Saturday, July 27, 2013

Bathroom Posting

I'm hiding in the bathroom of the hotel room as I finish out the photo album for Oksana to take home with her.  Tears running down my face as there are only 2 more sleeps.
We went into this knowing it was only to host her. We knew we wold be stretched and pulled. We never knew just how quickly we could love.
Though we can't go into details she is not available for adoption.  We will do our best to keep in touch with her. A little piece of all of our hearts are leaving on a plane in just a couple of days.


Promises

We signed off to spend some time as a family. Here is God's promise for Oksana!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Happy Almost Birthday!

We celebrate Birthday's BIG at our house. Oksana's was no different!  We celebrated a little early from her real birthday, but that never stops us from a party!
All day she asked if it was really for her!  The outpouring of LOVE was amazing. Oksana has truly touched the lives of so many people in such a short time. It is amazing what people can do when they invest in each other. Thank you EVERYONE for investing in Oksana! 










Wednesday, July 17, 2013

An Ordinary Day

So mommy worked today and Daddy was in charge!!!! He let them build forts in their bedrooms. The girls let Ethan help, but then kicked him out.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Roller Skating

There is a great program called Kids Skate Free.  Kids can go skating 2x a week for just a skate rental fee. It was $4.50 to go skating!  Oksana had a blast skating, saying WOW as soon as we walked in the door. Ethan was a good skater as usual with all things athletic.  Hannah, well she may never be a speed racer. She did try as hard as she could to keep up with the big kids. We thankfully ran into our other friend named Hannah and our Hannah and friend Hannah had a blast hugging the wall!!! They did finally come off the wall towards the end!!!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Give Me Smore!!

We had some great friends over tonight! After dinner and Daddy's softball game we started up the fire pit and got ready for a treat!!! The 2 big boys never stop moving!  So why not give them a little more sugar!!!
They all played and played and played. We had to make them come inside! 
That is the ultimate summer night!!




Sunday, July 14, 2013

Lions, and Tigers and Bears OH My!!! A trip to the zoo!

Just a warning this post is full of pictures!!!
We have a fabulous ZOO here!  I got my dates mixed up and thought Sunday night was Members night. Well Members night was Saturday, so after church the kids and I packed a picnic and headed to the Zoo while Daddy worked.
It was HOT!!! The kids loved playing in the water.  I'm pretty sure that we didn't really have to look at any animals.  They did LOVE looking at the animals when I dragged them away from the water.
Oksana's favorite were the Polar Bears, Ethans were the Snakes/Alligators, and Hannah's were the Pandas.

Playing on the rocks in the water. 



All the Animals

More Water Play

Little Giraffes


One of my favorite shots!  Sitting in the Bubble watching the Sea Lion

The sea lion was so interactive. He kept coming up to the glass and doing flips. It was as if he was playing with the kids!  

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Art Camp

Hannah and Oksana got to participate in Art Camp last week. Hannah and Ethan's teacher from school was the teacher at Art Camp.  Hannah said the only thing that would make it better is if her music teacher would do a camp too!!!!
The girls had a blast and created some wonderful memories!!
Hannah's art is on top and Oksana's are on Bottom. 

The Sound of Music

The old theater downtown had a sing a long for The Sound of Music!!
It was fabulous!!! The girls loved it. The boys well they said it was ok!!!
They had the words up on the screen and everyone would sing as loud as possible.  Then just as it got quiet someone tooted really loud. And the giggles could not be controlled!!! It was at the most appropriate time when they were hiding from military and were supposed to be quiet!  

A little Swinging Fun!

The girls went to art camp this week! It was wonderful, but one of the best parts was the incredible tree in the front yard of Mrs. Lindsey's house!




Friday, July 12, 2013

I LOVE Memphis!


There is this fantastic building with 
I LOVE MEMPHIS painted on it. We thought it would be a great picture opportunity!!!




Thursday, July 11, 2013

Press Dough AS Seen ON TV

My kids have this crazy connection with their grandma. First, we don't have cable so most of the tv the kids watch is commercial free, but when they do see a commercial it is like it takes over their brain. This is especially true to As Seen On TV ads.  My kids write down the website/phone number and then call grandma because they know that there is NO WAY mommy is buying it.
Here is what they have convinced her to buy so far:
Press dough-Kind of like playdough cookies
Stompeez-They only work some of the time
Pillow Pets-Unicorn, and Panda
Slushie Magic-Let me just tell you that my arm is about to break off after we are done Slushing
Ice Cream Magic-Let's just say that it has never worked 
Monster thing-I really can't remember what this one was called, but it was supposed to be a hat. I THINK!

Imagine if we had cable and they saw all the commercials!!!

Ok so I bought sugar cookie dough and we pulled out the Press Dough Magic! 
The girls had a blast playing with colorful dough and baking the cookies. Maybe I used just a little too much food coloring because you could taste it just a bit too much. 



Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Junk Food Day and Water Fun!!!

I worked today and Daddy entertained the kids!  He took them to see Space Chimps at the Kid's summer Movies. Popcorn and Coke! SO they weren't really hungry when they came home.
I came home for lunch and was sitting and relaxing a minute when all the sudden my children's eye got HUGE!!! There was this musical sound that kept getting louder and louder and louder!! I told E and H to run fast out front!
They knew just what was going on...............The ICE Cream MAN was in the COVE!!!!Our house backs up to a semi-busy residential street, and we hear the ice cream man LOTS, but he NEVER comes into our COVE!!! I have always promised that if he does they will get ice cream! So for lunch we had ice cream and granola bars!!!

I took pictures of the kids in front of the Ice Cream truck, but my settings were off!  
So here is Oksana enjoying LUNCH!!!


We LOVE McAlister's Resaurant!  I am not ashamed to say that cooking is not my strongest gift. I can cook some things, but am grateful to have someone else do it. Tuesday night is Kids Eat free at McAlister's Deli.  I feel like it is healthier than fast food, and the very best part is it is connected to a field. So, the adults get to talk and the gets get to burn off their energy!  
Today was HOT!! So, I let the girls dump water on their heads!  Oksana thought Hannah was crazy, but then wanted to try! 


Monday, July 8, 2013

A special little present

Our Sweet friends brought Oksana a gift!!! Her whole face lit up when she saw what was inside the bag!!!
An entire bag of the girlyiest ( is that a word) sparkly, hair things and nail polish!!!
Oksana is in HEAVEN!!!!  
Huge Thank you to Brandy and Mike for their generosity!



Sunday, July 7, 2013

Ethan's 9th Birthday

We like to throw parties at our house! Especially birthday parties!!!! My kids have to pick a theme by February. They have summer birthdays! I found an incredible deal on NERF guns at ALDI. Ethan and Hannah wanted to buy one, so I said sure. Then Ethan said this would be a great birthday party. I Agreed and bought ALL that they had at the store. I was then on the hunt for more at all the other ALDI stores in town. My mom helped on the little rampage. I wish I had a picture of her trunk when it was full of NERF!!!


Friday, July 5, 2013

A little Photo shoot fun!

Since we went shopping for new clothes yesterday what better to do today than take pictures!!! SO glad I have a new subject! Sometimes my bio kids get tired of my picture taking. Hannah and Oksana willingly indulged!



Thursday, July 4, 2013

New Shoes! wOw Mama wOw!!!

We braved the Mall today in search of new shoes and a few outfits. Oksana is so tiny that she only fit a few of the things that I had bought. Even my 6 year old's clothes do not really fit her. Now my 6 year old is Very tall for her age.

After several stores we hit the Stride Rite Sale. She fell in love with sparkly, flowery, light up shoes!!!!

Her only words were WOW!!! Mama WOW!!!


Farmer's Market and Fireworks for the 4th

We have not ventured to the grocery store yet! It is overwhelming for me to take my 2 sometimes. So today we went to the Farmer's market. I thought Oksana could pick out some of her favorites without being totally overwhelmed!  She choose peaches and blackberries. We also had to indulge in some homemade Italian ice!!!!





Our little city puts on a big fireworks show.  My husband gets us front row parking since he has to work the fireworks. So we rested this afternoon, and headed out to the fireworks about 8. They were supposed to start at 9. We waited and waited and waited. They had one problem after another.  The control board went out and the something else. So we indulged in Funnel cakes and chase!


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Monday, July 1, 2013

Happy 9th Birthday Ethan!

My sweet boy turned 9 today! 9!!!! He lives, breathes, and eats baseball! He wants be in the MLB when he growns up! He has no interest in girls until he is 31 he says. that is when he will stop playing ball and work on being President! Oh how I LOVE his ambition!!!