2006 Leaves Us

As 2006 leaves us, I'm sitting here thinking of the past year & wondering about the changes 2007 will bring.

In 2006 many of my FCC friends have been united with their own little blessings. I have been overjoyed to see new children come home & change the lives of their Forever Families. In 2007, I hope to see more families united. There is nothing quite as special as holding our children the first time & introducing them to family & friends.

In 2006, I picked up some new hobbies - blogging & scrapbooking. While I am by no means anywhere close to an expert in either hobby, I'm having a total blast. I don't get a chance to really scrap at home, but when I do, it's nice that Erin likes to sit with me & make her own creations. Her teachers warned me that Erin likes craft time at school, & it's the same at home.

David & I have decided to finally do something about our long-term love of trains. In 2007, we are building an N-scale train layout. As usual, David is doing the technical & manual labor. I'm going to have a blast picking out all of the buildings for the layout. Erin is even into this hobby with her own train setup.

I don't believe in making resolutions. As a teenager & young adult I always made resolutions for the following year. The adult in me finally realized that each time I made a resolution, I was disappointed when I didn't follow through on the commitment. Now I just think about the things I would like to accomplish but don't get crazy when things don't go the way I had planned.

So. Out with 2006 & in with 2007. Bring it on! I can handle it.

Wishing you all a very happy & healthy 2007!

Hantelech, Feeselech & Tuches

Yesterday I had to work late so David picked Erin up from our friend Debbie's house. When I called to tell him that I was on my way home, David couldn't wait to give me some important, earth shattering news. One of the hardest things to teach a young child who is learning Hebrew is the "ch" sound. It doesn't sound like the"ch" in Christmas or the "ch" in chunky. It's a gutteral sound that many people have trouble making.

When Erin was getting into David's truck, she showed him her hands & said "Daddy, these are my hantelech (little hands in Yiddish). David then taught her to say feeselech (little feet). She pronounced both words perfectly. Then she pointed & showed David her "tuches."

Go ahead & laugh, but these are the little things in life that we all smile with pride about. Besides, how could you not laugh? I did!

Chanukah Fun

Erin loves Chanukah!! Yes, as you can see, she has a blast getting presents. However, my darling daughter also looks forward to saying the blessings each night & saying "Happy Chanukah Momma & Daddy!" David & I are filled with such pride in Erin. This is the 1st year that Erin was able to chant each of the blessings right along with us.

Each year, on the first night of Chanukah, David makes latkes (potato pancakes) for dinner. Erin's 1st year home, she was eager to try them since she had recently started eating real food 100% of the time. Last year, she wanted nothing to do with them. This year, she couldn't get enough sour cream on them!

My friend Vivian & her daughter Kerri gave Erin 2 books for Chanukah this year. I can now officially recite "I Have a Little Dreidel" all on my own! It seems that Erin loves the song so I had to read the book at least 3 times each night. Not such a bad tradition at all.

I can't wait to see what next year brings us at Chanukah time!

Well, curiosity wins at the Museum of Discovery & Science also! Erin loves to see how things work. Since we're on vacation, we decided to play tourist at home! The weather outside was totally yucky (wind & rain) so this was the perfect place to visit for the day.

David & Erin love to do things together - plant, trains (okay I love that one too!), cook, models. I like to sit back & watch them enjoy themselves together. This was the perfect day for that.

Butterfly World

Wednesday was Butterfly World day. In the 18 years that the place has been here, we hadn't made the time to just go. We were always too busy. Isn't it funny what happens when you have a child? All of a sudden there's time to do plenty of things you wouldn't do before. We're loving every minute of it!

Erin was really excited to be going here because she loves butterflies. However, when we walked through the doorway to the exihibit, she froze. All of these butterflies just come flying over, & it really alarmed her. We've been working on teaching Erin to not be afraid of new experiences. It took a while, but the beauty of Butterfly World won.

Erin had a wonderful time just taking in all of the sights. Her favorite part of the day was going back & forth on the suspension bridge. The first time she went over it, it was as if her troubles were tossed into the pond below. She was smiles & sunshine the rest of the day.

5:30 am Appointment to Play!1

This is Erin's train table. She woke up early the next morning (5:30!) so she could play with her trains. Can we say obsessed???

Trains, Trains, Trains

Erin loves trains.

That's not really a surprise in my house. David & I are into trains also. In fact, I have my own train set - the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter movies. I've been trying to convince David that we don't need our dining room table anymore. No, I don't want to get rid of it. I'd like to turn it into my own train setup! I'm getting there. He's almost convinced.

My friend Lisa C found a train table for $20 at a garage sale a few weeks ago. Knowing how nuts we are, she picked it up for us & had her hubby bring it over for Erin. Tonight I surprised by taking it in & helping her set up her trains. She had so much fun playing tonight.