The Journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. -Lao

Celebrating Valentines...Day 43

2012-02-12T22:47:00.003-06:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day today at our house since we will be partying at church Valentine's night...haha...partying at church...that makes me smile.

After church this morning, Daddy took us out for a yummy Valentine's lunch.

Sweet Daddy and Sweet Pea :o)

Afterwards we came home and the little kids took naps while hubby and I finished up the mini-series, "The Kennedys" on Netflix. Have you see it? We started it a few weeks ago. It was kinda weird timing to be watching the series when Mimi Beardsley Alford was making the rounds on the the television shows last week talking about her 18 month affair with JFK.

This afternoon, the kids helped me surprise Daddy with a Valentine's party/dinner while he ran an errand. We decorated the formal dining room, made dinner and cupcakes and lit candles. They made sweet cards for everyone to open during dinner. The kids LOVE that kind of stuff :o) However, the kids were the ones surprised when Daddy came home with Valentine surprises for them!

I LOVE surprising the kids!

I hope the girls always remember they will always have a Valentine in their Daddy!

...and the boy too!

Yummy cupcakes!

Sunshine was SO VERY EXCITED to win the "guess how many m&ms are in the jar" game! She won the jar of m&ms as her prize!

She only missed by two!!!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will somehow miss the ice/snow mix that is headed our way tomorrow!

Love Notes...Day 42

2012-02-11T21:39:00.003-06:00

I am sooooo excited...Valentine's Day is next week! Sunshine and I worked on her school Valentines this morning and we are planning to do her school Valentine mailbox tomorrow. She wants to do the EXACT same box as she did last year...

I did my best to talk her into doing something different, but she is set on doing the "love monster" again. So the "love monster" it is!

The kids were SO excited to find "love notes" on their doors after naptime! This is a tradition I started last week and the I just love seeing the kids' faces light up when the read their notes. I also love seeing them stop and read them over and over throughout the day :o)

You may notice the big girls have more love notes than the little two...it isn't because I love the big girls more...it is because baby boy ATE a couple of his and Sweet Pea's love notes :o( That boy will eat anything!

The kids LOVED the love bugs I made with the cricut...that cricut is AWESOME!

When hubby got off work this afternoon, we went curtain shopping...again :o) I think we have settled on curtains for the living room and office, but unfortuntely one of the patterns is on backorder...boo!

We stopped by Chili's...one of our favorite spots to eat...for supper and then headed home for baths...super exciting, huh?

Sunshine has been talking about snow non-stop since yesterday...she is convienced we are going to get some this weekend...I hope she is WRONG!

Birdhouse Valentine Box for School...Day 41

2012-02-10T15:12:00.010-06:00

Little Pumpkin's preschool class had a Valentine party this week. The kids were allowed to exchange Valentines at school so their homework on Monday was to make a Valentine box. I asked her how she wanted to decorate her box and she was very quick and decisive with her response...a birdhouse.

So, a birdhouse it is...

We started with two boxes, a lightbulb box and a small Amazon delivery box...

I loved listening to her talk through how we could turn the rectangle box into a birdhouse. She had mad reasoning skills :o)

Next, we traced the shape of the house on the scrapbook paper...

Next, modge podge...just saying modge podge makes me happy :o)

All covered!

I then realized I forgot to cut a hole for the bird! Ooops! I used the mouth of a glass to draw he circle...

Probably shouldn't have used my kitchen knife to cup the cardboard...

Yay...a hole for the bird (and more importantly for the Valentine cards!)...

We have a roof! The hot glue gun is a genious invention.

Little Pumpkin has been wanting to use these red balls on something for quite a while...perfect for the birdhouse!

She then decided to write the names of her Valentines on "shingles"

Sweet girl!

Using the cricut to make a bird...and a worm because "the bird needs a friend"

All done!

My favorite part...the shingles :o)

Time to make Valentine treats!

She absolutely LOVED writing nametags for her friends and checking their names off the list...all her idea :o)

Ready to go!

Next up...Sweet Pea!

She is so stinkin' cute!

I made superhero Valentines for Baby Boy's friends...

Found the idea here...and there is a FREE printable!

The kids were SUPER excited to take their Valentines to school this week!

I am not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but Little Pumpkin is Lactose intolerant. It is a recent discovery, but something that has bothered her for years. Anyways, her class had an ice cream party for Valentines. I asked her if she wanted me to bring her another treat to have while her friends had ice cream and...

she said, "No, I am going to have just a little bit of ice cream."
I said, "Sweet girl, you know that will make your belly hurt. Wouldn't you rather I bring you a different treat?"
she said, "No. I know it will make my belly hurt, but if I just eat a little bit, maybe my belly will only hurt a little bit and it's worth it to hurt a little bit because I like ice cream a big bit!"

HAHAHAHAHA! She cracks me up!

For the record, she said it was worth it!

BINGO!

Fun party!

Getting ready for Valentine's...Day 39

2012-02-08T22:00:00.003-06:00

Today's photo challenge is "sun." Unfortunately, the sun didn't make an appearance here today. Luckily "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside I've got the month of May." Yep, my girl :o) So, here is my ray of sunshine...

Me and the little girls spent the majority of the day getting ready for Valentine's Day...fun, fun, fun! The little kids are taking Valentine's to their friends tomorrow! I will share them with you tomorrow!

Button...Day 38

2012-02-07T19:34:00.002-06:00

Today's photo challenge...Button

These are the buttons I look at each night as I blog!

Chick Fil A...Day 6

2012-02-06T19:44:00.005-06:00

Day 6 of February's Photo Challenge...Dinner.

My allergies are bugging me today so my sweet boy brought home one of our favorite meals tonight, Chick Fil A, so I wouldn't have to cook!

Sweet boy usually picks up Chick Fil A for us on his way home from work on Wednesday nights since the kids and I don't get home from church until 8. You know when you go to a restaurant a lot when you can drive through the drive thru and all you have to says is one "Arnold meal." Haha!

All of the kiddos had a good day at school!

"Having a good day" is not something I take for granted for my sweet kiddos. This one had a rough week at "school" last week. Learning not to push and kick was a hard lesson for him to learn...but {crossing my fingers} he seems to be past that stage!

This one was excited super excited to rock a "side pony" today!

I can't believe this one will be starting kindergarten in a few months.

This one...

...continues to have such a sweet, sweet spirit. I am constantly amazed at how sweet she is with her sisters and brother. I couldn't ask for a better big sister for this family!

February Photo Challenge - Day 4 & 5...Day 36

2012-02-05T20:07:00.005-06:00

February Photo Challenge...

Day 4 - Stranger...okay, I totally do not feel comfortable taking pictures of strangers. Not.at.all. I took my camera with me to town yesterday, but I could not make myself photograph a stranger. It makes me feel like a stalker. So....I decided to share a picture of a stranger I took when we traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The story behind the picture is what I love about this particular picture. The shops/stores in Addis Ababa are arranged similar to the shops in Ho Chi Minh City. The books stores are on the same street/block, the music stores are in the same area, etc. We were driving past that guy's shop in the picture above and I asked our driver if we were in the automobile repair area. He told me {very matter of factly...which is what makes me laugh every time I look at this picture}. This is the place you come if your rear view mirror or hubcap is stolen." I was like, "Oh, he sells replacement parts for your car." And he said, "Yes, this is where you come to buy back the parts to YOUR car." "Buy back?" I said. He said, "Yes, you know if you have a piece missing off of your car, you know this guy took it." I asked the driver if he had been there before and he said, "Oh yes, lots of times." What really cracked me up was that the driver showed no anger or frustration about the fact that this guy steals his car parts, it is just one of those "it is what it is" kinda things.

Day 5 - 10 a.m. Today at 10 a.m. we were just getting to church. Here are the kiddos...

After church, we went to Macaroni Grill to eat. We haven't been there in almost a year. I am not sure what in the world has happened to that place, but our meal was awful! It makes me sad because MG used to be one of my favorite places to eat! After lunch, we went on a mission to find curtains. We discovered that you have to order curtains if you want 95" length :o) Curtain shopping wore baby boy out...

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how he sleeps with his hands behind his head! Sweet baby!

But he was ready to watch the Super Bowl when we got home!

Poor kid...with three big sisters he doesn't stand much of a chance, does he? Ha!

First Concert...Day 34

2012-02-03T23:11:00.003-06:00

First things first...February Photo Challenge...Day 3..."Hands."

We have lots of sweet hands around this house :o) I told the kids I wanted to take a picture of their hands and this is what I got...

Only God could orchestrate these eight little hands together. I think it's funny that the kids did not once question why in the world I wanted to take a picture of their hands...haha! I guess they are use to Mama's crazy requests :o)

This evening, hubby took the big girls & I to see Steven Curtis Chapman, Andrew Peterson and Josh Wilson in concert! It was the girls' first concert...aside from Barney, Seasame Street & Dora :o)

I saw SCC in concert when I was in junior high and I have LOVED him ever since! The girls got a big kick out of his little ukulele!

Both girls liked the show, but I think Little Pumpkin LOVED it!

When we got to the concert, Josh Wilson was singing "I Refuse" and Little Pumpkin went crazy! The radio in my car stays on K LOVE so she knew almost all of the songs that were sang tonight. She loved waving her arms around and singing along! It was so sweet!

Preschool Lunar New Year Party...Day 33

2012-02-02T21:00:00.000-06:00

Today we had a Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) party in Little Pumpkin's preschool class! Fun, fun!

She was really excited to wear her ao dai to school! I don't know what the future holds, but so far up until this point, she is CRAZY for anything Vietnamese :o) I hope that never changes!

I picked her up from class a little early and she helped me set up the party room!

I used the "Create a Critter" Cricut cartridge to create the "Vietnamese" panda bears and bowls of pho.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Cricut!

Inside each take out container, we put a little note about Tet...

...along with a cutie, a blower, fortune cookie and candy.

Yummy {egg free} cupcakes! I might have eaten five by myself.

As you probably know, Little Pumpkin LOVES to sort and organize. Setting up the table was pure bliss for her :o)

Ready for Tet!

Little Pumpkin picked out which Lunar New Year book she wanted me to read to her class and we set the others up for her friends to look through during the party.

We started the party in Little Pumpkin's classroom. I showed the kids where Vietnam is on the globe and read them The Year of the Dog." Afterwards, we looked at pictures of people in Vietnam getting ready for the new year...sweeping, wearing new clothes, having a parade, getting "lucky money" and shopping for yummy food at the market.

My little girl was super proud to teach her friends to say "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese...precious! I love hearing her say Vietnamese words!

We finished off group time by shooting off "fireworks." The kids LOVED that!

Everytime one of the them popped their firecracker, they went crazy! It was so funny!

Next up...crafts! Since this is the year of the dragon, we did some "magic color scratch" dragons.

The kids also enjoyed the "dress a panda" stickers.

I am not going to mention any names, but I think somebody has a case of puppy love.

Little Pumpkin is quite a bit smaller than the other kids in her class...so far that doesn't bother her...she thinks is fun! Ha!

Partying with her buddies!

She LOVED handing out the traditional red enveolopes filled with "lucky money (plastic gold coins)."

Fun party!

Two posts today :o) Scroll down for day two of February's photo challenge!

February Photo Challenge...Words

2012-02-02T20:59:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Day Two of the February Photo Challenge...today's challenge is "words." I mentioned earlier this year that I am determined to read through the bible in 2012. So far, so good. Today's verses are Exodus 10-11, Psalm 30 and Mark 9. I decided to make today's picture a few of the words I read today...

Yep, reading through all of those plagues!

February Challenge...Day 32

2012-02-01T22:00:00.003-06:00

I did pretty good with my "photo a day" in January. Let's see, there are 31days in January and I have 22 pictures representing 22 days of January ready to print. Not perfect, but I'll take it! I am REALLY bad at getting my pictures printed. Sadly, I am 22 pictures ahead of 2011! Yikes!

Anyways, to mix it up a bit I am going to add this fun February photo challenge to my "photo a day"...

I really like taking pictures and I like the idea of having a list of things I would normally never photograph for inspiration. Although, I am already seeing a problem with day 21 :o)

Today's challenge is "your view today."

I stayed at home with the kiddos today and cleaned, did laundry, a little sewing, cooking, etc. Exciting stuff huh? Actually, I LOVED it! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being home with my babies :o)

I was expecting a UPS package today so I glanced out the front door several times. Everytime I looked out, I saw Love sitting on the railing of the porch. So...here's my view today...

I would love it if you'd join me with this February challenge! Let me know if you do!

Two Year old Boys...Day 30

2012-01-31T21:09:00.001-06:00

...are EXHAUSTING.

That' all.

Good night.

Dollar Tree Deals...Day 30

2012-01-30T21:43:00.004-06:00

If winter days in Arkansas were all like today, I could learn to like winter!

We had our normal MDO/school day today. This afternoon when we pulled into the driveway, we were greeted by a dhs worker...here for our yearly visit...not fiscal year...calendar year...because we just had this same visit last September. I tell you, I am r.e.a.d.y to be done with "home visits" and "home inspections" and all of that good stuff for awhile! The visit went well...except when the lady turned on the faucet in the kids' bathroom, it broke!!! Yes, broke! Like I couldn't turn it off! It was kinda crazy. Luckily I was able to take the handle apart and twist the piece underneath and it went off. Great timing :o) Ha! I was thinking about it today and we had had people in our house regularly for the last seven years! Yep, two international adoptions and foster care...that equals lots of visits.

Oh and we finally got to the bottom of why our adoption hearing has been delayed...lost fingerprints. Hubby will have to have his redone asap...oh joy!

After the visit, Little Pumpkin and I got a few things together for her Tet party we are doing in her preschool class later this week! She is so excited and so am I!

{January 30th's picture}

I mentioned last week that I have a new found love of The Dollar Tree :o) I never thought those words would come out of my mouth :o) I am sure my mom is proud of me :o)

Here are a few of my AWESOME $1 finds...

Did you know that The Dollar Tree sells bread? I had no idea! AND it's the good stuff! I love Nature's Own brand. They have several different options, I went with sandwich rounds. I got the hotdog buns for Little Pumpkin and Baby Boy...they {heart} hotdogs!

If you make you child's lunch or if your kid likes snacks, there are great choices at the DT!!

I forgot to take a picture of the peanuts I get there too. You can get a package of 6 individually packages of peanuts for only $1! Lance brand. I get the regular peanuts for me and the kids and hot & spicy for hubby! Such an easy, quick snack!

More deals! I got the fortune cookies for Little Pumpkin's Tet party!

This picture really needs no explanation...

SCORE!

What are your favorite Dollar Tree deals?

16 Orphans...Day 28

2012-01-28T20:59:00.005-06:00

If you are familiar with Vietnam adoption, you probably know the story of the Bac Lieu 16. If not, there were 16 families that traveled to the Bac Lieu province back in 2008 to adopt 16 orphans. Long story short, there were complications and the parents were not granted permission to bring the children back to America. The families have fought for years to bring their children home. They have written letters, met with representatives, begged and pleaded to anyone who would listen. They have made many trips to Vietnam to see their children. They have done everything in their power to move along the process. Luckily, after years...literally years...of heartache and pain, 13 of these children finally made it home to their forever families. Here is one of the "happier" stories . Just last week, I read that the 3 remaining orphans...all girls...were adopted out domestically in Vietnam...without consent or knowledge of the American families that adopted them 3 1/2 years ago. My heart aches for these three families. Aches. These families did nothing different than we did when we adopted Little Pumpkin. When they received the referral picture of their child, I am sure they fell in love instantly, like we did. When they met their child for the first time, I am sure they felt like they finally found the part of their heart that was missing before. We were lucky, we got to bring our child home within weeks of meeting her. They didn't. We have had the blessing of watching Little Pumpkin grow, mature and blossom over the years. They haven't. People often tell us how "lucky" Little Pumpkin is that she was adopted. Honestly, I KNOW their comment is sincere and comes from a good place. Really, I do. I know in my mind what they mean, but in my heart, I feel, "are you crazy? she's lucky? she lost her birthfamily and birthcountry. she spent the first six months of her life in an orphanage in a third world country. in those important first months of life, when most babies are being doted over and protected with intensity, my baby was laying in a wooden crib with humidity in the air and no air conditioner. she had flies swarming all over her face and body, she never had enough milk to satisfy her. it breaks this mommy's heart every.single.time I think about it. she will have to "deal" with being "different" her entire life. lucky? i don't think so," but the words, "No, we are the lucky ones" is always my response. "We are the lucky ones" never seems truer than they have in the last week. We are indeed very, very lucky that we were able to adopt her and bring her home.

{January 28th's picture}

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

Lunches, Dollar Tree & Foster Baby...Day 26

2012-01-26T21:56:00.004-06:00

So, in keeping with my lunch accountability mission, I have decided to post lunch pictures each Thursday. Yay...a plan!

Here is Monday's lunches...

Top left to bottom right...

Baby Boy - goldfish, veggies (carrots, celery & cucumbers) mozzarella cheese, chicken deli meat, mini crackers and peanut butter cookies
Little Pumpkin - flavor burst goldfish, veggies (carrots, celery, cucumbers & grape tomatoes), ranch to dip veggies, turkey hot dog and mozzarella cheese kabobs, peanut butter cookies
Sweet Pea - strawberry cream cheese bagel, goldfish, veggies(carrots, celery & cucumbers), ranch for veggies, peanut butter cookies
Sunshine - flavor burst goldfish, carrots, ranch for carrots, pb&j on honey wheat bread, peanut butter cookies

Tuesday's lunches...

Top left to bottom right...
Sunshine - Strawberry cream cheese bagel, mozzarella cheese stick, peanuts, apple sauce, flavor burst goldfish and Hershey dark chocolate
Little Pumpkin - mixed dried fruit, mozzarella cheese stick, chicken deli meat, cutie, peanuts, apple sauce and Little Debbie Valentine cake
Baby Boy - dried fruit, mozzarella cheese stick, apple sauce, goldfish, chicken deli meat and Little Debbie Valentine cake
Sweet Pea - dried fruit, mozzarella cheese stick, goldfish, chicken deli meat and Little Debbie Valentine cake

Thursday's lunches...

I forgot to take a picture of Sunshine's lunch. Top left to bottom right...
Sweet Pea - strawberry cream cheese bagel, mozzarella cheese stick, pretzels, dried mixed fruit and peanuts, apple sauce, smarties and a tiny chocolate bar
Little Pumpkin - strawberry cream cheese bagel, carrots mozzarella cheese stick, pretzels, dried mixed fruit & peanuts, strawberry apple sauce, two tiny chocolate candy bars
Baby Boy - strawberry cream cheese bagel, carrots mozzarella cheese stick, pretzels, dried mixed fruit & peanuts, strawberry apple sauce, two tiny chocolate candy bars

In other news, I have recently "discovered" the Dollar Tree. Up until a week ago, I only went in there to find something specific, like a gift bag, or to let the kids to spend a dollar or two for fun. I had no idea how many great deals they have! I will post some of my awesome finds soon. One of Little Pumpkin's favorite deals is this new broom...a broom for $1...that seems so cheap to me! Anyways, I usually only vacuum my floors (tile, carpet, hardwood), but I just couldn't pass up a $1 broom. Little Pumpkin sweeps anytime she gets a chance...it is so funny!

Here she is this morning as I was trying to get everyone out of the door...notice she has her shoes, jacket and backpack on...sweeping the floor! Ha!

...and as soon as we got home, she was back at it!

A friend of mine just got a {sweet, tiny} foster daughter a week or so ago. I have enjoyed snuggling with her as often as I could, but today was the first day Sunshine got a hold of her!

{January 26th's picture}
She held baby C for about an hour and I don't think she stopped smiling for a second! She LOVED feeding her too!

That girl loves some babies! So sweet!

Dance and Clothes...Day 25

2012-01-25T22:20:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, we had MDO (and school) and afterwards it was DANCE time!

{January 24th's picture}
The girls are LOVING dance. Little sister really, really wants to join them each week...maybe this fall! The big girls both started practicing for their recital this week. I didn't get to see any of Little Pumpkin's dance, but I saw a bit of Sunshine's dance. For their jazz routine they are brides. The are doing the "going to the chapel" song..it is going to be so cute!

While the girls danced, I took the babies to play in the indoor tubes. Baby Boy tried to give me a quick cheese, but he really just wanted to go play!

They always LOVE looking at the fish. Baby Boy always insists on stopping by the tank and saying, "bye, bye fish" when we leave. So sweet!

Today was an early dismissal day at Sunshine's school. They only get out an hour early, but it is such a treat to have her home with us! I wish we got out at 2:00 everyday! The little babies were sleeping when she got home so she and Little Pumpkin decided to read book. I hope my babies always love to read!

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, it will probably not surprise you that Sunshine usually couldn't care less about what she wears. She has always been all about comfort {smart girl!}. If it was up to her, she would wear a t-shirt and stretch pants with her hair in a ponytail everyday. And no, it would not matter to her AT ALL if the shirt matched the pants. Needless to say, I pick out her clothes everyday...mostly because she doesn't have any interest and secondly because she also has no desire to dress for the weather :o) So you can imagine my surprise, when she wanted to pick out her outfit for church tonight! I think she did a good job!

{January 25th's picture}
My sweet girl! I am curious if this interest in picking out her clothes continues!

Of course, since I was taking Sunshine's picture, everyone else wanted equal time in front of the lens! Ha!

First up...Baby Boy, age 2...

Next, Sweet Pea, age 3...

{Btw, these tights are from Crazy 8...they are part of the panda bear collection...the same as her stripped green dress...she got them as a Christmas present...thank you for the sweet comment!}

Next up...Little Pumpkin, age 5...

See those pink cowboy boots she is wearing? Those were Sunshine's when she was younger. The little girls race to the shoe drawer everyday to try and get to the boots first. Cracks me up!

An Interview with an Ethiopian Princesss (aka Sweet Pea)...Day 23

2012-01-23T20:07:00.009-06:00

What is your name? Julianne

{January 23rd's picture}

How old are you? 3

Who are your friends? Max, Olivia, Ashley, Le Le, Hill, Me, Daddy, Mama, everybody in our family

What is your favorite toys? babies, I like to feed them, hold them and hug them, jack-in-the box, computer

What is your favorite game? Dora game on my computer

What is your favorite food? carrots and meat and pasta and fried rice and everything Mama makes and biscuits with jelly and cheese and that’s all

What was your favorite Christmas gift? my doll that I can brush and fix her hair

What is your favorite color? purple

What is your favorite animal? monkey and giraffe

What is your favorite book? Llama, Llama Misses Mama and Reindeer book

What is your favorite movie? Princess and the Frog and Punky Brewster

What is your favorite song? ABCDs (she always calls the ABCs the ABCDs...LOVE it!), B-I-B-L-E, Saw, saw, saw

What is your favorite school subject? play time with all of my friends

What do you like to do in your free time? play with toys and color

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to teach people how to talk

What makes you laugh? when Hill tickles me and when Le tickles me and when Mommy tickles me

What makes you cry? when I get in trouble

What is the best thing that happened this year? Easter bunny visited, my birthday and when Santa came to my house

What is the worst thing that happened to you this year? when I got in trouble

Where do you want to go this year? Six Flags

What makes you special? I am a princess

Interview with Sunshine...Day 22

2012-01-22T20:07:00.008-06:00

What is your Name? Hillary Ashton

How old are you? 7

Who are your friends? Madelynn, Ella, Grace, Harper, Annie Carol, Carol Ann, Ally, Allison, Sophie Le, Juju, Mommy, Daddy, Jonah

What is your favorite toy? ipod, barbies, drawing stuff, crafts

{January 22nd's picture}

What is your favorite game? Apples to Apples, Headbanz, Would you Rather, Pictionary

What is your favorite food? brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate cupcakes, pb&j that mommy makes, chocolate chips, French fries, mommy’s grilled cheese, Sonic's grilled cheese, Schloskzy's

What was your favorite Christmas gift? i-tunes card, Pocahontas doll, clothes, music box, sewing kit, Would you Rather game

What is your favorite color? pink, purple and black

What is your favorite animal? cats, cute dogs, kittens, puppies, goldfish, dolphins

What is your favorite book? Jack and Annie Series, Junie B. Jones, Bible

What is your favorite movie? Tangled, Looney Tunes, Rio, Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol

What is your favorite song? Read your bible (and pray everyday), Party in the USA, Dynamite, Bingo

What is your favorite school subject? Art

What do you like to do with your free time? play with Le, read my bible, play, hug and kiss Mommy, do art, play with Mommy

What do you want to be when you grow up? artist that does pictures for stores and museums, teacher, a Mommy

What makes you laugh? when Mommy tickles me, when Le makes funny faces, when Le says funny things

What makes you cry? when I have to leave Mommy, when I get in trouble

What is the best thing that happened this year? my birthday and my sisters' and brother's birthdays and going to birthday parties, vacation

What is the worst thing that happened this year? when I had to leave 1st grade

Where do you want to go this year? Disney World, Sea World

What makes you special? I like different things and I am the only one in the family with blue eyes and the only one that is left handed

Interview with Little Pumpkin...Day 19

2012-01-19T19:46:00.007-06:00

I thought it would be fun to do a little interview with each of the kiddos...first up...Little Pumpkin!

What is your name? Sophie Le

How old are you? 5

Who are your Friends? Abby Anne and Jacob, Hill, Juju

What is your favorite toy? my new barbies (Mulan and Shang), ipod

What is your favorite game? ipod, tic tac toe, headbanz

What is your favorite food? olives, strawberries, blueberries & cuties

What was your favorite Christmas gift? Barbie that looks like me

What is your favorite color? yellow

What is your favorite animal? giraffes & baby elephants

What is your favorite book? Bringing Home Sophie Le (her baby book), When you were born in Vietnam

What is your favorite movie? Curious George, Looney Tunes & Mickey Mouse

What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me, Silent Night, Gloria in Excelsis Deo

What is your favorite school subject? Math, reading & playing

What do you like to do in your free time? play stack the states and stack the countries on my ipod

What do you want to be when you grow up? kid doctor and pet doctor and a Mommy

What makes you laugh? when Hill tickles me and when I tickle hill back

What makes you cry? when Daddy travels out of town

What is the best thing that happened this year? I started preschool

What is the worst thing that happened this year? Meow went away

Where do you want to go this year? Florida - beach and Disney World

What makes you special? God made me...that makes me special

Tooth Fairy Visit...A Long Time Coming...Day 16

2012-01-16T22:12:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful day today. We drove to Southwest Arkansas this morning to spend the day with Ganny & Papa Texarkana. The kids had a blast and I have lots of sweet pictures to share, but they will have to wait because...

Sunshine lost her first tooth tonight!!!!!!!!

This is big.

She has been waiting for this day for over two years...literally. She has been writing letters to the tooth fairy since she was five. In her own words, she is the "only kid in second grade that hasn't lost a tooth." Honestly, I think she may be right :o)

Her tooth loosened up before Christmas, but then magically tightened back up...completely. A few days ago, she noticed it loosened back up again and I encouraged her to wiggle it :o)

Tonight, she came in and said, "I think it's going to come out." She worked on it for about five minutes and viola! She pulled it herself! I am SO glad we were with her when she lost it and Daddy was able to video it!

Here we go...

She worked on it for a few minutes and I told her that I had a prize for her to open after the tooth came out. She said, "I think I need to open it first." {smile}

Checking out the fairy door...

Within a minute, that sweet little tooth was out!

She was shocked! I LOVE that sweet face!

And happy!

Her teeth have such great spacing, it kinda looks like she lost two!

Checking out her sweet tooth!

Putting her tooth in her tooth fairy pillow.

Hahahahaha!

Hangin up her fairy door!

Ready for the tooth fairy!

Her new smile!

I heard a tiny door slam a few mintues ago and I ran into her her room. She is going to be so excited I was able to catch the tooth fairy visiting her!

Weekend...Day 15

2012-01-15T21:39:00.003-06:00

Weekend Wrap-up...

Hubby had to work yesterday so it was just me and the kids.

{January 14th picture}

Sweet Pea had another birthday party to attend yesterday morning...

...I know I have said it before, but that girl LOVES to party! I just love picking her up from parties and listening to her tell me all about it! So sweet!

While she was at the party, the other kids & I made a trip to Target :o)

We found a super fun shower curtain for their bathroom :o) I will have to take a picture tomorrow!

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out...AWESOME! Sunshine & I ended the night watching the Miss America Pageant. Of course, we were disappointed Miss Arkansas (from Ouachita!!) didn't make it to the top 15. I am the complete opposite of a pageant person, but wouldn't it be a no brainer to wear WATERPROOF mascara if you are hoping to be crowned Miss America?

Today was just as laid back and relaxing...plus church! Perfect day!

{January 15th's picture} Is he not to the most handsome little thing?

Short post tonight because I gotta get to my yearly bible reading! I am still on track...whoo hoo! Today's verses are Genesis 28-29, Matthew 18 & Psalms 15.

Valentine Ribbon Wreath...Day 13

2012-01-13T20:35:00.006-06:00

Today was "Lay Me Down to Read" day at Sunshine's school. She always looks forward to this particular day because they read all.day.long. She is a bit of a bookworm :o) During the day, the kids are read to by special guests and they read books of their choice in between readers. Yesterday, I was reminded how different Sunshine's childhood is from mine. As she picked out her books to take to school, she said, "You know, we don't have to bring regular ole' books. We can bring an ipod, ipad, kindle or nook if we want." Ha! In addition to their favorite books, they also get to bring a sleeping bag, blanket, pillow, books and most importantly (and the reason Sunshine LOVES this day) they get to wear their pajamas to school! You know that girl is ALL about COMFORT!

Sweet Girl!

{January 13th's picture}

This afternoon, Little Pumpkin and I finished up our project from yesterday.

A Valentine Ribbon Wreath for the front door!

If you are looking for a festive Valentine wreath, this is a FUN, easy (but time consuming) option :o) Here is how I made mine...

My wreath is 12 inches. Michael's is having a special this week, buy two rolls of ribbon, get one free. Surprisingly, Hobby Lobby did not have their ribbon 50% this week...I thought they ALWAYS had their ribbon on sale.

The first step is to cut your ribbon in strips. Mine are 4.5 inches long.

Little Pumpkin adored this step. Lots of opportunties to sort and organize!

Next, fold your strips in half and sew together the ends...leave about 1/4 inch allowance on the end.

If you don't sew, I suppose you could use hot glue for this step.

When you get done, you will have a nice, long string of ribbon :o)

Actually, lots and lots of nice, long strings :o)

Next, cut the thread connecting each loop together...

Next, wrap your wreath in ribbon...I just used leftover ribbon I had in my stash...hence, the mismatch.

Now comes the fun part! Putting your wreath together! Fold the ends of your loop apart and apply hot glue...

Then apply the loop to your wreath...repeat a thousand times :o) Ha!

I didn't want a perfect, symmetrical look so I alternated the direction of my loops...an organized chaos.

I love how festive (and happy) it turned out!

Only 34 more days until Valentine's Day!!!

New Schedule...Day 12

2012-01-12T20:30:00.004-06:00

Whoa...it's cold outside! As you know, I am NOT a fan of cold weather. I guess there is a bit of an upside...at least it's not snowing, right?

I dropped the girls off at school this morning and Baby Boy and I ran a couple errands and then came home for a few hours. Yep, we came HOME...which means I didn't work today! No more Thursdays for me!!! I have to tell you...it was awesome! I was able to catch up on some cleaning and organizing. Ahhhhhh! There is something magical about having a clean house :o)

{January 12th's picture}

It was so time to do fun stuff this afternoon when the girls got home...time I usually spend tidying up!

This girl was absoultely delighted to help mommy with a project. She LOVES to organize and sort and this project allowed lots of opportunties to do both :o)

See this face...

...that is the face of a very happy Little Pumpkin :o)

Doctor Visit & Dollar Tree...Day 11

2012-01-11T21:37:00.003-06:00

I have no idea how single parents do it...hubby has been out of town two days and I.AM.EXHAUSTED!

This morning, Baby Boy & Sweet Pea had well baby check-ups at the doctor. I was THRILLED to learn Baby Boy is now in the 29th percentile for weight! Whoo hoo! A far cry from the 4th percentile he was when he was born. Before Baby Boy, I never really paid attention to the percentiles, but it has become a life mission to get his up :o)

I am so thankful each of the kids got a clean bill of health. That is something I will never take for granted. I feel so blessed to have healthy babies.

Shots are always traumatic so to help brighten the mood, we went to Chick-Fil-A for ice cream and a little play time.

I just LOVE how Baby Boy has his arms crossed in the picture above. He totally cracks me up. I was feeding him his ice cream and of course had to stop while I took the picture...he was not interested in posing for a picture...he was only concerned with me getting done and getting back to work with the spoon :o)

Ganny & Papa Texarkana were in town for a doctor's visit this afternoon. They got done around 2:30 so I picked up Sunshine early from school and we met them for a 2nd lunch/early dinner. The kids are always so excited to see their grandparents!

{January 11th's picture}

Sunshine was not happy all the kids got ice cream earlier in the day so she talked her papa into getting her some ice cream...it didn't take much convincing :o)

Papa gave each of the kids some change so we stopped by The Dollar Tree on the way to church to pick out a couple treasures. It is so funny how much kids love The Dollar Tree. Maybe I should do their Christmas shopping there next year...that would be nice :o)

Lunches & Glasses...Day 10

2012-01-10T21:13:00.004-06:00

A couple of you asked about the lunch containers I use for the kids' lunches...

They are Ziploc brand and I bought them at Wal-Mart. They come in a pack of three for around under $4. Reusable and very handy!

They seal up well and I haven't had any problems with food leaking from compartment to compartment.

I LOVE them!

I also use a couple other containers. I love these silicone baking cups. I use them to help separate items in the main container. I got this set of 6 from The Dollar Tree. They have much fancier ones at Michael's for $10.

I also found these little containers at The Dollar Store. Great for hummus, ketchup, ranch dip, etc...

10 containers for $1...can't beat that!

We had a busy, busy {super rainy} day today. Bible study this morning and dance this evening...with several errands mixed in along the way.

The dance studio had the girls' dance recital costumes posted today...SO cute! I am so excited about their recital...too bad it isn't until June!

Daddy is still out of town and we sure are missing him! Sunshine insisted I take this picture of her at supper tonight and she promptly texted it to Daddy :o) She said, "He will really like seeing my new glasses."

{Picture for January 10th}

Allergies & Lunches...Day 9

2012-01-09T21:21:00.003-06:00

I kept Baby Boy home from "school" today because he was still coughing and sneezing. I asked the little girls if they wanted to stay home or go to school...fully expecting them to choose "stay at home." Those little stinkers chose to go to school! I was actually thankful Little Pumpkin was excited about going to school :o)

I dropped the girls off and Baby Boy and I ran a few errands. He is a pretty good little shopper when it is just us two. I found an allergy medicine at the store that is safe for kids 2 and up...cross your fingers it will give Baby Boy relief! We finished up around lunch so I picked the girls up early and brought them home for naps.

A good day!

While I was getting lunches together and making supper tonight, these three sweeties sat on the floor in the kitchen with me watching Strawberry Shortcake on Sunshine's ipod. I know their time of wanting to be right with me is probably limited :o(

{January 9th's picture}

I love how Sunshine is touching Baby Boy face...she loves that baby something fierce and is constantly loving on him :o)

It isn't necessarily a New Year's resolution, but I am trying to make better lunches for the kids. I have gotten into a rut lately.

To keep myself accountable, I will be posting their lunches here periodically :o) Here is tomorrow's lunches...

Baby Boy's top left - chicken, cheese stick, carrots & peanuts, cuties & grapes, vegetable crackers and a fudge covered graham cracker

Sunshine's top left - pb&j on whole wheat bread, peanuts, vegetable crackers, carrots, cutie and a fudge covered graham cracker

Sweet Pea's bottom left - cheese & chicken kabobs, peanuts & carrots, cuties & grapes, vegetable crackers & hummus and a fudge covered graham cracker
Little Pumpkin's bottom right - cheese & chicken kabobs, peanuts & carrots, cuties & grapes, vegetable crackers & hummus and a fudge covered graham cracker

Game Changer...Day 8

2012-01-08T20:35:00.005-06:00

Poor Baby Boy had a fit with his allergies today. Coughing and sneezing like crazy. The upside was that he was my cuddle bunny today :o) I really hate when my kiddos are under the weather, but honestly, is there anything better than a baby who falls asleep while you are holding them? Those days are few and far between with that two year old bundle of energy!

We decided to keep him home this morning so we watched church online...technology can be a wonderful thing!

After lunch, hubby tried out his new leaf sweeper he got for Christmas. As you know, I have a hate/hate relationship with leaves :o) Raking leaves is just about the only thing I don't like about having land in the country. You would think having 70 less trees this year would result in less leaves...no luck. All but two of those trees came down outside of our "yard."

Let me just tell you...the leaf sweeper is my new FAVORITE thing...it is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!!! How in the world have we not heard of this thing before?

The sweeper attaches to the back of the mower and sweet boy just drives over the leaves and the machine sweeps them up...genius!

He then drives it over by the burn pile...

...he pulls a sting and dumps the leaves!

I burned leaves all afternoon and barely made a dent in the pile hubby collected!

Sweet hubby collected more leaves today than I could have raked in a month! What a timesaver!!! It is defintely a game changer!

I had a couple sweet helpers this afternoon!

Sunshine warming up by the fire...

Don't worry...they took lots of play breaks! Did you know two kids could fit on a sit and spin? Ha!

Sunshine and her new kitten, Joy...

January 8th's picture...

Sweet Pea...Day 7

2012-01-07T21:17:00.002-06:00

My youngest girl LOVES her friends and parties. She gets SO EXCITED when one of her friends has a party...like WAY more than her older sisters. When she finds out about the party, she likes to talk about it non-stop until she actually goes to the party. I am talking weeks, people. Ha! She loves to talk, socialize and visit.

She looks so sweet this afternoon as we headed out, I had to snap a couple pictures. The biggest challenge when I am taking her picture is too get her to quit talking long enough for me to snap a picture! Ha! She cracks me up!

January 7th's picture...

Destiny...Day 6

2012-01-06T21:56:00.004-06:00

There are times I wonder what our life would be like if we hadn't decided to take the road less traveled. The road of adoption.

The thought that we could have some how missed out having each each of my three babies with us almost takes my breath away.

But then I remember, it was never our decision. We could have never orchestrated the formation of our family. The four kiddos sleeping across the hall from me tonight could not have been born into more different circumstances. Seriously, think about it. It is beyond my wildest dreams.

Each of our adopted babies were always meant to be our babies. Always.

I mean, look at these two...

...they were made for each other! Their bond is like nothing I have ever seen.

Made.for.each.other.

I am so incredibly thankful we were chosen to be apart of the amazing adoption journey.

{January 6th's picture}

Hanging in There...Day 5

2012-01-05T21:03:00.004-06:00

I was relieved to see Sunshine still had all of her teeth when I picked her up from school this afternoon!

I really, really hope we are together when her first tooth comes out!

Have I mentioned that several of her friends (in her grade) are already getting BRACES?!?!? Apparently, there is a new "two phase" braces approach these days.

Today was Little Pumpkin's first day back to preschool since Christmas.

She had a wonderful day! She LOVES going to school I will never take for granted my kids' being in a safe, nurturing school. We are so blessed.

Sweet Pea has been working hard with her new computer she got for Christmas.

I think there has already been some improvement in her fine motor skills over the last few weeks :o) I plan on talking to the doctor about her fine and gross motor skills as well as her speech next week.

Speaking of speech, this little boy's speech has exploded lately!

He is so curious about EVERYTHING. There is never a dull moment with him. His new thing is to ask questions constantely like, "Where are we going?" and "What is today?"

He is such a little miracle! A very handsome little miracle, I might add!

January 5th's picture...

Tooth Fairy...Day 4

2012-01-04T21:03:00.003-06:00

My girl got her FIRST loose tooth right before Christmas...and then it tightened back up....

...until today!!! That sweet little tooth is wiggiling like crazy! I think we are only days away from a visit from the tooth fairy!!!

And yes, she is seven and a half and this is her FIRST :o) She is sooooooo ready! She has been writing notes to the tooth fairy for over two years!

After we got home from church tonight, I had to take a quick picture of her with ALL of her teeth just in case she loses it at school tomorrow...I hope she doesn't...maybe I should keep her home :o)

It is her bottom, right tooth. I just LOVE her sweet little teeth.

A picture a day...January 4th's picture.

Big Boy...Day 3

2012-01-03T20:41:00.002-06:00

Today was our first day back to MDO since mid-December.

Apparantly, none of the other workers (expect one other) knew we were starting back today so we only had one room open...that means all of the kids were in one class...little kids to big kids! It was defintely an interesting day to say the least!

Sweet Pea & Little Pumpkin are always in my class, but today Baby Boy was in there too! He is usually in a baby room which means he eats in a highchair and sleeps in a baby bed...we don't have those in my room so he ate and slept like the big kids! I was a bit nervous, but he did AWESOME! I was so proud of him!

So proud in fact that I promoted him to a big boy bed when we got home!

The crazy thing is that all three girls slept in this crib...but never as a toddler bed...they were all bumped out of the crib by the next kid line...ha! I think he likes his new found freedom!

Sweet little thing!

January 3rd's picture of the day...

Facebook is Useful After All...Day 2

2012-01-02T21:55:00.006-06:00

After supper last night, I briefly checked facebook without much thought and I saw a status update from Sunshine's teacher that said something about "going back to school tomorrow."

Agggg! I totally thought we had another day before heading back to reality :o( In fact, I am pretty sure Sunshine's school is the ONLY school in our area that was in session today. I am sure we will be thankful this summer when we get out earlier than the other schools, but today it stunk!

Luckily, hubby and the rest of us had the day off today. Actually, it felt really strange not having Sunshine with us today!

Nothing exciting on the docket today...made the 7up biscuits that are all over the internet, made some yummy smoothies and milkshakes...loving my new blender/food processor...cleaned out another closet, burned some trash and packed up some more donations. I.Love.Decluttering!!!!!

Tomorrow we all get back into our normal routine...MDO, work & dance.

Here is January 2nd's picture...

LOVE that girl!!!

Hello 2012...Day 1

2012-01-01T22:14:00.005-06:00

Happy 2012!!

I am so thankful 2012 began on a Sunday...what better way to begin a new year...with an awesome church service. This morning's message was a great reminder that we need to ALWAYS SEEK Him.

I just LOVE how this verse sums it up...

"Seek the LORD and His strength, seek His face continually." 1 Chronicles 16:11

Seeking Him continually is not only my New Year's Resolution, it is my lifetime resolution.

In order to be more diligent regarding that, I am beginning a new "read through the bible in a year" regiment. I have started this more times that I can count...and things usually fizzle after a few months. I usually do better with devotions and such, but this year I am really going to try my best to stick it out and finish.

I am using a plan that involves reading a couple chapters from the OT, NT and a chapter from Psalms each day. I really like that because my normal route usually begins in the OT and it is easy to get bogged down there :o) I LOVE the idea of mixing it up at bit. Today's verses are Genesis 1-2, Matthew 1-2 and Psalms 1.

I am also planning to take a picture to represent each day of 2012. I am great at taking pictures and AWFUL at getting them printed...I am going to work on that this year. My plan is to have a picture for each day...posted here...and then printed at the end of each month.

Here's January 1st's picture...

What are your goals/resolutions for this year?

Last Day of 2011...Day 365

2011-12-31T20:07:00.004-06:00

I believe we had the best weather day of the year today...a perfect 70 degrees. And it didn't hurt we are still on vacation :o)

We LOVE being able to take our time getting ready and not being rushed! My three little burritos after their bath this morning!

LOVE days like this.

I cannot bear to think about getting back into our normal schedule in a few days :o(

We have SO enjoyed the last week and a half...just hanging out together all day!

I just cannot get enough of these sweet kiddos!

And my sweet hubby :o)

I am also SO excited Baby Boy has decided...after two years...that he LIKES to have his picture made! Whew! I was trying to take a quick picture of the three girls all lined up ready to race and Baby Boy saw me with the camera and ran over to the line-up...he refused to move until I took his picture :o) Makes a mama proud :o) Ha!

And they're off!

We are now all cuddled up on the couch, watching The Bee Movie...waiting to ring in the new year!

Happy New Year's Eve!!! 2012 is going to be an awesome year!

Shopping & Charitable Donations...Day 364

2011-12-30T21:47:00.007-06:00

Whoa...somehow I lost six days this year. Apparently in my world, yesterday was Day 357...and I know tomorrow is New Year's Eve...that makes today Day 364. Whoops! That's what I get for not blogging everyday! Ha!

Yesterday, I received the following comment from AndeMski...

"Are those North Face jackets? They make great jackets and backpacks... I have one of each. Also, I was wondering where you got your girls' bows. I LOVE big bows and the only place I can find them is at Dillard's."

First of all, I am always so surprised when I get a comment from someone I have never met. In my head, there are about 10 people who read this blog...and there are times I cannot imagine why those 10 would even want to read about our life :o)

But, I am glad there are readers out there :o)

Anyways, back to the comment...Yes, they are North Face jackets :o) All of the girls...and Mommy and Daddy got North Face jackets for Christmas. Baby Boy got another Columbia jacket...he was cool with that :o) North Face jackets are awesome. Sunshine got a purple one, Little Pumpkin got a blue one, Sweet Pea got a pink one, hubby got a black one and I got a brown one. I exchanged the little girls for the next size up and they are on order from the company. They should be here next week! Yay!

The bows...yes, I LOVE BIG bows. In my opinion, the bigger the better. I also believe there is no such things as having too many bows. There is a motto around our house, "Mommy's girls wear bows."

I get most of my bows from a local shoe store...Shoe Connection. I don't think I have ever bought a pair of shoes there, but they have an awesome bow selection. I also get a lot of bows from a local store in downtown Paragould when we are in town...Room to Grow. It is a second hand store, but they carry a few new items...such as bows :o) The bows are a little less expensive there. I also really like bows from The Toggery, a local children's boutique. The place where the girls get their haircut, Pigtails and Crewcuts, also has great bows. Occasionally, I get bows from Dillards...but not very often. However, one of my favorite bows came from there...the blue one Sunshine is wearing in the above picture.

Sorry AndeMski, since you aren't from around here, I know that was not much help, but maybe you have similar stores in your town?

As you can tell, I like bows and I like to talk about bows. Bows make this world a better place :o)

Since tomorrow is the last day of 2011, I thought I would share a few of our favorite "charities" we like to donate too. You know, just in case you are looking for some ideas of where to make your last minute end of the year contributions or maybe for some new ideas for 2012 :o) Btw, all of the following places have online donation buttons...so easy!

**Of course, your church is an obvious choice.
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD." Leviticus 27:29-31

Then with extra money we want to donate, here is our top picks :o)

**Dillon International. That is the AWESOME adoption agency we used to adopt Little Pumpkin. Dillon allows you to specify where your donation will be used...we choose Vietnam...duh! Ha! There are tons of children living in Vietnam right now that are in desperate need of food, shelter and an education. Since adoptions are shut down in Vietnam right now, there isn't a lot of humanitarian aid going to the orphanages :o( We are praying adoptions open back up this spring!!

**Giving it back to Kids. Y'all this organization is amazing. Visit their site and look around...they do some pretty great things for kids in Vietnam. They provide bicycles to kids to help them get to school, support for pregnant women, orphanage support, surgeries, wheelchairs and the list goes on and on and on. Great stuff!

**Gladney Center for Adoptions. This is the adoption agency we used to adopt Sweet Pea. One of the main reasons we chose this agency is because of their commitment to humanitarian aid. They do SO MUCH for the kids "left behind" in the countries where they facilitate adoptions.

**Kisses from Katie. If you haven't heard about this girl, GO TO HER BLOG NOW. She is unbelievable. God calls us all to care for orphans...that girl understands that and lives it. Seriously unbelievable.

**The CALL....aka Children of Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime. I can safely say, I do not think we would have ever become foster parents if it wasn't for The CALL. Our minds and hearts were open to orphans. When I first heard of The CALL, we had adopted internationally once and were in process to adopt a second time. We were shocked to learn of the HUGE need for good, Christian foster homes right here in our city. I believe the presentation lasted for about 10 minutes one night at church, we were hooked at minute two. Ha! If it weren't for The CALL, we probably would have missed the incredible blessing of Baby Boy, as well as the other foster kids that have passed through our home.

**The Dorcas House. This is a new one for me. I wasn't very familiar of this great ministry until Sunshine's second grade class went to visit a couple weeks ago. The work they do there changes lives...for this generation and the next. The women getting help at The Dorcas House give me hope...hope that one day a mother of one of our foster children will be able to turn their life around.

What are your favorite charities?

Wrap Up & Decluttering...Day 357

2011-12-29T20:44:00.004-06:00

So, I left off with saying goodbye to Sparkles Christmas morning. After breakfast, we began preparing lunch for my side of the family. They came up from Southwest Arkansas for a few hours :o) The kids LOVE having family over to our house!

Getting ready for Christmas lunch...

Cutie pie...

Another cutie pie...

This little cutie pie is finally smiling for me when I bring out the camera! Yay! And yes, we strip him down before most meals :o)

Happy Birthday to Jesus!

After lunch, we headed to Northeast Arkansas to celebrate Christmas with Mimi & Papa Paragould.

Sunshine reading the story of Jesus' birth from the bible.

Sweet Pea and Mimi

Sunshine and cousin Ally, excited about their new, soft jackets :o)

Little Pumpkin is surprised about something...

Her new ipod :o) So sweet!

Sunshine is ready to go swimming with her new waterproof camera!

Baby boy was so worn out from all of the Christmas excitement that he didn't get to open very many of his presents Christmas night...but he made up for it the next day :o)

Sweet sisters!

After breakfast and Baby Boy's presents, we decided to drive to a nearby town and check out the after Christmas sales...

I was excited to find some great Christmas decorations on clearance!

Today, I spent the entire day doing one of my very favorite things...decluttering and getting rid of stuff!

Five bags of clothes to donate...hopefully that will be more after hubby signs off on some stuff of his tomorrow :o)

Five bags of trash which equates to clean closets, clean drawers, clean cabinets, clean toy boxes and clean shelves. I am one happy mama!

And one pile of fun toys to take to Baby Boy's dhs office!

Goodbye to Sparkles, our Elf on the Shelf...Day 356

2011-12-28T21:42:00.005-06:00

I have a lot of catching up to do!

Christmas morning...

As you know (smile), Elves on the Shelf must leave on Christmas Eve night to go help Santa deliver the presents. This can be a very sad time for kids...especially my kiddos :o( This was our first year to have an elf visit and at first, I was skeptical. However over the course of the month, the kids had SO much fun finding Sparkles each morning, writing letters for her to take to Santa and whispering to her throughout the day :o) They knew our time with Sparkles was coming to an end and the girls all expressed sadness over Sparkles leaving. I have to admit...I knew I was going to miss Sparkles too!

They all sad their "goodbyes" to Sparkles the night of Christmas Eve and went to bed. They were SHOCKED to wake up Christmas morning and find Sparkles sitting by the fireplace!

Baby Boy is saying, "Sneaky elf" in the picture :o) LOVE that baby!

Sunshine excitedly grabbed the letter from Sparkles and read it to her brother and sisters...

The goodbye letter...

The kids didn't know what to think when Sunshine read the part about being able to touch the elf for a few minutes after reading the letter! It was so funny! If you aren't familiar with the Elf on the Shelf, if a human touches the elf, the elf will lose her magical powers and will not be able to fly to the North Pole anymore. It also makes the elf very sick. When Sunshine finished reading the letter, Sweet Pea and Little Pumpkin REFUSED to touch the elf even though the letter said it would be okay. Ha!

Sunshine was elated to be able to touch the elf!

Look at the PRECIOUS face!

She {hearts} Sparkles!

One happy little girl!

After seeing nothing crazy happened when big sister touched Sparkles, Little Pumpkin took her turn saying goodbye.

Next up...Sweet Pea!

Baby Boy...

"Bye bye Sneaky Elf."

Sparkles was a very good elf...we are looking forward to seeing her next December!!!

Putting her back just as they found her. Safe travels Sparkles!

Merry Christmas...Day 353

2011-12-25T16:01:00.000-06:00

Santa Visit & Goodbye to our Elf on the Shelf...Day 352

2011-12-24T21:19:00.003-06:00

The kids were thrilled to wake up this morning to find Santa came to visit a day early! Sparkles definitely came through for us :o)

In case you were wondering, the girls were completely stoked that we scored a picture of Santa delivering the presents!

Sunshine was happy...she got some "spy stuff..."

Phineas and Ferb were also a hit!

Little Pumpkin was happy...she got the apple she wished for...ha!

She was also was super excited to get Mulan and Mulan's boy...whatever his name is :o)

Baby Boy got some more trains...he LOVES trains!

He also enjoyed working on his new 4 wheeler with Daddy :o)

Sweet Pea got lots of goodies too...she said, "I like getting presents."

I {heart} the Disney store...princesses for everyone in our family!

We had such a fun afternoon! We played with all of the new toys and games! We especially liked playing Hedbanz!

Sweet Pea never did get this one! Haha!

We also tried something new with Little Pumpkin...notice anything different?

As you know, we have had alot of fun with our elf on the shelf, Sparkles this month. Honestly, I am really sad our time with her is over. The kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hunting for her every morning. It is soooooooo sweet. Jonah loves finding her and saying, "Sneaky elf." In fact, he usually says that at least 10 times a day :o) Sweet Pea has been great at finding Sparkles each morning...she has probably found her more often that the other girls, which thrills her!

Tomorrow, Sparkles will leave us :o(

Presents, Capitol & Visit from Santa...Day 351

2011-12-23T21:39:00.004-06:00

Today, Papa Texarkana, Ganny & cousin Ashley came to town for a doctor's visit and stopped by afterwards to open presents!

The kids were super excited!

Baby Boy loves trains!

Sweet Pea is WAY into doing hair and was thrilled with this gift!

This evening, we went to see the lights at the capitol and look at the decorations inside.

The kids loved the gold doors!

The girls skipped around the capitol saying, "Take my picture here. Ohhh, take it here." Haha!

Is it just me or is she looking like a big girl these days?

Sweet Pea, 3

Little Pumpkin, 5

Sunshine, 7

Checking out the beautiful nativity...

Last night, hubby and I sent a letter to Santa, via Sparkles, the elf. We requested that he visit our home a night early. Sparkles didn't bring a response this morning so we aren't sure if he is coming or not. We decided to leave cookies and milk just in case...and a note, of course :o)

This girl LOVES to write and draw!

Cookies and milk for Santa...carrots for the reindeers.

Sweet, sweet, sweet little hands!

Baby boy did not think it was a good idea to leave cookies and milk for Santa...he thought it would be a MUCH better idea for him to eat the cookies :o) He kept saying, "Yummy, yummy cookies." Haha! {For those you have never seen Baby Boy...when I put the heart over his face, I am covering up one of his best assets...his GORGEOUS eyelashes...ahhhhh, love them!}

Ready for Santa!

I am happy to report that Santa did indeed decide to visit our house early! Whoo hoo! The girls (and boy) will be so excited when they wake up in the morning, not only did he deliver their gifts, I also got a picture of him with my camera!

Christmas Party & Craft...Day 348

2011-12-20T20:25:00.006-06:00

Having hubby home for Christmas break is awesome...AWESOME! Today was Sunshine's Christmas party at school and I got to go...the entire time! Whoo hoo!

We started the morning by taking her second grade class to the Dorcus House. The children sang songs and recited scripture for the women (and a few kids) during their chapel service. It was so touching to see our children singing about our Savior to these ladies who need healing from our Savior to help turn their life around.

Such a sweet group of kids...

We are so blessed to be able to send our child to a school where Jesus is not only "allowed" in, but following and serving Him is a way of life.

After singing, we headed back to school for their Christmas Party. Yes, their CHRISTMAS...not a "holiday" party...something I will never take for granted. I was in charge of the class craft this year. We made snowman! So fun!

Cute little snowman...

Sunshine and her buddy G...

They also played "Jingo"

...and had hot chocolate and listened to a Christmas book...

...and decorated cookies...

...and opened presents!

Sunshine and her sweet friend, EM, at the party...

Sunshine and her sweet friend, EM, tonight...

...applying makeup and hair glitter...

and lots of perfume...oh my!

They are still going strong as I type..no telling what we will end up with before the night is done.

Paperwork & Presents...Day 347

2011-12-19T21:28:00.003-06:00

Another crazy day today!

We started our day with a visit from our dhs adoption specialist. Yes, our ADOPTION specialist...from DHS. I will let you connect the dots. Needless to say, we are over the moon excited.

Sweet hubby is off this week so I took advantage of the opportunity and went to eat with my favorite second grader! Little Pumpkin joined us too :o) These are the days!

In between taking care of some needed errands, we stopped by the Scholastic Book Fair Warehouse...have you ever been to a warehouse sale? THEY.ARE.AWESOME!!!! AWESOME!

AWESOME.

If you live in Central Arkansas, click here for the details.

Tonight, after the babies went to bed, the big girls talked us into letting them open a couple presents :o)

Honestly, they didn't have to try very hard.

Little Pumpkin loves her "old school" Mickey Mouse!

When picking out presents, this is the reaction you hope for :o)

Sweet girl.

She LOVES to read!

I opened one of my presents tonight too! A new camera! I LOVE it! I can't wait to try it out tomorrow...you might want to prepare youself for picture overload :o) Ha!

Wrapping and Remembering...Day 346

2011-12-18T22:05:00.005-06:00

The blog has become a victim of our super busy December. The more we do...the more I need to blog about...the less I blog. After a couple days, I start to feel overwhelmend with all of the things I want to document and the next thing I know, I haven't documented ANYTHING. Ha!

So, here is a quick run down of a couple things...I may go into more detail later...and then again, I may not...ha!

The three girls were in a Christmas program at church tonight...the 13 Days of Christmas...it was SO cute!

My little angel, dancing bear and Christmas puppy...

The girls were SO EXCITED to have Mimi, Papa Paragould and cousin Ally in town for their performance!

Sunshine got her hair cut earlier this week...

It was a very emotional visit...more on that later...luckily, it ended in smiles :o)

As you may remember, we are doing "old school" Christmas this year. A part of that is brown paper packages tied up with strings..and decorated by a few little artists :o)

Daddy even got in on the fun...Sunshine gets her drawing abilites from him :o) Here are a few of my faves...I mean, check out She-Ra and He-Man!

We may be keeping our wrapping paper this year :o)

A sign of a good hubby...he draws a cute picture on your present...complete with kiddos wearing monogrammed outfits! Haha!

Today my thoughts are with my cousin Curtie...he would have been 26 today.

Still cannot believe he is gone.

Sparkles, our Elf on the Shelf...Day 339

2011-12-10T22:07:00.004-06:00

Wow, Decembers are BUSY! Not only have we been busy, Sparkles, our elf on the shelf, has been too! She seems to be a well rounded elf...she has lots of hobbies...such as...

Making making snow angels...in rice...she likes to keep this as clean and neat as possible...we get along well :o)...

Playing dominos...

One morning, she put Hershey Chocolate in the milk...

She did get a bit messy that day!

Apparently she has a sweet tooth...the girls thought it was hilarious when they found her sipping syrup one morning...

She likes playing with Sunshine's ipod whenever she finds it laying around :o)

She also enjoys fishing from the chandelier...

I wasn't thrilled when I woke up this morning and found she rolled the Christmas tree!

I think she is trying to get back on my good side...she left the kids some money to buy breakfast at church in the morning.

She also wrote them a stern letter warning them they better be nice to one another or else :o)

What has your elf been up to lately?

The Day we got Love and Joy...Day 336

2011-12-07T20:39:00.004-06:00

We woke up a few days ago, had breakfast and then told the girls we were going on a short trip...to get one of their Christmas presents!

Oh, the anticipation!

We drove to a nearby town and pulled in the Wal-Mart parking lot. To be honest, the girls were not impressed to be sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot after being in the car for 45 minutes. Ha! It only takes us five mintues to get to our Wal-Mart. They were trying to be good sports, but I know they were thinking, "Why have we been in the car so long just to go to Wal-Mart?"

Once we parked, we told the girls their presents would be arriving in a red suv. For the next 10 minutes they were on {super} high alert looking the red gift bearing suv :o) SO sweet!

Finally...the red suv pulled in the parking lot and drove straight to our vehicle!

The girls couldn't wait to see what was in that car :o)

I stayed in the car with the two littles and the big girls walked over to the car with their Daddy. I watched as they slowly walked over to the red vehicle and I SO WISH I would have videoed their expressions when they saw their gifts! It was priceless!

KITTENS!!!

Sweet, soft, beautiful kittens.

Here is Sunshine's "real, calm kitten."

She named her kitten, "Joy."

Little Pumpkin originally wanted a black cat, but instead chose a solid gray.

She named her kitten "Love."

I turned my head for a minute while helping the girls wrap their kittens and I when I turned back around, I found this...

He was not happy when Mommy made him get out. Ha! Put him in the playpin and he gets mad, but apparantely being in the tiny kitten kennel is pure bliss!

Trip to the Christmas Tree Farm...Day 335

2011-12-06T21:39:00.007-06:00

We made our second annual trip to the Christmas Tree farm for our Christmas tree this weekend! This is one of my very favorite outings! I know we could buy a tree at Home Depot or Wal-Mart for less, but the experience of picking out a tree and cutting it down is just so special...along with strapping it to the top of your car! Sweet memories!

We got to the farm just in time to watch the {super cute} pig races!

Racing pigs...SO cute!!

Perfection.

I just LOVE when my kids "set up" photos ops! "Hey Mama, take our picture over here!" My pleasure! Ha!

Here we go...in search of our 2011 Christmas Tree!!

Quick break to pose by the snowman :o)

Back at it...

"Wait for me, girls!"

We found it! OUR Christmas tree!

Everyone takes a turn sawing down the tree...

LOVE that sweet little face!

One of my FAVE pictures!

Time to ride the tractor cow ride. The driver takes the kids on a very CRAZY ride...crazy...seriously!

While the girls rode the cows, our tree got ready to go. Shaking it out...

...and wrapping it up!

A quick stop by the petting zoo...

Mission accomplished!

My cup runneth over.

Just have to document this special day in history!!! This day, five years ago, we received a precious, precious gift...the first picture of Little Pumpkin!!!

We knew the moment we saw her picture that she was OUR baby! We have been SO blessed by this little Vietnamese angel!

Hanging the Greens & Old School Christmas...Day 334

2011-12-05T21:11:00.005-06:00

Last night our church had their annual "Hanging of the Greens" service. It is a really neat program. The sanctuary is decorated (well, it was already mostly decorated) by church memebers a bit at a time along with beautiful music. Children perform between each decoration (greenery, banners, flowers, etc...).

The girls were super pumped about singing on stage, as usual...but once the moment came, no one was really "into it." It probably had a lot to do with the fact Ganny and Papa Texarkana were in town and they wanted to spend time with them...and they wanted to get home to their new kittens...definitely in that order :o) Ha!

All three girls were super somber on stage...

Can you spot Little Pumpkin? Her daddy was standing to her left videoing her and she turned and sang right to him to entire time :o)

Sunshine...her calmest performance ever!

All smiles after we snuck out early :o)

We got so busy yesterday, we forgot to do our Advent Stocking! We did two tonight :o)

Day 4...

Day 5...

Yesterday's "Christmas Fun" was a piece of candy...a total hit, of course :o) Today's "Christmas Fun" was making Christmas tree decorations!

Have I mentioned we have a theme for this year's Christmas?

It's "Old School Christmas." Here's a little peek...

I will have to update "Sparkles" recent activities soon...she has been a very busy little elf!!

Sparkles, our Elf on the Shelf...Day 333

2011-12-04T21:50:00.003-06:00

Sunshine has been really, really wanting for an elf on the shelf for weeks. I told her that we couldn't just go out and get her an elf, the elf must be sent to our house by Santa. She has been faithful and hopeful and Saturday morning it paid off! An elf came to our house!!

Our elf was waiting for us at the breakfast table when we came downstairs...the girls were SHOCKED!

I was thankful our elf brought breakfast so I could take the morning off :o)

I mean, who doesn't like donuts decorated with candy and milk flavored with candy canes?

This is what a super, duper excited seven year old looks like. I wish I could freeze time!

These two are excited, but I don't really think they know why :o)

This one was excited...for the donuts :o)

Sunshine reading us about our elf...

We read that our #1 task is to pick a name for our elf. I know I am probably biased, but she's pretty cute :o)

We chose the name "Sparkles."

Our elf has been a busy little lady! She has been spotted hanging from the chandelier and fishing for goldfish already! I am pretty sure I hear her flying around downstairs so there is no telling what she is getting into tonight!

What a FUN family tradition!!

Elf, Kittens & Christmas Tree...Day 332

2011-12-03T22:15:00.003-06:00

Today was a busy, busy day in our home. We had lots of fun additions...

We were visited by our very first Elf on the Shelf...who will forever be know as "Sparkles." Sparkles is a hit...she even brought breakfast! SO FUN!

We decided to lend Santa a hand and mark a couple items off our the girls' Christmas list..
Meet "Love..."

...and "Joy..."

We found the perfect Christmas tree at the Christmas Tree Farm...

Don't want to forget my favorite moment...Advent Stocking (Day 3)

Whew! Tis the season!

Advent Stockings - Day 2...Day 331

2011-12-02T21:07:00.002-06:00

Baby, I am on a roll...two posts in one day!

Just wanted to take a moment to document today's Advent Stocking...

As you can see, I moved the stockings because my super sweet {on sale} stockings from Pottery Barn arrived and took over the mantle :o)

Reading today's message...

Today's message...

I am SO {SO, SO, SO} excited about this weekend!!! Lots of Christmas fun on the agenda!

My First Furniture Upcycle...Day 331

2011-12-02T11:07:00.005-06:00

I {LOVE} the look of painted furniture...LOVE! The girls were in need of some more storage in their room and we had an extra dresser in the garage...perfect opportunity!

Since I had never painted furniture before, I decided to document the process :o) What's new? Ha!

Here's what we started with...

First (and most obvious) step was to clean the dresser :o) Next, we sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper...

..and cleaned it again...with a damp rag...and then moved it to the girls' room...
It actually looked pretty good at this point...who knew! We then removed the hardware and it was finally time to get started!!!!

Next...PRIMER! I read good things about Kilz primer so we used that.

No turning back now! I applied one coat, waited {a very long 45 minutes} and applied a second.

Next, paint! We had some left over paint in the garage that matches the trim in our house so we used that. I don't have the exact color because it is a color match from Sherwin-Williams...it's an interior semi-gloss...

Obviously, the top was left unpainted since I had another plan for the top.

Just to be safe, I applied two coats of paint. Next...the top! Sweet hubby took care of this part for me. He used Minwax Polyshades in Bombay Mahogany Gloss...

He applied one coat and waiting overnight and then sanded it with steel wool and applied a second coat...

I just love how it turned out!

Before and After...

...and the mirror...

As you can see in the reflection, we liked the way the dresser turned out and decided to move in the chest of drawers and do it too!

Before and After...

I can't wait for the next project...I am looking for an armoire to store my craft supplies...I WILL distress that one...can't wait! Stay turned!

Advent Stockings - Day 1...Day 330

2011-12-01T19:43:00.004-06:00

It's December, you know what that means...Advent Stockings!

I just LOVE this tradition with the girls (and boy). Last year, I did the notes day by day and did my best to incorporate the true meaning of Christmas along with that day's treat or Christmas activity.

This year, I decided to change things up a bit. My goal is for each of the stockings to flow together. Each day, the stocking's message will be a bit of the Christmas story finishing up on Christmas Day with the Wise Men's visit to baby Jesus.

Day 1...

Here we go...

Today's message...

I just LOVE listening to Sunshine read to the little girls about Jesus. These are my favorite moments of life.

Today's special Christmas activity was decorating a Christmas tree for the girls' room!

I like big bows and I cannot lie!

Come back this weekend, I'll be sharing a tutorial for these Christmas pillows!

A Partial Reveal...Day 328

2011-11-29T21:17:00.002-06:00

This day has gotten away from me.

I plan to do a longer post of the furniture redo we completed this week, but for now, here is a sneak peak...

Remember, the before...

After...

I think I have found a new hobby! I have been stalking Craigslist lately trying to find our next project! I really want to distress the next project!

Furniture Upcycle...Day 327

2011-11-28T21:43:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned yesterday, we tackled our first furniture redo this weekend. I was so happy with the first piece, I did another one today!

Here is the before shots..

I'll share the afters tomorrow!

Branson #3...Day 326

2011-11-27T19:36:00.005-06:00

Finishing up our trip...

The next morning we ate at one of the restaurants at our resort. The girls LOVED eating at the "fancy restaurant!" I have to say, it was REALLY yummy!

After breakfast, we decided to take advantage of our last full day in Branson and do some more Christmas shopping :o)

Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop. The girls took great care in making out their Christmas Wish Lists for Santa.

Oh how I love those sweet little lips!

Speaking of Christmas Lists...let's take a closer look...

Little Pumpkin's...

" A black cat, apple, baby black cat, ipod, ipad, carrot, grape and a chocolate chip."

Hahahahahaha! That girl is one of a kind!

Sunshine's List...

"An ipad and a real, calm kitten so that I can keep it in the house...not a toy kitten."

Well, it looks like a new kitten or two is in my near future. A heck of a lot cheaper than an ipod or two! Ha!

We then had a little visit with Santa Claus...picture to come. SWEETNESS! Little Pumpkin talked Santa's ear off this year. A far cry from their interaction a few years ago!

We then continued to shop and shop and shop some more.

Little Pumpkin found a little something to her Christmas list...

...as did Sunshine!

I am thrilled to report we are very close to being done with our Christmas shopping! Whoo hoo!

After a yummy supper, we headed to my favorite dessert spot in Branson...Cakes n Cream Dessert Palor.

We then spent a hour or so playing "Apples to Apples" in the lobby and then turned in for our nightly Christmas movie. When all of the sudden...

...there was a knock, knock, knock on the door...

Who could it be at this time of night?

Sprinkles, the elf! Yay!

She read the girls a Christmas story...

...took their Christmas lists for Santa...

...and delivered an early Christmas present from Santa :o)

The next morning, we headed to Northeast Arkansas to celebrate Thanksgiving. Little Pumpkin pretty much cooked the entire meal. Haha!

Part one of our trip.
Part two of our trip.

Now on to coat #2...sooooo excited to almost to be done with my first furniture upcycle! Pictures tomorrow!

Dixie Stampede and Game Night...Day 325

2011-11-26T21:01:00.006-06:00

Our Branson trip continues...

Silver Dollar City is a HUGE draw for Branson at Christmas time...however, it was closed while we were in town :o( Although, I am not sure any of us were really that upset about it because no one in our family likes to be out in the cold and it was COLD the entire time we were in town. We turn into pretty big wimps when the temperature dips below 70. Ha!

One show that we were really, really excited about is Dixie Stampede. Luckily, I had a friend tell me that during Christmas time, instead of a battle between the North and South, it is the North Pole vs. the South Pole. FUN! When you buy your tickets online, you choose to either sit on the North side or the South side...if we had ended up on the South Pole side, we would have had two very disappointed girls. Ha!

When you walk up to the theater, you pass by the stars of the show...the horses! The girls LOVED seeing all of the horses and picking out their favorites. Sunshine chose "Midnight."

{Sorry so many of the pictures are blurry...my camera is so out of wack! Ugh!}

Little Pumpkin chose "Sam." She first chose "Trouble," until I read her his name. I am sure you can guess which name fits her better. Ha!

I thought it was CRAZY that these two horses were placed next to one another...

If you look close, you will notice one is named "Missy" and the other "Amy." That is my name and my sister's name!

Sunshine congratulating "Midnight" after the show :o)

After the show, we headed back to Big Cedar and checked out the game Pictionary from Guest Services and played a few rounds in the lobby. {The resort had AWESOME DVDs and games for us to check out each day. We LOVED watching Christmas movies all week!}

The girls listed this as their #1 favorite activity of the getaway :o) In fact, we scheduled "family game time" into our evenings the rest of the trip!

Of course, I knew my Sunshine would love Pictionary...she draws every.single.day. She LOVES to color, draw and write.

Little Pumpkin likes to draw, but Little Pumpkin LOVES Pictionary! She was really good at it too!

In fact, I think Daddy guessed everyone of her drawings! Can you guess what this is?

An octopus!

More tomorrow!

{First Branson post here.}

Branson Fun...Day 324

2011-11-25T20:25:00.004-06:00

Sunshine had the entire week of school off for Thanksgiving so Daddy took the week off too and we headed to Branson! Fun times!

The drive from Central Arkansas was about three hours. We got to town a few hours before check in time so we stopped by Branson Landing for lunch and a little playtime :o)

We stayed at the Big Cedar Lodge which is in Ridgedale, Mo...about 20 minutes from Branson.

We stayed here several years ago when Sunshine was a little baby so this was really our first stay with kids. The girls LOVED (LOVED!) it!

The official Christmas season starts next week (Santa, Mrs. Claus, making gingerbread houses, building edible snowman, etc...), but since this was Sunshine's week out of school we decided to go this week. The girls didn't know any difference and since the lobby was decorated for Christmas and they already had their Christmas lights up, they thought it was great!

One of their favorite things to do at the lodge was play at the lincoln log table :o) We have a box of lincoln logs in the closet that the kids rarely play with, but these logs were "awesome." Toys are always way better away from home...ha!

The great thing about the resort is that they offer so many fun activities...including miniture golf! We loved playing golf :o) Here are the girls standing in the mouth of a large mouth bass...the last hole...

Not sure what this pose is...I guess their golf stance :o)

Our first night in town, we went back to Branson Landing for the fountain show set to Christmas music and finished our night with a pretzel from Auntie Anne's...YUM!

It was fun, but we decided that would be our last night outing...Branson is COLD!

The girls were super excited to see an elf visited our room while we were out and left cookies! No idea why they thought an elf delivered the cookies, but we went with it :o)

What's better than cookies before bedtime?

The next morning, we decided to hit up the outlet stores! But, not before a yummy breakfast!

At the end of our trip...out of all of the fun things we did on our trip...the girls both listed "going to Justice" in their top five. Haha!

Daddy better start saving up now, these girls like to shop!

Well, that is a pretty good stopping point...Lost reruns on Netflix is awaiting me :o) I will continue our trip tomorrow!

Count Your Blessings...Day 323

2011-11-24T20:35:00.004-06:00

If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change you are among the top 8% of the wordl’s wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation vou are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering.

If you can read this message you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read it at all.

Our country is blessed.

My family is blessed.

I.AM.BLESSED.

I am THANKFUL to HIM from whom all blessings flow.

Image from here.

Cowboy & Cowgirl Party - The Details...Day 314

2011-11-15T21:11:00.004-06:00

We decided to have Baby Boy & Little Pumpkin's birthday parties together since their birthdays are so close together...and they love each other :o)

Little Pumpkin had the advantage of being older so she was able to choose the theme...Cowboys and Cowgirls! Baby Boy thought it was a good idea too :o) Ha!

(I found these invitations on Etsy...the seller emailed me the file and I printed the invitations on cardstock.)

Little Pumpkin was pretty insistent that she wanted a pink pony so that got me started with a color scheme...pink for the cowgirl and blue for the cowboy.

I used my cricut to create the birthday banners...

In preparation for the party, I purchased the "Create a Critter" cartridge...I LOVE it...LOVE! It was on sale at Michael's' for $39.99...reguarly $99.99. I would have NEVER paid full price!

I also used the cricut to cut out cupcake toppers...I used a combination of horses, horseshoes and stars. I wish I would have gotten a better picture of these!

On Little Pumpkin's side of the table, I put a picture of her in a cowgirl frame, a large sparkly "S," daisies and a candle (wrapped in burlap) that burned in honor of her birthmother.

Baby Boy's side...basically the same...in blue :o)

The party was mid-afternoon, so I didn't do any food...just cupcakes and "Lil Cowpoke Trail Mix..."

...Cheetos, chex mix, pretzels, goldfish, m&ms and honey nut cheerios. I try to keep a variation of this in the pantry year-round...we call it "happy mix."
For drinks, we had sodas for the adults and Capri suns for the kiddos...

As the guests entered the party, they were greeted with a row of blue and pink cowboy hats and blue and pink handkerchief...

I made the sign using an cardboard box side and letters printed on the cricut.

Beside the "cowboy up" area, there was a "have your mug taken" area...I borrowed the saddle from the horse people :o)

In between several trees, I hung alternating blue and pink gingham pennants. Very easy & inexpensive to make...cut pennants and staple on jute sting.

"Pony up" area...

For party favors...in addition to the hats and handkerchiefs...we had a "country store."

The candy baskets came from the Dollar Tree...

My sweet little Cowboy and Cowgirl had a great time!

In case you missed it, here are the party pictures :o)

Sweet Pea...Day 313

2011-11-14T21:38:00.003-06:00

For no other reason...

...than the fact I love my daughter and I think she is CUTE!

A Middle Name,,,Day 308

2011-11-09T22:55:00.002-06:00

This handsome little boy...

...is in need of a middle name.

Suggestions?

The Cowboy & Cowgirl Party..Day 307

2011-11-08T21:09:00.006-06:00

Our little girl turned five last week...

...and our little boy turns two this week.

We celebrated both kids at a Cowgirl & Cowboy party last weekend..

The kids had a wonderful time with their family and friends!

They also enjoyed three special little ponies...especially the pink one :o)

Big sister was such a big help...she outfitted each kid with a bandana and cowboy hat...that was until she got busy playing :o)

Sweet Pea perfered the purple pony because it matched her purple headband :o)

Sunshine liked the yellow one...not sure why...she just did :o)

The birthday kids were so happy to spend their special day with some their sweet friends...

Later in the party, Sweet Pea decided she liked the pink one too :o)

"Happy Birthday to you..."

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Each year, we burn a candle in honor of Little Pumpkin's birthmother in Vietnam...she LOVES that :o)

What a fun day!

Time Change & Wizards...Day 305

2011-11-06T19:07:00.003-06:00

Fall Back...ahhhhh! LOVE it! I didn't think the kids were phased at all by the time change until my sweet little boy said, "I go night night, Mama?" at supper tonight. Have I mentioned lately how sweet that little boy is? He melts my heart every.single.day.

The extra hour of sleep this morning was a heaven sent after the abundance of activities we had yesterday! We even made it to the first service at church!

Sweet girls in polka dots!

It is a great challenge to get a picture of Baby Boy...GREAT. My mommy heart was so happy today when he actually slowed down for a few seconds and "cheesed" for me!

The kids were SO excited that Ganny and Papa Texarkana came to town to meet us for lunch!

We ate at one of our favorite restaurants...Cozymel's! Yummy!

Presents for everyone!

We are sooooooooooooo thankful Papa Texarkana is feeling better these days!!!

We then hit up Target and Dillards and bought WAY too many Halloween costumes for 75% off! Sunshine LOVED wearing her new wizard outfit grocery shopping tonight!

I am completely uneducated when it comes to wizards and such...is this outfit from a particular movie or show or just a wizard?

A Five Year Old's Request...Day 304

2011-11-05T20:47:00.004-06:00

When I asked Little Pumpkin what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "A pony...a pink pony."

She got it...

...and she LOVED it!

Happy Birthday...Day 303

2011-11-04T19:29:00.002-06:00

Today is Daddy's birthday!!!!!!

To celebrate, he went to work and then we went out for supper...

...got new tires on my car and came home and celebrated with a yummy TCBY cake :o)

Things are pretty exciting when you turn 36...haha!

While we were eating supper, Little Pumpkin went to her very first drop off party...

...at the movies! She LOVED it. When I picked her up, she said, "That was the best birthday party ever!" If she likes her own party tomorrow half as much, it will be a success...ha!

While we were dropping her off, Sunshine found a couple familiar characters..

...made her day!

Good Sleepers, Punishments & Bossy Girl...Day 302

2011-11-03T20:31:00.004-06:00

Public schools in our area are out today and tomorrow so we had the day off from MDO. I have to admit, the break in our normal schedule was awesome! I was able to finish {almost} everything for the kids' party this weekend. The best part of planning a party is seeing how excited the kiddos get...all of them :o) Sunshine is absolutely eating up the party prep!

I just cannot believe my boy...my baby boy is going to be TWO next week! It seems like just yesterday we received the call from DHS telling us about a newborn baby boy needing a home. I am so amazed at how God has healed his body...amazed.

When we brought him home from the hospital, we thought he would be in our home for six months...max. At the time, I didn't give much thought to raising a boy...he was just a baby. However, now he is a full blown boy. I have had to make intentional efforts to expose him to "boy things." Now, I am not saying girls have to play with dolls and boys have to pay with trucks, but after having three girls, I can tell you, there is something to stereotypes :o) Anyways, I put baby boy in his "boy" Razorback jersey, and you know what that stinker said?

"Whooooo weeeeeee, I fancy." Haha! I'm tryin' people, really I am!

Speaking of baby boy, there are a couple more things I want to document before I forget. All four of my babies are GREAT sleepers. Four kids, all from VERY different backgrounds, great sleepers...I am indeed a BLESSED mama :o) Baby Boy loves to take naps (at home...at MDO, not always). He usually goes down for a morning nap around 9:30 each morning, if we are at home. Sometimes I will get busy doing something else and forget to put him to bed. He is quick to remind me...he grabs his blankie and empty bottle and brings them to me...

How sweet is he?

Another "funny" thing about Baby Boy is that he will eat ANYTHING...any food, crayons, dirt, bugs, sticks...anything. I have to watch him CLOSE...ALWAYS. My kids LOVE apples. I usually cut them up in wedges for them, but the other day I gave him a whole apple and put him in his highchair while I was cleaning. I was shocked when I checked on him and found only this...

That was ALL that was left of the apple. No stem, no seeds, no core. Is that normal? I plan to ask his doctor at his 2 year visit if there could be some reason he is willing & eager to eat anything...thoughts?

This girl...my Little Pumpkin...

...she has a bossy streak. Not sure where that comes from...ha! Earlier this week, she got to be the teacher at bible study...she ate it up. She had no problem telling the kids what to do, where to go...with very detailed instructions. Haha!

This one...

...got her first extended punishment this week. Her punishment has been tough on her, but honestly, it has probably been tougher on me. She intentionally tore up one of our good bows the other day. Pretty serious crime in this house...ha! AND lied about it. Her punishment...no bows for a week. I am relieved she has no concept of time because I am going to have to give her an early release of punishment. Mama misses seeing her baby in bows!

Since this post has been completely random and pretty much revolved around pictures on my phone, I will end with this one...

...we are so blessed to have very involved grandparents in our life. The girls get so excited when my parents make a surprise visit to town and treat them to an after school treat at their favorite yogurt spot...Yogurt Mountain! Yum!!

Thankful & Spirit Kids...Day 300

2011-11-01T21:29:00.003-06:00

It's November! This year is flying by. I {heart} November...a month centered around the being thankful...something that we should all be more often.

Today I am thankful for a great church family that enabled me to score two great babysitters for tonight with very little notice...

...so hubby and I could attend a fundraiser for the CALL...

There was a great turnout and I hope there were many hearts opened to the great need for good foster families in our area.

Today was one of those days where I was rushing to the "next thing" all day...not my favorite type of day.

There was MDO, shopping, errands, the fundraiser and watching my Sunshine perform at the football game...

She L.O.V.E.D it!

I could seriously eat her up!

Totally!

Sweet girls!

I am afraid my little girl will be one of the big kids before I know it!

Book Character Day & Trick or Treating...Day 299

2011-10-31T20:39:00.005-06:00

Today was book character day at Sunshine's school. Each child in the second grade chose a real person that has made an impact on our world and read a biography about that person. Today they dressed as that person, gave a brief speech in the first person about that person and then fielded questions.

Sunshine LOVED wearing a wig...she looked so different with dark hair!

As a child, this presentation would have been a nightmare for me. I was so shy! Sunshine...not so much!

I was so proud of my girl! She did GREAT!

It was so cute seeing all of the kiddos dressed up as historical (for the most part) figures. I loved hearing them discuss whether or not they might have known each other :o)

Daddy came all the way from downtown to watch the three minute presentation. Good daddy!

Me and Jane Addams :o)

After supper tonight, we took the doctor, Minnie Mouse, the pink dinosaur and Scooby Doo trick or treating. They were all WAY into it this year!

The picture quality is HORRIBLE, but do you recognize the steps?

That is our old house!

The kids were very happy with their haul!

Well, that was Brutal...Day 298

2011-10-30T20:57:00.005-06:00

I decided to give up caffeine this week. I had my last normal consumption Wednesday morning. Around noon, I began my "detox." The rest of Wednesday was fine.

Thursday was brutal. AWFUL. I don't want to be dramatic, but the lack of caffeine made me sick...more than once.

Luckily, Friday was much better. Saturday was great. I thought I would be in the clear today, but I have had a couple headaches, but overall pretty good. I think I have just about beaten the addiction. Thing it, I had no idea I was "addicted" to caffeine, but apparently I was.

Aside from the headaches and nausea, I have also experienced sounder sleep at night and a much earlier bedtime, hence no posting the last few days :o) I am still drinking about 10 ounces a day to curb the headaches. I am hoping to be drinking zero ounces by this weekend...wish me luck!

Have any of you had similar experiences?

Since I haven't posted in a few days, here is a "brief" run down of our last few days...

On Friday, we spent most of the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful Fall weather...

Little Pumpkin...

You know Sweet Pea...my pretty, sweet little girl...

Well, I was shocked to see her on Pinterest a few days ago...

Haha! Totally cracks me up that someone "pinned" her and her wild hair under "art inspiration."

On Saturday, we had our adoption home study in the morning and then Sunshine had "Spirit Kid" cheer camp at her school. Before we left, I snapped a few pictures of my sweet little second grader...she is growing up so fast!

Practicing her "moves."

She had a great time at the camp! The varsity cheerleaders were so good with the kids. Look at that sneaky little smile as she is putting "bunny ears" on her leader.

She did about a hundred cartwheels when the group ran out :o)

She is sooooo excited that the "Spirit Kids" will be performing at the football game this week!

The little kids loved watching their sister perform their cheer and dance at the end of camp. Baby Boy clapped and yelled, "Yay Dashton!!" over and over. Sweetness!

As we were parking the car at the school, we listened to the end of the Razorback game (Sunshine performing is one of the only things that could have made us leave the house during the last few minutes of the super close game!) and were SO excited the Razorbacks were able to pull out a win over Vanderbilt! We should have totally dominated that game, but we didn't. We were so lucky to come out on top of that game!

Today, after church, the little kids took a nap while I took the big girls to a super fun Halloween party!

My friend, Tricia, always gives the best Halloween parties! I have no idea where she finds the time, but my girls are thankful she does :o)

Tonight, we had our last Grace Based Parenting class. The study was SOOOOOOOOOOO good. If you have the chance to participate in a GBP class, I highly recommend it!

FunFest...Day 293

2011-10-26T20:33:00.003-05:00

Remember when I was trying to come up with a cute, coordinating group of Halloween costumes for the kids?

This year, we have a doctor, Minnie Mouse, Scooby Doo and a pink dinosaur. Coordinating? Absolutely not. Cute? Absolutely.

I decided to do something radical this year...let the kids each pick out their own costume!

Who'd thought? Haha!

Ready to go!

Playing lots of fun games!

Every year since Sunshine was a baby, she has won the cake walk. Her little sister...

...AND her little brother carried on the tradition this year!

The snack stop is always a favorite :o)

Sunshine got to sing on stage for the second time this week...it's been a good week :o)

Birthday Traditions...Day 291

2011-10-24T19:54:00.008-05:00

My sweet tiny Vietnamese baby girl...

...turned 5 today...FIVE YEARS OLD!

I just cannot say enough about this amazing little girl. She is sweet, caring, smart as a whip, funny, insightful, beautiful and wise beyond her years. She is literally my dream come true...seriously...you can read more about that here :o) I am SO thankful God has allowed me to parent Little Pumpkin...an honor I could have never earned nor do I deserve. In case you didn't know...Adoption rocks...it rocks my socks off! Without international adoption, a piece of my heart would be missing. I am so thankful for my Little Pumpkin!!!

As you may remember, our family has several birthday traditions. This year, we started two new traditions and phased out one. Surprise, surprise, we are no longer having the number of birthday celebrations that corresponds to the child's age. For one, the number of birthday celebrations was getting out of hand...this year would be seventeen celebrations...on the other hand, I really wanted to come up with something that will help the kids focus on others rather than themselves.

Today we Incorporated the "Acts of Kindness" tradition in our house!! The idea is for the birthday child to come with a number of "Acts of Kindness" that corresponds to their age and carry them out on their birthday.

Today, Sophie Le committed five acts of kindness. The original idea was for my children to look beyond themselves and do nice things for other people, but I have to tell you, doing nice things for others is SO much fun. We tried our best to be as sneaky as possible since the acts are anonymous...as much as they can be :o) She LOVED that :o)

Here are the Acts of Kindness Little Pumpkin's did in honor of her 5th Birthday...

1. She left one dollar on the coke machine at our church.

2. She left $1.25 (to cover the tax) in the toy section at the Dollar Tree.

I would have LOVED to see the child's face that found this one :o)

I thought it was really funny that she chose to leave the money on top of the piggy banks :o)

3. This was probably her favorite act of kindness...she tied happy face balloons on the backpacks of her preschool friends while they were in class (she chose not to go to school today).

It was SO sweet watching her crawl along the backpack line trying to keep low so her friends wouldn't see her :o)

4. She left a soda for one of her favorite teachers to find when he opened the door after nap time.

5. The last act of kindness was leaving soda money on the coke machine in the waiting room on the cardiovascular floor at the hospital. I spent a week on that floor about seven years ago.

Fun, fun, fun! I just love watching my children get so excited about serving others. It makes my heart so happy!

We also did lot of other fun things to celebrate Little Pumpkin today too :o)

We had a fruit breakfast...our other kiddos get a donut breakfast on their birthday, but if you know Little Pumpkin, you know fruit is her FAVORITE :o)

She opened lots of fun presents...

I think the abacus was her favorite :o)

You know they like a present when they stop opening presents and choose to play with that one :o)

We went out for a traditional Vietnamese lunch...

Did I mention Daddy took the day off to be with us? Yay!!!

Afternoon presents and playtime with her sisters...

And a yummy supper and German Chocolate cupcakes!

Happy Birthday to you...

We are looking forward to her friend & family party in a few weeks!!

Oh, I almost forgot...we also started another birthday tradition...I'll share more about it soon :o)

Happy Birthday Little Pumpkin!!!

Six Flags...Day 290

2011-10-22T21:37:00.005-05:00

We are having the best time!

Today we went treat or treating with Daffy Duck...

...and Sylvester!

And the girls sang scary-oke...

...their song choice? "All the Single Ladies," of course! Haha!

They enjoyed riding the teacups...

...and the air drop...

..and the swings...

...and the airplanes...

...and this ride that made Daddy feel a little woozy...he is such a good sport :o)...

...and the train...

...and many, many more :o)

We had fun sitting in a great big chair...

...they look so little...LOVE it!

My big girl got to ride her very first "big kid" ride today! She.could.not.have.been.more.excited!

Because of her height...and the fact that it is indeed a big person ride...her mama rode with her...and yes, I was a bit nervous! Ha!

Here is the after shot...

...Sunshine was a bit freaked out afterwards...I think it was a little "bigger" than she was expecting!

In fact, when we rode the merry-go-round afterwards, she did not even want to ride on the horse that goes up and down...haha!

Family time is the best!

Tomorrow is back to reality...so thankful for the memories we have made this week!

Can you believe this little sweetie will be FIVE on Monday?????

Good Times...Day 288

2011-10-20T20:22:00.001-05:00

Blessed beyond measure.

A Day at the Farm...Day 287

2011-10-19T22:11:00.008-05:00

Each year, the adoption agency (Dillon International) we used to adopt Little Pumpkin hosts a super fun day at the Family Farm. We {heart} the Family Farm. If you live in Central Arkansas and you haven't visited the Family Farm, I highly recommend it...it is SO FUN! There is tons for the kids (and adults) to do...hayride, tractor rides, canoe rides, hay playground, pony rides, petting zoo, wooden carousel, swings, zip line, fishing, tennis ball launch, puppet show and a pumpkin "patch." There is seriously so much to do...I am probably leaving something out :o)

Really, as great as the patch is...and we have established it is...haha...my favorite part of this day each year is seeing our adoption social worker and other adoptive families. We are so blessed that we had a wonderful adoption experience...we had no idea how lucky we were while going through the process. International adoption has never been "easy," but in recent years, it has become almost impossible. Such a shame.

Me and the kiddos with Kimberly, our social worker for Little Pumpkin.

Before we left for the patch, we took a few pictures of the kids...

Eight months ago in the same spot...

Back to the patch...

Sunshine was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to be called on stage :o)

AND she got to pinch the puppet's nose!

A highlight of my life was when "Mama Mae" asked the kids what we could be thankful for this Fall and Sweet Pea raised her sweet little hand and spoke right into the microphone and said, "God and Jesus."

That girl loves Jesus...like her mama :o)

The girls have requested we get a horse...

Every little girl needs a pony, right?

I bet this one could actually talk her Daddy into a pony...she kinda has him wrapped around her little finger :o)

Do kids ever run out of energy?

Ready for the wooden carousel!

One of the girls FAVORITE things was the tennis ball sling shot...or as they called it, "Real life angry birds!"

A rare picture of hubby and I...courtesy of Little Pupmkin...

...do I looked stressed? I was struggling with Baby Boy behind my back...he was dying to take off...haha!

I LOVE (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) this picture...

Sweet Sunshine winding down on the hayride...with a smile on her face...sweetness!

She is pretty into spooky things this Halloween...she excitedly ran over to these "gravestones" only to realize they were actually the ten commandments. She was even more excited to realize they were the ten commandments...and asked to have her picture made with them...haha!

I am already looking forward to next year!

Family Time...Day 285

2011-10-16T22:05:00.003-05:00

We have had a slow-paced weekend...a wonderful, slow-paced weekend.

It seems like our weeks and weekends have been so busy lately...how does that happen?

I really try to keep our lives simple, but somehow we always have a tons of places to go and a laundry list of things to do.

But not this weekend. We made it a priority to take it easy and it.was.awesome!

I love my family!

Well Update, Pumpkin Cupcakes & Appliques...Day 285

2011-10-13T20:10:00.004-05:00

A litte this and a little that...

I received a very EXCITING email from Charity: Water letting me know that the Friends of Fanose water well fund has been combined with other funded projects and construction is under way to help THOUSANDS of people in Northern Ethiopia...the Tigray region to be exact :o) The project will be fully completed next year and we will receive a report of our completed project similar to this one.

I cannot wait!!

My bloggie friend, Emy, asked about the kids shirts from the Day 280 post...yes, I semi-made them :o) I bought the shirts at Wal-Mart and then appliqued pumpkins on them. I found the designs on this site...30% off...whoo hoo!

I still need to post about our trip to the Family Farm...we had do much fun...however, that will have to wait for another night :o) This is my little family waiting on the puppet show to start...

...I could just eat them up! I am so blessed!

Have you seen the TWO INGREDIENT pumpkin cupcakes that are all over the internet? I am not a big pumpkin fan, but my family is so I made a batch yesterday. I have to admit, they are pretty good :o) In case you haven't seen the recipe yet...here you go...you will need a can of pumpkin and a cake mix...

...that's it!!!

Mix the two ingredients together, fill your cupcakes wrappers 2/3 full, bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

While the cupcakes were baking, I let the two big girls lick the batter. Sweet Pea was napping and Baby Boy was watching Barney in the living room. I handed the girls the beaters and walked over to the sink to rinse out the bowl. I heard Sunshine say, "Whoa! Where'd you come from?" I couldn't stop laughing when I turned around and saw this...

Baby Boy climbed in the chair with Sunshine and was trying to lick her beater! Haha!

I topped the cupcakes with a very simple creme cheese frosting (4 oz. softened creme cheese, 4 oz. softened butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 3 cups powered sugar)...they were a big hit!

Little Pumpkin enjoying her pumpkin :o)

Oh, and I saw a long time ago where you can put a piece of bread in the container with your cupcakes to keep them moist...I finally remembered to try it yesterday and it works!!

We had the day off from MDO today and I took advantage and started working on the kids' birthday party! I am really excited about the theme! Here is a sneak peek...

And we received these in the mail...fun, fun, fun!

And just because...one more picture...

melts my heart!

Thank you God for my sweet babies!!!

Little Pumpkin's First Field Trip...Day 282

2011-10-10T20:38:00.002-05:00

Ready to go on a hayride...

Sweet friends...

She loved running around the hay bales...

Sack Races...started great...did not end well!

Sweet class!

My perfect little pumpkin with her "perfect little pumpkin"

I have no words!

Princess Shopping & Bible Study...Day 281

2011-10-09T22:10:00.004-05:00

I still have lots of pictures I want to share from our fun day yesterday...

...but it will have to wait for another day...we have had a busy day today and I am ready for bed...

...church, lunch, birthday party, mowing, grocery shopping & our Grace Based Parenting bible study...

...busy, but fun!

My Ethiopian Princess wanted to wear her princess attire while helping mommy shop for groceries (she has her eyes closed so you can see her fancy eye shadow..ha!)...

...In case you were wondering...a cute Ethiopian princess shopping at Wal-Mart gets lots of attention...she loves attention much more than her mama...ha!

Hubby and I are LOVING our bible study...we had a lot of fun with our "dream" question tonight...

What about you? What change you would like to make for your family right now...if money, job and school were not an issue?

Sneak Peak at our Fun Day...Day 280

2011-10-08T23:22:00.003-05:00

Super FUN day today, but it's way to late so here is a sneek peak...

Reading to Her Class...Day 278

2011-10-06T21:54:00.003-05:00

Today while I was sitting with my sleeping two year olds at MDO...well to be truthful, they weren't all asleep, but it was nap time...Little Pumpkin's teacher came and asked if I would like to come hear her read a book to the class.

Would I?

Heck yea!!!

I never thought I'd see the day when my "velcro baby" would stand in front of her class and read a book!

And yes, she read...4 years old...taught herself. That girl is crazy smart!

Seriously, how sweet is that?

She was so proud!

I am so blessed to be her mommy.

When I dropped Sunshine off at school this morning, she was sporting a rockin' 80s side ponytail with a moderately sized red bow :o) I SOOOOOOOO wish I would have had my camera when I picked her up this afternoon! She came walking out of the building with her hair in a low ponytail and her red bow on the top of her head and her head buried in a book. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen!

She was WAY into her book...about ghosts! In fact, as soon as we got home she dove right back in...

I hope she always loves to read.

It's Fall - A Look Back at Fun Crafts...Day 277

2011-10-05T21:23:00.004-05:00

The morning weather is crisp, the leaves are falling, the Hogs play every Saturday and pumpkins are everywhere...it must be Fall! Whoo hoo! Up until a couple years ago, I didn't really appreciate Fall. I have always been a BIG fan of Summer and I was never happy for it leave...so Fall was really just a victim of being around when Summer ended :o)

But my kids have changed my feelings about Fall. Fall is fun with kids :o) Pumpkin patches, bonfires, Fall crafts, football games, Fall snacks, hayrides, the lists goes on and on!

Last year, the girls and I made lots of fun fall crafts. We were so excited to get them out of the attic this afternoon!

Let me preface these pictures with this...we are not fancy, smancy decorators around here...simple, homemade stuff beats out store bought stuff everytime :o)

How about a quick craft flashback?

Here are the super easy, fabric pumpkins we made last year...out of toilet paper :o)

Click here for the tutorial.

And remember the pumpkin garland we made...out of paper towel rolls...I am seeing a trend :o)

Click here for the tutorial.

The Boo letters...the girls loved this project!

Click here for the tutorial.

Since I was walking around the house clicking pictures of the new Fall decor, I decided to snap a couple pics of our other decorations :o)

I found this cute pumpkin last year, half off! LOVE a good deal!

And of course, our ever present scarecrows...I don't know how many years these guys have been around, but I am pretty sure they joined our family before any of the kids :o)

This cutie used to have blue overalls...not anymore :o)

I am on the look for Fall crafts for this year...have you seen or made anything lately?

Clothes, Shoes & Personalities...Day 276

2011-10-04T20:02:00.004-05:00

I started changing over the girls' closets Sunday afternoon...one of my least favorite chores! Unfortunately, I was unable to get the job done and when we got home Monday afternoon, despite the hours I had already worked on the task, it still looked like a clothes bomb had gone off in our room. That kind of thing drive me crazy and until things get back in order, I tend to be a grumpy bear. So...I dove right in as soon as we got home, took a quick break for supper and then kept plugging ahead afterwards. It was getting kinda late and I was SO close to finishing so I asked Sunshine to make the lunches for today so I could be done with the clothes chaos. She did. She's sweet like that :o)

I had no idea she made notes for the lunches when she packed them! Sweet Pea was thrilled :o)

How cute is that?

When hubby got home tonight, I showed him Sweet Pea's note and he smiled and pulled out a note from his lunchbox...

...a note from the "good day fairy."

I love that girl!!!

All of the girls were needing some new shoes so I decided to buy them some Toms today.

I was so excited to find the perfect style for each girl.

For my super fancy, princess...aka Sweet Pea...purple sparkly Toms.

For my super, studious math whiz...aka Little Pumpkin..."Red Calculus."

And for my girl who is required to wear a uniform everyday...aka as Sunshine...some red nautical Toms to match her uniforms :o)

I love Toms. One for One.

AND while I was out shopping, I came across a display featuring three perfect little "babies" for each of my girls! What luck!

Little Pumpkin's FAVORITE character...Kai Lan...Sunshine's FAVORITE character...Scooby Doo...Sweet Pea's FAVORITE character...Hello Kitty.

How could I resist?

Carseat Carousel...Day 274

2011-10-02T21:19:00.002-05:00

Today was a monumental day...in our car...Sunshine rode in a seat...without a carseat. I have been very cautious to make this move...obviously...she's seven :o)

She was very excited...and a little apprehensive :o) She asked me several times, "Are you sure you are okay with this mama?" Haha...she knows her mama well! However, after a trip to town with her heated seat, she was sold on the no carseat thing!

Little Pumpkin received Sunshine's "booster seat"...

She was pretty pumped...can you tell?

I cannot believe the weekend is already over! Why do Saturdays and Sundays go by sooooo fast?

And for the grandparents...a few more pictures of the kiddos!

Saturday...Day 273

2011-10-01T20:17:00.004-05:00

This morning, Baby Boy and I attended a fun party for one of his little friends from church. Here they are on a birthday parade :o)

Baby Boy loves birthday parties. He is very social and really enjoys seeing his little friends...and having cupcakes :o) Today, while jumping in the bounce house, one of his little friends introduced him to wrestling...Baby Boy LOVED it...ha! Hopefully he won't decide to share his new hobby with his sisters!

After the party, we met up with Daddy and the girls and had a yummy lunch at Chili's. Daddy got all three girls ready by himself this morning. I think he did a great job...however, the girls were quick to let it be known that they had not brushed their teeth or hair...ha! Luckily, mommy always keeps bows, barrettes and rubber bands in the car because I am not sure Sweet Pea would have gone into the restaurant otherwise...ha! She likes to look good :o) Little Pumpkin also let me know that she was wearing two skirts...ha!

We spent the afternoon at the movies...

Three of the four kiddos fell asleep, but we did make it through the entire movie so I count that as a big success :o)

Lunch "love" notes and Cooling Down...Day 272

2011-09-30T21:36:00.004-05:00

Fridays...the one day a week we have no where to go...Friday rock my socks off!

Well...we do leave to take Sunshine to school and pick her up, but that doesn't really count :o)

The little kids usually stay in their pjs until 2:00 and I LOVE it!

It is SO nice to be able to check a few things off the never ending "to-do" list each Friday :o) One area I have dropped the ball on this week is lunch notes for my girls...and they have not been happy about it! I always send a lunch "love" note to school for the girls...Sunshine gets two each day because her school has a snack time each day.

I usually get a bunch of notes ready so all I have to do is sign the note and stick it in their lunchbox each night when I prepare their lunches. Unfortunately my stash ran out this week and I couldn't find the time to renew it.

I took care of that today!

Sunshine LOVES (LOVES, LOVES, LOVES) when I send jokes in her lunch. She tells me how she passes the jokes around at the lunch table each day. In fact, she keeps every single note I send her in the front pocket of her lunchbox and she passes lots of jokes around each day...so far I haven't heard that it is causing a problem so I let her keep them in the pocket :o)

There are TONS of free lunch note printables on the internet. I print mine out on cards stock and use my paper trimmer to cut them out.

It a very simple thing I can do easily that means a lot to my girls.

I keep each girl's notes in a zip lock baggie in the island so I can quickly grab a note each night...

This weekend is Homecoming at Sunshine's school. This afternoon, all of the students got to attend a homecoming parade. Sunshine made a sign to take to the parade...

Haha..."If you give me candy, please give me gum." When I picked Sunshine up from school today, she had a handful of bubble gum. She was very proud to offer me a piece...she knows I LOVE gum :o)

Oh, and as I am writing this, I am just noticing, "Welcome Home." Ha! Love that girl!

We had a major cool down in Central Arkansas today...yay! We just love spending time outside!!!

My girls!

We tried to skip a nap for this one today...didn't work out very well...ha!

My beautiful girl and her scary eyeballs...see her scary eyeballs? They are hanging her neck...they have been hanging around her neck for an entire week! Ha!

And if Friday wasn't already good enough, Daddy got off work early!

We spent the rest of our night stuffing ourselves with stuffed crust pizza and watching movies...ahhhhh!

Discharged & Tuesdays...Day 270

2011-09-28T21:11:00.004-05:00

Things are looking up around here!!

Papa Texarkana got discharged from the hospital this morning!!! Whoo hoo! He still needs lots of prayers, but we are all thankful he is a free man :o) Ha!

We also had the "perfect storm" this morning in regards to our required DHS visits. Baby's Boys caseworker came for a visit, we had a quarterly visit with another worker AND our yearly visit from another worker! It felt SO good to have all three visits done on the same morning...and by 10:30 a.m.!!

As you may know, I work three days and one night a week at our church. I am sooo lucky to spend my Tuesdays with both of my girls :o) I took all of these pictures during "class" this week.

My kiddos are blessed with such sweet friends!

My baby and her crush :o) Haha!

Surgery & Bible Study...Day 268

2011-09-26T21:30:00.003-05:00

It's been a few days, but we're still here :o)

We have been spending lots of time at the hospital...

My dad had surgery last week...

The kids think the hospital is a fun place to visit...

Little Pumpkin and I were able to stay with Papa all day one day last week. She seemed to have a great day...playing with the ipod, her ixl, coloring, playing at the fountain and getting lots of attention from her mommy and Ganny :o) She has asked if she needs to go back to take care of Papa some more :o)

We are all (more than) ready for Papa Texarkana to get better, but in the mean time, the girls are loving the extra time they are getting to spend with Ganny while they are in town.

We found out tonight that Papa Texarkana might get out of the hospital tomorrow!!!

In other news, Little Pumpkin is still loving preschool. She was super pumped because she got to pick a prize from the treasure chest again today! This was her third time...not that we are keeping track :o)

Last night we started a new bible study...Grace Based Parenting. It lasts for six weeks. I am really excited about it!

Hopefully things will slow down a bit and I will be back to posting more...I knew if I ever skipped a day it would be easy to become a lazy blogger...ha!

Lola & Stairs...Day 261

2011-09-19T21:53:00.003-05:00

I better be careful with my "not posting everyday" deal because everyday that goes by, it gets easier and easier not to post!

We are slowly adjusting to our new Fall schedule. Honesly, it is kinda kicking my behind! We are doing three days of MDO, delivering Sunshine to/from school everyday, church on Wednesday nights and dance on Tuesdays. That doesn't leave alot of time for laundry, dishes and most importantly craft time :o) Haha!

Little Pumpkin is LOVING preschool...like really, really loving it! I am so thankful! This is usually what I see in my rear view mirror as we pull out of the church parking lot after school...

Be.still.my.heart.

Little Pumpkin's preschool starts at 9 and Daddy has to be at work at 8 so he hasn't been able to take her to school this year. But today, Daddy played in a golf tournament and he didn't have to be there until 10:30 so he came to church and walked her in...she was SO excited...can you tell?

Sunshine is also enjoying school this year. She loves to learn new things. A few days ago, we were at Target and she saw a book about insects and she just had to have it. She loves bringing it to the supper table and reading interesting facts about flies, grand daddy long legs, spiders and such to us as we eat...lucky us! Ha!

Over the weekend, Baby Boy had another birthday party to attend. His social calender has been quite busy lately :o)

It's hard to believe all of his buddies are turning 2...and his turn in coming up soon! Wow!

Our sweet cat, Princess Lola...

...has been MIA for 10 whole days. We live in the country so she comes and goes as she wishes, but we have never gone more than 2 days without seeing her. I decided to working in the garage last week so I would be outside for a long period of time hoping to see her...after three days working in the garage...nothing :o(

One project I have been wanting to do in the garage is painting the stairs. I decided to go fun and paint them blue...with words!

The girls love them!

School Pictures...Day 256

2011-09-14T21:14:00.004-05:00

Today was picture day at Sunshine's school...

and since that child never gets her picture made...

we practiced before school.

I haven't seen the picture yets, but I am sure it will be one of my most prized possessions...

...all of her pictures are!