Wednesday, August 29, 2012

hello rain


hello rain.
hello to a brief break in the heat.


hello to a 4 year old's curiosity.
hello to adorable smiles and rain boots.
 

hello to spending my days with just him again.

Monday, August 27, 2012

he makes me feel old


seriously. third grade. THIRD GRADE!!! how did that happen?!?!?
 just look at my teeny tiny kindergartner turned into a 3rd grader!!!
 
this is all old hat for elijah by now. grab your new avenger's backpack, hop in the car, greet your new teacher, unload school supplies, bye to mom and dad and settle in for the ride. he did great. he always does. and he has (another) really sweet teacher. thank you Lord...i do not take that for granted.



of course we had to get pictures with dad and brother.

 








and how much longer do you think i can get away with this? :-)


 elijah with ms. briese.



jason figured it out last night (because he's a glutton for punishment), that 3rd grade is 1/4 of the way through school and then he leaves the house. thanks for that honey! oh my word. i wish i could slow down time.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

ahhhh, a new look!

i just love this new header that my fabulous sister-in-law made for me!
thank you, thank you, thank you lauren! you rock!!

winding down


summertime is winding down this week. boo. :-(
elijah starts 3rd grade on monday.
meet the teacher is tonight.
judah and i start in 2 weeks.
no more sleeping in.

we have done a lot of swimming this week.
swimming at nana and grangoat's,
swimming at a water park with friends,
swimming with ellie and deacon.
lots and lots of swimming.

i love this picture of elijah with his baby cousin.
so sweet.

two of my manly men here. :-)

but i am looking forward to...
a routine,
extra money,
flag football,
gymnastics,
fall weather,
fires in the fireplace,
hot chocolate,
pumpkins,
and oh you know...a referral.
is that too much to ask? :-)

what are you looking forward to?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

the never-ending roller coaster ride

A lot of people have asked if we have heard anything about the adoption.

The short answer is NO.
And the long answer is NO.

There, does that answer your question? :-)

My coping mechanism as of late is to not think about it.
In fact, some days I pretend we're not even adopting.

That seems to work for a while and then every motherly instinct within me rebels against that thinking because I still KNOW that we have a child in Ethiopia that needs us (or maybe we need them). It's a cycle. And just so you know, there are millions of children all around the world that need a home but the systems are flawed. Or someone does something dumb or illegal and messes it up for everyone else. It is not for a lack of orphans, I can tell you that for sure.

Satan is the god of this world and messing with the adoption system seems to be something that he quite enjoys! There have been days that I have wanted to throw up my hands and quit, I admit. I would like to get off this never-ending roller coaster ride and get back to my "normal" life, thankyouverymuch!

But...we are keeping busy and have had a wonderful summer.

In the past week, we've enjoyed lots of play-dates, visiting the Cheatham's sweet boy they just brought home from Ethiopia, an out of town wedding and preparations for school.

And since the adoption IS taking so long, my sister-in-law is helping me with a new design for my blog, since that picture at the top is like 2 or 3 years old...hello! Look for that soon!

As you can probably tell, I'm rambling and a little bit sarcastic today. I think that's my cue to wrap this post up! :-)

Seriously though, thanks for caring and thanks for asking. We wouldn't have made it this far without the support of our friends and family.

Have a great week!

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

what a week!

it started off with a sweet friend from church bringing me this doll that she handmade for our baby girl. it made my day! isn't she adorable?!?!


then it was off to camp of the hills for the week with some of our friends!
my mom's camp assistants put on a "preschool camp" for the little ones while me, leeann, jennifer and katie did their jobs that they've been doing all summer long. the kids loved it!




of course he had to get a picture with the camp dog, brandy.





with lemlem, one of the sweet counselors out there. she just "happens" to be from ethiopia and lives in marble falls so she hangs out with my mom all year. isn't God funny like that?!?!

with his best buddy, linkon.

wet from playing in the sprinklers with his "best friend" (one of the volunteers that week).


working out at camp definitely keeps my mom young. here she is as the rapping granny in the talent show. :-)

and of course while judah was having his fun, elijah was as well. this was his first year to sleep in the cabins all week long and not just be a day camper. he did great!


bubbles in the swimming hole on the last day of camp!





with his buddy dorian, from his cabin B4 - "the wolf pack".

part of the wolf pack

friday night banquet and awards ceremony!





the biggest surprise of the week was a last minute decision by my mom & i to take the boys to sea world for the weekend. it's only 1 1/2 hours from camp. we had a blast! i didn't take my nice camera so we only got a few pictures with my mom's phone.





whew! what a week! we had a blast but were exhausted and glad to be back home.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012