Spread The Joy!

 There is a very important post over at my pal, Diana's, blog today!

 Many of you have followed the journey of this precious child, Ivy Joy, from China to her forever family just 8 months ago.

The next step of her journey starts very soon, as her family will be traveling to Boston where she will receive the life-giving surgery she needs.

 YOU CAN HELP!!

 Please click HERE to see how you can be a part of supporting this precious family!!

Band 2012

 Band festivals have become one of my favorite things! I love seeing the different bands perform their shows. I think one reason might be that it's something I could have never done. I think I would have tripped over my own feet the entire time.  The girls love it too.  They become restless in between bands, but once they start playing, they are mesmerized!  

I have more pics to share, but thought I'd post these quickly.  I love them :)

Braden and Cade Homecoming 2012

Braden and Cade go to the same Jr. High this year.  Their homecoming dance was Friday and made for a busy day.

As you will see, there is a huge range in how dressy they got :)

Braden's date came by for a little while to snap a few pics before the dance.

They look adorable.




 His first loves :)
 

I'm happy to have a few good pics of Braden dressed up :)







 Cade's group of friends came over before the dance too. They went to the dance together, and from what Cade said, they had a great time.  Thankfully, for the boys' sake, the 6th grade has a separate dance than the 7th and 8th.  I don't think my two would have enjoyed being together.  Cade is way to nuts and Braden is way too reserved :)




My favorite:



They're a bunch of goofballs!

Too Cute!

Finally...I snapped a few pics of the girls yesterday. I'm not sure why I've been in such a funk...but I am coming out of it! These girls looked so adorable yesterday that I could not pass up the opportunity. The photo hiatus evidently paid off because they were ready to pose! I LOVE these!

 

Gracie struck this pose all by herself.  Wesleigh was sitting next to her, and I made her move quickly.  You would swear this girl used to model!

SO Proud

For years Braden has attended school with a sweet girl named Megan who has Down Syndrome. In elementary school, a few of the girls adopted Megan, in a way. They included her in their group for school activities. I remember one day, in particular, when it was "twins day". They made sure Megan had clothes to match them that day. So sweet! Well, now this group of kids is in the 8th grade! Last night was the homecoming game. Not only did the eight grade class vote Megan onto the homecoming court, but they crowned her as queen!

 

The smile on this precious child's face is priceless! I asked Braden if he voted for her and he said he had. Word has it that she won by a landslide. I am just so proud of this class. Even Cade (6th grade) asked if I had seen Megan win. He said he wished he was in 8th grade so he could vote for her :) You just have to love that!!

The dance is Friday!!!  Braden has a date and Cade has a group of silly boys coming over to take pics.  I'm thinking I'm going to have some fun pics to share!!

Time for a Little Football!

This past weekend was just what I needed. Heidi and I have been friends for 30 years! We were both in desparate need of some R&R and that's exactly what we got. We did a little retail therapy, pigged out on some amazing food that we did NOT cook and were completely lazy the rest of the time. It was perfect!! (This isn't from this weekend, but a couple of months ago.)

If you remember my last post, I was ticked that I had missed all the "good stuff" earlier in the week. Finally, I caught something exciting! Cade made an interception in the game last week and I caught it on film :)




He actually hit the ball first and it flew back in the air, then he caught it.  So awesome!




I love this shot...I just feel bad for his little teammate that is under him :)








Cade is usually all about me taking his picture.  This night, I guess he decided he wasn't up for it!  I told him I was posting it for sure!


Reminded me of another picture I posted recently:


lol...BOYS!!!!!!

The Beast

So this post is totally going to be bragging.  I apologize now but it is, after all, my blog :) Cade is having an amazing week!

We are in the middle of football season.  Football has been different this year.  He's playing for the jr. high school and it doesn't quite compare to the amazing season we had last year.  Last year was something special.  However, he is in 6th grade and he's doing great.  He plays in the 7th grade game and will likely start seeing the field in the 8th grade games, as well.  I never knew I would enjoy this sport as much as I do! I have yet to catch any amazing pictures yet, but I'm going to try again tonight :)

In the middle of football, we are also playing a little baseball!  Not a lot, but we are on a newly formed team this year and they want to see what they have.  This will be the first year that Cade has played in his own age group.  He has played in a higher age bracket since he started tee ball at 2!  He got away with that because Richard coaches and because he's so much bigger than most boys his age.  Also...he's that good!

He has had an amazing week.  He went 9 for 10 Sunday with his first over the wall homerun!  He was just a little excited.  I, however, have been in mourning all week because I was in the 200 degree bathroom with 2 little 4 yr. olds when he hit the homerun!  I'm pretty ticked about it actually, but so proud of him and happy for him!  He also caught a pass for a touchdown yesterday (NO...I was NOT there!!!!).  I will be there tonight, however, so he'd better do something impressive!!!!!!!!!!

They played and won 4 games Sunday and I had 4 other children to take care of, so I missed the last 2 games.  A friend snapped these for me.

That is his homerun ball and the ring they won.