Sometimes losing the battle isn't so bad

Where to start...For those of you that know us, you know we like to ride snowmobiles. Living in Michigan, we have to have some winter sports or otherwise we'd all be nut cases from staying inside so much. Can't say that snowmobiling is my favorite thing to do, but the kids seem to really enjoy it and I know Wayne loves it, so I do it. In the past few years, the kids have grown and it's made riding more of a chore. We have 2 sleds...one station wagon 2-up and Wayne's hot rod 600. Well, momma was getting the crap end of the stick and having to take 2 kids on the station wagon. It's tough! Cameron was growing too big to ride with Wayne and so below are the results of what the boys bought today.

Cameron has wanted a sled, Wayne has wanted to get another sled, I was dragging my feet. I could find 1500 ways to spend $1500 dollars. However, after seeing the smile on Cam's face, it's all worth it AND it will make riding for me more enjoyable as Wayne can take one of the girls and I will only have one with me. So now our sled total is 3. All Polaris. Woohooo! Bring on the snow!

Wow...

So while checking out the dashboard part of my blog, my friend Liam's blog came up. He has a picture of the cover of Time magazine posted. Here's the conversation I had with Julia:

Julia: Hey! I know that guy.
Me: Who?
Julia points to the magazine cover.
Me: You know who that is?
Julia: Yeah, it's Barack Obama.
Me: You're right. Cool.
Julia: Duh...he's the President of the WORLDDDDD!!

Way too cute!!

For Kristi...

Well...Let me back up. My dad, sister and I moved out 2 old recliners through a doorway that required us to move the Christmas tree. (Note to self: Trying to move a fully decorated REAL tree is NOT a good idea.) Anyways, the merry band of movers thought we had the tree back in the "correct" spot, but knowing Wayne like I do, I knew he'd notice that it wasn't right. So, he started to move it and well, it's started to fall. Hence the giant "SHHHEEEEIIIITTT" comment from the other room. All the kids just looked at me as I ran over and shrugged their shoulders like, "Hey man, it's your deal." LOL!

The tree is back safe and sound to where it should be, no one was hurt by falling ornaments and Wayne and I are still on talking terms. Life is Good! :-)

However, now that my recliners are gone....I'm sitting in my 8 y/o's fuzzy purple moon chair. Nice, eh? Hahaha.....

Before the program and wearing her new dress!

Here's the dress that Dawn made for Ju! Wayne just yelled, "Sh*t" so I better go check what the deal is.

Another snow day, another day of Momma Madness

Tonni posted a great list of things to do when your kids are all home from school. Ok, yeah, that's for a motivated mom. LOL! Just kidding. I just hate having plans to get things done and WHAM! Snow day. Boooooo!! So far that's 3. 2 last week, 1 this week. Ehhh...at this rate I will get nothing done before 2 of our family Christmas parties next weekend. We also have a school parties this week. One of which I am semi in charge of. Yes, Virginia, I have lost my mind!! LOL! And we are getting a few pieces of new furniture this week. Dawn, remember that couch you sat on? The one we couldn't get out of? HAHAHA! Well, it's going to be GONE as of Thursday. I've been dragging my feet when it comes to new stuff. With 3 kids, 2 dogs...well, you see the point. The recliners/couch we have are from 12 years ago and it was cheapy stuff, so it's long over due. I think I'm beginning to ramble...I should get showered and dressed for the day. But why? LOL! I doubt we're going anywhere!!

Aren't you glad you stopped by to read the ramblings of snowbound mother? ;-)
(Oh yeah, spellchecker didn't like the spelling of cheapy...tough, it's my favorite word!)

Tutu Cute!

We got home from a long weekend of shopping and I told Julia to get her jammies on. This is what she came out in. Long underwear, new black patent shoes AND her purple tutu from Dawn. (Please forgive me for the messy table and background!)

Now's the time that we need to share...

Because this is the season...I have Supertramp's "Give a little bit" running through my head. Actually, I have the Goo Goo Dolls version running through on occassion too, but...I'm a fan of Supertramp from wayyyyy back. Anyways...

I wanted to share what's happened this week at our house. First, Wayne got a promotion. He was the Operations Manager for just the Ludington facility of Cal-Chlor. Now, he's the Excutive Vice President of Operations for all 3 plants (Ludington; Bound Brook, NJ; and Opeluosas, LA). He's beyond excited, I'm thrilled and the kids asked if that meant we could go to New Jersey! Not sure what they think is cool about NJ, but... Seeing how the economy the way it is, Wayne and I feel so very blessed to be a part of a company that is growing by leaps and bounds. The great part of it, is that Wayne enjoys his job and is looking forward to the new challenges that are coming.

The second part is that because Cal-Chlor is growing and doing well, we got a Christmas bonus! YAY! Again, in these tough times, we couldn't be more grateful. This will help us pay off some of our debt, but Wayne and I both agreed that we are giving up some of gift giving games that we play with our families to donate what would have been spent on the games. I could rattle off a ton of charities that are deserving. We all have ones that are special and close to our hearts.

I guess what I'm getting at is, drop a few coins in the Salvation Army bell-ringer's buckets. Pick up a new toy and drop it off at a Toys for Tots location. Donate some canned or boxed food to your local pantries. Just remember, there is always someone who has less than you do. Tomorrow, it could be you. It could be us. My friend Sharon B. from VA always joked that she would live in a cardboard box behind a Food Lion, but still have Internet. (I'm not making fun of the homeless, just that she (Sharon) would give up everything but her laptop!) :-)

I know...when it comes to donating time, money and energy...I'm preaching to the choir with my readers. But a little reminder couldn't hurt! Love you all!

Winter is here

It's still snowing...will take pictures later of our 12+ inches later. Bleh.

Yes, I am the Ladybug Paparazzi (or Stalkerazzi)

So if anyone has ever paid attention to my blog you know I have a thing for ladybugs and for what the represent. In adoption circle, ladybugs mean good luck. Welllll.....today, Julia found this little beauty bookin' across the our kitchen floor. I scooped her or him up and placed it on the closest living green thing I could find! I feel bad for the bug, I took a ton of flashy pictures. Poor guy doesn't know what hit him!!

I really don't know if it means anything...but to me it does and I've got my fingers and toes crossed and am sending up a few prayers. ;-)

As promised, the things that make me happy list!

1. Seeing the kids fight over who gets to put the next decoration on the advent tree.
2. How the Christmas tree/Christmas decorations make our house feel more homey.
3. Watching Riley and Oliver sleep next to each other...(they're the dogs).
4. My red flannel sheets.
5. Reading any of my J. Maarten Troost books! I just love this guy!
6. Hearing Wayne whisper, "I love you" before we both roll over into our sleeping positions.
7. Playing the Wii with the kids...and beating Cameron at anything I can, because he's just that good!
8. Thinking about my baby sister being home from Minnesota in 4 days!! Woohoo!
8b. Spending time in my parent's house for Christmas with everyone there...and all Mom's trees!
9. Watching CSI: Miami, Criminal Minds, Most Evil, Red Wings hockey, Intervention and my total guilty pleasure...Dog the Bounty Hunter.
10. And last...knowing that I have some of the best friends in the world...

An FYI

I'm taking my "other" blog down for bit...with the holidays coming, I barely have enough time to write and post to one, let alone two! :-) No biggie.

Things that annoy me lately

1. Breaking my thumb nail down so far that you can't trim it and having it bleed forever. (You have no idea how much you use your thumbs until you can't. Like pulling down jeans to pee, putting earrings in, washing your hair...it's endless!)

2. Snow. Winter. Cold.
2a. Trying to find doggie poo in the snow so the piles don't become secret boobie traps for kids that want to play outside.

3. The whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing...Deals will be out there if you look hard enough. Every day I get a new coupon for some store!

4. Feeling like I need to drop a buck every time I enter a store with a bell ringer out front (even though I always do and enjoy it, it still bugs me if I don't have the dollar.)

5. People who pull out in front of me while driving and don't get MOVING FAST ENOUGH!

6. Kids who don't take care of their winter clothes so there's a trail of hats, mittens, and boots from the door all the way through the house....

7. Feeling like a fraud because my kids still believe in Santa when their friends are making fun of them because they know the truth.

8. Forgetting to warm up the van before we head out...cold seats are not my favorite!

If you all are lucky, I'll let you in on what I DO ENJOY! LOL! :-)

Conversations with Julia

Me: Ju...do you know what we were doing 3 years ago?
Ju: Yeah, we were in China.
Me: I was so excited to finally get to hold you.
Ju: Mom, you have stinky breath.

So much for deep thoughts......

Philip Hayden Foundation Auction

I know I emailed most of my friends...but I wanted to make you all aware of an auction that my friend Karen is doing. 100% of what's raised by the auction will be donated to the Philip Hayden Foundation. Two of her sons were fostered there and it's a very special place to her as well as to me. Here's the link to the auction, please go check it out!

Today was the day....

Yep. November 30th, 2005. We became a family of 5! I would have never imagined it would have happened 7000 miles away from home. Wayne and I have been talking a lot about our trip to China and the whole adoption experience. From start to finish, everything went smooth. Julia's transition was fairly painless for all of us. We can't believe the little girl that our once scared toddler has become. So here are some fun Julia facts:



1. She's left handed (so is Wayne...but neither Cam or Anna is...)

2. She's not a huge meat eater, she'd rather have veggies, fruit, rice or noodles.

3. She loves to paint, draw, color, and write. She's got momma's crafty side!

4. She can beat any adult at the game of Memory. Doubt me? Come on over!

5. She talks openly about being adopted, her foster mom and Baba Lu (the orphanage director)

6. She loooovvveeeesss potato chips. Not any chips. Yellow bag ones, momma. (Lay's)

7. She loves to sing and can recall lyrics as good as I can.

8. Tickle fights are her favorite thing to play with me.

9. She only likes orange juice boxes...and will scold me for not getting them if we run out.

10. She's very proud of being Chinese and loves to look at books about China.



So yeah...I thought about getting all mushy, but I think the picture of me and her together says it all (see previous post). You all know how the story turned out. (And to think I wasn't going to blog much after we arrived home. HA. HA HA!)



Wayne and I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to parent 3 great kids. Yes, we have chaos; Yes I get stressed; Yes, I have clothes in the dryer that need to be folded; Yes, there are dishes to be done; Yes, my kids fight and fight and fight. But in the end, I woudn't trade my family for anything.

For Karen

It's a few days early, but Karen mentioned this photo and I wanted to repost it. Here's a very unsure Lu Yin Gui and a VERY happy momma sharing their first bottle together. Shortly after this bottle, she had an accident and got her first bath with us. It's unbelievable that this little one is sitting on the arm of my chair, talking about how it's ok for boys to wear earrings too.

To Jess and Tim...every bump, every road block, every extra day that you have to wait to get your little one is so worth it. I don't think there's a happier picture of Julia and I together than this one. :-) Love you guys, can't wait to see you tonight!! Yay!

3 years ago today...do you know where you were?

This is the baby I went to China for...

We were on a plane headed to China! Yep, it's been that long aready. Liz and Brion, Wayne and I boarded a small little plane in Grand Rapids which would take us to the big BIG plane waiting for us in Chicago. Once in Chicago we decided to eat a bite at Quiznos and that's when I think my nerves really started. I remember walking towards the sign that said "Flight 851 to BEIJING"!!! It was really happenening! We were headed to China! Wow!

I will warn you...the next two weeks of posts will probably contain certain memories, pictures and writings from our trip. Each day that we are home, I am still amazed at Julia. Last night, she was upset that I beat her in Memory. I have to REALLY try to beat her, otherwise she'd kick my butt everytime!

Maybe if I get real ambitious I can figure out how to get some of our videos loaded. :-) We have some cute stuff of Julia talking into the play phone. She loves to watch it too!

This is the little girl I get to wake up every morning!

Most disturbing....

I hear Anna plunkin' away on her little Barbie piano in her room. How cute you say? Well, she was using the legs of a bodiless Barbie. Yes. She was using them much like chopsticks, but to play the piano. Think Ted Bundy started out this way?

Crabbin'

If I hear of one more bailout, I'm gonna SCREAM!

Ok done.

If I let it, it will swallow me whole

As most parents this time of year, Wayne and I getting serious about Christmas shopping plans. We take a weekend and head to Grand Rapids for a few nights. My aunt Pam takes the kids during the day while Wayne and I run ourselves ragged looking for just the right PollyPocketiPodWiigottahaveitgadgetbecauseifIdon'tIwon'tbecoolwhenIgobacktoschool. I will totally admit, I love to shop. I love finding the right thing for each kid. This year, it's pulling me down. Budgets are tighter, but that's not really it...

It's knowing that there are over 1 million children in China alone who don't get a Christmas morning. It's knowing that we have soooooo much, that our kids get enough gifts to supply a small orphanage that doesn't have what it needs to care for the children. It's not even that...it's looking into face of kids who don't know the love of a family. It's something most people push away, they choose not to think about that. I include myself in that statement too. I get wrapped up in getting what I want. Not giving, but getting. Go to the CWA.org and check out the older children who need families, tell me they aren't deserving. On the bright side, there is one little guy who has at least 10 families that are interested in him. :-) But still many wait and wait.....

So for my friends that pray, say a little prayer for those kiddos that who don't know what the holidays are all about, that they too will come to know the love a family and a sense of belonging.

Lost on Planet China

It's what I'm reading and LOVE IT.

Check it out!

Saturday is party day

Cameron had a b-day party from 2-4:30, roller skating...
Julia had a b-day from 2-4, bowling...
Anna has a b-day party from 5-8, spa night...

I'm thinking Wayne and I need "Mom and Dad have drinks and play the Wii" night...

Gmail...I love you!

Gmail added new themes and I'm in love...This is the footer of my email account. It changes depending on the time of day. This is what I see after 9ish at night...

Life doesn't make any sense...

1. I have a great hair day today. So, yeah...I did have a meeting with Mik at church. I did have to go to the grocery store, but no one to really appreciate what it means to have a decent hair day. Plus, it's a blizzard outside, so within 3+ minutes of being outside, my hair was back to crap anyways.



2. "Holiday" Oreos. WTF? They are regular Oreos with red creme centers. Red is Christmas color. Holidays don't have a color association...depends on the Holiday. At least with Easter Oreos they call them Spring Oreos and have lilac or yellow centers. But Holidays? I dunno. Just call it what it is...Christmas.


3. I'm beginning to worry about my affinity for The Sopranos. I yelled out "Forgetaboutit" last night.

A big debate, and if you flame, I'll kick your....

Don't say I didn't warn you. This is a post I've been putting off for a bit. Not sure how I wanted to approach it. But today, I made up my mind.

Stay at home moms Versus Working moms

For most of you that read my blog, you know that I'm a SAHM (stay at home mom). I love it. I've worked part time on and off since Cam was born in 1997, but for the most part, I've always had the privilege of being able to stay home. I personally have felt that I'm better off being a mom than a woman climbing a corporate ladder somewhere. Isn't that the great thing about America...we can CHOOSE. At some point we all make decisions about what's best for our families. Some moms have to work, some choose to work, and some of us choose to stay home. So here's my question and the debate part:

Why do (some) working moms make comments to us SAH moms like "well, you have plenty of time, you're home all day..."??

Why do some SAHM make comments to working moms about "having it all"??

There are days that I want to work outside the house, I want to take my talents and use them in other ways than folding laundry or making beds. There are days that I'm very grateful that I can be home when the phone rings and Anna needs hearing aids batteries at school or Cam needs to come home because he's sick. But, I'm tired of people making me feel like because I don't work, that I have TONS of time to do extra shit like volunteer for every PTC meeting or school event. There are lots of things I love to do, but because of my fatigue, I struggle to do. Hell, I've had the same load of white clothes needing to be folded since Friday and haven't done it. I've felt like crap. (Does anyone really care if their socks are wrinkled?) I just hate feeling judged for my choice to stay home. Are working moms jealous? I have no idea. My closest friends (both working and not) have HUGE respect for each other and UNDERSTAND what the other goes through. However, I am guilty of making the "supermom" comments about working parents. Working is something that since I don't have a college degree, has never been something I've felt compelled to do, so understanding the need to work outside the home is foreign to me.

My nurse practitioner made a great observation...Working moms try to over compensate because they can't be at everything and SAHM's volunteer for everything (unless we're sick! LOL!) because we don't contribute financially to our household. I agree. Just wish more moms respected each other's choices.

So if there's anyone out there that wants to argue, go somewhere else to do it. It's my blog. I can write about whatever I want. You're entitled to your opinions, just not on my site! :-)

Latest pictures of random things....

I've been slacking lately when it comes to new pictures...to be honest, not much has been happening. But here are some that I've taken in the past few days. Enjoy!


Our yard, looking south-east

Our trees in the south yard

Another of the yard, looking north-west and down Morton Rd

The "little brother" statue....he looks cold!

Anna in her favorite outfit.

Anna and me at the Thanksgiving dinner at school earlier today

Anna and Jordan

Me and Cameron

All of us together!

Anna and Cam

She's on fire!

Julia bowled a 201 in Wii bowling tonight. I'm not sure I can beat her! LOL!

Going minimal

As you may gave noticed...I have taken all layouts down. I'm kind of in a transition phase with what I want the blog to be. It all started out as a way for friends and fam to follow the journey to Juju. Now it's just the ramblings and pictures of our latest adventures. Rest assured I will keep writing and posting, just with less fanfare of fun backgrounds.

Note to self

There are some subjects that shouldn't be googled...well, let me rephrase that. There are some subjects that shouldn't be searched for in images. Like the Flesh Eating Bacteria....I know, I should have known better. Curiosity got the best of me.

Catagory: DUH!

Obama holds secret meeting with Sen. Clinton in Chicago....Not so secret anymore if it's a YAHOO HEADLINE.

Memory

Julia beat me 20-16 in a game of Memory tonight. She kicks @$$!

Whoa...slow the roll, back up the bus!

Just got outta the shower and realized that I had 2!! gray hairs in my eyebrows (yeah, I lack ambition to pluck more often, but I digress...) and 2!! zits on my chin! What is up with that? Apparently, my body doesn't realize that it's no longer 16 or that it's NOT old enough for gray hairs. Bah.

November is Adoption Awareness Month!

Our agency AAI (Adoption Associates, Inc.) just for a new paper list if you're interested. (Just don't pick Ethan! He's my favorite!) Here's a link to to their new WC list here.

While searching youtube for something else, I found my fave song from Tarzan sung in CHINESE with English subtitles! It's very very cool! Yes, made me cry AGAIN!!

One thing leads to another....

I've had a sore throat since Friday...Cam is home early from school with a sore belly. BEWARE! The Wagner house is contaminated. ACK!

Conflicted...

My email inbox looks like this:

1. Focus on the Family Success in California--Traditional Marriage Restored!
2. Victoria's Secret Boucle Sweaters $29 & Up. Shop 150+ Sweater Styles.
3. Blizzard Fan Club - Dairy Queen Blizz Prez says: Let's go nuts
4. Discovery Channel Insider Survivorman NEW SEASON, Bullet-Proof Belt, the Birth of Beer & More!


Sooooo...my conservative side like reads Focus on the Family, while secretly wearing naughties from VS all while eating Blizzards from DQ and watching Discovery Channel. And you all thought you knew me. Muuhahahahahaa!!!!

Busted!!

So, I'm at the grocery store today. Making my way through the produce when WHAM! I hit the edge of the nut display and 2 cereal boxes shoot off the bottom of my cart. Uhhh...ok. Hopefully the cute guy stocking lettuce DOESN'T NOTICE, but of course HE DOES. He politely laughs and jokes. Little does he know I was looking at him when I ran into the nuts. LOL! So, we laugh about the set up of the display and I go about my shopping. I head to the deli when I realize that I have to go back over to the lettuce because that was the way I was headed when I go side-tracked by the hottie's hotness. (And I think I was trying to read his nametag! LOL!) I sheepishly make my way back to his side of the produce and have to make small talk AGAIN. Such a shame, NOT! Anyways, he joked about me forgetting to get what I came for. Ugh. At least he didn't call me Ma'am. His name was Jon H. by the way.... ;-)

Julia's bowling form

This is Julia bowling with the Wii, I just love her form. In the background, you hear Wayne and Cam doing homework and Anna singing. :-)

Speechless

Because he says I never post pics of him

ADD strikes again...

Just got a wild hair about making clippies and this is what I did today instead of working on the house. :-)

Today is the Day!

The Golden Leaves, Halloween and More Ladybugs

An autumn view from our yard....

Golden leaves

A view of Morton Rd

The corn field across from our house

Another view of Morton Rd this morning

Cam, Anna, Julia, Theresa and Wayne

A dead rat that Oliver (the dog) brought to me yesterday...Nice eh?

Julia and Jay

Ok...here's the scoop. Today I got an email from Kristi and Ian (the family that is in China and who took our photos to Director Lu). There is a picture from the Miller's but I need to ask them if it's ok to post it here first! This is what it said:

Hi Liz (and Melissa!),

(Liz if you could forward this on to Melissa somehow I can't find her address right now...)

Just wanted to let you guys know that your albums were delivered safe and sound. I gave them to the SWI assistant director Wang on Monday. Tuesday Director Lu surprised us by showing up for the adoption proceedings and he let us know that he had them. Yesterday (Thursday) on our visit he wanted to take a picture of us with the albums and the banner. The banner said something about wishing happy life for the children and their Chinese names are on it somewhere. Let me know if you don't have anyone to translate it for you (for free) and when I get Zoey to translate it for me again I'll let you know. I'll also send you a higher resoluton copy of this picture when I get back to the states, but for now I just wanted you to be able to see it. The photo is our family, Dirctor Lu, and Caleb's foster mother. Director Lu said that the pictures would go to the foster families after yesterday, he just wanted to get the photo first.

We've got a full day and I've got to get packed up for our move on to Guangzhou. I was so glad to be able to deliver the albums for you ~ Director Lu was so pleased! I'll be in touch again soon!

Blessings,

Kristi

OK....so, back to this whole ladybug picture thing. As most of you know, I love ladybugs (hence my blog name...) and today, I had 2 little ladybugs on my side window. One flew off and the other rode the entire way from our house to Scottville...that's like 10 miles! How cool was that? Right now it's warm here and there are tons of bugs and tons of ladybugs. I just got the feeling today that Julia's foster mom was getting to see the new pictures of Julia. I got a sense of peace, that she knows that Julia (or as she knew her Yin Gui!) was ok and well taken care of. I've been on Cloud 9 all damned day! :-) What a great feeling!!