Ouch! ****UPDATE****

***UPDATE***
This morning I asked Lili what she wanted for breakfast.
She said:
"I like banana."
"I like cereal and milk."
"I like oatmeal."
"I HATE shots!!!"
(guess the whole 'sucker thing' has worn off) :)

Kindergarten time means immunization time!! woo hoo!
Lili needed 6 shots all together, but they had mercy on her and only gave her FOUR.
She was a brave girl and said "ouch" when the nurse came at her with the cotton ball and alcohol. (!)

Lili thought it was OK though because she got one sucker for every shot.....
....hmm.....not so bad after all!

Right now, Jeff is moving BAGS and BAGS of stuff up from the basement.

(and, yes, instead of helping him, I'm writing about it)

I'm hoping to have a yard sale this Saturday. It's actually supposed to be less than 150 degrees and we actually don't have anything else planned. whew.

I just CANNOT believe how much crap we've accumulated over the past few years. I used to be very faithful about having a sale every summer, or at least every other summer. I think it's been 4 years or so since the last one. I promised Jeff I'd have one last summer but we were just a tad busy with all things Lili. School starts in 2 weeks, so this is just about my last chance this year.

I don't mind the actual 9-5 sale, it's just the preparation and organization before hand that wears me out. yuck. But! After the sale, I just schlep everything across the street to the Thrift Shop, so the after-sale is a piece of cake! :)

So, if anyone's in the neighborhood this coming Saturday, stop by.

Especially if you have a boy between the ages of 8 and 10 or a toddler girl!

Happy Anniversary!

July 24, 1993

The whole crew

SOOO excited to get our pictures taken.

First Dance

Weee! We're married !!!

Our Honeymoon at "Sandals: Negril"

OK, have you had a good laugh?!
The pictures above are pictures of the pictures (we don't have a scanner) so they're not the best quality----and believe me, I'm more than thankful that they're a little blurry!

FIFTEEN YEARS!!! :O
We cannot believe it. Not that we didn't think we would make it, but that it just went so fast!
I remember when my parents celebrated their fifteenth anniversary.
Holy crap. We're old.

I really wasn't into the whole 'wedding' thing, I just wanted to be married. I remember my mom asking me what I wanted, what I would pick, what choice I would make and I just DIDN'T care. It wasn't important to me. Jeff felt the same way. We wanted to celebrate our marriage with our family and friends and what color the napkins were just wasn't that important to us.
I was definitely NOT a Bridezilla. If I had been, I really don't think I would've even been a bride, because Jeff wouldn't have put up with it, so it's a good thing.

We do have a wedding video (slightly more hideous than the pictures, if you can believe it). VHS. No digital cameras, no DVDs......ugh. I feel so ancient.
By the way, Lili LOVES watching the wedding video. We hadn't watched it in 15 years, but in the last 6 months we've watched it a dozen times. She says "I like watch Mama long hair, pretty dress TV". She thinks I'm a princess. (did I mention I LOVE that kid?!)

Anyway, Happy Anniversary Jeffy!
Oh, and guess how we get to celebrate?!
We get to all go get Jeff's car fixed together!!!!!
No one knows how to celebrate like us!
Jeff's car crapped out this morning, so we get to follow him as he tries to drive it AN HOUR AWAY to the dealership and we get to WAIT till it gets fixed! I tell you, I just couldn't be more excited.

Jamaica, Schmamaica, mon.

(and Happy 15th Anniversary Steve and Karen! Can you believe it? Our neighbors have the exact same anniversary as us. spooky!)

Road Trip Wrap-Up

Anyone who knows me (hello Elsie!) knows that this is absolutely the WORST possible thing that could happen to me!!

And, obviously, my children know that too.

We LOVED this sign. I bet they get a lot of business this way. It certainly got ours.

This was somewhere in Wisconsin (I think).

Brett hangin' out at Moe's.

We had an absolutely wonderful, fantastic time. Believe it or not, all the pictures I loaded are from Saturday and Sunday. We sure did take advantage of Daddy's weekend-before-work!

Our trip there and back was pretty smooth too. We only threatened to sell the kids to the gypsies twice. Hey, only twice in NINE HOURS is pretty darn good.

Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington offers a "Big Ticket" which is a pass to all the attractions we went to for one price. Instead of paying all the entrance fees, you buy this pass and you're in. You can go to each place once in 3 days. Pretty sweet deal when you add it all up. I think we saved a couple hundred dollars between the 4 of us.

Once Jeff had to go to work (Monday afternoon), Brett, Lili and I traveled all over the place. We were able to have our car since Jeff rode to work with someone else, so we were free to roam. And roam we did. We found a couple different shopping malls in the area, another zoo and amusement park (Como Zoo and Como Town---sweet!) and we even ventured back to the Mall of America. By the way, we went on 'Toddler Tuesday' so we got our $8 stroller rental for FREE as well as a free ride pass for each of us to Nickelodeon Universe (a free $20 value)! We were able to stay at that stinkin' mall for another SEVEN hours! Pretty good with 2 kids and a mom heck-bent on getting her shopping in :) Oh, and did I mention that there's no sales tax on clothes AND shoes!!! Someone was in HEAVEN!! And, of course, I pointed out to Jeff that for every dollar I spent I was saving him 7%!

Our hotel in St. Paul was awesome! Embassy Suites. They had a free cocktail hour (actually 2 hours) each evening, which mommy LOVED for obvious reasons and the kids enjoyed for all the hot snacks they had---and the kiddie cocktails too. We had a set routine everyday: awesome breakfast around 8:30, then shopping for a good 6-8 hours, then swimming in the pool for an hour, then cocktail time, then DADDY'S HOME!!!!, then dinner, then wrangling the kids into bed sometime before midnight. The only down side of the hotel was that the internet was 10 bucks a day! I didn't think any hotel this side of the White Swan charged for internet anymore. So, that's why there weren't any updates for a week. You guys are important and all, but sheesh!

So now we're home.

The kids are in bed every night by 9:00.

Baseball is over for another year. (Brett's team got 2nd place overall. Not bad.)

School starts in 3 weeks......not even funny considering I'M starting school too :(

And Brett is 11. (holy cow)

'Star Wars' Exhibit

Minnesota Zoo: Sunday 7/13/08

Underwater Adventures Aquarium at Mall of America

Check out my Slide Show!

Giving New Meaning to the Words: 'Chinese Takeout'

Just to clarify, this was Lili's idea of a good time. It's not like we tote her around like this everywhere (only to the doctor----JUST KIDDING!!)

And, notice Jeff's face in the video. Do you remember 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' where they recast the story of his life (the movie inside the movie) and he's in the scences trying to blend in to the background but he just can't take his eyes off the camera? Look familiar? :)

The Land of Prince!

Also known as "Minnesota" to all you non-Prince-infatuated people......if there's actually any of you out there.

Our family is about to embark on our first real, honest to goodness road trip.
Jeff is going to Minneapolis/St. Paul on business and we decided we'd better tag along if we want to be able to go anywhere this summer. (thank God his Minnesota trip is in summer and his California trip was in the winter!)
Oh, and the best part?
We're driving. EIGHT HOURS AND 51 MINUTES IN THE CAR! (shall we pray...)


Yep, we're nothing if not adventurous.
We're going up 3 days before Jeff needs to check in at work, so we'll have some family time together. LOTS of family time together if you count the 9 hour car trip.
We have the Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universe Amusement Park, Minnesota Zoo (and IMAX), Science Museum PLUS the Stars Wars exhibit, Underwater Adventures Aquarium (and did I mention the MALL OF AMERICA?!?!?!?) on our to-do list. And that's just in the 3 days that Daddy's with us! whew!
I also have a trip to First Ave. planned. 'Purple Rain' was filmed there and that's where Prince got his start, so yeah, it's on the list. :)


We'll also be celebrating Brett's 11th birthday while we're there, hence the trip to the big Star Wars exhibit. Although I'm sure we'll enjoy it too.


We're planning on bringing the laptop so if you're interested in our trip, check back. I'm sure we'll have a few (hundred) pictures on there while we're gone. ;)

A Chapter Ends, And A New One Begins...

I'm going back to work. yikes!

I heard through the grapevine that the lady I filled in for back in April (at our high school) isn't coming back next school year. Since she took over the job from me originally, I figured I'd let the principal know that if they were replacing her, I'd be interested.

Well, it sure didn't take long to get that ball rolling! I talked to him today and he said that the job is mine and thanked me for coming back!

So, I got my ego stroked for the day. :)

I'll be working 16 hours a week at the high school.

When I had the job before (from 2003-2007) it was 30 hrs/week and I worked at 2 elementaries, the middle school and the high school (I resigned at the end of the 06-07 school year after we got Lili's referral). They ended up splitting my position into a 30 hour position plus another 16 hour position in 2006 because 30 hours just was NOT enough time to get everything done. As a matter of fact, right before they split my position, the principals honored me with an "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty" award. (which I totally deserved, by the way!) ;)

I'll be dealing with special education conferences, referrals, evaluations, etc.

Not the most exciting job in the world, but you just can't beat the schedule. I'll be working 2 days a week and I'll have all the same vacations as Brett and Lili, snow days, and all that good stuff. So, while I'm REALLY thinking I'm insane for volunteering myself for this job, I'm thankful that I have a job if I want one and that the schedule is just fantastic (the pay's not bad either).

It's just like a took a one year sabbatical. It's funny how it all worked out.

I started working in the school system when Brett started Kindergarten, and I'm starting again when Lili starts Kindergarten. spooky, huh?

5 weeks from today I start school!! :O

All Finished!

We had our 3rd and final visit with our Social Worker yesterday!

China requires post-placement visits at one month, six months and one year after returning home from China. Yesterday we had our ONE YEAR post-placement visit.

Unbelievable.

We won't see our Social Worker again.

We won't be in contact with our agency (former agency) again.

We won't ever have to deal with USCIS, passports, China, home visits, anything ever again.

Lili is ours, ours, ours.

And guess what I did last night when we got home? I checked the Rumor Queen to see if referrals had come yet! Jeff thought I was insane. (by the way, they only referred FIVE DAYS this month. I figured that would mean we'd have 2 more years of waiting to do if we didn't have Lili!)

I told Jeff I was a little sad that it was all over with. Crazy, I know. He couldn't believe that I could be sad . But I am, a little bit.

I mean, for the last 3 years I've been wrapped up in all things China Adoption. To be done, to not have to wait and worry, to not have anything to DO is just strange to me.

We won. We have the prize. Tah Dah!

I don't know, it's just strange.

Anyway, that's it.

11 months ago tomorrow was our 'Gotcha Day'!

11 months ago today we were on the Great Wall.

It seems like yesterday, yet it seems like Lili's been with us SO much longer than that. We can't believe it hasn't even been a year! All the things that she's done, all the things that she's been through and it hasn't even been a year. Whoa.

It's just all so surreal to me.

I am one blessed mama.

Fun with Sparklers and Snakes

Lili's 1st Independence Day!

11 months ago right now we were on a plane to China. wow.

Lili REALLY wasn't too sure about the sparklers at first.

Some type of superstar pose or something....

Warming her hands by the glow of the snakes.

Running with sparklers (didn't take her long to get over her fear, huh?)

Brett and Lili with the snakes. Soooo attractive after they've burned, no?

"Hi Berday Merica!" ("Happy Birthday America!")

Happy July 4th!

Six Weeks from Today.....

School Starts! :)

Go Jump in a Lake!---------Well, okay!

Ahhh...what a beautiful day! So we decided to go down to the lake. Our town is so small that pretty much anywhere you live is 'lake property' so we took advantage of that on this glorious day.
How pretty.
Aww.
Brett met up with some of his buddies and went jumping off the pier.

Lili would not get out of the water!

After Brett's 1st group of friends left, in saunters "JOHN!" Remember, that's how Lili always says his name: "JOHN!" He was one of the first 'strangers' Lili met last August and she just loves him!

Lili feeding the ducks...or 'chickens' as she likes to call them.

Right before the wave came.

Kinda reminds me of the shot of the rocks in the Pacific. (yeah, kind of )

WHAT A DAY!!