Can you say EXHAUSTED??

Yes, we did it. We drove to Alabama through Thursday night only to turn around and drive home Sunday morning. The drive there was great..kids slept the entire time, we even stopped at a rest area and got about an hour of good sleep. The way home was miserable....Ribbit talked the entire time, just ask Goober. They took turns picking out a DVDs but neither liked the others choice. Goober had to pee about 2000000 times so by time 1435000 we stopped on the side of the road and let him go....no more gas stations that take us 15 minutes to get in and out of. We listened to the Rangers beat the Cardinals in Game 4 of the World Series on the radio during the last hour of our trip and we high fived each other every 5 seconds, the kids liked that.

Goober and I went to school late this morning and I could tell that he was pooped when he got to my room after school .....that makes 2 of us....he still got a good behavior sticker though :).

The kids got to see all of Adam's side of the family this weekend, and even meet Pop and Sue for the first time!! They behaved well and were show stealers most of the weekend. In Adam's words " If one more person tells me how cute our kids are.....:)". We know we have hit the jackpot with these two :).

Although this weekend was fun and it meant that we got to see lots of family it was also very exhausting, not only physically but emotionally. We were dealt a very low blow, one that was aimed at Adam and I but was executed out on the kids. A blow that felt like someone literally punched me in the stomach and knocked the air out. Although my kids didn't fully understand what was going on, Goober understood enough to know that he was being left out (Thanks for allowing me the privilege of explaining that to my 7 year old). That kinda stuff is what draws out the crazy momma bear in me and it took all I had to keep my composure. Its that kinda stuff that reminds me that we aren't just "playing house", we aren't just fill in mom and dads for these two. We are their protectors, advocates, guides and they are always first in our book. Their pain is our pain (times two). I can't wrap my brain around it, I've tried to make sense of why anyone would shun my kids and I can't so I'm just going to (in Adam's words) let them "live with that regret".

There, rant done.

As I thought about this ordeal on the 12 hour ride home I got more and more upset.....but God humbly reminded me that he too was shunned, he too was humiliated by his own....to a much larger degree than I will ever know. He even knew it would happen that way and showed unconditional love to the one (judas) who would kick his humiliation into gear. Its ridiculous how much he suffered so that I could be at peace with God.That puts thing into perspective for me...makes me feel oh so small, oh so undeserving.

I don't have the time or the energy to post pictures or videos from our weekend since that would mean loading them, editing them, labeling them, etc. Plus, we are still packing and I can't find some things :)...but here are some pictures and videos from a fall festival we went to recently! Enjoy!

Ribbit--"Choo Choo mommy, Choo Choo,  ALLLLLLL ABBBOOARRDD"

Decorating cookies with icing and sprinkles.

Decorating picture frames. He put all of our ages on the frame. He is obsessed with #'s and how old Adam and I are :)

Look at that sassiness!

  Ribbit was showing her friend " him ja him" (Benjamin) her "silly face" (face paint)

 She called this her "silly face" all night and wanted to show Daddy her pretty flower!