Holly has "Simpsonized" our family....

OK... I am not a fan of the Simpsons but a lot of people must be as it has been around for so many years! Holly found a site where she could turn our pictures into Simpson characters... so, here is our family if we were related to Bart and Homer! Can you tell who each one is? From the top.... Lilli, Abby, then comes Dad and Holly ~ next row Joey and Mom and last but not least Daniel!

Great job Holly ~ this is hillarious!

How do you connect with a daughter that is on the other side of the world?

Well the answer is becoming clear to me now: You fill up her closet and her toy box! ... and you buy some matching items for her big sister Abby too!!!

My daughter is on the other side of the world waiting for me and I can't hold her or rock her or give her a bath or sing to her or tuck her in at night. What I can do is pray for her to be safe and well taken care of until I can scoop her up... and I can fill up her closet and toy box with pretty things! I sneak into Abby's room ~ which she will share with Lilli very soon ~ and take out all the clothes and toys and sippie cups and blankets and sit in the middle of them and in a way, I am with my little girl! Then I fold them all up and reorganize them in the closet... so I can fit more!

I am so ready!

Flashback Friday.... It is Friday in Australia!!!

Pictures from 18 years ago....

I love Jane Austen and found this... just for fun...

:: E M M A ::
You are Emma Woodhouse of Emma! You like being the queen of your social circle (small and provincial as it may be), and feel it's your duty to help those less influential than you. You often meddle in the affairs of others, though you do it with a pure heart. You are often deluded in your flights of fancy, but your good intentions and creative spirit make you someone anyone could like. Take the Quiz here!

Sick Baby and Lost Paperwork...

Abby has been quite sick this week! I had to pick her up from Ms. Lynn's house on Tuesday around 3 because she lost her first battle with daycare "itis"! Now, she stayed tough... she was the last one to succumb... but succumb she did! We have been fighting the high fever for three days now ... but I think we won today! She has not had a fever for 6 hours! YEAH!!!

Now, as there are only 4 little ones that go to "Ms. Lynn's School", we have been lucky to avoid all day care type illnesses! YEAH!! Unfortunately, the last few weeks were school break and Ms. Lynn had a few extra kids... and wham! ~ they not only brought the virus... they brought LICE too! We never saw any, but treated Abby (she screamed the whole time) for good measure!

Hopefully we will be fully recovered and ready for the triumphant return to school on Monday... and that means back to work for mommy!!!

Now for the rest of the gang... they are all back into the swing of school and activities after the 3 week mid-winter break. Joey pretty much has basketball before and after school everyday exept Friday... and Holly's High School Musical practice now runs until 10pm! Can someone say time for summer? Does everyone back home realize that because Australia is under the equator, our seasons are reversed? It is the end of July here which means the middle of winter... our summer is December, January, and February... and we are ready!

We did get a new photo of Lilli ~ thanks to Sandy!!! She is wearing one of my favorite little outfits that Abby wore ~ when she was a bit younger! I love the color lavendar on Abby and it looks like it is a great color for Lilli also! We had a little hiccup with one piece of our paperwork ~ but we are now back on track and it only seemed to have cost us a week or two! Too long when I am so wanting to hold my daughter... but as long as we are still moving forward... that is all that matters! We will be there soon! I told the kids tonight that if our trip to get Lilli falls during their school break, we might just have to add a couple days in Hong Kong after we get Lilli to visit Disney!!! They say that it is the most modern Disney there is... and who knows when we would get back to Florida! We must introduce our Lilli to Mickey and Minney as soon as possible!!!

That is all for today.... I am sure there will be more tomorrow! :) There always is!

My $2000 dollar cup of coffee and we are so boring sometimes...

What cup of coffee costs so much you ask? 100% Kona... no ~ Special coffee from Indonesia that involves a musong... no... it is the freshly brewed hot cup that I made last night and spilled on Joe's laptop keyboard! Now ~ I wanted a new laptop... but this was not my idea of how to achieve that goal faster... I promise!!! Last night, it would not even turn on. Today, it turns on, but the key pad will not work! Tomorrow ... just keep your fingers crossed!!! But... I did find a nice new Dell with a very reasonable price tag... we will see!

As for boring... Joe and I were going on a date tonight, to see a movie. We got to the mall a bit early so we had to walk around. I looked back over my shoulder at Target and Joe was leaning on a shelf sound asleep! Jet Lag! So, instead of a movie, we ran into the grocery, picked up a couple things, and headed home. Oh... how exciting!!!

The Boys Return...

The boys returned from the US yesterday. They had flown home to attend Joe's dad's funeral. Although not under the greatest of circumstances, the boys enjoyed getting to see Joe's huge family... all the aunts and uncles and cousins! They especially enjoyed spending time with Grandma Judge. Joey learned the infamous biscuit recipe from Grandma Judge and we have been treated to them twice since he returned home. He is now Abby's "Best cooker" ~ an honor that is usually saved for Holly and her homemade pancakes.

I think Joey grew a few inches in the 2 weeks that they were gone... Holly sure is glad they are all back as to have some siblings to share the "chore load" with.

Back to school in just a few short days!

As for Lilli's adoption, as soon as Joe landed yesterday, I had an apointment at the Embassy with the JAG officer to get our final paper notarized and express mailed to our agency in the US. Our paperwork or "Dossier" should be on its way to China within a very short time. It still looks like we will travel in November time frame!

The Little One Waiting for us in Xian...

We are happy to introduce the newest member of our family... Lilli An HuiYuan. Lilli will be 3 in September and is waiting for us in Xian, China. We have been working so hard on all the paperwork necessary to bring her home as quickly as possible... we are hoping to have her home by Thanksgiving! We will have so much to be thankful for!!!

You can follow our journey to Lilli An by visiting our adoption blog http://www.tolovelilli.com/ the password is lillian

Please keep Lilli in your thoughts and prayers!

The BIGGEST of us all.... no, not dad...

... but Joseph Dominic IV! At age 15, Joey has passed us all... by at least 4 inches! Now, I am a tall girl... 6 feet tall... and I have to look up to my 15 year old son... way up!

I bet you already know his favorite past time... yes, he is all about the basketball also! Playing and watching... his favorite team in the New Orleans Hornets... and he likes a player by the name of CP3 or Chris Paul! Joey has taught his little sister the names of players and what team they play for, but of course her favorite is Chris Paul also!

Joey is about to go on an adventure to America and Canada playing basketball for his school. He will depart Australia and spend about 20 days traveling the West Coast and Canada! He will spend his 16th birthday at Universal Studios in Los Angeles... how is that for a school field trip!

Joey is also an excellent student ... and places a great deal of importance on his studies... for his own self satisfaction! Does it get any better for a parent than that?

He also enjoys XBox and Computers... but most of all is counting down the days until her can get his "Ls" as they called in Australia... L Plate or Learner's permit to DRIVE!!!! Yikes! I am not anywhere close to the age of a parent that is about to have a child that drives.... wait... yes, I am!!! In Australia, at 15 years and 9 months a person can start the process of learning to drive... without mom in the car no doubt! Joey will start a little later... and start with a driving school! He does have a car picked out in the States for when we return... I will attach a picture to this blog... but the only problem is... when we were at home for this past Christmas, we tried to take a test drive and Joey could not fit in the car!!! And... that was 4 inches ago! It was so funny! Now he thinks that maybe a Mustang will do!

Joey will finish 10th grade in December but really only things as far out as his trip to the US to play basketball. I am trying to bribe him with a car and really good home cooking if he spends a year or so with Nanny and Papa and attends a smaller college in Louisiana before heading out into the HUGE world that he has been sheltered from!

He is also an amazing person... Joe and I have watched with warm hearts as he developed a very special bond with his baby sister! He is amazing with her... and will be an excelent father one day.... in the way far away future! Way away!!!

My future Jeff Gordon...

Next we have Daniel Jeffrey... he is my crazy little man that keeps me on my toes! He will race cars and drive the girls wild one day!

He is an amazing athlete that is all about Basketball! He can handle the basketball ball like you have never seen... he is so fast!!! I love to watch him play... but as we have had a few too many basketball injuries lately in our house... I watch while holding my breath... not an easy task!

Daniel is a great student and is at the top of his 6th grade class! He is polite and well mannered and always HELPFUL!!! I have raised a true gentleman!

He loves to play a game on the computer called Runscape... mainly because he talks to his best friend in Jakarta while doing so... hi Jonathan!!! He also spends a lot of time watching "Hannah Montanna" on the Disney Channel... I wonder why? :)

His other passion is fishing... he got this one honest... straight from his Papa! Joe has been sourcing places to take him fishing in Australia and they will hopefully have a fishing trip very soon! I just hope it is a catch and release place because if you know me... you know I don't like FISH!!!

Daniel is a ball of energy and keeps us smiling! His little sister is especially smitten with her "neeniel bear"!!!

Next is our DRAMA QUEEN.....

Holly Annalise is 14 ~ but inside is an old soul! She is an amazing girl that can do anything that she sets out to do! Her passion at the moment (I say at the moment because everyone knows how teenage girls are) is Drama! She was very brave a few months back to get up on a stage in the middle of the biggest Mall in the city and sing (by herself) as part of an audition for the Australian Disney production of High School Musical! I would run home with my tail between my legs, but when given this as an option, Holly still choose to SING!!! And after a dance audition the following week, we received the news that she had been choosen as a cast member!

The production company expects to sell nearly 25,000 tickets to 32 shows in October! Holly has been at rehersals and media calls etc etc a lot lately! She is really having a great time.

Other news about Holly is that she has found her "group"! She is an extremely social creature, like her father, and has spread her wings lately! Instead of taking me up on an offer of taking a friend or two to Syndey for the weekend, she told me she had too many friends and would rather have a bowling party instead so she did not have to leave anyone out! Only problem with a large group of friends .... is the mobile phone/ cell phone/ handphone (different every place we have lived) bill! :)

She is also a great student that enjoys school! She has her entire future planned out that currently includes University studies a Pepperdine... I can't even spell it.... she has already researched it and is ready to fly from my nest!!! Times flies way too fast for this mom!

I will introduce the kids ~ one at a time...

I will start with Abigail Noelle Aziz ~ our little one from "The Ring of Fire" as she will tell you. Abby is 3 and has a pretty serious princess complex! She pretty much rules our home... but that is just fine with us!



She has just started school, as mommy went to work to help cover the costs of Lilli's adoption. Although it took her a few weeks to aclimate, she is now a star student who bounds out of bed ready for her day full of excitement with her school mates ~ Jakie, Zanda, and Abby 5 !

Abby's favorites include:

Mommy Rebel

Soft Soft

Playhouse Disney

Waffles

Everyday we are so thankful for the blessing of this beautiful and special little girl!

This is a bit harder to figure out than my Lilli site...

Forgive me while I play around and try to figure out how to "blog"... I am hoping to figure it all out in the next couple months in case our baby jelly beans site is not working, I can post from China here also for family and friends to see!

Let me try to add a picture from my computer now: There it is ... so I fugured that one out!

So for a real update:

Joe and the boys have been in the US for over a week now for Joe's father's funeral. I am so happy that they boys went with their dad and got to spend this time with him and his family. The girls and I stayed behind because of my work. At this time, I don't think I made the right decision... we should have all gone to the states.

Ok.. must run, the cupcakes have cooled down and are ready for icing! Cheers!

Since I am on the computer all the time now...

I have been on the computer way too much lately... but for a very good reason! Working very hard to bring Lilli home as quickly as possible!

I also understand why my kids enjoy working on their myspace so much... I have a great time adding things to our blog for Lilli ~ www.tolovelilli.com !

So, I decided to make a blog for the entire family... there are seven of us... all very busy with a lot of things to share with everyone!

I will let each of the kids over the next week or so write about themselves and what they are doing ~ what they like and don't like etc!

For now, here are the Judges in a few photos: