Well....it is Friday once again, Where does the week go? I spent the entire week in a blur. On Tuesday, I found a little kid in the Ukraine on the Reece's Rainbow website who I completely fell head over heels for. I spent a lot of time this week pleading my case to Big Daddy. I can find no reason (in my pea-brain) why we should not drop everything here and begin the adoption process of a very sick 2 year-old boy who lives in an orphanage on the other side of the world. My dear husband, on the other hand, can find about 27 reasons why we should not do this. I am just hoping that he might keep an open mind about adding another child to our family, though after hearing the strength of his reaction to this latest plea to my case, I know that it will take a miracle. That is okay...because I believe in miracles. I look directly at a miracle in the eyes of my youngest son every single day of my life. I can only pray that something will change Dad's heart. If you ask me to, I will direct you to a picture of this new little boy who stole my heart. I hope a forever family finds him very soon.

International Adoption

I knew that I would get around to this topic sooner than later. I am obsessed with International Adoption. I always have been. I can remember having a conversation with a friend on the topic when I was in second grade. I think I wrote some kind of report about adoption when I was in 5th grade, maybe I was older, but I remember writing it. Anyway...I pretty much remember all of the kids and parents I have personally met along the way who have adopted internationally. The thought of a kid in an orphanage without a loving family is something that has always laid heavily on my heart. I am a part of many yahoo groups which pertain to IA. I have many favorite blogs which I read almost daily, most of which are written by families who are also involved in IA. Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Liberia, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, China....adopting from any country fascinates me.
We were so blessed in 2005, to make our dream come true and to finally do it ourselves. We were able to adopt Nicholas in Russia. It is the single most adventurous thing I have ever done. It was the hardest "pregnancy" I ever had. I am so incredibly lucky that my dear husband got right on board with my somewhat crazy idea and supported me all along the way. Nick has been a fantastic addition to our family. He is an awesome, smart, funny, crazy kid. We all love him so very much.
Here's my dilemma, I really feel called to adopt again. It is a feeling that comes from the depths of my heart. As much as I try, I cannot make that feeling go away. I saw a documentary on the plight of children with Down Syndrome in Eastern Europe. I cannot get those images out of my mind. I just want to go and get one of those precious kids. This time, though, my dear husband does not share this dream. He thinks it would be too much for the family. Too much of a sacrifice for us, too much time, money and grief. I just do not see it that way. Am I crazy?

Crazy Hot!!

It has been unseasonably warm this last few days. Actually it has been really HOT. I think it was over 100 degrees in my backyard. Weeds like heat. With the rain we had this year and now this heat, I have a weed farm out there.... At least the kids have something to do when they get in trouble. Big Daddy is fond of making them pull weeds for a half hour or so when they decide to cut-up. I digress. Well.. I thought I was going to pass out on Saturday during T's Baseball game, for two reasons...First of all, the heat, which I am not used to in April. Secondly, the boys were actually winning for a change. In fact, they were winning almost the entire game. Sadly, it all fell apart during the last inning, so disappointing that one guy actually started to cry. These are 10 and 11 year old boys. This kid had heart and was really depressed. I think his emotions show the depth of his commitment to the game. His dad yelled at him for crying. I thought that was a little bit mean, that dad probably really wanted just one win, too. All my little baseball player wanted to do was have his good buddy over to play after the game. His good buddy happened to be on the team that beat us. I think they were making plans as his buddy was rounding first base on his way to score the winning run. The boys ended up having a blast together for the next 24 hours. They never even talked once about the game.
We had our first real beach day on Sunday after Mass. Boogie boards, skim boards, buckets, shovels and burritos, something for everyone. No surfing, the ocean was as flat as glass. It was just beautiful. The boys wanted some waves, but improvised and had a great time anyway. Even Nick is getting brave in the ocean, I will really have to watch him like a hawk this summer.
It was a fabulous day which ended back at home with barbequed burgers and a fantastic bottle of red wine. The kids went for a swim after dinner so we did not even have to do baths before bed. Heaven.....(I did think Desperate Housewives, which we had been waiting for weeks to see, was boring. I fell asleep)

Kids Sports II

We lost another baseball game tonite. No surprise, but the real surprise was my reaction. I am happy. Yee Haaa!! (Tony hit a stand-up triple. It was one of our teams' only hits tonite. I am sooooo proud of him.)
Mission Accomplished.
BTW, Big Daddy thought that my new attitude was completely CRAZY!!!

Problem Solved

There was a big neighborhood soccer game in our backyard on Sunday. During the game, Sophie and her best friend disappeared into the house for awhile. I figured they had grown tired of getting kicked in the shins by the boys and decided to take on a more "girlie" indoor activity. When they came out of the house a few minutes later, dressed like this, we could not stop laughing. They were ready to play again. This time It would be the boys who felt the shin pain. I like the way these girls solved their problem, and they looked darn-girlie, too. What? Stop a really fun game because of a few kicks to their sweet little shins? They weren't crazy!! It was a good day for co-ed soccer.

I Hate Kids Sports

They bring out the worst in me. Since when did I become one of "those" moms? My vow to myself this week is to not let kids sports bother me. If someone (the kid) is having fun....so we lose yet another game. I will be positive and cheer and be proud of my kids' teams. No matter what. My son's coach put things into perspective for me, this morning, as I was fuming inside about another loss. He wanted us all to say goodbye to one of the players' dads who was leaving this week for his third tour in Iraq. What am I moaning about? Baseball!! I must be crazy.

Back at it

Since I have not posted in a long while, I though I'd better write something before I forgot how to do it.
Not much is going on here. We utterly enjoyed our Spring Break, except for one day which also happened to be my 45th B-day. We had to go to a double funeral. It was awful, 2 members of one family died suddenly of heart problems, only a few hours apart. So sad!! My heart breaks for this family. Other than that, I enjoyed the week off. We had good weather, heated up the pool, went to the beach house and generally did nothing but sleep late, eat good food and play. We are so lucky. I was a little bummed that we decided to stay home, but it worked out great. I felt like I got a true vacation. I had half a mind to pull the kids out of school and homeschool them so we could carry on like this forever--What am I? CRAZY???

We got the call we have been waiting for yesterday. Our timeshare trade for this summer came through. We get to spend a week in Kauai at the end of August. Woo Hoo!!!! The kids and I are over the moon with excitement. Big Daddy is playing along but I think he is less than gung ho! We will do everything we can to get him motivated to have a good time. The kids' excitement is no less than contagious. Nick can't wait to get on the "big airplane." The girls can't wait to dump every penny of their hard-earned savings at the ABC Store. Tony wants to surf on a "shortboard" this year. Mommy just wants to hang out at Tunnels Beach and to snorkel for at least 1 undisturbed hour. We all have big plans for this trip. I spent several hours yesterday trying to get 6 flights to Kauai using our airline miles. I spent a lot of my afternoon waiting on hold. Thank goodness, I was semi-successful. I did manage to get 2 free tickets, but had to pay for the rest. Those airline miles do not go as far as they used to.

As for matters of the heart, I am still trying to talk Big Daddy into the adoption of another kid. He says...what are you? Crazy??? We all know the answer to that question.

Aloha!!!