Austin's 6th Birthday

I was really trying to stay on top of things and post fairly regularly and then our computer decided to stop working last week. So...I have been basically computerless for a week (I did have my work laptop but it blocks so many sites, it's not even worth using). So.....here is what you missed in our exciting world :)

We had our first "snow" last week. I think we got a whopping 1/2 inch of snow.....of course the schools were delayed here....you know it could be treacherous :).

Luckily Austin's school is a charter school and doesn't have buses, so they went to school on time. When I drove him to school, the sidewalk wasn't even wet. The boys kept asking me...."how come there isn't any snow on the roads?" They are so used to seeing snow in Colorado.

When Austin was younger, he would constantly ask when his birthday is. So, we started telling him that his birthday would be after it snowed since it always snowed a time or two before his birthday when we lived in Colorado. When Austin saw the snow, he said "It must be my birthday."

His birthday was two days later. Austin had his first real friends birthday. We have had birthday parties for him in the past but it was basically friends of ours, relatives, etc.

He invited 9 kids from his kindergarten class and he had a cosmic bowling party. It was a blast! The kids were hilarious bowling. One of the kids told me "I have never bowled in real life.....just on the Wii." Then we had a family party at my parents' house on Sunday (his actual birthday).

He got a lot of fun gifts. One of his favorite gifts is the police uniform that my parents gave him. Austin started telling us this summer that he was going to be a police officer when he grows up. He usually flits from thing to thing, so I figured it was the "thing of the week" but he seems to really be into the whole police officer thing.

It is fun (and a little sad) to see how much our little guy has grown up.

Read more...

Car Trip to (Near Nashville) Murfreesboro

The boys and I made a quick (ha!) 7.5 hour car trip to see our friends Kim and David and their 2 boys, Noah and Josh. We officially met Kim and David during our second trip to Russia to pick up our boys although we had seen them several times during our first trip to Russia but didn't realize that they were Americans. It was great getting to know them and hang out with them during our three (long) weeks in Russia. Jacob and Noah are a couple of months apart in age and were in the same class in the orphanage so it is fun to reminisce about our experience. We have made an effort to make the cross country trek to see each other once or twice a year since our adoptions in 2005. We, of course, moved to North Carolina in January and then Kim and David moved from Connecticut to Tennessee this summer, so we are now within driving distance of one another which is great.

Read more...

The Polar Express

This weekend we took the boys to The Polar Express train ride in Bryson City, NC. Our kids LOVE this movie and have probably seen it 30 times. It is a staple during the Christmas season. So, when we heard about this train ride we knew we had to take the boys.

According to the owner of the bed and breakfast where we stayed, approximately 40,000 people ride this train between Nov. 7 and Christmas. Basically you ride on a train for about an hour and a half. All the kids where their pajamas. They read the Polar Express story, sing Christmas carols, drink hot chocolate, and make a stop at the North Pole where Santa gets on and hands out bells (if you have watched the movie, you will know the significance of the bells). The kids had a blast!

On a funny note....we stayed at a fun little bed and breakfast. We had the t.v. on in the room and they were talking about Obama.

Austin said " Obama? What did they say about Obama?"

John remarked that they were talking about him moving into the White House since he is going to be out next president.

Austin replied with "Oh, man! I want to turn him into stone."

I assumed he was mad because they had a little voting thing at Austin's school and he informed us that he voted for McCain and McCain won first before Obama won, (McCain was going to win).

Contrary to what some of you may think, we hadn't ever really talked about the presidential campaign with our kids, so it was funny to hear him say he voted for McCain. I assumed he was mad at the outcome of the election.

At any rate....I said "Turn him into stone....you don't like him?"

Austin replied "No....I mean I want to make him into stone....make a statue of him."

Apparently they have been talking about past presidents, like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, in his kindergarten class and they have talked about statue replications of the presidents, so he figured Obama should have one too since he is going to be the next president. :)

Austin is trying out his new "knife". Purchased at the "As Seen on TV" Cherokee Indian store.

Read more...

Dixie Classic Fair/Halloween 2008/Visit from Nana and Papa

OK...so I just realized that I haven't posted in 2 months, so some of these pics may be a little old. I always have good intentions to post more regularly but I know people don't want to read my blabbering.....they want to see good pics of the kids....and since I don't take near as many pics as I used to........well, that's my excuse :)
Anyway....we have had a busy past couple of months. Austin continues to love kindergarten. He is doing really well and is such a hard worker! We just had parent/teacher conferences after receiving his first report card. His teacher thinks he is doing great. She says that he gets along well with everyone in the class, is so emphathetic towards others, and is "just so sweet." Of course, I was beaming.....especially since some of the difficulties he has had in the past. Jacob likes his preschool as well. His teacher is very structured which is proving to be a bit of a challenge for both he and his teacher :).
In October, we took the kids to the Dixie Classic Fair which is in Winston-Salem, about 30 minutes away from where we live. The kids had a blast feeding the animals and riding the rides. John's parents (aka Nana and Papa) came out to visit over Halloween. Jacob had been asking "When is Halloween?" since the middle of September, so it was definitely a much anticipated holiday. Austin was Optimus Prime (for those of you who aren't familiar with this character....it is a Transformer). Jacob was Incredible Hulk....although he wanted me to refer to him as Smash ( I think that might be some other superhero??). Jacob's preschool class got to wear their costumes to school on Halloween. There is a girl in his class that he apparently doesn't like....according to him "she doesn't like me and I wasn't mean to her." So, on the day he wore his costume he said....we can't wear our mask because this particular girl would be scared. Then he went on to say...."if she is mean to me, I will smash her." Great.....already resorting to violence :). We spent some time at a Pumpkin Bash at our church and then went trick or treating in my parents' neighborhood.
We had a great time with John's parents. They got to see the beautiful colors of fall and we got some great pics of them at the park with the kids.

Read more...

Tonsils out for the first day of preschool

Last Wednesday Jacob had his tonsils and adenoids taken out. He has had problems with sleep apnea and snoring so the doctor decided to go ahead and do surgery to hopefully fix the problem. The doctor told us the recovery time would be about 7 days for a child Jacob's age. I think I assumed Jacob would be in a lot of pain for the first couple of days and then would bounce right back. Although he truly has been a real trooper, (the nurse in the hospital even commented on how easily he took the medicine and how he gulped down four slushies before we left the hospital) it has been a solid week of around the clock Tylenol with codeine and pain issues. The one positive side to the whole ordeal is that my super wild and crazy, independent, "I can do it myself" child has been super cuddly, quiet, and has wanted to be held or be on my lap all the time. I knew he was ready to go to preschool today (he missed the first 2 days) because his strong willed personality has returned with a vengeance. So, he went to the first day of preschool in Mrs. Lisa's class. She is the same teacher Austin had last year. Jacob, as always, arrived to the preschool class in a whirlwind. He announced his presence and acted like he had been attending this preschool forever. His teacher commented that he and Austin (who is more structure oriented) were quite different children. I think she may be in for a ride with Jacob ;).
Austin continues to love kindergarten. I continue to be amazed by the material that they teach kids in kindergarten....I am pretty sure I didn't do most of the stuff until 2nd or 3rd grade. I told John that I won't be able to help Austin with his homework past about the 4th grade :)

Read more...

Off to Kindergarten

Today was Austin's first day of kindergarten at Greensboro Academy. Greensboro Academy is a charter school with a high academic and moral focus. Students have to wear uniforms and it is a very traditional school.

They accept students through a lottery. Austin just got in last week.....he was #32 of about #275 students on the waiting list to get in.

I can't believe that he is old enough to be starting school. It seems like just yesterday he was turning 3 and we were bringing him home from Russia with no English words (and barely any Russian words for that matter).

Where did the time go??? I always thought I would be one of those moms who was like "thank God my child is finally in kindergarten.....finally, a break for me." I quickly found out today that now that the kindergarten goodbye was upon me,

I was much sadder than I thought I would be. I might have shed tears had it not been for the fact that my child was super excited to go to kindergarten and bid me farewell with a wave and a "bye, mom....see ya."

When I picked him up from school, Austin was so excited about his day, his teacher, his new friends. According to his teacher, he did "Wonderful!" I think he is going to do much better than I could have hoped for in kindergarten.









Blackmail for when he is 16 (our little teapot)

Read more...

Ocean Isle 2008

We just returned from our annual family beach trip. We have been going to Ocean Isle since I first started college.....just a few short years ago :). It is always a great time together as family and now that we have kids it is so much fun to watch them playing in the sand and water. 

This was the first year that the boys, especially Austin, wanted to boogie-board. Both he and Jacob would go out (with us, of course) to where it was almost over their head and ride the waves in. I can't tell you the number of times that they both were completely wiped out by a wave, but they were real troopers, would get right back on the board and go again. They loved it! 

This might be the first time in the history of the beach vacations that I didn't get badly sunburned, at least one day during the vacation. Several of us got a little "minor redness" but we have all gotten more skin cancer aware as we have gotten older. 

All the boys (my dad and brother, John, Austin, Jacob, and Riley) went fishing one evening. That was a definitely a highlight for Austin and Jacob. Austin got a fishing rod from his Uncle Josh for Christmas and has been anxiously awaiting his chance to use it. Unfortunately they didn't catch any fish, although Austin had already asked me if I would be able to cook all the fish they were going to catch for dinner that night :).

Grammie & Granddad bought these matching t-shirts for the boys. They say "Who's your crawdaddy?"

Austin, our famous boogie-boarder

The Three Amigos or maybe I should say, The Three Stooges

Jacob, living on the edge with his crazy hair

Read more...

Jacob Is Four!

Jacob just had is 4th birthday on July 7th. I can't believe he is already four. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing home a baby. He is definitely no longer a baby and he certainly has the attitude of a teenager. He can be super sweet at times but he seems to mostly be practicing early for his teenage years. 

We decided to keep his birthday kinda low key this year since he still doesn't have any expectations as far as a birthday party (except that there be cake). He actually got two birthday celebrations ie. two birthday cakes, one on his actual birthday and one the following weekend.  He loved the toys he got as did Austin who is already trying to coerce him into letting him have full reign over the newly acquired toys. Austin is destined for a career as a used car salesman :).

With every birthday there is the dreaded trip to the pediatrician for a check up and shots. Jacob was thrilled to find out he would be receiving 4 shots. He actually was really brave and only cried a little. He weighed and measured in at the 80th percentile which is great (for a future football career). 

Jacob decided to refuse the eye exam. He basically told the nurse that he didn't really want to do it. She tried to persuade him but he wasn't on board with it. "Making" a child read an eye chart is not something that I have experience with, so the nurse said to call if we had any concerns with his vision. I told her there are no concerns with his vision, just his attitude :)

Read more...

Fourth of July Mini-Vacation

John doesn't get much vacation with his new job, so we have to take advantage of every opportunity that he has a day off. So, we decided to head to Myrtle Beach for the fourth. My parents joined us and we had a great time. I was really worried that the beach would be so crowded that we wouldn't be able to walk, but it really wasn't all that bad and the condos we stayed at had several pools and 2 lazy rivers for the kids.

Austin and Jacob LOVE the beach. They woke up each morning and would both run to the window and say "Look...the beach...come see," almost as if they were seeing it for the first time. It was cute. They spent most of their time digging in the sand. They seemed to be more interested in the sand and water than anything else. In fact, when we were out on the beach watching the fireworks, they were playing in the sand and running back and forth to the water. Every once in a while they would stop and look at the fireworks but the fireworks definitely weren't the focus of their attention.

My mom and I spent some quality time at the outlets having a much needed shopping break :). My wonderful husband and father had a ton of patience with us (and the kids) and volunteered to take the kids to a movie while my mom and I continued our shopping extravaganza.

Read more...

Summer Excitement

I can't believe that the summer is nearly halfway over. The boys have been having a blast going to the water park, spending time at Grammie and Grandad's house, going to camp (Austin), and going to gymnastics (Jacob).

It has been super hot here. Maybe it's because I spent the past 6 summers in Colorado (where even though the days are really hot, the nights are cool) that the heat in NC seems unbearable. You don't realize how bad the humidity is until you are away from it for awhile and then return. I remember growing up in NC, I would have friends from other areas who would say "how can you possibly live there....it is SO hot." It never seemed that bad to me. Now I understand where they are coming from. John is slowly adjusting to never getting completely dry when you get out of the shower and not being able to open the windows at night to enjoy the "coolness" of the night.

The boys and I stay cool by spending about three days a week at the water park. We usually meet my sister in law and nephew there and sometimes I rope my mom into coming as well. There are tons of great kids' slides for the boys and they both are very comfortable in the water. Jacob is our daredevil (who incidentally doesn't know how to swim) and Austin is our more cautious one (who does know how to swim).











Ready for a day at the water park


Supposedly we are in a drought but it seems that whenever we do get rain, we get a bad storm. On several occasions it has hailed almost like some of the hail storms we would see when we lived in Colorado. When it rains hard, our backyard turns into a small creek.










Black ice?!? Nope..just a hail storm


This past week, Austin officially became "snaggle tooth." Yes...he lost his first tooth. He was at camp a little over a week ago and got hit in the mouth. Something about a rubber snake and two kids were pulling on it and he fell back or something. At any rate, at the end of the incident, his tooth was loose.
After a week of wiggling, the tooth came out. Of course, Austin was adamant that he get it under his pillow right away for the tooth fairy (we never told him about the tooth fairy....must be a preschool learning activity :) ). The next morning Austin was super excited about the dollar the tooth fairy left him. Jacob came running in saying "The tooth fairy took Austin's tooth. Oh no...he forgot his money." Apparently he didn't completely understand the whole tooth fairy thing. Luckily he has a couple of years to master the concept.

Read more...

On the Brink of Summer

It seems like just yesterday we were moving here from Colorado and I was signing the boys up for preschools here in NC. That's what makes it hard to believe that 4.5 months have passed and the boys had their last day of preschool last Friday. Both Austin and Jacob really liked their preschools and both boys adored their teachers. Austin's teacher was the more firm (but kind) teacher while Jacob's was the more laid back, not so many rules type teacher. Austin is anxiously awaiting starting kindergarten in the fall.
Both boys' preschools had a little end of the year presentation. Austin's class sang some songs, said some verses, etc. and then had a picnic. I was completely amazed to find out that Austin knows the entire Lord's Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and all the disciples names. It is amazing what a good preschool can do. Jacob's class completed the year in cap and gown. They "graduated" to the next class complete with 2008 tassels. It was so adorable. I couldn't believe how well Jacob knew the songs and that he actually stood in one place for about 10 minutes to sing. He was so excited for us to be there...he was beaming (see picture).
For Memorial Day, we decided to go on our first true family vacation. What I mean by that is that we have been on many vacations with John's parents, my parents, our siblings, etc. but never just the four of us. We went to Williamsburg, Virginia and had a wonderful time. The kids were awesome. They were mostly whine-free the entire time and both Austin and Jacob loved all the rides at Busch Gardens (the amusement park we went to). Austin was able to ride his first adult roller coaster....The Big Bad Wolf. Unfortunately, Jacob was about 1/4 inch too short to ride some of the bigger rides, although he was so borderline in height, they let him get on a couple of the rides he probably shouldn't have ridden. They both were daredevils and wanted to try every ride they could. We did some shopping at the outlets in Williamsburg as well. Of course, that was heaven for me and the boys (John included) were real troopers. We can't wait to go back again sometime soon.

P.S......Be forewarned, there are a lot of pictures :)






Jacob's teacher














Austin's teacher









Jacob singing









And singing


























Austin's class

Read more...

Strawberry Picking

I just realized it has been a month since I last posted. I can't believe it is almost summer. The boys only have one more week of preschool left. Austin is already starting to ask when he will get to go to kindergarten. I just turned in all his paperwork for kindergarten this week. I can't believe it is already time for him to start kindergarten!
I have started working some again, so my mom has been keeping the kids some for me. Of course, the kids LOVE grammy! She gives them 2 bowls of ice cream everyday, lets them watch cartoons, plays with them, and generally is a push over as all grandmothers should be :).
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so my mom and I decided to take the kids strawberry picking. I, as well as the boys, had never been so it was a new experience. We all had a blast. Needless to say, we all had strawberry stains all over us when we returned home. I definitely saw the very different personalities of my sons when we were strawberry picking. Austin, the driven, more "follow the routine" child was focused on filling up his entire basket with strawberries. He worked diligently until the basket was full and only stopped a couple of times to eat a strawberry. He decided to take the strawberries to his preschool teachers today. Jacob, my laid back, "do his own thing" child, only ended up with two strawberries in his basket and I am pretty sure he ate about two dozen. He would walk right down the middle of the strawberry patch, lean way over, find the perfect strawberry, pick it, and eat most of it, throw it on the ground, and start the process over.

Read more...