Time ticks by

Did you happen to notice the time line above?? 2 months already??? Time is marching on.... hopefully there will be some referrals going on. Nothing has been happening the last few weeks. No referrals, hopefully they will start to pour in. I did read today that the US shipped nuclear bomb part to Taiwan by mistake last year. OOOOps.

Happy Easter

I can't believe Easter has come and gone. It is still so cold here, it doesn't feel like it should be spring time yet. I love spring and can't wait to get out there in my gardens. Here are a few picts. from our Easter day with our family.

It started with the Easter Basket


My beautiful flowers from the boys


Easter egg hunt



The great dinner

EASTER EGGS

I love to color eggs or should I say watch Coleton color eggs.. Kyle hasn't really wanted to do this with us the last few years. We did get him to color one today though. Coleton was so sweet. He made one egg that said..."I have the best family in the world", another one that said "Kyle rocks" and then he made one decorated for his "little sister". I love this boy!!!!!

I couldn't resist

I just had to buy something pink. I got my service plan the other day from my agency. It has goals that we must complete before referral. One of them is to do the baby's room. I have to say that I am very excited about that, since it puts us into the reality of actually getting a referral within the next year (hopefully by August). Which means that I am allowed to start letting myself think about the room. This little purchase is what I allowed myself because I will need to hang her clothes, and it was pink. Now that I am actually planning the room, I am having like a writer's block, in that now I am not sure what I want to do in there. I have started to search for my "focal point" and even have started to look at many sites on rooms... which led me to many sites on girl clothes. I will let you all know what I have decided on for color in the room, when I know what I have decided.

Check out Kyle's adventure

Well Kyle left this morning for his D.C. adventure. He will be blogging from DC. So if you want to check it out click on the link to the left (Kyle's News Blog) and you will see it.

GOT TO BRAG !!!

Please allow me to brag one more time about my son Kyle. Those that know me, know that I probably don't do this enough. We are very proud of him for many reasons. He was never an ace student, but something inspired him in the eighth grade to want to write. He was always a kid that thrived on public service. He loved the Boy Scouts since he joined at age 7. He loved to get involved in every community event he could. This florished when he started to write for a local newspaper here in the 8th grade. I have to say I thought his first article was his 5 minutes of glory that we all aspire for, but when more and more came and he started to be recognized for his writing on a regular basis we knew this might be something more. Well, he has written dozen of more articles, and has really put himself out there with internships at all sorts of media ventures including interning at 2 radio stations. He is now going to attend his second Washinton trip in a month.. This one is for a special scholarship. It is amazing. He is one of 102 kids across the nation. Please read about this amazing adventure he will take next week.......

Thursday, March 06, 2008

102 high school seniors from across the USA selected for scholarships, Washington journalism conference

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — One hundred two high school students from across the United States who are interested in pursuing a career in journalism and have qualities of “free spirit” have been selected to participate in the annual Al Neuharth Free Spirit Journalism Scholarship and Conference program March 16 – 19.

Two top students each will receive a $50,000 college scholarship. The other 100 students will receive $1,000 scholarships each. The top winners will be announced at a Free Spirit Awards ceremony at the Newseum on Wednesday, March 19.

Fifty U.S. newspapers joined the Freedom Forum in soliciting applications from high school seniors. Applicants were required to provide samples of their journalistic work and write an essay on free spirit. Scholarship winners — one female and one male from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia — were selected through a competitive process.

The scholarship winners will be brought to Washington to receive their awards and participate in a journalism conference where they will tour several media organizations and participate in sessions led by noted broadcast and print journalists and newsmakers. The conference culminates with the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Awards ceremony. At the event, students will have the opportunity to meet the 2008 Free Spirit of the Year, Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines.

“For these 102 students, the Free Spirit motto is a way of life,” said Neuharth. “Dreaming, daring and doing every day, they not only make great strides in their own lives, but great differences in the lives of others.”

The Al Neuharth Free Spirit Awards recognize top high school journalism seniors who are free spirits. It was established by the Freedom Forum to honor Al Neuharth, the founder of the Freedom Forum and USA TODAY. The scholarships and conference program are designed to assist and inspire students who are pursuing journalism careers. The Close Up Foundation assists the Freedom Forum in administering the program.

“We look forward to being in the company of this bright group of future journalists.” said Charles L. Overby, chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute. “Looking at what they’ve already accomplished gives me great confidence in the future of the field.”

The Freedom Forum, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three priorities: the Newseum, the First Amendment and newsroom diversity.

The Freedom Forum is the main funder of the operations of the Newseum, an interactive museum of news in Washington, D.C.; the First Amendment Center; and the Diversity Institute. The First Amendment Center and the Diversity Institute are housed in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. The First Amendment Center also has offices in Washington and the Diversity Institute has offices and programs at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

The Freedom Forum was established in 1991 under the direction of Founder Al Neuharth as successor to a foundation started in 1935 by newspaper publisher Frank E. Gannett. The Freedom Forum is not affiliated with Gannett Co. Its work is supported by income from an endowment of diversified assets.

2008 Free Spirit Journalism Scholarship and Conference Program participants

ALABAMA
Watson McGough, Fairhope High School
Natalie Applegate, Spain Park High School, Hoover

ALASKA
Christopher Frenier, South Anchorage High School
Alexis Krell, Colony High School, Palmer

ARIZONA
Aureli Sinsuat, Mountain Ridge High School, Glendale
Adrianna Amato, Seton Catholic High School, Chandler

ARKANSAS
Quinton Parham, Southside High School, Fort Smith
Alyx VanNess, Bryant High School

CALIFORNIA
Skyler Reidy, San Dieguito Academy, Encinitas
Savannah Lake, Torrey Pines High School, Encinitas

COLORADO
Kelley Robinson, Arapahoe High School, Centennial
Laurelin Kruse, Alamosa High School

CONNECTICUT
Kedzie Teller, South Windsor High School
Julievette Santiago, Waterbury Arts Magnet School

DELAWARE
Sean Ryon, Sanford School, Hockessin
Naomi Parikh, Milford Senior High School

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Anthony Woodland, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School, Washington
Tabitha Wood, Washington International School

FLORIDA
Jaime Manheimer, West Boca Raton High
Kelsey Diaz, West Shore Jr., Sr. High, Melbourne

GEORGIA
Christopher Miller, Clarke Central High School, Athens
Caroline Klibanoff, The Westminster Schools, Atlanta

HAWAII
John Hendrick, Moanalua High School, Honolulu
Natalie King, Moanalua High School, Honolulu

IDAHO
Christopher Cole, Century High School, Pocatello
Elaine Washam, Borah High School, Boise

ILLINOIS
Joseph Lewis, Oakwood High School, Fithian
Sarah Eberspacher, Mattoon High School

INDIANA
Jesse Squires, New Albany High School
Mallory Jones, Zionsville Community High School

IOWA
Timothy Corlett, Davenport Central High School
Torey Robinson, Johnston High School

KANSAS
Garrett Fardon, Shawnee Mission North, Overland Park
Laura Nelson, Shawnee Mission East, Prairie Village

KENTUCKY
Robert Giltner, Trinity High School, Louisville
Kristin Skaggs, Pleasure Ridge Park School, Louisville

LOUISIANA
Matthew Rist, Baton Rouge Magnet High School
Elizabeth Scott, C. E. Byrd High School, Shreveport

MAINE
David Lafortune, Biddeford High School
Julia Butler, Biddeford High School

MARYLAND
Nathaniel Rosen, Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, Rockville
Marion Smallwood, Lansdowne High School, Baltimore

MASSACHUSETTS
Jeffrey Bliss, Hopedale Junior Senior High
Kaitlin Sanders, Newton South High School

MICHIGAN
Patrick Evans, East Grand Rapids High School
Jillian Rodriguez, Royal Oak High School

MINNESOTA
Paula Skaggs, Fillmore Central High School, Harmony
Douglas Fish, Robbinsdale Cooper High School, New Hope

MISSISSIPPI
Taylor McGraw, Oxford High School
Melissa Powell, Oak Grove High School, Hattiesburg

MISSOURI
Alex Johnson, Blue Eye High School
Kelly Moffitt, Clayton High School

MONTANA
Michael Young, Polson High School
Helen Miller, Great Falls High School

NEBRASKA
Nathaniel Ruleaux, Waverly High School
Natalia Ledford, Lincoln High School

NEVADA
Devin Sizemore, Robert McQueen High School, Reno
Lauren Noorda, Shadow Ridge High School, Las Vegas

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Ryan Rivard, Londonderry High School
Kaitlyn Lannan, Londonderry High School

NEW JERSEY
Caroline McLaughlin, Roxbury High School, Succasunna
Jesus Rosario, Barringer High School, Newark

NEW MEXICO
Dmitry Kotlovsky, La Cueva High School, Albuquerque
Kristina Medley, Los Lunas High School

NEW YORK
Kyle Reitan, Miller Place High School
Snigdha Sur, Stuyvesant High School, New York

NORTH CAROLINA
Mark Abadi, East Mecklenburg High School, Charlotte
Sarah Hinson, West Forsyth High School, Clemmons

NORTH DAKOTA
Gregory Larson, Century High School, Bismarck
Jessica Ballou, West Fargo High School

OHIO
Andrew Igdaloff, Gahanna Lincoln High School
Deanna Pan, Lakota East High School, Liberty Township

OKLAHOMA
LaRon Chapman, Putnam City North High School, Oklahoma City
Stephanie Taylor, Union High School, Tulsa

OREGON
Taylor Kanen, Oakland High School
Sarah Allen, Century High School, Hillsboro

PENNSYLVANIA
John Rogers, Chambersburg Area Senior High School
Audrey Snyder, Downingtown High School, East Campus, Exton

RHODE ISLAND
Adam Speakman, Barrington High School
Andrea Kszystyniak, Cumberland High

SOUTH CAROLINA
Victor Jiao, Goose Creek High School
Catharine Sydow, Wando High School, Mount Pleasant

SOUTH DAKOTA
Erik Nyberg, Lincoln High School, Sioux Falls
Jennifer Adams, Madison High School

TENNESSEE
Branden Asemah, Middle College High School, Memphis
Shunitra Ingram, Trezevant High, Memphis

TEXAS
Andrew Rowell, Midlothian High School
Amanda Bankston, Irvin High School, El Paso

UTAH
Steven Godfrey, Weber High School, Pleasant View
Brianna Wilson, Park City High School

VERMONT
Maxx McNall, Bellows Free Academy, Fairfax
Margaret Dodge, Brattleboro Union High School

VIRGINIA
Samuel McCann, West Potomac High School, Alexandria
Sarah Vogel, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria

WASHINGTON
Kyle Gootkin, Bellarmine Preparatory School, Tacoma
Taylor Buck, Peninsula High School, Gig Harbor

WEST VIRGINIA
Tyler Wolfe, Ripley High School
Emily Barksdale, Saint Marys High

WISCONSIN
Justin Stanaszak, Notre Dame Academy, Green Bay
Rachel Zidon, Platteville High School

WYOMING
Jorden Escamilla, Torrington High School
Jayme Fraser, Cody High School

Fun days.

Last weekend was Coleton's cub scout Blue and Gold dinner. The boys always have a good time... it was also his birthday so I included 2 birthday picts in the slide show.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

MARCH MADNESS

March is the month that my youngest son was born... He has brought such happiness to my life. It is also the month that I remember the baby that I lost at 22 weeks. He would have brought happiness to my life too. I remember the intense feeling of loss that I had in those early days of this miscarriage. It was miscarriage 3 for us. We thought that everything was fine. I had an amnio and all came back fine. I felt him kick. I had no signs. I remember the sonogram, the sonographers face, and then the DR. came in. NO TEARS... then the well broke and so did my heart. It took a long time to recover mentally with this miscarriage. Some people didn't say a word... that was hard....some people tried hard to find the right words.... that was hard. We would have named him Caden. I still feel sad with the intensity of those early days.

We continued on and had miscarriage 4 and miscarriage #5. Number 5 was at 20 weeks and just as difficult as # 3. He too was a boy as was all my miscarriages. But it was also the turning point and the beginning of the "pregnancy" for our daughter. It is a great relief to to know that this pregnancy will not end up in miscarriage.. but with a beautiful baby girl... We just can't wait.

What's new on the adoption front??

I just looked at my ticker and we have been on the Taiwan waitlist for over one month now. I will say that the time has definately flown by. I really do not have anything to report on our adoption. There was only one girl referral that I know of for the month of February, and they were on the waitlist Aug 3. We have a little yahoo group that some people using the same agency part take in. So not everyone is on the group, and the agency doesn't give out that information.. We have to just assume there are more people... For those on the yahoo group there is a database that everyone lists their information. We are number 15 waiting for a girl. Let's hope there aren't tooo many more people out there.

We had to compile photopages to send in as part of the documents Taiwan wants. These pages were very specific with how many, and with whom. We complete these and they have been sent. Now we have to finsih an adoption course that we are taking on DVD. I just have to type up the answers to all the questions and mail in. We then get something called a service plan, that has very specific tasks that we must complete before we get a referral, for example to read certain books and summarize, or interview an adult adoptee etc. We havent gotten ours yet so not sure what will be there.

As for China I still keep tabs on what is happening: afterall we still have our paperwork in there. They are only up to January 4, 2006....They only do about 5 days for each month of referrals so that would mean that they won't get through January 2006 until say August. It will be a long time until we see a China baby.


I will try to update whenever anything is new and exciting with Taiwan. I expect to get my monthly news letter any day now.

My baby is turning 8

Happy Birthday to Coleton:

As we celebrate this wonderful child's birthday I can't help think of how much I love him.

I love his blue eyes as they look into my soul.
I love how he will walk up to me and kiss me ...for no reason.
I love the way he tells me how much he loves me.
I love that he loves school.
I love to watch him play football, baseball, soccer,basketball, chess, video games.
I love that the little girls adore him.
I love his laugh.
I love the way he smells.
I love hanging out with him.
I love the person he is becoming.