CCAA Website Updated

Last night the CCAA updated their website that September 2006 was out of review. Someone from one the internet groups said that someone with a 10/31/07 LID has already been asked a question, so I'm hoping that they finish Oct. soon and move in and out of November even quicker. I know what I'm asking Santa Claus for!

McKinley Museum Field Trip

Today was Zack's field trip to the McKinley Museum in Canton, OH. Myself and Zack's grandpa "Pa" went with him today. The museum tells about the history of former President Wm. McKinley and many other historical things that happened in Ohio, specifically in Canton, OH.

Here are some facts:

**Wm McKinley was 1 of our 8 presidents from Ohio. He was our 25th president.
(The other seven are; William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding)
Wm McKinley was a former congressman and Governor of Ohio and then became president. He was well known as the only president to run his campaign from his front porch of his home in Canton, OH, so that he could stay close to his wife Ida as she was not well. People would come to him by rail instead of him going out to campaign.

Some of the other things we got to do was go to Discover World and see the dinosaurs on exhibit. They also had a planetarium that was really interesting. We learned about all the constellations, the sun, moon, mars, and the other planets. How to tell what star is what and find particular stars to know if your heading North, East, etc.

I've included some pictures from our field trip.

This Mastodon was found many years ago in Canton, Ohio! Here's a newspaper article on it. Don't know how well you can read it, but pretty interesting.

CAVS Game

Last night Craig and I took Craigy and Zack to the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game. Our seats were wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy up in the nosebleed section (haha), but amazingly enough they were pretty descent seats. We had such a blast. I think Daddy and Craigy were a little embarrassed of Zack and I cause we never shut up. We were rooting for our team thru the entire game and it paid off. We went into overtime against the Boston Celtics and ended up winning the game 109 to 104. Yippee.............GO CAVS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 Year LID Anniversary

Well today is our 1 year LID (log in date) anniversary. It's a little bitter sweet at this point. I'm excited to have 1 year under my belt, but at the same token this was about the time we thought we would be getting a referral. I think the frustrating part is that instead of counting down I'm still counting up and we really don't have a particular date to say only .......days left to go. Also I've been a little anxious because we are getting closer to being in the review room and I feel I need to pass this next milestone, before I can really get excited and be relieved.

Here's hoping my little picture of a cake with ladybugs brings us all a little...okay..a lot closer to bringing home our little ones.

Oh, by the way, everyone asks what are you doing to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We're taking the two older boys to the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game Tuesday night. GO CAVS!!! Hopefully I can talk them into to going to my favorite local Hibachi restaurant Wasabi.

Best Friends

Since I changed the resolution on my pictures they seem to be posting much better, so I thought I would add some pictures of me and my best friend Krissy from our trip to Vegas earlier this month.

My husband and I started many years ago taking pictures of ourselves by just holding the camera directly out in front of us. As I am sure most of you can agree,its kindof hard if your the one taking the pictures to actually get pictures of yourself, so I tried my husbands trick and presto it works.

This picture is of us at the M&M store getting ready to watch the 3D movie from the tour. We sort of had the giggles.

Deorating the Tree

The boys and I set up the Christmas tree last night. We had such a great time. We listened to Christmas music and since this was Rylan's first year of really being old enough to help it made it even more special. Each and every one of the kids helped to add a very special part to our tree. Rylan was so excited that he actually put probably 30+ ornaments in one area of the tree. Too Cute. We sung and danced and goofed off and had a terrific time. When Daddy got home he and Ry Ry put the star on top of the tree to add the final touch. Then we also made sure to add our ornaments with Kayla's name on it too. My boys asked me, "Mom, when is Kayla coming home". I was so touched that they asked as I don't mention it too much since the wait has extended, but I also wanted to cry as I want our little girl and little sister home with us so badly. I responded and told the boys your baby sister will come home when God thinks its time.

I love every year watching the boys excitement as the decorate the tree and seeing all the handmade ornaments they each made. Each ornament has such a special memory.

Wishing you and your family a blessed holiday season.

p.s. I have lots of cute photos to post, but still having an ongoing problem of spending hours trying to post 1 photo. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I'm not getting the typical bx code that everyone else is, just "page cannot display". Arrggghh. Anyways, I'll try to upload images again later today.

Thank you Secret Buddy and Dear Friend

Every month I'm always completely and utterly amazed at how thoughtful, gracious,and generous my secret buddy is. This month as we come to the end of Phase I of our Secret Buddy program my secret buddy has revealed herself and will no longer be able to continue on in the program. I can't explain how someone you've met over the internet through the adoption community and through the SB program has touched my heart so dearly. I feel as if I know that family personally. It's hard to explain, but the adoption community is very tight knit. We all lean on each other and know that we can voice our fears, opinions, happiness, and frustation with one another. I recently received a letter from her explaining how much she dearly enjoyed our family and being involved in the program. As I read through her letter, I realized how truly wonderful this person and their family are. You see, this family has not only endured the agony of the wait that keeps getting longer and longer for their adoption, not to mention Katrina that slowed down all their paperwork, but the worry and strength that it must take while she awaits the safe return of her husband from Iraq. I ask that each and everyone one of us take a step back and think how that at times we feel frustrated with this wait that we think how blessed we are to be home with our loved ones. I also asked that each one of us say a prayer that our troops return home safely to their families and that we can thank them for keeping us safe.

Secret Buddy, I want to personally thank you. You are truly a remarkable person and we should all gain strength from someone like you. We too are looking forward to getting to knowing your family better. I wanted to let you know that we held a special prayer on Thanksgiving Day (35 family members all prayed) for the safe return of your husband from Iraq. Your husband and your family hold a very dear and special place in our hearts. May God bless you and your family.

Many Blessings,
Lisa, Craig, Craigy, Zack, and Rylan

Thank You for the Gifts SB

Secret Buddy,

What can I say, other than WOW. You spoil us way too much. I'll miss all your beautiful letters each month, but I'm so pleased to hear that you will be using this time away to spend with your family. I hope that we can keep in contact in the future and get to know each other better.

I wish you and your family all the best!!!

Thank you for all the incredible goodies. There's so many and each and every one of them are so thoughtful. It's been a pleasure being partnered with your family and I hope this journey speeds up for all of us!!!


For Kayla
Chinese Baby Steps Doll
Cabbage Patch Kids Newborn Doll
Chinese Busy Basic "Busy Lil' Dragonfly" Doll
Yellow/peach outfit w/ bib
Busy Basics Busy balls
Disney's Mermaid bubble blower
Monkey Teether
Lil' Pals take-along toys
First Aid Panda Cool Pack
Sassy soft photo book (great idea!)
Sesame Street (Big Bird in China) (for all the boys and Kayla)
Teethe On Me
Musical Dragonfly (adorable)
Dragonfly Teether
Arrangements of Books
Sesame Street (Color Fun, Counting, ABC, Big/Small Fun, Elmo's Furry Lil' Christmas)
Teaching You Baby To Sign (great idea)
Collectible Christmas LadyBug Ornament by Gloria Duchin, Inc


For Mom
Body Butter Delights (too kind and love it!!)
For Mom & Dad
Security Boarding ID Pouches (awesome)
For Little Rylan
Cars Soft Ball (he loves balls and CARS..PERFECT)
For Craigy & Zacl
Shining Stars glow in the dark (had to peel it from their hands to take photo)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone out there a Happy Thanksgiving. From our family to yours I wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday. I'm so thankful and blessed from my husband, all 3 of my boys, Craig, Zack, and Rylan, my parents, and siblings and entire family. Also I wanted to thank so many of my adoption friends that I've met along the way that have made this journey bearable. I'm thankful for all the love and support each one of you have given me and my family.

Shopping

Normally the day after Thanksgiving I get up at 3:30-4:00 a.m., but this year I decided to get some Rest & Relaxation first. So I called my mom this morning and we both concurred that we were too tired to hit the stores, well, atleast until 2:30 p.m., so this afternoon we hit a couple of stores, but didn't really buy much. We both felt that there really wasn't much in the ads for BIG SAVINGS to get us in the mood. Hopefully, I get in the Christmas mood & shopping soon, but for my husband's sake, I've actually saved money for the first time in years for the day after Thanksgiving specials.

I must say it was really nice not having an agenda and just casually cruising the stores with mom today. We enjoyed spending time with each other and just hanging out. I think this weekend the boys and I will put up our Christmas tree and then probably head down to my mom & dad's and get their tree and choo choo train setup. The boys always get a kick out of getting Grandma & Grandpa's tree out and getting it up and running.

FOR ALL WE HAVE

For All We Have

A table with chairs, that welcome sight
Our family, our friends, pure delight

A caring kiss with a gentle smile
Each tender hug lasts that country mile

The presence of love so fills the air
This gift of God brings our hearts so near

Reflections of past bring nurtured thought
Great visions come by, what life has taught

In thankful ways we embrace this day
And often think of loved ones away

Those serving us proud are often gone
But their spirit remains, closely drawn

Our Nation should praise each special one
For all we have is through what they’ve done

The freedom to have Thanksgiving Day
Keeps certain plates bare, please truly pray

~©2003 Roger J. Robicheau~

I'm Back

Hi everyone, I know I haven't been posting as much as usual, I'm trying to prepare for a big Thanksgiving dinner and had to go out of town for business yesterday, but I'm back now. I guess I better get back on track and start shopping and cleaning for Thanksgiving and keep up on my blog. Every year we have 25-35 family and friends over for dinner, so it takes me a long time to get ready. I'm hoping to be able to relax a little more this year:-)

5 more days till Thanksgiving!

Vegas Trip

VENETIAN

CAESAR'S








Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I took a much needed get away with my best friend Krissy. My husband paid for the two of us to take 3 beautiful days to Las Vegas. I'm not sure how rested we both were, but we had lots of fun and I think we hit about every casino on the strip. Speaking of which, if any of you are heading there maybe you can try to bring my $$$ back (ha ha). Krissy is my very best friend in the entire world. She has 2 boys and I have 3 boys. We have a hard time catching up on things cause mommy duties always come first, so after 10 years of saying we have to get together with it just being us two, we finally did it! Here's some pictures of Vegas.