Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Clean up!!!

Happy Gotcha Day to Miss O!

Today marks an OFFICAL four years of Miss O being legally ours!!!!

Her first official birthday party!

I gave in to the pressure!! Miss O wanted to have a birthday party with friends from school. In the past, with her brothers, most parties end up being so crazy, stressful and exhausting, that just the idea makes me cringe!

So, we ended up inviting about 6 other girls that she gets along with, and whose parents I know, over to the house after school for pizza and cupcakes. The girls all had fun being a little crazy and playing, and the birthday girl was THRILLED! She told me it was the best birthday party EVER! Haha - since she has really only had one! She is so excited to be six!!

Somebody is SIX today!

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Princess of all time!!!!

Ahhhh the holidays....

I am so not ready for the Holidays! While I used to just LOVE them... I have grown slowly to start to really dread the season! The Holidays, ok, quite frankly, ANY holiday gives one certain child extreme anxiety issues. He will act up and be a brat when anyone else has a birthday.... be cranky at Valentines Day because he either lost ONE little card, or did not get the "right" kind of candy... Easter - where do I begin... Halloween, a nightmare! Thanksgiving is pretty much a mellow one - no gifts, no sugar and pretty low key (except for this year!)... but the grand-daddy of them all... CHRISTMAS is his arch nemisis!

We have a few simple rules in our house.... one, Holidays are about being together and spending time as a family (easy enough) and #2... on those more "materialistic" holidays, like Easter and Xmas... the particular basket/toy bringer must be believed in to come!

Due to his extreme anxieties, it tends to be a little iffy each year at Christmas... we start prepping him in November... little things are mentioned - like you can't get everything for xmas, Santa brings you things that HE thinks you will like and use, and of course, be thankful what for you have and what you get!

Knowing that each year this issue comes up, adds to some of the dread... while we have a few failsafes in place, sometimes he throws out a curve ball that we are not ready for! Grrrrrr..... so.. since we are getting closer to the big day - we are trying hard to keep our wits in place... but, man is it tough!

Winter Concert

So hard to believe my little Princess is getting so big! Here she is all dressed up for her very first school concert! She was so exicted to wear such a fancy dress! The Kindergarten program is usually the hardest to sit through... since either half the kids don't sing the right song, and the other half scream!! hehe - but she did really well and loved it!


Little J had his final elementary school concert! Whoo hooo! He got to play one of the horrible donging things that I despise!


And here he is all dressed up... still small enough to take a picture with his Mom!

My little reader

This darn Leap Pad is about 10 years old now, but boy, has it been well used! Little J was the last kiddo that "loved it!", now Miss O has really gotten into using it! Thank goodness for the headphones though.... one can only take so much of some of the music!!

Baby it's cold outside!!

While cleaning the kitchen this morning - this was my view! The Guineas have decided to perch in a new spot! It was funny because I am almost 100% positive that they were watching me and waiting for me to come out and feed them! Considering the temps have been in the single digits, they still sleep outside in the elements! Silly birds!

Getting up our tree!

Each year, we set up our good-ole, faithful, made in Korea Christmas Tree! Only a few years have we ever gone with the live tree! Also, since we had our little mischevious kitten, Fester, we knew we had better not go all out with an expensive live tree!
So, we spent last night getting out the ornaments and decorating the tree! The kids really enjoy putting on "their" special ornaments each year - a great reminder of how much they have grown since years past! Let the Holiday Season Begin!

How was our weekend - part two

After getting the septic system partially fixed, we did not get our Turkey Day going until late afternoon.... We put the bird in... which was super tasty (though someone in the picture below shows their deep displeasure with the whole bird thing!).



Miss O was an awesome helper in the kitchen! She was in charge of cleaning the sweet potatoes and setting the table... she liked the potatoes the best because she actually helped me pick them out at the store! Little J made the green bean casserole, and the pumpkin pie.... and I supervised someone writing sentences!

How did our weekend go? - part one

I know the picture is hard to read... but basically, in a nutshell, it states that our septic system is NOT a toy, and someone has caused the family lots of grief!

Thursday morning, BRIGHT AND COLD AND EARLY, all three toilets in the house backed up... we had just put the pumpkin pie in the oven to cook.... Turkey Day was on the agenda! Until... the final flush!
So, being as cold as it was (5 degrees) the hubby geared up and went outside to take a look. Thankfully, I was not there to see the initial disaster! Our septic system access tube was removed and laying in a frozen pile in the back corner of our yard. Our system was CLOGGED and FROZEN. Grrrrrr.... thinking that our destroy everything Black Lab - Phebe was the problem, the hubby went to work trying to thaw and pump up some of the mess so we could get it fixed.
Welll.... he was having Big Al help him out... Big Al was apparently MISTIFIED about the problem and acting like it was a real concern.
Shortly after the pumping started, and the hubbys blood pressure and patience level was to the top, he informed me of the problem. I asked both Miss O and Little J if they had played with it, both denied... and then Little J informed me that he had seen Big Al twisting the lid open and dropping ROCKS and other things into the line.... just wonderful! That little tidbit would have been nice to know a few days ago!
So... we went without toilets, and water and washing our hands for a few hours... the hubby managed to get most the clog out... but still not a complete fix....
Big Al, on the other hand... landed himself in a pile of deeepppppp Sh*t! That is putting it mildly! He was sentenced with some sentences... 150 of them... and he is most likely on restriction until....... well... whenever I decide - probably close to Christmas! Ugh! Not a good day... A.T. A.L.L.

Weekend Fun

Since a large majority of the weekend has been spent working on and trying to clean up the septic system... we missed out on all the "Holiday" kickoff activities that our town puts on... since the kids were not really aware of them - it made things alot easier! (one benefit of two kids with short term memory issues!)
Below is PJ, our beloved family dog, who in his advanced years, has taken to doing anything he can to stay in the house... including laying right in front of the fireplace... Little J joined him to warm up before bed!


Our "pet" cow, Bambi was concerned with what the kids were doing in his field... Eventually, all the cows showed up to watch Little J and Miss O, hit the slopes!



A great day for sledding!! Since Big Al was still in the doghouse, no sledding this weekend for him! It was really cold, so these two snowbunnies only stayed out for about 30 minutes... The whole time, I was worried that one of the cows were going to try and chase them down the hill! While most all the cows are gentle and loving... they DO get wound up when Miss O is screeching and giggling!

My favorite Birthday Gift of all time!

Four years ago today, we met a little girl that stole our hearts and changed our lives! We spent my birthday on the over night train from Kyiv to Zaporizhzya, Ukraine. We were tremendously nervous and stressed about meeting this little girl! Meeting her was one of the most joyous days of my life! She has changed us all for the better and continues to fill our heart each and every day!

My Birthday

Being a kind of crazy weekend... I did not bother to make myself a birthday cake! Instead, Little J and Miss O made up some chocolate banana bread! Later in the day, we celebrated with hot choco and banana bread! Worked for me... as I am not big on celebrating my own birthday anymore!
I did get a nice new baking stone for my bread and a tin of my favorite Harney and Sons tea... so it was all good!

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!

Way back Wednesday

Four years ago today... we were trying to enjoy killing more time in Kyiv Ukraine by doing a little site-seeing! Since we had Big Al with us, we had to keep on the go to keep him occupied!

Four years ago....

For years ago... we were sitting in Kyiv, Ukraine.... it was foggy, cold and just plain DREARY!
We were trying to patiently wait for our SDA appointment on Thanksgiving Thursday! Ahhhhh... the memories!

Wordless Wednesday

I am so thankful that I have a kiddo who loves books as much as I do! Little J just loves to read! It looks like little Fester loves to be read to as well!

Winter.... Already?????

Hard to believe that old man Winter is here!

Wordless Wednesday

What? Not every barnyard has a nice framed mirror in it?? After years of listening to them pound our sliding glass door, we finally got a freebie mirror in the barnyard to stare at themselves... yep - those guineas love it!