Bullets-Again

• I really prefer to write out blog entries like stories or updates- sometimes though it is just easy to do this. So I do.
• I haven't wanted to say anything and jinx myself but I think I will say something now. I have spent many years battling my weight. I have made excuse after excuse and put off the work of weight loss for another time. One Monday three weeks ago, I woke up and had had enough. I started walking. Then I started to pay REAL and CLOSE attention to the things that I was eating. I have lost 5 pounds. Not much in the long run, but it is the FIRST FIVE and I am happy.
• Evelyn's face has changed. Just some subtle maturity changes but I can see a difference. I just keep looking at her. She seems so grown up and so beautiful that it takes my breath away. Sometimes I will be looking at her and she will say "What? Mama? Why are you looking at me like that?"
• I tried a new recipe this week. Spice Rubbed Pork Chops- they are well, pork chops that you rub with spices and then grill. We all really loved them and we will have them again as it was very easy and quite good.
• My sister and Brevin were here the past 2 days for a visit. It was so nice having them. Brevin is so very funny- both intentionally and un-intentionally. My favorite part of this visit was when Lissa was struggling to strap Brev into his booster seat in my truck, and she was all hunched over in the back and that truck was as hot as the 9th level of hell and Brev was trying to color on the Magnadoodle and he was flapping it about - it hit Ev and she shoved his arm so the Magnadoodle whacked Melissa on the head- she got mad and tried to stand up but couldn't and then she "accidentally" lost a grip on the seat belt strap and that whacked Brevin on the head, then Ev and I laughed and Brev got mad and started hitting Evelyn and Melissa was just trying to back out of the truck but her feet kept getting tangled in the plastic bag that had Brevin's pee soaked shorts in them and Evelyn was lecturing Brevin on how to behave while getting strapped into a Booster Seat and did he want to be punished?
• I keep noticing Asian boys while out in public. Every time I see one, my heart just aches and I get all nervous feeling and anxious. I think that I want a boy. A son. Bad. Real bad.
• We have a boy's name and a girl's name picked out. Well 2 boy's names and 1 girl's name. The Adoption Petition that we had notarized requested either boy or girl under 18 mos. of age so we had to prepare.
• I haven't had a decent conversation with either of my parents in what feels like weeks and it is starting to make me twitchy. Same goes for Leslie. It seems that we can't get 5 minutes together to just talk.
• Les just finished building a new book shelf for Ev's room. I love it and will post pictures after it's all painted.
• Evelyn is so exhausted that I put her to bed at 8 pm tonight.

Watermelon

Is there anything better than a big slab of ice cold watermelon on a hot day?







This particular slab was eaten while sitting in a pool of cool water after getting all hot and sweaty at the park.

She Went There

Tonight The Bean got a bit mad at her Papa. She was being a bit....how shall we say it?...ummmm... nutty (to put it mildly). Leslie and I were actually scratching our heads and wondering why she was so out of control and then it dawned on us. It was after 9 pm and she hasn't napped since Christ was a Mess Cook and well, she was sent to bed.
It must have felt abrupt and akin to punishment because she got mad. Like a bit huffy and "don't I just feel so sorry for myself" mad. He sent her up to her room by saying , "Hey Ev go on up and get into your bed, take a few minutes to calm down, look at some books and Mama and I will be up in a few minutes"
She went up.
She got into bed.
But she sat in the dark- mad- for about 15 minutes.
Les hugged her and asked why she didn't read any. She replied " I did NOT feel like it".
Then I moved in for my hug and kiss and she looked at me, with brimming eyes and whispered, "I didn't read because I am mad, so mad, at Papa"
I asked her why and she said it was because she was sent to bed. We talked for a few minutes, I called Leslie back in and he apologized for hurting her feelings. There was much hugging and talking and explaining.
Then she dropped her big Atom Bomb.
She pulled back, away from us, and in the most pathetic voice that she could muster she said " If you were my REAL parents then you would understand"
Yes. She went there. She's five!
We just looked at her and said, " of course we are your real parents and we DO understand. Good night we love you."
She giggled then, hugged us again and admitted that she had no idea why she said that. Go figure.

Now I am not hurt by this. I think it's kind of funny in a way. She sat up in her room, mad and tried to think up ways to feel sorry for herself and ways to make us feel really bad about sending her to bed nicely when she was tired. I think that it is good that she can admit that she is mad and tell us why. I think that she will try the whole "real parents" thing again- probably many times. I hope that I can handle it the same way each time- with humor and love.

Medieval Faire

Over the weekend we attended the Great lakes Medieval Faire. It was awesome!!!
Some of you may know that Leslie and I are geeks. Well, okay we are not GEEKS per se. I mean we can't afford all of the costuming and collecting that goes on to really be a geek. It's like if Geekdom were a city, it would be New York and so then Leslie and I would live in Queens. We have running jokes about Star Trek Voyager and I am not afraid to pull out a little "So Say We All" (if you don't get that last one - it's okay, it's really geeky to know what that is from) (Battlestar Gallactica since you so desperately want to know), and Leslie is not above ordering tea like this "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot" (that one is STNG) ( oh Heaven's that's Star Trek Next Generation).
So off we went to the MF. I was totally bummed at our lack of finery. I so wanted all of my fellow geeks to know that I was like them. Maybe they got it. I mean I only requested a photo from about every other person that we saw.....
You could even get a Leg O' Mutton if you wanted! It was in the woods and full of great little shops and music and food and we even saw a joust. Ev took a pony ride and saw a fella dressed up as Dark Link so I bet you can guess her favorites.
Jodi came along and all I will say is, that by then end of the day I KNOW that she too was longing for some black leather boots and a bodice-y dress.

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Put Put

Thursday was my sister's Birthday- Happy Birthday Sis!

Thursday she and Brevin came up form The Burg to see us. We all decided to go have lunch and then have a rousing game of put put (Leslie won of course)

We also took a bumper boat ride and had a carosel ride. It was a nice afternoon.

My favorite part though? My favorite part was watching Brevin golf! He is a sort of slapdash clumzy golfer which makes for lots of fun for Aunt Del Del.

The Bean's Summer So Far

It's been a pretty big summer for the kidnick around here. We have had lots of activities and she has learned lots of new things.

One thing that has helped her is having Aden and Kate here through the week. She has learned how to share HER things, she has learned how to show excitement from them, and her imagination has gotten a huge boost from hanging around constantly with 2 kids older than she is.

We have been swimming about 3 times a week- either at the pool or at the lake. I am astonished at the things this kid can do in the water now! She started the summer being a bit of a chicken- just a bit, she has grown up at the beach so she has a higher level of confidence than some kids her age but somewhere she had picked up this thing about water on her face. Well- no more! I think the biggest help of all with the swimming was Lissa buying her a pair of goggles to use. She cannonballs, regular jumps off the side of the pool, she "dives", she floats, she does all kinds of silly little tricks and she just started swimming a small distance- under water! It has been so fun watching her.

She has been to a Festival with Aunt Jenny, Aden and Kate. She rode many rides and learned how to just go along and be excited and giggly.

She has been to the Aquarium in Newport,KY.

We just went to play put put golf with Lissa and Brevin.

She went to her first drive-in with Grandma.

She rode in a convertible.

She went to a Hot Air Ballon Festival.

She has discovered Harry Potter and Leslie is reading the Sorcerer's Stone aloud to her.

She has also been on a huge learning kick. She can count to at least 120 with no errors. She knows her abc's and how to write each letter- she can even spell a few simple words and write them out herself. She can recognize numbers and is starting to write them.

Her sense of humor has also shown growth and Leslie and I are always laughing at something she just said.

She is all tan- quite brown actually. Her hair is finally growing and I can now get pig tails in her hair - at the sides now, not the top only anymore!! This is huge for me as I have had literally hundreds of hair doodads waiting for this.

Her legs are bruised and bug bitten.

She gets filthy dirty on a regular basis.

She has had more than her fair share of cotton candy.

She has had her fair share of chips, cookies and other summer treats.

We still have some things planned to wind down the summer. Tomorrow we are going to a Medieval Festival with Jodi. Later this month we will hit Cedar Point with the family form Leslie's side and eventually we will go visit Uncle Mike in North Carolina!!!!!

I hope that she remembers this summer as a great one. I hope this summer is the benchmark for all of the others to come. Lord only knows that I have been having the time of my life.

Butter Bean