Happily Ever After...

We started second grade for Aria at the end of February primarily because she completed first grade in about 6 months, and summer break seemed a little too early to start in March. I thought we would do a dvd program (to slow her down a bit) and decided to give Gianna a chance for K4 dvds as well. Then in March, we were surprised by TWINS( which is EXACTLY like a surprise pregnancy, except not really) and I made a semi-executive decision to try to get the whole year completed before we travel for the twins somewhere, oh, around October- December. How's that for helping me plan an ENTIRE school year? Since we start in August with Art, and Geography classes and then Science Club begins in September, we worked REALLY hard, (and even added a few Saturday school days) to get to the point where we can do three days a week from August till December. Never fear, Tuesday classes and Friday classes count for schooling, so we are just not coming home and doing MORE SCHOOL. Can I get an ...

WARNING: Potential controversial post ahead..... Proceed with caution. And don't say you weren't warned. Since we made the decision to adopt special needs kids we get the same comment over and over again. From family, From Friends, From well meaning acquaintances, From total strangers. And it goes something like this: "I could NEVER do what you are doing. GOD bless you. Those kids are really lucky to have you. I could NEVER do that." And my thought is, YES YOU CAN. You don't want to.  OR more truthfully....You choose not to. Now stay with me here. I have several friends whose biological children were born with serious medical issues: Heart conditions, spina bifida, severe cerebral palsy, autism, emotional special needs, leukemia, and lots of other lesser special needs.  Initially, their world was shattered at what there life would now look like: Doctor's appointments, therapies of every kind, medical bills, surgeries, a child w...

Today Greg and I went school shopping for the girls while they stayed behind with their brother. I came home with a Hello Kitty rolling back pack for Gianna (no on the back packs for her ever.) She was thrilled. Beyond thrilled in fact. She proudly announces to the whole family, " I love this back pack more than I love you Mommy!!" Ummm, excuse me? Say what? I've been replaced by a $14.99 dollar BACK PACK?!??!? Seriously???? All the hugs, snuggles,  kissing boo-boos and guacamole apparently meant nothing. Pretending to whimper and pout got me less than desired results. (Doesn't it always- HA!) "It's okay Mommy. Aria loves you. I love Daddy, AND my new back pack." Gee thanks Gianna. I feel the love. Or not.

I really hate the gym. So much so, that I have joined not one, but TWO gyms to torture me. Yes, I am crazy. We joined the local YMCA and it is wonderful. The indoor/outdoor pool is great for the kids, the weight machines have computers that remember your settings( which is extremely helpful once you are in your 40's) and, get this, WILL NOT count a rep if you don't fully extend. NO cheating here folks. It even beeps at you if you try to go too fast. Every one at the Y knows when you are cheating with those lovely beeps. Thank you Big Brother YMCA. Could there possibly be one more thing I would need to HATE about the gym? Well, two sweet friends joined ANOTHER gym and raved about the classes that were included and how great it is to challenge each other, and well, one thing led to another and yesterday I found myself waiting at GYM #2 for my newest form of torture. Miss Perky Pigtails was our teacher, and boy, she is one cute sadomasochist. Trust me when I say she ENJOYS the ext...

~For sticking with me from blog address hop to blog address hop. ~For being interested enough to ask to follow me privately. ~For the sweet, supportive comments of understanding on why I went private. ~For being excited for us about our twins. ~For letting me follow along in your blogs as well. I'm much more comfortable sharing openly about our travels, our twins, and our family in a private setting. So Thank You all for sticking it out with me!

Aria loves, loves, LOVES her lil' Bentley boy. She likes to leave him notes and pictures in the laundry room so he won't miss us when we're gone. She is SO SWEET! Here is a sampling of her love notes.... Overwhelmed by all the sappiness, her brother just couldn't take it any longer. So, Aria woke up to THIS note next to hers: My little spitfire just couldn't let THAT go. She ran to her schoolroom, and begin her counter-attack: And, if that wasn't bad enough, she decided to add humiliation to her arsenal. Bogey is waving the white flag of surrender and defeat. He just can't take it any more. The hurtful words, the parading around looking like a clown... How much can one Boxer take? SOOOO Big Brother, I guess that means Aria won the battle???

I'm not getting the "Mother of the Year" award this year. Again. I've been disqualified each and every year since I became a mom in 1986. Sigh... It would be helpful to remember, if I was actually hoping to win, that if you have just taken your children to see Toy Story 3, you may not want to role play the traumatic parts unknowingly. So yeah, it goes like this: Toy Story 3 is about toys that are broken, or outgrown that are thrown in the trash or donated to a daycare to be tortured. The toys are heartbroken and try to get back to their home before their owner leaves for college, where they would prefer to be put in the attic than discarded or abused. After making it home in the knick of time, the owner donates them to a little girl who will love them and play with them. The End. Fast forward to yesterday.. After a long frustrating day full of arguing, discipline and chores, I told the girls that if they had too many toys to clean up, we would get rid of some. An hou...