Adventures of The Hawes Family

Goggles. They Are Not Just For the Pool!

2012-01-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Connor LOVES the water. It doesn't matter if it is a swimming pool, the ocean, a hose, or a bathtub. He will take it any way he can. The other day he saw the goggles that Travis uses when he goes swimming. He wanted to try them out in the bathtub. I thought, why not? Since he splashes and "dives" in the tub like it is a swimming pool, why not try out the goggles too? Here he is modeling. I have a few others that are just as cute.... but I don't think they need to be shared publicly!

"Diving" for buried treasure. He thinks he is a pirate on an adventure.

In other news, Travis got some shrinky dinks for Christmas. I was so excited when I found them at the store. This is one of those things where Daryle and I say, "We did these when we were kids!" Then Travis gives us that look like, "You mean you two were once KIDS?! Whatever you did, I am not too sure it was cool." They never made kits like this when I was a kid. Daryle and I were both pretty excited to try it out

Here were a few almost ready for the oven.

Not the best, but proof that Travis was getting into it. I don't have a picture of the finished ones, but boy were they small!! They turned out cute. We still have more, but we need to do them when we have actual time to complete something around here. Extra time? Not sure what that is lately...

In my last late breaking news .... after 7 years of living in this house our naval orange tree finally produced 4 oranges. I was waiting to pick them and take a picture of them on our Charlie Brown Orange Tree when the kids came in with their arms full. "Mom! Look what we found outside on the orange tree!!" I just sighed ... I wasn't sure they were ready to be picked yet. Not much I could do at that point, so we cut one open and tried it.

Although they were pretty oranges, they didn't taste all that great. On the other hand, Blue (the guinea pig) found them quite tasty and ate every ounce of them. Now that we know the tree is capable of making oranges I guess we will pay more attention to the stick with branches and leaves that is growing in the backyard. When we first planted the tree I had grand visions of picking baskets of oranges that we had grown on our very own tree. I love oranges, fresh ones are the best. I just hope next year we get some more... and that this time they taste good too! I guess I need to go do some research on that one.

What A Week

2012-01-21T21:23:00.001-07:00

I am just so happy this week is behind us. This is what we did in a nutshell.

Monday- We had to go to the vet and have Rock put to sleep. He is now happy in doggy heaven. He is no longer in pain or discomfort. His presence in our house is deeply missed. About an hour after arriving home Travis fell off his bike. According to my neighbor (who saw him fall) he fell "hard". My high pain tolerance child just looked at me and said he was fine. No tears, no complaining, no nothing. He did end up coming in the house, snuggled up in his bed, then the couch and watched the same DVD movie about 3 times. (I think he was depressed too. My heart was breaking for him.) After a few hours he did complain that his foot was sore. We elevated the foot, applied ice, gave him ibuprofen and checked in with the doctor to see what we needed to look for in case something was broken. I could also tell he was starting to get one of his usual sinus infections. We all cried most of the evening.

Tuesday- We all went to school and work like normal. However, the morning was sad. We missed having Rock there. It was our first morning without him. Daryle usually leaves for work before the rest of us are even up. He was gone and I realized my "protector" aka Rock wasn't there. It was a weird feeling. That day I came home from work with the most agonizing headache ever. My friend at school told me about taking Excedrin and drinking a regular coke. I did that, came home and laid down for a half an hour before I had to go get the kids. It worked pretty well. It wasn't totally gone but at least I was able to function for the rest of the evening. Travis continued to limp and complained a few times that his foot still hurt. That was odd coming from him. He never complains like that. The red flag was raised.

Wednesday-Travis woke up and told me he didn't want to go to school. What?! He has NEVER said that before. I asked him why and he told me that he didn't want to have to walk on his foot, that it was still hurting. A lot. I also noticed his eyes were glazed over. I knew he was getting sick. So I had to quickly shuffle things around, type up lesson plans for a sub ( I swear, in my profession being gone from work for a day is more work than just being there myself!) and get Connor off to preschool. All I can say is "Thank goodness for Red Truck Grandpa!" that morning. I don't know what I would have done without his help. That morning we went to the doctor and after checking out his foot she sent us for x-rays to check for a fracture. Thank goodness all was well, just a bad sprain. I told him his guardian angel dog Rock must have been looking out for him... that bike accident could have been so much worse! He also was getting the usual sinus infection so his doctor wanted one of his specialists to see him while he was sick. Of course we couldn't get in that day... the next opening would be on Thursday. It ended up being a nice afternoon. Travis and I just hung out and home, very low key, and got some much needed R&R. My headache was finally gone.

Thursday- I called in for a half day sub to take Travis to the specialist. We changed up some of his medications and are trying a new approach without antibiotics. If he isn't doing better by Monday she will call in an antibiotic. At that point I was starting to stress out and feel so far behind at work. Panic attack! Travis goes to soccer practice... but comes home limping. He likes to over do it. I just shake my head. What can I do, he is tough like that. In the mail that day we got a sympathy card from the vet. Enclosed was a very sweet hand written note from the doctor along with Rock's pawprint. Cue the tears. Gosh, I had almost made it the whole day without crying too!

Friday- I finally get caught up and am ready for next week. I sure hope it is better than this week was!

Saturday- Connor does not know how to sleep in on a Saturday! He was up at 6:30 and ready to go. I did some cleaning before going to Travis' soccer game. I also was able make my haircut appointment. We had a great dinner at San Tan Flat tonight. We ate outside, roasted marshmallows, and watched the kids dance around and have a super time. As we were sitting there I realized I should have brought a camera! Oh well. Trust me, we had fun! I think things might finally be returning to normal around here!

Rock

2012-01-16T16:06:00.001-07:00

Today has been a rough day. We had to have our dog put to sleep due to declining health from his lung cancer. Growing up we never really had any pets in our house. One time my brother picked up a stray dog, Timothy. The problem was that we didn't have a fenced in yard and he was the type of dog that needed to run. My parents found a nice home for him and that was about it. He was only with us for a few months. I also remember this other black and white dog we had named Patches. He jumped everywhere and tore up the backyard. I don't think we had him very long either. I'm not sure what happened to him. So, Rock was the first real pet I ever had. I have never considered myself an "animal person" but I sure did grow to love our dog. On the other hand, Daryle always grew up with pets, usually cats. When we got married we would often discuss having a pet one day. Since we were living in an apartment at the time I had told him we could get one when we got a house. Well, in June 1999 we bought our first house and by November Rock had joined the family. We had debated dog or cat for months. Since we had a rather large backyard we both pictured a big dog running around back there. We figured there was plenty of room for a dog ... and kids too. Unfortunately we moved from that house before we brought Travis home. I can tell you Rock had a lot of enjoyment in that backyard. (For exercise we would take a laser pointer out there and shine it all around and he would chase it! It was so funny to watch!) Too bad my scanner doesn't work. I was showing Travis some old pictures of when we first got Rock. He was much smaller, super black (he had really greyed in recent months) and you could see the sparkle in his eyes. He had a good life. As you can see in these pictures, Rock and Travis have quite a bond. I am not sure Connor is really old enough to understand, but Travis sure is. I was surprised when he told me he wanted to come with me to take Rock to the animal hospital. I already had asked my mom to come with me so I knew between the two of us we could take care of Travis too. I have to say, he loved on that dog all morning before we left. He even followed Rock around the house and took a bunch of pictures of him. He even got one of Rock drinking from his water bowl. It was sad and cute all at the same time. When we got to the hospital we went into the exam room where they had a nice soft blanket laying on the ground. We all sat on the floor and hugged Rock and talked to him. Travis was right in there with the whole thing. When the doctor came in to sedate him Travis just laid by him and hugged on tight. It was such a tender, peaceful moment. Here are some of the happier times.

I have so many pictures like this!

Helping dad give Rock a bath!

I about died the time Travis was reading the book Go Dog Go! to Rock. That was hilarious!

A family picture... BC... Before Connor

The best of friends.

He always did like a good bone....

These are from Rock's birthday last March, he was 12 years old. We always tried to make a cake... he didn't get any frosting though. I am so glad we took these pictures last year, since it was his last birthday.

Travis took this one of Rock and Connor this morning. So sweet. (I can't find any pictures of Rock and Connor... I am so thankful Travis got this one today!)

Travis kept frowning, finally I got him to show a small smile while hugging his beloved dog.

Finally, I was able to get a cute one of them together. I think I will print it out and frame it. You can just see from the look in his eyes though that he was not feeling well. I didn't quite see it when he was around. But now that I have been looking back at his younger days it really shows. (Notice they are holding his paws... Travis insisted.)

Now for a few funny memories of Rock.

Yes, he was a doggy school drop out! Once we got his behavior under control I just did not care if he didn't make a perfect figure eight while walking next to me! We never went back. I don't take critisism well...lol

Over the course of 12 years:

He ate his leather leash. He ate 2 dozen hard boiled eggs. He ate a loaf of bread. He ate a pound of ground beef that was thawing on the counter. He ate a package of gum. Wrappers and all. He really loved eating Kleenex and toilet paper rolls. Yes, we fed him dog food every day too! He got in lots of trouble sometimes...

He used to escape the house and I would have to run all over the neighborhood chasing him down. He thought this was great fun. He really enjoyed the time the fence fell down and he got to run free in the church lot that was behind us.

We used to love watching him sit on our deck and howl at the noon whistle that went off every Saturday in Memphis. It was also the tornado siren... he howled and howled at that noise!

One time he got stuck under the deck in our backyard. We hadn't had him very long.. a few weeks maybe. Daryle wasn't home so it was up to me to "save" him. I called several numbers and nobody would help. Finally one person suggested I get a water bottle, fill it with soapy water, spray him and get him out. I did just that and also got out a shovel and dug out some dirt. He finally slipped right out, got a hold of the water bottle in his teeth and ran around the yard with it hanging out of his mouth and spewing water all over the place. Boy was I glad when Daryle got home! I was exhausted. The energy of a puppy is endless.

The first time it snowed we tried letting him stay inside with us. He thought our bed was a trampoline. Out he went. The next morning there was snow all over and not one paw print. Out he came... he had been hiding under the shed all night!

The original owners named him "Twister". We tried naming him Bo. It sounded too much like No so we changed it to Rock.

Before kids, all of our pictures were of Rock. Then the pictures were Travis and Rock. The last few years Rock seems to be missing from pictures. Sorry old boy. Trying to get the three of you in a picture was a challenge.

Travis used to refer to our 80 pound dog as his "puppy." Once people saw him they would say, "That's no puppy!!"

If he wanted to be petted he would put his paw on your leg and just look at you with those big brown eyes as if to say, "Come on and pet me! You know you want to!"

There are so many more stories. 12 years is a long time. He was our first "child". He got all of our attention for many years. He filled the void in our lives when we struggled with infertility. When Travis joined the family Rock took him under his wing and was a fierce protector. When Connor got home he sniffed him and licked him all over and then decided he needed protection too. Even today as he stood there getting his shot he growled at the doctor as if to say, "These are my people and you had better not let anything happen to them!"

There is one thing I know for sure. My family is now being protected by one heck of a "guardian angel dog"... I am not really sure if there is such a thing... but we will go with it. It makes us feel better.

Right now our family needs to grieve the loss of a wonderful pet, but I am sure it won't be long until we have another furball running around here again. Pets teach us so many life lessons. They really add a lot to the family.

A house just isn't a home without a dog, that's for sure.

Soccer-mania

2012-01-14T09:51:00.003-07:00

Soccer season is upon us once again. Of course Daryle is coaching. This year their colors are bright yellow and black. The team decided to be called the Hornets. They actually have a pretty good little team too. Travis moved up to the 8-9 year old division so he is now on a bigger field with bigger goals. He is worried about playing goalie and having somebody kick a ball "up over his head and in the corner." I told him not to worry about it and to do his best. That's all you can do. As for me, I NEVER wanted to play goalie. I was too afraid of the ball. I remember a girl named Molly was always our goalie. Not me. I was happy playing in the back and helping the goalie. Not much action happened back there. I wasn't the most aggressive or competitive child athletically. (Now put me in a spelling bee or compete for the best grades and you have a different story. I also cheer pretty loudly for the team from the sidelines too. I am a good "soccer mom" in that respect!) Daryle and I have often discussed that it was probably a good thing we don't have biological children....it would have frustrated him when it came to sports!! Fortunately, we have two Russian boys who LOVE sports and are pretty good at them too. Connor is counting down the days when he "gets a team". Next year he can play, you have to be 4. He is so excited. I can't wait for it either. I just love watching the little guys play, it is so much fun. Here are some of my favorite pictures from Travis' first game last Saturday. I have a bunch, but they all start looking the same after awhile. Here is Coach Daryle with his team.

Travis playing goalie.

Action shot.

If you look closely you can see the street sign. It says Hawes Road. No it wasn't named after us. However, a lot of my students think it is. Not to mention my own children. Pretty funny.

Connor was hanging out playing on my iTouch feeling pretty cozy with Red Truck Grandpa. (Sometimes this is shortened to "Red Truck". We all know who that means!)

Then he switched to "GrammyGrandpa's" lap. We all know that means my dad. This is how they tell the two grandpas apart. The kids came up with it so it has stuck. Cute kid sayings always seem to stick!

Of course he still likes Mommy's lap too!

Connor wanted a turn with the camera. I had to delete most of what he took. I kept this one he took of his shadow. Pretty clever! (Not sure if this was on purpose or an accident, either way I like it.)

Having two iTouches in the house has been a pretty good investment... thanks Santa! I got one last year and this year Santa brought one for Travis. Mine has sort of been taken over by Connor. That's ok, I don't use it much anyway. This is how I found them the other day when we got home from school. Ahh. Peace.

Last Sunday during the football game Connor wanted to watch a movie. Well, the DVD player in our bedroom is on the fritz and he was very insistent. I knew there was no way the football game was going off the main TV. So I came up with the *brilliant* idea of getting out one of our portable DVD players. Everything was quiet so I went to check on him. Boy can this child multitask! lol

iTouch in one hand while watching the movie. He was also chewing gum. Every now and then I heard a giggle. The DVD player is now safely put back up in my closet. I don't want him getting any ideas such as wanting a TV in his room. (Not at 3 years old anyway!)

Last week we had some sad news. It seems our dog, Rock, has lung cancer. The doctor doesn't give him much longer to live. He will be 13 in March. That is pretty old for a big dog like Rock. He is our oldest "child". Lots of memories. So far the medicine they gave him for his cough is helping tremendously. He is breathing louder and is drooling all over the place but that doesn't seem to get him down. He is still eating (we have to give him canned dog food now, at least he eats that) and the neighbor cat is still taunting him from the block wall in the backyard. So, he still gets in a few barking fests during the day. Other than that he is lying around and gets lots of treats and attention. I am not looking forward to the inevitable. That is going to be one rough day in the near future. Here is an older picture of my boys... but this is how you can often find the three of them. Very cozy. The boys even still call him "puppy". Right now we are cherishing each day we have left with him.

Happy 2012

2012-01-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

We seem to be setting some new traditions for New Year's Eve. For the past three years Uncle Billy and Patti have driven here and spent some time with us from the day after Christmas to New Year's Day. Each year Travis has actually made it up to midnight. Connor tried this year, but I think spending the day at the zoo just wore him out! He was in bed by 9:30 that night. Maybe next year. Part of our tradition has been to make some homemade pizzas. They always turn out delicious. Here are two of our chefs busy at work.

I had big plans for some great pictures for next year's calendar with these cute glasses and horns I picked up at Wal-Mart. I still need to work on getting one of the boys together. This is Travis getting ready to head outside.

Daryle bought a few fireworks. Travis loves "helping" with them. Thankfully he is still a little nervous about them (probably because I am super paranoid!) so he stands back at a safe distance..

This one got a little crazy at the end.. Travis tripped backwards over a bush in the front yard. It was pretty funny! I thought the picture turned out kind of cool.

In the morning Connor woke up and found the horns and glasses. He loved tooting that little horn all around the house. We had to send him into the backyard with that. Our sincere apologies to the neighbors.

We had a wonderful time ringing in the new year. Happy New Year to you, may it be full of many blessings!

Out and About

2012-01-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we return to school and business resumes to ~~crazy~~ normal. I figured I had better try and finish up writing about what we have been up to these past two weeks. The day after Christmas Uncle Billy and Patti drove in from Santa Rosa. This seems to be a tradition now and every year we all have a great time hanging out and visiting with each other. Last week my mom and I took the boys to the movies. Yes, Connor wanted to wear his pajama shirt all. day. long. I decided it would be a day to choose my battles.... he is only 3 after all. I need to let him get it out of his system. Here are the boys outside the theater.

The next day we went to McCormick Ranch with Uncle Billy and Patti. I remember going here when I was just a kid. The train is still the same, but so much else has changed. We always have a great time when we go there, it had been a few years since we were there last. This was Connor's first time and I am not sure what all Travis remembered. The weather has been beautiful so we spent a lot of time outside last week. Here is Travis waiting for the train... you can see it going by in the background...

They had a bunch of cut outs for picture taking... here are Patti and Travis in the caboose.

Connor wanted to sit right up front. Lucky for him the spot was available. He wanted Uncle Billy to sit right next to him. Connor thought he was actually driving the train I think! He waved to everybody we passed by, it was pretty cute.

At some point in the day we realized Connor had his pants on backwards.... at least he dressed himself! (That is the drawstring hanging out the back!)

The park also has a cool train museum. Here are the boys checking out some of the cool stuff in the lobby.

We barely had time for the park. Travis must be growing up... he preferred to sit and watch as opposed to running all over the playground. (I think it was a bit too crowded for him that day.) He looks so big here!

Connor climbed up this "rock wall" all by himself. He was so proud!

On New Year's Eve day we all decided to head to the zoo. My parent's got us a membership for Christmas and we could not wait to take the kids. Connor had never been to the zoo before and Daryle and I both wanted to be there on his first trip. Uncle Billy and Patti love going to the zoo too so we all had a great time. Here are the boys at the new Komodo Dragon exhibit.

Daryle says this one reminds him of the Peanut's comic strip where Lucy has her psychiatrist sign hanging up.... advice for 50 cents.... he looks so wise!

Here we are, our first family trip to the zoo. We had a wonderful time!

Hopefully I will get to the New Year's Eve post before the end of the month... LOL!

Little Bakers

2012-01-01T18:20:00.003-07:00

Well, finally, all the years of making sugar cookies with Travis paid off! Once I got the dough going he was on his own. I couldn't believe how he rolled out dough, did the cookie cutters, placed the cookies perfectly on the cookie sheet and even was able to put them in the oven (with some guidance, of course.) I was impressed. There were times where I was actually able to wash a dish or two and check on Connor while Travis was hard at work. In the past he had a short attention span, but not this year. However, he did run out of steam by the time we needed to frost the cookies. Next year he will probably take over the kitchen! Here he is in all his glory... he is a cute little cookie maker if I do say so myself.

Travis had his first experience with sprinkles... notice the very red tree in the middle... oops...! I was even brave and tried making gingerbread men too. They all turned out pretty cute... one my neighbors even said they looked "professional"! LOL (I forgot to take a picture of a finished one.)

Travis showing off a cookie sheet full of cookies he made on his own. I turned around and wha-la! He was done!

Another project we wanted to attempt was to make some gingerbread houses. I bought a kit that had 5 little houses in it. Well, Travis was out with Uncle Billy and Patti so Grammy, Connor, and I decided to get things started. It was pretty much a flop! Oh well, maybe next time. Here is Connor with his apron, ready to go.

Here are Connor and Grammy attempting to get the sides to stay together....

Connor insisted on putting some gumdrops on the top... he wanted it to look like the picture on the box....

Ummmm... it all started falling apart after that!

Luckily, he didn't care! Look at that smile... he was just in heaven sneaking pieces of candy! We put it in this bowl and called it a day.

Better luck next time... Happy New Year!

Christmas Catch-Up

2011-12-31T09:49:00.001-07:00

I have to say, we had a pretty nice Christmas at our house. We made it to Mass on Christmas Eve. This was no easy feat. We tried to attend 4:00 Mass but were turned away (along with another hundred people or so) because the church was already full. We were 45 minutes early.... sigh. Evidently the Fire Marshall said that nobody could stand, every person must have a seat. Thank goodness there were 4 Mass times for that evening. We made it to 8:00 Mass instead. It was beautiful. I think in the future we will just aim for that one anyway. On Christmas Eve the boys also spent the day tracking Santa on NORAD. Every year we do this and the boys always enjoy watching the short video of Santa landing in Red Square! Christmas morning arrived early... not too early as we had feared... but early enough for us! As you can see, people were very pleased with their presents judging by all of the hugging going on.

Connor got the Leapster Explorer. Travis owned the original Leapster. Unfortunately it did not make it to see the end of 2011. When thinking of what to get the boys for Christmas I decided Connor could use a Leapster of his own. I couldn't believe how much the product has changed since just 5 or 6 years ago. This toy is incredible. I highly recommend it if you have a child 3-6. You will not be disappointed. (No, I am not paid to endorse Leapster! It is honestly an awesome toy!) I especially love how you can download e-books... you must check it out!

I got a new camera for Christmas, yahoo! I don't know that it is much better than my old one, but at least it has all of the screws in place to hold it together. lol! It has some different settings so I was doing some experimenting with it. Here are the boys checking out some of their new toys on Christmas morning.

Daryle and I just messing around with the camera.

We always go to my mom and dad's in the afternoon on Christmas day and then we have a nice dinner. (My dad always grills steak.... yummy!!!!) Here are Travis and Grammy just before opening up more presents.

Yes, that is Connor holding up some remote control cars. And yes, there is a HUGE smile behind that box!

Red Truck Grandpa always comes too. We all love to watch the kids open up their gifts.

A few years ago my parents started investing in a nice train set. Over the years they have added some different pieces. This was bought with Travis in mind, however, now that Connor is around he is enjoying the fun of the train as well. Travis is "in charge" while Connor gets to "watch". Travis and Grammy have spent a lot of time collecting little figurines to make the train more exciting. My mom gets to excited...she waits until the day after Christmas and then heads down to Walgreens and gets them for 75% off. Smart idea!! When you are only paying $1 or $2 then you tend to take everything that is left on the shelf! Now they are collecting ones that light up... pretty cute I must say! Here is Connor being a good boy and "watching". (This can be a challenge at times...)

Here is Travis setting up the village. I asked him why he keeps doing those signs with his hands. His reply.... Mom, it means Peace Bro! Well, ok then.... So whatever Travis does.....

Connor does too! He copies everything his big brother does... the good and the funny as well as the "bad"....

Wishing you peace and happiness during this Christmas season!

A new look!

2011-12-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, we went and had some new family pictures done this year. Instead of going to one of our "usual" places I decided to try something new. We hired a photographer and went to an actual location. I think they turned out pretty nice, despite the fact that Connor was being an absolute stinker most of the time. It was early in the morning... note to self... the next time make it later in the day. Overall it was fun and we will probably do something like this again. Here are some of my favorites.

So, there you have it. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Elf-A-Mania

2011-12-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's funny what you find on your camera sometimes. Last week it was super cold and rainy here in the dry desert. I put Connor in this green fleece outfit. When I put it on him he looked like one of Santa's elves! He wanted to wear his Santa hat as well, I thought he looked pretty cute!

In typical older brother fashion, Travis had to put on a Santa hat and get his picture taken too. We can't have just one elf in the family. What kind of elf is this anyway??

Here they are in "Super Hero Elf" form... what?!?! (You should have heard the noises that came with this pose!)

Last Tuesday our church had a family Christmas party for the RE program that Travis attends. Each family was asked to bring some Christmas decorations to decorate "a small tree". I didn't know how small this tree would be. Plus, I waited a bit too long to finally buy our decorations. I just couldn't decide what to buy. Add in the fact that I am not very crafty. I feel I need to explain this before you see our "little tree". Here is Travis with our tree in the church. We all gave our trees a blessing before we started decorating.

Here is Travis with our tree. It was a lot cuter in person. There were no tree toppers left at the store so "uncrafty me" thought this cute Santa hat would look cute on top. I thought it would bring a smile to somebodies face. I hope it did. You see, all of these trees were delivered to three local hospitals and two nursing homes. I am not sure exactly how many trees were decorated, but I am sure there were a couple hundred. I love this tradition and am glad we were a part of it.

The kids also enjoyed cookies, hot chocolate, Christmas carols and some candy while we decorated. Here is our final product. I tried really hard to capture it's cuteness.

I tried to get a picture of the trees all lined up on the floor. It didn't turn out very well... this is why I really need a new camera for Christmas! lol (Santa, can you hear me??) I know my boys and I felt really good when we left. I really hope these trees are brightening up some people's lives right now. There were some super cute ones. And then there is ours. I just hope that it is making somebody smile.

I just hope that maybe getting a new camera will help me gain some crafty thoughts for next year... well, a girl can wish can't she??!

Early Celebrations

2011-12-19T18:20:00.001-07:00

Every year my mom's side of the family gets together to celebrate Christmas. She comes from a big family so of course over the years the family just keeps growing and growing! I love getting together with all of my cousins. Now it is so much fun watching all of our own kids grow up and get to experience big family gatherings. On Saturday my aunt and uncle had us all over to their house. We usually celebrate early so that everybody can come. We were told in advance that there would be a "surprise guest" sometime during the evening. Well, you can imagine the shock and surprise when Santa and Rudolph arrived at our family Christmas party! Here is Connor greeting Santa with a BIG hello hug!

Travis stopped to pose with Rudolph...

Daryle even rushed in to give Santa a hug.... he asked Santa about the coal he has been getting lately... lol!

Connor had to check out Rudolph's blinking nose.

Santa had all the little one's attention.. I think he was asking who was on the good boys and girls list!

Each child got their own one on one time with Santa. (Some children got more than the one personal chat.... ahem... you will see in the following pictures who that might have been!) Santa was talking to Travis about some of the things he has been doing over the year. (I think Santa might be reading my blog from time to time. I wonder where he gets his information?)

Holy moly! Travis has been asking for a remote control helicopter.... Santa is the best!

Meanwhile on the sidelines Connor and Rudolph were dancing the night away. They were also tossing a small soccer ball back and forth for a while... right by the Christmas tree... nobody got hurt. Phew... I was worried.

I guess he needed another chat with Santa... maybe to clear a few things up??

Here are all of the great-grandchildren in the family. They are all so much fun. I love watching them all grow up. They really are a sweet bunch. This was the best we could get... trying to get this many little ones to sit still is a challenge. The two three year olds, the 18 month old and even the two five year olds were a little on the "busy" side if you know what I mean.

Hmmm... just how much do you need to tell Santa anyway?? Santa looks so understanding.

Best Buddies

Even my grandma got in on some Santa time!!

Each family even got a picture with Santa and Rudolph. It was getting late and I think Connor was all smiled out!

We had a most wonderful time. I didn't get a good picture of Connor with his gift. He got one of those Smart Cycle Racer games. That is why I am able to type up this post totally uninterrupted. He is in heaven. If you don't know what that is, it is a stationary bike hooked up to learning video type games on the TV. It should wear him out pretty good. He has been peddling away for over an hour now. I am realizing that I don't have pictures of any of the adults. I would say that one of the best parts was my Aunt Mary Ann coming in from California. It was nice having her with us to celebrate Christmas! My boys were really excited to see her. Why, she is "Grammy's Sister" ... they equate that with a really fun person! They are pretty sharp.

After all of this excitement I hope they are still excited for Christmas morning too. We don't want to lose sight of what is really important though ... such as celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We have been patiently lighting the candles on our advent wreath every night for the past four weeks. Finally we get to light all four candles on our wreath. Wow, Christmas is almost here!

Where Does the Time Go Anyway??

2011-12-11T16:49:00.002-07:00

Every year on Halloween night I tell Daryle, "Just watch... Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye!" It just seems that each year it goes faster and faster. We have been busy, busy, busy. I can say that both of the boys have been so much fun this holiday season. Travis has lots of questions... he would like to be an elf... he wants to fly on Santa's sleigh... he wants to help the elves with the naughty and nice list... and the questions this year. Oh my! I have to say, I am loving every minute of it! Yesterday there was a car show just down the street from us. Daryle took the boys so I could clean the house and finish putting up the Christmas decorations. (It is so much easier to do this when they are out of the house!) I got a text saying that they would like this for Christmas....

Or maybe a couple of these....

Does Santa have a money tree I can put in the backyard? lol
Santa was also at the car show. We decided he must be a "helper" Santa. Would the real Santa really come to a car show in our small town??

Since they were looking so cute I had them do some posing in front of the Christmas tree. We had to get a new one this year. The Sunday after Thanksgiving Travis and I dug out the old tree, got it all set up, then we went to plug it in. Nothing lit up. Total disappointment. We went out to find a new one but had no luck. The following day we went to a few stores and ended up finding one at Michael's. Not the way I wanted to buy a new tree, but what do you do? I always used to have a fresh one in the house (before kids), but around here things are so dry I just don't like the fire hazard. Plus with Travis and his asthma I don't want to risk it. We got 6 good years out of our old one... hopefully this one will last a little longer! After looking at these pictures I realized how BIG Travis is getting! Wow!

Then we decided to have a little family shoot. Connor found the Santa hats... he is in love with them! We even have one that fits his head perfectly. He wore it all last night. Here they are making a Daddy Sandwich.

Travis wanted to take a turn with the camera... how does he get these shots??!

Here I am with my boys... Rock was getting jealous so we let him get in on the pictures too. He even has a santa hat as well!

SMOOCH!

(I heart these boys!!)

My mom called up yesterday and asked if we wanted to go looking at Christmas lights. We thought that sounded like a lot of fun. It is amazing what people do to decorate! We even found Santa! Boy, you can imagine the questions from Travis in the car. Where are the reindeer? Do they know the way home? Will they leave without Santa? Where will Santa sleep tonight? Did he get dinner? Where are the elves? This went on, and on, and on forever. I kept my answers the same each and every time. I think he was trying to see if I would change my answers... This was an awesome Santa. Connor ran right up to him, it was pretty cute!

A little Christmas in the desert humor....

Connor loved how Frosty and Santa would pop up from this igloo. I think he thinks they are all "real"...

Today I have been hustling and bustling around doing a bunch of shopping. I really need to grade papers and work on report cards. Procrastination... Blogging is such a good way to put things off just a a little bit longer. Plus it actually relaxes me a bit, puts my mind at ease. It's almost time to start dinner... so I had better go grade a few papers first!! Until next time....

The Polar Express

2011-11-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Two years ago we took Travis for his first ride on the Polar Express. We had such a wonderful time. We didn't take Connor that year because we weren't sure what to expect and plus it was at a time where we needed some one on one time with Travis. At that time Connor was a wild man and we didn't want to lose him! Fast forward to this year and not only did Connor get to go but so did all of the grandparents. We drove up to Williams/Flagstaff right away after school. After checking into our hotel we had dinner, got the kids changed into their pajamas and then we were off to ride the train. Here we are waiting to board the train. Connor looked at the girl and said, "Lady, I am going to sleep on your train!" (He was being grumpy, he had no idea what was going on even though we tried to tell him this was going to be FUN!) Well, let me tell you, he did NOT fall asleep on the train. In fact, he did not want to get off the train at all when it was time to leave! We all had a super good time.

Mrs. Claus worked hard all day making these delicious snicker doodles. We gobbled them all up!

Time for hot choc-o-late! That sure brought a smile to the face of Mr. Grump-a-saurous!

Here we all are enjoying our hot chocolate and cookies. A little too much sugar for Connor??

I tried and tried and to get a good picture of the boys... there was just too much activity going on to get them to both look at the camera at the same time. This was the best I could get!

FINALLY!! SANTA!! Can you believe he came right on our train? He gave all of the children a silver bell. We could all hear it ring.... WE BELIEVE!!

On his way out Santa stopped to talk to my dad. He told him, "Sorry about all of that coal in your stocking!"

Just look at the sparkle in Grandpa's eyes. I don't know who had more fun! (When Santa saw him, he pointed to him and said, "I know you!")

Here are the boys with our chef for the night. When asked what was his favorite part of the night, Travis said making a new friend!

We found an elf! With real elf ears! Travis had to check them out, up close and personal. He was very intrigued....

Wow, Mrs. Claus even made an appearance! She asked us how we liked the snicker doodles that she had made earlier that day. We told her we loved them!

After that, this is pretty much the look Connor gave me every time I asked him to smile for a picture.

Here is a cute one of the boys with Grammy and Grandpa.

We had so much fun. I am so thankful for my family and the many blessings we have. My children are so lucky to have so many grandparents who dote on them and love them so much. Taking short road trips and making memories like this are what it's all about in my book. Happy Thanksgiving!

Funny Answers

2011-11-20T17:32:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that this is my 15th year teaching. It's a good thing I love it! I was just grading some reading tests this afternoon and I started cracking up at some of the answers. Keep in mind that I teach second graders. This week we read a story about visiting a Firehouse so all week we have been talking about firefighters, etc. The question on the test read, "Would you like to be a firefighter? Why or why not?" Many of them said no because it was too hard. Here are some of the ones that grabbed my attention , some of them gave me a chuckle:

"Yes, because I would like to have a dog named Spot."
"Yes, because I would like to sleep in the firehouse."
"Yes, because I would like to save a little baby from the fire."
"I would because it's a hard job so I think you will get paid more."
"No, because fighting in the war would be WAY harder."

The comment about the war brought a tear to my eye. I can tell you one thing, when you teach every day is different. They really keep you on your toes. It has been fun this year learning how to use the SmartBoard, Document camera, and responders. It is a lot and can be overwhelming (for me, not the kids!) at times but in the long run it is really exciting. I am so curious to see what this generation is able to invent because of the technology they are growing up with today. I watch both of my kids with the iTouch and am shocked. Connor can use it just as well as Travis, and he is only 3! And both of them can use it better than me! lol

Another Milestone

2011-11-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

It seemed like each time we brought our boys home they were reaching milestone after milestone on a regular basis. Their first year home, especially, seemed to be full of "firsts". When Travis was baptised it seemed as if the rest of his sacraments were far, far into the future. Well, yesterday one of those days arrived. Travis made his first Reconciliation, or Confession. He has been preparing for this day for the last month. We are so proud of him! He memorized the Act of Contrition in record time. I was impressed. When he first brought the prayer home I thought to myself, oh no, what if he can't do this?? Silly me. I should never underestimate Travis. He worked so hard on it every day for weeks. Pronouncing the word "penance" was tricky but he finally got it in the end. Here he is on his special day in front of our church.

He wanted one with dad....

and then with mom too!

After he was done with his confession and penance he got to write his name on a little lamb and add it to this quilt that hangs in the church. Every child that has made their first Reconciliation in our church has their name on here. I wonder how big it will be by the time Connor gets here??!

I couldn't get the whole thing, but here is most of it. Pretty cool to see all of those names on there!

I was finally able to get a close up of Travis' little lamb.

All done! He did such a great job, he really is growing up!

Grammy and Grandpa came to support him too, which was so nice of them!

In other happenings around here..... Blue continues to make himself at home. Travis has been letting him play in his batman cave. Blue seems to like it!

Travis likes to cuddle him up in a towel. It is actually easier to keep him still this way.

Last night, just before bed, Blue made his first escape. The story is that Travis was putting him back in his cage, Blue scratched him, Travis dropped him, then Blue ran under Travis' dresser. After an hour of coaxing and prodding to get him out Daryle and Travis decided to go to bed. Finally, this morning, they rescued him. The fun of owning a guinea pig! Yesterday he had lots of fun though ... playing in the bat cave, flying on a fighter jet and cruising around in a garbage truck. Maybe it was too much excitement?!

Here is Blue waving good-bye! Let's hope we don't have any more escaping for awhile now!

You got a what??!

2011-11-10T14:10:00.001-07:00

You will never believe it. We got a guinea pig for Travis. I never thought I would see the day when one of those were living in MY house! (I must really love this kid. A lot.!!) After much thought, conversation, and consideration we thought it would be good for Travis to have a little something to take care of. This plan started out being a hamster. Then Daryle started talking to people and they pointed out that guinea pigs withstand handling from kids better and they live longer. (A rodent who lives long wasn't exactly what I had in mind... but I caved.) First we went to the pet store to look at them. While there we bought a book on guinea pigs (since mom and dad are clueless about these things) and Travis and I read it together. A few days later we went back to the store and bought the guinea pig and all of the accessories. Here are Daryle and Travis setting up the cage. (Of course we had to get the deluxe set up...) Travis gives it a "thumbs up!"

The little guy is in here. Travis decided to name him "Blue" since his cage and accessories were blue. The name grew on me pretty quick and seems to be fitting of the little guy.

Our book mentioned that guinea pigs like carrots (among other fruits and veggies). I thought it was so cute that Travis put a little carrot in his pocket when we left for the pet store. He wanted to put the carrot in the box for Blue to have on the ride home. So at the checkout stand he did and off we went. Here is Travis, so excited to show Blue his new home.

Doesn't look like Blue was into that carrot.... I think he might have been a little nervous!

Travis giving Blue a welcome home hug.

TA-DA! Here is your new ~~home~~ castle.

How is the view up there??

We had to let him get used to the cage and his new surroundings before getting him out of his cage. We made Travis wait until the following day to play with him. When that magic moment happened we decided to let him run around in my bathroom. I figured since I have tile floors in there (and a few doors to ensure no escaping) it was a good place to let him run around.

We also read that it is good to put down a towel on your lap when you hold and play with your pet. We found out why! He kept pooping, (a LOT) these two were in stitches about it! (Mom was really grossed out but I kept on a happy face!)

Look close and you will see Blue's little present!

Travis and Kylee having fun with Blue.

After having this little pet around for a week now I think it has been good for Travis. He has some responsibility (and believe me, he is the one to take care of this little guy) for something other than himself. They already love each other. When Travis holds him Blue makes happy squeaky noises. When Travis comes home from school he checks on Blue. Later, when he goes to bed he gives him a good night hug. I am not an animal person, but this little guy really is pretty cute. Now that I have figured out how to control the smell I think I am ok with the newest member of our family. Welcome to the family little Blue!

Adoption Awareness Month

2011-11-05T21:52:00.004-07:00

In case you didn't know, November is National Adoption Month. It is a chance for families who have been touched by adoption to share their stories, answer questions and in general create an overall awareness of adoption. After reading several adoption blogs I found out that tomorrow is Orphan Sunday. I don't know what it is, but the word "orphan" just doesn't sit well with me. It makes me sad. It makes me think of all of the children in Russia that still don't have families. This leads me to remember that Russia is not alone. Many countries all over the world have children without families. Including the United States. 147 MILLION children right now don't have parents. They don't have anybody to tuck them in at night, to read them a bedtime story or rock them to sleep if they have a nightmare. I am always reminded of that cute little blonde girl with the blue bow in her hair that stood and stared at my husband while we were visiting with Travis on the playground in Blago. (We were told her parents were adopting her the following week. I hope that was true.) I also think of the little boy I saw in the hallway in Connor's baby home. He was whisked away quickly when we entered the room. I also think of little Matvei.... the little boy who we thought was going to be our son. What really happened to that sweet little boy? He is four years old now. His birthday was in October. I can't let myself think about it too often because that mystery still haunts me.

Then I stop feeling sad and I realize how incredibly lucky I am. I am lucky to have two beautiful, loving, healthy boys that God entrusted to my husband and I to raise. How awesome, incredible, and humbling is that? I may not have physically given birth to them, but in every way they are my sons. I bore them out of blood, sweat, and tears. Oh, and two mountains of paperwork. Literally. We are so blessed.

If you are interested in adopting or know of somebody who is please pray for them and give them all the support you can give. It is an amazing feeling to know your life has been forever changed by adoption and to know you have changed the life of a child. I am a firm believer in destiny. I will leave you with some pictures of my children. You can look at these faces and see first hand how the light in a child's eye changes once they know the unconditional love of a forever family.

The first day we met Travis. August 2004 in Blagoveshchensk.

First family photo in front of St. Basil's in Moscow. August 2004

An updated family photo at St. Basil's. June 2009

Connor's Gotcha Day. June 15, 2009

Brothers

Look at these boys now! They are brothers in every sense of the word. Do they fight and argue? Of course. But do they also love each other unconditionally? Absolutely! They get to be called "brother" and "son" and we get to be called "mom and dad". It is hard to figure out who the lucky ones are. It's a win win situation.

"Adopting one child won't change the world; but for that child, the world will change." Amen to that!

Halloween Fun 2011

2011-11-01T17:35:00.001-07:00

I can't really say that Halloween is my favorite holiday...but I can't say that for my husband! It is hands down his favorite. He is the one who is in charge of most of the costumes and for sure he is the one who comes up with the ideas for outside decorations. It is because of him that we are now proud owners of things like a strobe light, fog machine, giant tarp, creepy music, spider webs, bottle of blood and a black light bulb. How do people live without these things? Daryle also is the one who does the pumpkin carving. He sits down with Travis and they draw out the face on paper then they carve it out. I resigned a few years ago... I am not very artistic! Here are the boys carving. (Travis stands back until all of the guts are emptied... he has a history of gagging from the smell. It's ok with us if he passes on this part....)

The big one has "dracula teeth" and I told them to make one cute one. They did an awesome job!

We did the pumpkins the night before. So, here they are the night of Halloween getting ready. Travis wanted to be a Zombie. (**sigh** no more cute costumes for him ... he has crossed over to the other side!) The next thing I knew Daryle was being a Zombie too. So, they were twin Zombies.

Here is Travis sporting his bucket of blood look. (Daryle told him.. don't smile! Zombies don't smile! Little good that did! lol)

Poor Connor just wasn't in the spirit of things. He was supposed to wear his costume to school that day... he refused.... a teacher finally talked him into wearing it.... then they went trick-or-treating all around the high school. From what I hear the costume went on, off, on, off, on, off... you get the picture. So last night when it came time to get dressed guess who wanted NOTHING to do with it? Yep, Mr. Connor. I was able to get him into costume at one point. By the time I got the camera I found him in his room back in his regular clothes. All I wanted was a picture, it didn't matter if he went out or not. So, I put on my sad mommy face and begged and pleaded for him to at least put on his green shirt with his dinosaur costume so that I could at least get one picture. Being the good little boy that he is he humored me and put it on... minus the green pants I bought him. Lucky for me I was able to get more than one picture too. As you can see though, he was not very happy about it! (And he is still wearing his regular clothes underneath. Can you say STUBBORN child??!!) I guess this will have to do .... it's the memories, right??

Grump-a -saurus instead of T-Rex.

Creepy, scary Zombie.

FINALLY! Is that a smile?? (Unfortunately that lasted all of 0.001 seconds then he was back inside, costume off, ready to play Candyland with his grammy. He was d.o.n.e done.)

The pumpkin line up.

Zombie twins.

All in all it was a good night. We had perfect weather, lots of kids came by and my Zombie twins enjoyed scaring people when they came up to the house. I didn't get any pictures of them, but they enclosed our front porch, put up the strobe light, turned on the fog machine, turned on creepy music, and sat in our outdoor chairs.... they were completely motionless. They had fun doing that, I had fun watching the kids and Connor enjoyed playing Candyland about 500+ times. Thanks to Grammy and the grandpas for keeping him entertained for awhile! Having fun is what it's all about, right?? Happy Halloween!

Hello!

2011-10-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am finally emerging from under some sort of rock. We have been busy around here since the end of fall break. School has been keeping me busy. We had our fall carnival last night. I wish I had some pictures of the kids. I had to work the whole thing and of course the camera was the furthest thing from my mind. I can say that the boys had a blast. I am so happy that now Connor is old enough to stay the whole time and have lots of fun. The past two years he had to leave early because he would run away and we were so afraid of losing him! (He is FAST!) Now he knows his boundaries (he only ran away once...we quickly found him at the basketball area... phew) and has enough stamina to last the whole night. Several times I caught him chasing girls around... he was being a Tyrannosaurus Rex... his favorite dinosaur! I can only imagine what stories I am going to hear on Monday, lol!

I can't believe Halloween is just around the corner! We have our pumpkins, costumes, decorations in and out of the house, plenty of candy to hand out and our best "Trick or Treat" voices ready to go. I am not a fan of having Halloween on a Monday, but, oh well, what can you do? Daryle loves Halloween. Today he went out and bought a fog machine to go with his strobe light he got last year. He also bought a tarp to enclose our porch so that he and Travis can sit behind it and scare people as they hand out candy. He is already downloading "scary" music to go with it. Tomorrow we will carve our pumpkins and finish the outside decorating. As for me, I am just content sitting outside and handing out candy. I prefer to relax a bit.

I haven't taken many pictures but I did come across these that I forgot about. Here are my boys, all snugly. You can see how Travis and Connor really love Rock. I think the feeling is mutual though!

A few weeks ago Daryle brought home these Darth Vader suckers from work for the boys. I had put them up high. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Well, last weekend Connor found his. I think it is as big as his own head!

As he was munching, licking and getting sticky and black all over he started making his dinosaur impersonations. Look at that claw! lol

A little more sugar please?? Oh. My. Gosh. This kid cracks me up! You should hear the growl and snarls that goes with this look.

So, this year Connor is going to be a dinosaur for Halloween. I can't wait to see it all put together! Travis wants to be a zombie. So much for the cute little kid costumes. I guess 8 year old boys are ready for some blood and guts. Daryle is going to be a zombie with him. He is in charge of their costumes. I can't wait to see what they come up with, Daryle is pretty clever with costumes so they should turn out pretty good. Hopefully this will make for some great pictures! Stay tuned..... unless of course, I get eaten up by that dinosaur...

Relaxed, Refreshed, and Exhausted!

2011-10-16T16:49:00.001-07:00

This was it. It's all over. Fall Break has come to an end. Tomorrow morning we hit the deck running. It all starts at 5:30 am. We had such a nice time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful outdoor weather. Sleeping in, no set schedule, eating out for lunch (some days), picnics, hikes, and going to lots of parks. Starting school at the end of July is all worth it just for these two weeks off. The last two nights my boys have fallen asleep in our bed. They have been wearing themselves out with all of the fresh air. Riding bikes, taking walks, running, running, running, playing, playing, playing. You get the picture. They never sit still. Except for when they are asleep. I love to watch them sleep. They are so peaceful and the craziness from the day just seems to melt away instantly.

Yes, Connor even had some chocolate from his ice cream left on his little mouth. Midnight snack??

This morning Daryle took the boys to his dad's to watch football. I started to pick up a bit when I noticed this dinosaur in a compromising position. It made me laugh.

What on earth is going through their minds??!! Gotta love those boys!

The Great Outdoors

2011-10-11T20:06:00.001-07:00

This is our second week of fall break. I love this time of the year, especially when we have such beautiful weather. This morning my neighbor and I took the kids to San Tan Regional Park for a hike. This was Connor's first experience with this type of outdoor activity. I would say it was a huge success. (Before we went Connor asked me, "Mom, can I really climb a mountain? Will you teach me how?") lol Here are the kids as we prepared for our hike.

This was the view the two mom's had.... watching the kids run off ahead of us! I caught Travis and Connor holding hands for a few minutes.

Stopping for some water and enjoying the view.

Here I am with my boys, checking out the great view.

Towards the end of the trail the kids found this bench under a palo verde tree. It was hard to get a good picture because they all kept moving around!

As you can see, non stop action!

When we got home the kids still wanted to play and hang out. Some other neighbors on the street came out to play too. They have five adorable puppies. Travis has been in heaven ever since he found out about them. They will only be around for five more days and then they get to go to their new homes. I am not sure that Travis knows this. The good news is that the family is keeping one of the puppies so he can visit with that one when he needs to! Here are Travis and Kylie enjoying some "puppy love".

Travis was trying to line them up for a picture. They were not cooperating.

Yes, he actually got all five to sit on his lap! Look at that smile on his face, he is such an animal lover!

Here are the kids sitting in a circle loving on all of the puppies. Where is Connor you might ask? Well, he ran home and was playing Candy land and Hi Ho Cheerio in our house. By himself. He had a blast. I kept telling him to come out and see the puppies and play with the kids. Nope, he had better things to do I guess! He can be such a character at times. My little independent guy. (Daryle asked if I locked up the Vaseline... haha!)

Look at the boys holding up those doggies for the picture!

Today was also special because it was Grammy and Red Truck Grandpa's birthdays. (I have always found it funny that Daryle's dad and my mom have the same birthday!) My kids are so lucky to have the best grandparents in the world. They loved giving them their birthday presents, having lunch, lighting candles, singing Happy Birthday, and eating cake and ice cream with them. Of course they all enjoyed the visiting and countless games of Candy land too!

As you can see, we just had to use some random candles we had in the house. Grammy's candles are more reflective of her true age... grandpa's.. well, not so much! Connor blew them all out, so I guess it didn't matter much anyway! Happy Birthday to you both, we love you so much!

Who Are These People??!

2011-10-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Last night was game 3 of the series that the Diamondback's are playing. The first two were played in Milwaukee so last night was the first home game in the series. Of course Daryle had tickets for the game. He was so excited, it was the first playoff game he has ever been to. I guess the occasion warranted hair and face painting. Here they were when the left the house....

This is what happened when they got to Chase Field...

Travis requested "stripes"... I guess he was satisfied!

Here they are, father and son for sure!

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day outside. Finally we can go to the park and play without sweating up a storm or being afraid to touch the toys for fear of them being so hot your skin might burn right off. Both of my boys love to swing. Connor could have stayed on the swing all day. I had to keep telling him to share because others were waiting for a turn.

"Look Mom, no hands!!"

I finally got Connor off the swings and over to the slide for a bit.

Eventually some older boys showed up and were kicking the football around. Travis was just dying to play with them. He sort of horned his way in by running after the ball for them a few times. They were pretty nice and let him have a few turns. This is how I kept an eye on him.

This afternoon we were at grandpa's house. For a good 45 minutes Connor was entertained by a pile of coins and Bob the Builder. (And why do we spend money on toys for these kids??) While he played with that Travis and Grandpa played a mean game of War.

This week I am going to help Grandpa do some decorating in his house. He has been moved in for over a year now. It is time for a few curtains on the windows and some pictures on the walls. Travis was wearing one of grandpa's t-shirts because he fell in the mud while he was at the park and I had to run a few errands. I am not completely convinced this "fall" was an "accident". Ahh, to be a boy!!

Yes, I Should Be Taking More Pictures!

2011-10-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Often times we go somewhere and I suddenly think, "Oh man, I should have brought my camera!" Like yesterday when I took the boys to the dentist. It was Connor's first official dentist visit. He did an awesome job by the way. He was nervous, but did everything they asked him to do. He even got a ticket for the No Cavities Club! The dentist office took his picture, since it was his first time visiting. Now why didn't I think of that?? (Of course my scanner is broken so this will be a very cute picture hanging on the refrigerator for now.) Travis did a super job at the dentist too. Yesterday morning I was asked if he could go in by himself... sigh... I told him he would have to since I had to be with Connor. Sometimes I think Travis is growing up too fast. Thank goodness for me I had to take care of Connor so it didn't hurt my ego or feelings so much when he said that to me. If I didn't have Connor I think I would have been crushed. I am shocked that Travis got in the No Cavities Club as well... I mean that in the nicest way! I am hoping and praying we won't have to do braces, but only time will tell with Travis. He might be facing some crowding on the top. For right now we are just in the "wait and see" stage.

This past weekend Home Depot had the usual Saturday craft. However, this time they also had a safety fair with it. I brought my camera this time! As you can see, they had a lot of fun. Here they are "fishing" for prizes.

Connor made out with this black Halloween balloon.

I would say the fire truck was the hit of the morning. When Connor got up close he was soooo darned excited! He said, "OH WOW MOM LOOK AT THAT HUGE FIRE TRUCK!!" Of course that made the firefighters day. It was pretty cute.

Here they are, all seat belted in (thanks to Travis.. the safety conscious child) ready to fight a fire.

Here are all three of my boys, posing with the big truck. Such manly men they are! LOL

This weekend the boys also went through a painting stage. It is only watercolors so I figured why not. They actually did pretty well with them. Connor had a really good picture at one point... then he kept going and going... thus the big black spot on his page!

Future Picasso??!

We are finally on our two week Fall Break. It couldn't have come at a better time. School has been rough for me this quarter. I love my class, no problems there. Just other "stuff" going on with my job that can be quite stressful. It took me the entire weekend to "recover", put things behind me and move on. Thank goodness for my boys, they have helped me to forget some of the craziness that has been going on lately. We have some fun things planned for the break, so check back in with us and see what we are up to. The weather is also cooling off, which means we can spend more time outside. We are also busy planning Halloween costumes because that will be here before we know it. Until next time...

Addicted

2011-09-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

I always knew Daryle liked baseball. However, after this weekend I think I can officially declare him a "baseball addict". Of course he is excited since his team won their division and are now headed to the playoffs. Yep. He was at the game on Friday night when the clinched it. Evidently it was a celebration not to be missed that night! (Of course Travis was there too.) Then came Saturday. This was the game they have been waiting for all season. Daryle picked that game for them to go on the field for batting practice before the game. They got to be right on the field with all of the players. Look at the smiles on these two! They were in heaven!

The exciting part about Saturday night was that the power went out. Yay. Glad I wasn't there! I guess it wasn't too bad. Of course they waited out the 30 minutes until the game resumed. The Dbacks went on to win 15-2. Another fun game! Then on Sunday... yes that is three days in a row if you are counting.... they went back. Of course this was Star Wars day. Of course Travis had to wear his Darth Vader costume. This time Daryle took both of the boys. By himself even! They all returned safe and sound. I would say it was a good outing! Here they are with the Storm Troopers who were walking around the stadium.

Waiting for their turn to bat.

I think they had a great time!!

Weekend Visitor

2011-09-18T18:58:00.001-07:00

This weekend Connor got to bring home "Billy the Bulldog" from school. The high school mascot is the Bulldogs. His teachers found this darling bulldog and put a school shirt on him. All of the kids get to have a turn bringing Billy home for the night. We were so excited for his visit!

Here is Mr. Connor (as he is known at school) showing Billy our house. They were both so excited to be here!

Travis had a turn trying to make Billy "talk".

We decided to go down to the park at the end of our street. It was still a little warm out so we were sure to bring Billy some water too!

Here are the two buddies checking out the playground.

Do you see them up there in that tunnel???

Oops... Billy made it down safely... where is Mr. Connor??

Phew... there he is!

Two cute buddies!

Well..... until he got distracted by the cat roaming around. Dad checked him out and he seemed to be very friendly. He was wearing a collar and tags so I guess it was ok to pet him. Connor kept saying, "He is my best friend! He LOVES me mom!" He just loves animals. This cat obviusly is used to kids, he let Connor pet him and sort of chase him around.

Then Connor found this stick to play with. You would have thought he found some kind of treasure.

They were both tuckered out! Here they are last night sleeping safe and sound.

On a side note... last night my mom and dad came over for dinner. Connor saw these on a plate and said, "These are my babies. I am taking care of them." What?

Oh, I get it, he thought the potatoes looked like dinosaur baby eggs!!

LOL What a little goofball!

I Told You So!

2011-09-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

So, in my last post I discussed the terrible school photos from this year. Just to prove my kids are cute here are some of their "looks".

Sometimes we are a "Grump-a-saurus" ... even if Billy the Bulldog is visiting for the weekend and we are wearing our very own crown we made at school.

Sometimes we are on the goofy side... always finding ways to strike a pose for the camera.

But usually we are cute, cute cute!! (Even with tousled up hair!) Look at those eyes.... unbelievable! How did he get so blessed?

School Pictures

2011-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have always loved school pictures. I always think they are so cute. It is always fun picking out a nice outfit, I usually like to get the boys something new. This year was a different story though. Here is Travis' picture.

Really??! Now mind you, I see how these photographers take the pictures. My whole class has to go through the line. These people sit there with their lap tops and take picture after picture just to get the perfect pose. Now really, should he be biting his lip off like this??? Honestly. Then I got Connor's first ever school pictures taken. Here is the result.

Now really?? Should he have his mouth wide open like that? Does that look like a smile to you in any way shape or form? The thing that kills me is that when I take their pictures at home they almost always turn out cute. Shouldn't these "professional" photographers have a clue? With the technology they walk around with and haul into the schools for picture day these pictures should be much better than this.

This year I ordered CD's of the pictures because it was cheaper. My plan was to order the prints from Costco or something like that. I have never been so disappointed with the school pictures. Oh well. It's a good thing I get their pictures taken professionally every year anyway. This years photo session this summer from Penney's turned out cute. However, I can't upload any of them to my computer. They changed their settings. If anybody knows how to get around this please let me know. The only solution I can see is to buy the CD for $138. Really?? I spent a fortune on the printed photos and I am NOT going to spend a fortune on a CD. I am thinking in the future I might just start buying the CD only and then printing out what I want. Has anybody tried this route??

For now I guess I will just suck it up to a bad picture year. I know my boys are cute. And photogenic. I don't need a school picture to validate that! LOL

Connor-isms

2011-09-04T12:46:00.006-07:00

***Added a P.S. at the bottom. =)
I love three year olds! They say and do the funniest things. Connor has been doing some funny things and I wanted to write about them before I forget. (It stinks to get older!)

He calls me "Moppy". One day he was crying, had a stuffy nose and said "I want Mommy" but it sounded like "I want Moppy". In an effort to stop the crying Daryle said, "Who is Moppy??" Connor busted out laughing. For some reason it stuck.

He calls Daryle "Dappy". One day he was talking to Daryle and was trying to say "happy" and "Daddy" at the same time. It came out "Dappy". This too has stuck.

He still refers to our dog Rock as "Sparky". I finally realized I think he got this from one of his favorite T.V. shows.

He calls Travis "Tatis". When Connor first started talking that was how it came out. He can say Travis but sometimes he just calls him Tatis. I am not sure if it is out of spite or to be funny...

Today he was eating a green Popsicle. He held it up to Daryle and said, "I have a green Popsicle because.... Because I do." Then he walked away.

Everywhere he goes he is looking for the letter C. When he sees one he gets excited and shouts, "C is for Connor!!!!!!" He is on a perpetual hunt for the letter C.

He is trying to spell his name. He looks at it and says, "C-O-N-N-N-O-R". I told him there were only two N's. He repeated the spelling. This time he said 4 N's. After several rounds of this we just changed the subject. He'll get it eventually.

At school they are working on writing letters. We were reading an alphabet book and we were reading the H page. He suddenly told me, "There are two long lines on the sides and one little line in the middle. That makes an H." He was so proud of himself.

He will be running then suddenly stop and walk. He informs me he has to use his "walking feet" .... like they do in school.

I was reading him one of his favorite books. (He has most of them memorized.... Travis thinks Connor may be reading... this is great motivation for Mr. Travis to step it up a notch! Travis enjoys math, he doesn't quite see the need for reading....lol) When I read the story to him I accidentally read one word wrong. I was quickly corrected. Wow. He never ceases to amaze me.

He loves to read books. He has several of them memorized so it sounds like he is reading. Most of them are actually songs but a few aren't. I love to listen to him when he doesn't know I can hear him.

Today in the car on the way home from church he informed us that he has a pet cow. We asked where he was keeping it. He said it was at home. We asked what the cow's name was and we were told Cow. Then he said that Cow actually lived at the zoo. But he would like to have a cow at home too. He would also like a horse. I think he needs to live on a farm!

He loves to talk about Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Brontosaurus. He pronounces them very clearly. (Can't say the same for other people in our household. lol) He even has told me that there are meat eater dinosaurs. And some other ones too.

He LOVES to eat his fruits and vegetables. He doesn't really like meat. He is a self proclaimed vegetarian. In order for us to get him to eat meat we tell him it will give him big muscles. Then he takes a bite (never more than 2 or 3 bites though) and proceeds to flex his biceps so we can see his growing muscles. He would also like to be a wrestler one day. Just like the guys on TV.

Connor runs around, throws his arms in the air and yells, "I SAVED THE WORLD!!" Evidently there was a fire somewhere and he saved everybody. My superhero!

P.S.- My mom reminded me of something funny Connor said the other day when she was babysitting him. He told her, "Grammy, when I grow up I want to be a paleontologist and dig up dinosaur bones. Or maybe I will be a veterinarian. But I don't want to be an equestrian." Where does he get his vocabulary??!!

Didn't we already do this?

2011-08-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

Yes! Going to the Diamondback's game as a family went so well the first time we decided to do it again! We had a super good time. I tried getting a family picture... this one would have been perfect if Connor had looked at the camera.

After this one I gave up...

Daddy and his boys. Crazy to think that it was back in 1998 when Daryle and I sat in these same exact seats for the first time. At the time Travis Lee was the big star of the team. I remember Daryle and I sitting here talking about names of our "future children". He said, what do you think of the name Travis if we ever had a boy? I said, you know, I like that name. It wasn't until 2004 until we got to officially use the name. Now here we are, all sitting in the same seats as a family of 4. That's nuts.

Mommy and Travis.

Mommy and Connor. (Yes, even Connor was named after a dback player too.... Conor Jackson... I know. We are kinda sick about these things. Actually, it was the only way I could get my husband to agree with me on names! LOL)

At one point I glanced over and saw this. Travis is holding Connor's leg on top of his. They actually were comfy and getting along quite well. Very nice.

How many three year olds do you know who cheer for the game and actually look and act as if they are actually understanding what is going on?

We left our seats and roamed around the stadium doing "kid stuff". Connor had to see Baxter. Travis had to do the batting cages. Then, around the seventh inning we headed back to our seats. It didn't take long until I looked over and saw Connor completely passed out on Daryle's shoulder. He was worn out. This hardly ever happens. Daryle was on cloud 9. Watching his team, winning, in his seats, with Connor sleeping on him.

Connor looks like his hands are folded.... "Please let the Diamondback's win!"

I think this is one of my new favorites of the boys. I love to watch Travis be such a good big brother to Connor. When we are at home I wonder. I must say that when we are out in public it is so nice to see him be the protector and teacher. It is nice to watch Travis take him under his wing.

Tonight Daryle and Travis are at his first basketball practice. Yes, Daryle is coaching. I think he is addicted.

Connor still loves his preschool. Tonight he had his first "homework". We all had to trace our feet and cut them out.

As for me, I am tired. I think I will go to bed early. Good night!

7 Years

2011-08-20T21:29:00.001-07:00

It's been 7 years. In some ways it seems like not that long ago. In other ways it seems like a lifetime ago. Regardless of how you look at it 7 years ago Daryle and I flew to the other side of the world... literally... to find our son, Travis. Many details I remember clearly. Other memories are already fading for me. It's a good thing we took lots of pictures and videos! Plus those were the years before blogging, so most of my thoughts are written in my journal. The process we went through to get Travis was daunting. To say my faith was put to the test is an understatement. Yet day by day, week by week, month by month, we held out faith and hope... and said lots and lots and lots of prayers.... that it would work out. There were days that I wondered if this child we were waiting for actually existed at all! How crazy was it to be head over heals in love with a small picture of this baby who was on the other side of the world? We waited 10 1/2 L O N G months until we finally got to meet him. The good part was in those days we only had to make one trip. Thank goodness. Otherwise I know I would have gone off the deep end. Here is our first family picture after Travis was home for about a month. I had waited years to have a family picture. (Perhaps this is why we get them often.... I like to see the kids grow and change!)

He was such a peanut. At 16 months old he weighed 15 pounds. This outfit he is wearing was 6-9 months. He has spent a lot of time catching up. 7 years ago he wasn't even close to being on the growth charts. Now he is thriving and is in the 50th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. For those of you just now bringing home your kiddos who are tiny, don't worry, give them lots of love and nurturing and your kids will thrive too!

I love this one. It was the first picture we took of him. When we visited him that morning we took video. When we came for our afternoon visit we brought the camera. Travis doesn't like looking at these pictures much. He has been known to say, "Mom, why does that baby look so sad?" It breaks my heart. I don't know if it is good or bad that he doesn't recognize himself.

Here is our first picture together.

I just love how they are looking at each other here.

Fast forward 7 years and here we are today. Look at him puffing out his chest, such a goofball!

It wouldn't be a Gotcha Day photo if we didn't get a family picture with Connor too! (Picture taking wasn't going so well that night....)

Last weekend all four of us went to the Diamondback's game. We had an awesome time! Here are the boys just before the game started. We snuck down into our regular season ticket holder seats. Our tickets for that night were in the nose bleed section. We spent one inning there and then we roamed the kids area for the rest of the game. There is so much for the kids to do, it really is a lot of fun!

Connor is in love with the "Big Heads". He now runs around the house pretending to be them. He runs all over giving high fives and "knuckles". Tonight I asked for a hug and was told, "Big Heads don't give hugs!" But then he came and gave me one anyway. He is such a sweetie! I took their pictures with each one. (There are four in all.... bear with me! lol)

I just wanted a little proof that I was there too.... this was in our nose bleed section. We were up so high that Connor was terrified. He just kept asking to leave. Poor little guy!

Of course we had to see Baxter, the team mascot. We were at the end of the line so we didn't get a good picture with him. However, we did get autographed pictures of him! Next time we will get in line earlier.

This is often what we find Connor doing in the bathroom. He likes to comb his hair and check himself out. Isn't he a bit young for this??!!?

This past week has been rough on Travis. We were at the doctor on Monday with the usual sinus infection. We know the drill by now. However, on Thursday he gave us a scare. At the end of the day we realized he had been having a severe asthma attack. Great. Thank goodness we acted early and did not end up in the emergency room. Now he is just on an obnoxious amount of medicine. 6 to be exact. I hate having him on those steroids. But what can you do. A guy has gotta breathe, right? Anyway, today he laid low and decided to create another store in his room. (Budding entrepreneur? ) He got his cash register and set it up on his bed. He also got some plastic bags for his shoppers to put their loot in. He thinks of everything! (Pardon his messy room... this was before we went on our cleaning spree!)

He even attached price tags. He went in the garage and brought in some drinks to sell in his store because he "wanted to use real things" in his store.

Take note of this belt at the bottom of the picture. Travis brought this home from California this summer. Apparently it was Daryle's when he was a boy. They found it at grandpa's house. I didn't realize it was there until I uploaded this picture. Boy the stories that belt could tell! I wonder what kinds of things my grandchildren will take home that belonged to my boys?? The possibilities are endless. For now I think I will enjoy them while they are little. We are so thankful for our boys.

Happy 7th Gotcha Day Travis! We love you to the moon and back a million times over!

Mommy and Daddy

XOXOXOXO

Family Fun

2011-08-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

I just picked up my camera to look at the pictures Daryle took last night and realized I forgot about our fun last Saturday. For the last year or so Daryle has been taking Travis to Home Depot on the first Saturday of the month to make a craft project. In June I took Connor and Travis to make our Father's Day presents. Last Saturday all four of us went together. It definitely takes two adults for this chaos! lol Here are the boys with their cute aprons before we left the house.

Travis is very carefully hammering nails in his pencil box.

Connor doesn't like loud noise. (Unless of course the noise is coming from him!) I wanted to cover my ears too. Picture about 40 kids hammering away all at the same time.... At least he still had a smile on his face!

Yes, Travis knows how to work the camera.

Decorating their boxes with stickers.

Who's that??!! Oh, Big Daddy doing some painting and having a blast.

Connor's completed pencil box. I guess I didn't get a picture of Travis'. His turned out cute too!

Very proud Connor.

Cool Kid. I think he is trying to flash an ASU sign or something...

I am so glad Travis is now in second grade. I really want him to develop a love of reading and learning. He likes to learn, but hasn't found his niche yet as far as reading goes. Needless to say it is like pulling teeth to get him to pick up a book and read. This year part of his homework is to read every night, write it down in the reading log, and turn it in on Friday. If this is not completed, no afternoon recess on Friday. You will be in the classroom reading. This has inspired him to do his reading. There is still a small battle, but not as bad as it used to be. One day this week I told him to read something to Connor. So, he took Connor's favorite books out side and started reading to him. I tried to get some shots, but it is kind of hard through the glass! (Also, don't mind our falling apart swing set.... the summer heat around here really takes a toll on things! Even the cute green awning has torn and blown away... If it got cold around here I would say we would use it for firewood soon... but we don't even have a fireplace!) Needless to say, I hope Travis continues reading to Connor, it is so sweet to watch!

Connor is going to his own preschool/day care now. He must be working on the color yellow. I was just impressed that he did a good job coloring in the lines!! (It's the little things that make me proud!)

Last night Daryle took Travis to the Rattlers game. They are the local arena football team. They played in the arena bowl "Superbowl" last night. As Travis informed me when he got home... "they lost by a hair mom!"

Today all four of us will be attending a Diamondback's game. I am pretty excited because Connor is doing so much better with these things. I have low expectations which hopefully will lead to a wonderful evening! (Keeping my fingers crossed! lol)

Sleeping Angel

2011-08-06T07:32:00.001-07:00

Most of our days are filled with two rambunctious boys running around our home. Playing, fighting, arguing, cuddling, running, jumping, climbing, reading, hopping, skipping, screaming, more arguing, more cuddling, etc. etc. etc.! It all seems to be erased in a moment when they fall asleep. Especially when they look like this....

I am sure when they are grown up and have their own families that these are the memories I will remember and cherish the most. Daryle took this picture with his phone last night, he thought it was so cute that he fell asleep with his hands folded as if he were praying. Precious.

I also love it when he runs to me, hugs me and says, "MY family!!" My heart melts.

By the way, do you think he has enough pillows??!

Back to School (and some catching up too!)

2011-07-30T21:33:00.002-07:00

This week we had to get "back in the saddle" so to speak! I returned to work last Friday and the kids started on Wednesday. I must say that returning to school with a three day week is pretty nice! Travis is in Second grade (across the hall from me, we get to see each other quite a lot these days!) and Connor started going to a preschool program at the local high school. He really likes it but it is a big transition for him. Right now I think he would be acting like this no matter where he was going. He likes being home with me and he does not like the fact that Travis comes with me. He feels left out. In fact he told me (in between sobs and tears) that he wanted to go to school with me. I told him he had to wait until he was 5, those were the school rules. That helped a bit but I can tell his feelings are still hurt about it! Poor guy! I do know that he is having a wonderful time once he is there though. Here they are on day one.. all smiles of course!

For some reason I started taking Travis' back to school pictures in front of our front door. This makes it easy for me to see how much they have grown. Here is Connor's first back to school picture. (Pardon the dirt and dust... we live in the desert plus there was a big storm the night before!)

And of course here is Mr. Travis. Does he look as cool as he feels?? He picked out this type of bag this year. When I asked him why he told me a little girl in his class had one like this last year. Wow, he has been thinking about that for awhile now I guess! He never fails to crack me up!

Here are my two baby boys... all ready for school. (I hope they let me do this picture thing until high school... well, a mother can hope, right??!)

When I came home after the first day Connor ran and gave me a big hug. He immediately ran and brought me his picture he made at school. He told me, "Let's hang this one up mommy!" (I love it, but can see we have some work ahead of us! lol)

This week has also been full of change for me as well. Four of us teach second grade together. This year my "best buddy" moved away and another teammate moved back to kindergarten. That leaves me being the "veteran" helping out two new people. One person is a good friend of mine who moved up from Kindergarten. She of course just needs a lot of help with the curriculum and everything else. At least she knows the school and kids! My other new teammate is new to the school but has at least taught second grade before. She does not know our school so for her it is like being a brand new teacher all over again. I enjoy them both and I have my other teammate who has worked with me for two years now. We will be busy this year helping out our new teammates. I will do anything I can for them, I know how it is to be the new kid on the block! I just miss my friend. After five years of working together you just get in a routine, you know? Anyway I was excited because I got to see her today! It was her son's 7th birthday so of course we had to go! The boys had a blast and Connor got to go bowling for the first time. I am so excited because now we can go bowling as a family. I love that he is three and potty trained, it is a whole new world for us! Here are Travis and I putting those cute little bowling shoes on Connor.

Travis so cleverly put their shoes on a bar stool....

Go Travis, go! (We need to work on his form a bit...!)

Connor's very first time bowling.. pretend I am not in the picture. I need to learn how to use photoshop just to get myself out of some shots like this! lol

Connor has never found a piece of cake he didn't like.

Travis and Colin. We have been to all of his parties since he turned 2. We miss seeing him at school.

As I was uploading these pictures I realized I never posted about the Fan Fest. The All Star game for baseball was held here this year. Since my husband is the ultimate baseball fan of course he signed up to volunteer. He had so much fun. So much fun that now he wants us to plan a road trip to Kansas City next summer so he can do it again. I am considering it. But only because I have some friends not too far away that I would love to see too! Next summer is a long way away, so we will see. My parents took Travis on the last day so that Daryle could take him around when his shift was over. Here are my two baseball fans.

Somehow Travis got up on the jumbo screen!

Eat those fruits and veggies Travis!

Now THAT'S a baseball!

What?! An official monster truck?!

I guess that about sums it up. We are all getting back into a schedule. I miss my old teammate and Connor misses his old baby sitter and friends. We will adjust, these things take time. However, change is good for the soul and helps us grow. (Now if I just keep telling myself that enough I just might start to believe it! LOL) I can tell this will be a great year, I am anxious to see what it brings our way!

Girls Weekend

2011-07-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a very relaxing weekend at my aunt and uncle's "cabin" up north. It was my many aunts and cousins that got together. I lovingly say "cabin" because this is a very luxurious resort-like home. No kids. No husbands. Just great company and lots and lots of fun! On Saturday we all went to the clubhouse for neck and shoulder massages followed with a lovely lunch. The weather was gorgeous. It was wonderful to get out of the heat for a few days. This was just what the doctor ordered for me since I have to go back to work on Friday. The kids start next Wednesday. Sigh. It really has been a great summer! Here is a picture of our group. A few people were unable to make it, hopefully the next time they will come too.

Here is the front view of their lovely home.

Here is the newest addition to our family. Little Charlie Ann was born at the end of May. She was the only child that was allowed to come. =) We enjoyed passing her around and getting our "baby fix" if you know what I mean! On a side note, she is their fourth child... and fourth girl! They named her after our grandfather. I think it is pretty cool.

The clouds were so beautiful, every view was breathtaking.

Of course we had lots of fun drinks like this the whole time. Just look at that smile!!

I realized that I need to do things like that more often ... once or twice a year would be ideal! LOL Of course there are some things that went on that I can't mention here... what happens at Girls Weekend stays at Girls Weekend! It was so nice to have some girl time with my family, bonding like that makes for some great memories!

It's Time to Wrap Things Up!

2011-07-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

Finally, we are at the end of our vacation! I had to get some quick shots of the boys with family.... I am always thinking of that calendar at Christmas! Here is my favorite one of Uncle Billy and Patti with the boys.

Uncle Billy always has cool gadgets with him. Now he has an iPad. As you can see this makes Uncle Billy even more popular than he already is. They had fun making up some songs and playing different instruments together.

Of course we had to get a picture of the boys with grandma.... Charles even got in on the action!

I don't think we are lacking on pictures with Grandpa... but wanted to make sure he was there too!

Finally it was Saturday and time to head back home. The boys really enjoyed looking out the window at the planes and all the action going on down there. It is so much nicer not chasing a two year old or 18 month old around an airport.... ahhh, thank goodness for 3... then 4 and 5 will be even better! lol

All ready with our boarding passes. Thank goodness they let family board a bit early.

On the plane, ready to go! As soon as we were in the air this is what we got....

Yes, Connor fell fast asleep! He slept almost the whole time. We had an uneventful flight. The boys were both excellent, I couldn't have asked for a better trip home.

Now we are back home and life is busy as usual. I haven't taken many pictures, but I can assure you our pace has not slowed for one minute. Here is a quick run down of what we have been up to.

On Monday Travis went to the Fan Fest. This has to do with the All Star Game for baseball. I do have pictures from that. Before he went to that though we met up with some friends and went swimming at a very cool, very cheap water park.
On Tuesday I was brave. I took both boys with me to my classroom. I was amazed ..... they actually let me get some work done!!
Then on Wednesday we met up with my cousin Anna and her two girls at the Bounz House and then we had lunch.
Today I took the car in for an oil change and because it had two recalls on it that needed to be taken care of. Toyota said it would be a few hours so we had the shuttle take us to my mom and dad's house so we wouldn't have to hang out around there. After the big crane took off their old air conditioner and put up their new one we all went for a swim. That was pretty cool!

Then I wonder why I am tired?? I think I need to get back to work so I can rest a little! LOL

Summer Adventure Part 4

2011-07-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I am almost caught up from our California summer adventure! Last Friday we went to Sonoma and met my Aunt Mary Ann at Train Town. We had a wonderful time! Before we left the boys had to have some soccer time together!

Back when Travis was 3 we took him to Train Town. This was during his obsession with Thomas the train. Connor likes trains too, but not nearly as much as his big brother. However, it is a fun little place and I knew that Travis would still enjoy it too. While we were waiting the kids got to climb through some old train cars. Here is Travis sitting up high in this chair.

Connor enjoyed sitting on the train rides. He was ok with just sitting and climbing on them, no need to put in any quarters!

Here are Connor and I getting ready for our ride!

Here we are with Aunt Mary Ann.

Uncle Billy and Travis had to ride up front. I think Travis feels like he is driving it if he sits up close like that!

Once the train reached our destination we got out to look around. On one side there is a petting zoo and the other side has these cute little buildings. I thought we had as much time as we wanted. Oops. We were only there for about 15 minutes then we had to load up and head back. The last time we saw the animals. This time we went in the buildings. I like the building tour better myself! Look- they found a jail!!

Travis is teaching school in the school house! It looks like Connor and Uncle Billy are deep in thought....

Riding on an old fashioned fire truck.

After our return trip on the train Travis wanted to check out some rides. I tried to get Connor to ride on the plane but he was just too scared. Connor? Scared? It must be something to do with turning 3. I have never known him to be "scared" of much. I am sort of glad to see a little fear set in with him though.

Another carousel ride! Riding the carousel is becoming a favorite of Connor's!

After all of that excitement we went to lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack. I wish I could say my boys were "angels".... however, I won't tell you how many pictures I took until we got this cute one of the boys with my aunt! I think they were on overload by this point in the vacation. Sorry Mary Ann! Hopefully the next time we see you we will be able to have a more enjoyable eating experience! LOL

Here is a picture of the happy bunch!

All in all it was a lot of fun! It was so nice of my aunt to meet us there, she really made the day special! After this we went home and just "chilled out" so to speak. A relaxing ending to a fun filled day!

Summer Adventure Part 3

2011-07-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we planned to meet up with some friends that live just around the corner from grandma's house. Karen was friends with Daryle in high school. Rumor is that she tried setting him up with several of her friends, but nothing ever worked out! When Daryle and I were dating we would run into Karen and James from time to time. Since I was attending college in a different city we didn't get to hang out too often. We ended up getting married just two months apart, in the same church! When we did our marriage preparation classes Karen's brother and wife were our mentor teachers. Karen's mom had us on her prayer chain to be praying for couples getting married that summer. Conicidence or what??! Then, their first son was born just as they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and then later that summer we brought Travis home. We also were celebrating being married 10 years! Fast forward a few years and their second son was born. Six months later we brought home Connor. Connor is just 6 months older than her son. We thought it was funny how we had two boys and they were all pretty close in age. Imagine our surprise when Karen found herself pregnant last fall! I won't go into details, but this pregnancy was a true miracle due to unforeseen life threatening medical issues for both mother and baby. As with the first two babies they didn't know the gender until the baby was born. Surprise, surprise, it was a girl! And she was born on Connor's birthday! I couldn't be in Santa Rosa and not see them so we planned a little get together with the boys. Here they are early on. Travis and Dominic have been hanging out for years, but this was the first time Derek and Connor had been together since they were little babies.

Travis took this shot of Karen and I. Not too bad!

It was getting a bit warm so a Popsicle break was in order!

Connor and Derek enjoyed filling up this water table from the little pool. I was wondering how in the world we were going to keep all four of these boys out of the pool. Suddenly, this started.....

A water fight was in full action!!! They had a BLAST!

As I was taking these shots I was having a conversation with little Kristen about how I would help protect her from all of those boys! Something tells me she will be able to hold her own though!! lol

Travis asked, "Can I pet her?" (I guess we have seen one too many dogs and asked permission for that!) I told him we don't pet babies but he could touch her head if he wanted to. He gave her a gentle pat and I got this picture of them. He asked where she came from. I told her from Karen's tummy. He kind of looked at me, processed that and then went back to his water fight. I still am not sure what was running through his little brain at that moment!

I can't say for sure whether or not we will keep "matching up" with these two as far as kids go! On one had we would love to have a little girl. On the other hand I wonder where the money tree will go in my backyard?? Until then I will live through them as they raise this precious little girl!

After that fun and exhausting afternoon we went back to grandma's house. She was planning a family get together. Here are my boys with Matilda. She was born on Travis' birthday, how weird is that?? Both of my boys have a birthday twin in the same city! Connor and Matilda are just 3 months apart, they had a super fun time running around together.

Connor was trying out his scooter. I love how his little leg is up in the air!

Phew, he is exhausted! As you can see from the picture above, he didn't get very far! lol I guess I didn't get pictures of anybody else that evening. I was busy visiting and chatting it up with everybody. We had a great time, good food and good company for sure!

Summer Adventure Part 2- Mendocino

2011-07-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we ventured out to the coast. We hopped in Grandpa's new car and headed to Mendocino to visit Uncle Mike, Aunt Susan and their dog Ollie. Thankfully we did not have to be on Highway 1 for more than 3 miles. (For those of you not familiar with that road, it is extremely windy, not for the feint of heart!) However, we still did have to drive on some windy roads to get there. The night before I was worried about myself getting carsick. Windy roads tend to do that to me. However, once we were well on our way it was Connor that started to feel carsick! Ooops! I wasn't anticipating that one! Thankfully he didn't actually get sick in the car. Since we weren't in a hurry we were able to make a few stops along the way for him to get out once in awhile.... even if it was just along the side of the road. Here are the boys all loaded up and ready to hit the road!

Here are the boys on one of our pit stops along the road. Lucky for us we were able to stop in the middle of a Redwood forest. Breath taking landscape for sure!

Once we got to Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan's house we got the grand tour! I forgot to take any pictures!! I was so amazed just looking around and taking in the amazing views from their home. Then we made some sandwiches and headed for the beach. Here you can see that there was some fog heading in. (Or "foggy fog" as Connor told us.... I guess he learned that from his friend Dora!)

We found this big log to sit down and eat our lunch.

Typical. While we are eating Connor is playing and taking in the action!

Young Hawes brothers.....

Not-so-young Hawes brothers! (haha!!)

Uncle Mike kept trying to give the boys a "science lesson". He didn't think they were listening, but I think they heard more than he thinks they did! I love it when people take my kids under their wing and teach them things that are new to them. They really enjoyed their time with him and I would like to think that they did learn something!

As you can see, Travis took a special liking to him!

Connor was still too busy playing in the sand and water to pose for a picture. So here are Aunt Susan, Uncle Mike, Travis and Ollie. Ollie is so cute!!! What a great little dog. Travis suggested they change his name to Charlie. Silly boy!

Connor finally graced us with his presence for a picture!

I LOVE the beach, I LOVE the ocean and I now LOVE Mendocino! I do NOT LOVE the drive to get there but at least now I know I can do it without getting sick in the car! As long as you keep your eyes on the road it is a beautiful part of the country. If you haven't seen it you are really missing out!

Summer Adventure Part 1

2011-07-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, Connor and I couldn't let Travis have ALL the fun in California! We headed out on a jet plane on Tuesday morning. I must say, Connor is becoming quite the traveler, just like his big brother! It is sooo nice when they reach the age where they can take off their shoes and push their things through the security system. No stroller, diaper bag or holding a baby for dear life because he might run off any minute!!

Checking out the planes... he wanted to know what the plane's name was. As I was trying to explain that I didn't know a man said, "Oh, his name is George!" Now why didn't I think of that?? It satisfied him immediately!

On the plane...yes his teeth are blue...sometimes a sucker is in order to keep him entertained! (and still!!)

Connor enjoyed his airplane snacks.

FINALLY!!! I see who Travis missed the most! He ran right for Connor first!!

Once we got to grandma's it was all about saying hello to Charles... the cat!

We wasted no time at all. Straight to the park we went. First we took a train ride.

Then Connor got his first carousel ride. I didn't realize he had never been on one until we were standing there waiting for the ride to start!

We had to ride the horses too.

I have so many pictures from each day that I have decided to do them in a few posts over the next few days. The first day we got there it was pretty hot, for Santa Rosa anyway. After that the weather was absolutely beautiful! I miss it already!

Shhhh!

2011-07-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

It's not that my 8 year old will be reading this blog. It's not that he won't see these pictures hanging up in the house. It's just that he is out of town right now. Every time we talk on the phone (several times a day) he asks what we are doing. When I tell him I hear, "That's no fair!!" Then I remind him that he is in California. By himself. With two grandparents doting all over him. However, if I had told him that Connor and I went to get pictures taken I think it might have sent him right over the edge! I snuck into a few pictures as well. A few years ago (before Connor) I snuck into one of Travis' photo shoots. So, I think it is fair that I get a picture of me with Connor. Let me preface this by saying that I did take both boys into JC Penney for pictures on Monday. Their programs won't let me down load pictures other wise I would have posted those earlier in the week. One thing I wanted was to get a picture of Connor in a shirt I bought him in Moscow. I had a shirt for Travis and had his picture taken when he was about 2 1/2. When we went on Monday I didn't like any of the three pictures she took in his shirt. I wanted to be able to see the whole thing. That is why I decided to take Connor in today. Then when I called of course they told me about the cute beach scene they just got. Sigh. I am such a sucker! Of course I got him a swimsuit outfit (of course he will get a lot of use out of it as well) just for the pictures. I must say he is so darned cute. It also helps that he is 3 now. Taking pictures of a 3 year old is so much better, hands down! For that, I am thankful. I shudder to think about how much money I spent (and Grammy too!) on these pictures. I just love pictures. I have a weakness. However, the last time I took my boys in was a year ago. I usually do it more than once a year. Also, I have bought countless pictures of Travis this year (basketball, soccer, baseball, fall and spring school pictures... for example) so I figured I owed it to Connor. After all, when Travis was the only child I took him in at least twice a year. Keep in mind they took 93 pictures... I got the CD and narrowed it down to these to show you. Enjoy!

In case you were wondering, Travis is having a wonderful time in California. Hopefully the cats in the house/neighborhood are doing well. Connor and I will fly up on Tuesday, I am sure by then we will be more than ready to see each other! I am not sure how much Connor misses Travis... on the first day it took him ten hours until he realized he was gone!! It was at dinner time and he noticed "a body" was missing so he went looking and calling for Travis. I think he is enjoying his time as "an only child". Who wouldn't??!! (As for me, I miss his hugs, and sense of humor around here! Thank goodness for cell phones, I always know where he is!!)

Road Trip

2011-06-29T10:22:00.002-07:00

I just sent Travis and Grandpa on their first road trip together. No mom and dad allowed! They are headed up to California where Grandpa also lives. I think they are going to have an awesome time! I told Travis he was going to remember this trip for the rest of his life. He was feeling some anxiety this morning. Mostly he was upset that Daryle had already left for work (he left at 5:15 this morning) and he couldn't say goodbye. However I know that they did say their good byes last night plus they went to the baseball game together. Here he is with his bags packed, ready to get in the car!

Here are Grandpa and Travis all packed up and ready to go!

Connor wanted to say good bye too. (I don't think Connor has realized that he won't see Travis for a week yet! I wonder how long until he starts asking for him!)

Good bye!!!!!!!

For those of you wondering... no, I did not shed any tears! Probably because I know that Connor and I will head up there on a plane next Tuesday. I will miss him terribly but I know Connor will keep me just as busy! I had to laugh when I came inside. Travis wanted some milk with his breakfast this morning. He scoffed when I only filled his up half way. I reminded him that he never finishes his milk (and that he leaves it on the counter to spoil) and that if he wanted more I can always give him more. I had to laugh when I saw this cup of milk in the fridge just a few minutes ago! I can't believe he didn't just leave it on the counter, he is turning into such a great boy!!! (Seeing this cup did bring a small tear to my eye!)

I wonder how many more things I will find around the house over the next week?? He may not be here physically but something tells me we will not stop thinking about him!!

Oh man.. I wondered why it was so quiet... just found Connor covering his legs with markers!! Ahh!! I can tell there will be no rest for me!! LOL!!

Lazy Summer Days

2011-06-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

This week Travis has been going to baseball camp in the mornings. Since it is so hot out right now we have been taking it easy in the afternoons. This leaves us time for LOTS of photo opportunities! Here are my boys before they went to the Dbacks game on Sunday. They had so much fun!

I have been letting the boys play with the hose in the evenings since we don't have a pool. My intentions were to get some water on our dying grass. Last night I went to check on them and they decided to make "a bathtub" in the dirt. Do these two look "innocent" or what??!!

"Mom, what is the problem?? We're just hanging out in the mud. We ARE boys you know!"

"Hmmm, can I get that bird from here??"

I recently cleaned out the bedroom closets. Evidently now Travis can reach the old Halloween costumes. I am glad to see them get some use! The boys wanted to "sword fight" with these plastic bats. As you can see from the helmet and gloves Travis was preparing to ease the pain from his little brother! I was cracking up. I had to run for the camera. How could be be afraid of this little guy?? lol (Even though he is little he packs quite a punch!)

Connor is "the police"! Watch out, he likes to give out tickets!

Here he is in his police car.

This was so ridiculous I had to get a picture. I figure I can use it at some point in the future for bribery, payback or whatever!!

After the sword fight they needed an ice cream break. You can always use one of those, especially when it is 114 degrees outside!

Later on Travis decided to put his old police costume on. As you can see he has grown. (Somebody needs to tell Travis! LOL) Kinda reminds me of the Incredible Hulk when he breaks through his clothes....

Yes, we were getting silly by this point. Travis wanted to see how high he could jump so he wanted me to take pictures of him doing this. He actually can jump pretty high!

Connor wanted in on the action... oops! You jumped too high sweetheart!

This is the perfect picture to show you just how my days raising two boys feels sometimes! Crazy, blurry, but lots of fun!

I just love these two guys so very, very much. We have our moments... time outs, screaming, yelling, arguing, hitting (boys do this!), while I do lots of redirecting... but then we have the sweet, loving, kind, sharing, caring, hugging moments and then it all seems so "normal". Whatever normal is anyway!

I have to say I am really enjoying my summer this year. It has been a few years since we have had a summer just to kick back and relax. Three summers ago I was starting the mountains of paperwork for the adoption. Two summers ago we went to Russia and brought Connor home. That summer and last summer I also was taking summer classes for my Master's degree. Lots of adjusting was going on the last two years. I think it took us a year and a half to finally feel settled and adjusted as a family. (Most of this was Travis adjusting... Connor had no issues whatsoever.) Last summer was ok, but we were dealing with a lot of behavior issues with Travis. After getting some counseling we were all able to get through it and move along. Finally, this summer I feel like a mom of two very active, very energetic little boys. Connor is potty trained which means no more diaper bags. I feel happy and sad about this all at the same time. Connor is napping a little less and we aren't on as strict of a schedule this year. We can go where we want and do what we want. A whole new world is opening up to Connor and he is having a blast! He has realized he has been missing things... and now he is old enough to participate. Life is good.

Not sure if you notice or not, but Connor's birthmark is getting much lighter. He is looking different to me around his eyes. Gosh are his eyes beautiful! Actually, I know I am biased, but both of my boys are just so HANDSOME!! They already have girls chasing after them ... I am still considering locking them up during those teenage years... lol! If anything it would be to keep the girls safe!!!

Father's Day

2011-06-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not so sure how I got so lucky yesterday. Our original plan was for our whole family to go to the Diamondback's game for Father's Day since Daryle already had some tickets for the game. The night before we started talking about what time we were going to leave the house. I started to panic when Daryle told me we needed to leave at 10 ... for a game at 1:40. What?! I was informed that he needed to be in the first 5,000 to get his free BBQ set from the dbacks... really?? Suddenly I started thinking about the laundry and house cleaning that didn't get done on Saturday due to attending a funeral all the way across town and then celebrating Father's Day with my dad. I was pleasantly surprised when Daryle offered to take the boys to the game and I could stay home. Wow. I didn't know if it was Father's Day or Mother's Day! I love spending time with my boys, but with the way my husband attends baseball games (batting practice is a must in his book.. and you can just forget leaving early!!) I just didn't think I had the stamina in me. I was ok with him taking the boys. I knew he could do it and he did a great job. Everybody came home with smiles on their faces... even dad was smiling! (And he got his BBQ set too!) They had an awesome time and I got my cleaning done AND was able to go see a movie with my mom. Everybody was happy!

The boys got to attend the No Chew Crew Meeting before hand. I love how Travis is being the "protective big brother" here. Nice to see once in awhile!

Connor is finally old enough to go into the playground... called the Sandlot. He can run around and get out his energy and we know he is safe.

Travis and Connor also got to bat in the whiffle ball area. Some guys pitch balls to the kids and then they run the little bases. Once again this was a first for Mr. Connor. He is a good batter so he did a super job hitting the ball, and he didn't even use a tee!

Visiting with Baxter was a huge hit! Daryle said Connor kissed his nose at least 5 times.

They had so much fun! I think Daryle was thankful that they both fell asleep in the car on the way home. I am glad to know that all three of them can go to the games together and they can come home all in one piece! LOL Daryle said he had a wonderful Father's Day. After all, we did cook him breakfast in bed and we went to dinner at a restaurant of his choosing. The boys made him some gifts at the Home Depot Kids Club this month and we got him a gift card. He is a wonderful father, I am glad my boys have him! Happy Father's Day Daryle!! We love you!! XOXOXO

My baby just turned 3!

2011-06-19T11:00:00.001-07:00

Wait a minute here! Where have the last two years gone??? In some ways it seems like eons ago and in other ways it seems like yesterday. On June 15, 2009 Connor turned one year old. It also just happened to be the day we got to pick him up from the baby home to join his forever family. What an incredible day that was! I don't think we will ever celebrate Connor's birthday without reliving some of those precious moments. Here are some of those memories! Then we will move on to birthday #3!

This is Connor once we arrived at our hotel and he began to settle in a bit. He is starting to smile now! Happy First Birthday little man!

Here we are on our car ride leaving the baby home. Travis was on cloud nine while Connor was trying to figure out just what exactly was going on here!

And of course how can I leave out our very first family photo ever?? I know it isn't the best picture in the world, but it is our first and I think it speaks 1,000 words! Finally, we were a family of 4!

Here is Connor celebrating birthday #2. Happy, well adjusted and still incredibly loved by all. Just look at that smile plastered across his face! Does this say happy or what??

Which now leads us up to birthday #3! Since daddy had to leave for work very early in the morning I let Travis go ahead and give him one present to start out his morning. Travis had picked out a large bouncy ball and a small gift from the dollar store. I decided those would be a perfect start to the day. As you can see from this hug, Connor LOVED his present! It is nice to see them having more and more of these types of moments vs. the "other" moments, if you know what I mean! (We still have plenty of those however! They just seem to be more balanced these days.) Now that Connor is 3 they are able to play together more, which nice. (It also means the arguing can be more difficult... Connor is not always the victim anymore! He is a quick learner from his older brother!)

For months Connor has been telling me that he wants "party hats" at his birthday. I found this cute one for him, I think he liked it! (It turned out dark, trust me, it was cute!) Gosh he looks like such a big kid here!

Connor likes to dig, dig, dig! He got this cool wheelbarrow from his grandma in California and this shovel set from Grammy. He would have been content with this all night long! We kept trying to get him to open a few more gifts but he kept coming back to this!

Mommy and Daddy got him his very own workshop. This has had quite a workout already this week. (The power drill had to take a time out.... he was trying to "fix" Rock.... umm, no honey!) He has had fun hammering away and organizing all of his tools daily.

Next came the big gift of the night, his very own "jeep"! Red Truck Grandpa had his mind made up and there was going to be no changing it! Both boys are in heaven with it and it has already been charged up more than once. When the weather cools down (in like 4 months!) I am sure it will be getting a daily workout. It is too big for inside so outside it will stay! I can see loads of fun in their future. =)

Connor picked out this birthday cake. I was going to make one but Travis insisted that we let him get one from the bakery. I must say it was pretty delicious!

Here I am with my boys! Boy have we come a long way since this....

Of course we had a good moment to snap a nice picture with Grammy. Connor was too busy playing with his toys to pose with anybody else!

Why is he looking so grown up? What happened to my baby??? Oh well, now he keeps us in stitches every day with the funny things he does and says. He will break out into song at any given moment. He has a wide variety of musical interests. I think the funniest things are what he says to his big brother ("Get OUTTA here Trav!" "I need my privacy!" "Grrr, I am Robosaurus, I breath fire and I eat junk cars!" This list goes on and on and on... It is so hard to keep from laughing, I find myself constantly turning my head around! Oh Connor, we sure love you! Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!!

PS-The best part of being three is that we are now potty trained!! Hip, hip horray!! If you have ever potty trained a boy... well... there are extra challenges involved! So far he has only hit his face once while peeing... and I have to clean the toilet daily.... but it beats buying diapers and pull ups for sure!

Staying Busy

2011-06-16T20:36:00.001-07:00

Where is the time going?? With two very active boys I have to keep things busy around here. We don't have every minute of the day planned, however, the past two weeks have been jammed packed. Every year we do swimming lessons at the same place and Travis has been doing basketball camp at our local high school. This year they fell in the exact same two weeks. That means we have been going non-stop. Today was our last day for both swim lessons and basketball. Next week Travis will just have baseball camp and then the rest of our summer we can just go where the wind blows us. I am looking forward to that! Here are some of the highlights of our past week.

Connor loves playing with his playdough. I let him mix some of the colors, he seems to like it that way. Of course this makes Travis upset. He doesn't like his colors mixed. He can be on the OCD side sometimes.. I have NO idea where he gets it from. (haha! Probably me...!) Also, Connor has decided he likes to hang out around the house without his shirt on. Funny kid!

Travis has been having fun playing some video games between basketball camp and then swimming lessons. It has been some good down time for him.

We can't forget my "oldest son", Rock. He is hanging in there. He loves these boys even though sometimes I think they tire him out!

Here is Travis doing one of the skills at camp. Just look at that concentration!

Getting ready to shoot...

My iTouch has come in REALLY handy lately. I found some applications that are easy for Connor to use and are very entertaining. This is what he has been doing in between running away from me to use the bathroom in the gym and/or just running away from me in general. LOL All kidding aside, he actually did pretty well. It is encouraging to think I may be able to enjoy Travis' basketball games this year since the iTouch seems to be good entertainment!

Here is Travis at swimming lessons. He keeps improving each year. Travis has come a LONG way. When he was three and four he wouldn't even put his face in the water without having a fit. Now he has learned tons of strokes, kicks and can tread water.

I am so proud that he finally will lay on his back and relax. I think this is the best he has done yet. Connor is a little fishy in the water, but he hates being on his back. From what I hear this is quite typical for some kids. Hopefully next year he will learn to relax. Otherwise Connor is amazing with how well he can swim for his age.

This summer it has worked out so well that grandpa has been here these past two weeks. (Thank you, thank you grandpa! I couldn't have done it without you!!) After basektball camp he has taken Connor to his house for a nap. I take Travis to swim lessons and then grandpa has brought Connor to swim lessons at his time. This way I didn't have to watch him for an hour and a half before his swim lesson started. Each day he starts out here in the hot tub and of course he has to say hello to Shadow, the dog! This child has NO FEAR. And I mean NO FEAR!! He leaps into the air, arms sprawled out and lands face first into the water. Usually this is done into the hot tub area as I come running up just a few seconds too late. Needless to say Connor has had few timeouts this year during swim lessons. I need to look into signing him up for Fear Factor. He would win for sure!

Here is Connor blowing bubbles, notice his entire head is under there. It is amazing to see how long he can hold his breath for. He is part fish I think.

Connor even got to jump off of the diving board... into a ten foot deep pool. Can you see the no fear in him? Part of me is glad to be the parent who doesn't have the screaming child that is afraid of the water and the other part of me is scared.to.death!

Our Summer So Far...

2011-06-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, two weeks of our summer have already flown by! We didn't do much the first week, we pretty much laid low. This past week both boys had swim lessons every day and Travis had basketball camp Monday-Thursday. We will resume the same schedule this week. On Monday we went to sign Travis up for a basketball league and stumbled upon the Free Lunch program that some of the schools around here are offering this summer. The boys smelled food, mom saw free, and off we went! We took advantage of it twice this week. That makes meal planning so easy! Every day the boys say, "Can we go to free lunch?" It is pretty funny. We have been to two different schools and they have been pretty full of families eating lunch. Travis always seems to find somebody he knows from school too. It sure is a nice thing they have to offer.

Now, back to our first week off. I have been going back and forth as to whether to even mention this. But, after thinking about it I decided to go ahead and write about it. There might be somebody out there in "blog land" who is facing a similar situation. A few months ago Daryle and I decided to look into getting some laser surgery done on the birthmark that covers Connor's left eye. This was a HUGE decision for us. We always felt that is was no big deal. We hardly even noticed it at all. Everybody in our circle of friends knows about it and nobody ever says anything. However, we were starting to realize that when we would go places where people don't know us we were getting a lot of stares and comments. Now I can handle comments from kids because they are just innocently asking what is the matter with his eye. The ones that were a little more unsettling were the comments from older people. By "older people" I am referring to people over the age of 70. They would say things like, "Oh no! What happened to you?" We would calmly just say, "Oh, it is just a birthmark, he was born with it." Then people would feel really awkward and it was an uncomfortable moment. (I think a lot of times they felt kind of stupid for asking). Recently we began having more and more of these moments. Then, in February, Connor underwent another eye exam under anesthesia to check him for glaucoma. (He has to have this done several times a year because of the location of his birthmark. Due to the location and shape of his birthmark he could be at risk for certain syndromes. So far he has been testing negative for everything.) At this time we are believing that this is just a birthmark and there are no signs of anything life threatening. Each time he has been under anesthesia the anesthesiologist has asked us about doing laser surgery on his birthmark. I usually get a little defensive. Who do they think they are? We love him and think he is beautiful. So what if he has this mark? We don't even notice it! I just calmly say no, not at this time. I shake my finger at them (in my head of course) and think how dare they! However, this past February we had an anesthesiologist who had a different tactic. She asked me if I knew about a certain local doctor who does this surgery. I said no and then she went on to sing his praises. She was sure to tell me that she wasn't trying to suggest he needed it, she just wanted me to know that there was a fabulous doctor in the area and that maybe we should call him up and get an opinion. After the eye exam our eye doctor told me that I might want to give said doctor a call, he thought I would like him. He mentioned that he hadn't thought about it before, but that it might be something just to look into. He also had wonderful things to say about this doctor. Those two planted the seed in my head that day. My next obstacle was to convince Daryle. So, I started doing some research. I came across a video clip from CBS on a ten year old girl who had a birthmark on her face removed with laser surgery. In her interview she had commented that she was just tired of people thinking she had been hit in the face. Her comments really made an impact on me. It almost felt as if that was what Connor might say to me when he was ten years old. Daryle and I talked and talked and talked about it. We had already been gathering information on this doctor and we found out that he was a pioneer of laser surgery and he was sought out all over the country. I found two different people who had used this doctor for their children had they had fabulous things to say. In April we (I made Daryle come too since he had lots of questions. I didn't want this decision being placed on my shoulders alone. What if something went wrong?) met with him and decided to move forward. The thing is that you just don't know how many times you will have to have it done. The fewest he has ever done was three times, the most was 16. Wow. I am just hoping we are towards the bottom number! On June 2 we went in for our first procedure. When the doctor came out he said, "Well, don't be alarmed, but he does look like he got whacked with the ugly stick!" His eye was swollen (it only lasted two days) and he said the marks should clear up in one to two weeks. Finally after a week and a half I feel comfortable sharing some pictures because we are already seeing a difference. Here he is when we got home. One thing I want to say is that he felt NOTHING! Later that day he looked in the mirror and said, "I got an owie!" It did not hurt at all.

He was still groggy from the anesthesia. It took me a few days to take him anywhere mostly because I was nervous about what people might say. Now if I thought people made comments before, boy oh boy did they make comments now! Our doctor warned us to tell people he had just had laser surgery so that people don't feel the need to call CPS. (Evidently he had a family that almost had that happen once! Scary!) It really did look pretty bad. Last Tuesday I took the boys to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. You can sort of see how it was healing.

Well, this one was Travis of course!

You can see here how it didn't affect him much! It was starting to get lighter. One thing we were told that the darker the better. If it is dark that means it "took" and you will have a good result. We were thrilled at how dark it was. AKA: very deep purple!

Here he is today. Still healing but looking much, much better indeed. There are several areas that were pink before that our now just a normal skin color. Amazing!

I took this one to show how it goes/went into his hair line. It is almost completely gone there.

He still has some dark parts, scabs, and areas that still need to heal. I will post some updates as they happen. In the end we are grateful that insurance was able to cover this and that it is turning out so well. I really hope that he will appreciate this when he gets older. Believe me, a lot of prayer went into this decision for sure! Since it "took" so well we are hoping we might be able to get this done in 4 (or less) procedures. We will see! (Fingers, toes, arms and legs are all crossed! LOL)

This week I hope to get some pictures of basketball camp and swim lessons. It is hard because my hands are always full! I hope your summer is going well, I know we are having loads of fun here!

Can we build it? Yes we can!

2011-06-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finally had a day where we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything. Days like that are very far and few in our family. So when Travis asked if we could put his clubhouse together I thought, well, ok, since you have been waiting since Christmas I guess today is a good choice! I have been putting it off because I knew this would be a several hour project and I didn't want to start and then have to leave thus creating a huge mess. Plus, I figured we would have some days like this once summer came along. When I said yes my boys ran and put on their "hard hats" and we were ready to go!

I have to say this was a pretty fun project. It came with all of the needed parts, including the tools. My boys loved it. The directions were fairly easy to follow. I have put together some toys with difficult instructions and these ones were not bad at all. It took us about 4 hours, lunch break included. Connor held it together pretty well even though he really wanted to use that screwdriver! I let him "help" but then he wanted to take over! I don't think we had any meltdowns until at least 3 hours into the project. Not bad!

Here is Travis hard at work. Since I had to help quite a bit there aren't many "work in progress" pictures.

Finished product! Travis wanted to add his own special touches. He made some stars and stripes on his flag and added numbers to the "clock". He even tried building some shelves inside with some extra pieces. I am not sure how that turned out, but he had fun in there anyway. Now they have it set up so that Connor drives by a window on his bike and they pretend it is a drive through. Funny boys!

So far we are enjoying our summer. The next three weeks will be busy with swim lessons, basketball camp and baseball camp. Then we will have a few weeks to relax before school starts again. If only I could freeze time! These boys are growing up so fast. Yesterday we were looking at pictures from two years ago when we went to pick up Connor. I am amazed at how fast the time has gone by. I had to laugh at Connor though. We have been talking about Russia lately so it has been on his mind. More than once he has told me, "Mom, when I was a little kid I lived in Russia!" Umm, Connor, I hate to tell you this, but in two weeks you are only turning 3! I wonder how old he thinks he is??!!

Gotcha Day ~ 2 years already??

2011-05-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday we marked the two year anniversary of the day when the judge said, "Dah!" that we could be Connor's parents. I will never forget the window washers banging into the windows as Daryle was talking to the judge. It was quite a distraction to me. Nobody else seemed to be bothered by it! I guess that is a good thing. I also remember how the Swine Flu was the big news of the time. Connor was sick when we went to court so we didn't get to visit him at all. We did get to see him through a window for all of 15 seconds and then out the door we went. The following days we weren't even allowed to come back to the orphanage for fear that the "Americans might have the swine flu". Never mind that we weren't even sick. Oh well. So we did a lot of sightseeing in Moscow instead. That seems like soooo long ago! Connor is fast becoming a "big kid" and is no longer a "baby"... although I still refer to him as such from time to time. He will be 3 years old in just 2 weeks. Amazing.

Here we all are. Even though these pictures were taken two days after Gotcha Day I don't think we changed that much between now and then.. haha!!

Connor, we are so blessed to have you in our family. We would not be the same without you. It is a joy to watch your sweet personality blossom each and every day. Your Independence amazes me. Not a day goes by that you don't do or say something and I wonder, "Now where did you learn about that??" Just yesterday you called 911 all by yourself and asked the lady to come to your house. Never mind that you thought you were calling Robosaurus over for a play date. I just kept wondering, "Now how did he know about calling 911?" I think after your time out you learned your lesson on that one. In fact after your time out you told me, "I won't call on the phone anymore mommy!" But perhaps the highlight of the day was when we were walking in the Costco parking lot. I was carrying you when you flung your arms around my neck for a big hug and said, "This is MY Mommy!!" Why, yes I am!

Happy Week, Sad Week

2011-05-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

This week has been an emotional roller coaster for me this week. Let me begin with the happy times! Travis got the Student of the Month Award for April. We are so proud of him! Here he is with his teacher (Daryle cut off her head!) and the May Student of the Month.

Last quarter Travis found out about Math Olympics. These are math timed facts quizzes. He loves math. Once I explained it to him he was ready to try it out. The first one he took was 50 addition and subtraction problems in 3 minutes. He did it all and got 100% right on his first try! So this week at our awards assembly he got an award. Only two kids did it this quarter. Way to go Travis! Now we can start practicing for next year. That will be 100 addition and subtraction problems in 4 minutes. I know you can do it! Ahhh, once again I am not sure if it is good or bad to have your mom be a teacher! haha!

Travis is now ready for Second Grade! I am so excited to have him be near me next year. It's kind of funny, he keeps telling me that he wants to be in my class! I told him that is not allowed, Principal's rule! It is cute he wants to be with me, but we both know that could never work out. He has come a long way this year and we are so proud of him. On Thursday we wrapped up the school year with the last day of school. The week was jam packed with fun activities for the kids. It seemed to go by quickly. Until I woke up on Thursday morning anyway.

Now begins the sad part of my week. I woke up early on the last day of school and had some time to check emails, facebook, etc. I was stunned and shocked to see that my uncle had posted that his son, my cousin, was in ICU and they didn't know if he would make it through the night. A major amount of chills ran through my body. From what he said this was a drug overdose. Being that it was 5:30 in the morning I wasn't sure if I should call my parents or not. I figured I would wait until 6. I was thinking that a ringing phone this early in the morning was going to jolt them so I figured I would let them sleep a bit more. Plus I texted my dad to see if he was awake yet (he is an early riser) and he didn't respond. Well, I called them at 6 and they knew all about it. They had gotten a call late in the night and had been at the hospital with my aunt and uncle. I can't say that this scenario was a complete shock. My cousin Thomas had his fair amount of troubles in his short 26 years of life. Unfortunately he had been in and out of jail and had dealt with a drug addiction for years. These are the calls you dread and you hope and pray that you never get. Anyway, I went up to the hospital with my parents that night to be with him and see what was going on. He was completely unresponsive. Just a shell of a person was lying on the bed. The paramedics had performed CPR for 37 minutes before they got a pulse. Who knows how long he was laying on the bathroom floor before his "friends" called for help. Sad. Depressing. Devastating. A parents worst nightmare. I think that being a parent myself has made me look at this from a new perspective. I know once your children get older you can only hope you have taught them right from wrong. If they go down the wrong path it is very difficult to bring them back. Some people are fortunate to have the love and support to get them through. Others are not so lucky. That was my cousin. I wish I could have done more to help him. And I am talking about way back when he was just a little kid. I know in my head there was nothing I could have done, but in my heart I sure wish there was something I could have done to help. I just hope he knows how much his family loved him. Unconditionally. Yesterday afternoon the decision was made to take him off of life support. There was just too much brain damage. I have never been with a person before during their last moments on earth. I can say that it was peaceful. Just about a week ago he was released from jail and now this. Such a shame. Such a waste of a good person. A waste of a life. Drugs just take everything from you. I have so many emotions and thoughts running through my head. I have to admit, it has been a few years since I have seen Thomas. This was not the way I had hoped to see him the next time our paths crossed. But I am glad I was there to be with him. It gives me peace to think that our grandparents were there to greet him with open arms. To meet a grandfather he never knew and to be reunited with a grandmother who loved him with her whole heart and soul. I know he is in a happier, safer place.

So, I am hoping that the rest of my summer can be devoted to creating more memories with my two little guys. Yesterday was Connor's Gotcha Day. I can hardly believe it has been two years already! It is hard to remember what life was like without him. We plan on celebrating today. Here's to a summer of cuddling and PB&J sandwiches!

Peace to my cousin Thomas Scott Melzer, Jr. Just 26 years young. May you rest in peace. Our love and memories of you will live on in our hearts forever.

3 R's: Reading, Rainbows, and Uncle Rob

2011-05-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

My brother's favorite book growing up was Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry. He loved finding Gold Bug's hiding spot on each and every page. I can remember looking at his book with him over and over again as we sat on my mom and dad's bed. I can remember how the binding and pages were taped over and over again to hold it all together. Then when Travis came home some good friends of ours gave Travis a copy of the book. Travis also enjoyed hunting around all of the pages on the "Gold Bug" hunt. Looking at all of the cool modes of transportation was always a big hit too. Yes, even our book acquired some tape during Travis' love affair with the book. Well, Connor seemed to find the book on the bookshelf recently and now both of my boys are heavily engrossed in reading this all the time. Now it's Connor's turn to find the little yellow guy. I wonder how much more tape we will be needing this time around?? I love it!

Uncle Rob's plane finally showed up on Saturday. Although our visit was short because he was actually here on... gasp.. business! We were just happy he came in town a day early so he could hang out with us, even if it was just for dinner. Plus I was able to get an updated shot of him and the boys for the annual Christmas calendar that the family gets. We never know when we will get to spend time with him so I am always getting pictures when he is here. Unfortunately this was the only picture. Oh well, at least it was the important one!

Yesterday we got a little bit of rain in the desert. Well, those of you who live where rain REALLY exists would question whether or not this was rain. However, since we got a super cool (look closely to see the double part) rainbow over our house I would say we can officially say we got rain!

It was so big I had to get it in two shots. It was so cute, Travis was outside and ran in shouting for us to come outside. I saw the rainbow and rushed in to get my camera. Good thing I did because it didn't stick around for very long. The pictures don't do it justice, it was so bright and beautiful. I just love rainbows!

Am I a bad mom because we all played in the raindrops for a few minutes? Since we hardly ever even see rain (let alone rainbows!) around here I didn't think it would hurt. It sure was refreshing!

Waiting

2011-05-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

I don't like waiting for things. However, I have learned over the years how to wait in a more patient manner. I think I need to pass this on to my dad. He can't wait.

We had a busy morning with the baseball team end of year team party which was at the park down the street from our house. Daryle and I went to bed at 12:30 and my little you-know-who came into our room at 6:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed! That was just not enough sleep for me. Then, it was pretty warm out there, in the high 90's this morning. I actually came home and took a power nap afterwards. I am feeling much better now.

With that being said, I will get back to the waiting part. Right after I got up and around again my phone rang. It was my dad. He wanted to know when we were coming over. You see my brother's plane from Seattle is landing at 3:27. He called me around 3:12. He wanted to know when he should start getting the pork loin cooked on the BBQ. Well Dad, Connor is still sleeping. We will come when he wakes up. Didn't we already go over that? At least three times?? Yesterday? I know he is excited. But really? Yes dad, we will call when we are on our way.

Gotta love my dad! He really is the best, even though he didn't inherit MY patience gene! LOL

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! For so many years I celebrated this day hoping that "next year I would finally be a mom". I will never forget my first Mother's Day when Travis was finally home with us! Then three years ago on Mother's Day we decided to head back to Russia for our second adoption. Now for the second year I celebrated this day with both of my boys! Travis made me some cute projects at school (and one at Home Depot with dad) and Connor made me some cute gifts at the babysitter's house. His involved "fancy jewlery" and I don't know who wore it more today, Connor or me! Here are my gifts:

These are from Travis. Love them!

These are from Connor... priceless!

We went over to my parent's house today for hamburgers and some swimming. After Connor had a nap we headed out to the park to feed the ducks. I am not sure, but this might have been Connor's first time feeding the ducks. We had fun watching the ducks fight over bread as the birds tried to steal it all from them!

The boys finally got to start the swimming season at my parent's house. It is great because they can finally play together. Connor is fine with his vest and Travis swims great. Here they are jumping off the side of the pool.

Of course I had to get a picture of the boys with my mom. I have the most wonderful mother. Thanks mom for all you have done for me over the years. You are so strong, I can only hope to be half as strong as you one day! I love you tons and so do my boys!!

Yesterday was one of Travis' last baseball games. It should have been the last one but we had one rain out week so we will play our make up game on Friday night. Since it was nice and sunny and all of the grandparent's were there (to watch Connor) I decided to take some pictures of my little baseball player.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. This morning Daryle and the boys fixed me breakfast in bed, we went to mass together and then we went to my parent's house. My mom and I even got away for a bit to do some shopping while Connor took a nap. To all of you who are mothers, I hope you had a wonderful day. To all of you who are still hoping to be a mom one day remember to keep the faith and stay strong. These things have a way of working out even when we don't understand what is taking so long. We were married for ten years before we were blessed with Travis. Believe me, I don't take Mother's Day lightly! I am so grateful for my boys and I say prayers of thanks each and every day that we were brought to each other. Before we got married I would never have thought that we would end up traveling across the world to find our children. Life is funny that way. We end up doing things we never thought could be possible. Happy Mother's Day!

Boys Night Out

2011-05-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Daryle took the boys to a Monster Truck show. Yes. Both boys. Without me. He did bring his friend so that he wasn't out numbered though! Daryle and Travis have gone several times before in the past, but this was Connor's first visit. To say he loved it is an understatement! He has been talking about it all. week. long. I was just happy to have a few hours to myself. Absolute bliss for me! Here are some pictures from their adventure together.

The highlight of the evening was Robosaurus. Evidently when he came out Daryle lost the feeling in his neck because Connor was holding on so tightly! He was entranced by the fire breathing, car eating dinosaur. Once he figured out that it ate CARS and not little BOYS he loved this thing. When it started to leave he got quite upset. As Daryle said, it was a roller coaster of emotions in a very short period of time!

As you can imagine Connor has been talking about Robosaurus all week long. Even just now when he saw these pictures we had to look at all of them. He had to show me the sharp teeth and as we looked at the pictures he made different types of growling noises! I think something like this would have scared the you-know-what out of me when I was 2 years old! LOL Not my Connor. Like I have said before, this boy has NO FEAR! As for me, I completely enjoyed my evening to myself. I can't wait until they go again!

Puppy Love

2011-05-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Travis had his first experience with a puppy. His "old" speech teacher's dog (she taught him so well he doesn't go anymore!) had a puppy a few weeks back. She has been promising Travis he could meet him when he was old enough for visitors. Travis surprised us both with his gentle manner and sweetness with the little guy. I am not a huge animal person, but boy was this little guy an absolute cutie pie! Travis couldn't give him enough kisses and hugs. It was so sweet to watch him. He says he wants to be a vet when he grows up.... we will see. I do know one thing, and that is that he will always have a pet of some kind. This kiddo loves animals (as does his little brother, and his dad... hey, how did I end up with these people anyway??! LOL) Next time maybe I will be brave enough to let Connor come too. I was afraid he might suffocate the little guy with his unintentional roughness! I must say though, puppies sure are cute!

Easter Fun

2011-04-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

We were so busy last weekend that I think it took me all week to recover! Even though we had Friday off the three days were just not quite enough to cram in all that we had going on. Saturday evening we colored some eggs. I didn't realize how many colors came in the package I bought, of course we had to use them all (even though we only hard boiled 18 eggs!).

The week before Easter a friend of mine posted this cute idea on Facebook. At first I thought it looked hard but when I read the directions I thought, "I can do that!" I was in such a rush after church on Sunday that I forgot to take a picture of the final product but here is the bunny that I made from bread dough.

I put this guy on a platter, cut out the tummy, put some lettuce in there and filled it with veggie dip. Then I put veggies all around it. It was cute, and I got lots of compliments on it! Plus it was all super yummy too!

Connor and Travis found some eggs that the Easter Bunny hid around the house.

Finally, Travis found the Easter baskets hiding in the castle. Connor found his in there too! Once again, the Easter bunny was way too generous! lol

Here are the boys in our backyard. Since Easter was so late this year our tree was actually blooming! After church we went over to my aunt and uncle's house for an Easter celebration with our family. Most of my cousins all have kids now and they are all pretty close in age. The ages range from 12 to 1 with the majority of them 3-8. Needless to say we had a really fun time this year! All of them had so much fun hunting eggs, playing games and doing some crafts. Not to mention they heated the pool so that the kids could go swimming and not freeze to death in the process! Connor spent most of his time in the pool, he wouldn't even come out to play the games. I was afraid I was never going to get him out, finally he started to get cold and I was able to get him out of there before his skin was completely wrinkled! LOL Here are some pictures from all of the fun. (Ok, I have no idea why this is all in white... there are some new things on here and I am trying to figure it all out!)

Can you tell these two are the same age? Just about 6 weeks apart.... and two peas in a pod! They are two funny little guys, I enjoyed watching them play together.

Travis enjoyed the water slide while Connor just swam and swam and then he would run and jump in on off the side. He would be a perfect candidate for the show Fear Factor!

Travis got to play pin the tail on the bunny. He was a little bit off! lol

Next came the spoon race. You can see the fierce competition between these two! LOL (Once again, these two are close in age as well!)

Here are the boys waiting to do the egg roll. I finally got Connor out of the pool by this time. He was so tired it was pretty easy for him to sit and watch for a bit!

Finally it was time to do some crafts.

Boy was it a fun yet exhausting day! Here are how my two angels looked on the way home.

Once again we had a wonderful holiday with our boys. We are so incredibly blessed to have them both in our lives. They keep us busy and on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy belated Easter to you!

And the birthday lingers on....

2011-04-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday when Daryle was mowing the lawn I heard him hollering for me to come quick. I wondered what in the world was wrong! He wanted to know if I had a jar. What? Then he told me he found a gecko and he thought the kids would like to look at it and check it out. Well, I didn't have a jar but I did have a bug/critter catcher in the closet. The boys were so excited! Travis figured he had a new pet. I was worried as he carried it around, turning it this way and that way. All I could think of is that this gecko didn't have much more time left on this earth. When he left for the Diamondback's game I looked and looked for the thing. I figured he let it go. I was wrong. I went in his bedroom and there it was sitting on his dresser in its cute cage. When he got home that night, after hauling the poor little guy around a little longer, he finally realized that this was not a pet and needed to be let back into the backyard to catch all of the bugs. It was a nice pet while it lasted!He didn't want him to be lonely, so he put in a rubber frog and lizard. I am not quite sure how the gecko felt about this!

Connor's hair is a lot of fun. This is what happened at bath time the other night. When you look at this picture just imagine him laughing and laughing!! (And yes, he has a tan line!)

Just when you think the birthday is over Uncle Billy comes along and sends his gift. His gifts are always a hit. This year he sent two super sized flying monkeys and this new addition to our house.

Yes, that is a castle! As you see from the thumbs up it was a hit!

Here is a view from the inside.

They wasted no time at all in getting the blankets and pillowpets to get "cozy" in the "castle".

Oh, and don't forget the mountain of Webkinz that also joined in the party! The gift came on the perfect day. Travis has been sick again and it is so hard to keep him inside so that he can rest and relax. This gift kept him busy and entertained so he could take it easy! When I say Travis has an incredibly high tolerance for pain I am NOT kidding. He never says he is not feeling well, never cries when he is hurt (he fights those tears like nobodies business) and when he is sick he acts like he isn't and wants to continue at his pace of 150 mph. Take for instance this past week. I knew on Saturday that his asthma was beginning to act up. He refused to do any breathing treatments. Against my better judgement I let it slide, mostly because he is getting old enough that he needs to start being able to listen to his body. On Monday evening I finally told him he needed to get going on the treatments, and he obliged. For the first time EVER he woke up at 3 am calling for us and said he needed a breathing treatment. Holy cow, he must be in bad shape if he is asking for this in the middle of the night! I could tell from his cough/breathing that he was going to be needing a doctor visit the next day. So, the following morning I had planned to call grandpa and see if he could stay with Travis while I went to work in the morning, called in for a half day sub so I could take him in to the doctor in the early afternoon. He insisted he could go to school for the half day. So, I let him. He lives with this constantly, so he is used to nothing getting him down. I knew he had a sinus infection and he was wheezing but I was surprised that he also had an ear infection. Evidently the whole left side was infected from the ears to the sinuses. He was still insisting that he go back to school AND go to the baseball game that night! Oh for pete's sake! Thankfully the doctor backed me up and he went home that day, no game and grandpa came and stayed with him the next day. (Poor grandpa said to me that afternoon, boy it sure is hard to keep him down! Yes, I know! Can you imagine if I had sent him to school??) Thank goodness we have a three day weekend, it forces him to take it easy. I can tell you this is not a simple task!

I won't even begin to go into the long 7 year drama of Travis' health issues. I will say that two weeks ago his ENT decided he was having sinus headaches and not sinus infections. Ok, I figured I would let that play out. Two weeks after that appointment and we have an ear infection, sinus infection, and wheezing issues that have made me decide she doesn't know what she is talking about. What a shame, we have been with her since the beginning. I always liked her, but now I think we need to part ways. This is hard, it's like losing a family member. Oh well. We now have an appointment with another doctor (he is highly recommended and considered the best pediatric ENT around here) for a second opinion. Hopefully he will have a fresh perspective and we can get somewhere with all of this craziness of being on constant antibiotics. He is now getting resistant to one of them. Not cool.

And finally after ten tries I was able to get a cute picture of these Three Musketeers. Oh, and I can't forget... Travis got his first hit last night, he stole second, third and then home! We were so proud of him! (No picture, it is hard for me to even sit and watch the game with my other little tornado running all around the place! Thankfully I did see his hit and steals!) Of course if it had been up to me I would have made him stay home because he is still sick, but when dad is the coach there is an extra obstacle in the way! LOL I am glad he went because he did so well and had a great time. Now if I can just get him healthy by Monday we will be on the right track!

He was mustard....

2011-04-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Daryle took Travis to a Diamondback's game. Evidently as soon as they walked in somebody approached Travis to ask if he would like to participate in the Hot Dog Race that happens during the game. It took some coaxing but eventually Travis agreed to do it! (A few years ago when Travis was 5 he was asked but he was too chicken to try it! I am glad he has matured since then! Ha!) Daryle called me right way to tell me about it. I was sad I wasn't there. I was even sadder that I looked at the counter and there sat the camera. Sometimes he brings it, today he left it behind! Thank goodness for camera phones. These aren't the best but at least we can capture the memory. Here he is getting ready to run onto the field. The next message I got was that he came in second. At least he wasn't last! The third message I got said that Travis was walking around like he was a local celebrity. I guess he needs to start practicing early! LOL I can't wait to hear all about it when they come home.

And he even gets this cute t-shirt as proof! Isn't technology amazing??? I mean, I have this post published with pictures and they aren't even home yet!!

The Miracle of Adoption

2011-04-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

This symbol is the adoption triad. One side of the triangle represents the birth parents, the other side represents the adoptive family and the third side represents the adoptee. Of course the heart represents the love shared by all three. I love this symbol and how it shows just how adoptive and birth families are connected forever. This week I had a life experience that has made an impact on me. I would like to share my thoughts about it here.

Adoption sure is a crazy, fascinating, and miraculous thing. Pretty much everybody we know sees first hand how my family has been affected by adoption. Anybody who knows us also sees the miracle as to how well both of our boys have fit into our family seamlessly. Parents just "know" who their kids are. I have read so many blogs, books, and articles not to mention I know many adoptive parents and pretty much everybody says that when they first met their child or saw the first picture they just "knew" they belonged with them. Many people also have received referrals and known that these children were not "the ones" for whatever reason. I know that with Connor's adoption I knew he was my son the minute I laid my eyes on him. There was not a shred of doubt in my mind that he was "the one" we were searching for. Daryle told me he had felt the same way. Travis' story was a bit different. We carried around a 6 month photo of a chubby cheeked baby boy for 10 1/2 months so when we were presented with a malnourished 16 month old I was a little shocked the first moment I saw him. Yes, I went back to the hotel and wondered for a moment if this was really my son. We had gone through hell and back so my heart knew he was mine. I think my head was just trying to guard my heart at the time. However, by the second visit later that afternoon I overcame the shock of his appearance and I knew in my heart this little baby boy was meant to be our son. Like I said before, you just "know" and a sense of peace comes over you about these things.

However, there is also another side of adoption that I don't seem to relate to or discuss as much. That is the side of the birth family. It is interesting to me that at this stage in my life I have been affected by this side of adoption to a certain degree. 25 or so years ago my uncle and his now ex-wife had two children that they gave up for adoption during the course of their marriage. My parents were upfront with me about this when it happened as I was old enough to understand what was going on at the time. Over the years I have thought about the fact that I have two cousins out there in the big wide world. Sometimes I would wonder if I had actually met them somewhere and didn't even know it. Or would I if I did? I would say a prayer for them now and then and hoped that they were in loving families and that they had a good life. Well, imagine our families' shock and excitement when about a year ago the older son called my uncle to make contact. After a year of phone calls, emails and facebook with various family members he came out here this past week to meet his birth father and his extended family. To say he is an amazing young man is an understatement! It is obvious that he was raised in a very loving family. He once told my mom during a phone call that he had a good life. Answered prayers! As for his mother, she is an amazing woman. I can just look at her and relate to her on so many levels. (She also adopted two sons. Bryan is her younger son.) Even when she was telling the story about how they got the call about their son before he was born she had a look and smile on her face as if she was re-living the moment. It was as if it were yesterday. (I know I remember those days for myself as if they were yesterday too!) From hearing her story you can tell that for her, the way things happened, that Bryan was meant to be their son. I can completely relate to that feeling. Of course I am sure it wasn't a shock to anybody that of all people I was the one who got teary eyed and choked up the minute I looked at Bryan and then saw his proud mother sitting right next to him. It was a moment where I was not prepared for my reaction, that's for sure! It was so interesting to find out different characteristics and interests he has... such as he likes to cook and create recipes.... this is a thread that runs through just about all of the men on my dad's side of the family. Plus, he looks just like my uncle as well as my uncle's oldest son (whom he raised and we all know). I continue to be in awe at the power of adoption. Obviously Bryan was meant to be in the family he was raised in. It was evident by the fact that 9 members of his family came to meet all of us too that he is so incredibly loved by many, many people. It is so nice to have met him and to know that he turned out so well and most of all that he is happy. He is a very special person for sure.

Every day when I look at my boys I am amazed at how we have changed the course of life for them. If it weren't for the gift of adoption they would not be here with us now. Who knows where they would be. I don't even like to think about that. I do know that it takes an incredibly strong and unselfish person to give their child up for adoption. To know and acknowledge that this child will have a better life with another family must be the most heart wrenching decision a parent can make. I can't even imagine having to make such a life altering decision. As I watched my uncle get to know Bryan last night I was touched again by a different side of adoption. I was once again reminded how God works in mysterious ways and how our lives take us down so many different winding paths. I am glad Bryan's mom encouraged him to find out about his birth family. It's been an interesting week. Like I said, adoption is a miracle, it truly is a gift of life.