The Slippery Slope:

It's Cool to Flash a Silver Smile!

I'll have to find a copy of that Snoopy poster wearing braces...used to be one of my favorites.  As promised, Sam celebrated most of his 12th birthday in the orthodontist chair.  He was excited, so seeing him enthused about something made me happy.  I know it will wear off after the first monthly tightening, but I'll take it for now.

I planned to make him a big homemade breakfast this morning figuring he'd be too sore to eat much lunch or dinner.  Problem is, I grossly overslept.  I'm lucky I have the luxury to oversleep,  I still have no idea how or why Jill didn't come running in and jump on me, but I hate it when it happens.  My whole day is disrupted and I feel like I'm running in circles all day.  So, I had about 40 minutes to make a king size breakfast and then get everyone, including myself, ready and out the door.  Of course I knocked myself out trying to get there and then we wound up waiting 30 minutes in waiting room.  Doctors.. grrr.

I did remember to snap a quick picture before we left:

I came back 2 hours later to pick him up and guess what?  We waited another 35 minutes before he appeared.  As he dazzled me with his shiny new smile, I noticed the bottom teeth were still bare.  The ortho came out and said that they were running too late and that since it was lunch time, he'd have to come back next week and get the bottoms on.  Huh?  Is this standard or are we being jerked around? 

Afterward, we tried to jam in a quick trip to the pool before going home and getting the house ready for his b-day celebration.  When we got home, he lay down on the sofa and get this...he took a nap.  This boy hasn't taken a nap since he was three unless he's down with the flu, swine or otherwise.  It worried me a little but he wasn't feverish.  I guess he was just tired. 

While he slept, I cleaned up and baked the cake which promptly broke apart as I tried to get it out of the pan.  I still served it, it just didn't look that pretty.  Later on, it was off to BK for his traditional dinner-- he's been looking forward to his Wh*pper meal.  But by this point, his mouth was really sore and he couldn't even finish it.  Poor kid. 

 

Later on, it was cake and ice cream with the cousins and family.  He perked up considerably and had a great time.

 

Another very busy day tomorrow.  It may prove to be very stressful but let's hope it all goes well.  I'll fill you in later...

Reunion!

I guess if someone has ever had a case of writer's block, I have it bad.  I just can't seem to get my act together to write down my thoughts.  Actually, I've been so busy since school let out, busier in fact than when school was still in session.  I'm really looking forward to vacation at the end of July; I mean really, really looking forward to it.  I just want to be in the woods with nothing to do!  Maybe see some elk or a bear or something.  I don't want to get close to a bear--just maybe see one at a distance again.

This weekend, we made a trip down to Washington, DC to have a reunion with our Chinese adoption group.  We weren't able to attend  last year, so I was really eager to go and see everyone.  We got there late on Friday night and ran smack dab into everyone in the lobby--very convenient actually because I was worried about tracking everyone down.

The girls were having a blast running around the lobby, giggling and playing.  They all seemed so comfortable with each other; Jill was slow to warm up to them but was much more comfortable by Saturday night.  She had a couple of melt down moments, but was quickly calmed down with bribes of milk shakes and onion rings. All the girls are just as cute as can be and it's so wonderful to see how well everyone is doing.

I've snagged some of my friends' photos because we have some really talented photographers in the group.  Go on up and check the links on the left for Tina and Dawn. Their photos are amazing, kind of makes me want to run out and buy a new camera.

Here are the girls back in 2007 in  Guangzhou, China on the infamous red couch at the White Swan Hotel.  They were all so tiny and not very cooperative.

Here they are two years later.  So Big!  Can you match the faces up?  We were all amazed at how little their faces have changed, they've all stayed the same, only stretched out a bit!

On Saturday, we all headed out to the National Zoo to see the Pandas.  It was incredibly hot, but we trooped along and the Pandas came out to see us.  Jill was still being pretty uncooperative, but we did manage a couple of pictures with Courtney Mei.

Speaking of uncooperative, have you any experience traveling with a pre-teen boy?  M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E.  Throw in tons of walking in the hot sun....M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E  Seriously, it was all I could do not to send him home alone on the train.  After a firm talking to, he perked up mildly for Sunday's adventure to the Air and Space Museum and touring of the National Mall.  I was feeling really upset and anxious over his behavior, but this morning I caught the beginning segment of Regis & Kelly.  Kelly and Mark were sharing pictures from their family vacation and all they could talk about was how miserable their 12 year old son was.  They showed a bunch of pictures and he's scowling in every one.  Oddly, this cheered me up immensely!  I guess we're not the only ones going through this.

This same child turns 12 tomorrow!  My little boy isn't so little anymore and I only have a couple of inches left until he catches up with me.  And as our gift to him, he gets his braces on tomorrow!  Wow, that could be the worst present ever.  I'll call it payback for his attitude on the trip.  He's excited though.  He won't be so happy the next day when the pain sets in.

Ack, that was a side trip down puberty lane...now back to the trip:

 

Group shot in Du Pont Circle taken by Dawn.  I wasn't sure why Chris was acting like he just won the World Series, but he finally figured out that he was just trying to put his arm around Sam.

 

The kids had such a blast hanging out by the fountain.  We let them splash their feet in there, but it was inevitable that somebody would go for a swim.  Little Libby, Jill's former roommate, fell in but was quickly scooped out!

 

 

Well, that's it for me tonight.  I'll be back next time with more pictures of the trip.

Wow, so I see another long break has occurred without conscious thought on my part.  It's just so hard to find time to blog these days; come on, there's Scramble to play!

Lots and lots been happening round here.  First off, it's was our 2 year "Family Day" anniversary with our Little Jilly last week.  Hard to believe it's only been 2 years--seems much more like forever if you ask me.  She's a trip and so ridiculously smart.  She never stops talking and has recently started spouting off some really embarrassing things.  I won't share the most embarrassing one, because I would be implicated in teaching her less-than-appropriate words.  I just have to remember that she hears everything (and I mean everything) and will spout it back at the most inopportune times.

We didn't make a big deal of  anniversary, but we did go out for ice cream after dinner.  She wanted a chocolate cone, and that's what she got.  She ate every drop and managed to make a fine mess of it. 

Hmm, let's see what else has been going on?  School is almost out!!  I'm very excited for this and will be thrilled when we can just take a couple of days to chill out and relax. Sam will be graduating from elementary school and heading to the Junior High, and this makes me oh-so-apprehensive; but, I'm so eager for his 6th grade experience to be over, I'll just deal with the nerves.  Did 6th grade just suck for everyone?  I know my 6th grade year was horrendous, so I think it just must be so across the board.   To be honest, I don't think Sam has disliked this year, I'm just not a big fan of his teacher or a couple of his classmates.  My boy has learned some very interesting things from those boys this year; most notably, a wide range of curse words, and vast array of "yo momma" jokes and a misinterpretation of what Erectile Dysfunction means.  I wish these kids would just shut up already.

I'm sure I'll be sick of the kids complaining that they're bored after a day or two, but I always enjoy those lazy early days of summer.  I still have to get our pool memberships renewed, but I'm sure we'll be spending tons of time there.

Softball and baseball season is starting to wrap up.  We've been so unbelievably busy running from field to field to get the kids to different games that all start at the same time, it's almost dizzying.  We've had to employ the grandparents on a couple of occasions to help us out---Thanks, Gram! 

Tom's season came to a sad end yesterday as they were eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs.  Tom had a very, very slow start to his season and was just starting to find his groove in the last couple of games.  He had some good, solid contact yesterday, but it just wasn't enough.  Tears all around.

Softball is quite ridiculous.  At Diggy's level, it's just one step above t-ball.  They girls get about 15 pitches and nobody ever strikes out.  It's a comedy of errors on the field as they randomly throw balls around and very occasionally, and I really mean occasionally, make a play.  I realize they are young and it's all about learning, but her coach has held about 3 practices all year and has recently missed a game completely.  I'll be very happy when here season is done.  I'm ready for her to move up to the next level and actually learn how to play.

Sam's team, coached by the dear husband, is still going strong.  Playoffs started today and they won their 1st game.  It's a double elimination system, so they get to keep going even if they loose.  Sam had 2 base hits tonight, which may have been his best game this year.  They play again tomorrow night, but I'll miss most of it as I have to take Digs to her game and supply the snacks. What fun.

It was a beautiful weekend all around and I hope you got to enjoy it!