Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Hello, Is anyone out there?

I don't know if anyone even still checks on us since it has been over a year since I have blogged. I feel the need to start blogging again so I guess I am back. Guess I will have to lure everyone back into this. This time around there will probably be a lot more crafting and cooking and new types of stress that aren't involved with the wait for a Chinese baby, but rather toddlers and pre-teens, and jobs and family life.
We have been keeping pretty busy with work and school and sports. We had spring break last week. We spent a few days in New York/New Jersey. We had a great time visiting family and seeing the sites. We went to the Adventure Aquarium, the Bronx Zoo, and visited the Cake Boss at Carlo's Bakery. We petted stingrays and sharks, feed alpaca, and ate some pretty decent cupcakes. We were all pretty tired by the time we got home.
Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Two Years Ago

Two years ago today, we received our referral for Annika. I still remember it like it was yesterday. She has changed so much (and so have we). She is an independent, bossy two year old who winks every time you take her picture and keeps her brother on his toes. Here are a couple pictures one of then and one of now.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween 09

Here is a short, grainy video that I made before the kids went out to trick-or-treat.

A ninja and a duck



Sunday, October 18, 2009

I Heart Boy Scouts

Our family officially started dating Boy Scout troops yesterday. Alex is a Webelo 1. Half way through next year, he (and us) will have to decide what troop he would like to join as a Boy Scout. In order to make a decision it is recommended that you do something with the troops so you can get a feel for the group(camping-out I think is the preferred choice). So yesterday we attended the fall camporee at a nearby boy scout camp. We had a great time!!! The event as a whole was kind of disorganized, but we got a good idea of what the troop is all about. The boys were very well behaved and kind of policed each other. (Some of the other groups we saw were just ridiculous) The adults with the troop were super nice and welcoming. You could tell that the relationships between the boys and adults were good. The food was wonderful!! Here are a few highlights:
  • I learned that you can be comfortably warm on a 30 degree night if you have the right sleeping bag and clothes on. I could have used a more level site for my tent and a better air mattress, but at least I was warm.
  • Alex is a pretty dang cool kid. He jumped right in even though there was only one other kid that he knew in attendance. He asked good questions. He avoided peer pressure to be obnoxious, even though he hung out with the rowdy crowd. He even told the rowdies to tone it down a couple of times and they listened even though he was new to them and younger. I heard him helping other boys in his tent last night when they were cold or not feeling well. He ended up in my tent by morning, but made it in the other tent until 2 am.
  • You can cook pretty much everything in a dutch oven as long as it will fit inside. We had hardtack biscuits and brownies out of them yesterday.
  • I successfully made it to the latrine at 1 a.m. by myself even though I am scared of the dark and bears. I walked pretty fast though.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Sneak Peek


Annika's Halloween costume came in the mail today. We had to try it on immediately. She liked it for about 10 minutes, was even quacking. Then she was done with it and wanted it off ASAP

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Birthday bash

Alex turns 9 on Monday so he is having a sleep over with 5 of his friends to celebrate. Everyone arrived at around 5:30 and immediately proceeded to start a "war" with the various guns (Nerf and other wise) that we have around the house. After opening gift, everyone was very excited to share the gift from Grandma and Grandpa, a Nerf machine gun that holds 35 darts at a time.
The boys have been great about including Annika. While they played Star Wars: The Clone Wars she was christened Asoka (from what i am being told that makes her Anikan's patawan, whatever that means). Here she is helping the boys play a new game that Alex from one of his friends.