Rylee's Birthday Party - part C

Back in town Birthday party.

I guess all girls that turn 3 have 3 birthday parties~?

I know I am partied out!

More toys... Oh, goodie!

Rylee and Cousin Adam

Happy birthday to me... again!

Rylee's Birthday Party - part B

Happy Birthday Rylee #2.


This was her actual BirthDAY on the beach.

Make a wish!

This is how Wyatt felt about Rylee having another Birthday!

He was soon over it when the cupcakes were served.

We are in FLORIDA - Happy Birthday Rylee

Happy 3rd Birthday to our

Sweet, Smart, Cute and Pretty,

Funny, Brave, Bold and Daring,

Our little on the outside, but BIG on the inside

Darling Daughter,

Rylee

We love you,

Mommy, Daddy and Bubber

FFF~~~~ HOPE ~~~~

Dear God,

Please strengthen me in your

Faith, Peace, Love and HOPE.

Amen!

What a funny puppy she is!!!!

We love our puppy Molly, a.k.a. Little Miss Molly.

Of course she is still all puppy, with all the things that puppies do, but what a character she is. If you scold her for doing one of those things that puppies do, but should not be doing, she actually pouts and turns her head away and will not look at you. Here are a couple pictures that if you are a dog lover you might just get a chuckle out of.

Rylee's Birthday Party - part A

Make a Smilebox slideshow

FFF = One Brand New Cutie of a Baby Girl

Alexa Grace

A wedding and a baby!

A wedding then a baby!

This past week has been very fulfilling, especially for our friends the Meunier's!

First, Saturday we went to Kristy and Kevin's wedding in Evansville. What fun it was! Let me tell ya, the Meunier's really do have the best weddings.

The toast.

Kristy cutting loose

Rylee dancing

Wyatt being sandwiched by Kristy and Greg (Kristi's brother and Rylee's Godfather)

Rylee and Greg, her Godfather

Cori (Greg's Wife) made it through the wedding without going into labor. Hooray!

BUT BARELY...

Welcome to the world little Alexa Grace!

Rylee loves her little "God Sister"

Drum Roll on the aluminum cans~~~~

622 pounds of aluminum cans

The dollar amount you ask ?!?!

$404.30

Yep, it was worth it!

FFF = OH BABY- MY BABIES !

This photo was taken on my first visit with Rylee in Guatemala.

This photo brings back so many memories.

We stayed at the Marriott as most all adoptive parents. It was such an emotional time for me. I think mostly because it was just me and Rylee on this visit. I remember having some concerns before I left... Wondering, could I love this little girl as much as I love my son? Before the point of actually meeting Rylee, I only had photos and I could not bring myself to bond through photos. It all did not seam believable until I saw her for myself. It did not take long AT ALL! My first call home to Craig he asked how everything was going. I broke down in tears and told him "I love this little girl so much!" It was so hard to leave her and the only way for me to keep my sanity was to plan my next visit trip when I got back home. I remember our Dinner time prayer every night always ended with Wyatt saying. "And please bring Rylee home, soon, fast!"

Isn't she adorable!

My little "Sweet Pea" Lion!

Wyatt's first Halloween.

I LOVE this photo!

Huh, it's funny, his favorite animal is the Lion.

This is about the coolest cat EV-ER!

Ceafus has been with us since he was a kitten.

I got him and his brother Bo from a former boss. I did not like him much as a kitten because he would let you pet him and be so very sweet and then turn into a little Jeckle kitty and attack. So many times I wanted to just pop him on the noggin but I knew if I did he would only get worse. I am glad I didn't. Now that I think about it he is at least 6 years old. WOW! He is a miracle kitty. I will tell you why.

We bought our little house in 2001 and within the first year we had gone through several cats. The reason you ask... Our little house is on 6 acres but front and center of our property. Very front and too close to the county road. Most of our cats, like his brother Bo, have been hit by cars. Once we actually lost 2 kittens in one day. We think one got hit and the other one got nosey about what happened to his brother and ended up hit too. After we lost them we decided not to get anymore cats. Luckily we did still have Ceafus.

The reason Ceafus is the coolest cat ever is because he is so much NOT like a cat. He walks around like he's Garfield or something. He does not fear people, the dogs or the goats. He doesn't even Meow normally.

What I love the most about this cat is that he can make wherever he is laying look like the most comfortable spot in the world.

Here's a little Ceafus for your day.

The Word Among Us - A Guatemala Article

In "The Word Among Us" this month, there is an article on Guatemala.

It amazed me how relative this article is to many of my Blogger Friends and Acquaintances. I had to share it with you. Many readers of this blog are parents of children born in Guatemala. Some are so connected by the adoption of their child they have devoted much of their time, giving monetarily, collecting medicines, clothing, school books and supplies and some, more now than ever, going on Mission trips to Guatemala. I want these people to know how proud I am to be among this "giving circle". Though I will not be traveling to Guatemala this time around, I will be praying for each of you on your mission!

Bloggers on Missions

Becca & Greta Jo

Vanessa

Julie

Tricia & Sarah

Cindy

Here's to you ladies!!!

An Encounter with Holiness
Finding God among Guatemala's Poor
By: Julie Pfitzinger

We are seated on faded plastic chairs perched on the dirt floor of a one-room corrugated tin home. It belongs to Ovalia, a forty-three-year-old Guatemalan woman who is expecting her ninth child. Her face is lined, her hands rough. Her eyes are weary, but they seem to shine with an inner light.
Speaking quietly in Spanish to her five American visitors, Ovalia reveals the source of her light. “I put my faith in Mary,” she says. “I pray to her and feel her spirit. She understands the struggles of the women here.”
In these surroundings of unimaginable poverty, Ovalia’s love for our Blessed Mother shines out like a beacon in the darkness. I know I am encountering holiness, and I feel blessed. For me, this humble home is a stopping point on a unique journey: God is waiting to meet me in the lives of families like Ovalia’s.
Come and See! I had not imagined that my trip to Guatemala last year would be so rich in blessings. In fact, until just a few months before it, I had never thought of traveling there at all.
The invitation came during a conversation with two friends—Debby Grittner and Lorilee Petrangelo—at a coffee shop near our homes in Minnesota. All three of us graduated from a local high school run by the Sisters of the Visitation; we married and had children, but have kept in touch.
On that late August morning, my friends were telling heartbreaking stories about their recent mission trip to an impoverished region of Guatemala. Debby’s eyes glistened with tears as she spoke about the stark reality of families struggling every day for their survival. Food, clothing, education, medical care—none of our own children had ever lacked these essentials. But in San Pedro, an hour north of Guatemala City, it was the exact opposite. My friends’ encounters there had spurred them to action.
Lorilee told me how she felt called to establish a nonprofit health and wellness organization in San Pedro. Its name—the Grace Centre/Centro de Gracia—in honor of Baby Gracia, a little girl who died of malnutrition. Lorilee had met little Gracia on a previous trip. Spurred by that encounter, she was doing all she could to gather resources and spread the word about the community and its needs.
I was listening, riveted, when Lorilee asked an unexpected question: “Would you consider coming with us on our next trip to San Pedro?” My response was immediate and certain. Yes!
Never mind that at age forty-four, I had never traveled outside the United States and that I spoke approximately ten words of Spanish. Yes! As I drove home, I was filled with peace. I sensed that God had a special blessing waiting for me as I took this journey.
Visiting the Mothers. And so last March found me walking the desolate hills of San Pedro with Lorilee and Debby. Also with us were Debby’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Amanda, and Sr. Marie Thérèse Conaty, seventy-eight, a former teacher of ours.
Our mission was to visit the homes of women in two neighborhoods unlike any I had ever seen. Most of the residents are refugees from Hurricane Mitch, a devastating storm that ripped through Central America in 1998, killing thousands and forcing thousands more to settle far away from their extended families. All along our way we saw ramshackle tin houses, laundry lines of clothes sagging in the dusty breeze, piles of garbage, and thin streams of raw sewage by the road.
Many residents of this area attend Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church. Its pastor, Padre Mario Ochoa, is a compassionate servant who is well aware that physical poverty is not the only cause of his people’s suffering. There is also the pain caused by emotional poverty—especially among the women.
They welcome Padre Mario’s invitation to visit with us. They want their stories to be heard.
Stories from San Pedro. We listen to Ovalia, whose children range in age from four to eighteen. Ovalia’s husband rides the “chicken bus” daily into Guatemala City to sell ice cream. Ovalia is afraid he will abandon her some day, a fear shared by many Guatemalan women. She is grateful, though, to be married to “a man who does not drink and does not abuse me”—a statement we find profoundly disturbing.
Graciela, a young Mayan mother who lives nearby, has six children and sells handmade tortillas in San Pedro. She has virtually no education; when she was seven, she was sent to work in the fields, where she was raped by her uncle. “I feel like I never deserved to live,” she says. Her husband has a job, but like Ovalia’s, he is away from morning till night.
Maria del Rosario is a beautiful young woman, but her face cannot hide her anxiety and depression. Her husband has gone to the United States in an attempt to get a job that will allow him to support her and the children. Although he does send money, Maria is realizing that he will probably never return. This breaks her heart—and leaves her fearful about being a woman on her own. She feels isolated and longs for connection and friendship.
All the women’s stories reveal the emotional issues that weigh heavily on the people here, along with malnutrition, illness, and the lack of clean water. We leave San Pedro committed to take these stories back home to help convince others to support Grace Centre/Centro de Gracia so that medical professionals and social workers will be given the resources they need to serve these devastated families.
Two Photos. Prior to the trip, I had tucked a photo of my husband and two children into my purse. I planned to show it to the women we were going to meet to indicate—where my Spanish would fail me—that I also was a mother.
When I showed the picture to Ovalia, she studied it intently. Then she asked if she could keep it. “No one has ever given me a gift like this before,” she said.
I was overwhelmed at Ovalia’s response. Despite the great differences between us, she saw me as a friend. In that moment, I felt the Lord making a profound connection between our lives.
I like to think that Ovalia looks at my family picture often. For my part, I keep a photo of her and her beautiful children on my bulletin board. Every day it reminds me of one of the most powerful moments of my mission trip.
“The Lord Was There.” It was, as Sr. Marie Thérèse said of our whole time in Guatemala, “a new and profound way” of meeting God. “The Lord was there in our coming together, and there was no difference between our poverty and theirs.”
I am so grateful that God made it possible for me to say yes to this extraordinary experience. It lives on in my heart, and although I am far away, the San Pedro community is always in my prayers. I join with Ovalia in spirit, asking Mary to be close to her and all the mothers of Guatemala, who are in such need of her love and protection.
Julie Pfitzinger lives in West Saint Paul, Minnesota. Since her visit, generous donations have enabled the Grace Centre board to purchase land and equipment for a park. Other projects are underway. For more information about Grace Centre click here.

A Little RY-OLLY Cuteness!

No, I did not tie a pork chop around my daughter to get these clips!

This is true "PUPPY LOVIN" !


Now, if this one doesn't make you chuckle,
I am sure it will at least make you smile!

FFF = Friends, the four legged one!

Rylee loves Molly. Period!

From when she wakes in the morning, until bed time,

Molly is her main concern.

Tickle, tickle!


Puppy kisses!

Molly loves Rylee too!

Cans, cans and more cans!

First thing I MUST say is these photos do not give justice!

As the summer ends, so does the accumulation of aluminum cans.

Some of you know, some don't. We have received ALL the aluminum cans collected from our place of employment(=HINT) this summer.

Hint!

Somehow, Craig and I come up with these bright ideas of saving money and?or making money plans. The thing is it always ends up being a lot more work that originally thought.

So, after 30+ hours of opening garbage bags of sticky and a bit nasty cans, pulling off the tabs then rebagging the cans. We do see light at the end of the tunnel! HOORAY!

This is me taking tabs off cans.

Tabs to the left of me, cans to the right.

The rebagged cans. Yippee, all finished!

Tabs total... about a 3 gallon bucket full!

Was it all worth it? To be continued.

PIF pay off - CRAFT TIME !

We received a package Saturday and what a sweet treat!

Thank you Hannah, Greg, Dmitry and Sophia.

What awesome crafts.

Let the fun begin!

Crafts are a family favorite!

Look at this face. Where did my baby boy go?

Rylee having too much fun. She is my little artsy child.

FFF = Back to School & Loving it!

First day of class.

Wyatt and his teacher Mrs. Richard.

The Pledge of Allegiance. Awww!

Wyatt is in the very back behind the

curly haired blond boy (Aiden, Wyatt's buddy)

Rylee and her teacher Mrs. Jennifer.

Circle time!

Things are going well and it is very obvious that Rylee LOVES school! She has come home every day full of excitement and information of what she did that day. I have also been corresponding with Mrs Jennifer through e-mails and I have heard there is a little boy named Jake that Rylee has made friends with. Oh, Boy!

First day of school blues :(

Oh, not them, it's me!

Wyatt has been wanting to go back to St. Bernard School for at least over a month. I would wake him in the mornings throughout out the summer and the first thing he would ask " Where am I going today?" (The poor little guy has been asking me that since I went back to work.) The answer usually was not what he wanted to hear and when it wasn't, he would protest then ask how many more days until he could go back. I don't know where he gets that from, because I don't ever remember me being fond of school and my MIL told me that she had to drag Craig out from under the bed to get him to his first day of Kindergarten.

I tip-toed into Wyatt's room this morning, sat on the edge of his bed and whispered "Wyatt, it's time to get up. Today is your first day of Kindergarten." He immediately sat strait up and asked where his clothes were. WOW!

Then to Rylee's room. Same thing, tip-toed in, sat on the edge of the bed, gently whispered "Rylee, it's time to get up. It's your first day of preschool at St. Bernard." From her I get " I tired, I want to sleepy" Much more coaxing later, she is up and just as excited as Wyatt. I am sure she was thinking if Brother is this excited it must be something totally cool.

They were both so excited especially Wyatt, by the time we left the house he ended with a tummy ache.

Who wants to go to school?

I love Rylee's look in this one.

Total Admiration!

Oh yeah, the "blues" part of the post...

Whine, whine, sniffle, sniffle!

My babies are not babies anymore.

FFF = FVF of My Little Starlet!

Rylee loves to perform in front of my camera and sing songs. She is so cute and tries so hard to do a good job. The problem is she is so hard on herself when she forgets the words that I try to avoid it. This little performance took 6 takes before SHE was happy with the results. So this is another thing I worry about ... Rylee's self esteem.
But what a cutie she is!

The Brilliant Blogger Award!

I have been tagged by my sweet friend Becca.

Okay so here is how this thing works:
1st I have to answer a little questionnaire thing which is pretty much all about ME!

Then I have to choose 7 bloggers who I feel are BRILLIANT (see list below) and I give them the award. They will post their own answers to the questionnaire on their own blog and they will choose 7 more recipients. And so it goes!
This is pretty good timing since I have noticed I have not shared much other than photos lately. So, here it goes!

A - Attached or single?
Attached

B - Best friend?
This is tricky. I have "situation" best friends like

My best man friend - My husband - Craig

My best boy friend - Wyatt

My best girl friend - Rylee

Long time best friend since we were 12 - Tina
My work best friend - Sam Ram
My neighborhood best friend - Kelly
My Blogger best friend - YOU! Yes, you!
The list goes on and on but
My best all time friend ever, God!

C - Cake or pie?
CAKE

D - Day of choice?
Saturday

E - Essential item?
Caffeine in the form of a coffee cup and a Pepsi can

F - Favorite color?
GREEN

G - Gummy bears or worms?
Bears

H - Hometown?
Louisville, KY

I - Indulgence?
Carmel Frapichino from Starbucks

J - January or July?
January is my birthday so I should pick that one but
now that I am older and do not wish to celebrate my birthdays
I will pick July. Plus July has much nicer weather and the
kids are out of school.

K - Kids?
2 wonderful little ones that I love more than words could tell
and they also drive me crazy too.

L - Life is not complete without?
My family

M - Marriage date?
September 15, 2001. 4 days after 9/11

N - Number of brothers & sisters?
One brother a year older then me. a.k.a. Uncle Shawn

O - Oranges or apples?
APPLES are less messy but if you are talking about juices definitely Orange.

P - Phobias?
Guns - I shake at the sight of them. When I was 3 I got a hold of my dad's gun and shot myself in the leg. Big ugly scar and probably why I don't like guns.

Q - Quotes?
"Educate a boy, you educate a man. Educate a girl, you educate a nation!"

R - Reasons to smile?
Acknowledging all the blessings I have in my life.

S - Season of choice?
Fall but now what comes after it.

T - Tag seven peeps! (see below)

U - Unknown fact about me?
I am a worry wort. I try not to be but cannot help myself. Sometimes it irritates my husband and I have to remind him I really can not help myself. Especially when it comes to the kids. It is going to be a difficult long road for me and my son mostly. Because he is all boy and wants to do boy things and I tend to shelter and hover over him. I pray that I can overcome this before he ends up resenting me.

V - Vegetable?
Salad - green leafy stuff

W - Worst habits?
my computer addiction

X - X-ray or ultrasound?
Ultrasound sounds more inviting to me

Y - Your favorite food?
Santa Fe Chicken Salad from Applebee's

Z - Zodiac sign?
Aquarius

These are the Blogs I have tagged as Brilliant.
They may or may not have been tagged already and
they may or may not want to participate,
either way I believe they are BRILLIANT!

http://casadesion.blogspot.com/

http://adailyscoop.blogspot.com/

http://memeandmonkey.blogspot.com/

http://princessellaruth.blogspot.com/

http://wwwjerseyboy.blogspot.com/

http://warnerfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/

http://sweetbabycecilia.blogspot.com/

A Disney Birthday for Rylee!

I have not posted much going ons lately. I have been working and in my spare time working on our trip plans to Disney World.

That's right!

We Are Going to DISNEY!

Woo Hoo!

It was an on again off again start. But all my logical convincing got me the official "OK, let's go." from Craig and it has been a whirl wind of planning since.


We will be there for Rylee's 3rd Birthday next month.

I am doing all I can to BUDGET wisely and if anyone has any major pointers.

Please let us know!


We will be arriving a few days before Rylee's Birthday so that helps because children under 3 are free in all the parks.We will also be staying in a cabin at Fort Wilderness which is really good because they actually have full kitchens. That will save us on those $20.00+ each meal out.


The kids are so excited but not nearly as excited as me and Mammaw. Yep, Mammaw will be going too. We will all be flying out together but Mammaw will be heading home before us. While we are in Florida we want to take the kids to the Gulf for a few days too.