2-4-6. Wait, Six?!? What the hell!!!

Okay, so I'm a schmuck and don't update the blog very often.  After enough "You're not going to do its" I don't know if I'm doing it because I finally have enough saved up to say or if I'm just tired of my wife judging me.  I mean, does it mean I don't love my family just because I'm not giddy about blabbing every single night to the the six people in the world who read this and know us.  Whadevah.  See!! while I'm writing she even told me I'm a schmuck. 

Little D is sick.  Again.  Again.  Again.  I swear if I go the rest of my entire life and never ever hear the words "ear infection" again I will, well, I just won't be hearing those words but you get my drift.  She is a trooper however and was running around the driveway playing Bocce ball and barking orders at the others and giggling at her brother and sister as well as the neighbors' kids while they ran around through the wacky sprinkler like little cracked out monkeys.

The time waiting to travel is not moving very fast and I am losing my patience.  Well, I didn't really have any to begin with, but now I have any less.  They won't take him from me just because of the nasty vibes I'm sending the home country's government will they?  Grrrrr.  We did finally get the mother in law to finish one of the gifts to go in little H's care package and we are ready to send that off to him.  I hope he likes it and doesn't throw the stuff down thinking "what kind of crap are these losers sending me?  I mean, who likes toy trucks anyway?"

Six.  I swear she was just born last week.  On the way home from school today T said in her sweetest (still not that sweet anymore) voice, "Daddy, I don't want to go to first grade because I want to have Mrs. B. again next year." Well I had to 'splain how that was not possible, especially considering that her saint of a kindergarten teacher is retiring and will most certainly not be anyone's teacher next year.  But the part about her not going to 1st grade, I'm right there with ya babe.  SLOW DOWN.

We had at least three hundred other 3-6 year olds over for the birthday party.  Next time I will just take a bath in pig's blood Carrie style and jump into a tiger cage at the zoo, or perhaps a shark tanl.  Either one would be less painful and certainly less interminable.  The little professor enjoyed it though which is all that mattered.  If anyone is shopping for any princess Barbies of any kind and finds the shelves empty any time soon, don't fret, they're all at my house (at least until I can find a way to "accidentally" give them away).

Well, at least the Sox have clawed back to being tied for first in the East and that's something to be happy about coming into the June swoon.  'Course we're gonna suck again until the middle of July.  At least I can hope until then that they will still be around in October.  I know the Mrs. doesn't really care about baseball and would rather me not yap about it in the blog, but since she isn't writing tonight, it's not really her say. 


It's HOT here already.  I truly feel sorry for those idiots living in the swampy south right now, but I suppose to each their own.  I hate summer because I don't like mopping up my skin as it melts from my bones, but I must admit that the feeling of the early summer sun as I walk out in the afternoon does remind me that it is vacation time.  For everyone else.  Those of us planning to travel to places distant and foreign to retrieve sweet little cherubs don't really have that luxury.  We are trying to find something to do because the aforementioned monkeys do deserve something.  Banana farm perhaps?  We'll see.

Wowzers what a Weekend!

What a whirlwind weekend in our world.  It started off on Thursday for me.  I left work and headed to my mother's house to help her with a "project."  We worked hard Thursday night and most of Friday, and then I left her house and headed home (a 2+ hour drive) to get ready for our first ever yardsale.  Saturday started EARLY (after Friday ended LATE) and the yardsale experience was interesting.  I am not sure what is a good outocome, but we did alright.  It was a neighborhood yardsale, and my neighbors where kind enough to give us their leftovers for our next fundraiser that we already have planned.  I was walking back home after speaking to the neighbor, carrying D with T walking along.  As we crossed the street, I hurried T along and she walked right in front of me.  And what happened????? I tripped, holding D and fell onto my knees, D flying out of my arms and landing on the pavement hitting the back of her head.  It was horrible!  No blood, but still, I threw her (not really) into the car and headed to the ER.  2.5 hours later & a CT scan, it was confirmed that D has a head as hard as her mother.  THANK goodness for that! SO, we decided that what money we did make will likely go to our ER & Dr. copays.  Lovely.  On a side note, I LOVE our neighborhood, we have the best neighbors, and I never want to leave.
Today S build a garden box with the help of a different neighbor, while I recovered from being too tired and now sore.  We got T & P moved around and they are officially roomies again, which makes them so happy.  S is quite handy and built a loft bed for T, and P is situated perpendicular to his sister.  Maybe I will actually get around to getting a picture!
I bought a couple things for H's first care package.  All I am waiting on now HINT HINT is the most important part!  Each of my children is blessed to have a special fabric photo album with all of their family printed on fabric and shown together is a perfect little plush book.  H must have one too, there is only 1 problem...GG makes these, and well, she has progressively needed longer and longer to create one!!! (love ya Ma)  So I figure, really if we wanted H to get said book before he came home, I likely should have mentioned it to her when we filled our pre-application out with our agency!!  She has been putting a rush on it and putting all of the words in Hangul too, and I am quite grateful.  I know H will love it, and he's a C already (even though he may not understand that) and that is part of the deal.  So, as soon as that sweet book arrives, it will be off to Korea.  Another week has passed and that is 1 closer to getting H home. Whew! I'm tired just talking about it.  Time to sleep.  Another busy week, with a luau celebration this coming weekend for T's birthday.  I guess staying busy does help make time move quicker.

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     We got our first "update" about #6, to now be known as H.  It was only pictures, but pictures is all.I.need!  And so many pictures, so, so many pictures.  You may remember about a month-ish ago, H was moved to a new foster home.  I was so sad for him and his 1st foster mom.  I had wondered what would come of the pics that were taken (if any) when he was with them.  I know now...I HAVE THEM!!!!!!  A huge stack of pics of H from what appears only 1-2 months old, through his 100 day celebration, and beyond!  Plus, a new picture of him with his new fostermom.  He has grown, and is even cuter, if that were possible.  He got a haircut so no more crzay hair, which caused S some pause (not really).  He still has fat cheeks and plump little lips, so adorable.  There are some pictures with what appears to be his first foster dad, foster sister, foster mom and another baby, maybe a girl also placed in that house?  I don't know, I would love to though, maybe she is matched with someone in the US.
      I want so much to share H's picture, I mean he is SOOO cute, everyone should have a chance to see him, but our agency has asked us not to, and I understand.

Sorry for those of you who will have to wait to see him, but trust me, he is WORTH the wait!

Big accomplishments

S graduated this weekend, earning his Bachelors.  This was no small feat, he began long before he knew me, or ever imagined having 3 (almost 4) children.  Things didn't go quite as planned the first time around (read: too much fun, not enough studying!).  Anyway, in 2006, he returned to the same school and started where he left off.  Really, a lot of his previous classes didn't count, he had to get special permission to return so he basically started almost from scratch.  I say this because 5 years later, he not only graduated with honors, but was asked to speak at commencement representing the "adult degree program."  With all that we have going on from day to day, it is an understatement to say I am proud of him, he is amazing!  Now, I know he is already eyeing a Master's, but I think our plate could use to be a little emptier for a little while!!

In other news, Happy Mother's day to all of those out there that fill the maternal role for someone (kid at home, one still being waited for, still incubating, or out and about on their own, etc).  I won't say this was my best Mother's day, but I am greatful to be a mom and that is enough.  I am thinking mostly of #6's birthmother today, and of those who are celebrating their first Mother's Day. 

Happy Mother's day to my Mom and Mother in Law, I mean, you guys did contribute to the fabulousness that is S & I!!!

ps: A special thought for those of us who learned this weekend that our journey to our babies in S. Korea may be even more delayed...not the news one should receive, this weekend, or at all.

Cute kid quotes

Today was a long day.  So you can imagine how happy I was to see my sweet children when I left work.  To make it even better, when I met them at the grocery store, they all came running and callign "Mommy, Mommy!!"  So sweet, I love it. 
When we left the store, P decided he would ride home with me.  Once in the car, P said, "Mommy, you know why I wanted to ride with you?"
Me: No P, why?
P: Because I am so in love with you!
Me:  Oh, thank you P, I am in love with you too.
P: Does your heart go bump, bump like mine?
It does now P, it sure does now.

Later this evening as the kids were just finally getting into bed, T had brought a library book up to read in bed.  A few minutes later, I hear hysterical crying coming from her room.  When I went in, she told me through huge tears that she had checked a CHAPTER book out!  Oh, the horror!!! She went on to say that the librarian told them the "chapter" books were for 3rd graders only.  She said, "it was an accident!  Can you tell (librarian) that it was an accident and I didn't read ANY of it!"
Oh T, my sweet goody goody, so worried that she would be in trouble for checking out a book that was a little beyond her reading ability.
I reassured her that she could read it, and that she should try.  I also promised her I would email the librarian adn let her know what had happened.  20 minutes ago she called out to me to see if I had received an email answer!
So adorable!

The sweetest soul

My children are all so sweet and regularly surprise me with the sweetest statements or actions.  Monday was my birthday, and I came home to find sweet cards made by T, P, & D.  In fact, they were each wearing a good bit of marker all over themselves! 

Today, on the way to drop T off at school, she asked if we would go to the beach this summer.  I told her I didn't know b/c we are trying to save money for our trip to Korea.  She asked if it cost money to go to Korea and the beach, and I explained about airfare and hotels costs, gas prices, etc.  She thought for a minute and said, "Mommy, I will share my money with you to help bring "#6" home."   She is so sweet!! I told her that we want her to save her money for herself and she replied, "how about just a little bit, some coins?  That will help with getting him home, right?"
oh course is will, sweet girl!

She is such a kind, caring thoughtful kid.  I love watching her look out for her siblings, and listening to her learn about the world around her, asking question after question.  She will be 6 soon, and I just can't believe how quickly the time has gone.

Thanks miss T for being such a joy in my life everyday.

Prints, Play and Pals

This was a great weekend!  We headed to NOVA to attempt an early walk in for our fingerprint appointment.  Being 3 hours from the fingerprint office made this a bit of a gamble, but we were headed to that side of VA anyway, so might as well get them done!  It was uneventful, minus half way there when I realized that they had my name WRONG on the appointment letter.  Complete.freak.out.moment.  Two phone calls later I was assured that #1 USCIS had it correct and #2 the Application Processing Center would correct it.  Um, wrong.  Thanks to a pin in one finger, my prints were slightly harder to capture than the average hand.  I mentioned to the lady that my name was wrong, and she said she would fix it, but after 15 more attempts at my finger, she accepted the rejected print and hit submit.  When I pointed out she hadn't made the name fix, she said "no problem, don't worry about it!"  Boy, I hope so!!  So, we shall see.  I made a point to email NBC and let them know in hopes that it will all work out.

In other weekend events, my parents kept T, P, & D so Stephen and I could catch Beauty & the Beast (Broadway version).  A lot of driving but all in all totally worth it.  There was an interesting character sitting next to us, not sure I should say much else about that!  We got back to my parents late, and turned on the TV to relax.  They get 2 other the air Korean channels!!  So we listened to a little K-pop music countdown before drifting off passing out.  D was up nice and early, screaming as if her arms were being severed with a dull kitchen knife, so cake for breakfast to celebrate D and my sister's birthday (which they share and had passed more than a week ago)!

Saturday night we went to dinner for a friend's birthdays.  This is one of our closest, dearest, most fabulous friends, A, and they were kind enough to wait to go out until after we were back in town.  Dinner was amazing, our closest friends were all there, including a couple we haven't seen in months since they moved away.  Again, late night, totally worth it.  Oh yeah and a HUGE thanks to our friends, R & P, for keeping all 3 of our rugrats cherubs, so sweet!

Fhew! I am tired just writing it.  So today I was barely coherent, but we did go through toys and get a ton of stuff for the upcoming yardsales.  Speaking of which, we brought so much home from my parents, sister and sister's friend, it was almost a hazard to the kids packed all around them.  Thanks to all of them for that too!!!!

We got to show off #6 to our friends at dinner on Saturday, and share his name.... Yes, we have FINALLY decided (I think).  S is sure, but continue to call him by his Korean name and think I probably always will.  Oh and my kids are learning some Korean words and tonight P kept saying "when I say Omma, I am talking to you mommy!!!!"  Love it!

Ok, fingers crossed for good fingerprint report and fast I-600A approval.