Ugh. Do you ever feel like you're being kicked when you're already down? The last two weeks have just sucked, which isn't even a strong enough word to describe it. The only highlight has been a nice but too short visit back home, but all kinds of other crap has been going on, and I just got home to find more messes I have to try to clean up. As if I didn't already have enough to worry about. I know things will get better, but I can't believe how it all seems to happen at once. It makes it hard to focus on the good things that are going on. I'm just venting. If you believe in prayer, I could certainly use some now. I don't know what I did wrong but there is some rotten karma here right now.

I am so very blessed!

Overcoming bullying with friendship

Dominic is an exceptional little athlete, and because he is so good at soccer his coach suggested moving him up to the 6-8 year old league (he's been playing with 4-5 year olds). Last night was his first night with the "big kids".
Dominic did great with all the drills and seemed nervous but OK until the last drill. They dribble the ball till coach says "freeze", then they have to stop the ball, leave it, and run to another ball. Dominic ran to a ball and was waiting for the coach to say "go". An older boy (he must have been 8 but was VERY tall) came up to Dominic and put his foot on the ball and got in Dominic's face. Dominic kept his foot on the ball and it looked like he said "This is my ball." The kid got real close to Dominic (in an obviously intimidating way) and took the ball out from under him. Dominic stood there, looking upset. He usually doesn't back down so I half expected him to slug the kid. Instead he walked away and I pointed him to a new ball. I was LIVID and wanted to walk out on the field and say something to the kid, but didn't know if it would make things worse. I decided I'd just tell the coach about it.
Coach called a water break so I figured I'd tell him then. But Dominic came over to me with tears in his eyes so we went to talk. He was SO upset and said he hated it here and didn't want to play with the big kids. I felt so awful for him. After the water break he REFUSED to go back in, and sat out the rest of practice. I finally managed to get him off my lap long enough to go tell the coaches why Dominic was sitting out.
They handled it wonderfully. They talked to Dominic and told him that he could come to them with any problem and they would help him. After practice I saw them talking to the boy in question, which I am happy about.
What really turned things around was a sweet little boy named Matthew. He kept coming over and asking if Dominic was OK and ready to come play. He was so sweet and persistent. At the end, when the kids huddled & said good-bye, Matthew came over to us and asked Dominic if he would like to walk with him to the huddle and stand next to him. Dominic tried to look very non-chalant and said "sure" and walked away with him.
Kindness and friendship are so powerful! Dominic finally stopped talking about "the mean boy" and the whole ride home talked about his new friend Matthew and how he would play with him next week and that he wasn't afraid of playing with the big kids anymore. When we got home he told his daddy all about his new friend Matthew, and didn't even mention the bully. Thank goodness for little blessings like Matthew! Fingers crossed that things go well next Monday!

I have been meaning to blog about Jesus and the Power Rangers.

I put up a small nativity scene (presepio) for Christmas, consisting of Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. The boys were drawn to the figures and were very interested in them.

One morning I came downstairs to find the baby Jesus on the floor, surrounded by a circle of Power Ranger figures. I overheard Dominic providing the voices of the Power Rangers, and they were saying "Jesus, I'm hurt, can you fix me?"

Apparently Jesus is a medical doctor, too. :)

Last night was the YMCA's Holiday Party. I didn't even find out about it till last week when my boss asked if I was going. I went, not knowing it was also a staff recognition dinner. Each department director chose one member of their staff to receive a "Director's Choice" award, and I was chosen as the recipient for the Family Services Department of my branch!

I was SO shocked. I had no idea! I was given a VISA gift card for my award. I really missed working, and I was just happy to help out, so I'm really touched to have been recognized like this. Thanks for letting me share. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Weekend in Lancaster

We had planned to head out to DC last weekend, but a nasty ice storm (which wound up being just a small snowstorm) changed those plans. Instead we headed about an hour away to Lancaster, PA, and had a great time!

We stayed in a hotel that was shaped like a steamship. It was super cute, and we had a room near the indoor pool, which Dominic was thrilled about!

While we were there we checked out the Christmas Museum. It was full of lots of wonderful displays with Santas from around the world, train tables, and nativity scenes. As we were leaving, one of the docents asked Dominic what his favorite part was. After thinking for a moment he replied, "I saw Jesus." Awwwww!

We also visited the Hands On Museum which, while a bit small, was nevertheless entertaining for the boys, who had been a bit frustrated with the previous museum where they couldn't touch anything! They loved being able to manipulate the various activities, build things, and dress up.

The following weekend we also visited Byer's Choice, which is practically in our backyard. We had no idea this wonderful exhibit was so close to us! We went to see La Befana, but were enthralled by the Victorian town and all the displays. Even the boys said they wanted to come back again soon!

So, despite the fact that it's FREAKING COLD here, we're managing to stay busy. :)

Adoption Ornaments and Personalized Ornaments

I had fun making this one!! I hope it's a big seller!

Available here:

http://www.cafepress.com/forthischild/4248671

Snow already?

Thank goodness I've been working away at purchasing sweaters, snowsuits, and snow boots, because the white stuff is here!!

We woke up on December 1st to find everything covered in a white blanket of snow. It wasn't much, but enough for snow angels and snow ball fun.

Then today it started snowing again. There have been flurries for the past few days, but nothing sticks. Well, today it's sticking! The boys are beyond thrilled. They've been asking about snow ever since we moved here, and now their wish has been granted. All I have to do now is buy a sled!

Christmas is around the corner!!!!!

I have been working away at this adoption fundraiser project for awhile, and the site is finally up. I will be tweaking it and possiblyadding more products, but please bookmark the site and post it onevery single board you can think of! E-mail it to all your friends,too!

http://www.cafepress.com/forthischild

To give you some background, the project began forming when I fell for a little boy in Armenia named Davit, who is waiting to beadopted. Not being able to adopt him at this time, I wanted to dosomething, anything, to help him find his forever family. Thus theonline shop. 100% of profits will go to Hopscotch Adoptions to formgrants to assist in the adoption of Davit and other special needschildren. I absolutely trust Hopscotch because the executivedirector, Robin Sizemore, was an integral part of our own adoption.

To learn more about Hopscotch, Davit, or other special needs orphanswaiting for their forever families, visit

http://www.hopscotchadoptions.org/ and

http://www.reecesrainbow.com/otherangels.htm

Thank you for your support and helping to spread the word!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Dominic was Spiderman, Christian was a knight, and Andy & I didn't feel like dressing up this year so we went as ourselves. :) We all had a great time!!

Christian is THREE today!

I can't believe how quickly he's growing up!

I woke up this morning to a little boy with his arms full of gifts saying "look what I got!!" He had woken up early and, rather than waking me up, went downstairs and opened all the gifts I had waiting for him. LOL! He was so excited and was telling me about all his presents.

We asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, and he wants to eat hot dogs, have a white cake, and cook marshmallows. Works for me! So we're preparing for a cook out tonight. Thankfully, the weather has been gorgeous!

I will post pics as soon as I upload them tonight!

The training wheels are off!

Dominic has been begging us to take his training wheels off for some time now, and we finally got around to it. It didn't take him long to get the hang of it, and now he can make the circle in front of our home all by himself. Way to go, Dominic!

I went to a mosque for the first time one Monday. It was a VERY interesting cultural experience, and pleasant, too.

I have been teaching my class about Ramadan, which has been fascinating to me, to see how similar some Islamic beliefs are with Christianity. Monday was "Interfaith Fast for Peace" Day and the local mosque invited the community to fast and then come by at 6:30 to pray and break the fast with a communal meal. One of my student's parents invited me, so I gladly went.

As I approached the building I could see all the men in neat rows standing in prayer. I approached the door and a young man directed me to a different set of doors at the rear of the building. Duh! Forgot how men & women are separated in mosques, so I went to the back. Removed my shoes at the entrance and entered a scene of chaos compared to the men's room. Women were trying to pray as children chased each other around the room, laughing and playing. It was hilarious. The kids were having such a great time. I took Christian with me and he kept telling me "This church is fun!" LOL! Compared the our Catholic mass, I could see how he thought this was more fun!

I couldn't hear the prayers (poor speaker system combined with the children's chaos), which I was disappointed about . At the end of the service a man (the leader, I guess) spoke some very nice words about peace, and the meaning of Ramadan and fasting. He then invited anyone who wanted to speak to say a few words. As the room was divided by a partition, we couldn't see any of the men but could hear them. They then asked if any women wanted to speak, and two did (both non-Muslim guests) and the microphone was passed through a curtain to us. It still seems so odd to me how divided we were...even in as simple a task as passing a mic, no faces were seen...just a hand through a curtain. We didn't even eat together...the men ate in their room and the women & children in ours.

The food was INCREDIBLE! I don't know exactly what I ate but I loved it. I'll have to find out what it was so I can try it again.

So, I just wanted to share that experience. I'm pretty ignorant about Islam, so it's been very enlightening to learn more about the Muslim faith and culture, and see the similarities that exist (ie. the women with covered heads reminded me of Catholic nuns; Ramadan serves to remind Muslims to be peaceful, helpful, patient, and thankful, much like we are taught as Christians). I think if we (both Christians & Muslims) could see the similarities in our beliefs we might find some common ground to begin building peace with.

I survived the boys' birthday party, and everyone had a great time, I think. :) Since their birthdays are only 1 month apart and they have all the same friends, we had one party to celebrate Dominic's 5th and Christian's 3rd birthdays. We had a simple backyard cookout with a few of our new friends. We made it a costume party so the kids could dress up. I had a blast decorating the boys' cakes and cupcakes for the guests. I'm glad they were a big hit. It really was fun to do!

The pinata was a lot of fun, too.

The boys were so tickled when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to them, and of course they loved all their gifts and had to play with ALL of them at once.

Here's to a fun birthday party, and hopefully many, many more to come!

Dominic is FIVE today!

Hard to believe that my baby is getting so big. I think he had a wonderful birthday. He received some wonderful gifts, like the remote control cars he has wanted for so long, birthday cards that play music and sounds, and a guinea pig, or "Skinny Pig" as Dominic calls it. He just adores his little pet and likes to snuggle him, sing him songs, and feed him spinach.

We made cupcakes last night for Dominic to take to school. He wanted a dog themed party, so I bought little plastic dogs to top each cupcake with. I heard they were a hit. We ended the day with a trip to Chuck E Cheese. It was a fun birthday...I'm glad Dominic enjoyed his special day.

Thursday, September 19th is
Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Have fun! Click here for tips on how to talk like a pirate!

Hershey & Chocolate World

I will add more pics & details ASAP! :)

Forgive me for getting all political on my mommy blog, but this story upset me so much that I had to vent somewhere, and you're my audience. It disgusts me to no end that people in our country still think it's OK to mistreat, violate, humiliate, and otherwise dehumanize a person because of their skin color. It is beyond my comprehension how ANYONE could treat another human being this way. I am absolutely disgusted. You can read the awful story here.

THIS is why I feel so strongly about the Peace School program I am teaching and helping to develop at my YMCA. If we can teach our children about love, peace, and respect, then we are laying the foundation for a better tomorrow. If you'd like to learn more about the Living Values project (and maybe encourage your local school to implement the program!) please click here.

Peace. Shalom. Pace. Paz. To you and yours.