Our Little Musician

Now that Nate is in 3rd grade, he is able to play a string instrument. He chose the viola. It is very similar to the violin, but has a deeper sound to it. He is so excited to be able to play an instrument. He could barely contain himself when he came home from school with it last week. He doesn't even mind practicing, so far. I'm hoping he can teach me to read music!

Who says I can't speak Russian?

There hasn't been much going on lately to blog about. School has been going great and both boys are very happy. I love the 3 and 1/2 hours I get to myself when Aidan gets on the bus. I've been using it to tackle house jobs I've been putting off doing. Not fun, but I feel 10 lbs. lighter with all the junk I've trashed. Maybe I'm nesting!!!
Anyway, I thought I would take some time to learn and teach you all some important phrases I may need when we are in Russia! :)

1. There's no borders for my love
Moya lyubov ne znayet granits

2. Everything is under control
Vsyo pad kontrolem

3. Please, speak slower
Govorite pazhaluista medlennee


4. My Russian is bad
U mina plokha s ruskim

Or maybe I'll just rely on a translator!!!

Good Bye, Dossier!

Well, Brad took our dossier to work today to have it FedExed to our adoption agency! I am so glad to have that out of my hands. I told Brad that "if we have a fire, I'm saving the dossier before the boys"! Clearly I would never do that, but I do feel relieved and excited. It won't be long until it is crossing the Atlantic Ocean and bringing us one step closer to our little girl!

Only 6 more days to vote for a baby name!

First Day Success!

Aidan's first day of Kindergarten! He was so excited. He went outside a half hour before the bus was expected to put his backpack in the driveway, just like the older kids do!

Well, this is it...good bye, my baby! There weren't any tears from either of us!

Aidan was all smiles getting off the bus! He had a great day, I think. He didn't tell me much, except that his teacher sang her chocolate chip cookie song after Aidan gave her some cookies. Yes, he is a brown noser already!

Nate had a great first day! I got very little information from him either. He seems to "forget" everything. But he seemed happy and had no complaints. All grown up!

Summer Has Ended!!!

I've never loved the color yellow so much in my life!

We got the wonderful news last night that school was starting. The teachers haven't signed a contract yet, but at least the kids are back in school! Aidan was so excited he ran and hugged me! Gotta love those moments! Nate was happy, but instantly nervous. He was totally fine in the morning as you can see from our bus stop pictures.

Here is my 3rd grader all ready to start off a new year! (He really is happy, it's just very sunny!)

This picture shows Nate and Tyler happy to be going to school...finally!

Aidan had Kindergarten orientation day today. He got to meet his teacher and check out the school bus! He can't wait to ride that bus!


Let the learning begin...he's ready! His teacher gave them checklists to find things in the classroom, like the bathroom, a new friend, teacher's mailbox. Aidan starts his regular day on Monday. As happy as I am for school to finally have started, I may be a little sad watching my baby get on that bus!

One More Week

We were all ready to mail our dossier to our agency today. I sat down last night and started to organize all the documents and double check everything when I realized that one of the documents was missing the big, gold seal of approval. We needed to have everything (27 documents) apostilled in Harrisburg. When they do that, they put a cover letter with a gold sticker/seal on each document. Well, one little paper had the cover letter with no sticker!!! I was so upset, because all I want is to have our dossier out of my hands and in the hands of someone in Moscow! Now Brad has to go to Harrisburg next week and get one little sticker. I should check the boys' sticker bin. But I don't think Spongebob or a race car sticker would work. Anyway, everything will be fine and next week out dossier will be out of my hands. I guess all the stress is what really tests someone and makes you realize how much you want something (or someone). Come the spring, we won't remember any of this!!!

Ocean City Overnight

School still hasn't started, so me and the boys packed up and went to Ocean City for an overnight. My Aunt Jean has a house real close to the beach and she was nice enough to let us have it for a couple days. We had a great time! I survived the drive on 76 but I swear I lost about 5 years off my life. Thank God for the DVD player!

Nate and Aidan both dug holes. I think they easily spent an hour on their holes, which meant I was able to read my PEOPLE magazine.


We stopped for corn dogs and a couple of nice cold beers (root beer, that is)! I don't know what it is about having a bottle, but they were happy!

Just me and my boys!!!

They grow up so fast!

Our Trip to the Zoo

Since there is STILL no school, we went to the zoo today with some neighbors. We had a really nice day with amazing weather and no crowds! We saw the new Big Cat exhibit for the first time. It was beautiful! The elephants are still in town. They will be leaving the zoo soon for a while until a new exhibit is built. It was a great day with our friends!
Nate, Aidan, Will, AJ, Christopher, Jack and Karen

Nate went over to see the Birds of Australia exhibit with our neighbors and loved it. Before leaving the zoo, he made us all go back and feed the lorikeets nectar again. He was so calm and excited about it!

Aidan ran out of food, but the lorikeets didn't care. Aidan's arm wasn't even extended all the way and a bird landed on his upper arm. When he extended his arm, the bird moved on down in search of food.

Getting Closer!

We are so close to sending our dossier to Russia! I received our last document in the mail today from the Department of Homeland Security! Next week, Brad will take all the paperwork to Harrisburg to be apostilled (like a notary, only international) and then we mail it to our adoption agency. From there it should be on a plane to Moscow!
As soon as the boys go back to school (hopefully soon!), I want to start decorating the baby's room. I would love to have it done before all the Christmas chaos, because we could be traveling in January. And everybody that knows me, knows I like to be prepared! I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished nursery. Thanks for all the support!

Will Summer Ever End???

Backpacks, check. New shoes, check. Nate and Aidan are all ready for school, but don't have anywhere to go due to the teacher strike. Will summer ever end?