The Wounded Hyena meets the Obnoxious Car Alarm

 If you mix a wounded hyena with an obnoxious car alarm you would have the sound that comes out of my Ryan's French Horn- I am thinking, after attending Ryan's one and only concert a few weeks back, that he's been playing that horn so horrible at home on purpose- Just so he could get out of practicing :) The sound that came out of his French Horn mixed with all of the other band instruments at the concert was..........................
SO BEAUTIFUL!
The setting of the concert was in a large AIR CONDITIONED (which is a novelty here) Auditorium- The kids, which were in ages from 6th-8th grade, were dressed so spiffy in their matching band shirts, black pants, and black shoes-  The band instructor had about a million lei's around her neck (which gave her the appearance of having a brace around her neck- LOL).  It is a standard tradition here in Hawaii to bring a lei (a flowered necklace) as a welcoming or thank you gift- Thus the reason the band instructor had so many around her neck.
It really was a wonderful night- listening to hundreds of kids playing several different instruments- all of the instruments harmonizing together to make a beautiful sound.

Ryan's friend Isaiah- who plays the Trumpet

The Air Conditioned Auditorium 

Difficult Attorneys Equals Focusing On Blessings

I can think of so many things I want to write about- So many things I could go on and on about but it is all the things that need to stay 'behind the scenes'- The adoption process between the birth mother, Matt, and I is, honestly, going wonderfully- We have been so blessed in this area.  The adoption process between us and the 2 Attorneys involved has been a bit challenging- figuring out what everybody's role is (between the Attorney's and Matt and I) has been probably the most difficult-
Because today has been a particularly difficult day in dealing with Attorneys I am going change my focus from difficult day to gratefulness- I am going to end this blog post with 10 things I am SO grateful for- Please know that I am no less grateful for number one than I am for number ten- I am just going to list my blessings in no particular order:

My husband, who has been a constant support in many way's over the past week- Thank's babe!!

My boys- my boys friends- and our nephew Jess who has been able to spend a few weeks with our family- I am so blessed to be able to say that there are 4 tween/teenage boys running around my house right now!

The rest of my friends and family and my dog Oklie........If I am really honest here I think of Oklie as one of my kids- so I guess I should have put her under number 2

Our Birth Mother- She has made the amazing decision for adoption and I feel SO GRATEFUL!

Sally Hansen Wax- It grabs all those little chin hairs and above the lip hair amazingly- 

Sharpie's- My writing just feel's 'HEARD' when I write with a sharpie- Like my kids won't miss what I am trying to say if I write their note in a Sharpie Pen-

My Bible- it is the most read book in my house!

TV!!

Processed food you can pop in the microwave and heat up- Corn Dogs, Pizza Pockets, Bagel Bites, etc.. Some nights it is such freedom when my boys ask what's for dinner to just say, 'look in the freezer and heat something up!'

CHOCOLATE...........anything and everything chocolate-

Ryan getting ready to play in his band concert-
So very cute!

May God Bless And Keep All Of Our Service Men and Women.......

Today is Memorial Day- A day to stop and remember the men and women who have lost their lives fighting for America's freedom.  I have walked around Arlington National Cemetery  just outside of Washington D.C.- It is a sobering sight to see- The beauty of the cemetery does not outshine the heavy feeling of grief in the air as you walk the graves of our brave soldiers- Thank you to each and every soldier, both past- present- and future for risking your lives to fight for America's freedom.  Thank you to their families- especially their wives and children as they endure everyday life with out their spouse or parent so that we can have our freedom.  May God protect and keep every soldier and soldiers family this day.........
And May God Bless America!

flag compliments of THIS website

A Typical Afternoon At The Beach

Zoomed out from where I am sitting

Oklie digging for sand crabs- 

Steamed Gecko Poop on English Muffins...Anyone??

This morning I was pondering the whole 'Gecko' situation- and after yesterday's post, learning about House Gecko's and how they like to inhabit with people I took a new look around my kitchen- I went out of auto-pilot make breakfast mode and went into seeing my kitchen through the eye's of a Gecko mode-
We eat either Toast or English Muffins 4 to 5 times a week- As I popped down the English Muffins this morning and with my 'new' eye's on I had a sudden revelation- The revelation came just as the coils started heating up in the toaster..........
My internal head thoughts went something like this:
"I wonder if Gecko's only eat bugs or if they eat stuff like human food......specifically bread crumbs!!!'
As that thought whipped around in my brain I popped up the un-toasted English Muffins and flipped the toaster around to the back to grab the removable tray's at the bottom of most newer toasters- The ones where your bread crumbs fall as the bread is toasting- The one's that must heat up as the toaster heats up-The one's that I have not cleaned in so long cause I never think about them (outta sight outta mind kinda thing)...
If you look closely at the picture below- the most obvious piece of poop is on the right hand side of tray (I wish I had the program where I could circle it on the picture in big bold red)-
Would anyone like to come over for Steamed Gecko Poop on English Muffins for breakfast tomorrow?
EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Sharing my drinking glass for the past 2 years!

Gecko's are a HUGE part of life living here in Hawaii- Every night we have an assortment of house Gecko's lining our windows eating the bugs- they are also all over our house inside- running on the walls, running on the floor, and dropping off of our ceiling- I got up to get a drink of water last night and stopped short when I went to grab my drinking glass- It is the same drinking glass that I use all day long and usually will turn over so that nothing will get inside at night- I had forgotten to turn it over last night......I should have grabbed my camera so you could see the gecko drinking out of my drinking glass the water that was left in the bottom of the cup- When it realized I was standing watching it drink it calmly crawled to the top of the glass and jumped down- like it was not the first time it had drank out of my glass.......It got me thinking- I wanted to get to know better the animal I have been sharing my glass with for 2 years........I put Gecko into Google's search engine and this is what I came up with.....

Geckos are lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae, found in warm climates throughout the world.They range from 1.6cm to 60cm.

Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. Gekkonidae is the largest family of lizards, with over 2000 different species worldwide and many others likely yet to be discovered. The name stems from the Indonesian/Javanese word Tokek, inspired by the sound these animals make.

All geckos, excluding the Eublepharinae subfamily, have no eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane which they lick to clean. Many species will, indefense, expel a foul-smelling material and feces onto their aggressors. There are also many species that will drop their tails in defense, a process calledautotomy. Many species are well known for their specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth and vertical surfaces, and even cross indoor ceilings with ease (one hypothesis explains the ability in terms of the van der Waals force). These antics are well-known to people who live in warm regions of the world, where several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations. These species (for example the House Gecko) become part of the indoor menagerie and are often welcome guests, as they feed on insects, including mosquitoes.

I clicked on the 'House Gecko' to see what Wikipedia had to say about it-

They (House Gecko) are typically known as house geckos, due to their readiness to adapt to and coexist with humans.

Gecko

Brimming with Ramble.....

My brain is brimming right now with adoption detail planning- It is SO exciting and I am treasuring every minute of it!! Unfortunately my brain literally hurts from all the information I am sorting through so I can not even think to compose my thoughts to put down on a blog tonight- Oh my I just read over what I wrote and realize that ramble writing is the only thing brimming so far in this post :)
Just wanted to say a quick 'HI' and hope all is well with you guys.
Some of my goals tomorrow are to send my friend Darrah and e-mail, Call my cousin Molly to get an update on how she is doing (she is due with Twins in Aug), and BLOG!!
Talk to you tomorrow-