Thanksgiving Memories - Ukraine

Thanksgiving Day - 2006, The hubby, Big Al and I spent in Ukraine. What was also memorable, was that it was also the date of our Appointment at the State Department of Adoptions (SDA) in Ukraine!
Though much of our appointment is a blur... we left with a piece of paper giving us permission to travel to a southern region of Ukraine to visit a little girl. Each DAY we are thankful for her! Over the years, her nickname of "Punkin-pie" has held a special place in our hearts - as she was our Thanksgiving Day Gift!

Aftermath of the big day - Part 2

Here are a few more photos of Christmas Day!
We had Christmas dinner at our house... ham and all the fixings! I have to say that the ham was ultra yummy! Alex raised one darn good and yummy pig!

Miss O got a BIG BIKE from Santa - and she is on it ALLLL the time! Since she cannot ride outside, we have let her ride it in the house! Luckily it has training wheels and she does not go too fast, yet!

Santa brought Guitar Hero for the whole family! It came with two guitars, but apparently, Miss O thinks that her Barbie guitar will do just fine!

Papa got alot of "Papa... HELP me!" He was busy busy busy putting things together and installing batteries!

PJ was ultra thankful that Big Al got him some dog treats! Unfortunately, they were wrapped pretty tight and he needed some help!

The Aftermath of the big day! Part 1

Here are a few pictures from Christmas! I was trying to download more - but for some reason it kept kicking me out! Here is the first set!! Enjoy!

A traditional Holiday Staple.... PEZ!
Christmas

Prior to wake up of the kiddos... the cats check out all the goodies under the tree!

Christmas eve we exchanged family gifts and those from the Grandparents

Big Al was concerned about getting more clothes!

A certain Little J is ADDICTED to the Dangerous Books for Boys!

Even PJ, our beloved dog gives presents! Every year he wraps up the traditional pajamas for each kiddo!

Miss O is always VERY thankful for gifts she receives!

Little J got her a Tinkerbell puzzle - boy was she psyched!

We made gingerbreak cookies, and the left over dough made a big O - so Miss O got the "O" cookie, and she was pretty happy about that!

Outside our house on Christmas eve Day!

The aftermath of Turkey Day!

Well... we survived yet another Turkey Day! We kept it really mellow this year - only had one house guest! The kids actually helped this year - a new concept for them!
This is our "little" kitty, Rexie... she decided to hang out in an empty bag that made its way to the floor...

After all the work was done - everyone got to enjoy the bird and all the fixins! Probably the only picture we got all day with Uncle Steve in it! :)

Miss O decided that she was "big" enough to put the napkin rings on napkins this year - what a great little helper!

Little J and Big Al work together (yep that IS shocking!) to clean the yams!

Little J was in charge of pepper - and he took that job VERY seriously - making sure all of us got our fill of pepper!

Little J was also in charge of pies! I have to say that I make the neatest crusts - don't they look just like something you would buy ????? He was pretty nervous dealing with the oven (like his Mama!) and did fine!

Big Al was in charge of the green beans... he was actually injured (not the band-aid on head) and we had to keep an eye on him... Miss O was unhappy with him and decided to peg him in the forehead with a Hotwheel and it took out a nice chunk... a few hours after this picture, he made her mad again and she pelted him with a ball in the same spot... that was a lovely bloddy mess!

All in all - an uneventful day yesterday... lots of good fun, watching football and the kiddos hanging out with their uncle Steve...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Just for fun!

I borrowed the cartoon from Tonya.... I cracked up when I saw it and thought of my Dad! A die-hard democrat! Not that I like to get political on my blog - I just found it fitting!!! HEHE!
Hopefully, Nana and Grandpa - you are having a great time in Florida! You missed our first snow today - ick!

Amy

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! The day started nice and early, and dark as usual (can't wait for daylight savings to hit!).

It was fairly easy to get the boys out of bed.... "Better get up or you'll miss Halloween!" Little J leaped out of the bunk and Big Al did groan faster than usual! The morning started out with some rain - which is welcomed as it has been a really dry fall so far......

Big Al headed off the school with his costume in his backpack (he is going to a friends house after school and will meet up with us in town later). Little J was a bit hacked that he had nothing to do after school but come home! HA! So, Miss O and I hung out in the morning and watched some Halloween cartoons.... she can't decide if she wants to wear her Lion costume or her Giraffe... choices choices choices!

In the end - she decided on being the giraffe! The costume is a bit tight - but she loved in anyways! We met Big Al in town, along with a friend of mine and her little guy.. and started the maddening hunt for treats!

I have to admit that Halloween is my least favorite holiday of them all... at least parenting-wise! If I could get away with NOT trick or treating and NO candy... life would be good! Yep - Bah hum-bug from me!

As usual - Big Al decided to sneak as much candy into his mouth as possible during the evening.. every time I would turn around - there would be something new! Now, for most kids - they get excited with all the door to door and just want to run to the next spot - same with Big Al - except while he is at the door - he usually just shoves the candy into his mouth before turning around! Needless to say - he had a few meltdowns when we were done - and my blood pressure was up as usual... ugh! At what age can I tell him no more trick or treating????? I'm thinking 11!!!

Miss O had a fabulous time! No fear here! She was happy to get her candy and move on! She liked seeing all the costumes! Little J had fun too... though he was a little self-conscience about his costume for some reason.. he thought he looked like a girl!

After trick or treating, we headed to BOO! Central at the CWU campus.. the college kids put on some fun things for the kiddos to do inside.. usually it is chaotic! This year, the boys got their picture taken with Wellington the Wildcat (school mascot) and all the kiddos got to pound on the drums that the marching band brought in... that REALLY helped the noise level!

Oh well - its over for yet another year! I'm sure that next year will be just as exciting!! hehe

Amy

How quickly things change.....

Miss O spent most the trip checking her feet? Not sure why.. it did keep her occupied!

We crossed over "Galloping Gertie" aka the Tacoma Narrows bridge

Well... It has been a long and hard last 3 days! Within about an hour of my last post, I got a call from my brother-in-law, aka BIL, that there was some problems with their baby (in utero) and they were at the hospital. I had just finished packing for our little weekend get-away, and got the house picked up and all critters "ready to go"...

So - the kids and I went into town, swapped vehicles (as mine only seats 7!) and we took my four nephews back to our house. While my BIL and SIL were in wait and see mode... we kept the four nephews for the next 24 hours or so. We went from a quiet house, with 2 behaving kids to a not as quiet house with 6 kids! Though I loved spending the time with my nephews, the circumstances were not the best. Saturday, my BIL's MIL and FIL drove up to lend heart and a hand - so the kiddos were returned home. We then drove over to Bremerton to pick up Big A...

First we spent the night in Seattle at our favorite overnight spot... so Little J and Miss O could swim! We ate at the hubbys favorite restaurant in Renton and then called it a night.... We were extremely exhausted! But, of course, Miss O had already decided in her little brain that she did not want to sleep until 11pm... UGHHHHHHHH! And, after pulling my hair for about 30 minutes - she fell asleep... only to wake us ALL up at 5:30am!

We had breakfast, packed back up, loaded the car and drove to meet Grandma Judy and Big A in Silverdale for lunch and the great kid transfer!

Little J had a hard time with the whole thing, as first "his" schedule was all messed up, and then the fact that his brother (who he apparently did not miss) was coming back with us....

When we picked up Big A, he did not really appear to be too happy about coming home with us...as he had about a week-long vacation from .... us! That was a little hard at first, for me at least, as it was almost a slap in the face. We loaded everyone up in the car and headed home after a quick lunch... and within about 5 minutes, the boys started bickering! UGH!

We made it home pretty quick (as no one wanted to be in the car any longer than necessary!) and tried hard to resume "normal" activities for the day! HAHA!

The rest of Sunday was sort of a stressed out blur... everyone was tired, no one wanted to get along and tempers for short! Hubby and I both went to bed hoping that the rest of the week goes better... unfortunately...

Our little nephew #5 was met by God and taken from his family to Heaven last night. My BIL/SIL went home from the hospital today and now my other little nephew, Georgie is in the ER with appendix issues..... Our hearts are with all of them during this really rough time for them.

We hope things get better.

Amy

Things that made my day......

#10 - No whining when it was time to get up at 6:15am (from the kids!)
#9 - Going to Costco, and ONLY buying the things I had on my list... minus the two cute outfits for Miss O... who could resist!
#8 - NO WIND!
#7- NO SNOW (so far!)
#6 - Only paying $3.41 for gas at Costco, instead of $3.64 per gallon in town!
#5 - Getting the mail - and there were no bills!
#4 - The thought that MAYBE the whole election thing will be over soon!
#3 - The "offering" left by the front door by the dog, not the cats!
#2 - The stranger that complimented me on such a beautifully behaved little girl at Costco
#1 - Watching this extremely emotional video made by my friend Charissa, who adopted a beautiful little girl named Ava with Down Syndrome. http://www.urbansworld.blogspot.com/

Have a great day!