Monday fun.....

Well, the 2 adults in the house are POOPED out from all the work we did this weekend to ready the house for sale.....big thanks to both sets of parents for all of their help. I was home both Friday and today on a pre-planned long weekend - originally was planned for a family gathering, but ended up being a long weekend filled with projects instead!

Paul was in a great mood when he came home from school - after dinner and a bath, we had pj playtime and thought we should share some of the antics.

When you ask Paul how you blow a bubble, he puckers his lips and blows - too stinkin' cute.


Maybe he'll be a gymnast someday - he has started standing on his head a lot recently.

Or maybe he'll be a wrestler - he and daddy love to wrestle. Hey daddy, check out my new move...it's called the Diaper Choke Hold!

Just one lonely finger reaching out to touch the kitty kitty.....

Mom, would you stop taking pictures of me already.....
And here's a video of Paul's newest game.....he climbs on Jason's back and daddy becomes a horsey.

Have a great week everyone.....

52 Card Pickup.....

We had great time out at GranJo's for dinner tonight.....we met Gram and Pa out there too! When we arrived, GranJo gave Paul a present - a wallet of his very own. As you might recall, last weekend during our trip to Bloomington Paul had a blast playing with daddy's wallet - he would pull out the cards and put them back in - over and over and over. So, GranJo got him his very own wallet complete with 2 fake cards.

GranJo pulled out a deck of cards for Paul to play with...what a riot. He was having a great time throwing them on the floor and picking them back up. Here's Paul playing with Pa (and his trusty new wallet)....I just love to hear him giggle!

Even though I am a bit under the weather, we had a nice evening with family....thanks everyone for a great meal and a great time!

Bloomington - Day 2.....

Well, our first out of town and overnight trip was quite a success! We stayed in a hotel with Paul for the first time - and he did SO well! Of course when he woke up bright and early at 6am, we ALL had to get up.....so we got cleaned up and went to the breakfast buffet. Paul napped in the car for a while and then we headed to the Lipic's along with the Craney's.....what a riot to see ALL the kids together. We took about 1,000 pictures today so I had to weed through to pick out the ones that I like the best. We had such a great time today - the kids had a blast and the parents got to catch up. We've decided that we should try to do this twice per year!

Before we left the hotel, Paul was having fun playing with Big Daddy's wallet. He was actually figuring out how to put a card in the slot.....too cute.

Here is Miss Nia with her pretty dress and matching Croc shoes!

Check out Paul in his overalls......

The kids were so excited when Mark came home from church with Grant.....all huddled at the front door......

And here is Joseph.....too cute!

Jason was playing with Nia on the slide.....

Cheesy grin while goofing around with daddy in the playhouse.....

After a great lunch - thanks Grillmaster Mark - the kids put on their suits and played in the pool and the sprinkler. Man, it is tough to get all 3 of them in a picture together.....

Check out Nia's cute swimsuit....ruffle and butterflies......

Check out the gut on our little man.....

Paul and Nia having some fun in the sprinkler......

And here's Joseph digging the sprinkler too!

We brought out the watermelon slices and the kids went crazy....they were all sharing slices and getting really messy. What a fun summertime treat!

Hey Joseph, can I have a bite???

Joseph gnawing on the watermelon rind.....

And then it was Nia's turn.....

After all of this excitement and activity, Paul just konked out in the swing. He needed a little power nap!

And, here's our crew - of course we aren't all looking the same direction, but what can you expect with a group this size! The Lipic's (with Nia) are on the left, the Craney's (with Joseph) are in the middle and the Marchik's (with Paul) are on the right....and Jessie the dog is smack in the middle but facing the wrong direction. Not sure where Grant and Alex were, but we had fun with them this weekend as well!

We are so thankful for this wonderful weekend - what a great opportunity to hang out with great friends and catch up on life after our respective adoptions. We have all experienced such a life changing event together and I hope we are able to stay in touch! A big thanks to Kathy and Mark for ALL of the work they put into coordinating, cooking, baking, cleaning, etc, etc, this weekend. Everything was great and I know it was a lot of work to pull together - you were both gracious hosts!

Have a great week everyone......

Our trip to Bloomington - Day 1.....

Well, the weekend that we have been waiting for has finally arrived.....we made the 2 hour trek to Bloomington this weekend to visit the Lipic Family. As you might recall, we traveled with Kathy and Mark to Korea - we were traveling to bring home our first child, Paul and they were traveling to bring their 3rd child (and first girl), Nia. We spent quite a bit of time together while in Seoul and really had a great time together. We planned a fun Korean Trip Reunion weekend for our 2 families as well as the Craney Family who will join us tomorrow. What a blessing to meet such great people during such an exciting time in our lives!

We made it to their place right before lunch - the kids all got to play for a little while, we had lunch and then they played some more.....

Here is Grant taking Paul for a ride on the Gator. Both were belted in and he was driving SO carefully for Paul. It was cute.....
Hey Grant, why did you stop? How do I get this thing in reverse??

Mark and Nia spending some quality time together! Isn't she sweet? Oh, and Mark too!
We decided to head to the zoo for an afternoon outing. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze and the kids had fun.

Here's the family - Paul doesn't look terribly happy.....and Jason is a mountain man because of his injuries....we're quite a group these days!

You know how Paul just loves the goats - they had 2 baby goats that were too cute. And their petting zoo allows you to get in the enclosure along with the animals. Paul had a blast.

Paul was laughing as the goats were wrestling......yeah, let's call it wrestling.

Here's some cute video of Paul with the goats - he was SO excited about those baby goats!

Here's Paul at the lion exhibit....nice kitty.

The zoo is located in a park that also has a little sprinkler park area too. We let the kids run through in their clothes after we were finished at the zoo. I wasn't sure how Paul would like it, but he really seemed to enjoy himself - aside from the surprise of a large bucket of water dumping on his head - but he got over that pretty quickly.

What a cute couple these 2 make....

After all of this fun outside time, we ran to the hotel to get checked in and cleaned up. Paul made the room a home away from home.....


We headed back to the Lipic's place for a yummy lasagna dinner...Kathy really went all out for us today! The kids had plenty more time to play and then we all ate like pigs....dinner and then homemade dessert too!

I love bananas...real or plastic!

Check out my funky dance moves.....

Hey, let's make a break for it....they'll never notice!

We're looking forward to another fun day tomorrow.....and we get to see Joseph and his parents too! I can't wait to see all 3 kids playing together - they are really so sweet since they are all about the same age. Check back again tomorrow for Day 2 pictures.....

Who knew that a pressure washer could be so much fun??

Well, it has been an interesting week.....we have a long list of to-do's around the house as we prepare to put it on the market to sell. After Paul went to bed on Monday evening, we got busy working in the basement....as the evening went along, we came back upstairs to wind down. A completely freaky thing happened with Jason's face and the cat's rear claws.....not pretty. So, we had to call Jason's parents to come over and we ran to the Emergency Department where Jason received a good cleaning of the lacerations and 2 stitches in the gash on his eye lid. LONG NIGHT!

We took it pretty easy last night - but tonight it was time to start pressure washing the house. We originally borrowed one, but when we brought it home, it didn't work. So, Jason ran out and bought one and came back to start the fun. Paul had a great time watching him out the sidelights by the front door.

Naked baby was excited to see daddy.....


Running across the foyer with a silly grin......

Love profile shots of my baby....

Jason was squirting the window with the pressure washer - Paul would back up as though the water was going to hit him....it was pretty cute.

Here's hoping for an uneventful rest of the week.....with NO trips to the Emergency Department!

Big news on the home front.....and GranJo retires!

For those of you that haven't heard our exciting news.....I have accepted the Vice President of Finance position at the corporate office of my current health system. What an exciting opportunity for me and our family....but a tough decision since we will have to relocate 2-1/2 hours away from Paul's grandparents. We feel this is a great opportunity to stretch ourselves a little - we are pretty comfortable in our current surroundings and this will force us outside of our comfort zone a little - character building for sure! On the upside, it is an easy drive and not too far - we will come back and family can come to visit ANYTIME. So....we have to get the house ready to sell, sell the house, finalize Paul's adoption, find a house to buy, buy the house and then move....so, nothing really going on around here! HA!

We have a list of projects that we feel need to be done before we list the house - some big and some small. We spent the better part of Saturday in the basement doing some major organization and purging - man that feels good! Today's project was replacing the 2 faucets in the master bathroom....one got finished and the other will be done sometime this week (right, honey?). This is faucet number 3 and 4 for Jason to replace in this house.....he's getting to be quite the expert in this arena.

Hey daddy, can I help hold the wrench??
Phew, I am pooped out - time for a water break!

Good job daddy....you're doing great!

Here's some video of Paul "helping" daddy.....

This is Paul's new favorite trick - he takes a drink of water (or milk) and then swishes it around in his mouth and through his teeth. Cute when it is liquid, not so much when it is yogurt - gross!
This afternoon, we went to a party to celebrate my mom's retirement.....her coworkers at the library threw her a nice little shindig at a local pizza place.

Here's a shot of all of us - sorry for the bad backlighting, but wanted you all to see a picture of the whole family!

Here's GranJo with Paul....he's always looking away or squirming around or something!

Random shot from the party......

One of my mom's coworker's daughters was in love with little Paul. She fed him peaches with his dinner. Too cute!

Paul had a blast playing the other little boys that came to the party....they were all running around like crazy little men!

And, after all of that food and running around, he was POOPED out....he fell asleep pretty quickly on the way home.

Needless to say, we got him home and in the bath and then it was off to bed for little P. What a full weekend!

Say a little prayer for us as we work through this transition - we have a lot on our plate over the next weeks and months as we attempt to sell the house and relocate. We have faith that it will all go smoothly and work out just fine. If you know of anyone looking for a GREAT house in Moline, let us know!