The Long Awaited Pics

Preparing the kids for the long wait at the airport was easier than we expected when American Airlines had this fun, kid friendly waiting area!

Here we are in Hawaii!

Andrea looks like she is styling here, doesn't she!

At the LUAU!

Preparing for that Hawaiian sunshine!

Another hula show!

The beach - now that's what we are talking about!

Maui Marine Aquarium - very cool!

Our bathing beauty!

Treasures in the sand???

What's a trip to Hawaii without a Bubba Gumps?

ALOHA!

And Hello San Diego!

On an Amphibian ride through the streets and bay of San Diego!

Candle making in Old Town.

Whoops! Back on the amphibian ride!

Andrea making her candle!

Justin's 10th birthday!

Swimming Lessons!

First Day of School!

In Memory of Tigger 1993 - 2009

Hooray! Summer is Finally OVER!

As denoted by my post title, and the absence of any postings for the past two months, it is fair to assume that we had a heckuva summer! (with a little good mixed in!)

The following is the GOOD, BAD, and the UGLY:

The GOOD:

Our adoption was finalized and celebrated on June 17, 2009. We feel blessed to be the parents of the two most wonderful kids in the world!

We enjoyed a trip to Maui, two getaways to San Diego ( different areas), a short stay at the Disney Resort area, swimming lessons, a week at day camp, mixed in with afternoons boogie boarding at the beach, dinners out with friends, a few backyard barbecues, Angels games, visits from friends and relatives, etc.

The BAD:


James came down with bronchitis in Maui, which as you know from previous blog turned into pneumonia and a 5 day hospital stay. Two weeks later we discovered that he had a complication due to the medication given for the pneumonia which then resulted in another hospital stay of 6 days. At home, two weeks later, the infection returned with threats of another hospital visit - fortunately James managed to beat it this time with another $400 prescription. (The first time I picked up one of those $400 prescription I thought the pharmacist had forgotten to run it through our insurance - after my inquiry she retorted that this WAS our cost - the prescription was actually $1100 - don't even get me started on how badly we need some kind of health care reform!) Anyway . . basically James was seriously ill most of the summer . . . and that was very BAD! Gratefully he is well, back to work full speed, and feeling better than ever!


The UGLY:

During the time that James was in the hospital my brother Jon was there, too. So, each day we would visit Jon in ICU, then on to James in isolation . . with a stop on the 2nd floor to check on a friend of many, many years who was diagnosed with lung cancer on June 17th. He was relatively young, appeared strong, had never smoked, but nevertheless diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. It was hard for his family and friends to fathom that this big, healthy fellow would decline so in just two months and join his mom who had just passed away last January. He was a special man of faith who helped others and led an exemplary life. We felt honored to have known him.


Then when we thought we were done with the UGLY for a while, our cat of 16 years, Tigger, died. We, including the kids, were heartbroken. We had gotten the news from the vet in July that Tigger had cancer, but we were not ready to say goodbye to our beloved Tigger, so we kept him comfortable and had hoped that the steroid shots that the vet administered would keep him with us a little longer . . .it did - but only two months - so last Sunday we had our first pet funeral in the part of the yard we now have labeled the Pet Cemetery (wasn't that a creepy movie a few years back? ?). Andrea read Ecc. 3 and Justin gave the Eulogy and prayer. We are now concentrating our love and devotion toward our little blue parakeet, Brodie, and our pet hamster, Sunshine.


Despite what was a pretty gruesome summer, we had many delightful times, also. We are back and the next post will be those depicting our most happy moments!

CATCH UP!

No, I don't mean ketchup, either.
I am in BIG trouble with some people and add that to the guilt I feel for not blogging more for the kids and well, you know what a dirty dog I feel like!

June was a phenominal month. The kids adoption was final, we had a little get together afterwards at a very nice restaurant, our good friend was here from Colorado for the big day (she is now known as "Aunt Denny" to the kids), the next day was the last day of school for the kids, that night we went to LA to spend the night at a hotel close to the airport BECAUSE. . . we left for Maui the next morning. We were gone for a total of nine days.

It was the kids first big trip and first plane ride. Needless to say they were a little nervous. They did great and loved the plane - they don't know that you used to get little snacks and hot meals on the plane - so they were thrilled with the cute Hawaiian bags that some friends gave them full of activities to do and little snacks to munch on. These saved the day as far as boredom went, however Andrea had a terrible time with the pressure in her ears. She couldn't quite figure out how to release the pressure until the nice lady next to us found a kind soul on the plane to give her some gum. I don't think she will ever fly again without at least one full pack of gum! We had a fun time in Hawaii - went to a luau (both kids got chosen to dance on stage), spent lots of time in the pool, went boogie boarding at the beach, spent some time in Lahaina, drove the road to Hana and that's where Justin's stomach let him down, we went on a dolphin encounter and also saw some sea turtles, took pictures in front of the largest Banyan tree in the world, enjoyed the Marine Aquarium, rode the Sugar Cane Train and tons more.

The down side of the trip is that James got sick with what we thought was the flu or heat exhaustion, but turned out to be bronchitis diagnosed at a doctor's office on the way to the airport to come home. Even with antibiotics he wasn't better, so the next day we went to urgent care and got those meds doubled. Three days later we were back and got a new diagnosis - pnuemonia! Lots more meds and two days later . . .DOUBLE PNUEMONIA and orders to check in at . . .(not at the Westin) but the HOSPITAL! And that is where we are as of today! Hopefully if James has good lab tests, chest x-rays, etc. after four days at "CLUB MED" he will come home tonight or tommorow. It has really hit him hard and I think he will take my nagging about relaxing a lot more seriously from now on.

Any way, I did want to update this and I will follow with amazing pics as soon as our household is back in order!

On the Other Side

Justin with his teacher, Mrs. Alvino.

Showing off his grrreat (if I do say so myself) flag report and project!

Andrea with her "All About me" poster!


Andrea giving her Benjamin Franklin report - notice the Ben Franklin puppet we made!

All year ( since we got the kids ) I have been on the other side. I was on the other side of the Parent /Teacher Conference table, the other side of being the person who supplied the treats for holiday parties, went on field trips, and put projects together for the teacher.

Last night was the epitomy of the OTHER SIDE! I was at Open House without a care in the world I thought . . . I hadn't spent weeks getting kids to prepare the most fabulous projects, nor had I spent hours cleaning 5 year old's germs off tables and walls, I hadn't nearly broken my neck falling off tiny Kindergarten chairs while hanging butterflies and other gorgeous art work from the ceilings . . .instead I happily walked with my family to our local school . . .strolled through the Media Center to critique the Power Point presentations, checked out the art curriculum in the Art Lab, walked around the library to be sure there were enough books for my children, and then preceeded to the classrooms where I carefully reviewed just how much my child and the class accomplished this year. Of course I counted how many of the projects had my child's name on them and then continued by oooing andf aahhing about what a fabulous job they had done.

Then the real reason for Open House began! Looking over next years teachers. Since our kids go to a school with literally hundreds of students there are several classes of each grade. We looked . . . and looked . . .and looked until at last I looked at james and said, "We can go home now, I know whose classes I will request for next year!". I'm pretty sure he thinks I am over the top on this - but if you've taught I long as I did you just know a good teacher when you see her class.

Our Little Bookworm!

This new mommy (old teacher) loves nothing more than a child who enjoys books and loves to read, so you can only imagine my delight when I went in to wake Andrea up this morning and found her hugging a pile of books. Some kids take their baby dolls or stuffed bears to bed to sleep with . . .mine takes a mini library! Atta girl, Andrea!

BABW

For those of you that don't know BABW stands for Build-A-Bear Workshop! Many times over the past few years children brought bears and other stuffed animals to my classroom which they proudly told me they had made at BABW! Taking a good look at these cute stuffed toys I began to assess that there must be major bucks associated with the creating of these prized possessions. The apparel had such detail and the accessories . . .went on and on.

Well, last Sunday evening as we were strolling around Downtown Disney trying to digest and wear off $60 worth of Buca di Beppo, we ended up in BABW creating two of our own Teddy Bears. James and I justified this national debt expenditure by calling it an early Easter gift! Truly the delight it brought ALL of us was worth it! First Justin and Andrea picked out Teddy Bear bodies, which then had hearts inserted (which were kissed and promised to love), stuffed with puffy, white batting, sewn together, fluffed and brushed, and then dressed and accessorized!

It was a delightful evening!

Fluffing Andrea's new bear. She named the bear Pinky for obvious reasons!

At the dressing table!

Dressing these bears was laborious and loads of fun!