6 LID DAYS CLOSER

Referrals arrived today at agencies. It looks like the official cut off is 2/15/06 this month. That means Ian was able to remove 6 loops from our Ava chain. It also means we have 21 loops left.....Or 21 LID days to go until they get to us! I was sad to see they didn't get to the 17th this month, because two of my favorite bloggy pals just missed the cut off. The good news is they WILL be in the next batch and will most likely be spending this Christmas in China!

The CC*AA has been averaging about 6 days per month. That means we "should" receive our referral in February. Fingers crossed. And toes. And eyes. And arms. And legs.......

As you can see......The chain IS looking smaller! The CC*AA might not be working at record speed in getting out large amounts of referrals, but Keith and Mike are sure going to town on installing our wood floors! They still need to do all the trim work, but they have finished just about everything except our bedroom. It's been a bit dusty around here, but I do love how they're turning out.

THE CIRCUS AND NEW FLOORING

The circus was in town last week and Jeff and I took Ian on Saturday night. Here is a picture of Ian and I outside the arena.


Here is Ian and his Daddy. It was such a beautiful night and we enjoyed walking around before we went in.

When I purchased tickets online last week.....I requested the best seats that were left. I didn't even bother to check to see where the seats were located.....Didn't matter, we just had to get seats. However, I was complaining (to anyone that would listen) that the cost of the tickets were $65 a person and HOW IN THE HECK ARE LARGE FAMILIES SUPPOSED TO AFFORD THE CIRCUS????!! My gawd, they cost more than the Idol tickets. H E L L O....We're talking MORE than tickets to see David C*ook (my honey....my love!)???! When we got to the circus we found out that our seats were right in the front row.....That explains the cost. Also, with the front row seats we were given a "celebrity pass" and were told that they would come and get us and we would enjoy our 15 minutes of fame and be part of the show! We got to dance with the clowns....I only wish I wouldn't have been carrying my purse or I really could have been able to let loose with some of my "world famous" moves. We then rode a train around the arena floor as they sang.....BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO BELLO-BRATION. Sadly, that song has been playing in my head since Saturday night.

They also gave us "hair" to wear. We were supposed to look like Bello (pictured behind Peaches). I just noticed that Peaches looks like he smoked his dinner in this picture. He. Didn't.

Gotta love the Bello hairdo.

The clowns and other circus people danced and twirled around us while we were on the train.

Here are a couple of the circus acts. Tell me, how do they do this?? My gosh, I can barely touch my toes.....How does anyone do something like THAT??

Loved the elephants. The one bad thing about sitting so close.....The smell. I think one elephant might have had an upset tummy. Other than the smell....The seats were totally worth the price. We really had a great time.

I spent this morning taking things out of cabinets in our living room. We're having 1500 square feet of wood flooring installed this week in our living room, kitchen and master bedroom. Our carpet is only four years old, but I'm so sick of it looking dirty all the time with all the animals we have. It's going to be so much easier to clean up if one of the cats hawks up a hairball, etc.

Here are a few before pictures. The carpet doesn't look that dirty in these pictures, but trust me....It is.

Sadly, they have to take out all of our old wood flooring in the kitchen and hallway. We wouldn't have been able to match it up perfectly.....That would have bugged me. The floor also looks better in these pictures than it actually is. It was in desperate need of being refinished anyway.

Jeff brought down the baby gate from the attic and put it up this weekend. I wanted to be able to keep the dogs downstairs while the men are working on the floors. I guess with as close as we're getting to our referral.....We can leave it up! Whoo-Hoo! Bella and a couple of the skinnier cats can still fit between the rails. Oh well. =)

PRETTY IN PINK

The girls had an appointment this morning at the beauty parlor. I know, it's extremely rare for me to do two posts in one day, but I just had to show everyone how pretty my girls look...........

Pink is CLEARLY Luna's color. I'm always shocked the the groomer puts every color bow on her BUT pink.

And with Bella's dark black hair......Pink is also a nice color for her!

Here is a picture of Bella refusing to go out in the rain. FYI.....Painting around the door and door frame is on our list of things to get done this Fall.

Bella wanted me to make sure everyone knew that the doormat in the above picture was purchased because of this guy..................Hank.

Hank is the one that might be a tad bit unbalanced, but we love him just the way he is.

30 MONTH LID ANNIVERSARY

As much fun as it is to search google images for a new and larger number each month.....I'm ready to be done. How many more of these will we be celebrating before we receive our referral? Four? Five? Six? I'm hoping that we're nearing the home stretch.

FUN FILLED DAY

Yesterday was a fun filled day for us. It started out with an early fingerprint appointment in Grand Rapids. This was our THIRD appointment for fingerprints, but thank goodness it was free this time around. Our prints are now good again for another 15 months. I'm HOPING this was the last time we ever have to have them done.....Although, I thought that same thing last time. I wasn't allowed to take my camera in the building soooooo..... I had Jeff snap this of me out front so we could remember all the good times we have had here. *snort* And yes, I need to go back on my diet.....I'm so glad that darned dairy barn at the end of my street is closing in a couple weeks.....


Jeff took the entire day off of work yesterday because of the fingerprint appointment in the morning and because we had tickets for the Ido*l concert last night! I guess when you figure he lost an entire day of work.....The fingerprints really weren't that free at all. #&%#!!!

I purchased four tickets for Ido*l a few months ago. Ian and I are huge fans of the show. Griffin also watches from time to time and I thought he would also like to go. Wrong. Sooooo......We ended up bringing our good friend Ronda instead.

(BTW, I'm much too lazy tonight to fix the red eye in these pictures)

Here I am holding my David C*ook t-shirt. I happen to be wearing it as we speak....Or as I type. I know I look tired in that picture. I woke up at 3 AM the night before and couldn't get back to sleep. I'm a girl that needs her beauty sleep!

Alright, this picture might not be that flattering either. I was trying to contain my screams when "my man" took the stage. This picture reminds me of what I looked like at the Rick Spring*field concert many years ago.................=)

Ahhhhh, there he is! Mr. Michael J*ohns. Can you say eye candy? Ronda turned to me and said......"That man is HOTTTTT!" I said, "you JUST noticed?"

Ian was a little jealous because I kept taking pictures of Michael. Jeff was a good sport while his wife was ogling another man. =)

I was so excited that Ronda brought her binoculars with her! She was nice enough to share them with us.......That is, until HER man took the stage!

I FINALLY just had to grab them away from her so I could see HIM...........Let me tell you it wasn't easy prying them out of Ronda's hands! She had a death grip on them.

David C*ook is AMAZING! He was most definitely the star of the show. Ronda said...."He isn't as good looking as Michael, but there is just SOMETHING about him." I must agree.

Fun filled day.

SEPTEMBER REFERRAL BATCH

I'm not going to lie to you.....I've got an extra spring in my step today and that's so not me! The CC*AA sent out the September batch ALREADY! People, I didn't think it would arrive for another 7-10 days! It's here! It's official.....The cut off date is February 9. That means we now have 27 LID days until they get to our LID.....We're under a month! Can you see why I have the extra spring now?! Ian and I made a LID chain several months ago and remove a loop for each LID referred each month. AND because I stink so bad at posting to my blog....Here is your first glimpse of him removing the loops from the chain for this month.

You're correct if you noticed he is only removing four this month. I sometimes make up my own rules and I had decided to take off ALL the CNY empty days last month. My chain. My rules. It's exciting to see the loops are no longer hanging down anymore. 27 left.....Can you join me in shouting......WHOO-HOO!!!!

I'm still hoping that we can squeeze our way into the January batch of referrals. I have already decided that IF we don't.....It will be her fault because her LID is filled with TONS of families. I won't blame her. Just her. Glad I got that off my chest.



AND saving the BEST news of the day....................Erin received her referral today for the BEAUTIFUL Meisey! Congratulations to Erin, Bob and big sister Mollianne! I'm so happy for you guys!! Totally worth the wait. Isn't she adorable!!!!