State Champs!

Last weekend my tennis team went to the USTA state tennis tournament.  There were a total of ten teams in our league representing cities from all over the state and after a weekend of play our team made it to the finals.  I re-injured my ankle on the first day of play and didn't think that I was going to be able to play the rest of the weekend.  I spent a lot of time scoping out the other teams and helping with strategy.  I made the call on Sunday that I was okay to play and our incredible coach had faith in me and put me in at first court singles.  I played my heart out and won 6-3, 6-3!  It was a great feeling to be able to contribute in the end to a hard-fouhgt victory.  Two of our team members had to leave on Saturday (including our captain), but here we are right after the win:

Because we won state, we now move on to Regionals.  We represent Alabama and play the other winners from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.  It is at the end of July.  I am not sure if I am going to be able to join them because of our adoption, but I will definitely be there in spirit if I can't be there in person!

Oh yeah, and we each got a glass trophy and bag tag for the win.  The kids loved the fact that I got a trophy and thought it was so funny that it was so small.  It is kinda dorky, but I have it on my desk at home in the kitchen.  It makes me smile just to look at it.  And as far as the bag tag, those are COVETED in the tennis world!

Anxious

Not that this should come as news to anyone who actually reads my random thoughts on here, but I am getting anxious.  Really anxious.  The end of June is right around the corner and I want the referral of our baby girl so badly it hurts.  I am trying to keep myself occupied (which isn't that hard considering I have a ton of stuff going on at work, a house under construction, kids out of school, and my tennis team is going to the state tournament this weekend), but even with all of that, the adoption occupies the vast majority of my thoughts.  I was so disappointed/hurt/angry about the last time we were expecting a referral and it didn't work out, and I just don't want that to happen again.  I don't know if my psyche could handle it right now. 

And we have been waiting SO LONG.  I mean, to put it in perspective for you, we started this process on January 15, 2011.  And our homestudy/dossier was sent to Russia on July 7, 2011, almost one year ago.  We were registered in Vladivostok in late August 2011 and were told six months until a referral.  It has been 10. 

I know that God has a plan, and I am trying to find comfort in it, but right now it is getting the best of me.  Please say a quick prayer . . . for me.  That I will lean on the Lord and not on my own strength as it is failing me right now.  I have these moments where all I want to do is hole up in my room and weep.  And it is not because I am feeling sorry for myself.  I know that I am so blessed - all I have to do is look at my wonderful husband, three amazing kids and the rest of my family and friends.  I just know that someone is missing and she is sitting (crawling? walking?) in an orphanage in Vladivostok, Russia and I want to bring her home.

Soft spot

I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I've got a soft spot for musicals.  So last night the Tony Awards was on my list and it did not disappoint.  I know that I have at least a couple of friends of the musical out there - come on Shay, I'm talking about you, as well as some others.  Here is a recap of some of my favorite performances . .  Sit back, relax and enjoy (or don't and miss out on some good stuff!)

The opening song from Neil Patrick Harris was priceless. He should host the Oscars.

These were up for Best Musical:

Newsies (an old Disney classic) is just 100% classic Broadway. The dancing is amazing in this.
I've gotta see it!

Leap of Faith - you know that anything with gospel singers is gonna be good.


Nice Work if You Can Get It - with Matthew Broderick.  It would be awesome to see him on Broadway.


And finally, Once. I'll go ahead and let you know that it won. The guy singing also won best actor in a leading role in a musical which was huge for him. I love this movie and the music from it - such a good love story. I don't think that they played the best song last night, but who am I to judge?  There are definitely some amazing musicians in this show.
 

Oh yeah, and Annie is coming back to Broadway in October.  I'm gonna have to think of a way to get Ann Park up there to see that one.  We'll be practicing batting her eyelids at daddy . . . better yet, at Papa!!

Celebration of Sam, the Three Year Old

Two Wednesdays ago, we finished the day by celebrating our wild, crazy, and sometimes terrible resident three year old.  Sam requested a bouncy house and a Buzz Lightyear theme.  He got both.  But mama wised up and only invited six other little boys.  Along with siblings, there were about 10-12 kids total and somehow I avoided having my house wrecked.  We also kept the bog kids and little kids separate in the bouncy house which was really great.  The little ones had the best time bouncing and things got really fun (or funny however you look at it) when Papa joined in the fun.  It was a blast, and I drank a well-deserved glass of wine, or three, after it was over.

yellow cupcakes with white icing (a very specific request from a three year old!)

Cher Cher getting a little loving before our friends got there

Ward and Ladd Bailey having fun

Ward helping Sam blow out his 3 candles!

Paul Vincent left a little icing for later!

the bad big boys!

Papa joined in the fun!

Sam tackling Papa!

So much fun!

a picture of mama (to prove I was there!)

So annoying

So I just realized that not only is MobileMe going away, which is how I shared all my photos, but Kodak Gallery is now becoming Shutterfly.  I switched to Kodak because I could not stand Shutterfly.  And I was hoping that iCloud would hold photos, but it does not.  Guess that means that I will be getting an external hard drive to back-up all my photos.  How do you back-up all your photos on your computer?  I would die if I lost them.  I have uploaded some to Koadk (soon to be Shutterfly), but not that many (probably less than 1/4) because it is such a pain to do - well, not realy a pain, but it just takes so long and it usually messes up/times out, etc. at least once in the process.

I have now decided to try Flickr since it is linked to iPhoto.  I will see how I like it. At least you can order photos through Flickr.  Hopefully you don't have to download them to another website.  Right off the bat it does not seem to be that user-friendly, but maybe I just need to get used to it.  My name is "tedholtfamily" if you are ever looking for me.  I think that you have to have an account to view my photos and I am keeping them open only to friends and family so make sure that you find me and I'll add you as a friend.  Mom, I am sure that you are not understanding any of this.  Have dad set you up, or I will come over and show you how it works.  Jeanne is trying it to - for many of the same reasons.  We shall see.

Whirlwind

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind.  We had Ann Park's graduation from kindergarten, Sam's third birthday party and then we headed to Palmetto Bluff, SC for the 5th annual Upchurch vacation.  It all was a blast.  I'll start with the kindergarten graduation.

The kids sang a couple of their favorite songs, including "AlphaMotion" which is one of Ann Park's favorite.  They learn all the sounds that the letters make through the song.  It is precious.  The pictures didn't turn out great, but she was having a fantastic time!

She was so happy when she got her diploma.  I checked Ward out of class to see her and I actually got a cute picture of the two of them - a rarity these days!

I was in charge of the reception afterward and we really sugared them up!  The kids had a great time eating cake, cookies, and brownies, along with a few healthy items as well.  It was a nice celebration to end a great year.  I still can't believe that my precious little girl will be in first grade in a few short months.  This year really went by quickly.

That afternoon was Sam's third birthday party at our house.  Like I said, it was a crazy day.  But that is for another post.