Hunter Family

The Hunter Fam

2011-12-13T15:48:00.000-05:00

So now I remember why I quit blogging ... something happened with the picture upload process such that portrait pictures upload in landscape & you can not rotate them. Sigh. Portrait seems to be my favorite way to shoot & so it was just confounded aggravating to me. Apparently you can upload to picasa web albums and then port over & it's fine ... but that's several steps.

Okay, so now that I've complained - here's a family picture. Hard to believe we have been home with Rebecca since January 2009 & this is our first family picture with her. Okay, I'll admit it - I have issues being on the other side of that lense - but still, that's kinda sad!

MIA

2011-12-12T16:16:00.000-05:00

Goodness, how do you start back blogging when you've been Missing In Action for so long now? I've had several people ask me & to be honest - life has just been crazy for us lately and I really haven't felt like I had much to add of value for anyone. Now how does that sound for pitiful?!

Also, I do not like blogging w/out pictures and the last time I had tried to add pictures there was something weird going on with blogger & I got terribly frustrated.

With that said - I'll try to do better :-)

So what's been going on w/ us since August/September time frame.

Ryan: Has realized he has a love & passion for cross country running. Some of those meets were captured here ... or maybe it was just one??? But all of those were captured on Facebook. Yes, I'll admit I'm a proud mama. He did extremely well for his first season, but foremost - he enjoyed it and really that's all I want for any of my kids is for them to enjoy that which they do. He also played fall baseball and again, I have about a bazillion pictures of that too. Basketball has started for winter but most likely you'll be spared the pictures. For one I get too excited about the games to actually be able to concentrate on taking pictures and two - I just have issues it seems trying to take any inside shots.

Emma: This little dumpling moved up to the first level of competition in gymnastics and had her very first meet this past weekend. I'll try to upload pictures of that - it was adorable! Again, not a proud mama one iota. January & February weekends will be full with more meets. Looks like we'll be traveling to Indianapolis, IN and Knoxville, TN but the other meets will be a little closer to home. Did I mention she looks adorable in her little competition leotard? She does :-)

Rebecca: Is absolutely LOVING being in Kindergarten. Loves her teacher (who is AWESOME I might add), loves her friends and is so tickled about learning! Right now she's not in any extracurricular activities other than AWANA at church - but I think she's happier that way anyway.

Other than kiddos, we were able to go to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving & one evening we were able to have a get together with a lot of the cousins from my dad's side of the family & it was a lot of fun! I was also able to catch up with a childhood friend who was like a brother to me - very enjoyable trip!

So, there it is in a nutshell - we pretty much meet ourselves coming and going.

Promise to post pix soon!

Favorite Photo Friday

2011-09-16T13:06:00.000-05:00

With summer winding down, the cooler weather moving in and the first few leaves that have been falling - I can't help but go back and look at some of the pictures from this summer. I know I drive my friends and family crazy with snapping photos but I love pictures. So many feelings and emotions are brought back from some of these.

With that said, this picture tickles me to the core of my soul in so many ways. First, Ryan & Emma have such a unique relationship and they are alike in several ways. He loves the rough and tumble play and she enjoys receiving it as much as he loves dishing it out. Secondly, Ryan has finally discovered that having an adorable spunky little sister can work to his advantage in, umm ... how do I say this, in certain "situations". Which typically means if there are cute little teen chickas around then Emma is going to somehow be involved in something! Thirdly, Emma has the ability to even look graceful being tossed in the pool. Please tell me all these gymnastics lessons are going to bring more value to her life than making her look cute flying toward the water!

Something New for Ryan

2011-09-13T20:42:00.001-05:00

If you've been a reader on here for a while, you know we're one busy family with kids & their sports. Ryan plays two seasons of baseball and then plays basketball in the winter. He tried soccer once when he was little but it was the year we moved here and he was one sick little boy due to allergies and that season did not go well. He started playing t-ball when he was either 3 or 4, I'm not sure which. He also played flag football for several years as well. This year he is trying something new & so far loves it - running cross country! And me, I've seen as many baseball games as I really care to see and am totally loving this cross country thing! So far he has had two races, ran 41st out of 350 on his first race and then ran 17th in his race this past weekend.

Back To School

2011-09-12T20:39:00.000-05:00

Like a month late ... again, I'm behind on this blessed blog o' mine.

Life just gets in the way of blogging sometimes.

So, school started - almost a month ago. This year sees my baby girl Rebecca off to Kindergarten, Emma to 2nd grade and Ryan into 8th. I still can't believe my last has started school and yes, it's been a bittersweet time for me. She's outgrowing some of her little girl things but thankfully she was ready & happy for school to start. Getting to ride the bus with Emma was a HUGE thing for her and each day since has been a happy day for her & she is enjoying learning all the new songs and words.

Oh, and Rebecca's buddy "Flat Norah" saw her off to school too. "Flat Norah" came to visit from The Netherlands earlier this year & my intention was to take her to visit a lot of sites - but a broken wrist put a slight damper on that. Norah is one of the little girls that lived at the Starfish Home with Rebecca & her mom sent me several pictures of Rebecca when they were there adopting their daughter.

Speaking of the Starfish Home, I bought Rebecca's shirt back earlier in the year as a reminder of her time at the Starfish Home. In retrospect, I wish I had bought several for all of her little Starfish buddies. By the time I thought of it though the line had already sold out. :-(

Sweet sisters!

And then there's Ryan who thinks he is too big for me to take his picture getting on the bus. This was as close as I could get to getting a 'back to school' shot of him. What's with these teenagers and getting their pictures made? One day they're saying "LOOK MOM - TAKE MY PICTURE!" then before you know it they see the camera come out and they duck and hide. I don't get it.

Happy back to school!

Favorite Photo Friday

2011-09-09T07:28:00.000-05:00

My blog buddy Lisa is changing things up a little on her side and has added a new fun thing - "Favorite Photo Friday" .. and since my blog has been rather stale lately, I think I'll join in on the fun!

This picture was taken back in the summer while we were on vacation and to me just sums up their little personalities. Emma is the one always looking for fun and is as mischievous as they come. Little Rebecca is much more reserved when around other people, but can be just as silly as Emma at times too. But oh how she loves her big sister and loves it when Emma hugs her up tight ... even if it does tickle just a tad.

Hop on over & check out some other favorites!

Sweet Sweet Summertime

2011-08-11T13:37:00.001-05:00

Well, it looks like summer is coming to a close for us. School starts back next week and with that there will be a few new additions to our already busy schedule. Ryan is running cross country this year and has already been in training the past month or so. Emma is moving up to level 3 in gymnastics which means an additional 3 hour practice each week and that she will be participating in meets. Of course as luck would have it, Ryan's meets are on Saturdays which is the same day as Emma's second practice. I joked on facebook the other night that we will be "meeting" ourselves coming and going. haha!

So, we'll be busy these next few days trying to get in as many of the 'sweet sweet summertime' fun things that we enjoy so.

For the girls, that just so happens to be watermelon.

Happy Thursday!

A Laid Back Vacation

2011-08-01T20:16:00.000-05:00

Vacations are important to our family, seems like whether it's a year of feast or famine we get in one kind of vacation or another. A few years ago Ryan had set a goal of visiting all 50 state capitols and so we started trying to schedule our vacations in different areas so we could fit in a few visits. Prior to that we had pretty much just always gone to the beach, but we had gotten a little tired of the same ol' thing so the state capitol tour was a good diversion. However, my family let me know this past year that they were tired of these 'on the go' vacations and went so far as to accuse me of 'force marching' them. Now that's what every mother wants to be known for - 'force marching'. Ryan lobbied very hard for the beach and so the beach it was.

So our vacation this year did not include a single trip to a state capitol - although I did try to get one in while heading down there, but it wasn't open on Saturdays. But our vacation did consist of:

Sleeping in
Swimming in the ocean
Playing in the sand
Staring at the colorful beach umbrellas
Taking a nap or two out by the ocean
Drinking coffee and watching the dolphins swim by
Swimming in the pool
Back to the beach
Back to the pool
A trip to Lambert's where they throw these huge rolls to you - lots of fun!
Ryan spent quite a bit of time just swinging in a porch swing that overlooked the ocean - and making new friends.
A requisite trip to drive go karts
And last but not least, eating our fill of seafood

All in all ... it was pretty darn relaxing! We just might have to do this again next year.

My Sweet Family

2011-07-31T15:10:00.000-05:00

Banana Boat Time

2011-07-29T09:25:00.000-05:00

This so far has been Emma & Ryan's favorite beach activity!

Greetings From Gulf Shores Alabama!

2011-07-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

They may not always go along with my plan ... but I sho' love my kiddos!

Plan Vs Actual, Part II

2011-07-26T20:32:00.000-05:00

I was in such a hurry the other day that I left out several points of interest.

When I mentioned the sticky notes, what I left out is the fact that I had loaded up my iphone with some of Brian's favorite music and even drove so he could zone out, enjoy the trip & listen to some ol' tunes. So he totally missed the brouhaha over the sticky notes.
I mentioned stopping not too far out of town, which really messed up my gas-fillup plan. So by the time we do finally REALLY need to stop, Rebecca is snoozing away. One thing we've learned from experience that a Rebecca that awakens on her own is a little angel from heaven. A Rebecca that we've woken up is a little ... well, let's just say there's pouting, fussing and leg kicking. It's not pretty. Brian has a term for her in that mood "snarl-puss". So about the time the red light is about to come on little sweet Rebecca wakes up - so it's time to get gas. But my "plan" involves only stopping at certain kinds of places for gas and those certain kinds of places HAVE to be on the same side of the highway we're traveling down. A little OCD, maybe. But by this point we couldn't be choosy and we were left with two options. One was a run down truck stop that was right beside the "Pine Wood Spa" which was a "spa" in a metal barn. Can't say that I've ever seen a spa on the side of the hwy in a building like that! No, we didn't stop. Which left our only other choice as a tad bit less sleazy of a gas station. I take the girls to the bathroom and it has vending machines ... Emma reads them and as she's reading "red hot love potion" and the like she asks "Mama, what's that?". Better ask yo' papa.

Thankfully the beach is making up for that road trip!

Plan Vs Actual

2011-07-24T13:22:00.000-05:00

When it comes to traveling, I have a precise way I like to do things. From packing the suitcases to packing the van ... to what is w/in arms reach of the van - and what's not ... I've got my way. And it's the best way. Haha.

But what's the saying, something about the best made plans? The funny thing is - as much as I have a plan - I have 4 others who don't always go along with it.

Here's some examples.

The plan - the van is full when we leave so that we can get several hours down the road before we have to stop. Actual - Just about an hour of town we have to stop because someone I know and love had several cups of coffee before we left.
The plan - I pack a cute little carrier with healthy snacks. The main reason is financial - so that we do not end up buying things at every stop. Actual - First stop, Brian buys coffee and the kids declare it's not fair so we end up with beef jerky and chips. Those chips go well with a just vaccummed van.
The plan - a dollar store bag of goodies so that when the little ones get restless I can pull something out of my bag of tricks and that will buy another hour or so of peace. Actual - silly me bought one package of sticky notes thinking of how much fun they would have with them. Did I mention the one package was $1? After them arguing over who got what for 10 minutes I was kicking myself for not buying another set. Heck, as aggravated as I was I was wishing I had bought every pack of stickies they had.

I think the picture is clear so I'll stop there :-) So very thankful when I get the hotel in my sight!

A Helping Hand's Annual Family Picnic

2011-07-21T13:47:00.001-05:00

Our adoption agency hosts an annual family picnic which we've unfortunately missed the past year or so. Thankfully though, we were able to go this year and had the best time! There were only a few families from our first travel group but since then we have made friends with some other families - so in a way it was almost like a family reunion. The girls had a blast playing with their friends from China ... and me, well - I got a little misty eyed thinking of the girls from our first travel group and how Emma has "known" them even before she became our daughter. It just further instilled in me how important it is that or Lianjiang daughters have a life long bond.

Susan was our travel guide with Rebecca's adoption. In fact, the area we traveled to was her hometown! While we were there we were blessed to enjoy some homemade dumplings that her mom sent to us at the hotel. Best I've ever had!

Emma and Kate - We sat close to her parents on the trip to China and then became good friends too.

Emma, Sheridan & Mattie Grace - our little "Lianjiang Sisters"

Emma & Rebecca with Jenna - the daughter of a local family we met while waiting on Rebecca's adoption. Neat thing with this friendship is that they are in the process of adopting again and their new daughter is from the same orphanage Emma was in. How cool is that?!!!

And just for fun - this picture was taken at the very first AHH Family Picnic we attended which was just about a month after we had gotten home with Emma. She was blowing kisses already!

Red Orchard Park

2011-07-20T08:15:00.001-05:00

A photog friend of mine recently purchased a new macro lens and brought it in for me to try out ... I'm always on the ready to take pictures so we headed off to Red Orchard Park for some photo fun!

Girlfriends like to practice their "cheers"

And cheer formation - if that's what you call it :-)

And pose for ol' Mom

And Play In Old Barns

And play with various things from the trees

Then roll various things down the slide - WHEEE!

Then before you know it, it's time for that last slide down the slide ....

Have I ever mentioned how pretty Kentucky is?

Hanging Out

2011-07-18T21:11:00.001-05:00

Emma is such a little monkey ... It seems as though she can climb just about anything and does it with the utmost of ease. It's really amazing to watch her because there looks to be very little effort on her part.

Case in point. Brian was busy helping Rebecca with the slider thing at the park while Emma just shimmies up the pole - a regular metal kind of pole. No foot holds. No indentations. No nothing other than a straight up pole.

Check out how she's just hanging on as though it's normal for people to hang on to the side of a pole any ol' day.

This just cracks me up on soooo many levels ...

For Today

2011-07-17T20:57:00.001-05:00

Haven't done this little exercise in a while ... but found out after my little whinefest on comments that some people do enjoy this.

Outside my window: It's dark and muggy and hot ... and it rained a little. Of course it rained, I washed the van.

I Am Thinking: About V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N. Getting close! We're heading to Gulf Shores, Alabama this summer. It's been a few years since we've been to the gulf and we're all looking forward to it. Last year we went to the Atlantic side and the water was just way too rough for the girls. I'm thinking the gulf will be just what they need.

I Am Thankful For: Summertime and all the fun we've had so far this summer. The kids have enjoyed their break and we've enjoyed a whole lot of sunshine.

From The Kitchen: What's that?

I Am Wearing: Blue shorts, white t-shirt. I'm such a rebel.

On the 'Go Organize' Front: We finally worked on the toy room/play room! It's not decorated really but Brian cleaned it out and painted it a few months ago and I finally got around to sorting out toys and taking some old things to Goodwill and throwing out a whole lot of mismatch things ... still more to do but it is looking better.

I Am Going: To bed soon, it's been a busy weekend.

I Am Reading: "The Good Women of China - Hidden Voices" ... wow. Can't hardly put it down.

I Am Hoping: That the humidity lets up a tad - dang it's been hot here.

I Am Praying For: Several things. Well, many things. A dear friend whose husband is undergoing chemo. What a blessing their family is though, definately a lesson in faith, grace and humor from them. Also praying for some friends of ours whose daughter from China is having heart problems and it looks like she may have to undergo surgery much sooner than they thought she would. Lots of things on my prayer list these days.

I Am Hearing: "American's Got Talent" on the televsion and can overhear whatever it is Brian is listening to on his laptop even though he has on headphones. Now if that was Ryan I'd be telling him to turn it down!

Around The House: Somewhat cleaned up but several projects lined up that need my time and attention. Laundry clean and put away. School supplies purchased and in totes just waiting on school to start. A box of pictures that needs to be mailed to my stepson. and Shoes ... shoes are everywhere. What is it with my kids that they can't put their shoes away?

One Of My Favorite Things: Watching the kids play on the playground. We went to a picnic today w/ other families with children from China and the girls just played and played. What a joyous site!

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Ryan starts cross country running tomorrow. Rebecca has t-ball practice. Gymnastics for Emma on Tuesday. T-Ball game for Rebecca on Thursday ... just go - go - go.

Have a great week everyone!

T-Ball

2011-07-16T09:31:00.001-05:00

Between Ryan, Emma and now Rebecca it seems like we've been through many seasons of t-ball and yet it still cracks me up to see the shenanigans of the little ones. From the 2.3 second attention span of some of the kids to the crouched down playing in the dirt - those are images I'll carry around in my mind for a life time. During warm up the other night Rebecca was throwing the ball back and forth with a little guy, he would throw (or roll) the ball to her she'd get it and before she could ever roll it back he would be off in never ever land and not even see the ball roll by. Funny times.

But just like some other 'lasts' we're experiencing this year - sadly this will be our last season of t-ball so I'm relishing every little moment.

The bad thing though, those blue shirts don't make nearly as cute of pictures as the orange ones from last year!

Splash Park Time

2011-07-15T20:53:00.001-05:00

We have a new splash park in town called "Creekside Playground and Splashpark" which is actually a small part of a new park system that is going in. One thing we've found since moving to the 'Ville is that the park system is beautiful, well planned & maintained. I may be completely butchering this but I'm fairly certain the existing parks here were designed by the same man who designed Central Park in NYC - something Olmstead? I know, I probably should know more about that. Our favorite is Cherokee Park which is down in the historic part of town in an area that has beautiful - BEAUTIFUL old houses. The kids are always begging us to take them there.

But back to the new park system, they have purchased land over the past few years with a master plan of connecting 4 major parks.

Pop over to HERE to read more about it - really cool in my opinion!

Family Traditions

2011-07-14T20:45:00.000-05:00

Somehow attending the Shelby County Fair has become a Hunter family tradition. This year was no exception - not sure what the kids would do if we ever told them we were skipping a year. I think we'd have a mutiny on our hands!

There was a slight change this year though, there was a rodeo going on the night we were there. Not sure how much of this I've shared but I grew up with horses and either attended or participated in more rodeos than I could ever say grace over. My kiddos though ... well, they don't know much about horses. Or rodeos. Or cowboys. Or rodeo clowns. Or livestock. If only I could have had a recorder or a notepad with me that night. Girlfriends asked a LOT of questions. And funny questions too.

We had walked down and were looking at the various cattle - there were calves which I explained were for calf roping. Steers for steer wrestling and team roping. The girls were asking questions faster than I could explain anything and while there was a short pause - I looked at Rebecca as she was studying a steer with a questioning look on her face and she asked "are those ears real?" The funny thing is, she was asking about his horns! Just wish I could remember the rest of their questions, I just remember being in stitches pretty much the whole evening.

They were in awe of ol' mom though when I told them I used to do some of those events and of course they had to tell people the rest of the night that their momma used to be in the rodeo!

Fun times!

Does the "Tea Party" have a new logo? :-)

Does this make then 'Tea Party' members?

Sun Kissed

2011-07-13T21:16:00.000-05:00

Sun Kissed - Yes Indeed!

Fun Fourth

2011-07-13T07:44:00.002-05:00

Our 4th of July was a little more low key this year than in previous years but we still had a great weekend. The kids all enjoyed their fireworks with Brian & Ryan really being the biggest kids of all! Some of the fireworks are still a little loud for the girls - and me.

Wouldn't you know it though, the most fun thing we did over the long weekend & I didn't have my camera! What is wrong with me!!!! Friends invited us to a swim party and at one point all the daddies were going off the diving board - what a hoot! One dad in particular had quite the moves - soooo wish I could have caught that on film.

One Busy Summer

2011-07-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

Our sweet son Ryan has been a man on the move this summer, but really it's been that way the last few years too. Since he was little he has always liked being on the go. Likes going new places & checking out new things. He enjoys meeting new people and making new friends. And me, well - I enjoy him being that way so it's a win win situation!

So far this summer he went to 4H camp, CNASA (a science/technology camp in Ada, OK for Chickasaw children), Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama and now this week he is at church camp. Makes me go whewww just typing it!

Heading off to Space Camp in Huntsville ... Kinda hard sending your child on a plane by himself. But to him it was no big deal!

Sweet little friend from church - they've known each other since they were 3

We have this special thing we do when we're alone ... we share a vanilla bean frappachino from Starbucks!

Prayers for the kids before they headed off to church camp

New Do

2011-07-11T20:08:00.001-05:00

Emma is sporting a new "do" ... I think it looks adorable on her. But then again, I can be just a tad bit biased1

Egg On My Face

2011-07-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I had some really - really - really weird comments come up on my blog so I turned comment moderation on. Since I was used to receiving emails when someone commented on my blog, I ASSUMED I would receive an email when a comment had been received and needed to be published. Not. Nor can I find a setting for that either.

I've been rather sad that I haven't been getting comments, feeling left out - no one cares, no one loves me (not really - but it makes for a good story!). But seriously, I DOOOO love comments and do not like blogging in a void.

Imagine my surprise when a dear friend sends me a note telling me she has indeed commented and will I now blog. Oh dear ... found all kinds of comments that needed to be approved!

So sorry!!! I promise to be back to blogging!

Blog

2011-07-07T20:47:00.001-05:00

Will Blog For Comments
:-)

Derby Fun

2011-07-02T11:45:00.006-05:00

One thing we've learned about living in Louisville is that the two weeks leading up to Derby and then the Derby itself is a big deal. There are things going on all around town and generally speaking - just excitement in the air. We usually try to make it to a few of the events but this year the weather didn't cooperate too well - but thankfully we were able to get together with some friends to watch the race. I always enjoy time with our friends!!!

Just as a last minute thing I threw together some fondue things for the girls - and my oh my - it was quite a hit!

My Sweet Bah-Boo

2011-06-23T09:13:00.002-05:00

A rose can say "I love you",
orchids can enthrall,
but a weed bouquet in a chubby fist,
yes, that says it all.
~Author Unknown

Oh I Wish ...

2011-06-22T14:50:00.001-05:00

You have no idea how happy it made our kids to see this in town!

Emma's Birthday Party

2011-06-21T20:29:00.011-05:00

Emma asked for a skating party this year ... so a skating party it was! The "theme" was this adorable little monkey that she saw on a cake while we were perusing cake ideas one night and our local bakery made her the cutest cake to match!

Emma's 7th Birthday

2011-06-20T19:59:00.009-05:00

Little Miz Divine turned 7 back at the end of April ... I know, I know - I'm behind!

For their birthdays, we let the birthday child pick a restaurant for dinner out with the family. Emma's current favorite restaurant is a tiny little Chinese place in town called Ling Ling's. Then it was home to open presents!

The "Wrist" of the Story

2011-06-04T20:12:00.005-05:00

Okay, so here's the story on the broken wrist.

It was a Sunday, I have nursery duty at church once a month & that was my day. My friend who I normally am with was gone that day. For some weird reason there weren't any babies ... so, I was playing with my phone and had the bright idea to 'clean it up'. During the process of 'cleaning' I deleted my mobile me account that I never used. Little did I know that ALL of my contacts were associated with that and bam! They were gone. I was highly distressed. I have LOTS of people I keep up with and lots of contacts that I've had for years that were in one place and one place only - my phone. Except now they were gone. I was upset.

I thought surely though that there would be a way to get them back, even if I did have to pay a blackmail fee (the mobile me YEARLY fee - that I didn't know was YEARLY when I bought the stupid stuff). Or, I would be able to restore them. So after lunch I went about the task of getting them back except nothing worked. Very long story, but nothing worked. I was testy, I was mad and probably not a pleasant momma to be around. Brian & Ryan left for baseball practice and while I was sitting here all ticked off and sad, it dawned on me how stupid the whole thing really was and that if they were gone, they were gone - no crying over spilled milk.

So, in all my wisdom I asked the girls if they would like for me to borrow the neighbor's dog to play with. See, we do not have any animals because Ryan is allergic to cats and Emma is allergic to dogs and cats and poor little Rebecca loves all little animals. The neighbor happily obliged our request and the dog was more than happy to be playing ... but the dog was HYPER and we do not have a fenced yard and the dog, well - he isn't exactly broken to a leash. We decided the dog might calm down a bit if we were to take him for a walk so we headed out and ended up stirring up every yappy dog in the neighborhood. But the girls were happy, the dog was happy and I was happy that they were happy. And the dog, he was fun - even if he didn't walk on a leash well.

He eventually settled down some and we headed home but were walking on the side we would have been driving on. We live in a hilly/curvy neighborhood and were almost back to the house and I was close to the edge of the road but the girls were out in the street & I could hear a car coming.

I asked the girls a couple of times to move over but they were busy watching the dog and I hear that the car is getting closer and we're almost at the bottom of a hill and again I tell them to move over and while I'm telling them this I am turned around talking to them and giving them the whole mommy voice / mommy eye thing to show them I meant business and to MOVE OVER. Well, I guess I stepped out into plain stinkin' air. There's probably a 10 - 12" drop off on the side of the road and then an incline from that into a ditch.

When the step didn't connect, I fell - I even did a complete roll down the incline. It happened so fast! I'm sure with my big beee-hind that the whole thing was really pretty. I was muddy. My knee was bloody. The girls were upset. The car that was coming stopped. I waved it on - after all, I'm tough country girl stock. Did I mention the girls were upset? Emma ran across the street to get our neighbor to help me. I tried to get up but my knee hurt and when I tried to brace myself with my right hand, I couldn't put any pressure on it.

Not sure how I did it, but I did get up. I wasn't about to have someone help me get out of that ditch! Not sure if it was pride or embarrassment or what - but as I watched Emma cross the street and go up the hill, I knew I had to be UP before she got to that door.

Oh, and I never let go of the dog. Nor did I cry. I wasn't about to cry in front of the girls because they were freaked out by my bloody knee and I didn't want to freak them about by crying or bringing attention to my hand that was pointed in one direction while a bone by my wrist was pointed another!

Sweet little Emma called her papa and he was already on his way home. I took a quick shower because I didn't want to go to ER all muddy. But getting ready for my shower and taking a shower with a broken throbbing wrist is none too easy.

The wrist was indeed broken, "shattered" is what we later found out. I had some kind of thing on it, don't think it was a cast but it was all wrapped up past my elbow. Surgery. A cast past my elbow. Followed by a smaller cast. May was a rough month for me to say the least.

Oh, and once the girls were taken care of and I was in the ER alone with my sweet hubby - I finally did cry.

So there you go, the "wrist" of the story!

Rebecca - Our Sweet Little Preschool Graduate

2011-06-04T17:25:00.010-05:00

Little Miss Rebecca is officially a preschool graduate and is more than ready to head off to kindergarten in the fall. Soooo proud of our little girl!

Their program consisted of several songs, "Jesus Love Me", "Tooty Tah" (spelling?) and "The Wise Man Built His House on a Rock". Rebecca was so happy to be up on the stage and she sang her little heart out. This is our 3rd, and sadly last child to graduate from our church preschool. The preschool has served our children well and we're so thankful they have been in such a wonderful school!

Ryan and His Future

2011-06-02T09:53:00.001-05:00

I may have shared this before, but when I was first became pregnant with Ryan I wanted all kinds of things laid out. Name determined. Room decorated, everything put away. College decided on. Yes, I tend to get ahead of myself.

Funny the curve balls life can throw you ... the name wasn't agreed upon until I had already been in delivery for many hours. The crib was technically put together, but the room - don't ask. But college, now that I can decide on. Whether or not Ryan goes along with it is just another matter all together. BUT. From the time I was el preggo, I have said he is going to MIT. For my southern Oklahoma brethren - NO - that does NOT mean "Murray In Tishomingo".

All of that is completely irrelevant to this post - but may I brag on my son for just a minute? He was selected as a DUKE TIP Scholar (you can read more here) and was invited to take the ACT while in the 7th grade. I was pretty proud of his scores too - he scored a 21 composite with his highest score being 23 in science. In my opinion, not bad at all for 7th grade and for not studying.

So ... will it be DUKE? MIT?

ARF!!!

2011-06-01T12:09:00.000-05:00

Our sweet little Emma has now had a taste of broadway ... well, maybe not Broadway Broadway, but Broadway in an elementary school kinda way. She was in the class play "ARF!" and had a speaking part as Chi Chi Chihuahua. Her favorite line was "And some of us are TINY"!

Mama bear speaking here, but in my expert.mama.opinion - she was the cutest Chi Chi Chihuahua EVA'.

Short thang couldn't reach the microphone so the music teacher would have to take the microphone out for her every time she had some lines. Bless those short little bones!

Catching Up!

2011-05-31T21:16:00.008-05:00

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping ... and I get further and futher behind on this blog!

So, trying to catch up - these may or may not be in chronological order - which gives me hives when things aren't in order ... but bare (or is it bear?) with me. Bear I think. Anyway - here goes.

We have:

Celebrated the birthday of our friend Doug & Marla's adorable little girl at a pool party and the water was ICE cold! Of course the little ones loved it though!

Planted flowers around the mailbox. Just to be clear, I didn't ... but Brian and the kids did. It was just what I needed too - just what the dr ordered. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE yellow - it's such a happy color. Flowers around a mailbox might not be a big thing to some people, but I grew up in the country and we picked our mail up in town, therefore no flower surrounded mailbox ... but now I have one! So it is a big thing to me.

Brian, Ryan & Emma sawed off a pesky stump that we had been mowing around. I share that for no other reason than to say how absolutely much it tickled me to watch Ryan & Emma sawing together. They were really serious about it and worked hard to get it out. Goodness I love our kiddos!

Well - that's it for tonight ... the other ones probably each need their own post. Plus, I need to start writing 'the rest of the story' on my wrist.

Monday Fun-day

2011-05-30T20:22:00.011-05:00

It's been a while, yes I know ... I still need to do a catchup post. But, took the kiddos to the park tonight for a few photos and while they didn't cooperate to the extent I would have liked - I still think they're adorable. Even if they won't stand still.

After you've been there a while, and they have lost all interest in taking pictures ... their little personalities shine right though. Rebecca drops down and starts picking flowers. She's my "nature" child ... she could lose herself for hours on end out in the great outdoors.

And then little Emma ... she can't stand still to save her soul so she entertained me with flipovers, cartwheels and the like.,

I'm one blessed mama!

Catching Up!

2011-05-14T20:00:00.003-05:00

Oh my ... where do I start. Since posting last:

Celebrated Emma turning 7! She was one happy & excited little camper to celebrate her big day.

Baseball practice has started, but games do not begin until next week.

We saw the 'Oscar Meyer Weiner' mobile in Shelbyville ... that was fun

We watched the Derby with some friends - I was rather sad about ArchArchArch

I broke my wrist

Had surgery

Have been exempt from dish duty

But really, would much rather be washing dishes than dealing with this confounded cast.

I'll try to cover the big things in separate posts ...

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T19:22:00.010-05:00

From our home to yours, Happy Easter!

Way back in 2001 we moved to Kentucky and hadn't really been here that long when we received a call from a family inviting us to church. Long story, but an older couple we were really close to from our church in Texas had a daughter who was married to a pastor & they had lived out in the same county that we live in. By the time we moved here they had already moved to a different city, but our friend Naomi in Texas contacted her daughter and asked if their friends here would give us a call to help us feel welcomed and to invite us to church - this friend is who called us.

When she called, I hemmed and hawed and really wasn't sure that I wanted to go to church w/ someone who just called us out of the blue - but she went on to say they would meet us in the parking lot so we wouldn't have to go in alone. Not that going in alone bothered us one bit, but that struck me as a really nice gesture. Then she said they would take us to lunch. By the time we got to this part of the conversation I was really getting homesick, missing my family, missing our friends in Texas and really wondering if we'd made the right decision to move here and so I told her yes. We would come to church w/ them.

Needless to say, we have become best of friends with them and have somehow been adopted by their whole family. Wonderfully nice people, lots of fun, a little on the ornery(fun kind of ornery) side and very easy people to be with and enjoy. Our first meeting was probably in August or September and the following spring they invited us to their home for Easter. Now here we are 10 years later and have spent every Easter since with them!

Just goes to show, you just never know the fruit that can come forth by just one little act of kindness. Amazing if you ask me!

For Today

2011-04-11T20:04:00.004-05:00

Haven't done this little exercise in a while ... wasn't sure if readers enjoy these kinds of posts? Or do your eyes gloss over and you come back when there are pictures? :-)

Outside my window: It's dark and rainy. Much cooler than the unseasonable 85 that we had here yesterday.

I Am Thinking: About Rebecca and how it was a really difficult decision for us to hold her back from starting kindergarten last year. Since she has a late birthday, by the cutoff date she could have started - but she would have been starting as a 4 year old. She just wasn't ready and as much as I wanted her to be, there just didn't seem to be anything I could do to "make" her be ready. When it came down to it, we decided the best approach was to let her learn when she was ready and to let her mature another year. And oh my goodness - that's been the best decision we could have possibly made. Girlfriend is more than ready for kindergarten to start this fall!

I Am Thankful For: My family, there was a time in my life I never thought I would truly love someone or them love me. But oh my my ... I met Brian and the rest is history. He's my best friend, a sweet husband and fun to boot. And of course it goes w/out saying how much I love the kiddos.

From The Kitchen: I've tried a few more pioneer woman recipes. One was a sour cream noodle bake thing that we all loved. The girls especially were cleaning their plates! I also made a budget type casserole not too long ago that that kids loved as well. It really tickles me when they really, really like something we make. The yums are music to my ears.

I Am Wearing: Black sweats and an OU t-shirt. Boomer Sooner baby.

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Sigh. Is this something that is ever completely done? Seems like I'm in a constant state of piling things up for Goodwill. Still need to work on the toy room some more but think I just may wait for my mom to come out later this month. Mama's have a way of making things like that better :-)

I Am Going: To bed soon, last week was pretty tough at work and today wasn't that much better. I really do love my job, and for the most part it's not stressful ... but lately, well - it's been a tad bit stressful. I even cried today & I hate showing emotion like that. Especially at work. For some reason it makes me think of my dad telling me when I was a teenager that only weak people cry. I really do not remember the complete context, but do remember the words and remember he was upset with me for being emotional. Not that I really agree with what he said but not so sure I've ever cried since then (other than a sad cry) and not thought of him saying that.

I Am Reading: Ryan bought a couple of Grisham books not too long ago and I read one of them and really enjoyed it. Haven't read a book like that in a long time. I noticed he laid the other one on my night stand. He's such a thoughtful son.

I Am Hoping: Hmmm ... not sure what I'm hoping ... that my week gets better???

I Am Praying For: A non-Christian friend of mine that I have been praying for going on several years now. She's a sweetheart, good natured, fun, thoughtful - all those things you want in a friend. But for the life of me I can't ever seem to say the right words when the subject of Christianity comes up. In fact I seem to somehow always say the wrong thing. And to add to that, I do not feel that I always act the way I should either - all those things that I feel keep me from being a good witness. Anyway, praying first and foremost that I be the way I should be ... and secondly, that I somehow find the courage to open up the right door to lead her to Christ.

I Am Hearing: Diners, Dives & Drive thrus and they are showing a restaurant in San Antonio. Oh how I'd LOVE to visit San Antonio again some time! Such good memories of that city! We used to stop and spend the night there every time we went to the beach with my best friend in high school & college. Brian & I took the older boys down there one time at Christmas - the river walk is absolutely beautiful any time, but even more beautiful lit up with Christmas lights! The best time though was spending our honeymoon there!

Around The House: Brian had a deacon meeting tonight & the kids and I cleaned house!

One Of My Favorite Things: Talking to my mom. We talk on the phone just about every day. I love my mama.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Deacon meeting for Brian tonight. Swim lessons for the girls on Tuesday & Thursday. Gymnastics for Emma on Wednesday while Bex & I run some errands. Friday night we're having an adults only dinner w/ our Sunday school class. Two birthday parties on Saturday, one for Rebecca early in the day & another for Emma later in the day. Sunday - baseball draft/tryouts for Ryan. Makes me tired just typing all that.

Have a great week everyone!

Park Time

2011-04-10T20:18:00.017-05:00

We're finally getting some spring like weather in the 'ville. It was one looooonngggg and cold winter so we're all very thankful for some of this warmer stuff.

Rebecca is Getting Ready for Kindergarten!

2011-04-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

Little Miss Rebecca is officially registered for kindergarten. My baby is such a big girl now! She is ready for fall to get here & more than ready to ride the bus with her big sister. I couldn't help but get a little misty eyed as I filled out kindergarten paperwork for the last time :-(

Chocolate

2011-04-08T20:29:00.002-05:00

They were supposed to be making chocolate candy! I think there was more eating going on than making. Just sayin'

Sunglass Chickas

2011-03-28T07:54:00.001-05:00

Some friends of ours from Texas sent the girls each a pair of sunglasses & they loved them!

Toothfairy Time

2011-03-23T20:47:00.004-05:00

Our precious little sugah' lump Emma lost her first TWO teeth tonight! She was one tickled little girlfriend. She went to bed ecstatic!

Little Bex went to bed with tears in her eyes though because she "wants to lost a tooth too". Bless her little heart. I know all too well the angst that can come with being the youngest, it's not an easy road.

Sportin' Some New Do's

2011-03-20T20:09:00.007-05:00

We welcomed in spring with haircuts. Little Rebecca asked to get hers cut, and it looks quite adorable if you ask me :-) ... Emma thought it was so cute that she asked to get hers cut too! I used to keep Emma's at chin length but started letting it grow out several years ago. I'm lovin' this new look for both of them!

Happy Emma Referral Day!

2011-03-16T13:57:00.007-05:00

I know I post this every year, but it's such a wonderful memory for me that I just can't help myself. What a day it was! I had been emailing back and forth with a friend I had made through the adoption process. Her paperwork had gone in earlier than ours and she was fairly certain she would get a referral, but ours was several weeks later and so I wasn't sure. Hopeful though!

Sure enough my phone rang at work and it was our adoption agency. People gathered around my desk as they heard me asking questions. Of course the detailed list of questions I had PLANNED on asking pretty much got set aside as our family advocate started telling me several things from Emma's paperwork.

Brian and I really hadn't discussed the dissemination of information once we did receive the call and personality wise, he and I are pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum. I asked our family advocate if she would email the pictures to me. Which she did. Then full 'Carolin' style, I promptly forwarded to everyone and their mother. Brian had assumed we would drive to Lexington together and see the picture together as a family. A tad bit of a disconnect huh?

Somehow in my hurry and excitement I emailed the picture to his personal email address but not his work address so he didn't realize I had even sent it out ... that is, until a friend of mine/coworker of his called him to congratulate him on his adorable daughter. Can you say "oops!"

But we made it through, I really don't think I could have waited until we drove to Lexington to see that precious little face anyway!

So, happy 6 year anniversary of our referral for Emma Lian! Here she is then.

and then here she is now (well - as of last fall anyway!)

I sure love that little dimpled dumpling!

Halloween - Like 4 1/2 Months Late

2011-03-11T21:41:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned the other day, I somehow missed posting halloween pictures. Here's one ... cutest little genies in the neighborhood. Not that I'm biased or anything :-)

Down At The Farm

2011-03-10T20:33:00.004-05:00

Welcome to Rebecca's horse 'fahm'. Apparently this horse got hurt at a pretend horse show so she was nursing him back to health. I love watching that baby girl play!

Blogs and Such

2011-03-09T21:29:00.003-05:00

I was talking with a friend today about a picture of the girls from Halloween, went to my blog to show it to her and lo' and behold if those aren't there. Here? My poor once beloved blog has obviously been put on the back burner if I've never even posted pictures from Halloween - for crying out loud.

Brian told me tonight that 'Hunter is not happening' on the blog!

Sorry folks, that is if anyone is still out here. Does anyone ever visit here anymore? If you do, please drop a note.

Kitchen Time

2011-02-18T10:02:00.004-05:00

One thing about Emma is that she has never really been a 'toy' child. Sure she's enjoyed some things here and there and does have a few favorite stuffed animals that she sleeps with. But all in all she prefers playing with "someone" instead of "something". Now Rebecca on the other hand LOVES all the toys and does a good job of playing with many different items.

Needless to say, that makes holiday & birthday time a little challenging for us. Lately she has shown an interest in helping me cook and I've found that one on one time in the kitchen with her so much fun and enjoy seeing her take it so seriously.

Knowing all of this, Santa brought Emma several kitchen things this year and her favorite by far has been this little smoothie maker. Girlfriend has been in smoothie heaven! We even took it out to a friends house one night & let the girls make smoothies to their hearts delight.

To make things even better, I ran into these cute little glasses in an antique store one day & knew they were the PERFECT thing for the girls and their smoothies. They're even using them for their orange juice too. I just loved the frilly/old timey look of them!

Fun times in the kitchen :-)

Chinese New Year

2011-02-17T20:44:00.009-05:00

Since Chinese New Year ended, I suppose it's time I posted our pictures. I'm doing a terrible, terrible, no good, very bad job with my blog.

Vacation Raffle Benefitting Congo & Haiti

2011-02-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

Hop on over to this link & enter!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T20:52:00.005-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day from our family to yours!

We started our day as normal with a little Valentine surprise at each person's place at the table. What a fun way to start the day.

Then tonight we had this from Emma ... and it made my day. My sweet, sweet baby girl

Dear Family -

Happy valentine's Day!! I love you all. Thank you for getting me candy. Thank you for letting me be a car rider even though you needed to go to work. I thank you for picking me as your baby in China. I thank you to be my mom and dad. I thank you to bring my chips and masmellow (marshmellows) and all of the candy.

For My Photography Buddies

2011-02-11T07:51:00.001-05:00

For anyone interested in photography, here's some information on some upcoming classes for photography. The lady who is offering the classes is sooo talented, fun and just all around awesome. Check out her blog for an awesome giveaway too.

Celebrating Ryan's 13th Birthday

2011-02-08T21:13:00.016-05:00

I'm not doing so well on this blogging thing. I am very late in posting these!

We celebrated Ryan's birthday this year with a party at the local ice skating rink. The boys had so much fun, even the ones who thought they couldn't skate. It didn't take them long to pick it up at all. Just as a bunch of boys would, they spent the evening chasing each other around and generally just messing with each other. There were some kids they knew from church there too and Ryan kept stealing one of the girl's Hello Kitty hats. In my day that was called flirting but of course he vehemently denied it. But I saw it.

Can't believe my BABY is 13. Doesn't seem that long ago that I was carrying him around in his little pouch or pushing him around the park in his stroller. 13 years have passed by in the blink of an eye ...

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Faux-Tee Fiiiive & Facebook

2011-02-04T14:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, I’ll go ahead and admit it … I turned 45 earlier this week.

Yeah, I know – that’s old.

I think I thought I would forever be in my 20’s.

In my 20’s I still felt like I was in my 20’s.

In my 30’s I had my first child and still felt like I was in my 20’s.

Now here I am in my mid 40’s and I feel like I’m 70.

Something is off with the math. Is that what they call ‘new math’?

Now on to the second part of the subject - FACEBOOK.

I love FB, I really do but my dear sweet husband doesn’t understand why. He thinks it’s silly. Lame. A waste of time. And probably a few other things that he hasn’t shared with me because he loves me. Even if I do love facebook. And him of course.

But the tie in to FB & my birthday is this – I really, really, really enjoyed all the facebook notes I received that day. So many times I have posted a ‘Happy Birthday’ note on someone’s wall and really didn’t think of it as being that big of a deal. But being on the receiving end of all those notes I know it is a big deal & I appreciated each and every one because it gave me reason to take a little trip down memory lane. For each little note that popped up there was a corresponding memory that came to mind. You know the whole “equal and opposite reaction” thing. And to be honest, I did a lot of laughing that day.

Here’s a few little snippets that come to mind.

From a dear friend in middle school – Us skipping one of our 7th grade classes. Our teacher, who just so happened to be the principal, never ever took roll. Which translated to a hand full of pre-teen girls that said teacher didn’t know who was and who wasn’t in class. So we skipped. And yes, he did know. Smart eh’?

From another middle school friend who also happened to be my boyfriend in 6th grade –I remember bopping him over the head with his cap which also happened to contain the lock from his locker. Let’s just say that the interaction of the cap/lock/skull wasn’t pretty. I remember blood. Being horrified. His mom coming to get him to take him to the doctor. We had a basket ball game that day which of course he didn’t make. So I did what every decent skull bashing girlfriend should do – I broke up with him.

A friend who sent me roses when Ryan was born. Except I never expected a friend to send roses and thanked my dear husband profusely when they were delivered. Awkward at best.

My 5th grade boyfriend who asked my best friend out after I broke up with him. I returned a necklace he gave me, he gave it to her. Later when they broke up she kept it. Obviously she was smarter than me  Oh yeah, and I had a b-day note from her too. She’s still smarter than me.

The daughter of my best friend (who is now deceased) - we used to go to South Padre Island together every year. On one trip - or maybe two :-)we went south of the border and danced all night. Fun! Now I hope my son isn’t reading this as I’d have his hind end if he did anything so foolish.

You get the point, it was like that all day long. Old friends, new friends. Friends I’ve laughed with and cried with and a few I’ve even exchanged hurtful words or feelings with at one time or another. But friends nonetheless and friends I am very thankful to have. And so this is my little plug for Facebook – I love ya’ man. A place where all those friendships collide and a place I can always go to get a good laugh.

2011-01-23T21:14:00.002-05:00

Outside my window: It's dark and BRRRR cold. This seems to me to be the coldest winter we've had since moving here. Or maybe it's because it started getting cold almost a month before it usually gets this cold. Regardless - I'M READY FOR SUMMER!

I Am Thinking: About Ryan's birthday. It's really hard for me to believe the apple of my eye just turned 13. Oh how I prayed for that little guy. But what am I saying, I've prayed for all my babies. I'll forever remember the prayerful pleadings to God to please bless me with a child. Now here we are 13 years later with 3! Every time I talk about another one, pretty much the first thing Brian asks is if I've been praying. Haha.

I was teasing Ryan about a week before his birthday that 13 years ago from that time I couldn't sit comfortably. I couldn't sleep comfortably. Heck, what am I talking about - I couldn't sleep period. I had moved to the sofa because it was the only place I could get some relief on my back. Only later did I find out that I had back labor, something I'd never heard of. When I went into labor all the contractions were in my back, I never felt a single one in my abdoment. Ouch-o-marama. The one main thing I was planning on for the maternity ward was to be able to sit in the whirlpool. Ahh, a relaxing and natural birth. Who the heck was I kidding? That didn't happen since my water broke and at work nonetheless and so the whirlpool was out. And why my mind ever thought it wouldn't hurt that bad is beyond my comprehension! Why is that a simple thing like labor can't go as planned? :-)

I Am Thankful For: Friends! We spent Saturday night hanging out with some friends. Brian made deer chili & then Marla and I made some pizza rolls for the kids. Although I think all the kids had some chili too. She had also bought things for the girls to make a fruit pizza - which they LOVED doing and Emma had taken her little juice maker and made fruit smoothies for everyone. The kids had so much fun & I sooo enjoyed the time just hanging out, visiting and letting the kids make all their treats.

From The Kitchen: Emma & I have been on a baking kick lately but we're either going to have to slack off or buy me some bigger jeans. Goodness. We've made brownies, homemade rice krispy treats. raisin oatmeal cookies and a coffee cake. She is having a blast & I SOOO enjoy her company in the kitchen!

I Am Wearing: Black sweats, gray t-shirt & wishing my comfy socks weren't upstairs in the closet.

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Finally got around to going through the girls clothes. There were some sweaters, sweatshirts & things like that they had worn when we were in China back in 2009 that they were also able to wear last year & had gotten a few wears in this year as well. But as sentimental as I am I knew that I had to hand them down sooner than later. We have some friends at church that have the most adorable little twin girls and so I make a point of handing down the things that match. Today they had on the girls favorite monkey sweatshirts - oh my how it tickles me to see them wearing things of that were the girls. There really is something to the phrase "it's better to give than receive", because I can say I get just as much enjoyment seeing the little ones wearing the things as I did our girls!

I Am Going: To bed soon, can't believe another weekend has come and gone.

I Am Reading: Lost on Planet China: One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation - Still reading this. Enjoyed it at first, but having a hard time sticking with it right now.

I Am Hoping: That spring arrives early! Our family is needing some sunshine.

I Am Praying For: Some extended family members who have been on my mind in and my heart - going through a rough time right now.

I Am Hearing: Avatar. Brian is not feeling well so he's already turned in for the night so Ryan is watching it.

Around The House: Kithcen clean - I'm so weird about the kitchen. The entire rest of the house can be in shambles but I absolutely cannot go to bed without first cleaning the kitchen. Not trying to say the rest of the house is in bad shape though! Almost all the laundry done, but a few more loads to do & it still needs to be put away. The upstairs was cleaned yesterday but still need to do a little more downstairs. We're making a bigger effort to keep it picked up during the week and that seems to be helping some.

One Of My Favorite Things: Watching Ryan with his friends. We took him and some friends ice skaing for his birthday party & all the boys seemed to have a good time. There were several other families there who we know and thankfully Emma had a her best little buddy to skate with - she did really well too. But watching Ryan and the other guys playing, messing with each other - messing with some girls from our church ... it just cracked me up. They're getting so big!

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Another deacon meeting for Brian tomorrow night. Basketball practice for Ryan on Tuesday. Gymnastics for Emma on Wednesday. Dance for Emma & Bex on Thursday. Game for Ryan on Saturday. After church on Sunday, a nap hopefully!

Have a great week everyone!

Whoaaa - We Now Have a Teenager In The House!

2011-01-21T09:08:00.006-05:00

Today we celebrate Ryan's 13th birthday!!! A teenager in the house again, YIKES! It's been a few years since we've had that!

Ryan is

Funny - Love that little guys sense of humor

Tall - Guess I should quit referring to him as 'little guy' as he's now at least as tall as me if not a little taller.

A Wonderful Big Brother - He of course has his moments, as do all of us - but generally speaking he is helpful with the girls, watches out for them, loves wrestling with Emma ... with a tad bit of bossy thrown in for good measure.

Fun - Even from the time he was little, he was always fun to take places. He has one of those dispositions where he's pretty much happy wherever we go and like us, loves checking out new places to explore, visit or try.

Smart - Very smart. May a mother brag for moment? He's never made less that an A on a report card!!! Not that there hasn't been a few iffy grades in between, but he manages to get his affairs in order before report card time.

Talkative - Lord have mercy that child is talkative. I can easily see him being a sports commentator or something along those lines. He can talk at length over nothing! LOL - I know he's gonna get me for that but it's true.

Go - LOVES to Go! Anywhere, anytime - just say the word go and he loads up.

Near & Dear - But the thing most near and dear to my heart, is that - HE LOVES HIS MAMA WITH ALL HIS HEART!!!! And of course the feeling is mutual :-)

Happy Birthday Ryan, I sure love ya'!

Three months old - my handsome little honey bunny.

Six months old - that's when his little personality really started coming out!

I think he was 2 in this one. It's weird, I didn't think I needed to mark pictures because I would always KNOW when they were taken. Now here it is 13 years later and I think I know, but not sure I know.

What Will Matter

2011-01-14T11:28:00.004-05:00

Ran across this today and thought it most worthy of sharing.

What Will Matter

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten
will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations
and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from
or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought
but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success
but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned
but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity,
compassion, courage, or sacrifice
that enriched, empowered or encouraged others
to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence
but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories
but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered,
by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

by Michael Josephson

The PDF of this can be downloaded

here

2nd Anniversary of Rebecca's Forever Family Day

2011-01-11T20:46:00.006-05:00

Tonight we celebrated the two year anniversary of adopting our youngest daughter Rebecca. She really enjoyed all the attention as well as looking back through the pictures of our trip. We typically take the kids out to the destination of their choice for dinner to celebrate their adoptions but the roads were a bit icky tonight with snow so we opted to stay in and enjoy cupcakes instead.

There's such an array of emotions when I think back to the night we were united with little Rebecca. We had just arrived at our hotel and hadn't even checked in. The child of the family we were traveling with was already in the lobby when we arrived and while I was busy taking pictures of them, Amanda walked in with Rebecca. On my end, I had prayed for Rebecca - read everything I could about her, traded emails with many volunteers from the Starfish home and I was more than ready to finally meet our new daughter. She knew she was coming to meet her family and had been as prepared as any 3 1/2 year old could possibly be prepared. She had skyped with us and had a picture of us that Amanda had used to prepare her for meeting us. But she was one scared little baby girl as she entered that lobby and she was so obviously trying to be brave. While I wanted to scoop her up and show her how much we loved her, I knew that I needed to take my time and not overwhelm her. Everything she knew was about to change and bless her little heart she had already had at least one upheaval in her life. She was 18 months old when she came to live with Amanda and here another 18 months into her young life and she was about to experience another upheaval. You could tell so very much how much she loved Amanda and it was equally obvious how much Amanda loved her. Rebecca had been one of the older children there in the foster home and she was Amanda's little buddy. While in my heart I knew that by being in a family, being our daughter and being loved so dearly were the best things for her - I couldn't help but have a quickening in my heart about taking her away from the ones she knew and loved.

It took her a while to warm up to me. Actually it really wasn't until we were home that I felt her let her guard down with me and allow herself to become attached. Her inital attachments were with Emma - it was really instantaneous. She also was pretty much a daddy's girl while we were there. But here we are two years later and she is a mama's girl deluxe! She sits by me and puts her little arm around me and she will lean over and either kiss me on my cheek or kiss me on my arm. Her favorite parting words each morning are "Have a good day mama lovely".

Pictures from 2009

2 year adoption celebration - 2011!

Rebecca's Dance Recital

2011-01-10T20:56:00.007-05:00

Back when Ryan was in diapers he asked to play baseball and now more than 10 years later, he still loves baseball. We started Emma in gymnastics when she was almost 3 and she loved it from the beginning. Little Rebecca on the other hand has struggled a bit in finding her favorite activity. I had her in gymnastics too and while she had fun, it wasn't something she just loved doing and quite honestly really didn't want to follow the teachers instructions. She did enjoy t-ball this past summer - at least when she was up to bat that is, but that's only about 6 weeks out of the year. What we do know though is that she LOVES music and has from the time she came home. The funny thing is that she doesn't love just any music. For instance she certainly doesn't have much of a reaction when country music is on but turn some good ol' rock and roll on and baby girl claps, twists, turns and wiggles up a storm. One of the first songs she sang along with was the Eagle's "Heartache Tonight". Several times she mentioned that she wanted to dance like a princess so we signed her up for dance back in the fall. Her first dance recital was back in December and she was one happy little dumpling being up there with her buddies & dancing to "Supergirl"!

For Today

2011-01-09T21:30:00.005-05:00

Well hello Sunday - really enjoyed you today & hate to see you come to an end!

Outside my window: It's dark and BRRRR cold. On the way to church this a.m. it was a balmy ol' 8 degrees. C'mon summer, we need you.

I Am Thinking: About Rebecca. This week we will celebrate our two year anniversary of us becoming her forever family. How can two years just flash by in the blink of an eye? When I think of those first few days with Rebecca, I think of her instantly bonding with Emma and of her pushing me away. She would walk with Brian but she kept me at arms length pretty much the whole time we were in China. But two years later, she's a mama's girl! She loves to say to me "Have a good day mama lovely" when I drop her off at daycare in the mornings. Of course that just makes my day and puts a little pep in my step. Could there possibly be a better start to the day? I'm so thankful to God for answering my prayers and allowing us to be her parents.

I Am Thankful For: Brian. He & I will celebrate 16 years of marriage in a few months. I love that sweet man just as much today, if not more - than I did back in 1995. He's a wonderful husband in so many ways and is just fun to be with and be around. I'll never admit to him that all those times I roll my eyes at his jokes, I'm really laughing inwardly. Have I ever mentioned he has a really odd sense of hummor?

From The Kitchen: Little Emma also received a chocolate making set for Christmas and we finally got around to breaking it out today. We had great fun making little chocolates! And of course trying one or two as well. Yesterday we made Ginger Cookies, a recipe shared by a friend from our travel group to China 2 years ago & they were delicious! Tomorrow I'm making chicken friend deer steak - my family loves it! Then some taco soup with venison burger. Not quite sure about the rest of the week.

I Am Wearing: Gray sweats, pink t-shirt.

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Finally got the toys semi-organized in the basement. Still needs decorating - any one want to come over & offer some suggestions?!

I Am Going: To bed soon, can't believe another weekend has come and gone.

I Am Reading: Lost on Planet China: One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation - Haven't really gotten that far into it yet but the author's style really cracks me up. Hopefully the whole book will be as good as the first few chapters.

I Am Hoping: That we do not lose any more days to snow this year ... poor kids are going to still be in school come June as it is. Ugh! I would sooo much rather start back to school the first of August than for them to still be in school in June. Any school board members out there who can adequately explain to me why they can't be out by the end of May? There's just something mentally that seems to change after Memorial Day & I know last year that Ryan's classes specifically were watching movies, going swimming - all kinds of non-instructional activities after Memorial Day. Wouldn't it be easier on everyone to just let them out instead? Okay, okay - off my soap box.

I Am Praying For: Our church. Brian has been reading a book called 'Missional Renaissance' and I have liked what he has shared about it so far!

I Am Hearing: Vince Gill - something Brian turned to on TV. Such a welcome relief to football.

Around The House: Almost all the laundry done, but still needs to be put away. The dishwasher running. But other than that, pretty much picked up.

One Of My Favorite Things: Both girls were sitting with me today as we looked through folders of pictures on my laptop. Little Rebecca was leaning over and kissing me and loving on me. What a sweet sweet baby she is! Hard to believe that two years ago today we had left for China to get her. We had left early, early that morning and were already weary of traveling by this time. That is one long flight!

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Deacon meeting for Brian tomorrow night. We'll celebrate our two year anniversary with Rebecca this week!!! Basketball practice for Ryan. Gymnastics for Emma. Dance for Emma & Bex. Dinner out with some really good friends on Friday - just adults - What a treat!!!! Game for Ryan on Saturday.

Have a great week everyone!

Kentucky Youth Assembly

2011-01-07T14:55:00.006-05:00

Ryan attended 'Kentucky Youth Assembly' back in December, I can't even begin to describe how much it tickles me that he enjoys going to things like this. I'm not so sure he even really has that big of an interest in how government works as much as he just likes going places, learning new things and being around a bunch of other kids. I would like to note however, that my baby boy won an 'Outstanding Speaker' award. Guess all that talking he does has paid off :-)

Have I ever mentioned how very proud of him I am?

Here's an excerpt of the letter sent out from their teacher:

There were Thirty-two TAG (Talented & Gifted) students from Shelby East and West Middle School, along with 8th graders from Martha Layne Collins High School, attended the Junior Central Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) at the Louisville Holiday Inn Crown Plaza on Dec. 9-11, 2010. Along with 800 other youth from across the region, the Shelby County students participated in this hands-on student government assembly by writing and presenting bills to be passed into law. The students prepared five bills to present at the assembly. Bills were ranked according to its merits of feasibility, debatability, creativity, presentation, and importance to Kentucky. All five of Shelby County’s bills were ranked high and were presented in the House and Senate Chambers at the Capitol in Frankfort on Friday, Dec. 10. The bills were narrowly defeated in their second hearing. Of the 80 bills that were presented by KYA delegates, only 6 were passed into law. “The students who attended KYA were very aware of the economic strain that both our state and federal government is experiencing. The delegates were very reluctant to pass bills that were not fiscally feasible or caused strain on existing structures. It was a tough crowd!” stated Terry Walther, KYA sponsor for East and West Middle Schools.
...

The students who attended not only learned first hand how a bill becomes a law in our state, they also demonstrated their leadership skills and made friends with other youth leaders in our state.

Missin' My Dad

2011-01-06T09:37:00.003-05:00

Today would have been my dad's 85th birthday and even though he's been gone many years I still can't help but want to call and wish him a happy birthday.

Dad - to you, as I kissed my babies this morning I couldn't help but wonder what your reaction would have been to them. Would Ryan crack you up with his offbeat sense of humor as he does me? That twinkle in his eye sure reminds me of the one in yours.

Even with the absence of a dna link - Emma shares your 'never meet a stranger' and 'pester one - pester all' approach to life. I can only imagine the fun the two of you would have had & the trouble you two could have caused.

And with little Rebecca, I can almost feel your smile from heaven when she pairs her tutu with her cowgirl boots that she is so proud of. She has a sixth sense with horses that I know you would have loved and appreciated too. Miss ya' and wish you were still with us.

(my dad is the gentleman on the right)

The Downside to Being Number 3

2011-01-05T21:05:00.004-05:00

By the time I finally got around to having Ryan, I was 32 years old and I was more than ready to be a mom. Every little thing he did was a 'scrapbook moment' and I filled up several of the big 12 x 12 scrapbooks. Additionally it seems like I kept just about every little masterpiece he made. Things were saved from daycare, trips, Sunday School, school - you name it. Each and every event had some sort of memento and was duly noted in a scrapbook.

He was 7 when Emma came along and by this time I was a little wiser about not saving so many things. We were also pretty busy with his sports schedule and I no longer seemed to be able to fit in any scrapbooking time into my schedule. I still continued taking pictures but found that I was becoming less and less sentimental about EVERY piece of paper that was written on. Subsequently, I didn't keep nearly as many of the papers and keepsakes for Emma that we had for Ryan. At some point I was able to make one scrapbook for her that covered our trip to China and I also made her a lifebook. A scrapbook was started but never completed ... guess it'll be one of those things I'll have to go back to later.

Then along comes little Rebecca and at the same time we realize we have way too much stuff in our house. Her arrival was shortly followed by our beginning to deep clean and throw away a lot of the things we had saved/kept. Even after all the purging there are times I feel absolutely overwhelmed with the number of papers that come home for the two girls and in the back of my mind keep thinking that at some point I need to set aside a place for some of Rebecca's papers. I recently noticed how much she has progressed in drawing things and am a little sad that I haven't saved some of her earlier drawings so that we could show her how well she is doing.

A few other things I've noticed about number 3 vs number 1 (and even number 2 for that matter) - which makes me feel like a terrible mother:

Very few pictures are of JUST number 3.
The first child had all kinds of Christmas ornaments. First Christmas. First 5 Christmases. Grade school series. Ornaments made in preschool. Ornaments made in Sunday school. Ornaments ... ornaments .. ornaments. Almost as many for Emma since she was the first girl although the grade series has not been started. For Rebecca, don't even ask. Part of this has to do with her age at adoption and part of it has to do with me just not getting around to starting any of the series for her yet. I did make a point this year though of buying some that represented her interests.
Reading time - I read to Ryan while he was in the womb and continued to read to him every day for years it seemed. Which is probably why he scores so stinkin' high in the language arts category. While I read to Emma, it wasn't nearly as much as I did Ryan because it took a while before she would sit still enough to be read to. Thankfully she finally did get to the point where she enjoyed being read to and can now read to herself. Reading time for Bex just doesn't seem to happen much at all.

It just makes me wonder ... how do people who have LOTS of kids handle these things because I for one am feeling like a terrible mama!

So, my two main New Year resolutions are to:

1. Make a scrapbook for Rebecca, even if I have to do a digital one that is just for her. Since we have the basement cleaned up, I've noticed that all three of the kids have been enjoying getting Ryan's scrapbooks out and pouring over them so I think she would really enjoy that.

2. Establish a reading routine with her and stick with it!

For Today

2011-01-02T21:07:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I've done this little exercise and since I'm behind on blogging and behind on really a lot of things - thought I'd take a few minutes to gather my thoughts.

Outside my window: It's dark and cold. Not as cold as it has been, but still pretty darn cold! I promise to never, ever complain about the heat and humidity again!

I Am Thinking: About the holidays and how much our sweet children enjoyed themselves. Now here we are in a new year already and have so much to look forward to. Ryan will be turning 13 in a few weeks, then I'll be turning (???) in February. We'll celebrate 16 fabulous years of marriage in March. Then little Emma turns 7 in May. So, the next few months are going to be busy busy!

I Am Thankful For: My family and friends. We had such a wonderful Christmas even though by dollar standards it was down from some previous years. But it seemed like everyone enjoyed that even more than some of the bigger celebrations we've had. It was just a good time all the way around. Some friends from Texas came and stayed with us a few days and we enjoyed visiting with them and enjoyed watching the kiddos interact with them. Emma in particular really took up with Ron, and you could tell he was quite smitten with her as well. We rang in the new year with some of our best friends who have also adopted from China and laughed so much I thought I was going to be sore. Good, good times! And I'll have to say I learned a lot of new things about these friends. 'The Not So Newlywed' game is a wonderful way to find out LOTS of things about people!

From The Kitchen: I love cooking in the winter! So I've been busy making venison stew. Also tried a chicken and dumplings recipe from the Pioneer Woman site. The dumplings have corn meal in them - a little weird, but good. The second time I made it I used gnocchi instead and that was pretty yummy as well. Did quite a bit of baking during Christmas and not sure I'm going to want any more sweets for a while! Emma asked for and received a Jamba Juice maker for Christmas so we've also been trying various smoothie recipes. I just love watching her whipping up her little concoctions! Emma and I were out running around with our friend from Texas the other day & ran across a set of really cute little antique glasses which I bought for her to serve her goodies in. Quite tickled that my little one likes to cook!

I Am Wearing: Black sweats. OU Sooners t-shirt. BOOMER SOONER baby!!!

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Oh my, seems like one step forward and 10 steps back at times. We do have the halls undecked - trees taken down and put up, mantle un-decorated. Window lights all down and packed away. But the confounded basement is gonna be the death of me. Brian had taken everything out and repainted it and now the shelving is back in and we did organize the books shelves which was desperately needed. But the kids toys are still not organized. Nor is anything 'decorated' yet - nor do I even have a decorating plan. I tried working on it for a few hours this afternoon but just wasn't in the mood.

I Am Going: To bed soon. Can't believe the holidays are over and it's back to a normal schedule already.

I Am Reading: Recently finished The Water is Wide. I realized after I was part way through it that I had read it before but enjoyed it so much that I went ahead and read it again. Great read! Time to catch up on some magazines before I delve into something else.

I Am Hoping: That we can decide where we're going on vacation. I need something to plan!

I Am Praying For: Patience. In many ways.

I Am Hearing: Football on the tv ... sigh. Shouldn't the season be over by now?

Around The House: A little messy, but manageable. Can't really complain since we did get all the Christmas decorations put away.

One Of My Favorite Things: Christmas! I just love buying things for our family and seeing their enjoyment when they open the packages. It really tickled me this year that some of the really little things I got the kids were the things they seemed to enjoy the most.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Ryan has a make up band concert. They had one scheduled before the holidays but it was cancelled due to the weather. Still have a few more weeks before gymnastics starts back up but I think dance does start back this week. I need to check on that! Then a basketball game for Ryan on Saturday.

Have a great week everyone!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T11:58:00.001-05:00

A Very Merry Christmas

2010-12-27T20:45:00.015-05:00

We truly had a very Merry Christmas! Even though this was Rebecca's second Christmas with us, she knew the drill - and knew it very well indeed! All the kids were really, really sweet about wanting us to open gifts from them as well as wanting their siblings to open the presents they had bought for one another. It was so nice watching them being so kind and caring! Not that they aren't that way, it's just that they seemed to really be in the spirit of giving instead of just getting - if that makes sense.

Emma's favorite item in her stocking was meat sticks, which really tickled her papa. One of the first English words she learned was "meat" and she's pretty much been a carnivore ever since! She'll still pretty much take a piece of meat over any other food offered.
Rebecca's favorite present was a doll house and some barbie things. Emma never really has been a barbie kind of girl, although she does have one she plays with in the bathtub. So needless to say, there's not any barbie things laying around for Rebecca so she truly relished the ones she received.
I picked this out for her as well as a little coin purse in the same colors. The funny thing is, my sweet sister sent her a matching monogrammed hat - and she didn't even know I had picked out the same color scheme for some of the things I had bought! Now how fun is that?! Rebecca was wearing it around and saying she was a baseball player. Well, not sure about playing ball in a cute monogrammed/polka dotted cap - but that works for me!

Ryan's favorite gift and the thing he has been bugging me to get for months and months and months (or so it seemed) was an airsoft gun. He and his buddies have been having airsoft wars and he is totally into it. While not exactly what I prefer for him to be 'into', I guess it's better than a lot of other things :-)

For some reason this really cracked us up. We saw this view several times throughout the morning!

The messy aftermath.

Brian & His Fishing Buddy

2010-12-21T21:35:00.005-05:00

We've recently discovered that Emma loves fishing with her papa & let me tell you, that's made one papa a very happy papa! She now has her own pole & will be getting some new fishing things from jolly ol' st nick. She is a daddy's girl through and through!

Tutu's & Boots

2010-12-20T21:09:00.007-05:00

Really no need to add any commentary to these ...

Horse Time

2010-12-19T17:01:00.012-05:00

My brother was so sweet to saddle up a horse for the girls and let them ride while we were in Oklahoma. Little Rebecca, I think that baby girl could ride all day! She kept going out to the fence and talking to the horses and then would really crack up when I would play with their mouth and make their lips move and I would talk like it was the horse talking. She would SO be at home living in the country!

Bex and her Boots

2010-12-17T20:43:00.008-05:00

A few years ago my sister mailed some clothes out to Emma and in the box was an adorable pair of little Justin Roper boots. She said they had been passed down through several families but as a typical pair of Justins, they were still in good shape. Since I've been away from the whole horse scene thing for a long time I really didn't have any idea if those kinds of boots were still in style or not but I still had very fond memories of my boot wearing days and was very, very happy to have them.

Little Emma though wasn't nearly as impressed with them as I was so they basically just sat in her closet. That is until little Rebecca came into our life. It didn't take us long at all to realize that Rebecca loves all things cowgirl related - boots, horses, "fahms" (farms) and really any kind of animal. Deep down in her little soul is a cowgirl! She noticed the boots right away and loved wearing them and while she seems to have a knack for being very rough on shoes, those little boots held up for her for a very long time. When it came time to replace them we looked in several places and could not find any child size boots other than a pair at Target. Needless to say, those didn't hold up under her wear very long at all!

My brother knew about Rebecca's love for boots and when we went to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving he took both of his little niece's to the local feed store and bought them both a brand new pair. I think the only time she's had them off since we've been home is on Sundays when I make her wear her pretty dress shoes. Who would have ever guessed that a pair of boots would make one little girl so very happy!

'Tis the Season

2010-12-15T09:21:00.004-05:00

Lots going on around the Hunter household. I'll spare you all the details, but goodness it seems like we're never home anymore. My plan was to have our Christmas trees up before we left to go to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, would be able to do my shopping and get cards done as soon as we got home ... but you know the saying about the best laid plans ...

We had a wonderful trip to Oklahoma, the girls are ready to pack up and move but while we were there my computer went completely down. It's taken until just this week to get a new drive in, get everything re-installed and all my data retrieved. Whew. That on top of basketball starting, dance, gymnastics, church, shopping to do, a never ending pile of laundry and a messy house - you know the drill. Then the washing machine went kaput too, not fun. Not fun at all.

This past weekend it snowed and in my mind it was going to be the PERFECT opportunity to take pictures for our cards. I had bought the cutest red dresses for the girls and a new sweater for Ryan and I had this image in my mind of their little faces flushed from cold air and pictures of them frolicking in the snow. What I didn't factor into the equation is them being so cold from 'frolicking' without coats on, nor a grumpy son from not getting enough sleep over the weekend and therefore not in the mood to 'frolick'. Needless to say, good pictures of smiling happy children were not to be had that day. Well, Emma was happy - but she's always happy.

At this point Christmas cards are still not done and I'm not holding my breath that it's actually going to happen this year.

With that said, this is the best I got ... and from our home to yours - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In Case You're Wondering

2010-11-29T11:05:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Oklahoma this past week, wonderful week of catching up with friends & family!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bad news is, the laptop has crashed again - this time most likely permanently ... so uploading of pictures isn't gonna happen for a while :-( Not even sure at this point how I'm going to get Christmas cards made.

Hopefully I'll be back to catch up soon. I do have some funny little Thanksgiving week stories to share!

Trying Something New

2010-11-16T21:25:00.008-05:00

Back about a month ago I took the kids down to the park, trying to scope out a new place to take pictures for a certain 'look' that I wanted to try. They weren't dressed up, their hair wasn't fixed, their clothes didn't blend, I wasn't getting the 'weeds' quite how I wanted and subsequently didn't quite get the look I was looking for - but goodness they had fun and I had fun capturing some of their antics. Sometimes I think maybe these make the best pictures.

But then again, there'll come another evening when the sky is that perfect color of blue & I'll force them to put on nice clothes, comb their hair & try this again :-)

Happy Fall Ya'll

2010-11-16T10:09:00.006-05:00

The ol' laptop is back in working condition, now I need to work on getting back in blogging condition!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

Sabbatical

2010-10-28T06:49:00.002-05:00

In case anyone is wondering, my laptop is on the brink o' death and Brian hasn't had time to fix it. I'll be back once it's back in working condition!

For Today

2010-10-17T19:37:00.004-05:00

Outside my window: It's dark and somewhat warm for a fall night. I know I'll regret saying this later, but I'm ready for some real fall weather.

I Am Thinking: About my sweet hubby. He works so hard, has such a stressful job and then it seems like there are so many things around here that need to be done. He worked all weekend trying to finish up our bathroom. I'll be so glad when we are done with remodeling and can start getting out and about again.

I Am Thankful For: My family. I fuss at all of them from time to time, but I enjoy them so much. Each personality so different and so enjoyable in their own way. I watched the three kiddos out the window off an on all afternoon yesterday as they made up their own little game with sand pails and hickory nuts. Not quite sure what all they were doing but they picked up a bunch & then played and played with them.

From The Kitchen: Made fajitas yesterday which were yummy! Last week I was really in a cooking mood and made a meatloaf, some yummy pecan pie muffins (that are DELICIOUS!).

I Am Wearing: Blue & white shorts, yellow t-shirt ... not so sure they match :-(

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Cleaned out Ryan's closet - that child has hit a big growth spurt and nothing from last winter fits. Also went through the girls clothes and made a goodwill pile and a friend pile. Saved a few summer things for next summer but can tell that 5T's will not be fitting next summer. Makes me a little sad that we're completely out of the toddler sizes now :-(

I Am Going: To bed soon. Busy weekend wore me out.

I Am Reading: Just finished a rather odd book that my mom sent. She warned me ahead of time that the title and subject was not something I would typically read but encouraged me to give it a try. She said it was really good, not so sure I agree, but for some reason couldn't put it down either. The book is called "Imperfect Endings: A Daughter's Tale of Life and Death". It was basically about rights to die - which is weird to me, but the book was well written. Unsettling, but well written. Now I need something new to read!

I Am Hoping: That Brian can get some relief from the stress of his job.

I Am Praying For: A family we know who was in the process of adopting, they were there for the child's birth - no red flags from their agency, all seemed like it was going well but the birthmother changed her mind. The family is crushed to say the least.

I Am Hearing: Football on the tv ... sigh.

Around The House: Clean! Brian was busy with remodeling things, the kids played all afternoon in the yard and so I was able to get the whole house cleaned! Well, except the dining room - but that's another story.

One Of My Favorite Things: FALL!!! Beautiful gold and orange trees. Cool air. Opening the house up. The fresh smell in the air!!! I was going to take the kids to the park and take pictures but just didn't make it this weekend. I did take Rebecca on a test shoot last Wednesday & found the perfect foliage. I would upload my favorite ... but my laptop went kaput.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Baseball is over. Fall break is over. So it's back to a somewhat normal schedule with no sports for a few weeks. Gymnastics for Emma on Wednesday, Dance for the girls on Thursday. Ryan is leaving for a class trip to Chicago on Friday. A church 'senior social' on Saturday that we're really looking forward to. We will be helping another Sunday school class host this and the theme is HeeHaw - we did this last year and it was a blast!!! The class we are helping has a room full of talented people who are just natural at these skits. Funny, funny stuff!

Have a great week everyone!

Autumn Moon Festival

2010-10-11T19:46:00.015-05:00

Summarized from wikipedia ... The Mid Autumn Moon Festival is a popular harvest festival celebrated in China. It dates backs over 3,000 years. It is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon and eat moon cakes.

In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.

Our local FCC chapter has a celebration every fall but several years ago we started celebrating with other adoptive families that we are friends with and a new Shelby county version has emerged! Our friends the Bailey's have hosted this fun party and we have had a blast, this year being no different. It's a laid back affair, and not necessarily scheduled with the full moon - but that's really irrelevant to all the fun we have together. Watching the girls play together is more fun than any parent should be able to have!

Here's a few pictures from the fun & festivities!

A New Take On Playing In The Yard

2010-10-06T20:55:00.006-05:00

The girls were out playing not too long ago and Brian came in and told me I needed to bring my camera and come out. I protested, too much to do ... yada yada - house too messy - laundry to do. He persisted and so I finally went out - and found this! They crack me up!!!

Of Blogs and Time

2010-10-04T19:36:00.004-05:00

Goodness, has it really been over two weeks since I blogged! That's pretty bad when you get emails from friends wondering if you've dropped off the face of the earth or not.

Random thoughts by me in no particular order. The last two weeks have consisted of:

Homework
Ballgames
Homework
Gymnastics
Dance
A birthday party where both girls were invited (such a treat for me - I didn't have to hear "that's not fair" a single time).
Ballgames
Homework
Gymnastics
Dance
A new remodeling project start (the basement)
Some progress made on an existing remodeling project. A dear friend brought an electrician over to finish up some things in our bathroom. This is the project that started in March 2009 and will end by ______. Not that I'm counting or anything. On a side note, even though that was the first one that kicked things off, even though it got put on hold - we did get lots of other things done - just haven't gotten that one completed.
A sick husband
The ushering in of cold weather and a mad dash of a shopping trip to buy jeans for Emma as she only had two pair that fit. I think she would wear shorts 12 months out of the year if we'd let her.
An attempt to sort pictures that turned my only organized room into a chaotic mess with pictures all over the floor and me without the heart or gumption to even step back in there.
A concussion for Emma. That was fun. Not. Scared the bejabbers out of me - she was talking NONSENSE and wasn't remembering much from a short term perspective. She's back to hand stands, cart wheels and constant pestering so she must be on the mend.
A husband who has the knack of making me laugh even when I'm in a really testy mood.
"Survivor Weekend" for the youth - beautiful day for it, the kids had a blast as did the grownups. The big kids let my little kids join in the fun. We are blessed to go to church with what's got to be the nicest people on the face of the planet. It really is amazing, and I oh how I enjoy watching people being so kind to my babies.
Busy, busy time at work - which is a blessing.
Two lunch outings with friends. Another blessing. I love my friends :-)
Lots of laughter at both lunches - I love laughing with my friends!
Allergy doctor visit for Ryan with a side trip to Starbucks afterwards to partake of a vanilla bean frappachino - quite the treat for us! And even more of a treat to surprise him.
Nursery duty this past Sunday - not sure what was going on but we only had one baby, he's a snuggler and I got to hold him the entire time. Not sure who enjoyed it more, me or him.
The opportunity to catch up with another friend during our nursery hour - she called it our 'therapy hour'. Another hour filled with fun and laughter.

So, I guess other than remodeling, a sick husband and a child with a concussion - I've gotten to laugh a lot these past two weeks. Laughter is good for the soul isn't it?

Checkups, Outings and One on One Time

2010-09-18T12:54:00.007-05:00

Rebecca had her 5 year checkup the other day where I found out that she has grown 2 1/4 inches this past year (WHOAAA!) and gained 3 lbs. I am a little concerned that she is going to end up being taller than Miz Divine. Since I wasn't able to take off a whole day to spend with her on her birthday, I did spend a few hours with her after her appointment. Our first stop was Build-A-Bear. She's had several bears made for her but has never gotten to make one for herself and my oh my did she enjoy herself! She picked out a little dog that has a puppy that is held in the dogs mouth by a magnet. Cute, cute, cute! Then instead of an outfit we found a leash - which really cracked me up. She has taken belts off of dresses and any kind of string she can find and has been making her own leashes for her various animals. Now she has one that really is a leash! A big ol' chocolate chip cookie was the grand finale for our time out - YUMMY! Baby girl loves her "chocolee"!

Birthdays Past

2010-09-16T20:11:00.007-05:00

Birthdays are a big thing for me, not sure why - not sure how to explain it but even before I had children I knew that their birthdays were going to be a very special time for them. For each child's birthday we have some sort of a party with their friends. On their actual birthday day we take them out for a special dinner where they get to choose where we go. Then I also try to take a day off from work and spend the entire day with just the birthday child doing whatever it is they want to do. The last one hasn't happened every year, but I would say it has most years.

Rebecca was adopted when she was 3 1/2 which obviously means we missed her first 3 birthdays, which also means I felt it necessary to make a big deal out of the first one we had for her last September. While I try not to dwell on our girls circumstances prior to being adopted, I can't help but have some sadness that both of them were not with us much earlier. In Emma's case, she was in an orphanage for a year. In Rebecca's, we're not sure where she was her first 4 months of life but based upon what we've been given it's safe to assume she must have been with her birth family. She went to live with Amanda at the Starfish Home when she was 18 months old, but there is a gap from 4 months to 18 months where we have no idea where she lived. There's mention of a foster family but we do not know how long she lived with them. So many things we just do not know.

The other night I dug out some cd's that Amanda had sent home with us when we adopted Rebecca and I started opening up picture after picture that was taken from 18 months up until we adopted her. Then I ran across these - BIRTHDAY pictures! Oh my, how cute are these!!!! Knowing that my baby girl had a big fuss made over her for both her 2nd and 3rd birthdays just melts my heart! I know I've said it a million times, but Amanda from the Starfish Home is simply amazing. It's so obvious how much she loves her babies. What a blessing to have these pictures & to see how well she was taken care of!

For Today

2010-09-13T20:12:00.003-05:00

Outside my window: It's dark and a cool breeze tonight during Ryan's game. Fall is almost here - I can just feel it!

I Am Thinking: About my sweet hubby. He had a deacon meeting tonight and he's still not home. Even if we're not talking, I like having him close by and it feels a little lonesome with him not here.

I Am Thankful For: My new job. Which I guess isn't really that new now considering I've been there almost 9 months. Really, really like the team I'm on. Like our boss - he's a good guy. A friend of mine from the job we were laid off from is now there too and it's nice having her there as well. It's just a good fit and I am so thankful to have it.

From The Kitchen: Where's that?

I Am Wearing: Khaki shorts, white t-shirt. Barefoot!

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Brian & I worked on the basement some more. Then he started in on the garage .... he's a cleaning machine when he's in the mood. Now we have a van full of things to haul off to Goodwill.

I Am Going: To bed soon. As soon as Brian gets home that is.

I Am Reading: Haven't really started anything yet ... have picked up a few, only to put them right back down. My sister emailed today with a suggestion for a book - need to stop by the library and see if they have it. I love to read!

I Am Hoping: That we can save extra money for vacation next summer so that hopefully we could fly somewhere instead of driving. Not sure if we'll be able to, but am going to give it the old college try.

I Am Praying For: Ryan - he really hasn't seemed like himself lately. But I know he's probably just tired with school, baseball and church activities. Also for Brian's oldest son Jesse who will be heading back to Iraq in the next few months.

I Am Hearing: Total, complete quietness. The girls are in bed and I'm thinking Ryan must be too.

Around The House: A little messy, but not terribly so. Not anything I couldn't fix in an hour or so if I'd just do it. Laundry baskets filled with clean clothes and taken to the appropriate rooms, but still needs to be put away.

One Of My Favorite Things: The girls playing at the playground while Ryan is playing baseball. They have such a good time and their evenings are made that much better when they get to spend some money at the concession stand!

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Another baseball game for Ryan on Tuesday night. Rebecca's 5 year checkup is on Wednesday & then gymnastics for Emma that evening, while Brian, Ryan & Rebecca go to church. Dance for both girls on Thursday and yet another baseball game for Ryan. A sleepover for Emma on Friday (she is SOOOOO excited!) - this is her very first one. Wish I could go and take pictures :-)

Have a great week everyone!

First Day of Preschool

2010-09-10T19:59:00.002-05:00

Thursday was the first day of preschool for Miss Rebecca! I shared on Facebook that I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad??? She's really looking forward to it, and even more so looking forward to kindergarten next year so that works for the happy side. But on the sad side, she's our last one - last year for all the fun little preschool things, field trips and "letter find" activities. Our last baby who now is really not a baby anymore - she's a big girl now!

A Bike For Bex

2010-09-09T20:47:00.006-05:00

One of our presents for Rebecca was her very own, brand spanking new bicycle. We ended up giving it to her a day early because it was soooo pretty here that day and the kids were out playing anyway. We had her turn around, close her eyes - the whole 9 yards and then gave it to her. She was smiling ear to ear!

Practically speaking we probably should have bought a new bike for Emma (since she's riding without training wheels) and then handed down Emma's bike to Bex. But, practicality doesn't always line up with what's on the heart - so a new bike was in order.

Rebecca has made so many strides this past year, being able to even pedal a bike a year ago was very difficult for her. Now she can peddle, skip and jump to her hearts content.

And I'll just say - buying a new bike was so worth the big smile and thankful heart!

For Today

2010-09-07T20:09:00.002-05:00

Outside my window: It's dark and a tad bit cooler than it's been. Starting to believe that fall may really just be around the corner.

I Am Thinking: About family, and how sometimes I really wish we lived closer. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Louisville - but I do miss my family. Thankful to have so many friends who treat us as family though.

I Am Thankful For: Rebecca's 5th birthday, she SO enjoyed her special day and was so thankful for her new toys. She's kept all of her new things very close at hand.

From The Kitchen: Oh my my ... I made "Butter Chicken" over the weekend and it was delicious. I'm sure not one bit healthy - but it twas yum-acious. I also made some crispy potatoes the other night while Brian grilled out steaks. Those weren't too bad either. You basically boil the potato until soft, put it on a baking sheet - smash it down to 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness. Pour on some olive oil and spices then bake until they are crispy. The kids loved them!

I Am Wearing: Blue shorts, white t-shirt. Barefoot! I love going barefoot! It won't be long until it's time to find my sweats :-)

On the 'Go Organize' Front: The basement we tackled, well - yes, we made progress, got things out of there, things thrown away - shelving moved around to make a better play area. Rebecca thanked us many times for 'making it neat down there'. But is it still neat? Should I put an expletive in front of that 'nope'?. Not even close. It's been Rebecca-fied. Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a battle that I have no hopes of winning. Bless her little bones, I can't stand the thought of discouraging her from playing though. She's the only child we have who really plays with toys.

I Am Going: To bed soon.

I Am Reading: Just finished 'The Help'. It's a thick book and I finished it in about 3 days!!! Great read!!! Now if I could only find another one as equally interesting.

I Am Hoping: That Rebecca enjoys preschool, it starts up on Thursday. She has a brand new backpack that she got for her birthday that she is so proud of - already has her things packed in it and is ready to go!

I Am Praying For: A friend of mine in a painful situation. Hoping she will come to Louisville and spend some time with me.

I Am Hearing: Total, complete quietness. The girls are in bed and Ryan must be tired - haven't heard much out of him tonight.

Around The House: House fairly picked up, thankful that I had a long weekend to work on it. Still have a lot more to do to the basement - on top of Bex-mess that needs picking up. Laundry baskets filled with clean clothes and taken to the appropriate rooms, but still needs to be put away.

One Of My Favorite Things: Watching Rebecca enjoying her birthday. She was SO happy with all the attention, friends, presents, swimming and her horse cake. She's told us thank you several times already for her birthday. She's so sweet about giving thanks!

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Emma is changing to a different gymnastics class on Wednesday nights that is more focused than the one she is currently in - that starts tomorrow night. I'm going to take Rebecca out of gymnastics for now and try her in a dance class. She loves music and dancing and I think this will give her an opportunity to do something different from Emma. Things like that are important to me since I was the youngest of 5 and it always felt like I had to do what my siblings wanted to do. That may not have been the reality, but that's how I remember it anyway! She'll start that on Thursday.

Choir practice for Brian on Wednesday & youth group for Ryan. Baseball games for Ryan on Thursday. Hopefully nothing but some time at home on Friday. Then the Simpsonville Fall Festival on Saturday. Whew ... glad I was able to enjoy some down time back in July!

Have a great week everyone!

Happy 5th Birthday Rebecca

2010-09-05T18:37:00.011-05:00

Today we celebrated little Rebecca's 5th birthday. Fifth. Five. Oh my my ... my baby is growing up! She has been so excited about her big day and we've been counting down to it for weeks now. The celebration was held at the local pool, the likes of which I reserved back when it was hotter than hades here and lo and behold if it hasn't turned off a little chilly. But the cool weather didn't put a damper in her enthusiasm. Although we did have to go spend a little time in the indoor pool to warm up a tad!

Happy Birthday Little Rebecca! We're so thankful to be celebrating your special day with you!!!

Fun Times At The Midway

2010-09-02T09:04:00.002-05:00

The kids had THE best time at the Midway. Ryan is so good about going off and riding the rides without anyone being with him, how I admire him for doing that! It seems like it takes both me and Brian to keep up with the girlfriends. Good grief, they were running from one ride to the other and seemingly couldn't get enough of the fun. No holding back for those too - it's full steam ahead!!!

The Fair is For Food

2010-09-01T09:53:00.008-05:00

I suspect that the main reason our family likes going to the fair is simply the food. Now they could all argue their own various reasons for wanting to go to the fair - but mamas know these things. It's the food.

In Ryan's case this year, he had heard about the new donut burgers and he wanted to try one. A burger in between two donuts. Not donut halves mind you - but two donuts.

Can someone PLEASE tell me how this kid stays so skinny?

Kentucky State Fair

2010-08-31T18:42:00.011-05:00

Our family LOVES, LOVES, LOVES going to fairs. It doesn't really matter if it's the local county fair or if it's the state fair - they love it! We had the opportunity to go this past Friday & could not have asked for better weather. It was beee-you-tee-ful out there!

A few things, in no particular order - that really cracked me up. What better reason to go to the fair that to have your funny bone tickled.

Not so sure Jr liked being 'penned up' with the sheep.

Rebecca & Emma both were fascinated watching the little piggies enjoy their dinner. Rebecca was just a tad bit puzzled though and asked me (after watching them rooting around) if they were trying to wake their mama up. Needless to say, there were lots of laughs around us!

I needed that shirt!

And wish I'd had the nerve to buy a hair piece like that!

I really think this one is just fine without a caption.

For Today

2010-08-29T20:42:00.003-05:00

Outside my window: It's dark and fairly warm. We had a few days of fall type weather but it seems like the hot days of summer have returned.

I Am Thinking: About stress. Keeping it all inside is really not a good thing - but telling everyone how stressed you are isn't a good thing either. What is the answer? Sometimes I feel like God just has to be tired of my worrying, I know I am!

I Am Thankful For: My sweet hubby - I'm always thankful for him. I could have searched the world over and never have found a better mate. So thankful that God is faithful to look out for me even during those times I wasn't really smart enough to look out for myself.

From The Kitchen: Nada. Nothing.

I Am Wearing: Khaki shorts, white t-shirt. Barefoot! I love going barefoot!

On the 'Go Organize' Front: We tackled the basement (aka - playroom, junk room, scrapbooking room, office stuff room) - it's not done yet, but we made a good dent. I LOVE it when Brian is in de-junktify mode. Bless Rebecca's little heart, she's told us thank you several times for 'making it neat' down there. Now if she'll just keep it clean.

We also finally got around to hanging pictures in the girls room. Still need to take a couple of things from China to a frame shop. Just really haven't had the extra money to spend on framing. We also still need to buy a bed for Rebecca as her mattress set is sitting on the floor. Just not sure how to find something that looks similar to Emma's and really do not have the money to buy new beds for both of them. Dilemnas, dilemnas.

I Am Going: To bed soon, still tired from the fair on Friday.

I Am Reading: Still haven't made it to the library. Picked up a Grisham novel the other day but finished that in just a few nights.

I Am Hoping: That Rebecca has a wonderful birthday this coming holiday weekend! She is very excited about her big day!!!

I Am Praying For: Friends from church, with a very sick father/grandfather - wonderful, wonderful people that we enjoy so much.

I Am Hearing: The dryer just buzzed - again. Laundry, seems like it neva' ends.

Around The House: House fairly picked up, with the exception of boxes that had been brought up from the basement. I finally got around to sorting out the 3 boxes I had brought home from the job I lost back in January of 09. Painful few hours for me, but it needed to be done. The company I had worked for was big on awards, cards and the like ... it was difficult to read through the notes about what a great job I had done and then try to reconcile that with a layoff.

One Of My Favorite Things: Watching the kids at the fair. We went this past Friday and could not have asked for nicer weather. It was BEAUTIFUL! The kids were so good and had such a good time. But I tell ya', they wore themselves out at the midway. Emma asked as we were leaving if we could come back the next day!!!

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Baseball games for Ryan on Monday & Thursday. Choir practice for Brian on Wednesday, they are already working on Christmas music. Gymnastics for the girls on Thursday. Somewhere in all of that I need to get by a bakery and get a cake ordered for Rebecca. Also need to buy the other things for her party as well. Brian is going to take Ryan & Emma shopping one night to pick something out for her too. She is VERY excited about turning 5!

Have a great week everyone!

Starfish Babies

2010-08-27T07:38:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, Rebecca lived with Amanda at the Starfish Home in Xian, China. Amanda's mission in life is to help medically needy orphans get the medical care they need and then to take care of them until their forever families arrive. Words just can't describe enough how much I respect and appreciate her life work!

I really haven't had the time to reach out to every family who adopts a Starfish child but a couple of new families caught my eye the other day, one in particular because they are from Tennessee. Makes me smile to think of another little Chinese child with a southern accent :-)

Anyway, these two families will be traveling to Xian soon - check it out, wish them well and remember them in your prayers!

"Immeasurablymoreblessed"

and

"FaithWithOutWorks"

Tomorrow we will be welcoming home some friends who have traveled back to get their 2nd daughter. I need to make sure I take my kleenex to the airport, a new child home with their forever families ALWAYS makes me cry!

Back On Schedule

2010-08-25T19:30:00.004-05:00

School is back in session which means we're back on a schedule. Fall baseball started for Ryan and gymnastics starts back up for the girls tomorrow. Brian is back to choir practice on Wednesdays. Homework. Reading. Some more homework. A 7th grader that does his homework without any reminding. A first grader who tells me she hates homework. But I'm thinking she didn't hate it until she realized she had to do it herself. At least I think there is a direct correlation. If any more nights are like tonight (in the homework department anyway), I think I may just run away from home :-) The assignment was to use each of the words on her vocabulary list in a sentence. Tears, footstomping and lots of "I can't ..." ensued. She said "I don't like homework" then told me she didn't know how to use the word "don't" in a sentence ... hmmm.

Calgon, please take me away - this is not a good way to start the school year.

Site Seeing

2010-08-19T19:32:00.005-05:00

We happened across this sign while we were out and about the other day. For some reason it really cracked Brian up, guy humor maybe? Somehow he had watched a youtube video about this place as well.

men ...

Happy Birthday To My Better Half

2010-08-18T19:44:00.007-05:00

Today is my sweet husband's birthday. We celebrated a little early this year, trying to procure overnight child care can be a tad bit complex. Just getting up enough nerve to ask someone to stay with them is difficult as it is! We haven't had been anywhere overnight without kiddos since Ryan was probably 4 or 5 so we were long overdue. Thankfully, Emma's first teacher Amy came and stayed with the kiddos (bless her kind soul). We went and had dinner - alone! Checked into a lovely bed and breakfast that overlooks the Ohio river, went for a long walk then spent some time on the deck just talking to each other and enjoying a beautiful sunset. It was so nice having that much time together to just do nothing!!! The next day we went to a small town and walked around checking out a few cute little stores and few antique stores. It was really, really nice & it's something we really should do more often.

Then last night we went out as a family and enjoyed some yummy Indian food!

Happy Birthday Brian - Love you with all my heart!!!!

First Day of School

2010-08-18T12:46:00.003-05:00

First day of school today ... 1st grade for Miz Divine & 7th grade for Ryan. My babies are growing up. I swear Ryan sprouted up a good few inches over the summer. Won't be long until he's taller than me. Now that's just not right!

Guest Room

2010-08-17T20:33:00.003-05:00

And here's the guest room ... we'll leave the light on for ya'!

Ryan's Room

2010-08-16T20:08:00.006-05:00

With all my talk of remodeling, redoing, throwing out and straightening up - I thought I should probably post a picture or two. Really I should have done some before / after shots but goodness, the carpet was in such bad shape, his furniture didn't match and a thing or two (maybe 3, maybe more) had been with him since he was little and was way too 'kiddy' for a strapping 12 year old. So, with all that said - here's Ryan's new room!

I really need some decorating help though. The things he had on his wall before were such a klugey/mismatched mess and now that we're basically starting over with a clean slate, I would like for it to look nice and neat. Therefore one whole wall (the one at the foot of his bed) is completely empty. Ideas anyone of what could go there?

The print above his bed is new. The kite is from our first trip to China. The curtain rod is the only carryover from his other room, but since he was born in Texas - I just couldn't give them up.

Oh, and the spots - I used Ryan's camera when we went to the river and I must have gotten some water spots on the lens that I can't seem to get off.