My Latest Find

A week or so ago while browsing through the Etsy site I decided to see what popped up if I searched "adoption jewelry". I fell in love with this pendant and immediately knew I HAD TO HAVE IT! It's a beautiful glass tile about the size of a stamp.I e-mailed back and forth with the artist, Gail. She was so nice and very easy to work with. She offered to put my LID on the back of the charm. Isn't that the coolest thing? I love love love it! It turned out even better than I expected.I love the pendant so much I wanted to share her site with everybody. It's called Dos Besitos's and is located here on Etsy. She has all kinds of glass tile pendants and magnets representing many different countries including Russia, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Haiti and the Philipines. The pendants aren't just for waiting moms either. There are some with little maps like this one below.Or with words written in different languages like this one that says "mother" in Amharic.These are just a few examples of the beautiful work she has on her site. Go check it out.

Another Month Down

Moving into month 30 of my very long wait. Two and a half years since my dossier landed in China. As of today, the CC_AA has referred thru February 23, 2006. I'm June 14th. Right now this site projects my referral to arrive in July 2010. I think that's a pretty safe bet. Unless the crazy big month of March '06 LID's really does take all of 2009 to get thru.... which some are also predicting. Since March is twice as big as January '06 and it took 6 months to get thru January.... well, you see where I'm going with this, right?

Only time will tell. Meanwhile.... I'll keep waiting.

Fly By Post

Whew... have I been busy! Not much time for blogging between working two jobs, holiday preparations, shopping, and parties. Plus my dad flew in from Wyoming last Saturday for a week long visit. So I'm fly-by posting a quick catch up in case anyone wondered if I was still around.

Crickets chirping.....

Well, for the sake of the four or so faithful people who read this blog, here goes. LOL!

On Saturday I attended the annual school Christmas concert for my nephew, Travis. (Top row fourth from the left.) Tanner used to be in this, too. But I guess they don't do a show when you're in middle school.After the concert, I hung out with all the T's while waiting to go pick up my dad from the airport. I brought over my new Planet Earth DVD. I got a great price for it on Black-Friday. We watched some of the episodes to pass the time. During a part about underwater ocean life, Travis turns to me and says "Aunt Krista, did you know there's a fish that makes it's home out of it's own snot?" Hmmmm... I can honestly say I didn't know that but thanks. LOL!

I don't know why I didn't think to pull out my camera while at the airport. Teagan was fascinated with the baggage claim. He sat down in front of the opening where the suitcases come out waiting for the conveyor belt to start up. You should've seen the look of excitement on his face when it did. Man... to be 3 yrs old again. Sigh.

Here's a pic of my dad, Charlie, once we were back at my sister's. Seen getting a squeeze from a shirtless Teagan. I swear that kid has volcanic lava in his bloodstream. He could get hot in a freezer.On Monday, Carla, dad and I took the kids to a Christmas display where you walk along paths to see all the lights. It was cold. But we had a nice time. Picking a weekday to go was a brilliant move. There was hardly anyone there. I guess this place is crazy busy on the weekends.Me and the T's (minus Tess who stayed home with Daddy where it was warm.)Santa Claus had his own log cabin along the trail. The fire was nice and cozy. Tanner was too cool to pose with Santa. You know, being a 'tween and all. But Teagan hopped right up on his lap.Travis recited his Christmas list. But decided he was too big for a lap sitting. Tatum asked me if he was the "real" Santa. I told her to ask him. But she was too star struck to even get within 3 feet of him let alone actually speak to him.

TeaganTatumTravisTannerA gingerbread creation I photographed for Tracy and Robin. Pretty cool, huh? Go Bucks!

Today I decided it should be "Take Your Dad To Work Day". But I was the only participant. LOL! He got to experience roll call in the detective section. He met my partner and a lot of my co-workers. He got to walk two prisoners over to the jail and see what it looked like from the inside. He got to accompany me over to the courts building and sit in the waiting area while I testified before the Grand Jury. Then I took him over to our police academy to check that out. I had to exchange my gun because our department bought us new ones. So he got to see the indoor firing range, meet the range instructors and see me shoot. Then we had a nice lunch before he headed down to hang out with my brother at his barber shop. So maybe I wasn't the only one who took my dad to work today. :)

By the way, before I go I just wanted to update those of you praying for my Aunt Norma's recovery. She's been moved to a step down unit out of ICU. She's off the vent and mostly breathing on her own. She's becoming more and more responsive. She's speaking now and much more aware. She still has a very long road ahead of her but things are looking better.

I'm In Heaven...

I was skimming my bloglines today trying desperately to catch up with everyone when something suddenly caught my eye. I spotted this over at Kim's blog. Penguins? Did someone say penguins? My interest was certainly peaked. So I clicked on it.

And what to my wandering eyes should appear? But an entire collection of penguin gear. And it's PINK!! I think by putting them on the green background they were somehow made even more hypnotic to me. As if that were even possible....
Click here to enter the giveaway and then go check out the cool clothes on the Coco Bonbons website. I couldn't possibly wait to see if by some crazy stroke of luck I actually won the giveaway. So I whipped out the credit card and succumbed to the urge to own the jumper, tights and coat ensemble. C'mon... you can't tell me you're surprised by that, right? I mean just look how adorable this stuff is. How could I possibly resist a pink penguin outfit for Mia?! But maybe I'll get lucky and win the pants and shirt set, too.

Rockettes Christmas Show

A couple days before Thanksgiving my BFF, Lisa, and her daughter, Peyton, took me to see the Radio-City Christmas Spectacular. It was fabulous! If the show travels to your city I highly recommend you go see it. Or you could always take a trip to New York City. LOL!
The dancers are pretty amazing. Of course, Santa was part of the show, too.
The famous high kicks. They're really something to see in real life. In perfect sync, these girls.
The wooden soldier routine was a favorite of mine. I wonder how heavy those hats are? LOL!
They did this whole falling over thing in super slow motion.
See the guy on the end? He had time to shoot the cannon, run to the back of the line, grab a cushion, plump it up and then brace himself for the catch. And they're still not even halfway down. It was adorable.
The back drops were breathtaking. It was like watching a super gargantuan hi-def TV screen. In this number, the bus wheels rolled and it actually moved all around the stage. The screen behind showed the streets of NYC. It seemed like the bus was actually driving through the city! It was pretty freakin' cool.
Part of the stage was an ice rink. The pics are a little blurry.
At one point in the middle of the show, Santa and these two kids started flying around the arena. Again.... a little blurry. Sorry. This part was absolutely stunning. They did a live nativity and the three wise men brought their gifts to baby Jesus. Between the colors, the lights and the back drop, it was just magical. The pictures don't even begin to do it justice. It was beautiful.
I had a great time. It was the perfect way to welcome in the holiday season. Thanks Lisa and Peyton. I love you guys!

Thanksgiving Re-cap

My family gathered together on Thanksgiving at my mother's house to stuff our faces. Oops... I meant to say celebrate the holiday. My brother came solo cuz Kristy and Braeden traveled to visit her family. It was a very nice relaxing day and the food was delish. Thanks, Mom.

Now it's family photo time. Prepare yourselves for the excitement..... LOL!

Tatum modeling her cute little outfit in my most favoritest colors. Check out the boots and tights. Tres chic!
Teagan doing a little automotive work at the dinner table.
Tess sure thought whatever Daddy said was funny.
Grandma taught the boys a very inappropriate bad manners kinda thing to do.
Yeah... that's classy. My family is just one step above the trailer park.
"What?! I don't want no stinkin' breast milk for dinner! It's Thanksgiving. What do you mean I'm too young to eat turkey?!"
Travis cutting the brownies while the smaller T's look on with breathless anticipation. I think Teagan might even have a little drool on his chin. LOL! Oh and that's Uncle Travis in the background.
A little after dinner family Wii entertainment down in Grandma's basement rec room.
Action shot. Well as much action as you can have with virtual bowling, I guess.
Even Teagan got in on the fun. But he wasn't a very good bowler. Shhh.... don't tell him that though.
The day after Thanksgiving I spent the morning in my jammies shopping online. Gawd I love the internet! I got all the toys I needed for the nieces and nephews. Which means I'm 99% done with my shopping. And it'll all get delivered right to my door. I was so proud of myself. Plus I got some fabulous deals cuz of Black*Friday sales.

That evening, Carla and I took the kids downtown for the tree lighting ceremony. Even Tess went along so Daddy could run out and do a little shopping of his own. It was a madhouse! Everything is free. So it was packed with people. We stood in line for a half hour so they could ride this dumb pumpkin spin around ride. We don't know that guy in the pic by the way. He was just lucky enough to get in the same pumpkin with his toddler and all the T's. Except Baby Tess, of course, who stayed snuggled in the carrier inside her mom's coat.
This year some moron decided to have the annual children's parade AFTER the tree lighting. Instead of on Sunday afternoon like it has been for the past 30 yrs. It was a really bad idea. It was really cold by then. And late. The tree lighting wasn't even until 8pm.
Everybody was bundled up waiting for the parade to start.
Tess didn't get what the big deal was. She was just ready to go home and take off some of the multiple layers of clothing she had on.
Just for the record. The parade really sucked. I'd say about half the normal participants didn't show. Probably cuz of the weird timing of the thing. I didn't take many pics cuz... hellllo-ooo it was DARK outside. LOL! But there were some storm troopers and even Darth Vader.
Which Teagan seemed to enjoy. Right up until the inconsolable sobbing crocodile tears meltdown started. Because he was so cold and tired. Did I mention what a bad idea changing the time of this parade was?
Finally the end of the parade came when Santa appeared.
If they do this again next year, I doubt we'll go. Which is just a shame. We've been going to the parade for several years. It's become a tradition the kids (okay okay ... me and Carla too) look forward to. And usually the parade is a really good one with lots of floats, marching bands, horses, fire trucks, drill teams (or "dancing girls" as Tatum calls them... LOL), etc. But not this year. I hope next year they go back to doing it on Sunday afternoon.

Anyway, enough griping about that. I spent Saturday and Sunday pulling my Christmas decor out of the basement and decorating the tree. I'm just about done getting it all together. Pics later.