Baby Hiker

We are spending the afternoon in the woods today. A little hiking, exploring and of course crawfish catching for the boys :)

My Mountain Hikers

All Tuckered Out

Favorite Artist

Shelby loves loves loves to draw me pictures during the day. I am always presented with her master pieces when I get home from work. I sure do love my little artist!

Girls Night Out

Only 3 Families Worth

The girls and I headed down to Beth's on Saturday to celebrate little Miss Maddox!  Even though Beth tricked me and Ashley in telling us it was only a 2 hour drive (reality= 3 hours), it was worth the drive.  We had a fabulous time spent with some folks who love adoption and family as much as I do.  Shelby summed up the day when she said, "Mom, this is just the best day ever!"  Thank you Beth for sharing your special family with us on the best day ever ;)

Miss Maddox

Celebration for Maddox

Big Families

Hop on over here for a great blog post to read.  I knew adding number 5 would make us one of "those families", but I guess I just didn't realize how many people feel the need to comment on my family.  Just a note to any of you out there who feel the need to speak to someone in the grocery store line with a "big family", the best thing you can say (since you feel you need to comment) would be...You have a beautiful family!  All of us BIG families love that comment :)  Really nothing else needs to be said. 

We already know...

Our hands are full.

That yes, we are busy.

How to keep up with all of them.

They are a full-time job.

So thanks for noticing my family, but no thanks on the weird comments.  Just stick to checking out your own groceries, or only comment with N.I.C.E. well-meaning comments.  Remember if you don't have something nice to say... 

Oh and I am not falling for all the "Bless your heart" type comments either.  I can tell where your heart really is with those. 

Guess I am sounding pretty grumpy at this point.  Just want to get the word out, that even though you may/may not approve of large families, you don't always have to comment to them when you are out and about.  Trust me when I say we get enough attention as it is, just smile and move on.  THANKS!

Tinkerlise

O Happy Day

We had a great little party for Faith's birthday.  I only invited family and just a couple of friends to have a low key celebration for our girl.  This was Faith's first real birthday "party", since the past 2 years we have been on vacation during her birthday. (Don't worry we have always celebrated her birthday, just not with a party.)  Anyhow here is how it went down...

Started out with a little dancing

A little bouncing (scored this jewel for $50 at a yard sale!)

Some yummy pizza eating

Faith's favorite "cake", all you can eat candy toppings

C.A.N.D.Y.

For Faith's BIG tub of ice cream "cake"!!

 

Ended by her very own sleepover with her favorite aunt!

Perfect day celebrating our one and only perfect Faith :)

Maggie Day

I have to tell this awesome story about how I came to know Belinda.  My friend Stephanie who was about to go get Parker had a baby shower back in August of 2010.  On the very day of the shower, Stephanie was at the $1 store (of all places) picking up some last minute items for her shower that afternoon.  She casually ran into a woman who had a Chinese daughter, so she stopped to chat with her about her upcoming adoption.  Now she had never met this woman before.

Well this woman mentioned to Stephanie that she and her husband were really thinking about adopting again, but they really had no idea about what agency to use and how to go about the process since it had been a while since they had adopted.  So Stephanie casually invited her to come to her house that very day for the shower to meet ME :)  Amazingly enough, that woman (who is Belinda) took Stephanie's offer and came to the baby shower to talk to me.  Well...

I proudly introduce you to little Miss Maggie!!

Uh OH

Well unfortunately our trip to the BMX track didn't end as well as it started :(. Travis wound up with 5 stitches to close up his knee. And yes, this is his 4th time to require stitches. Oh my this boy of mine!

Go Travis Go

Good Read

Good article so thought I would share...

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

So many truths to this article for my family for sure.  Sometimes I feel like a walking circus act just inside Publix...sigh.

Four Years Old

4 years ago today, a mother gave birth to a beautiful baby that she could not keep.

3 years ago today, a mother committed to KEEP this baby forever.

Happy Birthday to my amazing Baby Faith!!  You have brought so much JOY to our family!

So today I am reminded of this video and all the others who wait...

Lots of Fun

And lots of kids! Fun time hanging with someone with almost as many kids as me :)  Thank you Ashley for a fabulous birthday!!

Friends

Happy Birthday to Me

Yep, it's my last official birthday today...the big 39!!

The Dreamer

The Adventurer

The Smoocher

The Climber

The Comedian

This grin means she's up to something!

White Water

We have really enjoyed our weekly trips to White Water this summer. Shelby's favorite is the wave pool, Faith's is the Hooch ( or water hole as she calls it), and Elise's favorite is anything that has water ;).

Oh and if course the boys' favorite is Cliffhanger. So sad that I have to watch the girls and can't ride that with them-HA!

Scared

No not really, but this is her fake scared or "shocked" look. Cracks us up everytime!!

Skating Rink

I love that the skating rink has a big indoor play area for my littles while the bigs are skating. Since it is like 102 degrees today, only indoor fun fit my schedule ;)

Mommy/Daughter Date

Shelby was my date for a baby shower this weekend.  She was so cute and proud to be the only one who got to go.  I told her that only "grown ups" get to go to nice baby showers.  She loved the attention for sure.

We had fun and enjoyed our time together.  Plus we got to celebrate the upcoming birth of my sisters new TWIN grandbabies.  Can't wait until they get here so my kids can fight over who gets to hold them ;)

Wheeeeee

Sister Love

So sweet that Shelby really takes charge of her baby sister when we are out and about. These two have a special bond to each other for sure. So for the most asked question "Are they sisters?"...ABSOLUTELY!!

Ride em Cowgirl

Since my mom has been "on vacation" from watching the kids while she is on her heart monitor, the kids (and mom) have been having some Nana withdrawals.  So mom was nice enough to cook us a homemade country cooking dinner for us to enjoy.  Elise played the part when she grabbed the cowboy hat and jumped on the horse.  Nana's country food and toys are the best :)

Sweet Baby

I love that I still have a sweet bottled baby to snuggle with :)

New Doo

Faith got a new too cute hair bob today.  Such a smiley giggly little blessing she is to our family!

Happy 4th!!

Faith really enjoyed the parade this morning. Well really what is not to love about having her favorite thing in the world just thrown at you over and over again?!?

Curly Q

Is this Shirley Temple or Shelby Straight?!?  We were at North Point today and there was a kiosk offering "free curls".  We took them up on their offer, but let them keep their $75 curling iron ;)

Shelby is such a girly girl!

Rock Star

Elise is our little performer.  She loves to get dressed up and dance with all the big kids. Oh and she has such an obsession with shoes.  Most of the time she will have someone else's shoes on that are WAY too big for her, but she hobbles around in them anyhow.  Her personality is certainly big enough to fill any shoes :)