Sitting in My Office & Realizing

Yesterday morning, I was sitting in my office typing an email to one of my co-workers when it hit me.

It was Friday, May 30th. Exactly 5 years ago the day before, David warned me. We were not opening the suitcases & repacking them AGAIN. He was done. There was no more. We were getting ready to go to sleep. Why? Because exactly 5 years ago today, at this very minute, my in-laws were walking through our front door to take us to our last breakfast as a family of 2. They had asked if they could be the ones to take us to the airport when we left for China. It took us 5 seconds to say "yes" at the same time to them.

Why? Because they were the reason we were finally going to be parents. Back in the summer of 2000, they had asked us to come for a visit. Not too unusual mind you, but they said they wanted to talk to us. Huh!? WTF!? That day in 2000 changed our lives forever. They wanted to know what they could do to help us become parents. So. Erin if you want to know the truth, you were brought into our lives because of a simple question from Grandma & Grandpa. But I digress. (As usual.)

Anyway. Now it's Saturday, May 31st. And 5 years ago, David & I were on a plane headed to China. It was a hellishly long flight, & David had never been on a plane with me before. (BTW, he hasn't been on one with me since then either.) We had met some of the families who would become fixtures in our lives from this time on. My feet swell unbelievably when I fly, so I got up to walk around. As I was walking, I remember going to my travel mates, Amy, Sherry, Parris Christina & a few others. I told them that since we "were in labor," this was our time "to push." So here we were 6 or 7 women walking this huge plane doing the Lamaze breathing method saying "we can do this" for about 3 or 4 times. Talk about a bonding experience. Our hubbies thought we were nuts, & we were. We still are.

Tomorrow it will be exactly 5 years that we landed in China. And our lives changed forever.

Thank G-d!

(BTW, when I say exactly, it's because the days this year follow the days 5 years ago. See! I told you I'm nuts. These are the things that drive me.)

So How Do You Take Yours?

We LOVE popcorn here! It's really quite an addiction for us!

My BlogLand friend Magi & her hubby Jim also love popcorn. I have a feeling that their daughter Sera will be enjoying the stuff soon also. Erin can't live without the stuff. It's why movies were created after all!

When I was a child, my dad took this funky silver thing out of our pantry & told me that I was in for a treat. He put that thing on the stove & so began my lifelong love affair with popcorn. Yup! You guessed it by the way. It was Jiffy Pop popcorn. Put it on the stove, shake it up a few times & the most wonderful aroma hits you like nothing else.

Every Friday night we have movie night in our house. Erin gets to choose which movie we're going to watch. Usually it's a Harry Potter movie or Lord of the Rings. Then we move on to popcorn. David takes down our corn popper & pours in the Orville Redenbacher. Erin gets so excited watching it pop. As soon as it's done popping, she starts to demand her butter spray. And then she carries over the huge bowl of popcorn to demolish it on her own. It always amazes David & me how she can eat so little when it comes to food, but when it comes to popcorn, she is just barely willing to let you sit next to her.

While David & Erin love their popcorn loaded with butter & salt, I don't. I prefer the kettle corn flavor or even plain with some garlic powder or parmesan sprinkled on it. How do you like yours!?

Saying Goodbye

Just the other day, a family lost a child. This is a horror that no parent should ever have to go through. Unfortunately we all know it happens & too frequently for everyone concerned.

I have thought long & hard about whether or not I wanted to write about this & came to the decision that I needed to. Maria Chapman lost her life the other day in a horrible accident. I'm sure that you've read of the accident. It's been all over the adoption & blog communities. Her family will need to hold strong to their faith (& I'm sure they most certainly will) as they deal with what has happened & help their son get through this. I don't know how, but I do know that they will. You see, faith is what this is about. Faith that G-d above had His reasons although unknown to us. Faith that love will help the family heal.

Maria had just turned 5. Erin is 5. I can't imagine losing her & what life would be like without her in it. Erin has her whole life ahead of her. Today she started questioning everyone's position in our family. How we are all related to each other. These are the things that a 5 year old is supposed to be thinking about & learning. I read that Maria loved to "wash dishes buck naked." Apparently, this is a 5 year old thing. Erin would also rather go "nakey" as we call it.

Saying goodbye is hard. I wish the Chapman family well. May their faith in G-d help them on their path to healing.

I Hate Preparing for Birthday Parties

Have you heard the news? I absolutely hate preparing for birthday parties. Period.

Why you ask? Well, let's see:

• A July party should NEVER be outside - especially when you live in S FL. Just ask Erin & of course anyone who came to her party last year. David went home & brought all of our fans from home to try & cool us down. It didn't work so we all "glistened" throughout the day. I didn't want a park party, but Erin had her heart set on a bounce party, & my friend Lisa wanted Erin to have her party with her favorite bounce. Besides, how do you say "no" to your only child will turn 5 only once in her lifetime. (I said "no" this year.)
• Erin & I are traveling to Texas for her Travel Group reunion & then on to California for a visit with Bubbie & Zaydie. Don't you think a 2 week vacation is enough of a birthday present? I do. Apparently David disagrees since he asked her what kind of party she wanted. ARGH!!
• All the neat places to hold parties are NOT in the county we live in. I can't justify having her party in Miami because, while I love him, my brother & his family would be the only guests who live there so everyone else would be totally inconvenienced. (I have some dear friends who don't cross county lines.)
• My good friend Michelle told me last week "Oh! I booked Lauren's party for the weekend of the girls' birthdays. It's at YCA." Great. Now I'm stuck because this is a really cool place, but you can't have 2 parties in the place for the same weekend with the same guests. Another ARGH!!!
• Erin loves to run & jump & bounce. We went to a great place for a party last weekend. She wouldn't jump into the foam pit because the poor girl didn't believe there was no water under the foam pieces. (It ripped my heart to see her standing by the foam pit looking as if she wanted to jump in. She literally couldn't the fear is still so strong.)

And now I don't have a clue about what to do! She would like a bowling party but I'll tell you right now, the children just run around & don't bowl. She would like a ceramics party, but how do you keep 30 kids aged 1-11 sitting & painting for 1 1/2 hours?

UGH!! I hate party planning.

The Quake That Touched Too Many

When you first came to my blog, you knew that it was all about my life with my beautiful daughter Erin. She is the light of my life. I can not possibly thank G-d enough for the gift of her. Each night before I go to sleep, I whisper to her that I am so happy we adopted each other. Then I give a whisper of thanks to G-d to let Him know how I appreciate His faith in me with this gift of Erin.

China has suffered. If you watch tv, read the news, listen to what people are talking about, you know that there has been a terrible earthquake with many aftershocks. You can't avoid knowing about it unless you are the type to keep your head in the sand.

As the people of China suffer, so do we. Our hearts cry for the people whose lives have been altered. These are the same people who watched over my daughter for the first 10 months of her life. There are so many people that I know because of Erin & China adoption - friends who aren't friends but rather extended family, children that I have waited to see come home to their forever families. Yet I will also always think about the people who watched over Erin & these other children.

And I know that I can't just sit back & do nothing. If you are so inclined, please stop by Half the Sky to see how you can help. They have set up an Earthquake Fund to get assistance to China's people.

Pay It Forward!! Wanna Play?

I found my friend Viv playing a game, & I think it sounds really neat. I'm all about having fun & playing games, so I'm joining in. How about you? Wanna play?

Yes? Well, here's how you do it.

1. I will send a gift of my choosing to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join the Pay it Forward exchange.


2. You must make the same commitment on your own blog.

So if you want a goodie, please leave me a comment. I'll need your snail mail address so that I can get your gift out. We can take care of that offlist.

Mother's Day Tea in Erin's Class

My flowers from Erin

I'm not quite sure about this dance!

It sure looked like fun!

On Thursday of this past week, Erin's class had a Mother's Day Tea. It was so sweet. The children had prepared cucumber sandwiches, baked cookies & made iced tea for us. I absolutely loved the projects they did. Each child wrote why they love their mother, made a collage with pictures of themselves & items cut out from magazines with words they wrote describing their mothers & a pot with flowers that they planted.

After having our "tea," Miss Cindy read the book "I Love You Forever" to the children & the moms. It's really a sweet book, & if you haven't read it, I'd suggest getting it. Then the children danced for us.

It was a wonderful morning. Thanks Erin!

She reads! She reads! Holy cow! She reads!

Erin has a very extensive library of books. When I had my baby shower, the girl who gave it for me asked everyone to bring a book so Erin could have a library. Jenn knew that both David & I are avid readers & wanted to intill a love of the written word in Erin as young as possible. Before Erin's first birthday, she had about 50 books. Unfortunately, she never liked to have either David or me read to her. She preferred to "read" her books herself. This usually meant that she would look at the pictures, tell us a story that she saw & turned the pages.

This evening Erin asked me if she could read a book to me. Of course I said yes. I was prepared for her to stumble through the book & get frustrated with the words she doesn't know. One of my favorite books that I've been waiting for her to read is Green Eggs and Ham. It's also one of her favorites. There was a week that I had to read that book to her about 5 times a day every day. She just really got it.

Well. My girl can read! Erin read Green Eggs and Ham to me tonight. She did a great job! I am so proud of my little reader! May she continue to read & develop the same love of books that her daddy & I have!

A Nice Relaxing Evening

Ah yes. I love Friday nights. We eat dinner as soon as I get home & then watch a movie of Erin's choice. It's a nice relaxing evening.

Today I was lucky & got out of the office at 5:00. I invited David & Erin to meet me at the office so we could go to Red Lobster for an early dinner. Erin loves Red Lobster & although she had a hard time with her behavior, I deserved a treat for my miserable week. She ate half of her popcorn shrimp & some french fries. We all left the restaurant, & David went to go shop for some stuff for Star. Erin & I went home with a quick stop at Publix to pick up dessert for the evening.

So now I sit here on the couch watching The Fabulous Thunderbirds, catching up on email & blogs. And listening to David & Erin snore.

Great night, huh?

Cranky

Need I say more?

David went to pick Erin up from school this afternoon. He went out on to the school's playground where she usually is by the time he gets there. No sooner than he walks out the door than he hears the teacher on duty tell the children not to hang off the side of the tall slide. Yup. That was our sweet girl who was hanging around with her feet mere inches from the teacher's face. (What was the teacher doing just hanging around right there when she knew that was what the children were doing?) When Erin saw David, she got down & went over to him. Because she had shown disrespect to the teacher, David made her go back & apologize to the her. And that's when her "mood" began.

It didn't get any better by the time I got home either. We were treated to an evening filled with love & whining. Oh yea. That's just what I wanted tonight. Uh huh. Give me more.

Either way, her whining was sufficient enough that she was told to get into jammies earlier than usual. She chose to not eat dinner. Why? Well, you see, the eggplant parmigan that she tried last night & couldn't get enough of is GREEN, and we all know that Erin doesn't do green. And here I was thrilled that I had finally gotten my child to eat a vegetable! How did this happen? David prepared dinner as usual & put her serving on her plate. Ah ha! He had cut her eggplant parmigan up into bite-sized pieces. When she ate it last night, I was giving it to her off of my plate, & she never saw the color. Oh well.