No Ordinary Family

Well of course you fly 4 kites at a time.  Jim only had to chase the crayon kite twice.  Hey, that is something you can't do with a toddler running around, right? But not everyone does this... Toby actually didn't mind being buried in the sand too much for a second, he is such a good dog.  I should have taken video but Jim did not give me much warning that he was planning this.

I need to be there, doing that! Expect very similar pictures this time and I don't even care if they look the same to you.   Although I think I should invest in a rain coat just in case and after seeing these pictures I might pack a few extra towels for the dogs.

Well, I felt I needed to post something and it is probably going to be quite boring and a bit of a pity party, sorry, I won't blame you if you stop reading now. So how come when it rains it pours? How come everything seems to break or fall apart all at the same time? I am trying very hard to be thankful especially this month but it has not been easy. If you read Jim's blog, you may know some of this stuff already, but here I go anyway. Jim's laptop is on its last legs it is literally being held together with 2x4's, he uses this computer to get jobs since he is a substitute and most of the jobs are posted through a website. Our DVD/VCR player decided it no longer wants to work, well it kind of still works you can play things if they have the auto play feature but forget fast forward or rewind. Then, Gypsy hurt herself somehow. She was fine Saturday morning but by about noon we noticed her limping. It was not getting any better so I took her in to the Vet this morning. Lo...

Although my last post qualified for the FFFF this week I thought I would post the other picture that I took last night. Toby loves new toy, sometimes he loves them to death almost immediately and others he love a bit more gently. I found this little deer on sale after Christmas and he was being so cute with his head laying gently on it but then I went to get the camera and I could have got the shot but there was no memory card in it. Lesson to Jim I am not going to be as forgiving when you don't put the memory card back in the camera if I miss a perfect shot of our kids. But I did get one picture before he got up and started throw it around.

This weeks theme for Foto Friday is pets. I have always had pets and I would love to share pictures of all those pets and some time I will but for now I thought I would share pictures of our current "kids" Enjoy the pictures. Sully - cat napping Gypsy - looking sweet Toby - with his I'm sorry look (I don't remember what if anything he did)

Well it has been snowing for the last 24 hrs. Not huge amounts in our area but a constant dusting from the sky and it is cold, I am mean like lose your fingers if you forget your gloves cold. Ok no one has lost their fingers yet, that I know of, but hey it could be a possibility. I think the high today was in the low 20s and tonight we are expecting more single digit temperatures. I love the snow but I usually like it a little warmer than this at least at midday. Sorry there is not much to talk about but the weather. I could talk about how I searched all over town for that gift that Jim said he wanted for Christmas and I realised that there are 1 of 2 things going on. Either the economic crisis that the news is talking about is non-existent or that the stores ordered a whole lot less because the shelves are empty and we still have a week until Christmas. I am glad that I headed out yesterday instead of waiting until this weekend. Hopefully something more interesting will happen this we...

You may recall about a week ago I mentioned Gypsy lost her collar (picture above it pre -collar disappearance .) Jim begged and sweet talked the vet and the city gals to get her new tags. So it was my job to get her a new collar, the easy part or so I thought. We went out to find her a new one at Petco , they did not have the kind that she had before so I bought her a choke chain with pretty pink nylon woven through it. Now mind you I did not know the right size since I no longer have her collar because it is probably buried in the back yard somewhere. I got home and it was too small so I took it back to Petco and went to Petsmart to see if they had the kind she wore before. I was in luck they did have one and I thought it was the right size. I also got a new one for Toby since his was getting pretty old. We got home and guess what the one I bought for Gypsy was too big. Uggg !! But then I got an idea! (I know there was smoke coming out my ears) Toby’s collar was adjusted as smallest...

I know, I know, TLC life lesson: “Blogging and merlot don’t mix.” Replace merlot with appletini and you have me on a Wednesday night. I wrote a wonderful, completely sober blog the other day on my lunch hour but forgot to email it home so you are stuck with appletini Cora. I am not really impaired yet so you may be in luck (but I make no guarantee, I am still drinking it.) CCAA only got through 8 days last referral batch, this is not an improvement. I really don’t think that they are going to ever speed up. Jim and I went to the waiting family meeting on Sunday in Seattle. We were the only waiting family there. It actually gave us an opportunity to talk to our social worker about our concerns and options. Right now, if the wait continues to be the same as it has for the last few months, our wait will be about 6 years. Since Jim and I want more than one child, that is not exactly acceptable so we are exploring other options. More on that if anything develops but for now it gave us a lot...

Anyone that knows me knows I am not a shoe person so maybe I am just missing something but I don’t understand why anyone that is going on survivor would even take high heels on the trip? I watched Survivor last night and I loved it. I love to I sit at home on my sofa or lay in bed (soon we will be enjoying it from our new recliners) and Jim and I discuss what we would do. I would never go on a show like this but I know if I did I would do it better ;0). I really have to wonder if these people have ever watched the show before. I would say that 99% of the time Jeff Probst takes all of their belongings in the first episode. I understand that they probably don’t know exactly when the game is going to start but they do know they are in another country for a survivor game, right? So why on earth would you ever bring a dress and high heels? If it were me I would layer my clothing from the moment that I stepped on the plane and I would not pack anything but sensible clothing and shoes. ...

It has been more of the same in the land of non-parenthood. Not much happening to blog about unless the few readers that I have want to hear about re-organizing the kitchen. Since I can’t wait for you to answer I am just going to tell you about it anyway, if you don’t care just skim until I start ranting about something else. I came home from getting my hair cut on Sunday (don’t worry nothing drastic just a trim) and started doing the dishes that lead to a complete reorganization and a trip to Lowe’s. Well, we did need to get a new step stool too as Jim collapsed ours, as Jim said it had obviously been a stool too long. So we bought all kinds of wire organizers and things to put things away with and then came home and realized that half the things we bought are the wrong size and needed to be taken back. Back to the stores we went and returned what did not work and bought another cabinet for the dinning room to hold extra stuff. We have to have more storage if we are going to stop...

I was going to post about our weekend painting the house and visiting and show some before and after pictures but that will have to wait. Currently I am writing this while a dog whines incessantly next to me. Toby has found a new toy, a squeaky football that I am sure was Missy’s that we somehow acquired when we helped Emily move (sorry Emily and Ryan if this is a beloved lost toy.) Anyone that knows Toby knows he is death to squeakers, but until they die they are truly annoying. That is why we try to buy him non-squeaky toys. So what is better take to toy away and listen to the whining or the squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, all night long? Jim thinks I am obsessed with the adoption and becoming a Mom I wish he was here to see his dog longing for the squeaker toy. It is a completely new definition of obsession. When Jim came home for lunch he put the toy up on the table as soon as he left, Toby devised a way to retrieve it...

Well, it has been a few days since my last post so I think I will start at the beginning of the long weekend. To start things out I got my secret pal gift for September!! I was so excited and I did not expect it so soon. I opened the package and found all kinds of onesies and t-shirts. They are so, so cute. Little Miss’s wardrobe is increasing quickly. It is one thing that I was going to wait on was clothing because we don’t know when we will get a referral or what size she will be. But you know what I figure if I keep the tags on things and if I can’t use them I will either find someone that can or have a big ebay auction. For now seeing the little clothes in the closet makes me happy. I convinced Jim that the “Daddy’s My Hero” top needed some little pants so we headed out shopping. It helps that he wasn’t in a big hurry to get the house work done that we were planning for the weekend. We ended up at my sister Emily’s because I was frustrated with the local shopping. I got some cute p...

Sunday, we went shopping and look what found its way into my cart. It is a super cute doll that Little Miss just had to have. I also found a cute white onesie on clearance that was irresistible . I have got to keep the shopping limit to a minimum otherwise we may need to get a bigger house before long. I am enjoying myself and I am keeping everything in the packages and the tags on just in case we get a referral for a boy. We asked for a girl but stranger things have happened. We met some friends at Borders this evening had some coffee and a nice visit. It was good to get out of the house for a while. Now Toby is acting like he has been completely abandoned he was sitting in the middle of Jim's book that he is trying to read and I cannot have the laptop on my lap because he will burrow under it. Crazy dog, he is so needy but that is why we love him.