On Our Way!

It has been just a month since the kids have come home and we have all adjusted well ( I think!).
We had our first Teacher-Parent Conferences and they went very well, Justin just finished a set of 4 golf lessons, we took that mini trip for our anniversary, which included the Legoland adventure, met lots of friends and family, got a hamster, experienced the birth and development of five more hamsters, suffered the pain and agony of giving away baby hamsters (BTW we still need homes for 2 more), had one doctor visits and five dental visits between the two of them and . . .
tommorrow we plan to go to Ventura, stay at the Sheraton, hit some of Mom and Dad's favorite restaurants and sights there and then on to Santa Maria the next morning for Thanksgiving. James and I worked this deal our early in our marriage - Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas with mine! Works for me!
So we plan to hit Marie Callendars on the way up to Santa Maria for the traditional pumpkin pie and the not so traditional, (but James' sister and my favorite) Double Cream Lemon and then on to SM. The kids will get to meet Aunt Diana, Uncle Jack, all of the cousins and Grandma David. We will dine on the delicious feast that Jack and Diana always prepare and come home just about 5 pounds heavier!
It should be quite a few days!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

Bows . . .Bows . . .Bows . . .

Last Saturday Andrea and I went to a Christmas Boutique where my friend Nicole was selling her adorable hairbows! Andrea came home with over 30 hairbows, decorated hairclips, headband, etc. We are now choosing outfits according to which hair doodads she wants to wear! Seems kind of opposite of how it should be, huh?

Anyway, my friend Nicole sells these hair bows on Etsy - Olive Blue. You can check out her blog on our family and friends link "The Milkies". She is also having a bow giveaway - so check it out!

Here's Andrea last Sunday singing at church with the pink bow and white headband in her beautiful dark hair!

More Sunshine At Our House!!!!!

Like it wasn't enough "sunshine" having two children join our household, but as you learned we had additional "sunshine" added with an adorable, little brown hamster just last week. You can only imagine our delight when we arrived home from our anniversary trip to find that Sunshine, the hamster, had delivered 5 more bundles of "sunshine"!

So . . .is their anyone out there that has been so inspired by our adoption story that you would like to adopt an adorable little hamster????? They will be ready for adoption next week around Monday, November 17th. No paperwork, blood tests, fingerprints, physicals or social workers required in this adoption. We will make it quite simple for you . . .

No excuses, please!
Do something for humanity and mom's sanity!!!!
Love to hear from you!!!!!

Anniversary Trip!

Most of you know that each year for our anniversary we take turns planning a little get-a-way. Knowing that we would have just gotten the children - we decided to make reservations at a beautiful resort that we had gone to last year - but was only about 45 minutes south of our home in Dana Point. This was only to be a 3 day adventure (and I do mean adventure) with 2 kids in tow.

Here's a recap . . .

Saturday "Little Miss Muffett" as we refer to Andrea and I went to the beauty shop for a little pampering - which included hair, nails, and toes! Feeling quite glamourous we headed home to join the boys for lunch and on to the St. Regis. After checking in we immediately headed for the pool (oh, well hairdo - thankfully the nails and toes were dry!) for a little swimming and splashing around. Then we went back to the room to get ready for dinner at the Five Crowns (or as Andrea now refers to it - The Five Queens). Andrea ordered the children's Prime Rib and was highly disappointed when she found out it was more like roast beef or steak rather than the bbqed ribs she was expecting. We did try to explain beforehand - honest we did! Justin kindly shared his Chicken tenders and Dad forced down the extra prime rib (haha)! The night was truly saved when the server showed up with two hefty portions of English trifle - declared yummy by all four of us!

Here's pics of the gorgeous young lady, handsome young man and hot Daddy! Remember I'm the one taking the pictures!

Sunday we spent most of the day swimming, relaxing, watching Milo and Otis and eating!

Then on Monday we went to LEGOLAND! It was the first time they had ever been there and their first roller coaster experience. They both LOVED it! I, myself do not do roller coasters - so James found this perfect - since he still loves them! I tried to take some pics while they were on them, but they went just to doggone fast!

Here are pics though of us at the hotel

Two Weeks Ago???????

I am kind of blog junkie - mostly because I love to know what my relatives and friends are up to. Prior to two years ago I'd never even looked at a blog and am not sure I even knew what one was.

Then my cousin in Indianapolis adopted their adorable little Grant and mentioned we could follow their adoption journey on their blog. One read and I was hooked. Where else can you practically get to read someone's diary without invading their privacy. Now I follow several - it is all I can keep up with!

We started this blog when we decided to adopt, just so the children would have a running journal of their adoption story. And now I notice upon reading my cousin's blog this morning that I have not posted anything for two weeks! Yikes . . . I tell you I am one busy mom! The following is evidence!

So here's the update :

We went to El Toritos for dinner the first night they moved in. The servers were so excited about the adoption that they gave the kids their own sombrero - so out came the camera!!!

The kids started school and are doing very well. Andrea is student of the month for November and Justin has a teacher whose children I taught beginning my first year of teaching! What a blessing!

We went to the pumpkin patch and had a fun Sunday afternoon. When I was a kid you either bought a pumpkin at the grocery store or you went to one of those patches that actually grew pumpkins and picked one right off the vine. Well now in So Cal you go to a lot (that will soon be a Christmas tree lot) and spend a fortune on carnival rides, bounce houses, etc. and then choose a pumpkin that you can barely lift into the trunk of the car. It was great fun!!!!!!!

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HALLOWEEN'S cutest Barbie Princess and most handsome Star Wars Clone Trooper!

Halloween was a blast! Our good friends "Uncle" Cary and "Auntie"Shirley came over for dinner (bearing gifts and cupcakes - no less), then James took two very excited "trick or treaters" out for the candy run! (Thanks, Ashley for the cupcakes! They were declared yummy by all!) They had so much fun! As new parents we had that dilemma that many parents go through - just how much candy do you let the kids eat, keep, etc?????? I was so proud when Justin decided to give his candy to the poor children (they had a drive at the school) so that they could develop the cavities! Andrea couldn't bring herself to give it all up . . . but she did give up part of it and shared the rest with Justin. Fortunately the dentist told me that the cavities they had filled this week were not from this Halloween - but instead "sugar germs" that they had experienced some time ago! Whew . . . what a relief!

Last, but certainly not least . . .Justin got a hamster this past weekend. He named her Sunshine - like we don't already have enough sunshine in the house with these two sweeties?????? Anyway he is a proud owner and very responsible taking care of her! Andrea has Brodie, the parakeet, in her room and she loves taking care of him! She plans to be a vet when she grows up , although she calls it a vegetarian. The later I suspect she will never be because she is quite the carnivore!

I'll try not to wait so long to write my next post - this took forever!!