Mr. Mom day sette (7)

Finally, the last day... not much going on, Landon was coming over for the day and I decided we were going to take a picnic lunch at the park. Got all packed up and headed out before 10AM and ran to Douglasville to see if there was anything worth looking at in Old Time Pottery then we headed to Clinton Park. Took a hike back through the woods to the lake where Sadie and Landon had a blast throwing rocks in the water :)... We trekked back up to the playground and then had our picnic lunch before heading back to the house. Sadie took her nap and I was able to do some last minute laundry before we had to pick up the kids from school. They all had some clothes to put away before we headed out to the airport.

The ladies had to fly back coach from NY so that meant no meal for them on the flight... I cooked up some pizza rolls for the kids so they would have something to hold them over. Packed up Nicole and Laurie a snack and their favorite drink that they hadn't had in a week as well as some juice boxes for the kids and of course some flowers for Nicole. Off to the airport we go... we were so anxious to get there, I think we were about an hour early. The wait was terrible.

We stood there at the top if the escalators with our signs just waiting. Kept checking the flight board hoping the plane would arrive early (which it did) and waited... and waited. Felt like we were there for 6 hours. Now keep in mind, we had 8 kids who were about as impatient as you could possibly imagine.. We had our welcome home signs ready and finally we saw them coming to the top of the escalators! I was holding Sadie so the other kids (and Chad) took off for the ladies and I just waited for my turn :). I let Sadie run over to hug mommy and it was the sweetest thing ever! I felt like we had been apart for months despite the video calls over Skype almost every day. Absence does make the heart grow fonder but I've learned that lesson and don't care to test it again.

We headed home and were going to stop for a nice dinner at Friday's but it was packed out so we ran over to Five Guys... man that place is good.

I'm so glad Nicole was able to experience all this with Laurie and I'm sure she will NEVER forget all the kids she met over there as well as the experiences along the way. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and donations that made all this possible. Now Laurie gets to start planning her final trip for February!

Here are two quick shots from the park:

Mr. Mom day sei (6)

Today was pretty full, Sadie and I were out all day! Quick visit to the dentist to get my permanent crown installed, then on to some last minute shopping in Carrollton. If this doesn't show how much I love my wife, I went to my LEAST favorite store in the world... Hobby Lobby. I found exactly what I went for so I guess it was worth it. Quick visits to TJMAxx and Ross yielded a couple trinkets and some awesome new sheets for the bedroom! A good friend lost his mother earlier this week so we took this time to go visit him and his sister for a half hour or so. Great time hearing some old stories about her and I'm still praying for the family though this tough time. We headed to Little Hawaiian for lunch with friends from work.

Talked to Chad and decided to run over to his house for a bit and was blown away at the things he's been working on for Laurie's return home... can't wait to hear what she thinks :)... We were able to skype with the ladies as they were eating dinner on the water front at a fancy smancy Italian joint with free wi-fi. They were having an awesome time and spent the day sight seeing and buying gifts for the family.

Picked up the boys and we came home to finish homework and housework. Met Chad and the gang out at Sonic (mistake, way too cold!) and then headed to church. Had some last minute picking up to do at the house then I put them kiddos to bed!

Thursday does't really have much on the schedule at all. Can't wait to see the ladies tonight! Praying for safe travels and not getting bumped off their flight out of JFK :)

How awesome is this??


Free wi-fi... this is where they ate dinner last night :)


Um, yeah.

Mr. Mom day fünf (5)

Cleaning up loose ends.

This morning I had a conference call with work and then a few things to finish up before having 2 days off. Spent the early afternoon cleaning up more stuff at the house... cleaned the globes on the lights in the dining room and in our bedroom. Washed some clothes and was finally able to get the living room back together now that all of the stuff from my bedroom is back where it goes. Went to Walmrat to get some soap for Sadie and peanut butter and found a great deal on something for Nicole when she gets home... can't wait!

Nothing really exciting, just taking care of the kids and the house. I did have hot wings for lunch from Piggly Wiggly ($1.73) and dropped the container on the floor when I tried to put the bones in the trash. What a mess to clean up! The kids are off to my parents house and I am off to tennis. Tonight I need to work on my test for USTA referee certification; has to be done before the clinic on Saturday!

Nicole and Laurie made it to Venice Italy today, it is a good bit warmer (30 degrees) and it was snowing when they got there. They checked in and had trouble with their wireless connection but they must be close to the Hard Rock Cafe because that is where they were when they called! Sightseeing tomorrow, should be some cool pics soon. Here are a couple from today:
Their room




I miss them :)

Mr. Mom day drei (4)

Doesn't this little girl deserve a home?


Today was their last full day in Latvia; they went to court and handled the last of the adoption paperwork for Nathan/Dins and he is now 100% a "Clinger"! Congrats on all the hard work :) Tuesday morning they catch a short flight back to Venice and will have to stay until Thursday when they can catch the next Delta flight home (via New York again).

Today was another busy day at the house; worked half a day this morning and then started right back working on things. Had to get Sadie up earlier than normal so her schedule was a little jacked up today but she did really good. I tried to rearrange our old furniture to see if it would fit perpendicular to its original position but it was way too cramped so I had to put it right back where it was :( I really hoped it would work out so Nicole would feel like she came home to a whole new room. I am making some headway on getting some of her pictures hung up on the wall, so that will help. Also, last night I ran out to get some replacement blinds and curtain rods so I could slap up some window treatments.

After school, I picked up Nathan and Caleb from Amanda's house and they hung out with my boys for a little bit this afternoon. I asked Chad if he could swing by WalMart and pick up a few more storage containers for me so if nothing else, things are staged away in tidy little containers. Finding everything might be a challenge though... About 4:00, TJ Padgett and I ran over to the Windy Mill subdivision and installed a brand new net on their tennis courts and are hoping to test it out tomorrow night! Chad picked up Isabelle and Brayden and we took the kids to dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then grabbed some icecream and hung out at my house for a while. I got all the kids bathed and in the bed by 9:00 (on time) and started working on filling the new containers. There is only ONE MORE left in the living room, and it is mainly decorations Nicole is going to have to decide what to do with.

Last night I cleaned the bathroom, tonight was dishes and laundry. I changed the sheets on the bed and was saddened to learn that Nicole's favorite sheets have a large tear in them :(... she will be heartbroken. I put the tear on my side and (ahem) put some tape on it to hold until I can find some replacement sheets.

Tomorrow will be another half day of work, followed by some work around the house and hopefully tennis in the evening after my parents pick up the kids...

Quick update from Latvia

Here are a few pics from their day out for pizza and candy with a group of the kids from Latvia. Looks like everyone had a great time and got some supplies/shoes/clothes for the whole group. Today is their court date, it is about 2.5 hours from their apartment so be praying for safe travels. They fly back to Venice tomorrow.

Pizza!


Candy store


Some of the shoes and supplies for the orphans


The whole group that went out with the ladies

Mr. Mom day tres

Sunday is here so of course we just had to go to C@ML this morning... great message as usual by Pastor Tony. We went to the early service and then ran a couple errands in Bremen afterwards. Of course the torrential rain started while we were inside so we all got soaked. Chad helped me locate "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" at RedBox because the kids wanted to watch that today. We came home and had to get back in our PJs due to the dismal weather today. After whipping up some lunch, we were able to talk to Nicole and Laurie for a bit then we watched the movie (well I slept).

Trying to get some small chores done a little at a time so they don't get backed up. Montana helped me out with the dishes (voluntarily) and both boys helped with their weekly trash can run through the house. I have a ton of trash to get down to the big trash can before Murray Sanitation comes by tomorrow. Most of it was from cleaning out the bedroom.

The ladies spent some time with the kids today and took some out for pizza and then others over to the candy store. Basically, just loving on them and trying to spend some quality time with them. When we spoke, I think they were in for the night and had made a trip over to Rimi (similar to Walmart)... finally found some Coke/Coke Light at some shady sounding underground store?? Not completely sure but I guess it was worth it. They bought a bunch of stuff for the kids are plan to donate the left over funds so they can use the money when other needs arise. Thanks so much to everyone who donated!!!

Going to knock out a few more cleaning items in the house and finally finish up getting things moved around in the bedroom. Tomorrow afternoon and night, we are going to attempt to rearrange all the clothes and make them fit better than before. I bought some storage containers at Walmart that might help us out without looking too tacky. I really hope Nicole is happy with the mess I made and she can still find everything :)



Can wait to hug these ladies, 4,600 miles is a long way away!

Mr. Mom day 2 part 2

Super awesome day today! My whole team won all three tennis matches today despite the relatively cold temperatures. The kids got to see memama and poppa and they ate pizza at Mellow Mushroom :)

I was able to talk to Nicole for a couple minutes right after my tennis match thanks to Skype and my super cool iPod touch... she said it is colder there that she has ever been before. They were stacked up with all layered clothes AND the Hot Hands warmers and still cold. We rushed home and got on the laptop and was able to video chat over Skype and all the kids got to see and talk to her right before she went to bed. How awesome is technology??!

We came home and I worked on the house cleaning the ceiling fans of all things. Did a little vacuuming and then started on baths. Made some quesadillas and burritos for supper, cleaned up and finished by giving Sadie her bath. Clothes are picked out for church and the kids are watching a movie. Considering staying up really late again to see if I can talk to the ladies before they head out for church with the kids tomorrow morning. They are going to have a slam packed couple of frigid cold days in Latvia!

Oh and earlier I said relatively cold because it is -11 degrees in Latvia :(

Mr. Mom day deux

Ok, this will be more like a journal entry as I will be updating it throughout the day.

I stayed up too late chatting with friends and then doing some more cleaning. I ran over to Greg's house and helped him put together some chairs for a sweet new table set they purchased for their breakfast area. TJP came over for a while and we watched some live tennis on TV and he helped me move the furniture around in my bedroom. After he left, Greg came over for some more live tennis (Australian Open). I finished off the night with a half hour of matching up socks... fun stuff!

The ladies made it to Italy early in the morning and posted some pics on facebook. They called me via Skype early this morning about 6:45 (I had already been up an hour) and I got to talk for a few minutes. Nicole said the flight was good, she didn't get to sleep much on the plane so they are really tired (I can only imagine how their hair is holding up after 24 hours of travelling). They lived it up on the plan last night and ate a big meal but they had to have some pizza in Italy while they were waiting on their flight to Latvia. They should touchdown sometime before lunchtime EST.

Nicole's mom will be watching the kids for me today for a few hours so I can go to my tennis match at 1:00 in Carrollton. Not too much going on today other than a friend is coming over to pick up my bowflex. I think we will order something in tonight and maybe get a movie. Fairly uneventful for a normal Saturday at the Freeman house.

I hope to be able to talk to the ladies before my match starts but due to the +7 hour time difference it is going to be tricky to stay in touch. We will no doubt rely on facebook as our messaging system when the timing doesn't work out. Thank goodness for free social networking sites!

Here is a pic of the Itianian Alps as seen from the cabin of their Boeing 767

Mr. Mom day one

Well Nicole and Laurie headed off to Latvia this morning; they left about 9:10AM headed to New York then to Venice (overnight flight) and should touch down in Latvia sometime around supper time. My iPod tells me Riga Latvia is 7 hours ahead of us so it will be after midnight when they get there and then they have to get situated in their room. Busy day on Sunday beginning with church, then pizza with some of the kids from the Youth Home and then off to do some shopping for the orphanage. Thanks to everyone who donated so generously to this cause!

Things were kind of quiet here... Sadie and I hung out at the house most of the day. We met TJP and Landon for lunch at Jones' BBQ in Temple and then back to work. The kids did their homework at school so we are set for all kinds of fun over the weekend!

My special project to get accomplished while Nicole is gone will be to clean and organize our bedroom. I was going to surprise Nicole but I got antsy and wanted to start before she left so I told her that was my goal. (not sure if she thinks I can get it done)... Made some progress on it today but will chip away at it over the weekend and into next week. Slow and steady wins the race, right? The end goal will be to get all new furniture in the next few months, but in the meantime it makes sense to get it cleaned up first. Nicole has already picked out all the stuff she wants, now we just need to save up for it :(

I took PTO from work most of next week so it should be much easier to keep up with the laundry, dishes, etc... Plan to take Sadie to the park a time or two if the weather permits and will have lunch with friends on Wednesday. (getting my bling installed at 9am that day too).



When I talked to Nicole tonight, I learned that they were moved to FIRST CLASS!! Looks like they should have a great night on the plane and wake up to a new country :)

Tonight, I took the kids to Zaxby's for our usual and we had leftovers since Nicole wasn't with us... more for me tomorrow! Sierra folded the clean clothes that were ready to be done and the boys are constantly fighting about video games. Sadie is NON STOP into everything; turn your head and she has something she's not supposed to doing something she shouldn't... going to be interesting!