Merry Christmas!!!

The stockings are hung, the tree is decorated and the presents are all wrapped. We are ready for Christmas. I love the hustle and bustle of this time of year. It is snowing a bit here today so it is really starting to feel like Christmas time. For my friends in Australia, I don't know how you get in the mood without the cold and snow.

We had the kid's Christmas pictures taken a week ago.We received the call yesterday that the camera had malfunctioned. ARGH! It seems something always goes wrong with our pictures no matter where we go. Well, we had retakes today and they turned out much better than the previous ones. The photographer today let it slip that it was actually the photographers fault the other night. Oh well, we got some really good pics now, so it is all the matters!

Happy Gotcha Day Princess!

Three years ago today on a very cold day, I traveled home from Korea with my little princess.

Delaney, you have added so many blessings to our family. We love you so much!

Happy Gotcha Day, Sweetie!

Snow and Cold weather

It has been so cold here. We are not quite use to it here in Oklahoma. We had a little bit of snow so the kids were out of school on Thursday. We spent the day with friends and had a great time.

I spent a lot of time yesterday wrapping presents. Now, we just have to keep reminding the kids to leave them alone. They are so excited!

Baby Jesus

The kids were playing this morning and I found them with Delaney pretending to be Mary with Baby Jesus. It was too cute. Joshua was the director. He finally cancelled the play because he said there wasn't enough people to be the wise men, shepards, etc.

Merry Christmas! Remembering the true meaning at the Gottes House :)

Preschool

Here is Delaney with her three year old class. Aren't they cute! Of course I think the cutest is the little girl in the pink dress :)


We had a great Thanksgiving! Delaney spent over a week at her grandparents. She had a great time there but seemed to be ready to come home. Joshua only got to stay 3 days due to school. He loves going there.

It was so sweet to see how much the kids missed each other while they were apart. The first person Delaney wanted to talk to on the phone was always Joshua. I just love watching them together. Although they irritate each other, they love each other deeply.

Joshua is wanting to have more children around the house. He would love to have a huge family. I told him that he and his wife would have to have a lot of kids. He is concerned though because he doesn't know if his wife will be big enough to have that many kids. He has already picked her out. She is Delaney's friend Emory. He has been pretty adamant that they will marry for some time. He told a friend that he wanted to marry a Korean girl since he knows alot about them. I mean, his sister is Korean after all!! He is so funny!

Tiger Cubs, Party Paradise and other ramblings

It has been over a week since I posted. Boy, time sure flies by!

Joshua has decided that now that soccer is over, he wants to be a Cub scout. Actually he wanted to be one before, but his schedule was already too busy. He is very excited about being a part of Boy Scouts. It sure looks like a lot of fun. I was in girl scouts as a child and had a blast.

Joshua is also in a drawing class one day a week. He loves it. He wants to take it year round. We will have to see as it is a little bit expensive. He has drawn some great things though. He has always loved to draw so I hate to not pursue his interests.

Where does one draw the line on too much activity and pursuing a child's interest. If any one has the answer, please let me know!

Delaney is doing well. She loves pre-school. She has had a cold the last few days but it is improving. She is really looking forward to spending time with Grandma and Grandpa for 9 days. She leaves today and will have them all to herself until Joshua gets there on Thanksgiving. Her trip is all she is talking about these days. We will see how she does once she gets there :). I think they can keep her busy enough though.

We went to Party Paradise last night. It is an AWESOME place! If you are in the Tulsa area, please go check it out. The manager is just starting to get the word out. We had the whole place to ourselves last night. They have 4 Giant Jupiter Jumps, volleyball, scooters, basketball, Foosball, air hockey and a nice HEATED indoor swimming pool. All of this for $6.50/ kid and $2 for me to swim as well.
Go check it out:www.party-paradise.com

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We played this video at church this weekend for our annual adoption awareness presentation.

The preacher also read a great letter from President Bush proclaiming November, National Adoption Month.

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Blast from the Past
Here is a clip I love of Joshua singing. He was around 2 at the time. We call the song the BBQ song as we can not understand what he is saying but it sounds like he says BBQ. He is singing in to the end of a stick horse. He laid it across our table and used it as a microphone


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In Honor of National Adoption Month, I have added the video that we presented at church two years ago.

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And The Oscar Goes To.........

The kids had seen the commercials for "March of the Penguins". I was hesitant to take them since it was a documentary and not a cartoon. I just knew that Delaney would DEFINITELY have difficulty sitting through it.

I took them to the dollar movie last night to see. No loss if we had to leave! Oh My Goodness! What an awesome movie! It was truly facinating! And we think we make sacrifices to have children.

The kids (both of them) had many relevant questions during the movie. It was a great learning experience for them. They loved it.

I will warn that you will have to discuss "survival of the fittest", death and Predator/Prey scenerios.

I highly recommend it!

Here is my parent's new dog Essie playing soccer with Joshua. She is really good. Maybe she could be in the next Soccer Dog movie :)

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November is Adoption Awareness Month

November is Adoption Awareness Month.

Our church has a mission to spread awareness about the miracle of adoption.


This Sunday, November 6th, we will be showing our adoption awareness video during the am worship service. We would love to fill the front pews with adoptive families from the area.

Arrow Heights Baptist Church
101st and Elm (a couple of blocks north of intersection)
Broken Arrow, Ok.
Worship start time: 10:45 am

We will be sitting in the front pews on the right side as you enter the sanctuary.

For more info. Contact KGottes@cox.net

I am hoping to be able to add the adoption video to this blog site. If anyone knows how, please contact me with instructions :)

Halloween

The kids had a blast last night. We went to our friend's neighborhood and went trick or treating with them. Delaney was timid on the first house. After the first house, she led the pack. Her little legs wore out towards the end though. Joshua had a blast trick or treating with his friends. He decided that Elephant needed to just stay home after he was shown to his friends :)

She is Lovely! The "proof" is in!

Okay, so I may be a little biased! I think she is beautiful. I think we will get our package from the close up shot. What is your favorite?

Happy Jack O Lantern!

Joshua picked out a skeleton theme this year. Here is what he picked for Paul to carve on the pumpkin. Paul says that next year, he gets to chose. First, King Tut now a small skeleton.

Joshua decided that he wanted to spend some of his money on a costume for his baby, elephant. For those that don't know, Joshua is still attached to a stuffed animal that is an elephant.

So, it looks like Elephant is going trick or treating this year. I will have a picture of all three of the "kids" later.

Teacher / Parent Conference

We had Joshua's conference last night. According to the teacher, he is doing very well in school.

She said that he fits in well and makes friends easily. She says that he is selective with his friends in that he chooses those that are tender-hearted and kind like himself. She says he has great compassion for others.

She says he does not appear to have attention problems. This has been a concern for us as he gets distracted instead of staying on task at home (i.e. getting ready in the morning).

She says that he is on target for reading. During testing, he did show that he had difficulty separating sounds out in a word. He prefers to say the whole word and can't get the syllable sounds separated. He seems to have difficulty with soft consonant sounds at the end of words. He may be having difficulty with this since it is the sounds that he has difficulty hearing without aids. Maybe he is still having difficulty? Hopefully reading time will help him out some.

He has been teaching others on the school bus to read and do math problems. He even teaches us about subjects at home and then gives us tests. The latest was the life cycle of a pumpkin :)

It is so neat to see how excited he is about learning and his love for reading.

Look Mom, No Training Wheels!

Joshua is finally training wheel free. He isn't able to start off on his own too well, but once he gets going he does pretty well.

Joshua was never one to ride his bike much when he was younger. He started riding his bike down to the bus stop at the beginning of the school year. The kids he rides the bus with love to ride their bikes before school.

We were excited when he asked to ride his bike down there the first time. We knew that with a little time, he would feel the pressure to get rid of the training wheels.

I rode my bike a lot as a kid and didn't understand why he never rode his.

I am glad he finally is enjoying it. He is quite proud at his new achievement.

Paper Dolls

Delaney had her pre-school open house tonight. She has been doing very well according to her teacher. She said that she does stand up for herself but is nice about it (i.e. she has a toy that someone tries to take, she will tell them that they can play with it later).

She loves school and would go every day if I would let her.

Delaney made this doll of herself. The teacher said that the children picked out every thing by themselves. I think Delaney did an awesome job. I was surprised to see that the eyes looked almond shaped as well.

At the age of 2, Delaney would point out Asian people and say, "Look Mommy, Like me!" She is one smart girl. Of course, she also knows that she is beautiful. Ask her, she will tell you :)

My 7 Things List

7 Things that scare me:
Snakes
Tornados -headed our way- we have a storm shelter now!
My children dying before me
My husband dying before me
My children getting kidnapped
Mice
When my children wander off from me and I can't find them.- Major panic attack

7 Things I like:
Going out to a movie
Reading a Good book
Eating Out at a restaurant
Having fun nights with my family
Girls night out
Hearing my kids giggling with each other
Relaxing evenings at home with my family

7 Things in my room:
Glider chair and Ottoman
Exercise Ball
My children's handprints in concrete (Will be in the flower garden eventually)
Bookshelves
Ocean scene pictures
Jewelry Box from Korea

7 random facts about ME:
I hate to cook but love to eat
I would love to learn to play the violin.
I need to work on my need to be in control.
I spend too much time at the computer or watching TV.
I love taking naps.
I am addicted to reality tv programs (much to my husbands dislike)
I want to travel the world.

7 Things I plan to do before I die:
Watch my children grow up
Spoil my grandchildren
Travel to Italy
Take the family to Korea and Ukraine after all the kids are a little older so they can see/experience their home countries again
Be a medical missionary in an orphanage in Ukraine.
Ride in a hot air balloon
Enjoy life and cherish those that are in my life.

7 things I can do:
Swim
A lot of medical procedures.
Comfort those in times of suffering
Comfort my children
Make people laugh
Speak a little Russian and a little Spanish
Be a mentor/support for those adopting or going through infertility

7 things I can not or will not do:
Bungee jump
Pose naked for anyone
Abuse my children
Sky Dive
Hold a snake
Go to a raunchy Dance club
Deliberately hurt someone

7 Things I say the most:
Stop it.
No!
Please be quiet.
Leave each other alone.
Share Please.
Inside voice please.
You guys go play.

7 celebrity crushes
Brad Pitt
Mark Consuelos
The guy from Unfaithful
Tom Cruise (Top Gun years)-- now he is just weird!
Coby from Survivor Australia
Drew from Big Brother
Sam Elliot (my older man crush)



7 people I tag to do this - next 7 readers to my blog

Where is my Baby?

Here is Joshua's first grade picture. It was pre- front teeth loss.
Joshua has always looked mature for his age. It is so hard to believe that the time has passed by so quickly.

It seems like he has been really growing taller lately. Several mornings he has put on jeans only to find that they are now high waters. He seems to be catching up with his classmates in height.

He is such a sweet and loving son. We are truly blessed!

All I Want For Christmas....

Joshua finally lost his other tooth. It had been loose for some time. He doesn't like me to help him so it hung around awhile. Last night he decided he wanted a visit from the Tooth Fairy so he let me help him out.

I will call Jesus

Delaney has been talking alot about death and dying. What is it with my kids and their obsession with dying???

She asks me on a daily basis, "How do snakes and bugs kill you?" "I hate snakes and bugs!"

Yesterday, she said, "When will I be a mummy? When I die and I am in the grass, I will call Jesus. Jesus will come and get me from the grass."

The Fair is in Town

We took the kids to the fair on Monday night. We had a blast!
Delaney had talked about riding the Horsie ride (merry-go-round). Joshua had talked about riding the Egyptian Swing and the Ferris Wheel. Paul said he looked pretty scared as we rode the Giant Swing. He also changed his mind about the Ferris Wheel when he saw it up close and in person :).

I love to people watch at the fair. There are definitely all walks of life that come to the fair. I feel for the Carnival people. To live life as a nomad going from town to town with no real place to call home. Maybe they do have a home but choose to be a carnival worker ?? Of course, every day is a fair for them :)

This may sound harsh, but I often come home from the Fair feeling very blessed to have two healthy children and a healthy husband. There are many out there that have many difficulties in life. We are some of the fortunate ones.

We had a great time spending time as a family. Our evenings are so booked that it is a rare occassion that we are all together.

A humorous story-- We were walking around in the Just for Kids building watching the kids play. We had not stopped yet for any refreshments or drinks. I was sitting down for awhile when I decided that my water was making my hand cold. It dawned on me that I hadn't brought a water into the building. I discreetly ask Paul if he had bought a water for me and given it to me. He said, "no.". Somewhere along the way I had swiped someone else's water!! I am sure they were thinking, "THAT CRAZY WOMAN JUST STOLE MY WATER!" Thank goodness I never drank from it. I sat it on a table and discreetly walked away. How embarrassing!

Good Grief!

Last year after much searching for just the right costume for Joshua, I had to end up making one for him.

This year he found one he like so I was relieved. Well, local stores don't carrying the costume in a small enough size for Joshua.

I found it online at Target and they had it in his size. Sigh of relief!

When the package came to us, I found a large costume and I had ordered a medium. I called the hotline and they said, "Not a problem, we will send you a replacement and it will be a medium." Joshua was excitedly waiting for the package to arrive.

Guess what! Another Large! I called the hotline again and they said,"Well it says you can order a medium!" I guess they don't really have mediums.

I talked Joshua into going to Wal-mart to see if we could find their Large costume since it was $10 cheaper. We would just return the other ones.

Joshua found a different costume that he liked that was very cheap. Yahoo! So, on the way home in the pouring down rain, he announces that he has two right hand gloves for the costume and not a right and a left. AAAGGGHHHH!!!!

Doesn't it seem like there is a HUGE amount of incompetence in this world?

Joshua does have a complete costume now, so everybody better really like it when he comes to your door! LOL

My Favorite Season.

I absolutely love this time of year! It was such a pleasant day today. The cool breeze in the air. The leaves are beginning to turn their wonderful fall colors. I try to point out all the wonderful colors to the kids. It just mesmerizes me!

I Admire Single Parents

My husband was away from home for one night. Just one night and I missed him greatly. I missed him because he wasn't here and I enjoy his company. I also missed him due to the fact that he wasn't here to help out with the kids.

I admire all the single parents and pseudo- single parents (those that have traveling for business husbands). I really don't know how you do it day after day. My kids are not necessarily difficult by any means but I do like having the helping hands around. Life is so much easier when there are two of us to share in the responsibilities.

My Steal from E-Bay

I absolutely hate to dig through my purse to find my cell phone. I know- a minor nuisance but one just the same.

I took a look on e-bay for a cell phone caddy and came upon the item I won with 5 minutes remaining. I won this item for $0.99, and that includes shipping! I LOVE great bargains finds! I love that it is Asian as well :)

His name is "Bud"

Delaney and I were playing this morning and she wanted me to "babysit" some stuffed animals for her. She brought a striped cat to me to watch for her. I asked her the cat's name and she said, "His name is "Bud"".

Why am I telling you this story? I have had one cat in my life. He was a striped cat named Bud. He died 14 years ago.

How ironic that she chose that name! We have never told her about Bud nor has she seen pictures of him.

I did show her a picture of him today. Delaney, thanks for reminding me of the awesome cat named Bud. He was a great cat!

Goodbye Tooth!

Well Joshua held on to his two top teeth long enough to have school pictures taken yesterday. Last night one was loose enough to be pulled. I think the other one will be following it in a matter of days.

Halloween costumes

Well the children have picked out their Halloween costumes. I figured that Joshua would pick Yu-Gi-Oh and Delaney would pick Dora. Well their picks are below. What mother in her right mind would let her 6 year old boy wear such a terrible looking costume??? I guess that mother would have to be me :) At least I can admit Delaney is mine that night. LOL

What a Busy Life!

It is unbelieveable how busy life gets once school starts. We are busy most evenings and then we are busy on weekend mornings before I go to work as well.

I would love life to slow down enough for us to actually get to sit back and enjoy it. To take time to actually get a view of the true blessings we experience would be so nice.

Joshua is now wanting to do another activity during the week. He already has Tae Kwon Do on Monday and Wednesday. He has soccer on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He is wanting to drop a day of TKD in order to go to AWANAS at church. It is such a worthwhile and fun group that I hate to say no. I guess we will just stay busy for awhile.

Delaney is not in any evening events yet. What happens when you have more than one kid in multiple events? Do you ever get to see your whole family together ever again?????

Weekend Fun

The potluck at church was a success. It was so fun watching all the beautiful children playing together. We met an older couple that said they had gone through the adoption process 40 years ago! Wow, adoption has come a long way since then!

I am looking forward to seeing the video presentation for our church's presentation. I pray that it moves another family this year to grow their family through adoption.

Tragedy in Bixby

I went to Bixby Schools all my life. Although I am not involved in the community, I still view it as my home town.

There was a tragedy during the homecoming parade this week. A mother helping a child on a float fell beneath the wheels of the float and was killed.

What a terrible tragedy! I feel for the family and for all the young children that witnessed this tragedy. I pray that the family and children receive the help and support they need after witnessing such a cruel death.

Oh if only we could protect our children from the cruel tragedies of the world!

First Annual Adoptive Families Potluck

Arrow Heights Baptist Church101st And Elm Broken Arrow, OK

We invite all families that have been touched by adoption to an afternoon of fellowship.

On Sunday, September 18th, we are meeting from 12-2pm in the Gym of the church for a potluck dinner. Please bring your favorite dish to share.

Our adoptive families group at Arrow Heights has been growing and we are looking forward to many exciting events and ministries in the future. We are planning our annual Adoption Month presentation and are looking at ministering to other churches about the importance of recognizing and supporting adoptive families. Our goal is to spread the word about the precious gift of adoption.

For more information. please contact Kelley at KGottes@cox.net

First day of school for the kids

It is so hard to believe that both kids are going to school now. Joshua started 1st grade in August and Delaney started 3 year old preschool in September.

They both absolutely love going to school. I pray that it continues as the years pass :)

I thought I would give it a go!

I love reading updates and seeing other family's websites. I have become somewhat of an addict.
Some I know personally and some I have never met but am connected to due to similiar interests. I actually feel like I know these people.

They are my cyber friends. I don't lack "real" friends, but do feel a connection to my cyber buddies.

I have met several friends through the internet. What a great invention that allows people from all over the world with similiar interest to unite.

So here it is... I hope you enjoy!