Sunday, September 30, 2007

Whoops! Two weeks already?

My apologies... I seem to have gotten rather addicted to reading blogs rather than posting to them. But, I'm back with a really LONG post! So how are we all adjusting to a single parent family? With the exceptions of fever (Jonathan), coughing fits (Sean & I), really nasty abrasions (let's just say I'm too clumsy to be allowed to mow a lawn) and just general lack of enthusiasm - no so bad! We really miss Mike horribly, but we're going to survive. (Shhhhhh! Don't tell him.)

The kids still don't understand the time frame involved, but we will face that as the time comes. The boys have this wonderful plan of throwing a surprise party for Mike upon his return. Nice, kind idea... right? Well, they want us to hide EVERYONE (I think they're going to invite more people to the coming home party than they invited to their birthday bash) and we're supposed to hide behind pieces of furniture at the house. Still a good idea... right? Here's the problem. Mike will be flying home commercially and arriving at our local airport. The surprise factor will be huge when NO ONE is at the airport to pick him up. Seems I can't get the boys to realize this flaw in their planning. Because EVERYONE (again, I stress EVERYONE) must be hiding behind furniture according to my sons. Got a couple of months (7+) to work on that one.

Meanwhile... Back in Uzbekistan
Seems the government in Uzbekistan noticed that there were a lot of families wanting to adopt their children. So, they decided they might need some additional laws to govern the way that's done. Don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful that a country is taking the utmost concern in the future of their children. However, this is going to be just "darn inconvenient" for us. At the very least, it's going to be adding to my frequent flyer miles, as it seems I will be taking two trips to Central Asia. There are a lot of issues/details that are still being worked out, so I don't have much more I can report at this time.

Let's just say I had quite the distraction going after Mike left. The adoption news hit within 36 hours of Mike leaving and at first it sounded like our dreams of adopting from Uzbekistan were over. So after quite a few days of uncertainty, my glass is getting closer to "half full" and this might actually work after all.

After the stress of all that, little things like trying to run a household of three boys (ages 7 and under) with laryngitis seem insignificant. When you're only squeaking out words at a whisper, you need to choose those words wisely! Parenting silently is actually quite an art form. It was also hilarious to be sitting just three feet from my oldest son while he yelled repeatedly for me. I kept whispering back "what????", but he was too engrossed in the television that he hadn't noticed me. His calls kept getting louder and more perturbed. It wasn't until I was laughing silently yet hysterically that he noticed me. At first he took offense until he realized his error. Then we laughed together.

Two Pictures to Share


On a completely random note... Does anyone know what kind of spider this is? He moved into our front yard a couple of weeks ago and he is just the most amazing looking spider. If I look close enough it even seems as though he has three Halloween skulls on his thorax (is that the correct body part?) for his "costume".




Our activities for this weekend included the local BalloonFest. The kids were skeptical (to say the least!) about any activity that involved leaving the house before dawn. In the end, they agreed it was quite a fun time. Your dose of trivia for the day: The Energizer Hot Hare balloon (the 'bunny balloon' to the boys) is the largest in the world. The boys were staring in awe and in fear... fear that it was about to tip over on them in the wind. I just kept wondering, "is that what hemorrhoids feel like?"

2 comments:

Tanya @ Ever After Cottage said...

After doing so much research on the nasty spiders found in Texas, I actually know what that one is! Its a Golden Orb Weaver, also known as a Common Garden Spider. Look nearby for a not nearly as nice looking web and you might find her mate - he'll be MUCH smaller. Interesting to watch. Harmless (Yeah!). You might want to watch for the egg sac, though. Come spring, you'll have a bunch of baby spiders running around. They usually lay their eggs in shrubs, so look around nearby leaves.

Tanya @ Ever After Cottage said...

P.S. Thanks for asking a question I can answer. I actually feel almost smart again!