The Jerger Journey

The Quest

2009-09-28T19:31:00.013-04:00

Ruthie Started gymnastics right around the same time she started 1st grade. I really had no idea what I was signing up for. We had tried the soccer thing, T-ball and dance. Done the recitals. We played the violin for a brief time and went to one of those concerts. But when we stepped into the gym it seemed to all fall into place for her. She had found her passion at the young age of six. In the three years that followed, I never once heard her ask, "do I have to go?" She went quickly from rec to hotshots and from there to level I in a matter of just months. She climbed through the ranks of Level II and Level III. There were tears as the conditioning got harder. There were set backs with a broken wrist and stitches that planted fear in her mind. She got through all of that and still never asked, "Do I have to go?" All you parents out there know what I mean...your child is so excited to begin that new thing. You get out that birth certificate, stand in line, get signed up. You rush to buy the right shoes and the proper outfit. Then, inevitably, the shine wears off and you hear, "Do I have to go?"

When your child starts gymnastics, there is really not much to go watch. They go in and they do what looks to you like playing for 45 minutes to an hour. There's no game on Saturday morning. There is no recital at the end of the year. But, one day, you get that invitation to be on team and your daughter's face is so bright it could light a football stadium at midnight and you just know that the hours you have spent fighting the other children to behave in the lobby so she could do her thing have all been worth it. And so, after 3 years of hard work, we have reached her first year of competition and I have to tell you...I'm nervous!

Because she had just gotten her cast off and was not yet ready to compete, Ruthie had to be a cheerleader at her first meet, which for a gymnast is sacrilegious. But, she went in looking at the bright side which was that she would get to observe how it all happened without all the nerves. Her team did well, she had fun. After awards, her coaches awarded the team award which was a banner to the gymnast who scored the highest ALL AROUND. As we walked to the car, I looked down at her and I said, "what do you think? Pretty cool, Huh?" And oh, child of mine said, "Ya, I'm gonna get me one of those banners." And so we begin the quest...

Black Jack AT The Beach, Daytona, FL

Gymnastics is a confusing sport. There are deductions I could never begin to understand. If they stay on the beam, it looks good to me...however, apparently mommy's opinions do not matter. So, her first time out the gate, she scored:

Vault 8.9 (10th)
Bars 9.05 (2T)
Beam 8.25 (9th)
Floor 8.7 (4th)
All Around 34.9 (7th out of 12)

Now, they break them into levels and then age groups so in her age group, there were 12 girls. She got some medals. I smiled and was very excited for her. I say, "wow! Great job...that was so much fun!" She says, "People did better than me, next time, I'm going to be better." By "people" she means her team mates and I know that this is really what is bothering her. Ruthie has a drive that won't quit. She can't help herself and understand it but, I want her to be proud of where she came from and remember that it is her first meet and everyone else's second. I want her to remember that she overcame a broken ankle and put in extra time to get to this meet. She's having none of it and so, we will see what the next meet holds for her...Stay tuned.

The boys have also begun their fall activities. They are off and running with flag football. More on that, later...

Dancing Queen

2009-09-21T07:59:00.020-04:00

I have started helping my friend Lisa with the kid's choir at our church. When I say helping what I really mean is the I am there for crowd control and as a sounding board for her. I have no music back ground..at all...but, I can manage children. Since she was very small, Ruthie has always enjoyed singing and acting in front of crowds. She has always been very entertaining at the preschool musicals each holiday and at the end of the year. She has always worked very hard on memorizing all of the motions and whenever possible, she has tried out for a sung solos at church. So, this year, Lisa decided it was time to take it up a notch with the choir and do a musical. This woman pulled off the the cutest show I have seen in quite a while and my beautiful and multi-talented daughter had a dance number...the show was so good that there is little room for improvement...if I do say so myself!

Happy Birthday, Rusty!

2009-09-21T07:59:00.017-04:00

Rusty is EIGHT! I can't believe it! I remember just a few short weeks before he was born walking from the back of my house to see Ruthie sitting in the family room watching a Baby Motzart video and my eyes began to water because I wanted just a little more time with her before the new baby came. Now, all these years and 3 children later, I cannot imagine a house with just one child. I can't imagine the meals, the laundry, the vacations, the car rides. The birthdays! We are our own party. But, continuing with this year's theme, Rusty picked one park and I shared it with him.

He chose Magic Kingdom and with him, It wasn't the race cars that we rode over and over. Well, it was, we rode them 3 times but we also frequented the tea cups...who knew? I had to convince him to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and The Jungle Cruise but I think the cruise ended up being his favorite ride of the day. You see, it's not as if he's never been it's just that Rusty is our easy going, go with the flow child. It seems now that I have been with him by himself, he probably had opinions the other times we went as well. He probably enjoyed some rides more than others, but being the kind, reserved person he is, he just went with the rest of us making no waves along the way.

Truth be told, the high light of his day (among all the "War Eagles!" and sharing a moment with a fellow Tiger and birthday boy at the race track) was shopping. I know. However, he knew weeks ahead of time that he would be able to pick out one toy under $50 as part of his day. As soon as we walked in the gates, he wanted to buy his toy. I convinced him to shop along the way not making his decision until it was time to leave the park. I mean, Disney World, no stroller...who want to carry a bag all day? So, we shopped on Main street, in Fantasy land, Frontier land and in all the lands between finally settling on a set of Puffle pins for his lanyard. On top of that, the park stayed open until 10pm but around 7:00 he looked up at me and said, "OK, I'm done now." Really? "yah, I just want to stop at McDonald's on the way home." It's his birthday and I am fully prepared to shut the park down but I can't compete with the pull of a little college football with his daddy before bed.

The best parts of the day for me were the car rides...just talking to him about nothing really...just that time where it's me and him and there are no other voices chiming in and no fighting in the background. I also really enjoyed seeing the park decorated for fall...that was a first for me. Rusty was awesome about letting me take his picture all day and he was so sweet, constantly asking what I wanted to do. We did just about everything and I got to know my new 8-year old Rusty just a little bit better. You can't buy days like this.

So, at the end of a wonderful day with my oldest son, we wander back out to the car and we stop for burgers and fries at the golden arches. We walk into the chaos that is our home, and flop onto the couch to finish out the day with a little SEC football. Happy Birthday, Rusty!

Summer's End.

2009-08-11T22:42:00.012-04:00

OK, SO as the mother of four beautiful, talented and so wonderfully spirited children, the end of summer is just a little bit bitter and a whole lot sweet. We spent the summer carting kiddos to and from swim lessons, swim team, gymnastics, camps, VBS and friend's houses. Starting school doesn't stop any of the carting but it does allow me some moments of peace in between, an hour of quiet here and there where I can focus on my work or enjoy one of my shows or work on a project that just hasn't gotten done.

Where did the summer go? Well, Flip and Ellie spent their afternoons in swim lessons where as in any other situation, Ellie got away with goofing off in one class while Flip got away with goofing off in another. It's a catch 22 having adorable children! Flip looks like a little Easter egg in his brightly colored swim cap and stark white skin and Ellie looks like an island beauty with her very bronzed skin, blond locks and stark blue eyes. Anyway, ask Ellie if she can swim and she will tell you yes, however, throw her in the pool and you will watch her sink to the bottom! Flip is...getting there...darn the ears!

Ruthie went to LSU, which you already read about for gymnastics camp and followed it up with team camp. She worked out all summer prepping for her her first competition season. She spent time with her friends, read her Sunshine State Readers and did some writing.

Rusty spent his summer on the swim team. It was as I said earlier, a love hate relationship...loved the swimming, hated the waiting.

The three little ones went camping again with my mom and Joe. This year they went to Illinois. They met up with my Aunt Jackie and her grand kids. While they were gone, we took Ruthie out and about and one of the places we went was Sea World's Aquatica. We let her bring a friend, Laura. We spent the whole day doing whatever they wanted, as often as the wanted and I believe we did everything a minimum of 3 times. This was, of course, after the cast came off.

So, the summer ends and it is time to go school shopping...I remember loving this! I couldn't wait to get new clothes! The more, the better!! Right?!? Well, this is torture for my children, they hate it, I'm outnumbered. THis year I got wise and I sent the boys with my mom. I gave her a list of things they needed and I sent them on their way. I took Ruthie, thinking this might be the year she gets into picking out some clothes. Our first stop she was enthused...for about 10 minutes and then I got the, "can't you do this without me?" uuugh! Yes, I can. But, I drug her along anyway. We finished it up and between my mom and me, we dressed some prttey darn cute kids for that first day of 4th grade, 2nd grade and, kindergarten.

My little Flip...off to races. Dressed to impress, new lunch box, new empty backpack, fresh haircut and sparkling shoes...at least for an hour. Does he give his mama a second thought? Nah...he just walks right in, sits right down and establishes his circle of friends. I think this is going to be the beginning of beautiful school year!

Casting Call...

2009-07-31T15:05:00.008-04:00

So, Summer is nearly at an end and Ruthe's first competition season is fast approaching. She was nursing a sore ankle with ice and Ibuprofen for a few workouts when her coach finally came out to tell me she thought we ought to have it looked at because it was effecting her form on floor and vault. hmmmm...So, we went to the same orthopedic we went to when she broke her wrist, oh, and her other wrist. He was on vacation. (really? Why does he need a vacation?) So we had to see the ortho to the stars. I didn't know he was such a "big deal" at our first appointment where she got xrays and a cast to begin the healing process of a stress fracture. She picked her color, I paid the massive bill and we were on our way.

When we returned to gym, the coaches were just as surprised as I was to see her in a cast. She spent the next several weeks doing a whole lot of arm and abdominal conditioning while her team mates worked diligently on their routines. During this time I started to notice that she felt separated from her teammates who really are her best friends more than any of the kids she goes to school with. How could this not be the case when she spends so much time with them? It was hard not to feel the separation when she was off to the side doing sit-ups and pull ups. But, finally the time came when it was time to return to the doctor to get the cast taken off.

We sat in t he lobby anxiously anticipating our appointment. We sat and sat and sat...no, this is no Dr. Seuss bo ok. Finally I got up and the woman at reception informed me that he was running about an hour behind but that I was next. I watched 3 other people get called back by this man's nurse. Again, I got up. This time I was told that he had an "important client" come in without an appointment. WH AT!?! I was livid! When we finally got into the room, the nurse that took the cast off did not use the guard and burned Ruthie's leg with the blade. When the Doc came in, I let him give me his spiel about easing back into regular workouts and then I gave him mine about him, his office and his staff. And then I left. I won't be back.

Anyway, Ruthie eased back into her workouts and tumbling. You will have to stay tuned to see how competition season went!

le Tour de France

2009-07-29T14:02:00.088-04:00

The City of Lights. We drove into Paris in the late afternoon. I was relieved to see our hotel was once again beautiful. We would be staying four nights. After quickly checking in, we reloaded into the bus for a farewell dinner followed by a city lights tour. This was great because it helped me get my bearings so I could navigate the city for the rest of our stay. We had originally opted out of this excursion to save a little green. Darn the dollar! But, we made such good friends with several of the people on the tour that we wanted to spend one last meal with them.

The highlight of the night was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. It was not only lit but we got there in time to see it's twinkling lights. We took our turns with all the other tourists snapping our once in a lifetime shot in front of the famous landmark. No time to sit and marvel, back on the bus to finish the tour, back to the hotel for some rest and then, back in the bus for the same tour in the morning light. This time, went into the tower and I must say, it was bit disturbing. We were rushed straight to the front of the line, ushered into the weird slanted elevator, taken to the top and deposited in the middle of a mass of tourists all competing for a space by the rail. I was content to stand as far away from the rail as possible but Adam coaxed me over for a picture which, to be honest, was not that great as it was a hazy shade of summer. I left Adam with some friends and ventured inside to the gift shops where I picked up an ornament for my tree and a purse for my little Taylor. After that, I was Ready for the bus. Along the way we fought off several street sellers with cheap statues of the tower and witnessed the pursuit of a pick pocket. Not a bad adventure for 10 o'clock in the AM!

In the afternoon, we headed for Versailles. What can I say? WOW! You step off the bus to a sight that even under construction is more than you can imagine. "Less is more?" I don't think so. Gold leafing everywhere and gardens. Holy cow! So, we get our headset and begin our audio tour which leaves me a little A.D.D. Still the beauty, the details and the art are not lost on me. I look over and Adam seems to be really enjoying his tour...who is this person who hates history and would rather tour the SEC football stadiums? My mind is wandering and I find myself coveting the molding in each room and mentally pricing it out for my living room...

We come across an amazing mural painted on a bedroom wall which probably belonged so someone important, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. It is an exact replica of a much smaller painting in the Louvre, except, one of the women of the court is wearing a different color dress. The portrait is of the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 and the story is that he was really in love with her and not Josephine? I just can't believe it. huh. Of course, the most amazing part of the castle was the gardens. At this point in the trip we had seen many gardens but none came close to the gardens at Versailles. It is impossible to fully describe them and equally impossible to get a good picture of them. The one here is from a window in the castle. With the weather being so beautiful, and my love of reading, I feel I could have sat there in the garden a read everyday and never once felt that I needed TV, a car, or anything else. Leaving the castle, we stopped at McDonald's where Adam got to have a Royal with Cheese and if you have seen Pulp Fiction, you know why he thought that was so cool. Finally, ending our first full day in Paris, we headed for the Moulin Rouge Theatre. This picture is taken out front with our tour guide. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Adam and I were taken aback by the topless dancers...The show we saw was a series of novelty sketches interspersed between a weird story that involved some cheesy singing while topless. It was strange. There was one really cool act in between one of the segments where this man and woman used a jacket and did all kind of tricks passing it back and forth and it never came off...it was always on one or the other. Also uncomfortable was the fight between some of our fellow travelers because she felt he was looking a little too closely so he spent the remainder of the show looking down at his plate. Which is what Adam had been doing the whole time. Such a good boy! The rest of Paris can be blogged in pictures...I know I don't need to go back. The only other stand out was the Tour. Lance didn't win but that's ok. We wandered the city and headed over to the mall where the riders would be looping several times into the finish. We came up out the Subway, stood looking around and scored some awesome seats right there on the wall where we had basically front row seats for the finish of the race...Our European vacation comes to a close.

Adam with his Cheeseburger.

Napoleon's coronation...see, her dress is white in this one...

One of our fellow tourists who just happens to look exactly like my grandma!

Venus has some pretty nice abs! We also saw Mona and some other famous ladies.

Arc de Triomphe: big, beautiful...a tribute to French soldiers.

Luxembourg Palace: also amazing gardens...sensing a theme?

Oscar Wilde's grave at Pere Lachaise Cemetery. We also saw Jim Morrison's, Ablard and Heloise, Chopin's etc. The irony was that on Wilde's grave they ask that you not deface it and yet it is covered in lipstick kisses and someone has carved, "here lies the greatest man to ever live." Really? As we approached, a young man was sitting there bawling out loud. Really? huh.

Our view of the peloton...who needs tickets?

Napoleon's tomb...short man's complex?

Notre Dame Cathedral...Amazingly beautiful but I liked St. Paul's in London better...or, maybe I just liked London better.

.

Lucerne

2009-07-29T14:02:00.087-04:00

Aside from London, Lucerne was my favorite stop on our trip. This city sits on a lake full of swans between mountains and is just…beautiful. Adam and I decided not to do any optional excursions. I did not want to ride in a car full of people hanging from a wire. Sorry. AND, on our anniversary trip, we wanted a little time to do our own thing. We spent the time wandering the city, taking self portraits in front of landmarks and doing some serious souvenir shopping…a Swiss knife for Flip (I know what you’re thinking) a Swiss watch for Rusty and a doll named Lucerne for Ellie. (Ruthie got jewelry from Paris) When we were done with our wandering, we got some ice cream, a loaf of bread for our feathered friends and rented a paddle boat.

We set off from the in the late afternoon…not wanting to get too far away, just far enough to have some quiet and space between us and the rest of the world. Out in the middle of the lake it seemed as though it was just us, the swans and the mountains. So, I got out the snack we had brought along for these beautiful, peaceful birds…and, they attacked! There must have been fifty of them. It was so much fun! They came right up to the side of the boat, following us everywhere, snatching from our hands and honking aggressively if they felt they were not getting their fair share. Adam and I laughed so hard and at one point almost tipped our boat. It really would have been a shame because we were a little far out and the water, COLD! When we ran out of bread and our time on the boat was at an end, we headed back to the pier, a line of swans trailing behind.

That evening, we went to a dinner show with the group. It was all going really very well until I got pulled up to the stage to yodel and participate in a beer chugging contest. Really? Now, you know I don't drink beer...I can't even stand the smell of the stuff! I had to pass on that part much to the disappointment of the crowd. I am quite the yodeler, however, if I do say so myself!

After dinner, I made Adam go back to the water with me to feed the swans again. This was probably MY favorite day of the trip. Not my favorite city but my favorite day…Just me and Adam…playing…all day. Next stop…

Other favorite pics from this stop:

Don't Blink...

2009-07-29T14:02:00.048-04:00

Crossing the border from Holland into Germany, we stopped at the cutest little shop. There was the most amazing life size coo coo clock outside and we were lucky enough to be there when it was chiming. The owner gave us complimentary cherry wine (I passed) and a slice of black forest cake. This was the spot for coo coo clocks but I went for the hand carved crosses that were crafted by the owner of the shop. Even better, he signed it!

We had two stops in Germany. The first was Cologne. We had lunch here. The only high point was the completely ginormous church. It was an amazing sight and I would know how old it was but my laptop with all of my notes and journaling from the trip was stolen, thus the reason (one anyway) my blog is so behind. Anyway, this cathedral is ancient and filthy and completely awe inspiring. I put it up there with the pyramids. I mean, how did they build this thing?

After viewing the church, we wandered for a bit and then decided to grab some lunch. Adam and I found a sidewalk café and sat down to eat. I decided to use the restroom before getting back on the bus. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw a window in the stall that looked out onto the street. I decided to wait. One of our fellow tourists was not so lucky. He used a different restroom at a different café. The doors t the stalls were clear you triggered the lock…then it clouded over so that the other people in the unisex restroom could not see into the stall. Well, you know, things look different in Europe…even locks. And well, we have all seen two sided glass…so, it was an your easy mistake to think that although you could see out, others could not see in…you can use your imagination to finish that story…poor guy.

Moving on, we got back onto the bus and drove or a while. An amusing aside…at this point, I think it fair to say that pretty much everyone was exhausted by the fast pace of the tour. Every time we got onto the bus it was no more than 30 minutes before 90% of us were asleep…had mouths hanging wide. This time when we woke up it was to board a boat for a river cruise along the Rhine River. I just had to buy the book to help me identify all the castles we were seeing along the banks. Some had been turned into hotels, some were still homes (imagine, living in a castle and others had been abandoned. Probably the most interesting one was the one that had been built right in the middle of the river! Shaped like some weird oval dome, the current just rushing by it’s front door. Today it is used as a base for the river patrol.

Between the castles were vineyards growing up the steep hills of the river bank and occasionally we saw a man walking through the rows up and down the steep hills checking his crops. I couldn’t help but think, he must have huge calves! Aside from the scenery, the most enjoyable part of the cruise was just sitting on the top deck, in the sun, next to Adam, with the wind blowing at us and just having a couple of moments to together…So, Germany was kind of our "Don't blink or you'll miss it" part of the tour...a shame to be sure...we will have to go back someday with some expert tour guides...maybe someone who has lived there????

We got into Heidelberg in the late afternoon. I think we had dinner with the group. There might have been time to explore on our own but I’m pretty sure we just went upstairs and crashed. Next stop…

Amster-"damned."

2009-07-29T14:02:00.035-04:00

Driving into Amsterdam, I was instantly amazed by two things: the flowers and the bikes! Wow! They were everywhere! Flowers located in every window and all along the road, filling every median and planter as if it had rained seeds and they took root in every available spot. Rows of bicycles also lined the street and there were ramps designed specifically for bicycle parking, each filled with thousands of bikes. Once I got past this amazing spectacle, I noticed the house boats.

When I say house boats, you really have to shut your eyes and imagine the glory of living on a boat. These are NOT simply boats the people are living on. These boats have been permanently docked; they have gardens growing on the decks, grills and porch furniture, window boxes and the occasional balcony has been added to the side to expand outdoor seating. Through the windows you can see hanging pots and all the evidence of a permanent home. It took quite a bit of imagination to picture our family of six living in such tight quarters. I did imagine that it would have been a very charming way to spend a summer in college.

After cruising the river and taking in the scenery, we were met by our local guide. Now, when I travel, I like to take in the history and the culture of wherever I am. I want to see and do it all. I must say that the city of Amsterdam lost a bit of its charm when we entered what is known worldwide as the “red light district.” If you’ve lived 18 or more years, you’ve heard of this place. I think all young people are intrigued by the idea of a city where women, well, let’s say “advertise” themselves in small windows that line the street. They are scantily clothed, sitting in a room the size of a closet. We saw women talking on their phone, filing their nails, ironing and others were being overtly seductive.

These “closet windows” are scattered throughout the district which runs maybe 8-10 blocks. Also lining the streets are strip clubs, coffee shops, and koffee shops. Now, you may be thinking I have some issues with spelling, which, I do. However, let me explain…A Koffee shop actually serves coffee and a coffee shop is where you go when you need a new stash of weed. (This, along with prostitution, is legal)

Now, you can imagine we Americans wandering the streets with our mouths agape as our guide goes on and on about the attitude of acceptance throughout the city. Marijuana is legal and tobacco is not? Yes. Well, as a criminology major, I don’t have a huge problem with this. If you are going to smoke something, weed is less harmful overall to your body and people who use drugs will use them whether they are legal or not…but, I think that discussion is best left for another time.

As we continue through the district, our guide continues to point out the novelty shops, ie, condom shops, bong shops, to name few. She keeps reiterating the attitude of acceptance. I keep listening wondering where is God in all of this? She goes on and on about the health insurance for the “ladies” in the windows, the mandatory health checks every six months, the free supply of condoms and the tax breaks they get on the rent for their little windows or any clothing etc. they may purchase for their “job.” At the end of the tour, she asks us if we have any questions. Of course I do! So, I ask, “has there ever been any movement to change the lifestyle of Amsterdam.” Her answer went a little like this, “as I said, there is an attitude of tolerance here and if you don’t like it, you just take your little Bible, and your little dresses and you move your family out into the country and churn your butter there.” Well, I guess the attitude of tolerance only extends to the immoral. All other lifestyles or opposing viewpoints should get out because they will not be ‘tolerated!”

Our time in Amsterdam drew to a close at a local restaurant where I sampled the hodge podge and everyone else played it safe. How weird, I am usually the unadventurous eater! After a walk back to the hotel, I spent my time in the hotel reading the books in the bedside table (it wasn’t the Bible) trying to learn some real history on the city and relate it to the things I had seen that day. Needless to say when I left Amsterdam, I didn’t look back…next stop…

*******************************************************************

Other Favorite pics from Amsterdam:

Is this a car?

Would you sit on this porch?

Bicycles, bikes, and oh yea, bicycles.

Mind the Gap.

2009-07-29T14:01:00.029-04:00

Just seven long months after our 10th anniversary, Adam and I finally boarded the plane for London. We would fill 10 days with as much of Europe as we possibly could. Our trip begins in London where we daringly opted to find our own way to our hotel rather than pay for the transfer with the tour company. So, even though the signs were in English, duh, we still seemed to be directionally challenged in the subway. But we did find our way onto the correct train and enjoyed the 30 minute ride...especially the little English accented voice that came on at every stop asking people to "mind the gap."

We got off the train about four blocks from our hotel and lugged our suitcases (well, we each had one and a backpack...after spending a month in Russia, this girl knows how to pack) a few more blocks to the hotel. We got checked in and immediately went down to the tour desk to sign up for our excursions and find out which show we could see that night. To our disappointment, they had no show tickets but the hotel concierge directed to a street vendor in Piccadilly Circus. Without further delay, we set out, found the bus station, got our tickets and a map and were on our own quest for discovery before lunch, London time.

I'm not sure what I expected when we came upon the Circus but a mad rush of cars and pedestrians was certainly not what I had in mind. When we got off the bus, I began my visual search for the street vendor that would satisfy my desire for tickets to a show in a London theater. When we found him, there were several locals milling about who actually knew what they were doing...so, I stood back and watched them for a moment, all the while listening to the options. Of course when he offered me seats to this and that, I couldn't decide and I didn't want to make a mistake...He was really pushing seats to Sister Act which I really had no desire to see. So, Adam and I finally decided to buy tickets to We Will Rock You, a musical comedy composed of all Queen music and partially directed by one of the former band members. Tickets in hand, we had time to explore and so we did.

We wandered about and ate dinner at a sidewalk cafe, got off the bus a little too late but still made it in time for the show, which, I absolutely LOVED!!!!! And, I think Adam would have loved it too had he been able to stay awake! But alas, jet lag had grabbed hold of him and would not let go. After the show, we were exhausted and ready for some much needed sleep. BUT, our bus somehow ended up on another road??? Or, maybe we read the route wrong but the long and short of it is we walked for about 2 hours before we were so exhausted and frustrated that we hailed a cab to return us to our hotel for what would now amount to about 4 hours of sleep before we had to be up for breakfast and our morning excursion...Day one...whew!

On Day two, we started with the city tour, which I love to do anytime I go somewhere new. It allows an overview of the place so you can really see where you want to spend more time and what you can skip. Our tour guide was awesome! She was very knowledgeable and spoke on all the history of a place before we got there. I noticed that as we walked past St. James Palace, although she mentioned Anne Boleyn, she didn't really go into the history which having just been in several books and movies is so fascinating...but apparently not so to the Brits. I enjoyed seeing the palace that I have seen in so many movies now. It seems they no longer have guards standing by as the war in the middle east has taken all of their reserves and they can no longer afford to have guards for such menial tasks. However, in the fall one of the queen's grand daughter's will come to London for University and she will stay at St. James thereby forcing the British guard to stand duty...to use her words, "what a waste."

After passing the palace, we walked down to Buckingham Palace and were placed, by our guide, in the perfect spot to watch the changing of the Guard and get a glimpse of the palace before walking along the Princess Diana Memorial walk toward Big Ben, the Parliament and West Minster Abby. These are three places that WHEN, not if, I go back to London, I will be making a B-line to. Because of time constraints and being part of a guided tour, these were all places we got to see from the outside and did not get to venture into. Also, the Tower, which used to be a prison and now holds the crown jewels is on the top of my list. Because we had to choose our excursions, we opted for the afternoon tour of Windsor Castle leaving these places for our next trip.

Before heading out to the castle, we stopped by St. Paul's Cathedral where Lady Di married the Prince. There is a big long bout of history surrounding this church and a church has been on this ground since 604AD. Most interesting, I think is that the saying, "robbing Peter to Pay Paul comes from the history of this cathedral. In the early 1600's the cathedral as it stood was almost completely destroyed by fire. In the following years, the British government confiscated tithes from the church across town, St. Peter's, to pay for a new St. Paul's...thus, robbing Peter to pay Paul...how very interesting, or not. I found the American Chapel, a small room at the back of the sanctuary that pays tribute to fallen American soldiers very moving and the whispering gallery fascinating. You can stand on one side of the massive dome, (which, BTW weighs more than 65,000 tons) whisper facing the wall and be heard clear across as if you were standing right next to the person you are talking to. I believe Adam found the poop on the statue of Queen Anne most interesting...aahh, as long as we are both having fun.

So now we are off to Windsor Castle. Along the way, we see, the highway...how glamorous but as we get closer, we enter the limits of the cutest little town , Windsor, I have ever seen! We get out of our bus and we walk about 1/2 a mile through shops and little homes to the tourist entrance of the castle. Before we go in, we are treated to views of Eaton, and the gardens which made me think first of Meagen, because she too loves trashy romance novels and what historical hero did not attend Eaton in his youth? And then I thought of my grandmother because she loves gardens. Walking through the castle was amazing. It was my first castle and so probably the most impressive as it is the largest inhabited castle in the world. Of course we were not permitted to see the wings that the royal family actually uses but to think that someone at some point in history actually built a home that large as a monument to themselves was awe inspiring.

My favorite part of the castle was not the the castle at all but St. George's Chapel. I mean the grandeur of the Castle was amazing and the history of it interesting but this small chapel located just a few feet from the castle is the queen's favorite place to attend church and to see it not be something grand like Westminster or St. Paul's was nice. It is the site of more than 16 royal weddings since 1863 and the final resting place of more than 32 royals including Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth I with her husband George VI and their daughter, Margaret. It also believed to be the future resting place for Elizabeth II. Anyway, It just seemed so much more personal than anything else we toured and I guess that is why I found it the most interesting.

Moving On, We took an evening boat tour on the Thames. We passed under the London Bridge which, was NOT falling down because they finally figured out how to build a bridge there in the 1960's, passed by the traitor gates of the Tower and the Tower bridge, the London eye. We also got the waterside view of Big Ben and the Parliament...that's right kids. It was beautiful and wonderful and we were tired and ready for bed. But, we had to report for dinner, so we did and then we hit the pillows to rest up for the next day which would be filled with travel and new adventures!

*************************************************************************************

Other favorite Pics from London:

A classic must take tourist pic.

Everything is Europe is "Toilet." I prefer the term "restroom."

All that is left of Whitehall Palace, built during the reign of Henry VIII and destroyed by fire in 1619.

Posted in the gardens of St. Paul's Cathedral. I think is more about the poo on Anne's face. But still, I think it nice that they request rather than demand.

The tower bridge at twilight. No vampire's but still beautiful.

Adam outside the Tower.

Remember the Alamo.

2009-07-13T20:36:00.025-04:00

Another end...this time it's flag football. Rusty's team ended with the rest of the season but Flip's team got to go to the "Superbowl." It was an eye opening experience. We got a peek into the world of professional pee-wee footballers in training. Apparently, other leagues sit seasons out so that they can train for the Superbowl of flag foot ball. And still other teams pull the all stars from all the teams in their league to compose a team of the fastest, most agile children under the age of 5...really? Yes, really. Well, we took our team of mostly first year players. It was a beautiful day out. The game(s) were at a different field than we normally play on. When we got there, the boys were their normal 4 year old selves...wiggly, not listening, flying around the field. The team they were playing was lined up doing push ups and yelling out chants. We soon realized they had an offensive AND defensive coach. They had plays called "Sponge Bob" and "Superman." They had cheerleaders. We just had a good time. We lost but the kids enjoyed it and we did as well.

We also took a little car trip to Rainbow river...I am going to skip all the night-marish stories about waiting in line for 2 hours to rent our tubes, Mike locking his keys in the car, and cranky kids and just say that when we finally got on the river, it was a wonderful time, wonderful day and something I had not done since I was kid. I enjoyed taking my kids and the ride went too fast.

And then there is Texas...via Alabama. Ruthie had no gymnastics the week of July 4th so I loaded the four little ones into the car with DVD players, Game boys, coloring books and snacks. We hit the road early and headed for Dinah's Mamma's house in lower AL. We made great time and the kids were awesome the whole way. We spent the fourth with them at a lake with yummy southern fixins and lot's of fun times.

When our time in Alabama was over, we loaded back into the car and hit the road for my grandparent's house in San Antonio. I really had a good time driving with the kids. We stopped at rest stops and got out to eat. They were so good the whole way that when they weren't talking to me, they were quiet doing something else and I was able to listen to my music and just enjoy the drive.

After spending one night in a hotel, we met my mom at my Aunt Becky's house and spent the afternoon swimming, eating and getting caught up with them and my cousins. Then, it was back on the road to San Antonio. I had been meaning to get out to see my grandparents for the last year...but, with four kids, there's always something. When we got to the village (Air Force Village) I was amazed to see the improvements taking place. They now have a wonderful gym equipped with all the bells and whistles and a nice size lap pool. They are also in the process of building new condos all over the place.

My grandparents are now living in the assisted living area and they seem to be happy there. Now that I am a older, and a mom, I am not happy to see them there. I would like to see them still living independently and closer to family. Since they will hear none of that...to the point where they would not even ask anyone to take them to my cousin's wedding even though it was breaking my grandmother's heart, I have decided that I will have to find a way to get out there a few times a year. I did manage to talk them into going out to eat a meal. They took us to a little restaurant outside the city and we had great Mexican and even better desert. They put us up in a very nice two bedroom condo where they came over to visit with us.

My memories of them as a child are so different than the people I see today. I remember them being kind and generous but now they are loving and emotional. We cried together a few times and we talked about things that were "grown up." At 32 years old, I feel like I finally got to meet them as people...not too sure that makes any sense at all but they are two pretty cool people who have seen a lot in their lives, helped a lot of people and loved their family deeply.

When the visit was over, we loaded the kids into the car and hit Schlitterbaun, the World's #1 rated water park...and it was a blast...except when Ellie fell out of her tube on a slide and my mom nearly had a heart attack! Then it was more miles and more miles, a drive by of New Orleans in a torrential down pour and back home...a very full week.

Although neither Flip nor Ellie are facing the camera and there were other pictures where they were, I like this one because my grandmother was laughing out loud at one of the absurd things that regularly comes from the red head's mouth.

Once a week, my grandfather prepares and delivers little bags of cookies to all the residents and staff of the health center. The kids really enjoyed helping with this and my grandparents really enjoyed showing the kids off to everyone. I included the picture of Ruthie's back because as we walked around, Ruthie just naturally took over pushing my grandmother and I got a little choked up because I can remember that is exactly what my brother, Rusty would do. Every time we went anywhere with my grandparents, you would find Rusty behind her chair.

After a morning of visiting, we took the kids downtown to the Alamo and the wax museum. I liked the one of the kids with Lance Armstrong because not a few weeks later, Adam and I accidentally found ourselves in Paris on the last day of the tour and got to see the finish LIVE! That post is coming soon, I promise!

Flip's World.

2009-06-23T13:40:00.022-04:00

Philip Dean Jerger AKA "Flip" graduated with all the pomp and circumstance from preschool with honors. His honors are: being all boy, best in sound effects, and "most likely to live it up all the days of his life." This graduation was a little different for me because he is so different. Ruthie and Rusty both had a serious side to them. So, I didn't worry about what Kindergarten held for them. I mean I worried, the normal worries...did I do everything I could to get them ready but I didn't worry about them sitting still and listening. I didn't worry about them following the rules for the sake of following the rules. Flip is well, Flip. He lives in his own world and he likes it there. Everything makes crash noises in his world, especially his hands. He walks to the beat of crash noises, falls asleep to the rhythm of crash noises and he plays with cars, power rangers and Legos that crash, with noise.

Going into the ceremony, I knew they would sing One Small Voice. The graduates always sing this song and I cry every year. I told him, (he's a bit of a ham on the stage) to please sing out so I could hear his voice during that song. He did so well during all of his songs, only "zoning" into Flip's World at one point during the Florida Alphabet. And then it happened. The music started and wouldn't you know that during my song, the one I wanted him to sing for me, he stood there, filled his cheeks with air and proceeded to pop them with his hands. I had to laugh because it was so "Flip." I looked up at him and he looked down at me and I made a face to let him know I was sad he wouldn't sing it for me...and he left his world, like he sometimes does to be part of mine for a little while...just to make his mommy smile, and cry.

Like Father, Like Son.

2009-06-23T13:40:00.018-04:00

Rusty took on swim team this summer and developed a love/hate relationship with the sport. He loved the first meet and enjoyed the practices for a while. He really liked practicing the starts and getting his ribbon at the end of every race be it a first place or fifth. He swam every race like his life depended on it and got out of the pool like a mad man was after him. Toward the middle of the summer, the daily workouts got to be "boring" and the waiting for each event at his meets got gruesome. But getting out of the water and seeing the pride on his daddy's face never got old and I kind of liked seeing the excitement in Adam's face as we pulled up to each meet.

This little man is one who holds football in his heart. He anxiously awaits the start of flag football season by killing time in the pool. When the first whistle of college football season blows, he will crawl up on the couch and snuggle in next to his father. He will memorize worthless stats only to be quoted back to his daddy who has also memorized them and they will smile at each other with pride. He will look to his mommy to encourage him in his love for football and I will try to make him fall in love with some other sport because I can't bear the thought of him getting hurt. He will worry about his size and get mad at God for making him so "skinny." He will try his hardest to eat more and grow bigger but he will still just be my little man. He will grow up loving Auburn and dreaming of someday going there...to do what? To be what?

For now, this is just a summer thing but I can see the dreams Adam is holding on to and I can see the talent in a little boy who may or may not fall in love with swimming...

LSU?

2009-06-23T13:40:00.017-04:00

Ruthie had the excellent opportunity to go to camp at LSU this summer. Of course, it couldn't have gone off without just the littlest bit of drama. On the morning she was to leave, we were trying to teach her how to use the extra cell phone and it wouldn't turn on. I had charged it!!!! So, I frantically called my mom just one hour before the bus was scheduled to leave and asked her to solve the problem and meet me at the gym. She showed up without a minute to spare and Ruthie became the cell phone toting/text messaging 9 year old I have always dreamed of...ok, they were night mares.

Anyway, she loaded onto the bus with her new suit case and cell phone, her portable CD player and a small cooler with some snacks. I had my first call before she even hit the city limits...cute...an hour later she calls me to ask if the movie they were showing was OK for her to watch...another hour, "uh, mommy, did you know we had to drive through Gainesville?" and another little while, "mommy, we just left Florida." And not too much later a text to which I responded, "did Nana say you could text?" Uh, no? Well, you better ask her since she is paying this bill...

When Adam got home I gave him the update, "they are almost to the dorms." to which he responds, "I know, she's been calling me all day." Later, I called my mom to let her know they got in ok to which she responds, "I know, she's been calling me all day." So, the phone was the first hit of the week.

On the first night, Ruthie and her room mate got settled in and then ventured out to visit in some of the other rooms. And you know, they BOTH left their keys inside the room that has a door that locks when you close it. So, she and her roommate had to spend the first night on the couches in the community room at the dorm and she was so upset because she wanted to call me but her cell phone battery was dead and locked in her room...I wonder why?

The rest of the week went by uneventful. She called home during her breaks and at bed time. She was busy with 3 workouts/day, got the opportunity to work with the head coach of LSU who is a legend in collegiate gymnastics and a few of the girls from the team. She also made friends with some of the girls from other levels on her own team and came home a die hard LSU fan with souvenirs for the whole family, including her father who accepted the coozie gracefully. I assured her that if her dreams are to go to LSU and be a gymnast, we are behind her all the way...we will simply say, "GO TIGERS!" but we will never mean, "Gaux tigers!"

Sweet Home Alabama.

2009-06-23T13:39:00.020-04:00

Randy and Dinah are headed "home." Back to where they came from...to their families, well, most of it anyway...they are leaving me behind! They didn't even ask me if it was ok, although Randy did assure me that they have a bed for me...at least until Jessi starts sleeping in it! As a last hurrah, a few hundred of their closest friends (ok, not that many) got together for a little dinner, a little dancing and a little more...we had a really good time and so, I will let the pictures speak for themselves...Best wishes for a happy future guys, we love you dearly!

************************Kid's farewell play-date at the beach...

Ellie's first cowboy.

Flip, Gracie, Ruthie, Jessi, Brannon, Rusty and Ellie

Cruisin'

2009-06-23T13:39:00.007-04:00

So obviously I am a bit behind and I need to get caught up. Adam and I had the chance to take few days and get away. His company offers each employees a paid vacation every year. (and, it doesn't count against his PTO)This year it was a four day cruise to Cancun...been there done that...but, why pass up a four day getaway for half price? So, we planned to just stay on the boat and enjoy it while everyone else got off...enter swine flu...the boat was detoured to the Caymens which I have never been to so we decided on a beach excursion where Adam got to ride this giant banana (no comments please) that was pulled behind a wave runner. I just laid on my chair soaking up the skin cancer and enjoying my drink that was included:0) Afterward, we had just enough time to hit the Swarovski store where we treated me to a very pretty necklace and some ear rings...happy birthday to me. It was very relaxing, fun to hang with some of his friends from work and just a little too short...I'm hoping for an extra day next year!

BTW, I still can't believe Gwyneth Paltrow sings this song!

Mama Says...

2009-05-13T14:46:00.006-04:00

"There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child." Henery Ward Beecher

Mother's Day fell on the coat tails of our girls weekend. It took some doing but we were able to convince Meagen to join us at church. It was such a blessing because although Chris was not there, we (the Stofers, Us and Meagen) were able to pray with Randy and Dinah. We got to take some cute shots of all the kids together and with Meagen who was without her children for the day. After church, we went and had lunch and then headed home with our own crews for a restful afternoon.

Mother's Day is a strange "holiday" for me. Although I love all the little gifts and cards my children make and are so proud to give me, I rarely stop on Mother's day and think about the wonder of the four children that make up most of the chaos in my house. Usually I reserve these thoughts for each individual child and they usually hit me around their birthdays as they get one more year older and seem to need me just a little bit less. But this year, I looked at the four children and I realized God really loves me and He must really trust me (and Adam) to have given me custody of such precious beings. They amaze me wholly. And this year, I have a new appreciation for my own mom, who I do not need any less than I did at Ellie's age or even Ruthie's. I just need her differently. Happy Mother's day, Mom, Andy, Marie, Meagen, Dinah and all you other mamas reading...I know you feel so blessed to have had the privilege of raising your babies.

This is the Time...

2009-05-13T14:45:00.024-04:00

GIRLS WEEKEND!!!! WE had the most fun! It was supposed to be a scrapbook weekend. Well, Dinah called me in the afternoon and she says, "I'm not bringing my stuff, I'm just gonna chill and I have some news." I was like , "whatever, tell me now!" and she says, ya, I think you should hear it first so she drops the bomb, "we're moving back to Alabama." "WHAT?!?" Devastating. I cried on the phone, she cried. Later, we got the other two girls picked up and hit the grocery store for our crap food. (I use that term affectionately...there was some fruit but it was out numbered by the Krispie Kremes) I cried in the grocery store. I had to wear my sunglasses because Marie and Meagen didn't know yet so Dinah turned that into a game and we were all walking through Publix with our shades on. (it was cool-at least in our minds)

We get back to our very nice 2/2 corner unit on the beach and get all the groceries unloaded and then head out to dinner...without the key to our very nice 2/2 corner unit on the beach. Of course, we didn't notice until we got back. Got the guy to come...pretty sure he was driving drunk, nice. We settle in...get all the scrapping stuff positioned, sit down to chill and Dinah drops the bomb on them. I cried, and I do mean, sobbed. Are you getting the picture? I'm gonna miss her.

So, the weekend went on, we laid on the beach, we drank daiquiris, we laid on the beach, we went out, there was a peircing, we laid on the beach, drank some more daiquiris and all too soon, it was over. I think Meagen got one page done, Marie may have finished a few. I got my book out and looked at it, then, put it away. Just being with my girls was more important. THese are the times to remember....

St. Anthony's Bi-athlon

2009-05-13T14:45:00.017-04:00

There has been some mad dog training going on around here...no, not me, Adam. He has been working very hard at getting himself ready to do his first Olympic distance triathlon. He's got the gear. He's got the really cool outfit (that he modeled and got 20% off). He's got the very latest and greatest shoes. He's got the body:0) Sorry, had to throw that in! (obviously he is man enough to wear my pink lined warm up jacket while waiting to que for the race)

So, we put the kids at my mom's and we get out to the venue really early. Adam has done the swim portion of this particular triathlon before. As he is in the transition area, chatting, getting all his tri-paraphernalia set up, we begin to hear announcements that the there is the possibility that the swim portion of the TRIathlon will be cancelled. and sure enough, due to high wind and large surf, they cancel it for all but the pros. Now, for a first time triathlete who is really a swimmer, this is just a teeny, weeny bit disappointing.

I'm sure that this blow to his mentality played a bit of a role in his overall performance on the bike and run but I like to find the bright spot and so, since I know he's an awesome swimmer, I see it a dress rehearsal for the bike and run as well as the transitions. It was an eye opener for him in the sense that he realized afterwards, that his body was capable of so much more than it gave that day and he has rebounded with a new attitude toward his training and is looking for his next first triathlon...

Braggin' on my kids.

2009-05-13T14:44:00.008-04:00

Recently, I have had the privilege of attending a poetry reading for Rusty's class. Rusty read a poem that he wrote about me:

My Mommy

By: Rusty Jerger

Mommy

Best

Friend

Love

Mommy

So Much!

Now, I'm not sure what kind of poem this is but it pretty much says it all...and to top it off, about 3 or 4 of his classmates wrote poems about him. It was completely adorable!

Also of late...a few field trips: One to Lowery Park Zoo with Rusty and the other to Heritage Village with Ruthie. The highs of these two trips were feeding the giraffe, petting the sting rays, putting out a fire the old fashion way and sitting in a one room school house.

The school year is wrapping up and we have had an awesome year. Ruthie stayed on the Principle's list all year and won a lot of academic awards. Her reading and writing has continued to be a passion for her and her teacher has really encouraged her along this path. It was perfect fit and we are so blessed that Mrs. Rasmussen will be looping and Ruthie will have her again next year. She competed in the 3rd grade spelling bee and Addition speed race and got second overall in both. Also, I am told by her very impressed teacher that she got a perfect score on the reading portion of her FCAT. Ok, I'll stop bragging.

Not really...Rusty has been a total surprise to me this year. Of course he had an awesome kindergarten teacher and we went into Mrs. G's class completely blind as the teacher we hoped to have for 1st grade had decided to teach second. Turns out that the relationship that developed between Rusty and his teacher was perfect for him as well. His reading took off and he was reading well above grade level within weeks of starting the school year. He was asked to join super-star math and is testing really high on all of his cycle/state tests! This from a kid who hates to read! I found that he does however take his school work seriously. He comes right in from school and begins his homework without being asked and he panics if he needs to complete something and feels like it won't get done...what a conscientious little student...

Rusty has begun his orthodontic trials and has joined Ruthie in the ritual of turning the torture rack. So I now find myself sitting int he waiting room while they both go back and get refitted and readjusted to their hard ware...oh well, we knew that having both worn braces, our kids didn't stand a chance.

Summer is here.

One Year.

2009-04-15T11:48:00.042-04:00

Time goes by. So fast. I am finding it harder to update my blog as the busy-ness of life with four children and their schedules consumes most of my time. When I do have a moment to sit down, I usually don't want to spend it rehashing the day. However, a year has gone by. As I read over the blogs of many we met through out our adoption process, all of them focused on their gotcha day. For us, that day was important...but not as important as the day we landed in Tampa and walked off the plane to the faces of our family and friends there to meet our little girl for the first time. April 13th.

Ellie's birthday is March 31st and her gotcha day is April 4 but this year we celebrated on April 13th. Nothing big, just everyone from the airport, all together again, one year later. We went to The Olive Garden and the kids all sat at one end of the table, talking, yelling, fighting and as I sat there and I watched Ellie interact with what amounts to her siblings and cousins (because she has none, none of my kids do) I was amazed yet again at the changes this year has brought.

I find that God has worked in my life in little ways...just filling in the holes left by the loss of my brother. He has given me and more so, my mom little gifts along the way to make the days that should be painful more bearable...First He gave us my Rusty...on my mom's birthday. Not amazing in it's self but something special to look forward to rather than just another birthday without her son...and then on my brother's birthday, He gave us Ellie...home forever...what an amazing blessing and again something to celebrate on a day that otherwise would bring only pain. And so, I find it difficult to sit here and think over the last year without thanking God for all the blessings in my life that sit side by side in myheart with the pain of losing my brother

I wanted to sit and reflect over this time but they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

November 2007: Our first meeting. Ellie is skeptical and afraid but allows me to hold her. We coax a few smiles from her and discover that the way to her heart is through her feet. (smile)

February 2008: I fly over to visit because I simply cannot stand being so far from her. I am allowed to see her on two days for two hours each day. Ellie is a bit older and understands the ramifications of my visits...she's not pleased.

April 13, 2008 Atlanta Airport Waiting for our connection to Tampa...we have made a tentative bond but there is still much work to be done...

April 12,2009 Mommy's little girl.

March 31, 2008 Celebrating Ellie's 2nd birthday in the orphanage...just a few days before we carried her out of there forever. She was frightened and confused.

April 13, 2009 Celebrating Ellie's 3rd birthday and the anniversary of our Forever Family.

Ellie has made some really good friend's in just one little year...what a wonderful little year...

More on Easter.

2009-04-15T11:47:00.018-04:00

There was a lot more to Easter than Ruthie's Baptism. After the beach, we went home so She and Adam could shower and we all put our Easter clothes on. This was Ellie's first Easter so I was excited for her to see her basket but we held to our usual Easter and Christmas morning rules in which we focus on Christ first. So, when everyone was ready, I took them all out front and posed them in their Easter clothes in front of the usual Gardenia bush which is blooming right now.

Getting my pictures of the kids is always such a chore. Rusty can't look into the sun and Flip is a total pain with it...I usually have to threaten him into submission and this morning was no different. I think he is finally realizing that if he just gives me what I want and I get one or two good shots he can get it over with and retreat back into whatever world he lives in when he is not actively engaged with the rest of us homo-sapiens. Ellie and Ruthie are as usual perfect for the camera.

So, we head to church where we were joined by my parents. Adam's mom & grandpa and my grandmother. After we went to lunch with everyone and then headed home to get into our Easter baskets! And then...the egg hunt! Ellie got into this like you would not believe! I did it a little different this year...each kid had to find their own eggs and if they came across someone else's, they had to leave it and couldn't say anything...of course, there was some cheating. Their father was probably the worst offender of the rule...perhaps I should have hidden some eggs for him as well...all in all it was one of my top 6 days right up there with the day I got married, the 3 days I birthed my children and the day we brought our daughter across an ocean to her home with her family. He IS risen...and all for ME!

Baptism

2009-04-13T11:53:00.007-04:00

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4

We had a wonderful Easter. We started the morning at 5:30 by waking all the kids and throwing them into shorts and flip flops to head out to the beach for the Sunrise baptism. This year it was really very special to us as our own little girl was being baptized. Ruthie accepted Christ about 2 years ago but was really unsure about being baptized. So, we waited. We wanted her to have the time to question it, to understand it and to WANT it. She has over the last 6 months or so been asking a lot about baptism; the symbolism, the importance, and the obedience of the action. And finally, she told us she wanted to be baptized.

Our Pastor believes that the person who is most involved in the process of bringing someone to Christ should baptize that person if they are willing and able. So, on Easter, at sunrise, surrounded by family, friends and other new believers, my husband baptized my daughter in the Gulf of Mexico. And now, her journey begins anew as a disciple of Christ as she has taken the first step in obedience and now will walk with Him in truth. Praise God!

Basketball, anyone?

2009-03-16T18:53:00.006-04:00

Dinah had it in her head to get tickets from a coworker and take ME to the SEC basketball tourney for my birthday (as a surprise). It didn't work out for her and she couldn't go but she got the tickets for me anyway (for my birthday). Good for her, because I think Adam would have killed her if I took off to watch AU basketball while he sat home with the kiddos. I decided to surprise Adam and take him. I asked him the day before if he wanted to have lunch with me and I called his boss to let her know he would not be coming back. We drove to the restaurant and just as he was about to open the door, I pulled out the tickets and asked him if would rather go there. Duh! He had been hinting about getting tickets but to be honest, basketball is about the last sport I would willingly submit to watching, next to golf. So, I brought a book with me:0)

He spent the drive over filling me in on all the senarios...yada, yada, yada. He was excited!

We sat through the first session which was two games. Surprisingly, I got into it a little bit and didn't read at all. I took pics of all the mascots and watched the coaches and cheerleaders. There is just something about being in the college sport environment. After the first session, we had a break so we walked down to some restaurants and got some dinner and then headed back to the arena for two more games. Ours was the 9:45 PM game against Florida and we were sitting in the Gator section. It was an awesome game and we won it close. So, even though we didn't make the tournament, we beat the Gators and that, my friends, is worth it!

Run Like a Girl.

2009-03-16T18:52:00.009-04:00

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

13.1 Miles? Yep.

Looking back, four months is really not sufficient for taking on a run like this. I guess it might be if you plan to walk part of it or if you have a significant base built. I don't fall into either of those categories. I have never been a runner or any other kind of serious athlete. I would call myself athletic. I enjoy sports and can perform moderately well at most of them. I can hit a ball, catch and throw. I can play volleyball to an extent, and I enjoy playing kickball, flag football or whatever when we get together with a group of friends. In high school, I was a cheerleader. We competed so we had to have enough of a cardio base to get through about a 5 minute routine with dancing and in my case, lifting. We had to weight train and run about 2 miles a few times/week. So, It's safe to say that although I may have looked fit, I have never been what I would now define as "in shape."

All that being said, I set out on this mission with one goal...to run the whole thing. Aside from about a 20 second stop to stretch my knee, yes, my knee, I ran the whole thing. There were moments when my speed may not have been classified as running but I kept to the course laid before me. I ran with another girl, Jen. She is a teacher at our kid's school. She went out pretty fast. To be honest I thought I was going to have to let her leave me if I was going to finish the run. I never would have paced myself that fast if I were running on my own. Into the 10th mile, I was glad we had gone out so fast because my speed was steadily declining and my knees were more than feeling the pain of all the hills I had not trained for.

There were 4 long, winding over passes in addition to two pretty steep hills we had to conquer. They were spread throughout the course and there was one in the last 3/4 mile. We started outside of EPCOT and ran about 3 miles to Magic Kingdom, down Main Street, through Tomorrow and Fantasy Lands , around the castle, and through Frontier Land out the back past all the floats (not so magical in the daytime) and just kept running until we were back over by Epcot where we ran around Spaceship Earth. At this point, my watch was telling me I had just 1/2 mile left so I started running hard. I got to 13.1 miles according to Garmin and there was no finish line in sight! I yelled to one of the workers on the side line, "WHERE is the FINISH LINE?" I still had 2/10 of a mile...quite deflating. Never the less, I made it. I ran across the finish to the sight of my husband, all of my children and my mom and Joe, who all surprised me by buying their way into the finish line stands...all wearing "cheer squad" t-shirts and yelling encouragement to me! Andy was also there in the crowd. My official chip time was 2:28:38. BUT, I ran an extra 2/10mi. So, I actually paced 11:09/mile...only 9 seconds off what I wanted to pace in my "for real goal" which I kept to myself until now. My *NEW* goal is to do this race each year and, by the time I am 35 be able to run it pacing 9:30/mile.

I have to give props to Lisa who also ran but left us in the dust! And, I leave you with this:

"Toenails are indeed for sissies!"

(Tick)led.

2009-03-06T17:03:00.007-05:00

We went camping...to central Florida...there were ticks...lots of them. We picked about 6-8 off each of the boys. Ellie and I both had one in our hair. Adam had two and Ruthie escaped without any. This was the first time we were able to go with a group of families from our church that go several times a year. In the past it just never fit into our schedule. This time was really no different. It didn't fit but we made it happen for one night and we had a nice time.

I insisted I take Gracious with me as a reward for her good behavior at school and she was so good! The kids all had fun playing with their friends that they only get to see at church. I use the word only loosely since we are there twice a week and sometimes more:0) For some reason, sleeping in a tent is the ultimate adventure for children and so nothing can dampen the fun, not even ticks!

We camped out, cooked out, played football and swam illegally in the springs. Of course at the time, although we knew we were not supposed to swim there, we did not know it was illegal! We packed our crew up after dinner on Saturday and headed back to civilization in time to kick off Global Focus week at church. We meaning: Adam, me, Ruthie, Rusty, Flip, Ellie, Grace, and all the ticks, of course.

Magical

2009-03-06T16:48:00.017-05:00

We did Disney, again. It was different this time. I was much more low key, Adam and I were both training for different events and trying to get workouts in. We had various illnesses. We lost a child at one point. We had different ages, heights, and interests. But, we had a blast!

Just before we left, Ruthie came down with a pretty bad virus and she had a very high fever for about 2 days followed by congestion and a cough. I took her to the doc thinking that if we are all going to get this then I wanted to have whatever antibiotics I needed BEFORE we left. The doctor said, nothing would make it go away, just let it run it's course and treat the symptoms...great. So, wee took off for 8 days in the Orlando area but what we experienced was a lot different than the Disney boot camp my family is used to.

We started out at the Hoop Dee Doo musical revue at Ft. Wilderness. It was something we had never done and it was a lot of fun! The next day we hit one of the Disney water parks. Although the high got into the 80's it was a little chilly but we had a lot of fun! We ended the day with what they call a garbage pail...it's a small bucket filled with soft serve, fudge caramel, cookies, waffles, etc. We all shared it and it was awesome!

We ventured into the parks most of the other days but we did try Disney Quest this time and it was fun but by this point, both Rusty and myself were sick. I was popping Dayquil and Rusty was alternating Motrin and Tylenol. Ruthie and I created our virtual roller coater and then rode it in a simulator. We also conquered pirates on the open sea as a family and Adam and I found that we are compatible as a couple by killing spiders and other creatures in some weird video game! It was good reassurance after 10 years of marriage.

Ellie absolutely loved all of the characters. She ran right up to them and kissed and hugged them and even cried when we had to walk away from Stitch. I'm not sure why she chose him to like best over all the others but he was the most special of the trip! So, I would have to say that the characters were her favorite part. For the others, Ruthie really loves roller coasters and if she had to pick probably the Rockin' Roller coaster at Hollywood Studios. Rusty probably enjoyed Fast Track at Epcot the most while Flip loved the new Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios. Adam loves all the fast paced rides but he really like Toy Story as well and I think he liked the new American Idol experience at the same park. For myself. I love all of the shows...especially the closing shows...

So, we finished off the week with a movie and souvenir shopping at Downtown Disney and then, HOME!

Hoop Dee Doo Hoe Down!

Blizzard Beach...Brrrr.

My First time..."Mommy, Mickey!"

I really Love Stitch.

But, I love you more.

Power Up!

Kiss and Hug.

All smiles.

Faster...

See you real soon!

AWANA win!

2009-02-11T19:32:00.010-05:00

I just wanted to touch on our AWANA games. Each year kids from AWANA programs at various churches get together to compete in a sort of Olympics. The games are silly for the most part...bean bag on the head, crab walking, volleying a balloon...you get the point. Although the games are silly, some of us take them very seriously! Adam has been coaching the Truth IN Training boys (3rd-6th Grade) for several years and has yet to win the title. It should have happened this year but of course, the refs cheated!!! I'm not sure if this is all the reason, but if you ask the coaches, or any of the team, it is the ONLY reason:0)

Ruthie competed in the T IN T girls group for the first time and she did well in her events placing second in a 3 lap individual race. She, however, has her father's competitive spirit and in the end, there were tears of frustration that victory eluded her team. Rusty also competed but in the Sparks level and he also had moments of frustration but it was all made better when his Daddy's team needed an extra body and he was "called up" to play in the big leagues upon the completion of his games!

Me? Well, I get excited to go and sit in the stands and scream my head off! Yes, I am one of those moms! I was a little horse afterward and wasn't sure if it was from all the yelling or if I was getting sick...turns out, it was both!

So, we look forward to this each year...the kids train for the games from the beginning of school until about this time and they look forward to going and WINNING...but, not this time...maybe next year!

A Reprieve.

2009-02-10T19:36:00.004-05:00

Ellie went to the doctor yesterday...we got to see the head honcho and my favorite doc. I told her what the other doc said about possibly sending Ellie to an endocrinologist because she is not growing at a steady pace. She managed to pack on an astounding half pound but she grew a whole inch! So, she now weighs a whopping 24 lbs. (or lubs as some might say;) and is a staggering 33 inches tall. Our pediatrician is not really in a big hurry to send her to the specialist. She (as well as Adam and myself) is against giving children growth hormones UNLESS they have a deficiency. Most endo docs will recommend the hormones to ANY child who falls below the growth curve regardless of a deficiency. So, she is giving us a three month reprieve. I will take her back for measurements at that time and we will reassess the situation then. In the mean time, we will continue to push Pediasure instead of milk and make the most of all of her calories.

On a related note, when we got to the doctor Ellie looked at me and asked, "Mommy, I get owie today?" Hmmmm...I told her yes, she did have to get some shots...the child is like an elephant...she has never forgotten that first trip or any of the vaccinations since. I asked her if she was going to cry and she shook her head no. I said, "oh, you're going to be brave?" She told me yes. Well, the tech came in the room and before he could even set the tray on the table, her face cracked. Poor thing...bless her little heart. I scooped her up as soon as it was over and she looked at me and said, "I call daddy now." This is what we did after the last set of shots and just telling him all about the pain somehow makes it all better.

All Banged Up.

2009-01-29T13:32:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I made the classic mistake...I cut my daughter's hair...

A little background...A while back, Ruthie busted her head open doing back flips into the pool...my mom shaved just a little bit of her hair to see what the damage was and determine if we needed to make a trip to the ER...we did and she had stitches...so, she has to wear her hair completely back for gym and often times I just fix it that way in the morning before school so we don't have to rush in the afternoon. Well, she had just this one little section falling onto her forehead and I asked her if she wanted some bangs until it was all grown out. It was first thing in the morning...we were trying to get out the door and it was wet!!! I just grabbed the scissors and made the cut...kind of like pulling off a band aid. Hmmmmm...I'll just say that they weren't as short as the girls in Russia, they weren't as straight either...but, rather than try to straighten them (we all know how that ends) I just said, "Ah, very European." She has gotten lots of compliments and it really does look cute but, I have learned my lesson...it isn't just Flip who should stay away from people's heads with the scissors.

My Sweet Boy.

2009-01-29T13:31:00.003-05:00

Rusty earns money in class...not real money, just these little laminated pictures of coins. They earn them for turning in homework, having their agenda signed, being on task...etc. It is mostly a personal responsibility reward system his teacher has set up. The kids keep a balance in their check book and they are allowed to shop in the store on Fridays if they have turned in their homework that week.

At the beginning of the year Rusty told me they had Webkinz in the classroom store and he was going to save up for one of them. I thought that was a great idea...I mean really, saving is a very hard thing for one so young. Anyway, he had saved up quite a chunk of money. He needed $11.00 for the small Webkinz. Now, he earns a nickle here, a quarter there so really this is quite an accomplishment! On Friday, he got into the car and he had a plastic grocery sack and huge grin with him! He opened up the sack and do you think he pulled out a Webkinz? No, he pulls out a little bath basket with bath beads, lotion, shower gel and scrubby. The scent was Sweet Pea, one of my favorites...He looks at me and he says, "I decided I didn't need another Webkinz, Mommy. I wanted to buy this for you." Tears! He continues, "I wanted to buy Daddy something too but they didn't have anything I thought he would like." I asked him how much of his money he had to spend...$5.00...that's half of what he has saved...Tears!

Ruthie begins to admire my little basket and smell the lotion...Rusty notices...He says, "there is another one at the store, next week I am going to buy it for you Ruthie...and he did...That is MY sweet boy! He's got my heart all wrapped up and tucked safely into his pocket everyday...

Feelin' Smugg.

2009-01-23T16:56:00.015-05:00

Over MLK we went to Smuggler's Notch, Vermont...this has become somewhat of a tradition. It is our fourth annual trip. This year held new adventures for the kids...Ruthie is skiing unbelievably well...she has excellent control in her turns and more importantly, she can control her down-hill speed as well. Rusty is a good skier also but he loves the speed and approaches it all more matter-of-fact...like, yea, I can ski. He sort of heads straight down the mountain with very little side to side motion (which is what the instructors teach them to do to control there speed) and he get down safely and quickly. Flip, however, looks at skiing like he looks at most things in life...it's a race. We only got to ski with Flip for a very little time but each day when we picked him up from the kid's camp, he would inform us which "place" he came in on each of his runs down the mountain. We would then hear a blow by blow of who "wrecked," who "wrecked him," and who had the "pole position." I would repeatedly explain to him that it is not a race and that Miss Naomi who taught him last year and remembered him and Grant was trying to teach him to be safe. He of course replied logically, " I know that's why I wear this helmet!"

This year, My uncle Rick joined us as did my cousin, Cherri and her new little guy Ricky. Each day Cherri and I took her little one and my little one to the day care center they call Treasures. When I walked in the first day, I recognized one of the nannies in Ellie's room and I told her I remembered when she had Flip. She remembered him! How funny. She said, "Who could ever forget Flip?" Who indeed. Ellie really looked forward to going over there each day and took all the cold weather and bundling up in stride. Next year, she will be on skis too.

Other high lights include: Parent/child races in the play zone, tubing (which Ellie didn't like at first but then loved!), getting to know Mogul Mouse and loving him, toe warmers, Jacki's crash into the trees, flight delays and turbulence (which makes me sick to even think about it was so bad!)

It's All About Flip!

2009-01-12T17:31:00.040-05:00

Yes, indeed, he is FIVE! We had a whirlwind weekend starting on Thursday when Flip and I hopped in the car and drove to Disney World for his "free" day at The Magic Kingdom. We wandered the park and started at a ride I had never done before...the astro orbiter that sits on top of the Lunch Pad. It is no big deal but it always has a long line and it moves very slowly!!! On the way Flip informed me that Daddy had told him it was his birthday and he could do whatever he wants..."and I want to ride the race cars...LOTS!" We did....4 times to be exact. We even sat at some tables overlooking the race track while we ate our lunch that we brought from home. If you haven't been, this ride leaves a little to be desired for most adults. The line is usually considerable, the fumes are disgusting and the ride is none too exhilarating...but to a newly turned five year old it is the equivalent of Daytona.

Other highlights of the day include the tea cups which he was fearless on and loved being spun as fast as I could possibly get them to go. We rode Space mountain but skipped Big Thunder...we're saving that for our Feb trip! His constant chatter was endearing to me on this day where as usually I am just beside myself answering his constant questions and following his sometimes confusing string of conversation. He was taking it all in, never getting tired and embarrassed to ride in the stroller I brought, just in case. "Mommy, do you see ANY big kids riding in strollers around here?" No, Flip...none as BIG as you!

We were late getting to the night parade...enjoying one last ride before closing down the park and I had to hold him on my shoulders for the entire 30 minutes of lighted Disney Magic. I have a new respect for my husband who usually does this dastardly deed...I thought I was going to expire right there...or blow out my back at the very least!

Although the crowd through out the day was considerable, we didn't have to wait longer than 20 minutes to ride anything! We finished off the night with the fire works and as many times as I have seen this particular light display, it still amazes me...Disney sure can close down in style!

So that was Thursday...Friday I kept him home to let him sleep...he was snoozin' soundly before I hit the interstate. On Saturday, we went to the circus...one of my mom's gifts to us every Christmas...This year it was Ellie's first time and although she loved the sights, she was more fascinated by the snacks. Our pediatrician has us a bit worried about her growth and so, I have made every effort to make sure all her calories are good ones that will encourage her to gain weight and grow big...as a result, she doesn't get to fill up on things like cotton candy, pop corn and snow cones...but what is the circus with out all of those yummy things? By the end of intermission she had eaten herself into a coma and missed most of the second act!

On Sunday, we had "Flip's Fall back into Fall Fun-time Birthday Bash!" Back in October Flip looked at me and in all seriousness told me he wanted to have a Halloween party for his birthday...in January? So, right after Halloween, I went out and bought up a bunch of fall decorations and we decided to make it a fall carnival theme...the kids dressed up and we had activities like bobbing for apples, a scarecrow craft, potato sack races and they all made caramel apples topped with chocolate chips, marshmallows and other wonderful treats. My mom made these really cute cardboard cutouts for the kids to pose behind. Adam and I dressed up with all of the kids...we finished the party off with an old fashioned game of musical chairs and a good time was had by all! Happy birthday little Man! Good grief, I love that kid!

The whole crew.

Our gang: Incognito

Rangers, Power UP!

For Meagen...she knows why!

Can we get back to the fun stuff?

Cheater, cheater, apple eater!

FIVE!

Just another lady-bug nibbling on an apple.

What party is complete without a melt-down?

2009!

2009-01-06T15:24:00.004-05:00

Whew! We made it! The holidays are over and I can say that all of my Christmas stuff is PUT AWAY! Yes, it was all packed up and put away on Sunday, a full 3 months ahead of schedule:0) If you know me, you know that I usually run a little behind getting this done...you know, you get busy, you think, tomorrow I am going to put all that away and then you don't and before you know it, it's March...no? Well, me neither although I did make it that long once, the year Flip was born. My grandmother was over one day and she said, "Where are your tubs? This is getting done today!" So, she and I did it while the little man rested in his swing. Now, I put the deed on the calender. (who likes to put it all away?) This way I can't use busy-ness as an excuse. Of course, it all went back into the attic and then I noticed that one piece was forgotten...this year it is our little counter that counts down to Christmas...still sitting right there by the TV. I guess I will have to stash it somewhere until next year...

We spent the new year as we have in the past with our friends, the McKinleys, Stofers, and Forzaglias. We went to dinner at Roy's. I enjoyed the meal and I think I got the vote for picking the best dishes for each course (except desert, I picked a cheese sampler...who knew there were so many disgusting cheeses?). After dinner, we went back to Mike and Marie's house to watch the ball drop. Adam and I had had some late nights so we cut out right after midnight...woke up leisurely, and then joined our kids over at my mom's house for a New Year's meal, some Wii, and some fire works! 2009, Yahoo!

2009! 2009! 2009! Really? 2009? I just can't believe it is 2009!

2008 Wrap-Up

2008-12-29T08:55:00.010-05:00

There are only a few days left in what has been our busiest year ever. I like to think that we have fallen into a routine now and that we have sailed into smoother waters...with four children in the home, it is unlikely we will not be hitting high surf every now and then...but...we have our life jacket and He will get us through it all.

December is nearly over and I wanted to catch up on all that has happened...Ruthie and Rusty got their first report cards of the year...Ruthie made straight A's, principle's list, and Rusty made straight E's, except for art, which, uh, it's art???? I emailed the teacher to find out what all went into this grade...art is subjective, right? She assured me that he is well behaved and hard working and that he earned that V! Ok, well, what do you have to do to earn an E? Whatever, we'll take it. Both of the kids are working in the highest reading groups and participating in what is called super star math...I'm a proud mama!

I went to EPCOT to sing in the Disney Candle Light processional and earned two free tickets to any park. In 2009, Disney is giving every FL resident a free ticket to any park on the their birthday so, we will use those and take each of the kids to the park of their choice for free on their birthday, and for two of them, one of us will also get in free. I'm looking forward to this as something different and a good way for each child to have a full day of being the center of attention!

Adam and I had our TENTH anniversary. We didn't celebrate it yet but the plans are in the works. On the eve of this decade of devotion, I rolled over in bed and heard a loud popping noise in my neck and could not turn my head for 24 hours...we did manage to one thing on the big day...Santa...now I know why there are so many June brides. There is absolutely nothing going on in June.

Ellie met Santa for the first time ever and he scared her! Not really but she cried...until he pulled out the candy canes and then she vaulted herself straight into his arms. She sat on his lap for a good five minutes, clutching her candy cane and investigating his face. As to the other three, I fear some of the magic has been lost as none of them wanted to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted because, "he is not the real Santa." Huh?

Ruthie sang in both our Christmas Cantata and our Christmas Eve services at church and she had a small solo which brought tears to many eyes. With her moving onto the competition squad in gymnastics, this may be the last year she is able to commit to individual parts in shows like this since require additional practices that will conflict with her gym time...one of those things we really had to think about but believe that in time, we will know which path to take...for now, she is loving gymnastics and really doing well.

Ellie had her first Christmas and was completely adorable opening her gifts...her favorite was probably the new little tricycle...it has been in the middle of the floor since she got it and every time she gets on it or walks past it, she announces, "mommy, that's my bike!" Other favorites include her dolly which she has named Allie and the sunglasses that were in her stocking. The other three made out like bandits on the DS games but otherwise, Christmas did not get out of hand with too much "stuff" this year and I confess that although I always experience that little let down right after the last gift is opened, it was nice this year to not have piles of "stuff" to find places for.

We initiated a birth search for Ellie's birth family. We know their names, have their address and a lot of other information adoptive families from Russia don't always get. So, it will be easy for the searcher to find them but we don't know if they will cooperate. We hope to gain information about the area she is from but especially pictures, maybe a letter and possibly a video of her birth family including her biological sister. All of this to be held for her until the time she is mature enough or begins to ask questions about them. The searcher said that almost always, the families are relieved to know that the children have a home and to see pictures of the child and want the child to have something from them. We sent pictures of her with us as well as a letter thanking the family for the gift of Ellie. I had to refer to her in the letter as Vika and that was a little strange. Writing the letter brought forth a lot of emotions that I will save for a later post...

So, what's left? We have initiated the BIG after Christmas clean out and that will take weeks...we have New Year's Eve with our friends and then...2009...another year...the year of the 1/2 marathon...10 weeks to go!

Happy New Year! Go Light Your World! Love, The Jergers

Nine Is Fine...

2008-12-24T09:43:00.005-05:00

She's nine! I wanted to do this post a week or so ago but December in the Jerger home is a mad rush from one event to another. We have Ruthie's birthday, our anniversary, and of course, Christmas! Although her birthday fell on a Monday, we waited until the following Friday to have her party. She really wanted to have both a slumber party and go putt-putt golfing. Since the last slumber party, with about 12 girls, I have wised up...so, Ruthie invited her three closest friends and we started the night at The Olive Garden. I wish I had recorded some of their conversation during dinner. They were both little girls and yet big at the same time. As they sat and did all the activities on their kid's menu, they talked about boys in a completely serious and yet, child-like way...drinking from cups with lids, they had very serious conversations about the differences between their schools, the activities they each participate in and even told jokes.

From dinner, we went to putt-putt golf. The girls had a blast...it was cold and we were all bundled up...there were many re-do's and some debate over what was fair and what was just plain cheating...Laura got the good sport award because she was abysmally bad but loving every minute of it! After Putt-putt, we went for ice cream and the girls ran into one of the boys from their class...uuugh! I mean, really! We got back to the house around 10:30, opened gifts, and then settled in for a few movies. Finally, we finished off the night around 2:30 AM...I remember this being so much fun when I was little girl but now, these late nights just make me a little nauseous.

In addition to her turning nine, we got the awesome news that she is being moved up to level 4 in gymnastics...this means that, assuming she hangs tough in workouts, she will be competing come fall and we will be on the road to meets! Her work out schedule has increased to 9 hours/week making for some tough decisions regarding other activities she is involved in. This is so exciting not only because of being on the competition team but because she had an uphill battle getting there this year. Ruthie was moving along so quickly and then earlier in the year, while back flipping into the pool, she hit her head and needed stitches. The accident put doubt and fear into her head and she had to work very hard to overcome it and get her round-off back handspring. I think seeing her go through that and push herself is what makes me the most proud.

So, nine years...I keep looking at her trying to remember all the little things...funny words, mannerisms, all the things that make her who she is and try as I might, I can't recall everything. It makes me want to turn back time...call for my own little re-do and just be able to rock her in my arms until she falls asleep a few more times before she goes away to college...in all this busy-ness, the time I want to hold onto the most seems to slip through my fingertips and my need to get it all imprinted in my memory increases as I see her face losing all the baby fat and her legs lengthening in to those of a young lady. This year, her ninth, my prayer is that I am the example the Lord called me to be when he gifted me with such a beautiful, talented child. I pray that when she grows into a woman, she will look back and remember me as a Godly, loving, obediant and compassionate wife and mother. And I pray that the Lord will help be that woman.

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:14

Mind Over Body

2008-12-11T11:42:00.005-05:00

Just a quick update on my running...mostly for me...to keep me motivated. This is hard. As I said, I am following a training plan and it starts 10 weeks out from the race. Well, we are not yet 10 weeks out...this Sunday will be 12 weeks. So, I have tried to adapt the plan each week to challenge myself. I am up to running 8 miles on my long run each week. My training plan for the next two weeks looks like this:

Sun: rest

Mon: 3 miles

Tues: rest

Wed: 5 miles

Thurs: 3 miles

Fri: rest

Sat: 8 miles

Actually, even though I do it VERY slowly, the 8 mile run isn't too bad...it is the 3 mile run after a day of rest that I loathe. Compounding the mileage that I have to get in is the fact that I have 4 kid's schedules to work around and often find myself having to run at night when I am most tired. So, I found this quote and in the middle of a run, I whisper to myself, "you are not tired." And sometimes, my self listens...

"Now if you are going to win in any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

-George S. Patton, US Army General and 1912 Olympian

Sounds about right, right?

Dark Brown

2008-12-08T07:24:00.014-05:00

Another sign I am getting older...I had been getting one, maybe two grey hairs a year just in the front...and then a few weeks ago, Adam found a really long one mixed into the back of my hair...he plucked it out in the middle of our ABF...I'm not sure who noticed but it got me to thinkin' about murder. Just last week, I was parting my hair like I do on the rare days that I decide to style it and low and behold, there were about 3 greys right there in the middle of my head...I plucked them in the privacy of my own bathroom. Then a few days later, I am again parting my hair and right there is brand new growth...devastating! So, I decide I would rather not go bald and make a trip to the drug store for my first box of Clairol...you'd think if I am finally going to join the ranks of hair coloring women I could get some cool sounding color like "Mahogany bark." No, the color that matches my hair is called, "Dark Brown." So, now, I am old AND boring.

I really wish I could have found time to update before now...Today is Ruthie's birthday...She's 9...NINE! I am going to do a post in her honor after her little party this weekend...In the meantime...Last week, We started the week with tubes. Flip did really great but woke up a little sad which was a first for him...The doc said that the fluid in his ears was the consistency of taffy and that we should notice a huge difference in his hearing, again. The hole I was previously worried about was completely closed over and had healed nicely. They see no signs of scar tissue so we will get regular hearing tests until we decide the "permanent" tubes can come out. He has said a few times since then that things were too loud and hurting his ears so it seems his hearing is much improved like after the tonsils came out and it will take him some time to get used to life on a normal volume.

Ruthie with Peder the Llama.

Over the weekend, we had two extra munchkins in the house. Jenna and Jason came to stay so their parents could get a nice weekend away and we had a nice time with the kids. On Saturday, we went to the Zoo...a first for Ellie...and she was so excited about all the animals but her favorite part, I think, was petting the sting rays...I'm pretty sure she would have stayed there as long as Adam would have held her up.

Yesterday, after church, we got the outside of the house decorated, the tree up and painted our yearly ornaments for the tree. Ellie was fascinated with the tree...she kept touching the branches. I said to her, "what is that?" and she said, "flower." We told her about the tree and showed her the ornaments, which she kept taking off:0)

My kids all have their own ornaments that they put on the tree every year and I was glad I had bought a set in Russia and collected few for Ellie over the past few years so that she had her own little set to put on the tree. (all on the same branch, I might add)Although, I think she enjoyed playing in the trees storage bag more.

Buckle Your Seat Belts...

2008-12-01T07:21:00.022-05:00

It's a long ONE!

First I have to talk about the conclusion of fall sports... Rusty finished up his flag football season and got a little metal...it wasn't the dream season, kind of more the Bad News Bears version but he had a great time and that is what matters. Flip also finished up his T-ball season...if you are a Baseball mom, you know what I mean when I say FINALLY! He got a little trophy that he was so excited about. I have to mention this because as the third child, I have noticed that he has grown up (in some ways) faster than the older two. (Not so much in other ways:0) He has for a long time now been asking when it was going to be his turn to play something. He has watched Ruthie and Rusty at numerous activities and always been there for the trophy ceremony...longingly waiting for his very own trophy...and finally:

I think the grin says it all...What a cutie! So, on the Friday before Thanksgiving...I was madly trying to get us ready to leave town for the week...no small matter when I had to go on a field trip with Ruthie and have everything we needed packed for the frigid weather in D.C. as well as all of our formal wear for Adam's cousin's wedding! I had in my mind that we would leave around 2:00 and be at the rehearsal dinner at 4:00, right on schedule...well, at 4:00 we had been in the car for 2 hours but had yet to leave town...checking the cat into the kennel took forever, I forgot some stuff and we had to run back to the house, (ok, twice) but anyway, we made it to the dinner part and Adam did fine in the wedding so I think it turned out ok.

We left the hotel on Sunday morning at 5:30ish...took our time, stopping when we needed to and playing at rest stops to keep the kids from going crazy in the car...they did awesome, really! In South Carolina, we were playing at a rest area and a man from our church came up to us...how weird! We got to the Durham area and spent some time there with our Friends, the Forzaglias.

On Monday, we got up leisurely and headed out...after having coffee at you guessed it, cultbucks, and an hour long stop at the Walmart, we landed in Leesburg a little after 5pm to spend Thanksgiving with our friends, the Harrisons. We spent the time there seeing the sights including: the air/space museum, Mt. Vernon, The White House, all the D.C. monuments and some of the Smithsonian. Stacy was an awesome tour guide with all of her historical knowledge but while she knows her dates, her figures leave a little to be desired:0)

She laid a beautiful table on Thanksgiving and it was wonderful to spend time with the people who have shared in such an important part of our lives...Aidan and Ellie, while I can't say that I think they remembered each other, I did tell Stacy that I felt like they felt a familiarity to each other...there was no time needed for them to warm up to each other, he was so sweet and gentle with her and they took to each other like they had never been apart...it makes the mind wonder...

After a fun-filled week of hanging with our Russian co-horts, we packed back into the car and went to see Arlington before hitting the road for home...D.C. was different...I have been there before, as a child but, as an adult, everything there and all that it stands for looked different to me and some how, more important. Seeing it all made me want to recall all of those history lessons I never cared about in school and always wondered why we had to learn them. I've come to the conclusion that while the saying goes that it is important to know your history so that you don't repeat it...I feel exactly the opposite...sometimes, repeating history can be a good thing.

It's late, I know but I decided to challenge myself and list TWENTY things/people I am thankful for during this season of Thanksgiving:

1. Jesus: He is just so AWESOME!

2. My mom: She's pretty wise.

3. Adam: of course, he is the reason I am happy.
4. My children: I could go on forever.

5. Ellie's birth mother: she could have made a different choice.

6. My job: I'm lucky to be able to work from home.

7. Adam's job

8. Our church
9. My friends

10. A great school and teachers for my children.

11. clothes and food

12. My home: I have a love/hate relationship here...so many unfinished projects.

13. books

14. crystal lite

15. My dog: woman's best friend

16. warm, fuzzy socks

17. music

18. my college education

19. fall weather

20. having known my brother, if only for just a little while...

Time to Deck the Halls!

I Was A-run-ning

2008-11-18T19:46:00.010-05:00

I am so proud to say that I finished my first 10k (6.2 miles) EVER, tonight... I was slow, about 4 minutes slower than I wanted to be but honestly, I don't care...my training plan did not call for this distance yet, I just wanted to see if I could do it. I felt really good until about the last quarter mile when all of my abdominal muscles started to cramp up...I pushed through and made it to my drive way...I really don't know what came over me. I have so much to get done before Friday morning...I know...but really, we just got back from a weekend away and we are off again soon...there is so much to get done...I was just sitting at the computer and I thought, I'm going to run six tonight, why not? I'm sure I will discover the reason tomorrow when I wake up and can't move...oh well, I feel pretty good right now...

This past weekend, we packed up and went to Disney's Fort Wilderness for our first family camping trip EVER! A lot of firsts! It was a lot of fun! When we got there, we started to set up and we pulled out the tent that I bought, on clearance about 2 years ago. (never out of the box until now) It was ginormous and there were quite a few pieces...I wanted to read the directions but the men balked at that. Alas, they did figure it out and I am pleased to announce that my husband showered me with praise all weekend for such a wonderful purchase! He was absolutely thrilled with our tent! Especially when it started to pour on Friday night and we were snug and dry inside. Our partners in crime were not as lucky but they weathered the storm and we woke up Saturday morning to beautiful weather! (And smiles all around:0)

Ruthie and I traveled back to town for her exhibition...I missed it last year so I really wanted to go this year and I was glad I did! She is getting to be so good and I am really proud of her. While we were gone, the rest of the gang went to a poolside party and played in the arcade, at the park and just hung out. When we got back, everyone was at the campfire, finished making smores and ready to watch the outdoor movie...the chilly weather set in later that night and we woke up to frigid temps but our little heaters kept the chill to a minimum in our tents. After packing up, the Mckinleys held a ceremony for the the burial of their tent and then we went and played before heading home...I was asleep by 6:30 that night and feel no shame in confessing: I slept the night through and woke feeling refreshed! It was a great time and I can't wait to do it again!

Oh, Good Grief...

2008-11-12T16:45:00.006-05:00

I started the day out taking Ellie to the preschool for the first time. I hadn't planned on starting her until this time next year but I am a regular volunteer at the elementary school and Ellie needs some place to go while I am there. She has been going over to my friends house but things changed and so, the director of the preschool we have been at for over six years now found space for Ellie. She is going to go two mornings a week.

When I got there, I picked out some t-shirts for her, handed in her paperwork, talked with the director...then, the director says, "Are you going to stay with her for a while?" Uh, no. If you could have seen her face! It needed a sound effect, really...maybe a "doink!" Jaw dropped, eyes widened. She was very concerned..."but, you haven't visited with her???" yah, I know, this is the fourth kid, what can I say. No, really, In all truthfulness, Ellie is just very adaptable. She loves being around other children, she takes easily to others and falls right in to whatever is going on around her. I have her going to a music class on Mondays, Tuesdays she is in a little Bible class at church while I work the nursery and Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, she is at church as well...On occasional Thurday mornings, she attends a little gymnastic camp. The girl is used to being in a room with other children...she walked right in...not one tear, except when she fell off the monkey bars...that's right, incident report...day ONE! When I picked her up, she was eating lunch, so cute, she looks up, sees me, yells, "Mommy!!!!" and then says, "I ready to go." Is she bigger, or is the cubby?

We walked down to her classroom to check her file folder and she pulls on my hand...I looked down at her and she says to me, "Mommy, This Ellie's class?" How cute! She is always asking if this is Flip's school or is this Rusty's school? She was so excited and it really put me at ease about doing something I really didn't want to do yet.

On another note...Flip went back to the ENT today...here comes the grief...In one ear, the tube is out and the inner ear is once again full of fluid. In the other ear, the tube is still in place but it is completely obstructed and the inner ear is once again full of fluid. Recommendation: permanent tubes that will NOT fall out on their own but will have to be manually removed when his ear finally "matures." My grief: There is some controversy with multiple sets of tubes...1. scarring on the ear drum that can cause permanent hearing loss. 2. If the hole in the ear drum remains longer than three years, we run the risk of it never closing and therefore causing permanent hearing loss. (the existing tube has already been in place almost 18 months) 3. If we do nothing, he will continue to hear as if he has his head in a bucket of water possibly causing, you guessed it, permanent hearing loss, continued ear infections, sinus issues and possible speech issues. We have to do it, the question is, how long we allow the docs to leave the tubes in and whether or not his ear canal will mature in the allotted time.

I discovered this week that when I am ordering online, I now have to SCROLL DOWN to find my birth year...this is not encouraging...another sign I am getting old. I just finished my first week of 1/2 marathon training. The training plan I am following only called for 13 miles this week so I am pleased to say I finished that easily even if my times left a little to be desired. Also, I have found that I despise the cleaning that no one notices: under the couch, between the cushions, the windows, baseboards...whatever.

And without further ado: Why did God create daddies?

Ruthie: "MOMEEEEEEE! UUUGH! So they can protect their family, keep them safe and work to earn money."

Rusty: "To have ears to hear." What? "To love their kids, so God can LOVE them" very profound. "and so they can play football with them." of course.

Flip: "To love little children AND, so we can grow up to be the same size."

Good Grief, Charlie brown.

Why did God invent mommies?

2008-11-09T19:47:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday Andy!

Rusty had his last flag football game this weekend and got a little medal...yay! I had Ruthie at the gym most of the morning for lessons...we spent the afternoon chilling out, watching football and getting some stuff done around the house. Today we went to Toys R Us to make Christmas lists and I made the ginormous mistake of not bringing extra shoes...I had to walk around the store for 2.5 hours wearing my shoes from church...yikes!

This year's lists are kind of interesting...Ruthie is in that in between phase where she wants to be a big girl but some of the little kid things still pull her. Rusty wants only video games and nascar stuff. Flip is all over the map and Ellie really has no clue what Christmas is so I helped her with her list and I am so excited to see her on Christmas morning. Anyway, I am in the process of putting their wish lists online for their grandparents...

This just in...I am training for a half marathon: 13.1 miles in...ouch! I downloaded a training plan online and starting tomorrow I am going to be stickin' to it! My race is in March so, if you don't mind sending me some encouragement every once in a while, I would love it!

I leave you with this: Why did God invent mommies?

Ruthie: "Why are you asking me? To take care of their kids, I guess...so they don't die right away."

Rusty: "I don't know, why do you want me to do this?"

Flip: "So they could love little boys with hugs and kisses."

It's Time for Christians to Lead.

2008-11-06T10:31:00.012-05:00

My friend, Jen sent this to me this morning and it reflects and probably more eloquently states what I was trying to say yesterday...this is my last political post on this blog...I PROMISE! (although, this more of a religious post.)

The Day After, Pray for Our President and Our Nation
Charles Colson

November 5, 2008

Whether you voted for Barack Obama or John McCain, whether you’re recovering from your all-night celebration or drying the tears from your pillow, today’s a good day to remember the words of the apostle Paul: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1-3). And the new President will surely need our prayers because he and his administration face huge, serious challenges to the health of our nation and to peace in the world—challenges that, in my opinion, neither he nor any government on earth will have the power to overcome without divine aid.

How has America come to this point? Why is our economy on the brink of disaster? Why is our culture so utterly depraved? I can only think of what Alexandr Solzhenitsyn said about the catastrophic consequences of the Russian revolution. “I recall,” he said, “hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.” Solzhenitsyn was right. Indeed, I can’t find any better explanation for why we Americans find ourselves in the state we are in. We have forgotten God.

We have also forgotten that American democracy—indeed Western Civilization itself—is the product of the Judeo-Christian understanding of God and humanity. Without that revelation that man is created in the image of God, our founders never would have recognized the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, as I and others like Rodney Stark have argued, modern science and education, liberal democracy, capitalism flourished in Western civilization precisely because of the Judeo-Christian worldview.
The attacks on Christianity these days are only going to intensify in the months ahead. But we must press on all the more to make a winsome witness. Those who would banish Christianity from American life are risking the very survival of American society.

Friends have asked me whether this economic crisis is God’s judgment upon us. I don’t know.
As I’ve re-read the Old Testament prophets recently, I couldn’t help but notice the recurring theme: The people of God turned away from Him and worshipped false idols. The result was always disaster.

Is God responsible for credit markets collapsing around the world? No. We’re responsible. Because instead of worshiping God, we’ve worshipped false idols of the marketplace, credit card companies and cheap mortgages. We’ve put our own appetites over our duties to God and neighbor.

So this is no time for Christians to go into the bunkers. No time to wail or moan over our retirement plans. This is a time to repent, to pray more, to give more. It’s a time for Christians, to lead, encourage, and minister to a faltering country in a faltering economy. This is a time for the Church to get serious about Christian discipleship. Enough cheap grace. So pray for the new President and his administration. But most of all, my brothers and sisters, this is a time to love our neighbors and to hunger for God and His righteousness.

God, Please Bless America

2008-11-05T14:19:00.007-05:00

I stayed up and watched the whole thing...then, I cried myself to sleep. I have never been so deeply affected by a political vote. I am young in the scheme of things...this is the first election/campaign I have followed, and had what I would say is an educated opinion on. I read, researched and watched everything I could get my hands on. I have kept my opinion to myself and within my home for the most part. I am posting this blog for the record; so it will be in my blog book...to mark the moment and the emotions that I feel at this time: defeated, scared, worried, pessimistic, enraged, shocked, worried, baffled, annoyed, nervous, worried, anxious, saddened...worried.

I hold on to the hope that this was not actually a vote for Barak Obama but rather a vote against George Bush. There can be no doubt that he let the American people down. I wonder if we have just let ourselves down. I fear that God has finally removed His blessing from this country that has taken Him out of nearly everything. I pray that as my children grow up in this land of the free, they will never have to experience the kind of health care, I personally experienced in Russia. I pray they will never have to live the way I saw people living while I was there and that they will never feel the hopelessness I saw on the faces of the people in Siberia.

So, I'm getting it together...getting into His word and remembering that He is in control...He knew long before now where this country would go...I am an American but my citizenship is in Heaven..."but our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Phil 3:20-21

I will follow McCain's example and I will submit to the office of the president recognising that he is the authority that God has established...I am reserving judgement on respecting him. I am preparing myself for the persecution of Christians that has begun and is strengthening in this country...I am gearing up for the continued breakdown of Christian morality, the acceptance of what we like to call "alternative lifestyles," the continuation of infanticide, and the government's continued stripping of MY rights to pray in school, to pledge under God, to believe and learn about creation as a theory along with the miraculous BIG BANG! Today when I went to the Bible, I came to a passage I have read many times and it can be used and interpreted many ways to suit whoever is using to state their cause...I leave you to read it and pray that the Lord will speak to you no matter on which side of the fence you are standing...God, Please bless America...Amen.

Romans 12-13

Living Sacrifices

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love

9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 13

Submission to the Authorities

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Love, for the Day is Near

8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

A Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T20:51:00.015-04:00

Disclaimer: You are probably looking for pictures of my children in their costumes...You will have to check your mail box in about a month or so...there will be no sneak peek this year...you will have to wait for the Christmas card and if you aren't on my Christmas list and you are a regular reader, and you want to be, just email me! Also, I apologise in advance for all the run-on sentences in this post...

Flip went to school with a costume in hand...not THE costume but Robin from last year. I called the director and begged her to take some pictures of him with his friends for me...It is the "third child syndrome" and my guilt was running high...Of course I scrap booked every breath Ruthie took and every other breath Rusty took...so, Flip...poor guy...I am just so crazy busy now with four to keep up with and I am at the school once a week and nearly every holiday plus field trips that I rarely get over to the preschool. Anyway, she promised to take some pictures of him doing his thing and I will post those when she emails them to me.

I went to school with Rusty on Friday. Ellie got her own little desk next to him for all the fun. Each child had their own pumpkin for some estimation and experimentation and when all that was finished, we carved them...we meaning me and one other lady. I figure I carved about 12 pumpkins all total this Halloween. My hand and shoulder are quite sore and if you are wondering why my shoulder is sore, you try carving 12 pumpkins! In addition to all that fun, we also made caramel apples in Rusty's class..yum! Mine had caramel, chocolate chips and coconut and Rusty left his plain and just dropped a few sprinkles on it between bites...hmmm...I have not actually eaten a caramel apple in I don't know how long and let me tell you, if you haven't had one this fall...go out now, and get some caramels and some apples and make yourself one!

While Rusty was at PE and Ellie was napping on a cot in his teacher's office, I ran up to Ruthie's class to see what they were up to...they had a read-in...she got to pack a pillow and blanket and take her favorite reading material (she chose her latest American Girl mag and some joke books, plus the book she is currently reading, Shiloh) and they laid around in stocking feet only taking breaks to snack, cook and journal. Sounds like my kind of day!

At home, we rested for a bit and then ate our dinner and got costumed up. This was our first year just walking out the front door and trick-or-treating...we usually go with friends in another neighborhood. We were a little leery because a lot of the kids from our neighborhood go elsewhere. We found out that has a lot to do with the fact that the lots in our neighborhood are enormous and there is a lot of walking between front doors...we were out for about 2 hours and we had a lot of fun, just the six of us...Ellie was too cute! She got invited in to several homes and she was funny with the candy...people would hold the bowl down for her to pick and she would grab one and look up with a big smile and then grab some more. I would say, "just one, Ellie." The people at the door would say, "oh, it's ok, she can have two." She was totally working the system and is probably responsible for most of our loot.

As for Adam, every year, his department tries to come up with something silly and better than every other department...This year, they decided to dress up as the senior VP's. As a result, Adam shaved just the top of his head and left the "balding ring" (I made that up and may copy write it at a later date) around the sides. They did some silly skit and then he shaved the rest of it off...so, he's bald right now...brings back memories. By the way, Thank you Andy for the cookies and the fall arrangement. The flowers made a very nice center piece for my table this week.

We left Houser home to answer the door...

The Crew, Minus a Few

2008-10-29T21:02:00.025-04:00

A little background on our crew: There are four families involved...we all met once upon a time at church here in town. A few of us went to high school together and the rest of us just sort of fell into place. We started having children and often more than one of us were pregnant at the same time. Our kids, all 12 of them, range in age from 2 to 12. They are together at church, on Sundays and Wednesdays, at all the birthday parties, Christmas parties, the pumpkin patch, socials, weekend vacations, you name it. They love each other and they fight like brothers and sisters. And when I see these pictures of them, I feel nearly ten years of emotions that are difficult to put into words so I leave it with just one: Friends.

So, every year, we, meaning my girls and I take our kids to the same pumpkin patch and shoot pics of our little tykes together...we shoot a few of just our own, we shoot some of all the kids, some of just the boys and on the years our husbands grace us with their presence, we rope them into a photo or two as well. This year, it was awesome fall weather and the patch looked a little different if a little sparse due to the poor economy but we got our pics anyway...we were just missing a few of the people we needed to make the pictures complete...so, this post goes out to my girl, Meagen and her beautiful children, Taylor, Kelly and Anthony! We missed you!

I love this picture of Grace and Ellie. Both of these girls were brought to their forever families with the help of America World Adoption Agency. Though they were born in vastly different countries more than a year apart, the miracle of adoption has brought them together and they are sisters of the heart.

The ladies: Jessi, Ellie, Grace and Ruthie.

The Gentlemen: Rusty, Brannon and Michael

The little Guys: Flip and Matthew

And, The CREW, minus a few

All In This Together

2008-10-27T09:26:00.016-04:00

I hate starting ALL of my posts this way but alas, We had another busy week! We had the usual weekly schedule which I decided to post on the side bar...to keep people informed...mostly grandparents so the rest of you are just lucky, I guess. In addition, Ruthie had her team photo on Friday evening followed by a Halloween party which, although she had a lot of fun, she ran into a palm tree and put a pretty good scrape on her face! On Saturday, Adam had his second triathlon which I will talk more about later. I went with him and my mom pulled duty at the football field and gym with Ruthie and Rusty. Later that afternoon, Ruthie had her individual pic so we were back to the gym for the 3rd time in two days:0)

After church on Sunday, the three little one's went with my mom...Adam, Ruthie and I had lunch and then he was off to church for the rest of the day...Ruthie and I went to Target to kill some time before picking up two of her friends for HSM3...that's right, High School Musical 3! The girls all wore t-shirts and we took skittles, m&ms, and sweet tarts. We bought a giant tub of popcorn and huge Slurpee's...I pre-bought the tickets and we got there early to beat the crowd that didn't show up! It was showing every 30 minutes so there were maybe 100 people in our theatre. The girls giggled alot! (and covered their eyes when Troy and Gabriella kissed) This was a nice way for us to do something with her friends...a lot of times, Ruthie goes to her friend's houses because it just isn't as fun to hang with little brothers around...anyway, there may have been a little too much sugar because Ruthie was up in the middle of the night with a bit of a tummy ache if you know what I mean. She spent the rest of the night on the couch with a trash can beside her:0)

The weather here is beautiful!!! All of my windows are open and it makes me want to clean everything out! Of course if you know me, that means I have pulled everything out of everywhere, all of the closets are empty and each room is trashed...AND it will take me 3 weeks to get it all put back together...

SOOOOOO, Adam did not have quite as successful a race this go around. The swim was great, it was awesome. The bike was ok until he wrecked at the transition. I was standing there and the volunteer was telling the riders as they rounded the last corner to slow down and dismount at a certain line...well, when Adam came around the corner, the man was not paying attention and he yelled at him, "DISMOUNT HERE!" Adam braked hard and flipped over his handle bars! I started to rush forward and help him but he recovered so quickly that I didn't need to...I caught him on film just as his back tire was lifting so you can imagine the rest. After this, his drive took a dive and he cruised the run. We are chalking it up to a learning experience...in triathlons, things will go wrong on one leg or another and you have to put it behind you and move on to the next leg of the race...it is a very mental sport and your thoughts can kill you. He survived with only a little road rash and a small bruise to his pride.

This week looks to be equally busy if not more so...Halloween, you know...time to get that perfect photo for my Christmas cards, get a pumpkin carved for the front step, get all the fun stuff done at school, and all the stuff that HAS to be done...like that mountain of laundry that just will not fold itself, no matter how long I leave it sitting there! Ellie's first Trick or Treat...stay tuned!

Tagged, Again...sigh

2008-10-20T07:42:00.003-04:00

Ok, I have been tagged again by two different bloggers and since I have already done the one about 6 little known things about me, I am going to do this one and then I am officially and I do mean *officially* retiring from the tagging game...but not before I tag oh, let's see....Karen & Debbie S...so here goes:

8 Shows I love to watch on TV:

Well, since my husband is king of all things ESPN and I really just like to read, these are old ones...
1. Seinfeld
2. Friends
3. Law and Order
4. CSI
5. FBI Who Dunnits
6. Dateline Investigates
7. Mystery Diagnosis
8. Lifetime Movies:0)

8 Things that happened yesterday:

1. I woke up....PTL
2. I went to church
3. Ellie pooped and pottied on the toilet ALL day! (even at church!)
4. I washed, folded AND ironed all the laundry...
5. Adam put most of it away.
6. Flip went to a really awesome Power Ranger Bday party and had a blast! (costumes provided! How cool!)
7. Went to the Rays ACLS Championship Game...super fun!...they won..."Hey scau baud ova heey!"
8. Met some folks from our church working the concessions that I didn't know before!

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. The day all my children have made professions of Faith
2. Halloween!
3. Thanksgiving!
4. My tenth Wedding Anniversary! 12/19
5. Christmas!
6. New Year's!
7. Disney '09 (Ellie's first trip)
8. A new Bible Study in my ABF

8 Things on my Wish List

1. All my children making a profession of Faith!
2. A really nice trip somewhere really cool for our 10th anniversary!
3. A Garage...DUH!
4. A pool...we live in FL people...
5. A full time laundress...seriously!
6. I want to be a better wife and mother...always...
7. Better devotion to my time in God's word...I tend to slack off when life is smooth sailing.
8. That our country would get a Christian back-bone and really ask ourselves, "what would Jesus do?" And then, DO IT!

8 Favorite Places to Eat (this is a hard one for me...a connoisseur, I am not)

1. Taco Bell: 2 Bean burritos, extra cheese, extra sauce, easy onion
2. Steak and Shake: grilled cheese and chili 3 way
3. Olive Garden: salad and bread (duh!) and Fettuccine Alfredo
4. Barnaby's pizza: pepperoni
5. Krispi Kreme: chocolate glazed (I feel obligated to put this after scrapbook weekend!)
6. California Pizza and IL Patio: (this is for all my Kras families)
7. My house
8. The park: with my kids (we did this just this past Friday and it was fun!)

Ok, that's all...Get to it girls...

The River

2008-10-17T14:46:00.012-04:00

Garth says a dream is like a river...ever changing as it flows. It seems to me life is much that way too...each new age brings a different stage in life and I find that Rusty at seven is differnt than Ruthie at seven, Flip is so different at nearly five than either of the other two and Ellie at two...she too is her own little person...Some things never do change...when there are children in the house certain things must happen and one of them is the inevitable unauthorized haircut...

A few weeks ago, I was walking through the house and I found a long chunk of blond hair on the floor....there is only one blond in the house so I knew where to look. I immediately found the place on her head that it had been cut from and so I set off to to find the would be beautician...he has red hair. So I walk up to him, chunk in hand and I say, "Flip? Did you cut Ellie's hair?" He replies in the negative...I say, "Do you know who did?" He tells me she did it herself...hmmmm..."Flip, if you tell me the truth, you won't be in trouble." To which he responds, "ok, I did it." I said, "Thank you for telling me the truth, please don't ever cut anyone's hair again." I thought he understood until the next day when I found little red hairs all over the floor and noticed he had two large chunks out of the front of his hair as well...there was no talking this time...I will leave the conclusion of that story up to your imagination...

This year AWANA has included a new two year old program and we now have a child in all four sections of the AWANA program: Truth in Training, Sparks, Cubbies, and Puggles. So, I couldn't resist lining them up and taking a shot of all of them in their uniforms...after much frustration and me finally yelling, "JUST STAND THERE AND SMILE!" Here is a picture of them just so...So far, the AWANA year is going well. Last year, Ruthie was only able to stay in club until Christmas when her gymnastics schedule changed...we will have to see what January brings. Ellie absolutely loves church! As soon as she sees the steeple, she yells out, "Ellie's church!" to which all her older brothers and sister start to tease, "no, my church!" and this goes on until she cries and then they get in trouble and I explain to Ellie that the church is everyone's.

SIX MONTHS

So, you can see by the ticker that we have had Ellie now just over six months...I can hardly believe that it has been that long since we got home! Before we know it, we will be filing our 1 year post placement and then I will blink and she will be in kindergarten! Six months has brought so many amazing things! She is talking so well, she loves to read, dance, and sing. She absolutely loves "dollies." She fights with her brothers and sister like a pro and she is just so well adjusted that I almost feel guilty for not having had some of the problems we expected to have. She is a completely loving child...loves to snuggle, gives kisses and craves contact with others. She goes easily to others but runs to us with arms flung wide when we return to her. So, I have no complaints, just pure joy mingled with craziness and moments of fine tuning...for your listening pleasure...Ellie sings, LIVE! (make sure you mute the music.)

This One's for the Girls...

2008-10-10T10:00:00.010-04:00

My mom has given me many morsels of advice over the years and she has dealt with many moments of drama that go with raising a daughter...one of the things she said to me when I was younger has always come back to me and I found myself saying it to Ruthie the other day as she was dealing with some of the drama that goes with being a young girl..."Lori, in your lifetime, you will find that you will have only a handful of people that you would truly call 'friend." As I look back over the years, I can count exactly one handful of women who have been down the road, up the hills and around the bends with me. Heather, a childhood friend...you know the kind that you can not see or talk to for a year and then have lunch and it is as if no time has passed at all? I have known Heather since 1st grade...we grew up in each other's homes and we have an understanding of each other that far surpasses the bindings of friendship.

Then there are my girls...the one's who are in my life daily. We have been through the birth of our children, the deaths of our brothers, the sickness of loved ones, adoption, financial difficulty, emotional overload...these are the girls who have provided me with the nieces and nephews I will never have, the sisters that will never be, and the brothers that I miss so terribly much. This past weekend, we went to scrap book together and although it was less than productive in terms of getting pages done, the time reminded me to be thankful for the people in my life...my family, my friends. The people who rally around me, in good times...and bad. So, this one is for Dinah, Meagen, and Marie...I love you, girls!

"The road to a friend's house is never long."

-Danish Proverb

The Mis-Adventures of Rusty & Flip

2008-10-02T10:54:00.010-04:00

Adam really wanted me to get some of the video from the boys first weekend in Football/Baseball up on the blog before I left for the weekend...I cannot even begin to describe how busy we have been...I know, same song, different tune but it is so true! Since my last blog, we had lunch with my great Grandmother...yes, my mom's grandmother...she is 96 and she cheerfully informed me on Saturday that her doctor says she will make it to 100 without a problem. It was her first time meeting Ellie and I must say they were both quite smitten.

Before lunch, we hit the football field with Rusty...it was so fun/cute! When Adam went to sign him up, they recommended that we keep him in with the beginners for one year...as a result, he is the oldest on the team...he scored 2 touchdowns, and made about 6 tackles. (pulled flags) On one of his touchdowns, he taunted into the end zone and although we had to discuss good sportsmanship with him, I really regret that I did not get that particular one on video because it was hilarious...too much college football on the play station!

On Monday night, Flip had his first T-ball game and I have not laughed so hard in a very long time...had I known what a spectacle he would make of himself, I would have sent out invitations...he had such a good time...he "dived" during every play in the field whether he was near the ball or not...he and one of his little friends from school played chase in the infield during plays and he came off FILTHY! At one point Adam walked over to the dug out to check on him..."you ok bud?" Ya, I'm a little bored but I will be ok." UUUGH! This child is too much...if he was bored, it didn't show...he finally had his chance to have his sport and he lived every moment of it...I am posting a few clips from their sport mis-adventures...enjoy! I am off for scrappy weekend 2008!

Six For Seven.

2008-09-25T10:50:00.020-04:00

We had pretty busy weekend. It started out Friday with the celebration of Rusty's birthday...

He's SEVEN! I took cupcakes to the school and we had lunch together...it's so funny because all the kids think it is so neat when a parent comes and eats with them...I wish I could bottle it and open it back up in a few years when just the thought of being seen with me will embarrass my children. After school, we went home and I cooked and baked. We had small group so I made some baked mac & cheese for the first time and some cream cheese frosted brownies...needless to say Monday morning found me hitting the treadmill heavy and counting carbs!

Lisa had a cake for Rusty's birthday so we celebrated a second time. On Saturday, I took Ruthie up to Clearwater to watch a level four gymnastics meet...we are expecting her to move up in the new year so I thought it would be nice for her to see the girls in action. I sat alone and watched the meet while she traipsed around with her friends...I'm fairly certain she did not see a single routine but I learned a lot.

Saturday night Adam and I watched our team blow a close one to LSU...NO COMMENT!

On Sunday, I woke the kids at 5:15am...drove the 3 younger ones to my moms and set out for Sand Key to cheer Adam on in his first ever sprint triathlon...he took 2nd place to a 20 year old and finished with a time of 1.06.54...His swim was the 2nd fastest in the entire field and he placed 41st overall in a field of close to 600 athletes...pretty cool! Ruthie and I (along with the wives and children of some of our friends who were also racing) ran from one place to another watching the transitions and trying to get a glimpse of Adam...we made signs and held them up for Adam...It took me back to days of sitting in the stands at his meets...it was really fun and I am looking forward to this new stage in his life...he competes again in about a month at a triathlon a little closer to home...Ft. Desoto...You can see all the results at:

http://www.altavistasports.com/results/2008results/sandkeytriathlon092108.html

After the triathlon, we ran home for quick showers and then got to the bowling alley to celebrate Rusty's birthday for the 3rd time with all of his friends...he sent out only 8 invitations but ended up with 17 kids there! Rusty racked up all the transformers & PS3 games a boy could want and the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was play one of his new games...Adam had to head to church for a meeting which made Rusty a little sad so I sat with him and we opened and transformed all his new little guys...with my limited transforming experience, this took us all the way to bed time...enter Adam, exit Lori...I had to be at church at 8pm for a different meeting...It was a lot of fun but we were really tired by the end of it all. It is hard to say what I am feeling each time one of my children celebrates a birthday...I will just leave it at just so incredibly thankful.

I forgot to mention that we squeezed Rusty's first flag football practice and Flip's first t-ball practice into it all as well...good times!

So it is Thursday and although I am still dragging a little bit, I have finally blogged all about it...here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...enjoy!

Rusty handing out cupcakes to his classmates.

Adam finishing the swim leg of the triathlon.

FINISHED! (sorry, no good bike pic but there is one on the website)

Nice award but we will not be hanging it in the house.

Cakes by Alice...she is awesome!

No, not my 3 sons, my daughter and two sons.

Rusty and his Nana share their birthday.

Six For Seven...Happy Birthday, Rusty!

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

2008-09-22T12:44:00.012-04:00

I found this on another blog...too funny:0)

Check her out at: http://www.mygiftsmychallenges.blogspot.com/

I added the last one!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
Why did the chicken cross the road?

BARACK OBAMA : The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change ! The chicken wanted change !

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON : When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH : We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY : Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL : Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON : I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY : Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON : Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR.. PHIL : The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE : That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty ! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN : To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART : No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS : Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY : To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS : Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE : It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES : I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN : Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS : Did I miss one?

LORI JERGER: Why is everybody up in that chicken's business?

Posted by Kids Special Needs at 10:15AM
Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Rocky-A-Sauraus

2008-09-17T15:16:00.006-04:00

Wednesday's homework...to the tune of "I love Rock & Roll." Funny because as were driving to pick Ellie up the song came on the radio and he started singing and I thought...oh, he will be singing that today during homework! And he did! Not as funny as "Aunt Pearl" but he did sneak in an "I love Rocky-a-saurus..." Don't forget to mute!

Aunt Pearl

2008-09-16T16:19:00.005-04:00

Make sure you scroll down and mute the music...here is Flip doing his "homework." In case you can't tell, he is singing "if I could be sweet, sweet, I know that I'd be aunt Pearl, aunt pearl." After you watch his version, unmute and listen to the real version...enjoy!

Ellie Pretty?

2008-09-08T18:34:00.027-04:00

Not too much out of the ordinary happening around here. We stayed busy this past week with life. On Saturday, we watched football and on Sunday, we went to church...Adam and I had our week with the twos. It is always a joy...I usually go in thinking, "man, I have nursery today...I always leave feeling blessed...there are some really sweet kids in there...including our Ellie. After church we, meaning, I decided we wanted to get Ellie's ears pierced. She was really excited! She just didn't know what she was so excited about!

Cautiously optimistic.

This is not what I signed on for.

A lolly-pop can cure anything!

Ok, so, she didn't love it! She hated it...for about 3 minutes she thought we were torturing her. Then she got a lolly-pop and all her worries seemed for naught. It was funny because when we got Ruthie's ears pierced, she was 6 months old and we were first time parents. I wanted to hold her because I didn't want her to see me when the pain hit...this time Adam wanted to hold Ellie so that she would have to look at me while the pain was brutally inflicted upon her ear lobes...I'm pretty sure you can see whose arms she is in...but she got her lolly-pop and Daddy whisked her up into his arms and she looked at him and asked, "Daddy? Ellie pretty?" Oh yes, little girl, you are beautiful!

The Good Stuff

2008-09-02T11:33:00.014-04:00

Rusty is in first grade and this week, homework started. We had our first day at the table this afternoon...working on math, going over sight words, working on handwriting. None of this is anything we haven't done together before but it was the first time we did it as "homework." And, I really liked it! Good stuff...

You might be a redneck if...

Ruthie has been faced with some challenges over the past few weeks...nothing academic, or athletic but personal challenges. She was excluded recently at a party and was bullied out of some food at lunch...she didn't like it too much. We had a little talk about not giving people the "power" to hurt us....recognizing a bully or someone who thrives on hurting others and looking them in the eye or staying away...the next day, she had a workout at the gym and I had the chance to talk with one of her coaches about her progress and low and behold, the only thing her coach wanted her to work on was her communication with her teammates. It seems that she was occasionally and without malice taking on the roll of coach in critiquing the other girls rather than taking the role of encourager. So, we had another little talk about "not being that person." You know, the corrector, the know it all or the girl who excludes others from the fold. We talked about the impossible task of getting rid of a bad reputation and although sometimes our motives are not to hurt, we can easily do so with words. Sometimes, we can keep our thoughts to ourselves. Over the past week, I have seen her take the high road many times with her brothers...I know that having been put into those positions herself so recently, it made her see how her own words and actions may have been seen as "mean." Growing pains...good stuff...

Brace yourself...

Flip is obsessed with all things "poop." Pooter, poop face, poop bottom, pooter face, diarrhea head...you get the picture. Now, having had a daughter first and a somewhat quiet second child, I was completely unprepared for what Flip would bring to our world. But this past weekend we had a road trip up to Adam's parents place and the car ride left a little to be desired in terms of conversation. The child is never quiet unless he is unconscious and frankly, if sound effects are not coming from his mouth, "potty-talk" is. I just want to know...when will he be finished with it? I ask that completely understanding that the answer is of course, never...since he is male and all things bodily are hilarious to this version of the human race...good stuff.

Ellie had a very busy weekend...she learned how to watch TV...no, I am not kidding...the child has never sat down long enough to pay attention to an entire show but alas, in the car, there is no where else to go...so, with head phones on, she was forced to sit and watch a movie on the way. She also got to see the horses and meet her cousins, Karen and Greg for the first time...and see the nine 2 day old puppies...check out Karen's blog to see pics (Keepin' up with the Kasjaniuk's). She's started to seek out her own entertainments over the past few days and she is talking so well. But my favorite...she is tattling! The best is when she tattles on Daddy...Good stuff...

Adam had a birthday yesterday...32...we always celebrate it with the opening of college football season. He looks forward to this weekend from the last second of the national championship game...when the polls start coming out toward the end of summer, he starts talking about who is saying what about the Tigers...where we are ranked and in which polls, which games are on TV, "Should we get tickets to a game?" "If we beat them and they beat them, yada, yada, yada..." So, it is that time again...WAR EAGLE!!!Good stuff.

My life is filled with the good stuff...

The Rocky Road...It's Torture

2008-08-25T16:09:00.013-04:00

I knew that once school started, we would be very busy...I was right. Over the weekend we had Jessi's 5th birthday party...looking back over the years with all my girls and their children, each time one of the kids turns a year older, it is hard to believe that I held just about every one of them in the hospital the day they were born (or the day after). I can't believe how time is flying by. Jessi had an 80's rockin' roll party so the kids (and some of the mid-lifing mothers;0) dressed up. The kids looked adorable...and so did the moms. It was a good time.

On Sunday, I woke up feeling sort of ill...I had spent the night kind of feeling like I could throw up. By the time our pastor started his sermon I was begging to just be done with it. (I'm 99.9% sure it wasn't the sermon:) I finally ended up with and have now recovered from the 24 hour stomach flu that our family cannot seem to knock...Adam is the only one who has not had it at least once.

I had to meet with our social worker feeling like a mac truck had rolled over my back...I could not believe the aches shooting through my back and down my legs. Anyway, Vicki came for our first post placement...I can't believe it is already that time but none the less, we have had this little miracle almost 5 whole months! Vicki wanted to know all about her sleeping and eating habits, her social skills, language development, etc. The only things we reported to her as what we see as a problems are her obsession with eating...she constantly asks for snacks and drinks and her inability to initiate self-play. Ellie will sit beside me doing nothing, while I work on the computer. I have to tell her to and sometimes go get toys and play. Both of these things seem to be security issues that I know will fade over time.

Today after school we went back to the orthodontist...and we got the first of Ruthie's "hard wear." She is wearing what is called a high rack on her upper jaw. There are metal bands cemented to her molars on both sides of her mouth and a metal do-hickey going across...every night we will insert a key and twist it to further spread her jaw...this looks to be phase one of achieving a beautiful smile for her and it will last about 2 years. We will affectionately call it the "torture rack" instead of the "high rack." To let you know how painful it was: Ruthie sat through all of her kindergarten immunizations without uttering a single protest and at the very end, a single tear fell from her eye. When they were finished installing the torture rack, she cried the whole way home...bless her little heart.

The kids sang in church on Sunday...as usual, Ruthie smiled and was a complete ham the whole time, Rusty...well, we'll just say that we decided not to torture him that way anymore...we agreed that he would go to choir but that when the kids went on stage, he did not have to go. He loves to sing but not in front of everyone...This week starts the madness of all madness...we will just have to see if I survive this rocky road...stay tuned!

Fay, and The First Day...

2008-08-21T10:18:00.005-04:00

We had no effects at all from Fay. Just a nice overcast, somewhat breezy day...not a drop of rain and no storm surge. I'm not sure why but this storm bothered me more than any other...perhaps the thought of being cast from our home with 4 kids and a cat and dog. Not so much evacuating, but the thought of having to stay away for an extended period of time while repairs were made...trying to maintain the status quo from a hotel room or a rented apartment...We were blessed again to not have to face that reality.

We did miss the first day of school as the powers that be thought it best to postpone until Fay declared her path...So, we started Wed. instead of Tues. As usual, the first day was a mad house but the kids got the teachers we were hoping for and I feel really excited for them this year. They each have a few friends from their classes last year and their teachers are both young and enthusiastic about the start of another year. We are in uniforms this year...voluntary and I confess I was surprised to see how many kids were not wearing them! I got up and I pulled out a top and a bottom for each kid and that was that! We did spice Ruthie up a bit with some sequin tennis shoes and some scarves that match her duds...and new lunch boxes...how fun!

In Stitches

2008-08-17T12:50:00.005-04:00

We had a good weekend...we meaning, I. I had my first break from the kids since we have been home from Russia. Women of Faith were in Tampa this weekend. Some girls from church went and it was a refreshing weekend filled with laughter and tears. It is always such a good time and this year it was relaxing to just just get a way for two days right before the madness of back to school begins.

On the way home on Saturday, I received a pix message from my family. It was a picture of Ruthie's forehead with a gash in it. I called Adam on his cell..."what's up?" My little gymnast was doing back flips into the pool at Nana's house and didn't quite clear the deck...so, a few hours in the emergency room and three stitches later, (picture to come) I concluded my relaxing weekend by crashing on the couch to the tune of the Olympics.

Now on our plates is weather or not our home will be under water in the next few days as Fay bears down on us. She is supposed to make landfall on Tuesday which is, in fact, the day school is supposed to start. Since we are just one block and only four feet above sea level, storm surge is in fact a real and true nightmare for us. I am having visions of my wood floors buckled and my couches floating down the street.

The End of Summer....

2008-08-07T15:06:00.004-04:00

Like all good things, summer too must come to an end. We are closing out the final two weeks of summer vacation and I am ready for school to start. We didn't take any major trips this summer and we didn't do any major projects...we just kind of hung out and it was nice to be home bodies for a while...but, with the start of school comes fall and all things I love most...new pencils and paper, new school clothes and shoes, new lunch boxes, Labor day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, football season, pumpkins, and aaaaahhhhh..."busy-ness." Gymnastics, baseball, AWANA, meetings, PTA, projects, homework, weekend trips, birthday parties, dinner, lunches, field trips, socials, madness!

I'm not complaining...I can just already feel the schedule closing in...Adam is now in meetings on Monday nights at church, working AWANA on Wednesday nights, men's Bible study Thursday nights and in a few weeks, our Friday night small group will re-start. Ruthie is at the gym three nights a week, Flip will start fall ball in a few weeks and Rusty is looking forward to playing flag football this year. Where does that leave me? Well, I have pretty much become the live-in taxi driver...I am thinking of getting myself one of those really stupid bumper stickers that says "Mom's Taxi." Truer words were never put into print.

With all that said, here is a quick update: The kids, all four of them had healthy check ups at the dentist yesterday...no cavities all around...Ellie cried silent tears the entire visit but opened each time they asked her to....I think she was waiting for them to pull out a needle! She was , however, thoroughly excited about her new toothbrush and little tube of toothpaste. Rusty was able to get all of his molars sealed as they are all the way in...yeh! Ruthie had an orthodontist appointment today and it seems the time to act is now...Our ortho has been watching her teeth for almost two years now and he said it is time to move...so, she goes back in next week for a follow up after having xrays today...we'll see. The kids will all be wearing uniforms this year and although it is voluntary, we are participating...I have mixed feelings about it but, the kids could care less. Flip's school schedule is changing to 5 half days this year for pre-K....uuuugh! PRE-K, wasn't he just born yesterday? I am going to be going into work one day a week starting next week and Ellie will have her own little playroom at the office to romp in while I work. Adam has taken on the position of chairman on the global missions team at church and he is excited to be a part of that. That's about it for now...

Smartie (Dry) Pants

2008-07-28T14:40:00.004-04:00

When we brought Ellie home and saw the specialist...we told him she had regressed on her potty training. He explained that the children in orphanages are not so much potty trained but rather "potty-timed." Most children will regress due to the stress, time change, change in diet etc. Since she was only just two, we decided to put her in diapers and let her be for a while...I tried about a month ago to sit her on the potty and it quickly became clear that she did not understand what was going on and that I was going to STRESS out...can I just say that on the fourth child, I still HATE potty training and I am still no better at it! I am convinced it is the only bad thing about being a mother.

Anyway, I decided this week to concentrate my efforts on the potty training...I got a little baggie and stuffed it full of "rewards." I know, I know...all the experts say your are not supposed to reward a child with food when they go in the potty...WHATEVER! It has worked for my first three and they have no weird frued-isms to speak of...yet. Well, this morning Ellie sat on the potty...for 3 hours...and finally, she produced...we had a small party, invited the neighbors (just kidding) and at long last, she got 2 little Smarties for being so smart and going poo poo in the potty...

Not what you signed on for? Well, I am happy to announce that my fourth and final child is on her way to being potty trained, and it feels pretty good!

If Wishes were Garages....

2008-07-21T10:55:00.010-04:00

We have the stomach flu...good times...it started with Flip on Thursday...He threw up in the pool at swimming lessons...SWEET! He seemed fine all day Friday and then Saturday night...we'll just say his digestive track was completely emptied at about 10pm. Yesterday, I kept him home from church...you guys can all thank me for that later:0) This morning we woke up and today it is Ruthie's turn...I figure by the end of this week, we will all have paid homage to the privy.

It is stinkin' hot! I mean I seriously don't even want to go outside...forget about loading and unloading groceries. We have been hitting the high nineties nearly every day and with all the rain, the humidity has been unbearable. Speaking of rain...we have been having torrential down pours lately. The other day, I needed to load the kids into the car to take Ruthie to the gym and it was coming down like mad...as I ran out carrying Ellie and then positioned the car so the other three could run out and get in quickly without hopping into puddles, I thought, MAN, it would sure be nice to have a garage!

Then I came home and sitting by the front door in our formal living room is the very nice, very expensive road bike that Adam borrowed from his boss. We can't put it in the shed, it leaks. And so as I looked at it leaning against my furniture, I thought, MAN, it would sure be nice to have a garage!

Then I walked into my room where Adam has been working on base board and crown moulding and I see the huge saw that is necessary for cutting the angles...all around it is saw dust...we can't put it in the shed, it leaks...have I mentioned that? and I couldn't help it, I thought, MAN, it would sure be nice to have a garage.

I wish I had a garage!

Ps...this song goes out to my momma...because I know it always puts her in a good mood.

Prayer Request

2008-07-17T12:46:00.003-04:00

It has come to my attention over the last week that a family in the VA area has recently lost their little boy whom they adopted from Russia about the same time we brought Ellie home. The new father was to drop him off at day care and instead drove directly to work and left the child in the car. I know we have all at one time or another driven somewhere on autopilot...not quite remembering how we got there. Someone walking past the car around 1-2 pm reported the incident to the administration in the building...the father collapsed and was admitted to the hospital suffering from shock. As a result of the little boy's death, the father will face criminal charges and three adoption agencies related to this adoption have lost accreditation. Please be in prayer for this family (the Harrison's), for the agencies involved and for families that are in the process with these agencies.

Not Too Much Happenin'

2008-07-14T09:58:00.013-04:00

DOES ANYONE FEEL SORRY FOR THIS CHILD?

Not too much going on around here...just the usual summertime stuff...the kids are back in camp this week...it's good for them to get out of the house and have something productive to do. They go to a camp called "college for kids." Each week has a different theme and they go to to classes like they will in middle and high school...science, Lang arts, foreign Lang. etc. but they have fun,learning about the theme, playing games and doing projects. This is their third and final week for this summer. Swimming lessons are also wrapping up...just one more two week session. The boys have really learned a lot this summer as far as stroke and breathing so that has been fun...

Since Ellie's birthday party was at the beach, we decided to bring her gifts home to unwrap, which we did the next day...she didn't quite get it but it was cute none the less...they immediately got into a little dress up box that she got from her Auntie Dinah...here are few pics...

PS...just want to give a shout out to Mr. Stofer who I have discovered is a blog reader and is keeping his wife up to date when I am in a "funk." :0)

An American Child

2008-07-05T10:54:00.007-04:00

The other day I was in Office Depot...dragging all four of my children on an errand. I got up to the register and the woman said I looked like she was going to look the following week. I said, "oh, really?" She went on to tell me that her daughter in law was having surgery and her son was on his third tour in Iraq and couldn't be there to help take care of her and the kids so she was going to go do it. I wished her good luck and we went out to the car and got in, buckled up...the first song on the radio was I'm Already Home by Tim McGraw. Well, if you haven't heard it, it is a letter written by a soldier to his wife...he has died, and this is the letter that he has written to her in the event of his death. His home is Heaven...only a one way ticket over there. I sat in the parking lot and listened to a song I have heard dozens of times. I like the song a lot and I always sing along. But in that moment I heard it a little differently...those men and women carry letters...written to their loved ones so that when they die, they can say I love you, just one more time. And I am so thankful for all of them, serving, sacrificing their lives, time with their families, seeing their children be born, being halfway around the world while their wife has surgery...with chains around their necks that will identify their bodies, with letters in their pockets that will be mailed or carried to their loved ones...

Since Ellie turned two while she was still in the orphanage, we decided to have her birthday party and welcome home party a little late...what better day to welcome her to the USA than July 4th?So, friends and family brought coolers and chairs, towels and buckets, shovels and sunscreen and we all converged on the beach on the most crowded beach day of the year! We brought out tons of chicken, chips and cake and we played and had such a good time in honor of our little girl being home. Ellie got to see her first fire works show, hold sparklers, and sport her country's colors celebrating right along with the rest of her American brothers and sisters...this year, I am a little more than proud to be an American, I am thankful I am an American child and so are my kids...Happy Independence Day.

90% Uffy

2008-06-27T16:41:00.005-04:00

If you have been reading my blog, you know we have a great Dane named Houser. You also know that Ellie was petrified of him for the first few days...Well everyone knows that a dog says, "uff!" Right? Well, our family is now calling the poor guy Uffy about 90% of the time. This is of course due to the fact that our new little 2 year old refers to him only as "Uffy." Uffy is her new best friend. They have even taken to napping together...

Kee Kee, also known as kitty cat, AKA, Sneakers is still not having any of Ellie...stay tuned for updates as things progress...

PS...Flip loves this song!

Stand.

2008-06-23T13:58:00.016-04:00

I haven't really felt much like blogging lately. Last week, the kids had no activities during the day and so we didn't have to be up for anything in the mornings. Our evenings were a different matter all together.The boys were swimming from 5-5:40 every afternoon and we had to get to church for VBS by 6:00...throw in dinner and 3 evenings of gymnastics and the combination makes for some very tired kiddos. Their mother...exhausted. Still it was nice not to have to rush to be somewhere every morning.

VBS was a lot of fun this year. Flip is old enough now to be "into" it and the other two love it! Ellie got to go into the nursery each night and by the 3rd night, there were no tears at drop off. Each time I returned to pick her up, she ran over yelling, "Mommy!" I think that we are in the clear as far as bonding goes...at least in a group setting. She is comfortable going in and the workers do not need to hold and comfort her. We still will not leave her in situations where she might be the center of attention...no babysitters yet. Her vocabulary is really flying along...she is speaking in 3-4 word sentences and understands nearly everything we tell her or ask her to do. I think she is actually talking better than many other two year olds.

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store to get all my stuff for this week and low and behold I forgot my bags that I was so proud of in my earlier post...bad girl. I guess that will take time to get into the habit. I got my blog book and I love it! I will say that when I order 2008, I will get the bigger book. Although the 8x11 is great, I would like the pics to be a little larger.

Ellie is doing great, the others are doing great...blah, blah, blah...the truth is, this is hard. People are constantly asking me how she is doing...she is really doing fine...me however...that's another story. It is really kind of hard to explain the wave of emotions I go through each day. Having three biological children, I guess I have taken for granted the time I had to get to know each of them. Even during my pregnancies, I got a sense for how active each child would be, I had food cravings, sleep loss. From the time they were born, they had little personalities that Adam and I helped to shape as they grew. Ellie came to us with her own, that we had nothing to do with and frankly, it isn't a little personality. She is so incredibly vibrant, so happy, so smart. It seems like everything should just be falling into place. On the outside, it is. I guess I am having trouble finding the words to explain these emotions...jealousy, that I was not part of developing her personality to this point...sadness, that she is so independent with many things due to her circumstances...outrage that her biological family had to give her away...sorrow that someday she will feel that part of her is missing and no matter how hard I try, there will always be a void in her life...elated, that I am her mother now and I get her hugs and her kisses...confused over what is going on in that little brain...thankful, that the Lord saw fit to give her to us...faithful that He continues to work on me everyday.

I will probably always worry about Ellie. It seems only natural for a mother…just a little heightened with her because of her circumstances. Adam reminds me that worry is a sin and I am sinnin’. It is time to give it up to the one who is equipped to handle all that is placed before me. I guess you could say I have been in a bit of a funk lately…but I am getting’ up, brushin’ myself off and I am ready to stand.

Daddy's Day with the Rays.

2008-06-16T16:19:00.007-04:00

We went to the beach again on Saturday with a bunch of Friends and their children...then, we came home and vegged on the couch and watched two college world series baseball games. On Sunday, after church, we saw more baseball, only it was the TB Rays...they lost. It was a good time though...I don't usually go to the games...I really can't stand professional sports of any kind...I much prefer the college atmosphere. But, Adam loves it so I called him earlier in the week and asked him what he thought about going...hmmmm...no brainer.

Ellie slept for most of the game...Ruthie sat near the little girl of the other family that went with us and was good for the most part...Rusty was mediocre and Flip was a nightmare, earning himself 3 spankings to be delved out in the parking lot after the game...nothing like anticipation:0) All in all it was good day...Happy father's day to my Heavenly Father, my dad, my step dad and all the others out there!

Friends of a Feather...

2008-06-12T11:49:00.066-04:00

I have been wanting to do a post of all the people we were so privileged to have met while on our Journey to Ellie...I cannot possibly put into words what the support of our chat group has been for us. I could never describe how special it is to meet the people you have been praying with for months and to do it all the way across the world...to share just this one little thing of loving a child you have never met. So, without further ado, I dedicate this post and this song to my prayer warriors and to all those families who are now home with their children...Thank you, Father.

Ms. Christi Hicks, FC and dear friend. Congrats on your recent nuptials:0)

John, Debbie and their little punkin, Noelle...thanks, Deb for traveling on trip two with me and for being a source of calm and comfort!

Tim and Deb & Eli...Thanks, Deb for being such an encouragement..it really is your spiritual gift!

Greg and Jeanette & Thomas and Andrey...Thanks Jeanette, for keeping it real!

Alex the MOE, and Marina, Our Translator for the MOE and court.

Sherri and Natalie...Thanks, Sherri for passing on all your "in region knowledge" and other various items while at the hotel but mostly for your prayer before court.

Serge and Yelena, Our Facilitators in region...they were awesome!

Galina, Orphange director: She took such wonderful care of our daughter for the first two years of her life...I will forever be grateful to her and her staff.

Dwayne and Jessica & their two little guys, Jude and Luke...thanks for hanging and sharing a meal!

Gary and Windy & Carter...thanks for sharing your movies and for always being willing to venture out!

Ben and Melissa, and Donna and John...so nice to meet you and get "medicals" together...good times!

Pat and Stacy and the ever spirited Aiden...I cannot say just thank you to the people who were with us from the time we landed, through every moment of visitation, at almost every meal for 28 days until we touched down in Atlanta with our children...You guys will always be so special...

There are so many others still in the process and some that went before us that have been part of our prayers and have prayed for us, offered comfort and valuable advice through email blogs, or on the phone...I thank you and I continue to lift you up and remember your children daily.

Good Girl.

2008-06-11T10:39:00.008-04:00

Adam and I really try to use positive reinforcement with our kids. So, we try to praise them when they do something without being asked, tell them they had a really good day when they only fight 50 times instead of 100...you know, that kind of stuff. Well, Ellie is like a little shadow around the house...she follows anyone who will have her from room to room and tries to "help" in any way possible. Recently, she has taken to praising herself and it is really too cute. If she closes the door, she will then stand there for just an extra second and say, "Goooood Giiirrrlll." If she runs to get her shoes when I ask her to, she hands them to me and then looks at me and says, "Goooood Giiiirrrlll." You get the point...well, here is a picture of my good girl...Can you believe she actually held up her empty bowl and said, "Gooood Giiirrrlll?" She has turned into quite the eating machine. She will snack all day long if I let her and eat all of her food at every meal time...she likes to hang in the kitchen with me when I am cooking and "help." Most of the time I have to shoo her out because she can only "help" if she is standing directly under my feet.

Well, I have not forgotten about my going lean side bar...I just got started a little later than I had hoped...I have been at it about 3 weeks now for real...you know "for real," right? Anyway, I am running and am back up to 3 miles although slow ones and am eating good. I have lost 5 pounds and I have 10 to go...

In addition, I have buckled and have indeed gone green...you can say it, "goooood giiirrrlll!" I bought the grocery bags and used them for the first time...I bought 5 and they held almost all of my weeks worth of groceries. I cannot believe it has finally happened but my family is so large now that biweekly trips to the grocery will no longer suffice. Can I just say I hate (I know, such an ugly word) the grocery store! But, I am enjoying trying out new meals and maybe over time as I experiment more, I will come to love Publix as well. One can only hope.

Boring.

2008-06-09T11:32:00.011-04:00

Our coming out photo...

(is it crooked?)

Announcing the new and improved

Jerger Family!

Hmmm...where to begin...I guess with the bad news. My friend and fellow adoptive mother, Stacy has forwarded on to me the web site where I can have my blog published. I have spent several hours (only my spare time...lol) over the last week piddling with my blog book and finally ordered my 2007 blog entries in book format. It will be here in the next week or so...so, I will let you know how it turns out. The bad news? Well, as it turns out, the web site allows you to upload additional photos to your blog entries and it has several layouts along with fonts, colored and themed backgrounds etc...still wondering about the bad news? Drum roll please...this could in fact be the end of my scrap booking days...eeek! This is probably only bad news to a few of you:0)

Ellie had her first appointment with our local pediatrician on Friday...she had a wonderful check up and then received her first four vaccinations. It went well although I know that she remembered the blood draw from NC because as soon as I took her arm into "the hold," she started to cry...bless her little heart. Our Doc was very impressed with her language development and that helped to put my mind at ease. oh, and she gained a pound since we brought her home...yay!

Friday night, Flip had a little singing deal at the preschool. It was just the six of us and since he is not one of the graduates, we got to take off right after...whew. He did a great job singing and did all the motions with the music. It is funny to see him be so enthusiastic about it because Rusty hates singing on stage but loves the practice time...I think Flip just loves the attention! Still, they sing one song, Just One Small Voice and I cry every year!

On Saturday, we took the kids swimming and the 6 of us again just spent some good quality time playing in the water and relaxing by the pool. My mom is out of town so we are taking advantage of her back yard. On Sunday, Ellie spent the whole time at church in her class:0) She cried when we left her which although that is sad for her...made us feel great and when I picked her up, she was standing at the door waiting...yep, one of those kids...as soon as the first mom shows up, they stand around waiting for a glimpse of their own mommy. Her teacher told me she cried a bit here and there...especially if she saw a woman with long brown hair walk by the door. When I pick her up, she yelled, "Mommy!" So, I think the attachment thing has kicked in.

Last night, I went with some ladies from my church to a Chonda Pierce show. If you haven't seen this woman, you should and I will leave it at that.

This morning, Ruthie and Rusty started camp and poor little Rust, he is my shy guy and he didn't know any one...after a little coaxing, I convinced him to stay through lunch and to call me if he was having absolutely NO FUN AT ALL...no calls yet:0) As for me, I am hoping to get our announcements out this week, get caught up on my job, finally get my office organized and plan Ellie's belated birthday/welcome to the states 4th of July bash!

Wow! This is a boring post!

Seasons

2008-06-03T16:58:00.008-04:00

School is out. Summer is here. It is bittersweet...I don't have to get up early every morning to get them ready and on their way but, they will be home all day...you moms out there know what I'm talking about. Today, I had some time in the car just to think about stuff. Ick! dangerous. It seems I am in the season of my life where the little victories are so meaningful. Today, all my laundry is done, folded and put away. Now I know this does not seem like anything major but there are six people in this house. Each night they take off all their clothes and throw them on the floor in the laundry room. Every morning they dirty the towels I lay out for them. I don't even want to talk about matching socks. As I type this, there is only one wash cloth in my laundry basket and I am proud to say it will be empty for another 3-4 hours.

Last night I tried a new recipe and my family...all 5 of them...loved it! Again, this might seem a strange thing to celebrate but, with four children, that is a whole mess of pickiness sitting around the dinner table every night. A meal with no complaints about the food is a minor miracle indeed.

Yesterday, I had lunch with my youngest child and her father who is also my husband and upon reflection, it was nice to go out to eat with him...just to see him...in the middle of the day. Sounds weird, right?...Well, I don't normally see Adam in the middle of the day on a Monday so to me, it was pretty nice. I also got to snap this really great shot of him with Els. She enjoyed her first grilled cheese and spilled juice all over her white shirt and then could barely keep her eyes open on the way home. I found myself wondering at her knack for falling asleep so quickly. People don't usually fall asleep unless they feel comfortable and secure...brought a smile to my face. She really is just one of the gang...mine.

SO, I find myself often torn between wanting to get it all done...have everything finished, cleaned up, put away and wanting to just sit down and enjoy the little things that happen in my home each day...Flip's sound effects, Ruthie's daily readings of her stories and poems, Rusty's hugs and kisses and his little pats for the animals when he walks by them and Ellie's curiosity. Such little things...Where does the mother of four find the time for all of this and all of that and that special time she craves with each child each day? Seasons...they do indeed change.

Saying Goodbye

2008-06-01T18:52:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful time this past Saturday. A few of the mother's from Ruthie's class got together and planned a farewell picnic for our teacher, Mrs. Johnson. As I said in an earlier post, Ruthie has had the same teacher for both first and second grade and she is retiring this year. She has given my daughter such a wonderful start. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity for this woman to be a part of our lives. Ruthie truly loves and respects her. She will have many other teachers over the years but I believe we have found the one she will hold in her heart for a lifetime. Thank you, Mrs. Johnson...for everything!

Deep (& shallow) Thoughts, By: Lori Jerger

2008-05-30T16:49:00.010-04:00

Time V. Priorities: When I say, "I don't have time for that." What I really mean is that it is not a priority for me. I have my priorities and everyone else has theirs. Priorities are exclusive to an individual...sometimes two individuals might share a priority but it is by personal choice.

Cost of gas: It is going up folks, have you noticed? Boycotting a single gas company like Shell or Mobile is not going to effect the cost of gas. You will still be using the same amount of gas no matter where you buy it...Supply and demand is a simple economic fact that we should have all learned in high school...if we use less gas, there will be less demand and the cost of gas will go down. If you want to help drive the cost down, stop forwarding emails and boycotting stations...get on your bike and ride to work. Walk somewhere instead of driving...stay home and rent a movie instead of going out...complaint without action is useless. I challenge you to use 1/3 less gas this week.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

Lori's law of excuses: When someone repeatedly says,"no" to the same request and offers a different lame excuse each time, or better yet, tries to find some way not to have to answer at all, the answer is, "no" and is always going to be , "no."

Say what you mean: and mean what you say. If you don't, I am going to interpret it how I want to and if you don't like how I respond, too bad. Since you didn't say what you meant, I get to take it however I want:0)

Personal Responsibility: Everyone has their own...My mama tells me I am not responsible for how others feel about or react to the decisions I make. As long as I am pleasing God, and my husband, how others feel about the way I conduct myself or the decisions I make regarding anything, is not my responsibility. Likewise, I am the only person responsible for how I respond in any given situation.

You may ask yourself what brought this on...nothing in particular...just my observation of human behaviour and my need to just be myself. It gets tiring feeling like you can't just speak your mind for fear of hurting someone. My prayer is that the Lord will give me the words to speak in every situation...even when it is something that may not be pleasing to the person listening...

Ellie update: She is doing really well actually. We are having virtually no tears at bedtime. She sleeps completely through the night from about 8pm to 6:30AM when all the others are moving around getting ready for school. She and the dog are best of friends now but the cat has bitten her twice...that's just today:0) Verbally she is moving right along...mimicking everything and progressively using her language to ask for things and communicate with us. I think having the other three around is really helping her in that area. She is in love with her father. When he walks in the door, she runs up and yells at me, "Daddy!" and points to the door before she runs over to hug him. She has an appointment next week for her first immunizations and I am anxious to see if she has put on any weight...she is a bottomless pit and will eat nearly anything you place in front of her...a far cry from the little runt we picked up in Russia who would barely drink milk and eat bread.

Ellie is so strong willed and yet, very affectionate...she wants to be held all the time...obviously, since I work from home, this can present a bit of a problem...I am working on this...it's hard for me to not want to hold her knowing that for the first two years of her life, she was not rocked to sleep, snuggled and read to, all the other normal things I took for granted with my first three. We are still allowing people to hold her for only brief snatches...less than 5 minutes at a time. I'm giving myself some time to spoil her...after two and half years in the process, it's the least we both deserve.

Rambling over...and out.