Yard work day!

We took a day last week and worked outside in our backyard. We transplanted some plants from a shady area to a sunny area to see if they would grow as well. Then we dug up some dandelions and studied them. We examined their taproots,stems, seeds, sepals, and petals. We also discovered they are milkweeds. 

Then we cleaned out the veggie garden bed and got it ready for new plants! The boys worked so hard! I'm so thankful their Daddy teaches them how to work hard with their hands. Sure helps this Momma out!

Then we planted our garden. Watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, peanuts, jalapeños, cucumbers, patty pan squash, yellow squash, zucchini, string beans, tomatoes, and 3 colors of bell peppers. It was such a fun day and I was so proud of how hard the kids worked. We are in the process of replacing one side of our backyard fence. The kids helped year the old one out and clean up the are so the new one can go up soon. 

We even found an earthworm! Of course Taylor had to hold it! 

We also took a quick field trip and explored two green houses. We saw some beautiful plants. Hopefully I will begin to develop my green thumb and we can keep all this stuff alive and enjoy fresh veggies straight from the backyard! 

Respite care

We are hanging out with this precious boy for a few days so his foster family could get away for a few days. He's been a great guy and had helped with my "baby fever." Right now it's 2:50 am and we are up bonding. I have been so spoiled with my big kids and their sleeping all night long. They have all been troopers and such great helpers!

Gotcha day 2013

Two years ago life changed dramatically for my family. We were called (thrown into with full force) to this adoption journey. Amazing how much life can change in such a short amount of time.
I can say I am not the same person I was two years ago. My faith is not the same either. We have been through some really tough stuff. We have been in impossible situations. Situations were if God didn't show up and do something big we were going to fall on our faces. He showed up!
The amount of healing we have seen in our kids is miraculous to say the least! Their physical bodies healed, their academic performances increased, but most of all their hearts are healing. They are able to sort out what happened to them and see how God delivered them. We were told that they would never recover. The damage done at such a young age wouldn't be able to be made up. I'm here to tell you friends that's not true! God performed a miracle before our very eyes!!
I'm sure there is a technical term to describe the progress, but I know it is only by the power of God!
So tonight we had a major celebration dinner! Jackie grilled steaks and we had a candlelit dinner to stop and reflect on how far our family has come. We marveled at the amazing power of God at work in our lives. It was such a sweet time. It's one thing to hear me tell you about God moving in my kids' lives, but it's a whole different thing to hear if from their own mouths. We laughed, cried, prayed, and had a marvelous time!!
We are so incredibly blessed by all our kids and we are so humbled that we get to walk alongside them as their parents! Can't wait to celebrate this special day each year!!

Michael's home run!!

We are LOVING baseball at our house! Both boys have been working so hard and are playing awesome. Monday Michael had an awesome game. He scored his first home run. We were all going crazy!!!
After the game we all went for a celebration dinner! It was an awesome day!

Baseball season is here!

Michael and Cameron are both playing baseball this year. They have never played a sport before so it's been all new to them. We LOVE Michael's coaches. They really spend time working with the boys and teaching them how to play. Cameron's coaches are not near as flexible. They spend any extra time working with the boys who play the best. That is a huge frustration. Cam loves to play and is having a blast, but since its his first time he's behind a lot of the other kids on his team. Jackie and I have been spending lots of time working with both boys and its awesome to see how they are improving.
The best part is that they are having a blast and learning how to honor God with everything they do. They are great encourages to the other bid on their team and are both constantly cheering for their teammates. That makes this Momma's heart smile!
Michael's team played in a preseason tournament and got 4th place. They had fun and learned so much about the game! Both boys have their first season games this weekend!

Easter Sunday

Easter is becoming one of my favorite holidays. I have always enjoyed it, but as an adult it holds SO much sentimental value that it never had as a kid.
We got our three kids three days before Easter two years ago. Their move into our family is such a physical representation of the significance of Easter I am reduced to tears when I think about it. God sees us in the midst of all the terrible mess we are in and reaches down and lovingly rescues us. He not only removes the yuck, but restores us to a place of belonging and importance.
I love so many things about Easter, the new clothes, the full church buildings, the wonderful meal with family, the fun traditions, the exhaustion after the day is done, and most of all the quiet reflections on the sacrifice and victory over sin through Jesus. It is such a joy to share these thins with my family. I pray they will always see the significance of the holiday and the joy we have in celebrating it!!

Coloring Easter eggs

We had a great Easter! We colored eggs, made resurrection cookies, went to church, visited Memaw, hunted eggs, and spent the day with Chickie and Granddad! It was such a great day!
This was Miss V's first time to color eggs. She had so much fun and made some really pretty eggs. The big kids get more creative with their eggs each year! I love it!!