HA-HA-HALLELUJAH

My sister Laura told me about this song a long time ago and I never knew what she was talking about. I stumbled upon it today looking for another song and showed it to the boys. They love it of course! Watch and giggle with along with us.

The Premier of MAX

This has been such a fun night! My great friend and neighbor Kim called me because she thought she may have gotten some VERY RECENT pictures taken at the orphanage in China where their little Max lives. Another family adopting a boy from the same orphanage made their trip to china to get their son and took pictures to post on the adoption forum they share with other families. I went down to her house and we "analyzed" every angle and feature of every picture and compared it to the initial picture they were given from when he was 7 months old. He is 20 months old now so we had some detective work to do! After much looking we felt very confident that the adorable boy in the pictures was Max. But, just like a little miracle, this mom e-mailed one more picture that was the clincher! It was Max indeed. The cutest thing was what this mom said about his personality. She said he was real friendly and the entertainer of the bunch. Boy will he fit in with Kim, Paul and the rest of the kids! We are ready for Max to join the fun with our neighborhood and family. One more boy...we can't wait! Check out Kim's blog to see all the great pictures she now has of "Maximus" and read about their journey to bring him home.

LITTLE MISTER ROO

Andrew is growing up so fast! I know every mother says, "where does the time go?", but I really mean it. He wants to be big so badly. I want him to stay my baby boy. I guess we will both just meet in the middle. He wanted a lawn mower to be just like daddy. I love to see how much my boys want to be like their daddy. I couldn't choose anyone better for them to "be like"...OK, I admit, I am biased. HEHE. When Andrew came in from "mowing" I picked him up to kiss him and he said, "Don't kiss on me mom, I'm all dirty from mowing". Just like a big boy. Now as bad as he wants to be "big" he still likes to climb up in the top bunk and snuggle his brother in the middle of the night. This time Mark caught the moment and took a picture of them sleeping in the same twin bed.
Copy and paste this web address to play Andrew's song "Little Mister Roo" It fits his personality perfectly and he thinks it was made for him since I have called him Roo Roo forever.

http://azury.imeem.com/music/NKCm_3X8/little_mr_roo/

I love these little stinkers!

I love to wake up before my boys and have some quiet time. Growing up in a big family, I always had activity around me and always felt strange without at least the TV noise in the background. Never would I have pegged myself as someone who wanted peace and quiet, much less a morning person! Now I find myself sipping coffee in the morning while reading a devotional not wanting the stillness of the moment to end. I can't help but think that feeling comes from giving myself to the Lord first thing and feeling his presence... then I hear little footsteps and see Andrew rubbing his eyes while we crawls up into my lap to snuggle for a bit in the early morning hours. Now that is another great blessing in the wea hours of the morning that I don't want to end!

SIMPLE SUNDAY AFTERNOON

I had such a great day today! We woke up and went to Church this morning and Mark had planned to work at the other house for the afternoon. He decided to take it easy on himself and take a nap instead. I was so glad he did! While Andrew napped and Mason played his new video game, he and I took a nap and then watched TV and laughed in bed for a couple of hours. We have been so stressed with work, the boys and the remodel, it feels like ages since we just enjoyed each other's company for a little while. It is funny how such a simple day can be just what we both needed. Slowing down to remember how much fun you can have doing nothing makes me wonder...what are we so busy for anyway?

LAURA AND HER GREAT FAMILY

My sister Laura and I are so close and I LOVE IT! We live hundreds of miles apart but you would never know it when we get together. Sadly that is not often enough now that we both are busy with our families. We want to start getting our families together as often as we can so our kids can start building some great memories together. We just have to get our husbands to take breaks for long weekends together. I MISS THEM!!! Enjoy these pictures of her ADORABLE family.

I KNEW I WAS RIGHT ABOUT ME!

HE HE HE, I found a link to this on my friend Kim's blog. Go to this site and have some fun.

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

I never knew I was such a bombshell!

You are Betty Grable

The ulitmate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

What Famous Pinup Are You?

FUN AT THE PARK

WE TOOK A TRIP TO THE PARK FRIDAY AFTERNOON. I WAS THE SPECTATOR IN THE FUN WITH MY TRUSTY CAMERA. I AM LEARNING HOW TO "CAPTURE THE MOMENT" WITH THIS GREAT ANNIVERSARY/BIRTHDAY PRESENT FROM MARK. SO HERE IS A LITTLE SLIDESHOW OF THE FUN YOU CAN CHECK OUT.

THINKING OF SPENSER

Today is my nephew Spenser's birthday. He would have been 2 years old today. I have been caught up in what I felt was sad about the day...everything my family, especially my sister and brother-in-law, were missing about Spenser. Then I talked to Teresa and SHE PUT IT ALL IN PERSPECTIVE FOR ME! She was so positive! She and Clint had spent the day celebrating his BIRTH, not his loss. They chose to remember all the happiness he brought, and continues to bring to their lives through the happy memories. The point is THEY CHOSE not to dwell on the sadness and let it overpower their joy. I am sure it is not an easy choice, but they are strong enough through God's grace to make that choice. I love them so much and hope they know how much they mean to me. Lord Alfred Tennyson penned, "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all". Knowing what a blessing Spenser has been to so many in the short time he was with us proves the truth of that statement. I would have hated to never seen that beautiful face, touched those blond curls, gazed into those piercing blue eyes! God's plan for Spenser on this earth may have been shorter than we wanted, but he surely was a tool God used to carve a place in our hearts that makes us all better souls. Thank you, Lord for the little peice of heaven we had for a little while.

Demolition

We spent most of the weekend working on the new house. We are still in the demolition phase. I don't enjoy this phase very much at all! The guys are having fun though. I think it is a testosterone thing! My job today was board clean up. I was stacking up the boards so we could load the trailer on Wednesday and haul off more trash. After spotting my third BLACK WIDOW SPIDER in the pile...I had enough! Here are some pictures so you can check out the hard working boys of the family. Mason is working hard pulling up old linoleum.Andrew is getting geared up for his day of work.Sawing away!How does this tool belt work?Somebody is taking charge of things around here.This is where the real work gets done! He really loves to teach the boys about what we are doing as we go along.