Oswald

I think I have failed to mentioned Oswald in this blog. Well, he is a very important part of our family. He is our parakeet. He came as a present to the boys this past Christmas. I have always liked parakeets and always kind of wanted one. Susie had one (Petey) growing up and always liked them too. I knew nothing about taking care of them, but figured they can't be too difficult and they aren't. They are a bit messy, but otherwise they are very easy. So if you are looking for a nice family pet that is not too hard, then a parakeet might be perfect for you. We just left town for one week and Oswald was fine alone. Compared to the large bill from the "pet resort" for boarding Leo, it is nice to have a pet that doesn't require lots of attention. Anyway, up unitl recently Oswald has been strictly a caged pet. But we have recently decided to get him out more and try to tame him. The kids LOVE him and they are getting very comfortable holding him. He is getting more comfortable too. He only tries to fly off every now and then and he is not biting anymore. I have been told that if you are going to get a parakeet, then you need to get two because they are very social animals. Unfortunately they are also very loud, so I don't think we will be getting another one. Hopefully getting Oswald out every once in a while will prevent him from getting too lonely. Here are some pictures of the boys holding Oswald today. I love the one of Susie and F because you can see F sticking out his little finger in hopes that Oswald will crawl up on it. Very cute!

Dallas continued

Well we are home from Texas and settling back into our routine. Here are some pictures from the other days we were in Dallas. Wednesday afternoon we went to a "farm" near Grandma and Grandpa's house. The boys were able to get up and pretend ride on all these different tractors. They of course loved it. Later we walked around the Grapevine Botanical Gardens and played at a local park. It was a really nice day. Thursday we headed to the Fort Worth Zoo. Wouldn't you know that the day we pick to go to the zoo, is also the day every grade school in Fort Worth was having their end-of-the-year field trip. It was quite hectic. Aside from the parking, it didn't turn out as bad as we were expecting when we pulled into the parking lot. The kids had a blast. I haven't been to a zoo with them in about two years and they enjoyed it much more this time. We were able to completely wipe them out so all three kids took a long afternoon nap!! Ahh silence!! Friday and Saturday I had a conference for work I had to attend. It sounds like the boys were pretty worn out on Friday and were not in the best of moods for everyone. (Sorry I missed that!) Saturday they went to a Spring Festival at the farm we had walked around at on Wednesday. They had hay rides, pony rides and some carnival type games. I think they really had a good time. Sunday we headed back home. It was nice flying this time because the kids actually liked the trip home. Usually it is an awful 9 hour car ride home with all of us yelling and screaming by the time we pull into our driveway. Thank you Wright brothers!

Dallas Trip

We are down in Texas this week visiting Susie's parent's. The kids absolute love coming to Texas! We arrived Monday night. Susie's aunt Dorothy was also in town the first day, so that was great spending time with her. The kids were pretty tired by the time we made it to the house Monday night. So other than some brief running around, they were off to bed. Tuesday was a cold and rainy day, even for Texas standards. We went to lunch at Babe's, a neat Texas restaraunt that only serves fried chicken. Everything is served family style, so I was albe to get my fill on their amazing mashed potatoes, creamed corn, salad and biscuits. When we came home the kids napped and Aidan rode with Grandma and Grandpa to take Dorothy to the airport. During a bried interuption in rain, A, F and Grandma went out to "Digger City" to play while C was still asleep. That night Grandpa cooked dinner out on the grill and we watched American Idol. We attempted to get in the hot tub, but were only in a few minutes when another rain storm hit us and we noticed lightening.

Today is still a bit on the chilly side, but we sucked it up and headed out to the hot tub this morning. F was not so sure about it and was especially not too happy after briefly going under! I was right next to him, but it was enough to make him plenty ready to get out. Then C took a spill face first and he was ready to get out too. The picture of him and I was taken not long after that, so he is still a bit grumpy. A loved every minute. Tonight Susie and I are going out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary (which was last week). They kids will stay home with Grandma and Grandpa. Don't know what is on the agenda for the rest of the week, hopefully warmer weather.

Authentication

Today we got all our documents back from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. They were all authenticated appropriately. Yeah!!!!!! This is a huge step of the paperchase completed. Now we are just waiting for our 171H (immigration papers) to arrive and we are done with the paperwork. Of course we have to get the 171H notarized, certified and authenticated, but that shouldn't be too difficult. We are really seeing the light at the end of this paperwork tunnel. Unfortunately the referrals for the month of April took a drastic turn for the worse. (quick recap...CCAA sends out referrals once per month based upon what day each adoptive families paperwork was logged into their system....so when we send our paperwork to China we will get a Log-In Date of say June 2, 2007 (for example). The CCAA works on referrals on a first-come, first-serve basis). So for the month of April they gave referrals to all the families who had Log-In Dates of October 25-26, 2005. Only two days!!! Usually they cover atleast two weeks of Log-In Dates. This is not good news and tells us that the process is only going to slow down further. Our agency, Great Wall China Adoption, is trying to be realistic and tell us that they think the process will speed up, but we are not getting our hopes up. I do hope that it speeds up, but we are planning on it taking 2 years from the time our paperwork is logged-in to the CCAA just so that we are not let down.

Dinosaur Painting

We had our handy man over the other day and he was able to fix our shattered window, restore water pressure to our pathetic kitchen faucet and fix the cracked water pipe that leads to our front hose. I think I am most excited about having a functional kitchen faucet again. You would not believe how poor our water pressure was. It was not even like running water, but more of a spitting faucet. I can't believe we put up with it for so long. It was all because of a faulty diverter between the faucet and the sprayer. Now it is like a geyser! C is still confused as to why he had to give his money for the new window. He keeps asking if the handy man is going to give it back. Very cute.


Today C has his very first birthday party (where only he was invited). I think A is feeling a bit jealous. A has gone to numerous parties where C was not invited, so it is about time C got one. Until the party A and C are busy painting their dinosaurs. They got this kit for Christmas and have only painted a few of the dinosaurs. This is a good activity that requires fine motor skills and concentration. It is good to see that they can sit still for awile and focus on something. F is just walking around causing havoc as usual!! Have a great weekend!

Evil Lightsabers

Tuesdays are my day off from work. It is really nice having a day where we are all home and can get errands ran and to-do lists completed. Today was a typical day...well until the end. But it started out with Fintan and me running to the bank and getting the oil changed in our Mini-van, or "the mini" as I like to call it. No one in the general public needs to know I am talking about a van when I mention my "mini." I let the mystery of how we fit our three kids in a mini keep them on their toes. Anyway, then F went down for a nap and C and I ran to the store for some odds and ends. After lunch Susie cut my hair (yes, she cuts my hair and she is pretty good. She is taking appointments if you are interested, but she is overbooked until mid-Summer!). Once F woke up we all piled in the car to visit Pete and Mac's, a recreational resort for pets. We are leaving town next week and needed somewhere for Leo to stay while we are gone. Usually we bring him with us, but this time we are flying, so he has to stay behind. I am totally against boarding kennels that trap dogs in tiny wire cages for days on end, so I was very nervous about finding a place that would give Leo plenty of room. Anyway, this place is really great and they take good care of the dogs. The dogs are kept in "suites" with glass block walls (for extra light) and each one has a bed and blanket. There are no wire cages and the suites vary in size, and price. You can even get some that have a TV (showing Animal Planet of course). They let the dogs out for playtime with other pups 2x day for about 20-30 minutes in this really cool doggie-day-care room. Then they get an afternoon snack! We were very impressed and signed Leo up right away.

We got home, fed the kids dinner and Susie was whipping some some crab stuffed potatoes and fish for us, when C started doing some fancy hand work (aka throwing) with his newly acquired lightsaber. We heard a crash and ran around the corner to see one of the side light windows next to our front door shattered. Not a pretty sight. I am impressed how surprisingly calm Susie and I handled the situation. Though we were both furious with C, it was one of those situations where yelling was not going to change the outcome. We got it cleaned up and taped up with a really nice Price Chopper shopping bag. Thankfully we know a Jack of all traits man and he is going to come over and fix it. I did make C go upstairs and empty out his piggy bank to pay for the new window. What he doesn't know is that his $5+ in change will not begin to cover the window and I am not really going to use it. I am actually going to take it to the bank and deposit it in his account, but I want him to think I am using it to buy the new window. He was actually quite upset over this process, so I think I made my point. He kept promising all night to never-ever throw something again. We'll see if that holds up! After the window drama I took A and C upstairs for haircuts. (Yes I also cut hair, though I don't take appointments...you couldn't afford me!) They look very cute and clean.

Easter Madness

March Madness had nothing on Easter Weekend around our house. We were on the go from the minute I got home Friday night to the minute we all crashed on Sunday evening. Friday we had dinner at my parent's house for my mom's side of the family. Susie's parents were in town so they and her sister and brother-in-law joined us. We had a really good time and the kids were troopers staying up until almost midnight. Unfortunately for me, that did not equate to sleeping in in the morning. Saturday we had two birthday parties during the day, dinner with Susie's family and then had some out of town friends over for drinks that evening. Sunday the kids were up bright and early to see if the Easter Bunny had remembered to visit our house during the night. They were happy to see that he did deliver and even more surprised to see that he left eggs in the back yard for them to hunt. Too bad we were hit with freakishly cold weather (not helped by the fact that it was 7:20 in the morning!), but the boys didn't seem to mind the temperature (though the Easter Bunny did!). C is slowing getting the hang of this egg-hunting thing. We were then off to church by 9:00, had lunch with Susie's family at 12:30, late lunch with my family (my dad's side of the family) at 2:30 and we were all passed out on couches throughout the house by 5:30pm. All in all it was a great weekend, just a bit rushed. I think the boys were coming off a bit of a sugar high on Monday. Grandma and Grandpa babysat for them while I went to work and Susie slept (she worked the night before) and I don't think they were on their best behavior. Gotta love chocolate!! I had a hard time getting good pictures of the kids in their Easter get-ups. F was too on-the-go and was not about to sit still for a picture. These two are the best of the batch.

Easter Eggs and Pizza

We had a really great day yesterday. We started the morning off with an Easter Egg hunt. This was our first official hunt ever. We had of course done family hunts on Easter, but we have never taken the kids to an organized hunt. This was sponsored by our cousins' subdivision, so we were totally illegal, but no one caught on. I recognized many people there (who I know also do not live in that area!) so I didn't feel too bad. The kids had a really good time. As always, right as it was about to start, A and C got scared and had a momentary breakdown. Thankfully, A was able to quickly snap out of it and he really got into the hunt. C was not a huge fan, but he did pick up a few. I think he was a bit overwhelmed with the number of kids hunting eggs and adults chasing kids. Typical C, when it was all over and we were leaving he starts telling us how much fun it was and how he can't wait to do it again. There must have been thousands of eggs and they also had little toys too. Some of the eggs were numbered and if you found a numbered egg, you could turn it in for an additional prize. A found one of those and he was able to get a Play-Doh set. It was a very nice prize considering how many prizes they must of had to buy. Even though F didn't quite understand the purpose of the hunt, he was fascinated with the geese at the lake. He kept charging towards the lake yelling "Gee, Gee." It was very funny. We are going to have a to keep a close eye on him this summer at the lakehouse because that place is overrun with geese.

After the hunt we went downtown and met my parents and brother and sister-in-law and their kids. Every year some shops put out these larger-than-life sized ceramic statues all over the place. Children are allowed to climb on them and they are pretty neat. These have been around forever and the organization that does this has done a very good job of keeping them in great shape considering all the years of abuse they have endured! My mom has pictures of herself as a little girl sitting/playing on these same statues. So the boys had fun walking around and climbing all over the statues with their cousins. Then we went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Very good. We got home time for F to nap and A and C to play with Play-Doh for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great day!