Blog Swap

I have never done a blog swap but I was reading Shannon's blog this morning and it sounded so fun I took the leap and will keep you posted on what is going on with it on my blog. My favorite color is Red and that is our "swap topic" - we are to send 5 items to the person we are matched with - one handmade and the others of our choosing. If you are a blogger and want to join, click the "color swap" square at the top and sign up before Monday the 22nd.

Hope to have fun!

My Bare Necessities - Log Your Memory

Well it is Log Your Memory time for this week. It has been a busy week at my house with my daughter having her tonsils and adenoids removed so if this post seems disjointed - it just might be due to lack of sleep and/or interruptions by the patient!

What Are Your Bare Necessities? The things you just can't live without . . .

(I am going to put a little dislaimer here that I am taking this question to mean the things that make each day complete for me - not the literal necessities of my existance)

1) My Coffee - be it homebrewed cup or my Starbucks - no morning is complete without at least one cup. On Wednesday and Friday mornings my day involves a coffee stop at Starbucks with my girlfriends.

2) My Bible - At some point in each day, my Bible and the guidance God gives me in it are part of my routine.

3) My Car - rarely is there a day that goes by that I am not in the car multiple times for trips to school, the store, my BFF house or some other thing or another

4) My portable DVD player at my bedside - I ALWAYS go to bed with a movie or a re-run of Beverly Hills 90210 in the DVD player by my bed.

5) My Family - even if I am away from home I make time to talk to them and especially to tuck the kids in over the phone with their requested number of night night kisses

6) My Cell phone - as much as I hate to admit it, I am lost without it! My BFF and I can be found on our phones to one another a lot. My kids find me on the phone and say "oh, it must be Jill"

7) My computer - be it email, Facebook, bill paying, news reading or research, I am on the computer several times every day!

8) Chocolate - I very, very rarely go a day without something chocolate (no matter how small) passing my lips (just don't tell my doctor as my high triglycerides I am sure have NOTHING to do with chocolate consumption)

9) Music - I love to make monthly collection CDs from my ipod and listen to music in the car and around the house - my kids are both known to sing along as the CD of the month is usually on whenever we are in the car

10) My neck pillow - though it may seem weird, the contour neck pillow is a life saver after neck surgery - I have bought a new one on more than one occasion when I have left for out of town without mine - my night of sleep is never the same without it!

Take a moment to thing about your necessities in life and if you blog - share those things. I tried to do a "Top 10" approach to mine - how will you do yours?

My Baby is 7 Years Old!

It seems only yesterday we were waiting so anxiously to be receive the call about a referral of our first little one. We received our I-171 letter, which permitted us to bring a child back to the US, on January 19, 2003. Chase was born on February 6, 2003 in Guatemala City to Reina and was given the birth name of Jose' Valentin Canahui Ac. On February 17, 2003, we received the phone call that changed our lives forever. The adoption agency, Heritage Adoption called and our wonderful Vicky had the news we had waited for . . . a baby boy was born in Guatemala and needed parents. We are ecstatic and all those around us were as well as adoption is a journey for the entire family and friend network. Nine long months later, we finally got to go to Guatemala and get him!

Now he is 7 years old. He is over half way through his first grade year at MOE in Chelan. He is reading very well and was proud to bring home a perfect report card the day before his birthday. Even with his sister home recovering from a tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy, he enjoyed a good day. On Friday, we took cupcakes to his classroom and he and I went out to dinner at his favorite Bamboo Shoot. On Saturday, he got to open his gifts and we had cake and Daddy's Famous Meatloaf for dinner.

Last month, we talked to him about what he wanted for his birthday. Anymore, birthday parties are getting to be bigger and more expensive things by the year. We gave him a choice. He could have the big bowling and pizza party OR he could get a computer for his room. He thought about it and asked several questions to make sure he understood the exchange and all the pros and cons of each side. He concluded that he wanted the computer. We shopped for a desk and chair and then his computer. I was playing nursemaid to Mackenzie on Friday but managed to get his desk and chair assembled while he was at school. I got the computer put together while he tended to his sister after school. He was thrilled. Papa & Mamma got him a printer/copier/scanner for his birthday. Aunt Lissa & Uncle Mitchell got him a Boeing 787 mouse pad and toy plane. Big Sissy Stephanie got him the book Where The Sidewalk Ends. He also got a webcam for his computer. I spent part of Saturday getting him online and setting up the webcam. He loves to email but waits and watches for responses so sometimes I have to call Mamma or Aunt Lissa to get them to respond quickly. He got to try out his webcam with Papa and Mamma with Skype yesterday. It worked great and that comes from someone who has used Yahoo messenger and MSN Live. Skype is the webcam way to go!! (See the above picture of him on the webcam with Papa and Mamma - clearly a happy 7 year old!)

Log Your Memory - Family's Favorite Pastimes

As I started last week, I am posting from the weekly challenges in my Log Your Memory book. This week's challenge has to do with pastimes are your house. Thankfully my kids are now at reading age so that opens a whoel new bunch of games and pastimes from the non-reading Candy Land and such.

The kids love, love, love to play games and will find any spare moment ro rope one of us into a game. The current favorites at our house are checkers, Twister, Don't Tip The Waiter, Disney DVD Bingo, Uno and the newest is Phase 10 for Kids. It is so fun to see them using their minds for good stuff like that.

Reading is also a frequent pastime at our house. Chase is hooked on the Magic Treehouse Books and reads usually 2 of them a week. I loves to read them to us and it is so great to hear how well he is reading. I have always read to the kids a lot and they love to have me read to them, in fact anything less than 45 minutes of reading is not enough for them. Mackenzie is starting to read too and loves to sit with her Number 1 readers and practice whenever given an opportunity.

We are also a big puzzle family. Quite often in the winter months, there is a large puzzle (500-1000 pieces) on our dining room table. Chase is a natural at puzzles and neither of the kids are afraid of helping out on a big puzzle. If the puzzle is a pretty one that we really like, we use puzzle glue and Papa makes us a frame to put them in and we use them for art around our house (the picture above is one that hangs in Chase's room).

We have an evening ritual that is part of our "bedtime routine" that makes it all go smoothly (most of the time). The kids love to have movie time so after dinner, we all get in PJs and congregate in the living room for movie time. On odd days Chase pics and on even days Mackenzie pics the movie. For a long time we have done Disney cartoons over and over and over but in the last few months, the kids have started to enjoy movies with real people in them. Having Netflix helps to keep a variety of good kid movies available instantly or by mail. The kids currently love any movie about dogs and recently discovered Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.

During the summer months, our family spends a lot of time at the lake or in the pool as we all love water. The kids would exist in swimsuits all summer if we would let them. It doesn't hurt that we live in such a great area for summer fun in the sun and water.

What are your family's favorite pastimes? Are they the same or different than a year ago? Are there things you would like to add to the pastimes you enjoy?