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We Were En Fuego

May 3, 2010 by Kelli

This weekend we:

Were feeling motivated and inspired so we took advantage of the rarity and tackled a few major yard projects. First, we took down the swing set, much to the kids dismay. They really loved playing on it, but after nearly five years we felt like it was getting a little old and unstable. Why did we feel that way? I think it was the fact that it shook perilously every time one or more children climbed on it…

We let the kids cross the monkey bars one last time before dismantling their beloved swing set.

After taking don the swing set, we decided that it would be nice to completely open up our backyard. And in order to do that, the chain link fence would need to go. So we took it down. And we are both wickedly sore after doing so. But the yard? Looks awesome.

Notice the dog in the corner who is now leashed to a tree. She is the only one not impressed with our hard work.

We also took advantage of the great weather and planted flowers. Have I mentioned that I love spring?

A few other weekend activities included:

– Lee and I attending the wedding of a friend. I was her counselor at a children’s camp when I was in high school. And she’s married now. I feel old…

– My sweet friend Lindsey (who is also sister to the above mentioned bride), and I went to visit with the man who forever altered the course of my life when I was fifteen and he took me on my first mission trip to the former Soviet Union. He is now battling a cancer that is extremely aggressive and is ravaging his body. For almost three hours we sat and talked with him, laughing, reminiscing and soaking up his wisdom. I would like to write more about Gary, but I need some time to process all that we discussed yesterday. But I would like to ask that you join me in praying for him and his family.

– Tia asked me to braid her hair so that she could look “woody pitty” for daddy. So I did. Then I took pictures.

– I cleaned the wall after Landon played Picasso.

What we did NOT do:

– Go to Sloan’s first baseball game due to muddy fields.

– Go to Tia’s soccer game due to lack of motivation.

What did you do and NOT do this weekend?

Filed Under: blast from the past, Family, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Lee, Life, Motherhood, Random, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: parenting, planting flowers, Springtime, weekend plans

Random bits of information and a question

April 21, 2010 by Kelli

* Today is the day. We’ve waited four months for this. We’ve cried and labored. We’ve thrown our hands up in frustration and cheered at small victories. We’ve begged and pleaded and felt utterly desperate. And today we will see if our hard work and efforts paid off.

What, pray tell am I talking about? Why – I am talking about Landon’s weigh-in! Yes, we are going to see if he’s gained the 3/4 of a pound that the doctor wanted him to gain. Given that he still eats only a few bites of food per day, I’m a little nervous. But I think he’s gotten taller so I’m hoping that compensates for everything.

* Speaking of Landon, I love his hair long. It’s so very cute the way it hangs in his eyes and bounces when he runs. But the other day, I must admit I started to feel sorry for the him as he had to tip his head back to an uncomfortable angle just to see anything. So I trimmed the front of his hair just slightly…

Slightly too much. I’m going to need to take him in because now he looks like he has a mullet. Remind me to never, ever, ever try and trim my children’s hair. I really should know better…

* I’m sitting next to my daughter who is wearing the most adorable little bubble dress with her hair up in frilly bows. I would take a pictures to show you, but I’m lazy and don’t feel like it – you’ll just have to trust me. She is sugary sweet and looks like a little doll. It never gets old dressing little girls.

* I’m still upset about the russian adoption situation and frustrated that no charges have been brought agains the woman who sent her adopted son back to Russian with a note pinned to his chest. Why on Earth hasn’t she been charged?! I don’t get it. The child was legally hers, he was officially an American citizen and by the letter of the law, he was her son. Does this mean when I’m having a particularly difficult day with my son, I can ship him to Russia without fear of repercussion? Because, trust me, there are times when that sounds appealing…

The whole situation makes me angry.
* Lee and I took the kids to the local high school last night and ran the track with them. It was really fun. We sprinted, raced, jumped and laughed. Lee strapped a parachute to his back for wind resistance. He looks ridiculous while running with that thing, but it’s a great workout so he does it anyway. It was fun to watch to watch him use it until he ran past Sloan and the parachute caught the back of his head, yanking his feet out from under him and resulting in a fat lip. Good times…

* We watched our two favorite shoes last night: Glee and LOST. LOST did not disappoint. Seriously, I think I’m going to go through withdrawls when that show ends this year.

Glee, however, was a little disappointing. It was Madonna night so I expected big things. It did make me laugh out loud several times (I love Sue Sylvester), but it also made me uncomfortable. The whole high schooler’s dealing with sex thing makes me squirm. Remember how I felt after seeing the movie Valentine’s Day?

To Glee’s credit, they did handle it as well as I would expect a Hollywood produced show to handle it. It was all about female empowerment and girls taking control of their bodies and not succombing to pressure. So, you know, that’s good.

But as I watched all I could think was how in the world do parents with teenagers deal with shows like this? Because I don’t know that I would want my kids watching that show if they were older. And yet it’s such a piece of popular culture, I wouldn’t doubt that they would want to watch it. So what would I do? Would I let them watch it and then dialogue with them afterwards about what a healthy, godly view of sex is? Or would I simply not let them watch it? Parents with older children, give me your thoughts. I really want to know.

Do shows like Glee that are light hearted and fun and uber-popular make parenting a headache? Do you let your children watch them? How do you handle these pieces of culture that bombard our kids with messages that aren’t enitrely healthy?

Do share!

Filed Under: Adoption, Exercise, Family, Kids, Landon, Life, Random, Running, Russian

Does this mean I still got it?

April 19, 2010 by Kelli

Sunday mornings are crazy hectic here at chez Stuart. I sing lead vocals at church, Lee plays guitar. Which means nearly every Sunday one of us has to be there early. And yesterday I had to be there particularly early – 7:30 early. So, like I do every Sunday when I have to leave early, I got up before the sun and got myself ready so that I could help get the kids ready before leaving.

Because if I don’t at least get Tia’s dress on and her hair done before I leave there is no telling what she’ll look like when I pick her up after church. One time I picked her up and her dress was on backwards. That was the day I realized that I needed to stick around long enough to help.

As I walked out the door at 7:20, Lee called out, “Hey, my right front tire is really low, so you’ll probably need to put some air in it on your way to church.”

Duuuuude. Wha?!

I was wearing heels. These lovelies…

And he wanted me to do what again?

So, like the loving, dutiful, amazingly incredible and humble wife that I am, I stopped at the gas station and pulled up to the little air-filler-upper-dooly-bopper. And right there, in my dress and rockin’ red heels I filled up his tire. I contorted this way and that to make sure that my dress stayed in it’s proper place as I knelt down to fill up the tire (it was really, really low). I tucked and twisted and held tight as a slight breeze blew, all the while perched precariously atop the teetering heels.

And then I heard it. At 7:25 on a Sunday morning. A honk. My head snapped up and I caught site of two boys who didn’t even look old enough to be driving as they puttered past in a shiney black truck. One of them gave me a thumbs up. Seriously?

I gave them a nod of thanks and a small smile and went about my business trying to put air in the tire trying all the while to keep my flaming cheeks from spontanteously combusting. I texted Lee and told him he owes me one. He texted back and told me I should have flashed a little leg and really given the boys something to talk about.

So if I got a honk on a Sunday morning, does this mean that I still got it?

‘Cause I think the boys had just been up all night and may have been a little delerious…

Check out my post today at STL Family Life. I interviewed Kelly Stables, an old high school friend who is now an actress. Her new show, with Alyssa Milano, is called Romantically Challenged and it airs tonight on ABC at 9:30/8:30C after Dancing With The Stars.

Filed Under: funny stuff that happens, Life, Marriage, Random Tagged With: Alyssa Milano, Kelly Stables, Red High Heels, Romantically Challenged

On the Russian Adoption Situation

April 15, 2010 by Kelli

As a family who is seriously praying over and considering the possibility of international adoption (particularly from Russia or Ukraine – I’ve written about my love for the adoption process before here), we are following this story pretty closely. It breaks my heart to read about this situation and I find myself frustrated and angry.

When any parent enters an adoptive situation, particularly with an older child as this one was, there is the potential for psychological or emotional issues. Any child that has been neglected and virtually unloved for much of his life is going to have problems adjusting and accepting love.

If what the adoptive mother in this situation says is true, then I agree that the little boy she adopted had severe emotional problems and that she likely felt overwhelmed and incompetent to parent him. But here’s the kicker:

YOU DON’T PUT A CHILD ON AN AIRPLANE WITH A NOTE PINNED TO HIS CHEST AND SHIP HIM BACK TO RUSSIA!!!!!!!

The absurdity of what she did is astounding. This is a child – not a defective puppy or a ripped shirt that you can just return. It’s a CHILD. A child she agreed to parent, incidentally. She never told her adoption agency of the problems she was having with her son.

Her SON. She adopted him. He was her son. In my mind, that is abandonment and she should be ashamed of herself.

No. She didn’t make anyone aware of the struggles. She didn’t ask anyone for help. She just shipped him back. What did she think was going to happen?! Did she think the Russian government would send her a thank you note?

Thank you, Madam, for your honesty and forthright thinking in this sensitive matter. Of course, we would be happy for you to come over and take a look at our other children and find one that better suits your needs. Perhaps a mild and meek little girl who will sit quietly and let you brush her hair all day long.

Ugh! Can you tell this story has gotten me a bit riled up?

There are so many ways this woman could have handled this situation. She could have given her adoption case worker a heads up, first of all. She could have gotten counseling both for herself and for her son. The fact is that she hadn’t even had this boy for a full year. So no – I don’t think she put any effort into helping this child overcome his obvious issues.

There are even reports that in December, this woman told her adoption agency that she would like to adopt a second child from overseas – something she was discouraged from doing right away. So clearly, this woman has an equal amount of problems and likely shouldn’t have adopted in the first place.

But what about the child she shipped back? What happens to him now? He’s branded as being violent and psychologically unstable. He spent the first seven years of his life in a Russian orphanage and he is finally told he has a mother – someone who will love him unconditionally – and what does she do? She abandons him. Sends him packing. What will this do to this precious boy’s heart? It literally makes me sick to think of this little boy and what he’s been through.

And now, because of this woman’s foolish, careless and selfish decision, Russia has shut down adoptions to the U.S. until better regulations can be set in place. I don’t blame them. I just hope that this doesn’t destroy the trust forever. I also hope that this doesn’t set into motion stipulations and regulations that are so impossible to meet that U.S. families will no longer be able to afford Russian adoptions.

The fact of the matter is that adoption is never to be taken lightly. In my viewpoint, if you are called to adopt a child and a child is placed in your care, then that child was ordained for you by God just as your biological children were ordained for you by God. I know not everyone probably holds that same viewpoint and it’s probably really easy to say that if you don’t have a problem child. But I know many people who have adopted or fostered children from around the world who had severe emotional problems and I have seen the power of perseverence and love in the life of a troubled child.

Does that mean it was an easy road for those families? Nope. Not at all. But they didn’t love their adopted child any less than they would have a biological child who had a difficult temperament.

If Lee and I choose to follow this route of adoption, we will, of course, pray that God spare our adopted child of severe emotional distress. But I trust beyond a shadow of a doubt that should God choose to give us a child that is more difficult to parent, He will also equip us with the grace to parent the child well.

I could go on and on about this, but I think I should stop now before I break out in hives. And I shall now climb off my soap box and carefully tuck it away once again…

Filed Under: Adoption, Family, Life, politics, Random, Russian, things I don't need to hear

I recorded Oprah for the first time ever

April 13, 2010 by Kelli

I’m going to step out on a limb here and potentially make a few people mad…I don’t like Oprah.

*cringe*

I think she’s a little annoying. I watch her show maybe once a year (I must say I do like the favorite things episodes because I like all the gadgets) but in general, I don’t waste my time watching her fawn over every guest with her ever changing spirituality.

Ouch.

Last week, however, I did something I’ve never done before. I recorded an episode of Oprah! In fact, we rarely even use our DVR. We always forget to set it up. (Unless, of course, LOST is coming on, in which case we check, recheck and check again to make sure it’s prepared to catch that glorious hour of television). But I made a very distinct point last week to set up the DVR to record an hour of Oprah and then I sat down and watched said hour of Oprah.

So what, pray tell, could have been so very exciting that I absolutely had to see it?

One word: GLEE.

The cast of Glee was on Oprah and they were singing, dancing and taking us all backstage. Oh it was gleefully delicious to watch. *groan*

Yes, I am addicted to Glee. It’s a good thing too, because LOST only has six weeks left so I will need a new show to look forward to each week. Yes, I said NEED.

As I watched the adorable cast of Glee do their thing, I couldn’t help but smile…and bop my head…and tap my toes. I may have even clapped a couple of times. May. You’ll never know for sure. After it was over, I got online to check out the open auditions they were having for Glee because how fun would that be?

You have to be between the ages of 16 and 26. Shoot. Just missed the cut off…

Incidentally, the two guys that play Finn and Puck are actually 28 and 29 years old in real life. Which means that the crush I have on them is totally realistic and not at all inappropriate. Not like my crush on Zac Efron which boarders on Puma-ish…

Anyway, back to Glee. It starts again tonight! And there’s another new episode of LOST on tonight. Sweet mercy, could life get any better. Finn, Puck, Sawyer and Jack all in one night. Smile with me, will you?

Yes, sometimes my life actually is this shallow…

Filed Under: Random, the boob tube Tagged With: Glee, LOST, Oprah, TV

The Tea Party

April 12, 2010 by Kelli

I have never been much of a girly girl. I enjoy nice clothes and make up, but I’m not primpy or frilly, I don’t know how to sew and none of these things have ever bothered me. And I can proudly say that I have never once in all my life jumped up and down squealing and crying over a celebrity (although had I had a personal encounter with John Travolta in high school I might have swooned a little…and fainted…).

But there is one thing that brings out the frill that lays buried deep inside. It is the one thing that makes me happy to pull out an apron and want to sip Shirley Temple’s while skipping about my kitchen.

A tea party. Commence to girl squealing now!

I threw a tea party over the weekend and it was all sorts of frilly. There were flowers and lace. We noshed on such dishes as Caramalized Pear, Roasted Walnut and Bleu Cheese Quiche and Lavendar Tea Cakes. There were Spinach-Basil Scones and Martha Washington Petite Cakes, Roasted Turkey and Avacado finger sandwiches and Cinnamon Plum Tea. Oh it was yummy and girly and fun, fun, fun.

I’m giggling. Right now. Giggling like a little girl.

The pictures to follow will show you why. If you’re a girl, you will likely breathe a small sigh and smile. If you’re a dude, you’ll probably feel sorry for Lee as you imagine him being forced to sample all the lovely cuisine. (He does have to sample it all. And he doesn’t like it. Hmph…)

Enjoy. You may want to grab a napkin as drooling is quite the possibility.

The Centerpiece

I know. Makes you want to weep...

See how happy they are?

Even my own little tomboy got to come along. I'm raising a second generation tea party addict. No politics allowed!

How was your weekend?

Filed Under: Easter, Holidays, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Random, tea parties Tagged With: tea party, Tea Time Magazine

My Stud Muffin with his Stud Muffie

March 29, 2010 by Kelli

I can’t get enough of watching Landon handle a ball. From what I hear, he’s better at two than his daddy was, which is apparently a big deal. It’s just so fun to watch him get hold of a basketball and start dribbling. He is now starting to run and dribble and he gets a very intense look on his face when he does it. I love that the child who was named after his dad (his middle name is Lee) is so much like his dad. And I love watching the kids play with their dad. Landon shares his daddy’s love and skill in basketball. Sloan shares his dad’s love and skill in golf. And Tia shares her dad’s love for competition. They all got a little bit of him.

As you can see, Daddy gets a bit intense about dribbling a ball. So much so that sometimes he has to be reminded to share. Ha!

My husband is hot. S’okay – you can agree with me. 🙂

I found this picture on my computer this morning and it made me smile. I love my family…

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon, Lee, Life, Motherhood, Random Tagged With: Basketball, Family

Because I’ve worn myself out

March 25, 2010 by Kelli

I wrote a post last night about how much I love writing. It included little anecdotes about a fifth grade story on a hot air balloon race, a college professor who changed my life and how I waxed poetic on journal pages throughout the years growing up. I even included little nuggets of interest like how my mom has just about every little school project I’ve ever done tucked away somewhere (as well as my first lock of hair and, for a long time, my baby teeth. If you haven’t already mom, you can get rid of those.)

It might have been brilliant. But it felt forced so I erased it. Because it’s my blog and I can do that. Ah! The power of being in control!!!

I do really love writing, but this week I’ve worn myself out. There are lots of projects in the works. Good things. Fun things. But it’s tiresome. And I’ve been researching and prepping for a temporary freelance gig that starts next week that I feel totally unprepared for. And my brain is fried. Like an egg on a hot skillet. Without the drugs. Though I do get quite a buzz from the creative process. See that? Fragmented sentences. A writing no-no.

Fuh-RIED, my brain is. Yes – I’m also channeling Yoda thanks to my kids. Crazy, I am.

So I have nothing of real substance to offer today. Obviously. I’ll leave you with a few photos instead. Because I hope to somehow redeem this runaway train of a post. Ah! A cliche. Another writing no-no. I need to stop.

The Moolah Shrine Circus: Landon didn't just hate the clowns - he practically undressed me trying to get away from them.

The face painting was nothing short of a work of art.

What do you do with a crabby Butterfly? (I'll give you a hint - it requires a warm blanket and a quiet, dark room).

My outfit yesterday. Why? Because it's finally warm enough, because I love cowboy boots, and because I can only pull this off for so much longer before it starts to get weird and I become an embarrassment to my kids...

Filed Under: Kids, Life, Random Tagged With: Moolah Shrine Circus, On Writing, Working Mom

Linky Love

March 19, 2010 by Kelli

I’m still nursing a sick little girl back to health…of course you’d never really know she’s sick the way she’s running around here. Her face has finally returned to a reasonable palor and the rash is slowly subsiding. Thank God for Amoxicillan! So in leiu of a regular post, I will refer you to some posts that I have loved this week…

Shaun Groves, who is perhaps one of my new favorite bloggers, wrote this post yesterday that made me want to stand up and clap my hands.
My friend Nicole and her husband Matt surprised their kids the other night in a most unique way. It was adorable and I can’t wait to try it with our kids.
I just love Stephanie from NieNie Dialogues. Her outlook on life despite almost insurmountable odds is awe inspiring. Plus her kids are adorable. This post made me smile.
This post of Kelly’s made me laugh out loud. Girls Gone Wild at Church – hee, hee, hee…

I came across this old picture of Sloan the other day and it made me laugh. Happy weekend everyone!

Filed Under: Family, Life, Random

It could have been mortifying

March 15, 2010 by Kelli

We had a full weekend partying like it was 1999 with only one kid. I am only slightly exaggerating. When you’re married with three kids the term “party” takes on a whole new meeting. Just getting out of the house with makeup on could be considered “partying,” for example. Relaxing on the couch in a quiet house at 2:00 in the afternoon – PAR-TAY!

So yes, relatively speaking, we were partying this weekend. We even attended an actual party thrown by the lovely Kim, Jess and Gina. This meant that we had a real life babysitter and we hung out with a group of people (90% of which were significantly younger than Lee) and played games and ate food and laughed a whole dang lot.

Then came the time change. BAM-BAM-BAM. I have been reading this book and, while I will admit I got increasingly frustrated with the author’s long windedness and his perpetual overdescription of things that weren’t pertinent to the story itself (it sucks to be an editor sometimes…it can really ruin the book reading experience) the story was still engaging enough that I was able to skim past the boring parts and keep pace with the action. It was also engaging enough to keep me up until the wee hours of the morning.

So when I dragged myself out of bed Sunday morning, having lost not just one hour of sleep but multiple hours, I wasn’t feelin’ like the young hot mama that I actually am.

I was a little nauseous, a lot tired and running very late as I had to be at church early to prepare to sing up front with the choir. I got ready as fast as I could and rushed out the door like I do nearly every Sunday morning – without eating any breakfast.

When I arrived at church, I joined the choir on stage to warm up and prepare for service. I was exhausted, sluggish and increasingly nauseous. In the five minutes between rehearsal and the service, I took a long drink of water and tried to get my heavy eyelids to quit fighting me. Then service began and all was going well. There was a girl who had recently joined choir standing beside me and I enjoyed getting to know her and singing alongside her.

About halfway through the first set, I opened my eyes and noticed a rather sizable crowd rushing up the center isle to the aide of someone who had apparently passed out and, upon falling, had cracked his head open. We stopped the service so that he could be attended to and commenced in a little silent prayer time, which had been built into the service for that day anyway (how great is God?). It was at this time that I myself started feeling more than nauseous. I was light headed and starting to break out in a cold sweat.

I sat down to pray and put my head down which seemed to help. After a few minutes the paramedics arrived and while they were tending to the gentlman who fell, we began the service again. I stood up by my new friend and instantly knew I was in trouble. It started in the corners of my eyes. The room was going black. I took deep breaths and all I could think was Dear God please don’t let me pass out here in front of everyone while there are paramedics in the room.

Within seconds I knew I had to get out of there because I was going to hit the floor. Like a bad movie, the blackness closed in and I started to sway. I turned to my new best friend and heard her say with a bit of urgency, “Are you okay? You’re really white?”

And then it went completely black. I couldn’t see anything at all. And I was going to crumble. She grabbed my arm and walked me to the stage door, which mercifully wasn’t far because we were stading on the end. I ran into the door because I couldn’t see anything at all and made it backstage before I fell. She dragged me to the couch and pushed my head between my legs. About thirty seconds later the blackness finally faded away and I could see again. And a mixture of mortification and gratefulness set in. I was mortified because I blacked out on stage. I was grateful because not many people noticed thanks to this girl’s quick reaction. Ah! I would have been devastatingly humiliated had I hit the floor on stage.

A friend sitting in the congregation saw her lead me off stage and came back to check on me, then set off to find something for me to eat. She found two pieces of Kraft American cheese which had a bad case of rigor mortis, but I ate them anyway and gulped down some water and tried to get the fuzzy feeling in my head to go away.

After sitting down for about 30 minutes, I did manage to go out and finish singing with the choir, but it took several hours for me to feel totally right again. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before (other than, you know, after having my blood drawn or a shot…ahem) and I can’t think of any reason as to why it happened yesterday other than apparently extreme fatigue coupled with low blood sugar were not a good combination.

Another possible reason was mentioned to me by more than one person and I know some of you are thinking that yourself with eyebrows raised. Let me spare you the speculation…I do remember passing out two or three times when I was pregnant with Tia so I know that is a possibility, however slim that may be. But there have been signs that lead me to believe that that, indeed, is not the case.

And just to be sure, I took a test. And I’m not pregnant so nobody go gettin’ all excited unless you want to rejoice with me that I’m not pregnant. You can do a happy dance with me…

All I know is that while it was definately bizarre and embarrassing, it could have been terribly mortifying. The whole morning was just a little bizarre. And with that, I will head off to eat a little breakfast!

Filed Under: funny stuff that happens, Life, Random