Good morning everyone. I have had many private emails and phone calls asking why I removed my "adoption posts". "Did I get into trouble? " "What happened?"
No, no, nothing like that, even though Mike joked that he would visit me in the Federal Pen and my sister called and said she would use her AAA bail bond service to pay my bail if needed. ( thanks Pat).
No, it was nothing like that. And no I didn't get into any trouble, I was even so bold as to forward my posts to my gov. representatives. Because of my posts I had a very nice conversation with someone at DOS/USCIS who is a new voice in my little "Circle of Friends" at the DOS. And ETHICA may try and help us, that would be wonderful, they do such great work in the adoption community. Anyhow, my posts served it's purpose. I got my story out there where it needed to be.
But my BLOG was turning ugly. It seemed to have a life of it's own and that was not my original intention. I started this BLOG to celebrate my family and chronicle the lives of our newly adopted children. I wanted to show the positive side of adoption. But you all have now learned of the ugly side too. And it happens more than you know.
So, I decided to delete those posts and get back to the original reason for this BLOG, my gorgeous little dumplings God has blessed us with and the trials and tribulations of THE POKO PACK.
I'm also going to delete the travel section of this BLOG. I doubt Hannah will be coming home, but if she does, you'll be the first to know!

SUMMER FUN

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD

Until we meet again

I LOVE YOU

The view from my front door.

Can you tell they love the ducks and the ducks love them?

I thought the pics were cute

until I realized I need to do some major landscaping~~~~

After the duckies grow up!

TRUE LOVE

Amy's big brother Miguel sure loves her, what else would make a grown man hold ALL those babies?

HAPPY 1ST DAY OF SUMMER!

Let the FUN begin

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDY PEEPS

XOXO

Mom & Dad

See you next week

WITH LOVE

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH

Michelle Denise

Kimberly Sue

Tracy Lee

Elizabeth Renee'

Wendy Lee

Megan Noel' Meng Yan

Molly Grace Alexandra

Ryan Joseph Du Xuan

Amy Valentina

Austin Alexander Be Phuong

&

Paisley Jane Ta Thi Tam

UGH! She cut her hair AGAIN!

Do they NEVER learn? Paisley came up to me yesterday with this sly look on her face and something hiding in her hand. I asked " What's in your hands"? She looked so proud as she opened her hands and help up a nice clump of hair "TAKE MY PICTURE"! DANG! We will never grow this hair! I asked her "What have you done?" And she says " Only boys cut their hair"? The boys just got buzz jobs for the summer. I guess I should be grateful she didn't go that far!!

WE'RE MOVING

We've decided it's time to go. We never planned to stay in this house more than 5 years and it's been 7. We also never planned to adopt, ha ha didn't God have different plans than we two empty nesters? This house was BIG for the 2 of us when we bought it, now we need a bigger house. 6 kids in a 4 bedroom is a little too close for comfort. So, we're getting the house all spiffy and putting it on the market in December. I sure hope the market gets a little better by then. Tonight I packed 11 boxes~~~ in between posting~~ I had to do SOMETHING to get my frustration out and since my sister just moved from Dallas, I have lots and lots of packing supplies :) Yes, I know, I won't be moving for quite some time, but I like to have things organized, so I packed some Christmas dishes ( I have 3 sets) and stuff I don't want out when I'm showing my house. Gee, my kitchen looks so clean with all that crap on top of the kitchen cabinets packed away. I might not put it all back up in the new house. I'm sick of Roosters anyhow. No, we aren't sure where we'll move to yet. Maybe buy a big foreclosure around here, or a new house a little farther north. Or, maybe Mike will retire and we'll move out of Florida all together and go to NC. I have an appointment to see some new homes in NC while we're there over the 4th.

It's Monday morning and..........

My girls are in the air. Wendy & Miguel flew in from NC to take the girls home with them for a month long vacation. The 3 girls, Tabby, Meg, & Molly, should have a great time together. I wonder how long they will make it before the fighting begins? You know how it is, with 3, there is always one who is left out!
The littles will have fun for the next 4 weeks too, not being bossed around by their older sisters.
So, here we are, the first full week of Summer Vacation and already had to be up at 5:30 to get to the Miami airport for 7 and we have an ortho appointment at 9 this am for Ryan. Goodness, will I NEVER learn to make those appointments in the afternoon??? Apparently NOT!

THE BIRDS GONE TOO!

The bird's gone too! I did mention how much I love FREECYCLE.COM didn't I? We are now PET FREE totally! I know I said that on the G Pig post, but I had forgotten about the Parakeet. She left yesterday. We are now TOTALLY pet free! Then Ryan says with a sad little face "Mommy, we don't have any pets. Aren't we going to have pets"? In a moment of weakness, I said " We can get a fish" That cheered him up. The Dentist has ONE fish on his counter. Hopefully the fish will be forgotten.

GOOD~BYE DIAPERS!!!

YES! You read that right. Paisley is officially potty trained! Finally! 2 yrs 8 months and we can now say bye~bye to diapies and pull~ups. It's so nice. I'm even going to be so bold as to return 2 packs of pull~ups to TARGET today. ooohhh, I'm going to save $$ about $80 a month. The only downside to this is public potties, eeeewwww, but she has that down pretty good now too "We don't touch the potties, right mommy?" She has Princess panties of course and she knows just which Princess she wants to wear each day too, sometimes she needs to wear several Princesses each day. She has to try them all you know.

I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN!

aaaaahhhhh~~~~~ the first day of summer vacation, no getting up at 6:30, no fighting EVERY morning with sleepy little bodies who cry, and scream, and fight the morning rituals of getting ready for school.. SLEEP, Peace & Quiet~~~ WRONG! I was rudely awaken at 6:45 this morning by 4 little munchkins running through the house screaming at the top of their lungs, squealing, giggling, laughing, and blowing whistles. This is NOT a good sign of things to come.

Their 1st S'MORES

Yes, I know, BAD MOMMY! I just never thought about them. Yes, we live in South Florida, Yes, we grill out all the time. So, last week they all had their first S'more experience and they were a messy, gooey hit of course! But I will tell you this, they just aren't the same as when they're made over an open fire like at Girl Scouts or over a Charcoal grill.

Saying Good-Bye

It was time for the piggies to have a new home. Meg & Molly have lost interest, and will be gone the month of June visiting Tabitha in North Carolina, they're leaving Monday. Paisley will love the to DEATH, if you know what I mean, and the other 3 don't care about them at all. I sure am not going to be cleaning that stinky cage all summer! So, it was time. We tried pets and we failed. We are now back to being petfree, which is how I like it. 6 kids is enough work. So, I put an add on FREECYCLE.COM and within minutes they had a new home. They left yesterday morning. AHHHH...freedom. Here are some of the kids saying Good-Bye. And funny thing is, NO ONE has missed them!