NaBloPoMo

A surprise on my doorstep

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Yesterday was my birthday and you knew that right? It’s not like I’ve been keeping it a secret LOL! The day was spent in my favorite way with my family doing family stuff and sneaking in some house stuff.  Curtains hung as we continue to settle into our home after more than a year.

As we were finishing up dinner, we heard a rustle on our front porch and saw a person through headlights.  What or who could that be?  My husband went to the front door and found a bag filled with flowers, a card and a gift.  When reading the card I saw it was from S (J’s birth mom). I quickly picked up my phone and called her to come back.  What a thoughtful gesture, but not ring the bell after driving up from Fremont to our home?  That will never do!  She answered her phone right away and within minutes was back at our house with her son. Our girls were jumping up and down when I shared who the mystery gift giver was and that she would be coming back to share birthday cake with us!

stef jess and me 11-23-14

And this was how we ended our Sunday, spent with the addition of more family!

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The three kiddos playing and laughing and the three adults watching and laughing along!

This is what our family is about, being family.  S driving up to our home to drop off a gift was more than nice and coming back and spending the evening of my birthday with us was the icing on the cake for my day!

I am on many online forums for adoption and I get sad when I read that parents are too scared to allow their children a relationship with their birth family.  They seem to find so many reasons for not keeping a relationship (if there is a safety issue that is something else).

I know we are the lucky ones that as we embraced each of our girls’ birth families, they embraced us.  As the years have gone by we have become a stronger family unit with our girls developing their own autonomous relationships with their family.

I love this is the way our Sunday ended!

This is my 24th post of National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!

51

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It’s my birthday today and I turn 51!

51 (number)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
51 (fifty-one) is the natural number 51 following 50 and preceding 52.
Not sure how 51 is supposed to feel, I wasn’t sure what 50 would be like.
As is tradition in our family, I woke up to the kitchen decorated with balloons and the breakfast table set with cards and gifts!

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We were all excited to take a family selfie this morning which includes a photo bomb from our Pepper
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Traditions as they are in our family, birthdays are a BIG deal!  My girls have been helping me to countdown to this day as we do for their birthdays!
I am looking forward to a great day spent with my family and the birthday wishes I am already receiving from everyone!
Happy Birthday to me 🙂
Day 23 for me for National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to enjoy reading the many other bloggers participating!
Gallery

The one where I get a sports car

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Funny story that is, the one where I get a sports car, that hasn’t happened yet!  I, in fact, am celebrating the one year anniversary of our new Sienna Minivan. Yep last November our family became the proud owners of “BatVan”. (The name you ask, well I name my cars, I have had Joan Jetta and Santa Fe Rey!)

new minivan 11-22-13

It wasn’t the first car of our choice, but after an accident where we were rear ended and hit another car that totaled our SUV, this was the best choice for our family. Is this the car I pictured driving in my 50s? Well no,  I’d rather have a VW Beetle convertible which is the farthest thing from being practical for our family of 4 plus 2 dogs.  I will say (and this is not an ad) that the van drives really well having tested it on the curvy drive of Grizzly Peak this summer. Yes that was me taking the van through the turns like a sports car!  Don’t slow down for this Mom driving this mini van LOL!

I can now take friends and friends of friends around.  I can volunteer to drive for a school field trip.  When family visits they no longer have to crawl over a jump seat to get to the third row like in my former SUV.  This is the car we can grow up with now, this 8-passenger van.

After the accident, both girls were super excited about the prospect of getting a minivan.  They love the electronic doors that slide open at a touch, that they can walk within the van and they thought it would have a DVD player.  We got all that but not the DVD player as we have removable ones for long trips that hang on the headrests.

In picking out our new van I had to have black, had to have a sun roof and all the electronic doors including the rear gate and fog lights!  It was my concession to have a minivan to get the things that a) made me feel it was sportier looking and b) gave me ease when loading people and things in.

So here we are one year later and I’ve adjusted.  In fact, we totally fit into suburbia now seeing ALL the minivans at school either in the parking lot or those we line up with for drop off in the morning and pickup in the afternoon!

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This is day 22 of my posts for National Blog Posting Month, click #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!

My morning routine

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It’s so funny, after having nothing to post about yesterday, I found myself interested in a post my friend Phyllis of Napkin Hoarder wrote about her morning routine. She noted a recent article published by Forbes magazine on The Morning Routine of 12 Women Leaders.  I loved Phyllis’s point of view from an “average women’s morning”.  I realize I fit the bill of the average woman and so today I am chiming in with mine as it made me look at what our routine is or isn’t.

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5:00 AM   My husband’s alarm goes off and our 1-year-old dog hears it too. After at least one snooze bar both the dog and my husband are up. He to feed the puppy her first cup of food and to get ready for work. Somewhere in that time after awakening to the hustle I fall back asleep.

6:15 AM   The alarm on my iPhone rings.  I hit snooze at least twice AND my husband calls at 6:30 AM from his desk at work to make sure I’m up.

6:33 AM   Rise & shine its time to get up, push the button for my cup of coffee made on my Keurig and I have time for one sip before I shuffle down the hallway to wake my girls for school, singing, dancing and even blaring the stereo for an early morning dance party!  Whatever it takes to get them up and out of bed!

6:45 AM   Both of my girls are up and shuffling to the table for some breakfast.  They sit where the table is already set with the array of cereals they like and milk,  bowls and spoons at the ready.

7:05 AM   WHAT, WHAT? How did it get so late, okay girls finish up it’s time to dress! This is when I start to prep their lunch boxes for the day based on what they “ordered”.

7:06 AM   Don’t forget to brush your teeth and your hair, girls!

7:15 AM   Time for me to dress, teeth brushed, hair fluffed, GIRLS, GIRLS are you dressed? Did you brush your teeth? your hair?  You know it’s colder out, please dress in warmer clothes!  Did you?

7:25 AM   Girls 5 minutes, we have 5 minutes, do you have your backpacks? is your homework in them? shoes? do you have your shoes on?  Are your teeth brushed? Ok Pepper, Pepper time to go in your crate, no Pepper it’s not play time, Let’s go Pepper!

7:33 AM   We are in the car, my girls comment we are on time, and yes we are this morning, we will not be in the line of cars trying to drop off their students, we’ll be able to park and walk to their classrooms to drop off their backpacks before they line up on the playground in their classroom lines.

7:45 AM   The bell rings, kissing each of my girls in their line I watch them walk along with their classes to their rooms.

Now is when I come off the clock!  You will either find me chatting along with the other parents lingering in the morning or see me heading off to one of my daughter’s classroom for my day to help.  Other times I’m off as soon as I can to start my day.

Once home, it’s computer time, social media, check, feed the dogs, take a look at what I have for myself for the day and plan accordingly!

Also inspired by Phyllis, my blogging buddies Kimberley of Red Shutters and Danielle of Another Version of Mother have shared their view of a morning routine.

What’s your morning routine like?

This is my 21st post for National Blog Posting Month, click here #NaBloPoMo to read the many other bloggers participating, Enjoy!