Surprise!

My BFF Rachel, who recently moved to TN, showed up at my door yesterday! She flew in to surprise her dad for his birthday. I was shocked and thrilled to see her, but the visit was WAY too short and saying goodbye was very painful. We put up a strong front for each other, but I fell apart when I walked back inside. Wesleigh has always loved Rachel and I was thrilled that she got to see her. I'm now planning a trip to TN!!

Di....this dress looks adorable on WJ!! Don't let Sienna see!!! ;)

Paw Paw Came for a Visit

My mom and dad drove over one afternoon to meet Kim, Diana and the girls. They fell in love with Diana and Kim through my blog (and vice versa) when we were in China. The girls immediately fell in love with my dad and flocked to him. What you don't see here is Wesleigh pulling them off of him because she was jealous ;) It was pretty cute!

Kate is paperclipping a "name tag" that she made to his shirt. They were sweet enough to babysit that evening so the 3 big girls could go out to dinner. It was SO nice to be able to sit and have a conversation without someone yelling "mommy!!"

Thanks Maw Maw and Paw Paw!!

Girl's Trip

What a great week! I have been looking forward to this week for months and am sad that it's over. Years ago when I started my blog, I never dreamed that it would be an avenue to meet so many wonderful women...some who would become close friends. Spending time, in person, with these two wonderful women (and their precious girls) was a great treat.

All five girls were absolutely precious. They got along so well together and loved being together. Kate called them all her "sisters". We tried two different photo shoots with them. The first was a success. The second...not so much. (I'll have more on that later.) Here are a few of my favorite shots throughout the week. As you can imagine, there are hundreds of photos to go through!

Enjoy the cuteness!!

Too Cute!!

We are having the best time at the beach with all these precious girls! I can tell you being here with so many little girls is a brand new experience for me. They have all been so sweet and it has been such a great time getting to know each of them. Here's a quick sneak peek. I'll have lots more later, but right now...I've got to go play!!

Ainsley has been such a great big sister to all 4 girls this week. She is a doll, and Wesleigh adores her!

Perspective

It's funny how your perspective on things change as your situation changes. I remember coming home with Cade (#3) and all of a sudden anyone with only 2 kids who complained about being busy drove me crazy! Fact was, until that moment, I thought having two children was busy too. After Cade, having 2 seemed like a picnic.

Well, the same thing seems to have happened again. Wesleigh and I are leaving town for a week (more on that later). Seven months ago, I would have thought that leaving Richard to deal with all 3 boys for an entire week would be huge. Now, I think it sounds like a vacation!! Sure, he'll be busy toting kids from here to there but he won't have to give one bath, change one diaper or buckle anyone into a carseat. I know they'll all miss us, but truth is, they'll enjoy the break. And guess what...I'm going to enjoy the break from stinky football uniforms, football practices, carpool, and homework!

So about this trip...I have been looking forward to this trip for months!! Wesleigh and I are going to meet her and her for a few days at the beach. These women have become two of my very closet friends and I can't wait to spend some time with them and their precious girls. Diana and I have never even met in person!! I don't expect we'll stop talking the entire time we're there!

Tonight, I pulled out another new nightgown. Once again, Wesleigh about lost her mind over it! She couldn't wait to show everyone. I decided to get a little video of her. Since she'll be meeting alot of new friends next week, we've been working on saying their names, so you'll hear that too. She has the sweetest little voice you've ever heard!! (Please don't judge her hair..we were straight out of the tub :)

True Love

This girl LOVES her brothers. I took these pics of her and Bryce a few weeks ago and was trying to put a post together about him. I haven't been able to finish yet, but couldn't wait anymore to post a couple of the pics. Bryce is my only child who comes close to getting as tan as Wesleigh in the summer. This was after the beach trip. All of the boys are so great with her in their own way. This adoption is truly a family affair.

Isn't Bryce adorable? He's in 9th grade now and seems to have passed most of the awkward stage (thank the Lord). I was a little worried about him there for a little while ;)

Girly Girl

This girl is so girly that it absolutely cracks me up. I pulled this nightgown out of the drawer for the first time tonight and she imediately go SO excited. She couldn't wait for me to put it on her and then she couldn't wait to go show her daddy. She ran through the house twirling her nightgown and calling for daddy until he finally came in from outside. How does she know to go and twirl in front of her daddy? It makes my heart smile!






She is so silly and cracks us up all the time. She has become the heartbeat of this family!!

Does anyone know what they say when you sneeze in China? Wesleigh says something a little different and didn't know if it could be from China.

Back To School

Guess what I have back? Yep...I'm in business again!! Can't wait to catch up!!

Friday, Bryce and Cade started school. I know it's early, but it is SO hot here that all they were doing is watching tv anyway! So far, so good. I'm laughing at how sleepy they look in these pics. We all seem to get up at the last minute possible, so they hadn't been awake very long ;)

Bryce is in the 9th grade.

Cade is in the 4th grade.

Braden's first day was today. He's starting a new school this year, so I can't wait to hear how it goes. I think he's going to have great year. He is in the 6th grade.

So that means I have 1 in high school, 1 in jr. high, 1 in elementary school and 1 that is 2!!

Wow!! I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a little overwhelmed with all the schedules and carpools. I told the boys yesterday that I was quite certain I would forget them each at some point during the year. I told them not to panic, that I would remember them eventually!!

Bryce is in the marching band so he has practice and football games. Braden is going to play football for his school so we have that schedule. Cade is playing football for a local league here. Yep...overwhelmed, but I'm at my best when things are crazy. I get bored if they're not.

Bring it!!

I'll be catching up with everyone soon. Hope you're having a great week!!

Going Crazy!

I have so missed my blogging! However, I don't think I would have had the time to do it this past week anyway. We had 4 school orientations, Bryce's birthday, Bryce and Cade started school Friday, Richard had surgery on his knee Tues., Wesleigh ended up with an ear infection and swimmer's ear and pink eye! My parents had to take her to the doctor because I was at orientations!! Add football practice, a birthday party and summer book reports and that about makes a week!!

I'm using Richard's work computer for a minute this morning and he's taking mine to our computer guy today. Hopefully he can get things worked out soon!!

Sorry there isn't a pic. I'm not willing to go through the hassle to load them on Rich's computer ;) I'll have a big catch up post soon! (and catch up on your blogs too)

I know most of you haven't gone back to school yet. I hope you're enjoy the last little bit of summer because waking up early to get them off to school is NO fun!!

Infected!!!! ARRGHHH!!!

My computer has some kind of virus :( I guess I'll be out of commision until I get it fixed. Our computer guy is on vacation, but hopefully it won't be too long.

School starts FRIDAY!!! I'm busy all week with orientations and last minute supply runs! I'll catch up soon!!