Summer, summer, summertime!

The end of the school year was uneventful and we are moving into our 2nd full week of summer vacation. The boys are loving being out of school and for the most part have been fun to spend the time with, with the exception of their fights, which can be mean and physical.... pretty much an all out brawl- at least until someone gets hurt!

We have been very busy with their motocross racing and they are making good progress. They are both really getting used to the racing scene and more comfortable doing it. Jacob is still timid on the bike and is not an aggressive racer. (He rode quads for so long that the change to the bike has been a challenge for him) This usually results in last place for his age bracket, but he's OK with it. He is becoming more confident and assured of himself, which is what we were hoping for. Logan is nuts on his bike. He doesn't have the fastest type of bike in his class and still manages to place 2nd every race. We are looking to get him a faster bike, but we are having trouble funding him one right now. He is having a great time with the races though and really loves it!

We are still waiting to get our baby girl... we continually hear that there will be a speed up, but at this time it still moves at a snails pace. We still have 7 months of people ahead of us! Anyway, we will still wait...

July should be a fun month... we will be closing on a rental property and will finally become landlords- we are really excited about this. We are also hoping to get the hot tub area finished and put the tub in as well as an above ground pool! The boys are really excited, but are having trouble with the waiting part =) Take care everyone and we will update again soon!

May Madness!

Well it has been quite a week. We spent 3 days in Baltimore for my niece Emily's graduation from Hopkins. It was nice to experience this with her. Jacob spent most of his time under my dress staying out of the sun. Logan slept under the bleacher for the entire 2 hour commencement. He actually snaked his body under the guy next to me (who was a total stranger, but was very nice).

Then it was back home to prepare for Logan's party with his classmates. Logan turned 7! Logan was very excited to get an ipod and an iturtle. As well as some wii and ds games in the morning from us. Logan invited all 22 of his classmates , but it turned out to be 12 boys and 2 girls. We ate pizza, smacked a pinata, played kickball, and of course had cake, ice cream, and presents! Logan has a great time and his cousin Nick stayed longer to play and have dinner, so that was an extra bonus!

The next day was the family party. Dirtbike and quad riding and grilling out. It was a fun day and again Logan had a great time and got so many wonderful gifts. This year no one was hurt

either riding quads or otherwise. June should be exciting as well. The boys are done with school on June 4th and will continue with their motocross races. As for China, it continues to move at a snails pace, but we will continue to wait!

Spring happenings...

There has been a lot going on these days at the Vogel house, so I thought I would update and let everyone know what we have been up to. As the weather began to break we started to clean out the fish pond, that was attached to the deck and came with the house (fish too!), we realized that there was a problem. Matt and I have had limited success with these fish, here is the history. All of the fish survived the first winter, but the second winter all of the Koi fish died. We later found out that because we didn't crack the ice, they suffocated on their own carbon dioxide. I felt bad, but not bad enough to replace them. The 3rd year all of the bullfrogs died, and then this year ALL of the goldfish left were floaters... every last one of them. So we had a dilemma at this point. Do we get a new pump and more fish or do we drain the pond and make a nice space for a hot tub?? HOT TUB of course!

So that was a huge pain in the ass job and of course that weekend it was close to 90 degrees, but we got it done and the boys even chipped in for $2.00!

Right now all of the hot tub plans are on hold until we close on a rental property that we are buying at the end of the month. Matt is going to be wearing a landlord hat now... he's really excited about it. So the hot tub can wait... at least we can avoid West Nile virus now that all of the stagnant water is gone.

The other time consumer is the boys motocross racing. The boys have begun competitive motocross racing and they both really enjoy it. In the pictures Logan is on the blue bike with the #1 and Jacob is on an orange bike with a #53. It is pretty intense and there are many father's who are living their dreams vicariously through their children. Their kid's bikes are in mint condition, with the most expensive gear... you get the picture. And there are Jacob and Logan, bikes all muddy and scratched with gear in the same condition, and I wonder when the kids they are competing against ride. We bought our boys these bikes to ride, and they ride everyday that they can. It's a dangerous sport, but it is really great to see them having fun!

The next few weeks are going to be busy and we have birthday's coming up soon. Hopefully Logan's party this year will be injury free! For those who don't know a boy at Logan's party last year fell in the woods and cut his knee open to the bone... it was AWFUL!! I felt sooo bad. We are keeping our finger's crossed this year for no injuries and no playing in the woods will be allowed! Unfortunately my birthday is coming up as well. I'm starting to physically feel old, which is definitely something I don't like. Matt, of course, finds my aches and pains amusing since he has been already experiencing unexplained pains for a few years!

I will update again after our trip to Baltimore and the birthdays/memorial day weekend!

Easter fun!

We have been busy since spring has arrived with working outside and spending time with the family. We all went to the Circus in Pittsburgh... the boys LOVED it. They talked about it nonstop for days after we saw it. Logan had a spring program and he was really excited about it! He did a great job, he know all his dance moves and words to the songs... he was too cute!

Then it was Easter weekend. Matt went to the cabin for some guy time and the boys and I hung out together. We met up with cousin Nick at the Fun Center for some fun and they had a great tme... at least until we got home. The boys and Nick were riding their bicycles on the motocross track and all was well until... Jacob came in screaming after getting his middle finger caught between the spoke and the chain and ripped the pad of his finger practically off. It was ugly and shortly after Nick and Lori went home. In hindsight he should have been stiched... I wanted to take him to the ER but Matt talked me out of it.

By Easter morning all was forgotten. His finger was still tender, but he was able to hunt for eggs like a champ! At our house the bunny hides eggs, stuffed with candy, all over the house and the boys have to search for the eggs with their intial on it. It's always tons of fun and this year they got some motocross gear to boot... a very sucessful morning!


We shared a wonderful afternoon with family... there were 2 more missing this year from the table and that always makes hoildays difficult, but it has brought the whole family closer together. Summer is coming before we know it and the boys just can't wait. They have their first motocross race on May 2nd and are so excited! As for our daughter we still wait... the process is still slow :( We'll update again!

The room is painted!

Ok so here we go with the saga of Mia's room, it's actually not that dramatic, but required some thought. The boys now share a bedroom. They actually prefer it this way, Jacob has a lot of anxiety and likes to have Logan with him at night. So we got their room situated first... motocross themed of course. Then it was to tackle her room. There is brown carpeting in that room and I wasn't about to re-carpet so I had to pick a color that would work well. I went to Lowe's and got some colors and in the end went with Peach Ash (or peach ass as Matt liked to call it). When I was done painting the room we all thought it was really bright and PINK. Matt and I thought it was alittle crazy, but we never had a girl, so I had some friends (with girls) look at it and the color passed, so we were done with that part. Then it was off to look at wallpapers and that was as stressful as picking the color. Do I go with Wallies or a border??? When I started looking I didn't like anything. Most of the borders had a pink background, which wouldn't work, or were themed. Not that there is anything wrong with a Disney Princess room, but it was not appealing to me. So now what.. it was quite a dilemma. A few weeks later I was at my neighbors house and she showed me her bedroom that she stenciled and I thought that could be an idea for Mia's room. So I started looking online and found one that I thought was really cute. I ordered it and went to work!

The first job was to paint a lighter background for the stencils. So I mixed white paint with the leftover peach paint and created a very light peach. Then I measured, leveled, and taped a border, and finally painted the strip.

Then the stenciling began... below are pictures of the first stencil completed and the details over it, as well as a close up of the wall stencils.

I think it turned out well, but it was a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be! Now all we need is a baby to put in it ;-)

Spring is here! (Or so we hope..)

I have not updated in some time, so I thought I could update now. We did a whole bunch of nothin' during the month of February. It was cold and crappy and we spent most of our time huddled in the house. But now that it's warmer, the boys are outside playing, there is less fighting, and much better sleeping for my ADHD buddies! We have also had our first motocross practice which all of the boys (Matt included) were excited about. The boys (Matt included again) plan to race this Spring so we are in full practice mode here at the Vogel house!

Jacob has gotten a new dirtbike and really loves it. Here are some pictures of him in action!

Logan has also gotten a new dirtbike as well and is also enjoying it! He is a bit crazier that Jacob on it though... for those of you who know Logan well- I'm sure you are just shocked by this!

As for our adoption... we still wait. I have gotten a call from my agency that they have some information that the wait could speed up... I just keep my fingers crossed. I have finally decided what to do with the nursery, so once I finish it I will post the pictures!

I will continue to let you know as the adoption and the craziness of out household progresses!

Getting through the winter blues... hopefully with some sanity!?!

I just thought I would update our blog to let everyone know that we are trying to get through the winter blues here and everyone is anxious for Spring to get here. All the boys, matt included, can't wait to get outside and RIDE! So to pass the time the boys play in the snow, play wii, shoot nerf darts at the ceiling, build forts out of blankets, and did i forget to mention... get into LOTS of mischief together. Here are some pictures of passing the time.

With all this free time, I have decided what I am going to do with Mia's room. I have picked a stencil pattern and will be senciling her room. I still have yet to order it, but I plan to have it done before the weather gets nice. We still have 7 months of perople waiting ahead of us... ugh! We are in it for the long haul and can't wait to see her face! Take care everyone!