To My Mom

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

For my LDS Friends...

And anyone else who likes a silly song.

British Invasion - You've GOT to read the 1st 5 comments!

This week Bill's Aunt Jean and Uncle Roger came to visit us all the way from the UK. We feel so special that they would make such an effort. They are very fun and we always have lots to talk about. (May agrees and would also like me to add that they brought "really great presents!") We went out to dinner and found this picture of Queen Victoria and Prince Phillip (Vic and Phil to them). They were good sports and let me take a photo of them next to it. Baden had a soccer game on Saturday and Uncle Roger remarked that he enjoyed being out at the "football pitch." We look forward to spending some more time with them this summer when we cross the pond. The motherland is calling Bill home for a visit.

Three for Thursday

Three books we'd like to wake up in...

May:
1. Stage Fright on a Saturday Night (Magic Tree House)
2. The Mouse and The Motorcycle (Beverly Cleary)
3. An Arthur Story (Marc Brown)

Me:
1. Emma (I want to hang out with her and have people fix dinner for me)
2. Anne of Green Gables (I want to bring my family with me and have our own house there in Green Gables)
3. Twilight??? :-)

Baden:
1. Sharks!
2. A Jaguar Book I read at school.
3. What Do Monkey's Do?

Kat:
I'm going to answer for her - Fancy Nancy, Teletubbies, and Kittens

Bill:
1. Ivanhoe (He likes the chivalry)
2. The Great Gatsby (He wants to go to the party)
3. Portrait of Dorian Grey (He wants to wake up before Dorian withers away)

Aunt Jean:
1. The Hobbit (She wants to be a Hobbit)
2. Little Women (Jo)
3. The Cat Who... by Lillian Jackson Braun (She wants to be Koko the main Simese cat that solves all the mysteries)

Uncle Roger:
1. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (He wants to be the younger hero)
2. Song of Songs
3. A Sailor on Horseback by Jack London

What books would you like to wake up in??

Wordless Wednesday

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: Monday - Friday I go to Boot Camp (a class at the gym) for an hour. Bill goes too, since October, and BFF Melanie just started coming to the same class - Very Fun.

The Bad: I've been going faithfully for a year and I'm still not very good.

The Ugly: Today I was totally awful to our instructor. I let myself get all grumpy about some things. Then when he was showing us a new exercise I told him that he kept doing it differently each time. "Which way do you want it??" I said. Oh my gosh, I was horrible! He was really nice and said that everyone would do it differently because of their own flexibility. I wanted to crawl in a hole! BFF Melanie even pulled me aside and asked if I was doing okay. Yikes! After class I apologized. I'd bring him a cupcake if I thought he'd eat it, but I think he's healthier than that. Maybe if I stopped eating so many I would do better in class. (??)

Run Like Forrest

This last Saturday Bill and May May ran (and walked) in their first 5K. Way to go!

Break A Leg!

Last week May May was in a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She was Happy Dwarf. It was her biggest roll with lots of lines. Of course she was fabulous and had a wonderful time! I'm super happy to have rehearsals over. They're never convenient and very mandatory. It's her favorite thing, though, so it's totally worth it.

Sleep Study Results

Well our little guy has Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Of all the things that our children can be diagnosed with this is minor. Having said that . . . Awwww, poor little oxygen deprived Baden. Usually removing their tonsils and adenoids will fix the problem, but that didn't work for Baden. So now we need to see an allergist. The doctor also recommended putting a tube through Baden's nose to make sure that all of his adenoids were removed. The diagnosis explains his snoring, daytime sleepiness, and a few other issues. Good to know; we'll see what happens.

Adoption Update:

Trying to adopt through Child Protective Services (CPS) has been a slow process. But we finally found an agency that will represent us. We're using Lutheran Social Services. From the beginning (once I figured out that an agency was a MUST) they were my 2nd choice. I hesitated to follow up with them, though, because of my experience with my 1st choice agency. Here's that story: I called an agency that was recommended to me and they sounded great on the phone. She kept saying that they were a Christian organization, which I thought sounded good. She said we had to be active in our home church. I said, "Great! We're very active." Then she said that she had to ask what denomination we were. When I said "Mormon" she basically said no can do. They don't work with that religion. I was really hurt, but didn't say anything and just got off the phone. So I was afraid to be rejected like that from the Lutheran org.

Let me interupt this brilliant story with a Soap Box - I completely understand birth parents who indicate that their child will be adopted by a certain religion and not by other religions. They get to make that choice. But these are children that have been taken from their homes and from parents that lost their parental rights. I would think that an agency would be looking for good homes for these children, not just homes that believe a certain way.

Okay, so back to the story. This last Saturday Gabby and I (Bill was taking a final exam) went to an informational meeting regarding adoption and foster care. After the meeting we were able to speak with a variety of agencies that had set up booths. We met with two women that were wonderful. The first one answered my religious question by saying, "I'm not even Lutheran. I'm Baptist!" I clarified by saying, "Okay, but can I be Mormon?" She said, "Yes!" Long story short, they match our criteria perfectly and I'm so excited to have this step over with. We took a picture with Tameka, who is a different lady we spoke with. I loved her so much we hugged before I left!

Side Note: I just told Bill what I was doing and he said, "So instead of filling out paper work you're talking about it." ...I can't help it - this is more fun!

Favorite Quote:

"Life's greatest battles are fought daily in the silent chambers of the soul." President David O. McKay

Baden's Sleep Study

Last year Baden had his tonsils and adenoids removed in addition to new tubes. It didn't help with his night time waking, snoring, etc. so his ENT recommended a Sleep Study. So two weeks ago he and I went to Dallas where there is a pediatric sleep specialist and spent the night. Baden was able to play video games and watch tv. He was also able to choose a stuffed animal. He was very brave the whole time even though they pasted 21 wires to him. Some of them irritated his face and that was painful. The nurse and I felt so bad for him. I had to sleep in a recliner all night, but as you can see from the pictures Baden had the worse end of the deal. Poor little guy. I let him stay home from school the next day - maybe as much for me as for him!

Tornado Warning!

Last night I woke up to the loudest storm I've ever heard. I knew that earlier our area had a tornado watch so I tried to check the local networks, but we didn't have a signal. It took me a few minutes, but I found online that there was a tornado warning for our city, so I decided to get the kids out of bed. I found them all in one bed together with Kitty clinging to May. It was very sweet. I brought them into the pantry and we hung out there until the storm blew over us. No damage to the house and only a couple tree issues for us. Our neighbors weren't so lucky.

Hello Kitty Viewing

Kat got herself ready to watch her Hello Kitty DVD. It's always good to be dressed appropriately!

She Likes It!

After I dressed Kat this morning she said, "I like it!"

Schoolhouse Rock

Red, White, and Chinn - Our Melting Pot Story

Bill was born in Nottingham, England. His family immigrated to the United States in 1977 when he was 9 years old. Bill wanted to assimilate, so he quickly learned to dress and speak like his American classmates. Cute side note: Before his family decided to move they voted and Bill was the only one to vote no. Lucky for me he lost!

Hmm, what to say about myself. That's tricky. I'm very American. I look at life from an American perspective. But my ancestors hail from Germany, both my mom's side and my baby daddy's - he was straight off the boat. My mom's family is also part Native American (Cherokee).

May is tres international. She's the All-American girl-next-door with a wicked English Accent. She's been working on it for a while now and visits from Granny and Grandpa really help! She aspires to live in London one day and can't wait to see Big Ben for herself. She chose a world map to decorate her bedroom with - it covers an entire wall!

Baden brings authinticity to the Chinns' Texas House as he is our only Texas Native. We found Baden's name while Bill was reading a military history book. The book mentioned Lord Baden-Powell (who also was the founder of the Boy Scouts) and we loved the name. That was about 10 years before he was born!

Katerina was born in Vlademir, Russia. Before living with her family here in America she lived in the Vlademir Baby House for 9 months. Kat has what I call her "Russian Attitude." By way of explaination let's just say that her classmates shouldn't take her ball away. She has an American girl sense of style, though - tons of bows, jewlery, and PINK!