Weekend

Another great boating weekend comes to an end. We left Thursday after school and headed to Fishermen's Village. A very nice marina with a waterfront mall which had great shops and restaurants. I did some shopping while Joe and Joseph spent 1 hour in a joke store - a potato gun was the big purchase for them. For me, let's just say I'll be sporting some new outfits for my upcoming family reunion. Our friend Bruce drove up on Saturday for lunch and to watch the 2007 Kids Cup Fishing Tournament. This is such a cool event - kids from 10 and up compete for the largest redfish. Bruce's cousin was in the competition. It is very interesting how they handle the fish coming in for weighing. There were a team of marine biologists waiting for the fish as they came in. The fish must be alive and if it is not they take 1 lb off. After it is weighed the fish is tagged with a tracking device and then released. Joseph is looking forward to when he can compete in this tournament. Joseph also met his match as far as being a Star Wars junkie - not a little boy like you would think, but a very cute 8 year old girl named Cameron. It was scary listening to them talk about Star Wars. She had about as much SW stuff as he did and they spent hours pouring over their treasures. When she went back to her boat, J said "that is the kind of girl I have to marry". Oh no! Joe overheard her say to J "I like the way you laugh". Too cute. Another funny moment this weekend was when after giving Joseph a long lecture on behavior and how we as his parents have a job to raise him properly, blah, blah, blah - he looked at me and said very seriously, "so your like a pyschiatrist that doesn't get paid". It took all my strength not to spit my coffee out. I said "yea, something like that". Okay hope everyone had a great weekend. We have a busy week coming up - tomorrow I get my new ride and I'm excited and sad in a way. I have loved my Gilmore Girl Jeep but it's just not practical or safe and after our near miss to death last week Joe and I both decided that I should be driving something safer. If it was up to Joe, he would have me in an army tank but back to an SUV for me. This week I will also be seeing my family - Yeah!!! Time to celebrate the head of the family turning 70 - can't wait to see you guys!!! Below are some pictures from our weekend.

SIX

Today is six months that we are logged in to the CCAA - I definitely thought we would be at least half way there by now but who knows - I will leave it at that. Today is also 6 months that our precious CHLOE died. This day was so important and special to us but ended with such a tragedy. Chloe is missed very much and not a day goes by that I don't think of her. One of us is always calling BOO, Chloe. As much pain as we have endured with losing Chloe, Boo has brought us as much happiness. She is so special and has given us much, much more than she will ever know. Joseph holds her every day and tells her "Boo you are the bestest dog in the world and I love you so much" - hearing those words just melts my heart. It's almost as if Boo knew she had some big paws to fill - she fits right in to our family and is just happy to be with us no matter what we are doing. She is truly a Sea Dog and we love her, but we will never forget Chloe. She was an amazing dog. Her passing will never make sense to us - we still shed tears and our hearts still break. Joseph still asks why and I have no answer for him and that is hard. Well, this post is not about its original intent, but I realized as I started to write that it was 6 months for both of these events. To keep with my monthly update.... Miranda Rae we are one step closer.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Sunday 4/22

Happy 70th Birthday Mom. We wish you all the best and miss you very much.
Ten more days and we'll be celebrating! By the way, I'm blogging at 1:10 a.m. on Sunday why is blogger saying Saturday - whatever...

~~~Mom.... I hope you know how much you are loved. You are an amazing women who is so strong and loyal - you have taught me to be strong and loyal and these are gifts that I will be forever grateful for. Besides being a wonderful mother, you also rock as a Gramster - can't wait for Mimi to meet you!

A Mother's Love
There are times when only a Mother's love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappoints
And calm all of our fears.
There are times when only a Mother's love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.
There are times when only a Mother's faith
Can help us on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.
For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faith
And a Mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the Angels
And sent from God above...
- Author Unknown.

Little Ladybug

Joe bought me this cute little ladybug plant yesterday while we were in Home Depot. He was so excited when he found it and it did put a smile on my face. The rumor mill did not produce any happy news this week and I think many in this arena are feeling numb about the recent rumor - I know I am. I'm trying hard to keep to my promise that I will stay strong and have patience but it's hard, very hard. This morning I checked in on one of my favorite blogs, Tracy, and her post today summed it up so well for me. This journey is a long one, much longer than we ever, ever anticipated when we began but what do we do? We wait as long as it takes to go and bring our daughter home. I promise.

Picky eater

Having a child that is a picky eater is one thing - I have one, but a picky eater bearded dragon - come on! Well, I have that too. Picachoo (bearded dragon) eats organic spring mix salad which I finely chop every day in addition to his diet of crickets. Today I fed Picachoo his organic salad and threw in some carrots. Well, apparently he doesn't like carrots and also realized the lettuce was definitely at its last day of freshness. How did he know that - He refused to eat. After a few hours, I took it out and fed him the fresh salad I had bought and also threw in some pear for a change - he loved it. I have created another monster.

I just couldn't resist

I saw these t's on other blogs and thought they were the cutest - While in Target last week, I just couldn't resist one for MRK. Joseph looked at it and said "what if she has blue eyes?" hmmm....

That's Joseph in there! This was from beach olympics from this weekend with our boat group.

Easter - Spring Break '07

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! After the news broke last Thursday that the CCAA had only matched 2 days worth of LID's I had my first big meltdown since starting this process - I cried - a lot! Joe listened and listened... Than he gave me his good ol' pep talk and I went to sleep hoping to feel better in the morning. I did. I dusted myself off and we headed out for a boat trip with a group we belong to that had about 40 boats this trip. On the ride, which is always my favorite part, I had lots of time to think about how I was going to deal with the heartache that is sure to come each month until we actually get our referal. Well for one, I'm going to try to stay as postive as I can and remind myself that Miranda will come one day - I will not use the word "if" any more. I want to continue to feel the gratitude I feel each and every day for the life and blessings we have. I want to be happy each month as I see families receive their referals and enjoy their happiness. I know this won't be the last month I feel sad - I would be kidding myself if I tried to believe that, but I will try to shake it off and know that one day our daughter will join our family ~ We had an awesome vacation and met some wonderful new friends. Joseph was worried the bunny wouldn't find us but he sure did and luckily the boat next to us also had a 7 year old boy so the bunny hopped in and out of our boats with lots of eggs and baskets. See slide show below.....

End of the weekend...