"THE DAVIDSON FAMILY"

7 - 11 or Happy Birthday, Andrea!

2012-01-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

No, not the name of the local convenience store, but the time span in which we have had Andrea.

She came to us as a little 7 year old just beginning 2nd grade, wearing bows in her hair, still playing with dolls, coloring in coloring books, and watching Vegi-Tales!

As of yesterday she is now 11 years old. Gone are the days of hair bows, instead we went to beauty shop and had her hair straightened, her favorite toy is her IPod Touch, and her coloring books have been replaced by beautifully written-in journals and well . . .Vegi Tales DVDs have been replaced with movies such as Courageous and Joyful Noise.

Yes, my baby girl is growing into quite a young woman - just 4'2" when she came to us - she measured in last week at the Dr. office at 4'11and 3/4" - just a smidge under 5" tall!

She is beautiful, articulate, compassionate, and has a real servant's heart! (Last night, at her birthday party, she was feeding my little developmentally disabled brother ice cream cake, so that he didn't miss out on the dessert!)

It is a joy and a challenge everyday to see her grow up so quickly! My only regret is that we did not get her sooner! Happy Birthday, Cupcake , , ,Sweet Pea . . .Cutie Pie . . . and all those other names you still let me call you!!!!

What A Kid!!!

2011-09-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

Justin went to school today with a note for his new principal. Not from me . . . He started the school down the street from our house and although I know he is looking for new friends and ways to fit in at his new school - I don't think this letter to the principal was one of them. It is just Justin's heart!
He proposed that the whole school begin collecting the pink Yoplait lids to send in for donations to Susan G. Komen Research! He offered to pay for the flyers (of course we will do them in our office), to collect, count, and send in the lids, and lastly to give the class who collects the most lids an ice cream party - out of his own money! He mentioned in his note that this would show how much the kids care about important causes and would also show what a great school and community it is!
I'll be anxious to hear the principal's response!
What a KID! And he's mine!

Settled

2011-06-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess you know you are settled in when you can go on vacation without having to think about what needs to be done at the new house or for that matter at the old house.

We all headed out to Palm Springs for a little R&R this past week. James had to come back after three days for work and continuing education classes - but we knew that! The kids and I just drove home today after a week ~~baking~~ basking in the sun, ~~dying~~ lounging by the pool in 115 degree heat! Whew!

Actually each day the kids and I tried to think of indoor, air -conditioned activites to keep us busy. These usually included a trip to the local mall or Target. This meant I was looking for the last few things we needed to finish the house decor! James is going to wish he had not left me alone with kids in Palm Springs when he gets the AMEX bill next month. But truly . . . it was all on sale!!! There was a trip to movie theater, the nail salon for Andrea's and my pedis, the dinosaur museum and lots of relaxing in our very nice Westin villa! All I can say is I am definitely thankful for air conditioning and I do appreciate the nice temperature at our house!

Back to the house . . . we are feeling more settled all the time. I am actually remembering which drawer or cupboard I have put something in that I am looking for. I finished off the living room with pillows and a throw (purchased in Palm Springs), found some guest towels that match two of the bathrooms and some napkins and napkins rings that match the house perfectly! Now on to the entertaining! Tomorrow we are having good friends over for dinner and a swim, the daughter is staying overnight and then Sunday we are having more dinner guests from our old neighborhood!

Well, I better get myself in the kitchen - I've got company coming!

Moving!

2011-05-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

The house actually closed on April 18th - the last day of tax season! (Somebody has a sense of humor!) It originally was suppose to close on the April Fool's Day, then got moved to the usual last day of tax season -April 15th and finally we signed all the papers and got the key on April 18th, after James had worked about 12 hours that day and 50 12 -16 hr days in a row! He was brain dead - so he was kind of unenthralled with the whole process of signing his name a couple hundred times that evening. I, on the other hand was ecstatic. The kids went along and declared it simply the most boring thing they had ever done!

We actually spent the night there the following Friday - just so we could say we had slept there before we went on our vacation to Colorado. The kids swam in the pool and we ate pizza - you can't possibly think I wanted to mess up my brand new Viking Kitchen. That will come later when I can get out my Giada cookbooks and do something really stunning and YUMMY!

Upon returning from our great vacation to Avon - visiting with dear friends, swimming in the pool and playing in the snow - we began the process of moving over the "little" things. What a blessing to have the time to leisurely move the "stuff" we could - before the movers come on Tuesday! They will move the "big" stuff! I will post pictures of our new digs and our move.

Yikes -there is still a ton of little stuff - did I say I could do this leisurely????

3095 Sq Feet of Big News

2011-04-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well for almost 14 years James and I have lived in a 1000 sq ft , 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom "beach cottage" with our 16 lb cat, Tigger. Then two and a half years ago we added a 7 and 9 year old of the human variety, plus a bird, hamster and dog. Although we have subsequently lost our precious cat, our parakeet, and the hamster to animal heaven (or more realistically the Pet Cemetery between our garage and the fence) and our dog, Sophie to whoever must have wanted a cute dog for free - we have Molly now who is a bundle of energy poodle/bichon mix and seems like about five dogs! So it was time . . .

It was a Sunday afternoon in early March and James went to the office to plow through some tax returns. The kids and I are always looking for something inexpensive (read: ~~cheap~~ free) to do - so we decided to go out to lunch using one of our famous coupons and drive over to the park where Justin was signed up to play basketball. It is a very nice park next to a very nice school - so we played a while and as we were leaving we noticed an open house sign. The kids learned early on that being an Open House "Looky Lou" is one of my favorite things to do - so we stopped.

We got out. We looked at it. We loved it. Andrea got it in her head we could call Dad and ask him to buy it for us. I said absolutely not - Dad is stressed enough without you begging for a new house. Andrea is very good at asking for things until she wears you down - however she just barely mentioned it that night for which I was eternally grateful! I was afraid we could push him over the edge with this request! The next morning I told him a bit about it - I did mention that it was the perfect house.

Little did I know that he had decided that morning that if the kids and I loved the house that much - we would get it! What . . .I know tax season is doing something to his brain! So I get into the office and he asks me to call the realtor and make an appontment - one look and his remark was "We'll take it!" Thirteen years of marriage and I never knew that he was so easily persuaded during tax season - although come to think of it we did start adoption classes on April 5, 2008 - I just never put it together!

To make our long story even longer - we put in an offer, it was accepted (why not - who doesn't accept their own asking price?) - but we decided to keep it from the kids , so they wouldn't be disappointed if something happened and it fell out. Last Friday we got final approval on everything, had our walk-thru on Saturday and told the kids! What a day! They are ecstatic!!!

3095 SQUARE FEET of bliss! A room for everything and 5 bathrooms (no the 5 is not a typo!) and a pool and a spa! One of the bathrooms is only accessible from the outside! Yahoo! No wet bathing suits in the house and no pee in the pool! We get the key this Friday, tax season ends, Justin is in two nights of the Pageant of the Arts, then we have a trip planned to Colorado until May 1 - we will move in early May!!!

Gotta go and run out to buy cleaning supplies - the rest of my life will be spent cleaning!

You can see the house if you google virtual tour of 5052 cornell ave.

I'm Back!

2011-03-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

How can two months go by so quickly?? Of course at this time of the year (read: tax season) our whole family is in the trenches . . . not just James! I have been drafted as the office administrator during this tax season and the kids are being real troopers about understanding that Dad is working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. Naturally, this means that I am on 24/7 which some days sends me over the edge!!

Now for the family news . . .

Andrea celebrated her 10th birthday clear back in January - so she is officially in the double digits! She is starting ice skating lessons and loves it!

Justin is in both flag football and basketball. He, too, is starting ice skating on Saturdays - future ice hockey player you say - well why not - but in So Cal not so likely!

We are planning a BIG trip to Colorado to see our good friends right after tax season - we are really looking forward to that nine day get-a-way! We are going to let Dad "veg" while we swim, hike, play and visit!

We have some very big news coming your way in just a few days - no, not more kids . . .yet! Even the kids don't know so I can't tell until April 1.

Until then . . .any guesses????

Happy 20?

2011-01-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

I keep hearing that it is now 2011 ~ but really?? How can that be?? As we get older the comment you always hear is that time is going faster - makes sense, huh. Well, if when you are 10 one year is 1/10 of your life and when you are 30 a year is 1/30 of your life where does that leave me . . . maybe I'll just wish you all a very Happy 2012! - my 2011 is almost over. . . .

Davidson Kids Declare "Best Christmas Ever!"

2010-12-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

As seen in the following pics. . . (these are especially for our awesome cousins in Indiana!)

Pink and White Nikes - what all the fourth grade girls are wearing these days!

The beloved American Girl Doll - who thought you'd could aquire the national debt for a doll?????? This is called a Just Like Me Doll - because you order them to look just like you. Notice the skin , eye, hair color ands curls. Pretty good likeness, huh???

Cars Race-O-Rama PSP Game! Hours of fun - well 15 minutes anyway as that is our daily limit!!

Their own netbooks!

Notice the handsome sleep attire Justin is wearing!

The trunk with three complete outfits for the American Girl Doll!

Unwrapping one of about a thousand gifts!

MERRY CHRISTMAS DAY! On to Grandmas to open a few hundred gifts!

TWO YEARS ALREADY!

2010-10-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today we brought our kids home to live! It has been an amazing two years of delight and humility! Who would have thought that two kids can make this much difference in two lives, a marriage, a house, a family. We definitely have changed many things about the way we always did things. One thing I notice more and more is how much like our own parents James and I have become. I often see James' mom or dad coming out in him when he explains something. I hear my mom coming through my voice nearly daily - scary, very scary! The one thing I truly believed I would never do is say something like - "When I was a kid we didn't get to do this or that" - how is it that those types of expression just come out without even thinking!!!!

Enough of that - James had continuing education class in LA today so Justin, Andrea, and I are on our way to meet Dad in Universal City tonight to spend the night at the Universal City Sheraton. We plan to go to Universal Studios tomorrow - the 13 loads of laundry at home can wait until next week!

We are looking forward to many more celebrations of this special day!

He's the BOMB!

2010-09-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

That was Andrea's comment after her brother delivered his 3 minute speech to the School Board on Tuesday evening! We were so proud I could barely contain the tears of joy! How blessed we are with two incredible children, who are also so bright! We couldn't get a decent picture in the auditorium due to poor lighting - so here's a pic taken at home in his "I'm going to deliver my speech to the School Board" outfit.

First Broken Bone!

2010-09-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today was a day that every parent dreads, but most assuredly will happen in the course of 18 years. Having just been parents for two years, James and I were just bragging about how neither of the kids had had any mishaps requiring a visit to the emergency room. Well that ended today!

About 10 minutes before school got out for the day Justin hurt his hand (right one of course) and the nurse thought it could be broken - well that nursing school paid off - she made a correct diagnosis. Of course we headed to the emergency room where the MD, with many more years of medical training than the school nurse, took just four and a half hours to determine the same thing.
So, we leave the hospital having had two different sets of xrays - one to determine the diagnosis and one later to be sure that the doctor had set the bone properly, lots of questions - including are you safe at home - which cracked me up since it happened at school, a splint, an ace bandage, and 5 sheets of instructions including a page on the benefits of quitting smoking (I guess that is information required to be given to all 11 year olds who break a bone), and the peace of mind knowing that in 6 weeks his hand will be back to normal.
At least it wasn't anything worse~ Justin's big concern is not the pain or the healing or the not being able to take a shower without a big plastic bag around his hand . . .no! It is "How do you expect me to just sit there and watch the other kids do PE or play at recess??????? This is not FAIR!"

The Phone Rings . . .

2010-09-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

. . . and the school number pops up and it is not one of the daily annoying robo calls reminding me that it is early dismissal day or they are selling 500 calorie, $3.00 ice cream bars after school in the rain - no it is the principal - loud and clear - not on a recording asking for MRS. DAVIDSON! Now the kids had been home for about an hour and neither had confessed to any wrongdoing at school so I did respond softly and hesitantly with "This is she." Fortunately, the principal quickly assured me that nothing was wrong and I could resume breathing. So here's how it went . . .

Justin has been nominated by his teacher of 4 days to speak at the school board meeting on September 28th. He needs to write an essay on they joys of being a student at his school for the past 2+ years and and then deliver that in a speech to the school board, oh and by the way Mrs. Davidson you and your husband MAY attend the meeting. Are you nuts (I'm thinking) we will have his whole fan club there!!!!!
Of course, I say, we will clear our busy schedule (dinner, bedtime, etc.) and Justin will be happy to spend the next 20 days writing the perfect speech and delivering it to the school board and anyone else who just happens to be there. And is there anything else my perfect children can do for you Mrs. Principal???? Just let us know . . .
Another proud mama moment . . .

First Day of School (or Bragging Mother)

2010-09-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not this is already our third year at our local elementary school and it will be just 2 years on October 22nd that the kids came home to live. When they entered school with us Andrea was in the second grade and Justin was in third. Each school year has been amazing as we have watched them develop emotionally, socially, and academically.

We feel so blessed to have very bright children - Justin was placed in the GATE class this year and Andrea is with a very strong teacher with high expectations. They both did extremely well on their STAR testing. James and I are constantly amazed that despite their less than desirable beginnings, and the adjustment to a permanent adoptive home, that they are both demonstrating the love of learning, and are enormously successful students. Oh no, am I turning into "ONE OF THOSE PARENTS" again . . . now I get it . . . you just can't help yourself!! So proud!

Oh and by the way did I mention they are beautiful, too? ? ? See for yourself as you view their first day of fourth and fifth grades!

Happy Birthday, Justin!

2010-07-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

When parents say time flies and they are grown up before you know it - I know what they mean. Why it seems like only yesterday we brought him home (actually 21 months ago), and wasn't it only last month that he was 9 and in the third grade????????

Well here is what 11 means in our house -

He will begin 5th grade in September - which means he will be the BMOC (BIG MAN ON CAMPUS) as this is the last year in our elementary school before you go to the (dreaded by mom) MIDDLE SCHOOL!

In many restaurants he no longer qualifies for the kid's menu and moves on to the adult menu and at the amusement parks he is now an adult. I'm never sure at what age adulthood is defined - legally isn't 18?

And what did Justin ask for as a birthday gift? Just more independence (I guess he is the victim of an overprotective mother), and a plethora of other gifts that kids of today want . . . a PSP, a WII, a DSI, a DVD . . .I guess everything is defined by just letters nowadays. As for a parent from the dark ages . . .if I don't know what the letters stand for I don't buy it!

All that being said we wish the best son (the only one) the happiest 11th birthday ever!

Off to Indy

2010-05-27T03:46:00.000-07:00

Well today James and will head out for Indy for the 9th time to see the Indy 500 - it's the kid's first time. After we got the darlings we thought our Indy 500 days were over, but it seems Justin has taken a little interest in racing or should I say a certain race car driver (see previous blog - "That's My Boy!") and Andrea loves all the different foods at an event like that - so . . .here we go again. We'll see how they do at an all day race event - we did go to the Long Beach Grand Prix for about 2 hours this year and that turned out well -so we are hopeful!

Of course one of the major highlights of this trip is getting to see relatives that transplanted to the Indy area. Our kids got to meet my cousin's family while they were in LA last year - so they are anxious to see Grant again and meet their new cousin Grace.
Andrea is especially excited about getting to help with the little ones - she is such a natural and wherever we go she gravitates towards the little guys that she can "mother"!
She'll make a great babysitter when she is older!

Did I mention that packing for 4 is much different than for two???? It has taken me DAYS and I'm sure that I have forgotten some very important item or two . . .
Oh well . . .

SURPRISE . . .SURPRISE . . .SURPRISE!

2010-05-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

On a sad note before I begin the Surpise post I must tell you that we lost our little Sophie dog on March 5th! It was one of the saddest days for our family - she had become such a part of our family and with the loss (death) of both our cat, Tigger and our bird, Brodie last fall she really filled a void in the pet population of our family. We posted signs everywhere, and even sent our 500 robo-calls to our neighbors, searched the local animal shelters daily, but to no avail. We just hope that someone else found her and couldn't bring themselves to part with the adorable dog!

And now . . .

Fast forward two months to May 5th

The telephone rings - conversation follows . . .

Q - Did you lose a dog named Sophie?

A - YES . . did you find her??????????

Q - No, but I found another dog a few days ago, definitely a stray. I've had her groomed and a vet visit including shots. I even have an appointment for her be spayed in two days. The vet says she is not pregnant but she should be spayed. She's a poodle mix about 2 years old. Are you interested, because I CANNOT KEEP HER!

A - Let me talk to my husband and kids and see if they are ready to move on.

Of course we said yes, went to see Molly that night and upon the encouragement of the LADY we brought her home right then and there. After a quick and expensive visit to PETCO (of course she couldn't use Sophie's stuff - what are you thinking . . .) we came home and stayed up half the night oohing and aahing over the cuteness of this little 9 lb. poodle mix - definitely not as cute as Sophie, but cute. We are IN LOVE.

Next morning - we get an email from the LADY - she wants her back - decided she was lonely and before we got attached she wanted her back . . .! We held a family conference that night and explained to the kids and after 30 minutes of tears (and wailing) we decided that our children's emotional well-being outranked this 40 something divorcee's loneliness.

So . . .we called the vet for an appointment for her second round of shots and spaying (June 15th), and then set it up with our neighbor to pet sit while we are in Indianapolis later in May.

Whew . . . now we can sit back, enjoy the dog, and get into a little "there's a new dog in the house" routine.

SURPRISE. . . nine days after we got her, I went to the store and 2 hours later when I returned we had not one poodle mix, but 3. YES, I SAID THREE! Sweet Molly now weighs only 6 lbs as she had 3 lbs of puppies, handled the whole thing, and cleaned everything up so well there was no evidence except that of two very squirmy, white bundles of fluff. Of course being the city girl that I am - I went online and found out that had we known that she was having pups we would have needed about 20 items on hand to assist in the delivery - I guess it is better we didn't know!!!!

Do you remember the adoption of our hamster when a week later we came back from vacation and had 5 more hamsters . . .what is it about us??

Who votes that the LADY knew???

Anyway we decided this is a gift because . . .

NO we wouldn't even have considered taking her had we known she was pregnant!

YES we are having a blast watching the development of these 5 day old puppies!

NO we wouldn't have had her spayed had we known!

YES we will be looking for two great homes for the two cute puppies!

ANY TAKERS?????

That's My Boy!

2010-04-15T03:59:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to meet Danica Patrick and Helio Castraneves last night. Check out the previous post to see what happened! Be sure to see all the photos and you'll see why I say (with enormous pride) "That's My Boy"! What 10 year old would ask that little hottie for his first kiss?????? He caught her completely off guard, had the crowd in an uproar and obviously the media in a frenzy as more camera bulbs were flashed for "the kiss" than at any other time! The kid's got hootzpah!

Danica Patrick and Mark Wahlberg meet fans in Costa Mesa | wahlberg, mark, patrick - Entertainment - The Orange County Register

2010-04-15T03:45:00.001-07:00

Danica Patrick and Mark Wahlberg meet fans in Costa Mesa | wahlberg, mark, patrick - Entertainment - The Orange County Register

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Six Month Hiatus

2010-03-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I have taken a six month hiatus from our blog - it seems impossible that it has been that long and I have no excuse except the same one everyone else has - WE ARE CRAZY BUSY!!!!!

Highlights of the past six months . . .

OCTOBER

We had a few birthday celebrations - my mom's, my sister-in-laws and mine

We as a new family had our "firsts" celebrations - the day we met the kids, the day we brought them home, their first day of school with us, my first birthday with the kids, the day they first met my mom and family . . .we celebrated them all!

NOVEMBER

We took our annual anniversary trip - but instead of a trip for the two of us to some exotic, foreign getaway - it was good old Williams, Arizona, to stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, go on the Polar Express, meet Santa at the North Pole, and visit the Grand Canyon the next day with my sister and her family. Thankfully the cousins get along fabulously - so that made it especially fun! I highly recommend this trip for those with children who would love to meet the real Santa. It was a great trip!

We also had another life changing event in our family during the month of November - our last name was legally changed from David to Davidson. The kids had been going by that name since last spring - so it wasn't as much of a big deal to them as it has been for James and me. I still can't remember who I am - maybe old age is setting in!

We made our yearly trek up to Santa Maria to James' sister and brother-in-laws home for Thanksgiving. As always Jack and Diana outdo themselves. It seems every year I remark that the dinner and the company are better than the year before. (No pressure guys for next year!) The kids love the visit and so do we!

DECEMBER

We did all of the usual Christmas activities - guests over for holiday dinners, going out to see the lights, Christmas eve and Christmas Day at my mom's house, Christmas carols, Church Christmas program in which Justin and Andrea had very cute parts, etc., etcc Overall it was a great holiday season!

JANUARY

Back to school after a two week break, I was back to work in the office and busier than ever. All of the official name change activities are under way, and tax season has officially begun. Put those two things together and it is wonder I even have the sense to be able to jot down these few thoughts . . .

We started a marketing campaign, I have a new job title (Director of Client Administration), and we hired two new employees. James is trying to at last move into the 21st Century technologically, which may do him in. He is a very progressive person in many ways, but moving from paper to paperless is a real challenge for a 50 something CPA.

FEBRUARY

February continues to be super busy with client work, etc.

The kids looked forward to the visit from Cupid (kinda like when the Easter Bunny comes), we spent Valentine's evening with our friends for dinner. They also have a nine year old daughter - so the kids have a built in playmate!

MARCH

James and I are glad that 5/7 of the tax season is over and we can look forward to normalcy in just a few weeks.

The weekends have been crazy with Dad having to work part of each one, Justin is in baseball now and has one game every Saturday ( and one game and a couple of practices during the week days), Andrea and I have been sorely in need of a girls weekend day out . . .but our boys have had such hectic schedules we haven't been able to. (Read: Andrea and I haven't had a pedicure for weeks!)

I have begun working remotely from home a few days a week. My job doesn't have to be done in the office, whereas the other employees can use the room at the office. It also allows me more time to get things done for the kids! A real balancing act!

Well, folks I think that about catches you up on the past six months. I'll try to do better and catch up with pics as soon as I get a new camera (the old one went kaput!)

The Long Awaited Pics

2009-09-24T13:20:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-09-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T14:49:00.001-07:00

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!

Adoption Papers Are SIGNED!

2009-03-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right! We signed adoption papers on Monday, March 23rd. Whoopee! Now, we sit back, relax and wait for the judge to call us in to his chambers for the final event in this process. We have been told this has been amazingly fast and for that we are grateful! Protocol is that the kids have to be in our home 6 months before you can sign the adoption papers - but we got to sign exactly 1 month early! The court event should be in about 6 weeks!

The kids are happy!
Dad and Mom are happy!
We are one happy family!

BTW - Sweet comments followed . . .

Daily Justin tells us he is so happy that we found them and I tell him we feel so blessed to have been found! But Andrea is a little more reserved - so you can imagine how I felt when the evening of the adoption signing she said she wished her birth mom and dad could meet us so they would know what a great mom and dad she has. That comment brought tears to my eyes . . but as I relayed the comment to James a few minutes later Justin overheard and remarked, "I think she is getting the big picture!"

AT LAST!

2009-03-20T11:24:00.001-07:00

This picture shows you where I would like to be - instead I am at my desk at the office during one of the biggest tax season's ever! It reminds me of a beautiful trip that James and I took to Ireland back in the summer of 2001. I can dream, can't I?

And now at last I can get some of you "off my back" (and you know who you are) . . . sorry for the huge delay in getting these pics up - but as you know it is TAX SEASON! We are amazingly busy! Can't complain I know! No time for chit chat - sorry!

Andrea in her cute dance outfit - she took a Ballet and Tap class which she loved!

Our last visit with Grandma David - just two days before she passed away. You can see how much the kids loved her!

Andrea's 8th birthday! She took goodies to school and that evening we went to Chili's for dinner and the unwrapping of too many gifts!

Of course brother thought it was quite funny - all of her girl gifts!

Our 8 year old sweetie!

Our trip to the happiest place on earth - Disneyland!

Justin as Benjamin Franklin for his oral book report. He got totally into character!

He is quite a little actor!

Andrea took a cheerleading class which she learned to dislike quickly when she discovered that doing cartwheels was part of the deal!

Justin has been taking Basketball since mid January. He loves it and makes a great guard! We love going to his games!

Alright Already!

2009-02-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

I know that I am way past due with my postings . . .however who knew mothering was going to be full time job! It is by far the most fun, fulfilling, exciting, wonderful, tiring, and overwhelming job I've ever had!!!

Since our last post about 3 weeks ago we have:

Celebrated Andrea's 8th birthday - Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Had our first Valentine's together as a family . . .love . . .love

Made a quick trip to Santa Maria to see James' mom in the hospital and as it turns out said "good bye" to her. Grandma David left this world on Feb. 13th - just 2 days after we saw her. Justin says he can see her going up an invisible escalator to meet God - he gets it! Ruth David was an amazing lady. She was the most gracious person I have ever met and I am sure she never uttered an unkind word about anyone. We certainly miss her! The kids only got to meet her twice - but fortunately both times she was "on top of her game" as James would say. (a little tough to be when you are 96 years old) She was happy to meet the kids and responded so lovingly towards them.

The rest of the past 3 weeks have been basketball, dance, skating, homework, school projects, etc., etc. and for James a great big giant TAX SEASON!

I promise I will add pics next time!

I'm Not Gonna Be One of Those Mamas...I'm NOT!

2009-01-27T12:35:00.001-08:00

I guess that is what everyone says, huh? I used to watch as my students had all of these after school activities and thought - I would never allow my child to be in so many activities! That is ridiculous when children barely have time to do anything except all of these silly classes that these parents sign them up for . . . and on and on . . .

Guess what I am now one of "those mamas"!!!!!!

When we first got the kids Justin wanted to take golf lessons - so he signed up for a set of four one hour lessons on four consecutive Saturdays. That worked out well - gave me and Andrea time to get our nails done and have a little girl time, etc.

Then Andrea wanted to take dance lessons . . .so January 7th she started Ballet and Tap on Wednesday afternoons. ( $48 for ballet and tap shoes at Payless and $30 at Target for the dance outfit) Now Justin and I have a date at Starbucks for Carmel Apple Cider every Wednesday afternoon.

Then Justin and Andrea started roller skating every Saturday morning from 9:30-12 - no I do not get alone time . . .I am going around the rink holding "someone" upright for a couple of hours!! It is a blast to see how far they have come with the skating and I have had a chance to visit with good friends who got us started with this idea.

Today we begin Justin's basketball for the next eight weeks - practices on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and games on the weekends!(Shaq Basketball shoes $38)

Then just yesterday we signed Andrea up for Cheerleading - Tues. and Thurs. afternoons . . .(Cheerleading Shoes $25)-I didn't even know there were Cheerleading shoes . . .

As Popeye says "I can't stans no more!"

Pics to come!

TAGGING??

2009-01-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

Is tagging even legal???? Oh . . . not that kind I guess! My good friend, Nicole (the bow girl) tagged me ` so watch out you could be next!

The rules are:

1. Go to your fourth picture folder

2. Upload the fourth picture

3. Tell everyone about it

4. Tag four more friends!

Honestly, I think Nico tagged me just to see if I could accomplish this feat! Actually if it weren't for her I would still be trying to figure how to upload a picture on my blog - that is if I could even figure out how to create a blog in the first place. So here goes . . .

Now Nicole will never believe this . . . this a picture of Andrea singing in a church program a few weeks after we got her. I used this picture to show off the cute bow that Nicole made for her on another blog entry. (Honestly this is the fourth picture in my fourth picture folder, Nico) I loved how the bows all attach to the little stretchy headband and she is so pretty in pink and white! What is scary are the eyes on these poor kids - they look like they trying out for some horror flick instead of singing in a church program!!!! (That's what you get when a bad photographer enlarges the photos to the giant size uh hum Mom . . .Erin . . .Diana . . .)

So that is it!

You've been tagged . . .

Diana

Erin

Krysta

Linda

Have fun!

Not Big Enough!

2009-01-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

My dear mom who can hardly use a computer has a complaint! On her birthday last October my brother, Jon gave her a very nice laptop computer. He set up an email account for her and gave her a quick how-to lesson!

The reason she wanted it was to keep up with my cousin, Erin's blog and see Grant in all of his cuteness. Then we got the kids and she started reading my blog and looking at our posted pics. Well, after spending about an hour putting many of our holiday pictures on our blog, etc. her remark was why don't you choose bigger pic size like Erin and Brett do?? You can always see Grant's face so well . . . and when are you going to put videos on like Erin and Brett?????

You give Grandma a computer and now I have to compete with my 30 something cousin?????
Well, she says, the pics just aren't big enough!

CHRISTMAS PICS!

2009-01-06T09:53:00.001-08:00

Our three Christmas trees!

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"The Glory of Christmas" at the

Crystal Cathedral with Grandma!

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Making our Gingerbread house!

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Our school Christmas parties!

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Our visit with Santa!

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Our visit to "Candy Cane Lane" - the most beautifully decorated street around!

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CHRISTMAS MORNING!

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Christmas at Grandma's, too!

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A Day in the Snow (we made a snowman, too!)

The crown made out of the big orange leaf was Andrea's idea , while Justin hunted for small stones for the eyes and buttons! It was a great day of fun, wet clothes and cold, ending with dinner and a visit with my long time friend, Harriet (No pic, sorry)

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NEW YEARS DAY 2009 AT KNOTT"S BERRY FARM!

29 rides later . . .the park closed and we went home!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

I Am Humbled!!

2009-01-06T09:00:00.001-08:00

It was wild to say the least! Christmas and two weeks of vacations with a 7 and 9 year old! A fun kind of wild! Busy is a word I really had no comprehension of until the past 11 weeks! I used to think teaching and making a nice home for James and myself kept me busy . . .I had NO IDEA!!!!

As I mentioned to a friend recently over clothing choices of my new daughter - I apologize to all the mommys I silently criticized regarding such frivolous matters! I am learning a new sort of humbleness!

I am trying to be my very organized self and yet have fun and keep everyone happy - it a new assignment that I am enjoying and some days finding a real challenge. I have decided that it is okay if everything is not perfect and if our home is more "house functional" - rather than "house beautiful"!

Changes I have made to accomplish sanity in my new motherhood role and managing the house -

*I now use paper napkins

*I don't use every dish in the cupboard to make the table setting "look pretty"

*I dish up food from the stove more often

*I don't put mustard and mayo in those cute little condiment dishes - it's straight out of the bottle for us

*Sandwiches can be eaten off of a paper towel instead of a plate

*All t-shirts do not have to be ironed

*Most of the crystal now resides in the display cabinet - instead of on coffee and end tables - for it's own safety!

*We now own plastic drinking glasses

*We now buy Spray and Wash, paper towels, and toilet paper in the economy size

*We now allow eating in the living room

*We have art work "taped" on bedroom walls and stickers placed lovingly by a 7 year old on our mirrored closet doors

And at the end of the day it is all worth it - as well as the many changes to come. None of those things seem nearly as important as they did a few months ago!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to One and All!!

2008-12-24T11:47:00.001-08:00

Another busy month of activities have taken me away from our blog. What kind of mom am I . . .I am not even keeping up with the journal that I am writing for the kids?

We began the holiday season by enjoying The Glory of Christmas at the Crystal Cathedral, the kids were in a program at church, went to look at lights, went to go see Santa, we had a little dinner with our friends formerly known as Shirley and Cary and have now moved up the rung to "Auntie Shirley" and "Uncle Cary", went Christmas caroling, baked 50 sugar cut out cookies for Andrea's class party, etc., etc.

I have barely been able to fit in the Christmas shopping- in fact I have been frequenting the stores that are open all night. . .then spend hours out in the freezing garage wrapping!

Today the boys have gone out Christmas shopping, Andrea and I will do the very last minute preparations for Christmas eve and then tonight we will go to my mom's for our traditional Christmas eve dinner and the opening of ONE gift before we go home and try to fall asleep so Santa can squeeze down our small fireplace!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

(Pics to follows!)

On Our Way!

2008-11-25T13:35:00.001-08:00

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 . . .

2008-11-21T11:00:00.001-08:00

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!!!!!

2008-11-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

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???????

2008-11-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

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!!!!!!!

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!!

AT LAST!

2008-10-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Into our hearts and home
We welcome with love
Justin and Andrea

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

AT LAST WE HAVE OUR FOREVER FAMILY!

Thank you for all of your love and support!
James and Katherine

Halloween Costumes

2008-10-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

Last night for our two hour visit we went to Andrea's pick for dinner - McDonalds (my favorite restaurant HaHa) and then on to buy Halloween costumes - before the stores ran out. James and I had already made a pact that Andrea would not get a "street walker" costume.

GOOD LUCK - is all I got to say about that.

Unless your child is 2yrs old the traditional princess costumes won't fit, so we began the long process of finding an outfit that fit, that she liked, that we approved of, etc., etc. After about an hour and a half of going through racks and racks of outfits we finally found 2 that were decent. (How is it that they think a seven year old should either be dressed like bartender, card dealer, or a sleezy walk down Harbor Blvd.?) Anyway . . . we ended up with a Barbie Princess dress, crown, earrings and a wand for Andrea and a Star Wars clone Trooper with lightsaber for Justin all for just under the national debt!

Next year we will make outfits!

Coming Home!

2008-10-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

Blog posts have not been a high priority lately with all of the activity around getting the kids! We have just been incredibly busy. About every other day we pick them up after school and spend most of the evening with them, then back to the foster home. It's hard! Especially when they ask when they are coming to stay!

Then last weekend they stayed overnight - it was a blast. I checked on them five times in the night - they never moved an inch. Can't imagine how you mom's with newborns do it! This past Tuesday, they spent the night and we took them to school the next day - the school is about 35 minutes from our home - so we had to get up at "0 dark thirty" (as our friend Cary calls it when you have to get up super early) - but they did great - as two yawning, coffee toting parents loaded them in the car for the jaunt to their school. We met their current teachers and got great reports about them.
Tonight they come and spend the whole weekend - yeah!

And next Wednesday . . . they move in for good or at least until they go away to college - whichever comes first!

Two Precious Words . . .

2008-10-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

There are some words you just don't realize have the impact that they do.

Yesterday Justin and Andrea got in the car all giddy - they had something exciting to tell me they said! So, naturally I waited for the exciting news . . . they informed me that they had decided to call us Mom and Dad.

We immediately called James on the bluetooth in the car and they told him - I'm glad I wasn't in the same room - it's hard to watch a grown man lose it!

Anyway when we did arrive at the office the two of them hurriedly went into our conference where the big whiteboard is and started writing us the sweetest love notes. About that time the social worker stopped by for a visit and was blown away by- in her words- they are claiming us!
James and I were next to tears!

Mom and Dad . . . two precious words from the two most precious kids!

Unbelievable - WE ARE IN LOVE!

2008-10-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Aren't they absolutely adorable???????????

She's a little beauty. . . joyful, and playful!

He's a little man. . . helpful and introspective.

Notice the kitchen towel on his arm -

he was helping me clean the kitchen!

Can you believe it - they couldn't be more perfect! Adorable, helpful, and sweet! There is so much to tell about them but . . . I think their pics sum them up perfectly! As James says . . . we might be a little bit prejudice - but we don't see how they could be any better!

Today is the day . . .

2008-10-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

First of all, yesterday was the day when all of the social workers (all 5 of them) and James and I met together for what we referred to as the "BIG POWWOW"! It's when they tell you everything they can possibly think of ( I think they call it disclosure . . .) about the children. Well, nothing they could say could make us change our minds and there wasn't anything we hadn't known about already! At that point they are supposed to give us 24 hours to change our mind - the proverbial "cooling off period"? No 24 hour cooling off period for us!
I guess they had us figured out - so they suggested we meet the kids ASAP!

And that my friends is . . .TODAY! And that is why TODAY IS THE DAY!

We get to meet the kids at 1:00pm at Coldstone Creamery by our house, then across the street to the beach and playground on the sand . . .maybe a walk down the pier and then back to their foster home to meet their foster family.

WE CAN"T WAIT! Oh, no. . . there I go again with that waiting thing!

Like Mother - Like Daughter

2008-09-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend James went up north to his annual "golfer guys" reunion. This is a trek that James started organizing and includes about 6-7 of the closest golf buddies from Santa Maria Country Club. They played on the high school and some of them on the college golf team together - so it is a fun weekend of golf, bbq's and old memories! I am so glad he gets to have this special time!

I, on the other hand, spent a lot of extra mother-daughter time with my mom. Since I have been helping James in the office (and didn't get the usual "teacher summer vacation") we haven't had as much time together as we usually do each summer!

We were talking about getting the kids and mom remarked that I was born so close to her birthday that she always thought of me as her birthday present. Well, I had just been thinking that myself . . . my birthday is next month and I all I want is my two children. Like mother - like daughter!

I told James that and he said that is all he wants for my birthday,too!

ADOPTION UPDATE!

2008-09-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yes . . . everything is still moving forward. It just takes so much time! Of course we would have gone to get the kids the day we were matched - but social workers have their own time table - and it is none to speedy.
It seems that the children's social worker has had a family emergency and so the scheduled meetings have been delayed until next week. After those meetings we will begin frequent visits with the kids over a two to four week period. Depending on how comfortable they are determines when they come home!
They have been told that we are planning to adopt them -
Justin asked if we knew they had a young adult sister to which the social worker said yes and that we looked forward to meeting her and having her be a part of our extended family. He responded with "Good, I've been worried about that - now I am ready to be adopted!". Andrea just wanted to know how many pets we had- as she is an animal lover! Both of them are excited about being adopted!
I am so happy and already love them! James has been carrying their picture around in his briefcase and keeps talking about all of the places we can take them.
We'll keep you posted!

Waiting No More

2008-09-10T12:24:00.001-07:00

For those of you who got a quick look at our blog from yesterday I did remove it temporarily.
Nothing has changed - but I may have blabbed more information than I was supposed to!
(So what's new . . .)
I will put that blog entry back up as soon as I get the go ahead from our social worker.
Until then keep us and our two little ones in your prayers, and know that your wait to see their pictures won't be that long - I promise!

WAITING!

2008-09-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Us at Legoland!

It seems like in life there a lot of waiting! Right now we are in a wait mode . . . and it is a hard place to be. It seems like waiting is the last thing we ever want to do from birth on.

Babies hate to wait for their bottles or to have their diaper changed...

Moms and Dads can't wait until their baby takes their first step or says their first word . . .

Later they can't wait for them to sit down and be quiet . . .

Toddlers can't wait for their toys . . .

Preschoolers can't wait for their turn on the swing . . .

Kindergarteners can't wait until they can read . . .

Kids can't wait for birthdays, Christmas and to spend the night at Grandma's . . .

Teenagers can't wait to drive, go to college, or get to vote . . .

Young adults can't wait to get their first big job and get married . . .

Then we can't wait to buy our first home and decorate it . . .

We can't wait to go to Europe and all the other vacations places we long for . . .

We can't wait for that nice luxury car . . .

We can't wait til the Angels are the World Series again . . .

Now here we are when others can't wait to have grandchildren and . . .

We can't wait to bring our kids home!

One of my good friends said that we should just enjoy right now because once we have children not only will our life never be the same but - it also will always be about them.

So . . . we are trying hard to take her good advice. Last weekend we got away to San Diego for a night to a very nice resort where we could behave like adults and what did we do? We decided it would be fun to check out Legoland. This weekend we went to Redondo Beach and Manhatten Beach and checked out the Redondo Beach Aquarium. I even checked on birthday parties there.

Tonight is our Monthiversary - that is the 8th of each month when we celebrate our marriage by going out to a very grown up restaurant, having wine and a nice dinner and maybe doing a grown up activity afterwards. It's my turn to pick the restaurant . . .hmmmm . . . should I pick Chuck E. Cheese or the McDonald's with a playland?

Lynn . . we are trying hard to take your advise - but I am sorry to say we are not doing such a hot job at it. We'll try harder tonight.

Bittersweet!

2008-08-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

We had our adoption support get-together last night! What a great evening as our closest friends and family gathered for dinner and to meet our social worker. We had lots of laughs while we reminisced about our friendships and relived some of our fondest memories.

Our dear social worker explained to everyone the process which we have gone through, and what else we have to look forward to . . . it was such a wonderful evening where we felt the love and support of all of those there.
We know there were others that wanted to be there and we truly appreciate you as well!

On the sad note for the evening . . .
we learned that the two children we were interested in will be going to a different family -
and although we were very disappointed we are happy that they will have a forever family and we know that there are two children out there waiting for us . . .
Know this . . . between us and our great social worker we will find them!
We'll keep you posted!

Getting the Kids!

2008-08-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Adopting the kids is kind of like having a baby or in this case a couple of babies!

When you are pregnant, friends and relatives call every few minutes to find out if labor has started or if you have headed to the hospital, however . . . in our case we get the calls to find out if the kids have "come home" yet.

Here's the update . . .

We have . . .
Turned in absolutely all of our information . . .
Finished all of our classes . . .
Had our last interviews and home inspections . . .
Sent our photos in . . .
Our worker has finished the all important "HOME STUDY" . . .
We are having our adoption support meeting tomorrow night . . .
Have found 2 adorable kiddos . . .
and now . . .
we are waiting for the matching coordinator to tell us - it is a match!

We'll keep you posted!

VACATIONS!

2008-08-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Vacations are a funny animal and I love them . . .
however I haven't decided what part of the vacation I love so much!

I spend an enormous amount of time planning each detail of our trips - even driving trips like the one we just returned from to Colorado.

I pack food, clothes for every imaginable kind of weather, print out driving instructions for places we plan to go to (and some we only might go to), call friends and family we might see, write up detailed itineraries and give a copy to everyone we know, and of course I make reservations for hotels, etc. months ahead with a print out of all the amentities and things to do in the area . . .

I just love doing all of that and makes me so look forward to the trip!

Then we head out . . . when I was a kid my dad would start out on a driving trip about 4:00am ( he always said it was to beat the heat, but I think it was because in our excitement to begin the vacation we couldn't sleep later than 3:00am), however James is not quite the morning person I am so we usually get out by 8:00am or so. The drive is soooooo beautiful! I even enjoy the desert (for about 10 miles or so) then we break out our favorite music - full blast, open a couple of Cokes and sing at the top of our lungs! The energy expended with all that singing usually requires a snack, of which I pack many. So . . . we break open the chips, cookies,or trail mix and start munching. Of course by now it is about 10:00am and we are begnning to think where we might stop for lunch and so it goes that most of our drive time is spent planning the next eating event.

When we finally arrive at our destination we carefully review all of my plans for the area and determine that what we really want to do are things other than I had planned for - so . . . we always have to ask for directions, ask for recommendations, and revamp my carefully designed plans!

This time we stayed in Avon, Colorado, just three hours from our good friends in Colorado Springs. We made the trek to their house for a couple of days and then one of them visited us in Avon. We had a great time except for the altitude adjustment that I did not plan for! No one told us that at 12,000 ft above sea level that you cannot breathe and get tremendous headaches. So, the hikes we had planned were out of the question and the good sturdy hiking shoes stayed in the closet the whole week. We did hit the pool and spa a few times . . .but then the thunder and lightening storms began. I personally have an aversion to getting electricuted - especially this close to becoming a mom. Maybe next year I will feel differently . . .

All in all it was a very nice trip with the highlight being the time we spent with our good friends and the beauty of the mountains! We miss them so much since they moved to Colorado.

So is it the planning, actually getting there, or getting home that is the best part of the vacation?? I don't know . . .I think I love it all!

The Office is OPEN!

2008-07-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

The plaque outside our office door.

Well, we have spent this past week setting up the new office. We thought we could do it in about 1-2 days . . . it has been over one week since we got the keys and we are still working on it!

After all . . . we went from a 110 sq ft office to about 8oo sq ft - a lot more space to fill up.

About three days after we had the walk-through, some very good friends helped us move all of the former office furniture and "stuff" to the new office. It took the better part of a Saturday and some very strong "guys"! Shirley and I did the important shopping for that day! We couldn't have done it without good friends . . . Thanks "guys"!

The "very nice cherry" office furniture!

This week we have had 6 file cabinets delivered - 2 of which were damaged, and we are awaiting the "pick up" man . . .they have no problem delivering them one at a time, but each guy tells he's not authorized to take back the damaged ones. It is a mystery to me how in these days of $4.65 per gallon gas, companies can afford to work that way - oh yeah- I know they will raise their prices!!!!!

Three rooms of very nice cherry office furniture was delivered and assembled without problem - except they forgot the keys to my desk file . . .

The phone and internet system was set up only to find out from our computer guy that we needed three more "lines pulled" (whatever that means) and after pretty much a whole day of his work and waiting, we had to have a guy come to "pull the lines" and then wait for another day for the computer guy to finish . . . and so it goes . . .on and on . . .

You get the picture - speaking of pictures - it is my job to find the accessories which includes the plants, pictures, decorations, etc. Normally I love this kind of thing , but I have been to a half dozen stores looking, and generally just not finding the exact thing, so . . . one more thing to keep doing.

We are waiting for the "glass guy" to cut and install the glass countertops for the "very nice cherry" office furniture so that we don't get scratches, etc. on them. That should be another few days.

Notice how there no official names for these worker guys. There was the "computer guy", the "telephone guy", the delivery guy", the "pick-up guy", "the wire pulling guy" and then there were the "strong guys"- seems like they should have a more official names, huh?

Well, I gotta run now to read the manual on our new phone system, so that when you call you might get an answer!

Miss Work?

2008-06-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

Well, no I can't say I miss work - at least not yet.
Why it has only been about 16 days since we had our "last day of working" staff luncheon, but . . .

I do miss seeing my cute little kiddies, good friends at work, and having our girl chit-chat over lunch!

Summer's have never seemed this way before, however since I know that we will not be returning in the fall - it just doesn't seem right!

Everything changes!
Miss you guys!

WOW . . . We're Getting There!

2008-06-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday was our last of the ADOPTION interviews. As I told our adorable social worker - "It all seems so surreal!"!

We had our individual interviews and it seems that we are getting closer to the kids all the time. Tommorow we go to our last mandatory training class and as I have said a dozen times to others - if they made everyone go through what we have had to, there would be no unwanted children and lots of well trained parents in the world!

The classes really are great and we do have some wonderful people in them and fantastic trainers! We really are grateful for the opportunity.

Next we have to prepare a "Life Book" of James and myself. This is to include a wedding picture (which I dare anyone to think that is really me), current pics of us, family members, our home, their bedrooms, Tigger, our cat, Brodie, our bird, their school, the beach - you get the picture! For those of you "scrapbooking types" feel free to offer your advice.

Last, we have to have a meeting (read: party) of all those who are part of our friends and family who support us in this decision and also wish to support us when we need a sitter or just to listen when we start doubting our parenting skills!

After that, which should be in a couple of weeks, we are free to bring home the kiddos - whoever they might be!

So tonight we went to one of those neat kid's bedroom stores and bought our little boy a cool loft bed with drawers in the stairs, under the bed crawl space for playing in, shelves, and a desk - all in one piece. Every little boy's fun bed!

We have the bed for our little girl's room coming this weekend - white iron and brass princess bed! Every little girl's dream!

Oh . . . to be a kid again!

We're Back Again!

2008-06-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

School ended and we left for San Diego the same day. We had one of those great timeshare "villas" for a week . . . but the real purpose of the trip was to go to the US Open with our good friends, Cary and Shirl.

We had been planning this trip for many months, so with great anticipation on Sunday morning of the US Open we headed to QualCom Stadium to catch a shuttle to Torrey Pines. (There were no other options - I dislike shuttle events!)

Now, James and I had been to a few tournaments before, and in fact, James had been to the US Open in Olympic Golf Course several years ago, so we thought we knew just how to strategize getting around the course and see all of the players that we wanted to see.

What we didn't factor into that equation was the thousands of other people with the same strategy! The first few hours we were there the gallery seemed like that at any tournament - LA Open, Buick Open, etc. but . . . when Tiger and the other leaders teed off in the early afternoon, people came out of nowhere. That "run ahead" idea we had became a "crawl" your way the next hole event!

We finally settled on the 17th hole where we stayed for about 2 hours. James and Cary were right out there in the sun - as close to the green as possible, while Shirley and I were content to stand under the shade of a tree and try to peek through the crowd.

We got a few glimpses of the limping Tiger, an "up close and personal" Phil Michelson sighting (where I yelled "Hi Phil!"), and got to watch the swings and putts of a dozen other outstanding golfers.

Although it was fun and we love being with Cary and Shirl . . .
I believe next year we will be watching from the comfort of our family room on our LCD TV getting all of the golf analysis at the same time!

We're back again!!

We're Back!

2008-05-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Diana for the great pics and my good friend , Nicole for helping me gain the courage to get these pics on this blog for you. Now that the "computer dinosaur of the year" (me) has started her own blog and posted pics on it, I am feeling pretty confident that you will have something to look at as you read my less than entertaining blog entries!

How is that you look forward to a vacation for weeks or even months and then you are home for a few days and it seems like a year since you were gone????? Well . . . that's how it seems after being home only 5 days from our trip to Chicago and Indianapolis.

We had fun! We landed in Chicago to find that it was in the high 50's and did I pack a jacket? NO! It wasn't down right freezing - but the evenings got pretty cold - way colder than I am used to - so I ended up borrowing my brother-in-laws jacket one evening. Thanks, Jack!

Highlights of our trip were:

Dinner at the Chicago Chop House - I enjoyed some nice broiled Orange Roughy while the more carniverous travelers in our group had steaks and prime rib. James kind of paid for his big steak with a little gastrointestinal disorder into the night. I'll stay with the fish - thank you very much!

We had after dinner drinks at the top of the John Hancock building. I am a real chicken when it comes to heights - so going up after dark worked well for me. I think it was the 96th floor - I get dizzy just thinking about being up so high - but the city was beautiful all lit up!

The next day we toured the city on one of those famous "Hop On - Hop Off" City tours. It really did give us a good feel for the city and allowed us to "Hop Off" to see Tyrannasaurus Sue at the Field Museum, see the Sears Tower up close and personal and have one of those famous Chicago Hot Dogs. Since I am not a real big hot dog fan I didn't really get what was so appealing about them - but I think James and Jack found them to be pretty delicious!

Diana and Jack arranged for us to have a tour of old Wrigley Field - for those of you who are not baseball fans - it is where the Chicago Cubs play. It was fantastic. I think they said it is the second oldest ballpark in the US - Yankee Stadium being the oldest. Anyway - it was really a great tour. We even got to tour the clubhouse and see the current players locker room.

On to Indianapolis - where we stayed at the Quality Inn - a rather old tired Quality Inn. We laughingly said it was where they put the Q in Quality. It worked out well for proximity to the Speedway and we had an enjoyable day at the race. This year the weather was quite nice and all 200 laps were completed.

We went back to the Indy Speedway the next day and took a 12 minute spin around the track in a small tour bus. We got to see the track from the drivers vantage point at about one tenth the speed. We also visited the Speedway Museum which is very interesting - especially if you like looking at old race cars!

As always the highlight of the Indy trip for me is spending time with my relatives. We all went over to Deb and Dave's for a dinner and generally just spent three hours "catching up" with family news. We missed Erin, Bret, and Grant this year -but really enjoyed meeting Bret's parents. Now I see where Bret gets his humerous side.

See you next year, Indy - hopefully with 2 or 3 kids in tow!

And There They Go

2008-05-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that James and I have been making a yearly trek to the Indianapolis 500 for the past few years. I never really gave a hoot about that kind of sport at any time in my life, but my husband enjoys it and I have learned to like the event at a certain level.

First of all, I usually get to see my Indiana relatives - who used to be close-by California relatives. They moved to Indiana and then my cousin married a died in the wool hoosier! No chance of getting them back in California now - so I now I look forward to my once a year visit with them. This year we will miss Erin and Bret and most of all baby Grant - they'll be out of town - but we will see my mom's sister Deb and her husband Dave. It is always fun to see them and catch up!

Then we started adding a little more to the trip. Each year we start at another destination for a few days before going to Indianpolis. We've been to Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinatti and this year we are flying into Chicago for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing Wrigley Field and Tyrannasauris Sue.

Last year for the first time we invited James' sister and her husband along. I'm not sure if we got them hooked on the race or not , but they agreed to come along again this year with us! Last year we suffered through a few hours of pretty steady rain to watch the race. James and I learned in one of the early years not to leave if it starts to rain or even if there is a tornado - so we stuck it out. The race is kind of like the US Postal service - they deliver no matter what the weather!

I constantly get the question - "You LIKE going to car races?" Well, the answer is this - if you've ever been to a big sporting event - World Series, Super Bowl, US Open, etc. - you know what I mean when I say there's just something about the atmosphere at that type of event. It's the guys that have been up all night in the same clothes, drinking beer sitting next to you, the really worn out, cushiony seats that you rent for $7 to keep your bottom from going to sleep on the hard bleachers, the smell of burning asphalt and tire rubber, the black residue on your clothes and skin, the deafening noise of the cars as they race at over 200 MPH -I use ear plugs, which I have to take out each time someone says something to me so that I can hear them, and then when the excitement of the race is over after a few hours we walk what seems like four miles to get back to your car in the rain or scorching heat - that great Indianapolis weather!
Yup, that's race day!

Ask me if I like and I'll tell you the truth - I LOVE IT! We really do have a blast. As the PA announcer, Tom Carnagie says as the drivers head out after the green flag is waved - AND THERE THEY GOOOOOOOOO! So here we come Indianapolis!

A New Appreciation . . .

2008-05-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

It's funny how you develop a new appreciation for things as your life goes on!
Here's just a few of things I have noticed.

When you are a kid your mom tries to get you to eat certain foods that you are determined are yucky or gross and then as you mature you develop an appreciation for those foods. One that happened to me was AVOCADOS - did I have to learn to like a food that cost $2.99 for one little tiny organic avocado at Whole Foods????

Then when you get to be about 19 you begin to appreciate adults in your life that you thought were really stupid and really didn't understand or know a thing prior to that. I guess this a good thing since we will soon have children and maybe they'll learn to appreciate us before the memory loss sets in and we don't know they appreciate us!

Lately I realize how much I appreciate our good friends. There's a time in your life when you are so busy that you keep putting off time for friends. Well over a year ago we started a monthly game night with friends. This date each month has not been missed once and we truly have a great night each month!

I also realize how much work a blog is to keep up with. I used to get a little put out with my Indiana relatives if there wasn't a new entry everytime I checked their site - now I realize just how hard it is and what a great job they do keeping us up to date on their lives and their adorable, Grant. I wish I could do half as well - I really appreciate their blog!

Lastly, I appreciate my husband. He keeps me laughing and keeps us focused. We have fun just looking for office furniture, he is such an encourager to his new executive assistant (me) and what my job will be, and he is really "getting it" when it comes to what it will mean to have 2 kids in the house. He's gonna be a fun dad. It's his birthday this week and in fact we have his family birthday party at my mom's today!
Happy Birthday, James - I appreciate you most of all!

Open House!

2008-04-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

If you are not a teacher I am convinced that you cannot come close to understanding what it means to be the day before Open House!

Here's an overview:

You wake up wondering what you did with those stories the students wrote that you so carefully saved last September for Open House in April!

You begin stressing over whether you have enough stuff hanging from the ceiling for the parents to bump their heads on!

You start questioning whether two jumbo Costco-sized anti-bacterial wipes could possibly clean a room that 17 Kindergartners have been in for 7 months!

You re-analyze you lesson plans for the day - maybe this is the day to break out a new DVD!

You are concerned that there is not enough tape and sticky tabs in the world to affix all the projects your class has done to the already tape marked walls and doors!

Lastly, how in the world will you ever be ready for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other interested visitors to come through your immaculately clean, beautifully decorated classroom displaying the wonderful accomplishments of 17 great Kindergartners by 6:30 tomorrow night?

Well, I'm not sure how it happens, but for the past twenty years I've been doing this and each year on Open House Night the room is ready, the parents ooh and ahh, and I actually run home between the end of school and the beginning of Open House to shower, shampoo, and shine!

So it is that this may well be the last Open House I ever do, but I look forward to going to my own children's Open House Night next year, where I will truly appreciate all the teacher did to make that classroom perfect!

The Office

2008-04-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

Now, for those you avid TV watchers that watch something other than news, politics, history or science documentaries, with a little sports and HGTV thrown in, you may have seen a program called "The Office".

We primarily watch the aforementioned!

Kayleigh got me to watch my first time ever episode of "The Office" during my spring break. It was hilarious - in a dry humor sort of way! Anyway, it is her favorite show!

Now, I always get a little nervous when someone tells me that I remind them of a character on a TV show, so when my house guest mentioned that, my first reaction was - Ohhhh Noooo!
Fortunately the character that she thought reminded her of me turned out to be ok! Whew!

Anyway . . . our adoption social worker told us we needed to have the kid's rooms ready by June - so it is that we have spent part of this last week looking for The Office! (We need to turn our home office back into a bedroom!)

It may not be quite like the TV version, but it will be "Our Office"! We are pretty excited about it. We finally settled on a very nice, professional office, which will be modified to suit us.

We may never make it to the big screen or even the small screen, but maybe after we have moved in and are settled I can post a picture of "Our Office".
Then for those of you like us who primarily watch news and documentaries you can peer at a little reality as well!

Maybe by then I will have a tranformation and look like the girl in "The Office" that I remind Kayleigh of!

Our House Guest

2008-04-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

This week I have "Spring Break"! Now, I know most of you would think that working at a Christian school I might have had the week before or after Easter off - but no, this year we stayed with the public school schedule - so this is it!

We invited a former student of mine over for a few days. She is a doll! Kayleigh is 14 and finishing her freshman year of high school with a 4.5 gradepoint average. Unbelievable! Back in the "olden days" when I was in high school there was nothing higher than a 4.0 - and I don't think anyone in my circle of friends had anything close to that!

Kayleigh was in my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classes when I taught the Multi-Age class. She was quite a student then as well. It is so much fun to see the great young lady she is growing up to be.

Best of all, James and I see a potential babysitter in Kayleigh. We have even talked to her about going on trips with us, if we should need her.

What a joy she is as a house guest - plus she was a great playmate for me as James is over his head in work! We were able to fit in a long walk through Seal Beach, on the beach, down the pier, a shake at Ruby's at the end of the pier, pedicures, watching two funny movies, playing a game of Sorry, making a great Salmon dinner and the "Perfect Apple Pie", taking a trip out to Beaumont to check on our house out there, going out to two lunches and one nice dinner at the Olive Garden (we stole James away for that one), two dips in the jacuzzi, and lots of girl chit-chat time!

Did I mention she was only here about 48 hours?
Whew, but FUN!

All About Blogs!

2008-03-28T20:16:00.001-07:00

Well, my sister, Linda has discovered the blogging world now, too! Since she has two of the world's cutest kids, hers will be lots of fun when she really gets going with it!

My cousin, Erin and her husband Bret have had me hooked for a couple of years now - especially since their baby Grant was born over a year ago. Erin's blogs are sweet and usually involve something to do with their precious Grant. Bret, however deserves the "Writer of the Year" award. His writing is clever along with a comedic quality that will make you laugh until your sides split! I can hardly stand it if there are too many days between his entries!

Then, as a result of their link I started reading a blog of a cousin who barely (if at all) knew I existed. I have so enjoyed getting to know him and his family through their blog, getting connected with his sister's blog now, and seeing relatives I haven't seen for many years. I got so involved in their blog that I even startled them with a comment - especially since they didn't know who I was!

My dear friend at work has a wonderful blog, about her love story with her hubby and her dog, her teaching, friends, and her side business selling adorable little girl's bows and vintage "stuff"! She is the one who most encouraged me to start a blog - especially since we are in the process of adopting our children.

And so it is now that my sister has a blog! Can't wait to see pics, sis!
Happy Birthday,too!

The Meeting

2008-03-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a meeting with our social worker.

She's a cute, sweet "girl" who looks like she graduated from high school last week. Actually we guess she's about 25, and I'm sure that is in the ballpark.

Now, we already feel old enough becoming first time parents and then we have a social worker (whom we have put our future in the hands of) who is young enough to be our daughter. You would think when they received our application and noted our advanced ages that they would have assigned us the "old" social worker. You know . . . the one that is in her thirties.

I think it is a test of our character. Maybe they are trying to see if we have those nuturing parental skills which will be noted by how we treat our social worker.

Oh well, she was nice. She seemed to want to move us along quickly in the process. Maybe she wanted to be sure she placed children in plenty of time before they will have to start the inevitable search for a nursing home for their parents.

More Changes

2008-03-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

There are good changes and not so good changes. Changes you get . . . and those that take a while to figure out!

That has been my week - thus no blog until I could think it through.

This week my school announced that we will be merging with another Christian School in the same area. Now, practically speaking it makes perfect sense. Take two rather small Christian schools and put them together and what have you got - a great big school! Lots more opportunity for the school to provide auxillary classes and other activities. A chance to build a "state of the art" campus in just 2 years!

It also means packing up 20 years worth of teaching materials, storing or moving it, interviewing for a job there, etc., etc. Some of you might think that because we changed campuses just four years ago that I wouldn't have that much "stuff"!
Well, I do!

But . . .after thinking, praying, talking, considering,and just generally working it through my pea brain I've decided . . .not to worry about it!

My wonderful husband put that thought into my mind, which greatly reduced my stress! He's a smart man, too. He knows that when I'm stressed too much I head to the expensive spa for a massage and or facial! Believe me I am sure that my stress reduction is high on his priority list! Just kidding. Honestly you couldn't pay someone to be as supportive as he is! What a guy!

Just when you think you have your direction all figured out - you gotta make another turn!

The Call

2008-03-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

James got a call from our social worker today! Was I excited!
Just one more meeting to check off in the adoption process. Classes to take, forms to fill out, medical exams, meetings, references - we are checking them off.
Someday . . . it will be THE CALL!

Game Night!

2008-03-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

The first Saturday of each month we get together with our good friends, Cary and Shirley for dinner and games! Now these games have been anything from Yahtzee, Pictionary, Crazy Eights and many more! Most of the games are familiar and make sense. Well . . . last night we played a new game from one of those new imagination toy stores - as it turned out we really had to use our imagination to figure out how to make this game work, much less be uproariously fun as the cover advertised! We did end up laughing hysterically because four highly educated people couldn't even think of an answer most of the time. (Box cover advertised it for 8 years and up)!
All in all it was a great night - just because the dinner came out ok and our friends are always fun to be with.

Busy, Busy!

2008-03-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

James has been putting in 12-16 hr days 7 days a week but each day he asks me about he status of our children. Now if this were a typical way of having children I might be able to give him a better answer (ie the baby moved, it kicked, the doctor said . . .), but . . . as it stands each day I reply the same way - you know about as much as I do!
I did talk to a social worker this week who said given that we want a sibling group ( 2 or more) and children over 4 years and don't care what race or nationality they are that we will go to the top of the list! Oh, goody - I think - we finally go to the top of some list!
Well all I can say is next time James asks me how our children are or what their status is I'll just reply the same way he did once to me - How are our children? I don't even know who our children are!

Our Adoption Journey! A BIG YEAR OF CHANGE!

2008-02-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

As hard as this is to believe, and after all of these years James and I have decided that it is the right time for us to start the adoption process. Actually it wasn't quite like that . . . way back in December we were approached about the possibility of adopting a set of twins - a boy and a girl - well... we got ourselves so excited, told all of our friends and family . . .only to find out that it wasn't going to be quite that quick or easy. By then were hooked on the idea and haven't looked back. We have begun enormous amount of paperwork, classes, etc. and have been told that we could have our children around July or August. Yes, you read it correctly I said children. We decided that if one was good why not two . . . or even three. Three is a long shot - but two . . . well I think that is a for sure. We just feel that we are so old and the kids really should have someone left to call family after we are gone - so two it is!
In order for us to get two, James has to move his office out of the house so that we can have the third bedroom. So right after tax season we will seriously be looking for office space where James can work in a quiet environment, and come home at regular times.
We have already begun thinking about how to decorate the rooms - well at least I have and what clothes, games and toys I will need to buy. Oh goody! More shopping!
Almost daily I go on line to look for our children and each day I see hundreds of children - two of which we will call our own someday and who will call us Mom and Dad - imagine that! Up til now only our cat - Tigger has had that priviledge!
Those of you who know us may notice that our blog is called The Davidson's - well that's another piece of our big news! We are also changing our last name from David to Davidson. David as a last name was always a problem for James growing up and it still is in business - so we decided to make this small change to the David name - so our whole family will get a new last name when the children come into our family! Cool, huh?
Many of our friends and family know about our big adventure and have been so wonderfully supportive! We are stunned!