This and That ~ November

I had a few random pics that I never shared from the month of November.  I absolutely cannot believe it is almost Christmas already!  Christmas holidays mark the half-way point of our school year!  I feel like this school year is going to be over before I know it!  That means my biggest baby will start his SENIOR year and my little babies will be in KINDERGARTEN!!  Wow!  OK...I digress...November...random pics....

The girls, once again, had snack day (I signed up for everything in the beginning).

I, once again, relied on Pintrest to give me some good ideas. I had to weed through all the "over-achiever, first time pre-school mommy" ideas and find one that would be cute, quick and easy :) This is what I decided on:

This is what they turned out like in real life:

I didn't have time to find the cute sprinkles, but I think I did pretty good :) and the girls loved sharing their tee-pees with the class.

 We spread the joy this month by supporting Team Ivy :)

 I got a call from Bryce after school that said they needed a place for quintet practice. This is what I came home to: and the neighborhood was treated to a free Christmas concert :) (whether they wanted to be or not!!)

 Gymnastics has become the norm in this house. I find them doing this all over the house! And, yes...Gracie is always in her underwear!! That's just how she rolls :)

That's about all from November...well all that has been uploaded from the camera so far!

My big November news is that I leave on Thursday for a "mommy weekend"!  I am thrilled to be traveling to the frozen tundra of Minnesota (hey...beggers can't be choosers!)  to visit my very special BFF.  I also will be meeting another super fun, new friend, Paige, for the first time!  Don't you just love adoption and blogs??  I sure do!!  My plane makes a stop and picks Paige up on the way!  CANNOT WAIT!!

Sunday Snapshot {Pure Joy}

These are a few pics from Thanksgiving. I love this series and the joy that is oozing out of these two girls. They had more fun jumping in that pile of leaves and stirring up dust. They were filthy, and very happy!  :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which, are these two turkeys.



The girls have been singing their thanksgiving songs for weeks. They are the same songs the boys sang when they were in preschool, and I love them. It is so much fun to hear them all again. Of course, girls add an extra special flair than the boys did :) This was my 6th Thanksgiving feast at this school. I can't believe it's my last :( Both girls had a great time, and as you can imagine, Gracie did not fail to entertain!

I love Gracie's face in the background of this picture :)





















I uploaded the video in case you'd like to watch :)



HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Thank You!

First, let me just say that I have LOVED reading all of your comments on my 1000 post!!  Thank you all for leaving me a note to let me know who you are.  If you haven't signed in...please do.  I've had a smile on my face for two days reading all of your comments, and can't wait to visit all of your blogs!!

Second,  PLEASE go visit the Pearl River Outreach blog!!  They are in the middle of their Fill Their Stockings fundraiser.  There are some amazing prize bundles that you can have a chance at winning...all while helping some amazing orphans in China who need you!!!  Thank you for doing what you can.  Every little bit goes a long way to change these children's lives.

I'll be back to post some pics from the girls' Thanksgiving feast.  SO cute!!

We've Come a Long Way, Baby!

1000 posts to be exact!!! 

This is my 1000th post on my little piece of the internet.  I never knew, almost 6 years ago, that this blog would lead me where it has.  I started it as a way to document our life, especially the journey we were beginning to our girl in China.  Through it, I have met some of the most amazing women....some of which have become  my dearest friends...one of which lead me directly to Gracie! It has also helped spread the miracle of adoption...for which I am truly humbled!  I know that when I started reading blogs (back in the day), there were women who influenced me greatly on my quest to adopt a child from China.  These women paved the way for me, and the fact that I've been that to others is such a tremendous blessing!  Yay, God!   Who knew that as I documented our crazy life, God would use that to bring other precious children home?!

When I started this blog,  Bryce was 10, Braden was 8 and Cade was 6.  My brood is now 16, 14, 11, 4 and 4 :)  I was going to go back and find some pics to share of the past 6 years but, quite honestly, I just don't have the time to spend on it right now :(

So...instead, I will share some pics of my two little princesses who have most certainly turned our lives upside down, for the better!

I pray they never stop dancing...








Thank you all for your support through the years.  It is a true blessing to share my life with each of you!!

Now, please share yourself with me!  Leave me a comment and let me know who you are!  I have not been the best at visiting blogs in the past year, but I am going to get better!

Storytime

Before Gracie came home, I could only imagine what life would be like with two little girls....virtual twins.  Many times real life cannot compare to the dreams that we concoct in our minds.  These sisters, however not perfect, have totally lived up to my dreams.  I don't have a sister, so I've never know what it would be like to grow up with your best friend.

These are the sweet moments that make me take pause and thank God that He lead us to adopt Gracie...  So the two of them would have each other...."bess fwiends and sissers" forever.

Ariel reading a story to Tinkerbell and friends:  Wesleigh even had to excuse herself for a little while because one of her babies was crying :)

Taking turns...


The sweetest little fairy around :)
 

Preschool Halloween

Ok...I know everyone is way beyond tired of Halloween pics.  I know I am, but I wanted to make sure these pics didn't get left out :)


This is my 6th and last Halloween at this preschool. I am afraid that every event this year will be both happy and sad for me :( It is time for me to move beyond the preschool years, and I'm SO ready. But the thought of not being there anymore makes me choke up. It's only November and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a crying fool at the end of the year!

Oh well...on to the pics:
The girls and their beloved Mrs. Abadie. I'm pretty sure I actually hear Mrs. Abadie speaking through Wesleigh Jane most of the day :)
 

I love this series. Wesleigh was so interrested in this Spiderman costume. She made him put his mask on for her :) I love the way her hands are on her hips and she's smiling at him!

















That last picture was taken during this song.  It is such a cute song and I have video of my boys singing it when they were little.  Gracie sings it all the time, with very made-up words...so funny (that video follows)  How awesome is their music teacher??


As I was loading the previous video to the computer, Gracie was too funny. I had to video her singing while watching the video above. I will admit that she's not always this crazy...but she is alot of the time :)

Election Night

Nope...not the big one...I can't force myself to go there.

We did have a smaller election that we were watching last night that had a much better outcome :) My brother won re-election for his council seat. We were happy to celebrate with him at his party.

I know there are way too many pictures in this post, but Wesleigh seemed to be on a roll, and I couldn't make myself cut any of them out!

The fun seemed to start with these stickers that were on all the tables.  Wesleigh and Gracie are both nutso over stickers, so once they found them, we were set.  Wesleigh wore these ALL night.  It was the funniest thing ever!  Here she is with Joel (who we are very proud of!)
 

Joel was giving a speech.  Do you see my little princess sticking her tongue out at me???  Nice.


Boy have we come a long way in a year!!  Just looking at this, it strikes me how much more settled Gracie is now.  I'm so proud of her.




I hate to post so many pictures of myself, but Wesleigh's faces are cracking me up :)



Not the best pic, but I don't have many of me and my sweet daddy.  I'm going to work on getting a better one!


The girls spent at least an hour going around the entire room making sure everyone had stickers.  They were a team.  Wesleigh held the stack of used papers and Gracie carried the stickers.  Wesleigh would find someone who needed a sticker and tell Gracie to give them one.  Gracie would then slap it on them.  No...I do not know who this man is...and neither do they!!!  They didn't care...they put stickers on every single person :)  Gracie has definitely helped Wesleigh come out of her shell.




Bryce brought his girlfriend, so I think he had a good time :)


Braden and Cade were a little less thrilled...



This chick adores her PawPaw.  How could she not??  He lets her do this to him!!  :)


So proud of my baby brother :)