The Music Truck

(Sorry, no pictures today) My boys are telling me to stop doing something that I have done ever since we got home from China with Lily. I haven't decided what to do. I welcome your comments.....as long as you are nice about it!

When the weather starts to get nice, there are two ice cream trucks that spend most of their day in our subdivision. I hate the high price of ice-cream off of that truck! I hate it that kids run to it as if the have never had ice-cream in their entire life! There have been four summers since we brought Lily home. Lily and Sarah are excited about this truck. Every time they see one coming, they scream, "Mommy, it's the Music Truck, it's the Music Truck!" Lily will often say after that, "Isn't it nice that they drive around a play music for us?" My girls have no clue that the guy sells ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've trained them to think it is simply "The Music Truck." Fortunately for me, there aren't any kids too close to us that they observe getting anything from the music truck driver!

I have little pangs of guilt over misleading my girls, but I aslo find a great deal of enjoyment sharing in their excitement as they see the Music Truck approaching. Plus, I don't have to dig deep into my wallet to get them money to buy something when I have freeze pops in my own freezer!!j

Any thoughts?

Catching Up!

I was enjoying a cup of coffee while the girls were playing with chalk. I love this cup! Anyone want to guess on why is is so special?

Sarah enjoys playing the letter game in the drive. I shout out the letter and she hops to the letter that I call out.

I'm not sure about the pose, but she loves to play the Letter Game in our drive!

This photo of Lily really cracks us up!

Sarah was waiting patiently while I got the camera ready!

Lily was hoping there was something in the box for her, too!



She was so thrilled with the package!

It seems like it has been a while since I last posted! Life is crazy.....as usual! Tom is keeping busy at work. If anyone wanted to listen to him preach you can go to the media page at our church website: http://www.fairfieldcc.com TJ is finishing up his final hours driving with an instructor. Next comes the liscense. I'm not sure what I'm more worried about...TJ driving or the increase in insurance! TJ is keeping busy with lifing after school, going to as many open gyms for basketball, and making pizza at my favorite pizza place....Sugar Bears! Ty is starting to golf and enjoys lifting, too. He has started back with his piano teacher...which we are thrilled about! Dane continues with the violin. He is working out some as well.

I travelled with the girls up to Girard, Ohio to visit with family. Well, actually, it was the birthday of a dear friend of ours and I decided that was motivation to get me up to see my mom and the rest of our family. I didn't get any pictures! Ugh! It was good to be with mom...even though she wasn't feeling well. I got to see most of my siblings...Bill, Bob (he is so silly), Karen, Buzz, Karla. I didn't get to see Kim or Kara...neither of them live in that particular area. The girls and I also spend some time in the Owens home for the celebration of Madeline's fourth birthday! M is from A Mother's Love...the same orphanage as Sarah. Thanks for inviting us, M! While we were gone, the bachelor's seemed to survive! TJ took the ACT while we were gone.

Lastly, a big shout out to Lynn for sending the package to Sarah! Lynn travelled to get her daughter several months ago and brought back a few gifts from Ah-moo...Sarah's foster mother. Sarah was so excited! She is sharing the two stuffed rats that were sent to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Ah-moo is smart..she sent two of everything girly! The girls got purses and a variety of hair things. All five of the kids got a jade necklace. It's a special thing to be able to stay in contact with Sarah's foster family. We don't mind that our girls had different experiences in China. Lily has a great connection with our travel mates from our trip in 2004. We are looking forward to our annual visit this summer! Sarah has her foster family and a few folks that we are connected with that have children from Qinzhou (Sarah's original orphanage) and A Mother's Love (the second orphanage). Tom and I sent the grant proposal to the Lilly Foundation in hopes of participating in their Clergy Renewal Program. I'm trying to not get too excited. If it happens, our entire family will experience China in 2009! We will know in October if we are one of the recipients.

Thanks for checking in with us!

Memories of my Dad

This is a picture of my dad when he was in the Army. Handsome, huh?


This is me with my dad....sometime in late 1963.

This was October 3, 1987. You have no idea how difficult to get my father to put a tux on that day!


This is the last photo I have of my dad. He is holding TJ.

My father would have turned 76 today! He passed away a little more than 16 years ago. Here are some memories and thoughts that I have of my dad today. They aren’t in any specific order…..just as I think of them at this moment. Please keep in mind that if any of these sound mean, they aren’t. They are wonderful memories to me that bring huge smiles to my face!

• Dad played catch with me in the yard so much growing up that it was sometimes ridiculous! His goal was to get me to never throw like a girl! I must say that to this day, I have a decent throw!
• On Saturday mornings, my Dad would obnoxiously sing, “You Are My Sunshine” just to get all of us out of bed.
• Dad taught all eight of us kids that Santa didn’t come by sleigh, but by the local train that ran next to our house on Belmont Ave.
• Dad reminded us that if we ever got spanked at school, we’d get spanked twice as hard when we got home!
• Dad taught me how to execute a perfect double play as both a shortstop and as a second basemen. This was usually done in the living room of our house with a couch throw pillow as the base!
• Dad never got a high school diploma, but was probably one of the smartest people I have ever met! He couldn’t spell well, though!
• He could read the sports page, watch golf on television and listen to the Cleveland Indians on the radio at the same time and know what was happening at any moment with all involved!
• We would be in the basement on the other side of the house and still hear him yell for us to come upstairs and change the television station because he didn’t want to get out of his chair to change the station himself!
• All eight of his children are experts at making a perfect cup of coffee with just the right amount of sugar and cream. Although, I like mine black.
• Every summer Dad would take one (or two) of us to see the Indians play at Municipal Stadium. Mom would butter hamburger buns, slap some ham, cheese and may (Miracle Whip is May on our house) and we’d have a ready meal at the game. If we were really lucky, Dad would take us to what we thought was a fancy place to eat…called Big Boys!
• Dad would always tell me, “Do you want to be a good 7-minute miler? Run with 7-minute milers. If you want to run faster, run with runners faster than you.”
• Dad did take us out to eat to McDonald’s. We would all stay in the car….Ford Country Squire Wagon…wood panels! The selection was the same every time…eight hamburgers, eight fries, eight cokes. Don’t like onions on your burger? Tough, take them off yourself.
• We had many rides to Webb’s Ice-cream and always got the Bubble Gum flavor. Yes, we sat in the car! On a special occasion, after Webb’s, we’d cross the state line and get a soft serve ice cream in New Castle!
• Dad’s real name was “William Tolbert Johnson” but in the second grade he decided to change his name to “Barney.” He was known to most as Barney Johnson. That was a great name until a purple dinosaur showed up in the late eighties.
• Dad would cash in a few weeks of his vacation to purchase our Christmas gifts each year. We usually always got what we wanted, except the year I wanted a Cleveland Browns jacket and he waited too long and ended up getting me a Steelers coat. What was he thinking?!
• He never missed a track meet! I have great memories of him sitting in the stands at the end of the race. He was so proud of us that he would sit there, coffee in hand, holding back the tears as his belly shook!
• Whenever someone in the family wanted to ask Dad something and he was in one of his moods, they sent Kathy! She was the one that had the nerve to ask him anything at anytime!
• Going shopping for clothes with Dad was horrible. We ended up with clothes and shoes we really didn’t want! But when it came to athletic shoes…we had the absolute best!
• McDonald’s was the best place to have a really good talk with my dad. Of course, this was long after the station wagon drives for food. As we got older, we sometimes got cheese on our burger!
• My dad was truly a gifted guy…he could paint, make just about anything, and fix just about anything. The bummer is that he sometimes didn’t finish things he started!
• You would have to see our dining room to believe it! My dad was very proud of the athletic accomplishments of his children. There was not a free space on the wall as they were full of trophies, medals and ribbons. It was somewhat embarrassing.
• Dad really encouraged us to do well in school and athletics.
• Dad trained us up all in the right way…to be fans of the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns.
• Dad would get mad if you took your shoes off and didn’t untie them.
• When I got engaged to Tom prior to my dad meeting him, he wanted to talk to Tom. What he said to Tom touched my heart more than anyone will ever know. Sorry, I’m not sharing what he said. It’s just mine.
• A man who drives a car with a Pabst Blue Ribbon painted on it is not a threat to my dad! And the guy in our neighborhood that called my little brother a bad name over a two dollar kite, got popped by my dad…oh, he got the $2.00 and one of the Johnson daughters on his back yelling, “Leave my daddy alone.”
• Somewhere on the bottom of the Mahoning River is a really nice bowling ball.
• When I was born the nurse didn’t want to name me, “Kathy Jo”..the name he chose for me. Dad was persistent and got his way. Whew! You do not want to know what he threatened to name me if she didn’t do what he said!

I’m sure there are many more I could share. My father didn’t have an easy life as a kid. He even made some poor choices as an adult. One of the best choices he ever made was to ask Florence Geraldine Mattison to be his wife! She said, “yes.” They were married for nearly 40 years and had eight children…Bill, Bob, Kim, Karen, Kathy, Kara, Buzz and Karla. When I struggled with infertility, he said, “If you adopt a child, I don’t care what color his skin is…I will love him like the rest.” That was before we even considered adopting TJ. That may not seem like much of a statement, but my dad was on the surface a bit of an “Archie Bunker” guy. Inside he was one of the most loving people you would ever meet. He was certainly the funniest! He was very smart, too! I NEVER questioned whether or not my father loved me…not once! TJ was the only one of my kids that my father ever met or held. My dad died soon after TJ turned one year old. The last photo I have of my dad is him holding TJ. The last conversation I had with my father before he died was me informing him that I was pregnant with Tyler. His response, “I have prayed for a long time for this.” I don’t care how old you are, it is never easy to lose a parent….never. I wish he could have known all of my girls…somehow I think he would have really enjoyed my kids. I know that I am now 44 years old, but I still wonder if my dad would be proud of me. I know I sometimes fail as a wife and a mom, but I truly think my dad would be proud of me.

April 5th……………my dad’s birthday. It was good to spend time on this day thinking of my dad. I think I’ll make a pot of coffee and see if the Indians are on the television. I’ll watch, drink my coffee and think to myself, “Maybe this will be the year the Indians can win it all.”

Easter PICS and tomorrow is a BIG DAY!!!!!!

Coloring eggs!


My attempt at coloring eggs! I can drink it while I color it!

The Fab Five on Easter morning.







A good friend of mine loves to spoil my girls! At church, Miss. Denise (That is what the girls call her) gave them an Easter Bunny. It is a larger bunny holding a smaller bunny. Sarah has named the larger bunny "Kathy" and the smaller one "Sarah." Thanks Denise!


Lily with a chocolate in her mouth holding her new movie!


Sarah loved her new glasses...and her movie!


Lily reaching for an egg....all by herself!


This is Sarah being helped by Tyler in getting an egg out of the tree!



We colored eggs yesterday. I do not enjoy coloring eggs. I do enjoy watching my kids color eggs though! After we colored eggs we took the girls to church to see the Easter drama. Our church puts on a rather large production...over 200 people are in it! The girls sat through the enire thing. Sarah was full of questions (Why are the Pharisees like that? Will his booboos go away? Who is the man on the other cross and where did he go? And many more! Lily sat and sucked her thumb. We woke up this morning and went to church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The girls were thrilled to put on their new dresses. The boys? They cooperated by not wearing t-shirts! Tom didn't have anything major witht he service this morning so we sat together as a family...a rare thing! We came home for a dinner. I hate to cook, but the ham was good enough. After lunch the boys took the girls upstairs while we hid baskets. TJ is too cool for that, but we hid it anyway! We then ended up hunting for eggs in our yard. I must admit that it was good to see the sun today!
Tomorrow is a BIG DAY for me! I remember when I experienced this day with Lily. When I wake up in the morning, I will be able to say, "Sarah has been with me longer than she lived in China without me!" We can't imagine life without her! I absolutely adore her!

Why is tomorrow a big day?

When I wake up in the morning, I will be able to proclaim, "Sarah has been with me longer than she was in China without me!" It's been a wonderful 22 months as she has transitioned smoothly into being the seventh Alexander!

Sisters

I know I'll have some pictures to share from our Easter weekend so I thought I better post these recent shots. I love to watch my girls play together! Sometimes I just watch them and think to myself, "It's amazing that they are sisters" They were born a few hundred miles from each other on the other side of the world! When we travelled to get Lily, who would have known that Sarah was just four months old living a bit to the west! We are grateful that God brought them together as only He could have orchestrated!

As some of you may have known, we had quite the snowstorm a few weeks back. The sled picture was during the blizzard. We were all watching TV one night and I was touched by how the girls were laying on the floor with their feet touching...thus the feet picture. How about those new coats?! I went shopping for new Spring jackets for the girls and found these on clearance. Lily HAD to have one. Lily wears it around the house like a robe....it is so funny. If anyone is concerned, they are man-made materials so no need to send PETA my way!

By His Wounds....

Tom sang this song in church yesterday. No, this isn't Tom. I'll try to get that one and post it. Until then, this is the crew that sang it at our church several months ago for a concert. This week is an important week to me...to our family.

By His Wounds we are healed,
Kathy

China on My Mind

I am working on a grant proposal that has taken up a lot of my free time. I'm really excited about it! If the proposal is accepted, and a grant issued, it could mean a trip to China in 2009! The trip would include stops in Yangjiang (Lily's birth city) and Qinzhou Citty/Nanning (Sarah's birthcity/foster parents home). Wouldn't that be exciting?! If it happens, the kids would be with us so there would be an extra blessing in providing Sarah an opportunity to see her foster family again. Lynn (thanks, Lynn) took these photos when she was in Nanning picking up her new daughter. I don't think I posted these photos yet. The one if of Ah-moo, Sarah's foster mother. She's holding the small package we sent along with Lynn. The other is of Sarah's foster brother and his wife.

Not much else going on here. Tom did turn 46 yesterday! We don't have any photos of the cake we had for him so I can't post. We only made him blow out one candle!

Oh, March 23rd will be a big day for me! When I wake up that morning I will be able to say, "Sarah has been with us longer than she was in China!"

TJ and a video of Sarah's sleeping arrangement

I'll post first about the video. I've been wanting to video tape Sarah sleeping for quite some time. As some of you may recall, we were told in a report from Sarah's foster mother that she "liked to sleep with hairy things." We understood that to mean "stuffed animals." Well, I have had moments of being concerned about Sarah! She likes things a certain way. Well, with five kids that can be a challenge. I tend to choose my battles in most areas. One of the areas that I have not made a battle is her sleeping arrangements. She is attached to a number of stuffed animals, toys and dolls. I make her put most of the toys on the stand next to her bed and allow her to keep all of her "friends" close by while she sleeps. I tell her, "Sarah, you have too many things in your bed!" She replies, "I always leave a little room for me." She KNOWS if I move anything! She gets frustrated when I do that. Take a look at the tower in the corner! Amazing! Now to another important topic! TJ!

Yesterday TJ turned 17! Wow! It's hard to believe that we are parents of a 17 year old kid! I wasn't as prepared for his cake this year so the poor guy got stuck with pink candles! He didn't mind.

Seventeen years ago yesterday I was sitting on our country-styled blue print sofa reading the Saturday paper when we got the call! TJ's birthmother was on her way to the hospital and this was certainly THE DAY. Tom and I jumped in the car and made the two-hour drive to Owensboro, Kentucky for the big event. Due to the circumstances of the event, we had to keep a low profile so we hung out in the chapel of the hospital. It was at 3:30 that our 6 pound 2 ounce boy came into the world. The hospital staff was wonderful to allow us to hang out in a private room off of the nursery. The first two days were very difficult. We had been through a few years of infertility treatments and even had a failed adoption. We had several years of being hopeful, being disappointed and then trying to be hopeful again. We were blessed to be able to leave the hospital with TJ the very next day, but had several more days before we got word that the birthmother followed through with the adoption. It was a long week!

I was talking with someone yesterday about infertility and the journey of going through that with the desire to be a mom. I asked God 17 years ago to not let me forget what that felt like...and He has been faithful. I enjoyed talking to this young woman and telling her that one day she will look back and see God's perfect plan in all of this. She may have a biological child or she may adopt....regardless....God's plan. Many sometimes view adoption as PLAN B in one's attempt to be a parent. Although our first desire was to have a biological child, we know that TJ was certainly PLAN A! God had to take us throught he journey of infertility to walk through the initial doors of adoption. Thank you, God! I believe, from the beginning of time, that TJ was meant to be ours! He was meant to be the big brother of four siblings....two little girls that think he is the strongest and best brother EVER! This has been God's perfect plan!

On another note, I have to comment about TJ's birthmother. I am so proud of her! First, she chose life for her baby at a time when she could have chosen an abortion. Second, she chose me to be his mother and Tom to be his father! She will forever hold a special place in our hearts. For those of you that walk a life of faith and incorporate prayer into your days, will you please pray for her? Wherever she is we pray that she is safe and at peace...especially as March 2nd rolls around every year. Thank you SPB....wherever you may be! You have given me a precious gift and I will forever sing praises over you to my God!

Daddy and Daughter Day, Disney and Dane

Lily enjoying her new toy!


Sarah enjoying her new toy!


Lily was mesmorized by the entire show!


All three of the girls were into the show.


This is Gwen, Sarah and Lily just as they arrived for Disney Princesses on Ice!


This is Dane on a big moment in his life....the first day he was permitted to sit in the front passenger seat!


Tom and the girls on Daddy and Daughter Day!

A lot has been going on in our house and I wouldn't really know where to begin so I'll simply write about these photos. I work two days each week. I'm really fortunate to have my work schedule in such a way that the girls really aren't suffering! They have preschool on both days that I work. Tom stays home and gets them ready for school and takes them on both days. He is off on one of those days so he gets to spend the afternoon with his girls.....Daddy and Daughters Day! The other day they get to go spend the afternoon with one of their favorite adult friends...Lorissa and her two daughters Gwen and Megan.

Gwen will be celebrating a birthday soon so Lorissa decided a great way to celebrate would be to take the girls to see Disney Princesses on Ice. Sarah and Lily were so excited! Me? Well, I'm not a princess kind of girl, but I must admit that I enjoyed watching my girls watch the show! They barely moved throughout the entire program! The rest of the photos are of them before and during the show. What is it about girls and princesses anyway? The day after the show we went to spend time with a friend of mine in Columbus and her two girls...also adopted from China. On the way back I stopped at my favorite shoe store...Frontrunner. They sell running shoes and clothing. No, I don't run anymore, but many of you readers would be surprised if I told you how many track meets, cross country meets, roadraces and the like that I have competed in....in the day! I have a particular shoe that I buy from there that isn't sold here in town. Anyway, as the young sales guy was putting my shoe on my foot and lacing it up, Lily says, "Mommy, is he your prince?" I said, "Now, you know mommy only has one prince in her life!" She then said, "Well, he's good at tieing shoes then." Gotta love my girls!

Twelve Years ago.....

(This was a photo I took last week from our front yard. I love rainbows in the sky! They are a constant reminder of God's promises!"


This is a photo of Dane with his cake. The girld put the candles in for us so if you wonder why they are scattered and crooked...that is why!

NOTE: I wrote this yesterday with intent to post it last night. I just didn't get it done. We love Dane!

Twelve years ago today I stood in front of my closet, feeling really huge! I was six weeks shy of my due date to give birth to a boy that we had yet to decide what his name would be! We narrowed it down to either William Dane (we would call him Will) or Dane Robert (we would call him Dane). I had TJ (4 at the time) and Tyler (age 3) sleeping in their rooms. It was Sunday. Tom had already left for church so I was getting myself ready for church before I got the boys out of bed. As I’m looking in my closet trying to decide on Fat Suit A or Fat Dress B, I had a strange sensation that maybe my water broke. I was on restrictions at the time because I was found to have placenta previa. Well, it wasn’t my water. It was an overwhelming moment as I then had two children running around while I was trying to determine what to do. My first thought was to call my mother. I called a neighbor instead. My next thought was, “Call my mommy.” I called 911 instead. I then hung up from the 911 operator and called another friend to go get Tom. I then called my mom! The 911 operator called me back and said to me, “Ma’am, please don’t hang up. We want you to stay on the line until help arrives.” It wasn’t long at the ambulance was at the door. In walks three men and a woman. I know two came out of the ambulance and the other two just showed up as if they just go out of bed when they heard their scanner go off. There was a part of me that thinks they wanted me to deliver right then and there on my living room floor in the presence of my toddlers! I kept saying, “Just get me to the hospital. I have placenta previa and I think it ruptured. Just get me to the hospital!” Well, they had their procedures so I chilled out while they continued to hook me up and wheel me out.

I arrived in style at Munster Memorial Hospital in Muster, Indiana…..sirens and speed! One of my girlfriends (Jane Hoyle) met me at the emergency entrance. I’m so glad Jane lived close to the hospital. Tom was at church. Jane’s husband Randy went high speed to the church/school. We didn’t have cell phones back then….only pagers. Randy interrupted Tom at the 9:00 a.m. start of the first service and said, “It is time.” Tom thought Randy was telling him to get church started! Tom and Randy took off to meet me at the hospital. The baby was doing okay, but I was at some risk. Tom got to the hospital just before I was going into the operating room! Poor guy. The last thing I said to him was, “If something happens to me, just be sure not to marry blankitty blank.” No…I will never disclose the name I put in there! Yes, those were my parting words to my husband as I went into the operating room. By the start of the second service that morning (10:30 a.m.) the church was able to announce that the Alexander’s gave birth to a six pound, 13 ounce baby. He was big for being six weeks early! They put him in neonatal intensive care immediately. They wheeled by barely awake, drug induced body into neonatal to have a look at our new son. He had red hair! We named him William Dane Alexander! I was not allow out of bed for more than 24 hours so the nursing staff brought me periodic Polaroid shots of Will. Wait, that’s not we call him! After a day or two we decided he didn’t look like a “Will,” but it was too late to change the birth certificate information so from that day forward we called him “Dane.” I had a rough recovery due to the circumstances of the birth. After about 24 hours, the nurse rolled me down to NICU! I couldn’t hold him yet, but it was so good to see him! The next day they told me if I wanted to see him, I had to push the wheel chair down to the NICU! I said, “Are you kidding me? There is no way I can walk all the way down there feeling the way I do!” Well, it is amazing what you would do to see your newly born son! I pushed and I walked. It was a slow walk, but I made it!

I went home after three nights, but Dane got an extended stay…he stayed for an additional ten days. Poor guy started out with an IV in his head and being fed down tubes in his nose. We needed to get him to a point where he could eat on his own. He had some minor lung issues, but nothing of great concern.

Anyway, that’s the story of “Twelve Years Ago Today.” Happy Birthday, William Dane Alexander!

We were blessed today!

This is Olivia in the high chair. The man is Sarah's brother in China holding his son.



Lynn is obviously the blonde. Ah-moo (Sarah's foster mother) is holding Lynn's daughter Olivia. The other three are Sarah's foster brother, his wife, and their son.

I’m so excited this morning! I have an internet friend (Lynn) that is in Nanning, China picking up their daughter, Olivia. You can follow along at http://www.bringingoliviahome9.blogspot.com/

I asked Lynn if she would be willing to take an envelope full of pictures to give to Sarah’s foster family. I was thrilled to see that Lynn got to spend some time with our family in China! They met at the hotel and went to dinner together. You’ll have to go to Lynn’s blog to see what she wrote. I am happy (mainly for Sarah) that we can stay connected to the family that loved her so much for the first 22 months of her life. I must admit that I am a bit jealous! Our visit with the foster family was only about 20 minutes and was ended in an abrupt manner by the orphanage staff. That will always be one of my regrets…that I didn’t speak up and make the orphanage staff stop and allow us to have a pleasant good-bye. Lynn got to spend more time with them. I’m so thrilled to be able to experience more time with them….even if it is through Lynn. It sounds like Ah-moo was a blessing to Lynn as well. I also found out that Ah-moo is now a grandmother! Her son has a son! Now I need to think about what I want to send over to Ah-moo’s grandson.

Well, the boys are home today. The storm that came through took out the electricity at their school. I need to get everybody moving.

Lynn, I doubt that you’ll be on my blog, but if you do stop in…thank you for blessing us!

Where have I been?

I don't think I have posted for over three weeks! I'm not sure if anyone has checked in or not...if you have and have wondered...I'm still alive!

Several things have kept me busy and away from the blog world. First, let me remind you that I have five children! All three boys play basketball on three different teams. I spend five of seven nights on the sideline of a basketball watching one of the boys.

We've had a myriad of illnesses floating around our house so that has kept me busy as well. Sarah started it with a 3-day fever and cold. As soon as it ended for Sarah, Lily got it. Well, I think she got it. I waited for several days because I assumed it was the same "it" that Sarah had. Well, Lily ended up with pneoumonia (did I spell that correctly?)

In the middle of that, I had a bit of an accident at work. It didn't seem like anything too serious..at first. You see, I'm working in a dangerous environment...afterall, I'm a PE teacher for kids between the ages of 5 and 8. I have always been a hands-on teacher so it should be a surprise that I jump in and do the many activities with my kids. So, I was finishing up a soccer unit with my second graders. During the one class we were short one player to make the teams even. I jumped in. I figured I wouldn't play at my level....just try to play at their level. I was doing okay until I went to kick the ball. I didn't kick it, I stepped on it. It was a gator-skin ball so was a bit softer than a regular soccer ball. I ended up falling. All I remember is thinking to myself, "I'd really like to stop rolling." When I came to a stop, there were all these kids over me saying, "Oh, Mrs. Alexander...are you okay?" IT WAS A CONCRETE FLOOR!!! I got up as soon as I could to save what little pride I had left. My back hasn't been the same ever since. I know it isn't anything serious. It sure does stink getting old!

Enjoy the video and one picture that I've posted. The picture is of Dane on a theme day at school. Every class had a different theme for the day. Guess what the theme was for Dane's class! The video cracks me up! One day I saw Lily standing there doing the pledge. I had no idea she knew it!

Well, those muscle relaxers are kicking in and I'm feeling a bit loopy...better go.

Snow Run Challenge 2008

FIRST things FIRST! I would never have allowed Sarah to do the Snow Run Challenge had I known how upset she was going to get. Know that we loved on her most of the day after the snow run!

SECOND! I hesitated uploading the video of the boys simply because I wasn't happy with three of the comments they made. My apologies as you hear the three that upset me.

I have two more videos of the boys that are a hoot that I will add in a few days.

Cousins

Between Tom and I we have 31 nieces and nephews with one more on the way! On the Johnson (my side) the kids are all pread out with my niece Katy being the oldest at 28 or 29 (sorry Katy, can't remember). The youngest on the Johnson side is Sarah at age 3 1/2. That won't be much longer as my youngest sister will have her fourth before too long.

On the Alexander side is another story. This picture has all of the Alexander counsins it in! TJ is the oldest at 16 although there are several right there close to his age. Sarah is the youngest...I think! It makes for a fun Christmas to have all of the cousins together!

Photo Shoot

I usually get photos done of the kids on their birthday until they start school. Once they start school, I usually get the school photos. Even if I don't like the school photos, I still get them! Well, TJ didn't inform me of photo day so I missed his sophomore year photo! Lily turned 4 in November and I didn't make it in to get her photo done! On a spur of the moment I made an appointment and went today. I know....it looks like "Let's just get photos of our adopted chilren." Hey, that's just how it worked out! The bio boys managed to get their school photos done this year! Anyway, here are some of the shots. Not bad for spur of the moment!