Jill, The WARRIOR

Eyes and Ears

2012-01-13T14:18:00.002-05:00

Keith had his eye check up this week. I asked the opthamologist why Keith's eye twitch a lot. He said that it is something brain-related. He said there isn't any treatment for it yet, but a lot of research going on. The doctor also cleared up something else - why Keith lifts his head high up to look at you. He said that Keith has the most control over his eyes when he is looking down. Very interesting.

My ears have been bothering me for a few months. It seems as though I can hardly hear things that people say or movie/music, plus loud sounds hurt my ears. I decided to go in to the doctor and found out that I have ear infections in BOTH ears. I have been putting drops in for a few days and it feels so weird. I don't like it - makes me shudder every time a drop goes in. I am glad I addressed it with the doctor. They said I should stop using q-tips to clean out my ears. I can't help it - my ears just don't feel clean without q-tips.

Just a few days left until we leave for Russia. I am trying to clean house, organize items to pack, rearrange appointments, and enjoy every moment with my children. It's a lot to do and I feel overwhelmed trying to accomplish it all. Soon enough I will be on my way to Russia and what isn't done will just have to wait, I guess.

We had the missionaries and our good friend, Dave, over for dinner last night. It was Calvin's 5th birthday and so I wanted to celebrate with a big feast - even though he wasn't here to enjoy it with us. I baked a turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and had strawberry shortcake for dessert. After dinner, the missionaries spoke with us about the importance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful thing to reflect upon in the midst of my current chaos of preparation.

Dave and the missionaries gave Tyler a priesthood blessing before they left. I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly. I am grateful for the priesthood of God on the earth. The blessing said that we would be safe in Russia and that our trip would be successful. I think it was Dave's first time giving a blessing and that was very special for all of us.

I finished reading the Book of Mormon two days ago. I started over again, as the Bishop has asked us to read it cover to cover in the first 100 days of the year. I am a bit behind, but hope to meet that deadline. I think having a lot of downtime in Russia will help. Speaking of Russia, once I leave next week I won't be blogging on here until I return sometime in February. If you want to follow our adoption journey, click on the "My Blogs" tab at the top of the blog or click here.

Back to school

2012-01-09T09:17:00.002-05:00

I don't know about you, but I am happy to be back in the school schedule. Getting up at 6:50am makes me feel productive even before I get anything done. The kids went back to school today and I have already showered, eaten breakfast, and read my scriptures and it's 9am. I have a doctor's appointment today to check on a couple of moles that seem different plus my hearing needs to be checked. It's the strangest thing: I can barely hear movies - I have to turn up the sound really high or use subtitles. BUT, if something is loud, like a high pitched sound or screaming or Tyler's loud sneeze - it makes my ears HURT.

I am trying to gather items for our trip to Russia - we leave in a week. Last night Tyler & I made a list of some items to pack. I am really going to miss my children when we go, but I have to say that it is much easier packing for 2 adults to go on a long trip to Russia than it was for a family of 5. Of course, I would prefer to not be away from Anna, Keith, & Iryna. In a perfect world...

We were supposed to meet back with the specialists in Jacksonville, FL, about Iryna before leaving for Russia, but that doesn't look like it will happen. I guess we're supposed to have a phone interview and then meet with Dr Childer's up to two weeks after that to get the diagnosis. I really wanted to have that information prior to our trip to Russia, but it won't happen. As it is, we will have the phone call this week and then at some point when we return from Russia we will meet with Dr Childer's. He requested that we come without children to the appointment. This won't be possible after our trip to Russia, as we'll have the boys and we need to be working on attachment at that point. When I told Dr Childer's about this, he asked why we couldn't get a babysitter for them. It makes me wonder what's going on in his head!

Iryna is picking at herself. She has a sore on her chin, her hand, and her foot - all of which aren't healing because she continues to reopen the sores. I am worried about her. I don't know how to help her stop these obsessive behaviors. We offer her rewards for leaving them alone - that isn't enough for her, because she continues doing it. Suggestions?

Anna worked hard over the weekend to earn money for a new DS game. She cleaned out and organized 3 freezers and 2 fridges. I am thrilled to have clean/organized appliances and she gets her Pokemon Black DS game. It's a win/win.

I took Anna for her birthday pedicure a few days ago. It was so fun to just spend some one-on-one time with Anna. The older she gets, the more and more I enjoy her. I love being a parent.

Keith still ~~obsesses over~~ likes airplanes. Sometimes I get tired of hearing about propellers or engines or wheels or etc, but I try to be patient with him. He has progressed so much in the past 3 years. In fact, he must be going through a growth spurt, as suddenly none of his pants are long enough for him. He is 7 years old and now wearing size 6 pants - he is catching up to what size he should be. It's exciting to see him grow and learn.

All of the Christmas decorations are down now, except for the Christmas tree, which is sad without the lights/ornaments. Another year down with a new year upon us. Does anyone else feel like there are limbo days until you get used to the new year? I feel like there should be some filler days to help get me accustomed to 2012. My resolution is to lose 60 pounds this year. I am well on my way to doing it.

11 years

2012-01-06T22:50:00.000-05:00

Today is Tyler & my 11th wedding anniversary! We were sealed in the Oklahoma City Temple and it was the beginning of a wonderful marriage to a man I hardly knew. I am so grateful that God led me to a man who is so easy to live with and so easy to love. I am blessed that we have such a strong marriage.

We celebrated with a homemade meal of chicken parmigiana, pasta, green beans, and sour cream cheesecake. Then Tyler made me these flowers - which were Anna's idea! Each flower has something written on it that Tyler likes about me. It was a super sweet idea. I told Tyler that he should have Anna help him in the future with these kinds of holidays. He said that he already is. :)

Happy Anniversary, Tyler! I love you so very much.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T16:38:00.001-05:00

There is actually a good reason for why I haven't posted since December 17th. You see, Tyler had this great idea that we should pack up and drive to OK for Christmas. And not tell anyone about us coming. So...I couldn't very well tell you what we were doing, now, could I? But! We are back from our trip and unpacked, so I have time to catch you up on the Pierce Family! I can see the excitement on all your faces, so here we go.

We arrived to Bartlesville, OK, to see Tyler's family a few days before Christmas. We had told Melanie, my mother-in-law, that we were coming so we could making sleeping arrangements and to schedule a big family get together. When we arrived, to our surprise, everyone knew we were coming. I guess Tyler's parents were so excited that we were going to be there that they couldn't conceal it from the rest of the family. We had lots of fun playing PIT, Apples to Apples, and eating a nice meal with the family. Tyler & I even got to go in the hot tub! We enjoyed visiting with all the family and going to look at Christmas lights, and finally opening presents. Tyler got to see some relatives and work on family history. We had a great time. :)

First up are the letters to Santa from the kids:

Time in Bartlesville:

On Christmas Eve morning, we drove down to Stillwater, OK. At last, we got the surprised/shocked/bewildered looks we were going for - it was a HUGE surprise to everyone that we were there. I ended up surprising my sister, Heather, on the phone and told her to hurry on up and come over already! :)

My sister, Rachel, and her husband, Alex, flew out from UT with their 3 week old daughter, Aurora. I certainly enjoyed holding her during our time in OK. Tyler got to meet her and Rylee (Evan & Shelbee's girl) and Willis (Jennifer & Willis' son) and Oliver (Heather & Yury's son). There were many babies to hold, many sumptuous foods to eat, lively conversation, karaoke, a Christmas musical program, games played (blokus, quirkle, wii, scrabble), and celebrating Anna's 10th birthday + New Year's Eve party at Heather & Yury's house. What a whirlwind of a trip - we certainly fit everything in that we possible could.

We went down to Edmond to see Grandpa & Grandpa Dahle. We had a Christmas party at Aunt Tisha's house. Everyone had a great time. I ended up winning the new Michael Buble CD in the White Elephant Gift Exchange and Tyler got a new cookie sheet pan - which we needed.

We went back to Stillwater...and Mom & I sang SLEEP LITTLE LAMB in Sacrament meeting in the Stillwater ward.

One day my sweet Grandma McElwain told me that she loved me - unprovoked, I assure you! I enjoyed spending time with her and hearing about her life, growing up. I miss the days of attending OSU and going over to visit with her. :(

We drove back down to Edmond to have a double birthday lunch for Jacob and Anna. It was nice spending more time with Jacob and getting to know his wife, Jessica, better.

Anna got a chocolate mousse cake from La Baguette. It was heavenly! For her birthday, I made strawberry crepes for breakfast. Then we had the hamburger crescent roll casserole for dinner, followed by the cake. For her big birthday present, I bought her a nintendo ds and a white Pokemon game. She. Was. Ecstatic.

Heather & Yury had us over for New Year's Eve. We ate pizza, granny's orange cookies, and Shelbee's fabulous cake balls. We played games, Yury played some music on his accordion, and we talked. It was great. Afterwards, we drove up to Stillwater and rang in the new year playing games and watching the ball drop. It was an incredible trip to OK. I truly felt like it was heaven on earth being with my family. We wish that we lived closer, but are grateful for the time we do have to be together. And now we're planning a cruise in 2015 - cannot wait for that! Here are more pictures: enjoy. :)

Mending

2011-12-17T12:33:00.000-05:00

I am about 85% well today. I still have that overall I-don't-feel-so-good-feeling and I hope I will be back to normal soon. The kids have been really sweet to me during the past 5 days. The hard part is that I cannot snuggle them while I am sick and they are missing the snuggles. And they aren't the only ones. :(

Tyler has been out and had his best surfing sessions yet! It is fun seeing him so excited about his hobby. He is mourning the idea of moving away from FL next summer, so I don't mind him getting in as much time in the ocean as possible. We just finished up watching 30ROCK on Netflix. The Julia Robert's laugh episode was my favorite.

I just finished up a carseat canopy for my brother and his wife's baby on the way. A big thanks to Nichole for helping me finish it up.

I am excited about spending some quality time with my little family this Christmas. Since we've already done presents it will be more about doing things together, which will be fun. Anna got Apples to Apples Junior for Christmas and that has become a daily favorite. If you have a child 9 or older, I highly recommend it. And what's funny is that we don't even own the regular adult version of A2A.

I have been playing Mario Kart Wii with Anna a lot - she is SO incredibly good at the game. It is common for her to finish #1 and I come in dead last at #12, but I enjoy our time together. I love how Anna just comes over and talks with me about things. I hope that she will always feel comfortable telling me what she is thinking about and what's going on in her life.

We've gone through 2 mp3 players for Iryna and I just ordered another one. The first one never worked and the second one worked for a week before not being able to power up at all - Tyler thinks Iryna may have been too rough with it. The next one is in the mail and I hope it will help her to calm down. She is also enjoying her leappad and especially the option to record herself talking aloud.

Keith got a remote controlled helicopter which take 20 minutes to charge and only flies for 3-5 minutes. He LOVES it. He is also enjoying the Airplane book he got and the BIG airplane toy. I love seeing my buggy happy.

SICK

2011-12-15T09:29:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday I started coming down with a cold. Yesterday I was down for the count and today I showered...but that may be the only productive thing I do today other than write this blogpost.

Yesterday I met with some teachers at Anna's school. Anna was being tested for the gifted class at her school and we were reviewing the results. She scored 94 which is in the average range. (130 is the gifted range). Her highest area was in the nonverbal intelligence index, which is just like Tyler. The woman who tested Anna said she was surprised that Anna's score wasn't higher in verbal intelligence index because of how verbal of a person Anna is and her being well read.

I think this news would have been harder to take had Anna not already made a close friend in her current class. Rebecca and Anna have really hit it off the past 2 months and she lives closeby to us. Anna has a friend from church in the gifted class (also named Anna) and so I was hopeful that she would be able to be with her friend, as Anna does seem to lack in the social department. As for her not being in the gifted class, itself, I am not worried. Even the faculty commented on not only how smart Anna is but that she is very motivated and that that combination will serve her well in school. It certainly has for Tyler.

Danielle is here with us right now. She will be watching the children when Tyler & I head back to Russia. She does really well with the children and they like her - which is nice.

The weather is still warm here in FL. In fact, we have the air conditioning on right now. Tyler went surfing yesterday and the children can play outside during recess. FL does have perks, but I think I will be happy to move back to OH next summer - which was just confirmed to us that we ARE going.

Right now I am going to watch some FRASIER and drink some of my delectable Choffy. I hope you are staying healthy this Christmas season!

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-11T16:12:00.001-05:00

What? You haven't celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2011? Well, we decided to go ahead and celebrate early this year. We do have a good reason. Really. We were going to be leaving on Tuesday for Russia, and so we had planned to have Christmas this past Friday and Saturday. Due to delays it looks like we will return to Russia in January/February. We were devastated by this news so we decided to just keep our appointment with Santa that we had made. We needed a little Christmas to cheer us up. The kids weren't upset, let me tell you! And I always have a hard time w a i t i n g for the excitement of the presents. :)

Anna made Tyler and I presents - written notes with pictures of our family members and how much shes loves us and wants to be a forever family. Awww!

I like this candy bar. Yum.

Keith was thrilled with the airplane book. It really is pretty cool.

Anna opening up some pretend play food - she loves serving us meals. :)

Keithy asked Santa Claus for a really BIG airplane. His wish was granted.

Iryna loves Buzz Lightyear.

I found this remote control helicopter for super cheap online. I am surprised by how much ALL the children enjoy it. The one downside is that Tyler is the only one who can fly it - I guess it's super complicated to fly a helicopter. Who knew, right? ;)

Anna LOVES to pass out all the presents. She is such a great helper.

Tyler bought me an iPad for Christmas! I even get an orange cover for it. :)

I bought Tyler a Oklahoma State University Cowboys hoodie. He is a super big fan of our alma mater.

In December I wear Red Door perfume/powder/lotion. This year I ran out and so Tyler restocked it. It included a small red purse and a big red bag. Love them!

All three kids in their Christmas jammies. The girls still fit in the ones from last year. :)

On Christmas Eve we ate peasant soup, read the Christmas story and acted it out with the nativity, sang Christmas Karaoke, and put together gingerbread houses...this year was THE WORST in our gingerbread house activity. We ended up throwing it away because it kept collapsing. I think next year we'll just decorate gingerbread men. :)

Maggie got a candy cane chew toy. :)

Anna had her musical theater production the day before "Christmas Eve." She did...okay. Most of the time we could barely see her because she was ~~hiding~~ standing in the back row.

Since we're going to be home for the actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year, I think we will focus on the religious aspect of Christmas. Plus there are SO many great movies to watch this time of year - perhaps a movie day is in order. We got the Polar Express and have yet to see it. Merry Christmas! :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chocolate

2011-12-07T14:19:00.001-05:00

I know that I have mentioned Choffy before, but I thought I would show this video about how to prepare Choffy:

I just got a bag of the Mamberamo Choffy and am eager to try it out. So far the La Espanola is my favorite, with Ivory Coast a close second. Mamberamo is from Papua New Guinea cocoa beans. Sounds exotic, right?

Now, I do not own a coffee maker, but if you want to brew Choffy in your coffee maker then I have a suggestion. Run the water through it twice, so you will get a stronger flavor. If possible, I recommend getting a french press. :)

I still have some free samples that I can send to you within the next week (before we leave for Russia) and here is my website if you want to place an order or look around:

drinkchoffy.com/jillpierce

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-03T13:31:00.001-05:00

We took advantage of this activity last year and loved it - and this year was just as great. :) We paid $2 per person to have a great breakfast - the sausage was amazing - and then the kids could do crafts, decorate cookies, meet Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas. The kids also received stockings full of fun treats and trinkets and there were plenty of places for fun photos to be taken. We had a great time! :)

CHOFFY

2011-11-29T10:03:00.001-05:00

I am all unpacked and have even tidied the house a bit since I got home yesterday. I feel like I'm still on the ship, though, like my house is swaying. It's a bit strange and because of it I'm not up and doing much today. I hope it passes soon.

I have discovered and am now a distributor of Choffy! Have you heard of it? Click here to look around the website.

Here are the nutrition facts:

Choffy is brewed chocolate. 100% premium cacao beans roasted and ground for a rich, full-flavored drink that delights your senses while it nourishes your body. Think of it as bliss in a cup. You can put the ground cocoa beans in a coffee maker or a french press - which is what I use. I like having it with some creamer or milk and truvia or stevia. It's SO wonderful. Let me know if you want a free sample to try. :)

I also put a link on my sidebar - you can click on to the website by clicking on the picture that says I love Choffy. :)

Cruise to the Bahamas

2011-11-28T11:22:00.001-05:00

We just got back this morning from our cruise to the Bahamas. My friend, Sarah, watched the kids so Tyler & I could have some one-on-one time together. We've never done anything like this - it was glorious! Poor Tyler and Richard (Tyler's dad) were seasick for the first 24 hours, but they did better after that. I never felt sick (thankfully) but feel a little bit like the room is swaying back and forth right now - I had the same thing last year after our free cruise to the Caribbean.

We left from Port Canaveral, FL, and rode the Royal Caribbean's MONARCH OF THE SEAS cruise ship and went to the Bahamas and to the RC's own island, Coco Cay. We found out later that the MONARCH is a smaller ship and I think that caused Tyler's seasickness, not to mention the rough waters. In fact, many people were sick on the boat. We went on the cruise with Tyler's parents, Richard & Melanie, and our good friends, Josh & Nichole. We had a great time. Some highlights were my bamboo massage - it was so wonderful. I don't get massages very often - the last one was a year ago - but I find that it relaxes me in a way that I cannot do otherwise. We got a few souvenirs at the Bahamas and played trivia and games on the boat. The food was delicious and I worked the high protein diet for the majority of the cruise - allowing for some virgin piña coladas, too. :D

Buggy ride in the Bahamas and a picture in front of our ship.

We saw a show and it was fabulous! I loved all the music.

Formal night. We had a great time.

We had a great time. I look forward to the next cruise - whenever that will be! 2-3 years, probably. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T21:38:00.001-05:00

Today we had a lovely day. I worked hard yesterday so we could eat at noon today. Then we relaxed the rest of the day with games (PIT, Yahtzee, WOULD YOU RATHER...), talking, napping, & eating pie. It was great. My in laws, Melanie & Richard, are here and also our good friend, Dave.

Yesterday I got some red/orange highlights that are really fun. The kids had a good day playing wii and Anna loved playing yahtzee with us. I feel so blessed. I hope you had a great day! :D

The latest

2011-11-22T16:19:00.001-05:00

Today we were in Jacksonville meeting with a panel of specialists who treat children with behavioral issues, such as FAS. We were there for 4 1/2 hours meeting with two different specialists. They sent us home with more paperwork and an appointment to return in December. Halfway through the second evaluation, Iryna started screaming. They brought me back to help calm her down. As I was walking back to the room, I prayed that I would be able to calm her down. The thought came to my mind that Iryna needs a strong mama and that she was meant to be my daughter. It was a wonderful comfort to hear that. I was able to hold her and she stopped screaming and did well through the evaluation. She was nervous and didn't understand why we were there, neither did she know these people - but she rose above it and completed everything. I am proud of her.

This is a busy week. My in laws arrive tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be making the desserts portion of the Thanksgiving feast (pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate cream pie, banana cream pie, & coconut cream pie) and brining the turkey. Then on Thursday I will bake the turkey, make the sweet potato casserole, holiday mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, & creamed corn.

And then on Friday we leave for the cruise. SO excited!

Last week I went to see Breaking Dawn Part 1 - it was enjoyable! However, there was WAY too much shown on the honeymoon. I had to look away a few times because it showed so much. Ugh. I went with some other AF wives and we went to Chili's afterwards:

Because we are hopefully going back to Russia in December, I decided to put up the Christmas decorations. Just so you know - I have NEVER put up Christmas decorations prior to Thanksgiving in my life, but I wanted to see them before going to Russia.

Picking out the tree:

The finished product:

Yesterday I had a Choffy tasting party at my house. I was worried about attendance, but then we had 20 ladies come! I scored a free bag of Choffy and I can't wait for my french press to arrive. :) I made my amish breakfast casserole and pumpkin banana bread to go with the choffy - so good. I put creamer and stevia in the choffy - delicious! My friend Tina is a distributor.

Cruising

2011-11-14T14:18:00.001-05:00

After some great deal of thought, Tyler & I have decided to take a cruise. I am super excited about this getaway. I feel guilty, though. (I always feel guilty) People have helped us and are still helping us fund our adoption - and we are SO grateful! $50,000 is a LOT of money to come up with. Tyler & I are using some of our own money to go away for the weekend. Here are some reasons why we are going:

- We live in FL so we don't have to pay to get here to get on the cruise.
- We are moving next summer and most likely won't be back in FL for the rest of Tyler's Air Force career.
- We have someone to watch our kids for us. (Thanks, Sarah!)
- We found a really great deal online!
- The doctor said that my cortisol levels are high and the best way to lower them is to de-stress.
- Once we adopt Calvin & Silas we won't be able to get away just the two of us for some time.
- Tyler just marked 6 years in the Air Force!

Quotes from Keith

2011-11-14T07:28:00.001-05:00

Keithcounting: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 7, 11!"

Keith tends to ask the same question over andover, and while we know that it's important to answer him every time he asks...itcan be a bit annoying sometimes...so the other day Keith was asking Tyler a question. Tyler answered him. Keithasked him again. Tyleranswered him. Keith asked him again…Tylerdidn’t answer. Keith said, “Daddy?” No response. “Daddy?” “Daddy??” DADDY???” …“Honey?” ha ha – he knows that that word gets a response from me. Ha ha!

BUNCO!

2011-11-10T10:38:00.001-05:00

Last night I hosted 16 ladies (spouses of Airmen) at my house. I have been cleaning and preparing since Monday. It was a lot of work to host it - but it was a big success. (today I am resting!) I prepared a meal and desserts and my good friend, Nichole, brought the drinks. I made Cheesy Ham Potato Soup, My Favorite Rolls, Oatmeal Cake, Cream Cheese Brownies, & S'more Sandwich Cookies. I think the biggest hit were the rolls. Everyone was surprised that they were homemade - I guess people don't make bread much these days?

The prizes were fuzzy socks! It was so fun to see the variety of socks - I got some orange ones! Woo-hoo!

Sara, Kim, Tina, Gio, Ginny, Nichole, Barbra, Robyn, Amie, Carol, Robin, Melissa, Connie, Jana, Diane, Me.

Hanging on to Halloween

2011-11-08T10:16:00.001-05:00

Ms S emailed me these pictures. Keith has been going in to the regular first grade class and he loves it. According to his teacher, they love him too! Of course, I haven't met anyone who hasn't just loved Keith. He has such a sweet, tender heart and he is always excited about life - especially airplanes!

I AM A CHILD OF GOD

2011-11-07T14:10:00.000-05:00

Did you notice my new tabs at the top of the blog? Yeah, I just made them. And they weren't too difficult either! If you click on the second tab - the one that says I AM A CHILD OF GOD - you will be taken to another page (not to worry, you can always come back here afterwards ;) ) and see some prints for sale - with more on the way. Please share this site with others - they would make wonderful Christmas presents and will help us raise the money we need for our adoption of Calvin & Silas in Russia. Your support helps us SO much!

This and that

2011-11-06T14:37:00.003-05:00

Keithism: I need to go peep-peep. (A daily occurrence, you can imagine)

I went to church today and I bore my testimony. I knew a couple of hours before church that I needed to get up, but I wasn't sure which part of my testimony I should share. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide me. I spoke about God knowing the best path for us to follow and that that path is greater than the one we would choose for ourselves. I am so grateful for personal revelation. Because of it, I KNEW that we were supposed to adopt from Ukraine. It wasn't just a nice idea - we were guided to adopt Keith & Iryna. And I KNOW that we are supposed to adopt Calvin & Silas. I only hope we can bring them home and soon. (For my adoption blog, click here)

We are still waiting to find out if we're going to OH next summer or not. Tyler said he will find out sometime this month. I am ready to have the go-ahead so we can make plans. I love to plan.

I went to my first Bunco night last month with some AF wives. It was a lot of fun and I knew that it was something I wanted to keep attending. Then the person hosting for this month had to cancel and they were looking for another host. I felt that I should volunteer, which I did. It's scheduled for this week. In addition to providing a location and having enough tables/chairs, I will provide a meal for about 16 - 20 women. I want it to be fall themed. Here are my thoughts thus far:

Main Dish:

Soup/Chili/Chowder
Rolls

Desserts:

Pumpkin bars
Another dessert - something with chocolate?

Drinks:

Crockpot apple cider
Crockpot mint hot chocolate
Water

What would be on your menu for such an occasion?

I am gearing up for the midnight viewing of BREAKING DAWN. And because of tradition, I ordered a shirt for the occasion:

Anyone else going to the midnight release? I plan to watch Twilight, New Moon, & Eclipse at my house before heading to the show. You're welcome to join me. :)

All Hallow's Eve

2011-11-03T09:28:00.002-04:00

I went to Anna's Halloween party at her school. They were playing Halloween Bingo! Afterwards they went outside to play kickball. I remember playing that when I was young. I was pleasantly surprised to see Anna's teacher putting her as the pitcher - just like her Daddy - and she did awesome!

A pumpkin Iryna made at school:

A Halloween picture by Keith at school:

There was a Harvest ball on base and we took the kids. They love riding the horse, although I had to really persuade Anna to ride the horse - she is growing up too fast - but of course she enjoyed it once she got ON the horse.

My cute little froggy!

Keith enjoyed the horse a lot and getting to sit in the fire truck. The hoses were also very fun for him to see. No surprise there. ;)

Tyler took the kids trick-or-treating while I passed out candy at home.

I like having Halloween themed clothing for the kids to wear to school. I found these cute outfits on Children's Place - my favorite brand for the kids. :)

Iryna as a Littlest Pet Shop Froggy, Anna as Mulan (yes, again!), and Keith as a pumpkin (second time - he's just SO darn cute!)

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Halloween FHE/GNO

2011-10-27T23:13:00.000-04:00

Family tradition: we have a Halloween party the Monday prior to Halloween. So this past Monday - we carved pumpkins (well, only one actually got to the carving stage...), played games, dressed up, watched Halloween movies (Garfield Halloween and Halloween's House of Mouse) and ate treats! Anna invited her friend, Rebecca, to come over and they had a blast together.

Not Halloween - but wanted to share Silas' baby quilt top that I finished, Tyler's team won the Softball tournament at work, and Keith had a barium enema last week - here's a picture to remember how unpleasant it was. Ugh.

Coloring the pumpkins. :)

Tonight was the Halloween GNO Party at my house. About 12 attended and we had enough food for a small army. I loved all the Halloween themed foods. So fun.

And everyone dressed up, which made it more fun! :)

How do you like my long hair? It was fun to play a maiden for the night! :D

Mercy

2011-10-25T11:35:00.002-04:00

I have been overwhelmed with Iryna a lot lately. I expect good behavior from my children. I want for them to respect me. Because of Iryna's FAS, she reacts before she thinks. For example, on Sunday I needed to practice a song after church with a friend. When Tyler told Iryna that we weren't going home yet but staying at church a little longer, she slapped his face knocking his glasses off. I was livid with her behavior, but Tyler was so patient and just ignored the behavior, knowing that she was upset and simply reacted that way. Later on, she apologized to Tyler for what she did. This behavior really bothers me.

I had a long conversation with Tyler about this on Sunday. The behaviors that Iryna exhibits make me not want to be around her. I struggle with being patient and I sometimes I have to force myself to be affectionate, whereas it isn't forced with Keith or Anna. Then I swing to the idea that I am not a good mother for her. That she deserves someone more patient and loving, who understands her FAS and can give her what she needs. I feel so lacking as her mother. I have a hard time separating the FAS and the sweet little girl Iryna is. I feel guilty even writing this blogpost, but I feel like I need to. After all, I don't think you will judge me, but hopefully give me encouragement and maybe nod your head, because you get what I'm saying here.

I've been praying about it. After crying and struggling with myself, I came to the conclusion that I would just do my best, even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it's enough. Maybe it will get better in the future with Iryna. She has already made progress thus far in the past 3 years, so that's good.

And then yesterday happened - Iryna came home off the bus. No whining. No picking/pinching herself. She was sweet. She was helpful, thoughtful. She did what I asked the first time. She was sensitive and affectionate. She was a delight. And this continued all. day. long. It was so refreshing! I saw all the things that I love about Iryna. I feel as though it was mercy given to me from God. I am so grateful for His mercy. He reminded me of who Iryna is and who she can become. I don't expect the same thing to happen everyday, but it was nice to see it and experience it yesterday. It has helped me rededicate myself to being the best mama to Iryna that I can be.

Not so clever

2011-10-20T15:20:00.001-04:00

Iryna is still pinching herself (and others) a lot. It's driving me crazy. Today I had an idea to have her wear gloves, thinking that would remedy the situation. It's true that it makes it more difficult for her to pinch herself and so when she tried to do so and it wasn't the way she wanted it to be, she became frustrated and then she hurt Keith. I was highly irritated at this. #1. She hurt Keith who did nothing to her. #2. I really thought that gloves would work. I know that replacing the behavior with something else would be ideal, but I've tried that already with offering her bubble wrap to pop, dolls to pinch instead, and rewarding her with positive affirmation when she's NOT pinching herself. I just don't know what to do. It's hard because it's a constant thing and it's become unconscious, I believe.

A mix of everything

2011-10-19T20:52:00.002-04:00

Below are some pictures of Iryna and Anna playing in the living room. They asked for pictures and I didn't mind taking them. It's almost been 3 years since Iryna became Anna's sister and I love how close they have become.

Anna has been working on a cereal box/commercial for a school project. She read a book from the library and based the project on it. I was impressed by her creativity.

It's been 10 years since I've done anything color-wise with my hair, so I opted for some highlights today. I got blonde and red ones. I love the blonde, but next time I want the red to be lighter - so you can really see it. Overall I am pleased.

My first sewing project other than the quilts was this breastfeeding shield.

The second was this carseat canopy. Both are for my sister, Rachel, who is expecting her daughter, Aurora, in November.

I got a phone call from a center in Jacksonville that handles FAS. They made an appointment for Iryna in late November. Recent behaviors such as picking and pinching her skin (see picture below) have become a real habit and I eager for their help with her and with helping us with it.

I went to jury duty yesterday! I was excited to go, but when I learned that I would be there ALL DAY LONG, I began to hope I would be released. At 11:30am I was! There was only one panel of jurors needed, so the majority of us went home early. I ended up sitting by another mormon lady - how cool is that? We talked about missions, places we've lived, etc. It certainly helped pass the time since I got there at 8am.

I'm thinking of Christmas presents - I truly enjoy picking out gifts for family and friends. The hardest part I have is choosing something that I want. Do you have a wish list? If so, what's on there?

School Pictures 2011-2012

2011-10-18T16:38:00.005-04:00

Iryna

7 years

Keith

7 years

Anna

9 years

Doctor visit x3

2011-10-17T21:13:00.002-04:00

I met with an endocrinologist today about getting back on metformin and my blurry vision. He said that metformin would help with my insulin resistance, weight loss, and regulation of menstrual cycles - mine are off. As for my blurry vision, he didn't think that the pituitary is causing it. He's not sure what is causing it, but said that it wouldn't be in his medical jurisdiction to know the answer. So back to my doctor I will go.

I practiced a duet today with Vanessa. She has such a lovely singing voice. It is nice to sing with someone who knows what they are doing AND is such a fun person. I look forward to singing a duet with her a week from Sunday.

Keith had his follow up visit with the GI specialist. All of the blood work results were normal. He now needs to have a barium enema done at the hospital.

Anna met with therapist today. Dr S is great with Anna. He encourages me to continue to push Anna to do things that require getting out of her comfort zone. And Anna still likes going to see him. Although that could be because he gives the kids fruit snacks. ;)

Iryna has been regressing in some of her behaviors. She is now screaming, spitting, pulling hair, and the like. It is frustrating. I hope she can work through them and soon.

Tomorrow I report for jury duty. I am excited about it. I wonder if I will be chosen.

We had FHE tonight on the storms of life. Tyler read a scripture about making sure our foundation is on Christ and that He will help us through our storms.

Sweetheart

2011-10-17T09:44:00.002-04:00

Anna made this for Tyler yesterday. I love how sensitive she is to her family and how quick she is to try and cheer you up when things aren't going well. She is such a sweetheart. I am so blessed to be her mama.

I only have eyes for you

2011-10-16T18:19:00.000-04:00

For the past month or so I have been having a weird eye issue. Whenever I read a book or website where the words are small - my eyes begin to blur and I struggle making much out, plus my head starts to hurt. After a few weeks of this - I was hoping it would just. go. away. - I went to see the optometrist and he did tests for 2 hours. Nothing was wrong. He recommended that I go back and see my doctor and perhaps get blood drawn and a scan. He thinks it might have to do with my pituitary. We shall see. It's frustrating, let me tell you!

Tyler wasn't feeling well today so he missed church. I went to our 8am missionary correlation meeting and then came home to pick up the kids for church. It was a nice meeting. Halfway through the second hour, I heard Iryna whining outside the door and I knew that my getting to sit through that last half of church was over. Her sweet teacher, Jessica Z, said she was spitting, pinching, and pulling hair. Lovely. We sat out in the lobby until church was over. Ugh. I know that Iryna's behaviors are supposed to be teaching me something, but I seem to just grow more and more impatient with them. Especially with her hurting herself. I don't get that. Who wants to feel pain??

On Friday, Anna and I made homemade crockpot applesauce. It was fabulous! Anna has been interested in learning to cook, so today we made no-bake cookies. So good. Too good. We took some over to Anna's piano teacher, Joyce H. She is such a sweet lady and a widow, so I'm sure she gets lonely. Plus I wanted to share the cookies so I would have less of them to tempt me...she called me this afternoon thanking us for the cookies. Anna was so proud of that fact that she made them by herself (with a little help from Mama). :D

Tuesday I report for Jury Duty! I'm so excited! I've always wanted to do jury duty. When I got the letter last month, I thought for sure that I'd be in Russia so I would miss it. And of course I would rather be bringing my boys home from Russia than attending jury duty - but since I'm not there it is a nice distraction.

I am going to get some highlights, I think. My hair became thinner after Anna was born - I found out that I have hypothyroidism and it causes hair loss after pregnancy if you're not on synthroid - which I wasn't. So, my hair fell out and didn't grow back. :( I was thinking about hair extensions, but they wouldn't really work for me, but Aubrey suggested some lighter highlights to help my hair not look so thin - since my hair it SO dark and my scalp is super white. I am wanting red highlights - I just LOVE red hair! - but she thinks that blonde highlights would be good. Suggestions? What about red and light brown highlights? I don't know if I could swing blonde highlights since my hair is almost black. I want your input. :)

PPP

2011-10-15T19:10:00.002-04:00

So you know that we're working with Keith to clean him out since the GI specialist had us double his miralax amount per day. Well, it's been a week and he's STILL backed up. I had the feeling that Iryna, too, was constipated. We went to the doctor, and he did an x-ray. When he saw the results he literally said: "She's full of crap". So he instructed us to take a day where we give the kids 3 tsp of miralax every 30 minutes. That, my friends, is a LOT of laxative. Anna has been complaining of bowel pains, too, so today we declared it to be a PPP: Pierce Poop Party.

Since 9:30am this morning, all of the kids have had miralax mixed in chocolate milk or juice every 30 minutes. We actually just ran out of miralax, so we can't continue giving it - but there has been a little success thus far. In fact, I figured there to be many more bathroom breaks than we have had today. I am now concerned about what may happen tomorrow during church if they don't move their bowels more before then. I've never missed church due to diarrhea, but believe me - I don't want to deal with 3 kids having the runs at church! I hope they can get it all out of their system before bedtime tonight.

To move away from the bathroom topic (you're welcome, Mom!) here are some pictures of my kids from the jog-a-thon at school this past week:

2 down and 2 to go

2011-10-11T17:15:00.000-04:00

I finished up Iryna's and Calvin & Keith's quilt tops yesterday. I mailed them to The Back Porch Quilters today to have them machine quilted. Have you heard of these guys? They are a married couple who work out of their home. I feel good giving business to a family (they have 2 small girls) and they do a great job. I am excited to see how the quilts look when they come back. Now I need to begin Anna's quilt and Silas' quilt. After they are done I will begin on crib bumpers for Silas' crib. I have heard that crib bumpers are easy to do, but I don't have a pattern. Any recommendations?

2011-10-09T23:57:00.001-04:00

Today was fast and testimony meeting (due to General Conference last week) and so we talked yesterday about what we were fasting for this month. Tyler fasted to bring the boys home from Russia before January; I fasted to bring them home before Christmas; Anna fasted that the adoption would go well. :) I was very impressed that she has been fasting for that same topic for months.

Anna also bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting today. She spoke clearly about the plan of happiness and I was and am so proud of her. Tyler also bore his testimony. It was a wonderful meeting.

We had FHE tonight and Anna taught us from her book that Tyler bought her about the plan of salvation. It is such a blessing to see her grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is a special girl.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Testimony

Pinching

2011-10-09T22:56:00.001-04:00

Iryna has been pinching her arms and cheeks on purpose a lot the past two weeks. Any ideas of how I can redirect her to change these behaviors?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ripping to shreds

2011-10-08T18:03:00.002-04:00

Iryna has had a fascination with ripping things for as long as I can remember. Dozens of books have been ripped and we finally had to put away my precious Calvin and Hobbes comic books so they wouldn't be destroyed - and they were her favorite books. It seemed that one day Tyler & I both had the idea to provide some paper for her that she can shred. I think she enjoys it. What do you think?

Stationery card

2011-10-07T16:25:00.001-04:00

Eerie Silhouettes Halloween Card

Create your own Halloween photo cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Musings

2011-10-06T15:21:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been musing about the afterlife. We all try to live worthily of returning to live with God and Jesus Christ. It occurred to me that this would be a better goal if I was actually striving to have a relationship with them while on the earth. And that meant...that I need to do more to know them in this life. I would like to ask all who read this blog to let me know what you are doing now to get to know our Father in Heaven, and his son, Jesus Christ. I am particularly interested to know how you keep a prayer in your heart at all times, among other things. I look forward to your comments.

Halloween Rap

2011-10-05T13:59:00.000-04:00

Be sure to pause the music at the bottom of the page first. :)

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Catch up

2011-10-04T21:46:00.000-04:00

Things have been going on, but instead of being a good girl and posting them as they happen I have been saving it all for this post. Not on purpose, yet here we are...

I had an IEP meeting with Iryna's teacher, OT, Speech, and Vice Principal this afternoon. We went over Iryna's goals for the school year. I have two goals for her: to learn to read and to be able to think before she acts. Those are pretty difficult things to achieve, but we need goals to have something to work on. I was informed at this meeting that there was a competition for the 1st grade to see which child could do the most pull-ups. My Iryna won first place. Isn't that awesome? She is SO incredibly strong. Wow.

Iryna's teacher lent us a Body Sox to see how Iryna does with it. It helped her to calm down and is a great tool for children who become overstimulated. Here are some pictures:

We put the girls back in gymnastics. They started last week. Both girls did well and loved it. And Keith was a real trooper playing with his airplane in the lobby for the hour long class.

Tyler took a work trip up to ID and was able to go to the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a special place for Tyler as that is where his parents traveled to become sealed for time and all eternity. Isn't it a beautiful temple?:

Anna is still in piano and doing well. She passed off 3 songs today that she just got last week! I am proud of her and the progress she is making. She has also been putting together some fun forts in the house with Iryna and Keith assisting her:

I took Keith to a GI specialist yesterday. Something on my mama radar had been going off about his bowels. He's on miralax (laxative) once a day and has been for the past 3 years. Because of his hypotonic cerebral palsy, he has low tone in his muscles, including his intestines. The past 3 or 4 months I have been giving Keith the miralax AND suppositories to get him to go poop. One day I realized that this was not a pleasant thing and that I didn't want to be doing this when Keith was 15 years old...so I got a referral and off we went to see him yesterday. The doctor was fabulous. I was super impressed with his bedside manner and his manner of explaining things to me. He felt Keith's abdomen and said that his bowels were completely full. Yikes. He doubled - yes doubled! - Keith's miralax prescription for the next week. He said that we need to clean him out completely and then proceed with a barium enema. He also said we should have some blood drawn to see if he has a food allergy, such as celiac's disease. I told him that he is a good eater and was gaining weight, but he replied that I also told him that Keith doesn't stop eating when he is full and that perhaps he is trying to get the nutrients he needs by eating more. Interesting stuff. He was also complimentary of my getting Keith checked out. Don't you love it when people compliment you on the things you do right with your kids? I do.

Off to the lab on base we went. Did I mention that I had all three kids with me? Always a pleasure. I gave my iPhone to the girls for their entertainment (they LOVE the yahtzee app) while they whisked Keith & I back to the lab. Poor Keith. He has only had his blood drawn once since we adopted him and that was RIGHT AFTER we adopted him - 3. years. ago. Oh my, how he cried out in pain and fear. There was one tech drawing the blood, one tech holding his arm straight, and me holding his other arm and trying desperately to calm him down. They took two vials from one arm before that vein collapsed, so they had to go to his other arm for the rest. Weeping and wailing commenced. Poor guy. After they were done, I turned him around and he clamped on to my like no tomorrow. I held him for a few minutes before giving him some chocolate they offered at the desk. It's hard being a mama when you want to comfort a child who's going through such an ordeal. :(

I have been sewing up a storm! I am working on quilts for my kids and hope to finish them up prior to going back to Russia. I also finished up Valerie's Ukrainian quilt which she won on the first adoption fundraising auction I did back in June. It is all white and from material I bought in Ukraine when I adopted my twins. The patriotic quilt is for Keith & Calvin's bed. Isn't it lovely? I just finished Iryna's quilt top - but still need to take a picture of it. It's pink and purple. :)

Iryna's art

2011-10-04T09:21:00.001-04:00

I read somewhere that to prevent having folders and folders of art from my kids that I should scan them and keep them in photo format. Iryna just brought this home and I wanted to remember it. Isn't she cute?

Class

2011-09-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

This morning I was able to guest teach an ESL class at a local university. The topic was on families and Kristi (the teacher) wanted me to come speak about adoption and our family. I have done it before (once) and was excited to come again. As I spoke about our Ukrainian adoption, I felt the Holy Spirit witness to me again that Iryna and Keith were meant to be a part of our family. God intended for us to adopt them before they were born. I am so blessed to call these precious two my own and I am grateful for the opportunity to reflect on that great blessing.

Tonight's the night!

2011-09-27T09:33:00.002-04:00

The CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER auction ends tonight at 11pm EST. Thank you all for your support and generosity in our endeavors to raise money to bring Calvin & Silas home. There are a few items that haven't been bid upon, almost all of them being adoption-related items. I thought that posting the pictures and links here would allow you to see what's available still and maybe you or someone you know would like to have them.

Adoption Card. Click here to view.

Adoption Day Card. Click here to view.

Gotcha Day Card. Click here to view.

There are other adoption-related items that are on the auction:

Mother in many languages necklace. Click here to view.

Adoption onesie (custom made - choose country and heart location). Click here to view.

Forever Love Original 8x10 (custom made - choose country and heart location). Click here to view.

Give Hope Africa Adoption T-shirt (Unisex). Click here to view.

Gotcha Day Blessing Book. Click here to view.

Loopy Russia Bows. Click here to view.

Personalized Wood and Sterling Pendant Necklace. Click here to view.

Welcome Home Adoption/Birthday Party - Full Printable Party Collection - African/Zoo Theme. Click here to view.

Women's Give Hope Africa Adoption T-shirt. Click here to view.

Who loves you?

2011-09-26T17:39:00.000-04:00

Last night, Tyler was trying to get Keith to say that his Daddy loves him. Here is how the conversation went:

Daddy: "Keith, who loves you?"
Keith: "Ummm, Grandma."
Daddy: "Yes, who else loves you?"
Keith: "Jesus."
Daddy: "Yes, yes...Keith, does Daddy love you??"
Keith: "Yes."
Daddy: "Okay, glad you know that."

Getting there

2011-09-26T08:59:00.002-04:00

Well, tomorrow is the last day of the auction. I greatly appreciate all the support thus far - the auction ends tomorrow at 11pm Eastern Standard Time. Please help to spread the word. Click here to see the 81 items (yes, 81!). After the auction is over, I will post how much we raised to bring Calvin & Silas home! :)

Primary Program

2011-09-25T21:03:00.001-04:00

Today was the Primary Program. It went really well. Keith's teacher from school, Ms S, came to see the program and Keith & Iryna were REALLY excited about that. :)

We sang I AM A CHILD OF GOD in Mandarin Chinese. There were three other families that sang in French, Tagalog, and Portuguese. It was neat being involved in that.

Iryna took part in a bell choir. I was imagining the potential nightmare of my FAS/ADHD daughter holding a bell and the struggle she would have in holding it still until it was her turn to ring it...yet, I was pleasantly surprised by not only how still she held the bell, but when it was her turn she rang it right on cue. Woo-hoo! SO proud of my baby girl!

After much drama the past couple of weeks in working with Anna on her part, she got up and said it perfectly. She talked about how dressing modestly shows respect for her and for Heavenly Father. And you all KNOW how strongly I feel about modesty, so I loved that. She did a great job - more brave than she knows! :)

Iryna said her part: "Jesus Christ is our Savior." All I heard was "Jesus Christ" and "Savior." Close enough. ;)

Now, Keith's primary teacher, Sis Z, brought a small helicopter for Keith to ~~keep him busy~~ play with during the program. When it was his turn to say his part "Jesus Christ loves me," I heard "Jesus Christ" and blah blah blah, followed by more gibberish, and he ended his talk with a very clearly pronounced: "PROPELLER!" Oh, how my son loves his helicopters and I guess he wanted to share that with the congregation. :)

This primary program was THE BEST one that I've ever seen. Everyone did a great job, the children knew their parts, and the music was wonderful. I only wish I had a video of my kids to share. :)

Sick

2011-09-25T20:31:00.000-04:00

Keith came home from school on Friday. He looked fine. He said he needed to go potty - so off he went. A minute later I heard him crying, so I ran to see what had happened. He had thrown up all over himself! The poor guy, I don't think that he has ever thrown up IN HIS LIFE. He was completely freaked out about what had happened and was more upset with having throw up all over him. I cleaned him up and showered him, brushed his teeth (to get the smell out!), put him in pajamas and snuggled him. He wanted to watch a movie, so I gave him a bowl and tried to explain that if he needed to throw up, that he should throw up IN the bowl. Poor Keith did not understand that, he started screaming and crying because he thought that I was telling him to throw up in the bowl. This was one of those moments where I wish that I could snap my fingers and have Keith understand what I was communicating to him. Fortunately, he did not throw up again. I hate that it scared him so much. :(

Auction

2011-09-23T19:31:00.002-04:00

4 more days left until the CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER auction closes! It will end on September 27th, at 11pm EASTERN standard time. There is still time left: click here to see the 66 items! Thank you for your support!

Ukrainian Quilt

2011-09-21T12:29:00.001-04:00

Back in June, I did a fundraiser for our Russian adoption. When I was in Ukraine adopting our twins, I picked up some white material at a fabric store in Mariupol. I had thought that I would make clothes for the twins for our Temple Sealing, however, that didn't happen. My mom volunteered to use the material and make a log cabin quilt top. I put the batting and backing on it, hand tied it (no rack, no help, just me...) and then when I finally got my sewing machine working properly, I finished the edges. It is now en route to Valerie. (I hope you like it!)

Below is a fort that the kids put together yesterday. I love how when I restrict their time on electronics that their imaginations go wild. They had lots of fun with this.

My sweet friend, Nichole, got me this Scentsy warmer for my birfday. It has musical notes all over it. She even included some pumpkin marshmallow scent bars to go with it. She's pretty awesome.

I went and ate lunch with my girls on Monday of this week. I like to surprise them and spend some special time with each child.

The picture below if of Keith & I when we went to the clinic on base to do some adoption-related paperwork. As we exited one building to go to another, we were greeted with pouring rain. As we ran to the next building, Keith said it felt like we were going through a car wash! What a smart kid!

Toothless

2011-09-19T14:01:00.001-04:00

Last week, Anna had two baby teeth removed as they were in the way of adult teeth popping up. I love Anna's dentist. She. Is. Amazing. Anna got to choose what movie she wanted to watch - they even had headphones for her to wear during the entire thing - and she was able to choose what flavor on everything, too. Plus, everyone is super nice and it's a nicely decorate office - everything is just, well, nice. Anna did beautifully and was thrilled to have not one, but TWO teeth to put out for the tooth fairy. She woke up to $2 and is already planning how to spend them, I am sure. :)

It's isn't personal

2011-09-16T13:48:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning, I awoke early and showered before getting the kids up at 7am. I was pleased with myself for being on the ball and prepared to take Anna to her dental appointment later that morning. So, I surprised myself when I suddenly blew up at Iryna for getting out of bed during the night and emptying her dresser drawers full of clothes all over the floor. I went from happy Jill to livid mama in a matter of seconds! How can this happen? I spoke harshly to Iryna, which drew tears, and then I proceeded to get her ready for school. Before the bus came, I called her over to me and snuggled her for a few minutes. I felt so awful for my behavior. Then I read this article. It really made me think about how I view my children. Iryna didn't get out of bed and make the mess to make me upset. She wasn't out to make more work for me - although that is how I felt when I saw it. I hope that I can remember this article next time I have that knee-jerk reaction to my kids.

Surf's Up!

2011-09-14T20:15:00.002-04:00

Tyler went surfing last week and a photographer was there. She took several pictures and then gave me her card. Here's the link. Tyler is on images 56 - 71. Check him out!

Ward Talent Show!

2011-09-13T10:23:00.000-04:00

We had a ward talent show last week. 4 of us participated! Anna played BETTY AND BILL on the piano, Iryna did some gymnastics, I sang an aria SONG TO THE MOON from Rusalka by Dvořák, and Tyler juggled. Here are the videos:

A day at the beach (we have a lot of these)

2011-09-13T10:14:00.000-04:00

The kids had a blast in the waves. They ask everyday if we can go to the beach.

Tyler has become much more skilled with surfing in the past year. He is already mourning the loss of the sport when we move next summer. :(

Keith not wanting to take a picture, or at least smile for the picture...

The water is something that I absolutely love here in FL. We see it all the time and when I went to OK, it surprised me how much I missed seeing it! I will miss it when we move.

Girl's Night Out

2011-09-08T10:13:00.001-04:00

The GNO here in FL is still going strong. In August we went to Texas Roadhouse, per Barbara A's request. Unfortunately, Barbara didn't make it! But we had a nice time.

Nancy F

Nikki S & Chelsea M (sisters)

Soi P, Michelle Q & her daughter, Rachel S

Nicole K (in red) and Soi, Michelle, Rachel, & me

Me, Michelle, Rachel, and Nancy (not looking)

Corren - the photographer!

This month we are meeting at Chili's, per Jena S's request. Who wants to come?

Open for business!

2011-09-06T11:00:00.003-04:00

The CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER silent auction is now open! Here is the link:

http://www.32auctions.com/organizations/2051/auctions/2218

Details: the auction will run for 3 weeks. I will add more items as I receive them - still accepting donations! Get all your Christmas shopping done and help support us as we bring our boys home from Russia! Thanks for your support. :)

Help us bring Silas and Calvin HOME!

33 years

2011-09-05T09:38:00.003-04:00

On September 1st, I turned 33 years old. I had a wonderful day! We woke up and had strawberry crêpes for breakfast (I made them the night before). Then I went back to sleep - it's my day, right?! I met some friends at my favorite Mexican Restaurant for lunch - so much fun and delicious food. Yum. After the kids came home, we did some cooking for dinner. I made my recipe for chicken parmigiana alfredo. The kids wanted to help me pound the chicken, so that was fun.

After our scrumptious dinner, we had dessert. My "cake" this year was those mini chocolate eclairs + some chocolate covered strawberries from Edible Arrangements. Yum. Then it was present time! I requested four things this year: another pothos plant to match the one that I already have on the entertainment center, a clock to replace the one that died in our kitchen (I still look to see what time it is and that wall has been bare for 3 weeks now...), a mortar and pestle for cooking, and a pair of scissors for cutting hair. I got 3 out of the four (Tyler couldn't find a mortar and pestle) and I was a happy birthday girl!

After the kids went to bed, Tyler & I watched some HOUSE. Then I had made a romantic music playlist (I've been into Chicago/Peter Cetera lately) and I lit some candles and Tyler & I danced. It's been so long since we've done anything like that...it was nice. I had a great birthday!

Christmas in September

2011-09-03T13:17:00.002-04:00

I am doing a CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER silent auction to raise money for our Russian adoption for Calvin & Silas. If you have any donations you can offer, please let me know! Thank you!

Pre-Birthday Festivities

2011-08-31T13:23:00.002-04:00

My birthday is tomorrow. I love birthdays - they are so fun! I like having a reason to celebrate life. My brother, Evan, has the tradition of a week-long Birthday celebration. I don't think it will be a full week, but I have started the celebration a bit early this year - starting with a fun lunch date with Nichole yesterday at SQUID LIPS. I had their coconut shrimp and a virgin pina colada - so delicious!

We had a really nice time. She is such a sweet friend and I had a birthday coupon from SQUID LIPS, which made it all the better! :)

Today, after Keith's dr appt, I went and got a pedicure. I usually go with a friend but today I went solo. It was nice to not focus on anything except some pampering. I love those massage chairs...wouldn't be opposed to having one of those in my house, no sir!

Tonight I am going to make some strawberry crêpes so we can have them for my birthday breakfast tomorrow - it's a family tradition!

Melting Pot

2011-08-31T13:11:00.002-04:00

Last night, Anna and I went on a little GNO of our own. I had a coupon for a free cheese or chocolate fondue, so we went to The Melting Pot. It was Anna's first time and she was super excited about it.

We got the cheddar cheese fondue and we both agreed that it was too strong for us. Anna tried a few bites of it and then just went on to eat the bread cubes, apples, and veggies raw. I ate what I could, but was overpowered by the flavor, myself, so I brought home the extras to Tyler.

To finish up, we had the s'mores chocolate fondue. It's heavenly, I tell you! I had it once before at the GNO/surprise adoption baby shower thrown by my good friend, Nichole. Anna was thrilled to try all the fruit, cakes, marshmallows, and rice krispie treats in the s'mores yumminess. Needless to say, that was the best part of our meal!

I enjoyed having some one-on-one time with Anna, but in addition to that, that time together led to Anna asking me some really good questions and looking for advice on some topics that I could tell have been bothering her. I shudder to think that she may not have asked me about these things had I not scheduled the evening to be with her. I am now commited to taking time out more regularly to speak with Anna and help her with anything she needs.

Keith

2011-08-31T13:02:00.002-04:00

This morning I took Keith to see Dr J at the clinic on base. His bowels haven't been normal lately and so we got a referral to see a pediatric GI specialist. I don't know if the trouble is related to his hypotonic cerebral palsy or to something else. We shall see. I hope we can find some answers for him.

I sent an email to Keith's teacher, Ms S, to see how Keith was settling into his class this year. He's been with Ms S since we moved to FL, but most of that time Iryna was also in the same class. Now Iryna is with Ms P, so I wanted to see how Keith was doing with that. Here is her response:

Keith is a STAR this year !! He is the most verbal student in the classroom and can be a leader in here. Am working with first grade teacher to start going to activity class with them and some other appropriate times in their classroom –Will keep you posted J

All of the activity teachers are very pleased ( I just met with them today ) with his progress and growth as I’m sure you are as well !!

I was so excited to hear that Keith was not only doing well, but the most verbal in the class! Amazing! My little buggy is growing up.

Piano lessons

2011-08-29T10:09:00.000-04:00

Anna has been in piano lessons for a year now. Her teacher, Joyce, does a good job of reigning Anna in and helping her focus during the 45 minute lesson each week. Joyce, unfortunately, has some health problems and this past week we took some treats and a card that Anna made over to her house. I received the following email:

Dear Anna,

You were so thoughtful to bring me cookies and such a sweet card for helping me to get better. I'm much better now and will be glad to see you on Tuesday for your lesson. I missed seeing you this week.

Thank you so much. I love you Anna,

Joyce H.

Is not that so sweet? I mean, how many piano teachers really LOVE their students? I was deeply touched by Joyce's love for our daughter. :)

Hurricane's a'comin'*

2011-08-24T10:20:00.002-04:00

So Hurricane Irene is on her way this-a-way. It's my first experience with a hurricane. I grew up in Oklahoma, so I'm familiar with tornadoes, but hurricanes are bigger and cause more damage. I am grateful to be near an Air Force base, because they have the responsibility (not me) to tell me when I need to evacuate. So far, it doesn't look like we'll have to leave. This is a blessing, as I am still recovering from my lapband removal and I can't lift more than 10 pounds for at least another week.

I am recovering s l o w l y from my surgery. I am eager to feel up to doing normal things, but when I even begin to try them I am tired and need to rest. Ah, well, I should be back to normal soon enough. I am grateful for the meals that have been brought over. I can't even do dishes, much less make dinner. My family is grateful that we're not eating macaroni and cheese and hotdogs while mama recovers. ;)

Last night Tyler & I played GUESS WHO with Iryna. Iryna and I were on one team. I think she is getting the gist of the game. She is able to tell if her person is a boy or a girl, what hair color they have, if they're wearing a hat or glasses, etc. She didn't understand the color of skin, though. Guess we'll have to work on that. She is doing well at school. Her teacher, Ms P, is having her spend time in a regular 1st grade class. I am excited that she is behaving well in there, for the most part, and Ms P is encouraged that Iryna will spend more and more time in there. I feel more confident now that Iryna will be able to become mainstream at school. This is very exciting. :)

Anna is back in her SUNSHINE STATE reading competition, er, program. She is reading as much as possible and wants to be the #1 reader again this year. She is learning cursive and doesn't care for it. I like cursive and still use it. Tyler says that he can't write in cursive anymore - I didn't realize that you can forget how to do it! Anna is still in piano lessons. Her teacher, Ms Hyde, does a great job with her. Meaning she doesn't put up with anything. ;)

Keith is loving school. Every night he asks "Tomorrow, bus?" He left his stuffed airplane in OK and has been mourning the loss of it. Mom, did you find it??

Last night, I encouraged Tyler to spend some time playing with the kids. He is a great father, but sometimes just needs a little reminder to do various things (don't we all?). He spent about 2 hours playing games and reading books with the kids. Our kids are so blessed to have him - and I know that I am, too.

Tyler and I have been watching the HOUSE series. We're on season 5 now. I love learning about various medical diseases. I find them fascinating. During the day - especially while I am healing from surgery, I am watching my beloved FRASIER series. It's my favorite tv show. Ever.

*Name the movie

Don't Give Up

2011-08-18T18:17:00.000-04:00

I went to the Orlando Temple today. I was able to do some work for 13 ancestors of mine. It was such a great feeling. I love being in the temple.

The kids are swimming in the pool with Tyler - he is such a great dad. I'm so blessed to have him as my husband and the father of my children. I still consider it a miracle that God brought he and I together. We have had such a happy married life together. He is a delight.

I believe that God has a plan for all of us. I never imagined that I would be an Airmen's wife or that we would adopt 4 special needs children. I never thought that I would be knowledgable about FAS and CP and global delays and attachment. And soon I will know a lot about the heart conditions that Calvin & Silas both have - 5 different heart conditions between the two of them. I could not have forseen what my life has been like thus far, but I am grateful for the path that has led me to where I am today.

I want to share the following video. It's about 5 minutes long. It is worth your time to watch it. In it you will hear the quote that I have at the top of my blog. It inspires me every time I read it.

Back in the groove of things

2011-08-15T16:14:00.003-04:00

I am loving this new schedule. I get up and get the kids ready and on the bus. I enjoy hours of silence where I am able to organize my schedule, read my scriptures, do some cleaning, make doctor appointments, cut out coupons, and even fit in a little ME time before the little ones come home. It's heaven, I tell you! Of course, I am excited to bring my boys home from Russia and there won't be much spare time left, letmetellyou, but I am enjoying the downtime that is alloted to me now.

Iryna has been struggling a bit to get used to her class. Some scratching, spitting, screaming. I hope this will clear up soon and I'm pleased that her teacher is very positive about her behavior improving. Iryna has been going to the 1st grade classroom (non sp ed) and likes the music class a lot. :)

Keith is now doing something that Iryna used to do - he covers himself with a blanket and entertains himself in this way for up to an hour. I remember Iryna doing that - she still does but not as often - and I believe it's a self-soothing behavior. Although, I hear Keith giggling under the blanket so I think he views it as fun time!

Anna is back into her sunshine state reading program. I love seeing her get excited about reading. I never enjoyed reading as a child, and I'm not much of a book reader now, although I am trying to improve in that area. Today I worked with Anna on learning a new song on the piano: LOVE ONE ANOTHER. She likes it because it only has one verse. ha ha. It was nice seeing her be able to learn the whole right hand of the song in 20 minutes. That's my girl!

Now that school is back in session, I plan to resume my once-a-week temple trip. It's an hour and a half to the Temple, so I have just enough time to get up there, do some temple work, and drive home before the kids get back. I want to take advantage of this before we bring Calvin & Silas home.

First day of the 2011/2012 school year

2011-08-13T18:28:00.000-04:00

The kids started school last this past week. It's hard to imagine that summer is already over. Part of me loves the unstructured time with my kids in the 3 month break and another part of me is very excited about getting back on a real schedule when school starts up again. On Monday, I went in to meet all of the teachers for the kids this year. Anna has a male teacher and he looks like he will be fun. She is in 4th grade. Iryna is in a different class this year - which surprised me! Last year she and Keith were in Ms S's class, where the younger special needs children were. Next door to Ms S's class is Ms P's class, where the older special needs children were. This year, they split up the children not based on age but level of progression. Since Iryna is further along mentally, she is in Ms P's class. Keith is still in Ms S's class. When we went to meet the teachers, the kids had a lot of fun playing in the two SPED rooms. In fact, they didn't want to leave when we left! The first day of school was fun for all the kids - they really had a good time. I am happy to see them excited about learning. My kids are so cute! Here are some pictures:

Kids

2011-08-12T11:04:00.001-04:00

Iryna is obsessed with dolphins. Ever since she went to Sea World, that is all she talks about! Well, that and Buzz Lightyear. When I say her name, Iryna will either say, "No, I'm Buzz!" or "No, I'm a dophin!"

Iryna has been sucking on her hair lately. She normally sucks on her two fingers. I can't decide which one I prefer. The fingers have been going on since we adopted her...but when she sucks on her hair, it gets all crunchy when it dries. Ick.

Keith has learned the art of blaming others for his behaviors. When I talk with him about something wrong that he has done, he immediately says that "Iryna did it" or "Anna did it". Silly boy.

Keith has a favorite song: Fireflies by Owl City. He sings along with it - so stinkin' cute! He doesn't know all of the words, but he does his best, AND he's on key when he sings. Love that.

Anna is still taking piano lessons. I'm pleased to see the musical ability that she has...I only wish she was more excited about learning to play the piano. I guess I may have been the same way? Can't remember. But I am so grateful that I learned the play the piano - even if my skills are limited because I didn't put in the time to practice.

Anna got a metal bar/brace put in her mouth. It lines the back of her front bottom teeth and wraps around two teeth in the back. It looks like this:

Poor Anna. She says that it hurts when she chews food. She had it put in on Monday and it's still bothering her. I hope that the discomfort will go away and soon! The metal bar/brace is put in to prevent her back teeth from sliding forward before some of her adult teeth pop up in the front. I know that it's best to prevent future teeth issues with this bar, but I wish it didn't hurt my baby.

Dahle Reunion 2011

2011-08-12T10:51:00.001-04:00

My dad's family has a reunion every two years. As a child, I looked forward to these reunions with great anticipation. Now, as an adult, I feel the same excitement to see my beloved family members. I only wish I didn't have to wait the 2 years before I see them again. This year, the reunion took place at The Don Cesar Beach House Suites in St Pete's Beach, FL. The beach house suite was so beautiful - we had a view of the beach from our private balcony - and we had a great time being on the beach and taking advantage of the hotel amenities. My only complaint is that the reunion was too short this year - only two full days of fun! We made sure to pack as much as we could in those days, though. We had the Dahle Games competition (ping pong, shuffleboard, and beach volleyball), a trip to the Orlando Temple to do family work, swimming in the pool, games, and devotionals where we learned more about our ancestors. I especially enjoyed feeling the holy spirit as my relatives shared pertinent stories about our family. It was great to meet new relatives (by marriage) and strengthen the family ties.

Dinner at SEA CRITTERS

There was a competition for the best sunset picture.

Beach fun!

Family devotional

We loved swimming in the pool! Keith was so excited to swim that he put on Iryna's swimsuit bottoms. ha ha!

This was taken just before we went to the Orlando Temple. What a good looking group!

The Dahle Games

Pictures outside the Orlando Temple. It is just beautiful!

Dinner at Chevy's and a picture of 4 of the 5 Dahle siblings. We missed you, Uncle David!

Anna formed a strong friendship with her cousin, Dylan. They were inseparable!

Dahle Games Volleyball.

More Dahle Games.

The beach brings a perfect backdrop for pictures!

Lunch at Bubba Gump's Restaurant. I had the best coconut shrimp I've ever had in my life. So good.

Game night: girls played QUIRKLE and guys played Settler's of Catan. It was so fun - we were up until 3 am!

Last devotional.

Some sunsets and a picture of The Don Cesar. Beautiful, eh?

Can't wait for the next reunion!

Winner!

2011-08-03T12:51:00.002-04:00

So there was a competition at the base this past week. Tyler and 2 other guys from his work competed and they won first place! Tyler was in a kayak with one guy and the other guy swam. They beat the second place team by 3 seconds! Here's a picture.

And then the people in Tyler's job had some fun with the picture to make a motivational poster which they have hanging up:

Needless to say, Tyler has a fun job.

Trip to TX/OK

2011-08-02T15:53:00.004-04:00

It's no secret that I was missing my family in TX/OK. I talked it over with Tyler and we decided that I should just pack up and GO! I packed up the kids and we were OFF! We stopped in Mississippi to stay the night. I took the kids to IHOP. They loved it! We spent several days with Evan, Shelbee, and their adorable baby girl, Rylee! We played wii, watched movies - including Evan & I going to see the last HARRY POTTER in the theater! We ate at Pappasito's, In N Out Burger, and played LOTS of golf - a really fun card game!

We met up with my friend, Nicki, at Chick-Fil-A. We had a 3 hour conversation and caught up on lost time - we met in college at OSU. :)

We went bowling and to Chili's with my cousin, Juli, and her husband, Rich, and their son, Zander. It was great meeting little Zander - he's SUCH a cutie!

We drove up to stay with Heather next. The kids had a ball playing with Iliana and I got my baby fix (again) with little Oliver, and chatting it up with Heather. That evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Dahle's to swim in the pool and eat dinner. We stayed up until 11:30pm having a great time and making fun memories that we won't forget. The next day we hung out at Heather's house all morning. Heather took me to CAFE 501 - a fabulous little place. We talked for hours and it was wonderful.

We drove up to Stillwater, to see my mom and her parents, Grandma and Grandpa McElwain. We met at the church to practice a song for Sunday, then went to 216 to hang out. The next day was Sunday, and we all went to church. I sang a duet with my mom: HE SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS. It was beautiful. I love singing with my mom - she has such a gorgeous singing voice and we're alway in sync. I love that. It was fun seeing so many people that I knew and loved when I lived in Stillwater for 10 years!

We came home and started on the meal. Jennifer, Willis, and little Willis came up to see us. Heather, Yury, Iliana, and Oliver also drove up. I had fun meeting little Willis - he's so adorable and looks JUST like his mama. It's amazing! We ate and talked and talked and ate - a wonderful evening.

Heather and her two kids stayed in Stillwater and everyone else left. My mom let us stay in her apartment, which is next door to the main house. It was nice to be able to get away and keep my kids somewhat contained. Of course, they did manage to rip apart tons of sheet music one afternoon. Grrr.

Jacob, Jessica, and her two kids: Bailey and Tylen, drove up and met Heather & I at Eskimo Joe's for lunch. It was great to meet Jacob's fiance and her darling kids. I'm excited for them to be a part of our family. :)

My mom and I started on the quilts for my kids. It's so fun when you start sewing! The blocks look super cute - I'm doing log cabins on all of them. I love the look of it.

We decided to head home on Friday. We got all packed up and drove Iliana home on our way out of town, early Friday morning. 30 minutes later, my van shut down and made this clicking noise. Heather came to save the day by picking up Keith & Anna and taking them with her on her errands. The tow truck came and towed the van and Iryna and I to a nearby Firestone. Firestone totally overcharged me and $750 later I had a new alternator and battery. Yeah, I told you that they overcharged me, but what could I do? Anyhow, we set off around 5pm and drove until Van Buren, Arkansas. The next day, Heather and her family had left early and they were also driving to FL. We ended up meeting at a gas station - it was amazing that we were at the same place/time when we'd both left at different times/days. Iliana rode with us for the day and we all stayed at the same hotel that night in Montgomery, AL. We got pizza and then headed to bed. We arrived home on Sunday, around 7:30pm. I was SO HAPPY to be home! But, we had a great time. Here are the pictures:

Slurpee Day!

2011-07-15T22:41:00.004-04:00

This past week was 7-11's birthday and they celebrated by giving away free slurpees! We wanted to help them celebrate, so we stopped in to get one. What a fun summer treat! :)

Last minute decision

2011-07-15T22:37:00.002-04:00

I had a great time when my in laws came to visit us. I love spending time with family. At the same time that Tyler's parents were visiting, my sister, Rachel, flew to OK to visit family there. I was super jealous and even shed some tears as I longed to spend some time with my family there, too. We go home to OK every other Christmas and it's been almost 2 years since I was in OK. This year, we're planning to go back to OK in December. However, we don't know how long we'll be able to stay and visit. It all depends on how long our second trip to Russia is to adopt Calvin and Silas. We may only be in OK for a few days. This past year, three nephews and one niece have joined my family and I want to meet them! So...I did something that is totally unlike me and I made the last minute decision (if you know me, I'm such a planner) to pack up my kids and head to TX/OK for a visit. We left this morning and drove for 10 hours. We're at a hotel in Mississippi. Tomorrow we'll arrive at my brother's house in Texas. The kids were excited to go, but naturally were a little bored in the car. I booked the hotel room yesterday and the kids were all hyped up to swim, but the pool was cold so the twins weren't that excited about it. We had dinner at IHOP, which was a HUGE hit with the kids. Their salad tasted so good after having fast food on the road. Yum.

Iryna and Anna loved the strawberry pancakes with eggs, bacon, and sausage. Keith has macaroni and cheese - no big surprise there. And they had a special where you get one kid's meal free with purchase of an adult entree. Nice. We're having fun so far - but I'm beat from driving for 10 hours! Goodnight all!

More fun with Grammy & Pa-Pa

2011-07-09T18:44:00.000-04:00

We've done tons of fun things together with Tyler's parents during their week-long stay with us here in FL. One day was dedicated to SEA WORLD in Orlando. Everyone had a BLAST! They loved the shows and Iryna fell in love with the flamingos. The kids came home exhausted but continue talking about the dolphins and whales days afterward.

Anna started a basketball class on base. She has a general athletic ability and I was pleased with how well she did for her first time learning the game. I played 2 years of basketball in middle school and I've always loved the sport.

The last launch was yesterday at the cape. Someone at Tyler's work gave him a pass so they could get right on the cape to see it. It was a great experience for them, but the traffic was awful!

We played PIT, Yahtzee, watched movies, swam, talked, and talked some more. Plus Melanie & I got a pedicure, too. We had a great time together - thanks for coming! :)

Independence Day!

2011-07-09T12:26:00.000-04:00

We had a fabulous Independence Day this year! We woke up and went boating! It was my first time to actually drive a boat and I really enjoyed it. Tyler went tubing with all the kids - Iryna only went once...and then everyone (but me) swam in the river. It's part salt water and part fresh water. We also saw about 15 dolphins swimming - some were right by our boat. It was amazing! After boating, we had some pizza and watermelon at home and swam in the pool. Then we went to play $1 bowling on base. We came back home and grilled hot dogs and made homemade blueberry ice cream. We relaxed and watched a movie. Everyone was exhausted from all the fun we had. It was a great day. :)

doctor ratings

Random Pictures and COMPANY!

2011-07-07T14:24:00.000-04:00

The creation made by Anna & Iryna.

Anna's new outfit.

Tyler and Maggie - our very spoiled shihtzu pup.

Tyler's parents, Richard & Melanie, arrived last week. They are staying for 12 whole days with us! I am a lucky girl because I have fabulous in laws! We're so glad they're here with us! :) In this picture, they are looking over Tyler's photo album from when he was growing up.

Here is Melanie and Anna playing TROUBLE. Melanie is a wonderful grandma.

Murder Mystery

2011-07-03T22:02:00.000-04:00

I love being in the Air Force. There are programs designed just to organize activities for AF families. This past week we went to a family friendly Murder Mystery. There was a catered Italian meal with dessert (at no charge) and a fun mystery for us all to solve - it was based off of The Apprentice. Anna immediately loved the character "Sue" and wanted a picture with her afterwards. She was ditzy (in the mystery) but Anna stood by her the whole time and was offended when other people present thought she was the murderer! (we all had to vote on whodunnit!) We had a really good time. All of the AF activities that I have attended both here and up at WPAFB, OH, have been super fun. It's just one more reason I love being in the Air Force!

Anna and "Sue"

The cast

Surprise Adoption Baby Shower!

2011-06-30T17:58:00.000-04:00

So we have a GNO that meets once a month - I'm actually the one who started here in my ward. I enjoy GNO. I look forward to them. I also tend to let other people choose where/what we do for them. For the GNO in June, my friend, Nichole, chose THE MELTING POT. I had never been and I was bit leary of what I'd heard concering it: expensive, not much food so you leave hungry, etc. I considered backing out of the GNO, but Nichole is a close friend of mine and she offered to pick me up - so we went together.

On the drive there, she had me read a text from our friend, Amanda, because Nichole was driving and she wanted to know what Amanda had written. She said she wasn't coming to the GNO that night but had a gift for me. I was like, "what is that about?" Nichole grabbed the phone from me and said, "nothing!" I thought it was strange as my birthday is months away and I didn't expect gifts from my friends for that...

Then when we arrived at the MELTING POT, it clicked. This was a baby shower for ME. Yikes. I was totally unprepared for it. Normally baby showers are a happy thing - but not for me. You see, I had a baby shower back when I was pregnant with Anna. It was very poorly attended and I felt like that meant that no one really cared about me. Then, we started struggling with infertility. I felt guilty that I was jealous that my friends were becoming pregnant with their second/third/fourth babies. I felt so guilty, in fact, that I began throwing baby showers for them to show that it didn't bother me. I didn't want for them to feel uncomfortable, so I made myself uncomfortable. I would throw fabulous baby showers and then go home and sob. Tyler finally had had enough of it, so he banned me from attending baby showers. And that's been the case for the past 2-3 years. It makes it easier for me.

So, a wave of emotions came over me. At first there was only 5 of us and I had nightmares of this shower also being poorly attended. Then 5 more ladies came and it felt nice. I received many gifts for Calvin and Silas. It was so nice of everyone to attend this shower that Nichole put together without my knowledge. She didn't know about my history with baby showers prior to the shower, itself. I'm grateful for my friendships here and for all the support that I've received with this adoption. :)

Nichole & I

4 fondue pots!

Tina & Melissa

Sonia & Nichole

Ashley, Malina, Joan, & Michelle

S'mores chocolate fondue

Oh, so I should probably mention what I thought of THE MELTING POT. I like the atmosphere. It was very expensive. I loved the teriyaki beef and the s'mores fondue was amazing. Yum. But, if I ever go back - just the s'mores fondue for me, thanks. A BIG THANK YOU to Nichole for organizing this shower and for everyone who attended. :)

Iryna's Birthday!

2011-06-25T21:18:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to Iryna! Iryna is now 7 years old - it's hard to believe, isn't it? She awoke to balloons from the balloon fairy. We dressed her up and she was in such a great mood all day long. It was HER day and she knew it. And she's wearing new glasses that we ordered for her - I like them because they actually stay on her face! :)

Iryna asked for strawberry crepes for breakfast and for spaghetti and salad for dinner, with Texas sheet cake for dessert. I was happy to oblige the birthday girl!

You have to love those pictures that are taken when you're just SURE that you won't actually be IN the picture. Just sayin'.

Iryna talking with Grandma Hatch on the phone. She was excited to share what fun things she'd been doing. :)

Present time! Iryna wanted TOY STORY stuff and that's what she got!

A friend gave us this Cranium Carnival just in time for Iryna's birthday - she was ecstatic!

Toy Story figurines. Buzz is Iryna's favorite character - she takes him with her everywhere. I would have thought that she would prefer Jessie, but no, she's obsessed with Buzz.

This wii game has already been played quite often, let me tell you. :)

Happy Birthday to sweet Iryna! Iryna, I love how sensitive you are to other people and animals. Today Maggie was shivering because she was scared from the thunderstorm. Normally you are also scared, but when you saw her shivering you came over and pet her and reassured her that she would be okay. You are so sweet and thoughtful. I love how happy you are and your sweet smile. Even though daily activities are hard for you at times, you try to smile through it and I love that. You are starting to eat more (hooray!) and are getting taller now. Your size of clothing is 5/6. You don't mind my fixing your hair as much now and you don't take it down. The other day you were screaming - something you haven't done in a long time. It was just a one day thing, but it reminded me of how far you've come in the past 2 1/2 years. You are confident in yourself and want to be a part of what's going on. You are affectionate and sweet. We love you, dear little Iryna. Happy Birthday!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-20T18:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Father's Day - and we tried to make it extra special for the Daddy in our home. On the way to church, we all said things that we like about Daddy. It was special for him to hear things from all of us.

At church the RS handed out small bags of chocolate chip cookies for all the dads. Plus the primary sent home candy from the children to the dads. Tyler was totally stocked up on sweets and spared no time enjoying them. :)

The kids gave daddy some pampering of shoulder and foot rubs. We watched a video on the life of Joseph Smith.

I went with a Hawaiian theme for dinner: teriyaki burgers, grilled red potatoes, lemonade, and pineapple upside-down cake. It was so delicious and the man of the house was happy. *insert manly affirmation here*

I am so grateful for Tyler. He is a wonderful father. He makes time to play with the children and rolls up his sleeves when they need help. Happy Father's Day, honey! :)

Good friends

2011-06-20T17:20:00.000-04:00

We started hanging out with Josh and Nichole a few months ago. This past month, however, we've been having a blast together! We've spent the last two saturdays playing games, swimming, and eating homemade food! It's been super fun. :)

Cameron & Anna playing wii. They were quite competitive.

Swimming in the pool.

Emma and Iryna playing in the playroom.

Keith LOVES having company over. :)

Josh & Nichole with baby Kyle.

We love snuggling with Kyle - he's such a cuddlebug!

Nichole has this toy helicopter which Keith LOVES.

Carcassonne is a fast favorite and we play it everytime we get together. Such a great game!

Playtime! Can't wait for the next get-together!

Sewing lesson

2011-06-17T19:41:00.001-04:00

My good friend, Karen, came over this week to help me learn how to cut material for my quilt. I was SO nervous! She said that being a perfectionist can make you a better quilter - let's hope, right?

My first strip! Now, I just need to cut them all out and actually do something with them! :)

Cookin' up a storm

2011-06-15T17:23:00.000-04:00

For the past 4 months, I've been on a new recipe-making kick. I've torn recipes out of various magazines and printed them off of websites. I've also gone through cookbooks that I've owned for years and written up a list of recipes to try. Then, each week I choose 7 dinner recipes, a breakfast recipe, and one dessert recipe. Then I make up a grocery list and go shopping. Some of the recipes have been fabulous. A few we won't be trying again. I feel so good in growing my Warrior cooking menu for my family. I can't say how productive I feel in doing this. I hope I will keep doing it in the months (years) to come.

In addition to cooking, I've been working on my Pierce Family Adoption Silent Auction. So far, I have about 15 items/services that have been donated. If you're interested in donating, please let me know and I will be happy to put it in the auction and promote business for you by putting in a link, if desired. We hope to raise some seriously needed funds to return to Russia to bring home Calvin and Silas.

Summer is in full swing and despite what I thought before school let out - I am enjoying it with the kids home. At the end of the day, however, I'm in serious need of some alone time. Thankfully, we have a really nice bedtime routine of putting on jammies/brushing teeth/reading scriptures/saying family prayer/singing time with Mama. It works really well for us and we hardly ever have any problems in putting the kids down with this schedule. Of course, I'm sure we'll have to alter it when the kids get older. I can't believe how big my 3 kiddos are now! Anna is halfway to college. When did that happen?

Sew pretty

2011-06-10T17:20:00.001-04:00

So you remember my desire to begin quilting. Well, I have been trying to dress up the master bedroom and bathroom. You know how it is - you decorate the whole house and then you just never get around to getting your room the way you want it. Well, we're renting our house here - I love the house - but I don't love the blue tile. I have been decorating the bathroom with dark brown and I was thrilled to find this fabric with the dark brown and light blue. I think it ties the two colors together quite nicely. :)

I did have one issue with my sewing machine - it was my first time using it - the thread isn't completely tight on both side of the sewing. I think that I need to match up some knobs on the machine - but I don't really know what they all mean...

I looked online for an easy valance pattern, but I didn't find exactly what I was imagining in my mind. So, I just made these without a pattern. There are two panels - is that the right word? I am OCD when it comes to symmetry, so I spent most of the time measuring up everything to make sure that one wouldn't be longer than the other. I am quite pleased with the results!

As easy as riding a bike

2011-06-09T21:36:00.001-04:00

Tyler has been teaching Anna to ride her bike. We've had this particular bike for some time, but never made the effort to get out and teach her. One day Tyler said that she couldn't continue playing/watching/reading Pokemon until she mastered riding around the block on her bike without stopping. Days went by. There was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. "I can't do it," "It's too hard," "I saw a bee so I ran inside," "Can I just ride back and forth to our neighbor's driveway several times and have that count??" Yes, my daughter has tried many tricks to get out of doing it. I tried to encourage her, as did Tyler, but she was determined to FAIL. This was so hard to see, as her parents. She wouldn't try to succeed - she would put the least amount of effort into it and then when that didn't work, she would say something like, "See! I told you I can't do this!!!" You see what I mean, right?

Today I encouraged her to try to make it around the block, instead of just riding to a few houses down and back. Something just clicked for her and she made it around the block twice! She came inside just beaming and called Tyler at work to tell him the good news. He came home and, sure enough, she rode her bike around the block perfectly! Success! She immediately got on the computer to watch some Pokemon episodes. She's excited about what she accomplished and so are we.

The twins are skilled on their bicycles and now Anna can ride hers. I am looking to purchase one for myself, but I need something more sturdy because of my weight. Have you seen these adult tricycles?

That's one sweet ride, eh? And I think the stylish outfit comes with it, too.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-02T12:38:00.000-04:00

Iryna was having a hard time, so she opted for a snuggle with Daddy to calm down.

We all wore red to church on Sunday in honor of Memorial Day. Don't we look nice?

Keithy demonstrating how his birthday airplane works and how much he loves it by giving the airplane hugs and kisses. He's so stinkin' cute!

Anna decided that Mama needing some pampering - so she organized the kids to give me shoulder & feet massages, while Keithy was instructed to receive tickles from Mama. I love how Anna has an idea and then gets it done. And I don't mind some pampering, either. ;)

We thought about going away for the weekend, but then came back to the reality that we're adopting two more boys and all our money is going towards that! So, we opted to stay home and spend some family time together. We grilled, played board games, and watched movies. Tyler went surfing. I finished up my digital scrapbook for 2010. It was lovely.

The game is afoot

2011-05-28T12:58:00.000-04:00

Last week I had ordered Anna some new shoes from Skechers.com. She wanted a particular pair that was purple and super sparkly. I figured that her feet had grown so I ordered a half size up from her current shoes. The cost for the shoes was the same as at the BX on base - plus there's more variety and free shipping on Skechers.com. The shoes arrived - Anna was ecstatic. She put them on and then walked around. Something was off, I could tell, but Anna insisted that the shoes were "great". Hmmmm. I decided that perhaps she was up a whole size and not just a half size, so I took her to the BX to measure her feet and see what size they were. To my surprise, she had gone from a size 2 to a size 4. (!) No wonder that size 2 1/2 shoes weren't fitting. Just for fun, I decided to measure Iryna's feet. I had just purchased a pair of shoes for her, size 10, because we thought we had lost her other shoes - so I bought her the shoes and of course within days we found the old pair - has this happened to you??? Well, her feet measured a size 11. (!!) At this point, I was afraid to measure Keith's feet - because of the trend thus far. He was wearing a size 9 in his shoes. I measured his feet and then I asked the woman working in the shoe department to come over and confirm his true size: 11 1/2. (!!!) And so, instead of just measuring Anna's feet and going home, I bought Iryna a new pair of shoes - which actually fit her extremely narrow feet - and Keith got some CARS shoes that light up + some black Sunday shoes. Then I came home and ordered Anna some of those same sparkly shoes in size 4. Here they are modeling their new shoesies.

I have to admit that I feel TERRIBLE for having my children going around in shoes too small for them. Keith has hypotonic CP and as a result, he is super flexible - I mean really flexible - in all of his joints. He has never complained about his old shoes, but I can see more of a spring in his step with his current shoes. I think that I will need to be more proactive in checking their feet for their size as opposed to just waiting for their shoes to wear out first.

Eye Surgery

2011-05-24T14:36:00.000-04:00

Anna approached Tyler & I a year ago with what she thought was considered a super power: double vision. I then took her to the eye doctor who confirmed that she needs glasses and that she needed to wear a prism on those glasses to help strengthen her left eye. If she didn't strengthen it - the eye would eventually stop working all together. So, we tried the prism for about 6 months. There was some improvement - but not enough, so Dr T ordered eye surgery to tighten the eye muscle which will eliminate the double vision.

This morning Anna and I reported to the surgical center at 6:15am - the surgery was supposed to begin at 7:30am. At 8:35am, they wheeled her into surgery. Before the surgery, Anna got an IV. She cried at the numbing shot prior to the IV. Poor baby girl - I'm afraid she's inherited my low pain tolerance. I had brought her gameboy with 3 pokemon games to distract her and they did their job for the most part. A few minutes before surgery, I reminded Anna of the priesthood blessing that her daddy gave her last night which said that she has the gift of the holy ghost and that if she prays for it - she can feel peace from the holy ghost. She then said a silent prayer. As they were wheeling her into surgery, I said that God would be with her. Anna responded, "Don't worry, Mama. I prayed. Everything will be fine." Be still my heart - she is such a spiritual little girl.

Pre-surgery.

Post-surgery.

30 minutes later, the surgery was over. They said that everything went well and that I could come back and see my girl. She was still under anaesthesia and a bit loopy. She sang me the song that the pokemon jigglypuff sings. It was so cute - she probably won't remember that later. The nurse gave her powerade and some animal crackers. We dressed her and took her to the bathroom. While in there, she threw up in the trashcan a few times. Poor baby girl. I took her home and she threw up again in her bedroom - thankfully in a bag. I gave her a bowl and she laid down to sleep. She slept for about 3 hours. Now she is watching some pokemon episodes on my laptop in her bed - with a bowl. I am giving her eye drops. She seems to be doing well - but doesn't like how her eye looks. :( I am grateful that everything worked out and that my baby is okay. :)

The latest

2011-05-23T22:06:00.000-04:00

Soccer graduation:

Anna was thrilled to get her very first trophy! The twins loved that the soccer ball actually spins. I have a feeling that they will be ~~broken~~ loved-on by the twins, especially Iryna.

Our pool is definitely in session - the kids love to swim. And here's a picture of my handsome hubby. Woo-hoo, he's such a looker!

Pictures of Keith in his new Sunday getup - most of it is from his birthday. I've always wanted to dress up my boy in a bowtie and suspenders - so stinkin' cute! And his favorite color is yellow. :)

Barry is here visiting this week. He came over for dinner tonight - it was great catching up with him and hearing what his wife, Jessica, & kids are doing. You're welcome anytime, Barry! (And Jessica, AND all the kids, too!)

Maggie is my little snugglepup. Isn't she sweet?

Uh, yeah. So, during our missionary meeting at church a few Sundays back, Keith was playing a little too rough with Iryna and pushed her into a metal chair. Her nose started bleeding...and this is what we saw! I freaked out a bit, I'll admit, when I saw how much blood there was, but she cleaned up quickly and all the blood came out in the wash - that surprised me, too!

Goodbye soccer! I don't know if we'll ever revisit this sport again - but it was an, um, experience!

The kids are out for summer break. Congratulate and pity me at the same time. I hope to find plenty of fun things for us to do. Oh, and your prayers are appreciated for my daughter, Anna. She is having eye surgery tomorrow morning to correct her double vision. She had a priesthood blessing tonight by her father and the missionaries and I feel peaceful about the procedure. Still, would appreciate your prayers. Thank you!

Poem

2011-05-19T14:56:00.001-04:00

I love you, Tyler.

Soccer Season

2011-05-19T11:31:00.000-04:00

Today the soccer season comes to a close for my 3 kids. It wasn't a successful season for a few reasons. #1 We were in Russia for half of it. #2 Anna was reluctant to actually RUN during the practices and games - this was one of the major reasons we signed her up for soccer. #3 Keith & Iryna spent more time tackling each other, pulling up grass, bringing other soccer balls into the game, and just not having a clue what was going on. Plus, when we got back from Russia, it was clear that most of the children had improved their soccer skills, and our kids hadn't. Ah, well. We all learned something from the situation. No more soccer for the twins. Anna has actually been doing better the past few practices/games, so that is encouraging. She has expressed interest in joining a swim team plus returning to gymnastics. She's also taking piano lessons, so we'll see what all we can do. I don't think that the twins are ready for team sports and they may never be ready for them. We'll probably just try once a year - like we do with Iryna's gymnastics. :)

In other news, I have a fundraiser going for a beautiful red and black homemade mixing bowl on my adoption blog. Please check it out and share the link to earn an entry to win the bowl!

My son is 7 years old

2011-05-18T00:06:00.001-04:00

3 years ago, I saw this face and knew he was meant to be my son. He was "Nikita" to me then, now Keith Nikita. :)

Birthdays help me to think back and see how far my kids have come. I have known Keith since the Spring in 2008. Here are some pictures from then to now:

At the orphanage in Artemovsk, Ukraine.

The picture in the file at the SDA. Doesn't he look sad? Poor little buggy.

My first visit with Keith at the orphanage. They said that he never smiled and I got him to smile within seconds. I guess he was just waiting to smile for his Mama. :)

6 months home.

Learning to walk!

He was sealed to our family in the OKC Temple in January 2010!

2010 Family pictures.

So handsome!

This is his first passport picture next to his current passport picture. He's much happier now. :)

This morning, Keithy woke up and saw that the Balloon Fairy had come to visit. He was very excited about the balloons! We ate strawberry crepes (birthday breakfast tradition!) and then the twins went to school. Keith took his favorite movie, TOY STORY 2, and some mini chocolate cupcakes to share with his class.

For dinner, we had crockpot macaroni and cheese, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate milk - per Keith's request. We all went around the table and said things that we love about Keithy. :) Keith opened his presents: TOY STORY 1 & TOY STORY 2 on DVD; a yellow button up shirt with black bowtie and black suspenders (will post pictures on Sunday - I can't wait!); and a stuffed airplane that makes airplane sounds. He was ecstatic about the airplane. Keith has been wanting to sleep with his toy airplanes, but they are all hard and pointy and small - so he would lose them during the night...this one is nice and soft - perfect for snuggling with at night.

We went to soccer practice for the kids and then went to watch Tyler play the championship softball game. On the way to and from softball, we watched TOY STORY 1 and everyone loved it. I think Keith had a wonderful birthday. He's currently all snuggled up with airplane. :)

Here are some current things about Keith: you've been chewing your own food for a whole year now! I'm so proud of you! You are also about 85% potty trained - such a big boy. I love how you will snuggle your mama. You are extremely forgiving of anyone who wrongs you. You are generous and share anything you have with others. I love how you need me when you need to be comforted. Your favorite color is yellow. Your favorite toys are the water hose and airplanes. I love how you walk around with your arms straight out - pretending to be an airplane "high in the sky" as you say. You are very special, Keith, and anyone who meets you can see that. I love you. I thank God for sending you to me and our family. Happy Birthday, Bugaboo!

A sewing story

2011-05-13T14:50:00.000-04:00

I cross stitched for about 15 years before giving it up. Then I discovered scrapbooking and did that for a couple of years before transitioning into blogging and digital scrapbooking. However, lately I've had this desire to do something with my hands. I have felt prompted to pick up a new hobby: sewing. Now, you should know my ~~inexperience~~ history when it comes to sewing. My mom sews. She made many of my clothes when I was young, in addition to Halloween costumes and quilts, etc. She's a great seamstress. When I was 10 or so, she sent me to a summer sewing class. The goal of the class was to make a pair of shorts for ourselves. At the end of the class I had a pair of red cotton shorts with an elastic waist. The only problem was that when I put them on me - they promptly fell off...something about the waist being too big. Or something. And that was the last time that I really sewed anything, unless you count cross stitching.

I thought it was a little different that I was being prompted to pick up a hobby...normally I'm prompted by the Holy Spirit to help a neighbor, assist my children, do spiritual things...not start a hobby. I approached Tyler about the idea of purchasing a sewing machine. Knowing that we are low in money right now with the adoption, I felt that he would say that we couldn't afford a sewing machine. To my surprise, he loved the idea and was 100% supportive. Okie dokie. So, like my other promptings, I acted on it and found this little beauty on Craigslist for $100:

My new sewing machine!

Currently, I am thinking to make a quilt for Anna and Iryna, then go on to make a quilt for Keith & Calvin's bed + crib bedding for Silas. I know, why start with the small stuff, right? I would be happy if any of my readers could direct me to websites with quilt patterns or good places to buy material and thread. I await your wisdom.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-09T09:50:00.000-04:00

I'm back, baby! We had a great month in Russia - you can read about all the details & see pictures here - and we are happy to be home. I made it just in time for Mother's Day, and it was a lovely day. I spoke with my mom on the phone, ate see's scotchmallows, went to church and was uplifted, played yahtzee with Tyler & Anna, didn't have to cook once, and enjoyed snuggling my children! The kids each made cards for me at church:

Above is from Anna. I love the last answer: I love you mom so much that I am drowning with love. She's so sweet. :)

Tyler was actually Keith & Iryna's teachers in Primary. Tyler said he started asking Keithy questions about me and by the time he asked the second question, Keithy said: "(it's) too hard!" Um, okay. Silly buggy. He did, although, help Daddy draw a self portrait of me. I guess I look like an airplane. ;)

Iryna's answers were the most comical. My name is Mom, I am apparently 6 years old and I like to clean, walk, vacuum, go outside, and go to bed. I have brown eyes. My birthday is on cake. I was born on an airplane. My favorite foods are chicken nuggets, cheese & potato. I like to help Iryna clean up toys, read, and play wii. I am the best at strong, stretch, touch head. Ha ha. She does know my favorite color (orange) and tried to make in on my portrait with a red and yellow crayon. :)

I truly am grateful to be a mother. Aside from being a wife, it is the most important role that I have in life. I am happy that God has given me 3 children to love and 2 more who are on their way to being in our family. My perception of being a mother has changed in the past 9 years. I used to think that if you were just doing everything right (as a mother) that your children would behave just as they should and life would be smooth sailing as a parent. I am here to report that this is faulty logic and that I am not doing everything (though still trying!) and my children don't behave just as they should, but I love them and I love being their mama.

Today wouldn't be complete without a big THANK YOU to my dear mother. Mom, thank you for raising me in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for loving me and teaching me to cook, clean, be organized, and be a good wife and mama to my family. I love you!

My mom with me and my great-granny.

One of my grandma's favorite pictures of my mom & I.

My mom & I when I was in college.

My mom & I a few years ago. Isn't she lovely? I think so. :)

Adoption Trip

2011-04-07T23:17:00.000-04:00

Well, we leave on Saturday for our first adoption trip to Russia. This means that I won't be posting on this blog until after we return from Russia, sometime in May. I am ~~begging~~ asking you to follow my adoption blog and leave ~~a plethora of~~ comments so I don't feel so lonely in post-cold-war-Russia. I promise to update as often as possible. Keep in mind that I will be 8 hours ahead of EST - there's a clock on my adoption blog to let you know what time it is there, in case you forget. ;)

Girl's Night Out

2011-04-06T16:14:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to Texas Roadhouse with 11 other girls from church. We had a great time, aside from them not being able to seat us all at the same table like the host had told me was possible when I called in earlier. *sigh* Yes, other than that - it was great! My good friend, Melissa, is PCSing (military term for moving to another assignment) in a month and so she chose Texas Roadhouse - can't say that I blame her, such a great restaurant! Here are some pictures:

Nichole, Amanda, Melissa, Malina, & Katrina

Melissa & me

Jessica, Liz, Nici, & Melissa

Melissa, Kari, Linda, & Maria

I love these women! They are so much fun to spend time with each month. I appreciate their friendship and truly love each of them. I am so grateful to be in this ward here in FL. Can't wait until next month, girls!

Prayer Warrior

2011-04-02T22:55:00.001-04:00

Last night we finally found a hotel to stay at, the last leg of our Spring Break vacation. This morning, after breakfast and packing up, we got in Bonnie (our bonnie blue van) and tried to start her up for our trek home. Only, Bonnie didn't want to start up the engine - she wanted to blare her alarm at us. This happened another time during this week and it left Tyler standing out in the cold, rainy 50 degree weather for 2 hours, waiting on the roadside assistance to arrive, only to have Bonnie start working again. We knew that we were going to have to take Bonnie in for some TLC, but we wanted to get home first and not be stranded over an hour from home.

Tyler says that I am a prayer warrior when it comes to praying for technological things to work. You know, the computer to be able to upload that file that it hasn't uploaded, the phone to work, etc. When I pray for them to work, God answers my prayers. So, when Bonnie's alarm was blaring and it wouldn't allow for us to drive the van, Tyler asked us to have a family prayer and for ME to pray for help. I prayed and 10 minutes later...you guessed it...Bonnie was working just fine and we were on our way home. I don't write this to boast in any way, I know that it is God who has made these things happen - not me. I am just grateful for His help.

We came home, unloaded, and Tyler took Bonnie to the dealership. They said to come back on Monday, which we will do. Let's hope Bonnie can get fixed up that day. :)

I was able to watch the second session of General Conference today - we were driving through the first one. It was so wonderful. I love hearing the Prophet and his apostles speak about Jesus Christ and how we can return back to him. I look forward to the last 2 sessions tomorrow. If interested, click here. I liked Boyd K Packer's talk on the name of our church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He said that it's okay for others to refer to our church by the name "Mormons" but that we should say the full name or Latter Day Saints. I went to the BX to buy a wii game today and I had a nice conversation with the cashier. She ended up asking me what church I belong to, and I was able to tell her The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It felt good to be following the teachings of an apostle, within hours of his talk! Pretty neat! I am so blessed to be a member of this church.

Johnny Carino's

2011-04-01T18:02:00.001-04:00

My favorite Italian restaurant is Johnny Carino's. During our spring break in GA, I noticed that they had one close by, so we ate there one night. Their chicken parmigiana is the best ever and I really like their virgin pina coladas!

Check out this crazy car we saw on the road:

I love putting Iryna's hair into ponytails - so cute!

Spring Break

2011-03-31T17:35:00.000-04:00

Tyler had to take a week long class in GA, and it happened to coincide with spring break, so we've spent our time in GA, near Robin's AFB. We've had fun this week and will leave tomorrow to go home. (I'm eager to sleep in my own bed again.) I thought I'd share some pictures, beginning with some non-spring break pictures of Anna doing gymnastics, forgive the glare of the glass.

Dinner at CiCi's pizza, where my twins just eat the pasta. Go figure? There was a man doing balloon objects. It was fun. :)

Ah, yes, the picture of my man in a swimsuit. He is so good looking. Wow. :) At Tyler's work, they've been doing the Mustache March, where they grow a mustache all month. I've never seen Tyler in a mustache. I think he looks good, but he thinks he looks like a fruitcake. ha ha.

Iryna! We've been swimming every morning after breakfast. The kids are l o v i n g it!

Keithy!

Anna Belle!

Poor Iryna. She is so small that goggles don't fit her face - I've tried several types - so she just opens her eyes under the water = red eyes. You would think it would hurt too much for her to keep doing it, but this is typical of every time she swims. Poor baby girl. :(

The free cookies in the lobby were a big hit. Imagine that?

What? I'm supposed to smile? Huh.

We spent our time playing wii, watching PBS (we don't have tv at home, so that was a REAL treat for the kids), ate out, swam, and just spent time together. It was fun being in a hotel - because we didn't have much else to focus on other than each other.

In addition to all the fun we've had, I've been able to think more about our upcoming trip to Russia. This trip really prepared me for our trip, at least in letting me know what things I forgot to bring that I MUST not forget when we go to Russia! Happy Spring Break, everyone!