What Not To Wear... :)

Somebody should have nominated me for the show What Not To Wear.......
I must have moved to Hawaii and threw all of my fashion accountability out the window!!

Happy Saturday



Kauai Hawaii May 2009

Chit Chat about Asiago Cheese

I don't want to get out of the habit of blogging and have noticed that last couple of months I have not blogged as much as usual- I'm determined to get at least 10 blogs in this month.......I keep waiting for 'inspiration' to blog but am coming to realize that when you have 3 children and a busy house sometimes you've gotta forego inspiration and just write-
Last night and tonight I am just blogging........talking you you'all like you were sitting on my couch across from me- No big point......just chat
I made roast spaghetti tonight- this was the first time using roast as the 'meat' in the spaghetti.  Was not sure what I was going to make for dinner when I got up this morning (usually something planned either at the beginning of the week or at least the day before)- I grabbed a roast out of the freezer and put it in the crock pot as I was drinking my coffee this morning.  It cooked for a good part of the day before the conclusion of spaghetti was reached- We topped the spaghetti with Asiago cheese and also topped french bread with the Asiago (the Asiago smells like bad breath and diarrhea mixed but has an outstanding taste) Not something I usually buy but was on sale at the grocery store this week..............
As I was typing the last sentence out above my door bell rang- As soon as my sis in law Rhonda walked in she grabbed her nose and said 'WHAT IS THAT SMELL!'
I then explained to her about Asiago Cheese and it's peculiar smell- She said it smelled just like throw up to her.............'That's what you get when you put it on your french bread (and on top of the spaghetti) and stick it under the broiler' is what I told her.
Matt just walked in, sniffed and said it smells like fart-
So there you have it..............That should encourage everyone to go out and buy Asiago Cheese :)
Ending this post with a couple of Happy Birthday wishes!
It is Kelly's (in Minnesota) Birthday today.......HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!
It is also my nephew Cole's 7th birthday and my niece Devyn's 20th birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLE AND DEVYN!!

12 Minutes to Blog

I've never put a time limit on myself to blog- It's 7:48 p.m. and I am stopping this post at 8- I'm wracking my brain to think what I should blog on.........just realized that not only do I have a time limit but I also have no direction what to talk about-
Off the top of my brain we'll go!
I spent the whole day at home with Ellie and Ryan- It was wonderfully odd.....A feeling of grungy (stayed in sweats all day) mixed with feeling really homey (I had a pumpkin candle that my friend Janelle gave me burning a good part of the day and I baked lemon bread).  Ryan was supposed to go on a field trip to the coast with his school- At the last minute I told him it was not a good idea that he go.......the forecast said cold weather and rain with lots of time spent outside would equal him coming down with a cold which would then lead to asthma (totally not being dramatic. He gets colds so easily).......Not sure why his school choose an outdoor day at the coast at the end of Oct.........
It's 7:52
Speaking of Ryan, he pulled down straight A's this past progress report- I told him how proud of him I was that he got a 4.0......He informed me that he did not get 4.0 even though he got straight A's- I guess you add an A+ differently than you do an A-..........His actual GPA, once he figured it out was 3.9...................He is the first person in our family to ever get straight A's (in my mind he still got 4.0 along with his straight A's!!)
7:55
Ellie and Oklie have started playing together- Ellie is getting better at not pulling her tail and Oklie is getting better about letting Ellie 'pet' her and be in her general area- Oklie used to jump up and run off when Ellie came into the room- I have been pondering the sudden change- I walked around the corner when Ellie was eating today and think I came to a realization.........Oklie is warming up to Elle's because Elle's will feed Oklie- Oak just needs to stand at the bottom of Elle's high chair and Elle's throws her food over
7:58
Earlier today, I rummaged around our attic dragging down paper work and education books from our adoption.  I am talking to a group of mom's about Adoption at the beginning of Nov. and trying to prepare- Our Adoption Story is a miracle and a glorifies God amazingly..........I am hoping to share our story without crying- to date it brings me to tears even when I am talking to the wall about it (trying to get comfortable 'sharing it' so that it flows when I speak)
My friend Michelle told me Nov. is considered 'National Adoption Month'........Adoption is such a beautiful thing-
8:00
Have a great night!

Added this pic of them playing because it's so darn cute! 
Ellie was wearing her costume from last Halloween :)

GOOD JOB RYAN!!

Family Pictures

I have been putting pictures together for a presentation about our adoption- As I have scrolled through hundreds of pictures it has dawned on me that for how many pictures I take we really don't have many family pictures.........LOTS of the kiddos (I am sure this is typical) but not so many of all of us- Noting to self that we will take more of them- all of us together in one place needs to be captured more...........after all, if Lily Pie had a ticker for 'how long until your first born graduates from high school' it would read a little over 19 months- after graduation I have a feeling our 'all together in one place at the same time' moments will be even fewer.........Ok I am stopping blogging about that so I don't end this post in tears :)
Here's the family pictures I could come up with in my search through pictures- They are in no particular order

Ellie and Heather's Furrowed Brow

I try to walk, usually with Ellie (in her stroller), several times a week- each walk is the same 2 or so mile 'loop' around my subdivision....Matt will sometimes join Ellie and I.  The same question usually comes out of his mouth each time he joins........'let's change the route up a bit- Why do you always walk the same loop?'  Just like his question, my reply is always the same...........so I don't have to think about where I am walking- I like going on auto pilot, letting my brain relax, and just think- If I go a new route I will have to 'check in' and pay attention to where I am going.....
Tonight, Ellie and I were on our usual loop- We were about a quarter of a mile in......I glanced down at Elle's just as she placed one of her little legs up on the stroller tray in front of her- She scooted back and was just lounging.  About the same time she did this she also turned her little curly hair'd head and looked up at me......her brows furrowed together........the look on her face with her little foot up on the tray immediately took me back to the wee morning hours of June 18, 2011.....

Our birth mom Heather, with her same foot propped up on my Durango's dashboard- her brows furrowed together........we were on our way to the hospital to see if she was having a case of false labor or if our Ellie was on her way.

As Ellie looked up at me and I looked at her, the furrow gave way to a smile and I stopped the stroller.  The memory was so clear- had she been older I would have sat down on the curb and told her all about the car ride to the hospital that early June morning......all about the first time I saw her birth mom and her brother Caiden.........all about her birth........about the days that follewed that we were able to spend with Heather and Caiden.......and so much more.  With the stroller stopped I came around the side of it- still looking at her smiling face and bent down.....my face right next to her's giving her a kiss.....She was content to look forward after that, foot still up- I carried on with my walk letting my 'relaxed brain' remember back.....

I have so much to tell you Ellie.......

Your Birth Mom has things she will want to tell you...........

Heather and I are friends on facebook- One of her friends, who is also a birth mom, posted this on Heather's wall- I cried when I read it (it is from the poem Legacy of an Adopted Child- Author Unknown)

Once there were two women
who never knew each other
one you do not remember
the other you call mother
two different lives shaped to make yours one
one became your guiding star
the other became your sun
the first gave you life
the second taught you to live in it
the first gave you a need for love

the second was there to give it
one gave you a nationality
the other gave you a name
one gave you the seed of talent
the other gave you an aim
one gave you emotions
the other calmed your fears
one saw your first sweet smile
the other dried your tears
one gave you up - it was all that she could do
the other prayed for a child
and God lead her straight to you
and now you ask me through your tears
the age old question through the years
heredity or environment- which are you the product of
neither my darling neither
just two different kinds of love!!!!

 

Thank you for this picture Cloudy  Day Photography

16 Months Old & A brief conversation with our Birth Father

Your 3 days short of 16 months old Elle's........You really are growing up so fast!
A few of your favorites right now are:

• Sour Cream and ketsup- You love when we put it on any and everything
• Your blanket that Auntie Val made- you hand it to me when you get up in the morning (because you sleep with it every night), I bring it down stairs and put it on your chair. where you go and get it periodically throughout the day, bringing it to me so I will sit and rock you with it wrapped around you
• The pink chair that is just your size......the one mommy got from Kristen- You sit in your pink chair drinking your bottle (with your blanket) every morning
• Her bottle that she call's 'BOB'.....
• Big Girl milk (what we call your 2%)..
• Chocolate (a little bit everyday with mommy)
• Refried Beans (you've like these for several months)
• Having us read you books- especially 'Farm Yard Fun' (From Auntie Erika)
• Her Nana and Papa (she runs to the door if someone knocks yelling 'papa! papa!')

You weigh 18.3 pounds and are 29 inches long
Your hair is adorably curly (reminds us of your birth mom Heather).....It still get's deep conditioned everyday otherwise it rats up and it's really hard to comb
___________________________________________________

Your birth father sent us a note a few weeks back-

I thank you every day for giving my child a place to have a good life. It means the world to me.

To which we replied-

Ellie is such a blessing- Both you and Heather had a big decision to make, whether to parent or place Ellie with us- We are so grateful that you choose to place her with us.....she is absolutely adored and fits into our family perfectly. The choice that you and Heather made means the world to my husband Matt and I (and to our boys)

Lovin' her some pink chair, big girl milk (in her bob), and Auntie Val's blanket

New Season

It's a new season personally (and seasonally)........I think most of us women feel it deep in our heart......when there is closure of one season giving room to the other

THANK YOU JESUS

The Lord asked 3 1/2 years ago something of me personally that I 'idealistically' obeyed-
I Stepped out of comfort zone bright eye'd, well dressed, 'I can do this'
Had I known then what I know now would I have followed?
Oh Yes......But instead of bright eyes I would have upward turned eyes on bended knee
Instead of pursuing physically well dressed I would have well placed Spiritual Dress
Instead of 'I can do this'........'I can only thru you Lord Jesus do the task set before me'

THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON- For the 2 years of summer that you required hands on learning lessons
THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE 'inbetween season'- the year and a half that followed

THANK YOU JESUS FOR FALL
My most favorite time of year.......it always follows summer.......

YES INDEED, A NEW SEASON started on bended knee.........