You Know You've Lived...

You know you've lived in this state to long when you....

1. Pronounce the city of Athens, like Athens-Greece, with the long 'a' sound. Oh my goodness! Yes, I did do this - in front of a room full of people!
2. You find yourself having a long conversation about university basketball with your mom. Not only are you talking about it, but you are expressing your speculations on the coaching staff!
3. You order "sweet tea" instead of "iced tea" at Cracker Barrel. "Sweeeeet teeaaa with lemmmmon, please!"

Now, the list could go on...But, these are the most recent affirmations that I am slowly but surely becoming a (state name)ian!

M.I.T Moments

Morgan is now at that age where he can be taught new skills and responsibilities - not just any skills, but life skills. Those "Man In Training" skills (aka M.I.T Moments). He is no where ready to do these things by himself, but he is ready to see how these things are done and to help his dad. Mike has been wonderful about recognizing those opportunities where Morgan can help and running with them. In the last 9 months, Morgan has learned how to change the oil in the car, rotated tires on the van, and assisted in many "fix it "projects. Mike has been great about having Morgan be an integral part of the learning process and doesn't just have him sit there and watch. After they are done, you can see the look of accomplishment on Morgan's face. I must say that this is an area that I need to work on... Often times, I am in such a hurry and shoo everyone away so that I can focus on the task and get it done. It is just plain "easier" that way. Unfortunately, the "easy" way is not teaching them anything constructive. Today's M.I.T. Moment = rotating the tires.

Aaah...

I feel so much better! I did it! I finished a layout after months of scrapbooking withdrawl - It only took a week and there is no journaling, but I it's a layout! Hmmm.... I think a birthday or school layout is up on the docket for the next 7 days! ;o)

Today, Rylee went in to one of the local university hospitals to a pediatric rheumatologist. We believe she has Raynaud's syndrome in the primary form. What in the world is Raynaud's??? In layman's terms it is a syndrome that causes extreme cold hands and feet. Since the late winter of 2007, we have had one strange incident with regard to her skin each year. Every year, it rears itself in winter or late winter. In 2007, it was a strange breakout all over her cheeks. We attributed that to an almond allergy (have had no problems since with nuts/legumes) . Last winter, it was strange bumps all over the palms of her hands. That involved trips to a dermatologist who was...how should I say it... a little wacky! A few months ago, it was swelling and sores on two of the knuckles on her hand and on the joint of her index finger. It took forever for those to heal and thus the concern by our pediatrician and the referral to the pediatric rheumatologist. Our kids are just like our cars...By the time you can get into the doctor, the symptoms and evidence are gone! Luckily, I did have some pictures - I will spare the photos this time as they are not very appealing. Unfortunately, I was still unable to answer a lot of the questions he asked. Oh, I hate not being able to answer their questions...I have no idea what color her hands change as they go through the process of getting cold and warming up-I have no idea what triggers the condition- I have no reason to believe that they hurt her, she never expresses pain...I wish I could give him all the answers he was looking for so that we could pinpoint the problem, but I just did not have them. Thankfully, some more serious diseases associated with Raynaud's were ruled out prior to our visit through bloodwork - Lupus was one of them. We will continue to monitor her and taking those photos. Hopefully, Raynaud's is all that it is and that this is the cause of her hands taking longer to heal. Time and another winter might provide us with more answers one way or another.

Speaking of Rylee's hand, that little mongolian spot on her hand is slowly disappearing as we were told it would as she grew older. It makes me so sad to see it go. If asked about the spot, she will tell you that that is where God kissed her. It was that little spot that China deemed as a blemish and that God used to reaffirmed to us that she was our daughter. For those that do not know the story, there was a little discrepancy over a photo right before we were to meet her. I love the little spot and although it does not make her who she is, it is a part of her! Okay...done getting sappy!

Yesterday, our adoption playgroup met again. This time, the kids had the opportunity to learn a little more about Chinese New Year. They learned the Chinese names for the Chinese zodiacs, learned how to use chopsticks, made a paper dragon, and learned how to count to five in Chinese. They had a blast and the woman who taught them was wonderful! She is a visiting teacher from China that is teaching Chinese at the local middle and high school. She will return to China this summer.

March Madness - 4th Grade Style

Friday night was the big class basketball game. Every year, each grade level at Morgan's school plays another class from the same grade level in basketball. Last year, they began holding the games at night. It is something the kids look forward to each year. The school does concessions and they play that rockin' sports music and the kids have an absolute blast. The kids can either play or be the class cheerleaders. I must say, Morgan's game this year was the best ever basketball game he has ever been a part of! The played in six time periods instead of quarters so that they can get all the kids to have fairly equal playing time. This year, at the end of the 5th time period Morgan's class was down by about 16 points. By the 6th time period, his class was down by about 10 points. They actually came back to tie the game 34-34. There was certainly excitement in the air!!























Here are a couple of the cheerleaders: