Hannah and Piper....

Knock your socks off excitement....

Our driveway....

Well, there you have it. Our driveway.
We normally have cold, snowy, icy winters here and today's high temperature is in the upper 50's. Unheard weather for this time of the year. So all of the snow (on the driveway)has melted and has left us a really icy driveway. Darr gets to have fun sanding it :)

The itsy, bitsy spider...

TV....

When Chloe was little she watched tv. I guess no more then any other kid. She was also firmly stuck to my side.

Hannah watched a lot of tv, mainly SpongeBob (who isn't all that bad if you watch it). I believe it was a "coping mechanism" for her, a way to just escape her anxious little world.

Dillon came home from Guatemala stuck to the tv, the Disney channel. I couldn't change that right away, it was the most familiar thing to him here (just no Spanish). As time went on I began to notice that Dillon was too busy to watch tv. So I SHUT IT OFF. Dillon watches next to NO tv. Very rarely do I turn it on for him. I'm not against tv by any means and have NO plans to get rid of it, but the kids just don't need it. He is aloud to watch tv at the grandparents houses, preschool or really anywhere except home...where he spends most of his time.

Something else happened when I stopped turning the tv on....the girls didn't turn it on either. I don't think they could even tell you what's on at any given time of the day. They do watch tv while getting ready for school (about 30 minutes). That works for us. They usually watch the Duggars or American Idol or America's Funniest Videos and that's it for the day. What else is great, is they DON'T miss it. They don't ask for it to be on.

Just last night I heard on some news show that parents who place restrictions on computer time for their kids, have kids who naturally use the computer less. About a month ago Darr installed NetNanny on our computer. To put it nicely, NetNanny is a pain in the BUTT. BUT we have no worries about what the girls are "seeing or reading" online. Yes they complained because they couldn't go to many sites that are actually ok for them, but we were able to override the Nanny and allowed them, but they had to get one of us to do that. Everything is password protected. Now who would've guessed, but it is rare that they use the computer anymore. We have approved all of their favorite sites so the computer really hasn't changed that much other then they must sign in......other then the restrictions have been placed.

Now to get them to clean their rooms!

The pictures above are Dillon watching tv. Hannah was on the couch sick, so I felt it was an ok time for the tv to be on.

He didn't even know his picture was being taken. This was a true treat for him....and us. He was completely still!

It was bad....

Monday evening I:

cooked dinner

ate dinner

washed Hannah's hair

felt really bad

discovered I had low blood sugar

ate a rice krispie treat

still had low blood sugar

almost paniced

ate skittles

I knew nothing was helping

I threw up.

I threw up for hours and hours amoung other sickly bodily functions. Some how my blood sugar came back up. At the time I really didn't care. I'm just starting to really feel better.

I thank my sweet kids for sharing this.

(Truth be told, I'm so glad I got the worst of it).

Sorry, no pictures...it was bad.

Some days...

you just need a nap...

True love????

I wasn't sure how to title this post. While Kolby (the dog) loves these kittens, they tend to "push it" a bit. I have seen Jaggar (the orange kitten) use Kolby's leg as a climbing post. They bite him, they chase him and sometimes the won't let him drink out of HIS water dish. Jaggar has even dumped the water dish. Piper mostly just wants to lay with him, which sometimes isn't so bad. Kolby does "play" with them and he does his best to keep them clean.

Yes, true love.

The stomach bug part 2 & 3....

*******

Illness Update:

Chloe is now asleep but fine. Dillon got out of bed around 10am after a nap. He refused to take a bath. So other then the vomit in his hair you would NEVER know he was sick. He is happily riding his bike with his ipod around the house.

Do I dare say we are over this? If so, we were SO lucky.

*******

Well, as expected the stomach bug has moved on. Last night around 6 Chloe started throwing up. She was "done" though by midnight. So, it's getting shorter by the kid.

Dillon threw up during the night. He is still in bed, now sleeping. Poor kids. I'm hoping Dillon will be over it even faster then the girls.

D-Day......

Today is D-Day....Dillon Day.

Two years ago today Dillon's feet hit American soil. Well not really. They hit carpeting in the airport. His feet didn't touch American soil for a LONG time because he wouldn't....snow, grass, concrete, sand, etc. he wouldn't walk on. He was probably carried all the time in Guatemala. Of course he has overcome that.

Now he is a VERY active 3.5 year old who loves trucks, tractors, fruit and talking...non stop. He attends preschool 2 days a week, which he loves and has made lots of friends.

When dining out he addresses the server by their first name and loves to chit chat with all that pass by.

He's still a very picky, but healthy eater, fruit still being his favorite. He is a candy "junkie" however he only gets candy on special occasions, like at Meme and Papa's house and Don and Karen's (our neighbors).

Dillon has grown about 7 inches and has gained 12 pounds in these last 2 years.

He is so full of life, doesn't have a mean bone in his body and we love our boy dearly!!!!

WE are so lucky to have you.


January 15, 2009
D-Day 2009
http://hanksadoption.blogspot.com/2009/01/d-day.html

The stomach bug has hit....

Hannah's home sick today:( Yesterday she was sent home from school. She is feeling better though. I'm hoping nobody else gets it!

Tomorrow is D-Day.....

And he's off.....

Dillon's all ready for preschool....which he LOVES!

Icicles...

It's still cold here....in case you were wondering. But it is winter :)

AND:

Great-grandmother Dolly, we are SOOOO glad you are feeling better and back home enjoying life.

Mark, Amy and SWEET Sydney, we had a great time out with you ALL last night. It made our night to know that little baby Sydney is feeling so much better (by the way, how'd the night go?) We can't wait for $.05 wing night. Let us know!
AND
How could I almost forget to thank Meme and Papa for watching our kids!!! Thank you so much for all you do. Every good parent needs a night (or two) out :)
While I'm at it I guess I'll thank Amy's mother too for watching their son Chase.

A new chapter....

Today was Darr's official first day of WORK!! For the last 2.5 years he has been going to college to become a Registered Nurse. It is now going to pay off. Yay Darr....a paycheck! Our lives are going to change.....my plan is for the better (NOT that life was bad). No more having Dad home so much which means more for ALL of us to do. Hint, hint Chloe & Hannah? But that's okay....remember the paycheck?

***Just a side note: I updated Blogger and it no longer has spell check. Why they got rid of that I'll never know. I'm not the best speller so.....***

God has answered our prayers...

He's asleep....

Here is Dillon after church today. He was up by 5:30 this morning, so I knew he would need a nap...even just a short one. Once he wakes up and eats lunch, we'll head over to Meme and Papa's house. His favorite 13 year old cousin will be there along with his favorite uncle and friend.

ON earth....

Sledding.....

Darr's been taking the kids "sledding" after school. They absolutely LOVE this. They might get more out of it if they, oh, I don't know....WALKED UP A HILL AND SLID DOWN??...at least they're outside having fun!

Unfortunate...

http://www.opendoorsorphanage.org/

It is so unfortunate that adoptions in Guatemala were stopped. I hope those involved are able to see this. Unicef....shame on you.

Are those really Hannah's legs?

Why yes, they are. More to come....

Pink....

Yes, Dillon's mittens are pink.

Yes, Dillon has black, gray, blue and red mittens.

Yes, I'm the one responsible for putting pink mittens on my son.

Yes, Dillon protested.

Yes, they are much better mittens then the others.

Yes, I was just thinking of his hands.

Yes, LL Bean and Lands' End have perfected mittens.

NO Walmart hasn't!

That's why Dillon is wearing pink mittens :)

When you're a boy, it's tough when your hand-me-downs are coming from your sisters!!

Introducing.....

Darr, the graduate RN

Dillon had nothing to do with this "look".  He was a really good boy at this. He listened to his ipod and practiced buttoning Meme's sweater.

Waiting....

for Dad's Pinning Ceremony to start at his college!

More pictures soon....very soon....maybe tonight :)

The storm is over....