Happy Easter (a little late)

We spent Easter weekend with lots of people from both sides of the family. Sunday was spent with Grammy (Hubs' mom), Shannon, and Mal. The kids woke up to Easter baskets and lots of hidden eggs in the yard. We saved the egg hunt for after church. Before we went to church, we tried to get a group picture...it was a disaster (but look at C...haha).

When Grammy walked C into his Sunday School classroom, the teacher told him that they were going to be talking about the Easter story. He kindly told her, "I already know that story from my house." Ha...I am glad that the story was already familiar to him!! The kids had a great time hunting Easter eggs after we got home. F really understood what her job was this year. She was on a mission...she would dart across the yard for one specific egg and put it in her basket. I got the cutest picture of her with her easter basket on her head.

K Bel and Hubs just walked around to cheer everyone on. They did a great job.

C and K filled their Easter baskets up quite full and enjoyed looking through their loot. We had a wonderful lunch and then packed our things up to come back home.

Spring Break

Well, it was a week ago. And I am just now getting to it, but here we go. We did a few fun things with the kids. While we were still at home, we did a lot of playing and catching up with Hubs because he was on Spring Break with us. One afternoon, we went to a bounce house place around here with Lori, Ja, and Hu. The kids had a blast!! I know this is unbelievable, but I forgot my camera. On Thursday, we headed West, where we dropped into the zoo for a while. Nana and Pops met us there for some making of a memory, and the job was well done. We have the cutest picture to prove it...

When all was said and done, the kids were worn out. Nana took the older ones into the gift shop for a little souvenier and then we were off to spend the night at Grammy's house. It was a day well spent. Thanks Nana and Pops...we love you!!

Heart of gold....

Last night before we ate dinner, C wanted to lead our prayers. He has been doing that some lately and we love it. He has said some really cute things and also some things that have blown us away. Here is the prayer from last night: Dear God, Thank you for this day. God, please help Byron and Iris get food and toys. And God, thank you for letting us go to church. And God? You know the Easter story? It is SOOO fun. The best part about Easter is that you rose again. Amen. If that doesn't touch your heart, I am not sure what will. He is so tender and sweet. I hope you all had a great Easter...I will post some pictures soon. PS. Byron and Iris are the children that we adopted through Compassion International. C prays for them daily and always wants to send them money for food, water, etc.

She grew up....

It seems like just yesterday that this young lady entered into my world. I was a young 19 year old dating a guy that I would marry one day. When I visited his home town, I met all of his family. Mal was an 8 year old strawberry blonde headed little girl with a great personality. We had lots of fun, and soon I became her aunt. Before my very eyes, she has grown into a beautiful young woman. Mallory is graduating from high school this year, and asked me to take her senior pictures. I was honored (and very nervous). But, we had a blast!!! I think they turned out fabulous....representing Mallory and the cool little town that she is from. Man...I think I feel a little old. For ten years, I have enjoyed knowing this young lady. My kids think she rocks their world...and I think she is pretty cool myself. Mal, we are proud of you, we love you, and we know that God has amazing things planned for you.

It really is sweet....

Tonight, I was able to take the time to ly down with each child in their bed and snuggle, sing, pray, and whisper with them. It was so good for my heart. These kids are nothing short of amazing. It started with F...my little stinker. We were actually in my bed because I am not sure that I would fit in her bed :). She kept whispering, "mommy" and holding out her hand. Or "give me five". Surprisingly enough, she was so still and sweet. I didn't want to let her go, but Hubs came and stole her to put her in bed.

Next, I went to K's bed. She just looked up at me and smiled. I asked if I could ly down in her bed with her and she just giggled. I am quite certain that she felt pretty important. And I know for a fact from the look in her eye, that she felt a little extra love tonight and so did I. We sang her song (each child has a song that I made up specifically about them), ABC's (with her added rendition of "I am Z" instead of Y and Z at the end), Old McDonald, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. With some hugs and kisses, I was off to my next contestant.

C was in his top bunk, so I decided not to brave that. I should have, but didn't. I stood on his bottom bunk and held him close though, and it felt good. I told him how thankful I am that he is growing into such a strong big brother and faithful young man. He just smiled...I told him I loved it when he smiles. We sang his song and he did a little dance, which made my heart dance with him. That boy...he has my heart.

K Bel needed a bottle and some love too. Her eyes were heavy and she wanted her Mommy. Hubs gave her to me and we snuggled on the couch together (since I certainly can't fit in her bed). She had a little scope of her GI system done today, so she is a little irritable and needy. I don't mind...she is so tiny and lovable. It gave us an excuse to give her some extra attention today.

I guess that just leaves my sweet husband. I feel quite certain that he would gladly let me sing him a song or two...ha. Just kidding, but I know that we are enjoying having each other around this week. We actually sat down for some lunch together by ourselves today and that was beautiful. Maybe we can do that again soon (since it is usually a year or two between those occurences).

Have a good night everyone.

Life is different...

My blogging commitment has not been very committed, eh? I could come up with a few excuses, but I won't. I do however wish my upload speed was faster so it was not such a long process.

Things are going well...well, different around here. As some of you know, J moved back with his family. He had been missing them for a while and thought that he was ready to reconnect with them. We discouraged the move, but understood and respected his decision when he chose to go anyway. Here is his 'goodbye' picture with the kids...ha.

Hubs has started working in our future hometown. Things are going well, although he is really missing his wifie and kids. We are missing him too. Hopefully the house will sell soon. We haven't had very many lookers, but I am sure it will pick up soon. It is spring break this week, so we are all together as a family. That is nice. We will head West for Easter to spend time with extended family.

I have really enjoyed spending time with the kids lately. It seems, all of the sudden, that they are growing up WAY too fast. I want them to remember all of the time that we spent together playing, reading, and enjoying the days that God has given us. One thing that C and I have been doing in preparation for Easter is studying the Easter story. We are using the neatest thing...it is called Resurrection Eggs. It is amazing to watch him have such a great interest in Jesus' sacrifice for us. His heart is really beginning to soften and seek God's will. He is growing into an amazing young man. I feel a great privelege to be his momma. Last night he prayed at the dinner table to thank God for our day and to thank God for his mommy, daddy, and sisters. I am thankful for him.

K...well, K just needs to learn to use the potty. But she doesn't want to. We might just tell her that we ran out of diapers and it is her time to shine...haha. Besides that, K makes my heart smile everyday. I love her sassy little personality.

F is doing fine. She is as naughty, but cute as ever. Her therapist has finally seen some of the behaviors that I have been describing and hopefully we will be able to help her. She is really talking a lot...and is very funny. Her biological mom has been contacted about our move but has not responded, so F will make the journey with us (not that we thought she wouldn't).

K Bel is my sweet little love muffin. She is nine months old now and getting so grown up. She is already talking...her list of words include, "mommy, daddy (addy), poo poo (ha), shoo-weee (haha), uh oh, no ma'am (poor faith hears it from everyone now), happy, owie, hi, and a few more. It is truly amazing that she is already saying all kinds of things. She is starting to move a little more with the help of her motor therapist, Ms. Linda. She just started 'army crawling' this week. Even though she seems to be getting so 'big', she still only weighs a little over 13 1/2 pounds.

We hope everyone is doing great. I am not sure how many people ever check this since I never update it, but hopefully I am documenting this circus we live in.