Hangover Monday

Yep.  It's that time of year again...baseball season.  As happy as I am that the season has started, I feel like I got my butt whooped this weekend!  Braden and Cade are both playing tournament ball which means if they both have tournaments in a weekend, we have 4 games on Saturday and anywhere between 2 and 8 games on Sunday!  Throw in a birthday party at Chuck E. Torture Chamber and a Cirque du Soleil show with Bryce and you have the perfect recipe for a hangover Monday...no alcohol needed!!

Adding Gracie this year is going to be challenging.  Wesleigh is so easy-going, calm, quiet, still (you get the picture).  And Gracie....well.....let's just say, she's quite the opposite!  For this mom who really likes to concentrate on the game, it's going to be a challenge.

I did not even attempt to bring my camera this weekend.  The weather was yuck and there was no way I would even attempt it.  I am so excited, though, both boys play out of town this weekend (same place) and my parents are keeping the girls!!  WHOO HOO!!!  It's like a mini vacation!!  I also have a new, big, heavy accessory coming for my camera!  I cannot wait to try it out!!

So...no pics of the kiddos, boys or girls, but I do have this pic of my new pet peeve.  Why???  Why must the barbies always be naked??  Why??  Thank you Disney for painting panties on them! :)  It absolutely drives me up a wall!!  They love these princess barbies, and I dress them quite regularly, but this is always how they end up:
 

Oh well...it's the little things :)

Hope you're having a great Monday.  I am counting down the days to Friday!! 

Looks Just Like Me :)

Don't you think??  Wesleigh has just started drawing stick people and this is her first drawing of me :)  I love it.  Cade always loved to draw (he was my only one), and he has really enjoyed drawing with Wesleigh.  Gracie is interrested a little bit, but doesn't like to sit still as long ;)

This Is My Life...

Yep. From sparkly earrings to nasty mud. That seems to be the irony that is my life. I had these four extra boys at the house Sunday night, and Bryce had three boys over the following night. I love every one of them and enjoy having them at the house...but they're exhausting! I had 3 loads of NASTY clothes to wash after their fun here, and let's not even talk about the food situation. They had a blast, and I was happy to have them here.

This is Braden and Cole (my 4th boy).  These two are inseperable.



Cade and John Ashley.   They were so happy to be hanging out with the older boys :)  These two are best buds too, and so sweet!


The fun part of my life is that the pics of Gracie in the last post were taken at the same time. The girls love to be where the boys are, but not once did they even consider getting in that mud. Thank the LORD!!

Look What We Did!!

Yep!  Those are brand new, sparkly earrings in those ears!  For a few months now, Gracie has been talking about earrings.  She noticed Wesleigh's all the time and did not like the fact that Wesleigh and I had earrings and she didn't.  I wanted to wait a while since she is older and more aware of what's going on than Wesleigh was.  She is also super strong (and loud!) so I needed her to be somewhat on board so we weren't fighting her.

Saturday ended up being the big day.  Braden and Cade were supposed to be playing baseball, but the weather had different plans.  It poured down all day.  I decided this would be the perfect time.  There aren't too many times that Richard is available to go with us to the mall :)  It was so nice to have his help.  He even held her while they did it.  She was not happy and screamed bloody murder, but before long was admiring her sparkly earrings.  Now, she is so proud and says "I big gurl...earwings"

Here are a couple more pics of Miss Gracie.  She just made 6 months home!  I cannot believe it's only been 6 months since we were in China!  It seems like such a distant memory.  She is amazing and anyone who meets her cannot believe she has only been here for 6 months!  It is crazy how much she's learned in such a short amount of time.

It's Mardi Gras Time!

Around here, that's just another excuse for a big party.  You wouldn't catch us anywhere close to New Orleans right now!  Sweet, innocent Lily and Rita are in New Orleans now with some friends.  Lordy, I am sure they are seeing things that will blow their minds!  I gave them strict instructions that their shirts were to stay down at all times!  Their eyes got so big when I said it and they just giggled...just wait!  I told them to send me pics and to make it back alive :)  I gave them their first tiny glimpse of a Mardi Gras parade last weekend at our local parade.  Bryce's band was marching so the girls and I brought Lily and Rita.  They were so cute and loved catching the beads.



The kids are out of school this week, so Friday was the pre-school parade. Oh my was it cute!! I remember doing this with the boys. They all love it! All dressed up for the parade.

Bryce and Cade only had a half day of school, so I let them skip and come with us.
I'll bet he was the only high school boy wearing a feather boa!! (well, I hope he was!!  )

Catching goodies that other classes are throwing.

...and taking a turn throwing. Cade and Bryce were recruited to pull wagons :)

That's as Mardi Gras as it gets at our house.  I had 4 extra boys spend the night last night and will have 3 extra tonight.  These breaks wear me out!!

A Sweet New Friend

I LOVE meeting new bloggy friends in person!  If you had told me years ago that some of my closest friends would be met on the internet, I would have laughed out loud!  This week, I got to meet yet another blogger friend.  Amber and her family are waiting on their TA and will be in China soon to pick up their adorable Mia!  They have 3 adorable boys, which means we have an immediate bond :)  You can follow their journey HERE.  Her family was so sweet to stop by for a visit on their way home from vacation.  They brought the girls gifts from Disney and the boys even gave them their special Mickey balloons before they left.  Those balloons are still floating around the house, being played with!  Thanks for the visit Amber and Joe!!!  Can't wait to see you with that precious baby girl!!



Joe was the instigator of this one...what can I say? We both have lots of boys around :)

I just love that these husbands will humor us as we meet new bloggy friends across the country! I remember the first time I had Richard take us to meet a new family...SO funny, but so amazing!! This adoption communtity is such a blessing.  I don't think there is anyone else around who understands the emotional highs and lows you go through on an adoption journey.  It's always more fun to share all of that with friends!

***  If you wanted Connie's email address and have not gotten it from me, just leave me a comment.  I think I got them all answered, but might have missed some.  This is not the woman who paints the bows.  I was asked that question.

Missie Moosie and Bows!

I am so behind on my posts that I haven't even posted about my Missie Moosie trunk show!!!  There is one more day to use the code Jenn10 to get 10% off everything on the site.  They have some precious clothes for the spring.  Click HERE to visit their site!  (This is one outfit my girls will be sporting this spring!!)

Also....many of you have asked about the bows my girls wear.  I spoke with the woman who makes them for me (Connie) and she is willing to make them for you too!  She does not have a site up, so you would have to contact her via email.  She is so talented and makes our bows to match pictures I send her :)  If you are interrested, leave me a comment and make sure I have your email address.  I will email you her contact info!! 

This bow is an example of one that Connie made:

My Littlest Valentines

These two looked super cute today :)  They were so excited.  Gracie Joy is wearing a skirt that was Ainsley's when she was little :)  Thank you Ainsley for letting us borrow your adorable Valentine's skirt!



Gracie loved the camera today, so I took the opportunity to snap some adorable pics :)


I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day close to the ones you love!

Wesleigh is FOUR!

Wesleigh's birthday was so much fun. I don't know if I've ever seen a child so excited about it! I love her hair down. It is getting so long.



This dress was a hand-me-down from a sweet friend (you will see it again in a couple of months!) I had this bow painted to match the cupcake on the front.

Wesleigh was so excited about her cake.  She asked for a purple heart cake...and never wavered on that.  She loved it!






The first present she opened was her Buzz Lightyear.  I can't tell you the kick I got out of buying her Toy Story gifts!  I never thought I would be re-buying all of that!  She LOVED it.  Rylan's comment when she opened it was "That's a boy toy!"  lol...


Gracie was a little unsure of all the attention Wesleigh was getting.  Richard held onto her while Wesleigh was opening her presents.  Otherwise, she would have been fighting Wesleigh for them.  Honestly, she like Toy Story, but not like Wesleigh.  She is much more interrested in anything princess. 


Aunt Amanda helping Wesleigh design a purse.


I'm not quite sure how this came about, but anyone who has spent any time at all with Gracie will find it amusing, as I did :)


Hanging out with Grandad.

Score One for the Old Mom!

I'm just going to tell you...this whole school year, I have been the preschool slacker mom. Partly because I'm tired, old and pretty much losing my mind :) Well...score one for the old mom!!! My girls are sure to have the cutest Valentines tomorrow :)






If I'm completely honest, making these and having them printed was so much easier than doing it the traditional way.

I'm working on Wesleigh's birthday post. She loved her party!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Angel!

Oh, the things this girl does to my heart! She is the sweetest angel I know, and I feel like she was sent her just for me :) She is so excited today that she can hardly contain herself. We stopped by the bakery on the way home from church to pick up her special request purple heart cake. I took her in with me and as we were waiting in line she hugged me and said, "You a gwate mommy". I could sit here and sobb thinking about it. You see, the road she traveled to get here, with me, in 4 tiny years is too much for this mama to dwell on. What an amazing gift of God she is!

Wesleigh Jane, your Mommy loves you to the moon...and back!

My New Ministry

It seems, lately, I have been placed in a new role in my life.  I think my new ministry is making other moms feel good about themselves!  I have always been a bit of a ditz, but generally have things under control (or can fake it well enough!).  These days...not so much!  Let me give you a few examples so I can minister to you so you will feel better about yourself as a mother!

1.  I forgot that I needed to pick Braden up from school a few days ago.  He called me when school let out and said, "who's picking me up?"  hmmm...yep....that would be ME!  He was not happy with me.

2.  I let Wesleigh's ear get pretty bad before I brought her to the dr.  I now know that she has a pretty high pain tolerance.

3.  There have been minor incidences of dirty, wrinkled uniforms being worn to school and baseball.

4.  I forgot pajama day the other day for the girls!!!  This was MAJOR!  I even had the adorable pj's picked out...just had no idea when they day arrived.  When I dropped them off, they were the only ones in regular clothes.   We live about 20 minutes away from school, but I sped home as fast as I could, grabbed their pj's and sped back to school.  We did a superman change in the bathroom and all was right.  Geez!

And my crowning glory:
5.  Two days ago I forgot to wake Cade up for school.  He gets up at 7:20 each morning to catch the bus at 7:40.  Tuesday, I was on the phone with my mom at 8:30 when I heard someone coming down the stairs.  The worst part is that I didn't even remember him at that point!  I actually had no idea who was upstairs!!!  Poor baby...not that he minded being late.  I was just glad the girls didn't have school because I would have left to take them to school and never thought about him being home!!

So...do you feel better about yourself now??

I know there is more, but throught God's grace, I can't seem to remember them all!! 

Have a great day!  I am proud to report that all my children  were woken up today and are where they need to be :)

Our New Friends

We had a great day today getting to know our new friends, Rita (left) and Lily (right)! They are absolutely precious and I am so happy and blessed to have them in my life. I brought them to our house to meet everyone. Then we took them to our favorite Chinese restaurant. We have plans to visit an Asian market and cook our own Chinese food! Well...they will cook and I will do whatever they tell me to :) Gracie and Wesleigh were so excited!!



Rita and Lily waited over 3 months to be matched with me. I never even knew this program existed until I was contacted. If you live in my area, please consider taking part in this great program. In fact, I am sure this program is available at other universities also. It is called the International Hospitality Foundation and the email at LSU is ihf@lsu.edu.

I am quite certain you will be seeing much more of Lily and Rita!!

I Never Told You...

Right when we got home from China with Gracie, a friend came over and brought me lunch with a 225 magazine she had picked up.  225 is a very popular magazine distributed around town.  I rarely get one because they are always gone before I can get it.  As I was going through the magazine, I saw that they were having a photo contest.  I immediately thought of China and that I must have something worthwhile I could submit.  As I read the categories, I came upon one titled "Journey of your life"!!  Their subtitle was "exotic places, exotic faces".  Well....I had a little girl who had just taken the journey of her life!  I was so excited and knew exactly what picture I would send.



My goal was to reach people with the adoption message. I had to come up with a 100 word caption that told the whole story. There are so many people who read this magazine that I just knew this little face would haunt some of them! lol... Do you know that I never even saw her face in the reflection until I went to submit it!! I'm sure you know where I'm going with this! Yes!! I WON! Not just for my category, but the whole thing!!! I was so unbelievably excited when they called with the news! A huge bonus is the $300 gift card I won to our local camera store! Whoo Hoo!! Here is the write-up in the magazine:





You wouldn't believe how many people tell me they saw the picture. People at church, people at the girls' preschool...everywhere. I love that! A couple of days ago, I got a call from someone at LSU. She runs an international hosting program. She said she had read about me in 225 and thought I might be interrested. I am!! They paired us up with 2 girls (best friends) from China who are attending LSU. I am so excited about it! The goal is to do something with them once a month and be in contact with them. I am hoping we will fall in love with them and they will be around more than that! I think the girls are going to be SO excited!