Friday, August 19, 2011

It’s a proud moment for a Mamma…

My husband took this video of our children with my phone several months ago. I got a new phone and have had quite a fun time looking through all the old videos :)

Yes, that is my family. And I love them. Every silly bit of them.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

First Day of School

Well, as of this morning, my life changed pretty drastically.

ALL 3 of my precious babies are in school!!! It kind of feels like a “I’m free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!” :)
Movie reference from one of my all time favs. Think Bette and Barbara :)

It is such a parenting milestone for me. So today has already been filled with such  a variety of emotions.

Here they are—ready for their first day!!

So interesting to me how their clothing choices totally reflect their personalities. I could probably write a book about this :)

Kindergartener

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3rd grader

5th grader

I woke him up and said, “Are you ready for your last first day of elementary school??” He smiled :)
He’s so ready to be the BMOC. He is so excited and anxious to sign up for the Principal’s school leadership team, science projects and all of the other awesome stuff the 5th grader’s get to do.  He’s been chomping at the bit for school to start since school got out in June!

Here’s my baby girl, at her desk, ready for her first day!
She did so great and was so excited to be there!


I was a little apprehensive this morning because last night when we were saying bedtime prayers, Gracie prayed for God to
“take her nervous away”. She has been so ready and excited to go, but she realized last night that she was feeling a little nervous.
She woke up this morning and never mentioned anything about being nervous, but she was awfully quiet as we were walking to school and to her classroom.

Her little friend Kasey’s mom, (and my friend) Katt, took the girls to get their nails painted yesterday. While they were there, Gracie met the owner’s daughter and found out they were going to be in the same class.
When we got there this morning, that little girl’s desk was right next to Gracie’s!! When she saw a sort of familiar face, she seemed to relax right away.
God is so good!

 
Rhett and I had already said our goodbyes in the hallway and he said I didn’t need to walk him to his class. Well, his Daddy was able to show up after that and he wanted to go and wish him well. As Jason and I were walking down the hall, we heard what sounded like a party! We walked into the room, and they were all wearing party hats and blowing noise makers.

I was happy to see Rhett was sitting across from one of his friends from last year’s class and he had a smile on his face. What a great start to 3rd grade! This is such an answer to prayer!

After I snapped this picture of  him and his teacher, I said my good-byes and I had to walk out… I felt tears welling up in my eyes. (here we go again…. as I type this… Kleenex, please.)

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How weird is it that I was COMPLETELY fine leaving my little “just turned 5 baby kindergartener” out in the big bad world, but I couldn’t hardly hold it together to leave him there.

This sweet boy is the subject of most of my middle of the night prayers, he’s on my heart almost constantly, he is the one who struggles more in school, the one who hasn’t yet to have the “light come on” to love school, reading, etc. Anything pertaining to school has been more of a struggle for him through the years. If I could’ve bottled up all the tears we’ve cried over homework in the last few years… they would certainly fill gallon jugs.

I’ve been praying all summer that THIS would be HIS year. That he would begin to embrace it as a good experience and that he would not have to struggle as much.

Leaving was hard as I thought about all these emotions, but it was also easy because I know God is faithful and he hears our prayers. The tears were also ones of joy because to see him “partying” and leaving him with a smile on his face just felt like Jesus giving me a big ole’ hug and hearing him say, “It’s ok. I’m here. He’s going to be ok.”

I have one, and only one, year where all 3 of them will be in the same school. What a sweet blessing!

I can’t wait till the end of the day so I can hear all of their stories!!!

I am such a blessed woman.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Devils Den Camping Trip

Recently, we spent the weekend at Devil’s Den. We had a great time, as usual! We spent time relaxing, playing, and swimming too. Here’s some pictures!

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First time down the slide!

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Somebody’s about to get dunked…

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Swimmin’ Hole

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A friend came by the say Hi while I was watching the family swim.

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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

1 year

1 year ago today, we were placed on the official waiting list in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a little girl.

On that day, 8-9-10, I never thought we'd still be waiting today. I even had the audacity to believe that we might even have her home by today... The average timelines were much different a year ago than they are today.

My heart has ached for her for almost 2 years now- ever since God placed in me the desire to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia.

I'm thankful to have the love, support and encouragement from so many family and friends throughout this process. Most of all, I'm thankful for any prayer that is lifted on behalf of our family and especially our daughter.

Please join us in praying for her. I've said it before, but we love her so much already. There is a void in our hearts that only she will be able to fill.

Please pray that NO advances by the enemy to prevent her from having a family to love her will prevail.

We would also appreciate any prayers you would send up for our family as we wait. Pray that we will not be discouraged as we wait and that we would trust in God daily to carry out the plan that he has for us in this process.

We are still believing Him for a miracle in bringing us together!!! He IS able. Nothing is too big for HIM!!! I believe that with all of my heart.

Thank you so much for joining us in prayer! It means more to us than I could ever express.

I absolutely cannot wait to be able to share some good news with you all!!!

Until then, I guess I'm off to wait some more :) I'm getting pretty good at it by now.....


Monday, August 8, 2011

Fancy Princess Birthday Tea party

For Gracie’s birthday party with her friends, we hosted a fancy princess birthday tea party.

Fancy Chandelier

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I draped some fabric and ribbons around the room.

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Rhett met each princess at the door, gave her a pink rose and escorted her to the table.

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He was also their server for the evening.

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Course 1: Fruit
Course 2: Soup
Course 3: Mac and Cheese
Course 4: Finger Sandwiches
Course 5: Cake

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Fruit Course

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Gracie enjoying her soup course. Chicken and Stars, of course!

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Cake time!

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I took a little video to help us remember the day.

Group picture after dinner. Meghan and I dressed up fancy as well. It was so fun!

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After dinner,it was DANCE PARTY TIME!

Introducing… DJ Big B!!

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The girls busted out all of their best moves while DJ Big B kept the tunes flowing!

Here’s Gracie doing the robot :)

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They made flower headbands and necklaces after the dance party.

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Sweet Princesses

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Can’t believe our little princess is already 5!!