Back to work!!!!

Well it's official--Summer is over for me :(

I've only been back to work for three days and already I'm running behind. My office is a wreck because I've been in meetings every day, we have new children enrolling every day, we are frantically trying to get a working schedule and I am serving four schools again this year!

Tomorrow is meet and greet so by 2:00 the school will be full of anxious parents and excited children. I'll need to be available to smile, greet, hug and welcome our families so my office will have to wait until Friday.

The kids are all excited to be returning to school. This year I will have all four at school with me--YIPPEE!!! I can't believe this is Sarah's last year of elementary school nor can I believe that my baby, Analiese will be starting kindergarten. Where did the time go????

Starting Monday our full schedule begins; school, dance and gymnastics! Whew, we are going to be busy, busy, busy!

Sarah has been invited to try out for the next level of company dance (intermediate 1); she is so excited and we are so very proud of her. The audition is on Friday and we will know that evening if she is chosen for the higher level or must stay at the beginning level (junior company). Whatever the decision, the experience will be great for her!

Grace is going to be part of the "ensemble" group at the studio this year. They do some performances and one competition through the year. The commitment is not quite at the company level and gives the kids an idea of what being in company would be like. Sarah started here and helped to ease her into the amount of time she must give to dance. Grace is such a good dancer and will do very well in this group.

Analiese is taking a dance class and a gymnastics class (all of the kids are taking one gymnastics class). We saw lots of progress last year and know she will have lots of fun with her favorite teacher, Miss Courtney.

Matthew is only taking the gymnastics class but has already proven, after two classes, how much his attention and his gross motor skills have improved. We expect he will only get better.

As for me and Dave we hope to spend some time not only with the kids but with each other. He will be home every night this year as he quit the part-time night job he held for 11 years!!! I hope the two of us will be less stressed as we can split the responsibilities for driving, dinner and homework. Maybe we might be able to squeeze in a date night????

We just can't wait!

To watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics this evening! Hope you'll be watching also!

What do I see????

The end of my summer vacation! Yes, it is THAT close. I only have 6 (S-I-X) more days and then I am back to daily grind. I do love my job but I gotta tell you, having the summer off is just the best!

I had such grand plans to get things organized. What, on my list, did I complete? Organizing my closet? Nope. Working on the kid's scrapbooks? Nope. Starting life books for Grace, Analiese and Matthew? Nope. Organizing our photos? Nope. Cleaning out my kitchen cabinets. Some of them. Sorting out and filing the kid's keepsakes? Yup. Re-organizing my home files? Started it.

Well, if the "summer list" was my job, I'd for sure be fired! Oh well, there is always next summer....

"I'm leaving"

Got my pillow and blanket
Thanks to Matthew I now have my toothbrush
Our neighbor's house

Said Analiese...The kids were all playing upstairs and as will happen, Analiese became the "odd man out" and her sisters and brother did not want to include her anymore. After some yelling and tears Analiese came down to inform me, "I'm leaving". She had her blanket and her pillow but nothing else.

When I asked where she was going she told me, "The Browns". I then asked her how she was going to get there because they lived very far away she told me that she wanted me to drive her there. When I explained that I couldn't because I had to stay at home to take care of the other children Analiese complained that she couldn't drive and her "legs were too small to walk".

Analiese then had another idea; she would run away to our neighbor's (the Woods) house! Yeah, that's what she decided was best. I told her that I loved her and would miss her, helped her put her blanket in her pillow case, told her to call me (she told me to keep my cell phone on), Sarah got Analiese her shoes and off she went (with a stop for photos of course!).

Once we got outside, our other neighbor, across the street, just happen to be delivering cookies to our neighbor's! So, out came Tanya and I explained that Analiese was running away and wanted to run to her house. Tanya told her to come on, Analiese hugged me and then asked Tanya if she could call me.

From behind Analiese's back, I shook my head "no" to Tanya. She told Analiese, "no, you can't call your Mom". Analiese looked at me and said, "I think I'll stay home". So...into the house went Analiese, with her blanket, pillow and toothbrush!

Analiese told me that she even though she wasn't leaving this time, she was keeping her options open. I told her that was fine and I was glad she decided to stay! After a quick hug and a kiss she was off playing with Sarah and Grace again!

I remember Sarah running away when she was five. She got about 2 houses away and ran back and told me she couldn't go because she wasn't allowed to cross the street! Grace hasn't mentioned it and I know Matthew has NO intention of even mentioning it because he's afraid we'll agree to let him go!

My life is so full of wonderful moments and memories!

And the survey says...

The pair that we bought? Well, it actually is choice #6, none of these (but only because I didn't take a photo of the frames we finally settled on!). However, they look very similar to the Disney frames. So, for all of you who voted for the round Disney frames--we agree!

So, Matthew had the glasses for not even a full day when they got broken. Sure glad we bought the extended warranty! Matthew had set his glasses on the floor of the playroom (no, no, no!) and Analiese stepped on them! Yes, we had many tears. Matthew, because he lied and tried to say that Analiese pulled the glasses off of his face and then stepped on them and then Analiese because she vehemently denied breaking them that way (but accepting that she did indeed step on them).

We finally got through to the truth and Matthew was sent to his room for lying and for not taking care of his glasses. He is also working off the cost of having the glasses repaired. Hopefully Matthew will take better care of them now.

As you can see the frames also came with some cool, clip on (with magnets) sun glasses. He loves those and wears them as much as I will allow him. The other night he did a magic show and had on his sunglasses. He couldn't see a thing but boy did he look good!

From what we can tell Matthew's vision seems to be better. He doesn't sit as close to the TV but as for other things we haven't heard many comments. We'll see on the follow up appointment.

Grace is doing better. She has some pain from the incisions. We make sure to cover her belly button with a cotton ball and a ball. This morning she woke up and the cotton ball was missing--maybe it worked! She hasn't started complaining of not being able to swim or do other activities so that tells me she is still not feeling herself. We'll see on Monday what happens when gymnastics class starts. I've told her she can dress and sit with her class but she cannot participate. She is fine with that today....

I have just one week left of vacation. As usual the summer just flew by. It was a great break. I enjoyed the kids, the pool, the movies, the beach, our trip to Michigan and not having to run from school to dance to doing errands. But, that fun is just around the corner!

Won't you please send in $1.00??????

My FAVORITE charity (and one that I am a volunteer with) is having a contest (see below for details) to promote the UNITY FUND. I would so love it if those of you who read my blog would take a moment to enter the contest and to also donate. The money will go DIRECTLY to those in need (Love Without Boundaries is a volunteer organization, go check them out: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com)

To kick off the fund LWB is also having a $1 challenge , where they are challenging EVERYONE we know to pop $1 in the mail (LWB, 306 S. Bryant, Ste. C-145, Edmond, OK 73034). When you send in your $1.00 will you please make a note that you read about the fund/contest on my blog????

So, even if you can only afford the $1.00 to help kick off the fund every little bit will help!

So, in honor of Gracie, Analiese and Matthew, won't you drop your dollar in the mail??????

Thanks so much, Tina







MONDAY, JULY 28, 2008

LWB UNITY FUND CONTEST


Okay, we are TOTALLY stealing a fabulous idea from the Old Red Barn Co (http://www.oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/) because we had so much fun entering and doing our own videos to try to win their quilt for our art auction. We lost….waahhh!

Starting TODAY, you have a chance to win a FABULOUSLY INCREDIBLE LWB PRIZE PACK in celebration of our Unity Fund launch. What is the Unity Fund, you ask? It is our new medical fund for impoverished families in China who cannot afford the life-saving medical procedures that their children need, in the hopes of keeping their families UNITED (hence the name) and actually preventing orphaned children. Yes, it is a big dream, but if we help even one more child stay with their family, that is beyond happiness for us. We are often approached by rural families who are desperate to help their children but who believe their only chance of healing them is to leave their child at an orphanage. We want to have a separate fund that we can use to bring HOPE to their lives, so that we can tell them immediately, “We know you love her, and yes we can help.” So in celebration of keeping families together, we are copying the contest held by the Old Red Barn Co and because we are busy people (ha ha) and want to save time, we are even copying their rules! Shameless we are!

First prize in this contest is an LWB prize pack, which includes:



A copy of our coffee table book, “Love’s Journey 2: The Red Thread”—a beautiful, hard cover book of over 250 pages with beautiful photos and stories about adoption.



PLUS a Red Thread Jewelry Set, valued at $125, which is SO BEAUTIFUL that you know you want it! Sterling silver, pearls, red silk cording…..did I mention BEAUTIFUL?!




PLUS one adult LWB t-shirt and one child’s LWB t-shirt.





PLUS (drum roll please because this is a biggie these days!) you will also win a FIFTY DOLLAR gas card to 7-Eleven donated by a friend of LWB!!! WOOHOO!! Free gas!!! Gas card! Gas card! Gas card!!! Okay, we admit that doesn’t exactly go with an LWB prize pack, but hey….we told you we were shameless and we want you to enter!

Total prize pack is worth over $250! Now that’s a fun contest, right?

Second prize will receive a Love’s Journey book, and third prize gets their choice of an adult or child’s LWB logo t-shirt.

All you have to do to enter and receive one chance in the drawing is email http://info@lwbmail.com and say “I support helping rural children in need.” That will count as one entry!

You earn FIVE extra entries into the drawing if you post an entry about our contest in your blog and let us know.

You get FIFTY ENTRIES (yes 5-0) if you make a video on why families are wonderful (to go along with our Unity theme) and mention the words “Live With Hope, Love Without Boundaries” at least once. Post it on Youtube with the header “Love Without Boundaries Unity Fund.” Send us your name and the link so we can credit you 50 chances! Since we are having fun with this celebration, we are going to follow the same rules and say we need your video to make us smile at least once. We know kids always make us smile, so we know this won’t be any problem!

International supporters are also welcome to enter. The contest will end Friday, August 15th at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Get your comments in before then. We’ll announce the winner on Saturday, August 16th! The winner will be selected by random drawing.

We are also having a $1 challenge to kick off this fund, where we are challenging EVERYONE we know to pop $1 in the mail (LWB, 306 S. Bryant, Ste. C-145, Edmond, OK 73034) to help a rural child in need. Who needs an extra diet Coke today when you could put those four quarters in an envelope to save a life? Can we get 5,000 people to send in $1? We won’t know until we try. Spread the word! And enter our contest!

Let’s celebrate the joy of families as we launch this new fund to help those families in China truly in need.

Good luck!

"Mommy, my belly hurts"

On Sunday late morning, after a Saturday sleepover, my sweet Grace complained of her belly hurting. Not knowing what she had eaten but assuming it was lots of sugar I told her to go lay down. After a few hours Grace ate some soup for lunch but really was not feeling much better.

We were supposed to go shopping but Grace told me she felt like she was going to "throw up". So I went without her. By dinner time my angel was not feeling any better. So, I decided to call the on-call nurse for our pediatrician. After describing the symptoms I was instructed to go to the nearest ER. Well, after the incident with Matthew I wanted to make sure we were not dealing with a "constipation issue".

Feeling pretty confident that the belly ache was not related to anything else off I headed with Grace to the pediatric ER only to be told to go home because Grace probably had the stomach virus that was going around. I certainly was not convinced as Grace was in so much pain and had vomited on the way into the ER.

The doctor dismissed my concerns and gave us a prescription for an anti-nausea and sent us on our way. Since it was Sunday we had one heck of a time finding a pharmacy open. Dave finally was able to get the medicine. Once we gave it to Grace it worked on the nausea but had absolutely no effect on the pain.

After several hours of laying in bed with Grace and realizing how serious her pain was I returned to the ER at about 3 AM. Finally they diagnosed her with appendicitis! It was horrible to watch my sweet baby in so much pain and vomiting during the catscan. I so just wanted someone to do SOMETHING to help her. Finally, at about 9:30 AM the hospital transported us, via ambulance, to the children's hospital so Grace could have surgery.

However, it wasn't until 2:00 PM on Monday that she had the surgery. Through the entire ordeal Grace was so brave and so stoic. The only time she really cried was when I explained that she was going to have surgery. She cried and cried and told me she was frightened. What a brave little girl she was!

The surgeon at the Children's hospital was just wonderful. She explained everything to us and made sure Grace was included! The major concern was wether Grace's appendix had burst.

Thank goodness it had not! However the appendix was gangerous so we had to really watch for infection. We spent Monday and Tuesday night in the hospital and received the BEST care possible! Grace really bounced back and we were able to leave the room to play in the game room, go to "summer camp" and meet the Atlanta Braves!

I so love Scottish RIte Hospital!!! They are so awesome and so child focused! Our surgeon was great and so were the nurses! Speaking of nurses, I finally got to meet a cyber-friend and someone who attends our First Fridays group! We missed her everytime we went for Analiese but this time we were able to spend some time together. It was wonderful to talk with her!

I cannot tell you how frightened I was for Grace. It is so frustrating to know that something is wrong with your child and not be able to do a darn thing about it! Grace came through the surgery with flying colors. Once she saw me, in recovery, she started to cry. Needless to say I quickly got into the bed with her and held her and did not let go for days. We slept together so she would know that I was within an arms reach.

Grace is doing well, being doted on by ALL of us and hopefully is on a non-stop road to recovery! The worst part is that she cannot do gymnastics or swimming for two weeks. Can I keep her busy enough where she doesn't miss those things????? I sure hope so. Please keep my angel in your prayers.