Conversations with Cameron

Me: Hey, I really enjoy spending time with you when we're alone! (Cam and I are shopping for his Halloween costume)

Cameron: Well, I should think so.

The buzz around our house

So this past summer Wayne took out a HUGE hornets nest right above one of our living room windows. While Julia was sitting at the computer which is right next to that window, she yells out, "Daddy, I see a bee's nest!" Wayne figured she was talking about the new little one that is on the garage wall. Wellll...these pictures show what exactly Julia was talking about. This nest is located in a giant tree that hangs over the garage. During the summer and early fall, the leaves covered it, so NO ONE knew it was there! Now that the leaves have left, we can see it. YIKES! I wanted Wayne to get on the garage roof and try to knock it down. Needless to say, he's not jumping to do it. LOL!

Que pasa?

Yesterday we got little American flags that were MADE IN CHINA. Patriotism at it's best.

Too cool!

A few weeks back, Liz and I found out about a family who was adopting from Julia and Isaac's orphanage (Xianning City, Hubei--Xian'An SWI) and we asked if they would be willing to take photo albums back to Director Lu for us...well, they said YES and they are in Wuhan as we speak! They are getting their son Caleb today! That means our pictures should be going along with them. Ok, Ok...I am more excited for the family (Hi Kristi and Ian!) but the possibility of Julia and Isaac's foster moms getting the pictures is super exciting for Liz and I. We also snuck our addresses and emails into the letters we had translated, so...we could be even hearing from Julia's foster mom if we get UNBELIEVABLY lucky. (Insert nervous smiley here!) Anyways...here's a link to Kristi and Ian's blog: http://fireworksandfireflies.blogspot.com/ Yet another beautiful story of a family made larger by God and adoption!

I'm so not an Idol fan...but....

I have to admit...I've never watched an episode of American Idol. I'm not a giant fan of their format (no debating this, it's just my opinion! LOL!)...ANYWAYS, I heard a song on the radio earlier and was like, "Hey, I like this song...wonder who it is?" Well...it's a cutie named David Archuleta. Well, damn. He's good! I love his song, "Crush". Go figure. Cam rolled his eyes at me like I should have know who he was. I suddenly felt outta touch. EEEK!

My new bag lady! Greenwillow Crafts

While searching Etsy for any number of recent things, I came across a SUPER nice lady who makes bag. These oh-so-tiny mini bags for the girls to give their friends presents in (a pair of hair clippies is going to fit just right!). I also purchased 2 bigger bags that are made out of the cutest Chinese (or Japanese) paper doll material. I'm soooo excited! Here's a link to Ann's Etsy Shop. She is super nice to work with and got my bags VERY QUICK! Anyways, I'm just thrilled to support another fellow crafter. :-) Oh yeah, she's from a little town outside of Raleigh called Wendell.

Julia's outfit

Red and white top on clearance from JCP: $4.97

Striped cord skirt from TCP bought at Goodwill: $1.97

Boots from Target: $12.99

Bow from Tonni: FREE!

One cute as heck little girl: PRICELESS!

Maybe an Obama/Palin ticket?

Oops...almost forgot

So the pics I posted below are of Julia's b-day at Chuck E Cheese's. We had a great time! Jay (The Danielson's son) was a little wild man and Julia had a fun time following him. My friend Jaime and his twins were there with us too. River and Finley are just adorable and Julia loves to hang out with them too. Jaime and I grew up together, our dads work together and now our kids are having fun playing.

The last photos are of Cam's last game with his coaches. Hard to believe it's all over, but Cam had a great time and we hope that he will be able to play next year. :-)

Ju's b-day and Cam's last game

Ju and Jay

Wayne and Cam
River
Finley and Julia
Cam
Anna and Jay (again!)

Ju and Chuck E. Cheese
Julia on the ride
Jaime, Julia and River
Coach talking it up at the last game
Coach Karl, Cameron, Coach Wiese and Autumn

Congrats to Jessica and Tim!

(Hope)

There was a celebration in Ludington last night...our friends, the Danielson's got their I-787 (or at least know it's on the way!)! That form is the equivilant of the old I-171H for us old school adoption folks. LOL! Seeing how the new I-800 for is 16 pages and the old I-600A for was 2, it's amazing anyone gets to adopt anymore. Anyways...I'd sure appreciate if you'd all say a little prayer for Jess and Tim as they continue their adoption journey. It's so much longer and harder than most of us experienced in 2005.

"Mom, you have some cool friends!"

So while looking at some friend's facebook pages and blogs, Anna and Julia turned to me and said, "Mom you have some cool friends!" My kids are beginning to think that my only friends are families that have adopted from China. LOL! However, there is a down side...this is for Tonni, Karen, Shelley, Melissa, and Sharon (all from my late August Yahoo group!!)...they see your beautiful families with more than one kiddo from China or families that have adopted 2 children. Welllll, all my kids see that as normal and wonder why we HAVEN'T adopted twice. LOL! I pointed out it takes more than just a loving family and a desire to adopt. It does take money. Otherwise, if adoption only took love.....we'd all have about 10 kids!!! (At least me, Dawn and Liz would!)

Anyways, to all my friends...my kids think you're cool (even if your own kids don't!) LOL! LOL!

Happy Birthday Julia Renee YinGui!

So today is my baby’s 5th birthday. At first, I was bummed that I really didn’t know her “real” birthday. Then Liz pointed out that how do we know that today isn’t her real birthday? I’m sure that orphanage directors/workers have guessing birthdates of children down to a science, so maybe today IS her birthday. There are only 2 people that know for sure and neither of them is telling.

5 years ago, a baby was born to a family who was unsure of her future. I can’t begin to thank them enough for making a tough decision. Is thanking them the right word? Maybe not. I’m grateful to God for taking care of Julia while she worked her way to us. I’m grateful for her foster mom who taught her how to love and be loved. Wayne and I can’t begin to explain how we feel, how we feel towards Julia’s bio parents. Again, if I could have one wish…it would be to tell her parents that she is healthy, happy and SPOILED. LOL!

Today, I sent a photo album full of pictures to Liz. We’re going to send them on to a family who is traveling to Wuhan to adopt a baby boy from Xianning City. Julia’s city. Our hope is that the photos will make their way to the orphanage and to Isaac and Julia’s foster parents. We want them to see how the children they have cared for have grown into wonderful little people.

Pretty ironic that Julia wanted to go to China Buffet for her birthday dinner…or maybe not so ironic….

Wanted: A Normal Working Thyroid

Just an FYI on my fatigue...and crap. I had blood work and an ultrasound on my thyroid last week and I missed my appointment this morning to find out the results. I should have known better to make an appointment so early. I'm NEVER fully functioning by that time. Ugh. So now I'm hoping that the doctor's office will call and give me the results over the phone. All I know is that I'm super tired still, really crabby, very irritable, have headaches,my memory stinks (uh, that's pretty obvious by missing that appointment!) and have ZERO energy.

Do you currently have any of these symptoms? YES!! YES, I DO!! I marked the ones in red that I have. I got this list from a thyroid help website. Anyways...back to feeling blah. :-

Palpitations (rapid or forceful heart beat)
Poor concentration
Memory loss
Difficulty sleeping
Excessive need for sleep
Fatigue
Weak muscles
Sore muscles
Agitation/anxiety
Depression
Dry skin
Itchy skins
Unusual hair loss
Dry hair
Cracking nails
Infrequent bowel movements or hard stools
Frequent bowel movements or loose stools
Unexplained weight gain
Unexplained weight loss
Persistent pain or swelling at the front of the neck
Hoarseness
Sensation of a lump in the throat
Eye pain or double vision
Swelling or protrusion of eyes
Change in facial appearance
Sweating
Difficulty tolerating cold
Difficulty tolerating heat
Hand tremor

Samantha's boyfriend Jon, Cam and Samantha at the football game in Manistee
Same crew with Ju and Anna added
Anna and me at Lynnea and Dave's wedding
Cam and me
Ju and me

Treep and Tylaw
Tim (my cousin Tom's best friend), my cousin Tom and me at the wedding
Anna and Kenny Jr.
Ju
Anna. Ju, KJ and Sammy

Can you wish yourself Happy Birthday?

No, I'm not going to wish myself a Happy Birthday, but as I sit here I've realized a few things:

1. I have a great family, 3 beautiful kids who know their momma loves roses and chocolate.
2. I have a husband who tolerates a lot right now with me not feeling well and being a crab.
3. Family and Friends are VERY, VERY important to me and I don't know what I'd do without them.
4. I've accomplished some cool things in 35 years of being here like becoming a mom or speaking at a national conference.
5. I love reading, writing, watching rugby, camping, taking long walks, sitting on porches or balconies while it's raining, the color red, anything that is Chinese, making jewelry, the movie Fargo and the movie Jaws, kettle corn, taking pictures of anything that will stand still for the flash to go off...and the list goes on...
6. No matter how bad you think your life is, there is always someone who is worse off than you. Be thankful for the things you do have instead of wishing for more or something you can't have.
7. Don't be so quick to judge people, I've been burned a few times jumping off at people's appearance when they have way more to offer than they first appear to.
8. I tend to ramble on and on......

Anyways...you get the point. :-) Thanks to all my friends and family members who wished me a happy b-day (especially Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Wendell!!) today. I love you all and couldn't be happier to have you all in my circle.

Fall is here

My mums and the little brother
Apples
FROST!!!

The corn field across the road from us
Dew on the apple trees in our yard
Cool pic of an apple
Another cool pic
Me in glasses...yeah, cheesy since I took it of myself, but no one has seen me in my old glasses...so here I am! :-)

Anna rides!!

So, I have this daughter...named Anna. She's a wild one. Here she is riding Cam's quad, going slower than she normally does. Yeah, I'm not sure I'm going to make it through when she becomes a teenager. I have visions of her becoming this tattoo'ed, high heel wearin', rock-n-roll singin' hot momma. But you know, as long as she's happy and doesn't live at my house when she's 25, I'm good with it. LOL!

Anna and her new....BRACES

Due to 8.5 years of thumb-sucking (and add a few more months because I truly believe Anna was a thumb-sucker in the womb), Anna needed braces. On Tuesday, she got the 1st installment. She has 4 brackets on her top front teeth. They want to get everything straightened out and make more room for her adult teeth. I love Dr. Peterson, he's very patient and kind. He's gentle with Anna and she's thrilled to know her teeth will be fixed some day. :-)

New look for Fall

I followed Tonni's suit and changed up my blog. I really like fall/autumn colors and so this was pretty cool and FREE! LOL! I love, love, LOVE my ladybugs theme that Dawn made for me, but I needed a change.

Anyways...hope you like and Dawn, I still love you! ;-) I just murdered the the old layout! LOL!