Track Day

The day before school was out for the summer, Lexy's Kindergarten class had a track day at the high school track. They did the 50 m. relay, the 100 m. relay, softball throw, long jump, 3 legged race, and a class tug of war. Mike, Brooke and I went to watch and then went to the park to eat lunch with Lexy afterwards.

2010 Flower Garden

Daddy and Lexy worked together to get our 2010 flower garden in last weekend. Lexy loved helping at first but lost interest and went into watch cartoons :-) Daddy and I finished up...ok so Mike did LOTS more than me but it looks pretty!!!

Brooke's 8th Grade Promotion Dance

On May 21, 2010 Brooke officially was promoted from the eighth grade. The kids (and parents) were sad when it was announced that the Promotion Ceremony was being cut out of the budget but we made the best of being able to plan a dance in their honor. While Brooke and Cassie got ready at our house, I spent all afternoon and evening at the school decorating for the dance with some other parents. The decorating turned out very nice and I think the kids really enjoyed their night!

Day 25 & 26

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 25 was...

I did a little shopping by myself before having to pick the girls up in the early afternoon.


My act of self-kindness for Day 26 was...

Today I let myself enjoy a GREAT first day of summer! I really want to focus on slowing down and enjoying this summer with my girls, they grow up so fast! Today we had a lazy morning and then after lunch we ventured out to look around at a junk store before heading to the park. While at the park Kenzie was sweet enough to keep an eye on Lexy while I took Brooke for a little driving practice (we didn't do much but I can tell she's getting better everytime she drives). Before heading home we stopped off at McD's for an ice cream cone. Then we had a nice evening all together at home - these are getting fewer as Brooke gets older and more social :(

Adoption Update

We got a new picture of the twin boys/little girl sibling group from our worker today...they are adorable. Our worker also said that our information was submitted to the "team" today and they will look over our file plus the file of the three other families that are interested and decide if all the families are a good enough match to be included in a best interest staffing (BIS). Termination of parental rights (TPR) is scheduled to happen next week, if it does then the BIS should be soon to follow! I'm excited and really feel an urge to "nest" and purge things we don't need and gather things we will need. However nervousness and second guessing are eating at me...I have had to give this over to God and trust that he knows the perfect outcome for these children and our family!

Brooke's Choir Concert

A couple of weeks ago, Brooke had her final middle school choir concert. She's not planning to be in choir next year :(

self-kindness catch up!

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 22 was...

I (with the help of Mike and Lexy) picked out some beautiful flowers to be planted in the flower garden in front of our house.


My act of self-kindness for Day 23 was...

I watched as Mike planted all those pretty flowers! He's such a great husband!


My act of self-kindness for Day 24 was...

Mike, Brooke and I went to watch Lexy's Kindergarten Field Day and then ate lunch at the park with her!

Brooke's officially a high schooler :(

Yesterday was the last day that Brooke was a middle schooler. Her school did away with the 8th grade promotion ceremony :( but they did still allow the parents of the 8th graders to sponser an 8th Grade Promotion Dance. Out of about 90 students in Brooke's class, about 10 or so of us parents planned, decorated, chaperoned and cleaned up the dance last night. We had the theme of Neon Nights and decorated with glow in the dark things, florescent items, black lights and had slush from Sonic and snacks provided by the parents. I'm working on getting all the pictures together but here's Brooke on her special night, she's so beautiful...

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 21 was...

I did a lot for others instead of for myself but one thing I really enjoyed was that Brooke got up early and we went to breakfast together after dropping Lexy off at school.

Day 20

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 20 was...

Lexy and I went out for dinner (to McDonalds) since Brooke was at World's of Fun with her class and Mike had to work late. Nothing at home sounded good and I really didn't want to make dinner for just the two of us so we went out!

Adoption Update!

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 19 was...

Watching as Brooke and three of her friends just acted like teenage girls. Fourteen is such a weird/wonderful age...they are mature but not mature, serious but silly, grown up but still a child. They stunted (cheerleading), they ate a TON of spaghetti for dinner, they giggled, they talked, they did makeovers, they even played with the doll that Brooke begged for a few years ago (that looks and feels real). It's so amazing to watch these girls become young ladies but not TOO fast!



Adoption Update:

We got some more information on the kids. There are a few things in the information that would probably make some families run screaming but after 8 1/2 years of fostering I think we have seen and dealt with just about everything! Will these kids need counseling/therapy - yes, but from experience I think they have a chance of being normal wonderful kids if they are placed into the right loving family now. There will be some hard work involved and it won't be all roses and rainbows but these kids are worth it! We let our worker know that we are still interested in being considered for them (I think she thought we would back out) but also that we are aware that there are several families interested and that we would like to continue to receive any profiles of kiddos that she thinks might be a possible match for us.

We had to fill out a Cultural Assessment for these kids because they are of a different race than us. I will admit that I'm a little miffed that we are being asked "why we want to consider adopting a child of another culture". We wrote "We believe we can love and care for a child of any culture". A child is a child to us...culture, race, heritage doesn't really play a part in it to us. We have parented children of pretty much every culture in the past nine years and have never felt that it made a difference, we loved and cared for all of the children the same.

So now we wait to see if we are one of the three families chosen to be included in the Best Interest Staffing (BIS) where they will thoroughly look at each family to find the best possible match for these children :-)

banana bread and adoption update

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for day 18 was...

I made myself (and the family) banana nut bread with chocolate chips just because it sounded good. It smelled SO yummy baking and tasted SO good!



Adoption Update:

I heard from the adoption worker that she has sent our information to the worker for the sibling set. She did say that there are several families interested so we'll just have to wait and see if we're chosen as one of the top three. Hopefully we'll be getting a little more information about the kids before then!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year, we went up to Golden Corral to meet Grammy & Papa and Mammaw and Grandpa Tom for dinner. Mike and the girls got me the set of dishes I'd been asking for, Lexy brought me two plants home from school and Brooke made me a Happy Mother's Day ribbon out of duct tape for the day! We got both Grammy and Mammaw a little something for their yards.

Day 17

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 17 was...

I treated myself to a years subscription to the photo site (www.picnik.com) that I love. It makes it so much easier to share photos on my blog. And since I have all but abandoned scrapbooking I need to do a good job of scrapbooking/journaling our life on here!

Brooke's 14th B-Day

Brooke decided for her 14th Birthday to go back to our tradition (that we did on her 11th and 12th birthdays) of her and I along with her BFF Kenzie and her mom, Robin having a Birthday Weekend. We start out on Sat. morning heading to where our hotel is (it changes each year) and looking for the closest mall where we shop all day...and spend a ton on the girls! In the evening we head to the hotel for a few hours of swimming and goofing off. After that we head to a very late movie (the girls always wear their jammies) and then go back to the hotel to bed. We head home Sunday morning after breakfast.

We had fun driving around with "Honk to say Happy Birthday to Brooke & Kenzie" on the back window of the car. We wore ourselves out shopping at The Legends. We had Stone Cold Creamery for dinner and pizza as a late snack. We watched "Backup Plan" for our movie.

What a great girls weekend! I love to spend time with Brooke and watch her enjoy an entire weekend dedicated to her!

Before heading up for our girls birthday weekend, Brooke got her presents from Lexy (a handmade card and cutout cat to remind Brooke of Precious and a pack of gum) and Mike and I (the oh-so-wonderful cell phone that she has been dreaming of. :-) And on Sunday we headed up to Golden Corral to celebrate Brooke's Birthday with Grammy & Papa and Mammaw & Grandpa Tom.

Day 16

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 16 was...

I treated myself (actually Mike treated me) to a peanut butter cup blast from Sonic for an evening snack. Yummy!

I also spent some time just thinking/dreaming about how things will be when we adopt again. I looked around on the Internet and found some bunk beds I like and the quilts that I want to get :-) It was so weird to only have Lexy (Brooke was at a friends) on Sat., we are so used to having a house full of kids...we miss it!

Days 14 & 15

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 14 was...

I took a little extra time in bed before getting up for the day because Lexy came in (the dog woke her up) to our room. We cuddled for awhile before making our mad dash morning rush getting ready for school!

My act of self-kindness for Day 15 was...

Today I treated myself to a crazy and loud day at Zonkers watching Lexy have the time of her life riding the rides and climbing in the tubes. :-)



No e-mail back from the adoption worker about the kids yet :( They've been on my mind :)

Got a profile!

Yesterday afternoon I opened up my e-mail to find an e-mail from our adoption worker...she sent an adoption profile that she thought may be a match for us!! The profile is for a sibling set of three. Twin boys that are 3 1/2 and a little girl that will be 2 in a month. They are african american/hispanic and gorgeous! There was a little bit of information about them included but not much. All of us agreed to let our worker know that we're interested in learning more about them :-)

Holy Cow we would have a full and LOUD house!! It's exciting to think about the possibilities... ha a little scary too :-)



Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 13 was...

Truthfully the only thing I really did for myself yesterday was color my hair...I guess that's a big thing since I don't want to look like an old lady lol!

Day 12

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 12 was...

Hmmm had a crazy day with Brooke coming home sick from school. I guess my self-kindness was that I allowed myself a Sonic Dr. Pepper (I've been trying to stay away from soda).

Day 11

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 11 was...

I treated myself to a morning nap and afternoon bubble bath :) Both helped with my headache and my spirits!



Adoption Update:

Got an e-mail from the adoption worker that she still has two homestudies in front of ours to do. She said she hopes to get ours done this Friday but we'll see :( She also mentioned that she would be sending profiles for us to look at but that right now there are no sibling groups in our age range...what happened to the ones she talked about a month ago when she was here??? ARGH so frustrating!

Day 10

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 10 was...

I bought myself a new pair of capri pants and I also took an afternoon nap (still trying to catch up on sleep from the weekend!).


Today I'm feeling very blah. I woke up with a terrible headache and just feel down. I'm going to have to really think about some acts of self-kindness for myself today to lift my spirits!

Day 9

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 9 was...

After spending all day Sat. walking around shopping, going to the late movie and getting up early...I was exhausted so I took a little afternoon nap before heading up for dinner with the family!

Happy Mother's Day

These two very special reasons for me celebrating this day make me smile today and everyday, I love you girls :-)

Brooke and Kenzie presented Robin and I with Happy Mother's Day ribbons made out of duct tape this morning at the hotel. Lexy brought home two planted flowers for me from school. Mike and the girls got me the new set of dishes that I've been dreaming of :-) And for dinner we headed up to Golden Corral to meet Papa & Grammy and Mammaw and Grandpa Tom to celebrate Mother's Day and Brooke's b-day!

Days 7 & 8 :)

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 7 was...

Getting my toes "did" by my oldest. I asked if she would and w/o any moaning or groaning, she picked a color (purple) and painted them and even put sparkles on the top :-)

My act of self-kindness for Day 8 was...

A wonderful birthday weekend getaway for Brooke, Kenzie, Robin and I. We had a great time shopping, swimming at the hotel and watching a late movie together!

Brooke's 14th Birthday

I'm pre-posting this because on Brooke's birthday I will be off to enjoy a day of shopping and pampering and a hotel stay with Brooke, Kenzie and Robin for Brooke and Kenzie's birthdays! Brooke and Kenzie decided again this year to forego a party with friends for a weekend of just moms and girls...I'm SO blessed to have a daughter that would rather spend time with me!!!

Dear Brooke,

Could it really be true that you are already 14 years old??? We hear it said all the time but the time REALLY DOES go by way too fast!

I want to thank you for letting me get the full experience of having a teenage daughter this year...from the drama, the hormones, the mood swings to the sweet loving moments where you give me a glimpse into your mind and life and show me what a wonderful woman you are growing up to be!

I love that you still talk to me about your crushes, friends, dreams and drama. I'm so thankful that we have a close relationship where you feel comfortable talking to me about anything and everything. I hope that as your life gets busier with high school that we can still share that close bond!

You are creative, focused, determined, loyal, assertive and loving. You still say you want to be a fashion designer (or something in that field) and you will be great at it! When you love someone (family, friends) you are one of the most supportive and loyal people in that persons life, you would do anything for them. When you want something you don't give up, you are the hardest working most determined girl I know...I'm so proud of your good grades and you making high school cheerleading because of your hard work! I love that you are confident and assertive when you want your thoughts, ideas or opinion known, you don't back down from anyone! And most of all I love that you love your family and want to spend time with us!

I love you more than you could ever know! It has been my pleasure to watch you grow from a teeny tiny baby into the beautiful young woman that you are today. I love being your mom and feel blessed everyday that you are my daughter.

Love,

Mom

Kenzie's b-day

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for day 6 was...

Spending time with family and friends while celebrating our "3rd daughter" Kenzie's 14th b-day at Dairy Queen. So really the act of self-kindness was me not having to cook dinner :-)

Brooke & Kenzie...

day 5

Jouney of Peace

My act of self-kindness for day 5 was...

Mike and I sat out on the porch after dark last night and talked. I love those quiet moments with my husband. I'm thankful that after almost 20 years together that we still want to spend time together :-)



STILL no adoption homestudy news :(

Day 4

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 4 was...

After picking the girls up from school I treated all of us to a drink from Sonic and a fun afternoon at the park! Afterwards we came home to a yummy dinner almost ready thanks to the crockpot!

Peace and No News

Journey of Peace

My act of self-kindness for Day 3 was...

Lexy has been asking me to go to the basement and find all of Brooke's old Junie B. Jones books. Yesterday I took the time to find those books and then read an entire book to Lexy. We had so much fun giggling at Junie B's goofyness!!


In other news...

There is none :( Still waiting to hear from the adoption worker on our homestudy update. Last week she said "early next week"...hmmm wonder what she constitutes as "early". I'm just SO ready to move forward and start looking at profiles!! On the way to school this morning Lexy asked if you could play on a teetor totter by yourself. When I told her no that I think it would be much more fun with someone else she said "I hope I get a little sister soon then".

Day 2

Journey of Peace

For Day 2 my act of self-kindness was...

I let myself be quiet when my oldest was struggling with nervousness about going to a meeting. Quiet is hard for me when it comes to my kids, I want to take their nervousness away or help them in some way. But I chose to keep quiet and let her work it out in her head. I even drove away from the meeting place and then turned around and went back when she asked me to. Eventually she did make it into the meeting and she and I were both proud that she had conquered her fears. I was proud of myself for stepping back and allowing her to grow up just a little bit more!

31 day Journey of Peace

On another blog, I read how she is using the month of May to focus on and do something special for herself each day. To remember to show herself the same kindness she shows to others everyday. I think this is a great idea...

I am SO blessed but between marriage, motherhood and especially the stress of the adoption process sometimes I can forget that to be truly at peace I must take care of myself . Some days that means I need to just remember and acknowledge what has spontaneously brought me joy that day, other days that means that I need to mentally focus on doing something nice for myself :-)

For the next 31 days I will:

Commit one act of self-kindness that brings me peace/joy.
Write about that self-kindness.
Not allow anyone or any situation to rob me of my peace.

One of my goals for 2010 is to work on being a more loving, kind, patient, happy and peaceful wife, mother, and friend, I think this fits right in!

For Day 1 my act of self-kindness is...

I (and the family) went garage sale hopping. As a child this activity brought me great displeasure (not sure why?) but now I enjoy it very much. I love finding new-to-us treasures for my family. I even found a couple of things that I was looking for to make a new craft :-)