Wedding Bells

 In October, we enjoyed attending the wedding reception for my younger cousin (she was the flower girl in my own wedding) and her new husband. They had a beautiful reception at the home of my aunt and uncle. There was good food, good music and everyone had a delightful time celebrating the new marriage!

Here is the bride and her daddy...

And with her groom....

And our kiddos enjoying the dance....

The four older cousins enjoying hanging out...

And all seven of my parents grandchildren...

And just because she is the baby and too cute!!!

And ALL too soon she will be dancing with her daddy on her own wedding night....

Oh be still my heart...

Soccer Anyone?

Back in the fall, Lottie decided she wanted to try out soccer. Unfortunately she only was able to participate in a couple games as she developed pneumonia during the short season. I think she enjoyed dressing the part more than anything else and she still enjoys kicking the ball around in the front yard. She may surprise me ,but I think gymnastics may be more her "thing". We hope to get her back into a gymnastics class soon as she so enjoys that.  But here she is lookin awfully cute in her soccer gear....

Twin Pins

On September 11th, Our twin pins(Graham and Noah) turned twin pins!(11 years old!) And what better way to celebrate than with a bowling party!! We took them along with several of their friends to the lanes for the afternoon.

They each enjoyed attempts at making the perfect strike or even a spare....

Their sisters tried to get in on the action too....

They especially enjoyed hanging out with their friends....

And no party is complete without the cake....

And a wish for the birthday boys.....

Happy Birthday Graham and Noah!! We Love You!!!

                               

The Great Wolf Lodge

We celebrated the end of the dog days of summer with Battle's family at the Great Wolf Lodge for Labor Day Weekend.  Battle's parents and brother and sister in law joined in on the fun! I was struggling with the CMV virus after returning from Ethiopia and Battle had a staph infection in his leg so we were thankful for his family being able to entertain the kids and they all had a blast!! I did get out of the room to take a few pictures!!

Corrie was mesmerized by all the water toys!!

Liz took her out into the shallow pool to ride some of them...

Lottie enjoyed the bigger pool with Papa Frank...

while the boys braved the lines with Hardin and Liz for the water slides...

They are all little water bugs...

It was a great way to celebrate the end of summer! Thanks to Battle's family for making it possible!!

   

Too Cute!!!

And while Lottie and the boys were all doing school, this bundle of joy was enlarging my heart more by the day!

The difficult days of her first 18 months of life would always be part of her life story but they certainly could not be seen in her seamless transition into our family.

Preschool at Home

As the boys were going back to school, Lottie was preparing to return to preschool. This was on the heels of Corrie's adoption and funds were limited so we decided to only have her go two days and the other days would be what she calls "mommy school". I went on line and found the Raising Rock Stars Preschool curriculum put out by a blogging mom who homeschools her  children. I thought it looked simple enough EVEN I could pull it off! And so we began with the letter "L". Each unit is built around a letter and a scripture memory verse. She and I have loved doing preschool this way!

Here is our bulletin board that changes with each unit. This highlights the letter, number, sight word, scripture memory verse, and theme for the week.

For each unit, there are vocabulary words based on the letter. Here is Lottie cutting out her words for the week.

And here she is working on a craft illustrating her verse for the week. She amazed me how quickly she learned this verse. And she not only memorized it but knew how to apply it.

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven"
 Matthew 5:16




A few days after learning this verse she overheard her daddy and I discussing something and she heard me raise my voice and immediately said  "Mommy? Are you letting your light shine?"


Accountability from my preschooler....gotta love it!



And I DO LOVE seeing her hide God's Word in her heart.

Back To School!

I am sure that I was tearing up behind the camera as I took this picture! As I realized this was not only my boys' first day of 5th grade, but it was also their last "first day" of school as elementary students. Next year they would be off to middle school!  

The tears were not unlike the ones I shed on this same day five years ago when I sent them off on their first day of kindergarten. Except then, I had only heard from others how fast the years would fly and now I KNOW how fast they have FLOWN!!! It seems like yesterday they looked like this....

As the time flies by quicker and quicker, I find myself trying to treasure the moments more and more.

Life Goes On !

Yes, life has gone on despite my inability to blog about it. Here I am, over two months since the last time I blogged still trying to play catch up! I wish I could say the last two months were filled with wonderful things but instead I have continued to go to doctor after doctor trying to find an explanation for the abdominal and chest pain I have had for months. So far I still have no answers, only a lot of medical bills! 

Unfortunately I also ended up spending two nights in the hospital with Lottie after she had run a high fever for 5 days and was diagnosed wth Kawasaki's disease. This is an auto immune disorder that can affect children. It requires an IV immunoglobulin treatment to reverse the process. It causes vasculitis throughout the body and the biggest concern is for the heart as it can afftect the coronary arteries. She also received a high dose aspirin treatment and has continued on a lower dose since home. We will be followed by a cardiologist to have regular echocardiograms to keep check on her heart. She is currently symptom free and enjoing life as always and we are thankful for doctors who recognized what it was and sought immediate treatment.

I am thankful for the 70 degree weather this weekend that is a lift to the spirit and  the smiles on my children's faces as they enjoy the first signs of spring!

So I will return to my blog where I left off last....I think it was the end of summer and time for back to school!......

Snow Cones!

After the show, we celebrated our fun evening by going out for snow cones! There is a local place that has over 100 flavors to choose from!

OUR Belle had a great evening and we all enjoyed the fine arts as well as the sweet treat afterward!

The Belle of the Ball

In August we got the opportunity to go see a local production of Beauty and the Beast. Battle's brother was able to get our whole family tickets for the occasion. So our family gussied up and headed out for a rare night on the town!

Here is our own Belle of the Ball!!!!

 

                                   And she has not ONE , but TWO Prince Charmings!

                                                             The Royal Family

                                                          Stlll Daddy's Girl

We got a neat opportunty to go backstage after the show and meet the cast. Here is Beauty with the Beast!

                                                        And with the Dishes...

                                                        And the silverware...

                                                 And many other cast members...

                                              And here with the stars of the show....

                         Corrie was not so sure about those horns coming out of his head....

                            And our whole crew thanking them for an incredible evening!