Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Care Package
We sent our first care package today. It's about a week later than intended but better late than never. Ally's birthday is tomorrow (really though it started a few hours ago because it is tomorrow in China but we'll celebrate her birthday on our 23rd). I'm sure I'll post something but not sure what yet. In the care package today was a letter to Ally, a letter to Ally's foaster family, a photo album of us, a disposable camera, some chocolate snacks, a dress and PJs, and a pink Vermont Teddy Bear in a dress. We hope she gets it first of all and that she gets it soon. Secondly we hope she can begin getting her heart, mind, and soul around us. Big changes coming for this little lady and for us too.
No word on anything out of China, and just wanted to reiterate that this would be pretty early for us to have heard anything. The wait is hard but knowing we that we will complete this journey helps a lot.
Still full bore at the home renovations. Basement is nearly ready for mudding sanding. We have had a longer than expected time planning the basement 3/4 bath, but are now ready to get that finished to the point of mudding and sanding too. Once the mudding is done I'll trim out the areas that need it and also construct two built in units, one for storage and game cabinet and the other is the home entertainment cabinet in the theatre room. When completed, we'll have created a theatre, rec room, storage area, work room and 3/4 bath in the basement. The boiler/mechanical room already existed. We will have added somewhere around 710 sqft of finished space.
the next project is to convert the old rec room above the garage which was roughly 500 sq. into two bedrooms, a hallway, and linen closet. The hard part about that is insulating and drywalling the garage ceiling. Some framing and electrical also but that wont be too bad. Once completed Zack and Beej will move to those rooms and Beej's room will convert to a study/office space and then Ally will get Zacks old room right next to ours. We will redecorate from the jetfighters first though. :)
That's it for today,
Jim
No word on anything out of China, and just wanted to reiterate that this would be pretty early for us to have heard anything. The wait is hard but knowing we that we will complete this journey helps a lot.
Still full bore at the home renovations. Basement is nearly ready for mudding sanding. We have had a longer than expected time planning the basement 3/4 bath, but are now ready to get that finished to the point of mudding and sanding too. Once the mudding is done I'll trim out the areas that need it and also construct two built in units, one for storage and game cabinet and the other is the home entertainment cabinet in the theatre room. When completed, we'll have created a theatre, rec room, storage area, work room and 3/4 bath in the basement. The boiler/mechanical room already existed. We will have added somewhere around 710 sqft of finished space.
the next project is to convert the old rec room above the garage which was roughly 500 sq. into two bedrooms, a hallway, and linen closet. The hard part about that is insulating and drywalling the garage ceiling. Some framing and electrical also but that wont be too bad. Once completed Zack and Beej will move to those rooms and Beej's room will convert to a study/office space and then Ally will get Zacks old room right next to ours. We will redecorate from the jetfighters first though. :)
That's it for today,
Jim
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The latest Info
We are awaiting word of our LOA - Letter of Acceptance. Think of this as the official referral of Ally sent from China to us. We then sign it and send it back. This is a major step and when that happens we could travel as quickly as 5 weeks from then but probably a little longer. LOA though may take as long as another 3 months but could also come any day.
Today though I got the latest info from our phenomenal coordinator at our new agency.
She received this late July but in all the hurry and hard work she did for us she had thought she sent it to us. So the info has been at the agency but just didn't quite get to us at that point. Truly no big deal because we would be very poor now had we known then.......:)
"Updated information on Dang Yi Xi (Ami)
Dated on July 20, 2009
Current height: 93cm, weight: 14kg, head size: 50cm, chest size: 51cm, length of feet: 15cm
Yi Xi has out-going and lively personalities. She is very sweet and likes to talk and please the others. She likes to sing, dance and listen to music. She has strong logic thinking ability and is very clear about relationships between people around her. She is very brave.
She recovered well from her surgery. She only needs to be careful not to bump her head. Her physical condition is generally good. She doesn’t have cold or fever easily.
Her physical development and intellectual development are good."
Love it!!!! Sounds like she is doing great. The assumption is that she does not know she has been matched with us, but they will have to tell her when they get our care package.
For us USA non-metric folks, that's 36 inches tall, 30lbs, 19 inch head, 19.7inch chest, and 6 inch foot. Not buying the head and chest being nearly the same. No biggie though. So the long and short of it is, as of two months ago she is a size 3T. Shoe size looks like toddler size 8 or top end of toddler small. So there you have it, she's no slouch! 3T before she's actually 3!
Well, I think I feel a purchase coming on so it is time for big bad dad to shop!!!
Jim
Today though I got the latest info from our phenomenal coordinator at our new agency.
She received this late July but in all the hurry and hard work she did for us she had thought she sent it to us. So the info has been at the agency but just didn't quite get to us at that point. Truly no big deal because we would be very poor now had we known then.......:)
"Updated information on Dang Yi Xi (Ami)
Dated on July 20, 2009
Current height: 93cm, weight: 14kg, head size: 50cm, chest size: 51cm, length of feet: 15cm
Yi Xi has out-going and lively personalities. She is very sweet and likes to talk and please the others. She likes to sing, dance and listen to music. She has strong logic thinking ability and is very clear about relationships between people around her. She is very brave.
She recovered well from her surgery. She only needs to be careful not to bump her head. Her physical condition is generally good. She doesn’t have cold or fever easily.
Her physical development and intellectual development are good."
Love it!!!! Sounds like she is doing great. The assumption is that she does not know she has been matched with us, but they will have to tell her when they get our care package.
For us USA non-metric folks, that's 36 inches tall, 30lbs, 19 inch head, 19.7inch chest, and 6 inch foot. Not buying the head and chest being nearly the same. No biggie though. So the long and short of it is, as of two months ago she is a size 3T. Shoe size looks like toddler size 8 or top end of toddler small. So there you have it, she's no slouch! 3T before she's actually 3!
Well, I think I feel a purchase coming on so it is time for big bad dad to shop!!!
Jim
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Ally
We are very pleased to announce the referral of our daughter
Aliena (Ally) YiXi Bennink.
She was born on Sept 23, 2006 in the Shanxi province.
We are currently waiting on LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. That could come at anytime and would not be unusual for it to take a few months either. From there is roughly 5 weeks to travel. We hope to travel before the end of the year. Here are some more pictures.
Aliena (Ally) YiXi Bennink.
She was born on Sept 23, 2006 in the Shanxi province.
We are currently waiting on LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. That could come at anytime and would not be unusual for it to take a few months either. From there is roughly 5 weeks to travel. We hope to travel before the end of the year. Here are some more pictures.
Thank you all for your support thru this wait. It’s almost over!
(Oh, for those of you who wondered it's Alley-Ay-Nah.)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Backing up to summer
Well, here are some pictures of some activities we did this summer.
Went to get the Christmas tree at this very picturesque place.
Thats the quick and dirty catch up. Our laptop is due back next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll do better then at keeping this up to date. See Ya!!!!!!
Seany graduated preschool. They did a nice ceremony and he got his diploma:
Zack played coahc pitch baseball:
Seany turned 5:
We worked a lot around the house and yard (no pictures). We also golfed at the local club and the boys did junior golf. Many days were spent at the quarry swimming and catching frogs.
School started again and Seany started Kindergarten:
Seany also dumped the training wheels:
BJ and Zack played fall soccer. A really good program in St. Albans:
We planted 11 trees in the yard after cutting down 3 dead ones. Sean's orchard - Two Honey Crisp apples, one crabapple. Zack's orchard - Two Macintosh apples, one crabapple. BJ's forest - two Burr Oaks, two Atunm Flame Maples. JoJo got a Patten Pear in memory of her dad:
Here is Shasta:
Here are fall colors. I couldn't get the camera to do it justice.
One of BJ's Autumn Flame Maples
BJ turned 7
Did the Halloween Pumpkin thing
Seany designed a missle launching submarine
Went to get the Christmas tree at this very picturesque place.
Thats the quick and dirty catch up. Our laptop is due back next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll do better then at keeping this up to date. See Ya!!!!!!
Finally, a real update, sheeeeesh!!!
So....I left off Friday May 30th. This is going to sound a bit lame, but your gonna have to give me the benefit of the doubt here. The core reason for not posting lately, and its not a good one, is that within about a week of my May 30 post our wireless adapter went out on the laptop. (Please hold while I check on a router bit I'm bidding on over at Ebay, it's witin minutes of ending)........OK, I'm back. 6 minutes to go.....So, we lost our wireless capability and there was no comfortable place to sit at a computer, not even this one. Then, about a month or so later the whole laptop craps out. No display, stuck in a boot up loop, and otherwise useless. Anyone wanna guess about whether it was under warranty? (Back to Ebay, please hold).........3 minutes. I have to bid soon. So I finally did some research on HP after having to look at this stupid laptop dormant in the corner of our bedroom, knowing I still owe $800 bucks on it and (oops, back to ebay)........HAAAAAAA!! Bosch Rail & Stile matching pair router bits normally sell for $105 at Lowes. I just nailed these for $37.86 plus shipping, BooYah! Ive been wathcing the same ones sell for over $55 the last few weeks so I'm extra geeked. Brand spanking new too.....Now back to our regularly scheduled blog......So I still owe buckets of cash on this thing and its out of warranty. So after some online research I find this is a pretty regular thing with these laptops and that depending on my serial number, etc., HP might repair it for free under their "Extra Special Warranty" which is code for, "We put out junk, we know we put out junk, we can't really say we put out junk, but if your computer shows problems with one of these two problems, send it in and we'll fix it for free and pay the shipping" So, I'm now mad at myself for not checking earlier, I'm both mad and happy with HP because, well, they put out junk. On the flip side, well done HP for stnading up almost saying they put out junk and fixing the problem at zero cost to the customer. Yes, I will be writting a letter commending them for this when we get it back because it happens to rarely. So when it does I am going to give them props for it. So, with much added and uneccesary drama, that is why I haven't written much in the blog lately. It just wasn't convenient. And we've been busier than poop.
Is anybody wondering what the router bits are for????? Well I'm glad you asked, I am finally getting to the needed built ins around the house and I am doing it all myself. So I bought a biscuit jointer (cuts little slots in wood for those little wooden football shaped thingys), and I have also just purchased a higher end Bosch router and some router bits. I now need a router table and with the bits purchased this past week and then just tonight, I can make my own raised panel cabinet doors. Super geeked about that. So for my first feat of daring woodworking I have decided to tackle Zacks window seat (which I called a love seat today at work and was abused for hours about building a love seat for my 8 year old) and bookshelf system. The base cabinets have lots of space for toys and things with lift top storage also. So Zack and I have finished the base units and the bookshelves, cabinet doors, painting, and cushion are next. So this router bit set I bought tonight helps me make the perimieter four peices that make up a cabinet door. Two are called rails and two are called stiles. The router bits cut them with not only a decorative edge but also so that they fit together perfectly at the corners. Cool huh? So attached are some pics. The last one I just took while zack was asleep. Hope he didn't mind the flash! It's fun doing these project with the right tools. Oh yeah, hey Terry and Sandy, much of this was done on the radial arm saw. I've put alot of time into getting it tuned up and it is working well. I also found out why it wouldn't go down all the way. It had to do with the wrench that was dropped down into the lifting mechanism...... ;) Seriously! I still can't thank you enough for that gift.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Cub Scout Popcorn
4 and a half months since my last post......Thats just pathetic!
The following takes place in our bedroom which is where our desktop computer sits (After reading this over again I realize that that statement could go down the wrong road all too quickly). It’s fiction, but had I assembled these boys in front of the computer instead of writing this at my work I believe things would have transpired as follows:
(Zack) Hey everyone! My dad has been very lame about writing blogs lately so I thought I would do one with my brothers.
(Sean): Yah! Dads Lame!
(BJ) Hey, he’s not lame, you are Zack!
(Sean) Yah! Zack’s Lame!
(Zack) KNOCK IT OFF you two!!!! Anyway, so there are lots of things that have been going on and my dad will try and write soon to get you all up to date, but until then BJ and I have some popcorn stuff to sell for Cub Scouts. It’s really late and the orders are due tomorrow, but you don’t have to pay until later….
(BJ interupts) No Zack you have to pay now!
(Zack) No you don’t BJ, you can pay later!
(BJ) Now!
(Zack) BJ!!!! Stop screwing this up!!!!! You don’t have to pay until later!!!!
(Dad) Hi everyone, just chiming in to put them back on track. BJ, you can pay now and the scouts would prefer that, but you don’t have to. Zack stop yelling all the time.
(Sean) Told Ya!
(Zack yelling again) Sean you never said anything!
(Sean) Oh. (Sticks tongue out, Zack tries to grab it and gets a piece which sends Sean crying to mom)
(Dad) Go ahead Zack, keep going.
(Zack) Where was I?
(Dad) Popcorn, don’t have to pay now, orders due tomorrow……
(Zack) Oh yah, so BJ is a tiger cub this year and I’m a Bear cub this year and even dad is in the scouts. He’s BJ’s tiger den leader!! Ha Ha!!! He He!! He looks dorky in his uniform. (Sean came back in the room)
(BJ) Yah, he is, he’s my tiger den leader. He doesn’t look dorky.
(Sean) (laughing) Yah, dorky!
(Dad) Yep, it’s true. The dorky part too.
(Zack) So my dad is going to attach some files somehow so that you can look at what to order. BJ and I are going to split what comes in. If you’d like to support the cub scouts by buying popcorn that would be cool. So I guess you can call my dad or something….
(Dad) Yah Zack, they can call my cell phone or email me or home phone. 616-402-4652 or jimbennink@gmail.com 802-782-8364. Is that all you want to say Zack and Beej?
(BJ) What?
(Zack) I think so….
(Dad) Beej why don’t you tell everyone what the money goes for.
(BJ) What?
(Dad) Clearly folks, the focus is lost!!!
(Zack) What is it used for dad?
(Dad) Well it helps the scouts pay for sign up fees to different events and put great trips and exploration things together. It also helps the local packs pay for the badges and awards that are handed out thru the year. It really is the prime source for income.
(Zack) Oh……and pine would derby cars?!
(Dad) Yep, even those.
(Sean) Sweeeeet!
(Dad) (laughing) Yah, it is sweet. Are you gonna be a scout next year too Seany?
(Sean) (Rolls eyes at Dad) Yah dad, duh!
(Dad) You heard it folks 5 years old going on 13!!! OK Guys anything else you want to say?
(BJ) Are people going to buy me Legos?
(Dad) What?! What are you talking about, you are asking people to buy popcorn from you for cub scouts!
(BJ) Oh, I forgot.
(Dad) Is that it guys?
(Zack) Is Drew gonna read this?
(BJ) Yah, is Drew gonna read this?
(Sean) Yah, is Drew Gonna read this?
(Dad) I don’t know if he will but I bet one of his parents will and tell him about it. Why?
(Zack) Can I say hi?
(BJ) Yah, me too.
(Sean) Yah me also.
(Dad) Go ahead….
(All three boys yelling at the computer as if that is going to make it come out in print) hi Drew, hi Drew, hi Annie, yah, hi Annie!
(Dad) What about the twins? Daniel and, and, and, Damn!......Erin! Hah, I remembered this time! (Maybe If I had met them more than twice, but still I just can’t seem to get Erin thru my skull. Crimeny Sakes!! Sorry Dave, sorry Suzanne!)
(The boys again) Oh yeah, hi Daniel, hi Erin, hi Daniel, hi Erin.
(Zack) I remembered Erin’s name!
(BJ) Me too!!
(Sean) Me too!!
(Dad) Yah I knew you guys didn't forget, I’m old!
(The boys run off to play with Shasta our new Husky all focus on this task lost)
The end.
Hey everybody it’s me again, Dad, or Jim or whatever! Yep, we got a husky pup. More on that later…….We really would like to have people order popcorn if you haven’t already supported your local scouts. And if that is your preference no problem. I am really sorry at getting this to you all so late but I didn’t think of putting it on the blog until now.
I am writing another blog after this and hope to have it up in the next day or so. Lots to cover though. I will be attaching two files of the flyer that I scanned so hopefully it will work. If not email me and I’ll email them out to you.
Thanks,
Jim
(Zack) Hey everyone! My dad has been very lame about writing blogs lately so I thought I would do one with my brothers.
(Sean): Yah! Dads Lame!
(BJ) Hey, he’s not lame, you are Zack!
(Sean) Yah! Zack’s Lame!
(Zack) KNOCK IT OFF you two!!!! Anyway, so there are lots of things that have been going on and my dad will try and write soon to get you all up to date, but until then BJ and I have some popcorn stuff to sell for Cub Scouts. It’s really late and the orders are due tomorrow, but you don’t have to pay until later….
(BJ interupts) No Zack you have to pay now!
(Zack) No you don’t BJ, you can pay later!
(BJ) Now!
(Zack) BJ!!!! Stop screwing this up!!!!! You don’t have to pay until later!!!!
(Dad) Hi everyone, just chiming in to put them back on track. BJ, you can pay now and the scouts would prefer that, but you don’t have to. Zack stop yelling all the time.
(Sean) Told Ya!
(Zack yelling again) Sean you never said anything!
(Sean) Oh. (Sticks tongue out, Zack tries to grab it and gets a piece which sends Sean crying to mom)
(Dad) Go ahead Zack, keep going.
(Zack) Where was I?
(Dad) Popcorn, don’t have to pay now, orders due tomorrow……
(Zack) Oh yah, so BJ is a tiger cub this year and I’m a Bear cub this year and even dad is in the scouts. He’s BJ’s tiger den leader!! Ha Ha!!! He He!! He looks dorky in his uniform. (Sean came back in the room)
(BJ) Yah, he is, he’s my tiger den leader. He doesn’t look dorky.
(Sean) (laughing) Yah, dorky!
(Dad) Yep, it’s true. The dorky part too.
(Zack) So my dad is going to attach some files somehow so that you can look at what to order. BJ and I are going to split what comes in. If you’d like to support the cub scouts by buying popcorn that would be cool. So I guess you can call my dad or something….
(Dad) Yah Zack, they can call my cell phone or email me or home phone. 616-402-4652 or jimbennink@gmail.com 802-782-8364. Is that all you want to say Zack and Beej?
(BJ) What?
(Zack) I think so….
(Dad) Beej why don’t you tell everyone what the money goes for.
(BJ) What?
(Dad) Clearly folks, the focus is lost!!!
(Zack) What is it used for dad?
(Dad) Well it helps the scouts pay for sign up fees to different events and put great trips and exploration things together. It also helps the local packs pay for the badges and awards that are handed out thru the year. It really is the prime source for income.
(Zack) Oh……and pine would derby cars?!
(Dad) Yep, even those.
(Sean) Sweeeeet!
(Dad) (laughing) Yah, it is sweet. Are you gonna be a scout next year too Seany?
(Sean) (Rolls eyes at Dad) Yah dad, duh!
(Dad) You heard it folks 5 years old going on 13!!! OK Guys anything else you want to say?
(BJ) Are people going to buy me Legos?
(Dad) What?! What are you talking about, you are asking people to buy popcorn from you for cub scouts!
(BJ) Oh, I forgot.
(Dad) Is that it guys?
(Zack) Is Drew gonna read this?
(BJ) Yah, is Drew gonna read this?
(Sean) Yah, is Drew Gonna read this?
(Dad) I don’t know if he will but I bet one of his parents will and tell him about it. Why?
(Zack) Can I say hi?
(BJ) Yah, me too.
(Sean) Yah me also.
(Dad) Go ahead….
(All three boys yelling at the computer as if that is going to make it come out in print) hi Drew, hi Drew, hi Annie, yah, hi Annie!
(Dad) What about the twins? Daniel and, and, and, Damn!......Erin! Hah, I remembered this time! (Maybe If I had met them more than twice, but still I just can’t seem to get Erin thru my skull. Crimeny Sakes!! Sorry Dave, sorry Suzanne!)
(The boys again) Oh yeah, hi Daniel, hi Erin, hi Daniel, hi Erin.
(Zack) I remembered Erin’s name!
(BJ) Me too!!
(Sean) Me too!!
(Dad) Yah I knew you guys didn't forget, I’m old!
(The boys run off to play with Shasta our new Husky all focus on this task lost)
The end.
Hey everybody it’s me again, Dad, or Jim or whatever! Yep, we got a husky pup. More on that later…….We really would like to have people order popcorn if you haven’t already supported your local scouts. And if that is your preference no problem. I am really sorry at getting this to you all so late but I didn’t think of putting it on the blog until now.
I am writing another blog after this and hope to have it up in the next day or so. Lots to cover though. I will be attaching two files of the flyer that I scanned so hopefully it will work. If not email me and I’ll email them out to you.
Thanks,
Jim
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