VALLEY FORGE PARK

These are just a few miscellaneous photos taken at Valley Forge National Park yesterday afternoon. The kids had a good time and E took many pictures of the herd of deer that we found. I tried to post the best pictures but sometimes it's hard to see which pictures on blogger when trying to upload.

Enjoy.

J

S's PARTY

S's birthday party was held last weekend at our home. I began to worry about how to enetertain 10 five year olds so I decided to hire CHIPPY THE CLOWN. She was awesome and did a fantastic job with the kids. They did a short craft then she had them dancing, singing hopping and then did some magic. She was well worth the money considering that it was 17 kids here along with parents and not the original 10.

I have not been posting much lately and I am feeling a tad bit guilty although I see most of you on FB each day which is great. I think I'm becoming one of those FB addicts and although I try to limit my time there to just a few minutes I still find myself logging on several times a day checkin status updates. UGH! Last year I was addicted to RumorQueen and now it's Facebook. Is there any help out there for this addiction?

I am presently looking for a part-time job somewhere out there...(are there any) in which I might be able to use my nursing knowledge. Not patient care but perhaps continuing chart reviews as I had been doing. Part-time is perfect as it will still allow me to be home with the kids often. I am finding that homework has increased tremendously this year for the boys and even though most of the day to day homework is done independently, the projects are complicated enough where a parents guidance and supervision is needed. The job at Maximus was 25 miles too far.

My photography class continues to be a lot of fun and I'm disappointed that we are off tomorrow due to President's Day. I have been spending some time traveling to parks and out my front door snapping pictures and hoping for a good turn out. I've downloaded hundreds of pictures, our most recent ones from Valley Forge National Park taken yesterday. I will upload them later in it's on post.

Everyone has been healthy, knock on wood, and the kids are well. Even though the now can be beautiful, if and when we see it, we are all looking forward to the start of Spring and hanging outdoors. Yesterday was a good day as the Philadelphia Phillies pitchers and catchers were to meet in Clearwater, FL. Yes, Spring can't come soon enough.

Until the next time,
J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today I was able to celebrate a wonderful gift which was given to me by a woman with whom I will never know. Somewhere, on the other side of the earth in a country called China, an unknown woman is grieving for one of life's greatest losses, greatest devastation's, biggest tragedies. This loss... is the loss of one's child. Five years ago today a woman gave birth to a beautiful, precious little girl, perhaps not realizing the events which were to unfold. I often wonder about this courageous woman who shares a bond so deep with me that words cannot describe; Is she old?...does she have other children?... is she very young?....Is she married...or is she very poor?... does she live in fear of a "one-child-policy?...These things I will never, ever know about her. What I do realize, is what she has done takes more courage than I will ever have gained in my entire lifetime. Her actions have given me one of life's greatest treasures....a child. My daughter, S. My precious daughter, S, will always know that she has the gift of two mommys...one who gave her life...one who gives her a chance... To S's birth mommy in China, " thank you, thank you, thank you."

J

Fun in the SNOW

Several days ago we had a very small snowfall which the kids enjoyed to the max. We live on a hill and even though there was maybe only 2 inches of snow outside the kids found their sleds and our driveway became a wonderful sledding mountain.
I was able to capture several pictures of the fun.

On another note, I contacted the school district today just to make sure that S's China paperwork would be sufficient for her kindergarten registration in two weeks and to my surprise...NO, it wouldn't. I either need a U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport and of course, I have neither. We did not readopt S on U.S. soil, as we did not think it was absolutely necessary.
Now we need to attempt to get a passport for her....ASAP. Great..but it is what it is.

Until the next time,
J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, E!

We finally were able to make it out for E's birthday dinner on Saturday night. After a couple of weeks of postponing, the flu seems to have made its way out of our house for the time being and we all got out to dinner. I told E that we would take him to any restaurant that he wanted to go..it was his choice. (of course I gave him a few choices that mommy liked) but for some reason he had his heart set on APPLEBEES so that is where we went. It actually wasn't that bad, the service was decent and for once the food was okay. The boys ate almost everything on their plates. Afterwards we headed back to our house for some cake and a bit of WII. I was pleased that everyone had a good time and most of all that E was happy.

On another note, I spent many days the past week on a hunt for snow pants. Who knew how difficult it would be to find them in the middle of winter????( I saw bathing suits and summer clothes though...) I looked online and shopped at 3 or 4 stores before finding several at Dick's Sporting Goods on clearance...
I am planning on taking the kids snow tubing next weekend....(Looking forward to that.)..and we all needed some snow gear to help keep warm and dry.

On a final note, this is the anniversary week of my Katie's death. It will be 4 years since I last held my baby in my arms. Please remember her this week and warn others of the dangers of unsecured furniture.

Until the next time,
J