life in the circle

Ahhh Tuesday.

2011-02-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not a fan of Tuesdays. With Monday I know what to expect-school,work, back to the routine. But Tuesday usually means that N is out of town, homework night, spelling words, reading, piano practicing, and scouts. Ok, that's most nights but on Tuesday we have scouts. This would be fine if it were summer because J-man could just walk across the street for scouts but it's winter. So, therefore, it's dark and cold. I have to drive him and drag the little man with us. Such a pain! It falls at the little man's bedtime. I have to bundle him up and drag him out into the cold and then keep him up for an hour so we can go pick-up J-man. Tonight was especially trying. He's been crying for about 2 hours. He's exhausted! I was actually wondering if I could put him to bed and the monitor would reach to the church. I didn't do it-I was just thinking about it.
It was a pretty nice day all in all. Little man & I went for a walk with a friend and her twins. They are darling! A little boy & girl. I don't know how she does it. I know how I feel at the end of a day and I only have one. Actually, I have a few friends with multiples. Another friend has a girl and 2 sets of twin boys! All under 6! She's a great mom also. It makes 2 boys 7 years apart seem like a piece of cake.

What a year!

2011-02-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

It's been such a long time. I'd like to be better about posting this year. With today being Valentine's day, I thought I'd post a few pictures of the ones that I love.

Scub Scouts

2010-03-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

Jayden started Cub Scouts when he turned 8. He's really been enjoying it. This week was his Blue & Gold banquet. I think we should have a banquet every day if it means that he'll wear a button shirt & nice pants. If they knew what a big deal that was he would probably get a merit badge for it. Anyway, he looked nice & I took a picture so I'll have something to remember it by.

I just can't get enough...

2010-01-09T15:51:00.001-08:00

I can't seem to get enough of these boys!

The boys!

2010-01-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

Miracles

2009-12-31T18:24:00.000-08:00

I never cease to wonder at how amazing life is. We'd been looking into adopting again for about two years. Nothing had come of it. Either we backed out or the birth mother did for one reason or another. I had told Nikole time and again that when the situation was right it would all work out just how we needed it to. And it did!
Here's the short version:
I found out about a "situation" that was available through an agency in CA on Friday, Nov. 20. It was a bit unique-he was 4 months old and still in the care of his birth mother. The agency gave me the address to send our profile directly to the birth mother in TX. We sent it off on Friday to arrive on Monday. We heard nothing the entire week of Thanksgiving. We were pretty saddened by this because we had chosen that if this didn't work out we were done. Nikole, typical Nikole, was ready to be done by the time Sat. arrived. I kept telling her that I didn't think it was over yet. We needed to wait a bit longer.
Monday, Nov. 30th, Nikole came walking in the house sobbing! I truly thought someone had died. She showed me the text from the agency. It read "She chose you. We'll call her tomorrow." It was amazing. We called her on Tuesday and spoke with her. It went really well. Then, the fun started. We sent applications (we hadn't even done that yet) and money to the agency-got FBI clearance-and told Jayden he was going to be a big brother. He was so excited. He said "Can I tell everyone about the kid now?" We figured out a plan for Jayden for the next week with LOTS of help from friends & family and jumped on a plane for TX on Sat., Dec. 5.
It was all so crazy that I don't think we had time to think about it. We had dinner with the birth mother when we arrived. I was prepared for it to be pretty awkward and it was. But not in the way I had imagined. She was very nice but very detached. We met on Sunday afternoon and spent time with her. She signed the custody papers on Monday afternoon. It actually did go that smoothly. Then, we spent the rest of the week waiting for the ICPC clearance. We got the call of Friday that we could leave TX and were able to catch a plane that night. We got home in the early morning hours on Sat., Dec. 12.
Jayden was so excited to meet Lucas. He "presented" him to everyone who came over. He's so proud. He told me today that he wouldn't trade Luke even for a Ferrari! (If you know Jayden at all-that's BIG.)

My best day EVER!

2009-09-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Adoption day. It was five years ago today that I had the best day of my life. I didn't know it at the time it was happening-I knew it was big but I didn't understand how big. I suppose that's how it is with the best day of your life-you never realize until after the fact.

I don't remember much about that first year. It was such a crazy experience. We met him on a Tuesday. I hadn't even seen a picture of him prior to that moment. We spent a few hours with him each day & then brought him home forever on Saturday.
Jayden always asks me about the first time I met him. I tell him it was the best moment of my life. I remember watching him play on the playground. I recall thinking to myself "Don't forget this moment." Then, he came inside the building to meet us. We shared a peanut butter sandwich and a yogurt. He was quiet and sullen. He wouldn't let me get too close to him. It was hard for me to say goodbye to him knowing he had to stay in the group home again. He was the youngest child they had ever housed.

Day by day, he started looking forward to us coming to visit. I made a small book to show him pictures of his room, house, and Zoe. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for him-so much change, not knowing what's next, wondering where you were going. The first night we brought him home I don't think anyone slept. I was so worried about him all alone in his room in this new house. He wouldn't ever get out of bed back then. He had been too scared. The group home had had alarms on the floors so that they would know when children were up.

I think I cried almost every day that first year. I think he did too. We were both trying hard to figure this out. I don't remember much about that time. I guess it's like childbirth-best if you just remember the joy & not how painful it was. It's always been two steps forward-one step back with this little guy.

Funny, resilient, daring, tenacious, honest, strong, independent, amazing. Just a few words to describe who he is. He still amazes me each and every day. No one makes me laugh like he does. We still cry when we both need to. He's like air to me-there wouldn't be life without him. Thank-you Jayden for just being you!

I'm Elvis Presley

2009-07-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, Granny was at our house the other day and we were looking up some things on my computer. We stumbled across this video of JMU. We laughed so hard we were crying. He always asks to play with my computer ; I guess this is what he's been doing. Take a look...

Aahhh Summer!

2009-06-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

I often wonder what JMU & I will do all summer. Is it going to be spent with me telling him "Time to be done with the wii", "I'll go for a bike ride in a minute.", "No, no one can come over today and play, we have things to get done." I wasn't sure what it would look like this year. Well, here it is July already! I'm not sure if we have just been busy but it's going by so quickly. We've had a lot of fun thus far. It hasn't been so hot that I thought I would melt. I'm not over the yard work yet. I haven't gone through 6 bottles of sunscreen (Yes Granny, we are using it!.)
NU had a business trip to the Northwest and we decided to tag along. We went to Seattle, Cannon Beach, and Portland. It was great! JMU was a rock star on the long drive. It was fun to visit these cities with him and watch him enjoy the new experiences. We stayed across from Lake Union, right where the sea planes took off. We had fun watching them throughout the day. We walked down to the waterfront and saw the houses on the lake. JMU thought it would be "wicked" to live right on the water. He wondered why we couldn't have a house on a lake. I picked up a real estate flyer and showed him the price. I think he got my point. We went to the top of the Space Needle. (All of the times I've been to Seattle, never done this.) He thought Seattle was great until we drove to Cannon Beach and took the ferry across the lake.
Cannon Beach-I love the Oregon coast. It was freezing!! We stayed at CJ's recommended hotel & got the VIP treatment because they "just love Carl, Kim, and those darling kids." According to Kim, CJ has made great friends with the owners because he gets ready each morning and then goes down to the lobby to visit with them. Kim isn't quite as close to the owners because she is back in the room getting all the kids ready for the day. We went to eat at Mo's in honor of Grandpa.
It was a great trip! We are off to NC soon for our annual trip & then the cousins from VA hit town. As JMU said, "this is the best life ever!"

The best bike EVER!

2009-05-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the cutest bike in the universe! I love it! If anyone has some extra $$ and would like to buy me a present, this is what I would like. I think I would want to bike everywhere.

It All Started With A Smell...

2009-05-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday afternoon, nice & hot! I walked into the garage to help J-man get his bike out. An overpowering stench takes hold of me. NU & I figured something had died in there. We were hoping it might be a potato or something simple like that. After arguing with each other about who we could possibly call to come and find the source of the smell, we decided we would have to do it ourselves. So, here was our project for Sunday.
We got up early Sunday morning and started ripping everything apart. We pulled out all of the cupboards, with care, to see what was under/behind each of them. Nothing! We went through all the food storage to see if there was anything in there. Nothing! Once the cupboards were out we decided that some wire shelving would be a better idea. So, off to Costco. We got all the shelves put together and then the fun began.
Most people don't know this about me but I HATE to run out of anything! It is some crazy fear I have. I think it stems from being a poor student and thinking that I wouldn't have $$ to replace things once they're gone. Some might say that I hoard things-I disagree. I love to throw things out! I am all about purging and getting rid of the junk! I'm going to call it my "better safe than sorry" syndrome. ( Sounds nicer, don't ya think!) I just like knowing that when push comes to shove, I'm going to have what I need.
One of my sisters has this syndrome as well. I'm not naming names but she knows who she is. She will often call me from VA (oops!) and tell me that she bought something wonderful, i.e. a beautiful tray of raspberries, and she is going to save them to use in something delicious. Well, that time never comes-the raspberries go bad because she didn't use them and it was just a big waste of money. It wasn't that she forgot to use them. It was that she didn't want to use them because then they would be all gone and what if she couldn't get more. I understand completely!! Don't worry folks-we're both in a 12 step program for this. It sounds really crazy when I have to tell other people about it :)
So, back to the story. The garage is torn apart and the wire shelves are built. I start putting it all back together. It made me so happy! I organized everything! All the food storage is on one shelving unit, paper products on another shelf, and extra car wash towels and cleaning supplies on another shelf. I organized all of the food from the pantry and put all beverages on a shelf that the J-man can reach. I am able to see all of it at a glance and know what I need to stock up on. It made me so happy. It made the garage so clean. I had to call my neighbor over to look at it and admire my work. She appreciated it also-she has been in a purging state of mind as well.

We never found the source of the smell. It's gone now. Maybe it smelled just to motivate me to clean it all out and start over. Well, whatever it takes.

The Best Time of Day!

2009-02-06T11:06:00.001-08:00

I love mornings! I like to get up early (sometimes I am better at this than others.) I like having a few minutes to myself before anyone else wakes up. I like the quiet of the morning. I enjoy that the whole day is still ahead of me. It's open to possibilities. I'm not bothered yet by a list of things that need to be done-haven't had to argue with JMU about playing his DS-I'm not worried about the things that went wrong that day. I love the sunrise. The color of pinkish orange that creeps across the mountains out of my front window. I so look forward to early summer mornings-crisp air, wet grass, a warm latte, quiet outside. I have started noticing that the sun is coming up just a bit earlier these days.
At our house, we are all morning people. Nikole gets up early to work before all the calls start coming in. Jayden, well he's an early riser as well. This is one of the best moments of the day! I hear his feet hit the ground and he comes down the hall. His warm little body climbing over and snuggling. He always professes his undying love in the early morning. It's full of "I love you" and "you are the best mom in the entire universe!" He and I have a little game we always play. We each try to think of a way to tell each other how much we love each other-I love you more than all the stars in the universe! I love you more than all the sand on all the beaches of the world! I love you more than all the grass in the world! I love you more than my DS and Wii! We snuggle together and he tries to wedge his warm little body as close as it can be. I know that the days are numbered as to how long this will last, but I'm enjoying every minute of it right now.
I loved running with Carin in the early mornings. It's time has come again. I have made so many excuses the past few years. It's time to pursue this again. I think I have put it off for so long because I know that the first few months of getting back into shape is awful. But then...hearing your feet hit the ground in a steady rhythm is amazing! I promised myself I would enter my 40's this year feeling good about my body. I have some work to do. I figure if I post this for the world to see I will hold myself accountable. My cousin & I (my sister's were supposed to be involved also but they are SLACKERS!) have chosen to do this together. We are going to be accountable to one another. We usually have some good laughs along the way. I think that will help.

Bring on the new year!

2009-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it through the holidays! It was touch and go for awhile. I'm not sure what it is about birthdays and holidays but Jayden always struggles. We have tried for the past 4 years to figure out a better way but we've yet to come up with something. I've spoken with a few adoptive parents and birthdays are always a struggle. Jayden's seems to be worse because it's followed by the biggest holiday of the year. Next year, the beach!
It was fun to have everyone in town for Christmas. The kids had a great time the Robert's Winterfest 2008-sledding, snowmobiles, Wii, and cousins!

Can I interest you in a peanut butter sandwich?

2008-11-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

Here's the deal: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED!!!!!

Consider yourself warned if you proceed and don't get mad at me.

I have shared this story with Granny and Aunt Kim but not really anyone else due to it's graphic nature. But, recently Adri heard it and couldn't stop laughing. She feels the story needs to be shared. I think it gives a glimpse (be it good or bad) of our life in the circle. It's never a dull moment with JMU! :)

I don't really let JMU chew gum if I can help it. He pulls it out of his mouth and plays with it. It eventually ends up somewhere it shouldn't be. This night was no different.
JMU got a hold of a piece of gum. I saw him chewing it and was busy trying to make dinner so I didn't want to fight with him about throwing it away. We ate dinner-I forgot about the gum-and it was bath time. I told him to go jump in the tub. Next thing I know JMU comes into the kitchen all wet and dripping on the tile. Here's what happens next:
He says "Mom, I think we have a little problem."
I say "What's a matter? Go get back in the tub. You're getting the floor all wet."
He says "Well, you're going to get mad."
I say (in my best fed-up Mom voice)"What? Just tell me."
JMU says "It's about the gum. Ummm, I got it on me."
I look at him. I'm looking for the gum somewhere. I don't see any.
I say "Where is it? Is it in the tub?"
JMU looks down at his naked body and points to his p****. Then, he points.
I am confused, mad, and finding this a little funny. Mostly mad.
I say "How on earth! For the love!! This is why I don't let you have gum. How did you do this? I told you to keep the gum in your mouth. What on earth were you doing wrapping gum around your p****?"
I don't let him answer any of these questions because I am still in disbelief.
JMU says "I'm sorry! I was just playing with it. I tried to wipe it off and it won't come off."
I say "Come on. Let's go into the bathroom. Let me get it off." At this point I'm thinking it will just wipe off. Oh no, too easy. We go into the bathroom. I make him lay on the counter. I tried to wipe it off with a wash cloth (no), soap (no). I yell for NU to come into the bathroom. It's all over the entire p**** area. NU just looks at me and asks how we get it off. This is where it gets good-I remember Kim telling me about getting gum out of Kennedy's hair. I remembered her mentioning butter and peanut butter. I don't know why it works-it just does.
So, I go the the kitchen and grab a cube of butter and the peanut butter. I head back to the bathroom to see what comes of this.
Picture me-greasing up my son's private parts with peanut butter and butter-trying to pick off gum. JMU is laughing during all of this. It may have been fun for him. I don't think I had this much "bonding" even when I changed his diapers!
Anyway, we get the gum off eventually. Used a 1/2 jar of peanut butter.
The next day I tell Kim this entire episode. It gets funnier the more I think about it. Kim started calling it p**** butter.
Lesson learned-Don't come to my house asking for a peanut butter sandwich. You never know where it's been.

It's been a while.

2008-11-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

Ok. I've been anti-blogging for quite some time now. I think I'm ready to start keeping it real. We just got back from Hawaii. We always love it. Everyone has asked how it was and it got me thinking how sad it would be if I said "bad." It was wonderful! We had beautiful weather the entire time. The awful 6 hour flight wasn't so awful this time. Yes, it was long but it was so much better than the previous years. Our friends, the Sheriff and his wife, joined us this year. The kids had a great time playing together. We went to the North Shore and played in the waves. I would like to say we all enjoyed it but NU & AW wouldn't get in the water. NU claimed her usual deadly fear of sharks(this from a grown adult.) AW wasn't scared of sharks ( I don't think she was aware of that possibility.) but she was scared of all other living creatures in the sea. It seems that JMU and Little AW were the only ones brave enough to join SW, JW, and myself in the VERY large waves. I don't know if that's good or just plain dumb on the adults part. Thank goodness for swim lessons and life jackets. (It's also good that Granny wasn't there to witness this fun.)
We stayed in Honolulu for the first couple of days. I have a hotel that I stumbled upon years ago. It used to be the Mandarin Hotel. The hotel has a center court that has 6 dolphins living in it. If you arrive at feeding time you can see a great show. Well...we went to see the dolphins and it just happened to be the day that the Vet. came to give check-ups. We were the only people watching and SW started talking to the Vet. It turns out that he knew SW's Vet. in PC. After he was done with the check-up he brought JMU, AW, and Little AW in to pet the dophins. It was so amazing!

2008-08-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

We took our annual trip to North Carolina in July. It's always great fun. We visit Oak Island with some friends of ours-Mitzi, Erin,Jaxson, and Addison. Erin's family has been vacationing here every summer for the past 20 years. We now tag along for the fun. We all rent beach houses right in a row. Every night someone in Erin's family hosts dinner and lots of fun.

Oak Island is about 30minutes away from Wilmington, North Carolina. It is truly a vacation-there is nothing to do but play on the beach! From the moment JMU woke up, it was "let's go to the beach." We played in the water (which is as warm as the bath tub), gathered sea shells, looked out for sharks, and went ghost crabbing every night. The weather was pretty great the whole trip. (Apparently we missed some hurricane that was headed our way.)

2008-07-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

I think these two deserve space to show their intelligence. You would never guess that their combined age is almost 80!

July 4th

2008-07-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Name that foot!

We spent the 4th of July at Kim & CJ's cabin. It was so much fun! Everyone was there-Granny, Gramps, K1,K2,K3,OK, Linda, Boyd, Robyn, Tom, A1, A2, ML. We spent the day eating, playing, and boating. The water was a bit choppy but CJ gave us a good ride in the tube. Thanks Kim & CJ for all the fun.

The boys show off their muscles for everyone. (They get the fine form from their mothers.) You would never guess that they are only 3 months apart in age.

OK! What a cutie! She loves the water & her gum.

2008-07-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

2008-07-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was sitting out on my patio the other night and realized it had the makings of a perfect night. The kids were riding their bikes in the circle. I could hear my neighbor cutting his grass. It was that perfect time of night when the sun is setting, the sky is skimming pink, and nothing more needs to be done for the day. I'm not a fan of the heat so summer is typically not my favorite season. But...I started thinking of all the great reasons to enjoy summer.

Flip-flops. I think this could actually be the #1 reason. It's a great way to show off a pedicure and it stops JM & I's endless argument about shoes.
Garden tomatoes. They are not ripe yet but just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
Tremonton Corn. Enough said.
My bike. It's cute & fun to ride. My new basket (thanks Robyn) makes it even better!
Someone else doing my yard this summer. I can't begin to express how happy this has made me. I love my yard. I love planting and I love when the grass still has those neat lines in it from the lawn mower. But man does it take a lot of time to keep it up. So, I'm grateful this year to have someone else doing most of the work.
Six year old boys in their swim trunks! They get that great tan and their hair turns all blond and cute.
Early summer mornings. I love being outside before everyone else. It's a great time to just sit and have a minute.
North Carolina. We love our annual beach trip!

2008-06-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Let's start at the very beginning....

2008-06-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, the time has come to get this blog functional, if only to get Kim off my back. I had a willing subject today so I had to seize the opportunity for a photo shoot. I asked JM to go put on some "pocket pants and a button-up shirt" and much to my surprise he said "ok." So, I bought him some gelato and we were off. We went to my favorite "secret church" and had a great time. He even found a dead fish-the highlight of the afternoon. (Hey, I take whatever I can get.)

I was trying out a new lens to see how it would work. The new lens has shown me that I need a new tripod. What a great learning day!