Two Years and Going Strong

This is our two year anniversary blog update!

It's hard to believe that I've been doing this for two years already but in another way it just seems a part of my routine. I enjoy blogging, it's my version of scrapbooking. It is fun to go back and look at old posts and it helps to remind me of how we've grown as a family.

Speaking of growing as a family, Jason and I are in the beginning stages of adopting a child from Ethiopia! We have kept this news quiet for awhile just in case we felt a change of heart or if something came up to prevent us from this adventure. God made it clear to us over the past year and a half that this was the path He has called us to walk together as a family and we are eager to see what He has in store for us! We will update you through the blog as we continue on but at this moment we are wading through a sea of paperwork and official documentation and education that is required before we move on in our process.

We started out our summer with Vacation Bible School at our church. I volunteered on my days off and worked in the nursery with my mom. Emily volunteered and helped with the missions portion of the program. Both Ella and David attended and had a wonderful time! The Thursday evening of that week the children put on a program to show the parents what they had been learning all week and also performed a few songs. David went up to the front of the church, reluctantly, with the younger children and instead of singing spent the entire time sitting on the floor acting embarrassed. Ella on the other hand had a great time performing with the school aged kids!

Father's Day weekend we had a get together at my parent's house. My sisters, their husbands and children were also in attendance and we had fun time swimming and celebrating the fathers in our lives.

Hey Thom! Does this look familiar?!

The high flying Smelly boys!

This past week, Emily spent six days at a local camp volunteering and helping with the children there. The camp brings in inner city kids and puts on a camp for them and also lets them know the truth about God and how they need Him in their lives.

Emily and some of her girls

Meanwhile, Ella and David and I went to a nearby park that also includes a water play area and had a good time playing. The fun only lasted until some other child threw up in the water area and it had to close down for over a half hour while they cleaned up the mess and cycled the water through without anyone in it.

We had a busy Saturday this past weekend. We spent the day along with Jason's family having a garage sale! We had never done this before but it was great to go through the house and declutter and get rid of a lot of things that just didn't serve any purpose for us anymore. The sale was at Jason's parent's house which, if you ask me, was an ideal spot for a garage sale. They have a large tree in the front yard that kept us shaded all day! I was amazed at how many people showed up to the sale when it was scheduled to end! I guess people were just looking for a deal and believe me they got a deal! We made out pretty well with the sale of our "junk" and afterwards loaded up our trailer with the leftover and took them all to Goodwill.

Jason's sister showing off our wares

Emily keeping track of the money (and eating our merchandise)

We've had an end to a lot of activities lately but it doesn't seem that things are going to slow down any. The soccer season ended for Emily but she will be attending soccer conditioning and camps this summer in preparation for trying out for the high school team in August. School ended for everyone but I plan on having everyone still reviewing as much as possible in order to keep all the learning that was done this past school year from oozing out their ears over the summer.

As I mentioned, school ended, and as a result we had another ceremony to attend. Emily had a "promotion ceremony" for her eighth grade class. My parents, David and I attended this and got a preview of just how involved her high school graduation will be. Thankfully the ceremony did not take long but it did take over 30 minutes to read through all 360 students' names, ugh!

To start off the summer, Emily had a makeup party! We invited some of her friends over to learn how to properly apply make up and how to take care of their skin. Unfortunately I don't have much knowledge of makeup application so I thought we could both learn together and have a good time doing it!

The girls after having put on their makeup!

Ella joined in the fun and after having her aunt put makeup on her she looked in the mirror and said "I look goooood!"

We decided to change up our scenery this past weekend and went downtown to enjoy the park by the river. The younger two had a good time looking at the river and playing at the playground, making friends with whoever they happened to meet.

I love this shot!

My mom shared a story with me about something Ella said this past week. They were driving along and were watching a string of cars go past and my mom referred to them as a parade. Shortly they turned onto the same street as the "parade" and joined in the line of cars at which time Ella said "Now we're the clown car!" You never know what will come out of the mouth of young ones!

I'll leave you with a few snapshots of my garden, taken earlier this week. I would love to share it in person with anyone interested! Gardening is my hobby. Jason has his cars, and I have my flowers. Until next time!

Warming Weather

As the weather warms, and the sun stays out longer, the days seem to be passing more quickly. I wonder why it is that summer goes by so swiftly but the days of winter drag on. I suppose it's just a matter of perspective. Summer is full of activity where as winter is a time when things slow down and there is less occupying our time.

Reflecting these truths is the fact that our past two weeks have been just packed full of activity. We've been running around to concert band contests and soccer practices and games for Emily. Unfortunately Emily has decided not to continue on with band next year and so our young trombonist will not be playing anymore :(

While at home, though, Ella and David have been making the most of their time. I came home one afternoon to find them very busy in the backyard. I'm not sure I can explain what I found or why they created it (Ella's imagination is the source of this one). So, I'll just let the picture do the talking.

It was described to me as an Animal Tree!

The past couple of weekends were very fun! We had my brother, Thom, and his girlfriend Katherine, come to visit the family here in town! Thom and Katherine (T&K) made the rounds and lodged at Mom and Dad's house but ate dinner each night with a different sister and family. We got T & K on their last night in town and the kids had a blast playing with them in the backyard. Emily, Ella and David just love their uncle Thom. Ella says it's because he plays with them so much and is fun! Katherine fit right into the mix too and was just as active playing with the kids that you would have thought they played together that way all the time!

Unfortunately our evening with T & K was cut short. We had David's preschool "graduation" to attend after dinner. Although it was very cute I'm not sure I really understand the point of having a graduation ceremony for preschoolers (thankfully they did not have to wear caps and gowns!). They marched down the isle to the Olympic theme song, sang some songs for us, watched a slide show of pictures from through the school year and then each got their "diplomas" from their teachers. David had a wonderful year and is looking forward to riding the bus to kindergarten in the fall.

Here is a video of David marching down the isle at the beginning of preschool graduation.

This past weekend we were able to spend a long Memorial day weekend at "The Land" (our little piece of land that we camp on just, about 2 hours south of here). The weekend included many good friends, family and six dogs at one point! Our activities comprised in our time were...

1. A water balloon fight

2. Playing in a sprinkler

3. Arts and crafts

4. Playing volleyball

5. David finding an "earring" (clip-on) and wearing it just like Daddy, it's in his left ear.

6. And of course s'more making over the campfire (which unfortunately I did not take photos of).

As the spring days heat up and get closer to summer, I pray that you will take time to relax and enjoy what it is that you have been blessed with by God.

Until our next post!

It's been awhile since I've posted but not having the computer up to par is really throwing me off! I've been trying to make the best of the time and so have been spending a lot of it outside in my garden. I'm excited that this year (being the fourth in our present house), my garden will be filled in. It takes several years for a perennial garden to look good and I think this is my year!

Alright, enough about me. We're in full swing of spring soccer season. Emily is our only one playing this year, which is fine with me because the running around with just one child involved in sports is enough! Here's a few photos of our superstar!

We recently celebrated Emily's birthday too! Her actual birthday was filled with running her around to soccer games and youth group activities but we were able to take some time out to spend with family and have some cake and ice cream together.

The next weekend we had eight of Emily's friend's over for a slumber party. It's great that Emily has so many nice friends that we enjoy having over to our house. I was sure though that I would be denied a good night's sleep. Thankfully the Lord saved me by taking away our electricity for one and a half hours! We had a blackout in the middle of the evening and as a result we had a change in plans. The kids got to roast marshmallows over candles and make smores and then all hunkered down in the living room with flashlights and decided to spend the night in there. Just about the time they got nice and comfortable the lights came back on! Too late though, they were happy where they were and they decided to turn on a movie and then went to sleep. No late night of giggling girls for me!!!

Believe it or not these next three photos were taken in the dark, guess my camera just has a good flash!

Reality has also set in for Jason and I. We had to go with Emily to schedule her classes for high school next year. What a shocker!! We knew it was coming but to actually look at the schedule and realize that our baby girl will be in high school just makes us feel like time has just flown by! The rest of the time we have left with her at home is just that more precious to us. This fact brought to mind a quote from Erma Bombeck that was shared with me recently.

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"I see children as kites. You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground. You run with them until you're both breathless...they crash...you add a long tail. You patch and comfort, adjust and teach - and assure them that someday they will fly. Finally they are airborne, but they need more string, and you keep letting it out. With each twist of the ball of twine, the kite becomes more distant. You know it won't be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that bound you together and soar - free and alone. Only then do you know you did your job."

Even though Emily is not flying on her own yet, that day is coming, and I'm dreading it. To trust the Lord with her completely will be a big challenge and lesson. For Jason and I to step out of the way and let her make her own decision, and mistakes. It's humbling and makes our job now seem so much more important.