oliver-a-saurus

A rare dinosaur native to Russia, but thriving here in Kansas.



showing his teeth



that's a bear head in his grips (from another costume)




cook it, and eat



Kelly, thanks for the giant box of clothes. Oliver found the costumes that evening, but it was 90 so we left them in the box and investigated them this morning.

a lot, but not everything

I write to process. Type it, delete it, type it again, until my thoughts are straight. There is this group at our church, maybe not a group maybe it's a Sunday school class. Anyway, they post questions on facebook, people respond, and there is a discussion on Sundays at church.

This evening I received a question that was about how much one shares on the internet. The response section was very small so I could only type "I share a lot, but not everything"

I started our blog because I poured over so many blogs when we were thinking of adopting and it just seems like that's what you "do" when you adopt. Plus I liked having a place to send people to see what we were doing and to answer all their questions about the process. (you know all those inquisitive family members and friends)

It has turned into so much more. We just went to a birthday party for a little girl adopted from Kazakhstan and now living here in Kansas, I wouldn't know her if I didn't share. People in Kemerovo adopting sent me an email asking how to get the internet to work at the hotel, it makes me so happy to help. I know who to ask if we have problems with Oliver's speech, behavior, eating habits, and just about anything else, because other people share.

The internet can be a big scary place, but it can also be the best way to find the people out there that are riding in the same boat as you, even if their boat is different state.

zoo

ready to go

not a fan of the carousel, we rode twice and the second time we sat on the boring bench that doesn't go up and down

touching deer nose

loving the sheep

taking a ride on the zoo train


Thanks for Grammie and Grandpa for the Red Sox shirt and overalls. Thanks to our friends John and Sue for the Red Sox sweatshirt. Go Sox!

not so nappy

Eventually the time comes when you know you need to wake the babe from the nap or bedtime will be challenging. For Oliver it's between 3:30-4:00. It has been quiet on his monitor, so I assume he as been sleeping(don't remind me about assuming things). I head up do get him and OH MY STARS! That is not sleeping...

He is standing at his bookshelf looking through books with his diaper off. I look down. Wow, that's a lot of poop. Maybe I wasn't listening closely enough to the monitor, but usually when he falls asleep he stays asleep.

Now I'll give Oliver some credit, he did make a few good choices. I do often say "no poop in the diaper, lets poop on the potty" There was no poop in the diaper and all of the floor poop was very close to the potty, you know until he walked through it.

Cookies!!!

Scroll down for the updated menu! New items are marked with a *

This little cookie club started to help us raise money for our adoption. Our adoption is finished and everything has been paid in full, but I don't want to be done. I love to bake and I've received very positive feedback from my current subscribers, so let the cookies continue...

What you have to do
Choose your subscription
Decide what you want (1 choice each month) and when you want service to start.
Send me an email at trisha.tylick@gmail.com
Upon receiving your check I'll get started on your order.

*gift cards are also available and can be mailed directly to the person of your choice

The menu
Chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate chip cookies with pecans
Double chocolate chip cookies

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Cowboy cookie (oatmeal chocolate chip with coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans) this has been, by far, the most requested item!
Oatmeal butterscotch

Peanut butter cookies
*Coconut-Pecan shortbread cookies (think pecan sandies)
*lemon sugar snaps

Brownies –Chewy and Chocolaty
Regular
Mint
Double chocolate
Turtle (pecans and caramel)
The Blondie -not so chocolaty

Bars
*Shortbread bars
Chocolate shortbread bars

Bread/Cake
*Marble Cake with White Chocolate Glaze (baked in a loaf pan)
*Banana Bread (walnuts, chocolate chips, coconut) I'll gladly omit any of the stuff you don't want but trust me it's amazing.
*Cherry Cake-a not too sweet white cake studded with dark sweet cherries and dusted with powdered sugar (a thin cake cut into triangles)

Everything is made with really real ingredients like butter, sugar, chocolate, nuts, homemade caramel, etc. No margarine. Everything will be made and shipped on the same day to ensure the best possible freshness.

Subscriptions
3 month $60
6 month $120
9 month $180
12 month $220
All subscriptions include 3 dozen cookies or 16-20 brownies/bars, packaging, and shipping. The profits will be put into our son's bank account (how much will college cost in 16 years?) or to help support other family's adoptions.

If you are a past or current subscriber, leave a comment about your experience. The delicious, the crummy, your favorite, your least favorite, and whatever else you can come up with!

day nineteen, day twenty, day twenty one, day twenty two, day twenty three

I'm getting distracted. When you change/fix something about your house you notice 19 other things that could benefit from a change. Like the bush/tree debate. Oh and just so you know I knew the answer was B, but I can't propose a job like that to my husband without backup. I think I'll mention the idea to him tomorrow and if he is thinking it is a useless task I will refer him to your many comments. I was distracted by a few other things, but I forget what they were. Oh well, here are the things I have managed to accomplish in the last few days.

Item 20, recycle the glass. It's all loaded in the car and there is a glass recycling place near church so it will be taken care of in the morning. Again, why can't glass be recycled with everything else? This was not an issue in Boston.

Item 8, guest room. Why would there be anything in the guest room dresser? I don't have any guests currently staying here and if I did would they need the packages that their curtains came in, or old door knobs, or a small fake christmas tree with rubber bugs in it? No, no they would not. So it's all cleaned out. It's ready for you. When are we having a sleep over?

Item 9, guest bathroom. Towel ring has been hung, but it turned out the towel bar was a bit too large so it was returned and I think I'll find some hooks instead. Also decided that the cabinet needs to be painted, but that shall wait for another day. This does not effect the functionality of the bathroom, so you can still come for that sleep over.

Item 16, laundry room. It serves its laundry washing/drying purpose and is now well organized.

Item 22, playroom. Okay at this exact moment the playroom is clean. I can't make any guarantees past 8AM tomorrow. The main thing I wanted to do in there was get the fish tank set up and running. It's looking good and we have two little fish that Oliver wishes he could swim with.

Ya for having more done than left to do!

advice needed...

We have this bush/tree thing in our front yard.

there it is, to the left of the porch




here is the dying portion hiding in back, attractive right?


this is the view of it from the dining room


So here is the question; should it stay or should it go? The outside of our house is being repainted this spring and I think that space would look better with flowers and a non blocked bay window. What are your thoughts...

A. Your partly dead, window blocking tree is awesome! It's not worth your time to hack it down and the bird family currently living in it will peck your eyes out if you try removing it.
B. Get that thing out of there add some colorful flowers and enjoy the extra light that will spill into your dining room.