Buzzzzzzzzzzz

Today, a co-worker and I delivered a dog house (built by the carpentry students and auctioned off at the annual fundraiser I coordinate) to a very special auction winner today. She is a graphic designer, gardener extraordinaire, and get this...a bee keeper.

Fascinating.

I wanted to see the bee house up close and boy did I ever! It was kinda freaky standing 2 ft. away from a buzzing bee house, but I am truly fascinated at the process. She told me that they will collect 2-3 gallons of honey with just one bee house! Or wait, are they called hives if they aren't made by bees? Probably. At any rate, it was fun to see and learn about zee beeezzz.

BTW - Miya's favorite movie right now is:

and one last thought...I don't know if Miya is allergic to zee bee yet and I honestly dread the day I find out.

My little helper

I helped my mom clean the kitchen last night....

...and my ponytail is backwards and floppy, but I wanted to help soooo bad, I wouldn't hold still and let my mom fix it right.



..my mom says "we are sorry the water is running like crazy...we weren't being very green last night".

Shame on us.



..hey look mom, I'm making a fountain!

What Is an Adoptive Mother?

My social worker sent this to me today.

"What Is an Adoptive Mother?

By Carrie Craft

Being an adoptive mother is not for every woman. She must possess not only the natural mother instinct but an understanding and appreciation of the situation that brought a child into her arms making her a mother.

The adoptive family came to be by choices made, choices made by the first parents and by the adoptive parents. This bond the adoptive mother has with her child grows over time, like the child did within their first mother's womb.

Day by day, touch by touch, with each tear, kiss, and memory made they became a family. Adoptive mothers have that special knack to let love grow. Adoptive mothers know that she's a mender of wounds, not just of the physical skinned knees with a band-aid and a kiss, but of the heart. She gives love, acceptance, and permission to ask and talk about the day they were born and of their first parents.

Adoptive mothers are embracers, not only of the child with many hugs and kisses, but of the child's heritage and history. She embraces the facts of her child's past with strength for herself and the child. She's not only a memory maker planning family vacations, activities, and birthday parties, but also a memory keeper. Details of a birth, photos of the hospital, and of the parents who brought her into the world are kept along side the newspaper clipping that announced it all. All these things are kept in a special book that tells the whole story.

She's a tier of shoelaces and of hearts. She weaves lives together into a tapestry of a new family, with many different brightly, colored threads showcasing their individualities and family origins. Together they create one unit attached to each other.

Adoptive mothers are experts at finding lost objects, but understand and validate the profound, deep loss left by adoption. She allows the tears to fall and grief to be felt, allowing the mourning of the mom not there. She is secure in knowing that she's not a replacement, but a finisher of a race for someone who, for whatever reason, could not run any longer.

This role is not for the weak of spirit, or the easily wounded. Loving a child not born to her but calling him her own, but this is what she does, it is her calling.

She is a mother.

Surprise!

At 11:30a.m., 30 ish people came walking into my department, including the college President and presented me with the employee of the month award! I received a plaque, an Ootback gift certificate, a reserved parking pass for a month, AND a check for $100.

I am shocked and honored, what a fun surprise!

Basketball and book, the video!

Last night during dinner...

The new look!!

Donna over at Loving Lauren offered a give away on her blog a couple of weeks ago. Randomly, I decided to leave a comment and enter (we all know I'm not the most on top of it when it comes to commenting). Anyhoo, she drew my name out of a hat and voila! the winner received a new blog makeover!! Don't you think it looks great? I do. I love it!

Thank you Donna for the fantastic new blog header!

Contest winner!

I won a contest. I am so excited. I never win anything. I'm not telling what it is yet, you will soon find out here. Stay tuned...

Another new word and a side note.

We got to school this morning and the boys were playing with balls and the little mini hoop basket. Miya went over grabbed a ball and said "b b ball".

In other news...I took the crib down last night. gulp. She just doesn't want anything to do with it anymore. Toddler bed is on the way via UPS. Yet another transition on the horizon...

AND last but not least, Miya has a well check today which includes 4 shots. Can't wait.