Things always go awry...

Recently Ken had to go to Texas for a quick one-night trip for work. Things seem to go awry whenever he travels. For example, this was my morning.
Woke up at 5:00am, walked the dogs, fed the dogs, got ready for work, did the typical morning routine with getting the kids ready for school. What do you know, we were ready a few minutes early so I stopped at Starbucks- WHOHOO!!! While I'm waiting for my drink, I realized I forgot to give T his medicine. On the way back to the house, T and I got into a discussion on how to swallow his pill. (He puts it down his throat with his fingers.) I told him that if he does it that way, he would gag himself. He insisted I was wrong...

SO- back to the house we go. I run in the house, find my dog in the middle of tearing apart the trash while the puppy is sleeping on the couch. After cleaning up the mess, I take T's pill and a juice box to him. I no sooner walk around to the front of the car to get in, then look back to see T, eyes wide open, gagging. He manages to somehow say "Throw-up!" I tell him to open the door, and then I run back around the car... T gets the door open and proceeds to throw up.... Twice. Luckily he opened the door fast enough and well, you get the picture. (And reason #1483 that I'm not up for "Mom of the Year"? I couldn't pass on an opportunity to squeeze out an empathetic 'told you so'. But at least I waited until after a few hugs and cleaning things up.)

Now here's the craziest thing of all: Given everything I mentioned, I still managed to get the kids where they needed to be- on time- and get myself to work- on time! WOOOOOO!!!!!

And that's just 1 example of the craziness we experienced while Ken was away! :)

Transitions

I started working full-time again- I've been part-time since adopting the kids 2 years ago. I had some anxieties about it, to say the least. I was so worried that festering adoption-related issues would bear their head and the guilt would make me re-evaluate my decision about work. The first week of school was a bit rough- at home, at least. The kids have a totally different morning routine since I am no longer the one waking them up and getting them going and off to school. Ken is now doing that. The afternoons are also completely different since they are picked up by a woman who does home-day care. (Who is WONDERFUL with L & T, thank God!) Three nights a week are pretty hectic because of T's football practice (and therefore, lack of family dinners). So, with all that, the 1st week of back to school was filled with new, difficult transitions for the kids. (And ok, difficult for Ken and me, too.) However, we got through the 2nd week much more smoothly!! I want to say that there was only 1 meltdown in the morning, and one in the evening. (That doesn't include my own meltdowns, which we won't discuss right now! :)

My new job is going really well and the guilt of working full-time is ever-so-slowly subsiding. The kids are not at the school that I teach at- at least, not this year. L loves her teacher (apparently she's very sweet- quite the opposite of last year's teacher!) T hasn't complained about his teacher- I'm remaining optimistic. After all, I'm still thankful that he wasn't put with the teacher that L had for 2nd grade!

For those of you who have been asking for football updates, T is doing well- playing defense. He's gaining confidence on the field, even with his short stature, and it's also giving him a great outlet for being rough and tough while learning a thing or two. He hasn't quite mastered the rules of the game, but we're not concerned. Like the commissioner of the organization said, "No one is going to get drafted from the "ankle-biter" division, so let's just have fun while learning good sportsmanship." Sounds good to me! If you are interested in the latest pics, email me... he's got a game tomorrow night.

It's Not the Size of the Dog in the Fight...

 This summer has been full of... well, let's just say "full"!  The kids did camp, L fell in love with her counselor... T has a taste for sushi, as he 'cramps it' all the time.  (He means "craves it".)  They've both done gymnastics and if you've been around the kids at all, you'd be able to tell because L is constantly doing cartwheels!  

T is now in football.  They practice 2 hours a day until school is in session- and then they'll practice 2 or 3 times per week plus games on weekends "despite what the Redskins schedule is".  I take T to practice each day and on that first day I laughed SOOO hard that I cried.  At least twice.  (OK, to be completely honest, I almost peed myself but I didn't really admit to that, did I?)  And as some spectators said about T without realizing I was his mom, "Look at that little dude!  All the other kids are going to underestimate him b/c he's the shortest out there, but they don't realize it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." 

I've got some great mpeg clips of the practice so if you'd care to see one, send me an email and I'll send you a link (provided I know you!) 

Summer Funnies

If only I knew how to draw cartoons to give you good visuals to go with these summer funnies!

This first 'funny' should be titled, "Baywatch". 

While at the beach this past weekend, L took notice of the lifeguard.  After noticing him, she told me, "Do you see that lifeguard, mom?  He's CUTE!  I want to marry him!"  (And between you and me, L has good taste! LOL)  Apparently, she's 8 going on 18. 

Later, she saw him run into the waves while she was in the water with Ken.  What she said to Ken went something like this:

L: Oh My Gosh!  (while staring at the lifeguard)

K: What!?

L: Daddy, I'm going to go under the water and pretend I'm drowning. 

K: (puzzled) Why?

L: So that cute lifeguard can come over and rescue me.  I'm going to marry him, ya know.  

Next funny is titled, "Falling Down"

We were in the hotel watching some sort of blooper/ candid camera- type show.  The one clip was about demolition workers who were trying to blow-up a building.  They pushed the button, you see smoke, the building falls a few levels and tilts, then stops.  No demolition.  Suddenly T, with all his infinite wisdom says, "Woh!  Good thing that building didn't fall down!" 

Mothers Day and Beyond

Mother's Day

Last week's Mother's Day was fairly uneventful, which is a good thing.  I even got to take a nap!  Ken bought me a GPS system- a surprise to say the least.  And I desperately needed one!  I get lost the 1st and 2nd time I go ANYWHERE.  Just ask my friend Mel- between the two of us in Italy and Greece, it would take us 20 minutes to walk to a place that we'd later realize was just around the corner.

L & T's newest joke:  

Q: What color is a burp?  

A: Burple

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, as a gift for you, we put our child on Ritalin.  ;)

Yes, as much as I joke about it, we're serious.  T was diagnosed with ADHD.  Not a surprise to me... Ken had a much harder time accepting it (and still does.)  We disagreed on treatment and went the non-medicine route for a short-while.  Ironically, during Teacher Appreciation Week, we started the medicine and I emailed the teacher saying, "In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we started T on Ritalin."  

(... and if you are wondering, it's the lowest possible dose and helping T tremendously.)  

Plans for the Summer

My parents invited L & T to stay with them for a couple of days- without Ken and me.  Most parents would probably jump for joy... I am a bit nervous for a couple of reasons (nothing to do with trusting my parents with the kids.  They're amazing.)  I start to think, what the hell am I going to do with myself without the kids around???  L & T love the idea of going to Nana and Poppy's.  When L tells people about it, she says, "Well Mommy left ME for 6 days, so now I'm going to show HER how it feels."  (Referencing my Italy trip.)

Where did you learn THAT!?

Just today the kids were practicing using their Heelies and we stopped and chatted with our neighbors, "Mr. Nick and Ms. Mel".  T was doing fairly well but goofing off nonetheless and L fell because she put her toes down and tripped herself.  She skinned her knee and after getting some sympathy she sat down on the step, whimpering and trying to conjure up some tears.  T apparently heard enough whining from L and wanted her to move so he could keep practicing.  So he says, "Alright, let's cut the crap.  Time to Heely!"  

I wanted to laugh, yell, hide, play deaf, and congratulate him for proper grammar usage all within .5 seconds.  Nick had to turn around and walk away so T didn't see him laughing so hard.  (Reason #342 why Ritalin SHOULD NOT be skipped on weekends: once the thought enters the head, there's no filter to prevent it from coming out the lips.)

Martian Child

Have you heard of the movie, Martian Child with John Cusack? It's about a single man who adopts a child (about 8 yrs. old) from the Foster Care system and the boy thinks and acts like he's from Mars. I just finished watching the movie and I CRIED!!! What a great movie! One of the parts that really "hit home" with me was that John Cusack's character (Dan) teaches Dennis (the adopted son) about baseball. He explains that the great thing about it is that you could go up to bat and strike out 7 out of 10 times but still be great. And then if you did even a little bit better, you'd be a superstar! Several parts of the movie really hit home with me. I don't think it's necessarily meant to be a real tear-jerker but several parts struck me in a way that might actually help me have a better perspective on what's 'acceptable' or the big deal about being different.

As for my book reviews... I gave up on Love and Logic- doesn't work for us so I don't recommend it. Not for active kids who constantly test the limits. The 1-2-3 Magic! is great. Ken has to read the book now and we need to 'get on the same page' with using the strategies in the book. It's a great book if your kids have ADHD, which as we officially found out this week, is what T has been diagnosed with. I'm sure L is soon to follow; I just need to find (more) time to take off from work to make the follow-up appointment.

My ear hurts!

This begins a few weeks ago, when L complained of having an ear ache. I had given her some Children's Motrin to relieve it, but by the Friday of that week, the pain persisted. Friday night Ken and I discussed taking her to the doctor Saturday morning and calling to make the appointment 'first thing.' He got up first, as did the kids, and I got to sleep in for another hour or so! When I got up, I asked him if he called the doctor. His response "Uh, no. I don't have the number." Sigh. So I called but it was too late and they didn't have any appointments. I tried to get L into my doctor, too but they wouldn't see her since she wasn't already their patient. Ken took her to Urgent Care as there weren't any other options. As it turns out, she had string in her ear! Yes, string. How did it get there? Don't ask me! L claims to have no idea. So I took her to a follow-up appointment on Monday with her pediatrician and they started her on anti-biotics because her ear was quite infected. (My question: Why didn't the urgent care start anti-biotics!? It was infected at that point, too!? But I digress...)

SO today, I get a call from the school clinic that T's got an ear ache. He doesn't have a fever but claims that his ear hurts pretty badly. I leave work early to pick him up and try to figure out how to get him to the doctor so we don't delay like what happened with poor L. I ask T if he stuck anything in his ear- and then his guilty, giggling smile spreads across his face and he looks away. During the drive home, he slips up and tells me his ear is fine, it only hurts if you pull on it. When I confronted him, he said, "OH NO , IT HURTS, MOMMY! ALL THE TIME!" So I have no clue what to believe.

So we're home now, and I'm letting T watch TV. As soon as I put the TV on, ESPN is on- as that's what Ken watches each morning. I didn't even pay attention to what commercial is on- or that it even was a commercial as I saw someone riding a bike and didn't think anything of it. Then T says, "Mommy, they said 'SEX' on TV!" I think to myself, what the !?!?!?! and listen to the commercial- it's a commercial for Viagara!! T says, "Why do they need to know if you have heart problems to have sex?!" I quickly muted the TV and found a show to put on. When T asked me about it again, I shrugged it off and said, "No, that's not what they said, T! I think you must have mis-heard the commercial, especially with having something stuck in your ear!"

And that was the end of that.
(Follow up: It's Sunday and T hasn't complained about his ear since Friday when he got home from school. I had been fooled!!)

It's been a while, eh?!

I haven't been updating the blog nearly as frequently as I'd like... life and parenting is pretty time-consuming, who knew!? The holidays have come and gone and so I won't spend much time talking about that.

The kids' birthdays just passed... this year we decided to have their party together! I had hoped that this would make it easier for my family so they wouldn't have to drive down to our part of town twice in 2 weeks. Well, forget that- they couldn't make it! That stunk and the kids missed them but the party was a blast nonetheless. It was at a skating rink that also had video games, moonbounce, and laser tag. What more could 7 and 8 year- olds ask for?

A couple quick funny things of late: recent questions about "kissing like ice cream" or "the ice cream kiss"... and L asking, and subsequently forgetting and mis-calling the word "vagina" into something that sounds like a Transformer (Vector Prime).

And in my next blog (whenver that will be!) I'll give you a book review for the book 1-2-3- Magic! I've been trying out some Love and Logic stuff but I don't buy into some of that philosophy. A number of people have recommended this book and I'll let you know how it works. If nothing else, I'll sell the books to the highest bidder! LOL

Bad Words

Written by Ken...

Bad Words

The other day I was cooking dinner (a miracle!). After cutting my thumb with a sharp knife Iyelled a loud expletive that rhymes with truck. I felt bad that Lira might have heard me so I asked her after dinner if she did and she said ‘no’.

Being curious, I asked Lira if she actually knew any bad words. Lira got really shy but said, "yes" and I said ‘ it’s ok, you’re not in trouble, I just want to know what you’ve learned at school.’

Lira said ‘I didn’t get them from school daddy, I learned them from you.’

So, blushing, I asked Lira what she knew. She said, "crap, darmid" (Lira’s way to say ‘darnit”) and then she paused and thought for a minute and said, “Well the third word I got from mommy ...because I've heard her calling you a jerk.”

Kids!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was spent in PA at my parent's house with 16 of us having dinner. L&T love being with their nana and poppy and they played with their cousins who are about the same age. The day was filled with its fair share of tattling and typical kid stuff, and that's just me and my sister! LOL! Just kidding. The kids were a bit wound up b/c they're out of their element. While we were up there, our mini-van broke down but luckily it was covered under the warranty and thanks to Ken and my dad, it was taken care of in time for us to get home and pick Dori from the kennel. We brought Ferris with us and that went a lot more smoothly than any of us thought it would.

Now that we're back, I had the kids write out their wish lists for Santa. OH MY GOD. L's list: a laptop, a cell phone, a flat-screen TV (though I don't think she even knows what it is), a car, two magic wands, and some barbie dolls. T's response to her was pretty funny: "You forgot to be kidding me!" (instead of you've got to be kidding me.) When the kids go to see Santa this year, I sure hope he is well-versed in nice ways of saying "NO" to these kinds of lists. I asked her what happened to the Bratz dolls she wanted and she just said, "um, no."

T made his wish list, too and copied some toys down from circulars- and he doesn't even know what some of these toys are (and neither do I.) For the most part his list is quite a bit more reasonable!!!

Trick or Treat! And who might YOU be...?!

Halloween was a huge success if you ask L & T. They got tons of candy and had so much fun trick or treating. And we wouldn't be 'us' if we didn't have some funny L & T'isms from the night. Here are a few:
L & T: Trick or Treat!
Woman: How cute! And who might YOU be?
T: (Instead of saying, "a storm trooper" he says): My name is T!

L & T: Trick or Treat!
Woman: You guys can each have 3! (as she holds a big bowl of candy.)
Mommy and Daddy: Wow, guys, what do you say?
L & T: Oh yeah! (we were hopping for a "thank you")

And after they came from a different house with some candy, Lira shouts at the man, "Thank you!" and then walks 10 feet and says less than quietly, "Their house is a mess!"

(And to those who have emailed recently with interest in Ferris, thank you! He's adjusting great and the kids are loving it!)

The latest addition to our family

And heeeeeerrrrrre'ssss FERRIS! Yep, us crazy people got a pup from a rescue this weekend. He's gotta be the coolest pup in the world. (I'm biased, I know.) The kids love him, Ken loves him , I love him, and Dori loves, no, maybe just likes him. Here's a pic for now... I'll try to write more again soon.

Electrongic Database for Orphans in Ukraine

I just read about this on an Adoptions from Ukraine List. This is a HUGE step in the right direction. Welcome to the 21st century, Ukraine!
>>>
Electronic Database for Orphans Launched 08.10.2007 20:03
translated by Anna Ivanchenko

In Lviv region a unified electronic database on orphans, children deprived of parental care and children from crisis families was created. The all-Ukrainian database should facilitate the adoption procedure, reports Deutsche Welle. Almost five thousand children have already been entered in the electronic register; they are residents of Lviv and Lviv region. Half of them require care and adoption. The database consists of pictures with full information on children, says the head of regional children's issues service Volodymyr Lys. According to him, it will greatly facilitate and accelerate the adoption procedure which may last up to one year. It is really paramount, we'll count the children and remove double registrations," assures Mr. Lys. The access to informational bank is strictly limited and controlled by Security Service of Ukraine. Mr. Lys says that there also exists a database of Ukrainian families in line for adopting a child. There are about 50 such families in Lviv region.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda

Bacon

L has been slow to bond with Ken, as most of you already know. She's definitely come a long way, but she does show "favorites" and likes to egg-Ken-on with the "I love MOMMY!" routine. (This is where she goes overboard with showing me love and affection and outright ignores Ken.)

Well the comment I made at the end of the last post refered to one evening at dinner... Lira was doing her overt acting out of loving mommy SOOOOOooooo much- where no matter what Ken said, Mommy can do NO wrong. So Ken said to the kids, "What about Daddy? I'm the one who brings home the bacon!?" To which the kids replied, "Who cares!? We don't even like bacon."

And while there are SO many things I could say in response to the comments made by ALL 3 of them, I'll leave it at that.

Back to School

Summer is over and we're in the swing of our new routine. T is liking school so far but L is finding the lack of "fun" not so...well, fun! She's a grade older so the expectations have increased and L wants to keep being a social butterfly! But from what I can tell, she's doing really well. Her reading continues to grow and she amazes me. Ken is T's soccer coach, which is great. I'm the "team mom" for L's soccer team.

I've been sick for the past few days with strep and it's been the pits! L has been very caring and has done a number of chores above and beyond just because I'm sick. T has been good, don't get me wrong! I had a cute story to write about tonight, but of course, thanks to all this medicine and sleepiness, I'm a zombie right now.

And reason #1343 that I'm NOT going to be mother-of-the-year? I let the kids watch Harry Potter (the 1st one.) I don't remember it being scary and T's been really interested in it lately. Well, bad move, we only watched about an hour of it and T can't stop thinking about the "bad wizard". I'm not going to have him finish the movie but I think the next few weeks before bed are going to be damage control; convincing T that the "bad wizard" doesn't exist so there's no need to worry that he's going to come to our door.

And if I don't post again soon, email me or comment to remind me to post about the "bringing home the bacon" comment. It was so funny- but heck if I can remember it right now! I have to ask Ken...

Don't worry mom, you're not old!

"Don't worry, mom! You're not old! You're... new!" This was T's comment when we were talking about age since I'll be turning another year older next week. Another classic was today while we were in the cell phone store. T & L were asking the salesman why he was the only one there and where was his boss? I jokingly said, '...probably out playing golf!' to which the guy laughed and said I was right. T pondered this and said, "Wait a minute... you have to stay here and work and your BOSS is out playing GOLF? THAT'S NOT FAIR!" We all got a good chuckle at his comment and how serious he was when he said it.

Well, there's not much exciting to tell you all about. It's the lazy days of summer now. We go swimming a lot and each day I try to find new things to do with the kids and I'm running out of ideas. L watches High School Musical on TiVO and has been counting down until tonight for High School Musical 2. (Sad to say that even I can sing with the song, "Wildcats, in the house..." and, "...the start of something n-ew!" (First the mini-van, now this..!)

Watch out, Luke Skywalker, L is in love with TROY!

PS- We're still looking for a new home for our cats... anyone interested?

Summer HW, my boyfriend, and my big butt

L & T are doing great and we've had a busy summer so far. I try to do homework with them every day; at first it was difficult to get the kids to do, especially T. BUT... he suddenly became a collector of trading cards! So, I now reward them with a trading card for each night they do a little bit of math and reading. It has worked A LOT better than I even expected. They come to me asking to PLEASE DO HOMEWORK NOW, MOMMY! Wow. How long will this last? Nevermind, I'm not going to question it- I love it! The rest of our summer is pretty much spent at the swimming pool which again, I'm not going to complain about. Ken has quite a bit of traveling to do for work this summer but I've noticed that by taking the kids to the pool for a few hours every day, they're exhausted by dinner time so it's not so bad!

L is in love with Luke Skywalker since watching the Star Wars movies and T keeps trying to shoot electricity out of his fingertips like the Emperor. Oh... and I have a boyfriend. :) L said that since her boyfriend is Luke Skywalker, I need to have a boyfriend, too. (Daddy doesn't count, she said!) So while it was a toss-up between Han Solo and Captain Jack Sparrow, I went with the pirate.

Oh, and my DEAR SWEET SON has quite the sense of humor. Ken and I were talking with our friends Mel and Nick about programming cell phones with ring tones for different people who call. Ken said, "Hmmm... I wonder what song I should program for when Jeanine calls!?" and Timmy, without missing a beat says, "Mommy's Got a Big Ol' Butt!"

Sigh.

Finding a new home for our cats...

Well despite EVERYTHING we've tried over the past year, we have come to the conclusion that we need to find a new home for our two cats. They have not adjusted well to Lira and Timmy. Besides hiding when the kids are home, they urinate on the kids' toys. (Great selling point for finding a new home for them, wouldn't you say!?) It's a heartbreaking decision for me since I've had the cats longer than I've known Ken! I think they would be so much happier in a home where they wouldn't be chased by the kids or locked in a room they don't want to be in. (L&T have shut the cats in the same room that they were in and then chased the cats around the room trying to pick them up. The cats were SO scared!) So... if you or someone you know could provide a good home for Apache and Tobey, please let me know. I don't want to separate the cats as they've been together since they were kittens. They'd do best in a home with no other pets and no children but would probably be just fine in a home that has OLDER children. I will try to post pictures of them in case anyone is interested in seeing them. In the meantime, if you are interested, post a comment with your email address and I'll email you more info and some pictures. :(

Just another day

I'm home from work today; I've been home since Monday afternoon. Timmy's been sick with a fever, etc., and after his doctor's visit yesterday he started antibiotics for tonsilitis. He is definitely feeling better this afternoon compared to 48 hours ago! Lira's jealous that Timmy's been getting extra attention and so she's been doing what she can to get her fair share! It makes for a crazy few days!

The school year is coming to an end. It's so hard to believe that the kids have grown as much as they have! I finally came to terms with my two loving children being 5 and 6 years old, then they had to go and turn 6 and 7! Now they are finishing up school and as of September, we'll have a 1st and 2nd grader!?!?! Say it ain't so! But we are very proud of them and are amazed at how far they have come. Lira tested out of the reading recovery program and is on grade level in reading. Timmy's phonics has come a looooong way. Timmy will receive ESOL services next year and I'm just waiting to hear from the school about Lira. She should definitely get services, but I don't know if I'll have to "push" for them or not. We'll see how that goes.

Before and After

April 30th marked our 1 year anniversary of being home in AMERICA as a family! We celebrated by going out to dinner and enjoyed great stories about our visits with the kids in the orphanage. The kids loved hearing stories about the silly things that they would do during the visits and we enjoyed hearing their perspective of the entire situation one year ago. I'm sending this out to our loved ones who supported us during our journey to, in, and home from Ukraine. What a road it has been. Over the past year, we've celebrated LOTS of "firsts" with the children. Now we look forward to making and celebrating our own traditions. Thank you for your support and love. We couldn't have done it without our family and friends. Again, it's amazing how far we've all come. The kids have changed our world and we're all the better for it! Here you are able to see some amazing BEFORE and AFTER pictures of the kids.