Change of Plans

I haven't blogged in a very long time, and there's been a good reason for that. We've had a change of plans regarding our adoption, and although I wanted to write about it, I couldn't.

You see, we are no longer adopting a child from Ethiopia. And while I know it may come as a shock to some of you, I hope you won't be disappointed.

You see, near the end of May, we received an email from our adoption agency. After exchanging pleasantries, they dropped a bomb on us.

They had a sibling group of three that had become available for adoption. I clicked on the link to see the photos of their sweet faces, and I knew in that instant that we would not be adopting a child from Ethiopia.

We'd be adopting three.

I am limited on what I can share on social media sites, but let me tell you...they are three of the most beautiful children you have ever seen. Ever. I can't post their pics, so you'll just have to believe me.

     

D is 11 years old, and he is very protective of his younger sisters. He has light brown skin and a shy smile. He enjoys discussing politics with his caretakers, showing his friends his "moves," and studying English and math.

M is 8 years old, and she has huge brown eyes that light up a room. She loves jumping rope and reading. She hopes to be a teacher when she grows up.

L is 6 years old. Her smile is as wide as her face. Her caretakers say she "tries her best to obey," and the mischievous sparkle in her eye seems to confirm that. She loves sports and says she wants to be a mommy when she grows up.

The timeline for when these precious children will come home is in flux, but if all goes according to plan, they should be joining our family early in 2015.

We're praying it will be even sooner than that.

Ken and I, along with Jack, are thrilled. Doubling our family size within a few months is a bit overwhelming, but we are confident that this is God's plan for our family.

Will you join us in praying for little D, M, and L? Transitions are always hard, but we're so thankful these little ones will have biological siblings--as well as a new family and a community who loves them--to rely on.

I'll write more in coming days about all the amazing things we've seen God do throughout this process, but this wonderful news will have to suffice for now.

Love to you all~

Luann, for Ken and Jackson

I Have an Idea!

Yesterday Jack was watching a Disney film called "Rescuers." The movie is about a little orphan girl named Penny, and the mice who set out to rescue her.

I told Jack that Penny didn't have a mom and dad, and I explained that his sister in Ethiopia also doesn't have a mom or dad.

Jack's face fell for a moment, and he was quiet. Then suddenly his eyes brightened and he smiled.

"I have an idea, Mom!" he said. "How about YOU be my sister's mommy, and Dad can be her Daddy?!"

Jack beamed with success at his revolutionary idea.

Great idea, little man. Great idea.

Bunny Ears and Spring Snow

I'm sitting in my sunroom, on a completely sun-less day, watching my son eat dirty snow off the slide in our backyard. After teasing us with 80-degree temps on Saturday, I guess Mother Nature wanted one last laugh.







 
This morning we went to an Easter egg hunt at our local library. It's actually one town over, and it's much smaller than our town's library.

On our way to the Hunt. Jack was out of his mind with joy at thought of
hunting for EGGS!

"Give me some EGGS, Mom!"

Because of the smaller size of the library, they are able to really connect with the kids. Ms. Nuccia has storytime every Monday morning for the kids, and she is an absolute delight. She is originally from Italy, and just a hint of an accent makes her voice a tantalizing treat to listen to.

Jack and Ms. Nuccia

Our little friends Alex and Claire join us for storytime each week, and they also went to the Hunt this morning.

"Ok guys, here's the deal: Look for eggs, and put them in your bucket."

I am slightly amused and slightly frustrated that for some strange reason, Jack consistently calls them by the wrong name. He calls Alex Claire and Claire Alex. Actually, he doesn't even call her Alex. He calls her Alice, which makes me laugh out loud every.single.time.

Look! Alice found a blue egg!

"I see it, Mom, but I can't reach it!"

Claire Joy, looking a bit suspicious of the event.

Yes, Heather and I bought them matching bunny ears. And yes, the boy ears had blue sequins.

And, no they didn't stay on very well. They were from the Dollar Store.

As my sister Melody would say, the quality there is a bit lacking...but the prices are pretty good.

Jack had a fabulous time with his bff's...

He was so happy and content and excited...until Claire...

...realized how fun it is to dump the bucket of eggs on the floor.

This did not please Jack. This did not please him at all. That's not how you do it, Claire!

Caught in the act.

Still, all in all a fun time was had, and Jack is anxiously looking forward to another Hunt at our house this weekend. I'm trying to teach him about the REALLY important thing that happened on Easter, but candy.... Jesus? Candy. Candy in the eggs, Mom! [sigh]

...

A few days ago, while talking excitedly with Ken about the Egg Hunt and who would be there, Jack suddenly got a sad look on his face. Ken asked what was wrong. Jack said, "I'm sad, Daddy." Ken asked why, and Jack said, "Because my sister in Ethriopila can't come to the Egg Hunt."

That makes me sad, too, Jack. 

But the way you pronounce Ethiopia? That makes my heart smile.

Good Stuff, Gross Stuff

Please Note: At the end of this post there is a picture of something really, really gross. If you are currently eating, have a squeamish tummy, or are easily grossed out, please do not view it. I will give you another warning before it appears.
 
A few days ago I shared a funny dream I had. My little guy, unfortunately, does not have funny dreams--at least not that he remembers and shares. He does have some bad ones, though, and he wakes up crying in the night. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it breaks my heart.

It's nice that he's able to verbalize now, so I can comfort him appropriately. One night he dreamed he had left a hot dog in the minivan, and apparently this was quite upsetting. I assured him quickly that we had plenty of hot dogs--in the fridge, and there weren't any in the van.

Another dream, that really was sad, was that he had lost all his friends. I reminded him that his friends were all in their homes, in their beds, sleeping. He quickly fell back asleep.

I keep thinking about that dream though. Friends are very, very important to Jack. And we're blessed because he has some really awesome friends in several different spheres of his life. No wonder he would be sad if he lost them!

Recently our friends invited us to the zoo. They receive season's passes from their grandma for Christmas--what a great gift idea!

 I sure did miss my niece Savannah when I saw this sign. Hopefully some day she can join us!

Jack was very interested in this evolution propaganda. I think it was the slidey thing more than the actual content.

Aren't they a lovely family?

..

We've also been enjoying the sand table that Ken built in our backyard, as well as the swingset. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so in spite of terrible allergens floating everywhere, we went outside for some fun in the sun.

He's really almost too big for the slide, but the rest of the swingset is just right for him.

 Enjoying the view from the shade of our patio.

Ok, but then things got a little gross. And by little, I actually mean a lot. I was walking around the yard, admiring all the tulip and daffodil shoots, when suddenly I came upon something that stopped me in my tracks. Apparently something else was also stopped in its tracks.





This is where you should stop reading if you are squeamish.








No seriously. Stop.




If you don't stop reading, and you throw up in your mouth, or have to make a run for the bathroom, don't blame me.






You've been warned.



Ready? If you're still reading, you're about to see something ... ummm ... very *natural.* I don't know what exactly it is, but I have my suspicions.




I'm only posting it in the hopes that someone can shed light on it's origin ... and it's untimely end. And why it was left.



Last chance, folks. It's coming.




Here it is. Nestled in the grass, a thing-a-ma-jig, approximately 8 inches in diameter.

And here's another shot, blown up so you can see all the ... contents.

Ken was kind enough to dispose of it before our dog found it. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on what you think it is, and how it came to be in this state, in our yard.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your next meal...


:)
Luann

Adventures in the Bedroom

Last week I was walking down the street, along the sidewalk with a friend. All of the sudden I noticed a skunk on the pavement in front of me--in broad daylight.

I stopped in my tracks.

Maybe if I didn't move, it wouldn't notice me? But then, "Pepe le Pew" turned around and squatted, much like our dog does when she's about to drop a brown bomb.

Uh-oh.

The skunk pointed her little behind right at me, and like a fire hose, a stream of putrid smell came flying at me. It seemed like it was in slow motion.

I quickly jumped to the left, trying to avoid her sulfuric spray.

I jumped so fast, and so far, that I landed with a thud. ... Onto the floor beside my bed.

It was a dream, and here I was, in the middle of the night, lying on the hardwood floor.

A grown woman. 42 years old. Fell out of bed. For fear of a skunk.

#TrueStory

...

When I was in my 20s, I got my first queen-sized bed. I was quite pleased with the size, especially since I'd only ever slept in a twin.

At the time, I lived in a large, two-story house with three other single girls. My room was right above the family room, and I quickly became known for being the first to go to bed.

This is not my bed. Or my bedroom. But isn't it deliciously beautiful?
The tufted headboard is to die for. And the chandelier!

What my roommates didn't know was that I had perfected a technique for getting into my queen bed each night. Because there was no footboard on the bed, I was able to slide in from the very end of the bed. Actually, dive in.

I would turn off the light; the switch was right by the door, and I would take exactly four large steps in total darkness to the end of my bed. At that point, I would stretch out my arms and "dive" into the bed.

But one night, a miscalculation on my part led to an unpleasant surprise...and the revealing of my secret nightly diving.

That particular night, I turned off the light as usual. But apparently my toes were not pointed directly at the bed. I was only slightly off track on the first step, but by step four, I was completely off kilter.

But I didn't know it.

Again, it was dark. Very dark. And my eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness.

So I took my usual dive, but ended up crashing just to the left of the bed.

Boom.

Face plant.

My roomies, who were just below in the family room watching TV, heard the loud boom and quickly muted the television. What on earth just happened? they wondered.

A few minutes later, I came stumbling down the stairs, sporting a pretty goose egg on my forehead.

My ex-roomies still share this story when they need an impromptu entertaining story. It gets a lot of laughs, I guess.

If you are having a hard day, and you ask nicely, I may do a re-enactment for you.

#TrueStory

...

Soon after getting married, and sharing my queen bed with a boy for the first time, I had an interesting and somewhat scary dream. In the dream, a large frog had landed on my leg.

(This was not too far from reality, as we lived in tropical Florida, on a lake, and saw many large frogs (toads?) on a regular basis.)

The dream was so realistic that I swatted--with all the girl strength I could muster--at this frog that had landed on my leg.

Unfortunately for my husband, it wasn't a frog. It was his large man paws, trying to be all cuddly,

SMACK.

It was the middle of the night, and neither one of us woke up enough to have a conversation about it.

The next morning, however, as we lay in bed, I said, "Sorry I hit you last night. I thought you were a frog."

There was silence for just a moment. And then my witty husband responded:

"RIBBIT."

#TrueStory

...

Right after graduating college, I was living at home, sleeping in my old bedroom. I woke up in the night to use the bathroom, but as I stood, I lost my balance. Like really lost my balance.

You have to understand that a person of my height is not always the most graceful flower in the garden. And back then I was not, how shall I put it....as sturdy as I am now. I was a waif. A slight breeze could blow me over.

Anyway, I lost my balance. I tried to aim for the bed as I fell, but being a twin bed, the target was not large enough.

Instead, the chest of drawers decided to Eskimo kiss me. I slammed into it, nose first, and broke my nose.

Imagine my embarrassment when I had to explain that the next day at my new job.

#TrueStory

...

If you thought the title of this blog indicated that the content would be R-rated, I'm disappointed in you for clicking on the link.

And you should be ashamed of yourself for reading such nonsense.

Bunting Banner

There are times in your life when something radical has to happen. You have little or no power to change your situation, so you clamor to control whatever you can.

That's the situation I find myself in this week. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not talking about our ongoing adoption journey, our marriage, or the the seemingly endless potty-training adventure we're on with our beloved three-year-old son.

And I hate to perseverate about the weather, but folks, it's not good here in Chicagoland. Today marks the twenty-eighth day of March...and I saw white stuff falling this morning. Sure it only lasted about ten minutes, but still. We started this month like a lion, and it looks like it may end the same way.

In effort to brighten the wintry mood in our home, I decided to make this:

Shabby Creek Cottage generously offered the bunting letters as a free printable. So I downloaded them, printed them, and cut them out. I used my portable paper cutter for the edges and old-fashioned scissors for the inverted-V bottoms.

Then I raided Jack's art supply shelf and found brightly-colored construction paper. I made backings for letters, glue-sticked them together, and then wondered how to hang all these letters.

I took to Google to find a solution. And Pinterest. In the end, I decided to use clothespins so I can reuse the letters for other occasions. I dug around in my sewing box, found a pretty lace trim that was just the right length, and  strung them all together on the kitchen floor. I fastened both ends to the door frame with teeny tiny nails that you can barely see, and voila! A springtime bunting banner.

If you want to make a fun banner for springtime...or a birthday, anniversary, or any other celebration, you can download these fun printables here.

If you make something, please send me a picture so we can all enjoy it!

 Thinking about Spring...
-Luann

It Won't Be Long Now...

Last week I wrote about looking for signs of spring, and I'm happy to report I found them. Last Friday the temperature got up to nearly 60 degrees, and it felt hot as a summer day in July. (Strange how when I lived in Florida, 60 seemed so cold.)

Jack and I were traipsing around the backyard (picking up dog poop, if you really want to know), when I came across these gems. They grow right in the middle of the (mostly dead) grass, and I have no idea what they are. But I'll take them. Aren't they pretty? I'm sure it's a sign...it won't be long now until spring is really here.

  



We also found these bright green stalks coming up through the dead leaves. They looked so pretty with the sun shining on them.




Lucy had a nice romp around the yard, and before long, she and Jack were sitting on the stairs together.

OK, that's not entirely true. Jack was sitting on the step, because I told him to sit for a picture, and then we corralled Lucy and held her down. Jack and Lucy have a "strained" relationship. Jack loves Lucy...but I think Lucy still holds a grudge about the time Jack pulled her down the stairs by her tail.

And the time he tried to stuff her in a paper sack.



We also had a visit from our little red-headed friend last week. Gracie is the daughter of one of my friends from middle school. I am so jealous of her ginger ringlets and clear blue eyes.



The three of us went to Hobby Lobby, and the kids got to pick out a little something to buy. There was a sale, and I had coupons. First Gracie wanted some big metal keys. So Jack wanted big metal keys. Then Gracie changed her mind. She wanted a craft. Jack still wanted to the big metal keys, but he also needed a craft. I finally got him (forced him) to give up the big metal keys, because what on earth was he going to do with big metal keys that are a purely decorative item? There were many tears, but then Grace found a blue Easter bunny she wanted instead of the craft. And then Jack forgot about the big metal keys and also wanted a blue bunny.  [sigh]

Unfortunately, we only saw one blue bunny. Jack didn't want a yellow bunny. He didn't want a pink bunny. Or a green one. Reluctantly, and graciously, Gracie offered to let him have the blue bunny. She would get a different color. But I think we all know what would've happened if she had done that. Suddenly, Jack would've wanted the alternate color. Thankfully, we dug through the bin of bunnies, and Gracie found another blue! So Jack was blissful instead of blue. That afternoon, they both snuggled on the couch with their respective bunnies. Seriously, the softest stuffed animals ever, and pretty cute, too.

 

See the little peacock pillow behind the dog? I made that. I love the fabric. (I designed my whole living room around a picture of a peacock, but I'll save that story for another day.)  Sadly,the pillow, and it's matching counterpart, are very lumpy. I didn't want to over-stuff them, but I couldn't get the filling to behave. Any pillow makers out there know where I went wrong? I am open to opening them and refilling. I think it might be the quality/consistency of the stuffing? It was a polyester something or another.

...

To celebrate the warm weather last week, we decided to barbecue burgers and buy a swing set. I got out the grill, the charcoal, and had the meat ready to make into patties. Just before Ken got home from work, I went out to start the grill. Alas, we were out of lighter fluid! So sad. Instead we went to Jack Straw's a take out hamburger joint in downtown Wheaton. It was our first time there. The burgers were greasy, big, and delish. The fries were salty, greasy, and fried to perfection.

I felt like I needed a digestive cleanse when we were done.

Ken says we are definitely going back.

We had more success with the swing set than the barbequing. I saw a used swing set on Craig's List, but it was on the small side...and used. I emailed the lady, found out she lived nearby and the set was only a year old. But the price wasn't low enough for me to justify getting a used, small, swing set. So we ordered a fairly big metal set from Menards. It was on clearance, but the website said our local store had them in stock.

The next day, the Craig's List lady emailed me to say she decided to cut her price in half(!) I was kinda sad we had ordered the set from Menards. But then, I got an email from Menards. They were out of stock on the set, and they were CANCELLING my order! They said I could get one from another Menards, but they couldn't transfer from one store to another.

It seemed like divine intervention. To make a long story short, we went with the smaller, used set. It's a perfect size for Jack and some of his little pals, and in a couple years when it's all rusted out he'll be ready for something bigger. Plus we saved more than a hundred bucks by going used.

Ken went to the people's house, disassembled the set, loaded it in our minivan (love how much stuff fits in that thing), brought it home, reassembled it, and wa-lah... Jack's dream come true!



 

Seriously, could that slide be any smaller? I have a feeling it will turn into a launching pad for stunts, or something of the like.

Now if we could get some more warm weather (it was 20 last night and more snow tonight), little Jack-Jack could actually play on it.
...

Every night after dinner, Ken and Jack have playtime. They usually play Hide-n-Seek, Quick Hide--the Giants are Coming, or some sort of shadow game with a flashlight. Tonight they did a craft, with only a teeny tiny bit of supervision from mom. (i.e. "Here's the glue, the paper, the cotton, the stickers, put them here, no not there, etc.")

While they made Noah's Ark and pasted in the animals, Ken told Jack the story. It was pretty neat that when we bought this kit last week, we had no idea Jack would be learning about Noah in Cubbies the very next day. So he got a double dose of Noah, which I think made it more interesting for him.

 

I absolutely love watching my boys play and work together. Ken didn't have much experience with kids when we got married, but he is so patient and kind with Jackson. A few days ago I asked Jack, "What is the name of one of your friends?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Uhhh, Daddy!" But of course. I asked him the same thing later in the day, and once again he confirmed that daddy is his bff.
 

 

I was washing the dishes and cleaning up from dinner while they worked on their project, and my favorite moment was when Jack dropped the glue stick and shrieked, "CATASTROPHE!" Seriously, where does my kid get this stuff? Six months ago he could hardly talk!

Here is the almost-finished project. I was sternly told not to look yet, because "it isn't done, Mom!" But I snuck a few pictures anyway.


 

 ...

Before I sign off, a bit of a housekeeping item: A few Facebook friends have left comments and/or sent messages to me and Ken expressing concern about the breaking of my FB fast. They wondered if I had gone back on my word--because they saw a link to my blog on their FB newsfeed.

Oh dear friends. I thank you for your concern about the state of my soul, but as I mentioned in the aforementioned blog, this blog can post automatically to FB with a simple click of a button. I get comments emailed to me.

The good news is that if I should I find myself falling into dire sin of the "break my fast" sort or any other unthinkable evil acts, I will now know who to call upon to set my crooked path straight.

 Looking forward to spring~

-Luann