What's Happening This Week?!

Madyson's 2nd grade class had their Market Day at school on Thursday. The children have to create something and then bring at least 20 of those items to school to "sell" to the other children. They use classroom bucks, not real money so everyone has about the same amount to spend. They are supposed to use what they have around the house and not spend a lot of money making the items.

In the past we have spent a little bit more, because I really don't keep a lot of extra stuff around! We buy things to make a project, and when we are done we usually throw away the leftover stuff!! I know...I can hear all you craftsy, earth lovin', green-recycling-mamas out there cringing. And I am sorry, but I can not stand to have all that excess just sitting around!

When my son was little, I used to save everything, from picture scraps (The part of the picture after you crop it.) to fabric scraps to empty fruit baskets and cereal boxes to EVERY piece of artwork my little genius ever created!! And now I can tell you that I learned a whole lot about that...and the fact is that you will probably NEVER get around to using any of it. And you will eventually throw out almost all of those precious pieces of artwork. And keeping it around just makes it harder on you!

So, back to Market Day, we tossed around a bunch of ideas. Katy made hair scrunchies when she was in 2nd grade, Mackenzie made bookmarks. Madyson didn't like any of our ideas...she wanted to make cookies!
So Katy helped her make 40 Large M&M Cookies. They were so great! Mackenzie helped her bag them and tie the ribbon and Ava Marie put the finished product in a pretty pink basket. It was a fun little assembly line! Madyson even bought 6 of her own cookies so she could bring them home and share them with her sisters!
On Wednesday Katy went to our favorite African Hair Braiding Salon "Peace and Mercy" and had her hair done. Here she is at the start with all of her braids out. She is supposed to take them out every 3 months and then go a couple of weeks without them to let her hair have a break. But she doesn't like her hair short so I don't usually make her go more than a week without the braids.
Harper is getting so big! Here she is with Ava sharing her new doggy bed. She is just 6 months old and weighs 36 lbs. Most everyone who sees her comments on how big she will get. I keep thinking isn't she big enough already?!

Last week the girls had an extra day off after Spring Break week, and it was so beautiful, so we went to the zoo! We haven't been since we went to the San Diego Zoo 2 years ago! I bought a family pass while we were there so we will be sure to go back sooner. It was a really fun day and we had a blast walking around and looking at all of the animals. I think a lot of the animals were just as shocked as we were to have so much sunshine at this time of year!

Counting down to just a couple of weeks left for Tax Season! I will be so happy to see this one go as I am so busy with everything else. School has taken to the back burner so much that we need to get caught back up. Katy and I are planning a trip to go visit the birth mother of the twins! We will get to go to the doctor with her and we are praying that those precious little ones will cooperate and let us see what their gender is! We are excited for whatever we get!! But we want to get started on the nursery and we want to go all out pink or blue or a combination. I have found a lot of ideas on Pinterest!

We are also excited because we will be traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina where we have never been. I was in Raleigh, NC about 10 years ago for my cousins wedding, but that was it. I love North Carolina, it is so pretty and green. We will only be there for 3 days because I hate to be away from my other girls. When we come back for the birth of the twins at the end of the summer we will probably have to stay for 2 weeks. Depending on how long the paperwork takes and also the health of the babies. I am praying for their continued growth and the good health of the birth mommy. She is such a sweet little thing, and lately she is so fatigued. She is so wonderful to us and shares every little detail, we are so grateful for her choice to give life to these babies and to place them in our home and let us love them and make them part of our family.

Well, that is it for this past week. This weekend we are going to see Sleeping Beauty at Trilogy Cultural Arts Center. Can't wait, I saw some photos posted on Facebook and the costumes look awesome as usual! I also have a lot of clients heading over to pick up their tax returns. I love this time of year when so many are coming over. The weather is so nice and the kids are playing outside, so many friends, old and new stopping by to collect their returns and chatting on our front porch. Sometimes we have a line as one comes in to go over their return and then next few sit on the porch and get acquainted. Katy likes to make a pitcher of lemonade and we should probably have some more of those cookies ready!

Have a great weekend!

Rainy days and Mondays...I love them!

Yesterday was a very rainy day and the kids last day of Spring Break. I had all kinds of ideas to keep them busy, but they ended up playing at our neighbors house across the street the entire day! I got lots of work done and I can't say I am not very pleased.

I hope the neighbor had as nice of a day! I looked across at her house at around 2pm and there were at least 7 bicycles in her driveway! Oh my, and my 4 had just walked over. In fact, they basically escaped from our house. They were sitting at the breakfast table and I stepped into my office just to check my emails, I'm sly like that. And when I came back out they were all gone!

Ava Marie even went over in her nightgown! But it turned out her little friend who lives there was in her jammies all day too. Whew! I wouldn't want them to think I encouraged playing in the house on a rainy day in your jammies...well, maybe that isn't such a bad idea!

Today is still raining, and we need it because the winter has been so mild. My grass is green and my trees are budding. It is beautiful to look at, but hard when you have to work and can not go out and play in all of the pretty weather.

I am dreaming of summer, lazier days, pool time, time to read books, fresh vegetables and lots of sunshine! I am really looking forward to this summer, I can hardly wait.

A Journey of Faith and Love

My family and I are starting on a new journey, one that is going to take months. Contemplating this journey has brought us together through so much prayer and discussion. This is a journey I never thought I'd actually take, one I had thought was not for me, but after all, I follow God and this is where he has led me.

We are adopting again! This time we are doing a private adoption. I will share what I can as we go, but there is a lot I will not talk about because this is not just my story, this story also belongs to others. There is a wonderful birth family and they live far away from us, so we are learning to communicate over a long distance. I am in awe of the woman who will give birth to my next children, she is so sweet and so giving. I pray for her every day, that she will always know our love and that her birth children will always know how much she loved them and wanted the best for them.

Yes...you heard me right...I said children. It's twins! And yes I am totally serious and thrilled!

We do not know if they are girls or boys yet, we have to wait another 10 weeks! To say the girls are excited and can not wait to find out is a total understatement!! Katy and Mackenzie spend many hours rearranging the furniture in different bedrooms to decide where their cribs will go. I keep telling them we have a way to go, but they want to be ready!

I continue to work my way through tax season, but occasionally I find myself wandering online over to Baby's R Us or Bye Bye Baby website! I know, I know, I really do have to wait until we know what the sex is, I have so much little girl stuff, but I have next to nothing for little boys. But it is so much fun just to look!!

And there she goes!

Our sweet little baby girl is gone. After court on Tuesday SRS came straight to the house, without even calling me, to pick her up and whisk her away! The two women who showed up just kind of stood there in my living room while I ran around picking up all of her things. I know I still have one of her blankets and a onesie, but they didn't give me any time to organize or even get things washed up!

Then I asked the gal if Baby was going straight to another foster home or a relative and she just stared at me...without saying anything. I know they can't give you too much information, but as I explained to her, I just wanted to know if she would need extra diapers and a bottle! I mean if she is going to Grandma's house, then I would hope that Grandma is prepared and has everything. If she is going to a foster home, I know it is nice when I get a baby dropped off without a lot of notice for them to have some diapers and formula so I have enough time to get them settled before I have to run off to the store to get things they will need.

So one of the women just said, "Oh we are just taking her back to our office for a while so you can just put all of the formula and diapers in the diaper bag!" Arghhh!

Anyhow, it was fun having her and we are ready for our next baby adventure. And let me say that we have one in the works that will be...well, I'll let you know about that sometime soon, when there is more to tell.