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Yep. We're still around. In fact, we've been home for a week today.

If I ever have the time to just sit for a little I'll regale you with some details. Just know that it was relaxing and refreshing.

Nothing like a good vacation to get your mind back in gear again.

Anyway.

Since arriving home we've been busy.

1. Put away all vacation items.
2. Do laundry.
3. Hit the grocery.
4. Catch up on bookwork. Though that's Jason's department now. Apparently he got weary of me getting months behind. :)
5. Check e-mail. All 400+ of them. Though mostly spam.
6. Clean the house.
7. Work upstairs. Cleaning up all rooms in preparation for the office to be moved into the now unused bathroom.
8. Clean and organize all attics. Four of them in this little house. If it weren't for the attics we would literally have no storage space. Small closets in two bedrooms and one slightly larger closet downstairs.

Today's list...
1. Clean up fourth and final attic.
2. Clean up and move items out of office...in preparation to knock out the office walls. :) Can't wait til that happens. While it'll be a pain to have the office upstairs, it'll be awesome to have a large enough room to stretch out our table a little.


In other news. I'm feeling better. Most days. I thought this morning sickness stuff was gone by about 12 weeks?! Not so true here. It's not every day....about every other. It's not terrible, just not fun. It's not hindering my work, just making me a little grumpy at times.

But I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. Even if this lasts for the entire nine months. I'm 17 1/2 weeks at this moment.

Little George/Sallly is growing. Aparently, anyway. If he/she isn't growing, then I must be eating a little too much. :)

We're thankful. And still a little in shock, I think.

South-ward bound

I'm nearly as excited as our children. Except I have to do all the packing and they just get to bounce around screeching and clapping.

Tomorrow we head out for the sunny south. Except right now it's kinda chilly. High of 57* today, we hear. Supposedly it's gonna warm up starting Monday.

Our week is going to be jam-packed full. We're staying in Orlando and of course, we are hoping for nice weather so we can fulfill all our plans. :)

Epcot, Sea World, Daytona (men and boys only), Kennedy Space Center (men and boys only), mega dairy.

It's not just us going...my parents, my oldest brother and his family, my youngest brother and his wife and unborn twins :)...my middle brother and his family just got home from Florida a couple weeks ago and decided that two weeks there was enough.

So why am I so excited?! I love vacations. A whole 10 days to sit. And swim. And sun. And be toursity.

I've heard in the last couple weeks..."What do you mean? You had a five week long vacation in Russia just a year ago...and a week long trip to Russia a little over a year ago."

I think that anyone who has ever travelled the adoption path would whole-heartedly agree with me that those trips aren't much of a vactation. Sure, we get to hop on the train to head to the grocery. We miss our train and have to hail a taxi....and the driver can't understand us any better than we can understand him. We got to spend a week in the grand city of Moscow. (Which I admit was a vacation....we walked to all the tourist sites that we possibly could in that short week.)

But. The four weeks in Vlad? You tell me. Postponed first court date after sitting in court for 2 hours? Flooded house? Wondering if our newest son would actually get to make the journey home with us? Playing game after game of pool in an effort to forget reality?

That wasn't much of a vacation. Though everything did work out just grand.

But this? There isn't a dreaded court trip. There isn't packing suitcases that must be under 44 pounds....I can pack whatever I want. There aren't piles left all over the house of items that were in the suitcases and at the last minute got chucked out due to overweight issues.

This time? We're going to relax. We're going to enjoy simply being with family.

And we're going to trust that God will grant us safe travels...and that I remember to keep Jack strapped into his life jacket day in and day out. Poor kid. Too bad he has such an infatuation with water....and there is a pool right outside our back door.

So When Can I Spaz?

These two boys of mine are gonna do me in.

It's kind of stressful to look out the window to see your five year old shimmying up the tv tower....and trying to convince his two year old brother to follow in his footsteps.

Do I screech out the window telling him to be careful, thus risking a fall due to extreme startled-ness? Or do I just glance out every few seconds to make sure that he's still up...or safely on the ground.

I typically opt for the glancing. I'd hate to be the cause of a fall.

Turns out he doesn't need me screeching in order to fall.

Last night he experienced his first nearly 8 foot fall. Oops.

"Well, Mom, I was just trying to get on top of the trailer, but I had my chainsaw in one hand so I couldn't get on top very well so I let go with the other hand to try to grab the top and then I didn't have any hand on the trailer and then I fell. And I SCREAMED. It was scary."

And the story continued with no breath inserted whatsoever.

As the evening went on he embellished it a tad...."I was sure that that bone inside my neck was broken and maybe even my leg and probably my arm but when I stopped screaming I realized that I didn't have any broken bones and I was just scared but Daddy said I might get a bruce (bruise) right here.." At which point he pulls down his pants to show me the red spot on his hip..."but I might not too, Daddy didn't know for sure, but I was scared and probably I shouldn't try to take my chainsaw on top of the trailer again cause I could fall again and that was scary, but I didn't really hurt myself and I had some wood up there that needed to be cut but maybe I should put the wood on the ground to cut it instead. I think I learned a lesson, Mommy."

Time will tell, son, time will tell.

This morning he has no bruise, he isn't the least bit sore, and he was walking around on top of the trailer again.

Life on the farm with two boys can get a little spazzy.