Cool Concept

Check this out!!!

http://www.myspace.com/ohhushmusic

I've added the link to Oh, Hush! on the right of my blog. It will be easier to click on it that way.

I'd love to make "Sleigh Ride" my background music, but I haven't figured out how to add music to my blog yet. If anyone can give me some pointers, I'd be very appreciative :)

What Kind of Pie Are You?

I saw this on another blog and thought it was fun. Took the test myself - results below. Have fun!!!

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality. You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes. But you're by no means generic or ordinary. In fact, you're one of the most original people around. Those who like you are looking for something (someone!) special. You tend confuse people when they first meet you. You're not as complicated as you seem. Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering. You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

My Chess Stars

I need to brag today. My boys play chess. They both learned at the age of four. They compete in tournaments locally and we drive to big tournaments that happen to be within driving distance. We had all planned to go to Houston this past weekend for the National Grade Championship, but after attempting such a tournament with CiCi in St. Louis recently I told my DH to take the boys and I would stay home with her. At this point he decided to fly. :)
Anyway, this tournament is designed so that the best kids from all over the country come together and duke it out on the chess board. 1st graders play only 1st graders, 2nd graders play only 2nd graders and so on. My sons are in Kindergarten and 3rd grade. This tournament is hard. These are the best of the best kids competing and it can become pretty intense.
My third grader, Arby, did exactly as he should have done. He won all of the games he should have won and he lost the ones he was most likely to lose. This is huge. Often you can be intimidated and lose games you shouldn't. He never did. He ended up in 56th place (out of over 160 kids competing in Houston in his grade). Very impressive!!
Kenz blew us away. He played seven games. He won the first and then the second. At this point they paired him with the second top rated child in his grade and he beat him!!!! We couldn't believe it. He then got paired against the top guy and lost. Next game he was paired against the guy that ended up winning the tournament and he lost that one, too. He won his next game. With one game left, we knew(he did not)that if he won he would have been in the top 5 - for the entire country!!! Unfortunately he lost (he would have been in 4th place), however he ended up in 11th place!!! 11th place...in the whole country!!! We are so proud of him. He really has no idea what he has accomplished. He loves to play and it truly is a game for him. We want to keep it that way for both of our boys while gently encouraging them to continue playing (forever) because it is such an amazing game and one that can be played well past any physical sport they want to play. My boys are very athletic, so balancing the time commitment of chess with the time commitment of sports will forever be a challenge for our family.
Thanks for letting me brag!!! :)

Who knew???... and random CiCi cuteness

OK so probably everyone but me. The problem with my washer. A clogged drain. What clogged it? Change. From pockets!! Yes, I know I am supposed to empty pockets before placing them in the washing machine and generally I do. If I hear it or feel it. I don't make a point of checking all pockets, though. I've always assumed that you clean out the pockets so you don't wash something valuable or so that the change doesn't clink around in the dryer and drive you crazy. I am always careful to pick up all spare change that has fallen out of the pockets during the wash cycle so that they don't clink around in the dryer. Never did I expect that little pieces of change could cause so much damage.
Here is the damage:
1. I believe all the clothes that were in the washing machine were ruined. THEY STINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. When the repairman got the door unlocked for me, I had to take all those stinky clothes out of the washer. They were dripping with dirty, smelly, mildewy water. It was horribly disgustingly gross. and smelly!!!! I put the clothes in a garbage bag then drug the bag outside and dumped the clothes in a pile. I am going to let them try to dry out and then see what I can salvage. I had to wash my hands 5 times to get rid of the smell!!!
3. The repairman pulled out 3 quarters, a nickel, a dime or two and a penny. You would have thought I had clogged the sucker up with live rats by the way the repairman showed me the offending particles.
4. Today's repair cost $154.00.
5. Today's repair may or may not last. He said there was still a few pieces stuck that he could not get to. If those pieces fall back into the washer then I will be OK. If they fall out into the outer parts of the washer then it would take hours for a repairman to fix it and they would charge me close to 500.00. Like I'm going to pay that!!!!

So I am crossing my fingers that the change falls in. If not, you can bet I won't be buying another Maytag.

and, as you have probably guessed, I will now be checking all pockets.

oh, by the way, he said this is a much greater problem with front-loading washers.

And, which I have not yet mentioned, before all this happened I have never been satisfied with my washer. It has always had a somewhat mildewy smell to it. I asked the repairman about this and he said he hears that all the time with the front-loaders, but that the newer models are getting better. If I do have to get a new washer, I will probably go back to the top loading washers. They seem to have less problems.

Better not pout, I'm telling you why

Because the poor boy can't. Recently Kenz asked me - how do you do that thing with your lip. I had no idea what he was talking about and he tried to show me, but couldn't do it. I soon realized he meant - pout. How do you pout? Never really thought about that and never really realized that he has never pouted. He really is The Happiest Kid, but seriously everyone can pout, right??? He can't figure it out, so now when he wants something and I say no, he pulls down his lip into a pout and holds it there. It is the cutest thing ever!!!!

I, on the otherhand, can pout. Today I did just that. I promise I will make this my last whiney post (as long as my washing machine gets fixed tomorrow), but for today - I have to share. Today a good friend of mine came over. She lives close by, but we never seem to see each other. We e-mail each other and always say "we need to get together" and then it just doesn't happen. But today it did. And it was a really nice visit. Near the end CiCi needed to be changed. Her changing table is in my bathroom. While changing her I notice that I need to flush the toilet. So I did. Then I turn and continue changing CiCi. Then I start to hear water and realize that the toilet is overflowing. SO now I have CiCi on a changing table which I must get her down from and moved far away. Then I turn off the water. Then I get towels to clean up the water from the floor. Many towels are needed. And then it occurs to me that once more this nastiness (only P, but still...) will have to just sit (rinsed out, of course) until my washing machine is fixed. Of all the times!!!!! My friend was completely amused by my form of entertainment.

After my friend left CiCi and I went to Target to buy diapers. While there I decided to brave the toy aisle. Row upon row of plastic. I can't stand it. I know I sound like I am not in the Christmas spirit, but I seriously do not think that purchasing oodles of plastic toys has anything to do with the true meaning of Christmas. My boys have never really asked for anything. Maybe one thing each, each year. I have never encouraged then to do otherwise, but ineviatably by December 26 our home is filled. School, relatives, friends. It never seems to end. For years I have been begging my mom not to get plastic toys and she has never understood. Ths year with all the recalls from China, she has finally called it quits. I am so glad. I never even thought about the plastic toys as a safety issue. I just don't like them (except Little People ) , but if that can make other people think twice about our over-consumption of toys at Christmastime, then I am not gonna complain about that one bit. Now if we can quit commercializing Holidays (holy days) then I will be even more happy.

I'm Not There Yet

Yes we are well into December and I have not done a Christmasy thing yet. No cards have been bought. The picture has yet to be taken. The Christmas tree is not up and I have bought only a very few presents.
I just can't seem to find the energy for it all. Some part of me thinks it is because we never really had fall this year. I love fall. It is my favorite season. But this year we went from summer to one week of fall to rain to cold. I have not been properly prepared for the season that is now upon me. You think I am kidding???

Another reason - I don't like shopping. Never have. And the thought of it with little CiCi is overwhelming. I plan to online shop, but time is running out...
And CiCi is attached to my hip. Seriously. I can't put her down to go the bathroom. And she really makes you feel bad. Her tears are huge and the look on her face is heartbreaking.

and another thing... I HATE MAYTAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Two years ago I bought the top of the line Maytag Neptune washer and dryer. About nine months ago, you could smell burning from my dryer. I had someone come out to look at it and he said I needed new rollers. The rollers cost about half of what a new reliable dryer would cost. After much deliberation I decided to buy a new dryer. Wanna know what the guy at Sears told me? There is absolutely no reason to pay for an expensive dryer. A dryer is a dryer is a dryer. Why do they have the expensive ones I asked? To match the looks of the expensive washers. Apparently it is appopriate to spend more on a washer. And idiots like me buy expensive dryers thinking they must perform so much better than their less expensive counterparts. OK so lesson learned.
Another lesson... appliances aren't what they used to be. They may have all these fancy bells and whistles, but they don't last like they used to. Can you imagine only getting 18 months out of a brand new dryer?
So why am I complaining about this today. Because my laundry room STINKS. Wanna know why? Because my fancy schmancy washing machine locked up on me. Yep. The darn door locked and I can't get it open. I have turned off, unplugged, replugged, shook, hit, pulled, etc. and the door isn't budging. It locked. You know that wonderful safety benefit of making sure the front loading washing machine stays locked. Well it stays locked I can tell you that. With my wet clothes in it. And the washer is not working at all. It is just humming. 2 years old!!!!! I am not happy. And did I mention that my laundry room stinks. This took place last Saturday. I called to have someone come fix it on Monday. First available appointment. THIS Saturday. Those clothes will sit in my washing machine for an entire week. Wet. Mildewing and smelly.
Bah Humbug!!!
I'll be better tomorrow.........

H@nn@h Mont@n@ Crisis - Part One

Nope- not a getting tickets crisis. We had those. Logistics, a baby, and stupidity did me in though.
Had 5 tickets. Our two boys invited brother/sister friends of ours that we knew really wanted to go and had tried desperately to get tickets.
With 5 tickets only one adult could go - how could I not let each son invite a friend?
Fine - DH will go.
Nope, DH is out of town.
But.. his plane lands at 7:15 and the concert starts at 7:00, so I'll go and I'll just have the mom of the brother/sister we invited watch CiCi until DH gets home. CiCi will not stay with anyone but my mom and my mom could not watch her, but a short amount of time I thought we could handle.
Then my DH calls and says he has to meet with a client as soon as he gets in town. OK, so I'll just call my dad. Maybe that will work. No, dad is meeting with this client (family business). So now there is no way I could leave CiCi for 4 hours knowing she will cry the whole time. I have no one to watch her and I have 4 very- excited-to-go-to-the-concert kids.
So I do what any sane mother would do. I bring CiCi to the concert.
At this point I must admit that we have a box. Which is why we had tickets. This is of course due to my family's addiction to sports. The box is for sports. Concerts just happen to come with the box. Believe me anyone that knew this called me to see if we had any extra tickets.
We've taken CiCi to the suite a few times for basketball games and she has done great and she loves music so I feel we will be OK as long as we get there early and can get all HM goodies before the crowd arrives.
All is in place. I have packed anything that CiCi could possibly need. I have a a camera with film and an extra set of batteries. We are good to go and should easily make it to the arena 45 mins before the concert starts. I am more than halfway into our 40 minute drive when I realize that my stupid self left the coveted, golden tickets AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!
Turn around and of course there is a wreck and now I can see the panic on all the kids faces..........
I do my best to race home, my own panic starting to set in. Finally I get the tickets, race back 40/30 minutes and arrive at exactly 7:00. Whew. Just in time to see the ever-so-Disney-popular Jon@s Brothers. If you have never seen them check out the pictures above taken by my "I want to be a photographer" son.

H@nn@h Mont@n@ - Part 2

Kenz had a ball!!!! He and his friend danced the entire time. Sweat poured down his face. What was his favorite song? GNO. Girls night out. Too funny. I wish I could share more of the pics I took, but since other children are in them, I won't. However I am sharing the back of Kenz in a pic and if you look closely you can see his hair flying up in the air. It bounced all night until it got too sweaty and then it just stuck to his head.

Arby had a great time. He took all the pics that I am sharing. He was, however, much more subdued. Until we got in the car. Once in the car we played his new CD that we got while braving the crowd at the END of the concert. Once he had the words to the song in front of him and he was within the security of our car - he sang quite loudly!!!!!

And CiCi - she was a trooper. And she also had a ball. She danced. She clapped. She jumped up and down all night in my lap. And during intermission she took her first two real steps. Of all places!!! She was smiling so big and she was very proud. Of course, I have no pictures of that!!!

H@nn@h Mont@n@ - Part 3

The concert was really good. The kids behaved. The kids had fun. The music is really pretty good. H@nnah was great.
But, if you have ever watched HM on TV, H@nnah is the rock star and Miley is your run of the mill average kid. A bit dorky. Down to earth. etc....
Miley at the concert was not that girl.
She was a bit too risque - for the average age of the crowd that is.
Just like every Disney movie. Why did they have to do that. The Miley character is supposed to be sweet and innocent. Check out the chains in the pic.
It really only lasted two songs. Then it got better. But I must admit I was disappointed. Just in that aspect. The rest of the concert was really fun, decent, geared towards the age of the crowd. Again just like every Disney movie. They have to add the cuss word or have an adult undertone when it really is just not necessary. Just my opinion.

Last Thanksgiving

I am a bit behind on my blogging, but I can not pass up this time to say how thankful I am to have CiCi home. Thankful to have spent Thanksgiving this year with my entire family. Thankful to know my children are home with me and safe.
What a difference one year makes.
To demonstrate the difference I posted pictures of my sweet CiCi last year on Thanksgiving the day after I first met her. Then I posted pictures of her wearing the same dress, but this time as a shirt with jeans. Wow!!!! It is amazing how time can fly, especially when so much of the adoption process makes you feel as if time stands still.

Smiling

Again with the "Did she really just do that???"

Yes, I know it is not necessary to post every little thing my sweet girl does, but I couldn't pass on this one.
Tonight we went to Outback Steakhouse. As I have already pointed out, we are a sports family. So we are sitting there and my DH decides it is time to teach CiCi to put her arms up in the air whenever he says "Touchdown". What does CiCi do the first time he says this to her? She points at the TV screen over at the bar that is showing the football game. She and DH watched it before we were led to our seats, but surely she doesn't really understand the connection between a football game and the word Touchdown, does she?? So we waited a few minutes and said it again... and again she pointed. I was stunned. Granted, my DH's idea of spending quality time with CiCi is to take her downstairs to our playroom and watch football games with her, but I really find this to be ridiculous.

What's That???

said like the Whazzup? of my generation.
This is my CiCi's favorite phrase. Yes, she can say "What's that???" and not Mommy. Go figure. But it is way too cute (and can border on annoying depending on the when and where). She says this while pointing. And she says it often...to everything...over and over. She says it so often that she actually will say it and then search for something to point at/to.
This phrase really does make me wonder what all she understands. If she's asking this question is she at all understanding our answer? And if she is saying something like What's That, how much more is she saying that our stupid selves haven't yet realized?

Remember that time when you went to jail mommy?

So last week we had our post placement visit with our social worker. She wanted to talk to atleast one of the boys, so we chose a day that Kenz was out of school. Before the social worker arrived I reminded Kenz that he needed to be very polite and to stay calm (he has a lot of energy)and I asked him not to pick up CiCi. I really thought I had covered the main areas of concern.
Of course I also made sure my house was clean and I wanted to keep it that way so I decided to take Kenz and CiCi to Atlanta Bread Company for breakfast.
We get home with 10 minutes to spare, but our social worker is already at the door knocking. Great start, huh?
So my DH gets the door and leads our social worker to the kitchen table. I had planned on talking in the den near the toys so that CiCi would be comfortable and occupied, but since I was in the garage getting CiCi out of her car seat, what could I do?

Next the barrage of questions followed by Kenz' endless supply of answers. Nice.

And then a question is asked, I can't for the life of me tell you what it was, and Kenz says oh and then tell her about when you had to go to jail.
OK no reason to panic, because as my DH quickly points out he must be talking about when we had to get fingerprinted while paperchasing and Kenz was with us and we had to go one at a time into the jail because we couldn't bring a minor into the jail and...
No, that's not what I am talking about.

At which point I am trying to decide how much time to spend on this. Of course you don't want to look like you are trying to hide something, but now you are no longer sure where he is going with this story.
DH to the rescue again. Oh he must be talking about when we had to go Downtown to get those other fingerprints, remember?
No, that's not what I am talking about. You know mom, this was after you brought CiCi home.

At which point we had nothing.

Honey, why don't you let mommy and daddy answer the rest of the questions.
And we proceed.

The rest of our "interview" seemed to go well. Who knows what our social worker thought about the whole jail comment. She never asked us for further explanation and she wasn't around when we finally figured out what Kenz meant.


You know mommy, when you got off the plane and you had to go to that room with those police officers for Ciara.

Immigration.
which was really cool because CiCi became a citizen on the 4th of July, and although it did involve officers it did not involve handcuffs or jail.
Thanks Kenz.
So should we call our social worker???

Nerts...proof that everything can be found on the computer

What do we do at our house for fun. A game called NERTS.
Recently I decided my boys were old enough to play this family game that I grew up playing. Growing up we would play this card game for hours. It is similar to solitaire, but you are competing against other people. You can play against as many people as you want. The more that compete the more challenging and fast paced it becomes. Playing with an 8 and a 5 year old, we play as teams. Mommy and one son, Daddy and the other. When I decided to teach the boys, there were a few rules I couldn't remember. So my DH suggests that we look it up online. I, indignantly, inform him that this was a family game and that there is no way we would find this game on the computer. Apparently you can find anything on the computer. Of course as I started to play by these computer rules, the rules that I used during childhood began to spring forth to my mind and these computer rules started to irritate me. It took a little convincing to force my lawyer/rule-abiding husband to switch over to the family way.
Now that I know you can, I highly suggest you google the game nerts and play it at home. Everyone loves solitaire and this game is a way to play solitaire fast and with others. It really forces the kids to think quickly and react. It is lots of fun for families, but also as a couple, with couples, or just with a group of people. The rules I tweaked all had to do with the scoring of the game, not the actual game itself.
Happy Playing!!!

One Year Ago Today

I received the best call ever. C. from FTC called me to tell me that I had a daughter. He told me a few facts about my little girl, asked if I had any questions (at which point my mind was too numb to formulate any), and said he would send an e-mail containing information about her and her birthmom and pictures of my precious little girl. One of the first things I remember noticing about CiCi in those pictures were her fingers. To this day I still believe she will do something special with her hands - play piano, be an artist, a surgeon, something - she is so precise when she picks up food or a toy and she is always playing with her hands.

I also felt the need to look for signs that this was all meant to be and it was amazing that I found them everywhere - CiCi's birthname is the same as my first ever friend from Guatemala - this one made the hairs on my arm stick up as C. first said my little girls name, CiCi's birthmom is wearing a purple shirt and my favorite color is purple, CiCi is lying on a Strawberry Shortcake blanket and I loved SS as a little girl. As silly as all that sounds it was the reassurance I needed at that time to know that everything was going to work out and that she would end up exactly where she is right now.

Take a look back at her referral pictures and compare them to my little princess now. It amazes me how much she has grown and how much she has become attached to my heart (and hip)forever.

Another picture from the day of CiCi's Christening

Ciara's Christening

Last Saturday we were finally able to have Ciara christened. The ceremony was very nice and the christening was even more special because we shared it with my brother and sister-in-law. We chose them to be Ciara's godparents and I am their little girl's godmother. I did not get many good pictures from the day, especially ones of just Ciara. I don't feel comfortable posting pictures of anyone other than my family so that limits the pics I can share. Therefore, I am breaking my no pics of myself rule so that I can share the family pic we took. Hopefully one day I will be able to share a pic of less of me.
The girls were great - especially for being one+ years old and both having a cold, but halfway through the ceremony Ciara became very interested in my hair and started pulling one side and then the other and laughing like it was the funniest thing she has ever before witnessed. I was trying to release her hold of my hair so that I could turn her around to face out, but just as I would get one side released she would grab the other side and start tugging. Our priest even got tickled by it and commented on the challenges of parenting. It was pretty funny.

The Pumpkin Patch

It has been such a busy week (CiCi's party, CiCi's Birthday, Halloween Party at school, Halloween, parent conferences and CiCi's christening is tomorrow) that I never posted pumpkin patch pictures. And I always love pumpkin patch pictures. So post I must.

Blues Brothers in Action

Blues Brothers and the Bee

We had a ball this Halloween. CiCi looked precious in her little outfit and enjoyed the short block of homes that we took her to. She would just kick her legs in excitement every time her brothers performed.

Yep, on Halloween my two Blues Brothers performed. They were all excited beforehand rehearsing what they would do each time a door opened. One would sing "I'm a Soul Man" while the other would play the harmonica. Plus they had this silly little dance to go along with it. I really thought they would be too embarrased to actually perform. They were not. Then I thought they would get bored of it after a few houses. They did not. They got more animated each time. Husbands would be called to the door to come see. Sometimes whole families. And what did this produce?? More candy for performing. Just what they needed!!!! They were covered in sweat from head to toe by the time they made it home.

They are already planning a performance for the whole family for Christmas.....