October 29,2006

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Ready to play Deal or No Deal at home? So far I’m rich…won over $1.3 million dollars. If only Howie Mandell would call me up and invite me to play for real. Thanks to Nathan for sending me the link to this site. Can’t stand the tv show, but it’s kinda fun to play online.
http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal/game/dond.swf

Busy day…family trip to Walmart to get new stuff for the playroom. We are going to paint it light blue and have a “Cars” theme. Got some Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater and the rest of the Car cast pictures and things for the wall and a very cool tire clock. It should all come together great.

Came back to the island and Nana and I took the “big boys” to the Wilkes Carnival. They won lots of little prizes and Levi won a very cool spider cake that we will eat tomorrow night after we carve pumpkins.

I made some “Ohio Buckeye” candy (basically peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate, certainly not poison) for Carolyn to take to her function at church in exchange for her watching the boys tonight while we had dinner out with Alisa and Holly. It was SO nice to have some grown-up conversation time. Very much needed as well.

Off to bed….tomorrow’s busy!

October 28, 2006

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The boys were models today for “Fancy Ponyland” clothes (www.fancyponyland.com) . Lorna Leedy is the creator and owner and needed some kids to wear the clothes for a casual photo shoot. Levi had a cool shark shirt, Carlos had a tiger shirt and Trey had a coyote shirt. Alice was the biggest poser of all, she wanted her picture taken over and over, while the boys were less than cooperative. Hoping they got some good shots! The clothes were really cute, our guys don’t get much chance to wear boutique clothes, very trendy!

Trey was so tired after the photos that he fell asleep in his lunch. Got the boys down to nap and then went outside and painted little pumpkins and played in the yard. It was a gorgeous afternoon.

We dressed them up in some costumes and headed to Lee’s Halloween party. Levi was a cowboy, Carlos a doctor and Trey was a dinosaur. They looked cute. The party was cool, Lee had so much stuff. We got some great ideas for future Halloween parties. Thanks, Lee!

October 25, 2006

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So we had a BUSY day today….

First, I know you are all wondering about the minivan. I took it to the mechanic and it’s a no go, which I’m actually good with because I just don’t think I’m ready for the minivan move (ha ha ha, Joy!) although I think it would help to separate the boys for sure in the car. Maybe a Suburban or Tahoe? We’ll see what we can find, no hurry.

We got the boys dressed up for the foster parent Halloween party, but decided to kill two bibrds with one stone and get the boys Halloween pictures done tonight, too while they were in costume. The shoot went VERY well and we were so happy with how the pictures turned out. It isn’t often that all the guys smile, pose or even stay in the shot. Here’s the link if you want to see the pictures, just click on “start slideshow” and you can get bigger pictures!
http://www.picturepeople.com/viewsharedalbum.aspx?SharedPictureGroupID=1679469&ShareKey=16171e6dd6aa4dc6aae8ee9a0d28f2a2

So, onto the foster parent party….it was insane but fun. Lots of kids running around in costumes, even some of the adults dressed up. They had a pumpking bean bag toss, “trick or treating” where the kids went from table to table, a place to fish for prizes and a costume contest. THE BOYS WON FIRST PLACE IN THEIR AGE CATEGORY! They won $20 so we told them we would buy them the “Over the Hedge” dvd for winning.

October 24, 2006

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Fun with Halloween lollipops! The kids looked hilarious and got a treat in the process.

Levi and Alice are off to school and I’m sitting here with Carlos, Trey and Jefferson, stuck inside because of the rain. The boys are busy playing and now’s my time to catch up. We got a cool photo thing from Costco, which will hold 2,000 photos in an organized box but I have to put together the little envelopes. That’s project #2.

We have Levi’s Guardian ad Litem (basically she’s the person designated by the courts to represent the best interest of the foster child to the courts) coming this afternoon for a visit before the adoption. She’s great, look forward to seeing her. She knows some info on Levi’s half sister (who’s older by about 2 years) and we’ll be interested to hear more about her.

So, we are possibly in the market for a minivan. Yes, we found a great deal in a green Caravan and we are having it checked out tomorrow at the mechanic. We may have a new car on Monday! So, if you know anyone looking to buy a 1998 Volvo S70, send them our way!

October 22, 2006

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As you can see, we took the boys to the pumpkin patch today. They had a blast and got to runaround with Nana and Papa. I took the boys on the tractor ride around the patch, too. We came home with two giant pumpkins that we are going to carve next weekend.
This is a busy, busy week with a foster parent Halloween party, our friend Lee’s Halloween party. Lots of time for the boys to break their costumes in. Should be fun.
Carlos just sleepwalked in and is in my arms….as Levi would say, “peace out!”

October 15, 2006

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HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY, DEE!!! We had a mellow day with the boys, started with brunch with my parents at the casino. Trey ate a TON of food….he digs the buffet. Came home and put the boys down for a nap, watched the end of the Seahawks game, great game. Carlos has been on a tear today, not sure what his deal is but he’s done lots of screaming and crying at us over just about every little thing.

The boys got Dee and Home Depot build it yourself birdhouse and birdfeeder kit. After naptime they built both. Levi and Carlos were great at turning the screws and tomorrow night they are going to paint them so we can put them outside for the winter. Trey spent most the time playing in the giftbag.

We got our Halloween stuff out, decorated a little and let the boys play with the goofy Halloween stuffed animals that sing funny songs. They love those and I’m so glad they only come out once a year!

Back to laundry….4 loads down, 3 loads to fold!

October 14, 2006

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Dee and I had a WONDERFUL night at the casino hotel (courtesy of Mary, Ryan and Alice…thanks guys!) without the boys. We had the seafood buffet, gambled a little and were planning on hanging out to watch the ball game, but the lounge was full so we went back to the room and watched the game on our super cool, high definition flat screen tv. We also watched Aeonflux and it was hella weird but the first movie we’ve been able to watch interupted in a long time.

Tonight was Dee’s 40th birthday party and it was a success! I’d guess there were about 35 people that came by and it was the perfect size group for the space and to be able to chat with everyone and feel good about the evening. The boys were angels up until the end when they were all sugared up and tired, then we knew it was time to pack up and bring them home. Dee had a TON of fun, kicked back and had some drinks and loved the party. So it was all worth it! On a side note, if anyone needs some meatballs, little smokies or little pinwheel sandwiches, we have a LOT to share. I always buy a ton too much food! Pictures to come later!

Well, the boys are tucked in and I think Dee fell asleep with Carlos so I better clean up and get some sleep. Tomorrow’s Dee’s actual birthday and we are planning to have brunch with my parents and then kick back and do nothing and just hang out! How perfect to have her birthday fall on Football Sunday! 🙂