Estimation Game

Anyone up for an estimation game? I am currently teaching in a K/1 class as a long term sub. I have my students estimate on a regular basis. I was actually just doing this on Friday when my friend Andrea came in (she works at the school and is the one who got me the job). I was talking to the students about some techniques they can use and how to make an educated guess, based on what they know. I usually give them a range to work from anyway. Andrea was telling the students that she needed more practice because she wasn't very good at this. So I am not sure that she is reading this but this one is for you Andrea!

Kevin and I got this really cool glass water jug when we first moved to North Carolina. My brother kept his coins in one when we were kids and I think Kevin said he had one too. We moved here about 3 years and 9 months ago. For the most part we put all of our change in it. We spend some, but usually we drop it in the jar. We had decided that we would keep adding to the jar to save for a special trip or something. Well we decided that we will probably use the money on some of the things that we need for the kids instead. We were going to count it all and take it to the bank but we noticed that the Coinstar at the supermarket doesn't take a percentage of your money if you turn it into a giftcard. So after our dinner and movie date tonight (got to get out on a few last dates while we can :) ) we went to the market and turned our change into an amazon.com giftcard. Anyone want to try to guess how much it was? We were pleasantly surprised that it was a bit more than we thought. We plan to use the giftcard for some of the things we will need when the kids get home. Leave a comment with your guess if you would like to play and I will let you know the results in a few days.

Also, I found several other treasures in the jug as well. My friend's son Trent has always found the jar fascinating. He has dropped several things into it over the years, knowing full well he wasn't getting them back. He just likes to watch them drop in. I found a Star Wars figure's light saber, a banana Runt candy (I could not believe that hadn't dissolved in the three years it was in there) and a little metal ball, among other things. We also found arcade tokens, souvenir smashed pennies (I collect them), and some foreign coins.

P.S. I am keeping the comments of all of those who have sent me their email addresses to approve for the blog when we make it private. I figured some of you may be like me and don't want your email addresses posted for all to see. Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers. We really appreciate it!

Still Here

We are still here. I am just not blogging lately because a.) there is nothing to say and b.) we are very busy.

There are all kinds of things that we would love to do before we leave but we just can't do much. I can't wait to decorate the rooms for the kids but we will do most of it once we are home. Since we don't know if we will be coming home with boys or girls or both and since we don't know the ages yet I don't want to start much yet. We have lots of furniture and bedding ideas stored on the computer but we won't purchase anything until we meet the kids. We want to design the rooms specifically for them since they will be old enough to have their own likes and personalities. I can't wait! I love to do this kind of thing and Kevin and I have spent hours looking at ideas online and in stores. I think that we might even print out pictures of the ideas we have to bring with us.

Also, while I am thinking of it I wanted to say that we will probably be making our blog private for a while, while we travel to Ukraine. I haven't decided for sure but if we do it that way we will be able to share more information than we will if we leave it public. We will make it public again once the kids are legally ours. If you would like to having viewing access to the blog then email me and let me know. If you don't know my email address then just post yours in a comment and I will contact you that way. Since my email address has our last name in it I am not going to post it on the blog for privacy reasons. :)

We've Got Tickets!

We are one step closer to traveling. We bought our tickets today. We are flying Lufthansa. Charlotte straight to Munich and then on to Kiev. We will be spending the day in Germany and have an evening flight on to Kiev. You don't need a visa to leave the airport so we might do some sightseeing. If we are too tired to venture out though we will probably pay the 30 euros and use one of the lounges. A hot shower and a quiet place to rest will probably sound good after the 9 hour red-eye.

I am also happy to say that the airport has a Starbucks in it. I'm not saying I will be having mocha withdraws as soon as I leave the country; I'm just excited about adding another mug to my Starbucks mug collection. I have all U.S. mugs so far. Lots of them, from a few Hawaiian Islands all the way to Puerto Rico. So I will be adding my first international mug to the collection. I'm sure I will be thrilled to be hauling a mug around for the rest of my trip, don't you think? This is the reason we will pack light. I must have a Munich mug! ;) Russian adopters get to visit the new Starbucks there, but Kiev has yet to get a Starbucks so we will unfortunately not be able to find one there.

8 weeks!

We will be leaving in just 8 weeks. It is so exciting. There is no news really. We are trying to do the things that we need to do to get ready to go. Booking the flights is our current project. We are searching for good prices on tickets with flexible return dates (changeable for a small fee) and hoping we will be able to get a couple more tickets for our kids on the same flight. I thought this would be the easy part, but now I am not convinced. So many options. Which is best?

We Got Our...

Golden ticket! Okay, not really our golden ticket, but we got our appointment date and it is just as exciting. We will be traveling to the State Department of Adoptions in Kiev in the second half of June! I start teaching next week and school gets out the week we leave. It is going to be crazy. We can't wait.

We have so much to do. We have to book our airline tickets, order money (you can only take new, crisp bills to exchange), make a packing list, figure out how we will pay our bills while we are away, and all that. Luckily Kevin's parents are going to take care of Keaton and the house while we are there.

My First iMovie

We got our new digital video camera yesterday. It is a really pretty, shiny dark blue color. It is small, lightweight, and really user-friendly. Nothing really fancy, we just wanted something to take home movies of the kids with. The one we got is just perfect for us. It will be great to take to Ukraine. Within an hour I had taken a few minutes of footage of the dog (Kevin wasn't feeling well and made me promise not to video him), loaded it up on the computer, and added a title and some music. It is definitely nothing fancy, but it is my first try. I already feel pretty comfortable with iMovie. It could not be any easier to us.



Please don't mind our backyard. The lawn was mowed today and we are still recovering from winter and the drought! :)

Also, I had no idea how easy it would be to upload the video to Youtube and link it to the blog. Easy Peasy! I tried Photobucket first but I couldn't upload the video for some reason. The file wasn't compatible. iMovie is connected with Youtube so I used them, even though their quality is not very good.

Grandpa Carl

I haven't blogged in a while because we have been very busy around here. We had family in town for Easter, I got a long term sub job, we have been doing yard work (it is still cold about half the time here, but there are flowers and blossoms all over the place!), I had my test for my teaching credential, all kinds of busy!

Some sad news for our family is that Kevin's paternal grandpa (Carl) passed away the week of Easter. He was not doing well and we were not surprised to hear it, but it is still very sad. Carl lived a very long life though, he turned 90 last December! He was married to the love of his life for nearly 70 years! Please keep Grandma Libby in your prayers as she is mentally very fragile and has a hard time remembering what is happening. By the grace of God she is doing pretty well though. The whole family is getting together next weekend for Carl's memorial in Southern California, so we are flying out there on Thursday. It will be neat to have that side of the family all in one place because we are spread out in several different parts of the country, but it is too bad that it is for Carl's memorial.

No adoption news yet, but we should hear something very soon!

Here are a few pictures from Carl's life that I scanned to give you a glimpse of who he was:

In 1922, with his older brother Paul.


Goofing around "in the doghouse!"


With his firstborn child, Kevin's dad Bill.


With his lovely bride and Bill.


In 2000, dancing at our wedding. :) I love this picture. They were so cute and had some great moves!