A few things

Do you ever feel like you have a ton to say, but at the same time nothing to say.  I don't even know if this makes any sense, but this is how I feel at the moment.  Christmas vacation has been oddly uneventful, but at the same time we have been busy too; however, the busy wasn't stressful and even relaxing.  The boys have been busy visiting with friends like today they went to SkyZone with their friend Rohith.  Yesterday, Winston went to see the movie Parental Guidance with his friend Matt.  He said the movie was hilarious.  I went to see Les Miserables with my mom;  Ann Hathaway should have gotten her hair back at the end.  I mean she was in Heaven.  The  cinematography was beautiful, but I thought the movie was way too long. Some of the cast sang fantastic while others were so so.  Overall it was still good.  Today, I went to lunch with my mom, my good friend Marchet and her son Peter.  Afterwards, Peter and Roman had a play date.  I know this sounds hardly uneventful.  I guess the strange thing for me is that we didn't go anywhere this vacation.  No trip to Florida, No cruise, No skiing in Utah, and everyone was still happy.  Maybe, there is a lesson to be learned in this.  I don't know if it is because the boys are getting older and they can entertain themselves or what, but they were really happy to be home.  Most days didn't even start till 8 or 9 and for one member of our family even 10 or 11.  I think there were even a couple of days we didn't even get out of our jammies.

Split Pea soup is yummy!  I made it for the first time for my kids and they loved it too!  Addy who doesn't eat anything gobbled it down.  It is super easy to make.  I had about 5 slices of ham left over from Christmas.  I took two of those and sliced them up into tiny pieces and in olive oil fried them up.  Then I removed the ham from the pan and I threw in one diced onion, 2 peeled and diced up carrots, and two diced stalks of celery in the leftover oil.  I made the dice on these three veggies really small.  Once these were cooked until soft, I added the remaining three slices of chopped ham along with 1 pound of dried split peas and 7 cups of chicken stock.  You can use water.  Along with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.  Then add 1 teaspoon of thyme and 2 bay leaves.  Simmer until peas are soft.  This takes about an hour to an hour and a half.  When the peas are soft remove the bay leaves from the soup.  I like my soup a little on the chunky side, so I did not but in a blender to make smoother.  Add in the fried ham and serve with a great loaf of bread.  This soup with become extremely thick if left over night, so you will need to add water or more broth.  Serve with a great loaf of crusty bread.

What's going on with the adoption?  Those who are familiar with the adoption process know the first stages of the process go pretty slow.  You have a ton of paperwork to fill out and you wait for certain documents to be returned by government agencies.  These documents are part of a package called a dossier that are eventually sent to China.  You also have to have a homestudy completed by a social worker.  Our homestudy is complete and we have most of that paperwork completed.  We are know waiting for what is called 1-800A to be returned from Homeland security.  We can wait up to 90 days before this document is returned.  Also, in this time frame my husband and I will have to get finger printed.  Many have asked us have we seen our child.  The answer is no.  We will be matched once our documents are sent to China and we have what is called a Log in Date.  What we do know is our child is a daughter.  She will be under three years old, but will not be a newborn.  She will most likely be over 9 months old.

Well, if I haven't lost you by now.  Thanks for reading until the end.  I hope you have a great weekend.  I am looking forward to the children going back to school.  I need to go to the gym.  I have gained to much weight this holiday season.  At the same time, I think I will enjoy the next few days of sleeping in.  Have a great weekend!  Do you have anything planned this weekend?