AHHH....THE SWEET MOMENTS OF LIFE!

I'm training for this....

City to Sea 1/2 Marathon
Click above for more details and join me!!

but I feel like this....

and this...

but if asked what really makes me motivated and happy it would be this....

Big Girl in the HOOOUUUSSE!!

So today our sweet little lady headed off to kindergarten. I did not surprise myself, completely dry eyes for both of us. I was just so excited for her, I guess I didn't have room to be sad. She looked so darn cute. And so infinitely more important, she is so darn sweet and gentle. So proud of you Meris! So here is a sample of the day....


Pre-coif for the day, we treated them to McDonald's for breakfast. Some brief worried tears were shed by Meris over her pancakes.



Ok, just so we're clear, Meris has a love affair with Hello Kitty (I cannot, I mean cannot stand the videos so we just stick with gear). So again, hello kitty underwear, backpack, skirt, socks and lunch box represented here.



Somebody thinks they just might be the cat's meow (get it...Hello Kitty?) I am just so freaking funny....



The contract she had to sign for school, too cute!!




Finally in her classroom. We transferred Meris out of our school district so that she could attend this school. Why? Because this is a special place. It's a dual immersion school. She will essentially only be taught in Spanish making her bilingual by 4th grade. And being in California, that is a huge bonus!!

GETTING READY FOR "BAHEY-BRUDDER"

Did you catch that? That's Kiera speak for baby brother. We have finally moved the girls in together, which has been errr...pretty much a lovely little nightmare! Kiera would like to party like a rockstar all night long. Meris agrees for a shorter amount of time. Pretty soon we have an all out screaming of glee and crying fit because Meris wants to go to sleep and Kiera is still thinking it's time to well...let's see 1. stand on top of their Dora table and turn the light switch on and off. 2. Crawl into sissy's bed. 3. Crawl under the pink couch and sing. 4. Pull sissy's blankets off. You get the idea!! Anyone got any great ideas to curtail the late night fun? Threats have not worked and it's well on to 10 pm when they finally drift off. But meanwhile, we are very excited about baby boy's room. I chose the bedding and it's displayed by the party girls mentioned above. Help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATES AND BIG TIME LOVE!

So this picture describes perfectly what's been going on in this household. First, we were blessed to get some updates from blogger friends who traveled to pick up their children. They were able to let us know that our sweet baby "A" is big and healthy. Perfect news for worried and obsessive-compulsive parents!! Thank you Karen, Sharon and Liz!

Second, Rob and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. It should be noted that I think he is fresh, exciting, a great gift and that my love has only grown more and more over the years. He's super duper and I can't imagine being with anyone else. We were gone all week on a wonderful getaway. Many thanks to Oma and Opa (Rob's parents who babysat the entire time)!!!! We came back refreshed and rejuvenated and yikes, did we start missing those little ladies!!!! However, may I just make a quick comment about being in the car together for 7 hours each way...no hourly pee pit stops, no when are we getting there comments, no moaning/groaning, no major grocery store to stock the car, no Dora the Explorer blaring in the background but most of all, no interrupted conversations!! We actually got to start and finish a conversation. That's pure CRAZINESS people!!!

RIBS AND THE "WONG" WAY TO HAVE FUN!!

So you see, people like to write about their friends and now I'm taking my turn. I will highlight others later but today belongs to the Wong Family...really great people. Fun, smart, crazy, dedicated(and I mean really), spontaneous, laugh so hard you want to cry, cry on their shoulder when you need to, take pot-shots of each other and never be offended kind of people. We do a lot together...we go to church, we run together, we run races together, we golf together, we eat together(a lot of that going on since it's our fave), we sit and watch kids together, we movie watch, we go to Vegas with each other, we apologize to each other when we've been lame(read...me), we splurge on a pedicure together (the girls I mean, don't want to involve the men in such frivolities), we do Target together (we are attending a support group for this one) and finally, we call each other, whenever we need each other. So to Jeff and Katie, THANK YOU!!!

So without further ado, here is a lovely collection of crazy rib eaters. Summer is a great time for BBQ and we took advantage of it!!

THE CLOUD HAS LIFTED AND THIS GAVE US A SERIOUS LAUGH!

Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

BE SURE TO PAUSE THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG SO YOU CAN HEAR EVERY LITTLE TID BIT OF THIS "NEWSCAST"!

WE'RE SAD PUPPIES AROUND HERE

Oh the humanity!!!!!!!!!! There is an air of just massive disappointment in our house. Our sweet little baby "A" will not be coming home until November. We missed court and we are bummed big time. We had thought with all likelihood we would not get through court and then we had some reasons to feel more hopeful and then crash...no baby pick-up for us. It is a strange, strange scenario to stare at this sweet baby's face, know that he will be coming home eventually, know that he is in a very safe and secure place but still feel so entirely detached and helpless. There are quite a few families that did not make it through court and somehow that makes it a little bit more palatable. At least we are not the only ones in the same situation, but I am terribly sad for them too!