I have really lost track of the time. With school going on and all the other activities I can't believe how long it has been since I posted. As I write this we are preparing for Thanksgiving break, Sarah is singing in choir at school, Almira is playing soccer.
In fact she has a game this afternoon. I missed her game last week, but Dad and Sarah attended. I hate I missed it because she scored her first goal. She has really grown and is turning into such a beautiful young lady.
Sarah had sinus surgery about 4 weeks ago and is doing well. She has been coughing at night again, but her ENT said it was strictly allergy. We are returning next week to the allergy doctor in Shreveport. He did say she was low on one of her immune testing for whatever causes pneumonia and also frequent sinus infections. Hopefully he will give her the booster next week. Then we're going to talk about allergy shots for her. I have so many pictures I need to download and I'll get some posted.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fall is here
What a beautiful day today! We have just hung out at home and cleaned some. Then we left and went to a nursery and bought some mums and some other stuff. We pulled out some of our fall decorations.
Then Almira begged me to take her driving. So I bribed her. I told her if she would wash my car which was filthy from parking under the pecan trees at work, I would take her for a driving lesson. We went to a large empty parking lot and I let her drive for about 30 minutes. Right across the street from the parking lot was a pretty quiet neighborhood. We we drove on through the neighborhood. She really did pretty well. She only had one time she forgot to hit the brake while making a turn and didn't turn enough. She had to back up and straighten up and then she did okay. She had some trouble remembering which side of the road to drive on. I think we finally got that straight. Anyway I wanted to post some of our pictures from out front. Especially our sweet little boy kitten, Gareth. He is getting so big. He is about 5 months old now. In one of the pictures Gareth is wondering how that other black cat is and not liking it one bit.
The girls are doing well in school and Almira is loving her honors math class. She is still repeating some, even though she is in 8th grade now. The RBS was doing pretty well in teaching the kids math from what I can tell.
Anyway, we're off to enjoy the LSU game shortly. Hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend.
Till later,
Kathy
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
We survived Gustav ...
We survived the hurricane last week and did not even lose power. So many people around us lost power, especially the people in the southern part of the state. There were small towns around us that flooded very badly, many that had never flooded before. Las Tuesday the girls asked if they could go outside and play in the rain and in the very full ditch and I told them they could. We always used to play in the rain when we were kids, as long as there wasn't lightening. Outside our house there were some pretty good ditches, almost neck deep sitting flat on the bottom. We would put play boats in the ditch and have boat races. Well, the girls didn't do all that, but they did have fun. The little boy next door came over in his rain poncho and they splashed around for a few minutes. I got a few pictures.
Till later,
Kathy
Monday, September 1, 2008
Waiting on the hurricane ....
Well, school has been back in session for 2 weeks now and we're hunkered down for Hurricane Gustov. We're hoping we won't get much since we're in north central Louisiana. But we've bought some supplies just in case we get some of the winds and we lose power for a day or two. It is 1:45 in the afternoon and the storm is just north of New Orleans. We've already got some strong wind gust here. I'm sicking in our den out back and watching the trees swishing around prretty good.
I wanted to post some more pictures from our beach trip. Most of the pictures are in New Orleans, but there is one of Masha the mermaid on the beach. The girls had such a good time in New Orleans, the beach and then deep sea fishing. Even though we didn't catch very many fish and most of them were small. It was still fun watching the girls reel them in. The water was pretty the girls got to ride off shore for a couple of hours.
I'll check back later after the storm moves through.
Kathy
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Summer is over ...
I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by. Tomorrow is the beginning of the school year and summer has just gone by way too fast. Almira and I spent yesterday morning at school at middle school orientation. Almira is going to be in 8th grade and will be taking Honors Math (Algebra 1) and also Honors Physical Science, both which will count as high school classes. I think this year will be a little bit scary for her, as she didn't really know anyone in her grade. Thankfully she has some friends from last year that will be in 7th grade. She will still see them in the halls and will play soccer with them.
We just came back from a little short vacation and I will be posting some pictures soon. Our translator from Kazakhstan, Masha, was about to come to the US back in July. Along with her was Svetlana's daughter, Masha, who is 16. We left home Friday morning, August 8th and headed to New Orleans. We spend the evening in New Orleans and stayed at the Hilton on the river. That night we walked all around the French Quarter and let the girls take in the sights. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and headed to the Aquarium of the Americas. The girls really seemed to enjoy it and about 12:30 left New Orleans headed for the beach. We took a side trip through Gulfport and Biloxi so Masha could see the devastation from the storm. Most of the beautiful houses that sat facing the ocean were just wiped away. It still makes me so sad to drive through that area and only see steps leading up to houses that are no longer there.
We finally arrived at the beach at 5:00 on Saturday afternoon. The girls headed down to the beach and stayed until sunset. Sunday morning was spent just walking on the beach and enjoying everything. Sunday afternoon we headed out on a 4 hour deep sea fishing trip. We didn't catch too many fish, but the girls all got to reel in a few small spanish mackeral and a few bluefish.
We went back to the condo and then headed out for a nice evening dining out. We went to a new place in Gulf Shores we hadn't been before. I think it was called DeSoto's and it was wonderful. It is a little blue building behind the Souveneir City (the big shark mouth). It was just wonderful. Me and the two Mashas got grouper, all grilled or broiled in a different way. It was just to die for.
Jon had to leave early Monday morning and drive back for work. It was raining when he left a little after 6:00 a.m. so I went back to sleep for a little while. Everyone was kind of lazy that morning and we finally decided to head into town and do some shopping at the outlet mall.
By Monday evening the rain had let up and the girls all headed down to the beach to play one last time in the ocean.
We had such a good time and it was so hard to say goodbye to both Mashas on Tuesday in Jackson, Mississippi.
Hope everyone has enjoyed their summer and has a great school year.
Till then,
Kathy
We just came back from a little short vacation and I will be posting some pictures soon. Our translator from Kazakhstan, Masha, was about to come to the US back in July. Along with her was Svetlana's daughter, Masha, who is 16. We left home Friday morning, August 8th and headed to New Orleans. We spend the evening in New Orleans and stayed at the Hilton on the river. That night we walked all around the French Quarter and let the girls take in the sights. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and headed to the Aquarium of the Americas. The girls really seemed to enjoy it and about 12:30 left New Orleans headed for the beach. We took a side trip through Gulfport and Biloxi so Masha could see the devastation from the storm. Most of the beautiful houses that sat facing the ocean were just wiped away. It still makes me so sad to drive through that area and only see steps leading up to houses that are no longer there.
We finally arrived at the beach at 5:00 on Saturday afternoon. The girls headed down to the beach and stayed until sunset. Sunday morning was spent just walking on the beach and enjoying everything. Sunday afternoon we headed out on a 4 hour deep sea fishing trip. We didn't catch too many fish, but the girls all got to reel in a few small spanish mackeral and a few bluefish.
We went back to the condo and then headed out for a nice evening dining out. We went to a new place in Gulf Shores we hadn't been before. I think it was called DeSoto's and it was wonderful. It is a little blue building behind the Souveneir City (the big shark mouth). It was just wonderful. Me and the two Mashas got grouper, all grilled or broiled in a different way. It was just to die for.
Jon had to leave early Monday morning and drive back for work. It was raining when he left a little after 6:00 a.m. so I went back to sleep for a little while. Everyone was kind of lazy that morning and we finally decided to head into town and do some shopping at the outlet mall.
By Monday evening the rain had let up and the girls all headed down to the beach to play one last time in the ocean.
We had such a good time and it was so hard to say goodbye to both Mashas on Tuesday in Jackson, Mississippi.
Hope everyone has enjoyed their summer and has a great school year.
Till then,
Kathy
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Time for the 4th of July...
I can't believe it has been so long since I posted. Things have been very busy around here. To update things, Almira did pass the test and will be in Honors math in 8th grade next year. Wow! Very exciting and scary. I am because I will be the one helping her when she doesn't understand something. I'll have to do a review of my college algebra. It's been a few years.
We are also down to just one little kitten left. We still have the little boy who is just adorable and the sweetest little baby. He loves to snuggle and purrs every time you touch him. If only he could stay little for longer. He was not feeling well and I took him to the vet last Friday, the 27th. He was running fever and very lethargic. The doctor thought he had a little virus, just like a kid gets. He was better for a few days, but now doesn't seem to feel great. He is not playing which just isn't like him.
Sarah survived her first week away from home at church camp. She had an absolute blast. She went to Centri-Kid camp. Here is the link: http://www.lifeway.com/fuge/ck/index.asp
She went to Mississippi College just outside Jackson, MS. She stayed in a dorm for 5 days with her best friend. It was her first time to not have Mom, Dad or a grandparent taking care of her. In a way I think it was good for her, having to set an alarm, having to put her own sheets on her bed, no one to remind her to brush hair, teeth or whatever. She was totally responsible. I think she handled it better than I did. She even seems to have made it home with everything she took. I helped her back going over and used the gallon size ziploc bag packing technique that I used for Kazakhstan. That pretty much means sticking things in bags, rolling them to get all the air out and then putting them in a suitcase. It really does allow you to get so much more in your bag. But then I was worried she couldn't get it all stuffed back in there to get home, but she did.
Almira was with us, which was nice, we don't have her alone that aften. She is like a different child when Sarah is not around. She talks non-stop, wants to do everything with me and is much more agreeable. She is also less moody and spends less time in her room with the door shut. I sometimes wonder if she holds back alot when Sarah is around because she doesn't want to tread on Sarah's territory in a way. I wonder if she feels like we are Sarah's property and she holds back. I have been thinking about this more lately. I try to do everything with them and for them equally. But I realize that Sarah and I have that long standing very comfortable relationship. But not only that, Sarah is very easy going and laid back. They are just very different people. But I still worry about that. I think that is just part of being a parent, we must worry about something or we just wouldn't feel like we're doing out jobs.
This week Almira is at soccer camp at school every afternoon. She seems to be enjoying it. She is attending with her friend Amanda and all the team from school is there as well.
We haven't decided what to do for the 4th this year. It is very tempting to just stay home and sleep late, spend the day swimming and hanging out and then maybe go see the fireworks at the city park. I also have a lot of pictures to post.
Hope everyone has a great 4th! Happy Birthday, America!
Kathy
We are also down to just one little kitten left. We still have the little boy who is just adorable and the sweetest little baby. He loves to snuggle and purrs every time you touch him. If only he could stay little for longer. He was not feeling well and I took him to the vet last Friday, the 27th. He was running fever and very lethargic. The doctor thought he had a little virus, just like a kid gets. He was better for a few days, but now doesn't seem to feel great. He is not playing which just isn't like him.
Sarah survived her first week away from home at church camp. She had an absolute blast. She went to Centri-Kid camp. Here is the link: http://www.lifeway.com/fuge/ck/index.asp
She went to Mississippi College just outside Jackson, MS. She stayed in a dorm for 5 days with her best friend. It was her first time to not have Mom, Dad or a grandparent taking care of her. In a way I think it was good for her, having to set an alarm, having to put her own sheets on her bed, no one to remind her to brush hair, teeth or whatever. She was totally responsible. I think she handled it better than I did. She even seems to have made it home with everything she took. I helped her back going over and used the gallon size ziploc bag packing technique that I used for Kazakhstan. That pretty much means sticking things in bags, rolling them to get all the air out and then putting them in a suitcase. It really does allow you to get so much more in your bag. But then I was worried she couldn't get it all stuffed back in there to get home, but she did.
Almira was with us, which was nice, we don't have her alone that aften. She is like a different child when Sarah is not around. She talks non-stop, wants to do everything with me and is much more agreeable. She is also less moody and spends less time in her room with the door shut. I sometimes wonder if she holds back alot when Sarah is around because she doesn't want to tread on Sarah's territory in a way. I wonder if she feels like we are Sarah's property and she holds back. I have been thinking about this more lately. I try to do everything with them and for them equally. But I realize that Sarah and I have that long standing very comfortable relationship. But not only that, Sarah is very easy going and laid back. They are just very different people. But I still worry about that. I think that is just part of being a parent, we must worry about something or we just wouldn't feel like we're doing out jobs.
This week Almira is at soccer camp at school every afternoon. She seems to be enjoying it. She is attending with her friend Amanda and all the team from school is there as well.
We haven't decided what to do for the 4th this year. It is very tempting to just stay home and sleep late, spend the day swimming and hanging out and then maybe go see the fireworks at the city park. I also have a lot of pictures to post.
Hope everyone has a great 4th! Happy Birthday, America!
Kathy
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Lots of camps this week ...
This week has been a little bit crazy. Sarah is doing basketball camp at the college in the mornings while Almira and her friend Amanda are doing VBS at the church. In the evenings Almira and Amanda are doing soccer camp at the college.
This week Almira also started her English tutoring at a learning center. Since she will be jumping a grade, I was hoping to get her caught up in English and getting her ready for 8th grade. Last week we received a letter telling us that Almira had been nominated for Honors Math for next year. She started reviewing for math and particularly Algebra getting ready for the test. She took the test on Tuesday morning and we'll have to wait and see how she did. This will determine if the school officials think she is ready for this kind of challenging class next year. While I'm excited for her, I do have reservations about her jumping a grade and then going into an advanced math class.
We know that Almira will be playing soccer this fall and she mentioned to me about playing basketball as well. I was suprised as she has never played before. I told her I thought one sport a year would be enough. I didn't want her to get too overwhelmed with so many new things in the fall.
Sarah will be going to her first away from home camp with the church in 2 weeks. I'm excited for her as I remember how much fun those were, but anxious to let my baby go off on her own. I know all the grownups going and I know she'll be fine, but I'm still anxious.
Some friends of ours lost their son a few weeks bad. It was a horrible and tragic accident. He was 15 years old and was riding a jet ski with some friends. Somehow the jet ski turned over and he was either knocked unconcious or something else. His friends came up, but he didn't. Unfortunately none of the kids had on a life jacket. This was a great kid, honor student and just wonderful from all accounts. He died 1 week before his 16th birthday. Hid dad was his best friend and I can't imagine the loss in his life. His Mom and Dad are both doctors and that probably had to make it even worse, knowing they couldn't save him.
We took Almira and Sarah to the wake as the dad is our dermatologist and we see him often. They did not know Trey well, but we just had just seen him a few months ago. There were so many people there it was a 2 hour wait to go speak to the family. Just a terrible accident, but it does make me hold my kids just a little closer.
We now only have 2 kittens left in our house. The lady that came last week to look at one of the kittens saw the 2 sisters together jumping and playing and said she just couldn't separate them. So both little girl kittens went home with her as a suprise for her daughter. I've been getting updates on them when I got to therapy for my foot. Their names are Duchess and Tinkerbell and are very loved by her daughter and quite spoiled from what I understand. They have a soft kitty bed, crystal bowls to each out of and lots of kitty toys. I'm so happy they are going to have a good home and stay together.
Talk to you later,
Kathy
This week Almira also started her English tutoring at a learning center. Since she will be jumping a grade, I was hoping to get her caught up in English and getting her ready for 8th grade. Last week we received a letter telling us that Almira had been nominated for Honors Math for next year. She started reviewing for math and particularly Algebra getting ready for the test. She took the test on Tuesday morning and we'll have to wait and see how she did. This will determine if the school officials think she is ready for this kind of challenging class next year. While I'm excited for her, I do have reservations about her jumping a grade and then going into an advanced math class.
We know that Almira will be playing soccer this fall and she mentioned to me about playing basketball as well. I was suprised as she has never played before. I told her I thought one sport a year would be enough. I didn't want her to get too overwhelmed with so many new things in the fall.
Sarah will be going to her first away from home camp with the church in 2 weeks. I'm excited for her as I remember how much fun those were, but anxious to let my baby go off on her own. I know all the grownups going and I know she'll be fine, but I'm still anxious.
Some friends of ours lost their son a few weeks bad. It was a horrible and tragic accident. He was 15 years old and was riding a jet ski with some friends. Somehow the jet ski turned over and he was either knocked unconcious or something else. His friends came up, but he didn't. Unfortunately none of the kids had on a life jacket. This was a great kid, honor student and just wonderful from all accounts. He died 1 week before his 16th birthday. Hid dad was his best friend and I can't imagine the loss in his life. His Mom and Dad are both doctors and that probably had to make it even worse, knowing they couldn't save him.
We took Almira and Sarah to the wake as the dad is our dermatologist and we see him often. They did not know Trey well, but we just had just seen him a few months ago. There were so many people there it was a 2 hour wait to go speak to the family. Just a terrible accident, but it does make me hold my kids just a little closer.
We now only have 2 kittens left in our house. The lady that came last week to look at one of the kittens saw the 2 sisters together jumping and playing and said she just couldn't separate them. So both little girl kittens went home with her as a suprise for her daughter. I've been getting updates on them when I got to therapy for my foot. Their names are Duchess and Tinkerbell and are very loved by her daughter and quite spoiled from what I understand. They have a soft kitty bed, crystal bowls to each out of and lots of kitty toys. I'm so happy they are going to have a good home and stay together.
Talk to you later,
Kathy
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Summer has started ...
Sorry it took me a whole week to update. Sarah had a good awards day as well. She got second place in the Spelling Bee and got a trophy. She also got an award for Honor Roll. This is her first year to not get Principal's club (all A's), but that darn math got her. I told her she still did really well and we were very proud of her too. We left Wednesday afternoon after awards.
Sarah, Almira and I headed to Choctaw, MS and went to the big water park on Thursday. I did something I've never done before, I rented a cabana at the water park and it was wonderful. We got there Wednesday night, had dinner and walked around the hotel. Then Thursday morning got up had breakfast and headed to the water park at 10AM. We opened it up that morning. By 10:30 we were in our cabana and the girls left me to do the park. They were back by 11:45 and had rode everything. I loved the cabana. It was covered, with a ceiling fan, a couch and two chairs. The couch was really comfortable and was out over the water of a big zero entry swimming pool. I sat and read most of the morning. I had packed a swimsuit and at lunch went and put my suit on. After lunch I went and hit the water slides with the girls. It really was fun and I had not done that in a long time.
It was not a huge park, but the slides were really good, there was a lazy river and lots of fun stuff. Here is the link in case anyone wants to try it. http://www.geyserfalls.com/
I would love to go to Schlitterbahn, but that is so far away in New Braunsfels, TX, which would probably be 6 to 8 hours away. Maybe one day we can make that trip.
Summer has started and the girls are doing kitten baby sitting. They are six weeks old now and growing. We got two more last week. On Tuesday morning after Almira's awards day a lady came to me and said the last two kittens were outside with their mom (the wild kitty at work). We waited until the afternoon and another lady here at work and I caught them and she took them home. We knew this was our last chance to prevent 2 more wild kitties here in front of our building. There was a little boy and a little girl.
It is so much fun watching all 4 of the kittens playing, jumping, hiding and attacking each other. They are just adorable, but we can't keep all these kittens. I have one lady coming today to look at one of them, but I don't know what I'm going to do with the last 3. I don't want to take them to a shelter, it would break my heart. Thank goodness I have a husband with a big soft heart who wants to take care of them. He has fallen for the little boy kitten.
I'll post some pictures soon.
Kathy B.
Sarah, Almira and I headed to Choctaw, MS and went to the big water park on Thursday. I did something I've never done before, I rented a cabana at the water park and it was wonderful. We got there Wednesday night, had dinner and walked around the hotel. Then Thursday morning got up had breakfast and headed to the water park at 10AM. We opened it up that morning. By 10:30 we were in our cabana and the girls left me to do the park. They were back by 11:45 and had rode everything. I loved the cabana. It was covered, with a ceiling fan, a couch and two chairs. The couch was really comfortable and was out over the water of a big zero entry swimming pool. I sat and read most of the morning. I had packed a swimsuit and at lunch went and put my suit on. After lunch I went and hit the water slides with the girls. It really was fun and I had not done that in a long time.
It was not a huge park, but the slides were really good, there was a lazy river and lots of fun stuff. Here is the link in case anyone wants to try it. http://www.geyserfalls.com/
I would love to go to Schlitterbahn, but that is so far away in New Braunsfels, TX, which would probably be 6 to 8 hours away. Maybe one day we can make that trip.
Summer has started and the girls are doing kitten baby sitting. They are six weeks old now and growing. We got two more last week. On Tuesday morning after Almira's awards day a lady came to me and said the last two kittens were outside with their mom (the wild kitty at work). We waited until the afternoon and another lady here at work and I caught them and she took them home. We knew this was our last chance to prevent 2 more wild kitties here in front of our building. There was a little boy and a little girl.
It is so much fun watching all 4 of the kittens playing, jumping, hiding and attacking each other. They are just adorable, but we can't keep all these kittens. I have one lady coming today to look at one of them, but I don't know what I'm going to do with the last 3. I don't want to take them to a shelter, it would break my heart. Thank goodness I have a husband with a big soft heart who wants to take care of them. He has fallen for the little boy kitten.
I'll post some pictures soon.
Kathy B.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
End of the school year ...
Today was a very exciting day that began with one very nervous 15 year old. Today was awards day for the middle school for Almira. She was so nervous. You would have thought she was going to have to stand up and give a verbal rendition of her first year of school or something. I assured her that she would be getting one award for Principal's Club (all A's for the year) and she would not be on the stage by herself. So much for Mom's promises. She did receive an award for Principal's club ... then she received an award for highest GPA in Bible class for the 6th grade girls ... then she received Most Christ Like for a 6th grade girl. Then the principal kept her up on the stage by herself and presented her the Soaring Eagle Award for middle school (the last award for the day). He explained her story about how she had only been home less than a year and was adopted from (he said Russia - but that's okay). He talked about how she had made so much progress and excelled in the classroom and adjusted so well to school. He said this is a special award for a middle school student that goes above and beyond what is expected of them. I was shaking so much I barely got it all on camera.
Needless to say we are so proud of her. She has done remarkably well and is just growing up into such a fine young lady. I will attach some pictures of her awards day today.
Also, we took in some baby kittens about 3 weeks ago, when they were just 2 weeks old. They are now getting close to 6 weeks old and the time has come for us to find a home for them. We got them off the bottle this weekend and eating solid food. They are just adorable. So if anyone knows of a really good home for them. We can't do 5 cats in our house. Besides our 3 big kitties are rebelling, none of them are happy right now. As I type this both kittens are snuggled up next to Jon on their backs with their little feet in the air, sound asleep.
Good night to everyone! Sarah's awards day is tomorrow so I'll post after that.
Kathy B.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Good bye Katherine ...
Today was a very sad day. Katherine returned to Moldova. Her time here as a student has ended and she had to return home. She will be missed terribly. Our family has come to think of her as another daughter. I'm so happy that we had the time with her that we had. Her contract for her scholarship said she must return to Moldova and cannot come back to the US for 2 years. We will be counting the days.
Right now our plans are to travel there next summer, me and my girls. Our church does a mission trip to the Ukraine every summer and I'm hoping we can make that trip and visit Katherine while we're there, since they are so close.
I know that her family will be so glad to have her home, but right now we are missing her.
Much love to you, our sweet Katherine. We'll talk with you soon.
Kathy
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day
Today has been a wonderful Mother's Day. But I'll start with yesterday. I graduated from college yesterday. I will post pictures. I finally finished my finance degree. I now have a BSBF, that is Bachelor of Science in Business Finance. Sounds awfully official. The best was having the whole family there. Jon, Sarah and I headed up Friday afternoon after work. Almira stayed with Mom and Dad because they have Katherine for just a few more days. We wanted the girls to have one last sleep over together. Katherine is flying back to Moldova on Monday and we are all terribly sad.
My brother, Doug drove up in his suburban and brought Mom, Dad, Katherine and Almira on Saturday morning. After graduation we went and ate at the Flying Fish, a great restaurant in Little Rock. We really wanted something nicer (or I did), but nothing was serving dinner at 4PM on Saturday. The Flying Fish is a dive, but with great food. The picture with Almira holding something was her first attempt at eating raw oysters. Katherine loves them and fixed her one. It barely got down, I think.
The last picture is of all my girls together for Mother's Day lunch. We had a really good time and Katherine is still here playing with Sarah and Almira.
Well enough with all that, here are the pictures.
Enjoy.
Kathy
P. S. Did you notice the name change, I decided since Almira has been home almost one year (June 1st) it was time to change the name from an adoption blog to the chronicles. Since I am out of school I will try to do better updating my blog. Sometimes I think I'm the only one to read it and I just enjoy journaling.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Happy Birthday Almira!
Today is Almira's 15th birthday! We had a little party at Kiroli Park for her on Saturday and she had three friends come, Devin, Amanda and Julianna. They ran and played tennis, soccer and walked on the trails. We had pizza, birthday cake and ice cream. I think everyone had a really good time. We were there for over 4 hours. Here are some pictures.
Tonight we will have a family dinner and she'll open gifts. I hope she has a great day!
Kathy
Friday, March 7, 2008
Snow down south...
I know all of the folks reading this that are used to feet and feet of snow will just laugh. It is snowing here in Monroe, Louisiana. As of lunch today all the schools closed and I just found out the building where I work was shutting down due to inclement weather. I am still here because I don't have far to drive home. I just called Jon and he is with the girls out playing in the snow. Of course it is about 35 degrees so it is not sticking at all. But it is really pretty. Almira said she misses the snow. I bet she does. Yesterday afternoon it was 65 degrees and me and the girls and Star, the dog went on a 3 mile hike. It felt so wonderful outside.
Well I'm about to head out and make my way home. It is supposed to freeze tonight, so we'll see if anything comes of this white stuff. Of course it is supposed to be in the 40's and sunny tomorrow.
Kathy
Well I'm about to head out and make my way home. It is supposed to freeze tonight, so we'll see if anything comes of this white stuff. Of course it is supposed to be in the 40's and sunny tomorrow.
Kathy
Friday, February 8, 2008
Just a few pictures
Sorry it's been awhile. Life is just insane around here. Sarah is almost finished with basketball season, the girls are doing well in school and I'm about to finish my global finance class. This is probably one of the hardest classes I've ever taken. I will be so glad when I'm finished. Then I have one more finance class, my capstone and my 2 science classes! Yeah. I can't wait to be done! I can't imagine life without school work. I'm so ready. I just wanted to post a few pictures that Katherine sent of the trip to Shreveport with my parents to visit my aunt and uncle, These are really good.
Almira looks so pretty and so grown up.
Kathy B.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Dreary wintertime ...
Hello all,
I really don't have much to report here. I'm staying so busy with my global finance class that I just don't seem to have time for much else. I spent most of the weekend doing nothing but working on school work.
We did go to Sarah's basketball game this past Saturday and she had a really good game. She scored the first two points of the game and then got quite a few rebounds. She tied the ball up and caused several turn overs. They won the game and I'm so happy. They've had a rough year this year. She joined the 9 and 10 year old league and the girls are much bigger and tougher. They played a team a few weeks ago and one of the players was a big girl, she looked about 15 or 16 years old. We were assured she was only 10. She was about two inches taller than me, she must have been close to 5'7". All the other players just hit her about chest high. It really seemed unfair to let someone that big play, even though she is the right age. She hurt several of our players just falling on them or running into them.
Almira is doing well and making good grades. I think she kind of misses soccer now that it's over. I hope she will do some kind of soccer camp this summer. It would be so good for her.
I have been reading all the adoption blogs that I know of for older child adoption. I love to see the updates and hear how the kids are doing. I wish I had more time to keep mine updated, but with work and school, there just doesn't see to be enough time in the day. I'm so thankful I only have one finance class left. I can't wait to be done with school!!
I just signed up for graduation in May. We will actually drive to Little Rock, ARK, which is 3 hours north of here. That is the closest location for graduating. This just can't come soon enough.
I wanted to post some of the other blogs that I follow or that I check from time to time. That way if anyone out there is thinking about adopting from Kaz, especially for an older child, these can be a great resource.
Have a good day,
Kathy B.
I really don't have much to report here. I'm staying so busy with my global finance class that I just don't seem to have time for much else. I spent most of the weekend doing nothing but working on school work.
We did go to Sarah's basketball game this past Saturday and she had a really good game. She scored the first two points of the game and then got quite a few rebounds. She tied the ball up and caused several turn overs. They won the game and I'm so happy. They've had a rough year this year. She joined the 9 and 10 year old league and the girls are much bigger and tougher. They played a team a few weeks ago and one of the players was a big girl, she looked about 15 or 16 years old. We were assured she was only 10. She was about two inches taller than me, she must have been close to 5'7". All the other players just hit her about chest high. It really seemed unfair to let someone that big play, even though she is the right age. She hurt several of our players just falling on them or running into them.
Almira is doing well and making good grades. I think she kind of misses soccer now that it's over. I hope she will do some kind of soccer camp this summer. It would be so good for her.
I have been reading all the adoption blogs that I know of for older child adoption. I love to see the updates and hear how the kids are doing. I wish I had more time to keep mine updated, but with work and school, there just doesn't see to be enough time in the day. I'm so thankful I only have one finance class left. I can't wait to be done with school!!
I just signed up for graduation in May. We will actually drive to Little Rock, ARK, which is 3 hours north of here. That is the closest location for graduating. This just can't come soon enough.
I wanted to post some of the other blogs that I follow or that I check from time to time. That way if anyone out there is thinking about adopting from Kaz, especially for an older child, these can be a great resource.
Have a good day,
Kathy B.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Two in the double digits
Today is Sarah's birthday, she is turning 10. I can't believe the time has flown by so quickly. Yesterday morning I was at work and looked at the clock at about 8:30 and I remembered back 10 years ago. I'm so thankful that God let me experience carrying a life and giving birth, at least once. Ten years ago I was hooked up on the drip, experiencing labor, which wasn't too bad at that point. By late in the afternoon of that same day I had only dilated to 4 and was not making any progress. Finally a little after midnight on January 16th at 12:02 a.m. Sarah emerged, during an emergency C-section. Even on drugs, I still remember those moments. I remember everything about it, Jon holding my hand to left, the sound of her crying for the first time. They held her up over the sheet for me to look at very quickly before they whisked her away. And yes, she was born with that red hair, the exact color of my grand mother's, just not very much of it.
I also remember it was so cold and I was shivering so hard that he was trying to hold my shoulders still on the table. It was a couple of hours later before they brough her to me to hold. My family saw her when they walked out of the OR with her and took her to the nursery. My sweet baby. Happy Birthday, Sarah!
I also remember it was so cold and I was shivering so hard that he was trying to hold my shoulders still on the table. It was a couple of hours later before they brough her to me to hold. My family saw her when they walked out of the OR with her and took her to the nursery. My sweet baby. Happy Birthday, Sarah!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Back to the grind ...for the girls
Yesterday was hard, the kids had to go back to school. They did have a great day on Monday. My Mom and Dad took Sarah, Almira and Katherine to Shreveport. I have an aunt and uncle there. My uncle is a retired geologist and my aunt was a school teacher before they had their son, Michael. They lost Michael in 2003 to a brain tumor. He fought hard for 2 years, but lost the battle. Michael was one of those brilliant only children. He had just finished his masters in Bio-Chemistry, I believe. He was one of only 4 or 5 students accepted into the program at LSU in Shreveport. I think about my aunt and uncle often. Michael was their entire world. My aunt pulled out her wedding dress which is 50 years old and had Katherine try it on. Then she gave it to Katherine. I couldn't believe it. But Aunt Shirly has no one left to give it to. Katherine is about 5'5" and only weighs about 90 pounds. She wears a size 0 or a 2 in pants. The dress was tight on her through the rib cage. Mom is going to have it let out and cleaned. She will be a beautiful bride. Denis, you are a lucky man.
Back to Michael - I can't imagine watching my child suffer and then losing one of them to a disease. I know alot of people live through this, they must be much stronger than me. For many years I've had this terrible worry of something happening to Sarah. I'm quite paranoid about her going anywhere by herself or being left alone. I think it is from all my years working at the District Attorney's office and then working in the courtroom as a minute clerk. I heard too many horror stories and the news doesn't help either.
I had a nightmare last night about Sarah. I don't know where Jon and Almira were in the dream, but we were alone together on vacation out west somewhere. I had rented an RV and was driving. We had stopped at some roadside store for some reason. Sarah went inside alone while I did something. I showed up and she was drinking a soft drink. I asked her where she got it from and she said she had just opened it and was drinking it. Okay there are several things wrong with this picture. I would never be on vacation alone with Sarah, driving an RV. I also would never send my daughter alone into a store (even though she is almost 10) and she would never just open a drink and start drinking without paying for it. So back to the dream - I fussed at her and told her that I didn't have money to pay for that drink. Our RV was way back down the road and I would have to walk back and get my wallet. (Yeah like that I would park a mile from the store). So I sent her back by herself to the RV and told her to wait on me. (Another yeah - right like I would do that). When I walked back to the RV she wasn't there. She was missing. I sat up straight in the bed, just horrified. I couldn't go back to sleep and that was at 5:45 this morning.
My worst fear in the world is that one of my girls will be abducted. It is probably from seeing the story on the news last night about that hiker in Georgia. Sarah was in the room with me and I couldn't find the TV remote fast enough. I don't let her listen to grisly news stories. The young girl was found dead and decapitated. How can one human being do that to another?!? Her poor family. I finally found the remote, changed the channel and Sarah asked me about it. I told her that it was a bad idea for a pretty young girl to go out hiking in the mountains by herself, it just wasn't safe. There are bad people out there in the world. I told her again that I hope when she is in college or grown she will be safe and not go to places like that alone.
There is a fine line between warning and protecting your children and then scaring them to death. I try to be careful, but I think I've made Sarah scared. She won't hardly leave my side in a store unless Almira is with her, even if I can still see her. Now I'm afraid my paranoid ways have rubbed off on her.
I will admit if either of my girls go away for school I am going to be a nervous wreck. By then there is no telling what kind of high tech devices we will have. I'll make both of them text me every day or call me to tell me there are at home and okay and locked up for the night. That is a long way away and I probably shouldn't even be thinking about it yet. Maybe it is because Sarah is turning 10 in one week. If my mother is reading this right now, she is probably laughing at me because I was so rebellious and didn't want anyone keeping up with me when I was younger. Now I get it!
Sarah and I worked on birthday party invitations last night. We're going to do a backyard campfire cookout. I just couldn't come up with anything else and frankly I don't have a lot of extra money to spend. After Molly's kitten surgery last week which was almost $500.00 and then my desktop computer is giving me the blue screen of death - I'm taking it to the computer fixer store today at lunch and my wireless router is not working in my house. So I packed everything up last night and put it in a box and I'm taking it in. All I can think about is how much is this going to cost me. Yikes!! I've been getting on the internet from one of my neighbor's wireless internet connection lately and I have no idea who it is. But since I started back to school yesterday I don't have a choice until I get mine fixed. But it will all work out. We're just not eating out, going anywhere or spending any money for the month, except Sarah's birthday. It will work itself out, it always does.
I started global finance yesterday and it should be quite interesting, albiet a bit difficult. After this class I have 2 classes left and have to find some way to pass my biology clep or take another 6 hours of science on-line.
Hope everyone has a good day and a good week. I heard from Boris and our box finally arrived in Petro with Christmas presents for everyone. They will be delivered on Thursday. I can't wait to see pictures of Roza and Vika.
Talk to you later,
Kathy B.
Back to Michael - I can't imagine watching my child suffer and then losing one of them to a disease. I know alot of people live through this, they must be much stronger than me. For many years I've had this terrible worry of something happening to Sarah. I'm quite paranoid about her going anywhere by herself or being left alone. I think it is from all my years working at the District Attorney's office and then working in the courtroom as a minute clerk. I heard too many horror stories and the news doesn't help either.
I had a nightmare last night about Sarah. I don't know where Jon and Almira were in the dream, but we were alone together on vacation out west somewhere. I had rented an RV and was driving. We had stopped at some roadside store for some reason. Sarah went inside alone while I did something. I showed up and she was drinking a soft drink. I asked her where she got it from and she said she had just opened it and was drinking it. Okay there are several things wrong with this picture. I would never be on vacation alone with Sarah, driving an RV. I also would never send my daughter alone into a store (even though she is almost 10) and she would never just open a drink and start drinking without paying for it. So back to the dream - I fussed at her and told her that I didn't have money to pay for that drink. Our RV was way back down the road and I would have to walk back and get my wallet. (Yeah like that I would park a mile from the store). So I sent her back by herself to the RV and told her to wait on me. (Another yeah - right like I would do that). When I walked back to the RV she wasn't there. She was missing. I sat up straight in the bed, just horrified. I couldn't go back to sleep and that was at 5:45 this morning.
My worst fear in the world is that one of my girls will be abducted. It is probably from seeing the story on the news last night about that hiker in Georgia. Sarah was in the room with me and I couldn't find the TV remote fast enough. I don't let her listen to grisly news stories. The young girl was found dead and decapitated. How can one human being do that to another?!? Her poor family. I finally found the remote, changed the channel and Sarah asked me about it. I told her that it was a bad idea for a pretty young girl to go out hiking in the mountains by herself, it just wasn't safe. There are bad people out there in the world. I told her again that I hope when she is in college or grown she will be safe and not go to places like that alone.
There is a fine line between warning and protecting your children and then scaring them to death. I try to be careful, but I think I've made Sarah scared. She won't hardly leave my side in a store unless Almira is with her, even if I can still see her. Now I'm afraid my paranoid ways have rubbed off on her.
I will admit if either of my girls go away for school I am going to be a nervous wreck. By then there is no telling what kind of high tech devices we will have. I'll make both of them text me every day or call me to tell me there are at home and okay and locked up for the night. That is a long way away and I probably shouldn't even be thinking about it yet. Maybe it is because Sarah is turning 10 in one week. If my mother is reading this right now, she is probably laughing at me because I was so rebellious and didn't want anyone keeping up with me when I was younger. Now I get it!
Sarah and I worked on birthday party invitations last night. We're going to do a backyard campfire cookout. I just couldn't come up with anything else and frankly I don't have a lot of extra money to spend. After Molly's kitten surgery last week which was almost $500.00 and then my desktop computer is giving me the blue screen of death - I'm taking it to the computer fixer store today at lunch and my wireless router is not working in my house. So I packed everything up last night and put it in a box and I'm taking it in. All I can think about is how much is this going to cost me. Yikes!! I've been getting on the internet from one of my neighbor's wireless internet connection lately and I have no idea who it is. But since I started back to school yesterday I don't have a choice until I get mine fixed. But it will all work out. We're just not eating out, going anywhere or spending any money for the month, except Sarah's birthday. It will work itself out, it always does.
I started global finance yesterday and it should be quite interesting, albiet a bit difficult. After this class I have 2 classes left and have to find some way to pass my biology clep or take another 6 hours of science on-line.
Hope everyone has a good day and a good week. I heard from Boris and our box finally arrived in Petro with Christmas presents for everyone. They will be delivered on Thursday. I can't wait to see pictures of Roza and Vika.
Talk to you later,
Kathy B.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Family fun...
Jon called me at work yesterday afternoon and said I have a suprise for tonight. I envisioned adult conversation, maybe a movie just the two of us or another couple, maybe a nice dinner in a dark grown up restaurant, not browsing over the kids menu. But his idea turned out even better. He had bought a fire pit, picked up some firewood that was stored in the back of the lumberyard, then headed to the grocery and bought hotdogs, buns and marshmallows. Sarah had basketball practice until almost 6:00 and then we stayed to watch a little bit of another girls basketball game before we headed home.
We got home to a roaring fire in the backyard, with chairs pulled all around. It was so nice, no TV, no IPOD, no stereo playing, just the four of us sitting around a big camp fire, roasting weenies, eating hotdogs and then marshmallows. Almira had never done any of this and so we gave her a quick lesson in marshmallow roasting and how to get the outside just crunchy, just right and get the inside all gooey. Yum! I haven't had a roasted marshmallow in at least 3 years since we went to church family camp in 2004.
It was a nice night, around 50 degrees here. I understand it is quite cold back in Petro right now. I know it has been negative quite a bit lately. Almira was talking about how much she missed the snow today. The kids were running around in the driveway today playing badmitton and then hitting the tennis ball some - with short sleeves on. It was 65 today and overcast.
I hope everyone is enjoying their new year. We got the last of the Christmas decorations down and put back in the attic today. Then I ended up having something similar to spring cleaning. The Lord knows this house needed it, with all the craziness of Christmas.
Enjoy your weekend. Sorry, didn't take any pictures of the weenie roast, but I finally did of the Christmas cards that the kids painted before Jon took them down. Almira drew both of them and then painted hers. Sarah and her friend Kellen painted the Santa card that Almira drew.
Kathy B.
We got home to a roaring fire in the backyard, with chairs pulled all around. It was so nice, no TV, no IPOD, no stereo playing, just the four of us sitting around a big camp fire, roasting weenies, eating hotdogs and then marshmallows. Almira had never done any of this and so we gave her a quick lesson in marshmallow roasting and how to get the outside just crunchy, just right and get the inside all gooey. Yum! I haven't had a roasted marshmallow in at least 3 years since we went to church family camp in 2004.
It was a nice night, around 50 degrees here. I understand it is quite cold back in Petro right now. I know it has been negative quite a bit lately. Almira was talking about how much she missed the snow today. The kids were running around in the driveway today playing badmitton and then hitting the tennis ball some - with short sleeves on. It was 65 today and overcast.
I hope everyone is enjoying their new year. We got the last of the Christmas decorations down and put back in the attic today. Then I ended up having something similar to spring cleaning. The Lord knows this house needed it, with all the craziness of Christmas.
Enjoy your weekend. Sorry, didn't take any pictures of the weenie roast, but I finally did of the Christmas cards that the kids painted before Jon took them down. Almira drew both of them and then painted hers. Sarah and her friend Kellen painted the Santa card that Almira drew.
Kathy B.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Back to the grind ...
Hello everyone. This has been much harder than I thought ... returning to work after almost 2 weeks off. The update on Molly is she is much better, but not out of the woods yet. We got to bring her home yesterday. She can only eat 1 teaspoon of food at a time and is on an antibiotic.
Yesterday I decided to take off work and get a few things taken care of. I started my morning off at the eye doctor. I felt like I needed an eye exam. I only started needed some light reading glasses about a year ago, mainly because I spend 10 hours a day on computer and then reading for school. I have been having more trouble reading small print lately. Boy was I right. My doctor recommended bi-focals. Yikes! I'm only 39, just turned, so what is the big deal. Between my foot killing me and now bi-focals, I feel like I'm falling apart!
From the eye doctor I had dental cleaning appointments for me and the girls. Then ran to Sarah's doctor because she had an ear ache. She had a right nasty little ear infection, probably from swimming last week in the in-door pool. It was quite a busy day and I'm glad I took off work.
The girls are enjoying their last few days at home before school returns and Almira is already counting the days until the next day out of school. I did find out she made straight A's this time, so I can't believe she doesn't like school. I think she just really enjoys having nothing to do, which I can understand ... I remember those days from many years ago, mainly pre-children.
I'm also trying to plan a birthday party for Sarah, who is turning 10 on January 16th. It's a good thing I didn't wait until the last minute ;-)
Just wanted to drop a note and wish everyone Happy New Year! I just hope this year is as good as or better than last year. 2007 was definitely a memorable year.
Kathy B.
Yesterday I decided to take off work and get a few things taken care of. I started my morning off at the eye doctor. I felt like I needed an eye exam. I only started needed some light reading glasses about a year ago, mainly because I spend 10 hours a day on computer and then reading for school. I have been having more trouble reading small print lately. Boy was I right. My doctor recommended bi-focals. Yikes! I'm only 39, just turned, so what is the big deal. Between my foot killing me and now bi-focals, I feel like I'm falling apart!
From the eye doctor I had dental cleaning appointments for me and the girls. Then ran to Sarah's doctor because she had an ear ache. She had a right nasty little ear infection, probably from swimming last week in the in-door pool. It was quite a busy day and I'm glad I took off work.
The girls are enjoying their last few days at home before school returns and Almira is already counting the days until the next day out of school. I did find out she made straight A's this time, so I can't believe she doesn't like school. I think she just really enjoys having nothing to do, which I can understand ... I remember those days from many years ago, mainly pre-children.
I'm also trying to plan a birthday party for Sarah, who is turning 10 on January 16th. It's a good thing I didn't wait until the last minute ;-)
Just wanted to drop a note and wish everyone Happy New Year! I just hope this year is as good as or better than last year. 2007 was definitely a memorable year.
Kathy B.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
