The Green Monster Won't Leave!

I think it is time to seek some professional help for Luke’s jealousy. He is insanely jealous quite often about his sister for just about anything ranging from her now being taller than him to her sitting in the front seat. He wants to control her all the time. The other night we came home from baseball and Sage was still up even though it was past her bedtime and he went off. He started shouting directions at her to go to bed! Drew and I were sitting right there!


This morning the rage escalated pretty high despite my trying to calm him down and get him to identify the true feelings he was having. He couldn’t get past being angry. The kids were standing next to each other and I noticed she passed him up in height. We have talked about this over and over and explained to Luke that girls generally grow earlier than boys and more than likely, she would be taller than he was at some point. Luke can dish out the teasing and mean words but gets very angry when his sister or parents kid with him.

All I said to him was “Looks like your sister may be taller. You guys stand back to back and let me see.” He instantly got mad and Sage saw the weak point and said “Yea Luke, back to back!” I tried to cut it off there but he was mad and wasn’t about to let it go.

When I tried to talking to him, he began to cry and told me to let him go and he didn’t want to talk about it because he didn’t want to cry. He said “I’m in 5th grade and 5th grade boys don’t cry. Now leave me alone!” Where do boys get this idea? I explained to him for the hundredth time that it is okay to cry and it is okay to feel feelings. It was our job as parents to help him learn what his feelings are and how to express them. He still wouldn’t let the anger go.

He said he wanted us to punish Sage. He thinks that she never gets punished. What he doesn’t see is that he causes most of the trouble in our family. He lives by the idea that he will do what he wants and pay for it later. He has always been head strong like this but the anger is new. I saw it after his injury but it is so much bigger now that he has a sibling.

Oh, I wish there was a book that went with each kid! Tonight I will crawl into bed with him and hope to talk more about feelings and expressing anger. Press the point that hitting is sister or any other girl is NEVER allowed. Then I will love him and pray that the talk helped him in some way…

Stone Mountain

                                                            (This is carved into the rock)
Yesterday (OK, so it was a month ago!! I am just now finishing this post!)we visited this really cool place! It is a huge mountain made of stone and they call it...Stone Mountain! They have camp grounds, hotels, restaurants, a quaint little town and this really cool attraction area.

You take a tram/gondola up to the to top of the rock. There were some amazing views from up there!

Just about every month they have a different event happening up there. In September I took the kids up there for the Daisy Festival which is a huge craft fair. I read it is the longest running craft fair. It was enormous and I could have spent 2 days there looking at all of the vendors. Since I had the kids we mostly looked at all of the stuff they thought they "needed".

In October they have the Pumpkin Festival. There was a scavenger hunt for the kids to find candy, a pie eating contest which Sage despirately wanted to get picked for but wasn't and we did the Sky Hike.

In the attraction area they have a place called Sky Hike. They hook you up to a rope so you can navigate your way through an obsacle course. You tight rope walk, walk across long boards that are about 4 inches wide, walk across small circles and a bunch of other interesting methods to scare you half to death!

                                 (Luke tightrope walking)

I am not afraid of heights and love anything that is fast, goes upside down or spins. I have even jumped from a plane! So I wasn't at all concerned about this. It looked so easy standing underneath it. What was the worst that could happen? I fall and dangle from a rope at my waist? "Hey kids" I said, "Let's go to the 3rd level and start there!"

    (At this point Sage wanted to get down!)

We did about 3/4 of the 3rd level and Sage said "I want to get down!" She was shaking and her lips were shivering! It wasn't physically exhausting but mentally exhausting. By the time we eventually reached the end of the 3rd level I was ready to be done also. I think the next time we go we will start off on the first level and work our way up!

At night they do a laser light show on the rock. We had been there for hours that day and didn't want to wait for it to get dark so we missed the laser show. Next time...

The day after Christmas they somehow have snow up there. Not snow made from suds or snow to make icy snowballs with but SNOW! I am not exactly sure where they do it either...it can't be on that rock!

Here is the link to Stone Mountain http://www.stonemountainpark.com/ If you ever visit the Atlanta area be sure to visit Stone Mountain!

Going Pink

I am going pink this month for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Women, if you are over 40 (or in the state of FL...35) GET A MAMMOGRAM! I have had a scare before but after having an MRI, (let me tell you how fun it is to let your breasts hang loose while the technician positions you!) I am clear!

Don't ignore anything that seems "off". Get yourself squeezed half to death just to be safe!

Really???

The news just reported that there is not going to be any school tomorrow...

When we moved to Portland the Oregonians told us that it only snowed there every 5-7 years. It snowed there every single year we were there!!! As a matter of fact, there was a major ice storm in January of 2004 that shut down the entire city and left us without power for 3 days. A couple of weeks after that we went to Orlando on vacation and ended up staying for an extra week because we really liked the weather in January...it was 75 degrees! Hey, why don't we move here?? Great idea.

Fast forward 6 months and what do you know....there are 5 hurricanes in Florida. We were told by the Floridians that Central Florida never gets hit with hurricanes! The worst part about it was, Luke and I went through 4 of them alone because Drew was still in Portland! After about the 3rd one I was so over it! I didn't even get extra gas or water!! Luke was trying to get used to kindergarten and they kept canceling school!

And now here we are in Atlanta and we are experiencing some extreme weather! They say they have not seen rain and flooding like this since Hurricane Ivan. Lucky us!!

At first I thought it was perfect....Luke was home sick and the weather was yucky but now I am just sick of it! We have been trapped in the house since last Wednesday night.

I don't think it is us....right?? Global warming for sure!!

Flooded

Still coming down in buckets.....This morning our creek was flowing pretty good but nothing like this! Now it is in the neighbors yard and at the top of the line and overflowing into the sitting area of our yard (if you wanted to sit by the creek).

This was the creek over the summer....

This is it today. The boys (in the picture above) were standing where you see the water first coming out of the trees.This is the sitting area...right behind the two little bushes in the middle is covered in rock so you could put some chairs. I would say normally the ditch that the creek flows through there is about 10 feet deep. It is above that level and onto the yard!

Please Vote!!

Luke has been growing

his hair out since we

moved from Florida.

I won't sway the vote by saying which style I like better but please leave a comment and let us know which you like better....

Rain, Rain Go Away.....

Ok, I am beginning to feel like we are living in Oregon again. We haven't seen the sun for days and the rain keeps falling! Looking at the weather, I don't think we will see a full sunny day until next Monday! The rain is supposed to continue for another few days! They say we have received 15 inches of rain since Friday!

This morning Drew took Luke to the bus stop (after a major jealousy issue because his sister was staying home!!) and the principal drove by and told them that the buses would be delayed an hour and a half. No problem, we would just drive him at 9:30. After having him home for 5 days he was going to school!! They got all ready to leave and I thought I better check the district's website first and found out they cancelled school! What!!! Because it's raining??? I guess after living in the desert nearly all of my life and NEVER had school close EVER, I don't get why the schools close all the time for weather. Didn't these people walk up hill in the snow for a mile just to get to school each day?

I bet Sage is mad because she isn't the only one home! <>

The Crud!!

Last Wednesday night Luke woke up in the middle of the night vomiting. That started the fun! He was sick all of the rest of the week and most of the weekend. The worst part for him was the fever.

I got a little worried since there were two cases of Swine Flu that were reported in his school so far but after reading the CDC site it appears he just has the plain old variety.

Luckily the weather was crappy and baseball was cancelled so he didn't miss anything important. When I was at school last week his teacher told me she had 4 students out of her class. This is only Septemeber! What is the flu season going to look like once we crank up the heaters?

Yesterday was his first day out and it wore him out!

NOW....

Sage is sick! Last week after seeing all the fun Luke was having, she told Drew that it looked fun to be sick because you got to stay home from school and watch TV all day and eat whenever you want and got lots of attention. I had a feeling she would be pulling a little faking on us.

Yesterday afternoon she magically got a cough too. Then when she was supposed to clean up her room she didn't feel well. Hmmm....

But you can't fake a 101 fever or dizziness. Now that she has had Motrin she says she is feeling "much more better". Think she talked herself into being sick?

Little did she know that being home sick meant she had to stay in bed or on the couch sleeping. You usually don't feel too hungry and playing is totally out of the question! She is bored to tears and I have a feeling she will be feeling so much better later today so she can go back to school.

Speaking of school....read my next post....

Sage's 18 Month Update

This update is long overdue but better late than never they say! I would love to post other pictures but our other laptop crashed and I didn't back up the pictures! I think I have finally learned my lesson!

Sage is doing so well. We put her into 3rd grade which means she skipped 2nd grade all together. This decision has been very good for her. She is still the oldest in the class but not by much now.

This school is much stronger in their curriculum than the school the kids attended in Florida. Still Sage is hanging tough and learning so much every single day! Her teacher told me in an informal meeting Thursday that she is reading on a level 17. Most 3rd graders read on a level 23, so she is not that far off. She has others in her class who have been in the US all of their lives who are reading lower.

Since the spelling has gotten significantly more difficult (ex. important and because) we are learning that Sage really, really needs to work on correct pronunciation of words before she can begin to spell them correctly. On a pretest she spelled the word because...pecos. Her accent is so thick that when she speaks you can't tell she is using a p instead of a b. The th sound still haunts her. She can say it but chooses to be lazy much of the time and says the d sound. Other words we have caught on to are shdare...share, sdure...sure, churn...turn. Her writing is very behind. I am sad to say that I don't think the curriculum in FL allowed for her to learn the skills in writing that are so important. Then we put her in 3rd and ask her what a complete subject and predicate is and she looks us like we are crazy!

Her first couple of reading tests that she did on her own she did poorly. But when the teacher reads the test to her she does fantastic. She has gotten B's since! Math is up and down. I think when she is working hard on another subject she lets others go.

The services she is getting in this school are so impressive. I have yet to have a final IEP meeting for her but so far she is getting speech and language therapy 4 times a week, ESOL classes 4 times a week and some awesome accommodations in the classroom. The ESOL is amazing and I can't believe what they are learning and how much native born children just know from living here all of their lives. Last week she had a test on the branches of the government!

Socially, it is hit and miss. Her emotional age is still younger than her chronological age. She easily gets involved in things that she knows she shouldn't but is easily swayed. For example, a couple of weeks ago I was out town and she got into my nail polish and closet knowing I did not allow that and lied to Drew about it telling him that I allowed her to paint her finger nails on her own.

She can get around other kids and go crazy. She gets loud and runs all over the place and wants to eat everything in sight. I am still not letting her have many playdates at other kids houses. She wants to have a sleepover but I just don't see it happening any time soon. I don't trust that she will make good choices.

She likes to be sneaky especially with Drew. She will ask him for things knowing what my response would be. This has been very difficult for her. Yesterday I was taking care of Luke (who was sick) and she was supposed to be getting something for breakfast. Drew and I walked out of the bedroom while she was coming out of the pantry with a bag of microwave popcorn and headed for her backpack. Oops! Busted! She has also tried to order breakfast at school after she was just fed at home and had a morning snack in her backpack. Most of the sneaking has to do with food. Also, Luke can get her to do all sorts of things that she knows are wrong like flipping off of her bed and marking up the walls. She is a people pleaser...I get it!

She is taking hip hop classes. I was only able to see one class at the end so I don't have much of an idea how she is doing. She loves it though so that is all that counts. Homework really takes up much of our afternoon so we aren't going to do another activity.

She is growing and beginning to hit puberty. This makes me wonder about her true age. Luckily, she is in class with other girls who are also in the beginning stages. If we could just get her to remember she needs to wear deodorant every single day! She is wearing a size ten mostly because of her long legs but I have let out the adjustable buttons on her shorts.

Overall, she is doing wonderful and is a joy to be around. She is super caring and sweet and can talk with anyone. She is very outgoing and never shy. I can't wait to see where she is 6 months from now....

Lost Stuff

Do you ever wonder where all of the stuff that is lost goes? Does it go to the same place? Will we ever find it? Here is what we are currently missing:

• Pencil Sharpener
• 1 Pair of Scissors
• Luke's NEW Retainer (a whole other story...)
• Socks...Always Socks
• A Complete Uniform For Sage
• A Target Gift Card
• A Publix Gift Card....I have hidden them both and can't seem to remember where...sigh....
• Sage's Homework Folder

 

I am sure there is more stuff but more and more I am feeling like I lose brain cells hourly! I love how the kids didn't borrow anything and don't have a clue where anything may be! Crap!!! Now I can't find the spell check button on Blogger!!! What the heck!!! Did I mention that I turned 40 on the 3rd? Maybe that has something to do with feeling lost!

Are You A Summer Mom or School Mom?

I recently read an article in Woman's Day magazine. The question was: Are you a summer mom or a school mom? I know for sure I am a school mom. As much as I love sleeping in and not dealing with the homework battles, I also like having order in the house! I hate hearing "I'm bored" 20,000 times a week. I hate the messes all over the house. I would so love it if our school was one of those year-round schools where the kids go for 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off. That would give us different seasons to explore places. Just enough time for the kids to get bored but then have to go back to school.

Let me just end this by saying I love my children dearly but I am so happy that school is back in!!

Back To School

The kids started back to school last Monday and it wasn't a day too early. We were all getting on each others nerves after being home for the last 4 months together. I don't know how you home schoolers do it! Luke was not happy with the idea of school starting saying "Mom, I'm not going. I don't need to go to school!" and Sage could barely contain her excitement to put on her new school clothes.

Since I take so many pictures and try to put a picture on each post, you would think I would have pictures of their first day of school or at least their 3rd day of school pretending to be their first. But it just didn't happen. I do have one excuse to offer...the bus. When we went to the Meet the Teacher we stopped by the transportation booth to see how the bus schedule worked here since we are new to the area and school. It was the weirdest schedule I have ever seen (OK, I have only seen one other bus schedule, but still!). They tell you what time the bus picks up the first stop, how many stops there are for that route and obviously you know what time the bus needs to get the children to school. Everything after that is just a guess!!! And every day last week the bus arrived at a different time! One day the bus stopped right in front of our house as my kids ran across the street with their shoes in their hands! So getting a picture just didn't happen. I should have taken the picture of Sage running up the street with her shoes and socks in her hands and her belt half way around her shorts! I don't even want to talk to you about what time the bus drops them off! The office assures me things will smooth out.

This school has adopted a new dress code this year....uniforms. Luke was not thrilled at all. Until last year he had worn uniforms to private school. One of the big things we used to entice him to the public school was having the freedom to choose what he wanted to wear. I asked around about the uniforms to the few parents I came in contact with over the summer. There were varying degrees as to how many kids would be wearing uniforms. Since it is public school they can't force the kids to wear them I guess. Sage chose to wear the uniform and Luke didn't. I was okay with that. Luke only has one more year of elementary so I let it slide. So far I have heard about 50% of the kids are wearing uniforms. We left tags on all of the clothes (except what they wore the first day) just in case but they are both sticking to their decisions.

So the first week of school is done and they both made it through. They both have a heavier load of homework than they are used to. Remember, Sage went from first grade and being babied to a big third grader. It seems 5th grade is a lot about getting the kids prepared for middle school. They each like their teachers and so do I.

The school has tested Sage already and has her in speech and language already. I just got a note home that she also qualifies for ESOL and I am learning what services she will get for that also. They gave her a test to measure how much English she understands, can speak and can write. It was very low and I was surprised. With the top score being a 6, she scored 2.7. The year is going to challenge her for sure but I know with support she will be okay.

Maybe I will take a picture of them this Monday! :)

Happy Birthday Chloe and Chase

This blog has mainly been about our adoption and life afterward. That is why I chose to begin another blog about my personal life.

Today and tomorrow are the birthdays of our children who were born too early 11 years ago. I have written a post about them and our experience over at my memoir blog http://www.thewayiveseenlife.blogspot.com if you would like to read it. I just wanted to say here "Happy Birthday Chloe and Chase". You will always be in our hearts!

We Found Her Birth Mother

I have wanted to do a birth parent search for Sage since we brought her home. We didn't have much to go on but I felt that we owed it to her to try to find her birth parents before the trail (if there was one) went cold. I had several things I wanted to accomplish if we found her:
1. Sage pours over our family albums and scrapbooks often. It is like she is studying them. I wanted to try and get her pictures of herself as a baby or of her earlier childhood. I wanted to give her some history before we met her.
2. She wanted to let her birth mother know she was okay and happy.
3. I wanted to let her birth parents know she was in America. I wanted them know that she had a family that would always love her and care for her.
4. I hoped that we could get some information about her siblings and grandmother. I hoped that we could get pictures of them as well.
5. And like all AP's we hoped for some medical information.

We didn't go into the search thinking the mother did the best thing for Sage by letting her go. We didn't think rosy thoughts about her. We knew the information may be bad if not incomprehensible. We used Gene Sagin. When we first contacted him and sent him all of Sage's documents, he told us that he didn't think we had that great of a chance since Sage was abandoned in a public place and according to the orphanage documents, was never visited. Sage insists that she was visited by her mother and father. The orphanage told us that a woman came to see her once and could not produce the correct paperwork to prove she was the mother. She never came again.

Last Tuesday Gene found Sage's birth mother! I was a bit skeptical because a lot of the information in his report we already knew. In his first email he sent some pictures of the birth mothers boyfriend and mother neither of which Sage recognized. Then he said he was having trouble sending the pictures of the birth mother. Later in the day I checked my email and right when I was downloading the birth mother pictures Sage walked up to me to ask a question. When the picture popped up she said "Dats my moder! Dats her!" Sage had a smile on her face.

The conditions the BM lives in are horrible. I won't go into what the report revealed but to say Sage will have a better life here with us is an understatement. She lives 60 miles from where Sage was found in a small village. Her name is not what we thought it was. She is not married. She was not happy to know Sage is in America. Gene was not able to get any of the information we requested or pictures. But maybe we have the most important thing...a picture of where Sage came from. A picture of her birth mother. A connection to her life before us.

Later in the day Sage and I were in the car and I asked her how she was feeling about seeing her BM's picture. She said "My heart felt so happy and squishy and it was beeping so fast but my heart also felt sad." I asked her what about the picture made her happy and she said that she was able to see her mothers face again. I asked her what about the picture made her sad and she said "Pecost (because) I don't know why my mom left me." Heartbreaking! She told me that she wanted to send her mother food. She wanted to send her my old clothes so she had something better to wear. She did not look anything like what I thought she would. I pictured a tall, skinny woman with long straight dark hair. She was very over weight with curly, short dark hair. I have spent so much time studying these pictures of her looking for resemblences.

We do not plan to tell her about what the condition of her mother is or what she said until much later in life when/if she asks. I do feel some closure though and now we have a picture. It was more than we had before....

Microwave Disaster!

I had to go to Orlando for a doctors appointment and planned on taking Sage with me. I was just driving down and coming back the next day. The day I was leaving Luke had a tooth pulled and begged me to take him instead. Neither of them really wanted to go but I wasn't going to leave Drew home with the two of them.

When Drew is in charge the supervision is a little sketchy. It is worse when it is a work day (which it was). I knew it meant that Sage would have free range of the TV, computer and pantry. I didn't think it would mean she would have free range of the microwave!

I guess she asked if she could make graham crackers with chocolate and daddy said yes. She set the microwave for 45 minutes!!!! Drew got a wiff of the burning creation and came upstairs to see what was happening. Not only was it burned but it had exploded all over the microwave!

Later in the evening she asked if she could make a hot dog. Drew asked her how long she was going to cook it for and she said "Tirdy minutes. Is that right, daddy?" Luckily for all parties involved, he came up and made it for her. I did have a nice little mess to clean and a horrid smell I still can't get rid of! I have forbidden her to use the microwave unless there is an adult around!!

In so many ways she is still like a 4 year old...

Happy 9th Birthday Sage!

She is 9! Sage had been counting down the days for 2 months I think! Just about 20 times a day she would remind us that her birthday was coming. We got a little too many "I wants" and tried to remind her about being grateful for the gifts that she did get.

Along with the gifts she got from dad, mom and Luke, she did get some cash from Aunt Aimee which we spent all day long yesterday at the mall spending! I am so proud of her...she bought all clothes! She and I had a great day together. She is very frugal when she is spending her own money! It is funny, when she goes into a store she checks out the price tags and decides if we are going to stay in that store or leave! She has an obsession with shoes...the Ukrainian kind. If you've been to Ukraine you know what I am talking about. They are so high even I would have a hard time walking in them. She points them out everywhere we go and wants to know at what age she can start wearing them.

She really wanted an Ipod. She had one right after we came home with her. Problem was, she dropped it so many times it finally broke. We found her a hot pink MP3 player that was cheap and is so much better than an Ipod! It has FM radio, voice recording, video and MP3! This way if it gets broken it wasn't so expensive that I will freak out. I don't think the ear buds have left her ears yet! Poor child cannot sing. For some reason she always sings the lyrics right after the singer does. She knows the words so that isn't it. It can be a little annoying when she has the ear buds in and she is singing along really loud to the same station I am listening to.

We had a little drama about what dessert she wanted for her birthday and what Luke thought she should have for her dessert. He can be so controlling! He and I were out grocery shopping and we called home to check to see what she wanted. I guess she wasn't near Drew when we called and he told us to surprise her. She will eat anything (besides fish) so we knew any thing sweet would be fine with her. NOT!!! Boy, she was so mad. She promptly came upstairs and told me "I said I wanted brownies!". Now I knew she really must have wanted brownies because she is rarely disrespectful to me. I guess I should know by now you shouldn't mess with a girl and her chocolate! After much fighting between the kids and a talk with her about how to express herself better, she settled on a strawberry cake. You can see how happy she was just to have cake and singing!

***Sometimes Blogger drives me up the wall!!! I have been working on this short little post for over an hour! Sometimes when I try to close up the gaps Blogger puts in, you delete things you don't mean to delete! One wrong move and you have to start over. Urrrg! They need to be able to let you copy (so if you loose your connection when you are publishing) you don't loose the entire post (it has happened to me more than once!) and you need to be able to "undo". ****

Meet Snowflake...

Last summer Luke's beloved hamster, Bart Simpson pass on to hamster heaven. He was sad and kept begging us for another hamster. We kept telling him no because he didn't like cleaning the cage I didn't feel like cleaning up after another animal or kid.

This past week he asked me if he behaved all the way until Christmas could he have another hamster. Knowing this would never happen, I told him yes. What a stupid thing for me to do!!! He and Sage received some cash (thanks Aim!!) and decided to get a hamster now! Urrrggg!!

I really don't mind hamsters except when they are loose and Luke is crying for days because we can't find it. The first weekend we had Bart, he snuck away from Luke and hid between the bathroom cabinets and the wall!! Luke was distraught and wanted us to rip out the cabinets and sink so we could save him! We were sad for him but not sad enough to destroy the bathroom! Bart was an escape artist and was found wandering through the house more than a handful of times! Each time he was apprehended.

They are supposed to be sharing the hamster but I can already see it is going to be a problem. Sage has no idea how to even hold the hamster which scares Luke and then makes him mad at her. I have explained to him that in a lot of ways his sister is still much like a 4 year old. She doesn't have the same life experiences as he does. He insists I am telling him this just to stick up for her. We have the same conversations when he makes fun of her for watching Barney on TV. I guess it is hard for a 10 year old to comprehend when he has lived here all of his life. So now Sage has to be supervised with the hamster and is not allowed to shake the little sleeping box upside down to wake him up.

As you can see our dogs are incredibly fascinated by little Snowflake. We are not sure

if Zoey (the cream colored one) is trying to eat him or protect him. She even got snippy with Luke when he tried to take the hamster out of the dog bed. Minnie...well she just wants someone to play with!

Let's hope this little hamster stays in her cage and lives longer than a year!

Funny Picture

Sage goes to bed way before Luke each night. She needs her sleep and Luke just doesn't. He is an insomniac like I am. We will tuck him into bed in his room and after we leave, he sneaks into his sisters room. I really wouldn't mind if they slept together but Sage wakes up earlier than Luke and wakes Luke up. If he is up until 11 then I would like him to sleep at least until 8:30.

I don't know what made me go up in the middle of the night and check on them but I found that Luke was not in his bed...no surprise, even though we have rules against him sleeping with Sage. This is they way I found them sleeping.

I think I have mentioned it here before, Sage is the lightest sleeper on the planet! I tried to sneak in and take this picture but as soon as the flash went off she put her hand over her eyes. One of is feet is over her mouth and the other is on her eye!! How in the world do they manage to sleep this way???

4th Of July

*****Some days I really hate Blogger! I can't make this post lay out right!!!****

Happy Birthday America!

Ok, so I am 3 weeks late...there is never enough time in the day for the mom to get done what she would like to get done!

We started off the 4th by going up to the club pool. They were having a DJ, waterslide and other fun activities for the kids. Sage wanted to do every activity but Luke wouldn't hear of doing any of it! He is just getting too cool!

Sage knew what hoola-hooping was but when the DJ said it was time for the limbo she had no idea! I explained the game to her and she was in line! Being tall and skinny with long legs isn't the best for the limbo! She had gone around several times but was very disappointed when she got out. She isn't the best at loosing!

A friend of Luke's parents told us that the club did fireworks each year and they were really good. Since we are new here we didn't have a clue where to go. They invited us to join them to watch the fireworks. We are so glad we did because they were amazing! It was totally a professional show than had to have lasted 25 minutes. It was great!! Here are some pictures of us pre-show...

I wonder what she is telling him??

The club somehow did this to the grass on the golf course. Isn't it cool!

An Update On Our Birds

We have been watching our little bird house and heard some little peeps coming from there. We took the flashlight and a ladder and saw that a whole family was now living in the house. This was really exciting for the kids.

For the last couple of weeks we have been watching the bird parents taking their young food and listening to the squawking of the babies demanding more. Each day we would look inside the nest to see what was happening and how big the babies were getting. We were all really anxious for the babies to start venturing out and watch how they learned to fly.

Last evening I was out with the dogs and went to the bird house and saw there were some ants crawling on the house. I knew this wasn't a good sign. I thought maybe one of the babies had died. I got the flashlight and to my surprise was greeted by a snake inside the house!! And no babies....

I didn't want to tell the kids. We all were so sad. What were the bird parents thinking? They had been working so hard to raise their babies. And how in the heck did the snake slither up the tree?!!! We are all trying to think of a way to have another bird house in a place a snake can't get it.

This is the second time this has happened to us. We had a nest of Cardinals right outside our dining room window in Orlando. We watched and watched those birds. One day one of the babies was out on the ground. I kept putting that little guy back in. I tried to build them a better nest with a box. The parents were so mad at me but I was only trying to save their little baby. One day we checked the nest and they were all gone. They didn't fly away, they were too young.

This time we will do a little more research and try again....

Meanest Mommy In The World

After a few weeks of telling Sage to stop chewing on her hair I have cut it off! I told her that if she kept putting her hair in her mouth, I would cut it up to her ears. When she kept doing it, I suggested she put it in a ponytail all the time...that lasted about 2 days and her hair was down and in her mouth. Drew couldn't figure out what was the big deal. I simply think it is a very gross habit. I think all girls do it.

So one day I was talking with her and she had a big chunk of hair in her mouth. Did I really want to cut her hair? No. But I have to follow through. She cried and begged which made it that much harder! I reassured Drew that I was not going to cut it to her ears but just take off about 4 inches. I am sure the entire time she was thinking "You are the meanest mommy in the world!".

But when we were all done and she looked at herself I think she really liked it! We really took off all of the old hair. It looks so much healthier now! It is still long enough to get to her mouth and I have seen it in her mouth several times. I keep telling her that I will cut it to her ears!

Two Whole Hands

Happy 10th Birthday Luke! I can't believe it has been 10 years since the night I gave birth to this boy. 10 years since I saw his little face for the first time. They say children grow up fast and they weren't kidding! He happily reminded me that in 6 years he will be driving! No!!!

I wish I could lock them away and keep them safe and innocent forever. It seems that the first 10 years of life are so uncomplicated. The next 10 years are such a confusing time for humans. They learn to love romantically and get their hearts broken. The world reveals much more of its ugly side to them and they have to learn how to deal with whatever comes their way. Puberty starts and their bodies do such weird things. Peers become strange and unaccepting sometimes. Can you tell I am a worrier? His first 10 years have been so great for him and he is so blessed. My wish for him this birthday is the next 10 years are just as good.

Anyway, his day started with gifts before Sage headed off to school. He got a new phone from mom and dad. We got him his first phone when he entered 3rd grade because he was going through some anxiety (turns out it was meds causing it) at school. It was free and not fancy. He has had the phone for nearly 2 years and never lost it! He was very responsible with it. I am the one who put it in the washing machine...it still worked but sometimes you couldn't hear him on it. It was time for a new one. He was so excited! He gave Sage is old phone (with the battery removed) and she hasn't put the thing down! She holds conversations all the time with whoever she imagines is on the other end of the phone! Cute!

Here he is with Zoey opening his practical joke gift from my sweet friend Aimee who is like an aunt to the kids. Zoey is sure it is something to eat! He immediately wanted to put the itching powder in his sisters bed!

This picture is of Luke with his special edition of People magazine who is featuring Demi Lovado and Selena Gomez. Selena is his first celebrity crush! He also wanted a full supply of Axe products. I think most of them stink but he loves them and is starting to want to smell nice....

Here he is blowing out the candles. He wanted a "fun-fetti cake with strawberry frosting" and that is exactly what I made him. He added the sprinkles! Know what he wished for? He wished the economy would get better so people would stop loosing their houses and could buy the things they need so other businesses wouldn't keep going out of business! Smart boy!
Having his first bite of cake....yum!!!

Guns and Boys

I just don't get the fascination with weapons and boys. I never have. We never promoted "boys toys" and always allowed Luke to play with what every type of toy he wanted to use. Somehow he naturally gravitated to swords. Swords I don't mind too much it's the guns I hate.

We own two guns and I have been to the shooting range before. I am fine with adults, its the kids that scare the crap out of me. I see Luke's fascination and it makes me so nervous. I have always been the type of parent that didn't think forbidding things was the best approach; maybe it will want the kids to want whatever it is more.

Last week Luke spent the night over at a new friends house and came home raving about all of the fun he had. What did you do I asked. The parents took them to a shooting range. The boys were not allowed to shoot and had to stay behind glass but it made me feel a bit weird. Once they got home they played with air soft guns. We had some neighbors in our old neighborhood that had air soft guns. We told Luke when he got older we would talk about it. I guess he is older...

We broke out our BB gun and he did some target practicing. Next thing I knew we were all shooting the thing! I needed to remind myself about my parenting style and I felt much better when we were doing something I was uncomfortable about as a family...here are some pictures from the uncomfortable event.

Look Who Lives In Our House

The other night I was outside with the dogs and I always head for our little bird house to see if anyone is home. This little guy was just sitting in the house poking his head out...

He usually comes home around dusk and just sits in front of his window...TOO CUTE!!!

New Blog

I have wanted to do this project for a very long time but never have. I have started writing about life. If you are interested here is the link....http://thewayiveseenlife.blogspot.com/

Lost and Found

Lucky day for Luke...he found his retainer after searching the entire house for it for 2 straight days. Luke has had his braces off for 3 months and now only has to wear his retainer at night. We see the darn thing laying around everywhere! I am constantly reminding him to put it away and put it in at night.

A few nights ago I told him to put it in and he said he couldn't find it. No worries I thought. We would find it laying on the kitchen table or downstairs on the table in front of the TV. But we weren't so lucky. Yesterday we got serious about looking. I told him that we couldn't fork out the money it would take plus the drive to Orlando to get him a new one. And if he didn't find it, he would be getting a new one for his one and only birthday present in a couple of weeks. This put some motivation in him.

We checked all the usual spots and then began tearing the place apart. We searched everything that had a pocket. We searched every single drawer. We took all of the sofas apart. We looked under every bed. I told him I though he threw it away with a paper plate. I knew we had it last Tuesday because we took it to his new dentist to have it adjusted. The garbage man hadn't come yet. So he and his sister (she was so nice to help him!) looked through a weeks worth of garbage! No retainer! I searched the recycling...no retainer. I was really beginning to think the dogs ate it.

This morning he and I went downstairs to search under the sofas one last time. I have been after him for about 4 days to pick up a puzzle that had been laying around. Bingo! The retainer was in the box with the pieces!!! He was so happy. I know he was sweating it thinking his birthday was really going to stink! I know if Drew would have given in and picked up the mess the retainer would have been gone!

I dreaded the braces coming off for this very reason. I knew as long as they were attached to his mouth we wouldn't lose anything. I wonder if he will lose it again....

Summer Rain

Drew and the kids love the warm summer rain of the south. In Portland it rained for 9 months straight and it was cold! Here in the south we get rain nearly every afternoon and it is so warm.

Drew and Luke thought it would be a perfect time to play catch. They had a lot of soggy fun!

Think Luke needs to get a little sun? He has inherited his dads Irish Casper skin! He is so dang skinny!!!