Tis The Season

For consignment sale shopping! It is upon us. I am heading out this afternoon with a few friends to the first of the season. Several readers asked about AP's cute polka dotted dress a few posts ago. Yep.. it was a consignment sale find! I stumbled upon a website this afternoon for one of the biggies in North Nashville. Check it out at Encores and More. I always find great deals and it last a lot longer than most sales.

Wordle

This is supposed to be the words I have used the most on my blog with prominence given to the words I use the most (you can click to see it larger, I can't figure out how to get it bigger). I'm not sure if I believe that or not b/c I don't think I used "planetarium" in more than 1 post and it is larger than most words in there. I still thought it was cool.
I went to school today to work on cleaning out my office and loaded up my desk to bring home and repaint. My company gave me a desk 3 years ago that I am sure they just found in a back alley or something. Although I am grateful to have a desk at all, it needs much help. My plan is to paint it black and then try to distress it a little. I just might do before/after shots, too. If it weren't 200 degrees in my garage right now, I would go work on it.

Pottying and Wiiing

Our girl just finished her 6th day with no diapers! Woo Hoo! This morning at church was a huge victory for her. She stayed in her class for a little over three hours and told her teacher everytime she had to peepee! That was her first time away from me using the potty. We have had a few accidents when she has been busy, but overall I think she is really getting it. The Gerber training panties are the best (not the plastic ones, but the cotton ones). They contain accidents way better, but still feel like panties and not a pull-up or diaper. Here she is after church when we were celebrating her big-girlness :)

We had dinner tonight at my aunt and uncle's. The highlight of the night was getting to play a Wii for the first time! Uncle got one for his birthday last week. Here is Hubs bowling and golfing. I want one!

Good Times Poolside

I have mentioned here before that I have a group of friends that used to be referred to as "The Five" in high school. We all five went to school together from 1st grade and then 4 of us went on to college together. We are still the best of friends today and it is so much fun to spend time with them and watch our kiddos grow up together. Today 4 of the 5 met up at D's mom's clubhouse for some fun in the sun. The kiddos had a great time. C has perfected his floatie-free swimming and has even started doing flips underwater! AP has the most fun jumping off the side. AP has been diaper free for 3 days now! So far so good. We took her potty with us to the pool and she got out 4 times and peepeed in it. I thought that was pretty good considering most kids pee in the pool anyway :(

Oh The Excitement...

...of ice cream sandwiches while watching fireflies on summer nights...

Adventures in Science

Yesterday C and I spent the day at The Adventure Science Museum here in Nashville while AP spent the day with Boompa and Baba (thanks guys!). The first thing on the agenda was the new planetarium show. There has been much talk about the "new planetarium". I kept wondering what was so new about it because I went to the planetarium there when I was in elementary school! Apparently, the new part is a new fancy schmancy projector that shines millions of more stars. Honestly, it seemed pretty much the same and the scientific part was a little over C's head, but I think he liked the experience of it.

After that we meandered through the rest of the exhibits. C was just tall enough to do the space walk experience (kind of like a reverse bungee), but alas he was 14 pounds too light! This is a pic of he and his friend J just watching and wishing they could do it :(

I think C spent the longest time at this little truck that you could change the tires on. He and his friends took the bolts on and off and on and off.
But if you ask him, he like the dinosaurs the best. You can see his little head in the bubble in the next picture. My favorite part was the game where you battle the germs with laser guns! And yes, the parents played in this one, too :)
C and I climbed to the very tip top of the tower. (Mom and R, it reminded me of the tallest tower of Nastina's castle!) Here are a few pics at the top.
It was a fun time with our friends, but I have to admit that Chattanooga's museum was a little better. Sorry Nashville.

CWA Peeps and Invisible Adoptions

This weekend, as I mentioned, was spent with our CWA peeps at the Taylor Ranch in Flat Rock, NC. It was HOT, but so much fun. I felt like I already knew everyone because I follow most of their blogs. It was so surreal to meet them in person. I met this family, this family, this family, this family, this family, and this family. We also reconnected with this great family. Believe me when I say the kiddos we met are even cuter in person! We also got to meet the ambassador from Kyrg that works in DC. We also got to chat with the in-country facilitator and stateside Kyrg facilitators. Our family would not be what it is without those two awesome dedicated ladies! C also got to talk to our Russian facilitator at CWA, but he doesn't remember her at all. She remembers him, though.C and daddy tried their luck at fishing AP and JJ (above) were in cribs next to each other in Tokmok! Do they remember? No.. But that didn't stop us from taking pics :) (I stole this last pic off of G's blog, AP's expression is hilarious)

After the main picnic, the Kyrg families continued the party at a resort/lodge/cabin kind-of place. It was the perfect set-up for the parents to get to chat and all the kiddos to run around wear themselves out. S and her family from Tapsalteerie Farms did an awesome job of coordinating everything and getting all the food. The homemade ice cream was the bomb! C made a great friend while we were there. They played non-stop and were so much alike it was uncanny. Too bad his little friend lives in Raleigh :(

As far as the invisible adoption part of this post, it's after weekends like this past one, that I have a sort of guilt about C's adoption not being quite as obvious as AP's. I'm sure there were other Russia families there, but you just can't tell. We didn't meet any of them. C looks just like us, so no one ever asks about when he came home or where he was adopted from. It's almost like his adoption is overshadowed by his sister's. I don't ever want him to think that we don't celebrate his adoption just as much. Do any of you other Russia adoptive parents feel that way?

Changes

I sort of figured out how to redesign my own blog. What do you think? The header needed to be updated b/c the pics were way outdated and I couldn't justify spending money on a re-do right now. It will take me a while to get used to it.

We got back this afternoon from a weekend in Asheville, NC for the CWA Family Picnic. We had a great time re-connecting with old adoption friends and meeting so many blogger friends in person for the first time. I will share all about it later with pictures :)

Thanks to those who were praying for Nanna. She is doing much better. She was discharged from the hospital on Friday. This morning when I talked to her she was rushing out the door to church like nothing ever happened!

Please Pray for Nanna

Ok, serious stuff first. My mom had a stroke. Apparently, she started feeling bad and sort of knew what was going on (she's had a TIA/mini-stroke before), but waited a few days to go to the hospital. Thankfully, the side effects were mild (so she says) and she is going to be ok. She is in the hospital recovering from a lumbar puncture test, so to my praying friends please remember her. All this happened while we were away and I couldn't do a thing. I think the kiddos and I will stay away for a little while to let her rest and then we will head back to Ohio to love on her. My kiddos aren't exactly restful :)

On to less important things. We did manage to have a good time in Chattanooga. Hubs, of course, was working. The kiddos and I hung out at the pool yesterday. Then today we spent the morning at the zoo, met hubs for lunch, and then spent the afternoon at the Creative Discovery Museum. The zoo was pretty small, but had a few different things, so the kiddos enjoyed it. (that's the face he made when he saw the chimpanzee's bottom :) The museum, oh my, can you say sensory overload? It really is a cool place, but there was just way too much to take in. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.