Father & Daughter Banquet

Wade took Caroline to her first Father/Daughter dinner last night with our church. She was so excited...so I helped her get ready. She picked out her own dress and hairbow. I helped her curl her hair and put a little make-up on her. She was thrilled to have a "date" with daddy!!!
Happy Father's Day to Wade and to my Dad...and all of the dad's out there. You are all a blessing to us moms and daughters!!! This day makes us take time to think of all the things that you guys do for us. It also helps me to remember special father-figures in our lives. This is our first Father's Day with out my step-dad, Talmadge. He was a very special man and influence in my life. I was blessed to have him as a friend and mentor in my life.
I hope that you all have a GREAT Father's Day and enjoy the family that God gave you!!!

Catching Up!!

Hey Friends!! Well, we have been enjoying summer so far!! I have been really bad about having my camera with me...so I don't have any pictures to update you with this time. But here are the highlights:
~Wade & I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on May 31st. We spent the day by taking the kids to Lake Winnie...it's an amusement park in Chattanooga. We had a fun time and is definately something that we will do again. Then, just the 2 of us went to dinner together at The Chop House. It was good to have some alone time :) and dinner was delicious!!
~we joined the Y for the summer, so me and the kids go to the pool a couple of times a week. They have enjoyed doing that and are starting to turn into Gingerbread people with their tans.
~I am now the the church secretary at our church!?!? Isn't that so funny!! First of all...I have never been a secretary before, and 2nd...we are new here!! But the door opened, and I'm just doing what I feel like the Lord wants me to do. I started helping out as a volunteer in the office back in January...then with our church transition, I would work while Caroline was in preschool for 1/2 days. Then, they asked me if I would continue working during the summer as part-time staff...so, me & the kids go to work at the church office a couple of days a week. There are other kids there, the school secretary has 4 kids and the assoc. pastor has 3 kids...so, when they are there, they have a blast playing together...riding bikes, scooters & playing on the playground and hide-n-seek in the empty school. So that has been a new and adventurous thing for us.
~Next up...we get to have a few days in Murfreesboro to spend time with family and we are trying to finalize our vacation plans to go to DC in July with my whole family.
Hope you all are off to a good summer...have a great day!!

School is Out for the Summer!

Well, school is out...I have to admit, my first emotion was panic!!! But I worked through that and am now excited to spend the summer with my kids and enjoy them as much as I can. They are only young once...and although some of the days seem long...they will pass, and I will treasure these memories that we can make together. So last week we had the end-of-the-year festivities...Christopher got a "B Honor Roll" certificate for making all A's & B's this year. And Caroline participated in the Kindergarten Graduation by singing with her preschool class.
Here is Caroline with her K-3 teacher, Mrs. Jessica

And Christopher proudly holding his Certificate

Both Christopher & Caroline have transitioned very well to living here in Cleveland and making friends with their school mates. We are very proud of our little guys!
Kick off to Summer 2010...stay tuned!!

Christopher's 7th Birthday

I can't believe that I haven't posted this yet. Christopher turned the big "7" on May 4th. Wade and I brought pizza, cookie cake, and drinks for his class to celebrate during lunch at school. They had a lot of fun!!
Here's the Birthday Boy

And his cake request: a cookie cake from Walmart. I miss my cake friends in Murfreesboro....Lynze & Aunt Janice, birthdays are just not the same without your cakes!!!

All of Christopher's buddies at school

The 1st & 2nd grade classes celebrated with Christopher!

Then....the next day Memommy came to visit Christopher for his birthday and stayed for a few days. She took him to Walmart and let him pick out his birthday present. He picked a very cool Lego Star Wars that has like 8 or 900 pieces...

They worked tirelessly to put this thing together and got most of it done. It is still not complete...but will be a good summer project :)

Happy Birthday to my big boy!!! I love you very much!

Tooth #4

Well, Christopher is losing teeth like crazy!!! He has now lost his 2nd upper tooth. Here's the proud toothless boy:

The Tooth Fairy has yet to visit our house. We are always on the road, so she has to track us down. He lost his first tooth when we were in Washington DC in October, and the other 3 he has lost either on the day that we were going to Murfreesboro or when we were already in Murfreesboro.
Boy, these teeth are huge & crooked!!!! I see orthodontics in his future, unless they just reeeeeaaaalllllyyyy straighten out as they come down. But he sure is cute with big teeth...they totally change his look!!

Spring Break

Our Spring Break was the week following Easter...so I'm a little late at posting this...but better late than never, right?!?
We spent the weekend through Wednesday with Memommy on Spring Break. During that time we spent lots of time with cousins and also got to spend a couple of days with Carli & Cameron. My kids LOVE playing with them and it gives Carli & Cam an excuse to be a kid again....they are 17 and almost 15. Katie and I took the kids to play at Kid's Castle where we met up with Ethan,John & Shannon. Here are some pics from this adventure....
Question: How many kids can you fit on one set of monkey bars???

At this moment in time...it was Caroline, Benjamin & Ethan...with John & Christopher close by.
Nice smile John...thanks for that Christopher

Benjamin & Caroline swinging on their bellies...I so remember doing this. It felt so good just swinging with my arms & legs free and my hair just blowing in the breeze...good memories.

I love this picture of Tripp...he was playing on the balance beam and turned around with this big grin. He has the best grin of all of the kids, I think.

Question: What happens when you get boys out in the country on a hot day?? Shirts come off and they run in circles on the trampoline. Sounds fun to me! Well, with our shirts on, of course.

This picture reminds me....I am having to teach my kids how to live "in town". You see, for their entire lifetime...we have lived in the country...which means: wear what you want to, pee where you want to (for boys, taught by Daddy T), cross the fence if you want to...basically, live & let live. Well, now we live in town...so I am constantly telling Christopher to keep his shirt on (and Caroline too sometimes) and to stay out of my neighbors fenced yard. I don't know what they are thinking...they seriously open her gate and just go play in her yard...or on the other side, we are only separated by trees. One day Christopher & Caroline had snuck through the trees and came back with one of their statues that they have in their yard for decoration. So I have to sneak back in their yard and put it back like I thought it went. Crazy stuff...who would of thought there was such a difference in city-living.

Also, please pray for my Dad. He is in Chicago starting his treatments for prostate cancer today. He will be there for 5 weeks. Pray for healing, accuracy, & little/no pain. Also, pray for Jodi (my stepmom). She is at home holding down the fort and running dad's business on top of her own job. I'm not kidding, this woman needs our prayers and support...she drives a school bus in the morning & afternoon, will do Dad's deliveries in between (hauling rebar and driving forklifts & pulling trailers), plus get Carli & Cam to & from their commitments, handle the household, and be supporting to Dad while he is away. We got to go visit them this weekend (I forgot my camera, so no pics) but we had a good time together and got to go to their church too. He flew out last night and has already had his first treatment. Pray for Carli & Cameron too...they, of course, are worried about Dad and trying to be helpful to their mom too. But this is all overwhelming to teenagers. Thanks for praying!!!

Easter Pics

We spent Easter in Murfreesboro, and went to church at FRBC. Nana (Wade's Mom) was able to come up and join us for church and for lunch at Aunt Rita's. It was good to see all of the family...aunts, uncles, cousins and kids!! And on to the much-anticipated egg hunt!!....Ready...Set....GO!!!


Caroline & Tripp hunting as fast as they can!

Memommy and Uncle Herbert helping Caroline find a few extra eggs...

Memommy and Caroline....having a little eggcitement :)

Caroline got 30 Eggs!!

Count 'em up Sister!!

Christopher has a mental block when it comes to egg-hunting!! He has never enjoyed it but I hold out hope every year that he will do it. He only wants to find the prize egg!!

Looking Pretty!!



And a little pose with Mommy before the day is over...

I hope that you and yours had a great Easter having fun with family
and in celebrating that we serve a Risen Savior!!

Tooth #3

On Saturday, we started packing up for our Easter Trip to spend time with family in Murfreesboro. Christopher's upper front tooth had been loose for a couple of weeks and by this day it was SO loose that it was literally hanging by a thread. It was SO gross-looking!! He sat down to have a snack of Cheetos and I was sitting next to him. I heard something hit the couch and I just knew that it was a cheeto...getting ready to fuss cause I knew the orange stuff was going to be on the couch...I looked down, and there it was....it was THE tooth!!! It just fell out of his mouth. We both just looked at each other in shock and then cracked up laughing. Here is a picture of the proud boy with a gaping huge hole for an apparent huge tooth that is getting ready to make it's debut!!

He was so proud!! And I was so happy that it was finally out of his mouth :)

This is a funny story that goes along with Christopher losing his tooth. On Easter morning, Christopher was getting dressed for church with a little (LOT) assistance from Me-Mommy. For some reason the child really dislikes dressy clothes. He has worn them every Sunday for his entire life...you think he'd be used to it by now...but No, he is not. I guess he will fight it forever....anyway, on to the story. Mom finally talked him into his slacks, shirt, and tie...then a little gel in the hair, and a little bit of Daddy T's cologne...he was ready to go. He backed up, looking in the mirror, gave the mirror his crooked little smile, and said "Hmmm, I think I look pretty good without a tooth!"
I totally cracked up when she told me that...THAT is pretty funny!! I guess there are a lot of adults out there that think they look pretty good without a tooth too!! As for me, I will always have teeth in my head...whether real or fake...they will be there!!!

Next Post....Easter Sunday, what a great day!

Daddy's Little Helper

Caroline loves to help her daddy by pushing the push-mower.

That's right Sister...make sure he does it right :)

Christmas in March

We had lots of visitors this weekend. I didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked to...it's a little hectic with kiddos running around everywhere!!
On Wednesday, Katie, Tripp & Benjamin were able to come visit us at our new house for the first time. We had a great time. They spent the night and stayed all day on Thursday and then made the trek home on Thursday night. The kids were excited to have some of their cousins here and I was so glad to get to spend some time with them.
Then Mom, Aunt Rita & Herbert came to town for a Horse Show and they stayed with us on Friday night and Saturday (after the horse show). It is always nice to have mom here and a special treat for Aunt Rita & Herbert to get to come too.
And I'm sure you are wondering why this post is called "Christmas in March"...we had a special visit from our family/friends in Virginia, Christopher's birthfamily. We usually see them all in December, but it just didn't work out this year...but they were able to make it this weekend. So we met Joyce, her husband and 2 kids for dinner on Friday night and had a nice time together. Then they and her parents & sister came over to visit for a while. We got to meet her new arrival...baby Aneya...here are the kids holding her for the first time.
This is big brother Rupert holding Aneya, he just turned 5 this month.

Here is Christopher holding baby girl

And Caroline practicing on a REAL baby!!!

On Saturday morning, we all met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then came back to our house for "Christmas". We spent the day playing outside and catching up...since it had almost been a year since the last time that we got to spend time with them. The kids....Christopher, Caroline & Rupert seriously had Christmas all over again!!! Here are a few pics...I didn't get a group picture...maybe I'll remember to do that when we see them this summer. Here are the kids getting their gifts ready to open, Aunt Rita and Jennifer (Joyce's sister) are helping out.




We are so thankful that we have such a great relationship with this family and we all feel that God has put us together as a family for Christopher.

Hope y'all have a great week, we are looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather!!

Caroline loves her Puppy!!!

Caroline loves Cookie!!! Wade was home for lunch the other day and said "you need to go upstairs and look at your daughter"...so I thought, I'd better grab the camera as I was heading upstairs. This is what i came in to:

She had the puppy in the high chair with a bandana tied around her neck and trying to put a hat on her!

The funny part is that Cookie loves Caroline just as much!! She just sat there in the high chair...sitting flat on her bottom with her back legs sticking out and her front legs sitting on the tabletop of the high chair. She is a glutton for punishment, I think!! They are hilarious!!
Here is Cookie after her grooming the other day...all ready for St. Patty's Day!!

Her bows do not last long...she can't stand them and figures out a way to get them out almost immediately.

New Blog on my blog list

Hey just wanted to let you all know that I have added a blog to my blog list. Our adoption agency has recently started to blog. They will often post when they have baby placements and exciting news going on. It is a blessing to see when God puts a new family together and thought you might want to check in on them from time to time.
Have a Blessed Friday!

Chattanooga Aquarium

On Thursday, Christopher's 1st Grade class took a field trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium. We had so much fun!! If you haven't been, it is definately worth the trip...especially the Imax 3-D theater.
My "group" to keep up with was Christopher & Jackson...they were hilarious!!! These boys are just all about rough-n-tumble and having fun.

Here are some of the 1st graders petting stingrays. I actually did pet one...pretty slimy, but cool. Christopher wouldn't do it!!

Next up was the Butterfly Room...I'm sure it is called something fancier than that, but that's basically what it was. And it was pretty cool, but sweltering hot since we were dressed warm. After that...on to see the penguins...I must say that they are so cute!!! I wanted to hold one!!! They swim around, and the jump straight up out of the water onto a rock (hilarious to watch), and then they just stand there with their arms out because apparently they get hot and that is how they cool off. These hilarious little birds can swim 20 miles an hour and we had a "Lunch & Learn" about penguins and I will say that I am quite impressed with this creature!!


Here's the question for the day....
"How many 1st graders can you fit in the tube inside a crab-tank?"
The answer....
I don't know....there were so many of them in there, they were crammed and didn't seem to mind it. Except Christopher did come out saying the he thought someone had passed gas in there cause it stunk!!! That just made me laugh!!!

Now on to the IMax theater...too cool!!! A must visit!! Here are Christopher & Andy showing off their cool 3-D glasses.

Here are the 1st grade boys:
Tyler, Jackson, Andy, Christopher, Noah, & Trey

Now...time to go home...the busride home was entertaining. These boys decided to wave at everyone and try to get the truckers to honk. They were pretty successful...too cute!

Busy Little Bee's

Sorry...no pics this time. We have had lots going on, just haven't taken any pictures lately. We have had a couple of visits from my mom in the past week...she took a little vacay down to visit her brother/sister-in-law and sister/bro-in-law in Florida and stopped for an overnight stay on her way down and on her way back up. So that was very nice...and Christopher asked is she was coming back next week :) They love having visitors!!! We have also signed Christopher up for spring baseball, so that should be gearing up soon. He played last year at FRBC and LOVED it...that has been the only sport so far that he has cared anything about. He is a little nervous since we don't know many people, but we did get him on a team with one of his buddies from church/school...so I think that will help. Our church here is in major transition, so please pray for Shenandoah Baptist Church. Our Asst Pastor resigned 2 weeks ago, and now our pastor this past Sunday...so just pray that the Lord will lead our deacons to find the right person for these positions. And pray for us...as this is an unexpected transition on top of lots of other transitions. I am going to be working in the church office a little more just to help fill the gaps and do things that need to be done. Also, pray for RU....we had just started a couple of weeks ago, so we are not sure if we should continue this or put the brakes on until everything settles down. I think Wade will talk to one of the deacons about that this week to make a decision. And Thursday, I am going on a field trip with Christopher & his class to the Chattanooga Aquarium...so we are looking forward to that!! I'll post pics of that when we get back.
Make it a Great Day!

Getting Back to "House Stuff"...Dining Room

Yay....my light fixture is finally here!!! The previous owners of our house used the front room as a formal living room, so they had a ceiling fan with no light kit on it. We made the room our dining room and have been eating with table lamps on the table since we have been here. I finally found a light fixture that I liked and ordered it, then it turned out to be on back-order for 4 weeks. So we have been waiting patiently...and it is finally here!! Here are pics of our dining room:



I'm still working on a few projects...I'll keep updating as we get more done.