and, the summer's half gone.........

....................................My favorite vacation picture!!.................................

Future Charlies Angle????

...............................................Why is my stove in the dinning room again????

Digging a hole, Brynn's vacation friend, Nia

Nanny and Sam

..................Brynn made friends with the cheerleading squad!...................

Pool side activities for the kids....hulahoop winners are the Kentucky girls.................

................................... crab eating party on the balcony................................

......the view from our balcony, aaaaaaawwwwwwww..........great for morning coffee!

Will's first time in the ocean!

but we sure know how to keep the fun going! Some of it is old news, pool time, fun with friends, park ect...The fourth of July was alot of fun, but apparently I let my camera behind...bad Mommy.

My kitchen remodel is under full swing and mostly finished! A BIG thanks to my dear friend Cara and her family who stayed at our house while we were on vacation and put up with most of it and watched my beloved furry babies! For ONCE...a contractor OVERESTIMATED the time of a job! The quoted 3-4 weeks for a completion and I came one week one to find it mostly complete...FAINT!

Oh, and did I say VACATION! Just back yesterday from FABULOUS Hilton Head Island and a week with Nanny and Pappy. Will's first experience at the beach and he really liked digging and filling buckets....the ocean was fun until the water got in the eyes.

Here are some highlights:

Poor Sam got stung by a jellyfish and never really got comfortable again in the water, but who can blame him...funny thing was he kept saying he got stung by an octopus and he couldn't go back in the water because it would sting him again and take his arm off!!! Not to many 4yo survive an octupus attack!!!

Mike, Pappy and family have been avid crabbers since their first summer in HHI (over 35ys ago) My girls love it too, I however prefer NOT to stand in dirty murky water holding a string with chicken on it while getting bit by shrimp ("sprite water" as Kenna calls it) Plus, I like my food dead under celephane from Kroger's....NOT the hissing snapping pissed off things that come home in the coolers....THEN the horrid!!! noise they make when you throw them in the boiling "old bay" water....NO THANKS! I love the crab meat, just not the horror it takes to get it.... This year a few escaped while being tossed to their death and their are three snapping running crabs on the kitchen floor.....Pappy's yelling and chasing them with tongs, the boys think its great and are watching the action from the bar stools and I'm yelling "Let them live, they have a will to live" Pappy comes over and pinches me with the tongs once they to are boiled to their death....I guess it's a good thing I wasn't a cavewoman huh????? It would have made a great funniest home video....

Brynn and Kenna won the hulahoop contest along with a 6yo boy....they were the last ones left and noone could stand on one leg and successfully hullahoop...I bet they will be practicing for next yrs competition! (and if I may brag I'm a MEAN hullahooper myself...hahahaha)

Saw the last Harry Potter movie....tear!!! LOVED IT!!!! Missed Jessa, I've always gone with her, but it was fabulous and I went with another hometown girl and Mike!! (Hi Olivia)

Jessa's is continuing her 4H rifle team and has had a few competitions...a bit difficult for a mom who really doesn't love guns, but when you've got a kid with a crazy talent to hit the target and when you find out there are LOT'S of girls scholarships and when UK rifle team wins has won the SEC championship repetitvely the last 5yrs...and when the economy wipes out your college fund and you got 5 kids to help through college....SHOOT GIRL SHOOT!!!!

She also took her first flight home from HHI Monday by herself so she could start Drama Camp which she is LOVING...did great, got herself home safely, but the carry on bag got lost....coached her through it all, what to do if..... EXCEPT forgot about what to do if the plane from HHI to Charlotte is so small they don't let you take your carry on with you and put it under the plane...YIKES! Props to US Air for getting her bag to us despite No pink/yellow tag...only an ID tag on the bag!! THANK YOU so much...it had 2 weeks of clothes since she stayed with family/friends while we were gone and it would cost me a FORTUNE to replace all that stuff...Not to mention the nearly paniced crying 14yo I got on the phone when her luggage didn't make it home!!! WHEW close call!

WOW! Long post, lot's of pics, hope a FEW of you made it to the end!!! ;)

I wish my kids were made of microfiber!!!

About a year and a half ago I splurged a little and bought this yummy chocolate brown microfiber sectional....after Sam came home we had more hiney's than seat's in our TV room and the sofa and two chairs just didn't cut it anymore! Of course, at the time who knew Will was following quickly behind!!!

My point is this couch is soft like mink...I LOVE it! Every few months I give myself a decent workout rotating, fluffing and wiping all the cushions...and EVERYTIME! I find nine million googleplex stains on it despite the DON'T EAT OR DRINK ON THE SECTIONAL PLEASE!!! SIT ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF IT PLEASE rule!!! BUT It's just magic! They are all mystery stains of unknown orgin and unknown length of time and they truly wipe off with a WET SPONGE!!! I hear angle's sing everytime I clean that darn thing...

Boy I wish my kids were made of that stuff!!!

Maximum Fun!

Jessa and Emma********** good ole friends! Patty and Jeff


Feeding the giraffe was FUN!

***************** Reunited! friends since 2yo!

Hug or headlock?



Well, noone can say we haven't been making the best out of summer! We've been having tons of fun..luckily most of it together ;) We haven't quite shaken the "crazies" trying to get the kitchen/basement remodeling started, Wills gazillion doctor's appointments, and Mike's unplanned hernia surgery last week, but HEY, isn't that just life!

Jessa just spent some time at Ichthus - a huge Christian rock festival that comes every year. I was very sad to miss, but hubby needed a nurse and I of course would have been no where else...she got her face rocked off!!

The boys and I recently saw "Barney Live". Our neighbor blessed us with tickets, and even though they'd only seen Barney a very few times, we had a GREAT time. The dancing and classic songs where just adorable to watch! And noone eats and icecream cone like Sam!

We've also had a day at the Zoo and a visit with old neighbors from Cinci, lots of pool time - including "Kids Day", visits to the park, neighborhood parties, playdates/sleepovers with school friends...and list goes on and on!

It's Good to be a kid in my house!

I'm advocating again!!!

Once you've entered the world of adoption and seen the faces of orphans you are changed...it's a rare parent that completes their personal adoption and completely steps away.
I still stay active on the advocating sights, I pray for the sweet faces and pass the word along about the sites to ANYONE I know who might be considering adopting

Every now and again a few special kids grab my heart.

Like with Charlie from Eagle's Wings Foster Group who just turned three.

First of all, he's such a stinkin' cutie!! Second he reminds of Will in alot of ways.

Their SN's are the same, repaired SB and mild hydrocephalous...their files I think both "read scary" but both seem to be very high functioning and full of personality. They both seemed to have won the hearts of those around them. I even think he sort a looks like him...Will, with a big set of round, brown eyes....

He melts my heart...if the Good Lord would bless me with my SANITY back - and a huge pile of cash to hire a maid and tutor to help with the daily logistics....I'd snatch him up in a SECOND!!!

Here's what Donna, the director of "Eagle's Wings" has to say about Charle:

div>
Charlie, dob 5/20/08, is 3 years old. He has repaired spina bifida and a shunt for hydrocephalus. He is ADORABLE. He talks nonstop and has a sweet and funny personality. Everyone who meets him falls in love immediately. Charlie is in a group foster home program and attends preschool.

Just checked his short descriptor on the shared list. Of course, they have that "development of brain is not good". So I'll add another kid to my list for MRIs next week. OF COURSE a child with hydrocephalus is going to have a CT scan that looks different than a child without it...if it was the same then he wouldn't have had hc, right? ugh

I can see why people just pass right over a description like that, but I can tell you with all honesty, if people could meet him there would be a bidding war to take him home. He is sooooo cute and funny and loving and just his own person. And he talks and talks and talks. I had him slated to be evaluated by a speech therapist (along with 20 other kids when we had one volunteer come in) but his house manager said, not needed, he is talking all the time. And she is right! He is talking like crazy. He just turned 3 last week and he couldn't be a more normal 3 year old. But of course he has an abnormal CT and he is a boy....please, someone take Charlie home!

(btw...Charlie is the first little one that I found in the orphanage and brought home to Eagles Wings. He was 9 months old and his sparkle just caught my eye. I knew he was going to do great if he could just get OUT of the crib 24/7)

Yup, I have a passion for Charlie...
Donna

He's on the Shared List and can be found by any agency...contact me for more information!

I'm going to spread the word here and everywhere else I can think of...Pray for this little guy...could YOU consider opening your heart and home to him??

Welcome Summer!

Lovin those Jammies!

Nice Ferret..... NOT nice Ferret!

We have survived the first weeks of summer!! It always amazes me it actually takes a transition period. You'd think the kids would just stinkin play and be happy about it! But NOPE! You have to reteach them how to entertain themselves, remind them how to pick up the jump ropes and bikes and ride around the neighborhood and how NOT to stand under your feet and whine how bored they are...strange?!?! The bored whinning thing never lasts long around here, I always answer that one with a cleaning cloth ;)

We've been enjoying the pool..Will is already a water bug and jumping from the side unassisted with his lifejacket on...NO WAY Sammy's going to outdo him! He cried half the first day and was jumping in by day two! Already frequenting the coolest pet shot in town..MVP in Bellerieve! They had Hedgehogs and Chinchilla's (sp?) and as always, the staff was great about letting the kids hold the animals! and as always top it off with a visit to Sonic in the parking lot! HUGE FUN! (and cheap!)

I also want to take a minute to remember Esther. We received our fundraiser tee's we purchased from Stephanie yesterday...it was bittersweet indeed...Brynn and I each got one...she love them and decided it's what she wanted as her reward for straight A's...so we ordered one for Poppy, one for Esther...and we had looked forward to watching them both grow in their family...at first we rejoiced for that Poppy will be with her Mamma and Babba soon, and that Esther is with Jesus and her heart is whole. Second we morned for the what could have been's and for the loss Stephanie and her family are dealing with. Then we prayed for them and all orphans waiting for a family. Then we smiled real big for a photo to capture the moment after drying the tears...

I know I counted my blessing and said my prayers with a little more vigor last night....

Love to all!!!

Myra

How did all that happen??

Everyone knows how the end of the school year can turn into a big fat blurr!! Well this one has been no different! We've been very busy with 8th grade graduation! Our girl was such a shining star! We are VERY proud!(we officially have a HIGH SCHOOLER NOW...GASP!) field trips, field day and class party's. We were blessed with a muchmuchmuch needed 3 day Memorial Day weekend. Thank you soldiers for your sacrifice and summer time for your FABULOUS timing! (just 10days ago it was down in the 30's and we topped out at 93* yesterday!) Thursday makes the final day of school...HOORAY! Bring on summer break!!!

and GO Kenna for being such a fabulous fisher-girl! She caught about six! and only @ 3 girls out of her class would hang at the pond, bait hooks, remove from caught fish and throw back in pond...and of course Mom was right there in the wormy, buggy smelly mess of it all!!! Country girl at heart I am!!!

That's my girl!!!

Oh, and I got a new dog...I love her madly ...although not EVERYONE did at first but they are warming up...kinda...it's sort of a long story...but she's a year old Cavalier, her name is Nellie..isn't it great?...and we came VERY close to getting this breed when we got our Schnauzers @5yrs ago...and she LOVES me madly, definetly mamma's girl...a velcro dog if you will...and she's SOOO beautiful...how can you NOT love her????...I know, this makes 3 dogs, 5 kids, a cat, and a goldfish..the stickers along the back of the van are getting VERY crowded...SIGH...