I guess a winter review is in order especially on the eve of such a snowy day in MARCH! It is so cold and the snow is actually sticking.....well, at least on Nick's sandbox but still... I have no idea where to start except for just where we left off in November, so that leads us to Christmas Vaca in TX this year. It was cold, Hot, cold, Hot, you know, TX in the winter. Nick was confused about the whole snow thing and we said that was only in WI every other year....he wasn't quite so sure Santa was coming if there was no snow! I would say that we (as in the Hensley family) don't have alot of must have traditions (we are now on a cookiepalooza two year run....almost a tradition?) but I challenge any family out there to visit as many friends and relatives as we do......plain and simple .....YOU matter and if a car can get to you, we will be there. :) So here is a simple run down of our visits over a two week period.....bless Pat's heart, he loves me alot! :) 1. Girls Day out - a day with my RD friends from school and first job in FT.Worth.....fabulous! Came home to Cousin's PD and Davidson and sons. 2. Christmas Eve - My family and their Church family for Christmas eve service. 3. Christmas Day - My family 4. Quick trip to Oklahoma ....stop 1 - entire cabin filled with cousins,cousins, and more cousins. stop 2 - Aunt, Uncle, cousins and their families. 5. Cookiepalooza - Larissa (friend from StL and sister of my friend MK who passed away last year) and MK's family (Bobby and the girls). 6. Lunch with Pat's BF from high school and his wife Beryl. They live in the area also. 7. Dinner with my cousin Scott and his family along with The Davidson cousins again. 8. mini Kazapalooza with the Howells and Stone's. Park playdate and dinner. :) 9. Tornado Day....literally....a stop to meet Selah Segebarth and visit with all the beautiful Segebarth women! 10. STL - first stop - Meet and greet with new baby Hoagland and their extended family was in town too. Second stop - New Years eve at Michele and Alan Sulzer with my favorite pizza and just a "few" of their friends for game night..... I did not count the people but you will see in the slideshow that it was impressive.....and we do not even have pictures of some of the events......crazy!!! but we are truly blessed with great friends and family and great husbands who tolerate our need to connect! :)
He falled into the jar! He cry out Help! Nobody Heard me! he waited. He was sad. He was a fly monster. He like bugs to eat. He was half bug, half monster. some monsters do not love me. and he escaped. he was a secret agent.  The great thing is this story required him to have kind of a timeline of sorts which means MOTOR PLANNING .....a neuro developmental thing that we have worked on in OT and he is doing it wonderfully! yippee!One of Pat's PT school buddies has a son adopted from Guatemala and 2 home-grown ones and we have enjoyed hanging out with them lately as the boys love to play together. I just love all the joy in this picture....such handsome boys! Baby Mason is not in the pic but equally handsome!  We have now completed our fourth but first non-social worker required post adoption report (only 11 more!). We made our annual pilgrimage to the Capitol for the apostille and took Nick's friend Logan. Congress was in session and we got to see inside the big halls of the House of rep and senate. The boys had a fun time running around or into congressman/women. :) As usual February is a busy month with Meetcha day, Valentines and Nick's birthday. We also seemed to be sick the majority of it. Nick had "croup" and shared with me and then Pat and I got the stomach ick....thankfully only 24 hours of big ick, then just weakness and fatigue. But, we loved celebrating our boys 7th year. We can now say without a doubt that he has been with us longer than he was in the babyhouse. What a journey the last 4 years have been for us all! Nick requested a scavenger hunt like last year so he had a playdate with friends (while daddy and mommy went to an awards ceremony) and then ice cream then the big hunt when we got home. The clues were all over.....a snowmobile batman was hiding in the freezer....brrrrr! :) He wanted the packages (7 for 7 years) to have a saying like last year too. I guess this will be a birthday tradition while the excitement lasts! The day after Pat and I were sick all night, I was upstairs sleeping and Pat was doing the "watch the boy while we lay lifelessly on the couch" gig and Nick being the best boy and back rubber ever made this and put it next to Pat in the chair. So sweet .......  We have started March with a bang as the Snow continues to come down as I type! We have plans to go to Great Wolf for Nick's Gotcha Day and swim and play some Magiquest. He is so excited that his friend Logan (and Logan's mom and dad) are coming with us to celebrate. We will also stop in for a visit with Glenn, Cincy Karen and their new brood. Max cannot wait to introduce Nick to his new brother and sister from Ust, Kazakhstan. I have already had my visit this week.....could not wait 2 more weeks! I totally tried some of my Kazakh phrases....kind of...I will try more next week. Allie even answered me.....that so rocks! :) Love Languages! Pat's folks will be passing thru the first weekend in April on their way North......will be fun to see them and start springbreak with their arrival. Fun times! Adoption news.....absolutely nothing. We did find out that we haven't been approved yet because they are missing enough people for a quorum to vote. Apparently it is the psychologist position that is vacant. So that is what the hold up seems to be at least for now. We are not too disturbed by this except for the just not knowing anything.at.all. As all our Kaz friends know, 2 months is a fairly big chunk of time to prepare for so a little heads up would be nice. I will say that we have really had some great days with Nick and are really benefiting from "The Connected Child" parenting guides and info that we get from our counselor. So, I believe that God knew we needed this time for Nick still so we are just at peace that it will happen as God ordains it.....He did hang the stars and spread the seas.....I think we are good to leave it in His hands! :) I leave you for now with a Nick-creation.....he builds little worlds on our basement floor ....beware at night in the dark but ....wow, his vision and creativity just makes us proud. The picture really doesn't do all the little scenes justice but it was hard to get it all in the picture. He has little "plays" going on all over the floor. they are connected yet separate.....he has free spirited play as soldiers fight near a submarine with a space station nearby. We have encouraged him to think outside the box and boy does he. You might have to click on this one also to get the full effect but it is just so fun to watch his mind at work. He now intermingles superheroes, starwars, and batman.....the stories are hilarious....one of these days, I am going to hide the camera and get him in action.  Hope this catches everyone up. I hope to document a few good Nick stories for his "journal" of sorts. I do love to go back and read the old posts so I try to tell myself that when I get so behind that it will all be worth it for memories later. We wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day and whatever else we missed since Christmas! We did not send out Christmas cards this year...will do better next year.....know that we love all of you and remember if you live near where we are going, we will come see you! :) |
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A Winter post for a snowy Day.....but seriously, it's MARCH!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
October/November Review
It might be easiest to go thru the pictures first and then write a post with our update next. So, here is our October/November in pictures.
I was able to go on a girls weekend away to Brown County, Indiana to celebrate a friends bday and we made a pilgrimmage to Ikea where I found this cute Chair for Nick. Notice the red one that he has his feet on....that is what he had before..... a little small! :)
Our next trip was a mother/son weekend in Atlanta with the Karen's and sons plus Anita and son. We called it the Karenita weekend! ;) It was fabulous. Anita's husband, John was like the host with the most! He cooked and cleaned and generally took care of us the whole weekend! Score! 
The boys were hilarious in their super hero costumes......all boy, all the time!
A rare moment of calm which really makes us chuckle if you actually knew what happened after this picture. They were given adorable 'real' looking popcorn bags which apparently became fodder for "war" as it looked like it had snowed the next time we came down. We thought John was watching them and he thought one of us was checking on them.....ummm, so they were unsupervised for probably 30 minutes or so.......we wondered why little Max came up looking quite bewildered. I do not have the "mess" picture but it exists! :) so funny!
We took them outside as often as possible so Boys could be Boys......
We were joined by Holly and family who adopted Jon-Jon from the same baby-house as Garrett and Charlie. He had just had surgery on his legs but he was just as ready to join in the craziness! Another rare moment to catch them all in one picture. From L to R.....Max (Cincy Karen), Charlie (Anita), Jon-Jon (Holly), Nick, Garrett (MinniG Karen). Garrett and Charlie even have baby house pictures together as they were great buds even before they were adopted! So cool!
All the participants of the mom and son weekend.......in honor of our weekend, the Blue Angels did multiple fly-bys in celebration. REALLY, the did. I was in Heaven. They were so close to us and the noise was exhilirating and we all just parked outside with lawn chairs and had a fabulous time......again, with John doing the cooking! so Awesome! We had a low country boil for dinner!
I love this picture of Nick, Jon-Jon, and Max........This is one of those pics that just makes you ponder the what-ifs.....so glad God brought them all to their forever families so that they can grow up friends instead of group mates in the orphanage. And, on a not so serious note, PLEASE excuse the black socks on Nick....he had put those on so he could wear batman costume and then left them on to hurry outside.....yikes!
Charlie loves to dress "handsome" so he and Nick decided to dress up like their alter egos, bruce wayne and charlie parker.....Here is Nick forgetting to remove some of the Batman evidence! ;)
So, this next interlude is my homage to weird boys.....or maybe just kids. So cute in so many ways. Our neighbor was seeding her yard and had the big sprinkler going. Nick ran back to the car as we were just getting home from school, and proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes doing various in and out of the rain scenarios....... :) 
This one was taken by dad when Nick decided to be a ghost....those were our pillowcases of OUR bed....huh? funny none-the-less.
And, now, a little walk down history lane. This next pic is from our first visit to the zoo, a mere 2o or so days after arriving in the US. He looks like such a little squirt here......3 1/2 years ago!
Fast forward, to October......what a difference! really, can a child grow from 37 inches to 48 1/2 inches in 3 + years......apparently so. He is so grown up now. :)
He is giving the Triceratops the "what for" and telling him the way it is.......I know that stance well. :)
October brought us our first Diorama project.....Umm, you mean parent project....seriously, Nick could have cared less. I made him go out and pick up leaves/branches and stuff. He decided which animal to use but then I ended up gluing all of it together. I did NOT like this project but at least it looked like a kid did it.....I was mortified by some of the entries the other kids brought in.....seriously, do parents not care if it shamelessly looks like the parent did the whole thing with computer generated graphics and all....really?
Of course, what Boy get together would be complete without swordplay and mayhem??
As I said before, the grandparents both came in October and we had two trips to the apple orchard/ pumpkin patch and lots of fun with beautiful weather. We always enjoy our fall visits from our folks. We had a mini family reunion/thanksgiving meal a few weeks ago with my cousins and it was great to see everyone.....AND, of course all of the good food. A country ham, cured and aged by my great uncle and cousin's husband. Amazing! It hung in their barn for a year or more......totally amazed this city girl and dietitian! ;)
On to Halloween, we spent Halloween at the zoo....above pics...sorry they got a bit out of order, and then went over to a good friends neighborhood so Nick could have someone to T or T with for some goodies and fun. Peyton was Anakin Skywalker, and Nick was Captain Invincible Surprise-man...or as we called him, Zorro! :)
Of course, what Boy get together would be complete without swordplay and mayhem??
As I said before, the grandparents both came in October and we had two trips to the apple orchard/ pumpkin patch and lots of fun with beautiful weather. We always enjoy our fall visits from our folks. We had a mini family reunion/thanksgiving meal a few weeks ago with my cousins and it was great to see everyone.....AND, of course all of the good food. A country ham, cured and aged by my great uncle and cousin's husband. Amazing! It hung in their barn for a year or more......totally amazed this city girl and dietitian! ;) We spent our Thanksgiving day as a family of 3 and Pat did his usual awesome meal. He so loves to cook the meal and I so love to let him. I made pies the night before with a friend and cooked the broccoli for our "green" and healthy item. Looking forward to leftovers today! Nick loves pumpkin pie and funny enough, eats it just like his dad. Pick it up and chow down....none of this fork stuff please! ;) Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!! 29 days til Christmas and a TX trip! :)
September review
So, I am so behind in posts, I don't really know where to start except by going month to month. September came and we hit the ground running. We had Bible study fellowship starting, school going full swing, consignment sale, Occupational therapy and Counseling. Our fall has been non-stop with lots of activities and fun. I can honestly say that this is the busiest fall that we have ever experienced but we made it and had some fun times as well.
Nick and I did the Kazwalk in Indianapolis to raise money for the Kaz orphans left behind....new beds for an orphanage. Our team was called the Kazmanian Devils......and well, Nick lives up to that calling! ;)
Nick and I raised over 900.00 with the help of very generous family and friends. Nick was so excited to win the award for most money raised by a kid!
We car-pooled to Indy with Cincy Karen and Max and Anita and Charlie. The three boys had a blast and were so cute the first night all snuggled up in bed.....yeah, none of them went to bed before midnight I think. :)
We all stayed together at the hotel before the walk and it was over run by Kaz Cuteness....it was so good to see lots of dear friends from all over to work together for a great cause! The walk raised over 10,000 dollars for the beds and they were able to buy 100 new beds and mattresses for the orphanage!
School started out well, and Nick has enjoyed learning more and more spanish as well as having a few new friends in class this year while still keeping many of the same sweet ones from last year. The kids did the festival Latino again this year and sang several songs. It was a really really hot day but we were able to see much better than last year. Nick and Libby had their token picture taken and Nick's love/hate relationship with "girls" is a little obvious, huh? ;) Actually, these two are growing up more like sister and brother as we do many activities as families and as Libby put it last week before church to her mom, "mom, will Nick be here because you know, we can speak another language together!" :) We are soooo in trouble!
Nick for the most part is a very easy kid to get up in the morning as he usually beats me up. He eats well and generally goes off to school a happy kid and he can often give me giggles in the morning as this is what we wake up to more often than not.......Electric Hair! :)
October brought us many activities and trips from the grandparents although apparently, they (the Grandparents) have all the pics! I will post an October and November review in the next few days while I have daddy home to watch that scary beast above! ;)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thought I would post some pics for the grandparents and give a quick update. I loaded the pictures backwards so starting school actually happened first but nonetheless....
Everyone has commented on how tall Nick is getting so I think he must be in another growth spurt. He has been waking more at night and wanting to eat continually.......If we can get another 1/2 inch, he will be tall enough for most rides at the waterpark which will make him one happy boy! He does look rather tall and old in this pic for Gma Martha and Aunt Kelly so they can see what their most recent purchases look like. Very handsome boy!
We went to Cincinnati and Dayton last Saturday with Glenn, Karen (aka Cincy) and Max. It has become so fun because the boys actually remember each other now and have a great friendship. They are so cute together. We had a great time at the airforce museum and then dinner at Cincy's house. Below Nick is doing his best "price is right" impersonation for the McDonnell Douglas Phantom. We took this pic for Ata Bill as he retired from there when they merged with Boeing. Nick loves loves the airplanes. He says he is going to be a pilot and wants to know what war he can fight in....hopefully none! I told him that he could be a pilot for the Missionary flyers.
Max and Nick......aren't they cute. They are both practicing for a sibling. Hope they handle their new siblings as well as they handle each other.
Nick started First grade on the 11th. It was a good day. He has transitioned very well with only a few extra grumpy days which are totally to be expected after a long lazy/crazy summer. We had our breakfast at McD's with daddy and then headed to school. We were the first to arrive in the classroom. He went right to his desk and wanted to start working. We are very impressed with his new teacher. She is from Cuba. Cute as a button and very enthusiastic.
Everyone has commented on how tall Nick is getting so I think he must be in another growth spurt. He has been waking more at night and wanting to eat continually.......If we can get another 1/2 inch, he will be tall enough for most rides at the waterpark which will make him one happy boy! He does look rather tall and old in this pic for Gma Martha and Aunt Kelly so they can see what their most recent purchases look like. Very handsome boy!
We went to Cincinnati and Dayton last Saturday with Glenn, Karen (aka Cincy) and Max. It has become so fun because the boys actually remember each other now and have a great friendship. They are so cute together. We had a great time at the airforce museum and then dinner at Cincy's house. Below Nick is doing his best "price is right" impersonation for the McDonnell Douglas Phantom. We took this pic for Ata Bill as he retired from there when they merged with Boeing. Nick loves loves the airplanes. He says he is going to be a pilot and wants to know what war he can fight in....hopefully none! I told him that he could be a pilot for the Missionary flyers.
Max and Nick......aren't they cute. They are both practicing for a sibling. Hope they handle their new siblings as well as they handle each other.
Nick started First grade on the 11th. It was a good day. He has transitioned very well with only a few extra grumpy days which are totally to be expected after a long lazy/crazy summer. We had our breakfast at McD's with daddy and then headed to school. We were the first to arrive in the classroom. He went right to his desk and wanted to start working. We are very impressed with his new teacher. She is from Cuba. Cute as a button and very enthusiastic.
We finally heard back from our agency and our dossier was quickly sent off to Ecuador for translation and approval. They will wait for referrals which match our requirements and present us files one at a time. We got some more reading material about our travel and it made it seem a little more real. We will travel to the city of the orphanage as well as the city where our child was born ( I think that is how I understand it). We will also go to the capital also. There will be a bonding period that could be a few days to a week depending on the social worker assessment of our bonding. We will then take temp custody and then go thru court. I am simplifying somewhat so it may not go exactly like this ....but it is adoption after all! ;) It will be about 8 weeks total with one parent being able to come home if they wish after 4 weeks or so.
We really don't anticipate travel until the spring/summer and we will take Nick with us for at least part of it....we need him for translation! ha!
We really don't anticipate travel until the spring/summer and we will take Nick with us for at least part of it....we need him for translation! ha!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
We are officially paper pregnant!
Well, I guess we can say that we are expecting because the dossier is OUT THE DOOR! I am so relieved to have it off my mind and the papers off the table. It seems that we have been surrounded by papers forever! We actually had less documents this time to apostille so that was one positive for the Ecuador process. Pat took the day off (it happened to be one of the cooler days in the last month or so) and watched Nick while I did some of the last minute copies and certifications. All the county clerks we have dealt with this time around have been so fast and friendly. We ate lunch at a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives place that just aired last week called White light Diner. It was really fun. The owner was quite the character. It was almost a Dive vs. a Diner because it was soooo small but that made it all the more fun. Nick got free Ice cream so he was thrilled. BLOG ADDENDUM and/or LATE BREAKING NEWS: Pat wanted me to add that we did the Triple D double header by going to a second Triple D restaurant tonight that has yet to be shown ....JJ McBrewsters. We actually have been there before and were not overly impressed but it was good tonight and we decided that we DO like Western KY style BBQ and maybe it was just that we had not had that on our last visit....in other words, we didn't order right! Pat thought that Triple D fans would be impressed with our record and/or jealous! ;)......OK, now onto our regularly scheduled blog update: We then headed the few blocks to the Capitol building to the Sec. of States office to our friendly Apostille ladies who we have loved for 4 years now. I want to be an Apostille lady when I grow up. Wouldn't that be fun? Helping finish someone's journey to a child. I am sure they have other jobs too but they have to like that job duty the best. Another observation is that we have become regulars at the capitol and we would have to say that the non-visitor parking is always empty?? how does that work? Lots and Lots of reserved spaces, empty...hmmmm? and this is thru two different terms of Governors (one R and one D) I guess state congress is on break....alot? just sayin? Anyway, I digress. It was a beautiful day so we had to take our "journey to you" book pictures for the new one so here is our sonogram picture of sorts.....look, awwww, isn't Nick cute holding his little brother or sister! ;)
And of course, our "going to the Fed Ex" picture. When we took our FE picture for Nick's Dossier, I had a broken hand, now, I have a right "hand" man! :) 
Now, I know you are going to ask what happens next. I don't know. :) I emailed our coordinators to tell them the dossier was on the way and then asked the what's next question. We do know that most likely we would not be traveling til after Christmas at the earliest, most likely spring/summer.
Now, I know you are going to ask what happens next. I don't know. :) I emailed our coordinators to tell them the dossier was on the way and then asked the what's next question. We do know that most likely we would not be traveling til after Christmas at the earliest, most likely spring/summer.As far as the referral, I am a little confused about when that happens now that the dossier is done. They gave us a big packet at the beginning but it is not very specific and they keep everything on need to know basis....thus, now that we "need to know", they will tell us. :) I will let you all know as soon as we do, promise. But, for now, I am so ready to not be focused on paperwork AT ALL.
ESPECIALLY because, our baby starts first grade on the 11th. We are so excited. I am certain that he has forgotten alot but should remember quickly although he has actually been using his spanish at random times and in full 3 or 4 word sentences. So fun! We found out our teacher assignments yesterday and we have so far all of our good friends in class again which is so exciting for the MOMS! ;) You hate to have to make new friends again! ;) Besides, we have our "system" down as far as class parties and such. ha! So, that's all for now but we may be updating more often if things progress as far as the referral but don't know yet. Will have first day of school pics up of course and we have STL friends coming to play for 3 days next week before school starts! yippee!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Holy Time Warp Batman, its almost August!
So, how do you describe nearly 3000 miles from north to south and east to west and a continual monologue on Batman and/or theology? Answer........summer vacation in the car with N.I.C.K! ;) For some reason, Pat and I had 5000 miles stuck in our head but maybe that is just what it felt like at the end! ha!
Luckily there is not a picture to commemorate what we looked like upon arrival several days ago but there is also no pictures period because the camera was lost (we think) in St. Louis somewhere, possibly a park in Lake St. Louis.
We had a great time at Kazapalooza in Milwaukee this year. I am not sure we (the coordinators) can top the Milwaukee Children's museum but we will try. I think everything went quite well with just a few snafoos here and there. Nick had a great time which is really all that matters and our men even seemed to start to enjoy as they are finally getting to know each other and have more than two word conversations! :) The weather was fabulous and we ventured down to the shoreline to visit with Pat's college room mate Scotty and family. We dined with them at a Drive in, Diners and Dive place that was known for serving unlimited bacon instead of chips or popcorn but apparently that is only on Sunday....and it was Saturday. bummer! It was still good food though. We also had breakfast with Pat's Aunt, Uncle and cousin that was at another local place. Nick entertained cousin Katie with all things Star Wars for the entire meal and thankfully, that was about the last we heard of Star Wars because Batman became the obsession of the month. Not sure why, he has never seen a batman show, just owns a few batman imaginext figures but I guess that is enough.
The hotel had a mini waterpark which was perfect for all the Krazy Kaz kids. Nick was not tall enough for the large slides but could do a swim test to get the "special" armband that would allow him to ride them anyway. He is not a stroke swimmer but an underwater dog. I told him he would have to work on his arm strokes. He practiced for like a half an hour over and over across the pool. He said he was ready and we grabbed a life guard and he took his test. He did so great. He did great strokes from one side of the pool to the other. The lifeguard made a big deal out of it for him and I nearly burst into tears when he finished and started jumping up and down so excited and proud. We made a huge deal out of him practicing and not giving up. It was truly one of those parent moments that just gives you chills.
It was so great to see everyone although my visiting time was cut short often as one of the busy coordinators. I now know why they (the coordinators) all said last year that they wanted to rotate duties around and add more help because they never saw the light of day til it was over. It was a great privilege to be able to help out and spread the work but shew! it was hard work no doubt! Thanks to Pat for totally taking the kid responsibilities to the max!
We made the trip back and Nick had spanish camp and I tried to get caught up on adoption stuff before we left again. We received our fingerprint appt and it was for Friday of that week which any other day would be great but that was the day we were leaving for STL in the opposite direction from Cincinnati where they decided we should go for our appt. Still not sure why and neither was the Cinci fingerprint guy; but, thanks to my dear friend Cincy Karen who not only gave us perfect directions to an open air parking lot (no garages with a kayak on top) but met us at said parking lot with fresh donuts and provided child entertainment while we got the fingerprints!!! That in and of itself was worth the 2 hour detour up and over the hills and back down to STL. THANK YOU AGAIN CINCY!!!!!
So off to STL we went to see my parents, sister and family, friends and the big 25th HS reunion! EEk. oh, and of course, the pizza, always the pizza! High School tour on Saturday was crazy! Everything looked different because they had combined several of the buildings that were separate so it was hard to figure out where we were but finally we went to the gym which had not changed in the 25 years and it smelled exactly the same.....so weird! We had dinner at a brewery (it is STL after all) in our little downtown area in Ferguson. It was fun to see everyone although I think very few people recognized me at all being the "quiet" type and then not really living in STL after I graduated does not add to the "remembrance" part. Oh well, at least being in my 40's has helped me realize I got nothin to prove to these people....and thanks again to my long-suffering husband who sat by my side and made me proud.
We had lots of good friend and family time at the City Museum in downtown STL which we highly recommend for all peoples with children of any size and age. It was sooo much fun and those pictures are the ones that I am the saddest to lose in the missing camera. Nick was in climbing, hiding, running, and swinging heaven! The adults and children were so exhausted but it was a happy tired.
We left STL and headed back to Wisconsin and as we headed north the weather got cooler and cooler. Heaven! The first day we were there it was in the 60's but then it warmed up to a perfect 80 or so at the lake. Nick had a blast tubing this year and went on his first solo outing and flipped and learned what life jackets are for....Pat said once he realized the jacket held him up, he totally relaxed and was then only upset because his older cousin stayed in the tube and he didn't .....typical! We had our first ever Kitzman firework rain-out. It was a bummer but we had a nice dinner at the house and saved our ears for another year. Although, I think their labor day celebration may be a loud one! ha! Pat ,his brother, and 16 yr old nephew kayaked a river this year....in their really good "lake"kayaks by the way.....apparently it was fairly harrowing as Pat and Mike spent alot of time in the water while Dakota, his nephew, conquered the wild with the safest and most stable kayak. I think they will take the appropriate "river" kayaks next time. They had scratches, sunburn and bruises everywhere....boys!
Pat and I were given the night off by his parents and we went just down the road to a lodge and ate some great pub food and had our first night "away" since Nick came home 3 years ago....we were so happy that he had no trouble being away from Mom and Dad and only inquired in the morning where we were and then proceeded to eat breakfast. We have tried to be good about datenights but just hadn't been able to "get away". Now, we will shoot for a weekend.....babysitters, anyone, anyone? We found out the day we left that Pat had been awarded an NIH grant worth 1million. We are so elated. He has worked so hard with his other team members to get this organization up and running and it will be so fun to see all that they can do with these funds to help the rehab patients of eastern Ky. We celebrated at lunch with his folks and then headed out.
We were all three very tired pups headed home last week. We did have a momentary highlight on our way home when we stopped and visited with Alaina (Kazmom) and boys for an impromptu playdate at McDonald's outside Indy. It was good to chat with her since I did not see much of her at Kazapalooza with all the running around. The boys had a good time playing!
Looking forward to doing it again at the Kaz Walk in September that Alaina is helping coordinate in Indianapolis.
So that is about all I can say about our 2010 Vaca trip.....it was an eventful June for sure! I am sure not nearly as interesting without pictures... :( While we were gone, we received our Immigration approval and now we are hustling to finish up the last of the paperwork to finish up the dossier and apostille. Not really sure what happens next but it will be good to get the paperwork finished and out of the way since it is hard to "do" paperwork with a certain someone home for the summer. School starts when?...... :)
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.
Luckily there is not a picture to commemorate what we looked like upon arrival several days ago but there is also no pictures period because the camera was lost (we think) in St. Louis somewhere, possibly a park in Lake St. Louis.
We had a great time at Kazapalooza in Milwaukee this year. I am not sure we (the coordinators) can top the Milwaukee Children's museum but we will try. I think everything went quite well with just a few snafoos here and there. Nick had a great time which is really all that matters and our men even seemed to start to enjoy as they are finally getting to know each other and have more than two word conversations! :) The weather was fabulous and we ventured down to the shoreline to visit with Pat's college room mate Scotty and family. We dined with them at a Drive in, Diners and Dive place that was known for serving unlimited bacon instead of chips or popcorn but apparently that is only on Sunday....and it was Saturday. bummer! It was still good food though. We also had breakfast with Pat's Aunt, Uncle and cousin that was at another local place. Nick entertained cousin Katie with all things Star Wars for the entire meal and thankfully, that was about the last we heard of Star Wars because Batman became the obsession of the month. Not sure why, he has never seen a batman show, just owns a few batman imaginext figures but I guess that is enough.
The hotel had a mini waterpark which was perfect for all the Krazy Kaz kids. Nick was not tall enough for the large slides but could do a swim test to get the "special" armband that would allow him to ride them anyway. He is not a stroke swimmer but an underwater dog. I told him he would have to work on his arm strokes. He practiced for like a half an hour over and over across the pool. He said he was ready and we grabbed a life guard and he took his test. He did so great. He did great strokes from one side of the pool to the other. The lifeguard made a big deal out of it for him and I nearly burst into tears when he finished and started jumping up and down so excited and proud. We made a huge deal out of him practicing and not giving up. It was truly one of those parent moments that just gives you chills.
It was so great to see everyone although my visiting time was cut short often as one of the busy coordinators. I now know why they (the coordinators) all said last year that they wanted to rotate duties around and add more help because they never saw the light of day til it was over. It was a great privilege to be able to help out and spread the work but shew! it was hard work no doubt! Thanks to Pat for totally taking the kid responsibilities to the max!
We made the trip back and Nick had spanish camp and I tried to get caught up on adoption stuff before we left again. We received our fingerprint appt and it was for Friday of that week which any other day would be great but that was the day we were leaving for STL in the opposite direction from Cincinnati where they decided we should go for our appt. Still not sure why and neither was the Cinci fingerprint guy; but, thanks to my dear friend Cincy Karen who not only gave us perfect directions to an open air parking lot (no garages with a kayak on top) but met us at said parking lot with fresh donuts and provided child entertainment while we got the fingerprints!!! That in and of itself was worth the 2 hour detour up and over the hills and back down to STL. THANK YOU AGAIN CINCY!!!!!
So off to STL we went to see my parents, sister and family, friends and the big 25th HS reunion! EEk. oh, and of course, the pizza, always the pizza! High School tour on Saturday was crazy! Everything looked different because they had combined several of the buildings that were separate so it was hard to figure out where we were but finally we went to the gym which had not changed in the 25 years and it smelled exactly the same.....so weird! We had dinner at a brewery (it is STL after all) in our little downtown area in Ferguson. It was fun to see everyone although I think very few people recognized me at all being the "quiet" type and then not really living in STL after I graduated does not add to the "remembrance" part. Oh well, at least being in my 40's has helped me realize I got nothin to prove to these people....and thanks again to my long-suffering husband who sat by my side and made me proud.
We had lots of good friend and family time at the City Museum in downtown STL which we highly recommend for all peoples with children of any size and age. It was sooo much fun and those pictures are the ones that I am the saddest to lose in the missing camera. Nick was in climbing, hiding, running, and swinging heaven! The adults and children were so exhausted but it was a happy tired.
We left STL and headed back to Wisconsin and as we headed north the weather got cooler and cooler. Heaven! The first day we were there it was in the 60's but then it warmed up to a perfect 80 or so at the lake. Nick had a blast tubing this year and went on his first solo outing and flipped and learned what life jackets are for....Pat said once he realized the jacket held him up, he totally relaxed and was then only upset because his older cousin stayed in the tube and he didn't .....typical! We had our first ever Kitzman firework rain-out. It was a bummer but we had a nice dinner at the house and saved our ears for another year. Although, I think their labor day celebration may be a loud one! ha! Pat ,his brother, and 16 yr old nephew kayaked a river this year....in their really good "lake"kayaks by the way.....apparently it was fairly harrowing as Pat and Mike spent alot of time in the water while Dakota, his nephew, conquered the wild with the safest and most stable kayak. I think they will take the appropriate "river" kayaks next time. They had scratches, sunburn and bruises everywhere....boys!
Pat and I were given the night off by his parents and we went just down the road to a lodge and ate some great pub food and had our first night "away" since Nick came home 3 years ago....we were so happy that he had no trouble being away from Mom and Dad and only inquired in the morning where we were and then proceeded to eat breakfast. We have tried to be good about datenights but just hadn't been able to "get away". Now, we will shoot for a weekend.....babysitters, anyone, anyone? We found out the day we left that Pat had been awarded an NIH grant worth 1million. We are so elated. He has worked so hard with his other team members to get this organization up and running and it will be so fun to see all that they can do with these funds to help the rehab patients of eastern Ky. We celebrated at lunch with his folks and then headed out.
We were all three very tired pups headed home last week. We did have a momentary highlight on our way home when we stopped and visited with Alaina (Kazmom) and boys for an impromptu playdate at McDonald's outside Indy. It was good to chat with her since I did not see much of her at Kazapalooza with all the running around. The boys had a good time playing!
Looking forward to doing it again at the Kaz Walk in September that Alaina is helping coordinate in Indianapolis.
So that is about all I can say about our 2010 Vaca trip.....it was an eventful June for sure! I am sure not nearly as interesting without pictures... :( While we were gone, we received our Immigration approval and now we are hustling to finish up the last of the paperwork to finish up the dossier and apostille. Not really sure what happens next but it will be good to get the paperwork finished and out of the way since it is hard to "do" paperwork with a certain someone home for the summer. School starts when?...... :)
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
June, Seriously, June?
So here we are at our fourth June together and we realized we had NO professional pictures and no non-holiday related pictures of us for the dossier. Enter my friend's sister who is raising funds for a mission trip to an orphanage!! She and her husband were offering picture taking sessions for a donation to their mission trip! WIN-WIN situation to us! I hate, hate having my picture taken....it is hard for me to look natural when it is an un-natural setting....yeah, I never did well at those role-playing exercises in school either. and Besides, is any female ever happy with a picture?? I digress......
There were lots of just fun ones that I like because they show personality and there were some ones that are good for the dossier so Mission Accomplished...check it off the list. I am posting these for the grandparents and Aunts and Uncles to pick so I can deliver on our trips...so excuse the "too many" part of the pictures....thanks!
There were lots of just fun ones that I like because they show personality and there were some ones that are good for the dossier so Mission Accomplished...check it off the list. I am posting these for the grandparents and Aunts and Uncles to pick so I can deliver on our trips...so excuse the "too many" part of the pictures....thanks!
ZERO
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
OK, this one below KILLS me....for some reason Nick wanted to take his glasses off...I love my boys eyes but oh my oh my, he looks 12 or older...such a soul-full look. I will say that as his mom, I can totally tell he is holding a smile in.....so glad that is the case! :)
I prefer my "actually looks 6 years old" boy below. So handsome and so cute and not so darn teenager-y looking! ;)
Now onto at least a short post(kind of) :) .....I am so behind.....
Stop the train....time is flying by but yet there are days it feels as if the day will never end. I cannot believe it is June. It just feels like yesterday that we started school and now my boy has finished Kindergarten and will be a first grader in the fall. I have to admit I was a little teary saying good bye to his teachers. I always am.....He has come soooooo far this year. He has accomplished so much. Teachers Rock! I always wish I could take them back to the beginning with us and they would feel so much more accomplishment in how they have helped bring our boy so far. AMAZING. We are just really enjoying his reading skills and he "acts" out the books and expressions as he reads them. Hilarious. I think I have mentioned before that we are now huge Mo Willem Fans (Knuffle Bunny). The Piggie and Elephant series particularly. LOVE THEM! So, on to first grade we go. He was past the benchmark in every area except one and that one he met the benchmark but just didn't go past.
We have had two sessions with his counselor and it is really a blessing to have someone in the trenches with us when we are having a hard day or two or three. She has an adoptive son and totally gets us and what we are dealing with. It is amazing how what we are doing with the OT and what we are doing with the counselor are totally connected in many ways. I will try to post more detail one of these days.
My computer screen broke thanks to a blind and clumsy dog but bless his heart, I kind of left it in a not so good place and well, nudge, crash, and no computer. We did not lose anything as the hard drive is safe but I don't have access to pictures yet except for the ones I posted above because they are on a disk. It has put a big damper on my blog reading (I don't have my favorites selection) and writing but sometimes a break is good, I guess! ;)
We had lots of school parties and activities which kept us fairly chaotic the last few weeks. I have lots of pics. I will share eventually.
On the adoption front, we are progressing thru the dossier steps. Pretty straight forward process. A few differences from Kaz but the best difference is that apparently we dont have to get FBI fingerprints....yippee. We are waiting for our appt with Immigration for our I800 fingerprints but I was dreading the local police department. Although I will say, we needed a criminal record letter from them and they did it for free!! We were able to use this instead of updating our state criminal record check which costs $$.....the states notary expired in Nov...would not have lasted thru the adoption...grrrr! So many crazy details to keep up with regarding dates and expirations....so mindless yet soo important to pay attention to at this time. I need to check with the agency before we start our summer travel. I am so less annoying this time around. I rarely even email them unless I need them to approve a document before we put it in the apostille pile. I figure they will contact me if they need to find out something?? I guess when our dossier is finished I will get more into the game! The psych eval went smoothly and we had a great Dr. He was really interested and kind. The computer test was crazy long and painfully tedious. 560+ questions. ugh!
My computer screen broke thanks to a blind and clumsy dog but bless his heart, I kind of left it in a not so good place and well, nudge, crash, and no computer. We did not lose anything as the hard drive is safe but I don't have access to pictures yet except for the ones I posted above because they are on a disk. It has put a big damper on my blog reading (I don't have my favorites selection) and writing but sometimes a break is good, I guess! ;)
We had lots of school parties and activities which kept us fairly chaotic the last few weeks. I have lots of pics. I will share eventually.
On the adoption front, we are progressing thru the dossier steps. Pretty straight forward process. A few differences from Kaz but the best difference is that apparently we dont have to get FBI fingerprints....yippee. We are waiting for our appt with Immigration for our I800 fingerprints but I was dreading the local police department. Although I will say, we needed a criminal record letter from them and they did it for free!! We were able to use this instead of updating our state criminal record check which costs $$.....the states notary expired in Nov...would not have lasted thru the adoption...grrrr! So many crazy details to keep up with regarding dates and expirations....so mindless yet soo important to pay attention to at this time. I need to check with the agency before we start our summer travel. I am so less annoying this time around. I rarely even email them unless I need them to approve a document before we put it in the apostille pile. I figure they will contact me if they need to find out something?? I guess when our dossier is finished I will get more into the game! The psych eval went smoothly and we had a great Dr. He was really interested and kind. The computer test was crazy long and painfully tedious. 560+ questions. ugh!
We are getting excited for Kazapalooza and I have been busy with the Tshirt design, welcome bags, and nametags.....our living room is full of boxes for assembly at KP....Pat will be glad when it is over and our living room can be cleaned. I personally don't mind having an excuse for the mess when friends drop by! ;) oh, sorry for the mess, all this KP stuff everywhere, wink,wink!
Hope everyone is having a great summer. Some school districts around here are just getting out due to all of the snow days! We have almost survived our first week out and doing pretty well so far although it was so much easier getting my allergy shots without Nick telling (and trying to help) the nurse to push it in! Love ya son! ;) Happy Summer to all!
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