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Get Off the Couch: Achievable Bucket List

Get Off the Couch: Achievable Bucket List: I've read bucket list books and sites looking for inspiration, but most of the time you'd need an infinite amount of money and ...

Love Without Boundaries

Introducing our Love Without Boundaries little guy that we are sponsoring in order for him to be placed with a foster family. He lives in Zhaotong, Yunnan. Bob was able to name him Michael. This little boy is just seven months old and is described as healthy. His orphanage has asked for him to enter our foster care program in Zhaotong, but for that to happen he needs to have three sponsors. Sponsorship costs just $35 a month, and each sponsor will receive a monthly report and photos of this little boy. Please consider making a difference to this child's life by sponsorsing his foster care placement. Every child deserves to know the love of a family. If anybody else would like to join us by sponsering this sweet baby, please do... or look at the many other children looking for sponsors.

New Year's Resolution

The house is a mess... most of the time. Usually I get some help when I pout and nag, and sometimes I get help out of the blue. But I need a system. A system where I am not the only one knowing what needs to be done and then just doing it. I started following the Fly Lady last year and was doing pretty well, but then summer came, and I never got back into it. I also like that Fly Lady has partnered up with Cozi, because I can create my own lists and then check off chores as I do them on my Android, or any computer. I also keep my calendar updated on Cozi, which is great as I am trying to juggle activities for 4 kids!

So, I want to show the rotating checklists that I have made... based on Cozi's zone rules:








I am also working on some individual lists for the kids. But here is my start!

A New Beginning

Very slowly, I will try to update you on our last two years, actually, maybe it is best that we just move forward. In a nutshell, this is our second year hosting an exchange student from China. Our first exchange daughter, Angelina, was from Shanghai and our exchange son, Kevin, is from Shenzhen. It has been an incredible experience getting to know these two students, and they have truely become a very important part of our family. I have also become a volunteer with Youth for Understanding, the organization that places these students. I am the lucky representative of 8 local students from China, Thailand, Germany, Japan, Columbia and Brazil.

Secondly, I got a JOB!!! Yes, after 10 years of being a stay-at-home mom, knowing that Lia was going to full day kindergarten, I am now an employee at Bowers School Farm. I am also going to start an on-the-side home business with Scentsy.

Introducing Casey Bone

It was really hard losing our other dogs this summer and fall. Though, we had always said we would wait for a while before getting another pet, once we were petless, we knew it wouldn't last long and we started looking for a new pet right away. As a birthday gift to Caelan, she was going to be the one to pick out what dog we were going to get. We decided on a "mini-Goldendoodle, " a mix between a golden retriever and a miniature poodle. I wanted to have a smallish dog so that the kids would be better able to bring the dog for walks, etc.

Little Casey is so cute, and Garrett and Caelan are so excited. Lia LOVED our other two dogs, but she is not very excited about Casey. She doesn't like all of the jumping, licking and nipping, so Lia stays away unless Casey is sleeping. Oh, and Casey is the name that everybody liked except Lia. She wanted to name the puppy "Bone."

Christmas

I want to try and catch up quickly. Christmas was wonderful in our new house. We have moved so many times in the 12.5 years that we have been together (on place #7), and while I have really liked (most) of the places that we have lived, this house truly feels like home. The kids enjoyed going to visit one side of the family and then coming home and hosting our first Holiday gathering. On Christmas, we had nearly 40 family members over. The Christmas present highlights were Lia's princess bike- a 12 inch bike that I am afraid she may not be able to ride until she is 5... Garrett got a new sled. Of course, we really haven't had enough snow to properly take it for a ride. Caelan got a couple of "Liv" dolls that she has enjoyed.

Eli

I am very sad to say that unexpectedly, we had to put our other dog, Eli, to sleep in November. He was completely fine until one day he started bleeding from his nose. Then a couple of days later he started bleeding from his eye, ear and mouth. By the time the vet came over a couple of days later, he was very, very sick. We found out that he had mouth cancer. I was hoping that we could continue to baby him a bit and keep him around for Christmas- he seemed happy enough, loads of tail wagging going on, but he stopped eating and drinking. I attempted to force him to drink water for a couple of days, but then decided that putting him to sleep was the best option. So sad. I still can't believe that both of our dogs got sick so close to each other.

Loads of Catching Up to Do- Halloween

Due to technical problems, a camera that wouldn't stay charged long enough to download pictures, we were having trouble with the blog. Bob got one of his Christmas presants early- a new camera. It is nothing special, but I am sure it will take the rough handling we tend to do with our cameras.

Well, On Halloween, Lia was a princess, Garrett was a SWAT police officer, and poor Caelan was supposed to be a witch, but instead was sick in bed with the flu.

New House

It is official! We are now living in our new house. It is huge- at 2700 square feet (plus full basement), compared to the 1300 square foot house with no basement that we were living in before. The kids all have their own rooms, and we even have a guest bedroom. There are three functioning bathrooms, and we have a 4th bathroom ready to be finished. The house was a foreclosure, so there is much work to be done, but in the last week I have taken care of quite a few issues. We have internet and tv. The electrical system no longer is hazardous. We have clean carpet, a serviced boiler and are considering whether it is worth it to put in central air- I say no. We will have a brand new front porch completed tomorrow. The kids rooms are painted. We have a new fridge, washer and dryer. Whew! Hopefully I can manage to sort through more boxes and get the playroom and clothes organized and put away in time for Christmas...

Many Changes

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. So many changes. First, Bob got a new job. I admit that with an urging from me, we decided to look into moving a little closer to my family. Having three kids made me finally admit that I needed a little bit of help and though we had several close friends in Bay City, I really was hoping that the kids could be closer to at least one side of the family. So in early August, Bob resigned, and we moved to Detroit! He had to start the new job right away, so I packed up our house and found renters to move in. We found a house that we liked at the end of August but probably wont close on it until the end of next week. We are currently staying at my Grandpa's house, which my brother Patrick is waiting patiently for us to move out of, so he can move in.

So the kids are in a new school, Garrett is in a "Young 5's" Kindergarten. Basically it follows the kindergarten curriculum, but is designed for those younger kids. He will have the option to move on to first grade or repeat kindergarten. It has been WONDERFUL for him, I see a huge difference in his interest in school and fine motor skills and all of the things I was worried about. I am still pretty sure that he will be in kindergarten next year. He is playing soccer with his two cousins and is taking a "Pony" class at the school district's farm.

Caelan is in third grade at a new school, I am thrilled with the opportunities that she has there and beyond thrilled with the cultural diversity of the building. In fact her new best friend was adopted from China! We have been a bit slow in signing up for new activities as she sort of needs to accomplish one new thing at a time, but will be starting dance next week and will hopefully do indoor soccer this winter.

Lia is going to a Chinese Immersion preschool two days a week. It is a full day program (which I admit I was not sure if she could handle) and her morning is spent in the Chinese class, where they only speak Mandarin, and the afternoon is a traditional American preschool. Lia LOVES it, and after the initial week or two of adjusting to going there- crabby when she gets home is a major understatement- she is doing great. There have never been tears when I drop her off and I am just so pleased.

Once we move in to our new place, I will have pictures of the first day of school and the house and everything else. I can't wait. Our house in Bay City was awfully small for all of us, but in the new house, the kids will have their own rooms, plus we will have a guest bedroom. The house has 4 bathrooms!! It is double the size and we will also have a basement. Yahoo! Oh, and I plan to never, ever move again...

Kali

I got Kali in May of 1997 shortly after I finished my student teaching. I was living in Hamtramck with Kate. She was a very hyper puppy and Kate and I always joke about sitting on the couch with our feet on the table while she ran circles, jumping over our legs like they were hurdles. A little over a year later, Bob and I moved to Alaska, and Kali made the drive up there with Bob. She has probably been to more National Parks than me! She was in her glory while we lived in Alaska, she loved the snow, Bob often brought her with him while he went skiing or snowshoeing. She even camped for 2 months with us that first summer we lived up there, going all the way from Dillingham to Coldfeet, and down to Juneau. She was a great dog. Sadly, on Friday we noticed that her tail was bleeding, and eventually realized that it was no bug bite or cut like we originally thought, but a very large growth (probably a tumor, according to the vet). After discussing our options with the vet I decided that it was time to let her go, and on Tuesday, after 12 years with her, we put her to sleep. I am terribly sad about this, but know that we really didn't have another option. Goodbye, sweet Kali-girl.