A few Thanksgiving pictures...

Well, you will never believe but I did not take my camera for Thanksgiving lunch. So, I just have a few pictures of the kids and Mal to share and then a couple of pictures that some of the other family (thanks Glenda and Jay) took while we were there.

We were supposed to go to my birth town to spend some time with my mom's side of the family, but it snowed like 7 inches on Thanksgiving Day in Hubs' hometown. So, Thanksgiving night in birth town did not happen. I was very sad about that (and again, missed out on some picture opps). We did get to see my mom's side of the family on Friday for a little while and that was great. I am a family lover....it is so important to me for us to be with family, and I feel like we do not get to see everyone often enough. Hopefully everyone knows how much we love them!!!

We have had a very busy week...I will post about that later. Hopefully I can start keeping up with all of this a little better.

Playing Catch up...

Well, we are back home from a little mini vacation to West Texas. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing lots of friends and family. It was very relaxing for us and the kids so that was nice. I never posted before we left, so I will devote this post to pre-Thanksgiving fun and excitement.

We had our last week of football and our first week of basketball. Here is a cute picture of the kids with the best coach ever after the last football game.

Then, our sweet friend Ja had her 3rd birthday (Happy Birthday Ja). Lori (her mom) decided we should just pack up and go to the Ft. Worth zoo. It was so much fun. While we were there, the lion decided to roar a couple of times. It was absolutely amazing...his roar echoed throughout the entire zoo. I think the kids had a great time...they are like brothers and sisters since we are neighbors so they were just dragging each other around the whole time. It was great.

Then, C and I had a very special field trip with my precious student Natalie. I arranged for Natalie to have a tour around the fire station and our Safety Town the week before Thanksgiving. I decided that it would be okay to sneak C along with me because, we all know that baby is obsessed.with.fire.stations. There was something that I did not realize....the firemen planned on taking Natalie on a ride in their biggest fire engine. SOOOO...C was invited along. And oh boy, he was the most excited little man in history.

Then, we toured Safety Town, and the fireman asked C if he wanted to drive a little jeep through the town. Oh my word....now that is exciting. So, needless to say, C had a VERY special day. I loved seeing every minute of it...I hope he remembers that forever.

The kids both had Thanksgiving feasts at their school before the break. I took pictures of K's class....they were adorable. They were all pilgrims or indians...C was a pilgrim and K was an indian. Here is K ready to say prayers before lunch.

My niece, Amber turned 13 this week (Happy Birthday Amber). The kids and I headed out to my sister's house to celebrate last weekend. It was a ton of fun. The kids got to play with the horses and look at alpacas. I enjoyed taking pictures of them outside. Thanks Kim for having us over! So, I think that brings us to the Thanksgiving holiday. I will post about that in the next day or two. Hopefully you all had a blessed day with friends and family...

This is my friend Bubby, Mommy.

I don't have a picture, but I needed to journal that those words came out of the princess' mouth today. K loves her brother and he loves her for that matter, but they are not ALWAYS friends. Tonight, when they were playing together outside...she said, "this is my friend Bubby, Mommy." And at that moment, my heart was happy. Another cute moment happened this morning in the car on the way to school. C sneezed and K said, "Bless you Bubby." C said, "Thank you Sugar Bear." Ha. They really do make my day lots of fun...the little things really do matter, don't they?

Lots of questions...

Doesn't he just look like he is pondering the most important things. And...no, we don't make him mop the garage....that was his own doings. My C man is really growing up. He has been asking me a lot of questions. Just today he said, "Mommy, why do we have so many foster kids....and why are we are foster family?" Hmmm...that is a complicated answer. So, I just stuck with saying Mommy and Daddy really feel like that is a gift that God is giving us...to love other children. The other day he was listening to his Bob and Larry worship CD in the car and he said, "Mommy, what is worship?" Oh my word, son...that is a big one. I thought to myself, "God help me with this one...I need to prepare my son's heart for You." So, I answered to the best of my ability. Those are the questions that my sweet 'almost five year old' is pondering in his world. Wow....amazing. K on the other hand says "worshippy doo doo" when the CD starts playing. I think we need to start praying for that little princess people.

K has been busy too. Today, when we went to Target, she said, "Where are my Dora panties?" Hmmm...well....you don't have any. "Yes, I do," she said. Ha...So, I bought the princess some Dora panties. As soon as we got home, she wanted to wear them. Please let me tell you that she has NEVER gone tee tee on the potty. But, I will go with the flow and if she is interested, we will give it a try. She is taking a nap right now with a diaper and two pair of Dora panties on. I guess she might need an extra pair for something. That girl...she is one of a kind. The girls all wore their precious new shirts to the football game last week. My friend Laura and I got our girls black shirts and had 'go (mascot)' written in blingy (if that is a word) letters. They all looked precious. K wore a special shirt though that said. "I (heart) Rocky." Because you know she is IN.LOVE.WITH.ROCKY (the monster). I don't know if you can see the words, but here is a picture of her fancy shirt.

F started saying, "scuse-ooo (excuse you)" when someone burps, coughs, sneezes, etc. It is really funny. She is almost 18 months old and still has about 7 or 8 words, so we are going to give ECI a call. She did not qualify when she was younger, but I think it is time for some intervention. Hopefully, she will get some help soon...

K Bel is doing fine. She is lying down on the bed next to me sleeping...rotten baby. She is just so sweet. Her little smile is so contagious...all of the kids just love to be with her. And...quite frankly, I do too!! J is playing in his last footbal game tonight and will start wrestling this weekend. He is not getting much of a break, but neither is Hubs. Basketball starts tomorrow. We are excited about going to basketball games...that is always fun. I did something exciting this week...drum roll...I made home made icing for my friend Lori's birthday. I think it was pretty yummy...not perfect, but a good start. Of course, it wouldn't be true without a picture!!

Say a little prayer for us...we are having our family picture taken on Sunday. I know most of you are probably just laughing...7 people in one picture...four of which are four years old and younger. It should be interesting. This year might be a blooper photo, but that is okay with me. Just having a picture with all of us together will mean the world to me!

Trick or Treat!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great time trick or treating around the neighborhood last night with our friends. S, Ja, Hu, Hal, and all of our kids trick or treated together. It was fun stuff. Here are the pictures to prove it...

Here is a funny picture from the night that we carved the pumpkin. We decided to put K Bel inside...she is our little pumpkin!! Hope you all have a great weekend...

Long time, no seeeeeee...

Wow...I know I know. It has been a while. I just can't keep my head above water these days. Fall is settling in here and that means spring cleaning...ha! I have been gathering cool weather clothes for the munchkins and cleaning out closets and drawers of spring and summer clothes. And...that is a chore around here, friends. We are wrapping up football season and gearing up for basketball season. Football season has two games left...they have done great this season, only losing one game. I have lots of pictures from our time at one of the games. I am not sure if I have told you before, but K is in love with the mascot (she calls him 'the monster'). I mean, there is no greater love for her at this point....she spends a lot of the game waving to the mascot, yelling, "HIIII MONSTER!!!"...here is a picture of that:

She loves for the cheerleaders to take her down to the track to play with the mascot...she is just smitten for him (or her...I'm not sure about that one). Here are some pictures of Rocky (aka the monster) with some of the coach's kids (and K).

Here is how F felt about the Redhawk...

Here is a pic of the best coach ever and J...such cuties!

C has really been into football this season. He constantly plays it in the house and he wants to know if our team is winning, etc. After the game last week, C ran up to Hubs and said, "Daddy, when I grow so big, I am going to be on your football team and you can be the coach." Wow...you should have seen the smile on Hubs' face...he liked that idea!!! :)

The kids are doing good. C and K are enjoying school. I am continually amazed with their school. Our kids are loved on all day long while learning a whole new language. C has started reading and writing in Spanish...simple things, but he is just starting. He can switch gears so easily...for instance...he knows (in English) what letter words begin with, etc. Well, the other day he brought home a worksheet, and apparently he knows what letter some Spanish words start with too. I was really impressed. Then...little K got in the car the other day... I said, "K, what did you do at school today?" K said, "I eat. I sleep. I sit (she said 'sit' in spanish, i just don't know how to spell it)."

This weekend, Hubs sat down to play with some little animals with K that come in all colors (they are for sorting). She starting lining up all the 'patos' (ducks) and telling Hubs what color they were in Spanish. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! I am so glad that she is more open to speaking Spanish to us than C is/was.

And, here is my sweet little bitty girl...isn't she a doll??

Well, I have a bit of an update on F. Her mom has still chosen not to call. Whatever that means...no one knows. But, the caseworker and I talked about it last week. If F's mom does not call by early summer of next year, we are going to approach her with paperwork do start the process for the 'A' word. I don't even want to say it because it gets my hopes up. But, we will wait and see what the Lord has in store for us. But, we are not even going to worry about it right now...time is a virtue as far as a judge is concerned. It will look great that we have had her so long and it might work to our advantage if we wait until her mom has had many months to call and try to get F back....and just plain old hasn't done it. SOOO...there is the update...not much of anything, but maybe a glimpse of a plan. NOTE TO F: F, if you come back and read this someday, please know that Mommy and Daddy love you with all of our hearts. We want what is best for you. We support your birth mom in having you if that is God's will, but we also want to be your forever family if that is God's will. Baby girl...just hang tight...sometimes waiting is hard, but it will all work out.

Hmmm...well....on that note, I can't really think of anything else to say. The kids are excited about trick or treating. That is always a lot of fun. Stay tuned for pictures of Batman, a fairy princess, the bumble bee (some think of her as a wasp...ha) and the baby penguin.

Have a great week everyone!!!

Back up and runnin...

So, now, dear ones, we are back. Hmmmm...where to start? Well, this past weekend I went to Southeast Texas (my home town) for my sister, Holly's baby shower. And wait...oh yes, let me tell you. I only took K Bel with me! I know many of you are wondering what could possibly be wrong with this mother hen? I don't know...I just decided that a six hour trip with four kids was not in the forecast. So...sweet mother in law volunteered her time as grandmother hen while my mom and I headed southeast. I think all went well back here at the house. K apparently missed me more than the other kids and kinda whined periodically for her mommy. Everyone else was just fine. K Bel and I had a great time. We stayed with my mom's best friend, Susie (I consider her my other mom) and her husband. Boy, did it feel good to be there. I just love them so much (thanks guys for letting us stay). I can't believe I didn't take a picture with them for everyone to see, but hopefully I can do that soon. I did however take a picture of Tammy and Mallory (their daughter in law and grand daughter)...they really enjoyed hanging out with K Bel.

On Saturday, K Bel and I went to Holly's baby shower over in Southeast Texas. It was very nice, and we enjoyed it. I always enjoy seeing my niece H too. She is such a cool kid...

And no worries...a pic of the fam at the baby shower...

Then...K Bel and I decided to head back up to the metroplex on Sunday morning. It was a long, but uneventful drive. K Bel was an angel as always. When we got home, we received a VERY warm welcome. Even though I really enjoyed my quick trip down to Southeast, it was great to be home to see all the kiddies and the sweet Hubs. What could be more fun than coming home to a house full of sweet babies?? How about a trip to the pumpkin patch?? So...we loaded everyone up for some pumpkin fun. We have a local pumpkin patch that has a maze made of hay, hayrides, bouncy houses, and face painting. The bouncy houses and the maze were of utmost importance for our kiddos.

This week has been very busy as always. Today, K Bel had her official 4 month appointment. Our itty baby is growing up. She still only weighed 11 1/2 pounds, but looks great. She got some shots but seems to feel okay. We had a football game tonight (odd that it was on Wednesday I know), so I will shower you with photos of that in a few days. Have a great week!