Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Cookie Night at Mom and Dad's

1 batch of chunky melted chocolate chips
1 trip to the store
4 dozen peanut butter balls
4 dozen coconut chocolate balls
3 dozen frosted and sprinkled roll out cookies
9 chocolate snowmen
1 lb. white chocolate almond bark
3 chocolate almond disks
4 dozen pecan tassies
2 bottles of wine

need I say more?

Gingerbread Fest 08

Today was our gingerbread house decorating party, and it was very successful. We had a great turnout, 18 people who stayed the whole time, and a couple who stopped in to visit. We had tons and tons of candy, of every shape, size, and color. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and a lot of people asked us to do it again next year. I think it is a really fun pre-Christmas tradition, and it is really easy to host a party in which the guests bring their own snacks and entertainment, and then take everything with them when they leave!

I think we learned a few things this year about gingerbread houses:

-Prebuilt houses are definitely easier and cleaner (but depending on the person, maybe not as much fun)

-A little candy goes a long way

-If you don't twist the bag enough, frosting will come out the top and get all over you

-If you twist it too much, the side may burst, and frosting will get all over you

-Plastic tarps would protect the floor from the inevitable dollops of frosting

-Frosting DOES come out of carpet (phew!)

We uploaded all of the pictures here, but I'll give you a sneak peek!

Great read

If you have the time, check out http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/01/081201fa_fact_cassidy?currentPage=all

We're adopting!

Most of you have already heard that we have begun the process of adoption. We're going to try to clear some things up and answer as many questions ans we can here.

Adoption is something we have always planned on doing, and after pregnancy wasn't working out, we were faced with either testing to try to figure out why, and then possibly fertility treatments, or adoption. Since we always planned on adopting at some point, it wasn't a concept to get used to, and we felt like it didn't make sense for us to force ourselves to conceive when there are so many babies out there. After being a nanny, I know for sure that I can love another person's child as my own.

In the spring we started looking into it and talking about international vs domestic and different aspects of it. I joined an amazing group of women who have adopted, are adopting, or are birthmothers, and getting to see adoption work in so many ways over the last 7 months has been really good. I even got to meet for dinner with a few of them who live close, and we had a blast!

We are working with an agency right in Farmington Hills, so its nice and close! We had our introductory meeting in September. We got our formal application and got it filled out and turned in and started reading one of three required books. We had to attend a class about the adoption process in general, and another about transracial/transcultural adoption. At these meetings we got some more paperwork to fill out. There were papers to send to the state for a background check, directions to a place to get fingerprinted, forms to take to our doctors, and then questionnaires about what we want as far as openness with the birthmom and also the birthmom's mental state and drug use. That way when a birthmom comes in, they talk with her and find out what kind of family she wants, and then look at the waiting families and finds those who are open to everything she wants.

We have already completed the first homestudy meeting with our caseworker (who is very nice!) It was a 2 hour meeting at the agency with both of us. In a couple of weeks we have our second meeting, which is also at the agency, and she will spend an hour with me, then an hour with Eric. The third meeting will be the first week of January, and she will come to our house. This is to make sure that the house is a safe place for a child. For instance, if we lived on a lake, she would want to make sure we would have something in place to keep the baby from falling in.

After we have filled out and turned in all the forms, read all 3 books, and finished all 3 meetings, the caseworker will write her report. Then we make our profile. This is what they show the birthmom. It has a few pictures and a story about us. After that, we wait for a birthmom to pick us! It could take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years from the time we have a completed homestudy, however, we are open to all races and degrees of openness, and we are younger than many families who have come to adoption, so we have been told by a few people at the agency that we have everything going for us.

Our adoption will be domestic, which means the birthmom lives in this country. She will most likely live somewhere in Michigan. The agency mostly does newborn adoptions, but we have stated that we are willing to adopt a child up to a year old.

We are open to any race. Our area and our church are diverse and we are both open to new cultures, experiences, etc. and so we would be willing to embrace the culture and background of any child we adopt. We also have plans to adopt from Ethiopia in a couple of years.

We are hoping for as open a relationship as we can with our birthmother. We would love to have pictures of her and her family, and for her to be around so our child can ask questions about the family past and know the person who brought them into the world for us. Most adoptions now are open, with varying degrees of openness. There's no guarantee that we'll get as open a situation as we'd like but we really hope to.

There is a book called Adoption is a Family Affair; I haven't read it (we have our own required reading!), but from what I've heard it is a good resource for the friends and relatives of an adopting couple because it explains a lot of what goes on. See if your library has it, or its only $11.20 on Amazon and if you spend $25, it ships for free!

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask. We will be updating as we progress to keep everyone in the loop.

Thanksgiving!

On Wednesday night, Larry was in town, so he and Eric went out for guy's night at the bar, and I went to Sam's house for girl's night. We drank wine and hung out, then the boys met up with us. It was nice, we don't get to see Larry very often.

Thursday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, watched the parade, and then got started on the pies and rolls for dinner. I tried a completely new crust this year, it has supposedly won competitions! I made a pumpkin and an apple. We had a lot of extra apples and Uncle Rick can't have pie so I made some applesauce too. 

When we got to Aunt Karen's, Adam and Amy got to work rolling the dough and making the rolls, then there was the yearly Thanksgiving football game. Eric and Adam won the trophy.

Grandpa and I carved the turkey and we ate. Dinner was delicious, as usual!  Amy showed us the Thanksgiving crafts she did in school, and explained how buckskins were like text messages for the Native Americans to talk to each other.

After dinner, we played school and Amy was the teacher. She was a tough teacher too!

We went home and planned the next morning, started the coffee pot and went to bed, because...

.........at 3:30 we got up and went to Kohls! We met my mom there, and of course saw Belinda! We did some shopping, then my mom had to go to work, so we stayed in line to get her stuff and ours. We got a 6 qt crock pot for $10! Its Hamilton Beach so not the best brand but for $10 if it lasts a year we've gotten our money's worth! We grabbed a quick breakfast, then went to get in line at my mom's store to surprise her. We were first in line! Ok, there were like 7 people in the line, but I've never been first before! We got a few gifts for people, and a couple of things for ourselves, then headed out to the mall. We didn't need anything, but it was fun to be in the crazy shopping crowd. We went to Meijer for a couple of things, then back home because Eric had to go to work.

This evening we had Thanksgiving dinner #2 at Eric's parent's house. It was fun to see everyone, Anya and Asia were very cute. 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving dinner #3 at my parent's house. Bring on the turkey!

Cat update

We've heard from a few people that we aren't updating enough on the cats. Maybe its because I'm in denial about how big they are :(

Ian just had his 2nd birthday the last week of October, they celebrated with some yummy wet food and lots of games and snuggles.

Kya and Zoe are almost a year old, and have suddenly had a major growth spurt. They are

 now almost the same size as Ian, and weigh as much as he does! Ian is anywhere from 9.5-10 pounds at any given time, and when we weighed the kittens the other day, they were both 9.5! 

Kiara has stayed her petite little 6.5 pound self, but she suddenly looks teeny since everyone else is so big!

Here is a picture of Ian and Zoe from February 6th. 

And here is Ian and Zoe the other day. (Ian is on the left)

Ian and Kya February 7th

Ian and Kya the other day

And this is Kiara, in her favorite sleeping position. 

Apple Day!

Last weekend we took Adam and Amy to the apple orchard to pick apples, and then went back home and made yummy apple pies! We picked a lot of apples, Adam and Amy were really good pickers! They even went up into the trees to get the best apples! And the pies were so yummy! I know the one that went to our house only lasted a couple of days...

New Job starts Monday!

I am so excited to start my new job on Monday!

I stopped by the new office, it is just across the hall from my old office, and had a chance to meet most of my new team.

The strangest field trip...

David and I read an article in National Geographic Kids a couple of months ago about this place, and then completely forgot about it. Then Leah called on Thursday and said they had just read about it and asked if we wanted to go check it out.

David was really excited, but Kaylee was hesitant. She finally agreed to go as long as I promised not to let a scorpion sting her! The guy was really nice, he answered all of the kids' questions and even showed them what they eat (crickets). None of them were hungry so we didn't get to see them eat, but we saw them walk around, and the glass cases were at the perfect height for the kids, they were face to face! It was very cool. The guy even let the kids try on the magnifying goggles they wear to inspect jewelry. 

The article is interesting, it talks about his previous attempts at live decor. He's a really interesting guy. We asked if they had ever deterred anyone from stealing and he laughed and said "well, we're in South Lyon, so no" but then told us that he also has a store in Maryland that his son runs that had been broken into before, and the case with the scorpions had never been  broken into.

Spare time?

If you have some spare time, check out my new favorite game

http://fantasticcontraption.com

I am stuck on the 4 Balls level

New Job

I finally got an interview for a new position at Trinity and I got offered the job!

I'll be starting on October 13th!

I am excited to have a chance to do more technical work and to get back on a day shift =)

My Thursday night class at Walsh shouldn't be a problem, it's boring anyway thanks to my CCNA classes at WLC.

Do you know where all the states are?

http://www.addictinggames.com/50states.html

My best average error is 5 miles...can you beat that?

*edited to add- I just got 100%!!! Thanks mostly to my dad's states game we used to play all the time

Happy September!

We've heard some reports that we haven't been posting enough, so here's a new post!

We've been pretty busy, the school year started up again and this year I'm working Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but the days are longer this year than last year. David is in kindergarten and rides the bus to and from school. He told me its not as much fun as preschool because "you only get to play for like a minute", but he likes buying lunch there. Kaylee is in preschool and she loves it. They're growing up! :( 

Last week, Eric got baptized! The lighting in the sanctuary isn't great so its a fuzzy picture but thats ok. We had a little luncheon afterwards for some of our close friends from church, it was really fun. I'm so proud of him!

Pioneer Club started up again for the year, and this year, Eric has his own class instead of being just my partner. He has 5 boys ages 8-10, and I have 3 middle school aged girls. I've never taught middle school before so it should be interesting.

Eric has some stuff going on, I'll try to get him to post sometime this week too. And I've been trying a lot of yummy new recipes that I haven't posted on my recipe blog yet, I'll try to get to that.

Freerice

I went to freerice.com last night when I had a spare moment, and they've changed it a lot! Now it isn't just word definitions, they have languages, math, grammar world capitals, identifying famous paintings and chemical symbols, and you can change subjects and levels and it keeps your rice tally.

Also, I think the last time I posted about it, they gave 10 grains of rice for every correct answer. Its been 20 grains for awhile now, and hopefully with more subjects, they'll get more interest and more advertising and can do better!

There are approximately 7200 grains of rice in a cup, so start 'freericing'!

Where did our tiny little kittens go?

Can you tell which of these cats are the kittens, and which is Kiara, the 3 year old rescued stray? (Kiara is the one in the middle, Zoe on the left, Kya on the right). The kittens have gone through a sudden huge growth spurt! It seems like no matter how many times we fill their bowls, they're always empty the next time we go into the kitchen. Instead of scrawny little kittens, they have developed quite chubby bellies. They actually weigh more than Kiara now! (Kiara had a bad life before us, she lived in cage and most likely got less than adequate nutrition, so she is very petite and skinny.)

Kiara weighs 6.5 pounds, and the kittens have already passed 7! They're only 8 months old, they're quickly catching up to Ian, who weighs 10!

We have been posting some videos of the cats to youtube, if you want to check them out here.

This new video of Zoe is particularly cute. Click here.

A successful shower!

Yesterday, Belinda and I threw a baby shower for our friends Shante and Adam. It was so great! We went simple, just a couple of Its a Boy signs, flower bouquets on the tables, and I made little favors with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses wrapped in blue lacey stuff and tied with blue ribbon. We brought some food and some other women from the church made dishes to share. There was a LOT of good food! And instead of silly games, we passed around a book for everyone to write words of wisdom, and also had a blanket that had some stitching and some knotting to be done, and everyone worked on it together. 

Adam wanted a pirate theme for the nursery, so my mom made the cutest pirate cake, and we got a pirate hat and eye patch for Adam to wear at the shower (which he did, he's such a good sport!). Shante got to wear a Mommy To-Be sash and we got her a pretty corsage.  Adam and Shante had a great time and got lots of adorable stuff for baby Jeremiah!

1 year!

Well, we've been married for over a year now! In some ways it seems like we've been married forever, but it also seemed like the past year has gone by so fast and I can't believe its July again! We had a lovely anniversary, we began the day doing the things we love; Eric slept in while I went shopping with Belinda. 

After Eric woke up, we decided we should get it over with and eat our wedding cupcake that has lived in the freezer since the wedding. It was not good. We fed each other a bite, washed it down with lots of water, and threw the rest away. Its a cute tradition, but not a tasty one.

Later, we went to Volare for dinner, and it was sooooo yummy! We started with the Crudo, which was soo good! It was raw tuna with pepper on the outside, and in the center was a pile of avocado, capers, red onions, and some sort of little leaves. Then we had a salad with fresh parmesan, and then the paglia e fieno, which was pasta with chicken, artichokes, pinenuts, and tomatoes in a yummy sauce. For dessert, we ordered creme brulee. The waiter brought it with a lit candle in it and said he heard it was our anniversary, and that someone had anonymously paid for our whole dinner!!! We couldn't believe it! Whoever did that for us, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really made our day!!!

   

   

We went to church, where the teachers have been meeting every other week to clean and organize (which was fun until we found we found chipmunk poo everywhere in the spare nursery and spent most of the evening sanitizing instead of organizing). Eric and Ron built a shelf in the old kitchen for all of the poster board and papers that have been in a giant heavy stack for decades. We're really making a lot of progress, I'm really excited!

After the cleanup my parents took us to Big Boy for dessert, and when we went home they had left a card and a bottle of champagne inside! We didn't get to drink it because Eric had to go to work, so we're saving it for another day.

Year 2, here we come!

My birthday!

Last Friday we went to Bahama Breeze for my birthday! A few people had to cancel at the last minute, but we still had fun. Eric got me balloons and cupcakes from Buttercream Bakeshop, Vlad and Brittney brought me flowers, and Sam got me a musical card and a gift card to Kohls (I got some cute clothes)! 

Bahama Breeze has such a fun summery atmosphere (although Vlad pointed out that it would be weird to eat there in the middle of winter) and the drinks were really good! I had a bahamarita, a pineapple-coconut martini, and a banana daiquiri, mmm! 

           

There is a movie theater right behind the restaurant, so we walked over and saw Wall-e, which was really cute. It was a fun night!

   

    

On my actual birthday, Eric woke me up with coffee and a cupcake with a candle in it. He got me a gps thing for my car!!! Its so cool! Too bad I don't have anywhere far to drive for awhile, but I've been using it on my drives to work! 

My mom had to leave for camp that day so we didn't do my birthday with them yet, but she did bring me a bag of tennis balls!

After church we walked down to the Thai restaurant by the lake and had some yummy food. The carnival was going on so we sat outside and ate and people watched. Then we bought tickets for the ferris wheel, which was SO cool to see Walled Lake from way high up! 

The white steeple in the top right is our church!

We went to my parents for dinner, and my dad made me a lovely dinner of Kana soup (soup from Kana), fish, and tater tots. Then we walked up to Dairy Queen and got some ice cream. They sang to me and I got to make a wish and 'blow out' a spoon standing up in my blizzard.

Well, time to go to Uncle Ricks! Happy 4th of July!

Grad School

I got my grades last night from my first graduate class at Walsh...

I got an A (98%)!!! =)

I signed up for BIT 541 - Electronic Commerce with Professor Ciaramitaro on Monday nights and BIT 551 - Database Warehousing with Professor Calvaneso on Thursday nights.

**Mr. Modest failed to mention that this 98% he just got was the highest grade in the whole class!**

Push ups

I've never actually been able to do 100 push ups at one time. Oddly enough, a few days ago I found the website http://www.hundredpushups.com. It has a 6 week, 3 workouts a week, plan for getting to 100 push ups.

I started on Sunday with the initial test and I was able to do a respectable 50 push ups.

Yesterday afternoon (my Tuesday morning) I completed day 1.
10 push ups - 60 second rest
10 push ups - 60 second rest
8 push ups - 60 second rest
6 push ups - 60 second rest
max - I made it to 30

I am looking forward to seeing my progress over the next few weeks. The program starts slow, but week 4-6 seem really tough...

Eric's graduation

Eco friendly baby

I just found a blog that showcases cute eco-friendly baby items from different websites. Its so cute! They did an entry about baby hats made from cashmere remnants, and kids shoes with recycled laces and recycled tire soles. 

www.greatgreenbaby.com

Poor Kitties

We got Kya and Zoe spayed on Thursday. They came through fine, and when we went to pick them up, our vet called us into the back room and said she wanted to show us something. There they were, laying so quietly together, so calm. She said "I thought you should see this now, since it won't last". She was right. As soon as we got them home and out of their crates, they started pulling at their stitches, so Eric watched them while I ran back up to the vet (luckily its only 2 minutes away) and got some cones for them to wear. They were not thrilled.

They have been healing well. Kya has been a little slower, but maybe she's the normal one, because the same day of her surgery, Zoe was running and jumping all over the place, being her usual trouble making self. Then last night, we noticed that even though she had her cone on, Zoe had discovered a position in which she could still reach the bottom stitch, and it was all puffed up. So this morning we took her back in, and they checked her incision and gave her an even bigger cone! Their stitches have to stay in until the 23rd, and since they keep picking, they're going to have to keep the cones on until then.

For Max (Thanks Aunt Chris)

Lend Me a Kitten

I will lend to you for a while
a kitten, God said.
For you to love while he lives,
and to mourn when he's dead.

Maybe for twelve or fourteen years,
or maybe two or three
But will you, 'till I call him back,
take care of him for me?

He'll bring his charms to gladden you
and should his stay be brief,
you'll always have his memories
as solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,
since all from earth return.
But there are lessons taught below
I want this kitten to learn.

I've looked the whole world over
in search of teachers true,
And from the folk that crowds life's land
I have chosen you.

Now will you give him all your love,
nor think the labor vain?
Nor hate me when I come to take
my kitten home again?

And my heart replied,
"My Lord, Thy Will Be Done."
For all the joys this kitten brings,
the risk of grief I'll run.

I'll shelter him with tenderness,
I'll love him while I may.
And for the happiness that I've known,
I’ll forever grateful stay.

But should you call him back
much sooner than I planned,
I'll brave the bitter grief that comes,
and try to understand.

If by my love I've managed
your wishes to achieve,
in memory of his sweet sweet love,
please help me while I grieve.

When my cherished kitten
departs this world of strife,
Please send yet another needing soul
for me to love all his life.

Author Unknown

A pictorial update on life

We went to Nathan and Serena's wedding, which was beautiful. 

For David and Kaylee's birthday, we took them to Castaway Cafe in Howell.  

We finally planted the garden! All of my starter plants died because they were in such small spaces. I wasn't counting on such cold weather in May. So we had to start again from seeds. We went over there last night and the beans, squash, and zucchini are already sprouted!

Zoe's new favorite pastime, watching things go around and around in the microwave.

My Pioneer Club class at church. For our end of the year project, we made a bookshelf for our classroom. I totally made up the design myself, and I've never built anything before, but it turned out really cute! By the end of this year, I had 8 kids in my class, which was really fun! 

Max 10/24/06-6/7/08

We had to put Max to sleep this weekend. He had a heart condition and developed a blood clot in his back leg. We took him to the animal hospital, where they said they could try to treat it, but then would have to draw a lot of blood and he would have to see a couple of specialists and have to be poked and prodded a lot, and have to take medicine every day, and even after all of that, he would most likely get another blood clot that could cause him more pain and be worse for him. 

We had always said that we would put their needs and happiness before ours, so, as much as we love him, we decided it would be better to let him go before he got even worse. 

We took Ian along for moral support and it really helped both of them. Max went very peacefully and calmly, and I think it was good for Ian too. He seemed to understand, and is coping very well. Luckily he bonded so well with Kiara and loves to play with the kittens, so he's not all alone here without his brother.

Its a little strange not having him around, he was always right at my side, wherever I was in the house, and always greeted us at the door. But he had a good, happy life, and we have a lot of great memories of him.

Happy 1st Birthday Camden!!!

Camden is 1 year old today! What a fast year that was! He's running all over the place now and saying a few words, and is such a happy little guy.

Wow

It is amazing how fast time seems to go by. Since last time I updated a ton of things have happened!

I started working the night shift instead of my previous noon-8:30 for Trinity. I get a bonus for working the off hours, and increased responsibility (I am the only Cerner specialist working the night shift).

I completed my second Associate's degree from OCC Cum Laude!

I completed by Bachelor's degree from Walsh Cum Laude!

I started my Master's degree from Walsh. I am going to be doing the Project Management specialization and I plan to get certified after taking the courses. I am hoping to complete the program by December 2009, but it depends on the schedule of class offerings.

The Memorial day parade was awesome! Jasmine, Jeff, Joann, Kristy (the director), Kristy's daughter and I represented Hospitality House (the local food pantry). Jeff created a costume for 'Cash Man' to educate the crowd on the power of donating cash.


Cash Man came from the idea of Cash vs. Cans. If you were to go out and buy food to donate, you would spend about $1 for each can of food. If you were to donate that $1 to the pantry, they would be able to buy enough food from the food bank to feed 20 people!

Armed with two simple signs, "1 can feeds 1 - 1 dollar feeds 20" and "Donate Ca$h", we walked down the parade route and people were literally holding out $1, $5, and $20 dollar bills. Kids, instead of waiting for candy to be thrown to them, were excitedly donating money to help feed the hungry. We were not expecting such a reaction, all we could was to put the donations in our pockets until we got to the end of the parade. I nearly lost my voice with all of the shouting our message. By the end of the parade, the crowed had donated $342.45!

Our Church called a permanent Pastor a few weeks ago. I took over the role as the PowerPoint master. We have announcement, upcoming events and pictures running before service and the lyrics to our praise songs during service. Also, we started work on our website, we don't have much up yet, but go ahead and take a look.

We've owned our Condo for slightly more than a year now!

Our 1 year wedding anniversary is just a little more than a month away!

In a little less than 3 more months, I'll have been with Trinity for 1 year!

Time for me to get back to work, I will really try hard to update more often.

Eric's birthday

I could wait for Eric to post about his birthday, but it might be awhile.

On Saturday night we went out with his best friends, Vlad and Larry, and Vlad's girlfriend Brittney. They went out to dinner while I babysat, and then I met them at 5th Avenue in Novi. I was the driver so I didn't drink, except for one shot called a Jolly Rancher that was really good! I don't know what was in it but when Larry ordered it he asked for the girliest shot they had. It tasted like the strawberry jolly ranchers!

I don't even know what all of the drinks Eric had were, but the first picture below is of the guys doing a Jagerbomb, which he said he really liked.

Happy 6th Birthday Anya!

Veggies!

My seeds are sprouting! I have 3 burgundy bean sprouts...all growing at different speeds for some reason...one is really tall, I'm very proud of it. All of my brussels sprouts sprouted, a bunch of little beet plants, 2 yellow summer squash, 2 zucchini, just 1 spinach for some reason, and 2 of my 12 sugar snap peas are just now starting to sprout...I don't know what is taking them so long.  And no peppers yet. :( but all the other things are doing really well!  Oh and the salad mix became a victim to the cats, who decided to learn how to get on top of the fridge right after I planted. 

Ok, the top right are my burgundy beans, the egg carton below it are brussels sprouts, top next to that is yellow summer squash, below that is zucchini, top next to that is beets, below that is spinach, the egg carton on the bottom is the sugar snap peas. 

How cute are they! I can't wait until they grow veggies!

Zoo pictures

Leah sent me the pictures from the zoo and they came out really cute! From left to right Kaylee, Thomas, David, and Ella.