Remembering Part 2

Here is the second part of our Gotcha Day story. Been looking at pics of my kids today...they are growing way toooooo fast!!!

From 1 year ago....

Gotcha Part 2

I want to finish documenting our Gotcha day so that I don't forget to many specifics.....and because we have a fun night planned at Adam's school tonight and I bet we all come home and go straight to bed!
So anyways, we all cheered and started taking pictures.
We took pictures with the main people who have been with us since the beginning and then we took some quick ones in front of the judge. We have our first family photo session scheduled this Saturday so I didn't take hoards since we were on someone else's time. Then we went out into the hallways and the kids and I opened presents. Mrs. Becky got Goober two small motorcycle toys, which were just perfect for him! She also got Ribbit a Teddy Bear and she carried it around the rest of the day. Arrow presented both kids with a Kids Adventure Bible and Goob was thrilled...he has been asking for a new bible and he carried that thing with him all day long yesterday and brought it to school today! They also gave me a charm that represents me and my two new kiddos...it was very very sweet. CASA also gave us frames that they all signed to put our adoption day pictures in. About 10 minutes later our attorney came out with more paperwork for us and told us that the kids new permanent birth certificates would be coming to us and from there we can go their new social security cards. He also gave us the Adoption Decree which is more legally binding than if I were to give birth to both Goober and Ribbit. If we ever lose that decree, we have to go back to a judge in their birth county and go through another hearing to request a new one....its a big deal!
After that we all gave out "bye bye" love and hugs and left telling our CPS worker and caseworker that we wanted more and we knew we would see them again :)...right Adam, right right?

We told Goob that the rest of the day was his to plan...and boy did he. We immediately went to Sonic and all got milkshakes. Then we went home and watched Spy Kids. From there we went to the Chinese Place so that Goob could get his favorite...orange chicken! Then we went to McDonalds to play for about 45 minutes in the play center. Then we went home, put Ribbit to bed and started homework with Goober. He was soooo tired and stayed up 20 minutes past bedtime to finish his math. Besides a sour stomach from so much junk food it was a great day all around!


......and they all lived Happily Ever After :).

(1st family photo--Feb.13th, 2011)

Remembering 1 year ago!

Here is our post from what happened last year on this very special day.....what a blessing!

Who wants to cry?

I may need to do this in two parts. I have a lot to write down and I have a headache.
But I will start with this morning, Goober was in a great mood and as I walked away from dropping him off I heard him say " MOM". I was in the middle of hugging another teacher and left her to go see what he had in his hands for me. He gave me a piece of paper with a green heart and green cross drawn on it and said " Happy Adoption Day"...I thought to myself " he gets it". That was just reason #1 for not putting on any make-up until absolutely necessary today!
At 11:00 I went to check him out and his teacher said " Goob, make sure you give your mom what you wrote for her". She told me that he had worked hard on it that morning. He handed me an index card that said " Dear Mom, you are the best mom I have ever had...love , Goober". And that would be reason #2. It makes me want to hug him for days and days for the sweetness in those words and the very hard truth of his past in those words.
We got to the courthouse in their hometown around 1:00. I was glad to see them sleeping as we pulled in town  because I didn't want Goob to recognize anything and begin to dwell on his past. We immediately spotted our caseworker and she gave out hugs and helped us find the entrance. Once we all made it through the metal detectors (adam took a while because of his steel toed shoes :)), and got stickers from the friendly security guard we headed upstairs. We were immediately greeted by a swarm of people. Our caseworker from our adoption agency, our CPS caseworker, our attorney, the kids old CASA worker, the supervisors of CASA and several other people from the area who had worked with the kids in the past.I was so happy that they all came to be a part of our big day.
The next 15 minutes are a blur because we literally signed papers for three different deals and since we had to do it all today we couldn't make copies so we were signing our names one after the next, trusting that everything we signed was legit. Our attorney had us sign several things stating that we understood what was about to happen and how much court fees were. He then walked us through what was going to happen in the   courtroom and how we were to answer and what we could and couldn't do. Then we signed a ton more paperwork for CPS starting that we understood our responsibilities from here on out and that the children's birth county was releasing them to us. We also signed several things for medicaid and financial obligations. Then we signed paperwork for Arrow agreeing to be a full adoptive placement and that we were up to date on everything. Luckily, the kids love their CASA worker and she kept them busy walking them up and down the hallway.
We also spent some time explaining Ribbit's two new battle wounds. She has a bruise on her cheek from getting in a fight with the magazine holder, it won. She dented it but it left her with a nice blue bruise. Then, of all days, a little boy bit her on her arm today at preschool over a book. It looks painful and if I would have had time to put an outfit on her that covered it up I would have, but we didn't so that meant we had some explaining to do :)
Anyways, we were called into the courtroom soon after and of course Goob lead us up to the front row. There was an adoption trial right before ours but...did I get to see that one? Nope. Goob and Ribbit both had to use the bathroom at that moment....do or die!!! So we dashed to the bathroom, saw that the boys was out of order so I firmly encouraged Goober to just go in with me and his sister. I didn't want to keep that judge waiting.
We made it back in plenty of time and the judge called us up. Our three main workers came and stood with us. I'm going to write down as much as I can remember from the hearing but keep in mind I chased Ribbit around for a lot of it and held onto her as she screamed " down mommy".
The attorney introduced us and asked us to state our names. Then the judge asked us to swear in and testify by raising our right hands. Then the BEST part ( I thought ) was that the attorney noted that we came here today and have no relationship to these kids at the beginning of this hearing. Then he asked Adam several questions about the kids past, our qualifications and our intentions, all of which Adam answered Yes too. Then he asked me some questions and if I agreed with Adam said. Then he went over what we were requesting the kids name changes to be and asked us if we thought if it was in the best intentions for the kids to be with us. As we said Yes, Ribbit came and clinged onto my leg and said " mommy". Then the judge said " I am going to grant your wishes for the name change and even though you came here with no relationship to these kids you are leaving as birth parents with all the rights bound as such"....I LOVE THAT!!!. Then he read out loud each kid's new name and we high fived Goob and said " YES" and he said " Congrats". Everyone cheered and we started taking pictures. I think I will leave you with those pictures and go to bed. I will write about the rest of our GOTCHA day tomorrow. I am extremely drained emotionally and physically and life goes on tomorrow for the Harvell family of four!!

Photo Dump

I'm really feeling the effects of volleyball this week....like going to bed at 9 every night feeling. Fortunately, our very sweet friend brought my family dinner last night while I was gone to an away game. Otherwise, in Adam's words " the kids would have starved".
Our house looks like Hurricane Isaac came through here in Texas....but really thats 300 days a year...Im subtracting out the 65 days a year that CPS/Arrow/Lawyers/Transporters are here :).

P.S.-In two days we will be celebrating 1 year of our GOTCHA DAY (court official, not homecoming day when they first came to live with us)!!! Tomorrow we are celebrating with the kiddos classes by having donuts and fruit!!! Then Adam and I have some surprises up our sleeves for this weekend!

Anyways, here are some recent pictures.

This is first thing in the morning...I call him 'blinkey' then because it takes his big ole beautiful eyes so long to adjust. Anyways, he always always crosses his feet when taking his morning bottle :)

 Modeling some new handmade clothes....Red, White and Blue...during the Olympics

 She did mommies hair one day...yup, that is every single bow she owns on my head :)

 3 year old birthday outfit....super sassy. Momma found the brand Haute Socks and did some damage with the checkbook!

 Talking to CC and Papaw....Love my sweet little carmel kids!

 Right after I ate lunch with Ribbit I snapped a picture of her getting in line and listening to her teacher so well!

 Look at my big man starting violin lessons!!!

 Loving some bath time!!

Quick Update

Updates on the Harvells...

Baby Boy's little body definitely does not like sweet potatoes and/or heat. He loves to be outside though but the heat rashes he get our pretty bad. Of course we started with the one food that he would react too, so now we are on to carrots, peas, other bland veggies. He is trying to crawl so hard. He gets frustrated and buries his head in the carpet and screams. He is up on his knees but just can't move forward.

Ribbit is such a creature of routine. She gets up the same time every morning, about 15 minutes before our alarm goes off :). She lays on the floor beside our bed or out in the hallway by her room. She always, always, always requests "milk, snack and a movie" the minute she wakes up. She also request the same thing when we get home. She is starting to like water a little but milk is her favorite thing to consume!! She is loving school and talks about her teacher and her frreeannnddss all the time .

Goober started his second football season last night. At one point he kinda took over practice and asked his coach to let him be quarterback and he would throw to everyone else. I also heard several kids watching practice say "that little black boy is soo good, he can throw better then me". He is on an upward team of k-2nd graders and I am afraid he is going to be the oldest and get a little frustrated. We shall see.
He started violin today and was super excited. He says that learned exercises to do before playing and how to hold it. I hope he sticks with it and stays this excited.

Alright, off to bed I go.

Friday we are celebrating our 1 year anniversary of the Judge announcing us a legal family and as birthparents. It seems like it has been 10 times that long....but it just took the courts a little longer to catch up to how we were already feeling in our hearts. Now, if we can just get Baby Boy's issues wrapped up we will have even more "gotcha" dates to celebrate!

Happy 1 day late Birthday to my brother. You are an amazing 20 year old, who brings so much happiness to mine and my kids life. We love you and our proud of who you are allowing God to mold you into. We love you...oh and Ribbit says " shut up uncle chris"....you asked for it :)

Happy 6 months Baby Boy

Baby Boy is 6 months old....oh how I prayed that time would speed up when he wasn't sleeping through the night. Now I would give anything for it to slow down. He is just the cutest little chunk and we are so blessed to have him from the get go.
Something that we have started to think about is how our other two are going to feel knowing that Baby Boy was ours from birth (essentially). I always tell Adam that I wish I could have helped Ribbit out sooner....I hate to use the word save because I am not a Savior (far from it) but I do wish I could have kept him from seeing/feeling/witnessing/being involved in sooo many things. I don't know if those feelings will ever cross his mind since he came to us with a lot of loyalty to his birthmom. Its just another thing that we will have deal with as it comes.
I also think alot about their birthmom when days like this come around...birthdays, 1/2 birthdays..anything that moms make a big deal out of it. I wonder if she is thinking about them, grieving for their loss, or if she is in trouble herself and even remembers what day it is. I know how much it hurts, physically hurts my heart when Baby Boy gets a visit with her, I can't imagine what it would be like to not know how your children are spending their special days. I pray that God gives her peace and comfort in knowing that they are being loved on, cared for and prayed over.

It brings tears to my eyes to watch this sweet video above and think about how gracious God has been to my children....and for letting me witness all of it. I am so appreciative of all the hard work that my kiddos teachers do to grow them spiritually. In the big scheme of things I could care less if they make all As, are successful in every sport or are popular. What really matters is that they love the Lord, desire His ways and have an unshakable faith. That is just what is being poured into them every day at school.....and what Adam and I are trying to pour into them at home consistently.

Still kickin

Life is back in full swing.
Our nights consist of dinner, baths, homework (2nd grade spelling words :)), volleyball games, meet the parent nights, meet the teacher nights, ranger games, church functions and we are about to add in Goober's football games and practices and his violin lessons. Needless to say this is the first night in a very long time that I have been sitting on my couch at 7:54 with all 3 children already sleep and not needing to do 5 piles of laundry, dishes and/or lesson plans.

Goober is doing great in school, hasn't moved his stick yet. His teacher says he is doing very well and just gets a little chatty at times :). He loves second grade, loves his teacher, and loves all the boys in his class. He is on top of his homework and has brought home several high grades. He is also waking up early and getting dressed without any help in hopes that he gets to go to vball practice with mom. He goes about twice a week. He loves to watch the girls practice, shag run away balls and have mom to himself during their stretches so that we can do our own "ballyball" workout.

Ribbit is also doing well. Capturing the heart of everyone. She comes out saying new things all the time. We are so blessed to go to a christian school. Today when I asked her what she learned she said " in de beginning, God created (long pause) Genesis 1:1"....as clear as could be. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time!!!!! She also knows " little bo peep" which she sings to Papa on the phone and loves to play "hot tatoes". She is sleeping during nap time and loves her Mrs. Wussell (russell) and all her Freeeannds.

Baby boy is getting so big, sprouting new teeth, had his first baby food this week and is crawling backwards. He has the most cantagious smile and laugh. He loovveess going outside, could sit out there all day if it wasn't so hot. He loves watching his brother and sister play the Wii and he loves taking a bath. He is still sleeping thru the night with a hiccup every now and then. Through several recent events and court hearings we are pretty sure that he will be ours very soon.

My volleyball team is doing well, undefeated so far. I passed my driving portion of the CDL license with a 99, took a point off for my positioning while parallel parking. My co-coaches and co-workers are sweet as pie and I'm almost back in my rhythem....still need a Pepsi around 2:00 to get thru the last part of my day :).

Finally, HAPPY HAPPY Birthday to my Daddy and our Papaw. We love love love you and can't wait to see what God has in store for you here in the next couple of months. Thanks for giving me a love for art that has led me to a very satisfying and God-honoring career. Thanks for loving on Goober with trips to the fishing hole and bike rides on the Harley (you do know that he expects his own Harley this year right?). Thanks for making Ribbit always feel like a princess and letting her paint your fingernails and apply chapstick all over your face :)...you are "her papaw". Thanks for treating Baby Boy to his first dose of sugar, yogurt, cheese, and all the other things that infants are not supposed to eat :)..oh, and loving on him and teaching him to love Rock early on!!! Thanks for always telling Adam that he would have made your short list if you got to pick my husband :) and always reminding him that he is your family. I LOVE YOU!!!

Here are some pics and videos from Ribbit's birthday and Harvells at home.

At the circus for Ribbit's birthday.,..but Ribbit was too scared of the clowns to take pictures for a while.

                                                                            Captivated!!

                                                                As good as we could get :)

                                                                 Eating sweet potatoes!

Super cute alert for this video. Goober is the best big brother ever...I laugh every time I watch this!

                                                    Eating our first baby food....sweet taters!

Photo Dump

Yesterday, even though it was a hard day, it ended up being pretty dagum great.
We go to a city (that shall remain nameless) on August 28th to make our permanency plea for Baby Boy. Things are looking up.

We also close on our home tomorrow.....I have mixed feelings on that because we aren't going to make back the money we thought we would....I am a little upset with those who persuaded us to buy the house in the first place and mad at myself for not making sure I understood everything Regardless we will be able to put a little money (tiny is really the word) back into our savings account and not have a mortgage payment every month. Actually I don't have any room to be upset since God answered a 3 year long prayer of ours....oh well, forget what I said.

Here are some pictures from my phone over the past couple of days.....its taking all the energy I have to put this up tonight....volleyball is in full swing, classes are in full swing, 2nd grade homework is in full swing, Adam working some nights is in full swing, our social life is always in full swing :) so my legs are actually throbbing tonight (could be those blasted cute shoes again) or the fact that I walked up and down two flights of stairs about 70 times today.

One of my bestest friends (my bffae :)) came to see us this past weekend and we finally got to meet their sweet little girl. Goober fell in love with her and wanted to hold her immediately. He also played with her on the floor and kissed her. He is turning into such a loving little boy.....I get onto him every day for growing up...I threaten to take away his Wii if he grows one more inch or gets another year older. He always says " mom that will only work if you stop growing up too"......and we all know that ain't going to happen :)

 OHHHHH Mr. Doug has got his hands full. Their daughter is a full 2 months older than Baby Boy but look at how similar in size they are. When Adam picked her up, he couldn't get over how light she felt. He says that Baby Boy is just compact :)

In their swimming suits, ready to go!

 Two great daddies in the pool with their babies.

 Baby boy loooooveess the water. He squeals and splashes non stop. He is even starting to do that in the bath...he just loves water.

 HHHHHEEEEYYYY Momma!!!

 Another mom took this picture of Ribbit's clas on their first day of school....notice she couldn't care less about what is going on around her...she has found the farm animals in the red bin to play with!!!

thoughts

The statistics in yesterdays borrowed blog preached a sermon in themselves. Those statistics remind me of how fallen and how needy we are of a Savior. They also show me how much we value life, zip, zero, zilch. We have started to treat children as a burden, a problem, parenting is something we must do...not something we get to do.

With all that said, the people that are willing to foster/adopt kids definitely don't want to be anyone's hero. I never want my children to think of me as someone who saved them, instead I want them to see Jesus as their Savior.

Its emotional to write this as Baby Boy will once again visit his birthmom tomorrow. She has not wanted to see him in the last 3 months so I am not sure why such a sudden visit was asked for and granted. Its tough letting your son go, with CPS to a neighboring city and sit with his birthmom, while you know nothing of what happens at the visit or how he is treated. Its heartwrenching. I tend to not let myself think about it. I know she gave him life but she didn't honor or value that life. We won't tell the other children of this visit since it will be during the school day and due to the chaos that occurred during the last visit.

Please pray with us that she will first of all find Jesus, that he will rock her world and change her heart. Pray that she will allow us to continue parenting Baby Boy without any more hiccups or threats. She isn't stable and I'm afraid of what shenanigans she may have up her sleeve with this visit.

I'm clinging to this song all day tomorrow...you should hear sweet Goober sing it along with me.

Oh I'm running to your arms, running to your arms
The riches of your love will always be enough
Nothing compares to your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing No other Name......Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing No other Name......Jesus, Jesus

Borrowed Blog

 

Today I am posting a post from a friend of a friend of a friend. The title of the post caught my eye and I am really glad I read it.Some of my own personal opinions are scattered throughout ........now, if we could just save them all.

Terah Sampler Blog

You’re so vain. You probably think this blog is about You. Tuesday, Jul 24 2012 

I want to begin this blog with a bit of a disclaimer. I Please don’t hear me saying that I think it’s wrong and terrible and selfish to have biological children. I don’t think that at all. I have a biological child and he is terribly amazing. He looks just like his daddy and acts just like his mama. Poor kid. I think all children are such a blessing and a miracle – no matter what avenue they come to be in your life. I am merely saying that J and I realized early on that the more biological children we had, the less that we would be able to adopt. We made the decision before we got married that we wouldn’t actively try to have biological children. But if you want to have 100 biological children, that’s your prerogative. All I have to say is, God bless your poor uterus. The purpose of this blog is not in any way to chastise those who want biological children – I happen to think that’s an innate desire.

The purpose is to open your eyes a little bit to what’s ahead for kids in the foster system if people like you and I don’t step in and say, “Enough.”

The purpose is to encourage you to help break the cycle.

The purpose is to encourage you to be about creating mini-versions of Christ, whether they come from your gene pool or not.

Since we made the decision to adopt, we’ve been getting awesome questions like these:

“Are y’all going to have more of your own kids?”
“I thought y’all would want to have more of your own.”
“What color are they?”
“Where are they from?”

I have always been a bit of a Sassy McSmarterson. Just ask my mama or J or anyone who has known me for longer than 5.3 seconds. So my answer to these ridiculous questions is, “Um. The boys will be our own kids.” Of course, that’s not really the answer they’re after. What they really want to know is, “Are you going to spit out any more mini-versions of yourselves?” “Don’t you want to have a little girl that looks just like you, Terah?” God, help us if this ever becomes the desire of our hearts. I want to be about making mini-versions of Christ.

Because at the end of the day, if my kids look like me but don’t look a thing like Christ, I’ve failed. I’ve failed miserably.

In case you didn’t know, humans are selfish and vain. This is innate. If you don’t believe me, I’ll let you borrow my almost 3 year old and you will quickly change your mind. I have honestly never understood the great desire (sometimes bordering on obsession) with having biological children. People go to great lengths and spend great amounts of money in order to have biological children. Now I think the entire birthing process is an amazing miracle. And I love that when I look at my Judder-budder, I see his daddy (and a hint of me in his eyes). I think that’s an amazing and beautiful gift. But my life is not more complete because I have a child that looks like my husband (and a little glimmer of me every now and then). But we humans are vain. We are proud when we have offspring that have our best features. One of the first questions we ask after a new baby is born is, “Who does he/she look like?” Or we say, “He looks just like his daddy.” I will never forget the look of pride in J’s eyes as he was making phone calls to alert the world to Jud’s arrival and declaring that Jud was his mini-me. And I don’t think that is in and of itself a terrible, awful thing. I think it’s beautiful, magical even. But I do think we can get too caught up in having mini-versions of ourselves. I don’t know about you guys, but I want more for my kids than that. I think as parents, we are called to do more than perpetuate our own gene pools. Are we not called to make mini-versions of Christ (ehem, disciples)? As parents, is it not our job to help our children “discover and reveal the image of God”? (I stole that line from my bud.)

At the end of the day, if my children do not imitate my Savior, do I really care if they have my eyes or my rock star personality?

For all of those dying to know if I want to physically give birth to any more kiddies, I would be perfectly happy if I didn’t. I mean, let’s be perfectly honest. The birthing process was part of the curse, after all – it’s not meant to be a pleasant experience. But that’s not the only reason I would be perfectly happy with building our family through adoption from here on. I have to believe that if people knew what I know about life for kids in the foster system, then they would want to be involved or at the very least they would understand why having more mini-versions of me and J is not on the top of our bucket lists.
So let me just lay down some numbers about life for children in the foster system for you.

• 408,425 – the number of kids in the system
• 59 – the percent of these kids that are not white
• 3.1 – the average number of placement changes while in the system
• 28,000 – the number of children who aged out of the system without a forever family
• 48 – the percent of children age 10 or older
• 70 – the percent of children in the system who also have siblings in the system
• 29 – the percent of African-American children in the system (keep in mind that African-American children only make up 14% of the U.S. child population)
• 107,011 – the number of waiting children (meaning, they have a goal of adoption and/or parental rights have been terminated – not including kids 16+ whose goal is emancipation)
• 37.3 – the average number of months waiting children are in continuous foster care (that’s a little over 3 years, fyi)
• 13 – the percentage of waiting children living in pre-adoptive homes
• 55 – the percentage of waiting children living in non-relative foster homes
• 8 – the average age of waiting children
• 100,000 – the approximate number of foster kids in the state of California alone
• 65 – the percent of foster kids in CA that leave the system without a place to live
• 1 – the percent of foster kids who earn a college degree
• 33 – the percent of foster kids who age out that will be homeless within 3 years
• 25 – the percent of boys who age out that will end up in prison
• 50-60 – the percent of kids in the system who have moderate to severe mental health problems
• 1 in 4 foster children will be incarcerated within the first 2 years after leaving the system
• Girls in the foster system are 6 times more likely to get pregnant by 21
• Adults who have a history in the foster system suffer from PTSD at 2 times the level of a U.S. war veteran

And this is just the beginning. When we first started this process, our social worker told us that sibling groups and biracial children are the least likely to be placed. Knowing this, how could we just turn a blind eye? How could we just go on with life as usual? How could we continue to pump out a bunch of mini-versions of ourselves and ignore the fact that nearly 108,000 children in our own country are waiting for a family to love them?

If you made it through this blog, dear friend, you can no longer claim ignorance. You can longer pretend that the orphan crisis is in some far off land. You can no longer claim that it’s someone else’s problem. I know that you can’t, because I used to be you. Knowledge comes with great responsibility, dear friends.

Help break the cycle.

Take a stand against the orphan crisis.

Be about making little imitators of Jesus, not just a mini-me.

First day of school

Today went quite splendid...neither one of my kiddos cried for momma or needed extra hugs.....instead I needed an extra hug and I held back the tears as they both entered their classrooms so confidently.
Ribbit practically begged me to leave so she could play with her friends and Goober was ready to start his morning work....soo, off I went to my own room to get ready for my own students.

I forgot how tiring teaching is, not only just on your body but on your voice. Just like the beginning of every other school year I am already horse and my legs are sore....could be the cute shoes I wore, could be the amount of stairs I scaled or the amount of times I walked back and forth between the grammar, pre-grammar and rhetoric school :).

I did go by and peek at Ribbit during naptime. She was doing anything but napping, she was instructing her pig how to nap and making faces at her teacher and classmates, but there was not a trace of sleepiness in that child. I stood at the door and laughed at her for a minute or so and then went to check on Goob.

That lack of a nap reared its ugly head tonight at 6:30 as Ribbit threw a fit and then fell asleep during her fit, so she went to bed very early tonight.

Goober also went to bed early but only because he showed up in our bedroom at 6:30 (the time we normally wake up) completely dressed...completely with his belt, something I always have to remind him about. With his glasses on, backpack packed and a smile on his face.....he was "so nervous" :).

Here are pictures documenting our morning....I promised Goober "no more pictures" about 5 times but I just can't help myself...you only go to 2nd grade once right?

This is actually from last night...Meet the Teacher Night.

 I love how she is smiling at him soo big...check out her new "killy cat" dress :)

The backpack was a little heavy the first day of school....oh, and don't you dare call it a bookbag, its not, its a backpack.

 Baby Boy wanted his picture taken too on the 1st day of school....now you tell me how hard it would be to leave this cute little thang?..SUPER HARD

 Pulling up to school early in the morning.

 Thanks dad for snapping this before we left!

 Their first day, sitting down at their new desks :)

 During dinner tonight, Baby boy showed off his gymnastic talents, watch out Olympics 2030!!!

 We couldn't get a good one of just the two of them because Ribbit wouldn't stop talking...oh well

School starts tomorrow

First-I remembered another super cute saying of Ribbits right now. She noticed that a bunch of Olympic athletes were on the back of the fruit loops box and so she calls them Olympics. In the morning she asks for a bowl of Olympics and some milk :)

Second, its true...we start school tomorrow. We went to meet the teacher tonight. Adam worked tonight so it was me and the 3 kiddos. I am not sure why I ever really take the stroller anywhere. Baby Boy and Ribbit won't stay in it, I can't maneuver it through large crowds and it takes me time (in the heat) to pack it up and put in the trunk. OOOHH wait I remember why, to hold the diaper bag, my purse, waterbottles, bottles, bows and paperwork. So, there I am trudging through the ridiculously packed hallways carrying Baby Boy, herding Ribbit, trying to keep up with Goober and pushing the empty double stroller.....all the while sweating through my freshly applied make up and saying excuse me and sorry every 5 minutes. What a hot mess :).

Regardless we "met" ( i put that in quotes since my kids already know their teachers and I know them as friends) their teachers, met some classmates, said Hi to our past teachers and convinced Ribbit that she could not stay the night at school...she must come home and could return to play tomorr'yo'.

All the bookbags are packed, lunches are made, paperwork filled out and uniforms ironed. Oh, and my classroom is ready, lessons laid out, supplies in their place and syllabi done too :).

Another praise---Our home inspection was today and there aren't any problems to take care of on our part...that means we close next Wednesday!!!!

Ribbits Birthday

Tomorrow our big girl will be 3 years old. I think Adam says at least once a day that he is worried about how pretty she is getting...I'm worried because she already knows she is pretty :). She is such a smart, bright, charming, loving girl. She clings to you within seconds and doesn't forget about those she loves. She can brighten a room with one big ole smile and I melt everytime  I hear "mommy" come out of her mouth. Right now she is doing and saying some pretty sweet things.

1-Elvis, our cat, likes to leave lizards for us right in front of our door leading into the garage. I say " thank you for the present Elivs" whenever I see a new one. Therefore, everytime Ribbit sees a lizard she now calls it a "present".

2- If she sees a small compact car she gets really excited and says " look at that baby car, I wanna drive it when I get bigger".

3-Her sense of yesterday and tomorrow is off so everything is happening or has happened "tomorr yo".

4- A conversation she recently had with herself in the car "I''mmmm falllliinnnng, what? you not falling....OOHHHHH, I not falling, Mommy I want a snack" ....all of that happened within 5 seconds.

5- She still runs to show Daddy how pretty she is every morning after getting dressed.

6-She has to have lotion on her face and deodorant on every day, just like mommy.

There are many many more..too many every day to remember. We love you big girl!!!

Here are some pictures from my phone over the last two weeks.

Eating ice cream at mommy's school.

 Ice cream coma...sweet thang.

 Ready for school....I gotta teach my mom how to do my hair :)

 Passed out on Daddy...he takes his best naps clinging to us!

 I have never met a better bigger brother.....he loves Baby Boy sooo much!!!

 I think he may be bigger than Ribbit pretty soon!!

 Showing off our Olympic pride in our new clothes!!!

 Hey Mommy!!!!

 Ready to start school in his new glasses......he loves them, won't take them off......hope that sticks!!!

First Time Home Sellers

Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for our TN Home to sell!! We accepted an offer yesterday and hope to close on the 15th. We were so surprised to get that call from our realtor but I'm not sure why since we were asking God to sell this for us and get that financial burden relieved. Isn't it funny how sometimes we are surprised when God answers our prayers...and then sometimes we don't think twice because we are so expectant?
I think our kids were just as excited as we were...what a great thing for them to see God do...to answer their sweet little prayers (and Goober prays for it weekly..he has a checklist that includes Gramps a "new job", Daddy a "full job" and our home in TN to sell.
This week mom also started back to inservice so the two older ones are going to the Cougar Club for teacher's kids and baby boy started going to his new sitter part time. Even though we already knew this, the teachers at Cougar Club can't get over how smart and talkative Ribbit is for not being 3...which she will be this Sunday :).
I swear there are some days where I beg her to give me 5, just 5 seconds of silence. She loves to narrate her life and everyone else's around her....from the time she wakes up to the time she falls asleep. Everytime I go in to check on them at cougar club she says " i not done playing with my friends, we not going home now?". She loves it and so does Goober...i mean what kid wouldn't want to play in the big kid gym and playground all day? They are both falling asleep a full hour earlier than normal and yesterday Ribbit practically begged me to put her to bed early. Baby boy is doing well too, his sitter said he did great today and they are getting used to each other. I love when I go to get him that he recognizes my voice and reaches out for me. He has one big ole tooth on the bottom and is starting to get another one there as well.

Here are some recent pictures and a video.

Watching cartoons with Daddy :)

    He likes mommy's wedding ring.

 and to stick his tongue out.

 Ohhh...what a sweet little face!

 HEY DAD!!!!

 Sticking out our tongues....Adam says mine looks funny :)