Pictures

The Day We First Met

Here's the day we met Zerihun

End of Summer

Now that summer is almost officially over, here' some pictures of some of the more interesting highlights

Here is when the neighbors tree crashed into our front yard...










About a week after the tree fell, we found a nest of baby squirrels on the sidewalk. We loaded them & their nest into a box to take to a wildlife refuge.














and we went to the Air & Water Show....

Updates

So... You may have noticed that I haven't updated my poor neglected blog in awhile. I actually am quite lazy, and haven't felt much like writing. Here's what we've been up to.

The eldest graduated....









We go to the zoo every Sunday since we live 2 minutes away. It's open late on Sunday nights ('til 7:30 p.m., so we have a picnic dinner there).



















We played some baseball....










All in all, it's been a great summer. Hard to believe how fast it's gone. The eldest leaves for school in 3 weeks. She needs to start packing!

Christmas Roundup

Christmas was a pretty low key affair this year. Rocky still believes, but chances are just barely and this is probably his last year. He got a bunch of Star Wars stuff (surprise) and some Lego's. Probably less than he's ever got, but he didn't seem to notice. The girls got some clothes and things they asked for. We had some assorted family over for dinner & it was a nice evening. Steff had to get up at 3am as they were heading to New Orleans for their mission trip, and the bus left at 4am. We left the house early as we needed to stop at the cash station. Good thing we left early as the darn ATM sucked up my card! How rude! It wouldn't give it back. Luckily enough we had time to run home & borrow from Shannon. I dropped her off & was back in my nice warm bed by 4:15(ish)am. She said they tore the roof off a church yesterday & that she had a sunburned face. Sounds like it's going well.

Christmas Preparations

We've been entirely too busy getting ready for Christmas, among other things. Tonight we created our Gingerbread Train, and made some cookie dough. Here's some pictures of the best helper ever.
Decorating the train...



Making the dough...


and finally, the tree. This is the smallest tree we've ever had. Small, but beautiful!

Blessings...

I have been reading a lot of different posts regarding adoptions on a lot of different blogs. Nancy's post here really got me thinking about how my own life has evolved. I was pregnant at 18 & when my husband (boyfriend at the time) told my parents, I subsequently moved out. I had been living at home, working & attending a junior college. I couldn't live there anymore, it was not a pleasant place to be. My parents thought adoption would be the best plan, and wanted me to seriously consider it. It wasn't a plan I wanted, or wanted to hear about, so my husband's (boyfriend at the time!) parent's allowed me to move in with them while we searched for an apartment we could afford. I was so fortunate to have my in-laws on 'my side'. We got on with our lives, we began to heal the relationship with my parents, and we began to prepare for the baby. When my oldest was almost 8 months old, we were expecting again! A shock definitely, we were taking all the appropriate 'measures' to make sure that didn't happen. We weathered on, 2 stupid kids really. Then my husband passed away when Shannon was about 16 months & I was 8 months pregnant with my middle child.
I had a choice and I am glad I made the choice I did. I am where I am today, single parent to 3 of the most amazing kids I know, because of strength, determination, faith, love, and the willingness to do whatever it took to keep us afloat. Luckily enough for me, it was not only me that had those characteristics, my family had them as well.

Pictures!

I realized today, that I absolutely need to add some pictures to this blog, so here goes.



ALL 3 were in a wedding in early October! Aren't they too cute! Out of 5 pictures, this was best - yikes! Too bad we couldn't get everyone to look at the camera & smile at the same time... Rocky thinks it's 'cute' now to make faces at the camera, so I don't think we'll ever get another decent photo. Oh well!

Ethiopian Diamond

Since the girls were both busy over the weekend, Rocky & I headed up to the North Side for dinner Saturday night at the Ethiopian Diamond. We had a blast. The lady asked us if we woudln't mind sitting in the back, and Rocky said sure! He wanted to be close to the band that was playing. We had a great time. He enjoyed the music & watching the musicians, and the food was delicious. Mmmmmmmm. Can't wait to go again!

Back Yard Fun!

No matter how much I whine about having another thing to clean, I will miss the pool when we move. We had a blast out there today trying to stay cool in the 90+ degree heat. Even my father-in-law came over for pool fun & dinner! It was a great day!

Sweet 16..

S (my middle one)turned 16 Saturday. Hard to believe that I'm that old... :) Seems like she was just born. She's a sweet kid, who gets REALLY good grades, loves her friends, loves her phone, has a big heart, could probably help more around the house, loves the computer, loves basketball, and Irish Dances... She really is a good kid & I'm fortunate & blessed to have her in my life. Happy Birthdday Sweetie!

Always in my room...

So, since the computer is in my room so that I can monitor who's on it & when, my room becomes the 'hang out' room. There's a TV, a nice comfy bed, one which is highly suitable for jumping!!!!

Like this....

Soccer!

R had a soccergame Saturday. We found out his team is in first place & they get to play in the Championshio game on Saturday. Bad news is that the girls have dancing in Indy Saturday too... We'll have to see if R's grandpa can keep him overnight Friday & then take him Saturday. Hopefully!
Here he is walking off the field.

Last Home Visit

This past Tuesday was the last home visit with the Social Worker. My SW is working with an intern who will be actually writing the report. She is a really nice young lady! This is the first one she's writing, so they are working together very closely. They are both great! Anyway, the visit was set for Tuesday, 7 to 9pm, so we could finish the last of some DCFS paper work as well as make sure I have given them all the documents they needed to finish the HS. Since they had met the kids last time, they wanted to know if we would could have some time without interruption to get some of it done. Luckily enough R has soccer practice Tuesday's so I wasn't worried figuring they would be with R at soccer. Well, then it rained all day Tuesday so of course practice was cancelled. Figures. So I gave them some money & sent them off to dinner by themselves (remember my oldest 2 are 17 & 15). I told them to return as close to 9pm as they could. The visit went well & we got through the licensing paper work for DCFS. They don't think we'll need another visit, which is great! The kids went to dinner as Applebee's & gave the waitress a 40% tip! I betcha she loved them!! She probably cringed when she realized she had been seated 3 kids... Little did she know!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am thankful for & know that I am fortunate to be blessed with such wonderful kids! This morning they brought me breakfast in bed - pancakes, bacon, & toast, with a wonderfully yummy mug of coffee. Then they gave me with presents. Very nice! Each one bought or made me something. It was so very sweet! They really outdid themselves this year.
To top it off, they even did the dishes once the tray was brought downstairs.
This afternoon we went to my mom's for dinner. It was a great dinner & we had a lovely evening. My brother & sister-in-law were there and the kids had a great time checking out the cicadas under the rocks.
Then we came home & since it was still fairly early, we brought my son's bike out of the garage. For the first time ever he was able to ride it! I was SO happy for him! He just needs to work on pedaling up hill & he'll be fine! What a great ending to a great Mother's Day!

My Daughter...

My middle daughter loves basketball, and everything related to basketball. She attends a high school that has a very competitive high school team - recently the girls team won first in state. That being said, she did not make her sophomore team this past season... She was very sad, but became the team manager instead. She went to practices & games with the team, keeping the score book, etc.
She really is a good player, tall, but just seemed she never gave it her 'all'. Those kids play with ferocious intensity. She just didn't have the killer instinct... I really wish she did because she ABSOLUTELY LOVES the game. She watches high school, college (we've only just begun March Madness), and of course the beloved Chicago Bulls.
I think that if she pushed herself including intense conditioning (must be in TOP physical shape), summer league & more specialized training, she would make the varsity. She doesn't believe me. ... I do however, believe in her & whatever she decides to do.