*
Our son Barry lives in Alabama. He has been there since 2007 and I think he enjoys it there. He has made some good friends, and I think friends that he will maintain for a long time to come. The problem is that we don't get to see him very much because of the distance.
He called yesterday to tell us about jobs he is applying for. Two of the most recent are in Boston and Oregon. You see where I am going with this? Absolutely. While I want him to progress in his career and do the things he wants to do and live his life the way he wants to live it, I can't help but hope that he doesn't get the job in Oregon.
Now I have nothing against Oregon. I am sure it is a beautiful state. There is Mt. Hood, the Oregon Coast I am sure is beautiful as well, and the city of Portland would be nice to visit. It is just that living in New England it has been tough enough to see him when he lived in Alabama. What would it be like if he moved to Oregon? That is our fear.
So, while we are not hoping he doesn't get the Oregon job, we are hoping real hard that if he gets any job, it be the Boston job. It would be so nice to have him back home. I know Shyanne and his biological sisters would love to have him close by. We all really miss him a lot.
So, what does that have to do with Cheese-Its???
Absolutely nothing. But yesterday when we told Shyanne where we were going to go to meet her biological brother on Sunday, she told us that she was excited about seeing him at "Chucky Cheese-Its" :)
*
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Busy , Busy, Busy
*
Shyanne is certianly busy these days. She has had soccer on Saturday mornings. Dance is held on Monday afternoons. Soon she will start basketball on Friday evenings, and I think swimming starts soon and that will be on Wednesday evenings. Oh, I can't forget Sunday School. (I'll let you figure out when that one is). In any event, she is certainly keeping busy here in our new town. She had dance and Sunday School in Maine, and she had some swimming a couple of years ago when she went to pre-school at the Y, but all the other is new to her.
This weekend will also be a busy weekend!! We are going to Maine for a visit. She will get to visit with her sisters Amy and Kari, whom she misses and adores very much. We have also arranged for visits with two of her biological brothers. They have both been adopted and we are trying to maintain contact with them as much as possible. They are the two younger of her biological brothers. Unfortunately, the two older ones we have not had any contact with or been able to set up visits with. She has not visited with them since last Christmas.
We have every meal planned for the weekend. Friday night dinner with Kari and her family. Saturday morning breakfast with Amy and her family. Saturday lunch with a biological brother. Saturday dinner with friends. Sunday morning breakfast....(I'm not sure on this one. have to check with DW) and Sunday afternoon lunch with the other biological brother.
So, as I said, we are busy, busy, busy.....and I for one, am enjoying it very much!! I think Shyanne is as well.
*
Shyanne is certianly busy these days. She has had soccer on Saturday mornings. Dance is held on Monday afternoons. Soon she will start basketball on Friday evenings, and I think swimming starts soon and that will be on Wednesday evenings. Oh, I can't forget Sunday School. (I'll let you figure out when that one is). In any event, she is certainly keeping busy here in our new town. She had dance and Sunday School in Maine, and she had some swimming a couple of years ago when she went to pre-school at the Y, but all the other is new to her.
This weekend will also be a busy weekend!! We are going to Maine for a visit. She will get to visit with her sisters Amy and Kari, whom she misses and adores very much. We have also arranged for visits with two of her biological brothers. They have both been adopted and we are trying to maintain contact with them as much as possible. They are the two younger of her biological brothers. Unfortunately, the two older ones we have not had any contact with or been able to set up visits with. She has not visited with them since last Christmas.
We have every meal planned for the weekend. Friday night dinner with Kari and her family. Saturday morning breakfast with Amy and her family. Saturday lunch with a biological brother. Saturday dinner with friends. Sunday morning breakfast....(I'm not sure on this one. have to check with DW) and Sunday afternoon lunch with the other biological brother.
So, as I said, we are busy, busy, busy.....and I for one, am enjoying it very much!! I think Shyanne is as well.
*
Monday, October 17, 2011
Painting Shutters
*
This weekend I painted the shutters on our house. It is not that big a deal to paint shutters, but it is all part of making this house our home and having it reflect a little bit of us. It will take a while to get there, but I am sure over time we will put our stamp on this home and it will be come more and more ours as time goes on.
While I was putting the shutters back on the house on Sunday, Shyanne came up to me and said she didn't like this house. When I asked her why, she couldn't really say why. I mentioned how she had friends that she was playing with right next door, and she didn't have that in Maine. She agreed that was nice.
I mentioned how nice her new swingset was here, and she agreed that she liked it. (although she doens't like the amount of spiders that get on it down here)
I mentioned that we had a fireplace where we could start a fire with real wood whenever we wanted..... I lost on that one. It seems with the gas fireplace at the other house was better because she could start the fire with just a flip of the switch on the wall if she wanted to. She doesn't yet appreciate that glow and smell of a real wood fire, but over time I am confident she will.
I mentioned that our driveway was now flat and she could ride up and down it without any problems, and she agreed that was nicer than the hill we had for a dirveway in Maine.
After our discussion, she agreed that there were things better about this house, but she still said she didn't like it. I know the house in Maine was special, and it will always remain as a special house to all of us, but I am confident that over time, that will change and the house in Maine will be just a distant memory. A nice memory, but just a memory of the past.
So why doesn't she like this house? I don't know for sure as she couldn't answer that for me. I think it is a combination of being new to us.....being far away from her two older sisters whom she adores.....things being different for all of us.....and who knows?
What I do know is that this is a wonderful place to live, and I am confident over time, we will all come to love it here, and enjoy ourselves.
By the way, the fire in the fireplace last night was truly wonderful.
*
This weekend I painted the shutters on our house. It is not that big a deal to paint shutters, but it is all part of making this house our home and having it reflect a little bit of us. It will take a while to get there, but I am sure over time we will put our stamp on this home and it will be come more and more ours as time goes on.
While I was putting the shutters back on the house on Sunday, Shyanne came up to me and said she didn't like this house. When I asked her why, she couldn't really say why. I mentioned how she had friends that she was playing with right next door, and she didn't have that in Maine. She agreed that was nice.
I mentioned how nice her new swingset was here, and she agreed that she liked it. (although she doens't like the amount of spiders that get on it down here)
I mentioned that we had a fireplace where we could start a fire with real wood whenever we wanted..... I lost on that one. It seems with the gas fireplace at the other house was better because she could start the fire with just a flip of the switch on the wall if she wanted to. She doesn't yet appreciate that glow and smell of a real wood fire, but over time I am confident she will.
I mentioned that our driveway was now flat and she could ride up and down it without any problems, and she agreed that was nicer than the hill we had for a dirveway in Maine.
After our discussion, she agreed that there were things better about this house, but she still said she didn't like it. I know the house in Maine was special, and it will always remain as a special house to all of us, but I am confident that over time, that will change and the house in Maine will be just a distant memory. A nice memory, but just a memory of the past.
So why doesn't she like this house? I don't know for sure as she couldn't answer that for me. I think it is a combination of being new to us.....being far away from her two older sisters whom she adores.....things being different for all of us.....and who knows?
What I do know is that this is a wonderful place to live, and I am confident over time, we will all come to love it here, and enjoy ourselves.
By the way, the fire in the fireplace last night was truly wonderful.
*
Friday, October 14, 2011
Family Makes the Day
*
Yesterday was a great day. first, it was Shyanne's birthday and those celebrations with her are always wonderful.
It was made a little more special by cousins visiting from Martha's Vineyard. My first cousin, her husband and two children came over to the Cape for a nice dinner and conversation. The kids had a great time playing together and I made one of my favorite meals (Chicken Marsala) that we all enjoyed.
I had picked them up from the ferry at 3:15 and brought them back to catch the last ferry to the Vineyard at 8:30pm. But they weren't the only visitors we had. We ended up with a very unexpected last minute visitor who spent the night.....
My sister. She lives in Texas and due to some difficulty in planning a trip to visit some friends she found herself coming to Massachusetts with no place to stay last night. She called me yesterday morning, which was quite unusual, and explained her plight asking if she could spend the night.....Of course she could. she's my sister. I would never turn her away...
So when I left to bring my cousin back to the ferry, DW left to pick up my sister at the bus stop. They arrived at the house shortly after I did, and we stayed up talking until about 11:00pm. It was really nice and made for a fine end to a great day.
Family is truly wonderful. I love them all....and more importantly.....So does Shyanne!!
*
Yesterday was a great day. first, it was Shyanne's birthday and those celebrations with her are always wonderful.
It was made a little more special by cousins visiting from Martha's Vineyard. My first cousin, her husband and two children came over to the Cape for a nice dinner and conversation. The kids had a great time playing together and I made one of my favorite meals (Chicken Marsala) that we all enjoyed.
I had picked them up from the ferry at 3:15 and brought them back to catch the last ferry to the Vineyard at 8:30pm. But they weren't the only visitors we had. We ended up with a very unexpected last minute visitor who spent the night.....
My sister. She lives in Texas and due to some difficulty in planning a trip to visit some friends she found herself coming to Massachusetts with no place to stay last night. She called me yesterday morning, which was quite unusual, and explained her plight asking if she could spend the night.....Of course she could. she's my sister. I would never turn her away...
So when I left to bring my cousin back to the ferry, DW left to pick up my sister at the bus stop. They arrived at the house shortly after I did, and we stayed up talking until about 11:00pm. It was really nice and made for a fine end to a great day.
Family is truly wonderful. I love them all....and more importantly.....So does Shyanne!!
*
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Shyanne's Birthday
*
Today is Shyanne's 6th birthday. She has been with us almost 4 years now, and next month will be a 1 year Adoption Day celebration. I can no longer remember what life was like without her in our home, and I don't want to because it is absolutely wonderful having her in our family and spending every day with her. She is definitely a special girl. Everyone in our family loves and adores her. More importantly, she loves and adores all of us.
Since we are in a new area and she hasn't had a chance to get to know a lot of the kids yet, we are putting off her actual "kids" birthdya party until the end of the month. These days it is difficult to get informaiton from the schools about people's last names and addresses, and they frown on bringing invitations to school. As a result, it makes it difficult for a new child coming into a community close to their birthday.
In any event, we are planning and will get a good party for her with her new friends in a couple of weeks time.
Today, cousins are coming over to visit from Martha's Vineyard. They wil be here for dinner, so it will be like a mini family celebration tonight. Of course the way DW goes about buying birthday presents, it will be far from "mini" on that end of it. (Yes, I did participate in the buying, but when there are way too many presents, I feel the need to blame DW).
Happy 6th Birthday Shyanne!!! I love you!
*
Today is Shyanne's 6th birthday. She has been with us almost 4 years now, and next month will be a 1 year Adoption Day celebration. I can no longer remember what life was like without her in our home, and I don't want to because it is absolutely wonderful having her in our family and spending every day with her. She is definitely a special girl. Everyone in our family loves and adores her. More importantly, she loves and adores all of us.
Since we are in a new area and she hasn't had a chance to get to know a lot of the kids yet, we are putting off her actual "kids" birthdya party until the end of the month. These days it is difficult to get informaiton from the schools about people's last names and addresses, and they frown on bringing invitations to school. As a result, it makes it difficult for a new child coming into a community close to their birthday.
In any event, we are planning and will get a good party for her with her new friends in a couple of weeks time.
Today, cousins are coming over to visit from Martha's Vineyard. They wil be here for dinner, so it will be like a mini family celebration tonight. Of course the way DW goes about buying birthday presents, it will be far from "mini" on that end of it. (Yes, I did participate in the buying, but when there are way too many presents, I feel the need to blame DW).
Happy 6th Birthday Shyanne!!! I love you!
*
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A New Spin on an Old Problem
*
Since I missed so much time here on the blog, I am going to try and get you caught up. Back at the end of August we went to Shy's new school for an open house. It was the Thursday before Labor Day, and the classroom was all set up and ready to go. Shy would start first grade the day after Labor Day, and she was quite excited about it.
She found a place at a table with her name on it. This was to be her seat. Table 4. There were 5 other children at Table 4. There were 3 boys and 3 girls to be sitting there when school started on Tuesday.
Jump ahead about a week.....
As a lot of families do, we go over our day at the dinner table with each of us taking turns as to what we did during our day. Shy always goes last. We were only a few days into school when Shyanne mentioned a game she was playing on the playground with some of the other children. We asked if they were children that were at Table 4 with her.
That is when she told us she was no longer sitting at Table 4. It hadn't been that long that she was in school and we were wondering why there had already been a table change, so we asked. Her answer was surprising.
It seems that (at least as Shyanne saw it) she just wasn't talking enough with the children over at table 2, so the teacher thought it would be better if she sat with the children over at table 2 so she could talk more with them.
When asked if she was sure it wasn't that she was talking too much to the children at her old table. She went on to the next thing she did that day at school.
Definitely a new spin, and I thought, quite original.
*
Since I missed so much time here on the blog, I am going to try and get you caught up. Back at the end of August we went to Shy's new school for an open house. It was the Thursday before Labor Day, and the classroom was all set up and ready to go. Shy would start first grade the day after Labor Day, and she was quite excited about it.
She found a place at a table with her name on it. This was to be her seat. Table 4. There were 5 other children at Table 4. There were 3 boys and 3 girls to be sitting there when school started on Tuesday.
Jump ahead about a week.....
As a lot of families do, we go over our day at the dinner table with each of us taking turns as to what we did during our day. Shy always goes last. We were only a few days into school when Shyanne mentioned a game she was playing on the playground with some of the other children. We asked if they were children that were at Table 4 with her.
That is when she told us she was no longer sitting at Table 4. It hadn't been that long that she was in school and we were wondering why there had already been a table change, so we asked. Her answer was surprising.
It seems that (at least as Shyanne saw it) she just wasn't talking enough with the children over at table 2, so the teacher thought it would be better if she sat with the children over at table 2 so she could talk more with them.
When asked if she was sure it wasn't that she was talking too much to the children at her old table. She went on to the next thing she did that day at school.
Definitely a new spin, and I thought, quite original.
*
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Where have I been?
*
My daughter was tweeting last week and wondered if I would ever update this blog. It seems like a good question. I was trying to get caught up, but then there was the move, and my mother's visit, and getting ready for everything with Shy starting a new school. It has been very hectic.
I am still hectic at work. There is a lot to do at a new place, and this place has been no exception. There are so many good people though, so that is a help. There has been so much happening since we moved and getting settled that I have a lot to write. Unfortunately, I never percieve myself as having the time to do it. I am going to make an honest effort to correct that and try to write something and keep everyone up to date as often as possible.
Expect to see more here
Todd
*
My daughter was tweeting last week and wondered if I would ever update this blog. It seems like a good question. I was trying to get caught up, but then there was the move, and my mother's visit, and getting ready for everything with Shy starting a new school. It has been very hectic.
I am still hectic at work. There is a lot to do at a new place, and this place has been no exception. There are so many good people though, so that is a help. There has been so much happening since we moved and getting settled that I have a lot to write. Unfortunately, I never percieve myself as having the time to do it. I am going to make an honest effort to correct that and try to write something and keep everyone up to date as often as possible.
Expect to see more here
Todd
*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
