The winter snow storm started yesterday around 9am. We knew it was coming so we did all of our errands and grocery shopping on Saturday. So, when the first flakes started flying, we just settled in for Snowstorm Dana.
The 5pm and 9pm o'clock news kept predicting over 12" of snow for our area. Yeah! No school for Monday! Yuck! 12" of fresh, heavy snow!
My school district canceled Monday classes at 9pm Sunday evening and the kids' school canceled about 9:15pm. The kids were all in bed but I was excited for all of us!
How come the day that I DON'T have to wake up early, I can't seem to sleep in. Brad went out and started plowing the driveway with the four-wheeler. I laid around and watched tv and snuggled under the blankets. It was SO NICE to be home and not trying to drive those snow-covered roads to work.
I spent the majority of my day scrapbooking our adoption journey to Africa. I really want to get this finished before we bring home 'T'. On Sunday, I completed a small picture album for 'T' and also made a book for his birthfather on Shutterfly.
I LOVE scrapbooking and got to spend 2 days working on all things scrappy! YEAH! I did have to do my scrapbooking in my bedroom, spread all over my bed, but that was OK. I was able to shut the door when the kids were getting on each other's nerves. I was able to watch MY tv and MY shows. It was SO relaxing!
The 4 pups and 4 cats were NOT happy with me when the door was shut! They just couldn't understand why I didn't need their help.
So, it will be back to work tomorrow for me and back to school for the kids too. But, it sure was nice to have a SNOW DAY!!
This is our very own reality show. We might not be as exciting as TV, but we have lots to share about our home, family, pets, and friends. This blog started with our journey to bring home our son from Ethiopia. We have now brought home another sweet boy from Ethiopia.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day fell on a Monday. A work day. A school day. A BUSY day! But that didn't stop my family from making my day PERFECT!
I usually complain that Brad doesn't get me much for Valentine's Day. (I also complain that he doesn't get me much for Christmas or my birthday either!) But that isn't totally true. Brad always gets me something, even if it is a sappy card. But this year, he really over did himself. With a little help from the kids.
We woke up on Monday morning to the alarm clock beeping at 5:30am. Brad turned the alarm off and wished me a 'Happy Valentine's Day'. (Hmmm...Brad remembered?!?!) I got up and started to get ready for my day at work. Mondays are SO HARD to get up in the morning.
After I was dressed, hair done and make up on, I headed down to the kitchen. I started to make my lunch and threw 2 waffles in for breakfast. I filled up my red juice glass and loaded my backpack. The kids all came by and wished me a 'Happy Valentine's Day'. (Hmmm...all 4 kids remembered?!?!)
I was just about ready to walk out the door and finally spotted a large red heart box on the cupboard with a smaller square box on top of that. The small box had a note on it to not open until I get to work. That was from Jordan. I then opened up the heart box and found a Valentine cookie inside. Breakfast for the whole family. :)
I thanked everyone and headed off to work. I got to work about 6:45am and started out my routine like every other day. I opened the office door, turned on the computer and then headed down to my classroom and opened that up and turned on the lights. I went back to my office and sat down to open up my present from Jordan. In the box she had placed a $5 bill. She put a note in the box stating that the money was for our trip to Africa. Jordan knew that I was stressing out about how much money we needed for the trip and adoption, and here she was giving me her money. SHE IS SO SWEET!!!
I was just going to put my purse under my desk when I noticed a small ribbon peaking out. I looked inside the purse a little bit closer and there was a box. I opened the box up and found a new bracelet with charms. Just what I told Brad I wanted. It's AWESOME!! I called the kids on the phone and they were dying to know if I found the present. They were all mad at Brad because he didn't just give it to me that morning. The girls had never seen the bracelet and the boys were excited because they helped pick it out. I LOVED IT and thanked everyone!
Later that afternoon I received ANOTHER delivery. I got a dozen red roses, box of chocolates and a small teddy bear. I called Brad right away and asked him if something was wrong! He just laughed and said that he ordered the flowers a long time ago and then the boys talked him into the cookie. The bracelet was all his idea, which the store just happened to be located near the cookie store. Gotta LOVE that!
I'm always talking about my kids but I never brag enough about my hubby. He's the one that puts the smile on my face! He's the one that makes everything better! I have no idea what I would do without Brad by my side. We've been together over 20 years and married for over 17 years. He's my best friend and I love him more every day! I never thought I could love him more than I did on our wedding day, but our love has just grown stronger!
I LOVE YOU Brad and can't wait to spend the next 20 years with you!
I usually complain that Brad doesn't get me much for Valentine's Day. (I also complain that he doesn't get me much for Christmas or my birthday either!) But that isn't totally true. Brad always gets me something, even if it is a sappy card. But this year, he really over did himself. With a little help from the kids.
We woke up on Monday morning to the alarm clock beeping at 5:30am. Brad turned the alarm off and wished me a 'Happy Valentine's Day'. (Hmmm...Brad remembered?!?!) I got up and started to get ready for my day at work. Mondays are SO HARD to get up in the morning.
After I was dressed, hair done and make up on, I headed down to the kitchen. I started to make my lunch and threw 2 waffles in for breakfast. I filled up my red juice glass and loaded my backpack. The kids all came by and wished me a 'Happy Valentine's Day'. (Hmmm...all 4 kids remembered?!?!)
I was just about ready to walk out the door and finally spotted a large red heart box on the cupboard with a smaller square box on top of that. The small box had a note on it to not open until I get to work. That was from Jordan. I then opened up the heart box and found a Valentine cookie inside. Breakfast for the whole family. :)
I thanked everyone and headed off to work. I got to work about 6:45am and started out my routine like every other day. I opened the office door, turned on the computer and then headed down to my classroom and opened that up and turned on the lights. I went back to my office and sat down to open up my present from Jordan. In the box she had placed a $5 bill. She put a note in the box stating that the money was for our trip to Africa. Jordan knew that I was stressing out about how much money we needed for the trip and adoption, and here she was giving me her money. SHE IS SO SWEET!!!
I was just going to put my purse under my desk when I noticed a small ribbon peaking out. I looked inside the purse a little bit closer and there was a box. I opened the box up and found a new bracelet with charms. Just what I told Brad I wanted. It's AWESOME!! I called the kids on the phone and they were dying to know if I found the present. They were all mad at Brad because he didn't just give it to me that morning. The girls had never seen the bracelet and the boys were excited because they helped pick it out. I LOVED IT and thanked everyone!
Later that afternoon I received ANOTHER delivery. I got a dozen red roses, box of chocolates and a small teddy bear. I called Brad right away and asked him if something was wrong! He just laughed and said that he ordered the flowers a long time ago and then the boys talked him into the cookie. The bracelet was all his idea, which the store just happened to be located near the cookie store. Gotta LOVE that!
I'm always talking about my kids but I never brag enough about my hubby. He's the one that puts the smile on my face! He's the one that makes everything better! I have no idea what I would do without Brad by my side. We've been together over 20 years and married for over 17 years. He's my best friend and I love him more every day! I never thought I could love him more than I did on our wedding day, but our love has just grown stronger!
I LOVE YOU Brad and can't wait to spend the next 20 years with you!
Fingerprint Appointment & Ethiopian Cuisine
On Wednesday, February 16th, Brad and I took off of work and headed down to the Department of Homeland Security in Milwaukee. We finally received our fingerprint appointment but it wasn't scheduled until March 9th. UGH! That was way too long to wait, as far as I was concerned!
I knew others had tried to get in for earlier fingerprint appointments. Some were successful and some were turned away at the door. I knew we had to take a chance because it can take up to another month before we receive the approval. We didn't want to wait another 2 months before our dossier would be able to be sent into Holt, so we gave it a shot.
We arrived at the Department of Homeland Security building around 9:55am. The first two security guards were pre-occupied and actually didn't ask us any questions. The one guard was talking on his cell phone and the other security guard was signing for a Fed Ex shipment. The guard let us both go through and told us to have a good day. YES! We made it through the first barrier.
Next, we had to stand in line to get our "number" for the wait. This woman wasn't so happy, so I let Brad talk. We let her know we didn't have an appointment for this day but really were hoping to have our fingerprints taken. She warned us we would have to wait. We said, "fine". She warned us it would be over an hour. We again said, "fine". We received the clipboard and paperwork to complete and were told to go upstairs to the waiting room.
YES! We were in!!! I had the biggest grin on my face!
We headed upstairs into a large room. There were 3 televisions there, streaming CNN. We filled out the paperwork and then waited. We watched people and listened to conversations. We waited and just about the one hour mark, our pagers lit up! We were on our way to get fingerprinted within one hour. Woohoo!
We headed back downstairs and were both done within 10 minutes. I just couldn't believe it. They were already electronically sent for approval. We saved at least a whole month earlier to bring our son home from Ethiopia and we couldn't be happier.
After a mass text message to everyone who was praying for us to get in, we were looking for the Ethiopian restaurant we saw last year after the fingerprinting appointment. After some driving around and frustration, we found the restaurant. We went in and ordered some take out of injera and doro wat. We knew Muluken had this while in Ethiopia and he loved it. We were wondering if he still liked it or if we had 'americanized' him too much.
We warmed everything up for dinner that night and served it to the kids (Brad and I passed). Muluken's first big bite made his eyes water ~ a little too HOT! But, he drank a big glass of water and kept digging in. Cassie tried everything on the plate and liked most of it. Jordan looked, smelled, and passed. She said she was taking her Mom's side on this. :) Noah tried a little bit. He liked the chicken but the injera was a little bit too much for him. (Brad's description of injera: a sponge filled with vinegar!)
Overall, Muluken LOVED it! He ate so much and finally said that he was stuffed. He got up on Thursday morning and asked for some more of it for breakfast. Brad let him but there were no other takers.
I knew others had tried to get in for earlier fingerprint appointments. Some were successful and some were turned away at the door. I knew we had to take a chance because it can take up to another month before we receive the approval. We didn't want to wait another 2 months before our dossier would be able to be sent into Holt, so we gave it a shot.
We arrived at the Department of Homeland Security building around 9:55am. The first two security guards were pre-occupied and actually didn't ask us any questions. The one guard was talking on his cell phone and the other security guard was signing for a Fed Ex shipment. The guard let us both go through and told us to have a good day. YES! We made it through the first barrier.
Next, we had to stand in line to get our "number" for the wait. This woman wasn't so happy, so I let Brad talk. We let her know we didn't have an appointment for this day but really were hoping to have our fingerprints taken. She warned us we would have to wait. We said, "fine". She warned us it would be over an hour. We again said, "fine". We received the clipboard and paperwork to complete and were told to go upstairs to the waiting room.
YES! We were in!!! I had the biggest grin on my face!
We headed upstairs into a large room. There were 3 televisions there, streaming CNN. We filled out the paperwork and then waited. We watched people and listened to conversations. We waited and just about the one hour mark, our pagers lit up! We were on our way to get fingerprinted within one hour. Woohoo!
We headed back downstairs and were both done within 10 minutes. I just couldn't believe it. They were already electronically sent for approval. We saved at least a whole month earlier to bring our son home from Ethiopia and we couldn't be happier.
After a mass text message to everyone who was praying for us to get in, we were looking for the Ethiopian restaurant we saw last year after the fingerprinting appointment. After some driving around and frustration, we found the restaurant. We went in and ordered some take out of injera and doro wat. We knew Muluken had this while in Ethiopia and he loved it. We were wondering if he still liked it or if we had 'americanized' him too much.
We warmed everything up for dinner that night and served it to the kids (Brad and I passed). Muluken's first big bite made his eyes water ~ a little too HOT! But, he drank a big glass of water and kept digging in. Cassie tried everything on the plate and liked most of it. Jordan looked, smelled, and passed. She said she was taking her Mom's side on this. :) Noah tried a little bit. He liked the chicken but the injera was a little bit too much for him. (Brad's description of injera: a sponge filled with vinegar!)
Overall, Muluken LOVED it! He ate so much and finally said that he was stuffed. He got up on Thursday morning and asked for some more of it for breakfast. Brad let him but there were no other takers.
Dad's Surprise Birthday Party
Brad's birthday is on January 30th. This year that fell on a Sunday but I knew everyone had plans that day. So, while watching Noah play basketball in Plainfield on Saturday the 29th, I started texting Kris and Grandma Lenz about going out for dinner that evening to celebrate Brad's birthday. After about 10 texts back and forth, we finally decided on a Papa Murphy's pizza party at Grandma's house. We would all meet at 6pm. Kris picked up the pizzas and cake (THANK YOU!) and Cassie made a salad and hid it from Brad.
We told Brad that we all wanted to go out for dinner Saturday night. We said it had to be somewhere good and also in town. So off we went about 5:30pm for dinner. As we were getting onto the highway I told Brad that my Mom wanted us to stop by sometime that evening so she could give him his birthday present. We decided to stop before dinner rather than after because we had no idea when we would be going home. Everything was set for a surprise party...
then we got to Grandma's house. I finally saw Cassie's big (very tiny) salad. Jordan, Cassie and I were all laughing about it in the driveway when Brad turned around. He quickly figured it out and called me a not-so-nice-name! Sassy guy! So, he was SURPRISED and this was all planned within a 5th grade basketball game via text messaging and a cell phone call. LOVE IT!
We told Brad that we all wanted to go out for dinner Saturday night. We said it had to be somewhere good and also in town. So off we went about 5:30pm for dinner. As we were getting onto the highway I told Brad that my Mom wanted us to stop by sometime that evening so she could give him his birthday present. We decided to stop before dinner rather than after because we had no idea when we would be going home. Everything was set for a surprise party...
then we got to Grandma's house. I finally saw Cassie's big (very tiny) salad. Jordan, Cassie and I were all laughing about it in the driveway when Brad turned around. He quickly figured it out and called me a not-so-nice-name! Sassy guy! So, he was SURPRISED and this was all planned within a 5th grade basketball game via text messaging and a cell phone call. LOVE IT!
Happy Birthday Brad!
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