Well, after a lot of prayer and a lot of thought about finances, we bought our tickets to Taiwan today. I am so excited, I can't stop smiling! We leave for Taipei December 27th and will return January 4th. During that week, we will explore the country and try to learn as much as we can about our daughter's heritage. We will also spend time in her orphanage, doing anything that they need us to do, and hopefully get to know the people who will be taking care of our daughter until we are allowed to go get her.
I will turn thirty in August and I've never been on a foreign mission trip before, so this is like my own little mission trip! We are very excited and feel so blessed to have this opportunity to visit Taiwan before we go over to get Claire. Yay God! Thank you so much for making this happen!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
My New Best Friend
This is my new best friend.....
Why you ask? Because Connor is the WORST about getting up fifteen times after he's put to bed for EVERY excuse you can think of. I'm thirsty, I need to poop, I need one more hug, I didn't brush my teeth good enough....you get the idea.
Last week, I was at the Dollar Tree and Connor was spending three dollars that he had gotten from his great-grandmother. I found these book lights and thought, hey, this would be great for him to read in bed at night. So, for the past week, he has been allowed to read one book in bed with his book light after we have tucked him in and said prayers, and then he must turn it off on his own and go to sleep. And it WORKS! No more getting up, no more excuses! By the time I get up there to check on him, his book is beside his bed, his book light is turned off and laid on top of it, and he is fast asleep! I think he is like his momma, and just needs to wind down a bit to fall asleep. I usually have to read at night to wind down. I cannot just fall asleep laying there, unlike Greg who is snoring loud enough to wake up all of Knoxville ten seconds after his head hits the pillow. So, that's pretty much the best dollar I've ever spent in my life! I am thinking of buying a whole set for my classroom, and letting my students have special reading time with them. I thought they'd love to turn off the lights and read with the book lights every now and again. I'm going to Dollar Tree again today to buy all they have!
Why you ask? Because Connor is the WORST about getting up fifteen times after he's put to bed for EVERY excuse you can think of. I'm thirsty, I need to poop, I need one more hug, I didn't brush my teeth good enough....you get the idea.
Last week, I was at the Dollar Tree and Connor was spending three dollars that he had gotten from his great-grandmother. I found these book lights and thought, hey, this would be great for him to read in bed at night. So, for the past week, he has been allowed to read one book in bed with his book light after we have tucked him in and said prayers, and then he must turn it off on his own and go to sleep. And it WORKS! No more getting up, no more excuses! By the time I get up there to check on him, his book is beside his bed, his book light is turned off and laid on top of it, and he is fast asleep! I think he is like his momma, and just needs to wind down a bit to fall asleep. I usually have to read at night to wind down. I cannot just fall asleep laying there, unlike Greg who is snoring loud enough to wake up all of Knoxville ten seconds after his head hits the pillow. So, that's pretty much the best dollar I've ever spent in my life! I am thinking of buying a whole set for my classroom, and letting my students have special reading time with them. I thought they'd love to turn off the lights and read with the book lights every now and again. I'm going to Dollar Tree again today to buy all they have!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Florida Fun in St. Augustine
This vacation has been awesome! One of our most fun and relaxing ever. Pretty much all we've done is sleep, play, eat, laugh, read, and then repeat. Of course, I have some stories for you.
On Sunday, Connor wanted to buy a hermit crab. He decided to name him Shane. On Monday, he decided Shane was lonely, so he bought another crab and named him Howie. (No, I have no idea where those names came from). This morning, I had to break the news to him that Shane had gone to "Crab Heaven". He was really sad, and was asking all kinds of hilarious questions about "Crab Heaven." "Well, people heaven is up there, so is crab heaven down there? " "Why is his shell still here if he's up in crab heaven?' My mother-in-law had her face in a towel because she was laughing so hard. So, today we will bury Shane down by the beach, and return to get another hermit crab (that I'm pretty sure we'll kill too). Connor plans to name the new crab, "Shane Jr." I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff!
Every summer, Greg gets highights in his hair, for my sake only. I always think it looks nice after the beach. This year his Mom, really wanted them to show up, and well, they really show up alright. I think it looks fine, but he's freaking out a little. He looks like a surfer. It's really funny, and I'm sure all the boys will ridicule him to death. But, at least he still has hair to highlight!
Tuesday night, Greg and I dropped Mimi and Connor off at the movies and went out to eat. After dinner, we walked out to the pier and watched all the locals fishing. They caught a ton of sharks, so we thought we'd give it a whirl on Wednesday. So, we all hung out at the pier most of the day yesterday. Greg caught a baby hammerhead shark and a trout. We watched a guy pull in a four foot bullshark. Totally freaked me out! By the time we took a break and went back, someone had pulled in another four foot bullshark, and about the same size hammerhead shark. We saw tons of stingrays in the water, about a dozen dolphins, and a jellyfish that looked about the size of Connor's head. Needless to say, since all this occurred very close to the shore, our family's ocean adventures are over. We're sticking by the pool! Creepy!
Last night we went to an awesome restaurant that this cute little local retired couple recommended. It was called Mango Mango's. They had unbelievable Caribbean food. It is our new favorite down here, and can't wait to eat there again next year! Tomorrow is our last day, and we're planning on getting up early and eating breakfast at a little beach front restaurant called Beachcombers. I can't believe we only have two days left. It has gone by so quickly, but there's still more fun to be had, so I should get outside!
On Sunday, Connor wanted to buy a hermit crab. He decided to name him Shane. On Monday, he decided Shane was lonely, so he bought another crab and named him Howie. (No, I have no idea where those names came from). This morning, I had to break the news to him that Shane had gone to "Crab Heaven". He was really sad, and was asking all kinds of hilarious questions about "Crab Heaven." "Well, people heaven is up there, so is crab heaven down there? " "Why is his shell still here if he's up in crab heaven?' My mother-in-law had her face in a towel because she was laughing so hard. So, today we will bury Shane down by the beach, and return to get another hermit crab (that I'm pretty sure we'll kill too). Connor plans to name the new crab, "Shane Jr." I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff!
Every summer, Greg gets highights in his hair, for my sake only. I always think it looks nice after the beach. This year his Mom, really wanted them to show up, and well, they really show up alright. I think it looks fine, but he's freaking out a little. He looks like a surfer. It's really funny, and I'm sure all the boys will ridicule him to death. But, at least he still has hair to highlight!
Tuesday night, Greg and I dropped Mimi and Connor off at the movies and went out to eat. After dinner, we walked out to the pier and watched all the locals fishing. They caught a ton of sharks, so we thought we'd give it a whirl on Wednesday. So, we all hung out at the pier most of the day yesterday. Greg caught a baby hammerhead shark and a trout. We watched a guy pull in a four foot bullshark. Totally freaked me out! By the time we took a break and went back, someone had pulled in another four foot bullshark, and about the same size hammerhead shark. We saw tons of stingrays in the water, about a dozen dolphins, and a jellyfish that looked about the size of Connor's head. Needless to say, since all this occurred very close to the shore, our family's ocean adventures are over. We're sticking by the pool! Creepy!
Last night we went to an awesome restaurant that this cute little local retired couple recommended. It was called Mango Mango's. They had unbelievable Caribbean food. It is our new favorite down here, and can't wait to eat there again next year! Tomorrow is our last day, and we're planning on getting up early and eating breakfast at a little beach front restaurant called Beachcombers. I can't believe we only have two days left. It has gone by so quickly, but there's still more fun to be had, so I should get outside!
Friday, June 6, 2008
So Outta Here!
This has been a really long week! I have been in training for the past three days because the state of Tennessee is changing all their learning expectations for students, and I got the joy of learning about it all so I can go back and tell our school about it. Yes, it was as exciting as it sounded. I kept thinking of everything that I had to get done, so I was completely antsy. That on top of the fact that I am not used to sitting for seven hours straight!
We are leaving super early in the morning for Florida. We are all so excited to get out of here! I'm getting ready to start packing up the car after I post. We are planning on doing nothing but playing, relaxing, reading, laughing, and more relaxing! We always have a great time down there!
Connor has been very funny this week. He is so literal, and I think he might grow up to be a lawyer like his "G" because he seems to find the loophole in everything I tell him lately. First example, we went to Sonic for a slush and they gave him a mint. After he finished his slush, he wanted to open his mint and eat it as we were driving down the interstate. I explained to him that I didn't like him eating in the car because if he were to accidentally choke, I couldn't get to him quickly. So, he found the loophole. He opened the mint, held it between two fingers, and proceeded to lick the entire thing until it was gone. Today, we were coming out of CVS. We were coming towards the end of the sidewalk, and were standing right in front of my car. He almost stepped off the sidewalk, and I told him he knew that he couldn't go in the parking lot without holding a hand. So, he clasped both of his hands together and said, "I"m holding my hand" with a giggle. I gave him "the look" and he then took my hand. Loopholes.....
I'll post some pics from the beach as soon as we get some! See you in a week, Knoxville!
We are leaving super early in the morning for Florida. We are all so excited to get out of here! I'm getting ready to start packing up the car after I post. We are planning on doing nothing but playing, relaxing, reading, laughing, and more relaxing! We always have a great time down there!
Connor has been very funny this week. He is so literal, and I think he might grow up to be a lawyer like his "G" because he seems to find the loophole in everything I tell him lately. First example, we went to Sonic for a slush and they gave him a mint. After he finished his slush, he wanted to open his mint and eat it as we were driving down the interstate. I explained to him that I didn't like him eating in the car because if he were to accidentally choke, I couldn't get to him quickly. So, he found the loophole. He opened the mint, held it between two fingers, and proceeded to lick the entire thing until it was gone. Today, we were coming out of CVS. We were coming towards the end of the sidewalk, and were standing right in front of my car. He almost stepped off the sidewalk, and I told him he knew that he couldn't go in the parking lot without holding a hand. So, he clasped both of his hands together and said, "I"m holding my hand" with a giggle. I gave him "the look" and he then took my hand. Loopholes.....
I'll post some pics from the beach as soon as we get some! See you in a week, Knoxville!
Monday, June 2, 2008
PLEASE HELP ME!!!
Now that it is summer and I actually have time to cook something other than quick meals, I don't know what to cook! I am so sick of cooking the same stuff!
What meals are your family's favorites?
Please help me get out of this rut! Post your favorite recipes!
What meals are your family's favorites?
Please help me get out of this rut! Post your favorite recipes!
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