Random...

Just some random photos of what we've been up to on our summer break... I've been working on catching up on some scrapbooking. I spent one entire day working on it last week and did 6 2page layouts (this is a HUGE accomplishment for me!). I even started our little one's book scrapping some pics of our baby shower, the nursery, and our rock-a-thon. It's been hot, which means there has been lots of swimming!!

Dave has been busy with lots of work, which we are very thankful for...the kiddos and I been having fun spending the afternoons outside and in the pool!

This is Dave's latest project... we've always had a push mower and have said that some day we would get a riding mower. Our yard is pretty big and it takes him nearly 2 hours to cut it all. Some people moved away at the end of our street and left this beauty in the yard, the realtor said to take it as they were just going to have someone haul it away. Well, "someone" pushed it down to our driveway and is trying to get it running again... so far he has it running, it just won't cut the grass yet!! Something about the blades??? The kids and I said we would paint it for him for Father's Day!! Hmmm...I'm thinking hot pink spray paint would be lovely?!?! :)

Look at my garden!! It's getting enormous..I'm getting excited that this may be our most fruitful year yet!

"End of School" Fun!

We wanted to do something special with the kids to show them how proud we were of all their hard work in school and to celebrate great testing results!! So we headed out this afternoon for some fun... Our first stop was the mall to check out the new Lego store that just opened...Then it was off to Adventure Landing...they have a great Tuesday night family special that gets you unlimited mini-golf, unlimited laser tag and a large pizza for 19.99!! The kids love playing miniature golf and they have several different courses to choose from.

After a few rounds of mini-golf we had some laser tag fun!!!

This was our last stop... 1 FREE doughnut for every A on their report cards = a FREE dozen doughnuts!!

The end of soccer season!!

Our soccer season ended today with a morning of two games. They lost the first game 3-0, but came back to win the second game 4-3! It will be nice to have our Saturday mornings back again (and more time to yard sale!!)

Every game starts like this... Waiting for his turn to play...

A half-time pep talk...this team has an AWESOME coach (of course I am a little biased)!

It was hot and sunny out there today, lots of water!!

The end of the game high-five!

Spring Soccer 2009 - Team LiverpoolEmily got some "big sister" practice playing with our friends kiddos and their sweet baby boy they adopting from Ethiopia last fall. she loved every minute of it! (Susan, isn't it funny seeing a pic of your kids on someone else's blog??)

The official start of summer!

I don't care what the calendar says...for us summer vacation starts TODAY!!! The last lessons have been completed, last tests taken, papers filed away, and textbooks tucked away on the shelves for the next users. It's the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!! Obviously the learning never stops, but the official "school days" are over for 2 1/2 months. The kids are excited about sleeping in, staying in their pj's past 8:00, swimming, staying up late, and hopefully, Lord-willing... spending the summer getting to know a new baby brother or sister

Happy Mother's Day!!

We had a great Mother's Day weekend!! On Saturday, Dave took the kids to Lowe's to make a free Mother's Day planter! They are so cute!! They gave me special homemade cards and pictures (that made me cry of course!). I love Nathan's picture...it's me pushing the new baby in a stroller (I still have no idea why we are walking in front of a "cook-out" restaurant...we have never eaten there in our lives...we just drive by one all the time!!). The best gift were homemade coupons valid for a free room cleaning, they never expire and can be used over and over again!! My kind of coupon!

After church, I got to have lunch with my Mom (and Dad & brother). Dave made us steaks & chicken on the grill with salad, potato salad, and bread. Delicious!! They bought me a new ice cream maker for Mother's Day (ours died a few months ago and I had been hinting around that a new one would be a great Mother's Day gift), so we had homemade ice cream for dessert!!

Hope all you Moms had a wonderful day!!

Thoughts on Mother's Day...

Mother's Day is quickly approaching and I find myself thinking of this little one that I have "mothered" in my heart for nearly a year now. While I am so thankful for the amazing children God has blessed me with and given me the privilege to mother for the past 10 years my heart still aches to be a mommy to this new little one. For me, holidays waiting for this little one have been the hardest, I cried on Christmas, I cried on Easter, I've cried as we have celebrated birthdays, and undoubtedly I will shed some tears on Mother's Day. I think only an adoptive parent that has walked this road can truly understand how it feels to have a part of your family and a piece of your heart not with you on a special day.

I have been reflecting a lot lately on this journey that we have been walking for nearly a year now, while it is so not what I would have chosen for our family (I would have chosen to finish our home study and get "the call" the next week!), I can honestly say that I am thankful for it. It has taught me so much about how our lives truly are not our own, we are God's and His will is accomplished in His time, not a minute sooner or later!! It has also taught me what an absolute miracle adoption truly is! Whether you travel 10 miles across town or 5,000 miles across the world to bring your children home, it will be one the most exciting and emotional roller coasters of your life, but in the end when you hold that sweet baby in your arms it is SO WORTH IT (this is what I have heard, we can't wait to experience it for ourselves)!!! Thanks for letting me share my heart! If you are blessed enough to have your momma with you on Mother's Day, give her an extra hug! She deserves it!!!

Keeping Busy...

Still waiting for baby news....trying to be patient....just keeps getting harder... In the meantime, we've had plenty to keep ourselves busy with. We picked 10 pounds of strawberries on Saturday and Em helped me make 10 jars of Strawberry Freezer Jam. Last week's heat and this week's rain have helped all our seeds in the garden start popping up like crazy!

Sunday night was our AWANA awards ceremony and carnival. Nathan completed our Truth & Training program and earned the "Timothy Award" for finishing all 4 books in 3 years. Only him and one other boy received the award and we are very proud of him!

This is our last week for our homeschool co-op, so for our home economics lesson this week we made 8 loaves of banana bread to thank the moms who teach and serve in Nathan & Emily's classes.

We are in the home stretch of our school year!! Just a little less than 2 weeks until summer break! We're studying molecules and atoms in science and Nathan's project for today was to create elements using different colored paper punch holes to represent protons, neutrons, and electrons.