Happy 6th Birthday Emma!

Today we celebrate Emma's 6th Birthday!!! What a wonderful day to celebrate!

When thinking about her special day, I can't help but think of her birth family in China and how I wish there was some way of letting them know the treasure she is to us. Loved beyond measure, she is! She just lights up a room when she walks in, never meets a stranger and in general just makes life fun. She has a way making just a stroll down the street fun. She skips happily along, not a care in the world - her great big smile, pretty little face and that big ol' dimple shining for the world to see. And her little hands, there's just nothing that makes my heart warmer than when she slips her little hand in mine. It just makes you feel as though all is well in the world.

Our thankfulness will never cease, we thank our God and Father for making it possible for her to be our daughter. I think of all the weird things that went wrong with the paper work for her adoption and can't help but smile knowing that all those things just had to have happened for a reason.

We love you little Emma bug. Our little peanut, sugah-lump, monkey, lou-lou, lou-la-belle ... regardless of the pet name we may use, you'll ALWAYS be our blessing!

AWANA Race

The children's AWANA group at church had their version of a pinewood derby this past weekend. This was Rebecca's first year to participate and since her favorite color is orange, Brian was sweet enough to paint her car that color. We couldn't find a hot pink paint for Emma's though so she had to settle for metallic purple. Both the girls added bling - every girl needs a blingy car!

Oh, and both girls came in 3rd in their respective divisions. Trophies subsequently had the same # on them. They were the same size. Not a single fuss or comparison from either one. Now that makes this mama happy :-)

For Today

Outside my window: It's dark and rainy, the day started out beautiful but was already clouding up by the time church was out.

I Am Thinking: Of my little Emma bug who will be turning 6 this week. It just doesn't seem possible that our fuzzy headed little dumpling is now in kindergarten, turning 6 and rolls her eyes like she's 16.

I Am Thankful For: For our wonderful friends who will be celebrating her big day with her. And for those friends who can't make it, but meet up with us for dinner to celebrate early! We've been blessed with such wonderful friendships!

From The Kitchen: Hmmm. I don't think I cooked anything this past week. But, I will be making some things for Emma's party.

I Am Wearing: black sweats, gray t-shirt.

On the 'Go Organize' Front: What's that?

I Am Going: Back to work in less that 12 hours. Why is it weekends pass by so quickly?

I Am Reading: Catching back up on magazines. It's funny, I'll be in book mode for a while, then magazine mode for a while.

I Am Hoping: The weather holds out for a cookout on Wednesday to celebrate Miz Divine's birthday. The party was originally scheduled for this past weekend but we had to cancel due to inclement weather.

I Am Praying For: My walk gets back to where it used to be. My logic tells me that when I feel separated from the love of Christ, that I'm the one who is not present ... but sometimes I have those momements where I feel as though He has left me. Needless to say, I need get back to where I was.

I Am Hearing: It's pretty quiet, 2 out of 3 kids in bed, one on the way. Brian & I will be following shortly. We're both worn out!

Around The House: House semi-picked up, at least the kitchen is clean. Laundry to put away. New toys brought in from the AWANA store tonight. Sometimes it seems like "stuff" comes in faster than we can haul other things out.

One Of My Favorite Things: Watching my kiddos interact with people at church. This a.m. I had stopped to visit with some people on our way in and then lost track of the girls. I asked Ryan where they were and he said "keep looking, they'll be easy to spot. Someone will be holding them!". How true that was, found them in the arms of a couple we adore! It makes me so happy knowing the girls are not just 'accepted' in our church, but loved and cherished.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Baseball game on Monday. A sock horse to make for the "Kid-Tucky Derby" event at Emma's school that is due on Wednesday (we need to get busy!). Emma's party Wednesday evening. Gymnastics on Thursday. Friday - crash.

Have a great week everyone!

Our Little Monkey

Not that I in any way believe in the whole Chinese zodiac thing, but interestingly enough - Emma was born in the year of the Monkey. And yes, she is quite the little monkey. This was taken during gymnastics. To give a little bit of a visual, the place she takes gymnastics is in an industrial type building so the ceiling is quite high. The rope area is built up off the ground but it's still a LONG way up to the top. Little Emma goes up that rope like it's no big deal and it just cracks me up!

They also have a climbing net over on the other side of the building and she was going up that thing when she was a little bitty chicka. Her teacher/coach would turn around to say something to another child & up the net she would go. I would bust out laughing when the coach would turn back and around, see Emma and say "Oh dear".

Believe me when I say, we've said our share of "oh dears" since the day she became ours.

All that to say, she's been a little monkey since day 1!

The Legislative Process

Some of you may remember that Ryan attended KYA (Kentucky Youth Assembly) back in the winter. It was a weekend spent learning about government and the legislative process. He had a great time! And hopefully, just hopefully he learned a little too. I was really tickled that he wanted to go, especially since he enjoys visiting state Capitols and learning the history of each one. He even has a goal of visiting all 50, not sure how we're going to make it to all of them, but we'll give it the old college try!

A few weeks ago he had the honor of serving as our local representative's personal page and it gave me the chance to have the afternoon with Ryan. We stopped and had lunch on the way, Panera to boot - just the two of us and then we even had dinner that evening - just the two of us. It was nice, getting to have him all to myself. But I digress. My plan really hadn't been to stay there at the Capitol with him all afternoon but that's what I ended up doing and I enjoyed listening to the debates going on and listening to the arguments on things I didn't even know were items on the agenda. But, the highlight of my afternoon ... well, it had to do with Ryan and a very cute little 15 year old swimmer who sat next to him in the chambers. There was some heavy duty flirting going on and it just tickled my funny bone. Here he is, there to learn about the legislative process and instead he's struttin' his 12 year old stuff and chit chatting with a cute little chicka.

I know I don't talk much about my side of the family, but my paternal grandfather was a state representative and later a state senator in my home state of Oklahoma. My cousin sent this to me not too long ago when I asked if she had any representative/alumni type photos. Unfortunately she had to scan it in in two separate pieces - but I'm thankful to get whatever I can!

So, here's Ryan's great-grandfather in a picture from 1933.

Of course I couldn't help but think back to my grandfather as I spent my afternoon in the house chambers. And I also couldn't help but wonder what is in Ryan's future? Just what is he destined to do in his future?

Have I ever mentioned how much I love that little guy?

The Bigger The Better

Since I typically share the sweet stuff here, thought I'd share a little of the 'sour' tonight.

The girls have gymnastics on Thursday nights and Emma's class isn't over until 7:30 so needless to say they are hungry little dumplings by that time. I typically stop by W*ndy's on the way for a couple of orders of the chicken nuggets to tide them over. So tonight for some reason instead of giving me two orders as I had ordered, they put all of the nuggets in one larger container. Well, that just doesn't work well for two children so I asked the chicka for an extra container. Problem solved, right? Wrong. She hands me one of the container things that is the size they use for one order of nuggets. I divided the nuggets, handed one container to one child and the other container to the other child ... how could that possibly be a problem you might ask? Well, apparently Emma noticed that Rebecca's was bigger than hers and I had to hear how unfair that was. Fo' crying out loud. Tried explaining that they had each been given the same number of nuggets and really, that's all that matters. Not sure she ever believed me, but she did drop it ... so we're going down the road, each enjoying their snack when I hear Rebecca quietly say to her sister "haha - mine is BIGGER than yours".

Ahhh, the bond of sisterhood. Need I say more.

For Today

Outside my window: It's dark and warm, beautiful day in the 'Ville! Bright sunny sky today, play time in the park for the kiddos and time to visit with a very special friend.

I Am Thinking: Of summer. Flip flops. Sunscreen. The smell of trees and fresh air. And even chlorine. Vacation to the Outer Banks in July just can't get here soon enough.

I Am Thankful For: For my sweet husband. I know I say that a lot, but I am. He's such a good guy, so fun to be with. And yes he drives me crazy at times, but I just love being with him, being married to him, heck - even hanging out in the den watching tv and surfing with him. And - he makes me laugh. A lot. He's so ornery but yet you would never really know that just to meet him.

From The Kitchen: The kitchen? Hmmm. Was craving something lemony and a buddy of mine pointed out a lemon crumb bar recipe on the PW site. Oh my my ... can you say yummy?!!! I've made 3 batches now! Also made Swiss Steak last week, not as good as my mom's but not bad.

I Am Wearing: black shorts, pink t-shirt. No socks. Now that sandal weather is upon us, I realize I need a pedicure.

On the 'Go Organize' Front: What's that?

I Am Going: Back to work in less that 12 hours. Why is it weekends pass by so quickly?

I Am Reading: Just finished "Peony In Love". Great book!

I Am Hoping: The rooms get finished, soon. Brian did work on our closet this weekend but then we said the heck w/ projects today & spent some quality time at the park.

I Am Praying For: The ability to remember to let go of those things I can't control. Trust that Our Savior is who He says He is. Know that it's all going to be okay. Remind mysef that my trust doesn't need to be in finances. Or lack thereof. And most of all, that my trust needs to be in Him and Him alone.

I Am Hearing: The floor creaking above me, which is odd ... the kiddos are supposed to be in bed. Hmm.

Around The House: Floors vacummed. Kitchen floor mopped, downstairs bathroom cleaned ... An attempt at cleaning this weekend, but still have some more laundry to put away and cleaing to do upstairs. Guess that's one of those things that's just never completely done.

One Of My Favorite Things: Watching my litte ones enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having. Watching them run and play and laugh ... makes my soul smile.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: We had somewhat of an easy week this past week with it being spring break, but back to reality this week. Brian has a deacon meeting on Monday which means I'll have to take Ryan to baseball practice. Need to get a party planned for Miz Emma's 6th birthday. Was going to have a cookout until Emma's eyes swelled almost shut from being at the park this afternoon. Bless her poor little allergic laden bones. Not really sure what plan B will be. I wouldn't mind just a small family party for her, but that's not easy to do since we do not have any family here :-( . Making a dessert for a co-workers birthday on Wednesday. Such a nice, nice man. Gymnastics for the girls on Thursday. Also need to make an eye appointment for little Bex, the Lion's club did a pre-screening type thing at her preschool and she several areas they marked as having an issue. I tried googling what the issue(s) could be, but it was way over my head. Also need to make appointments for Rebecca for OT. Found some other problems in some testing she had not too long ago. Bless her little bones too. Hopefully after getting her eyes checked and therapy started then some things will be easier/better for her.

Have a great week everyone!

Happy Easter from Our Happy Home to Yours!

Our day started with a visit from the mama-easter bunny who had left baskets for the kids. Imagine my surprise when I found out that papa-easter-bunny & ryan-easter-bunny had joined in the fun and had left something for me too. It made my day, it did!

Then off to church as normal. Thankfully I was able to catch a few pictures before church w/ them all dressed up and in brand new shoes, well - for the girls. I bought them several months ago & Emma has been sneaking hers out and wearing them. I even caught her outside the other day riding her bike in them! She loves having "heels" on!

After church we headed out to our friends house, this was our 8th year to celebrate Easter with them. Precious, precious friends who love us despite our faults and ornery kids.

Their favorite things from their Easter baskets, no - not the chocolate - FLIP FLOPS! Little Emma, bless her heart - sometimes I think she loves flip flops more than life itself. Actually she loves shoes of any type and has since the day we got home with her.

Kindness and love runs in our friend's family, Brent's mom has a yearly tradition of buying kites for all of the kids. They all enjoyed them, but Rebecca seemed to especially enjoy it.

Then the egg hunt, all I have to say about this is ... Emma is LOT like my sister Charlotte. I'll leave it at that.

What a way to end the day, enjoying a cupcake on the porch swing. Life just doesn't get any better than that!

Happy Easter my friends, hope you had a wonderful day!

Easter Egg Hunter

The girls and I had some fun this morning at an Easter Egg Hunt our church hosted for the community. We missed last year, can't remember why - but this was the first one for Miss Rebecca and she really enjoyed herself. She was one serious little girl picking up the eggs but really enjoyed the candy!

Brand New Bikinis

This past winter seemingly lasted forever and all of us were more than ready to welcome in spring. While we were in Lexington back in February I was so tired of winter that I bought sun dresses & swim suits for the girls. What better way to usher in spring?!

The girls were able to break them in at a birthday party a few weeks ago and they looked just too cute in them, well - at least in my humble opinion!



This was Emma's little boyfriend for most of the school year, but I think now he must be her best buddies boyfriend. It's a good thing they don't mind these kinds of things at their age!


Emma & her best little buddy. They are just too stinkin' cute together, one just as ornery as the other!


This past winter seemingly lasted forever and all of us were more than ready to welcome in spring. While we were in Lexington back in February I was so tired of winter that I bought sun dresses & swim suits for the girls. What better way to usher in spring?! The girls were able to break them in at a birthday party a few weeks ago and they looked just too cute in them, well - at least in my humble opinion!