Camping Week Part 1

At the beginning of August, we spent 5 days camping at Devil’s Den with Jason’s parents and his Uncle Bruce and Aunt Jill. We had a great time!

These are all pictures from hanging out around the campsites.

When we first got there on Day 1, we cut into one of our watermelons that we had picked out of our garden. Unfortunately it wasn’t red! We thought surely it would be ready by then!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a little bit pink in the middle, and Rhett ate it anyways! He said it was actually pretty good.
He is so handsome! My sweet boy!

Pretty camping girl. She’s a princess, but she knows how to camp and she loves being outside and getting dirty too.

Smores! This was the first of many nights of Smores.

Rhett loves Buster, Bruce and Jill’s dog. Here they are doing a little snuggling. Rhett asks me at least once a week when we can get a dog. The most common answer is, “much later, my love.”

Me pointing out the cross. We had learned about it and went in search of it. When this wall was being built, this very rock fell on one of the workers and killed him. The fellow workers carved this cross into the rock in his memory.

We love Devil’s Den. It’s not too far, but it feels so far away when we are there. Probably mostly due to the fact that there’s no cell service!

Peace Cookies

This past weekend, I made this cookie cake for a sweet girl's 11th birthday party.

Her Mamma was sweet enough to order some individual cookies for the girls to share too!
These were really fun!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor

Our watermelons are ready!

And they are D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.

This is what we had for dessert after dinner on Thursday night.

May not have been a real smart idea.

The kids were already bathed- and then they had watermelon juice running into their armpits.

I had to rewash their upper bodies before bed!

But it was worth it! We couldn’t wait any longer!!

 

Yummy!!

First Day of School

I'm a little late-- here's the pics of the kids on their first days of the new school year.

Gracie actually started her new preschool "Kindergarten Readiness"
class full time on August 2nd.

Here she was on Day 1!
She was so excited about her school supplies!

And here's the big boys on their first day!

I have always taken them into their classes on the first day. This year, they wanted to just ride their bikes and said they'd be fine without me. I don't know what got into me, (Maybe just the sheer exhaustion of the summer and the anticipation of how much work I'd get done that day while they were at school??) but I actually agreed to it. I kind of regret it, but then again, I'm ok with it. They are growing up and they are perfectly capable of giving hugs and kisses at home and heading off to school without me. They are independent and I'm proud of them!!!
They are in 4th and 2nd grades now. All I can say is, Wow.

Time flies... I don't feel old enough to have kids that old!

Of course, Sissy wanted in on the picture taking action. She'd stand there and pose for me all day if I'd let her!

The boys are loving their new classes and teachers. They've been super excited every day so far. I hope they have their best year yet and that they learn everything they need to and have lots of fun this year!

Gracie is doing great in her class also! Hard to believe but she will be headed off to Kindergarten next year! I will have a new little one occupying my time by then, so while I'm sure I'll be sad and nostalgic on that day, I'll also still have my hands full at home.

The empty nest syndrome will be escaping me for a few more years. But in a few years when she is headed off to school... well, we'll just worry about that when the time comes. Maybe I'll be ready for the empty nest by then??

Wet N Wild Back Yard Fun

Sunday afternoon was another scorcher so Daddy and the kids decided to have some fun in the sun in the back yard and I stood on the porch to capture the moments (and stay dry at the same time!)

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

 

What a fun afternoon!!

Take a Chill Pill

Saturday night after church, we ate a quick dinner and then got in our jammies for some much needed family chill time. The favorite “chill spot” in the house is Mamma’s bed. And since that’s my favorite spot too, that’s where we landed!

As usual, Rhettster didn’t last long before he was out. Poor baby. He plays so hard that he crashes hard and fast!

Beautiful, sweet baby girl is all mine!

Gracie watched Braden play computer games.

Sweet kiddos. Sissy had a little bit of our late night ice cream snack on her face :)

I love quiet nights at home!

Kids Day Football

The boys both played Kids Day Football this year for the first time. They have had a great time and we are very glad that we were a part of it.

Here’s some pics and videos from their games.

Rhett before his first game.

Rhett being called out before the game

Go #57!! Rhett plays Defensive Line. His #1 goal was to hurt somebody. I told him that a better goal might be to hit ‘em hard and lay them on their back-- but hurting them shouldn’t be the goal. He’s a boy who likes to play rough… We’re working on it. :) He’s loving football. Getting low and having good tackling form comes natural to him. I hope he wants to stick with football!!!

Braden after his first game.

I can’t get his video to upload for some reason… :(

Go #53! Braden played on the Offensive Line. It was definitely not what he wanted to play, but we encouraged him to go out there and play hard. I can’t count the number of pep talks we gave him about the importance of the O-Line in the game of football. Before long, one of us would start the “pep-talk” and he would say, “I know, I know, the offense doesn’t score points without the Offensive Line. I know!” He played his part well and that’s all we can ask for!

Smile! You’re on candid camera!

Here’s a little video that I took when we were at the Children’s Museum of Memphis a while back. They had this neat area with a green screen and different costumes. You would show up on the tv, but you couldn’t see what was going on unless you looked up at a monitor.

Jason and Rhett were the first ones to check it out and I took this video of them on the tv. They didn’t know I was taping them!

It was too cute not to share!

Dress Raffle to support our adoption

Updated:
TYPO!
If you tried to email Angel at the hotmail address, please see revised address below.

My friend Angel makes the CUTEST little dresses. She has offered to make a dress to raffle off to help support our adoption fundraising, and I’m so excited about it!

Here is what the dress will look like. Isn’t it precious?!

If you’re the big winner, she will make the dress in whatever size you want!

These pillowcase dresses are awesome. They can be worn year ‘round. Perfect for summer, of course, but Gracie wears hers all winter long with leggings, jeans, or tights under them and a long sleeve shirt under it or a sweater on top of it. AND, they will last for years, because it can still be worn as a shirt after they outgrow wearing it as a dress. Cute clothes that can be worn year ‘round for years… that’s my kind of deal!!

How to enter:

Click on the Paypal “Donate” button on my blog. It’s super easy! You can use a credit or debit card on this secure site. (I will know your donation is for raffle tickets if it’s made between now and the end date of September 9th!)

OR

If you prefer not to use the online method, you can send money for tickets to me at:
PO Box 7202, Springdale, AR 72762

$1 gets you 1 chance. Or you can get 6 chances for $5.

I will put the tickets you buy in the drawing and will draw for the winner on September 9th! That day will mark our 1 month on the waiting list!

Please also consider supporting my friend Angel’s new business. You can contact her here:

angelweston0@gmail.com

-OR- 870-350-1549

She does great work for very reasonable prices! (Much cheaper than what I’ve found these selling for in NWA. )You won’t be disappointed! Plus, she is super sweet and you will love working with her!!

Now go buy yourself some raffle tickets!!

Thanks everyone!!!!

Waitlist, Summer Ending and Things to Come

As of 8-9-10 we are officially on the Wait list to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia!

Just as I suspected, it feels incredible. Now we are "waiting with a purpose", whereas before, we were just waiting on paperwork, etc. All of that is now done and we just wait for the day we get to see our baby girls face. It's not going to be easy. I feel like I've already been waiting for her for the 4 months we've been in the "paperwork phase" even thought we weren't on the waiting list yet. And for the 6 months or so that I was convinced this is what we were supposed to do... I waited on God to speak to my husband and bring him on board with it. ;). So, even though it's only been 3 days "officially" I feel like I've been waiting for 10 months. It's already hard... but it's going to be SO worth it.

Summer has flown by and I have mixed emotions about it coming to an end. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I'm definately ready for crisp, cool fall days. I was so ready for summer to start this year. I was really looking forward to all of the extra time I would have with all of my kids home. And I really have enjoyed it. But, all good things must come to an end and I have to confess that I'm ready for our "routine" to get back to normal as well. It's just the facts of life that I work from home, and it is REALLY hard to get any work done and keep up the house when I have my 3 little munchkins taking up all of my time and attention. It has been a good thing for sure to have them home, but Mamma's pretty frazzled by this time of the summer, so it's time.

I'm sure for the first few days, I will be moping around the quiet house feeling sorry for myself that all my babies have flown the coop again. But, once I get my nose back to the grindstone and start getting my affairs back in order, I'm sure I'll get back in the swing of things.

I do dread all the business of the school year, though. Soccer practices several nights a week, dance classes and the dreaded homework will consume me. BUT, like I did last school year, I'm going to do my very best to stay "in the moment" and focus on the positives and intentionally enjoy all the "kraziness". It's hard, but it's my life. And I love it.

Jason is going to make an extra effort this school year to be home more and be able to help me with some of the homework and practices. I hope it works out, because that would sure take some pressure off. But, the price of him getting off early is going to be us staying up late and working after the kids are in bed most nights. We have tried very hard to stop doing that, but we can't have it all... and something's gotta give somewhere, right??

Braden has his first soccer game of the season this Sunday in Tulsa. So much for spending one last lazy Summer Sunday together just lounging around. I'm sure it will be fun though!

Speaking of lounging... we are at Devil's Den this week. We got here late Monday afternoon and we are leaving tomorrow afternoon. Jason's parents are here as well as his Uncle Bruce and Aunt Jill. We are having a great time. We've spent all afternoon in the pool each day and most of the rest of the time in our campers. It's TOO HOT to do anything else! Except the afternoon softball game from 4-5. We can't miss that :)

Jason has been able to be with us most of the time and that has been AWESOME! He did have to go work a partial day on Wednesday and he was gone for 11 hours or so. And he will have to go in to work for a few hours in the morning, but he'll be back in time to help me load everything up.

My camera fell out of my camera case the first evening we were here and it's broken. Joy. I've only had it a year, and it was only purchased because my last camera bit the dust after only a year. There is no money for a new camera at this point, so thank goodness for the camera on my blackberry, I guess. I do have a nice video camera that doubles as a camera, but it's pretty bulky to carry around. It will do though. Just makes me sick to my stomach that my camera broke though. Grrrrr.

I'm missing out on pool time, as we speak and I have to cut it short today to get Braden back to town for soccer practice this evening, so I'd better get back to relaxing while I can!

New Cakes

Here's pics of the 2 cakes that I made for events this past weekend. Fun!!

50th Birthday Cake

Baby Shower Cake
(this one was made to match the party napkins)

What happens when you leave your husband alone with your children

How to attract Lemonade Stand business

Here’s the video I promised you of the little crazies trying to attract business to their lemonade stand!

Braden’s First Time Away From Home

My baby boy went away from his mamma for the longest time yet last week. He went to church camp with his BFF. He had a blast! He hopes he can go again next year.

I sent him a bag full of coins for the payphone and I never heard from him one time. Stinker!! In my mind, that meant that he was having fun and not thinking about his Mamma. Which is a good thing. I was really proud of him for being independent.

I headed out for the weekend to Higher Ground on Thursday, the day before he got back, and I didn’t get to see him until Sunday night. That was 6 1/2 days. TOO LONG for this Mamma. He looked like he had grown a foot when I saw him on Sunday!

Reason # 952,493- why I love my husband

Because he makes sure this shirt is clean so he can wear it.

Now that’s a REAL man in my book!!

I think I’m falling in love all over again…

Lemonade Stand for Sister

The boys have been BEGGING me all summer to let them have a lemonade stand to help raise money for the adoption. I finally put a date on the calendar and committed to it. It seems like every week is so busy that I couldn’t make time to help them with it. I’m so glad we did it! It was a great experience for the kids and I was so proud of them for having such big hearts.

Here’s the boys getting ready to head out on their bikes to put up fliers in the neighborhood.

 

Daddy helped Braden make the sign

Squeezing that many lemons is hard work!!

I baked over 200 homemade cookies in 5 varieties. If you didn’t get any, I have to say that you missed out. They were GOOD!!

All set up and waiting for customers

 

Customer!!!! And this customer/super cool uncle loves him some cookies, so they were in luck!!

We had a couple buddies come over to hang out and help. I’ll have to post a video of these crazies and how they were attempting to bring in business. It actually worked, though! Cutie pies!

Rhettster’s job was to pour the lemonade in the cups. He loved it! We even had sliced lemons to add to each cup of lemonade and also offered frozen strawberries and/or blueberries to be added as well. It was a hit. And SUPER delicious, if I may say so myself.

We didn’t have that many customers, but thanks to some generous donors (you know who you are, thank you!) they ended up making $65! I had LOTS of cookies left over so we brought a bucket of cookies to both our shop and Gracie’s preschool and ended up making another $20 off cookie sales! So that’s a grand total of $85!

Way to go Kids! I’m so proud that your Sister already has such a special place in your hearts! She’s going to be 1 BLESSED little girl to have two big brothers and a big sister like you.