Monday night is family night at our house. Along with our typical family prayers, we add a family meeting, some sort of a “lesson”, we sing some songs and we play some games or do an activity. It’s a lot of fun.

Last week we played the old school game “telephone”, where one person whispers a sentence into someone’s ear, who then whispers it into the next person’s ear, and on and on down the line, until the last person blurts out the sentence, which has undoubtedly changed considerably from what the first person said.

Playing this... more

Ok, this this week's funny really doesn't have anything to do with adoption, but it definitely has something to do with parenting, and I think it's pretty dang funny!

I have one brother and one sister. When we were young and my parents were still together, we often spent Saturdays or Sundays at my granparents' house (my Dad's parents). When I was about eight years old or so, (and my sister was six and my brother was four) my brother went through a phase where he would just eat himself sick every time we went to my grandparents' house.

My... more

Here is just a quick fun post for a Sunday evening. I hope you all have had a great weekend. Tomorrow look for some posts on toddler adoption and attachment.

Ten Random Things I have Learned From Being a Parent.

When you hear a riot of laughter coming from your children and then several of them directing one of their siblings to “go show mom”, it definitely will NOT be good.

Plastic army men, marbles, legos, Barbie shoes, rocks and coins will go through the washer and dryer and come out just fine. Gum, chapstick, Pull-ups and crayons do not.

If you have kids, there is no use cleaning out your car. Two days later, you will not even be able to tell you did it... more

And there you have it…a day in the life. (I left out quite a bit of Belane obsessing, but I assume you know that). I also missed a friend dropping by, the UPS man bringing the package and checking my email a few more times than I admitted...but you got the big stuff.

Not every day is the same...some days we go and visit friends, some days friends come and visit us...some days the little kids and I take Josh out to lunch...some days I talk on the phone more than I should. :)

This was, however, a fairly typical day…although most days the kids just come home from school and have a lot more free time in the afternoon, and things aren't so rushed. On the “free” afternoons we have... more

12noon- Dropped Maggie and Amanda off at school. Marcus cried. (For explanation, read this.)

12:15pm- Changed Marcus’s diaper, gave him a bottle through his g-tube since he didn’t eat lunch or breakfast well, and put him down for his nap.

12:30pm-Ate some lunch (grilled cheese, small salad and Diet Sunkist)

12:45pm- Folded, moved and started more laundry (all alone)

1pm-Practiced my sign language and did some reading, answered a few emails

2pm-Boys came home on the school bus (Thursday is “Early Release Day”, normally they all get home at 3pm), the girls went to... more

Quite a few people asked for more “day to day” type posts, and posts on how things “work” around here, so I thought it would be fun to give you a “Day in the Life” in our house…here is how my day played out today. (It was a pretty typical day, although Thursday is our busiest “activity day” for the kids).

6:05 am- alarm went off

6:07am- got out of bed, freshened up, popped in contacts

6:15am- checked email (no news on waiver)

6:20am- headed downstairs and folded a load of laundry, moved wet clothes into dryer and started another load (it’s a constant).

6:35am- Woke up Mercy, Des, Shane and Ben (Nathan and Ryan wake up automatically…they are like roosters!)

6:45am-... more

Poor Ben.

I am not sure if today’s Wednesday funny is a “ha ha” funny…but I think it qualifies. (And all of you who love Ben stories should enjoy it).

I have said it before and I will say it again. Ben is SMART. Not just normal kid smart…really smart. He remembers everything…he picked up English ridiculously fast (after being home for 7 months he understands probably 98% of what we say, and he speaks almost as well as any other kid in the house). He is a whiz at math and is getting better at reading by the minute (and is already... more

Here is some advice for you... :)

When you are having one of "those days", and it feels like every little thing is going wrong, and fate is laughing at you...and you are completely out of patience and feeling outrageously frustrated...and you are trying hard not to take it out on the people around you...and then you remember that stupid thing that "THEY" always say about punching a pillow or some such thing to vent your frustrations...

I HIGHLY recommend that you really do punch a pillow, and DO NOT instead kick a wooden shoe rack.... more

Here is a quick Wednesday funny (that is, actually, on Wednesday!).

But first, a confession.

I am not a great cook. I don’t whip up lots of fantastic recipes that guests swoon over. I do not enjoy spending lots of time chopping, slicing, dicing, basting, simmering, reducing, etc. etc. etc.

When it comes to cooking, my plan of attack is to make something nutritious, which is also fast, easy and kid-appealing.

I was raised by a single Dad, and with raising three kids, taking care of our home and running his own business,... more

Today, Sept. 11, is a sad anniversary for our country, and a sad anniversary for the world. It is hard to believe that is has already been five years since the fall of the Twin Towers, and I know that today will mean a lot of different things for different people.

It is a day of remembering…a day of memorial…a day of grief…a day of reflection.

Sept. 11, 2001 was like a nightmare. I remember listening the radio and trying to force my brain to wrap around what was really happening. I wanted to believe it was a joke or a misunderstanding…a horrible accident or a nightmare.

When it finally started to sink in that this was real, and the true level of horror of the situation... more