Donny and Marie 2.0

The other night Noah and Em were jamming on the Karaoke Machine..while standing on the coffee table. Our 15 year old daughter walked in the room and stood there in shock.."Mama. You are letting them dance on the table? And you are taking pictures? You never would have let Nick and I do this."

We looked at each other and cracked up. Because seriously, I wouldn't have.

I like to think parenting children spanning a range of 16 years has given me a better perspective of what really matters, but maybe the inmates are running the asylum..Who knows? I do know these two crack me up.





She's a little bit country..







And he's a little bit rock and roll.






A good performer always leaves the stage with flair.

I really think this is how Donny and Marie got their start...or maybe not.

Happy Father's Day!~

Happy Father's day to two of the most important men in my life.




Thank you Dad for all you have done for me. Thank you for caring for and loving me. Thank you for teaching me and guiding me even during times when I was unteachable and stubborn. Thank you for giving me the happiest of childhoods. I love you more than words can say!





Thank you Jim for being the most wonderful Daddy to our sweet children. Thank you for living the Christ walk daily before them. Thank you for imparting the Word on the hearts and thank you for constantly lifting them in prayer. Thank you for teaching them what they need to know and thank you for gently pushing them to be more than they think they can be. Thank you for teaching them (and me) not to take ourselves too seriously and thank you for always filling our dinner table with laughter. Thank you for loving us fiercely and thank you for working hard to provide for us. Thank you for letting me snap pictures as you try and herd us out the door for church. Thank you for all that you do.






I am pretty much crazy about you. :o)


We saw this today at church and the kids and I laughed until we cried. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there who are living the "Dad Life".

DTC!

Yesterday our dossier went to China!!!

Praise the Lord for He truly made it happen. We are so happy to be one step closer to bringing home this darling boy.

F is for Friday~

Friday was National Flip Flop Day. We love our flip-flops. We love celebrating. Each year in honor of this great day Tropical Smoothie offers FREE smoothies to patrons wearing flip flops.

When I was downloading some pics onto the computer I found this one. It made me laugh. Apparently, when Mama is out Daddy is of the "Glasses are optional philosophy."
HA!

On a side note-the So Delicious Coconut Ice Cream is very good if you are eating dairy free and or gluten free. The ice cream bars are great too, but do contain gluten.

Have a blessed Wednesday!~

Proverbs 27:17~

One of the greatest blessings Jesus gives us in this life is friends. Friends to share the journey, to encourage, and to bear one another's burdens. We are truly rich in friends.

Today we had an end of the school year day with some of our amazing friends. Many of our children have known each other since the day they were born. We started this homeschool journey together with 3 children each (We each had a five year old, three year old, and a one year old at the time)..Today we have 22 children between the 3 of us. Our children range from sixteen years down to two. They love each other faithfully and fiercely. It is such a blessing to see how God is working in each of their lives. I thank God that He has blessed my children in this way.

I am so blessed to have such dear friends. Friends who love my children and who love me warts and all. Friends who have stood in the gap for me and friends who have prayed for me. Friends who never cease to amaze me with their love.













As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27: 17

Once I became a parent I quickly realized how amazing my parents truly are.

Now teaching our eldest to drive I am realizing my parents are not only amazing, but are rock stars. I was a horrible driving student.. They were sssooo patient. My Mom spending long hours out in the cold acting like a pole so I could learn to parallel park. My Dad calmly sipping coffee and coaching gently (Except that one time I made at right turn at 45 mph without breaking. HA!) He would also say Terra Firma at the end of each lesson and kiss the ground. :o)

Our eldest son is really a good student and an aware driver. Still I find myself clutching the dashboard and sing songing the phrase "You are a little too far to the right.." repeatedly. And praying. A lot.

He is doing most of his driving on Clifford the 15 passenger van. My parents had big station wagons and said if we could learn to drive them we could drive anything. Little did they know one day my "ride" would be so big.

Thanks Mom and Dad for all you have done.

And please Jesus..take the wheel.

Having fun with his new toy :o)

Thank you for your prayers! We received our approval from USCIS today. Thank you Jesus! It's making it's way to the capital and then to the Chinese Consulate and will hopefully be at our agency soon so our dossier can go to China!

Happy 5th Birthday sweet boy!!! We love you and can't wait to bring you home!

Missing Piece~

Small adoption update. We are hanging out and waiting for our Immigration approval and then our dossier can go to China. We have been waiting for over 50 days and we hope and pray an officer will look at our file this week and approve us.

Everything else for our dossier is signed, notarized, certified, and authenticated.

We are anxious to have this missing piece, so we can journey on to the next step.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
Helen Keller

How to lose your training wheels~

1. Find a grassy hill and practice getting your balance.






2. Once you have your balance practice pedaling down the hill while saying "You're killing me Mama!" HA!




3. Once pedaling and balancing are mastered take it to the road and take off while saying, "This is the BEST thing ever!"






4. Ask for a celebratory picture with your Mama.





5. Show off your agility on the rings. Then inform the family that you would now like to go by the name "Spider Monkey."

Still Here~

The end of the school year is always a hoppin' busy time!



It's amazing how time flies!





We have celebrated 3 birthdays!





Learned how to once again run in the 90 degree heat..




Our son's team won their Bible World Series..





Had some wonderful time with our cousins..They have been doing this "trick" for over 5 years :o)






Maybe if we chain ourselves together we will never have to say good-bye.




We had a nice trip away together..











An have enjoyed various choir events our children were in. Our sweet little lobster also earned his green belt in TKD :o)





We are excited to be flying into summer!