It's coming.....again

Tonight starts yet another winter storm warning for our area. Yep more snow is on its way! Could this mean a snow day for the kids tommorow? At least there will be three people excited for snow! As for me I say "bring on Spring!"

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

My blogging has been a little slow due to there not being much to report except the hum drum of everyday life. Surely there has to be something going on that is worth reporting in our household! So here goes~bullet style!

~ Ethan and Christian started indoor soccer on Saturday at a local soccer dome. Oh it was so cold! The dome is not heated and it was maybe 10 degrees out. Christian played at 8am so 10 degrees is probably being generous and Ethan played at 1:00pm. They both loved it and both scored the one and only goals for their teams even though they lost. Unfortuantely I forgot my camera but it would have been difficult to take any pictures with my glove covered hands shoved in my pockets the entire time!

~Logan is still playing basketball and made his first basket this week from the free throw line. This is his first year playing and he is playing with a team of fourth graders (he is in third grade) and this team has already played a year before together. He is at a slight disadvantage but is catching on and enjoying it though I think his true passion is of course football, with basketball coming in second, and soccer a distant last.

~Ethan just finished working on a report on China. Over the last couple of weeks he has been working on it at school. When I asked him why he can't work on it at home he said "Mom the teachers do not want the parents doing the report for us so we have to do it all at school." I have the tendency to be "that mother" who some may say helps a little bit too much when it comes to reports and visual aids. I couldn't resist the urge to print out the various pictures he needed for the report and to strongly suggest "my ideas" on how the poster should look even buying the materials that "I" thought would make is look good. Of course when the poster board was complete I did manage to keep my mouth shut when the words weren't quite straight or the pictures weren't as neatly cut out as I thought they should have been.

~Is it spring yet? Ugh I am tired of this incredibly cold weather and snow we have been having! As I sit here I find it hard to find the motivation to leave my warm house and truck off into the cold weather to the store. Can't we just have cereal for dinner tonight?

~For Christmas Dan bought me a Pandora bracelet and added some charms. It is a "family bracelet" with each of the kids initials and a charm representing their interests beside their initial. For example Ethan has a soccer ball next to his initial. As I sit hear looking at it I think I need some new charms. Hmm Valentine's Day is right around the corner~hint hint.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

The ladybug

This week has been very difficult for me emotionally in terms of our adoption. As everyone who reads this blog knows and from a previous post I am really struggling with the wait. Some days are better than others but this week has been pretty hard. As I struggle I find myself asking God to "give me the strength and patience to get through this wait." On Wednesday night I asked God to "please just give me a sign so I can continue to hold on." In the China adoption community the ladybug is a sign of good luck and also symbolizes that referrals are on their way.

As I walked into the living room yesterday I noticed a small red speck on the floor. I assumed it was one of the holly berries from a Christmas wreath. As I bent down to pick it up I noticed that is was a LADYBUG! Ladybugs definitely are not common around this time of year when it is 30 degrees out and there is snow on the ground. I believe it was a sign for us to continue on in this journey and have FAITH that He will carry us through.

Sled riding

On Sunday we took the boys sled riding for the first time this year. I was a little unsure if I would be participating because I had hurt my back from shoveling the driveway on Saturday. I told Dan "it is definitely time to invest in a snow blower(though we say this every year and every year we end up shoveling hence me hurting my back!). The weather was perfect for an afternoon of sled riding. It wasn't too cold if you were bundled up and bundled up and "I" sure was! Before leaving my mom offered me an extra pair of snow pants to wear. After putting them on and realizing my extra "size" I debated about wearing them. I looked about 50 lbs heavier and just hoped against all hope that noone I knew would be there. Logan was the first to comment saying in a timid voice "mom, umm, your legs look well kinda big." Great I officially felt like the Michelin woman! I swear these were not your "normal" snowpants. These had extra insulation and I noticed they were a bit too short!

Back to the sled riding which is the real focus of this post! As I watched the boys have fun sledding down the hill I couldn't help but remember a couple years back when there would be no way that Ethan would go sled riding. He hates roller coasters or anything that makes his stomach "drop" as he puts it. I can remember in the past him standing there and watching everyone else have fun and I would think to myself "I know he wishes he could be sledding and having fun like everyone else." It was sad to see him stand there. This year was completely different! He couldn't get enough of going up and down the hill! He even tried going on his stomach which is something he never would have tried in the past! Maybe he will try roller coasters next. We all had a great time and with winter just approaching here I am sure we will have many more opportunities to sled ride again!

* In case you are wondering~ no you will not find many pictures of the "Michelin" woman!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Yes I know I am a few days late but I am happy to say that our "routine" finally returned to normal today with the boy's going back to school. Logan was ready, Christian was ready, and Ethan well, he will never be ready to see his vacation end. In honor of the new year Ethan decided well, okay, I decided that he needed to start the new year with a "new look." He loves his longer hair and I deal with it. Yesterday I had had enough and told him he needed to get it cut. Yes cut not trimmed like I usually let him do. I felt as if I had let him sport his unruly longer look long enough and now we needed to come to a compromise. I am very happy with his new look. It is still a "longer" look but it has a style to it which was very much lacking in his previous "style." Does he like it? Well let's just say he is still getting use to it. I will have to take a picture later but you can see from the previous post his previous "style."

So back to the New Year. I was very ready to say goodbye to 08. Obviously it did not end how I had hoped it would end. So we are looking forward to 09 knowing with a high amount of certainty that this will be the year that we see Mia's face for the first time! That will definitely be the highlight of 09 for us! What could possibly top that? So stay tuned for what I am sure will be a very exciting year!