My Precious Ivy Girl

Ivy Mai is my precious little grandbaby girl. She is so sweet with a very fun loving temperament. 

Always smiling and loves loves loves Popsicles! 

She is laying down the rules of watching TV.. "You cannot fall asleep while holding the remote, Papa!"

2nd visit- Ivy came to receive her Christmas gifts since we couldn't see them on Christmas. She loved her gifts. 

 

She even got the boys wrapped around her finger enough to play a girls toy! hahaha 

She is so beautiful. Her eyes are mesmerizing. I enjoyed hanging out with them all. She likes pickles, too! 

Happy Adoption Day!

February 2nd Post.  

Every year we celebrate our Adoption Day on February 2nd. We mention "Gotcha Day" on January 28th which is the date Kien actually came to be with us in his new forever home, but our little private party is actually on February 2nd which is the date that our adoption was finalized. The dessert changes every year, and this time Kien requested both a cake AND a cookie cake! Daddy, Kien and Gabe do like both, but mainly eat the cake as Jeremy and Mommy love the cookie cake. He is so thoughtful, and enjoyed both! 

Kien is a huge blessing in our life. I can't express my heart enough to have been given the trust of our Lord to raise this precious little boy as my own. Really all our children are on "loan" whether they are biological or not. They all belong to the Lord. It is our responsibility to raise them the way God commands us to in His Holy Word. It's not an easy job, but it is easily rewarded with hugs and kisses at this age. I can't imagine my life without any of my children. We make a great team! 

I am thankful for: 

 -God trusting and giving me this precious little soul. 

-His birth mother, for giving him a chance to be shared and loved and a better lifestyle. 

-His 1st adoptive family. Who was lead to love this little boy. And through tragedy gave us a chance to experience one of the greatest acts of love on earth. 

-For my husband. Who learned to be a "dad" with children that were not his own. Who then gave me two more sons to complete our family. 

Jeremiah 29:11 

Daily Randoms

It is truly a mother's joy to see their youngest wanting to read their bible. Gabe loves his Hermie Bible. 

Sock punching?! Someone should probably tell Gabe he would be better focus if he kept his eyes open?!

Peace, Dude! Afro Circus! 

When one starts, the others follow. We have here Afro Circus, Elvis in the house and Optimus Prime! I feel fun, entertained and safe! haha

Jeremy's new shirt put on Kien. This is what Kien does after he reads what it says... LOL

This "snow" was not fun. It didn't hold together. :( 

Gabe and Kien learned how to use chop sticks from big brother, Jeremy! Mom and Dad just use a fork. 

A Counter and a 6 Year Old Collide

It was about time to go have a celebratory dinner with a friend who was leaving the US to reunite with his wife in Italy when I heard "that scream" that only a mother knows is not a good one. 

I came rushing out of the bedroom to see blood splattered (sorry for the details) on the counter and my 16 year old holding the back of my 6 year old's head while he was crying. My heart sank to my stomach and an instant panic began to set it. On the spot I was doing all that I had been taught in my 1st aid class I took numerously to assess the situation. 

I looked at my husband and said, "Call dinner off, call your Mom to come sit with the other kids we need to go to the hospital, NOW!" 

I can't explain how I felt because I was nearly numb from the thought of something serious. I have three boys, and anything beyond a goose egg on the noggin' had NEVER been endured. I considered ourselves blessed to not have a broken bone or a serious injury. 

I was in such a panic (honesty here people) I immediately assumed the worst and begged my teenager to tell me what in the world just happened!! Apparently, Kien had been sitting on the top end of the bar and would jump to his big brother. It was not clearly communicated on the last "jump" that my teenager was done playing that game and the back of Kien's head hit the edge of the bar. SIGH

So, off to the hospital we went. Because I have chosen not to be injected with the flu shots, we decided to wear the masks as there were others shedding the flu viruses. Some of the nurses were wearing them whom also do not take the flu shot. So we fit right in! ;) 

We waited... filled out paper work... waited... filled out paperwork... waited... Then...

They had to administer a topical numbing medicine that had to sit for 30 minutes. Once we were able to get into a room, we waited another hour before a doctor came in. We found things to do on the leap pad while waiting. 

 Daddy decided to sleep. I don't know how he did it, but I could NOT sleep at all in this position. NOT. AT. ALL. 

Doctor came in and knew exactly what to do! Kien was such a trooper and he did NOT cry at all! What a strong dude! 

After 2.5 hours at the hospital we left, picked up a chocolate shake and went home. We let him watch a little TV before bed so I could clean up the scene and make him a special bed (plastic pillow case under cloth one) and lubricate his head. He was happy afterward. 

He was instructed NO activity (yeah right -do you even have kids, Doc?!) for 10 days including Gymnastics or Karate. It was a long 10 days, but he was very careful and as calm as a 6 year old BOY could be. :) On the 10th day, it was a Tuesday morning and he begged me to take him to the hospital to have the staples removed so he could participate in his gymnastics and karate class. We ended up too late for gymnastics, but we did make it to Karate. YAY! 

FW Zoo Visit DEC2013

On a December day of 70 degree's we decided to trot ourselves over to the zoo on a school day. There were just a handful of people there. Did not have to wait in line and got front row seat in every venue there was. The only issue we had was the photo booth. We did get a refund because the photo's were smeared as if the print cartridge in the machine was broke. 

Other than that, we had a great time. I didn't feel bad that the boys would race ahead of me on the trails because, well, noone else was there! :) 

The baby elephants were so fun to watch try to play with the adults. 

This male tiger was "bathing" the lioness when we first arrived. Ha! There's some irony there, don't ya think? 

This owl had the most beautiful eyes, but Kien thought it was a bit creepy watching us. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. 

Ok, call me naive, but I had NO idea there were penguins that could live in a warm climate. Apparently there are? I guess I should have paid attention in Biology because I never knew! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galapagos_Penguin) And this ONE penguin was SO cute and friendly! He came right to the window where we were! :) :)

I told the boys that if we ever lived in a jungle or forest I wanted to sleep in a tree, too! :)

This was taken after I convinced both boys that they were not able to get out of the glass. Then they weren't so afraid! 

These flamingos were pretty cool and they loved to show off their wing span. Also, they could walk on water! HA! 

Every boy needs a hat with a light on it. Of course, they may not last long in one piece, but they loved them anyway. 

And this is what two boys look like after a few hours at the FW Zoo. It was fun, they liked most of the animals and mommy loved the fact that there were no lines anywhere! 

Christmas Photos 2013

More photos of me playing around with fun shot and our new Christmas tree! They boys were such great sports! :) Even Daddy in his Elvis suit! 

Best Ice Storm EVER!

So what do we do when it is winter and we receive 4 inches (YES 4 INCHES THICK) of ice and no snow in Texas? Why, we ice skate and slide in a bin, of course! HA!

Greg STILL has his ice skates from when he moved from up north and because we don't have "sleds" here, we improvise with a plastic bin. Also, note that the 4 inches of ice was on EVERYTHING. So they were able to ice skate and smoothly ride the bin on the front grass! WILD! 

Here is a link to the YouTube Video my husband uploaded from his GoPro videos! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI1QezLAfsU&feature=youtu.be

Our Mourning Doves

I don't recall ever having the joy of this experience before. A Mourning Dove had taken refuge and built her nest on the top of my Jasmine Ivy growing in my entry way. It wasn't until 2013 that it became thick enough at the top for a bird to rest on. Well, by the time I noticed her, there were two eggs in her nest. She was there nearly all morning, noon and night. Until they hatched. It was a pretty amazing event. 

Once her hatch-lings were fully emerged, she would leave some of the day to go get food for her babies. Well, I had to leave one day and wanted to snap a photo, and she watched me oh so very close from the other side of the roof. I sat in my car and waited for her to go back to her nest, and she waited until I pulled out of the driveway. 

They grew so fast, and before too long, they were gone. We waited a while to see if the residence would be taken again, and it was not. So we removed the nest. This year another Mourning Dove mommy decided to make another next in a different spot, closer to the gutter that is a bit more hidden. More photo's to come. :)