Keegan and Bowling

I took Keegan bowling last night. They have a fun little cafe place that is extremely kid friendly at a church not to far from us. The bowling rates are VERY reasonable. We had a lot of fun, and Keegan almost beat me!! He had the other people bowling stopping and watching he was doing so well!!

Quilt Fabric Piece Lucky #13

Thank you Fleming Family!! Hope you are having a nice summer!!

Went to IL to go see Chelle and Rooney

We went over to IL to see Chelle and Rooney yesterday morning. I tried to take pictures, but they wouldn't stand still long enough for either of us to take a picture. Crazy kids!! Please enjoy the blurs...

New Sign in the House

Well, Keegan has decided that he needed to add a sign to the door to his room. Chad & I are perplexed, but amused. He has informed us that it means you can only go in his room if you are going to play race cars. Too funny!

Monday Appointment

On Monday I had an appointment with Immigration downtown. I handed in our paperwork for the I600-A renewal. This is the second time we have renewed it. This time we used our one time 'complimentary' renewal. Very helpful, as this is the expensive paperwork. It is very important that I do not let any of our paperwork expire, as our agency was denied Hague Accreditation. No added pressure!! :-)

That is the only update on the adoption. We are waiting on baited breath for August referrals. Hopefully they will come! There have been some rumors that they may wait until September due to the Olympics.

By the by, can you believe that July is almost over!?!? Craziness!

Pirate Camp

Last Friday Keegan went to Pirate Camp with his buddies Alex and Luke. They all had a great time!! Here are some pics...

Thought of the Day...

Just one more pic had to share...

Busy Wednesday!!

Had a pretty busy day today. Keegan had school this morning, which he decided to wake up late for. I dropped him off at school, and then proceeded to my 'Retail Therapy' session. It was a long session, but I do feel that I'm on the road to recovery! ;-)

Then I picked up Keegan from school, and we met Miss Mary, Hannah & Nathan at the Botanical Gardens. They have a new exhibit there for the kids. It was really neat and the kids had a ball!! Above are the pictures.

I would like to thank Miss Mary, Hannah & Nathan for a fun day!! I also would like to thank my favorite 'therapists' Target, Khol's, & Goodwill. And a little special thank you to the person that marked down the gorgeous Vera Wang dress for Chad's company Christmas party from $118 to $11.80. Always a special place in my heart!! Yes Vera, there is a Santa Claus! :-)

Latest Creation

Dallas Cowboys Sling - does it get any better?? May the official countdown to football season begin!!!

Irish Family Get-together

We went from Virden, IL to Macomb, IL and visited Grandma Bonnie & Grandpa Orvin. Then we drove to Colchester, IL to see some of the Irish family we have not gotten to see in a LONG time!! It was great to see everyone and we had a lot of fun!! We even got to pretend we were pirates and Papa Chuck shot off the cannon!!

Have a safe trip home Laura and Lauren!!

Road Trip Music

Keegan was singing on the way home on Sunday evening. Here's a clip...

Thank you Etter Family!

We went to Virden, IL on Saturday. Saw some friends we hadn't gotten to see in awhile. It was ALOT of fun!!! Keegan went swimming. He did awesome!! I tried teaching him to doggie-paddle, but he informed me that he wants to swim like people. Who can argue with that???

Thank you again Poke & Marcie & Bella!! We had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing everybody again real soon!!

Handsome shirt

Some of the local movie theaters offer free movies on Wednesday and Thursday mornings during the summer. Today's movie was "The Pirates That Don't Do Anything". Keegan thought that would be a good movie to go see, so we went! When I laid out his clothes this morning, he told me that he didn't want to wear his 'handsome' shirt to the movie. Now, I don't know if this means all polos are 'handsome' shirts, or just his red striped. But it still made me laugh. I asked him to please wear his handsome shirt because he was taking mama to a movie, and he should look nice. But he could change his clothes when we got home. With this deal, we were off...

Sometimes Arters get their hands dirty when they are arting...

I found a little Rocket making kit at Target on clearance for $3. Daddy and Keegan had a good time making it. It was wooden, so they painted it, and glued it together. Everything was included with it, so it made it really convenient. And the paint washed right off with water. Keegan shared some very wise words with us during the project. Those words are the title of the post.

Thank you Hope & Noelle!!

Hope & Noelle very generously donated their dollbed to baby Katie. During the wait Rusty has volunteered to keep it warm!!

Cooking Dinner Saturday Night

Chad wanted to make sure that I included a picture of me "cooking" dinner. He thinks it is too funny!! Enjoy...

Gotcha Day Shirt

Why? Because I'm a planner. We have gotten suitcases laid out in Katie's room, throwing things on there that we think might be a good idea to take. Chad has his packing list typed up, which by the way, he has done research on and accumulated ideas from other people's packing lists or blogs. Typical Chad. He also is a planner. :-)

I have found my Gotcha Day shirt. I'll attach a picture of it. I chose this shirt because 1)It was on clearance (and who can resist a deal!), 2) It has butterflies on it (ever since last year's MOPS theme, I am in love with butterflies), 3) It has Asian writing on it, 4) It has "sparklies" on it (I thought this might distract her and she wouldn't cry - outside chance, but one I thought worth taking).

Yesterday when we were in Target getting our essentials, we were walking by the toys. Trying to be quick so someone (Keegan) would not get distracted. Didn't work, but I did notice a $2 pair of maracas. I asked Chad if we should get the pink pair or the green pair. He said pink. I agreed. It felt so good to be buying toys for our little one, that hopefully will be played with VERY soon! I've attached a picture of those too. One is packed on top of the suitcase, and the other one I am carrying in my purse. I want to be ready, you know?!?!?!?

I know it is REALLY early to start packing. I am just so excited! Plus, I'm not really looking at it like we are packing. More like we are getting everything we might need in one spot. Which happens to be on top of a suitcase. Not in the suitcase - that would be packing. :-)

Quilt Fabric Piece #11 & #12

Thank you so much Kim family!! Have a great trip!!

July Referrals are out!

Well, July referrals are out. They went through 1.25.06. So we are inching closer. Definitely headed in the right direction. With only doing a couple of days, we are more than likely to receive our referral in September. With travel in November.


Still, if possible, I would like to receive all the fabric for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt by August 1st. It's still the 3 year anniversary of starting the process, and will probably be therapeutic for me. Sorry to be selfish - but I would enjoy any project that helps me feel closer to Kathryn.


Thank you again for everyone's prayers and support.

Quilt Fabric Piece #10

Thank you Waser Family!! Happy Birthday Nathan!!

More Fun Pics from the week of the 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July!! By the way, Grandpa is practicing his hypnotizing skills on Keegan. Keegan now listens, does what is asked of him, and doesn't whine or throw fits. If you would like to hire Grandpa please call 1-800-yeh-rite!! :-)

Quilt Fabric Piece #7, #8, & #9

Thank you Grandma Deb & Grandpa Shane!!

Quilt Fabric Piece #6

Thank you Beltranena Family!!

Quilt Fabric Piece #5

Thank you Stuemke Family!!