Last week of May

Senior Appreciation
We had Senior appreciation night at church this week. I had very mixed feelings about going. Yes, Jacob is a senior, no he is not graduating. As the youth got up and each shared a few thoughts about growing up, I sat there feeling more and more depressed. I don't feel like we've done a very good job at getting Jacob launched into his life. He's not graduating from high school this year and it doesn't look good for next year at this point.  He refuses to take the GED exam and just be done with it. He doesn't have a job and has no interest in finding one. He doesn't have a driver's licence, and again isn't interested in doing the things we want him to in order to get one. (Things like: make progress in school by finishing three of the classes that he has 95% done, fasten his seat belt while in the vehicle with us, come home on time or as agreed on at least 50% of the time.)

Each of the seniors got a chance to say a few words.  Most thanked their parents and leaders for helping them become the people they are.  Jacob gave me credit for getting him there (to the activity) because I forced him to attend.

So, we have an adult son with no skills, no motivation, no bright and shining future on the horizon. What makes it so difficult to deal with is that Jacob has amazing potential.  He's incredibly intelligent with a lightening fast mind and phenomenal memory and ability to make connections.  He's charismatic and people he meets of all ages naturally are drawn to like him.  Yet, he seems determined to throw all that away.  Jacob is definitely teaching us that you can't judge your success as a parent by your child's achievements. I look back on raising him and I believe we gave 100% to him (Dode says 150%!). If I could have had the power to change anything, I would have been able to convince Jacob to get help with his depression sooner.  It's not something he's conquered yet, but at least he's agreed to counseling and trying different medications.

Track Meet

Thursday Anastaya had a track meet.  It was a cold, rainy day.  Anastaya competes in three events, Shot- Put, Discus, and the 800 Meter run.  In order to keep warm, I jumped up and down in place.  I must have done a lot of it over the three hours, because the next morning, my calves were extremely sore!

I figure, as long as I'm at the track meet, I might as well be helping. This was my second time helping as a timer. I get to stand right next to the finish line that way! Although it was wet and cold this week, it was an improvement over the last time I helped. That time, I had a stomach bug and stood on the sidelines wondering where I could throw up without anyone noticing if it came to that. Anastaya was wishing I wasn't helping this time because she was freezing and wanted to just quit and go home before her last event.

Freezing before her last event, the 800 meter run. 

She is a hard worker but isn't exactly quick on her feet.  She came in far behind the other girls.  I'm glad I was there at the finish line because I noticed that they were arranging the youth on the track for the next event and I had to holler out, "Wait!  There's still a runner on the course!"  I tried to console her by telling her that being last isn't a big deal.  I told her that when I ran a 10k, I was last.  In fact, I was 10 minutes behind the next slowest runner and they were taking down the finish line before I even got there, but I still felt great for doing it.  I'm not sure it gave her much comfort.

I think the kids enjoyed our pop up canopy more than my timing skills! 

I'd brought it thinking it would be nice for all the timers to stand under.  When I saw that everyone had sufficient rain gear, I decided to leave it in the car.  Then, I noticed the kids standing around getting rained on, hugging themselves and freezing so I went to go get it for them.  I was in the big van and a car had parked really close beside me.  The canopy was on the side next to that car.  It was a total struggle to open the side doors far enough for me to inch it out of the van.  I had to alternate opening one door, slide the canopy, then open the next door, slide the canopy, over and over.  The canopy I'd thrown in didn't have wheels so I lugged it over to the track wishing there was a strong man around to offer to ease my burden.  (No luck!)

Ear, Nose, and Throat Visit

Isaac's ear infection is the kind of thing that just won't clear up.  He's been to the doctor (a 45 minute drive away) at least 8 times for it.  He's had it professinally cleaned out three times, something he hates.  We had his hearing screened at the beginning of the month and found that although his hearing has come back (after loosing all hearing in the ear after his ear drum ruptured), he still had some high frequency loss.  The ear was also still bothering him.  We went to the Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor on Friday where they re-evaluated his hearing and while it's not perfect, it's still improving.  He used a microscope and a suction device to clean all the junk out of his ear that resulted from the rupture.  There was so much debris in his ear, it was preventing the ear drum from vibrating as it should, resulting in hearing problems.  With some drops for the next few days, his ear (cross my fingers) should be back to normal now. 

Getting to that appointment was a bit of an ordeal.  Isaac had stayed at a friend's house the night before and I'd never been there.  I googled directions to the address, saw it was about 12 minutes away and on the way to the doctor office and allowed myself an extra 15 minutes to pick him up and be on our way to Everett.  Well, google steered me wrong.  I ended up at the end of a skinny dead end road with no turn around at the end.  I did a 10 point turn to get the big van turned around, worrying all the time that I'd back up too far and end up stuck in the mud.  Once I got turned around, I tried to call home to get a phone number and found that there was no cell reception.  I started driving back towards home, trying to use my cell phone repeatedly.  Once I got reception, I was able to get the phone number for the house he was at and the mom said I was totally in the wrong area and had a long way to go to get to her house.  It ended up they lived about five minutes away from us and in the opposite direction of the doctor office.  I finally arrived to pick up Isaac and more than forty minutes after leaving home (30 extra minutes of driving around lost), I was driving back past our house and needed to be in Everett in 20 minutes.  We called in to tell them we were going to be late and they said as long as we were not more than 10 minutes late, they could see him.  Of course, I just missed every light we hit on the way and had to merge onto the freeway behind a fully loaded semi (think slow).  We made it to the parking garage at the doctor's office exactly 10 minutes late, and we were too big to fit in the garage!  There was no street parking around the building available.  At this point, my stress level was out the roof but we managed to find a parking lot a block away and were soon power walking to the office.  Thankfully, they still were able to see Isaac.

As long as we were in Everett, we ran some errands.  We stocked up on bulk supplies at Cash and Carry.  We sure go through a lot of: pizza flour, pizza cheese, hamburger patties, hot dogs,  french fries and tortillas! We also stocked up on chocolate at Trader Joe's (5 pounds of dark chocolate and two bags of dark chocolate covered pretzels.   Health food at its best!)  I've been wanting to make water kefir soda with the kefir I've been making and needed to buy some EZ Cap bottles to carbonate the kefir.  I looked on line and realized all the places that sold those kind of bottles were home wine making/beer making suppliers.  Not wanting to pay shipping on the bottles, I found a store in Everett that sold them, Homebrew Heaven.  When we pulled into the parking lot and I told Isaac where I was going, he sure got big eyes!  I wasn't sure what the rules were about all ages going in so I had him stay in the car.  While I was there, I picked up supplies for making mozzarella and ricotta cheese and some root beer extract.  Isaac kept the keys so he could listen to the radio.  When I got back, there was no radio on and I asked him why.  He told me he was afraid of running the battery down.  I told him, yes it would be funny if I had to call dad to come help us and told him we were parked at Homebrew Heaven!  When I got home, Miriam found a novel use for the napkins I stocked up on.

napkin pillows

Isaac measured in at the doctor today at 5'3".  I told him that since he's almost as big as me, and is probably at least as strong as me, it's time for him to start putting the new water containers on the dispenser.  I took a photo of this momentous right of passage.

We go through about 4 of these a week.  After putting a new water bottle on, Isaac has decided that we go through way too much water as a family!

Misc.

We made no progress in our ongoing search for a van.  We thought we'd found one and drove 45 minutes down to Lynnwood to look at it.  We'd made an appointment to look at it but when we arrived, we were told the seller was not there.  The lady of the house called him up and he told us he'd been there in 20 minutes.  An hour later, he showed up.  He was selling two mini vans (a short one like ours and a "Grand" style we're looking for)  and we quickly realized that he'd mixed up information about the two.   The Grand Caravan had too many miles on an old transmission for us to go for. After waiting all that time with the cash in my purse, without even taking it for a test drive, we said "No thanks" and made the trek back home, discouraged and disappointed. 

Isaac was able to go on a spur-of-the moment camp out with Randy and Jared.  It was their Stake Father and Son camp out and they realized on the way to the campground that they'd forgotten their camping chairs.  They swung in to borrow some of ours and we threw Isaac in with them.  I wonder if Randy is reconsidering his need for those chairs!

We've got a little over two weeks until our vacation and I'm getting a bit worried.  Yellowstone had a snow storm this weekend and they're forecasting 18 inches of snow for the Beartooth Mountains, just east of Yellowstone.  We're going to be tenting it!  When Elizabeth heard about the snow she excitedly said, "Can we bring sleds?!"

May 15-21

Mother's Breakfast
Miriam was very excited to bring home a paper announcing a Mother's Breakfast at school.  I felt a bit of trepidation.  After attending the Thanksgiving feast where the parents watched the children feast, I wondered if the Mothers would get to eat this time.  I felt pretty sure of eating once I asked her how many place mats she'd made and she told me two!

waiting for the moms to come

cooking pancakes

Miriam was proud to make me this flower

playing with mom's camera was the hit of the classroom

I'd only brought the small memory card and she filled it up with photos like this

two place mats, score!

Miriam and her best friend at school, Amelia

I received this souvenir art project

Miriam drew me as Super Mom

"My mom's name is Stephanie.  She has light brownish hair and greenish blueish eyes.  She likes to wear dresses.  She likes to eat salad.  My favorite thing to do with my mom is have mom and me days.  My mom is special because she does the Arlington co-op."

Best of Girl's Camp

Anastaya went to a one night "Best of Girl's Camp" Friday night.  She had a lot of fun even though it rained on them.  She was pretty tired when she got home!

7:30 pm

Elizabeth spent her Saturday selling lemonade at a friend's garage sale.  After sitting all day in the drizzle, she came home with $4.12 and a bunch of treasures purchased at other garage sales.  She was happy with her success.  I'm not so sure it was worth the logistics on our end!

Dode had planned to take the kids to the Skagit Speedway in Mount Vernon to watch the car races but as they were walking out the door, he checked and the races had been cancelled due to rain.  It ended up being a good thing because they would have gotten home very late and both Anastaya and Isaac were exhausted from the activities they went to Friday night.

May 8-14

Mother's Day
Well, I got through it!  (If you haven't seen the interview from the Super Mom post, that's my very intelligent and well thought out answer to my plans for Mother's Day.)  We had a group of 40 over for dinner, both Dode and my moms, our siblings and nieces and nephews were here as well as Maribeth (a family friend) visiting from Arizona and her son and his wife.  We don't mix both sides of our family very often.  The numbers of Dode's relatives outnumbers mine 4 to 1.  We had a great time visiting and feasting on hamburgers, hot dogs and assorted sides.  Since sunny days are few and far between here, even though it was wet and cloudy we have to BBQ when the mood strikes!  If I had my way, we'd be eating "girl" food on Mother's Day but past experiences have proved that asking Dode to make me a complicated meal is just asking for frustration for both of us.  I read in the paper that it's been 191 days since we've hit 70 degrees (and that 70 degree day was an anomaly as it happened November 3rd). 

the little ones gathered around Boma's ipad

Miriam decorated the cabinets with hearts, thank you signs and I love you's

Savannah is cruising in style

Snow White dress, roller skates, laser gun

Transmission woes
Monday morning Dode set off for a work conference in Lynnwood driving the company van.  He'd only made it a block when he noticed that the transmission was slipping.  He came back home and switched over to our mini van.  When he pulled into the parking lot at the conference, the van started acting funny and making a bad noise.  We'd lost the transmission!  What are the odds of a person driving two different cars, only one hour apart, and blowing out both transmissions?!  It defies statistical probability.

Now we have the quandary of, "Do we fix this van or do we buy a newer one."  On the plus side of fixing the van is the cost.  We can replace the transmission for about $1,000.    The down sides of fixing the van are many.  The kids are crammed in with hardly any leg room.  The windows aren't tinted and we have no air conditioning (think green house) and there are no vents or windows that open for the 2nd and 3rd row of seating.  After long drives on summer days, red faced sweaty children emerge from the van feeling overheated and sick.  I can never fill it all the way up because the gas tank has a leak.  I have "intermittent blinkers" that work when they feel like it and not when they don't.  On the plus side of retiring the van, we'd get more room, better air movement, and a lower mileage vehicle. 

We're diligently scouring craigslist to see if we can find a newer van in the "Grand" style.  That will give us leg room and vents for the kids.  The difficulty we're finding is that most of the vans in our price range are over 100,000 miles.  The mini van leaders (Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler) have a long history of having transmissions that only last for 100,000 miles between rebuilds.  That means the vans in our price range contain a transmission time bomb waiting to happen.  We don't want to upgrade and end up right where we are, with an out of commission vehicle.  In the mean time, I'm driving the big van everywhere.  Taking a 12 passenger van that gets 14 mpg down to Everett for a doctor appointment by myself feels like a bit of overkill!

Front Page News
I made it on the front page of the Arlington Times.  The kids couldn't wait to tear into the papers when I brought them home Tuesday night and read what the article said. 

Guys and Dolls

When everyone went down to the TV studio to see me interviewed, we were all handed vouchers for 2 free tickets to see Guys and Dolls at the 5th Avenue.  Friday we loaded up the big van and headed off to see the play.  I checked on line and the tickets were $68 a piece.  And we had 12 tickets!

It's an amazingly beautiful theater

We had such a big group that we needed to take the big van which meant parking was challenging.  We were too tall for one of the garages we tried so we ended up parking in a parking lot across the freeway and walking a few blocks.  The play didn't start until 8:00 pm, which got us back home a little after midnight.  The phone call from the produce truck driver at 5:30 am seemed to come way too soon!  Isaac decided he is not a fan of musicals.  The girls thought it was beautiful.  Dode just wanted a more comfortable seat. 

Jacob and his friends Shamois and Liza

Elizabeth and her friend Nicole

after I took this photo they told me no photos inside the theater

the rest of the crowd had left for the van but we'd made a stop at the restroom

Isaac, Nicole Anderson, Arielle Anderson, Elizabeth, me

Tea Party

Saturday the girls went over to Great Grandma Dickson's for a tea party.

They dressed up, loaded up a bunch of my grapevine milk glass pieces and some snacks and set off for the adventure.  After enjoying their treats, Aunt Viv got out her necklace supplies and the girls all made necklaces.  They used big plastic beads.  Miriam found two alphabetic block beads with "M"s on them (one for Miriam, one for Mom) and made me a necklace.  She was adamant I wear it church.  I wasn't sure I could get away with it today since I was teaching the lesson, wasn't the day for wearing Mother's Day finery last week?  I put it on once I got home and proudly wore it to the fireside that night.

Time out for Women

Time out for Women
Friday evening April 29 and Saturday April 30 I was able to spend time with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws as we attended Time out for Women, a conference members of our church organized.  It was nice to spend time with family and hear some inspiring talks about being a woman in today's world. 

me, Janice, Sheri, Jenny, Lisa, Sharon

While I was there, Dode was in charge back at home.  He took the children with him to help a family move into the ward.  Then, they went to a park to celebrate.  That afternoon, Randy and Lisa's kids came over for another play day.  Two weekends in a row, hooray!  We beat up Allison pretty badly.  Jared was trying to teach her how to do a back flip on the trampoline.  Instead of flipping her all the way around, he landed her directly on her head.  Then, she was driving the Trail 90 and lost control of the bike.  She road it straight into a blackberry patch. 

Princess Dress? Check!

Tiara?  Check!

Babies?  Check!

Laser guns? Check!

Jenna said a cute thing.  She was talking to Dode and told him that we are so lucky.  When he asked why, she told him because it's always grey where she lives but it's sunny where we live.  (Both Saturdays that she's been over to play are the only sunny days we've had in months.)

Allison said the only positive thing is maybe her mom would let her skip the nylons at church the next morning!

Allison did an inventory when she got home. 

Left arm= 61 scratches or thorn punctures

Right Arm:  53 scratches

Longest scratch:  9 1/2 inches

She gave up before she started counting the scratches on her legs

Three Month Supply

part of my food storage room

Saturday was our Stake Women's Conference (a meeting at church where the ladies can attend classes on a variety of subjects). I'd been asked to teach a class on getting and organizing your three month supply. I don't consider myself a food storage guru. When I asked, "Why did you think of me?" I was told, "Well, you do the produce co-op, you use coupons, and you have a big food storage room." "Ok," I thought, "But why did you think of me for this class?"   A brief summary for those of you who missed it and might be interested in what I shared.

What is a three month supply?
Your "Three Month Supply" is a storage of groceries drawn from recipes your family eats. It also includes plans for obtaining fresh water and a financial reserve.  As opposed to "Long Term Food Storage" (aka food for the dead in our family) the food in your three month supply is something you are constantly rotating because you're actually using it on a daily basis (it is 3 months of groceries).

Why have a three month supply?
I can think of lots of reasons.  Here are some of them.
1. It saves you money. You can buy what you need in advance when it goes on sale. You avoid going to the grocery store for that one item you need for a recipe and coming out with 1 item you need plus 9 impulse buys.
2. It saves you time. I live next door to a grocery store. Literally! Yet, I can't stand to be ready to make something (or even worse be in the middle of preparing something) only to discover that I'm out of an ingredient.  I don't have time in my busy days for extra trips to the store.  Having a food storage allows me to plan my grocery shopping for when I actually have time for it.
3. (A combination of 1 and 2) When you plan out what you're going to eat ahead of time, you can plan ahead for those busy days when there's not much time for making dinner.  You'll be able to thaw out meat ahead of time and have a plan for quick and easy meals.  You can plan for the days you will be going to a restaurant so instead of nights where you feel like, "I'm too tired to think about dinner, let's go out." you already know what you're making. Then, when you do decide to eat out, it's a treat.
4. It gives you peace of mind. If something happens (job loss, illness, snow storm, just a very busy time) you've got what you need to provide tasty healthy meals to your family.

How to build it
Every family's three month supply will be different because we all eat different things.  The way to come up with yours is to figure out what you're eating and buy enough of those things for three months.  You can do this by writing down everything you make for a month and listing all the ingredients for those meals or by brainstorming meals your family likes and coming up with ingredients for those meals.  Once you have your list, take an inventory of what you already have and figure out what you need to buy.  Come up with a budget of how much you can afford to spend each week/month and slowly start to build up your storage. 

I suggested that families start with breakfasts.  Why?  They're cheap so you can quickly build your three month storage.  There aren't a lot of ingredients involved to think about.  The items don't take a lot of room in your storage (unless you're storing lots of boxes of cold cereal, I don't count that in my three month supply.  Those boxes are "bonus" items).

Once you buy your food, you need a way to organize it so it's usable.  There are commercial can organizers that allow you to always use the oldest can first.  There are also plans on the Internet for building wooden can organizers.  You can go the low tech (and cheap) route, like us, by using regular shelves and having a system for labeling the cans as they come in.  Some people write the date purchased on the cans.  I find I am too lazy to do that.  I use colored stickers like you'd see at a garage sale.  When I grab a can, I look for the oldest colored stickers.

Pink: Jan-March
Yellow: April-June
Orange: July-Sept.
Green: Oct-Dec

I organize my shelves like a grocery store (all canned vegetables together, all baking items together, etc.)  Once a quarter I go through my shelves and take a quick inventory of what I'm running low on.  I also put mis-shelved things in their proper homes because I have a lot of helpers when the groceries are being put away and sometimes things get a bit jumbled around.

Tips
One little thing that I found while researching my presentation that has really helped me is to put a rubber band around the last item of each type of thing in your food storage. When you're using things up in your pantry and get to that rubber band, you know that you've GOT to buy more of that item, even if it means paying full price. I've often run out of things and not realized it. (Like I'll buy 5 canisters of salt and one day I'm making cookies and run out of salt and think, "No problem, that is why I bought extras" and then find there's nothing left in the pantry so I'm left stealing from the salt shakers.)

 
We live in earthquake country.  We've not had one for a long time but I've been hearing since I was a child that one is eminent.  In order to keep our home canned food safe on the shelves from a minor earthquake, I use a bungee cord.  I use the bungee cord in front of the jar sections.  The bungee will keep jars from "walking" off the shelf.

Also in this photo are the colored stickers I use to show when an item was purchased and my rubber bands.

It's a good idea to incorporate some of the items you store in your long term food storage into your daily meals.  Know how to use the grains, beans, etc. from your long term storage.  I use "Gamma Lids" to allow easy access to the 5 gallon buckets I use to store the wheat, cereals, barley, and lentils I use frequently.  The gamma lid has a plastic ring you hammer to the top of the bucket and a twist off top that goes into the ring.  It makes getting in and out of the bucket quick and easy.

As you slowly build your three month supply of groceries, you will be amazed at how quickly you'll be able to rely on your own "home grocery store" when making things.  The money you save on groceries and on unnecessary eating out can then be put to better use, like having fun as a family!

Saturday May 7

Airport Appreciation Day 

While I was teaching at Women's Conference (another post), Dode took the kids to the Airport Appreciation Day Saturday morning.  The whole reason to go was to let the kids get a ride in an airplane with the Young Eagles program.  It would have been the first time for Isaac and Anastaya to go up in a plane.  When they got there, they all signed the waivers to get a space in line.  They were number 33 so while they waited for their turn, they did some of the activities that were offered. 

balsa wood gliders

helicopter tour

police car tour

sitting in an aircraft

checking out a fire truck

face painting

When they'd gotten to number 27, the skies opened up with hail, thunder and lightening and the remaining flights were cancelled.  The children were so disappointed!

A visit from the Super Mom Producer

When the producer called on Wednesday to tell me I came in 2nd place, she told me she wanted to come up on Saturday and bring me something.  The mystery of what she'd be bringing kept us all guessing.  Sharon couldn't wait to find out and even called Saturday afternoon before the producer came to see what she'd brought.  She brought up a bouquet from Ballard Blossoms and a gift certificate to a one hour massage.  I've never had a massage before so it'll be a new experience!  It was so nice of her to spend part of her Saturday driving up to our house!  It was a fun week of being an almost super mom.

Dode took me on a date Saturday night.  He'd planned to take me to the Space Needle Restaurant to use a gift certificate he won at the company Christmas party.  We hadn't realized in time that it was the evening before Mother's Day and when he called to make reservations they were filled up.  We ended up going to our favorite Mexican restaurant in town, Paraiso.  Since it was a Saturday night, they had a magician wandering around doing tricks for the patrons.  After dinner, we went to a movie (something that I don't think we've ever done on a date).  We felt very grown up going to see Rio.  The kids were so jealous when we got home!

2nd Place in the Super Mom Contest

Wednesday was the big day to go down to the television studio and be filmed.  Dode had saved his birthday leave for a special day and it ended up being Thursday.  He only gets two weeks of vacation leave plus one extra day for his birthday that he can take when he chooses.  He chose to spend it with me.  The morning started off in typical super mom fashion.  I pulled a loose tooth, instructed a child about proper pimple care, emptied the dishwasher, kept everyone on track, made syrup when we ran out half way through breakfast, and got everyone out the door a few minutes before 8am.  I wonder if the other two finalists had the same kind of fun before they went on air.  At the last minute, Jacob started complaining that he didn't want to go down with us because it was a sunny day and he didn't want to waste it.  I told  him to consider it a Mother's Day gift to me and he reluctantly and with a bad attitude got in the car.

even Super Mom wanna be's have to empty the dishwasher!

We got down to the studio and were brought back to the "Green Room" (the waiting room for guests who will be going on air).  We took up most of the seating in the room.  I kept my fingers crossed that we'd make a semi-decent impression of big families.

waiting in the green room

watching the show, waiting for my turn

outline of the show

Jacob was disappointed to learn that the walls in the green room are beige, not green.  They had us get there 45 minutes before taping which gave the kids plenty of time to get antsy and gave me plenty of time to get nervous.  Dode helped distract them by playing hide-and-go seek with them.  It's a bit of a challenge to hide in a room that contains only couches and a table but they made the best of it.  The TV station had ice water and coffee for refreshments.  Diane was brought back to the Green Room and mentioned how she'd had to sprint to the station because my mom, Greg and she had gotten lost on the way to the station and she was late.  We met with the producer for the super mom segment.  There are different producers for the different segments in the show.  The producer for "my" segment was very nice and had years of experience in television.  She asked if there was anything she could do for us and when I asked if there were any hot chocolate packets, she took Diane and I to the cafeteria and bought the kids all hot chocolate. 

Diane (who nominated me) and my mom

When it was time to begin the show, the older children went out to the studio audience and Dode and I stayed with the little ones in the Green Room.  When it was time for my segment (the hour long show has six segments) Dode and the littles joined the audience and I stood behind the set and got plenty scared.  Employees kept walking by me and re-assuring me that I'd do fine.  I wondered if I looked white as a sheet and terrified.  I tried to take deep breaths, said a fervent prayer that I'd be able to communicate the things in my heart, and tried to avoid an asthma attack that was threatening due to the stress.  Then, in what felt like seconds, I was on and it was time to tell my story.  I wasn't told ahead of time what questions would be asked and when the host asked about our adoption, I found myself tearing up and being unable to speak.  It's funny because I'd been planning on talking about the adoption from the minute I heard about the contest but once it was time, I just lost it.  They asked me about the produce co-op and day camp and then my time was up.  I joined the audience for the rest of the show.

You can see in the video clip that as I'm walking out and as I sit down you'll see me look to the right.  I'm looking at Dode.  Diane thought it was so romantic how my eyes "laser beamed" to him for a quick check-in before I took a deep breath and began.

The kids were excited because everyone in the audience was given tickets to see Guys and Dolls at the 5th Avenue and rare earth Mud Masks (won't that be useful for Miriam and William!)  Elizabeth asked why a person can't just use their own mud from home.  

picking up our mud masks after the show

sampling the salad they made on the show

my support team

the host, Margret Larson and me

Then, after lots of hugging, we left the TV station and headed down to the aquarium.  When Diane heard where we were going she got all sentimental and said, "You're going to the aquarium, that just shows you're a super mom!" 

I'd had the sore on my back lanced, drained, and stitched up the day before and it was right where everyone was hugging and patting after the show.  Murphy's Law strikes again. 

We sat at the big "Window on Washington Water" exhibit and ate our sack lunches.  I'd told Miriam we were going to go on a picnic but apparently that didn't count because later she asked me when we were going to do that picnic!  It always impresses me how much money each of the big tanks must have cost, and how quickly the kids can check them out and keep going.  As always, the jellyfish tank was my favorite.

it was a beautiful day outside

Once we got home, we had time to straighten up the house before the reporter for the Arlington Times showed up.  He'd heard about the contest and wanted to interview our family.  He talked with the kids and I, ended up sharing dinner with us, took some "action" shots (me doing the dishes, pretending to vacuum, eating with the family),  and got a feel for our family.  He ended up being here when I got the news that I was 2nd place.  Anastaya handed me the phone and told me it was the station.  The reporter quickly got his camera and trained right on me. Too bad he couldn't get a photo of me getting the winning news.  I felt like I had to put on a good face since it was being recorded.  The kids were all there as well and were quick with hugs and reassurances that they still think I'm a super mom.  My mom forwarded me a very nice email from one of their friends.

"Dear Kathy,

Sharon and I just barely got home by 11:00 this morning and tuned into KING TV to finally see your beautiful daughter. What a wonderful and touching interview Stephanie gave. It was pretty emotional for Sharon and I, and we were just part of the TV audience. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you and Greg. Wow... what a testimony! She may have come in number 2 in the "Super Mom" contest on Channel 5, but she will most certainly be number 1 in all the lives that she touches in her community, church, food program and of course Mom & Dad. But first and foremost are her children, and that goes without saying. They don't see her as a "Super Mom", they see her as a loving, caring, tender and compassionate woman, so easy to love. They just want to put their arms around her and just call her Mom! Wow... God could not have given a more beautiful gift than a mother to His children."

I received many emails that were just as nice.  I'm so glad I was able to get my message across.

So, I didn't win the contest.  Would I  have liked to win?  Of course!  Am I OK with not?  Of course!  Was it worth it?  Of course!  I got to hear from all my children (Jacob included) that they were sure I would win because I was truly a super mom.    I had the opportunity to speak about my family on television and share my feelings about adoption.  Perhaps someone was watching today who will begin to explore the path to adoption and a child who needs a new family will find one because of that exploration.  My words touched Anastaya and made her cry.  She often struggles with feeling like she's somehow second rate because she's adopted.  To hear me affirm my love for her on television (with tears included) meant so much to her.  If for nothing else, it was worth it to let her feel loved and special.

As for Diane, she paid the price for reading my blog!  She was watching New Day Northwest one day and when they mentioned they were having a "Super Mom" contest, she thought immediately of me.  She sent in her nomination and the rest is history!  Not only did I go on the show, but she did as well.  And now she's even been featured in the blog!  Let that be a lesson to all you lurkers out there.