Today my kids and thousands of others went back to school! Our two oldest are both at the same college this year! Tyler is majoring in education and Brielle in nursing. Lacey started the 8th grade at a very non-traditional school this year. Her new school focuses on experiential learning. We are very excited for her as traditional school wasn't her cup of tea! Now she will be given the opportunity to travel all over the world as part of her studies while addressing all areas of growth and learning! Our youngest is of course still in Haiti. It was sad today as I watched the Kindergarten parents drop off their children right across from my classroom, I was supposed to be one of those parents! Morelson should have been taken to the store with a school supply list in hand, excited to fill the cart with crayons, glue and a new backpack! Instead he continues to wait for us at his orphanage. I know he doesn't really know anything different, but this boy was taken to the orphanage over 3 years ago and as only left for a total of about 18 days during our four visits to Haiti! He doesn't have school outside of the orphanage to look forward to each day, or trips to the park, ice cream store, or museum. He remains within the same four walls day in and day out, waiting for these people that have told him are his forever family. It puts things in perspective doesn't it? I complain when the line at Starbucks is too long, or they get my order wrong at the restaurant or my favorite tv show doesn't air due to a news special.

The biggest lessons we learn don't come from those taught at school. Of course school is valuable, as knowledge is power, but Morelson has taught all of us more than we could have ever imagined and he hasn't even stepped foot in our house!

We love you sweetheart, miss you and ache for you. What a happy day when you are standing at that classroom door, backpack on and smiling that Haitian smile as your mommy is crying with joy!

WOW! We just received our first Granny Bin monthly picture report for Morelson, I know I am seriously bias, but is this boy handsome or what?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

AFTERBIRTH FOR DINNER. YES I AM DISTURBED.

As I was laying in bed this morning, my husband was drinking his morning coffee, eating his weekday bowl of cereal and reading the grossest thing under the sun! What's worse is that before leaving our home for a week of out of town business he decides to share this disgusting article with me as I enjoy having the bed to myself!

SO............ Here goes I'm now passing the grossness on to you all!

The July 13th, 2009 issue of Time Magazine as seen here, contains possibly the nastiest thing I have ever heard of! Maybe this is not news to all of you, but it is to me. I consider myself fairly forward thinking and moving, I am totally okay with most "hip" ideas even if they are too hip for me, I figure they are bound to sit right with someone out there! But this is just weird! So weird in fact that when I Goggled it guess who's name came up? No, not Michael Jackson (good guess though) go with your second strangest person... Tom Cruise!

Here goes- the author of the article Joel Stein explains how his wife Cassandra fills him in on the fact that she will be keeping her placenta, placing it on ice, having it delivered to her house and later cooked up and turned into pills! I am SOOOO not kidding, this is true, it's in Time Magazine folks, not The Enquirer, and it's being said by a reputable journalist that writes weekly for this well respected publication!

For $275 Joel and his wife have a woman in their home cooking up the placenta, freeze drying it and then turning it into capsules that are said to ward off postpartum depression and increase milk supply! He goes on to say that "placenta lady" got into cooking placenta after taking a Chinese medicine course and has "prepared" two dozen placentas this year! Some of the 120 pills that come of this "placenta lady" states could even be frozen and used by Cassandra during menopause!

The next day "placenta lady" pulls off a beautiful placenta presentation for the new parents complete with a pretty glass jar, a card, a CD full of lullabies and a satin pouch containing a part of their son's umbilical cord!

I'm ALL for curbing postpartum depression, even increasing milk supply, and of course warding off the horrors of menopause! Yikes, I guess I am not hip enough to do it this way however; and am now SO thankful that my fourth and final child comes to me through the beauty of adoption and not with a placenta attached that I might get talked into eating!! GROSS!!

Children living with no clean drinking water or sewer system!

Ladies selling mud pies to those needing ANYTHING in order to stay alive!

MANY HAITIANS DIE WHEN THEIR BOAT SINKS TRYING TO MAKE IT TO A MORE PROMISING LAND!

Sadly many Haitians lost their lives trying to put the pictures you see above behind them! You can see the story and video here! This post isn't to depress you, or guilt you into helping, it's simply to make you aware. Aware of the fact that millions of people in Haiti every single day live with EXTREME poverty, poverty that is impossible for most of us to wrap our brains around. The kind of poverty that sends you to bed hungry, that doesn't allow for medical care, that keeps your children from becoming educated and strips you of any kind of human dignity!

The people that lost their fight for survival on that boat were simply trying to find hope. The kind of hope that would bring them work. Work where they could make enough money to feed their family and possibly give their children a chance for a better future. The hope that maybe they too could go see a doctor when they are sick, or live in a home that provides shelter from the elements. And maybe they even DREAM BIG, something like the picture below. Maybe they dream about having a piece of something we all have. A safe home, food on our table, educated children and hope for a bright future!

IF ONLY THEY TOO COULD HAVE THIS! IF ONLY!

ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY!

PUTTING THE SECRETS OF SIMPLICITY TO WORK!

As some of you may remember I am working on simplifying my life. I blogged a while back about how Target is a strange "fix" for me. I go there, get a Starbucks, grab a cart and begin loading it with needless items for some kind of unhealthy and unexplainable "high." I've been reading Secrets of Simplicity and actually put some of my training into action today! My friend Kendra told me how she started going to Target w/ cash only, no debit cards, credit cards, or checks in sight! I tried it for myself today, and low and behold, I'm still here to talk about it! It didn't send me to an early grave, or even give me near the anxiety I had anticipated.

I left my house with my list, my list contained only 5 items. Part of me did really debate if it were worth going to Target for only 5 items. After some thought about having to actually wash the dishes by hand if I didn't get dishwasher detergent I quickly decided a trip was most definitely in order!

I CAN'T lie, I did get a Starbucks, I actually didn't even tell my self I wouldn't since there is only SO much one trying to recover shop- aholic can pull of at any one time!! But I did leave my house w/o a debit card, or check book (we do NOT use credit cards, and haven't for more than a year now!) I stood in line for my coffee and thought about how quick my trip to the store was going to be today. I also realized I didn't even need a cart! That was a strange feeling to me, as I am very accustomed to getting the cart, moving slowly through the aisles and loading various non essentials into it. I grabbed a basket for what I believe really has to be the first time! It could not have taken me more than 7 minutes to get my 5 items and be standing in line. Goodness, I think I had only taken a sip or two of my coffee. Another "aaahhh" moment came over me! If I continue to go to Target w/ a list, and only cash to spend, why would I waste my money and precious calories on a Starbucks coffee? I don't even get the satisfaction of drinking it so, so slowly as I ponder what foolish item to put into my cart next??

I CAN NOW GO TO TARGET WITHOUT GETTING A COFFEE! People this is huge!

THANK YOU KENDRA! Now that I have blogged this, I must keep it up, here is hoping Target trip #2 w/ cash goes as well as trip #1!

Read more about CNN's Black in America 2. CNN will present tonight & tomorrow night it's second part to the documentary done by Soledad O'Brien on being black in America.

I encourage you all to tune in, as "this is not programming for black Americans, this is programming for all Americans!"

There are ill's in today's society from disease, to lack of education, to marital woes, to crime. And while these things are disproportionately experienced by black's in America, they are by NO means a uniquely black problem. These are all very real American problems!

While this programming focuses on blacks, I hope that we can all see our roles in changing the direction of America. It's yet another reminder that we are truly in this together, as we are ALL American's and regardless of our skin color, we need to present a united front. No matter where we came from or how we got to where we are, or where we still need to go, the fight to conquer today's issues needs to remain "all American!" It's clear to most of us already and if it isn't this documentary will help you see that life in America has certainly not been fair or easy for black's. But life in America is changing for ALL of us, and those of us that are from the white privileged set are now realizing what so many others have already known for so long! There is of course no easy answer, but uniting, rather than continuing to separate has to be more right than wrong!

Crested Butte, Colorado is laidback, rugged and simply beautiful!

We just got back from spending a few glorious days in Crested Butte. According to us there is no better place in the entire state! Crested Butte which is located in the South Central Rockies remains one of the most historically authentic and captivating ski/summer fun towns in Colorado! The small downtown which is a national historic district just oozes charm, with not a single chain store in sight! The number of excellent restaurants is very disproportionate to it's population! While here we always enjoy a few "bests!" The best pizza, the best coffee, the best views, the best outdoor exercise and the VERY BEST OF ALL.. the best nothing to do; but soak it all up!!!

Yes the town does get it's influx of "I have way too much money and I want everyone to know it" type, but somehow they just can't take away from the "I love nature, insanely hard mountain bike trails, restaurants with weird themes, yet great beer & living life to it's fullest type!! The Butte is hip and hippie all rolled into one outstanding package of glorious beauty and acceptance! We love Crested Butte in the winter for it's amazing skiing on a mountain that has something to offer all types of abilities, that never seems to be over crowded or infused with the fur wearing type. We love the snow, more snow and "oh my gosh it's snowing again" factor! We love Crested Butte in the summer for it's bike trails, hiking trails, incredibly warm, with only a light breeze, no bugs in sight evenings. In general we just love the fact that the locals ride their single speed "townies" everywhere. They ride them in the rain, the snow, the sunshine of course and to pick up several lattes for friends from Camp 4 Coffee! We love the idea of allowing our kids to "roam" the town. Really there is nothing that could go very wrong in this place. Hand them some money, or better yet just let them tell the folks at Camp 4 Coffee that mom and dad will be by later to settle up for the hot chocolates they ordered (yes you can really do that here!) It's an all American small town with a heartbeat and zest for life big enough to keep any world traveler happy, engaged, full on good food & drinks and certainly plotting to do it all again!