Stop the Madness

Those that know me know that I have a "slight" obsession with the FP Little People. I want Avery to have them ALL. I have already amassed quite a collection and it just seems to keep growing. Imagine my delight when a certain store had these two sets on sale for $19.99 each this week. That is a $10 saving per set I could not resist. I went to the store with very good intentions: Look at both, decide which one is cuter, and then buy only 1. Well, as they say, the road to somewhere is paved with good intentions.

My purchase today:

They are just too freakin' cute!!!!!!!

I am also happy to show you that Rowdy was the lucky recipient of a new winter coat:

He is one spoiled dog!!!

I guess the underlying thought to this post is: please hurry up CCAA so that a certain crazy woman can actually have someone to play with all these toys and can quit buying clothing for a dog!!

A little late.....

I uploaded a couple of posts worth of photos last Sunday but I just got around to adding the text tonight. Be sure to check out the 2 "cast of characters" posts below.

Cast of Characters....Part 2

Here we go with round 2.



This is Cliff, Paul's dad. He and Paul have always had a good relationship (even when Paul was a rebellious teenager). Cliff absolutely cannot wait to meet his first grandchild!!! He's got some major spoiling to do!


Meet Sandra!! This is Paul's mom. She has always been extremely close to both her sons and somehow survived living in a house full of male hormones!! When we told Cliff and Sandra of our plans to adopt Sandra immediately started crying, tears of joy of course. She is already planning tea parties and playing dress-up with Avery.


This is Paul, his mom, and his big brother Tony. Tony is 3 years older than Paul and during their childhood was always looking out for his little bro. Tony has been married to Melinda for 17 years. They were high school sweethearts and still affectionately call each other Pooh. Unfortunately I could not find a digital picture of Melinda so I will have to update that later.


And last but certainly not least: Grammy and Daddy Sonny. This is Sandra's mom and step-dad. They have been happily married for 37 years and are like two peas in a pod. They can't wait to meet Avery and introduce her to our camping trips.

We lost Cliff's dad to Alzheimers almost 2 years ago and Cliff's mom to cancer in 1992. We also lost Sandra's dad from complications of heart surgery 7 years ago. They remain with us in spirit and don't worry we have plenty of pictures to show Avery her legacy.

As you can see by both these post we have a great group of people ready to welcome Avery home. We also have a multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins, not to mention a great network of friends. Come Home Soon Baby, there are a ton of people waiting for you!!!!

Cast of Characters....Part 1

It was pointed out to me recently (thank you Jamie)that I don't always mention all the member's of my family. So I thought I would introduce you to them so in future posts you would know who's who.

I will do my family(Part 1) and then Paul's family (Part 2). These are immediate family members only and don't include the slew of aunts, uncles, and cousins that exist on each side.

Here goes:


My parents: Wayne and Martha. I have always had an awesome relationship with my parents and we are very close. As a matter of fact we live next door to each other!! They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first granddaughter and have already started the shopping sprees for her!!


My only sibling, my brother Chris and his youngest son Kolin. Chris is 2 years older than me and we have always had the typical brother and sister relationship. We picked on each other yet are the first to come to each others defense. Kolin is currently the baby of the family and will celebrate his 12th birthday in April. He is our "miracle" child. He was born 12 weeks premature and had multiple health probelms but he has overcome every one and is a joy to our family.


This is Kelby, he was the first grandchild and was spoiled appropriately so. He is our athlete and has always had an amazing personality. He will celebrate his 13th (OMG, he's going to be a teenager) birthday in January and he can't wait to welcome his cousin Avery into the family. He has already asked when he could babysit.


Meet Danette!! This is Chris's wife and the mother of my two wonderful nephews. Danette and I went to high school together and were good friends. She and Chris never really showed any interest in each other back then. Fast forward a few years and all the sudden they are inseperable. They celebrated their 14th anniversary in August.


Who could forget my 93 year old dancing grandma??? Grandma is my dad's mom and was married for 62 years before grandpa passed way 12 years ago. She is still a very vibrant personality in our family. She will probably outlive us all!!!


This is my only living grandpa, my mom's dad. He is 84 years old but acts like he is 40. He still drives and functions totally independently. He was a peanut and watermelon farmer for most of his life until he had to retire to take care of my grandma. She passed away from Alzheimers 3 years ago.

I am so excited that Avery will have great-grandparents to welcome her home.


So that's the scoop!!! All of us are eagerly awaiting Avery's arrival and can't wait to welcome her into this crazy family.

Another week down.....

Another week has passed, referrals were delivered on Thursday for those families logged up to August 25. Just to recap we are December 20. Still a long way to go but at least it's progress.

Thursday night was Kelby's last football game of the season. Wow, time has flown. Even though they did not exactly have a winning season, Kelby did awesome and you could really tell the coaches were impressed with his athletic ability (he must take after his Aunt Robyn).

For Thursday nights season finale my grandpa and my aunt came to see Kelby play. My aunt Kathy is my mom's youngest sister she is 10 years younger than my mom and 10 years older than me. If I haven't already mentioned my mom will be traveling with us to China and Kathy is going to accompany us too!!! God Bless Paul, traveling with the 3 of us!!

Kathy, me, and my mom. Paul and I were thrilled when mom decided to go to China with us, her words were "I have been there for the birth of everyone of my grandchildren and I will be there to welcome Avery to our family." We were even doublely thrilled when Kathy decided to go too, that way mom will have someone to pal around with and we will have a couple of sets of extra hands to help us.

It will be the first time any of us have traveled out of the country (unless you count Mexico) and considering mom, Kathy, and I all attended the same high school with approx 35 people in each graduating class it should be a grand adventure. China may never be the same after we are done. Let me say it one more time, God bless Paul for traveling with the 3 of us. He will need all the prayers he can get.

Now if we could just get a referral we could be on our way!!
***********************************************

After Kelby's game Paul and I did our good deed for the week. Our friend Christie was coming home from California Thursday night and somehow "forgot" to arrange travel home from the airport. Her husband was tied up with a school function, so Paul and I came to her rescue!!

We even made her a sign with her name on it like all good car services do. I cropped the name out for this blog for privacy reasons, but you get the point. Don't you love that the sign was bright pink?
*******************************************************

Friday I attended the drama production that Christie's husband Anton directed for his junior high students. The play (is it called a play?) was outstanding and the amount of dialogue these youngsters had to memorize amazed me. All the actors did a wonderful job and I can't wait for their next production. I have been intiated into the world of junior high and boy I do not envy Anton one bit.

After the play the students presented Christie with these roses to thank her for her patience in not having Anton home much these days since they were rehearsing tons. I thought it was a very thoughtful gift. Thanks Anton for inviting me and for giving me a front row seat!!

Today was spent doing all the normal catch up stuff.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!