Double Happiness

Daddy's Girls

The girls sure do love Daddy!  And for good reason --  He's awesome!  Always patient and never bashful about doing something incredibly silly just to make his girls smile. 

They're too little to appreciate how lucky they are but Mommy and big brother, Michael, sure know! 

PS:  People say our pictures are wonderful so I want to let all of you in on a secret.  To get these smiley shots, we do some pretty crazy things.  In the picture to the left, Daddy is simply spinning the girls around.   He stops right in front of the camera so I can snap the picture.  You'd be surprised how effective this is!  Try it!

Another technique we've used effectively is to throw the child into the air and snap the picture as she comes down.  Squeaky toys also bring a smile.  As does taking off Daddy's hat and hitting him with it!  <hee hee>.   You can also try playing peek-a-boo around the camera and not looking through the view finder as you snap the picture.  Young kids can't relate to the camera as well as they can your face.    Let me know if any of these tips work for you!  :)

What do you do all day?

I got this from Lisa's blog and it was too good to not repost so here it is:

"What Do You Do All Day?"

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know everyday when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?" "Yes," was his incredulous reply. She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

I searched Google for an image to go with this and found the book it probably came from.  If I had time to read books, I'd probably read this one!  It sounds good!     Okay, okay!  I know I *could* read books if I made time for it.  But, truth is, I work very hard to carve out time for blogging and keeping up with friends on-line and that's all the personal time I can find for myself.  The rest of the time, I'm running through the house doing damage control and wiping bottoms and noses and making meals and snacks and breaking up fights and refilling sippy cups.  Sometimes I even manage to do a load or two of laundry.  At the end of the day, it seems like I've accomplished nothing but my house isn't a disaster area and my kids are still alive.  From now on, I'm going to consider THAT a big accomplishment!

1 Year Reunion Photos

It was really fun to see all of our travel mates from last September. The kids have grown so much and they're all just beautiful! Click on any of the images below to see a larger version.  We're so grateful to Kimberly and Marilyn and Barbara for all of their hard work to make this reunion happen.   Now we can hardly wait until next year!

REUNION!!!! Group 105, 106, 107P and 108P reunion tomorrow!

Tomorrow, we fly to Los Angeles for our first anniversary celebration of the adoption of Gwendolyn.  I was searching through my picture albums and found these two photos (to the left) which illustrate -- in an erie way -- the changes the last year have brought us.    The first picture was taken on Gwen's Gotcha Day (September 5, 2005).  The 2nd picture was taken on Madeline's Gotcha Day 51 weeks later (on August 23, 2006)  The pose, the child, expression, the mom, the shirt --- all the same.   The only difference is that we were strangers to her back then and we're her beloved family now.  Quite certainly, the only family she'll ever remember.    I can't remember *not* giving birth to this child.  I can't remember a time when she wasn't in our life-- when she wasn't my precious daughter.    She's beautiful and kind and amazing and I'm so blessed to know her!  I can't wait to see so many of the other 38 families we traveled with last year.  It's going to be SO exciting!  Stay tuned for pictures!!! We won't have reunions like this for Maddy since we traveled alone.  But the girls are nearly the same age and they were adopted just one week apart so my hope is that Gwen's travel group will "adopt" Maddy so we can celebrate her adoption with them too!  Tormorrow is the anniversary of our first month with Maddy!  That's worth celebrating too!

And, tomorrow is also my Grandma's 88th birthday!  Happy Birthday, Grandma!  I'm so sorry we can't be with you this weekend but we promise to see you soon! Here's my beautiful Grandma! The main picture is Grandma in her mid to late 20's -- around 1940.  She's so pretty!!  And she already has five kids!    The first small picture is Grandma and me (sometime in the mid 60's).  The 2nd picture is Grandma in the 80's.  The 3rd picture is Grandma with Grandpa in the 70's and the last picture is from the mid 90's. I hope I age as gracefully!

The view from the toilet

I'm sure those of you with kids can relate.  You have to use the restroom but your little darling(s) want to attend the event just in case something noteworthy happens.

Like me, you probably tried to close the door (shame on you!) but that act of selfishness was met with great protest (and who can use the restroom with so much angst on the other side of the locked door?)  So, now, you've learned to do your deed under the watchful eye of your offspring.   You might even tell yourself that they'll pick up some helpful potty training tips by watching you.  But you're kidding yourself.  All they've really learned is how to work the toilet paper roll and that flusher thingy.  And they're taking mental notes about that stuff you use one week per month and plan to experiment with those fun sticker things next time you're not looking.

So, you sit on the potty and tell them "Don't step off the carpet!"  "Don't come in!"   You point and say "Out!"  (Maddy tells me this when she's on the potty.  She'll point and tell me "Out!") but they challenge you. They know you're at a disadvantage so they have to step over .... just once (or twice).  And their smile is so darn cute!  So all you can do is smile and promise yourself that, next time nature calls, you'll bring the camera!

PS:  Sometimes, being a SAHM has its sacrifices.  Hee hee.... But, today, even Andrew was at work with his own problems.