Cook Family Adventures

December 2nd part!

2011-04-23T22:46:00.006-04:00

Maria looking cute in her outfit from aunt Lianro!

Trying out the sled... as you can see it did not go over well with Maria... she just laid back and screamed!!!

Anthony really loves his new sisters... although he is sometimes a little overwhelming to them... Maria screams at him and Kimi bites... oh dear!

A dress that MY grandma made for one of my cousins... it barely fit Maria... you could see her booty as she walked away... hahaha!

Christmas Presents! Less than 200 spent on 4 kids! AMAZING!!!

Our PINK Christmas tree!

Our pink fireplace mantel i started a fire with the chimney closed... thus the dark stuff on the marble! ugh!

Chinese outfits for Church! Don't you just LOVE how Kimi has her legs crossed!!!? so cute!
Opening stockings... apparently they spilled a snack! kimi didn't care... she was going to eat every last cracker!

"Reading" to Maria on the potty!

Putting together a puzzle of the world!

December

2011-04-23T21:53:00.017-04:00

First day home!

Gifts from China...
Kimi trying the stairs... she was worried, but she made it! we taught both girls to go down the stairs right away...

The boys trying out their new "Tai Ji swords" they collapse into themselves... don't worry... they are not real... although still a little dangerous in the hands of a 3 and 5 year old! :)

Getting a nap with daddy... they missed him so much!
Our meal setup currently! haha!

Trying out the snow for the first time! Neither girl was real thrilled with it! :)

The boys always LOVE it!

Maria was really NOT happy with it! then Jerry let go of her...
and she face planted into the snow! Oh dear! she was SUPER NOT happy!

ya' like Jerry's Russian hat!? got that in Kazakhstan the first trip. He enjoys looking funny!

Maria wore some of Alex's Kazakh tights!

We had to go to the grocery store eventually... lucky for me jerry didn't have any jobs right away and was able to go with us!

They're a mess!

maria has mastered the "cell phone" play

Maria turned 2!!! So i did a photoshoot of her on her birthday... well... when i dowloaded them to my computer... they were all gone! I cried! lucky for us we had some cake left so i put the candle back on the next morning at breakfast and started over!

she can be silly...

this is exhausting...

Of course i had a to try a few of Kimi... she is so hard to shoot!

But i love this one!

Maria trying out the potty!
The day after Maria's birthday is Anthony's birthday! I made him cupcakes... lemon with raspberry frosting, yummy!
so cute!!!

aaaaarrrrrrg!

This is how Anthony eats everything... he always wants to eat the "topping" first... we are still working on that! :)

First week at church!

Birthday!
Birthday!
Took her forever to pick a present!

trying a quick photo of the four... yeah that's not working...

that either...
now we are talking!
fridge farm...

Attempts at a "Christmas picture" It became Chinese New Year's picture!

This is the one we finally chose!

a nice picture of me with my honey! 13 years married!

November

2011-04-23T21:45:00.001-04:00

Much was done in November... for example... plant 411 garlics... Alex turned 5... went to China...

the boys tested out the headbands i made for the girls!

We went to the airzoo for Alex's b-day... always fun! It was a beautiful day, too!

On the way home from the airzoo! love how his leg is up on his other one! so cute!!

Even Alex fell asleep!

We had cake with Grandma and Grandpa Cook!!

And Anthony modeled his pjs from his girl cousin! heehee

October

2010-11-07T06:54:00.012-05:00

This is often what is all over the livingroom... seems like thousands of them!!

So Alex suddenly had a loose tooth and lost it 3 days later! I couldn't believe it! I was expecting him to be at least 6... not 4!! You can kind of see the tooth hole on the bottom...
Being Monkeys!

These beautiful Cosmos in the fall!!! I love these flowers!

Hiking in our woods! Of course sticks in hand, whacking at anything they can!

Our tallest tree in the orchard this year! This thing really grew!!! It is a Pluot. I cross between a plum and an apricot. Should be good in a couple years!

Those lovely Cosmos again, in the sunset light.

Anthony on his first trek to the shop all by himself!! He's getting so grown up and secure. It makes me happy!

Speaking of grown up... Alex is learning to vacuum! He was getting under the refrigerator. He had already been doing the floor in the kitchen!

Then he wanted to try the livingroom. The livingroom needs it everyday when we are burning wood in the fireplace. He did a good job, although the vacuum is a little big for him to maneuver.
We found this stray broccoli growing in the garden!!! I have never seen such beautiful broccoli!!!
Isn't that amazing!!

Alex still trying out the battery quad... he's getting a little big... as in it has a harder time carrying his 45 pounds over Anthony's 40!

Raspberry is getting bigger... She hangs out under the boys' chairs... like a dog... to clean up any crumbs she can find! haha!

How can i resist this adorable picture!

Mini photoshoot!!

The tooth... already coming back in, FAST!!!

Anthony and his teeth brushing skills!

Yet ANOTHER photoshoot... how can i help it! They are so cute!!!

Something about the hands on the hips... they both do it all the time! So funny!

Trying out the girls' chairs... Maria's will be turning to face backwards when we get home, but until then they will face forward in case the boys need to use them.

Bonnie brought the girls some little outfits and Anthony was more than willing to try Kimi's on... He filled it out completely... haha! Kimi weighs 10 pounds less than him but is the same height so i am sure this will be baggy on her, but it should be the right length! Isn't he hilarious!!!!

September

2010-11-07T06:32:00.014-05:00

Our Letters Seeking Confirmation for Wei JiaYi and Yang HengRan!!!!!
Finally some official things to sign so we can get our girls! Its been so long!!! We started to adopt Alex and Kimi from Kazakhstan in 2005!!! After Kazakhstan changed their laws no longer allowing the adoption of two unrelated in 2006, we applied to China and were logged in the China system August 8, 2006. Then we brought home Alex and Anthony within two years. After waiting in the Non-Special-Needs "line" in China, we finally felt God calling us to switch to the Special Needs Program!! We are so glad we did!

The boys are very excited about bringing sisters into the family! Life will change, no doubt!

We found car seats that fit side by side! Aren't they cute!!? The boys get to set in them for a while, try them out, you know.

The Race Quad, that's for sale? Anyone want to race in the Baja 1000? Its ready for you!! It can go 110mph. heehee

A little photoshoot!

I LOVE this little set of photos... I really don't know what the boys were talking about, but they were being silly for sure... and cute!

Isn't he just gorgeous! How in the world is he mine!!!?

I can't believe i have two of them!!!

The boys...

Unfortunately i am not above bribery... once in a while.

Raspberry... she came back... she was almost eaten by our friends' dog... so here she is. She's sucha sweet kitten, she purrs all the time and is sooo happy to see us when we have been gone. She especially seems to love me.

We took a little trip to a big playground by a lake... i had to try to get some photos before they started playing.

The boys moved into their new room. They were sooooo excited! The bunk beds were Jerry's when he was a kid, so they think that is so very cool! We didn't buy mattresses right away... instead we brought the crib mattresses in and they slept on those for a while... Anthony frequently rolled off... that way he had a couple levels before hitting the floor! haha! Anthony sleeps on the bottom and Alex on the top.

Just because they looked to stinkin' cute before church!!

During the Children's story at church with their little friend Andrew! So cute!!

Of course we picked Apples this year... except we picked them off the ground! We found a nice guy who let us glean! We got about 10 bushels for $60!!!

We filled the back of the Sequoia up to the window. That was 10 bushels!!! That is A LOT of apples!!!

The apple peeler, corer, slicer in action!! heeheehee! We canned 140 quarts of applesauce and froze about 8 pies or so. Plus we ate a bunch of fresh apples!

we were going through and listing things on Craigslist that we don't need and would rather have money for... like the wetsuits... the boys thought it would be funny to try them on!!!

This final picture is for April... thanks for these shirts... they sure are appropriate! Just look at them!!!

August

2010-11-07T06:29:00.005-05:00

Anthony came back from a week vacation to Tennessee with Grandma and Grandpa... He jumped on the quad and rode off! I am not sure where he suddenly got the skill, i am thinking because he is more "experienced" now.

I froze corn... lots of it! some friends of ours grew a ton of it, and let us pick as much as we needed.

This came out of the garden... ONE day.

Playing at the playground at our church's Annual Corn Roast.

Good grief! Could he get any cuter and funnier!!!?

We also harvested potatoes! Lots of them!!! About 4-5 bushels of them!
Another slow month in the photo department around here. But we did get permission from China to adopt our TWO girls!!!

July

2010-11-07T06:21:00.008-05:00

Seeing if the battery quad can carry both of them.

Looking cute in "Cradle Roll" Class at church!

Photo Shoot Time!!!! Anthony finally gets to wear the "Big Brother" shirt. This was just after we found Maria. However he can't wear it for long since he is quite a bit bigger that Alex was at this age.

VBS time! It was Alex's first year. The theme was Egypt and how God made us. How amazing our bodies are!
Anthony got to attend a couple nights.
I pretty cone flower...
After the Garlic was harvested and dried. I forgot to count how many we actually had, but its a bunch as you can see. We had four kinds survive the winter. Chesnok Red, Russian Red, German Porcelain, and Music.

Some of the pretty Zinnias from the garden, These plants get a lot bigger than i remember, next year i will have to plant them in a different place than in my herb garden!
Some of the Basil. I dried a little of it, but most of it was made into pesto and frozen.

The farmer who rents our field made the alfalfa into those giant rolls of Hay... well... one rolled down the hill and took out the corner fence post... ugh! we had to replace it, concrete and post, and re-stretch the fence

One day, i heard Anthony come out of his room after a nap... but he never came past me... i went to see where he was and found him like this!! Haha!

Apparently i didn't take a million pictures in July... We were busy trying to get two girls... what can i say!?

Miracles! God is Amazingly Good!!!!

2010-10-13T11:36:00.002-04:00

Sorry if this is a repeat for some of you... it was just too good not to share here, too!

Yesterday the most wonderful miracle happened to us! We almost always file an extension on our taxes... don't ask me why, habit, maybe? Well, our CPA called to ask how much of the refund to deposit into our HSA account, since the amount of the refund exceeded the limit on the HSA. The whole reason I wanted it deposited there, was i thought it wouldn't be that big of a refund, since we didn't make much last year and we didn't pay much in taxes. I mean i was expecting less than a thousand dollars. But God had other plans! Some of my friends know that i disagree with the stimulus packages that our government administration has been doing, but today God worked something for "good to them that love God to them who are called according to His purpose" Romans 8:28. Because when i asked how much our refund was... the answer was something over 9000 DOLLARS!!!!!!!! He explained why... and i was just stunned!!! After i hung up with him, I just started bawling!!!! I had to call Jerry of course, who was elated, too!! We now have 24,000, we only need a few more thousand!!! Woohooooo!!! I never even dreamed up this one, and i have thought of a lot of weird scenarios!!! This is so amazing! I am overwhelmed!!! This video, Feelin' So Fly by Toby Mac, describes how i feel!

Also last night i sold my scuba gear! $400 more!!!! Woohooooo!

We Are Going to CHINAAAAAA!!!!!!!

2010-10-12T09:41:00.003-04:00

Oh YAY!!!! I can't believe it! We are finally making plans. We have all the necessary paperwork and signatures!! Our agency just has to make our Consulate appointment before we leave China then travel arrangements can be made... can you believe our agency makes all our travel arrangements? I think that is amazing, they even send in for our Visas! We did all that stuff ourselves with Kazakhstan.

So you can follow our journey on our China blog here. Blogger is blocked from China, so i will be posting using email! I hope that works ok! Blogger is also blocked in Kazakhstan, and my friend Jacquie has figured it out and it works fine, so it should work ok for us too. Yay!!! I can hardly wait to get a hold of those girlies of mine!

June Gardens

2010-09-09T22:28:00.005-04:00

In our back field, the farmer who rents it planted the coolest combination of things this spring, alfalfa, clover, peas and wheat. It was very pretty and just a week after i took some pictures of it, he mowed it down to feed to his dairy cows.

Meanwhile the Potatoes where doing fabulously!! Not nearly as many potato bugs this year as last, but we did some serious rotating.

The garlic grew nicely! I was very excited about the garlic...last year i killed it all for some reason! The little spindly stuff in front here... spinach... that didn't even have a chance to grow... it got hot so fast here this summer that it just came up and immediately bolted!
A cabbage family bed. We grew a few broccoli and cauliflower this year, too.

The cage we made for the peas to grow up, this cage can be moved every year to the next bed in the rotation set. it will fit in 12 of the 15 beds we have here at the house. It worked VERY WELL!

The spinach in this bed did better, it was a more heat tolerant type and it is situated where it gets shade by 4pm. The garlic was amazing. so exciting!

The garden cat... in front of the first onions i have grown from seed!

Some Kaz Cabbage! We can't wait for them to be ready to eat, we love cabbage at our house.

One of our little broccolis! When we cut off this head, tiny little ones grew from the sides!
Some of the beautiful potatoes growing away!

This is my herb garden bed... there is a small pond in the middle... the frogs have moved in and make lots of noise! haha
The potatoes also grew taller that i ever imagined they could! Alex is 44 inches tall!

Grow little pepper, grow!! Our first pepper was a Tam Jalapeno!

We bought a large tomato plant from a nursery, so that we would have tomatoes, early.

This year we have 33 garden beds... some are big and some are small, but they were all filled this year!!!

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Posts...

2010-09-09T21:41:00.010-04:00

Now that things have settled down a little from all the excitement, I am going to try to put some pictures on here of the boys from the summer! My my my, am I behind!

By the way, we have received our Letters of Confirmation for the girls and we should have travel approval in about 4 weeks, so travel (Lord willing) in about 6 weeks. Yay!!! also... we still have our fabulous motorhome for sale... hint... hint.

The first weekend in June we went to Nebraska for my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary party It was just a close family dinner at a banquet hall. It was very nice and so much fun just to spend some time there... Grandpa took the boys fishing first thing the next day! The boys all LOVED it, as you can see from the pics!

Anthony got to go first, since he was the youngest...

Then Alex... and finally Colin, after they got a small lesson... the boys still screamed like "sissies" when the fish came flying at them from the water!!! It was soooo funny to watch. heeheee! They were all scared of the fish touching them. silly nuts!

When we got back to the house... we found Erica taking a nap... on the floor.

The next morning... Grandpa took Jerry and the boys for a quick ride on the boat... before the lunch!

Of course, first thing when we got to the hall we had to take photos... of everyone who came... This is my mom and 3 of my siblings... one brother is missing. Heather, Mom, Billy, Christel, April from left to right.

Not sure what happened to grandpa and Anthony in this one... but everyone else looks happy. hahaha! These are 4 of their 6 great-grand-children.

On the way back to the house for Dessert we had to stop at the playground for a few minutes of goofing-off!
so cute!!!

Then a special little photo-shoot in the side yard at Grandma and Grandpa's! These four are so hilarious together... haha the two blond ones belong to my youngest sister, April... Heather's kids, who are in high school, couldn't come.

A little choking and poking...

Beautiful girl...

Then Anthony zonked... out in the grass...

Meanwhile, Jerry was scanning and inputting all kind of info into the "Family Tree" This is just one of hundreds of photos that he scanned in over the weekend! He was TIRED when he was done!!

The rest of the month was not quite as exciting, i guess as all that packed into 4 days! (other than our referral of Maria, of course!)

We spent a lot of time working on the gardens and maintaining equipment and cleaning the shop. Jerry made the boys some "blocks" with left over wood he had, and they built an amazing tower, that i was quite impressed with!

Alex learned how to look and work like a man all of a sudden!!! oh my!!! so cute and he was dying to try the power-washer a little!

Anthony got to ride in the Takeuchi, which he calls the uchi-uchi.

Of course we had pop-ice a few times...

I will put my gardening pictures in another post very soon... i can hardly wait to show off all our plants and produce! Although i will admit, i haven't taken as many pictures of it this summer with all the excitement surrounding the girls referrals and stuff... but i still have a bunch to share!

We Have PA!!!

2010-08-24T08:08:00.007-04:00

Our Pre-Approval (PA) was posted over the weekend and the CCAA actually called our Liaison in China over the weekend to tell her. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is OFFICIAL!!! we are going to be the parents of two girls!!! Travel approvals were received by our agency and one for our Maria was not among them, so we deduce that China will be holding our TA until they have Kimi's ready, too. That is good to know! Otherwise we we have been traveling within 2-3 weeks possibly!! That is so exciting to know that the process moves that fast! Its only been 2 months since our match with Maria! That's amazing!

From now on all our updates unless they are BIG NEWS will be on our China blog. There's already some new stuff over there... http://cookfamilyadventuresinchina.blogspot.com

There will be two LESS orphans in the world.

The Big News!

2010-08-18T15:34:00.005-04:00

So some of you know, if you went to our China blog, that we were requesting two, yes TWO little girls from China. Last week, China told us that we could lock the file for a second little girl!!! We are so excited, we can hardly believe it! We will have TWO daughters!!! So I wanted to share updated info. There have been a few changes... as in names.

Heng Ran YangSoon will be

KimberLei Anne

and

Jia Yi Wei

Soon will be
Maria Noelle

You can read about Maria (Jia Yi) here. Today i sent them both care packages and hope that we will get updated information soon. We can hardly wait to see how they have changed since the last updates. Maria's last update was in November of last year (9 months ago) and KimberLei's last update was one year and 10 months AGO!! She was only a year and a half old, now she is three and a half!

Kimi (Heng Ran) was born March 18, 2007 and was brought to the orphanage at 8 months old! It was then that they diagnosed her with "cerebral palsy ?" literally that is the diagnosis, with the question mark and all! Her reports don't exactly jive with cp but i guess we will see what is going on with her when we get there. The reports said when she arrived, she did nothing, no talking, no playing, her development was VERY much behind, after they arranged for someone to take care of her especially in the orphanage she improved and has become "an outgoing pretty girl." At one year and seven months she could say some words and could walk with help. She likes to go out doors for walks and smile, play games and listen to music, she likes to clap to music. She's apparently a "moderate sleeper." She was 33.5 inches tall and weighed only 21 pounds. SKINNY!!!! But she had 20 teeth! That's a lot of teeth! Although in another place it said she had 16 teeth. I am thinking the 16 is the right number.

Her Chinese name: Heng means without end and is a boy's name, it is her first name and what many children from that orphanage are also named.
Yang is her "last name" it means masculine, or poplar tree or to propagate... hummm.
Ran however is definitely a girl's name and is a Japanese name. It means Water Lily. How very appropriate! We love water lilies and have them growing in our water garden in front of the house.

She is from the Hunan Province, Hengyang City. and has lived there in Foster care for the last year and a half. But lived in the orphanage for 11 months before that. We are hopeful that we will get to visit her city, as typically adoptive parents stay in the larger city of Changsha. Although Hengyang is no small city, i read the other day that there are 7 MILLION people there! That is HUGE! We are looking forward to seeing Hunan, it looks BEAUTIFUL from the pictures we have seen! I can't wait to photograph.

There was certainly not as much info on her as on Maria's documents, but we are very happy about her and hope to put a smile on that VERY sad face! And some meat on her skinny little arms and legs!!! We also can't wait to see some hair! Goodness sakes!

I leave you with a couple more pictures of her.

One More Day...

2010-08-07T16:16:00.002-04:00

We have one more day for the sale! So far we have sold two thousand dollars!!! Praise God!!! What's crazier is we still have A LOT of stuff left... it hardly looks like anything's gone!!! just crazy!
We did have someone steal something the first morning! Something fairly expensive... $20 or so... we couldn't believe it! However... we're ok... we prayed for them.

So we are still praying for the sale of some of the bigger items! So please pray with us!

Countdown to Sale!!

2010-08-03T08:24:00.000-04:00

2 DAYS until we open for sales! We are busy busy getting ready over here and have some GREAT stuff to sell! Tons of Antiques!! Furniture, a Motorhome, race quad, books, clothes, a 24ft swimming pool, tools, snow blower, and on and on!!! TONS of stuff! We are going to have a Lemonade stand with cookies, and we might even have some produce to sell! We are excited to see what God does with this sale!!!

Amazingly Fast!!!!

2010-07-13T17:38:00.002-04:00

Our Letter of Confirmation is already here in the USA!!! Our agency will be mailing it to us to sign and send back!! After that we will receive Travel Approval in about 6-8 weeks. Then we travel 2-4 weeks after that!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!! China here we come!!!!!

So we have a very intense/long story going on surrounding China, and I only posted it on My China Blog. It is a long story and it is my personal journal about our China Adoption. But it is one HUGE prayer request. And it is going to be an AMAZING story, no doubt! But there are many unknowns and possible heart break in the future so it was hard for me to decide to share it with everyone. I am sure some people are going to criticize us, but we don't care, we are doing what God is calling us to do. I can not wait to find out what He has in store for our family! We would appreciate prayers from you all for our daughters to get home to us as soon as possible!!

We Have PA!!!

2010-07-07T14:53:00.003-04:00

On Friday, July 2 we received our Pre-Approval for Baby Jia Yi!!! In just 5 days!!! Yay!!! I guess that means that China has acknowledged that we have requested her and so far are ok with us getting her. I am sure that now they will have to go over all our documents and make sure that they really think that we are ok for Jia! The Letter of Confirmation (LOC) could be a few weeks to a couple months away. I have noticed that a lot of people call it an LOA so I guess it is also a Letter of Acceptance or Approval or Affirmation, maybe? We are waiting for our updated Homestudy to approve us for "Special Needs" children and then we can send that in to USCIS (basically Homeland Security) so that the US can approve us (once again) to bring orphans into the US.

Since we received our match with Jia Yi, we have been working on preparing for a fund raiser sale. We are planning it for August 5, 6 and 8th. The 8th will be our LID-versary of 4 years in China. Won't that be neat when we have all our funds raised as a celebration!!!? We of course will be advertising a bunch and fasting and praying a lot for someone to come and purchase our Motorhome, the Baja1000 ready race quad and whatever else it will take to bring Baby Jia Yi home! My friend Bonnie's youngest kids have offered to bring over their Lemonade stand and sell Lemonade and cookies (i think), We are selling tons of books from our library and boxes of scrapbook supplies... I have only kept my absolute favorite items. I am making homemade cards to sell to. We should have all your normal items like clothes, toys, and probably some tools, antique furniture (our first donation, from Jerry's parents), crystal dishes and hopefully some garden produce as well. If you have any other ideas of things we could make to sell or if anyone has anything they would like to donate to the "Cause" we would LOVE it and be forever grateful!!!

This adoption stuff is not cheap and since we started this journey to a daughter in China the estimated cost has gone up by at least eight thousand dollars! Goodness! But seriously the money is not a problem for God to take care of... its our hearts that seem to be the problems these days... so many people have said to me that they would love to adopt but it is just too much money... kind of a bad excuse, since everything is God's in the first place. And what is a little money in exchange for a child growing up in a family and learning to love Jesus like we do!? The Bible tells us to take care of the Orphans and the Widows... God has put it heavily on OUR hearts and we are obeying... and couldn't be happier about it. Alex and Anthony are the most amazing little boys I could ever ask for. I wouldn't want to imagine life without them. They are MY children through and through!!!

Today the boys went with grandma and grandpa and some of their cousins to a water park... Anthony's first time... it will be neat to see what he thought of it! I know Alex loves it, he is such a fish!!! Anthony was sure NOT worried about driving away from me today in G & G's motorhome for their day trip! So cute! Next week they will both be heading to TN for a week long "vacation" at their cousins' house in said motorhome! Goodness... i will be kid-less for a week!!! Jerry will be home then and we have Tissiana and Travis coming up for a visit this weekend so they weill get us all to themselves for a few days... that has not happened in a long time!!! Scrapbooking... here we come with no little boy interruptions! I think the guys are going to go on a little quad-ing excursion for a couple days even. We will miss the boys, but it will be refreshing not to have the responsibility of them. wow! It will be Anthony's first time away from us overnight. They'll be getting practice for when we go to China!

Hopefully i can get some pictures posted from the last month of the boys soon. I have some cute ones. Maybe we will have other exciting news to share about Kimi, like an update and new pictures.

Jia Yi Wei

2010-06-29T14:32:00.003-04:00

Jia Yi Wei

will soon be

Maria Noelle!!!

We can not believe that after 5.5 years we have finally seen our first baby Girl!! Her file is securely "locked" for us and we have applied to China for her. We now wait for our Pre-Approval (PA), after that a Letter of Confirmation (LOC) and finally Travel Approval (TA). This should all last 2-4 months-ish, if you know what i mean! haha!

Her Chinese name: Jia (Beautiful) Yi (Happy) Wei (Brilliant/Valuable) Wei is the name that all children from her orphanage are given (think Last name), Jia is the name that all the girls there are given and Yi is her personalized name. So far we know the other two names describe her... we are just waiting to see if she will be happy! We hope so!!

She is in Tianjin City Children's Welfare Institute. Tianjin is in the NorthEast near Beijing.Tianjin is one of 4 Municipalities in China... Basically it is Classified as a City and it is the size of a small province... I mean 12 million people live there and there are Counties within this "City"! Some of the babies live in Foster Homes, but as far as we know Maria does not.

She was born December 15, 2008... so she is just one year younger than Anthony!!! He was born on the 16th! go figure... Maybe someday i will get a Spring baby! haha! Our whole family's birthdays are in the winter! So she is about 18 months old right now... but the info we have on her is from 11 months old! So we have requested an update, but we may hire someone to call and get an update. Because apparently CCAA doesn't always like to get updates done.

She was about 15 lbs and 28 inches tall. Kind of small. When I talked to our International Adoption Doctor, she classified her as "Failure to Thrive". Guess why she is listed on the Special Needs Waiting Child list... the diagnosis... Lagging Motor Development!!!!! What!!? And she was on the list for over a month and no one snatched her up!!!! I can't believe it! Alex and Anthony both had worse things on their medical reports! Hopefully the update will tell us more about what she is able to do at this age. She was not standing or walking or sitting at 11 months, but was crawling so that must be why they classified her as SN. Who knows!

Apparently she is a deep sleeper, sucks her finger, she crawls, uses her index finger and thumb to pick things up, laughs out loud, responds to facial expressions of adults, active and closest to a caregiver. There are some other things, she knows her name and responds... can hear and see. Her favorite toy is a rattle and is happy playing with toys. She had 2 teeth. Loves juice! Holds her milk bottle TIGHTLY! (that sounds like the boys) Her hands are "powerful" the report says! haha!

It also says that she will fall asleep in her caretaker's arms after drinking her bottle... so it sounds like someone has time for her! Oh! I hope so! She cries when she is hungry... Sounds like she is a lot about food, like the boys were. We can deal with that!

I almost forgot... I joined a yahoo group that advocates for the special needs children on this list... I was browsing through the pictures last week and saw Jia... The first thing i said to myself was "she is wearing the boys' pjs!" Alex had a pair of these pjs and then Anthony wore them! Alex says that we will have to get her some girl ones. She definitely should fit in around here... with all these tool pjs!

We are praying for another little girl that was on the list who was missing an entire arm... If they would let us, we would get both of them!! But we are told only one at a time!! We hope she will find a family VERY soon! Update on her... she has a family!

No Match...

2010-06-22T18:27:00.003-04:00

So apparently this list was full of boys. I hope that a lot of them find homes soon!!! Our Agency said that this was a really hard matching process this time... problems with the website and not sure what else... when i was chatting with Lindsay i was in the grocery store and the cell phone was being sketchy so i couldn't understand everything she was telling me, but i think i got the idea anyways. So they were unable to find us a match this time. There's always the "off" chance that Kimi will come back on the list after being "looked" at by another family, but i am not counting on that! New lists usually come out every month and a half or so... I hope the agency was at least able to match some of the others waiting on the list. She told me about a little girl that did not meet our match requirements that has both arms and legs that are deformed... Lindsay thought that she was a little beyond what we thought we could take on at the moment, and she was right, but i am glad that she mentioned her to me... we are going to pray for this little one to get a family soon... it makes me so sad to think of this baby being ready for a family and not getting one right away to help her! If we had more money available right now we might consider her, but as it is, we are going to have a sale to raise money to go.

So... its not like we aren't used to waiting...

By the End of This YEAR!!!?

2010-06-21T15:11:00.001-04:00

Finally some news to share about our China adoption. Today I posted this on my China blog, but for those of you who don't read that one, i thought i would cross post. :)

FREAKING OUT!!! (in a good way!!)

In August, we will have been logged in for 4 years!! Which means we started the process to adopt a baby girl a year and a half before... We were in process with Kazakhstan for a year to adopt Alex and Kimi when Kaz changed some rules about adopting unrelated children at the same time... so we applied to China and good grief has it been a long time coming...

I don't regret any of it, because we now have Anthony and will have the "Kimi" that God planned for us. As well as so many of the other great things that have come from this long wait. Many of you know that for us... when God calls us to adopt we jump on it! And in the last couple weeks we have been "hearing" God call us to finally switch to the Waiting Child program with China. Many people call it the Special Needs program, but i have not liked the response that i usually get when i say it. We filled out a form last week listing special needs that we will consider if given the opportunity. Some of course are very minor, but some are not so much... although none of them have life long health concerns. Missing limbs is an example... most likely she would be perfectly healthy otherwise. Then there are things as minor as a birthmark! For a few days i found myself quite consumed with the thought that her body might not be perfect and how that will affect her life and i worried about myself seeing her as special needs when she was my daughter... it is hard to explain, but then i think i settled with the fact that she will be "just" our Kimi!!!! FINALLY, after all this time.

Our Agency told me that they would call me before a new listing of Children were put on the CCAA's site. Our Agency, you see will log into that site and "MATCH" us with a child, then send over the info... two days later i saw on the RQ site that a new SN (special needs) list was to com out on the 22nd! Yay! Then when the Agency called to talk with me about it, Lyndsay said that they only have a few people right now waiting for matches and that most likely they will be able to match us, too... talk about my heart stopping... or leaping out of my chest... something!! Oh my word... i have been able to think of nothing else since (hardly)! The 22 in China is actually the night of the 21st here!!!!!!!!!!!!! So Monday night some one may be matching us with Kimi!!!! I can hardly breath!!!

THAT IS TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my!!!! All day long, my heart has been freaking out!! I can hardly function! I just had to share with all my bloggy friends! Please Pray for God's hand to lead our "Match-Maker" tonight!!!! I can hardly breath normal! Good thing i have a ton of stuff to do today and really shouldn't even be blogging, but how can i resist!

Our Camping Trip to Mansfield...

2010-05-17T00:55:00.000-04:00

So we took a trip to Missouri to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds' Spring planting festival. We try to go every year and this was our 3rd year. We took the tent instead of the motorhome (less work) and more flexibility in where you can drive. Naturally it was rainy when we got there... although not as bad as some of the stuff we drove through on the way... we put the tent up very quick, if i say so my self and got every thing inside, beds, food, clothes. Then it started to rain harder... we ate some sandwiches and got into bed... it poured until we fell asleep.

In the morning it was beautiful and we had some sunshine. We went to visit the horses that the campsite owners have and had some breakfast... then the kids played a little outside, climbing the tree behind the tent and stuff... We also noticed these gross slugs slithering across our tent... i think we found 3 of them.

Of course we took a few photos! Couldn't resist!

Those cute little feet hanging down... He always wants to climb trees (We called him monkey when he was little because he tried to climb up us) but we don't have any climbing tree around the house... all the limbs are 10 feet up or so. But this little tree was perfect! Even Anthony tried climbing a little and Jerry of course! haha! Oh! their pants were rolled up because the grass was still so wet and we didn't want their pant legs to be soaking!

Finally we got in the truck and decided to drive around and explore and make our way to Len's house for a visit. (Len is the guy we are the soil distributor for) But on the way into town we had see a caboose at a park-like spot, so we decided to go see that first. They discovered this nest of eggs a few minutes after they got there! What beautiful eggs!!! The mommy bird was squaking and tweeting away, sitting on top of the caboose!!!

The boys played a bit on it, they pretended to drive of course and made all kinds of noise!

Then we started for a drive through countryside toward Len's. We took every back road we could find that was sort of headed in that direction... The poor gps, it kept rerouting us and i am sure if it could think would have thought we were idiots! But we found some beaustiful things along the way! They have these streams all over... and most of them are made so that if they get too full they just run over the roads, or they run over the road anyways... ha! But so lush, green and clean smelling, it was so refreshing exploring!

I don't think the boys could run out of rocks here to throw!!! But they would try if they were there longer! The water was sooooo clear! and beautiful!!

While Jerry and Alex explred an area that Anthony couldn't cross and i didn't want to go through the poison ivy... Anthony and i did a mini photo shoot. (are you surprised!?)

Dirty jeans and all...

Oh! and he threw some more rocks! he would poick them up on one side and throw them over the edge on the other side!! So funny! We were here a good 20 minutes and we never saw another car!

When Alex got back from exploring (and finding a dead armadillo) i made him pose for me too!!! Can't you believe it!!!?

He was thrilled...

This one is for April, my sister...

We saved a turtle form the road along the way and then we found these lazy cows... They looked so funny sitting down in the grass... their little ears sticking up...

The next day was the show... and it was perfect!!!! no rain... and sunshine and some clouds! Last year it rained all day... and had been raining all week... it was a MESS!!! But this year was great!!!

We need one of these old gadgets... you put the dried corn in and it takes all the kernals off when you crank the handle! We dried corn last year to make corn meal with... it is so sore on the fingers to get off the cob when it is dry!!! This thing was cool! We will have to keep our eyes open for one!

Then the guy demonstrating would dump the kernels in hear after blowing away the junk... and this would grind it into cornmeal. We use quite a bit of cornmeal at our house for some reason... we make corn bread a lot... everybody loves it and we can buy 25 pound bags of organic cornmeal locally... so this would be great to use.

Alex picked up the corn kernels from the ground at the previous display and put then in a bags... then he fed them to the chicken that they have. We met a family as we were waiting in line to enter and we saw them again over at the chicken section... so Alex shared his corn with the boy...

Anthony fed the grass to the chickens with the little girl of the family. These kids were so cute! I think they were Amish... the little girl kept trying to squeeze Anthony's cheeks!

On our way home we saw this creepy cloud... it was moving so fast and it went right over and kept on blowing and keeping its shape...

Anthony was sleeping one of the times we stopped at a rest area on the way home.... Alex convinced Jerry to "play" with him for a few minutes at the rest area playground! so funny!
We bought a few seeds and met the Majerus Family that makes the Clyde's Garden planners. That was fun and they are such a beautiful (inside and out) family! We went to a few classes, one on composting, it was my favorite this year. Although we did learn in another class that there are about 450 named types of garlics in the world! goodness! we only have 5! We bought some purple basil and talked to the guy who we bought a bluebird house from our first year. We looked at ALLLL the chickens and were scared half to death by a crazy donkey!!! They are soooo loud! Alex liked to watch the blacksmith at work in his shop. We bought a couple rhubarb plants, some sweet potato starts and my favorite parsley called Forrest Green. I think we walked around every thing at least twice. It was a great day and over way too soon!!

Someday when we have ready the Little House on the Prarie books with the kids we will take them to Laura Ingalls Wilder's house... it is there in Mansfield and i am sure will be neat for the kids to see... when they care!

The trip went way too fast, though. We had to spread the tent back out when we got home so it could dry... we woke up at 3:30 in the morning... we just couldn't sleep... the boys were both sleeping with us and there was a train the kept coming by a few miles away, but we could hear it... so we whispered that we were ready to go... to we packed everything up in an hour in the dark!!! and Headed home!! We were some tired puppies when we got home... i mean what kind of freak wakes up at 3:30 in the morning to take down their tent... Us, i guess...

More Alex...

2010-05-16T23:06:00.003-04:00

This kid!!!! Tonight as we sat eating salad out of the garden we were talking about the imax movie we just got in the mail about Texas.

me: mommy used to live in texas, you know...
Alex: and then you moved here?
daddy: mommy moved here to be with daddy, if mommy lived there and daddy here, it wouldn't work very well...
Alex: because you llooove mommy.
daddy: lots! You know some mommies and daddies live apart...
Alex: WHY!?
Daddy: well, sometimes satan makes some mommies and daddies not like each other but when that happens the Bible says to fast and pray.
Alex: what's fasting?
Me: uh, Alex you know what fasting it... you don't eat.
Alex: why can't i fast?
me: because you are too young!
Daddy: fasting helps your body heal and makes your mind clear so you can make good decisions.
Alex: Our government needs to fast because they are not making good choices!! We need to send them a letter and tell them that we have been praying for them to make right choices and they are not so they need to fast.

Alex went on to name names... I can't believe he remembers all these people's names!

Jerry and I were laughing so hard we could hardly breathe!!

You might be adopting from China if......

2010-05-11T22:21:00.001-04:00

...you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years.
...you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways.
...you've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S.
...you know that "waiting for China" has nothing to do with Dillard's or dishes.
...your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #2 or #3 or #4).
...you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime.
...you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl.
...you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big).
...you look twice when you see a lady bug.
...you never know how many days will be in the next month.
...you know that babies come in batches.
...you know people who understand when you talk about 2-day months & 3-day months.
...your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years.
...you know who the Rumor Queen is ... AND ... you don't know who she is.
...you've waited so long, that they checked your fingerprints to see if they changed.
...if...while trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles.
...when you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals...
* You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart*

Alex's Prayers...

2010-05-06T18:28:00.003-04:00

Today he asked what the economy was... he had heard that the economy was in the trash... he wanted to know. He learned that line from a song Jerry found on youtube! I tried to explain to him that the economy was the combination of business and jobs and stores and money... etc. he said oh and then a few minute later this was his prayer, " Dear Jesus, thank you for this day, thank you for my food, please help the senators and congressmen to make the right choices. Please help the people to put their economy papers outside on their doors so everyone can see them. Please help mommy's friend to find a new job, please help me not to be naughty. in Jesus name, Amen!"

This kid is too much!!! He is so hilarious and smart and sweet! He is very faithful in continuing to pray for something you requested... like the friend who needs a job... Alex has been praying everyday for them for about 2 weeks now...

Here's the link in case you want to educate your 4 year old on the economy!!!! hahahaha!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

Smelling Trees

2010-05-06T09:48:00.002-04:00

As we were leaving the tulip park that one day... there were some crab-apple trees by our truck and i could smell the blooms... so i said to the boys "did you guys smell this tree?" Alex was already getting into his seat so he didn't come back to smell, but Anthony ran over to the tree excited to smell it and started sniffing the trunk!!!!! He kills me!!! he is so funny!! He's 2!

Anthony is a mess...

The Orchard

2010-05-06T09:15:00.005-04:00

We received two long boxes, both about 55 pounds each with almost our whole orchard in them!! We were so excited! When the UPS guy showed up Alex ran out asking him if he had our orchard! He said he wasn't sure and then he looked at the box and told Alex they were from a tree place, so probably so!! WOOHOOO!!!

We opened the boxes and looked at every thing! It was so exciting! There were raspberries, loganberries, boysenberries, blackberries, grapes, blueberries, apples, peaches, cherries, plums, apricots, pluots and a hardy kiwi! We ordered these last year so we could get everything we wanted in the orchard. I think a few of our trees from last year died from the deer eating on them ALL summer!!! But those deer are not going to get them this year!!! We have that fabulous 6 foot fence all around it!

Someday those trees will be much taller than the boys... although the boys will be taller too... These trees are the nicest trees... the trunks are so thick and sturdy... not like the flimsy ones we find around here in the garden centers. We are excited to watch them grow and hope they produce fruit as fast as possible! heehee!

Sunday morning we gathered all our equipment we would need to put in a whole orchard in one day!!! Anthony was glad to grab the "long tape measure!" He was so proud of himself... you see usually Alex gets this stuff,because Anthony doesn't know where to find anything... so he was rather tickled with himself!!

We laid every thing out... putting stakes where each bush or tree was supposed to go... then Jerry would drill the hole with the Takeuchi then we would mix in some WeedFreeGardenBed soil and some of the Essential Elements... all mixed with the sandy soil that is there... so it would give them a good start with some organic matter in the soil that will retain a little moisture! Pretty soon we figured out the best system. We put the WFGB soil on top of the ground around where the hole was to be dug... made a hole in the top so Jerry could see where to dig and then he would drill... this put the sandy dirt on top of the soil mix so we used the pitchfork to just sift it into the hole and it would be perfectly mixed up!! The boys liked to help with their shovels!!!!

A hole ready to be mixed. We would lay out a whole row or grouping of trees and then go through and "drill" them all at once, that way we were doing it assembly line style!

It was a little windy so we let all out bags from the mix and the mulch blow into the corner of the orchard to be caught on the fence! Then we could pick them all up at once, which we did in the morning. We planted about 60 things that day!! Finishing at about 10:30 at night! We were some tired puppies!!!
This was about the last bloom from the pink magnolia tree... it smelled sooooo lovely!!

Photo Shoot in Holland

2010-05-01T20:06:00.006-04:00

Seriously... you didn't think i would spend the whole day taking pictures of just FLOWERS!!!

He was getting annoyed with us... there was a dream playground just a little ways away...

He has been sticking his teeth out like this a lot lately!! Silly kid!

I tell him him to look at my camera, right? well... he turns his head to me and then... his eyes go the other way... hahaha!!
He was watching a dog go by...

I saw this tree and the kids groaned... they had to indulge me, before they could go the playground!

Anthony would work with me longer than Alex could handle... so he got quite a few pictures taken...

Tulips!

2010-04-28T22:52:00.009-04:00

Smelling and more smelling... Alex isn't that interested in smelling tulips anymore... or maybe i couldn't catch him with the camera... ?

A town near us named Holland always has Tulip Fest in the Spring... well the tulips were out a week early so we went over after church to see them, without the crowds! It was beautiful... and CHILLY!!!! But it was worth it!

Oh! So beautiful!!!

It's SPRING!!!

2010-04-22T01:49:00.008-04:00

Yay!!! Its April!!! we get to start planting in the garden and tons of flowers start blooming!!! It is my favorite season!

This is what the boys have been spending a lot of time doing lately... getting sandy-dirty!
ok... maybe he misses the snow... I am not sure what he thought was going to happen when he got on, but... nothing did...

Anthony messing with Alex's quad... Anthony is a terrible driver so he spends most of his time pushing his quad around...

These were and always are the first of the "Kazakh" tulips to bloom in the Spring... although as you can see, they got so hot that they only last about a day... their petals open in the warmth and close up at night when it is cool... I am really not sure which kind this is anymore... there are several kinds that were discovered in Kazakhstan up in the mountainous countryside... Greigii, Kaufmann and Schrenkii. I think they are the most unique and beautiful kinds!
I think that all these kinds are the Greigii kind.

I really would like to find even more kinds that came form Kazakhstan originally! These don't dwindle down to nothing year after year like other kinds... these actually spread and get better!

These are Kaufmann Tulips for sure...

My Royal Star Magnolia! So lovely... and it smells heavenly!!

It had the most blooms ever this year... but sadly it usually lasts less that a week... this time we got hail that just beat it up! Usually it is a wind storm... so who knows! But I love it and i am thinking i am going to move it this year to a better spot, where it can spread out more.

The other Magnolia... Which i think i am going to move as well... just got going! It has only ever had one or two blooms on it! it was covered this year! Although the hail didn't help it either!

This is my favorite daffodil ever... so far... it is a double and called Tahiti... maybe it is because we went to Tahiti on our honeymoon sooooo long ago!! I just think it is beautiful!
More of the lovely Tulips... I love how the foliage of these tulips are striped and beautiful too!

Regular tulips... we will see if they make it... last year some critters came and bit them all right off... I am guessing those pesky deers.

Another double daffodil.

The GARLIC!!! Isn't it looking great... I guess i am not too attentive... because i ordered last year a garlic called Mexican... well... none of it made it through the winter... not sure what i was thinking... just maybe it was named because that is where it should grow... the California Early White did not fare so well either... i guess i better stick with the German and Russian kinds!! haha

Alex, cruising around on his bike... he goes so fast that he falls off quite regularly... usually he is not too scraped up...

Alex on the way to Church... So cute with his little Bible... it was daddy's when he was younger... It even has Jerry's name on the front.

This is Anthony "mama!!! beebee beebee!!!!!!" as in he has to pee!!! the P in pee is a cross between a b and p... crazy kid!!!
Well, Alex has crossed over... The other day he assured me that he could drive the lawn mower... so i let him drive it from the shop to the house (about 800 feet) with the trailer full of bags of soil... He was sooo excited and proud!!! Anthony wanted to ride in the trailer, but since it was full of soil this time... we will have to wait for the next time! He had to ride with me in the truck back to the house!By the time he got to the house... this is what he looked like... a little uncomfortable if you ask me... but he would have driven it all day if i would have let him!!

Anthony was yelling, "yay, Ax!! Yay, Ax!!!" and clapping his hands for Alex like crazy!! It was so cute!

He looks like he is sleeping in this one!! haha!

His little foot reaching the pedals. Don't worry... he is not MOWING yet... oh my no!!! Just hauling stuff!

Mister Cool... in his shades!

I think this is the last of the Kaz tulips! I just love these... they have such lovely shapes!!

With my little Kazakh Boy...

These kids just take my breath away!! Oh my!!!

Photo Shoot (& Extras)

2010-04-22T01:21:00.009-04:00

So... Aunt T came to visit... of course we had to do a photo shoot... but good grief it was still cold out! But hopefully we don't look too cold! (oh! Uncle T came too)

I love this family picture! Even though my lens was NOT cooperating! (i need a new one!) I love how we are all holding hands... so there is a massive ball of family hands in the middle!

We haven't had a "couples" picture in sooo long for some reason! But i like this one a lot!

Anthony is a mess... so stinkin' cute!!!

He was only doing what he does best... hands in the pocket all the time... i guess he thinks he's cool or something! :)

Some tickle time with Anthony... Alex was not interested in photos today... he had other distractions...

We finally convinced him to come over for a bit... but was complaining that he wanted to play with his friends and that he was cold! He's still cute...

Then he decided to "work it" a little... most of it looked ridiculous! Crazy kid... but there were a few irresistible shots!

Such a goober!

I LOVE this one!

So we changed their shirts to some matchy-matchy ones... and then they got goofy on us!!!

Anthony's it too stiff to really do it... So afraid of falling that he gets stiff and then he does fall over! Silly guys!

We asked them to jump...
They were giving each other "five!" Maybe it hurt... ?
Finally settled down again...

Then they were distracted by John and Kierra walking around in the woods...
Just goober-heads! Who knows what was going on!!! But Anthony is always the "copy-cat" ALWAYS!!!!!!!!

Anthony's about done...

They wanted to do the pose that John and Chris (brothers) did for their family Christmas pictures a few months ago... doesn't work quite as well... Anthony's a little too short.

Its not often that they hug...they are usually picking on one another for some reason...

I am starting to see a little more love between them though...

A few GQ photos from Anthony...

Our first ever gingerbread house... it was a kit... it was actually a bird house.

Playing outside... they love mama's safety glasses...

The crocus are out!!!!

Anthony was SICk one day... still no idea why, but breakfast came back out and then he slept for about 3 hours, got up... i brought him outside to sit in the sunshine while i cleaned the garage... Alex took him for a stroll...

Then he played pirate...

And Alex tried out the stroller... that we bought for him soooo long ago! I am thinking he is a little big...

Then Anthony took Alex for a stroll... and went back to bed and slept another 2 hours!

March Gardening

2010-03-23T22:50:00.002-04:00

We officially started gardening for the year!! These are tomatoes!! I can hardly wait! I love to just smell the leaves... so tomato-y!!

Peppers & eggplant!

Everything else... herbs, cabbage, flowers

March - Part One

2010-03-23T16:49:00.015-04:00

This was our Snow Girl... she had almond shaped (rock) eyes and cute "scary" hair as we call it around here! Alex frequently has "scary" hair himself!

Alex's Lip! Oh my... he bonked his mouth into the top of Anthony's head for some reason! He did get to eat 2 fruit-cicles though... It was so gross that I couldn't deal with it... i am glad Jerry was home... he fixed up the lip and i cooked dinner... which Alex couldn't even eat his lip hurt so bad!

The boys and i were headed to town to run a few errands and when they were standing in the doorway in the garage, i just couldn't resist a mini-photo-shoot!!! The light was perfect! And the boys so spiffy!

The weather had been REALLY nice and we were outside a lot! I was getting the garden beds ready and the boys... playing in the sand!!! This is where i discovered Alex when i looked over there at the fort... I didn't even know he could fit through such a tiny hole on top!! Inside, Jerry build a set of stairs going from the bottom floor to the 2nd floor... and the third story... you have to be old enough to be able to lift yourself up to... well... Alex can as well as the 4th floor apparently... He looses privileges if he goes near the edge! I also made him get rid of the stick! These boys and their sticks!!

We started on the ORCHARD!!! Yay!!! Our trees should come in 3 weeks or so... so we decided that we better start getting the fence ready... Last year the deer kept every leaf off all the trees all summer... I hope those make it! So this is the front field before the orchard... and as we finish things i will put up pictures after!

We used the Takeuchi to drill the post holes... such a COOL little piece of equipment!

Where we discovered some REALLY cute moles... The boys saw Jerry jump down in the holes to flatten and compact the very bottom and thought they made good play places! Anthony couldn't climb out himself though.

He looked so cute squatted down in them though!!

This is the machine that we "replaced" our bulldozer with! We sold the bulldozer last fall after having it for 17 or 18 years or something... Jerry didn't use it as much anymore... we have had this for a couple years now. You can attach different things to the front... we had a snow plow, but the rubber tracks do not work so well on the snow and ice, so we sold that, but i think we still have a blade and something else for it... i can't remember what. But this little thing is fast!

Oh!!! Another big cute mole!!!

With his beloved shovel!Jerry demonstrating just how deep they really are... about 2 feet. With his goofy hat... not sure where it came from...

The holes are all dug and we are ready to pour concrete into them and set the posts!

Alex - posing by the Takeuchi! The frequently "play" in these things!

Of course little copycat had to do so as well... heeheehee!

The next morning... we were ready to finish the concrete! Anthony was looking at the concrete bags that he missed the night before... It was the boys' job to pick up the bags and put them over by the dump truck... they missed a few and they had blown around in the night!

This was our little set-up. Backhoe with the pallet of concrete bags... Truck pulling the crazy concrete mixer! Then we would dump the concrete into a wheel barrow and roll just a few feet into the whole! It went really quick!

The boys played "golf" with some stakes while Jerry and i poured the posts!!! It was sooo funny! Anthony actually just threw his golf ball through his legs into the grass!

Alex is so hilarious! he had a tee and put it in the ground and then couldn't find it... in all the leaves! I had to go locate it for him! He is so funny... running around in his boots that look like Jerry's with his pant legs all scrunched up above them and then pretty soon his pants where sagging in the back... just like a man who has been working all day!!! Its so sticking cute!!! He even walks like a little man!!!
This is the silver tea service that i need to sell to pay for the orchard! Jerry bought it last year to "hold" the money to pay for the orchard. Lucky for us the price has gone up some!! 128 ounces of sterling silver! Isn't it LOVELY!!!?

This was MY fault!!! i am always "yelling" at the guys for walking into the kitchen with mud on their boots... and then i put mine on this morning and forgot they had dried mud and walked across to grab the phone!!! I just HAD to document!!! (for April)

Our crocuses are up in full bloom!!! woohoo!!! I love them! Year ago when i planted and build the pond and stream in the middle of the circle drive... i planted 700 mixed crocuses... they are multiplying every year and they are so pretty!!! I might try to get some more to share, but my macro-lens is sort of broken...

No LIE... this is a typical salad eaten at our house by the boys! Even Anthony!! I have to be the luckiest mom ever... for my kids to eat this stuff... Alex saw this one and yelled "Pickled beets!!! yum! my favorite!!!" So cute!

I just thought these next shots were too cool not to share!!
I will post more the first week of April for the rest of march... But i had this much done... I just couldn't resist posting it all!!!

February

2010-02-24T00:44:00.005-05:00

It is our tradition to order and couple of cases of Mineloa Tangelos in January to juice... it helps keep us form getting sick in the winter... It has ben a LONG year without them! They are SOOOOO good that when Jerry got home very late one night after they came in that we had to get the boys up from sleeping and have a glass! Anthony really enjoys being a "big boy" and drinking out of a glass!

Hanging around on the weekend...

Some of the MANY deers that hang out int eh woods just outside our bedroom... Almost every morning, when we look out we can see 8-10 deers laying down covered in snow sometimes! They are so cute! and can be so pesky too!

Playing in the laundry baskets... they pretend they are boats. Early morning, as you can tell by the color of the lighting...

One week... we got sooo much snow and Jerry was out of town for a few days and he had accidentally taken the keys to the plow truck... so we were sort of snowed in... i shoved some paths around on the driveway for the boys to drive their trucks on...

Isn't that hilarious?! I shoveled a big area out at each end so they could play there after they crawled all the way!

Then i shoveled each of them a "garage" for their equipment!

Then i shoveled the deck so i could feed the bird-ies.
and back to the front... where the boys were still driving!
Alex even got out his soccer ball and chased it around on the paths! They played outside for about 2 hours!!! And still they were toasty warm when they came in!!!

Alex trying to play a old video game at some friends' house. He is sooo serious about it!!

Just being silly... Alex had it on his head first, but i didn't get that shot... so copy-cat will have to do!

Just because he is beautiful!

All the snow sitting on the little tiny branches of the magnolia!

Oh my!!!These kids!!! Jerry showed them some parts of karate kid... the safe parts... so he could show them what karate is... and this is what they came up with to wear on their heads! Their belts!!!! hahaha! they are sooo funny!!! This is probably my favorite picture this month!!! They are so crazy! and they played this for DAYS and DAYS!!!! all day long!!! Then you should see them wrestle!! Scary!!! I am just sure they are going to kill each other... b usually there aren't even any tears... just laughter!!!!

January

2010-02-23T23:58:00.011-05:00

So we forgot to open the boys' stockings at Christmas time... we opened for New Years instead. They thought they were sooo COOOOOL!

Toy cars, a couple snacks, sunglasses, sshhh - underwear, and i really don't remember what else! But they enjoyed it!
Just because they look cute intheir little matching outfits from Grandma!

Ready to go out in the snow!!!

Doesn't he just look like a little Eskimo! Its my favorite coat yet!!!

Climbing the snow mountains left by the plow!
We took a little walk around the yard... There was a lot of snow and so Anthony would get tired sometimes... or stubborn... not sure which and he would just sit down and refuse to move... But as i would walk away... Alex would be trying to coax his brother to get up and come with us...

Mommy's birthday... he wanted to try on my hat, and i muct say he looks quite cute... almost like a girl...
Waiting in the car while daddy scrapes it off... after having to park outside over night...

At the airzoo! It was FREE and so much fun... they had rides you could pay to go on or little free ones for the kids... we did the free ones!

It was definitely a good way to spend my 34th birthday!!! I can't believe i am already that old... not that it is old, but that it is sure older than i feel like... haha!

A VERY comfortable looking position to sleep in... NOT!

Oh dear!! Finger-painting... It is WAY too messy for my liking... but they enjoy it!
Anthony... just one little finger dipped in... Eventually i put his whole hand in it...

Alex is left handed all the way! We think it is neat!
Anthony eats best with his left hand but sometimes he uses his right for stuff to... we are still trying to figure him out!

Isn't it a disaster!? We did do our hand prints all together on a page... looks so cute...

At church listening to the children's story... this was the day that Anthony kept poking the little boy next to him, who is Alex's age... and when my friend Mona told him to stop... he SPIT at her!!!! I about died!!!! I marched right up grabbed his hand and out we went... oh my!!! We had words!!! and then he had to apologize to Mona... so embarrassing!!

He is learning about Heaven in his class... He loves to wear his crown and walk through "his Mansion-Fair." So cute... He is even starting to sing a little... no actually words but noise coming out in the right tune anyways!!! Yay!! Anthony!

While spending the day with some friends, we had popcorn in the evening before watching Food, Inc. and we walked back in the room to find their two dogs sitting expectantly directly in front of the boys on the floor! It was so funny!

I can't believe it! We had Cabbage that stayed good in the refrigerator until January!! I knew it could last a long time, but i guess it is still hard to believe! We made coleslaw with our yellow carrots we grew too!! The boys loved and gobbled it up like crazy!

We can hardly wait to grow the garden again! Jerry said we need even more red cabbage this year! This was from some seed we brought home from Kazakhstan!

Our House...

2010-02-23T23:39:00.012-05:00

So our house is actually "on the market" because we were thinking that if it will sell then we would be willing to sell it... We hate debt in our family... and because of the last couple of really bad-for-our-business years we have had we have some... so we felt it would be harder for God to sell it if it isn't listed... It will have to be a God thing because the odds of us selling this place with the shop and the acres and the improvements that we have in it are pretty slim right now in our area! We obviously live in a very rural area... we have neighbors but we can not see any of them from our house, LOVE that!! We are slowly transforming our property into a "Homestead," you know, where you try to make your property as self sustaining as you can... We have the house, shop, gardens, wooded lot, there is a stream but it only flows maybe 10 months a year, there is several acres of "field" (it is rented to a local farmer right now) and we are currently working on the orchard. Today... March 21... we have been putting the posts in for the orchard... Our trees will come in a few short weeks, so we want to be ready, so the deer can't eat them all up!

I thought i would share a few photos... most of these were taken in December... Thus... the Christmas deco...

This is the view from the road, of our long driveway and the shop... we love that you can't see the house from the road!

The shop! This is where we store all the equipment for the businesses.

At the top of the hill coming down the drive toward the house.
The house...

The view from the house toward the Shop and drive.
The Foyer and Dining room.

Dining room toward the kitchen and hallway.

The Living room... wood fireplace. We love this room! We spend a lot of time in here together!

We have these cool boxes built into the wall in the living room, and dining room...

This is currently our guest room... but as soon as Kimi is coming the boys will be moving in here and Kimi will get the "nursery". I think it is a good boy color!
The Kids' bathroom shared with any guests.

Going into the hallway that leads to the master room, the garage and basement.

The Master Bedroom. There is a deck outside the doors... It is a lovely room!

Master bath... there is a walk in closet, and a little room for the toilet.

The sign...
Some of the gardens at the house... the deer have been nuzzling around in the snow looking for things to eat... they did find some kale and swiss chard left for them!

The basement... Books, tv and toys!

Workout space...
My lovely laundry room... that desperately needs some paintings... or something!

The Bathroom in the basement... These rooms were not intended to look so purple... btw... more blue... but that is not what we ended up with! its ok... its pretty anyways.
My Scrapbook room!! i LOVE this room!!! The boys even have a desk where they keep stuff and they can color or "scrap" with me too... Although this usually doesn't work out too well... They need to bug me too much...

We have this air-hockey table... that takes up entirely too much room!!! I think i might list it on Craigslist. As well as the couch below...
:)

Christmas Card!

2010-02-23T23:27:00.002-05:00

This was our Christmas card this year!!! I loved it!!! The boys' smiles were sooo cute!

More December!

2010-02-23T22:52:00.006-05:00

I don't often get pictures on Anthony sleeping, because he is not as heavy a sleep as Alex is... so i take advantage every chance i get... he is so sweet when he is sleeping...

Going outside to play! When Alex wore these snow pants... they were too big all winter... But Anthony will be lucky if he gets through the winter still wearing them!!! Its so funny how he is so much bigger than Alex was at the same age... And actually Anthony is younger than Alex was!

The HAT that Jerry bought in Uralsk... He will pass it on to Alex when he is big enough to care...

Ready to go... mis-matched and all!

Our Christmas presents this year... I always do coordinating papers and ribbons... this was this year's. My favorite so far!!! I have determined the first year we have Kimi... we will be doing PINK Christmas paper! See there is a little pink in this ribbon... if i have any left i will be using this ribbon... it is my favorite!!

______________________________________

So this year for the actual Christmas holiday, we went out to Nebraska to spend time with my Grandparents (maternal) and see my dad and any other relatives we could!! It just so happened that when we got half way through Iowa... we hit the major snow storm... a 9 hour trip took us 12... and that was in the last 4 hours of the trip! so it took us 7 hours to go 4 hours-worth!! There was soooo much snow on the roads and then in Nebraska it was blowing like crazy!!! we hit some huge drifts, because we couldn't see more than a few feet in front of the truck! We were soooo glad to get there!! However, we weren't able to see everybody we wanted to... my mom and brother were unable to make it, some aunts and uncles and cousins couldn't make it over either... There was sooooo much snow and it was COLD!!! It took Jerry and Grandpa 3 different snow shoveling sessions to get the driveway and sidewalk clear!! It was crazy!!!

So for Christmas dinner it was just us and grandma & grandpa! it was nice though, very low key and restful... Especially for Anthony, who fell asleep about 5 minutes into dinner... i got him settled and turned and was talking grandpa for maybe 3 minutes and when i turned back to check on Anthony he was OUT!!!! this kid has a thing for falling asleep during meals!!! It was so funny!!

After Anthony had a nice long nap, we opened some more presents that we brought from home from Aunt T and Uncle G.
and very "fun" clothes form mommy and daddy! hahaha! They were not impressed... well... a little, i guess.

After everyone went to bed at night Jerry and i would sit in the livingroom for a while and just be... it was quiet and nice just looking at the tree. Grandma's tree never seems to change... it was the same when i was a kid... kind of cool like that.

Oh! can't forget the crazy singing thing that Anthony pushed all day long! Jerry was about ready to throw it out into the snow... we had to start limiting it after a while!! hahaha! If grandma had her way, Anthony would have kept pushing it all day long! Grandma misses having little quirts running around her house! All of us grand-kids grew up while they lived in this house! So we all ran down the long hallway and played with the "old" toys and LOVED them!

Grandma told me an interesting story about this picture... She hired someone to paint this picture a long time ago... because they just loved it... and when it came to them... it was only about one foot by two feet long... so that painting is still under one of the guest beds and Grandma herself painted this one for grandpa! And it looks way better than the one they had painted for them!!

Some of the old toys that have been around for decades!

Grandpa's "paper-reading" spot.

The traditional in-front-of-the-Christmas-tree-before-we-leave-photo!! I must say they look awful cute!!!
Can you believe there is almost 80 years between them!!!! I can't!!! I hope we have MANY MANY more!!!

December...

2010-02-23T22:20:00.006-05:00

Yes... I am aware that it is now the END of February... but... we have been busy!!! The pictures will be worth it though... I promise!

I just can't resist taking pictures of Anthony in his cute little Eskimo coat!!

They were helping daddy shovel off the deck... so we could actually get to the bird feeders... we love watching the little birds come and eat out there!

Jerry's favorite hat... can you see it? He bought it in Uralsk when we went to get Alex... it is the warmest hat ever and looks funny too! I have a picture later of Alex in it...

The Christmas program at church... The boys looked soooo cute in their little ties and everything... Alex got in trouble up front... it was rather embarrassing, i am not sure what the problem was... All i saw was him and another boy shoving back and forth! Oh my!!!

Anthony sure likes to "sing" he will basically make noise... but actually follow the tune! Still the only word he likes to use is... "da!" But he was going at it... he always likes to copy the choir director with his hands... and he was rocking back and forth this time!

So cute!!! Anthony was singing so hard!!! Alex was doing a good job too!! They have such cute little voices!!!

just cute.

We had "Christmas" with Jerry's parents on Anthony's birthday... so we had Anthony open his birthday presents first and then we had dinner and cake and THEN we opened Christmas presents! Ooooooooh batteries!!! with the toy!

We found the floating marina from the Little People toys that we used to play with as kids... so these toys are OLD... heeheehee, but the boys love them... the love to play with the marina in the bath!

We did a cheater cake this year... poor kid... but it was cute!!! He was the CHAMPION candle blower! He blew it out so fast that i didn't even get a picture!!!

Hardly one crumb went to waste... this is Anthony we are talking about here!!!

Then they got to open their presents from Grandma & Grandpa! They each got their own dvd player for the car and a couple new dvds. We currently use only one... as Anthony can not be trusted to not push all the buttons every few seconds...

Grandpa brought over a little train! They were VERY excited about that!

_________________________________________

ok... these boys are strange... they will eat raw onions like it is a treat! In the summer they do it out of the garden... they pull off the green stalks and eat them... but I was cutting up one of those really big onions one day and Anthony was begging for a piece... a big piece had fallen off and he wanted it! SO i gave it to him... he ate the entire thing!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Crazy kid! If Alex had been around i am sure he would have too!!!

We made sugar cookies... They both helped... sort of.

So for some strange reason, we do not have a rolling pin... at least i can not find it... so we used a jar to roll out the dough.
Then i let the boys decorate some... They don't get their hands on knives very often so they were rather excited...

Of course they had to eat the first one they frosted... it was a mess!!!

Chicken Pox!!!!

2010-02-02T22:15:00.003-05:00

We have been tagged!!!! We think that they came from someone at church... they have not been a big deal! and they completely surprised us!! haha! I mean, in one day... Anthony was covered!!! I am actually happy that Anthony got them so that he will have a lifetime immunity now! Alex had them when he was 2 months old in the Babyhouse in Kaz. So he should be good too... So far no signs of any on him.

Anthony has been really good about them... He hasn't even itched that much!!! except for a couple on his head... and his head (in his hair) was COVERED!!!! He didn't even seem to be bothered by them... one day he was acting a little under the weather, but he got some extra sleep and he has been going full blast ever since!

They are almost gone now... any that are left are all scabbed over and so we are still waiting for his little baby soft skin to "return." But he is looking good and i don't see any scars yet...

Thought i would share a couple pictures... He's so funny!!! He likes his picture taken, as you can tell. Even in his cute little underwear!!

Well...

2009-12-13T20:36:00.004-05:00

So the Auditor came and Jerry showed her the shop... I think he bored her. They really just wanted to make sure we had such a facility. We surely do. It really wasn't a big deal... apparently they have rescheduled the actual audit until January. I guess the construction industry is really being audited lately... and we are no exception.

We have SNOW!!! We actually had a true blizzard last week! Its hard to say how much snow we got, but it snowed all day and most of the night... but also blew like crazy! We had huge drifts all over and we did not leave the house for almost 2 days!! The boys liked watching it that's for sure. They wanted to go out. The cats didn't know what to do with themselves... they were too scared to go out! Jerry was gone to an auction all day on Thursday when it was the worst. We sold our bulldozer and ground heater... we just don't need these much any more and could use the cash more!

Yesterday, Saturday it was sunny all day, so some snow melted and today it rained some and some more melted but the ground is still completely covered at our house. Our driveway has melted off some and hopefully tomorrow will melt some more. I am wanting to check on the carrots that i planted way back in August. They have been covered and growing all this time. So i am excited to see how big they are. I hope they are a good size. It will be interesting anyways. I also have some beets in a couple beds so we will see... if they are big enough we will harvest them and if they aren't i think it will be the end of the growing for them... I have to put the plastic away for the winter so that i can use it again in the Spring. I hope the sun shines tomorrow!

I leave you with a teaser photo of the boys Christmas photo-shoot. Actually i did two shoots... one i took about 200 pictures and they were awesome and the boys were so good and they got their treat after wards and everything... When i loaded them into the computer, i noticed that the files were really small!!! Oh no! i realized that i left my camera on the small setting from when i was photographing stuff to sell on ebay!!!!! I was so upset, i actually sat down and cried!!! I can't print anything bigger than a 4x6 photo and i always scrapbook larger ones at Christmas... so i begged and promised more treats for another shoot later that night... so this is one from the first shoot...

actually i couldn't pick so i added a couple other funny ones. This is Anthony's faker-smile... most of the time you can't even see his eyes though... so funny!
This is Anthony's surprise face... it makes him look so funny... it stretches his skin out funny around his eyes!! Alex is just steady-on with the smile.

Alex's Birthday and more...

2009-12-08T14:56:00.008-05:00

So Alex turned 4 on November 8!! I can't believe it!!!! he has been home for 3 years! So this was a picture of his birthday lunch! Some of his favorites: salad, broccoli, purple mashed potatoes, and veggie choplets!

For Dinner that night we went to grandma & grandpa's (jerry's parents) and had dinner, "Dirt" Cake and opened presents! Alex kept asking for a "Baja" Cake like last year... but we improvised a little with the "dirt" but putting little off-road jeeps on top! he was happy!

Grandpa and Grandma both helped him read his cards!

We gave him a new brown puffy coat and a hat to match... the hat has a quad on it.
Anthony had to try it out too...

_____________________________________

On November 15 at our church we put on a Holiday Workshop! I am on the Women's Ministries team and we had planned lunch and several classes for women to take that might help them prepare for the holidays. It was so much fun and A LOT of work! Each member decorated a table for the lunch. Bonnie and i shopped and planned together... i was so excited how hers came out i had to take a picture! The cool big ornament place-mats we found at Dollar tree dollar store! We thought they were awesome. She put some gold glitter on themto add something! and we added ribbon. But otherwise it was a bunch of cute ornaments that she and i had and some crystal and it was fabulous!!!! I loved it!

This was my Christmas table i put together for the lunch. This is pretty much my normal Christmas table at home so i didn't have to come up with too much extra for it!

I had so many amazing looking gourds that i just HAD to do a Thanksgiving table! I just love all the gourds, squash, and apples. Do you see the cute little pumpkins!? They are my favorite!!

________________________________________

Ok. Gross!!!! But one night when i was ready to go to bed i hear one of the cats growling... they are more like dogs around here... size and growling. I looked out and this guy was on the deck... so i opened the door and tried to shoo him away... Lucy was out there and wanted to come in, she was trying to get past him... but apparently came to close because all of a sudden they were tangling a little! Scared me... i grabbled Lucy and threw her in the house... the crazy little opossum just put his head down toward the deck and started curling over until he fell over with a thump!!! I knoow they play dead but i had never seen one actually do it and this one was so small! I thought it was so funny... i just had to take a picture! I went to bed and a little while later i heard the cat growling again and knew the opossum must have made its escape!

__________________________________________

Then there's this little munchkin! We decided to go for an off-roading drive one weekend... It was a nice cool day just warm enough for no jacket. After we drove for a while down the bumpy trails we found a spot we hadn't been to in years! So we took a little walk. There is a stream there next to a lake so we explored a little.

Took some pictures of our beautiful kids...

oh! and threw rocks into the lake! You would think with all the little boys in the world all the lakes would eventually fill up with rocks!

___________________________________

One day Jerry decided that HE wanted to try to make bread at home... he was actually going for rolls i guess. He had 2 little helpers... What a mess!!! I was making soup and they were making bread... What a fun night!! They forgot to read all the way through the instructions. They started to stick the rolls right into the oven instead of letting the rise... it was funny, and in the end the rolls tasted really good!

I have been into making soup a lot lately... I made several kinds in just a few days... we ate one meal or so of each kind and then i froze the rest. You see it is a very big pot! This soup was a Corn/ Spinach soup.

Showing off my two biggest sweet potatoes! yummy!

Having a little photo-shoot one afternoon... I switched lenses and i can tell... the colors aren't as great. I will stick with my fixed 85 lens for photo-shoots!

Oh my! These boys... they like to play "fight" and stuff, like karate and wrestling... its so funny... as long as Anthony knows they are "playing, he is fine... but as soon as he think Alex is actually trying to hurt him... watch out... cover your ears! He screams like crazy!

So Alex chokes him...

Then Anthony pokes out his eye!!!

I always love this angle... This is what i see a lot of... someday he will be looking at me from my eye level! Yikes!

Alex Loves to runa nd show me how fast he can run! He is pretty fast... but i can still out run him... even in sandals.

Anthony is much slower but is getting alot faster and easier in his run...

After playing hard for a while we all snuggled down in mommy and dadda's big fluffy bed for a nap... They are so cute when they sleep!

Nervous...

2009-12-08T14:16:00.004-05:00

Why is it when you think you have done everything right that you are still nervous when it comes to an IRS audit!!!? Good Grief! I guess its like when OSHA comes to the job-site!!! I mean we have a killer safety plan... over 1100 pages, all kinds of certifications, safety talks... haven't had an incident in 11 years, but... they make you nervous... and they usually find "something" to write you up for! I imagine the irs audit will be similar... i hope i am wrong. Our construction company is being audited starting tomorrow and i am nervous!!! They are reviewing the year 2007. The one really great year (business-wise)we have had in... well a long time!!! Besides the audit they also want a "tour" of our Facilities! So i feel the need to clean like a crazy person! Why do they care if you could eat off the floor in the office or the shop for that matter? They probably don't!! goodness! oh well... its going to be anyways!! Actually things have been pretty clean around here lately, but sometimes areas in the office get a little crazy... Like a 6 inch pile of weird papers on the corner of my desk... It drives me nuts, but I don't seem to take the time to find files for them all... We have been working on ebay-ing some things around here so i had some boxes in there... since i photograph on the drawing table and then list at one of the computers. At least we have an awesome filing system and every year is designated a clear plastic box when that year is over... sometimes a year has two boxes if it was a big year! Our filing cabinet is color coded, so that each department has a color... and you don't use that color in any other area. For example... insurances are yellow, tax returns - dark blue, employee files are orange and so on... it is really easy to remember where stuff goes. We also have what is called a tickler system. we have files labeled for each month of the year, one says next year, one says "i don't know" and then we have one for each week, 1st thru 4th. So when ever mail comes in we file it in the file when we want to do it. It works really good! We have been using it for years!! We also scan almost every thing in, that lets us throw out a lot more stuff! So we have only spent a day or so (altogether) getting together all the stuff they need for the audit. But it was a lot of stuff!! my goodness! I think we are as ready as we will ever be for an audit! I hope we don't have to do this very often!!!

Here Comes Fall!

2009-11-29T10:27:00.008-05:00

We went to a huge play structure one day... Anthony is kind of small for a bunch of the things, but he tried! He does enjoy the swing though! Alex never liked to swing.

Alex likes to SLIDE though!

We went to a fall party at the Lanphears. They had a bunch of pumpkins sitting there on their beach and the sun was setting... i just had to photograph them!

We are not sure what this is, but Alex came home from the party with blue hands! I think it was from the handles in the little paddle boat the kids were taking out around the pond... not sure!

Anthony bounced in the bounce house they had there for the kids... he's not very steady though.

Alex bounced too, although he had to bounce the the "big" kids!

The day before Alex's Birthday was such a nice day that we had to rake the leaves into a pile for the kids to play in! It was so much fun! Little Anthony was trying to run and copy his brother by falling into the pile... can you see him!!

Jerry was throwing leaves at them!

Then they had races... Alex won! Alex is a very fast runner! And he loves to run! He always wants to play "chase" he like Jerry to run after him and try to catch him. Anthony of course also enjoys it very much and laughs all the way!!!!

Then we tried to take a family picture... seriously... you can't trust that it will be focused if you have one of these boys do it. The pictures that Alex pushed the button for... well he moved the camera and so we were getting further and further off the picture! Alex and I were half cut off in the last one! hahaha!

then they decided to rake the tree itself. Since it is an Oak tree the leaves don't fall off until Spring... actually since we had a big wind storm here a couple weeks before, there were a lot more leaves on the ground than normal!

Anthony had to try the raking thing too.

2 More Stories.

2009-11-29T09:24:00.002-05:00

Jerry has shown the boys some Karate stuff.... oh dear!!! So the boys are constantly trying out their moves on each other... they think Karate involves some form of contact and then falling to the ground and rolling around... of and of course all the grunting and "hi-yah-ing", they do this in the living room. I haven't taken any pictures yet, it looks ridiculous... I will try and get some... But it is hilarious... even Anthony thinks it is funny! However any other time Alex knocks him down is not funny and constitutes screaming and wailing because he is a victim! hahaha! So funny.

A few months ago... on Anthony's adoption day, (july 29) we had some funny things happen around here. One day Anthony was having his first rice-crispy treat and he was so tired that every time he would take a bite, his eyes would roll back in his head and his head would drop. It was so funny we got the video camera out... Aunt Bonnie was convinced that if we sent to to America's Funniest videos, we would win something, so we had to video the whole event... which took about 7 minutes! Anthony kept trying to eat that treat... It was torturing me... I wanted to just put him in bed. He was trying so hard to eat it! He finally dropped it in his lap, and just conked out on his high chair tray.

Then, going with funny things... Alex was going potty one day and came out of the bathroom with Anthony's little cushie toilet seat around his neck... we about died! GROOOOOSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! and what was he thinking? It barely fit down over his ears... we weren't quite sure how we were going to get it off!!! We thought we were going to have to use oil or something... again we stuck the video camera on the counter while we attempted to get it off. Then it got horrible... he was screaming and we were trying to pull it off. Anthony was trying to help Alex by pulling it back down... it was a mess! We felt bad for Alex. he was crying hard by the time we pried it off of his head! Oh dear... We can laugh now at it for sure!

Stories...

2009-11-02T17:09:00.004-05:00

So Anthony had a bunch of words he would say.. maybe 10-15 or so... like Alex, tiger, hot, papa, etc... then about in August he suddenly forgot them all and just goes with mama, dada, yes and no. and of course the other word for EVERYTHING else is "da!" we are all so sick of "da! " We talk everyday about how nice it will be for him to talk. He will tell us whole stories using just "da" for example on of his memory verses was " it is good that you help" so he says "da da da da da [sign for help]!!" it was so funny!!! and the other day he comes in and says "da da da da da da da [insert grunting and shoving himself in the stomach backwards] DA!!!!!" and then points to the living-room... he did this several times... before i realized i had hear Alex get in trouble for shoving him about 5 minute before... i laughed and laughed! So serious!

We potty trained Anthony, the middle of September. It took about 4 days of intense potty training all day and then he was pretty good... he still had about a accident a day after that... which got rather old, however we just kept plugging along, about 2 weeks after we started we could go to town in his undies and he would do fine! he still hasn't mastered telling us when he has to go... we have just picked up the habit of asking him frequently if he needs to go... it works and we have about 2 accidents a week now. He even stays dry for his naps. 2-3 hours sometimes! Most of his accidents now are when he decides to throw a fit... i mean the screaming mad like crazy because he didn't get something he wanted... kind. then he can't control himself and usually ends up wetting himself! lately, when he is going to do that... i rush him to the bathroom and sit him on the potty! Crazy kid! But we are soooo proud of him!!! We can't believe it worked!!! He uses about 1 diaper a day... we put one on him at night. So much cheaper now!!!

Alex tells us the funniest things these days... one day he cam up to me and told me "mom, i have a pimple!" I said "really!? where?" the reply... "on my teeth!" hahaha! I laughed so hard! I still have no idea what that meant!

Alex has an imaginary life lately! strange named friends like "Wikker Benison" when i ask who that is, it is usually one of his racing buddies... they race together and they usually both win, but last time Wikker didn't win, just Alex. He is all about RACING these days! I think it comes from the Imax "Nascar" video we have, because we don't watch racing! We only keep tabs on the Baja 1000 every year.

Probably about 3 months ago, we were at church having potluck and sitting with a friend that was about 7 months pregnant. After eating we were sitting there chatting, Alex was sitting between she and i... Her water bottle was sitting on the table and Alex pointed at it and said she needed to drink her water. She said, "Oh no, i am full!" Alex look at her, then down at her tummy, "Yeah!! Look at your tummy!!" We all about died laughing!! I had to explain on the way home that she had a baby in there... which is when he asked me, "how is she going to get the baby out?" That is when wasn't sure what to say... i mean he is three! So i said there was a couple of different ways. one way they have to cut her tummy open, and the other way i will have to explain another time and show a picture... "ok" he said... and moved on. whew!!

Visit with Aunt T & Uncle T

2009-11-01T01:53:00.006-04:00

I am not sure what we were watching, but it was interesting, as you can tell. The boys LOVE Aunt and Uncle T!

So cute!

We decided to try to feed the cows some apple... Which was harder than you think... we could hardly get the cows to come over... We call the Oreo cows... the have white middles. I think they are called Belted Galloways. We think they are the cutest cows! Especially the babies!

Alex is getting really good on his bike!

I thought this one was so funny, even though he was out of focus!