Sports Week

Well, Liam finished up his flag football month thru the YMCA. He seemed to enjoy it all 3 times (we missed one week)! It's kind of nice that it was a short session, because he never got to the point of not wanting to go practice. I'll attach a picture of him going after a flag.

Then here is Jim, our hockey player. He has found a new team, and played his first game this week on his 40th birthday. He looked like a 20 yr old out there! Unfortunately, his team took a bit of a beating that night (this, on top of the Bengals loss). Happy 40th, anyway, Jim!

Grandma is here, and we are enjoying her visit a lot! We might just decide to keep her. Natalie has no problem saying "Mamaw" and is so excited to see her every morning, and Liam wants to be sure that Grandma snuggles only with him at bed time. We're looking forward to Halloween!

To Russia With Love

Well, a big decision has been made. We officially asked today to be switched to the Russia Program with our adoption agency. It is exciting, but sad, too. I had a special place in my heart for China, and I must say that making the switch feels a little bit like giving up on a baby out there somewhere in China. But the China Program is so very slow right now, we are aging quickly, and we really wanted to be bringing home baby #3 before 2010. I think that some day we will look back and see all of these pieces falling into place as they were meant to, but right now these decisions are hard. Luckily, I have wonderfully practical (and flexible) family members who do not obssess nearly as much as myself over such minor matters as a country. Jim always tells me very confidently that as soon as I meet my baby, nothing else will matter. And Liam has decided "Yes, a baby from Russia is good too."

So PRIVYET, RUSSIA! Here we come!

Trip to the Heartland

We had a great trip this last weekend. Thanks to everyone for their hospitality! I hope we didn't leave anyone's house in too much of a state of disarray - I think we probably left without picking up toys at several of our stops. Sorry!

The kids really had a good time visiting with everyone - Sarina, Carli, Josh, Hannah, Wyatt, Amanda, and Alex. The also enjoyed the Cincinnati Zoo on Sunday. What beautiful weather, and a chance to see some Fall trees too! When we got home it was 54 and rainy!

And what can I say about the Bengals...

Jim was SO thrilled to watch them finally win! He couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. In fact, I'm not even going to buy him a present, because I just can't top that.

Kidding, Jim...

Halloween Cob Webs

Tonight as we were eating dinner, eagle-eye Liam looked up and told me "Look, mommy, on the light there are spiderwebs just like the houses in our neighborhood have for Halloween." Sure enough, on the chandelier hanging over the table were cobwebs/spiderwebs. When I mentioned that I will have to clean that light, Liam said "No, wait until after Halloween, because spiderwebs are good and spooky for Halloween." So that is my story, Grandma, when you come visit, if you happen to see any cobwebs around the house...you'll know why. :-)

Pumpkins and Princesses

Not much new here. Still preparing for Halloween. We went to a pumpkin patch this weekend, and picked out a few pumpkins. We are planning to do a Bengals carving, even though Jim is totally depressed about them right now. Liam enjoyed his football practice again, and did some more catching and running, and even pulled off another boy's "flag" and also made a touchdown! Go Liam!

Natalie thinks she is a princess. She is always in motion, and always talking. Actually, we think she might be related to Sam Kinnison because her talking voice can be very LOUD. And she'll periodically just yell AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH as she runs through the house for no apparent reason.

Good news about the gas leak - my headaches have gone away, and I DO seem less irritable. Maybe I'm just getting used to being at home...but I think the gas leak wasn't helping.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Has anyone else noticed that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Wow - pink things are EVERYWHERE! I think it's great. I even bought some Campbell's soup in a pink can at the grocery. Now, they may just be fooling me by making it pink, but I'm hoping it means some of the proceeds go to a good charity. I also had an awkward moment at the checkout at the grocery when the teenage cashier asked if I would donate to the Susan G Komen fund, and I shocked him by saying "Sure, go ahead and add $5". Apparently I was the first one who had actually agreed to it, and he got so excited that he babbled on for so long about "That is so great! My Manager told me this morning that it was my job to save breasts!...." until he had successfully embarrassed both of us by saying the word "breast" too many times, and I just needed to leave. :-) But it is nice to see a teenager taking such an interest in breasts, now, isn't it? I'm sure that doesn't happen every day...

Are you ready for some Football??

Liam is ready for football! The YMCA has a Small Fry program where they introduce kids to a new sport every month, so it is very low-pressure and very much about just introducing kids to a sport and teaching them the basics. October is Football month, and Liam just had his first football "lesson". He is doing really great with catching and throwing, and learned how to protect the ball. I was a little surprised that he enjoyed it as much as he did. Of course, he says he only wants to be a Quarterback. The class is for kids age 3 & 4, so I suspect that it helps that he is one of the older kids this time, as opposed to the 3 yr old soccer where he seemed so young. Whatever the reason, it is very nice to see Liam and his Daddy both so enthusiastic about the same thing! Unfortunately for Jim, Liam seems to be turning into a Cowboys fan...although he is always Mr. Diplomatic about those things, and assures Jim that he likes BOTH the Cowboys AND the Bengals.

Source of my Irritibility?

Am I wrong to believe that a Home Warranty, such as you usually buy during the purchase of an existing home, should NOT charge you $55 for every visit? A second time now we have called the Warranty people to have a serviceman dispatched, and it is $55 for every visit. This time, it was for what I thought was a legitimate cause - I smelled gas in our kitchen, and specifically, in the cupboard under the stove top. I turned the gas pipe off, called the Warranty company, and (of course) perused the internet for symptoms of gas poisoning. Ah HA! Headaches (which I've had every day for a while now), irritibility, fatigue, reduced mental capacity...could it be that all the things I've associated with making the change to being a stay-at-home mom could be caused by a gas leak?? Interesting...

So the serviceman was here this morning. Took him approximately 30 seconds to fix the gas pipe connection under the stove top that was loose. "Well HERE'S your problem! The screw here is almost entirely off! No WONDER you smelled gas!" Feeling kind of silly that I didn't try to tighten the only screw that is even in that cupboard....I even tried asking if he should test for any other gas leaks while he was here, and he said "Uhhh..no...there's really nothing else that can break on a stove top." So $55 and 30 seconds later, our gas leak is fixed.

NOW...the test will be whether I still have headaches, irritibility, and fatigue after this! I don't think Jim believes that I will be Mrs. Cleaver now...I guess only time will tell. I'll post an update after the house has been aired out for a while. Here's hoping for a brand-new, and much less irritable me!

My Little Angels..for at least 5 minutes

I was at a used bookstore the other day (you know, trying to make up for my lost salary by selling a box full of old books...I got a whole $8.50! That should help our income this year!), and after making $8.50, I bought $12 in kids books. When we went to the register, I took the book out of Natalie's hand and gave it to the lady to ring up. The checkout lady commented how most kids would have screamed, and it must be a reflection of my good parenting skills that Natalie was so calm.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Needless to say, I pushed the stroller out of there as FAST as I could after paying, because I just knew that we would have a meltdown about SOMEthing before another 10 minutes had passed. Apparently this lady/girl had no children herself, or she would never have said something so foolish. All I could think as I looked down at Natalie sitting so sweetly in the stroller waiting patiently for her book back was "Wow! How could I not have noticed that she was being good?? I should really pay more attention to these moments before they pass."
And yes, I know I'm lucky that I have such sweet moments at all. I love each and every one of them.

Dancing With the Mini-Stars

I wish video didn't take up so much bandwidth, because I have some cute clips of the kids dancing along to Dancing With the Stars that I would love to share. Very funny. Natalie loves to dance lately, and she looks kind of similar to a person set on fire. She runs in circles very fast, and flaps her arms wildly until she usually falls down. As hard as I thought it would be to upstage that performance...then there is Liam. Think 80s Solid Gold Dancer. He has the shoulder wiggles and the hip gyrations, and oh my, the arm motions. He has the arm motions of a seasoned belly dancer . I could watch him all night. Maybe someday I will have to video him and upload it to YouTube. It will definitely be recorded for posterity, and also to embarrass him in front of any future girlfriend or wife.