Made the News....

Our family made the news......
well for our small local city we did as readers of the week...

http://www.goshennews.com/news/files/2006/8/8-20-2006/news3.html

Check it out.

First Day of School....Back to Work

Yesterday was the first day of school. Morgan is now a fifth grader. It was also my first day back to work. I was ready. I got a new bus this year. YEAH! The day before school started I finally found a babysitter for Olivia too. LOL-nothing like waiting until the last minute to arrange childcare, huh? Funny thing was, I was not even stressed about it. I had some temporary care set up but I must have known that God had it all under control. She will be going just a few houses up the road from us and staying with a couple that are "grandparents" and are going to be babysitting for just a small handful of children. She will only be there 3 hours a day.

Last weekend was my 20th class reunion. UGH! It is hard to believe that I have been out of school longer than I was in school.

This weekend Evan and Katie both leave for college. Evan will only be 50 minutes from home but we leave on Sunday to move Katie about 4 hours from home. I am excited for her but I am really going to miss her. I think she is really starting to get nervous.

After we get back from taking Kate down to IU I got a summons for Jury Duty. Now, I have never had to do jury duty before and I think it would even be interesting to do. BUT, this is a really bad time. Our school had 7 bus drivers quit this summer and they are still 3 drivers short, so this is a bad time for me to have to take off for jury duty. Hopefully I will be able to get out of it. Right now I would rather be driving my bus. They can call me up again in January when I am really sick of all the kids and would like to have some time off. ;)

New Member

While at the fair this year, one of the booths in the commercial building was the Humane Shelter. Morgan loved looking at the pictures of the animals in this booth and fell in love with a dog named Riley. She was a black lab. Well, she started in on mom and dad. Dad caved first (took very little work cause dad loves labs). We ended up at the Humane Shelter filling out an application for Riley and found out someone already had a hold on Riley and a couple days later found out that the family did indeed want Riley. Morgan was heartbroken, but decided she had 3/4 of the battle won because she had gotten mom and dad to agree to begin with so all we had to do was find another dog. We found another older, housebroken, somewhat trained lab in South Bend at another shelter. They said we could come and look at her that day and since we were approved at one shelter we could even take her home that same day if we liked her. End of story...Morgan liked her.... meet Sadie....

Olivia's Dedication

Last Sunday we had Olivia's dedication at church. She would not let our pastor hold her but when it was over she did lean over and give Pastor Chris a big kiss. It was pretty cute.

Bittersweet Day

Today was a very bittersweet day for poor Morgan. It was the day of the auction for her goat. She did very well at the auction and her goat sold for over $300. But later in the day she went to feed him for the last time and he had already been loaded and was gone from the barn. I found her half way between the barn and the camper in tears. She said "I just want to go home NOW! I don't want to be at the fair anymore!" She cried all the way home and was quite heartbroken that she didn't get to say goodbye and that he was actually gone.

Livi hanging out at the auction with grandma. She just wants to leave and go find something to eat!

Livi loves rides...

We let Livi ride some of the rides on Kiddie day. I didn't buy her a all-you-can-ride wrist band because I didn't know if she would like the rides. We have not been able to get her to ride the penny horse at the grocery store yet. So I opted for tickets and figured Morgan could take her on a few and see how she would do. Well, she loved them. She rode the cars, the tea cups (not her favorite), the train and the carousel. The cars were her favorite. She kept signing for more when she was done.


She also had a blast climbing all over the tractor/lawnmower display too. Man it doesn't take much to entertain this kid and this entertainment was free!!

Here she is hanging with cousin Nolan at the fair. He is too little (only 9 months old-and yes he is about the same size as our peanut Livi) to go on rides. Maybe next year Livi can take him. :)

Seal Shows and Goat Shows

One of the highlights of the fair this year is the seal show. We have watched it twice. There are four seals that do a really cute show. After the show you can get your picture taken with them. Morgan and her buddies (the twins Alexis and Kelsey) got to pose with Minnie, Alicia and Zoe. They actually rested their heads on the girls heads and shoulders.

On Monday Morgan showed her goat, Scooter. She got 4th place in the Showmanship class (where they judge her skills as a showperson) but her goat did not do so well in his class and got last place in the market class. (I think we may have entered him in the wrong market class-oops mom and dad's mistake). Her goat though was very tame and walked very well. Last year she showed two girls (one was the mother to Scooter) and they were not very tame-she did not work them enough-and she had a real rough time with them in the ring. Now we just have to get through the auction on Friday. I think it will be a tough day for Morgan. She loves her little goat and won't be too happy to see him go.

Have you been watching America's Got Talent???

.....well Morgan has and there is an 11 year old girl on the show named Taylor Ware that is a yodeler. She taught herself to yodel and she is the National Champion. She is also one AWESOME singer. That girl can belt out a song like none other. They have not even begun to show her singing talent on the America's Got Talent show. Anyway, on to my story. On my way to the very first day of the fair and what do I hear on the radio but the announcement that the one and only Taylor Ware was going to be performing at our fair that very day!!! When I told Morgan you would have thought Garth Brooks was gonna be there (she said Garth who??). We got front row benches to the show and after the show Morgan got an autographed CD and this.....

I AM STILL HERE!!!

Sorry I have not posted for so long. I was gone for three days at Indiana University for orientation for Katie. That was pretty exciting. Evan went to a small college and didn't have an orientation like this. Katie picked a school that has a population of 38,000 kids. That is 4 times bigger than our town than we live in. The campus is beautiful though. She is really excited to be moving down to school in less than a month. I am excited for her too.

After we got home we packed up the camper and moved it out to the fairgrounds. Morgan has a goat that she is showing at the fair. This year after being on the waiting list for 7 years we got a camping spot. That means we have been living at the fair all week. We actually have two more days out there but I came home tonight for more clothes and to regroup. The next several posts will be pictures of our adventures at the fair......Enjoy

Making Progress

We are making progress. Today Ollie had her 3 month check up and has gained 2 pounds! She is up to 20 pounds!! LOL She has also grown one inch so she is now 32 inches. Still our little peanut. I was sure she would have gained more than that, but not so. She is in the 10 percentile on the height chart and not anywhere close to touching any line on the weight chart but the doc is not worried. Said she is just gonna be our little peanut.

She had her third speech session and the therapist said she is making progress. It is hard for me to tell cause I am with her everyday. She does try to say more words but they are just the first sounds of the word and normally only those of us in the family can tell what she is trying to say. The therapist said that is a start and it is great.

We went to the Toledo Zoo this past week. It was a good time with only a little rain. Livi is not as impressed with the animals as I thought she would be. Probably because they are too far away from her. She oohs and aahs for a second and then is ready to move on. I think the fish in the aquarium impressed her the most.

Morgan the engineer

This past week Morgan bought a "kit" at a garage sale. It was a roller coaster that had to be put together. She thought it would be a great project for her and dad to do. Little did she (and dad) know that it had about 5,000 parts and would take about 15 hours to put together. But since this was a long holiday weekend they got started and tonight finished the project. Here she is with her "cool" roller coaster. In the first picture you can just make out the little purple car making its way down the hill towards the loop. Now she wants a job at Cedar Point. LOL!

A true American kid finally!!

Well we can finally call Olivia a true American kid. She finally decided to taste macaroni and cheese and like mama knew she would she loved it!! Now if we could just get her to try pizza.

AHH Picnic

This past weekend Morgan, Olivia and I made the trip south to Kentucky for our adoption agency's annual reunion picnic. It was their 10th anniversary so it was even more special for them. There were over 1300 people there. They catered in food, had free cotton candy, snow cones and popcorn. They also set up several inflatable rides (bouncy rides, slides etc.). My travel group The Lovebugs set up several canopies so that we could all hang out together and visit and see our girls and how much they have changed. It was so neat! I can't believe how much the babies have changed in the last 3 months. Allison our guide from China was also there. It was great to see her again. She gave me a big hug and about knocked me over she was so happy to see me.

Olivia hanging out at the picnic.

Some of the cool rides at the picnic.

Olivia and her buddy Ava.

Ava's mommy and daddy passing out goodies.

Some more of our cuties hanging out at the picnic.

This is Allison our Chinese guide with another friend of mine and her daughter.

Pretties...

Today Olivia got some pretties (earrings). She didn't actually mind the piercings. It was when the lady put the rubber gloves on that she went ballistic. I am pretty sure she thought she was a doctor. She started screaming. Now she walks around pointing out her pretties, mommies pretties and Morgan's pretties (Morgan got her ears double pierced). Now hopefully mommy doesn't get kicked out. Daddy didn't want this. He thinks I should wait until she is old enough to decide for herself. I have always thought little girls are adorable with pierced ears. Well I told him I waited with the first two girls, this time I got it my way. That conversation was a month ago. Hopefully he remembers it. :)



PS: The spots around her eyes are a bug bite and scratch from camping this weekend. The bug bite almost swelled her eye shut.

3 Month Anniversary

WoW! Four posts in three days. It must be a record for me. LOL!

Today is the three month anniversary of the day that they placed Olivia in my arms for the first time. It is really unbelieveable to me. It seems longer to me. It feels like she has been in our family longer than 3 months. Do we get to count the time we were waiting for her???

She has changed so much in the last three months though. I can hardly remember the little girl we brought home. I think she has even changed in her pictures. She seems older. Maybe she has become more self assured and confident or something, but she seemed so lost and helpless in those early pictures. Now I see a little imp.

Today she was a little stinker. Days like today remind me why I may be too old to have young children. It seems like she has a day once and a while when she gets into everything. AND I MEAN EVERYTHING!!! I was busy trying to clean and everytime I turned around she was getting into something that she wasn't suppose to. I think she can tell when I am not focused on her and she does this on purpose. I was ready to scream and pull my hair out. By the time it was bedtime tonight I was exhausted. I had yelled and snapped at her, she got swatted and I even smacked her hand once before the day was over. None of it phased her a bit. Oh, when I swatted her (diapered) butt, she looked up at me and stuck her elbow up and said "Owie" and wanted a kiss. Then ran off laughing. She really knows how to distract me and get my attention on something else. Little stinker!! I think she was growing horns today. UGH! But at bedtime she grabbed my face with both of her hands and gave me a big kiss. Okay, I forgive her and it was all worth it...again.

Post #3 Today-Weekend Camp Trip

This weekend we had a church camp out. Olivia was in her element. She LOVES to be outside and to be able to virtually live outside for two days was just about heaven for her. She got to experience a campfire, bike riding (she was not real excited about that at first), lots of walks in her stroller, snacking all day, playing in the dirt and with sticks and looking for bugs. She did great. Morgan just rode bikes and ran with her friends all weekend. I just don't know where the kids get all their energy. I get worn out watching them.

Okay so Morgan doesn't look so energetic in this one. LOL!

Time to go home and Morgan is trying to corral Olivia and she is not too happy about it.

Post #2 Today-The Zoo

Well after the accident and all, the girls had a great time at the zoo. Olivia loved the animals. She also got to go on a boat ride through the Australian section and drive the jeep in the African Safari.

A Mama's Nightmare

Today my oldest daughter Katie (18) decided to take Morgan (10), Olivia(2) and her friend Steph(16) to the Fort Wayne Zoo (1 1/2 hours away). About the time they should have been arriving at the zoo I get a phone call and it is the very frantic voice of Katie screaming "MOM! We have a flat tire and we are in the middle of the Interstate!" I tell her to pull the van off the road. She says "I can't the van won't move. The tire is behind me!" I finally figure out that the tire has shredded and she is on the rim and the van won't move anymore. She is in a panic because traffic is moving at them at 70 plus miles an hour and no one realizes until the last seconds that they are not moving. She is laying on her horn trying to get people's attention, she has the flashers on and the van is shaking from the vehicles flying past them. She says "I have to get us out of the van cause I know someone is going to hit us." Well I am not too excited about this idea but I am not there to assess the situation and I am 1.5 hours away freaking out myself trying to call someone else on the other phone to get them help. She hung up on me and called me back about four minutes later. She says "Okay we are out and in the median, but no one is stopping I don't know what to do....OH NO! Someone just hit the van!!!" Less than one minute after they got out of the van and someone hit it. Thankfully Katie did the right thing and got them out and also the hit wasn't too bad. Well to make a long story not quite as long, the police ended up driving the girls to the zoo so they could hang out there until I could drive down there to assess the situation and figure out what we were going to do. The van was towed, but we able to put the spare tire on the van (thanks to the guy at the wrecker place) and I drove it back at 45 MPH (probably losing parts on the way) and got it to the collision shop with Katie following me. It could have been much worse. Katie was so worried they were going to be rear ended by a semi. She is normally so calm in bad situations and frankly I don't know if I have ever heard her so scared or this panicked before. I think that is what had me so upset. To be so far away and not be able to help or know what to do for them. Praise the Lord, He was in control and took care of them (though I am sure their guardian angels have some gray hairs.)

Graduation, Speech and other ramblings....

Saturday was Katie's Graduation open house. We had a hog roast and served somewhere between 125-150 people. All I can say is "WHEW" I am glad that is over and done. The rest of the summer should be smooth sailing. I hope.

Here Olivia is with her cousin Gust at the open house. He loves chasing her around and she just squeals with delight.

Today Olivia started her speech therapy. She is not having any major difficulties but we decided to have her evaluated by our local First Steps program since it is free and to just see what the professionals think. For the evaluation they sent out a Speech Therapist and an Occupational Therapist. They decided that her gross and fine motor skills are right on if not even a little above what they expect them to be. Her social skills are even excellent. They were really surprised she was doing so well considering she had come from an orphanage and only been in our home for about 9 weeks. She does however qualify for speech therapy. She should have a vocabulary of about 50 words right now and she has maybe 10 that she uses plus (this surprised me) the 20 signs that she knows. I was surprised that they count the signs cause to me they are a form of communication but it is not "speech". Anyway, we signed her up for the services because they are 1. Free, 2. They said it will get her over the hump and get her caught up 3. I like having a professional evaluate her and know that she is getting to where she should be.

So, anyway today was her first session. After the hour when it was time for Susan to leave Olivia all but laid on the toys that Susan had brought to try to get her to stay. She LOVED the one on one attention and all the fun stuff that Susan brought. Susan also said that Olivia is very smart and she thinks the therapy will be very short term. YEAH! She said in a few months her brain will transition over to the English sounds and words and she will catch up quickly.

Livi also went swimming for the second time today. She loves it. I am relieved. After the initial bath fear, I was afraid she would be terrified of the pool. Today Katie and her friend Steph took Livi out and she cried when they had to come in.

Livi and Steph.