My blogging hero

Friday night, mom and Helen and I went to The Big Bowl for dinner...very yummy....and then to the movies to see Julie and Julia which, by the way, was about a blogger like myself. Only difference was she blogged every single day, had hundreds of readers, got tons of comments, was written about in many papers and magazines, ended up with a book deal, and had her blog made into a movie. Other than that.....we are EXACTLY the same. From this day forward, I will aspire to have at least one of those qualities come true about my blog. Until then, I'll be happy talking to myself and my 9 followers ~HELLO~ and knowing that what I'm doing will be a treasure to our family for years to come. After all, how else will I remember cute and funny things that my boys do/say years from now if I didn't write them down like this....
Tony (in the backseat of the car on Friday): "Hey, Thor...do you like Obama?"
Thor (one of my daycare kids): Who?
Tony: Obama, do you like him?
Thor: I've never met him
Tony: You don't meet him...he's our president. George Bush was our last president, now Obama is our president.
Thor (getting irritated at the persistant political questioning): I DON"T KNOW!
Tony: Well, WE don't like him. Mom....WHY don't we like him?? Oh yah, cuz he is gonna raise our taxes.

I love it....as dad always says, start 'em young.

Doing hair

I can't wait until it's time for me to be done with daycare and I can go back to focusing on the job I actually enjoy....doing hair. I really love what I do, but this last year it's felt more like a chore just getting ready and trying to get there on time have proven difficult. I miss the days when I could take my shower, dry my hair, do my makeup, pick out an outfit....all so I could look professional and feel good while working. Nowadays I'm lucky if my clothes are clean and not wrinkled....my hair is not in a ponytail or dirty....my makeup is not put on in the car on the way.....and I don't have bags under my eyes. Not exactly the image I want to portray to my clients. I can't give 100% to any one thing in my life. I give a piece to my work....I give a piece to my daycare.....another piece to husband....another to my kids.....leaving not much else for myself. Not that stopping daycare will mean I can suddenly give everything to everyone...but it will certainly remove a huge chunk of where my energy is lost.
Tony asked me yesterday how much longer I will have to do daycare. I said hopefully not too long and that we are just getting enough saved up for the adoption. He paused for a minute and then asked..."How much does a little girl cost?" :)

What a keeper

I forgot to mention that last Friday I was sitting on the couch talking on the phone when I hear Jason come in the door from work. One of the boys said hi and then that was all I heard. I kept talking just figuring he snuck upstairs or went out to the garage for something. After about 5 minutes I ended my phone call and got up. When I did, I saw Jay standing by the door holding a vase with a dozen roses.....just standing there waiting for me to see him. I started laughing..."have you been standing there this whole time?" "yep...Happy Anniversary" August 21st is the date of our first date that we celebrate. As I opened up the card I said "I can't believe it's been 19 yrs".....he goes, "19?....oops" I read the card and it said, thank you for giving the best 18 years of my life. HA! I'm still trying to figure out which year wasn't the best.

Vote for background

I'm wanting to change up my background a bit. I really like the one I've been using, but it's fun to give it some new skin once in a while. I'll try a new on each day for a few days....tell me what you think, or if I should stick with the original.
I'm liking today's so far.....what do you think??

Sr. Teresa

Mom and I went to visit Teresa this weekend. We went on Sat. and stayed the night until yesterday. We stayed at a very nice guest house that was like being at a bed and breakfast. It was right behind where Teresa lives so it made it very convenient to go back and forth.
She wasn't well at all. We didn't get to see her as much as we would have liked, but this made us cherish the time we DID have even more. Today she is moving to St. Scholastica, a nursing home for the nuns, where she can have others take care of her and not worry about her meds and going up and down stairs. She was very accepting of the move, telling me that it is time...she is at peace with her decision.
She has been surrounded by so many wonderful individuals at St. Bens. What amazing women she has as friends....they are her family. We hardly could talk to them without seeing tears in their eyes at some point. It has been hard for them to see their sister sick. A lot of people might think it's sad that she doesn't have a husband or children or grandchildren to visit her and care for her in her illness, but she has been blessed richly. I feel like I am her child and my kids are her grandkids......like DAN is her child and his boys her grandkids....all of US have become her immediate family and the sisters have become her true sisters. She is surrounded by people who love her and I'm sure that makes this easier for her.

Definitions

These are some of the English words a little girl from China will have to learn if she becomes a part of our family.....

~Tay-No.....Tanner's name, as pronounced by Tony.
~Crunches.....What Tanner tells me he needs every time he gets a sore on his legs. A.K.A. crutches.
~Privacy.....a land of Oz, a far off world, a fictional place, a euphoric state of mind, as easy to find as the Loch Ness Monster.
~Pork chops.....chop sticks, if you're Tanner.
~NO.....this is what mom says for her health and because she feels like it for no apparent reason. It has no true meaning.
~We'll see.....Means NO. Although, see above meaning of THIS word.
~Spootsy (spoot-see) boy....Tony's nickname for everyone in his family.
~Shmootz.....what Tanner will tell you you have in your nose if he sees a booger.
~Bed....that soft thing in a bedroom that the boys look up at every night as they are sleeping on the hard floor.
~Vacation.....HUH?

Back again

I"m back online with a new computer...YAY! So much has happened in the past 2 weeks, I know I'll forget things but at least I can get back to posting.
As of last night, I replaced both openings in my daycare left by the 2 I lost. That was easy....one ad on craigslist....4 replies....me saying no to 2 of them....interviewing with the other 2 and getting them. Plus, I will be making more than I would have with the others ANNDDD....this is a big AND....I won't have the 5 yr. old demon child who drove me to want to drink! Thank you Lord, you always know what's best for me.
Tyler and Timmy have started football and love it. They practice from 5-7 and from 6-7:30 respectively. It makes for a bit of juggling to get everyone where they need to be. Jason had to get Timmy a 'cup' yesterday before practice cuz they were going to be in full gear. He was pretty proud of it and made sure to show me after he got home. It's a rite of passage when a boy gets his first cup. HA!

Picnic pics

Here are the pics I promised. I finally got my computer back last night and it's good as new. YAY!
I'll post later.....lots happens around here in 5 days.

Computer problems

I have been away a while, but it's because our computer took a nose dive. I get about a 50-50 chance of getting online at all and then an even worse chance of even being able to navigate around before getting booted off. This is one of those rare, lucky times where I'm able to so I'm taking advantage of it. Jay is bringing it into work tomorrow where one of the guys that works for him is a whiz at this stuff and can help us out. Yay..I'm going through puter withdrawal.

This past weekend was a blast! We finished the yard without a moment to spare for Sat. night when all the out of towners got here. We got so many compliments on it, I had to laugh at the transformation it had made in the week leading up to it. But actually, what a lot of them said was how nice and big and the fence and everything....that it was a great yard for the kids and for entertaining. I agree.
We had such a good time just catching up and visiting. Talking politics, of course...there's not a one that comes close to disagreeing with the family on stuff so that was fun. I was able to mention to some of my cousins that Jason and I are planning on adopting. They were so great and excited for us about it. In fact, my one cousin, Renee, told me that she had been to China twice and worked with the kids in the orphanages. I had no idea, so that was really neat to be able to talk to her about it. I know she's anxious to see where we end up traveling to...maybe she's been there.
Sunday was great, we all arrived at the park in St. Cloud by 11am and Sr. Teresa met us there. I could tell right away that she didn't feel well, but when I asked her she said she was good. I hugged her, then I asked her again....she said she wasn't feeling that good, but that she had told God she was offering up her pain that day in exchange for safety and good weather for all of her family. What a blessing she is.....we could all learn something from her, she's been very graceful during her illness.
I think there was around 90 people there. We talked, we ate, the kids played, we took some great photos and family group pictures...it was a really fun day. I genuinely like my relatives....that's a pretty cool thing.
I have a ton of photos that I will download here when my computer is up and running again.
Since then, the week has been pretty standard. I Had found out that I wouldn't have Joey and Dani anymore come next week....and I thought I could replace them easily with some backups that have been wanting me to let them know if I have an opening, but that didn't happen. The dad lost his job, so they won't be needing care and another possible lead on 2 part timers didn't pan out either. So, today I broke down and put an ad on craigslist. If I don't replace them, at least partly, I will have to delay our adoption even longer and I really don't want to do that. I actually got 4 responses right away by this afternoon which I've replied to and we'll see. I just have to have faith that it all works out for the best.
I'm home alone right now cuz I got off work early and Jay has taken the boys to New Brighton for the Stockyard Day parade. They'll be home shortly and then we're going to Short Stop to play bingo. Maybe I'll win $1000.....yah, right.