A New Addiction

If you are like my mother and my Aunt Patti and are wondering why there have been so few posts lately....I have found Facebook! It is fun and highly addictive! I have met up with old and new friends alike. I am having a great time communicating with people that I have known for years and some that I have only known since we started the adoption process. I also have some young 20 something cousins who actually accepted my friend request or better yet even invited ME to be their friend. Of course, it was after I promised not to spy too much and that I wouldn't relay anything seen or read on their Facebook's to their parents! ;)
If you have a Facebook page let me know so that I can add you as my friend as well! I am sure the newness will wear off and we will be back to our regularly scheduled posts soon!
Happy Friday! I hope you all have a great weekend! Oh....I almost forgot...it is the beginning of college football season soooooo....

Am I Really That Bad??

Let me preface this post with a couple of things and a disclaimer. Jon Milledge is now in the 6th grade and apparently the whole "going out" with someone thing has started. This completely cracks me up because first of all, where are they going to go?? and secondly, once they are "going out" with someone, who was probably their friend yesterday, they quit talking. So silly...but I remember being a silly 6th grader once too.
Now to the disclaimer....Milledge and I do not support nor condone Jon Milledge going on a date or having his first kiss before he is 31 and 1/2!

Ok now on to the post!

Jon Milledge had his two best buddies over last night to spend the night and to go to a concert with our church youth group. They had a great time and then stayed up until the wee hours of the morning having some sort of X-Box tournament.....basically a night full of boy stuff.
Below is the conversation that took place over breakfast this morning with me, Milledge and the three boys.

J.L.~Ross and Alyssa are going out....I wonder if he is going to get his first kiss?

Ross~Ummm...I did last night.

Me~(with a horrified look) ROSSSSSS!??

Ross~HAHAHAHAHAHA!! I'm just kidding!

Me~Ross what in the world would your mother do if you told her you kissed a girl?

Ross~I don't know, probably be mad.

J.L.~ I don't think my mother would be mad but we would probably have to have a talk.

Jon Milledge~If I came home and told my mother that I had gotten my first kiss, she would load me up, take me back to wherever we were and make us do it over so that she could take a picture and blog about it!!

Milledge~(insert hysterical laughter)I think you are probably right Jon Milledge!!

Me~Am I really that bad? Just don't kiss any girls and you won't have to worry about that!!

I am so not ready for any of this but I am glad that they still think we are "cool" enough to talk to and hopefully that will last for several more years! Honestly though....am I really that bad??!

For Monnie!

I was on the phone with my mother today and out of the blue she asked, "Are you ever going to do anything on your blog again? I keep going to it and it has been the same thing for over a week!". I didn't realize Monnie was such a blog stalker but since she is, I put a little slide show together for her. :) When we were at the beach playing ball this summer, my brother's family and my sister's family were right down the road in Destin. We went to visit them one afternoon and here is the result along with a couple tournament parade pics....

Random....

I am so caught up in the Olympic craze! I don't see me going to bed before midnight until they are over...I AM SO TIRED!! I love it though! Go Team USA!! Isn't Michael Phelps amazing?!

I was looking through some pictures today and found this one of me and my boys from when we went to Gatlinburg with Leslie and her family in March. I had forgotten all about this one but thought it was actually pretty good. This was on our way home and I was starting to get the nasty flu (Thanks Larry!)...UGHH! I just wanted to share this of me and my precious boys.....see I told you it was going to be a random post! ;)

08.08.08

Today, August 8, 2008, marks the beginning of the 2008 Summer Olympics that are being held in Beijing, China AND our 21 months of waiting for Ruthie. We are very excited about the Olympics at our house for several reasons. First of all, we love to watch them no matter where they are...can't wait for the gymnastics! Secondly, we now have a heart for China and we think it is going to be wonderful to see the pictures, hear the sounds, and learn more about this country that will soon be so much a part of our family. Thirdly, many people believe that the slow down in China's international adoption program is in large part due to the Olympics. No one really knows this for sure but it does make sense that a country that is so determined to be prepared for the world to descend upon her would put a halt to lots of other things that don't concern the Olympics. Our hope and prayer is that in the months after the Olympics we see a steady increase in the number of referrals out of China. I remember saying about two years ago that I didn't know how long it was going to take to bring Ruthie home but it would surely be before the Olympics! HA! Well...it will be before the Olympics....we just aren't sure which ones??!

The fact that the Olympics are starting on 08.08.08 at 8:08pm is not a coincidence as I'm sure many of you have already heard. The number 8 is considered to be the luckiest number in China. I found the information below on onlinechineseastrology.com about the number and why it is lucky.

For Chinese the number 8 is considered lucky just like the number 7 is considered lucky in the West. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Olympic games in China start on August 8, 2008 or 08/08/08. In China you have to pay extra to have the number 8 in your phone number or license plate. In addition, home and business owners like to have the number 8 in their address.

So, why is the number 8 considered lucky in the minds of Chinese people. The main reason has to do with the pronunciation of the word for the number 8 in China. It is pronounced "ba" and sounds like the word for prosperity which is pronounced "fa". Another reason why the number 8 could be considered lucky is because it is a perfect symmetrical shape. You can cut the number 8 in half vertically or horizontally, and both halves mirror themselves perfectly. Perfect symmetry lends itself to perfect balance. In Chinese Astrology, perfect balance is considered the ideal.

On the date 08/08/08 there is predicted to be a record number of weddings, even surpassing the number of weddings on 07/07/07. According to Chinese Astrology, the date 08/08/08 is in the year of the Rat, the month of the Monkey and the day of the Dragon. It just so happens that the Rat, Monkey and Dragon are in the same affinity group or trine. That means the three Chinese Zodiac animal signs are perfectly compatible with each other. Therefore, the date 08/08/08 will be especially lucky for Rats, Monkeys and Dragons.

We feel very "lucky" that our LID is 11.08.06. Hopefully we will find out how blessed we are to be Ruthie's parents very soon.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

First Day of School!

Well...it is official, I am the mother of a middle schooler and a third grader. I dropped Jon Milledge off at the middle school this morning with tears in my eyes. Thankfully, he didn't see them because he was sooo nervous. I walked Anderson in to his class and he was more than ready for me to leave! I pray that they are having a great day and that both of their nerves are settling down. Mine will be settled after I pick them up today and know that everything went well and that they both had good days.

Isn't this cartoon too funny and oh so true?!