Life in the sticks

I wonder...

If anyone is still out there Hello - lo - lo ? Anyone there - ere - ere? This past week I was given a paper from school that asked for a farewell to 5th grade picture for Charleigh. Yep. She's almost done with elementary school! That got me thinking about all the pictures I had here on my blog which I haven't looked at in, idunno, 5 years?

So anyway, I thought that I'd post a few pictures just in case someone out there gets an update from my blog.

3 years 4 months

That's a long time. Three years!

Some days it seems like 20. Sometimes a month, I'm sure you can relate.

Charleigh has now been with us longer than she was in China. Took a while, but we've finally passed that milestone.

She's near the top of her Kindergarten class. Loves drawing, reading, writing notes and contracting lice like all kindergarteners do.

Charleigh will start t-ball this year. She's pretty excited although we're having trouble finding cleats in her size.

Speaking of size, Charleigh is pretty tall. Begs the question as to whether or not her birthday is exactly right. That coupled with having lost 5 teeth already, being able to sound out words on her own & write me notes that while are giggling-inciting, are phonetically correct.

I won't lie, and I'm sure it shows in the posts I've done (or not done) adoption was far more difficult than I thought it would be. Charleigh and I never did bond very well. We get along fine, but it's not the no-holds-barred love that I wish it was.

Anyway, here are some pics... take care. Talk to y'all when Charleigh's 10!

Charleigh meets Cinderella. Summer 2009 @ WDW

Charleigh graduates from Pre-K!

Charleigh waiting for the bus on the first day of Kindergarten!

19 Month update

Seems I'm finally able to get on to this thing... it's been a while and mostly I think everyone has moved on. Did get an e-mail recently from someone who was interested... so here goes!

It's been 19 months since we brought Charleigh home. She has made tremendous progress in most all areas. She is excited about going to Pre-K in August. Although, it's not quite as good as riding the bus with her brother (who sailed through Kindergarten with flying colors!!). She'll ride the bus with him next year.

Her language is coming along, still rough in spots, but when I compare her to other 4.5 year olds she's about par. I think she's too independent still. She will always exhaust every possible choice before she asks or seeks me out for help. She also is still WAY too friendly. Most people think it's great, but she starts up converstaions with just anyone we happen upon, frequently starting them with "Do you know my mom's name is Zsa Zsa Gabor?" I've talked to her about strangers until I am blue in the face. So that's another thing that we're still really working on.

Here are a few pics- enjoy!

The Chasm

Um yeah.

Here's the deal, sorry to say:

I have no more access to this site, I have no more access to my yahoo e-mail. Unless I go out of town (which is the case now), or to the library I can't post to blogger. I took a new job, much closer to my home. However, the laptop they gave me for working blocks yahoo e-mail and blogger.com (and e-bay and a bunch of other sites that I liked to check out on my "coffee break.") It's their computer, so I guess they're entitled...

I took the new job because it's 4.5 miles from our house. Before I was spending abount 2.5 hours a day on the road. Now I send Bubba off on the bus at 6:55 am (yikes that's early!!!) drop Charleigh off and I'm sitting at my desk at 7:15. Usually I leave work about 4:15 and we're home playing around 4:35. (I have to check all the artwork the kids made before we can go home:) ) So we leave about the same time in the morning, but get home 1.5 hours earlier. I love the extra time I get to spend with the kids!!

We haven't made the investment in a home computer yet. Our plan is to wait a couple more years for Bubba to really need it for school, then we'll probably buy one.

Everyone's good. Charleigh is making a lot of progress, particularly on her language. We're becoming more adamant that she pronounce the words correctly. She's moved up to the "Fours" class at daycare, since she'll be four in December. She's really blossoming. I can hardly believe we've been home 9 months this week.

Bubba Jr is doing good too. He started kindergarten last week. I cried as I watched my "baby" ride away on the school bus. He promptly contracted strep from someone at school at has already missed two days of school. So much for perfect attendance!

Congratulations to everyone who's been getting referrals!! You're in for the ride of your life!! Meanwhile, we're off to live ours...

So, adieu!

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://babykailee.blogspot.com/

Finally I have a few more pictures to post!

In our hometown, near Memorial Day and again near Veteran's Day our town lines the streets with hundreds of white crosses with 3'x5' American Flags. It's truly a moving sight! The kids asked me about the crosses in the car the other day and when I explained to them the huge sacrifice men and women make to ensure our safety and freedom they asked if they could do anything. I told them they can say "Thank you" when they see one of our service men or women and they could also pray for them. Immediately their little heads bowed in prayer. It was soooooooooo sweet and I'm glad I had my camera on my lap and could capture this sweet picture!

A while back we went to a company picnic at Clyde's work. There was a racecar there whose driver allowed the kids to sit in the car and have their pictures made. This really made Bubba's day! Charleigh was a little less enthused with sitting in the car, though she did manage a small smile and then demanded to be removed.

"Woah Daddy! Are you sure you can fit??"

"Hey Mom! Look at this!"

Leapin' Lizards!

Brain Dump

I see I haven't posted in a while. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, rather I have too much.

So, prepare for my virtual mind-dump:

Sometime ago, even the month of this occasion eludes me, Bubba Jr. Discovered the infant feeding chair. I held onto it since my sis always seems to have a child that fits it. Anyway, you know kids are always tickled by pretending to be a "baby." I laughed so hard when he put this on and then started walking around with it attached to hit bottom. Kinda reminded me of Aunt Fannie from Robots.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I realized with much dismay that we STILL do not have a family picture. To correct this infraction, I asked my dad to take a picture of our happy family of four.

Well. 3 outta 4 aint bad.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

T-Ball is officially over for the year. Bubba enjoyed it very much. Here's a picture of Bubba running the bases. He's #3.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Is it just me, or would anyone else rather hear a Barney song than Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" one more time?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The kids enjoy swiping my camera and taking their own pictures.

Two from Bubba Jr.:

And two from Charleightra:

(Lawd, look at my chin! Next time I'm going to ask Charleigh to cut MY chin off, not hers!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Too much flash in this picture, but I thought she looked so cute, I had to post it!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Last night was the end of the year program for the school where the kids go. I don't have the pictures developed (yes, I am one of the two people on earth who doesn't have a digital camera) yet. All the classes sang two songs complete with costumes and "moves." After the variety show was the Pre-K graduation. All the kids wore little caps and gowns (men's white button ups turned around). They were so precious! I can't believe Bubba's going to be in Kindergarten soon..... boooohooooo!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Last Saturday was the 'Lympics for our family. We started the day off with a final T-ball game followed by an awards ceremony at Chick-fil-A. After that we headed over to Clyde's work where they were having "Customer Appreciation Day." We ate lunch there, the kids jumped in the bouncy house and Clyde got to crank up a race car. I have pictures of that, but they are yet to be developed... We left Clyde's work and headed over to a pool party about 45 minutes from our house. The kids got to get a little wet. They all (we had my niece too) had their swimsuits and enjoyed splashing around in the pool. Bubba & Charleigh stayed on the pool steps. After that, quick change and then off to Hugh & Sonia's for an adoption get together. Hugh and Sonia are leaving for China next Thursday for their sweetheart Kailee: