Gratitude

I probably haven't had Thanksgiving with my parents in at least 8 or 9 years, so it was very nice they could come this year, along with my Sister Annie and my Brother Jacob. The kids seem to go wild when relatives are around, they love all the extra attention. But, I don't think their aunt & uncle are used to being climbed upon, poked, tickled, and punched so frequently.

We were also very happy to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Rousseaus. Christine was the first friend I made when we moved to Texas. We are often mistaken for sisters and it feels like we really are. I am very grateful for all of her goodness and her awesome coconut cream pie. I'm also grateful for their long awaited addition, Baby Pierce.

But, most of all I'm grateful for my cute, sweet, patient husband and my cute, mostly sweet, and rarely patient children, Henry, Caroline, & Samantha.

Speaking of gratitude, I can tell you what Caroline is not thankful for. (Three people came up to me today after church and told me about Caroline's loud comments during "Sharing Time.") In a room full of approximately 50 to 60 children and their teachers, Caroline noticed something she didn't agree with and spoke up. When another child was at the front of the room picking up a picture of fruits and vegetables to show what she was thankful for, Caroline exclaimed loudly: "That's weird! Who would be thankful for fruits and vegetables."

(I'm sure, because she eats at least five servings a day and they are an abundant part of her life, it is so easy for her to take them for granted.)

Oh, and I forgot to mention my mother's really nice turkey outfit.

The Squiggly Wiggly Baby

My neighbors were able to enjoy the grand entrance made by the ambulance and fire truck.
I was able to feel like the "Mother of the Year."

Spooky Darowskis

Halloween lasted over a week at our house. So many fun Halloween events to attend. So much candy to eat all week long. And Caroline became a "Power Ranger"- no more princesses for her. Henry dressed as Frankenstein for our first trunk-or- treat.
Samantha dressed as a kitty who likes to ride in strollers.
Here is Caroline with our most beloved Halloween decoration "Spooky Kitty," which was renamed "Sofa." Spooky Kitty sits on our front porch with our pumpkins, but also sleeps in Caroline's bed. Here, Caroline is celebrating Spooky Kitty's birthday with a special Kitty cake. Notice how she carefully placed a bowl of water in front of the Kitty. (and yes, the guinea pig is being neglected)
Adam and the girls.
Henry switched from being Frankenstein to Tony Romo. I'm glad I didn't have to do the green face paint again.
Caroline and her good friend "Giselle."

'Round Here

Henry was "Longhorn of the Month" for his first grade class.



He was also a first class pouter when we went to the pumpkin patch. (Sometimes kids just get tired of posing for pictures)



At the pumpkin patch Caroline had a hay day. And became friends with a donkey.


But, wouldn't let me snap a picture of her in the pumpkin patch, so I grabbed one of her friend, Audrey. We love Audrey.


Here is Henry and company in what I call the coolest pumpkin house I've ever seen.



And for Samantha, she's getting really good at swinging, laughing, and just being awesome.

My Finger

About five weeks ago I did something like this to my finger. It was painful and a little shocking. And yes, I did it playing indoor soccer. In all my years of playing soccer I have never done anything quite like this. I knew something was very wrong, and when I pulled off my goalie glove I could not believe it. So my team, the "Red Hots," has been without their keeper for some time.
Now, things are getting much better and I can actually type. So you may see a little more on the blog. Coming soon- pictures of Caroline's team, the Butterfly Dragons!

Going for Gold! Nastia Style!

So, Adam grabbed a local newspaper last night when he was picking up our Chili's to Go (It's so hard to cook on Fridays) and found out that Nastia Liukin would be signing autographs at a local mall. Well, Adam couldn't help him self, and made plans to take our family to go see her. Caroline was dressed in her gymnastics attire, Henry and Adam both sported Adidas wear, (because Adidas sponsors Nastia) and Samantha and I just dressed in our "everyday wear."

When we first got there, I found this nice cut out picture of Nastia. Caroline examined her Olympic hero very carefully. Nastia has a clothing line at JC Penny, so you might get to see this cut out too.


We heard the line to see Nastia was very long, so I stayed up front to just get a picture of Nastia. Then Nastia arrived! Here she is with her cut out, or so I thought!

I could swear this girl is Nastia, everyone there thought she was Nastia, but no, she just looks like Nastia and now her life is no longer the same.

Then I went to wait in the real line while Adam and Henry scoped the scene waiting for Nastia to finally arrive. This is who they found!

Just Nastia's awesome dad and coach, Valeri, also an olympic gold medalist! He was so gracious to Adam when he asked him to take a picture with Henry. Adam even thanked him in Russian, "spacebo." Then Adam grabbed Caroline to take a picture. At this point, we were not going to wait in line for 5 hours to get Nastia's autograph.

When Valeri saw Caroline he said, "Look at this little gymnast." We even caught a picture of Nastia's mom- remember she couldn't even be in the gym to watch Nastia compete because she was so nervous! They are definitely a very neat family.

So we didn't get to talk to Nastia, but we did meet her parents, and as we all know, parents are a big part of what their children can accomplish!

I was able to reach over the crowd to get this little picture of Nastia. It was pretty cool to see hundreds of little girls lining up in awe to meet a hero. It's nice to have heros. Mine was Mary Lou Retton- I even had to get the haircut. And, I do admit to having a crush on Greg Louganis.

Hopefully, this memory will be a bit of inspiration for this little one.


Next week, we are driving to Iowa to meet Shawn Johnson, and I still want to have her as a babysitter, because she is just so darn cute.

1st Day of School

Since we took most of August off, we thought we'd at least let you see pictures of Henry's first day of school. Here he is with Mrs. Reading- hopefully she will live up to her name. And here is a picture of Henry walking to school. (We forgot to take the traditional 1st day of school picture at the house, so we caught one on the neighbors lawn!)

It has been really fun to walk to school. The girls love it getting in the stroller and seeing everyone in the neighborhood walk over. It is a very social time for us!

We loved the Olympics and Adam has announced he will begin training for 2012. He doesn't know which event he will compete in, but it will probably involve a racket and a birdie. He may even have to take a leave of absence from work if it competes with his vigorous training routine.

Sweet Escape

To escape heat, we went on a little adventure with our friends to the Dallas Children's Museum.

Most the time they were crazy, sometimes they were a little corny, and other times they made good use of props. We love you sweet Henry:)

Adam D. Turns Thirty!

Today

Guinea Meister Added two new friends on "Facebook," Audrey and Whitney.



And Henry got a bloody nose from playing the Wii. And no he didn't want to quit.

What I'm Up Against

Me: Caroline, do you want me to be your soccer coach?

Caroline: No, I want to be your soccer coach! Ha ha ha. (Insert evil laugh!)


What the Kids are up Against

Henry: Why do I have to eat my peas?

Me: Because I'm a mean mom.

Henry: Why do you have to be a mean mom?

Me: Because I'm also an awesome mom, and I have to balance out my awesomeness sometimes.

BTW- I didn't do the laundry today, just to balance out my awesomeness a little more.

The 4th of July (As remembered on July 12th)

This post is to remind everyone of the fun, fast paced, fabulous life we lead at the Darowski household. What else is a blog for any way, but making your life look like the American dream. Seriously, sometimes I have blog envy. I see blogs that cleverly portray the perfect life with all the wit and charm possible, and on top of that it's all tied up with a nice photoshop bow and set to a sound track. I think, wow, their life is so good, their husband is so nice, their kids so perfect, and those outfits- where did they get them? Oh, and that cool graphic, how did they do that? I want to do that - and then I'm overwhelmed. But then I remember, their life really isn't like that all the time. They can put what ever they want on their blog, and of course, they really only pick pictures they look cute in, right? And they only share their awesome adventures. And no one titles their latest blog entry, "Today we did the laundry and it was fabulous!" Pretty much we all have our highs and lows. Blogging is a fun way to see others personalities come through, to see families celebrate, and to have a little laugh once in a while. Blogs can sometimes be like the "Family Brag Letter" we all used to get in the mail at Christmas, you know the one you and your sisters sat around the table and chuckled over. So what is my point? I don't really remember.

Oh, the 4th of July weekend. Aunt Beth helped us make our traditional "Flag Cake." We enjoyed the local parade, played the Wii- and made celebrity Miis. Went to Hawaiin Falls, and I won't mention the swimsuit incident. Enjoyed time at Darowski Beach and riding the trolley in the big "D" after visiting the children's museum.

Having Joseph, Emily, and Beth in town reminded us of nice it is to have family. It made me wish that we lived a little closer to family, especially for the kids. Now I'm aggressively recruiting family members to move to Texas.

Sometimes...

...when my mom looks out the window, she sees me sitting on the fence. I told her "I like to sit there and think." My mom and dad say it's kind of funny to just sit on a fence. They say "fence sitting" isn't the greatest quality to have, but it's o.k. for now. They even made sure it wasn't bugging the neighbors, and then explained to me that I shouldn't ask adults how old they are, especially when I'm sitting on the fence peeking into their back yard.

Troll Baby

Sometimes my family calls me "Troll Baby." I think it's because of my hair.

That's all I have to say.

Our New Puppy!

Meet our new puppy! His name is "Guinea Meister." And, he is actually a Guinea Pig, but we try to pretend he is a puppy.

Impulse buy. I wanted to make my kids happy, I wanted to be a good mom. Every kid needs a pet, right? They look happy don't they?

Three days after I bought him reality struck, and I put him on Craig's List the next day. I even found a home for him. But, alas, I couldn't do that to the kids. So now I take care of three kids and a guinea pig.

P.S. I'm offering him for a pet CO-OP, if ever your children feel like they need a pet, Guinea Meister can come stay at your house for a few days. He just sits there on your lap and makes cute noises. Even Caroline can't hurt him. He's really nice, for a small rodent.

Samantha Walks!

Over the past two weeks Samantha has become an expert walker. It is so fun to see her smiling face as she goes exploring. Here's a picture of her at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science.

(And thanks to Adam for his "snugly kitten post," it was very sweet. I appreciate him putting it all out there.)

Happy Birthday to Laurel

Guest Blogger: Adam Darowski

Today is Laurel's birthday. I won't say which one, but it is somewhere in the very low 30's. My parents and brothers and sisters have a family message board, and one of the things we'll do is each answer the same set of "get to know you" questions. The last one we did was 12 questions about high school. As a tribute to Laurel on her birthday, here are the some of the questions, and my answers, from the high school survey:

1 - What High School did you go to? I actually did my freshman year at Colonial Heights High School in Virginia (freshman went to high school there) and then my sophomore through senior years at Mountain View High School in Orem (we arrived in Utah a week or so before school started my sophomore year).

2 - What year did you graduate? 1996

3 - Did you have school spirit? Not really. I only went to a couple of football or basketball games my entire time at Mountain View. I did not go to many of the dances. I was pretty happy to leave the school each day when class ended. I did not have a letterman's jacket or any of that sort of thing. I guess you could say that I chose not to embrace the high school experience.

4 - Did you normally eat school lunch or bag lunch? My sophomore year I ate in the cafeteria. As noted above, we moved to Utah just a week or so before school started, so when school began I knew absolutely no one (other than my sister Virginia). I became very intro-verted that year and did not make many friends. I often sat alone in the cafeteria to eat (sad violin music playing the background). I loved the school cafeteria food. Loved it. Especially when they did chicken fried steak, with mashed potatoes, gravy, and roll. Absolutely delicious. I don't remember what I did junior year. Senior year (sad violin music continuing to play in the background) I stopped eating lunch altogether and spent the lunch hour in the library either doing homework or reading for pleasure. School ended at 2:10, so I could last until then without being too hungry. I would try to sit in a spot in the library where no one could see me, like I was trying to be invisible (kind of depressing to think about all of that again). Man oh man these were some awkward times.

5 - Were you considered popular? Uh, no. Please see many of my answers above. I did not make many friends and I don't keep in touch with anyone I graduated with. This was of my own doing, though, so don't feel sorry for me. I chose to be a loner and went out of my way not to know anyone.

6 - What is one of the best memories you have of high school? Well, the dark clouds described above had one very excellent silver lining. The first person I met in high school was my beautiful wife Laurel. She, a senior, and I, a sophomore. We sat next to each other in seminary class and I was completely and totally smitten by her. Like Cupid shot a bazooka into my heart. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. On the crush scale of 1 to 10, I was easily a 10. The highlight of any day was seeing her (I was a bit of a stalker back then), and, if I were lucky, talking to her. Just imagine the snuggliest scenario a kitten can be in, warm and cozy and snuggled, up, and then it closes its eyes tightly and starts to purr, as content as it could possibly be. That I what I felt like when I was around Laurel. We became friends that first semester of mine. Classes changed for the second semester, so I did not see her as much. I remember during the christmas break between that first and second semester, when I did not see her for two or three weeks, there were moments during the day when I would just ache because I missed her so much. We went on a few social outings together (I guess you could call them dates). I was completely and utterly in love with her, but I knew she was older and heading off to college, so I figured nothing would come it. Still, deep down inside my heart it never occurred to me that I would marry anyone else. And, in one of the epic love stories of all time, Laurel and I are now in our ninth year of marriage, with three kids and a lovely life together.

7 - If you could, would you do it all again? Just that first semester when I fell in love with Laurel. The rest of it was total crap.

Caroline's Father's Day Message

"Snap- Did- illy- Dee, Thanks for Fathering Me!"

After our very exciting visit from Aunt Annie and her ipod, we've decided to work on singing age appropriate songs. While we were having Father's Day dessert tonight, Caroline and I were making up silly songs, she made this one up all herself and we thought it was very sweet.

Primary Program

Raccoons and Hydrangeas

I just need to vent. Although I love living in my new house, there are two things that seem to repeatedly annoy me and both of them have to do with my back yard. First, every night around three in the morning there is a domestic disturbance between a couple of raccoons who live in the forest behind my house. It is not a pleasant noise to wake up to. It's like they are hissing at each other and screaming and it sounds like it is right next to my window. They need therapy or something. I just want to get a gun.

The second issue involves my dream of having beautiful hydrangeas to gaze upon when I look out my back windows. That dream seems to get shattered every 4-5 days. The first time it happened I was understanding. The second and third times were annoying and now I'm just ticked off. When my first hydrangea bloomed I was so excited and I couldn't wait to see what color it would turn out. Then next thing I knew, the long anticipated Hydrangea had been plucked. Caroline came up to me with it and said, "Look mom, I picked you a beautiful flower." I smiled and kindly explained that we shouldn't pick the flowers because we want them to last a long time so we can see them out our window. "But Mom, my teacher told us we should give our Mom flowers." (This was around Mother's day.)

So of course, I waited and waited for the next blooms. And just like that they were gone. Then Caroline tore the plant in half. Then this morning she picked another bloom off my second plant. (I taped the first plant back together, who knows the tape may just keep the stem intact- o.k. I'm not a plant surgeon, but it's worth a try.) I'm rambling- but I have one bloom left. One. I'll let you know how it makes out.

Who knows, the raccoons may just destroy it tonight.

Befores and Afters

Just wanted you all to know what I've been up to. I have finally emerged again after being totally consumed with redoing the house. Here's a few pictures:

Living Room Before


Living Room After





We are still working on hanging pictures and arranging the furniture. We changed the wall color from the white/pink shade to Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage. I just can't get enough of that color so I put it in the kitchen and the dining room as well. We pulled up the carpet and put in hardwood floors. The dining room is just off the living room.

Dining Room Before



Dining Room After



The Kitchen is adjacent to the dining room. We did the most work in there. Removed wallpaper, changed hardware, added new appliances, granite, and new fixtures. My back splash is my favorite part. It took me a while to find the perfect look.

Kitchen Before



Kitchen After





My Back Splash



Eventually we want to change/paint the cabinets, but for now I'm happy to be rid of the checkered wall paper.

Stay tuned.... next time, family room and master bedroom!