White Boy Can't Jump

Artem received his Christmas gift last week from his Aunt and Uncle and it's just in time for the nice weather we are having in Central Texas. Unfortunately nice weather isn't enough to help this white boy play basketball.


He starts out looking good...


Nice form...



But then something goes wrong...



So he gives it another try...



Definitely has the look of determination on his face...



But unfortunately good looks and new basketball shorts just aren't enough.



Never one to give up, our little athlete readies himself again...



Wait a minute...we've got air...this might be the money shot!!!

Drats, it was looking so good too.

But then he pulls out a new technique...overhand...unconventional in basketball but it could work...

And this one might just go ALL...THE...WAY...

Into the net!!

Eat your heart out Larry Byrd...

Because that one was going downtown!!

We Are The Truth...Adoption Blogger Day

Today is Adoption Blogger Day and bloggers around the world have been encouraged to highlight the good that is adoption, rather than the negative news adoption is receiving in light of one TN woman's poor choice last week.

Hop on over to our Adoption Journey blog and read for yourself...A.D.O.P.T.I.O.N

A Boy and His Dog

Artem and Bella are best friends. Wait, let me get this right from the beginning...Bella is Artem's best friend. Bella being the obedient, mellow Labrador puts up with Artem and his friendship. It's been this way from the beginning, Artem loving Bella, and Bella "dealing" with Artem's love.

Even if that love sometimes get a little tighter than Bella would prefer it to be, she accepts it and is always there for Artem.

Even if that love sometimes comes at the uh, ahem, wrong times. Bella takes it all, the good, the bad, and the naked.

Artem has loved playing with cars since he first came home from Russia, that's nothing new, but unfortunately for Bella, his newest obsession is playing cars under Bella's feet while she's trying to take a nap.

To Artem's defense, he's very gentle when he plays cars under Bella's feet.

And even though he's gentle, I'm sure it is annoying as heck to be Bella and trying to get in an afternoon nap with a three year old shoving cars under your feet.

I know pretty girl, I know.

Artem is pleased as punch with his success. Bella on the other hand appears to be plotting ways to have the boy shipped off to boarding school.

As if it could get any worse, Artem has now moved locations and has selected Bella's behind as the best place in the entire house to play with his cars.

He loves you Bella, he truly loves you.

But every dog has her limit. "Run Bella, run like the wind!" Or in this case, tip toe quietly away, he'll never catch you. She might be good with kids but sometimes I wonder about her.

This is Artem's attempt to get her back, "Stay, stay!"

"Down Belwa, down!"

And so the cycle starts again.

I told you to run Bella, but you didn't listen.

"Someone make it stop! I'm in my happy place, I'm in my happy place!"

Oh Bella, bless your gentle, loving soul. Tonight after the boy goes to bed, I'll let you sit in the recliner with me and I'll feed you carrots while we watch Animal Planet. It's the least I can do for the way you love my boy.

Girls vs Boys

I love being a mom to a boy, the rough housing, wrestling, jumping off the top of the slide, I love it all. It's no secret that I'm hoping the next child we adopt from Russia will be a boy but yesterday I got a glimpse of life with a girl.


I babysat for a friend of mine. She has a 21 month old daughter who is so sweet, petite, and girly. We played together while Artem napped and it was a little strange to see her play gently with the toys. Nothing crashed, nothing exploded, and no Fisher Price Little People fell to their death from the top of the office desk.


The two of us played house together and it was endearing to watch her play with the Little People and make Mommy give the baby her bottle. She had Mommy kiss the baby before she put everyone to bed; it was very sweet.



But wait one steamy, hot minute here...that dainty, gentle, sweet little girl is putting Mommy to bed with the Bus Driver!!



Someone needs to tell Daddy to stop shootin' the breeze with the Pirates and warn him about the shocking little tryst going on upstairs!!




Oh dear! Give me a car crash, a bus full of stuffed animals exploding, a trash truck driving over Kermit the Frog...but not this...this kind of scandal I cannot handle!

Good Clean Fun

I'm always looking for ways to get Artem outside to have some fun in the beautiful Spring weather we are treated to in Central Texas and I love to let him paint outdoors. But lately our home has to be in tip-top condition at all times and I don't want a mess on our driveway. I remembered an activity I used to do with my students where we "painted" with water so I took Artem outside to give it a whirl with him.

"Painting" with water was a huge hit with Artem. We made all our shapes, practiced our letters, drew Bella, Daddy's truck, ants. We traced our hands and feet, wrote our names, anything we could think to create. And the best part of it all...it disappeared in a minute and there was no mess to clean up.

Try it! All you need is a paintbrush and water; it couldn't be simpler!

Conversations With A Three Year Old

*I'm helping Artem get dressed, he's standing on his stool in front of his sink looking into the mirror*

Artem: "Mama, what are these?"

Me: "Those are your nipples."

Artem: "Can I touch 'em?"

Me: "Yes."

Artem: "Only when I'm in private?"

Me: "That would be the preferred time."

Artem: "You have nipples mama?"

Me: "Yes."

Artem: "Can I touch 'em?"

Me: "No"

Artem: "Bella have nipples?"

Me: "Yes, she has 8."

Artem: "Can I take my nipples to Miss Allison's party?" (we were on our way to a Pampered Chef party)

Me: "You can take your nipples with you every where you go."

Artem: "I lub (love) my nipples mama!"


I love three years old, the stuff that boy comes up with keeps me laughing!

Just Like Mama

Artem has a toy camera that he uses to take "pictures". After watching him take a few pictures today with his toy, I asked him if he would like to use my camera to take pictures. You would have thought I just gave him a million dollars, but then a million dollars means nothing to a three year old, but use mama's camera...that's the jackpot!

I let him use my D40 since it's light weight and smaller and in all honesty, I wasn't ready to let the boy run around the house with my D90 and heavy 30mm prime lens. I love him but I've got to draw the line somewhere!

I showed him how to look through the lens finder, support the camera with his hands, listen for the lens to focus, and press down on the shutter button. He caught on really quick!

Checking his work...

Going in for the shot...

Artem knew exactly what he wanted to photograph. He didn't take random pictures, he walked through the house and told me everything he wanted to shoot.

Artem's gallery of work:

Some of my personal children's books (I have over 700):

Artem's beloved trash truck:

I think this one is my favorite!