This is where it hit me that we were running all Lena's errands with her. Finally we get back to our hotel and she wants us to meet Olga (our other translator) in a few hrs so she can show us the grocery store and mall. We tried to explain that we needed sleep and would not be interested in those things until after court and after sleep. She seemed somewhat offended but finally allowed us some sleep. I took a 5 hour nap and now I will try to stay up for 3-4 hrs so I can go back to sleep at midnight. We leave for court at 6:30am.

Wish us luck on this last part of making Carter a Farrell. I am sure things will be fine. I will just be glad to be home. I miss all my kids like crazy and miss hearing Sam say "I love you" a dozen times a day. I miss talking to Amanda, and I miss seeing Josh.

I better wrap this one up! Take care everyone!

August 18, 2008
Kemerovo city 10:45am Mon/TX 9:45pm Sun

I wish this message was full of good news and happiness, but we have hit our first (and i hope only) speed bump. We were sitting in the court hallway waiting for our turn with the judge when Lena came out and said that our court was postponed until tomorrow. Apparently some form from the US Embassy was not received. This form is permission for Carter to be given a US visa. Since it is only 6:45am in Moscow at the Embassy we can't call them. We have to drive the long, very bumpy road back to Novokuznetsk and call the Embassy later once they are open. Hopefully they will fax what is necessary for our court now tomorrow. If all goes well, we will stay some extra time in Kemerovo City tomorrow and pick up his Passport all in one trip. Then once we get back to Novo in the evening we will pick Carter up from the summer camp and still be able to fly back to Moscow as planned on Wednesday morning.

Words can't describe how frustrated and disappointed we are. Things had been going so good and now this set back. I guess if all goes well tomorrow the set back will be minor. I just get so angry because our coordinator, Lena has terrible communication skills and your always left asking a dozen more questions that could have been avoided.

I am sorry our news isn't any better. We are just crushed and I am on the brink of tears so I will close for now. Please pray for us to complete this tomorrow without any more problems.

August 19, 2008
Kemerovo City 3:27 pm Tues/TX 2:27am Tues

GOOD NEWS!!!! We finished with court earlier this morning and it was successful today. Carter is officially ours! The 10 day waiting period was waived for us which is a huge relief. We are still not sure what happened yesterday but at this point it just doesn't matter. It all worked out fine.

After court Lena took us to eat lunch. We ate at Golden Chicken. Tommy was so excited to be eating chicken until he realized there was no fried chicken. It was still good and cost us 320 rubles (13 USD) for two plates of chicken and potatoes and two sodas. It has been so nice this time to eat decent food. Maybe its just us, but I haven't had anything that wasn't good. Of course I would love some Mexican food, but I can wait.

After lunch we went to sign some papers and were given our adoption certificates and birth certificates. From there we went to the passport office. Normally this is a 2 day process but they are trying very hard to get it all done today so we can make our flight back to Moscow tomorrow. Right now we have an hour and half wait at the passport office while they complete everything. So yes, it all worked out. The passports will be ready at 5pm and the we will head back to Novokuznetsk to pick up Carter. It will be about 8pm when we get them which isn't much time before bed and before we leave on a 6:30am flight tomorrow. Oh well, we will take what we can get at this point. Hopefully he won't be to scared of our hotel room, his bed, and all the new surroundings tonight or it could be a very long night.

I will write more later if I get the chance. Depends on easy he falls asleep. Can't wait to be home. Hugs and kisses to Josh, Amanda and Sam!

August 20, 2008
Novo 4:45am Wed/TX 3:45pm Tues

Well this will be short and I will try to catch up later. We picked up Carter last night at 9pm and arrived back at our hotel at 10pm. It was an exhausting 16 hour day. He was happy to see us. He and the other little boy Aidan were waiting for us in the directors office. They knew we were comming. They were eager to take their clothes off to put on what we brought them. Then it was hugs and kisses to the director and off the two boys walked out of the orphanage hand in hand. It was a very emotional/once in a life time site. As we walked down the walk way you could hear women calling. They turned and from the second floor was several care takers waving good bye to them. They waived of course as we photographed and video this heart touching site. In that moment, everything was worth it. After we arrived at the hotel we changed into PJ's and went pee-sit (that's how you say pee pee) and the fear hit him. He cried for about 30 minutes before he fell asleep on my chest sucking his thumb.

It was a short night and we are heading for the airport in 40 min so I better go. Love to all

Somewhere above Russia

Hi... We are in the skies somewhere between Novo and Moscow. Carter has done very well on the plane. Of course he is 4 so he does get board, but no crying so far thank goodness. We were up this morning very very early to catch a 7am flight out however it was delayed a few hours so I have no idea what time it is or how close we are.

I think he is doing amazing considering we haven't had him 12 hrs yet and he has already experience a plane ride, strange hotel and strange people. He certainly knows quite a bit of russian, I just wish I knew what he was saying. Lucky for me I do know when he needs to use the bathroom but that's it. We have been lucky that he hasn't had any accidents. Olga said it takes kids his age a month to six weeks to pick up english.

I am anxious to see the US Embassy doctor for his cough and breathing/congestion issues that he has always had. The orphanage started giving him breathing treatments a few days before we picked him up. I have medicine but am reluctant to give it to him in case he has a bad reaction to it.

We are ready to be home, sleep in our own bed and see the kids. We miss them all very much but we are on the down side of it now. We will be home late Sat night.

We will be glad to get to Moscow so we can have some relaxing time and some sleep.

Moscow 2:00pm Wed/ TX 5am Wed

Back in Moscow again. Boy am I relieved and totally exhausted. We are finally in our room and both Tommy and Carter are napping. I should be too but wanted to update you all. The plane ride was tough. Carter was very good, but we were all so tired. He finally fell asleep when the put the landing gear down to land in Moscow. Ugghhhh!

The embassy doctor will be here at 5:30am tomorrow to examine Carter. Thank goodness we don't have to do anything else. We haven't even had time to play with him really.

Ok, sorry but I am sooooooooo tired. Got to get a nap while I can. Here is a kiss for you Sam! Mmwa! I really miss you and check the calendar, its only three more days!

Great job at winning your game Amanda! I am proud of you. Josh, today is you last day of class. Good luck on the final exam! See you all soon.

August 21, 2008
Moscow 8am Thurs/TX 11pm Wed

The doctor was here very early this morning at 6am. He examined Carter and said that he had rickets that could be resolved with a better diet and a minor case of bronchitis. Rickets show in your knees and flat feet Other than that he said that he looked great. No signs of FAS or down syndrome. He ate a very big breakfast this morning of eggs, bacon, sausage, and yogurt.

We are now waiting for our Moscow coordinator to come by and prepare our documents for our Embassy appointment tomorrow. Then we have borrowed a stroller from the hotel. We will walk down towards Red Square and take some pictures. We also plan to stop at the local grocery store for some juice and chocolate. Hopefully we can find some childrens store so we can buy him a few outfits from Russia. Other than that we plan to be lazy today.

We are counting down the days. Can't wait to be home.

Moscow 4:45pm/TX 7:45am

Well, Carter had his first taste of McDonalds today. I am not sure who enjoyed it more, us or him. Its so funny to watch him try new things. He makes so many different faces. He isn't very eager to try new things but with a little coaxing from me he will eventually try it. He loved his hamburger and fries and ate every little crumb. He even dipped his fries into the ketchup (we had to buy that too). He would lick off the ketchup before he ate the fry. I got him a small sprite but he spit that out. I haven't decided if it was the carbination or the fact that it was cold that he didn't like. He hasn't seemed to like things that are real cold. (Louise, he is like your Samuel that way). But we did get a chocolate sunday for desert. At first he made all sorts of ugly faces but in the end helped me eat it.

We walked down to red square. We took some great pics of him in front of St. Basils and of the Kremlin. It was a very nice day and he really enjoyed looking around at all the busy people and cars.

We got back to the hotel in time for our (yes all three of us) nap. He slept from 1-4 and I had to wake him to get him up.

Well, take care! Only one more full day here and we will be headed home! YEA!

August 22, 2008
Moscow 3pm/TX 6am

Hi...
We just finished with our US Embassy appointment. We have Carters passport with visa. YEA! This means we are completely finished. Now we just wait for our flight home tomorrow.

Carter is doing good. He is such a good boy when its just us. He acts out more when others are watching. I can't believe how much he eats. This morning he loved his coco puff cereal, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, yogurt, and toast. Yes he ate everything. He isn't that interested in fruit and made a terrible face when he tried watermelon.

It is almost dinner time and we plan to head over to TGI Fridays. I am sooo anxious to get home and see everyone and have some mexican food. I feel like we have been gone forever. I am not nearly as worried about the flight home as I was with Samuel. Carter did very well on wednesday so other than just being worn out, we will be fine.

August 23, 2008

Hi all....
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have just arrived back in Austin. It was a terribly long day. We woke this morning at 5am in Moscow (8pm Fri night in TX). Our flight left at noon (3am TX) and we have landed here at 8:55pm. That's 26 hrs of being awake for all 3 of us!!! Carter was EXCELLENT the entire trip. He is exhausted and can hardly keep his little eyes open. He took a few naps on the plane but other than that just played and sat still. UNBELIEVABLE!! We learned at the Atlanta airport how scared of dogs he is. The drug dog walked by sniffing luggage and he screamed and climbed up me in a matter of a second. That's bad news considering we have 3 big dogs at home. If I remember sam was too. Anyway, it's great to finally be home.

September brought new experiences for our family. Carter and Samuel played their first season of soccer. Although Carter never really got the hang of the game, I think he really enjoyed it. Samuel did well, but baseball is defanitely his game. We also attended our first Texas Tech football game. Josh's girlfriend, Chelsea, is a freshmen cheerleader and she invited us for family weekend. It was so much fun...the boys loved the game. Carter even got into it yelling and hollering with the crowd.

October was a celebration for both Amanda's 15th birthday and Samuel's 5th birthday. It was also Carter's first Halloween. The boys were boxers...Samuel was Rocky while Carter was his rival...the Russian Ivan Drago. The boys cashed in with two buckets of candy...enough to keep them hyper for the next year or so.

November was the boys re-adoption. The process is quick and easy and allows the boys to have the same rights as biological children. It also gives them both Texas birth certificates. Originally, I didn't want to do this because I never wanted to hide from them the fact that they were adopted. They have history and heritage which is our job as their parents to preserve, not erase. I am happy that the birth city on the Texas certificates will read the actual city in Russia of their birth. Samuel had his second ear drum reconstruction surgery. This will be a long process, but I am confident that his hearing will be completely restored over the next year or so.

December we celebrated Joshua's 18th birthday. I still find it hard to believe that my baby, who I rocked to sleep in what seems just yesterday is already considered an adult. I use that term loosely because I too used to be 18. Miss Amanda passed her driving test by the skin of her teeth to get her permit. Now the begging begins for her to be my official chauffeur. I will celebrate the day when she can drive away SAFELY on her own. We also celebrated Tommy's birthday rockin at the AC/DC concert. It really was awesome! In all the concerts we have been to (and it's a lot) they put on the best show!

It really has been an amazing year for us. We are truely blessed with our family. We are looking forward to a busy 2009 with Joshua's graduation from high school in May, our two week family vacation scheduled for June, my 20th high school reunion in July, they boys starting kindergarden in August, and Amanda driving in October (watch out). I doubt we will adopt again...although I received a photo of 12 year old, Sasha, who is living in an orphanage in the Ukraine. He desprately needs a home and has just become availble for adoption. So what's stopping me??? $30,000 that's what. Isn't it a shame... he needs a family, we would love to have him in ours but it's not that easy. I just don't understand why it can't be some court costs, and one trip over to bring him home. Here is Sasha's photo if you or anyone you know has the desire to change the life of this little boy. Normally, pictures are not available and your agency choses which child is the best fit for you, however this boy is being hosted by a single parent here in Austin. Sasha will return home next week. The Ukraine will not allow single parents to adopt.

Thanks for hanging in there. It's a year of wonderful memories for me and it's like reliving them today as I write this last entry for 2008. Here is to the best year ever........

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wrapping up Christmas

2008-12-30T17:55:00.001-06:00

Since we are about to embark on a new year, one of my resolutions is to create a blog to keep all our friends and family updated on Samuel & Carter. So many of you were instrumental in helping us get our boys home. I can't thank you enough for your physical as well as emotional help during the long and difficult process.

Christmas was wonderful this year as it was Carter's very first one. His first ornament, first look at Santa, and first time to get so many presents. He really enjoyed tearing into all the gifts including ours. Samuel has finally adjusted to having a brother. He was certainly jealous at first, however he now seems happy to have someone to play with, fight with and share a room with. They both got 4-wheels from Santa, which was hard to explain how they got down the chimney. oops! Sam took off on his like a rocket while Carter had problems steering and pushing the gas. It was then that I realized his lack of fine motor skills. Of course, a week later, he rides with confidence and speed. That didn't take long!

Each year I make a game out of every ones gifts with a bonus to be won. It started many years ago when I suspected that the kids were peaking in their presents. So each year I label the gifts in some kind of theme. This keeps them from knowing which presents are theirs. This year I named half the presents names of states and the other half names of capitals. Of course you have to be very organized to remember who is what state and who is what capital. I announced my idea on Christmas Eve at dinner and gave each of them a study sheet. They had one night to study all the states and capitals if they wanted a chance at winning the $100 bonus. Needless to say no one was very happy with this years game. Josh said that there was no way he was studying over Christmas break. Amanda took out her blackberry, started up the Internet and began studying immediately. Tommy just knew that he had this in the bag and was making plans for his $100. Now the catch was since Carter and Samuel couldn't possibly play, Tommy would be playing for them. They would split the money if he won. Christmas morning each of them was given an answer sheet. When I handed out the gifts I would announce the state or capital on the gift and they needed to write it along with the corresponding answer. Whoever had the most correct won the bonus...oh and did I mention that spelling was the tie breaker? I am happy to announce that Miss Amanda won for the second year in a row. That girl studied half the night and woke up early to study some more. She only missed 2, Tommy missed 11 and Joshua never even tried. It's fun and keeps the kids from snooping each year.

Here is wishing you a very safe and Happy New Year!