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!

hmmmm.

Well, I tried to post yesterday and today, but the website is not allowing me to upload pictures. That's no fun, so I will keep trying. Maybe later today it will be up and running properly. So...hang in there all ye internets...we will be back soon!! :)

We still love the Horns!!

Isn't this a sweet picture? I have no idea who this little girl is, but she and K played so sweetly together for a moment at the soccer game. I think they were talking about the game...well, maybe not.

Speaking of games, our friend Craig to spend the night on Friday night before the OU game on Saturday. It was great to have him here. He and Hubs grew up in West Texas together, were room mates in college together, and they still try to see each other as much as possible. He was a real trooper and went to C's 8am soccer game on Saturday morning.

And...I finally took a couple of pictures, but not any good action shots. I will work on that again this weekend. This wasn't a great game for it...I was visiting with Craig and chasing the other kids.

On Saturday morning after C's game, we were all pretty sleepy, so we just relaxed and did some painting. The kids had a great time painting some little sun catchers and I had a great time pitching in.

We relaxed on Saturday afternoon and watched the TX OU game (Hubs went with Craig). Then, my friend Kerith called in desperate need of a babysitter for her kids for the night. Well, what's three more kids around this circus?? So, I told her to bring them all over...we had a great time. The kids played great together. Here is a picture of everyone except her baby, J, and K Bel.

F had a great time with everyone too...but here is a picture that will just help you understand a typical moment in F's world. She is acting like a nut in this picture but only moments before this, she was screaming her head off about something. Notice the tears on this silly girl's face.

So, here is F with a bow in her hair...I just don't know...maybe I am stretching it. I think it might be a little early, but as you can tell, this girl has no hair on top. We will keep trying...I can't wait for it to get longer. Any word from her mom you ask? Nope....and that is just fine! :)

Sweet K Bel was a busy girl last week. She started rolling over, so of course I had my camera ready and caught her in action.

She will be four months this week. She weighs 11 1/2 pounds...so little. But, to me she is so big and it is so hard to watch her grow up. She is such a little love. We are blessed with such a great gift in parenthood. I wonder sometimes...am I taking this for granted? Am I playing enough games of Candy Land, reading enough books, playing baby dolls and dollhouse enough, and kicking the soccer ball enough? God gave Hubs and me something so special and I want to glorify him in my parenting...is that what I am doing? I don't know...but I know that God is using my kids to work in my heart and bless my socks off. ANYWAY...here is baby K Bel covering her sweet face while she sleeps and sitting up like a big girl again.

And I found K in my bed the other day snuggling up with her horsey!!! She is so cute...

Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh...

BATMAN!!! He was here the other day reading some books in C's top bunk. You will get to see more around Halloween... Well, I am sure you are all anxiously awaiting an update on J. Things are going really well. He is very sweet and has been very thankful for everything that so many people have done for him. I mean, he even took the trash out last night and I didn't even ask. He even makes his bed everyday...yikes!! :) The kids are really enjoying having him around as well. On Friday, J and C played tag in the backyard for about an hour. I felt bad for J, but he said he didn't mind... And here is a picture of K Bel with J. Speaking of K Bel, she had her picture taken a lot this week. It seems like she really grew up or something. She has been cooing for a while, but this week, she started really getting after it. She has had some very serious conversations especially with her monkey... She is still not a real big fan of tummy time...she would rather rest her head. So, I propped her up yesterday on this thing and she looked around for a minute and then she....yep, rested her head... AND....look how big. K Bel is sitting in one of those bumbo seats and she LOVES it. She is not strong enough to stay there too long, but she loves being able to sit up and see all around her. The kids really think it is funny to see her sitting up. I think it makes me sad that she is growing up so fast. Speaking of growing up, F has really changed in the past week. Behavior, you say? Oh NO...she is still bad to the bone :) ! But, she will walk up to me and say Mama Mama and reach her hands up!! That is huge. And....last night she walked up to Hubs and said Daaaaaada while she was hanging on his legs after he got home. Hmmmm....this makes it so much harder to think of what might be to come. uggg. But, don't worry...the only picture I have of her this week is when she ate some dirt out of the tractor in the back yard. That helps bring me back to reality :) !! That girl...gotta love her! Hubs had a 'bye' week (no game) last week, so this weekend he didn't have to work quite as much. It was really nice having him home. We miss him so much during football season. This week is forthcoming (that is what homecoming is called before you actually have graduated seniors that can come HOME for homecoming...get it?). So, it is a big game. J is number 71 I think...so maybe we need to make shirts with his number painted on the back of them...ha...just kidding. Although he said he would like that, I am afraid he is just being nice! :) But, back to Hubs and the weekend....here is a cute picture of Hubs, C, and K Bel... OH and don't let me forget to tell you about K and her nap mat. Oh my....I have never seen such an obsession in my entire life. We need about three of them. She has to take it to school with her for rest time. But she also believes that she has to take it to bed with her for night time and nap time and don't worry....she gets it out of her bed in between those times to keep it out on the living room floor. Here she is patting her nap mat and saying....'i love my nap mat'. Last but certainly not least, my very sweet friend Betsy came over for a playdate last week. We had a lot of fun. She kept the girls for me last year when I would go to work. She was also my assistant when I taught full time. I LOVE her!! She just had a baby about six weeks ago, so she came to show him off. Kynlee wanted to hold him and kiss him of course. And Coburn (her 2 year old) went straight for the toys. We had a great time with them and it was great to see them. Have a great week everyone... PS....I am getting so old. I am gearing up for my 10 year reunion. I helped with a phone blitz to old classmates yesterday and it was so weird. Wow...so much has changed. Four classmates have passed away and so many are left to 'find'. But, on the good side...so many of us are still great friends and keep in touch. We are having our reunion in November. I am still deciding if I should go...hmmmm....