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.