Amazing Race 9

The 2 hour season premiere of The Amazing Race was on tonight. I would love to travel the world like they do in the show. What an awesome experience!

My favorites so far:
Eric and Jeremy
Joseph and Monica
Ray and Yolanda.

Jury is still out on the Hippies: BJ and Tyler. Definitely weird but could be a lot of fun.

The Nerds are from where my husband went to school Kansas State. Boy are they nerds, and this kissy kissy stuff is nauseating.

I was happy for the older couple since they made so many mistakes and still came out okay in the end.

By the end of the two hours, I couldn't figure out who was irritating me more: John and Scott or the "Frosties". Luckily one of the teams (John and Scott) was eliminated.

Where do they find these people anyway???

Back Among the Living-- sort of!

Wow, I had a stomach virus last Thursday and felt almost normal by Saturday. Sunday, it returned with a vengeance! After a terrible night Sunday, I slept for 24 hours and now I am back among the living or at least the awake!

Unfortunately, most of the other nurses I work with have also succumbed to this virus.

I really don't have time for this! Joshua has a scrimmage tonight that I plan on watching even if I have to stay in the car.

Of course, maybe this is part of God's way of showing me that I need to slow my life down a little bit!

Mulan

Delaney has never been one to leave hair ribbons, barrettes, etc. in her hair. I gave up after awhile when she was an infant because it only frustrated us both.
Today, she requested to look like Mulan. I put her hair up in a ponytail and she was so proud of it. She showed it off to her daddy when he came home from work. Come to find out, she took them out immediately after I walked out the door to go to work.
Oh well, She is cute either way!

The Girl loves her EGGS!

Delaney loves to eat eggs and requests them most mornings. She wants "two mommy, two eggs". Depending on time constraints, I will fix her eggs. At some point during eating, she will exclaim, "I LOVE eggs!"

This has led me to ponder the following: Are kids born with ingrained cultural preferences?

Delaney loves eggs, sticky rice, fish and tea (the rare times I let her have it).

Joshua LOVES bread! Ukraine is the "Bread Basket of the World".

Is there something to it? What do you think? Am I just over analyzing it?

Of course Delaney would eat 5 slices of Bologna in one setting if I let her. Okay maybe she is part Italian from Bologna, Italy ----Just kidding!

I hate bugs!

Delaney came running into my room yelling "Mom, I have to show you something!"
I hear this usually about 20-25 times a day.
She says "Here is a bug, mom. Throw it away."
It is a small spider that is almost dead but not quite and it is moving! Now that would freak this momma out if it was on me!
She drops it and states, "Mom, I hate bugs!". Yes dear but obviously not as bad as I do! Shudder!

Tiger Cub

Joshua had his Tiger Cub award ceremony on Tuesday. He received his Tiger Cub patch. I am so proud of him. He started Tiger Cubs half way through the year and worked hard to get caught up.

Next year, he will be a Wolf. Paul will be helping out with the Den as last year's den leader will now be the Pack leader.

President's Day

The kids had a great President's Day. We stayed at home and had some friends over.
They played, ate lunch and decorated cupcakes. Since the kids are in school now, they don't get to see each other very often.

This summer they will be moving in to their new home just down the street from us. Joshua is really looking forward to having his friend just a bike's ride away and going to the same school.

After company left, the kids went outside to play on the ice/snow. They had fun slipping down our driveways.

That night Delaney woke up several times complaining of her legs hurting. Wonder why? They both took some pretty hard falls, laughing the whole time.

I was tagged!

Four jobs you have had in your life:

1. Nurse
2. Manager of Dialysis unit
3. Retail worker (Target and Wal-Mart)
4. Fast Food Worker (Simple Simon's Pizza and Taco Spot)

Movies you would watch over and over:

1. Somewhere in Time
2. Always
3. Life is Beautiful
4. Return to Me
The movies with the best "views" are Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Troy

Four places you have lived:

1. Broken Arrow, Ok
2. Tulsa, Ok
3. Galveston, Tx (very briefly)
4. Bixby, Ok

Four TV shows you love to watch:


1. Survivor
2. Amazing Race
3. Alias
4. Big Brother
Yes, I am a reality show junkie!


Four places you have been on vacation:

1. Las Vegas
2. San Antonio (we were almost stuck there due to 9-11-- we were suppose to fly home that day)
3. Pennsylvania/ Washington D.C./ Baltimore trip
4. Maui


Four websites I visit daily:

1. Dillon International photo page
2. Random Thoughts
3. American Expat
4. Invisible Thread


Four of my favorite foods:

1. Chocolate
2. Chicken Enchiladas
3. Chicken Bryan at Carrabas
4. Red Velvet cake

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Venice, Italy
2. Seoul, South Korea
3. Hawaii
4. Kiev, Ukraine

Four friends I am tagging that I think will respond.....

I won't tag anybody but would love to see the answers from anyone that joins in the fun.

Snow, Snow, Snow-- Ice, Ice, Ice

It has been a very mild winter here in Oklahoma.
The last couple of days we have had sleet and snow. The bad thing about Oklahoma is that the temperature is not cold enough to make just snow, we have to have ice on the roads as well. The temperature heats up enough to melt the snow and then refreeze into ice overnight. This makes the roads difficult. We also don't have the weather equipment that the Northern states have to clear the roads.

Church was cancelled today but unfortunately I still have work to attend this weekend. Luckily the kids are out of school tomorrow for President's Day. We plan on staying home and enjoying some friends over for some inside fun!

Have a great President's Day!

My Life Story

I made Life Books for the kids for Christmas. It is their stories in very simple terms with pictures that tell how they came to be in our family.

Since Joshua is now reading, I thought it might be a great idea to have Joshua read his story to his 1st grade class. He has been very proud of his book.

Today he read it to his class and did a wonderful job. We also took the country flag, Ukrainian money, the newspaper article from Ukraine that is about him and a map.

The kids listened to the story and asked great questions.

I don't want adoption to ever be anything that is viewed as secretive. I figured if the kids always knew that Joshua was adopted then it would never be a big deal.

He received many compliments on his story and even had others share about people that they know that were adopted.

I highly encourage adoptive parents to share with the classmates. It was a very rewarding experience.

We are blessed to have a teacher that agreed to let us share our story since it did state that we had prayed for a child and God led us to Joshua because he was meant to be our son.

One child asked why different countries speak different languages. The teacher asked me to explain it to the students. I said, "From the Bible?" and she said "yes". I told the story of the Tower of Babel and how God developed the different languages.

I also met a prospective adoptive parent that is going through Dillon International www.dillonadopt.com to adopt from Vietnam.

What an awesome experience!

Way to Go Toby "Awesome" Dawson

Toby Dawson won the Bronze medal in Men's Skiing Moguls. He is a Korean adoptee that was adopted at the age of three. He is a great voice and role model for other adoptees. Way to Go Toby!! www.tobydawson.com

The total of medals so far for our three countries are as follows:

Gold Silver Bronze

USA 6 - 2 - 1
Ukraine 0 - 0 - 1
South Korea 1 - 1 - 1

USA is ranked 1st, Ukraine is ranked 22nd and Korea 14th.

AWESOME!!

I went to the Casting Crowns/ Nichole Nordeman concert last night. It was awesome! It was one of the best concerts that I have been to.

Nichole is just as great in person as she is on her albums. What a voice! She was very personable.

Casting Crowns rocked! They all had colds but it didn't hinder their performance in the least. I like them even more now then I did before. They provided an awesome show.

The concert was sponsored by World Vision. http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/master.nsf/home/

Mark Hall was telling about how he has sponsored a child that is the same age and birthdate as his son. I thought that was an awesome idea. I am sure that it is really helping his son connect and understand that there are children out there like him that are less fortunate. He said that they are planning a trip this summer to go play with the sponsored child.

I highly recommend this concert if they are in your area. It was great...I might even say that it was a truly AWESOME experience!

Can you kiss in college?

Paul said that Joshua asked him if you are allowed to kiss girls once you get to college.

Paul told him "yes" and asked if he had a girlfriend. Joshua said, "I don't know" and wouldn't discuss it further.

I asked him later if he had a girl that he liked and that if she liked him. He finally confessed that he does have a girlfriend. She rides the bus with him. She happens to be the 6 year old that was drawing pictures labeled "Joshua in the bath tub" and "Joshua in the hot tub".

We did get the inappropriate drawing issue resolved. She was mad at me for a day or so :)

She is a cute little girl but maybe too advanced for Joshua at age 6! Yikes!

Valentine's Bears

We gave the kids their valentine's day gifts yesterday. We wanted them to be able to play with them a little before the chaos of the weekdays came. They loved them!

Care Bears Live!

Paul and I like to have Boy's and Girl's night out with the kids occasionally. We had one last night.

I took Delaney to see Care Bears Live last night. She thought it was going to be a movie, so she was quite surprised to see that it was a live show. I didn't know how to explain to her what a live show was beforehand. I had tried a little but she started saying, "I don't like bears". So, I went with the movie idea.

We went to her choice of restaurant...McDonald's :). We even splurged and had an ice cream cone for Delaney and a milk shake for mommy. She insisted that I have ice cream as well. She didn't have to twist my arm that hard :). Yummy!

She was very quiet when the Care Bears first started but then she started asking to go onstage. After awhile, she started DEMANDING to go onstage. "I WANT TO GO UP THERE NOW, MOMMY!" Sorry Babe, no such luck!

At intermission, she wanted to buy a Care Bear light. No problem... I have a credit card. Wrong! Cash only. So, I looked to see how much cash I have $9.63. Oops! the light is $10. Darn, I should have skipped the shake.

What is a mom to do? We run back out to the van and I start searching. Well, I find a few cents but still not enough. I open Delaney's cup holder and find 8 cents in there. The sight of mommy taking her precious money, sends Delaney into a tantrum. Ahhh!!!!

So, I take her money anyway, it is for her after all. Then, God is good, I find a whole quarter in the bottom of my purse. Mommy saves the day!!! We run back in and get the most important light (you know, the one that will make its way to the bottom of the toy chest today and be long forgottenby tomorrow).

We return to our seats and Delaney plays with her light for about 5 minutes and then I hear "I WANT TO GO UP THERE NOW, MOMMY!" Ah, the joys of three year olds. Gotta love them!

All in all we had a great evening. Most important, Delaney said she had fun!

Grammys

Congrats to Casting Crowns for Lifesong being Contemporary Christian Album of the year! Just 5 more days until I see them and Nicole Nordeman in concert!

Way to go Kelly Clarkson and Faith Hill!

I was thrilled to see that Kanye West only won in the categories of Rap songs. I only saw part of the Grammys as I was at church but I did tape it. I am hoping he didn't make a fool of himself with any of his views on this awards program. Rap music can have him just as long as he is not awarded in mainstream.

I was watching when they presented the Album of the Year award. It looked as though he was praying. I only hope that he was praying to God and not himself.

Will she sleep in a crib?

Delaney went with me to pick up a new babysitter. I told her where we were going and she asked the following questions:

Are we going to see some babies?

How long is she going to stay?

Will she sleep in a crib?

Obviously she misunderstood. She still enjoyed the "baby" sitter :)

Hurt Feelings.....

Joshua has been playing with our neighbor's children, a 1st grader and 5th grader. Yesterday morning, he told me that they have been calling him "annoying". He was pretty upset by it.

I told him that if they bring it up again that maybe he shouldn't invite them over to play. They love to play over here because Joshua has several motorized vehicles. They come from a family of 9 kids and from what I can tell don't have any powered vehicles.

He came home yesterday and said that he didn't want to play with them that day. The 5th grader called and asked to come over. I explained that Joshua was upset that he was called annoying. I explained that friends don't usually call each other names. He then proceeded to ask if he could play with Delaney instead. :). I told him that I didn't think he should come over for that day.

I told Joshua this morning to tell him that he had hurt his feelings and therefore didn't feel like playing with him yesterday. They share a bus stop at the other child's house so I really hope they can get along.

We did talk to Joshua about the need to be less bossy. He tends to want to be the leader and run the show.

I wish I could protect the kids from harsh words but know that it is all part of the growing experience. It still hurts to see your child hurting. Parenting is definitely not easy!

Valentine's Day

Delaney made this at church on Wednesday. She colored it using both of our favorite color: purple.

She was so proud of it that she immediately exclaimed, "This go on refrigerator!". What an honor! I wouldn't change my refrigerator art for any others in the world.

My Little Man

Joshua has become very concerned about his appearance lately. Earlier this week he requested that I wash some of his darker jeans so as "not to embarrass anyone at school". Last night he wanted to know how he could keep his hair combed to the side throughout the day. So this morning, he left with hair gel and spray in place. He said, "It's perfect" when he was done.

As a toddler, he looked in the mirror often and combed his hair. When the hairdresser was done, he would cry if he didn't get to comb his hair and keep the comb.

He become less concerned for a few years but now it's back.

Paul thinks he may have a girlfriend. All the girls say "hi" when we are at his school with him at after school events. He has confessed to thinking a few are cute as well as his music teacher.

He had "100 day" last week. Here is what he answered on the 100 day questions:

I could make 100 pizzas
I could eat 100 Gold Fish
I wish I had 100 hugs
But I don't want 100 kisss (he did say that it was okay from mommy though).

Baby Talkie

For some reason, Delaney has started doing baby talk. She will say, "Me wantie a drinkie". Everything is ending in "e". I am trying to put a stop to it by telling her that I don't understand it and will only grant her wishes when she talks like a big girl.

I was frustrated with it yesterday and told her that if she wants to be a baby then she will have to eat yucky baby food and take two naps a day :)

Any other suggestions?

Survivor 12

Well, another episode of my addiction is starting tonight. I have watched all 12 seasons-- why stop now :)

Valentine's Day Presents!

I was browsing Build-a-Bear and saw these International outfits. They are so cute! I will buy the Hanbok for Delaney. Although I would love to buy Joshua the Russian outfit, I know he would love the Egyptian outfit for his beloved elephant.

I will post pictures of the bears donning their duds after Valentines day.