Declan's masterpiece

Declan has gotten into requesting things be put on the blog. Today was one such day. He has not been much of a drawer, rather preferring the scribble approach. I knew he could draw things if you modeled them but he was never really interested in drawing. So, today, he told Rich to look at what he had done and there it was. For those of you not so good at interpreting art, that is the three of us on the top and Maggie, our dog, on the bottom.

Close up view of Maggie. She must be a fast dog with all those legs!
If you haven't figured it out by now, the one with the red hair is Declan!

Declan builds....

Here is the house that Declan built. He was very proud of building it by himself (not sure why, he is an independent kind of guy). So proud that he decided to scream from downstairs that he needed me while I had just gotten out of the shower. Thinking that blood was spurting everywhere, I ran to his assistance only to hear him say, "Look I built a house." We still haven't instilled what a true emergency is! He wanted you all to see it, so here it is.....

New Link I Like....

Just wanted to point out my new blog I am following...Running Slow and Raising Dough. My husband's cousin's husband...or as I shall call him: Cousin Brandon is raising money for Hole in the Wall Gang Camps by running the NYC Marathon. Check out his journey to the left!

North Carolina Center for Advancement in Teaching

Hey everyone...I am in Cullowhee, NC enjoying 5 days of long showers, working out when I want, meals served to me (dessert wherever you turn), oh and becoming a more educated teacher. I am at NCCAT which is a conference center where seminars for teachers are held. The seminars are both on things that specifically address things in your classroom but are also about just things that might interest you. You get your own room, they feed you, there are workout facilities (yes, I was up at 6:15 this morning to run, that way I can eat more dessert), they pay your mileage and for your sub. The seminar has been great so far.....

Our trip to Ethiopia....

Well, not really Ethiopia...just an Ethiopian restaurant! Meskerem was quite yummy...definitely a different way to eat.
We hit the town for a date night with our friends, Jill and Dan who are also adopting.
We forgot to take a picture of the food so the coffee cup will have to do. Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee!

More snow....

Yep, it actually snowed again! And....no school. It was really the ice that they were worried about. Yes, we know, up north you people live through this all the time. They just can't handle it down here. They hadn't brined and the bus drivers aren't prepared for it. So, we stayed home and had a delay the next day. Best part for me is that we make it up on President's Day and I was already scheduled to be at a workshop!

What really goes on at our house...

I thought I would show you all what really happens at our house. Truthfully, this is a pretty typical afternoon show at our house. Declan loves music, his new favorite style is rock. His favorite bands: U2 and Pink Floyd...thank goodness he doesn't understand what they are singing about!

Circus Fun!

I was going to just refer you to my friend Jill's blog for a circus post but I figured that was kind of lazy! We had a great time with the whole family (minus Rich) at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus this past Saturday morning.

Cousins showing off their clowning side....advice from cousin Brandon...

"Go to college, get a real job!"

That looks like it would hurt to me!

Declan's favorite part was definitely the motorcyles. It was incredibly cool to see all these motorcycles in a cage together. I can only imagine what the first time they tried this was like. Declan does want you all to know that they are wearing helmets to be safe! Sorry to say I only have video of five in the cage, if you want to see seven, go to Jill's blog! The end of the circus was quite exciting. I think the kids thought the confetti was money the way they were grabbing for it.

Inauguration Day 2009

Our Inauguration Day Breakfast!
Here is Daddy and Declan watching Obama get sworn in. Declan has a special relationship with Obama. Several months before the election, out of the blue, he said to us, "I know who I am going to vote for." We said, "Who?" He said, "Arack Obama." Perplexed, we asked why he had chose him. "I saw him talk and I liked what he said." Declan doesn't watch much TV but I guess he must have seen him somewhere. He was very excited, as we were, to watch the happenings today.
Obama being elected has been an eye opening experience for Declan. We have been talking to him quite a bit about his new brother or sister looking different from him. We look at books, vidoes, pictures of people from Ethiopia. As we watched the Will.I.Am video Yes We Can on Youtube, I explained that Obama would be the first African-American president, the first man with brown skin to be president. Declan was intrigued by this, as if he had never noticed. He said, "Just like my new brother or sister." Shortly after that, he noticed Oprah has brown skin as well. I am excited to know our child will come to this country and all things will be possible!

Snow Day in Charlotte!

Here is our backyard...covered in inches and inches of snow!
Declan had a great time tromping around in the snow! It was pretty light and fluffy so there weren't many snowballs thrown!

The view down our street...

Rich's attempt at a snow....man?

Oh, yeah, there was no school today! We have gotten used to the closings. I figure it is a payback for all those days it took me hours to get to school in Ohio and Connecticut.