HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY TREY

Well I can't believe as of 10:00am today I have a 8 year old! Where has the time gone? At 8 years old you are out going, sensitive, compassionate, hansome. You enjoy sports, especially hockey and soccer. Most recently you have decided that you also want to play goalie in both. Mom has not been able to talk you out of this, so I give up. We are so very proud of you Trey. I am so glad that you have found your passion at such a young age. God has blessed us with a great son, and big brother. We love you so much! Mom Dad James and Katerina

HAPPY HAPPY 42TH BIRTHDAY, DADDY AND HUBBY

In honor of my hubby's 42nd birthday I decided to show you just what kind of dad and husband he is. As some of you know we went to Disney in April this year. Ray and I had not been to Disney as parents and I really had to convience Ray that we should go. Ray as always thought of us his family first, and worked extra hard so that we could enjoy seven marathon days at the Sweetest Place on Earth! And we did,( we ) meaning Trey,James and myself. He did everything the boys and I wanted and did not complain, but when asked if he would go again his reply went something like this: Not anytime soon, and not without a beach vacation to come home to. So hun, thanks for being the Godly family man that you are, and the best daddy ever to our boys and our future daughter. We love you so much! We are very thankful that you were born 42 years ago. You are the best!
THANKS FOR MAKING ALL OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!
Love your wife and kids

DAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS

Today the boys and I had so much fun! We went to a public pool. Trey, let's just call him "Mr Mayor" because he knew everyone and even if he did not know you he would introduce himself. God has blessed Trey with this outgoingness. Tomorrow will be his first day of second grade. When asked if he is ready he usually responds "no" but today he finally said "yes". So Mr Mayor ready or not here comes second grade. You will do just fine. Mom will be ready to welcome you home with hugs and kisses and your favorite snacks. James will also be waiting for you to come home. He is really going to miss ya! I'm sure you will be fighting 15 minutes after you come home, but you both will work it out. It is part of being brothers. As for James and I, we will be going to the gym right after dropping you at school. And then home right home to clean this house. I have been trying to make the most of these last two days before school started and have so neglected my house work. It is TRASHED. Well I better get some sleep. All is quiet. It a beautiful full moon. Kisses to my little China Princess, where ever you are. Mommy loves all three of you!

HAPPY 89TH BIRTHDAY PAPPY HOWDY!

Just wanted you to know that we love you very much! We are proud to be your family. You are a awsome Dad, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa.

For those of you that are reading and wondering: The first pictures is my younger sister, Tammie and the second is my mom and dad with Pappy Howdy, which is my mom's dad.

RED NECK PETE AND HIS CAR

Well now that I have caught up with your alls blogs. I need to bring all of you up to date on mine. So here it goes: Ray and I went to the Outer Banks for our 13th anniversary, without the boys! We had a blast! We laughed alot. So much I almost peed my pants a couple of times. This one in particular time involved a guy which Ray named Red Neck Pete. We had just arrive at the beach in our rented Chrysler 300( such a nice ride) Ray was driving on the five lane highway that runs down through the Outer Banks. Well Ray noticed that cars were stopped as we approached this intersection, just then this clunker appears, and the driver (Red Neck Pete) is trying to make eye contact with Ray. So Ray motions for him to come on out. Well his clunker diplayed some evidence that he had unsucessfully try to make a left turn across traffic at least two times before. However this time he made it saying to his buddy in the car "see I told you it would work, third times a charm". We had so much fun just being together, eating out and laying pool side, talking about the kids. I can't wait to do this again. I have a feeling it will not be until we go to China to pick up Katerina. Thanks to the wonderful man I married for thinking of our relationship enough to take me away. I love you so much!

My foot is not really any better. At first the sexy braces were making it feel somewhat better some of the time, I have another drs appointment in Aug I think I might try the injection.

I have talked with some of you about my blog and realized that some of you, (you know who you are) have been reading and not posting. I am so excited that you are reading, please post so that I know you all care. Even if you just say you were there. Thanks and good night. Tracie

MONDAY MONDAY SO GOOD TO ME

Hi everyone, thought I would give you a little update on this GREAT Monday. You ask why this Monday is so Great? Well here are several reasons: I got a little break today from my boys, they are at grandma and pappy . I took full advantage of this and got my hair cut, went to the DR by myself, and have been cleaning with no little helpers. We are interviewing a dog sitter tonight for when Ray and I go on our little 4 day gateaway. Details details, almost complete. Ray finally did tell me that we, just him and I are going to the beach. As you know from the previous post he was surprising me. I can't imagine not having the boys at the beach. Not watching James play in the sand and Trey determined to master his skim board. We will miss you boys, but mommy and daddy need a break to reconnect. Thanks you wonderful hubby for making this trip possiable.

I went to the Dr today about my foot, I was right in that I do have planter fasciitis, I did not choose the injection just yet, however I have this sexy air heel that I have to wear always, and as if this was not enough sexy for you I also have to wear the ole so sexy boot to bed. Oh well , aleast it is helping. We are off to Kennywood tomorrow, our local amusment park, and a 4th of July celebration at a friends house with a pool. Happy 4th to everyone.

ME AND MY THOUGHTS

I have been doing alot of thinking about this blog. I orginally started this to tell our adoption journey, however I have not really documented that here yet. I have however talked alot about my family, mostly the boys, which includes my dear hubby. I love love , I repeat love to visit several blogs. Which is great, but sometimes overwelming. And so I have decided that I need to put into place some goals: so here they are:
#1 To post a entry a least once a week
#2 To visit my adoption links at least once a week, and post comments on their blogs.
#3 To learn more about blogging and how to do some specific things I can't explain here.
#4 When I visit others blogs I need to set a timer so that I don't lose track of time, limit this to a hour a day.
I have become very addicted to visiting others blogs and want to continue, but I think I have to set some limits or I am going to drive myself crazy.
#5 To post more about myself and my feelings and what is going with me, which I find extremly hard to do.
In honor of the last goal I will tell you what is up with me. Well, I think I am finally over my sinus cold that turned into infection etc., as many of you know the fam went to Disney in April, well everyone seems to have recovered from that except for me, I believe I have plantar fasciitis, which is inflammation of the muscle that connects your heel to your toes. At times it is very painful and other times I think it is getting better. Well I am going to see a ortho dr on Mon. for a possiable injection because I can't take it anymore, however the injection is painful itself, but how long can that hurt? shorter than three months of misery? Please pray that I make the right decision, dear hubby thinks I should just get the injection, he also says that Disney is still costing him $$$$$ LOL I will let you know what happens. I need to get back to my workouts and eating better. More about me later