"All That will Get You is a Litter of Kittens in San Francisco"

Yep, you read that right.... She said "all that will get you is a litter of kittens in San Francisco" Now, have absolutely NO idea what the heck she is talking about but I found the metaphor hilarious. The girls and I were headed out to the resale book store for the afternoon. I told Noley she could have four dollars to buy whatever books she wanted to read. She replied back with what? "all that will get you is a litter of kittens in San Francisco" Not Sacramento where we live....not Minnesota, Portland, or Arizona where family lives...but San Francisco.

I asked her to clarify what she meant and she responded by saying..."you know the kind you get in a box" Huh?

Should I be Worried?

So I was feeling a little tired this afternoon and decided that after Kumon I would let the yahoos watch TV...no I am not one of those moms...who forbid their kids to watch TV... but it is earned in time limits and with some restrictions on programming---do you Kumon and you can watch 30 minutes of _________ or _________.
So today Tobbers asked if he could watch "cash cab" ... Cash Cab, I asked? "yes mom, the game show in the cab where they ask questions" replied Tobbers. Hmmmm okay I say. After all it is a jeopardy type of show asking riders random questions of knowledge. What I did not know or expect was how well he could answer the first round of questions! He was absolutely fascinated by the show and the questions they were asking. My son is an unusual breed. The guy is obsessed with facts of random information. He was given the option to watch Looney Tunes but instead he wants a quiz show... Gotta love this little guy... He's an odd one but we Love Him!

It Arrived!! The USCIS 800 Approval!!!

Sqwatty Potties here we come!

The final US document we have been waiting for has arrived!!! Thank GOD because it has been 11 months just for this one piece of paper. For those of you just starting the wonderful Hauge Adoption process this is the final golden ticket. We applied with USCIS in September of 08 and got our preliminary approval in January and finally the real McCoy.

So what does this mean...Uhhhh not quite sure...other than we are one step closer to getting our Travel Approval (the final final document we are waiting for) from China that will grant us permission to pack our bags, buy plane tickets and get out of dodge.

We are hoping to take the whole tribe. With all of the concerns and quarantines with the so called swine flu, we may not get permission to take everyone we had hoped. Stay tuned for more...

So the final question will be.... will we be in China in September or October?

Day 5 of 8

So we are on day 5 of the 8 days of being Mr Tomato free. What Mr T gone for a whole week leaving me alone with three yahoos, five cats and six fish? Yep that's the guy. So did he leave for business?...ah no not really... I'm still trying to figure out how he managed to leave for a week without me finding out till the morning he left.
It all started innocently enough...one day meeting on the east coast, a hour or so from a old friend...and next thing I know he's boarding a plane for what I understood to be a 3/4day venture. Imagine my surprize when I learn at 4am that he is not coming home on Sunday but Thursday!
Now, mind you he is a big guy and can go away as he sees fit...so I'm not so peeved about the slight misrepresentation of his time gone --- because anyone that knows Mr T knows he is not really good with numbers...they are either wayyyyyyy too high or wayyyyyyy too low, so one has to calculate in the Mr T factor when listening to him talk about quantitative things.
But what I am really miffed at is that I think he did it on PURPOSE. Yep you read that right...I think he thinks that by not telling me the REAL amount of time he would be gone, there would be no way I could accomplish one of the many projects I want to do around the home but need him gone to get them done. By the time I found out his real timeline it was too late to schedule a contractor to gut the back bathroom, or paint the exterior of the house (which I am confident he would not even notice) or rip up the carpet and tile in the kitchen or have a landscaper come in for the back. ARghhhhhhhh ... there is soooo much I could have gotten done if I would have known in advance. I cherish the time when I can be sneaky and take care of business that he thinks is absurd and ridiculous only to love it once it is done.... Darn it!!! Paybacks will be severe....hummm

Our referral photo (s)

Hua Hong - Changzhou SWI Jiangsu province (3 hours outside of Shanghai)- a half the sky orphange - we are very lucky that he is in such a nice facility. MeiMei was in a half the sky facility (in Wuzhou, Guangxi )and it was very clear she was well taken care of during her first couple of years.

We hope to have him home before the end of October. We first saw his adorable face in November of 2007 (yes that was almost two years ago) We are one of the first hague families to go through the process and have been a guinnea pig for many of the challenges that come with being a leader of the pack. Two agencies later and lots and lots of hurdles we are coming close to the finish line --- I can see the light of at the end of the tunnel.

So exactly, how did we know?

I have been asked this question by many prospective adoption parents. They ask..."how did you know? that a child was meant to be yours?" Well that is a very good question. For me it was the moment I first saw his face that I knew he was my guy. For Mr T he looked at the same photo and saw nothing but a little guy....not particularly connected to him or his family....until.....he saw this photo.

For those of you that know Mr T you will understand when you see this photo that while this handsome little guy may have been born across the world...he IS Mr T! From his high hairline and big head, to plaid pants and interest in cooking all the way down to his snazzy red leather bow tie shoes....this kiddo is a Tomato. I told Mr T how could not NOT bring this handsome guy into our home...he is meant to be ours. He loves to cook and dresses just like you!

Why Didn't I Think of This?

Okay I about split a gut when I opened my email and found this photo. As a mum to twins this really struck me as funny. Hummmm maybe it's not too late?

"Hey..Nice Red Boat...Can I Ride In It?..."

Yep...those are the words that came out of my sons mouth this morning.
All week the girls have been a camp (MeiMei at Kindergarten camp and Noley at Sculpture art camp) and Tobbers has been hanging with Mom. I had these grandiose ideas of what we we do this week just the two of us but as reality set in and work projects piled up...our activities got scaled way back. We started the week off with learning about pest inspections and according to the state of California what constitutes a "pest" We learned about termites versus wood boaring beatles...okay so that was how I packed the fact that I had to meet a cleint for a pest inspection and take Tobbers alone. It is all in the positioning---an art my children are learning well.

We visited the train museum and talked with tall attractive Swedish teenagers. Tobbers using his best Swedish accent managed to give the nice girls his own personal tour of the train museum with me in tow. Now I am not sure if they just found him charming or whether they really did not understand English well and thought he was a short docent?
We traveled over to West Sac and toured and played in the the water works play area where the crazy high maintenance moms take their whiny kids who cry and complain because they get wet---hello it is a WATER PARK! Tobber was a trooper and smiled nicely at the complaining moms and explained to them that when one is at a water play park it is very hard not to get wet and that maybe they should bring rain coats for their kids.
Today topped it off. We dropped Noley off and I decided to take Tobber to the boat ramp at the River to see if we could catch any boats launching. I knew he had never watched this and thought he might find it interesting. So we watch this one red speed boat getting launched by and older couple. Toby yells at them at the top of his lungs... " hey nice red boat.... can I ride in it with you?" So whadda you think happens next? Yep you guessed it. Hotrodding grandpa and his sexy date are hauling me and my son up and down the Sacramento River. I wish I could have had my camera on me to take a photo of one of the happiest boys in Sacramento. Tobbers never stopped smiling and ole grandpa was getting a kick out of Toby's interest in the motor, speed, pistons and other engine kinda stuff. We spun circles, we jumped (I almost barfed) and crashed over wakes and all the while Tobbers just smiled.
It is not the first time Tobbers has talked his way in to doing something. He has such an honest and inquisitive approach that it makes is hard for people to say no. He did a similar thing when we were at the ocean. He wanted to try a boogy board and he went up and down the beach asking people to try theirs and he finally found an older gentleman to lend him his board for 30 minutes. Yep...if all else fails he will make a good career in sales.

Raising Fashionistas...Oh Boy What Am I In For??

Yep... this is what I live with on a day to day basis. Two budding fashionistas. They love to create outfits to wear. As long as they are not leaving the property, they can wear and create whatever their hearts desire.

I got the sewing machine recently fixed (okay so I had to learn how to thread my darn bobbin) and am ready to teach the girls what my Nonnie taught me...the art of creating sewing items for play or wear. I spend many of summers with my Nonnie in the middle of god forsaken nowhere...where there was nothing to do but sew and crochet or read trashy novels but she did not introduce me to those till I was 15...

I spend a good part of my childhood sewing projects with my Nonnie and in Jr. High School and High School altering what I would buy at the "Brick Bon Marche" (aka thrift store) into my own creations.

I am reminded of my mothers comments and cross eyed looks as she would see me in one of the great alter-creations and would comment that I looked like a "street walker" Now mind you I was a rather naive 14 - 16 year old who had no idea what she meant... Now in hindsight...yeah.....she be right....I dressed like a hooker under the disguise that I thought I was a fashionista. Oh good lord.... what will I do...