Mother's Day

I had a stomach thing going on yesterday. On Mother's Day. The last time I got sick was on Easter. Hopefully, this is not some sort of holiday sick pattern developing. I was so bummed because I did not get to go to church and watch my kids sing. I heard Ella was so cute and funny. Next holiday, I am starting on extra Vit C before the sick bug hits me! Besides a bunch of hugs, kisses and cards, I got this book. I am a huge fan of Steph*anie Mey*ers and her "vampire" series and I heard this book is awesome. I also was able to finally finish watching Bleak House - my Masterpiece Theatre DVD set that I have had for a month from Net*flix. If you are ever bored and have eight hours to spare-watch this series...it was excellently produced. I was so happy to finally put those dvds back into the mail and now I can await the arrival of Jane Eyre. With stomach flu aside, I loved Mother's Day which started out on Saturday night. Bart took me out for a pre-Mother's Day double date with our good friends, Sarah and Troy. We went to dinner and to see Iron Man-which ended up being pretty good...not sure if it was the movie or being giddy about being on an actual date with my husband-its been about six months.



We won't be doing this much longer. Ella reminded me of that today. After returning some items to a store, I put Ella in her car seat, she yells "hot momma, car to hot"-I am thinking-oh dear, you have NO idea how hot it is going to get, 95 degrees is nothing. Ella told me on the way home that she wants "Mr. Sun to go bye-bye." Some days I can relate.

Kids Are Not Honest...They Are Brutally Honest

Hunter came home from school today and promptly handed me my Mother's Day Card that he made in school. Hunter is ALWAYS my child that can not wait to give me anything. I get my Christmas, Birthday, Mother's Day cards/presents as soon as he can physically give them to me. I have always thought this was so cute and I have always made a big deal out of his thoughtfulness because he is my only child that will write all the "lovey dovey" stuff to me. Well, today the tide shifted in a BIG way. Hunter told me that the teacher told the students to pick 5 things about their mother and write them in the card. Hunter wrote:

1-Right Handed
2-On The Couch Alot
3-Not Yelling
4-Angry Sometimes
5-I Love You

I asked him-What exactly did your teacher tell you about how to pick the five things you need to write about your mom. He told me that the teacher said he had to write five TRUTHFUL things about his mother. So, here is the conversation that ensued:

"Hunter, when do I ever sit on the couch?"

"Every morning when you are too tired to get up and get breakfast for us-you just sit on the couch and tell us to get our own breakfast."

"Oh Yeah, I guess I do that, but how come you said that I don't yell, but I am angry sometimes."

"You always get angry at me when I tell you that parents are not suppose to control their children, but you try not to yell when I can tell you are mad."

I was trying not to bust up laughing because you never know how your behavior is going to be interpreted by your children. But, since we are being truthful-I am not a morning person and my kids love to pull the whole "I heard one time in church that parents are not suppose to control their children" speech on me. Hunter-Thanks for the "truthful" Mother's Day card-I will work on my mommy behavior...I Love You!

L*I*F*E (The Good And Bad)

*SW is coming on Friday for our six month post adoption report-I have to admit that I got a little nostalgic for China yesterday. I was missing our travel group-I miss seeing everyone we spent two weeks in China with...I wish we lived closer. I still can not believe that Ella has been with us for six months.

*I finally found Ella a preschool for next year so I can check that off my list =)

*My allergies are so bad that I am in non-function mode even though I have to function. My body is so tired that I just want to stay in bed. It takes me until about 5 p.m. to wake up-not sure if my allergy medication that I take at night has something to do with it, but I am getting nothing done. Every time we start into summer, I get really grumpy about the fact that I live in AZ...it NEVER rains to clean out the air. The wind has been really bad lately just stirring the junk around in the air (notice what it did to my pool umbrella.) By October, I change my tune and love living here.




















*The ugly side of Little League reared its head against my husband last night at our baseball game. My husband, who is the Manager of my boys team, had our one and only "problem parent" scream obscenities, throw equipment in the dugout and proceeded to unleash his wrath by telling my husband what an "idiot coach" he is. Mind you-our team is in first place in a Little League division that is extremely competitive. This dad is mad at my husband because his 12 year old son is not getting enough playing time. Well, his son stinks at baseball and doesn't deserve the positions he gets to play anyway. Can you tell I am in "Mother Bear" protective mode? Waiting for the Board to make a decision on this dad's discipline and the sad thing is we have the cutest baseball team with the most awesome parents except for this one dad...why does that happen.

Tomorrow I am going to hunker down and watch Masterpiece Theater's presentation of Cranford-nothing can lift the spirits like a turn of the century story set in the English Countryside. I love Jane Austen and growing to love Elizabeth Gaskell.

"Gotch Day" Six Month Anniversary

Where has the time gone? We are celebrating Ella's six month "Gotcha Day" anniversary. Six months ago, a beautiful little girl kept sticking her head around a door to get a peek at her "momma" and "pappa." She was so curious to see us that her nanny kept telling her that it was not time and would bring her back around the door. I will never forget that moment when she was finally brought to us-I knew that she was our daughter who was born a half a world away. Ella has certainly brought so much joy into our home and we are so lucky to count her as one of four wonderful children. We Love You Ella!

Princess Party

I finally got around to updating My Adoption Website-check it out for more pictures:

http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/ourjourneytoella/werehome042408.htm.


Ella attended her first Princess Birthday Party for her friend Ivy. I can only say that the excitement level was off the charts. She had a so much fun at the party and keeps asking me when her birthday is and what kind of party we are going to have. Unfortunately, she will have to wait until November.

"Love Without Boundaries"

Update-I have a few bids in on a couple of items-wish me luck because I keep getting out-bidded-lots of good stuff on ebay.



Ella-My Heart Baby

I know that my blog is new and not reaching too many people, but I am posting this information because my Ella is a "heart baby." Love Without Boundaries is holding its annual "Born in My Heart Art Auction" April 24-29th. All proceeds go to help orphans in China that have serious heart conditions and who are in need of surgery. My Ella was born with a hole in her heart...VSD in medical terms. Ella was not abandoned until she was 5 1/2 months old. I truly believe with all my motherly instincts that Ella's birth parents could not afford her heart surgery and gave her up to save her life. I can not imagine the agonizing decision to give your baby up after bonding for over 5 months. I will be forever grateful for Ella's birth parents for making that decision. Although Ella was able to get the surgery for her heart, she had to wait a long time...almost 2 years after she entered the orphanage at the age of 2.4 years old. Even in a state run orphanage, a charity usually has to step in to help fund any type of surgery. Ella's corrective heart surgery was funded by "Project Tomorrow" and Ella was fortunate enough to be operated on in one of China's premier children's hospitals and by an incredible pediatric surgeon. Heavenly Father has always watched out for her and I know she was blessed with the ability to have this surgery done through this organization. Ella has been evaluated by a cardiologist here in Arizona and her surgery was a success, but the doctor stated over and over that Ella should have had the repair done on her heart much sooner than actually happened. She is healthy, but according to her cardiologist "fought like a solider" to breathe. I already know that my Ella was born with a strong will-she has overcome so much in her little life. Ella is so brave, but it breaks my own heart knowing that she fought so hard to live. If one more innocent child could benefit from this auction-one more life would be helped.

Visit Ebay for details:
http://stores.ebay.com/Love-Without-Boundaries-Store

Read Details from Love Without Boundaries Website:
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/

Subject: Annual Art Auction Begins!"Born In My Heart" Art Auction April 24th - April 29th (Beginning the 24th @ 9:00am PDT) In nearly every orphanage in China, children in need of heart surgery wait to be healed. In an effort to help as many of these orphaned children as possible, Love Without Boundaries began the "Born In My Heart" art auction five years ago. This is an annual event that serves as our special tribute to the miracle of adoption, and also as a fundraiser to help us provide these essential operations to children who need emergency heart surgery. You can help to save the life of a child by taking part from April 24-29. Every penny raised will help to heal precious children and give them the opportunity to grow and thrive, and perhaps even find a family of their very own. So please bid often and bid generously! Auction items will begin to launch at 9am (Pacific) on Thursday, April 24th. Nearly 300 items will be added throughout the day, and the auction will close Tuesday, April 29th (again, with items closing throughout the course of the day). We have some absolutely incredible items this year, all donated by LWB's fabulous supporters! Just a few of the items you won't want to miss are: "Jia: Portrait of Hope" by Leila Ashton: an original oil painting of one of our LWB heart babies, a life-size replica jade burial suit, two giclee prints of "Qi Pan" by Zhao Kailin, personalized digital lifebooks, the most beautiful collection of quilts imaginable (including several "100 Good Wishes" quilts), beautiful paintings (both originals and giclee prints), caligraphy, custom adoption videos, amazing photography, embroidery, gift baskets, jewlery, clothing, heritage items and so much more! You will be able to access our auction from the Love Without Boundaries website homepage at: http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/, beginning April 24th You can also play a part in healing hearts by posting about the auction! If you have a personal or family website or blog, we would be so grateful if you would mention this event, as so many children are counting on us for surgery. Help spread the news that lives can be saved! Thank you in advance for helping to make this year's auction our best ever! Love Without Boundaries Art Auction Committee

"Parenting 101" From Ella

"Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you should or shouldn't have said." Author Unknown

Ella and I were out shopping today and I decided to stop at Decor Unique to find out how much they would charge me to frame a picture. I gave Ella the old do not touch anything-it will break speech before entering the store. We were in there for about 30 minutes in which, my very obedient daughter did not touch anything. She even held my hand so that her hands would not knock anything over. After getting the price for my framing project, I decided to forget that idea and buy these instead.



As I went to pick up the items off the floor, Ella gets this look of horror and panic and yells at me "MOMMA-NO TOUCH! YOU BREAAAAAK IT!" I stopped dead in my tracks and the phrase-"Do as I tell you, but not as I do" came to mind. I knelt down beside her and explained that momma is going to carry them to the counter and pay for them-so that makes it ok to touch them. She gave me that confused look-like the time I tried to explain to her about not yelling up the stairs to get her brothers attention and then me turning around about one hour later and yelling up the stairs to get the Bridger and Hunter's attention. From my little four year old's point of view-I can only wonder what she really thinks. None the less, I got a good laugh and some decorations for house.