In their DNA

Shane had a helper while mowing this weekend....Nathan! First he picked up his little wagon and followed Shane all around the yard. He was making the same mower noise and grinning from ear to ear. Then, after Shane was all done he let Nathan hold on to the lower bar and they pushed the mower around the yard for real. Cannot possibly think the boy wasn't excited!!! What we found so sweet was we have these same exact picture of Jacob as this same age doing the same thing. It must be in the boys' DNA. Sort solidifies their brotherly bond now!

Traffic court today

So God knew I needed to hear Bob's sermon about anxiousness because I have to testify today on my behalf for my minor car accident a few months back. Sadly, I am struggling with the anxiety impart because I hate not know what to expect. Also, I am just plain old mad that I even have to do this. The guy I hit pulled out in front of me, I had no where to go but into his bumper and it really annoys me that he is not taking responsibility. I need to try really hard to keep my emotions under control and just pray that I can accept the decision the judge makes without crying. I pray that I can glorify God regardless of what happens today. I love that the sermon on Sunday included practical things we can do to combat the anxiety...praying for what we need in the midst! Awesome! Anyway, I am praying that the judge doesn't dismiss his ticket and I can finally get my car fixed, BUT I am also trying hard to accept the fact that he may win his fight and the ticket will be dismissed. If that happens I know a good mechanic who can fix my bumper...my hubby!

UPDATE: (2:00pm) Good news, Praise Jesus! The judge determined him to be at fault! I am so relieved! He does have an option to appeal so we may be in for more down the line but right now I am so happy! This is a good day!!!

Nesting or Hormones

For those of you that do not know Ayana's Mom will be giving birth to a little girl anytime in the next 3 weeks. We have asked to be considered as a placement for her and have a good shot since they like to keep siblings together. So because I am some what of a planner, (and I only say some what these days because frankly it is a part of my life I have had to be flexible about), I opened a bin full of Samantha's newborn clothes. Oh the memories flooded in and I just started crying. All these images of her in these tiny clothes popped into my head and I began to miss her as a baby. She was so cute and had so much hair! She was a fussier baby than Jacob but was a super sweet and snugly too. Anyway, I had to quickly recover and pulled a few things out to wash just in case God blesses our home with this newborn little girl. So I guess this chapter is a "to be continued"...

18 hours + 1 yard sale + 2 more boys = busy weekend

This was a huge weekend for us. My wonderful hubby took on a big job in changing out the bad engine for a brand new one in the suburban. With the amazing help of Bill and Mark, Shane and the guys spent just over 18 hours on the repair. Good news, the engine fired up this afternoon, bad news, it has a huge oil leak that cannot be fixed until after work tomorrow. I am so proud of him...he is more than I could imagine.










Suzy and I took on the task of a yard sale Sat. morning too. We had a bunch of great stuff but didn't have as much traffic as we hoped. I made enough money to buy pizza for the men and kids this weekend which was great and I managed to get rid of enough stuff to notice less clutter! And finally, we had Nathan's brothers over for a sleep over Sat. night. Terence is 5 and Terrell is 3 1/2 and they were fabulous! Both played hard and slept well. They weren't gone 30 min and Jacob said he was missing them. So, on to Monday and a relaxing couple of days.

Mama in training

Samantha does not waste any time playing house with Azul. I frequesntly catch her carrying him on her shoulder just like a baby. She wraps him in blankets and if he would stay in the her doll stroller she would put him there too. He is sweet to put up with her and actually I think he secretly likes it. This is how I caught them early this morning. So sweet!

First Ayana-ism

Pulling in the bank parking lot...

Ayana: "Mommy why are we here?"

Me: "Because I have to make a deposit."

Ayana: "Oh, (pause).....you putting money in your piggy bank?"

Me: (laughing) "Yes honey, I guess I am."

Creating some speed

Jacob and Samantha are really into creating/building things with their Dad right now. Shane and Jacob made a trebuchet that launches golf balls over Christmas break and this month they each made a pine car. Jacob is not in Cub Scouts yet, but he knows all about racing pine cars. A trip to the hobbie store, some cutting and sanding, painting and glueing and the cars are complete. They made a "track" this weekend and had a great time racing the cars. Such amazing memories being creating every weekend! They each did the majority of the work on the cars, including painting them all by themselves. I love this family!

Breathing Treatments

With all the wind lately our sweet little Nathan has been back to getting 2 breathing treatments a day for a week now. He is so good about sitting and waiting for it to finish. I usually bribe him with a cookie or something so he sits patiently. His asthma makes him sound like he has a "pack a day" habit and we sometimes get a good laugh at his expense...at least until he figures it out anyway. He is smiling behind this mask even though it is hard to tell.

Life less serious!

Thanks for the pic Mom

My Mom's idea about how to use the left behind socks.

Digital photography is so much fun!

Where DO the socks go?

Is there a sock heaven or sock graveyard? There has to be somewhere the socks go. I feel like I am buying a new package of socks for the kids every other month. I wash them but when they come out of the dryer several seem to be missing. This fabulous pile is a collection over the past three weeks. See, I thought maybe just maybe the "lost" ones would return in the next weeks' load but to my disappointment no socks. So now what, do I just throw them away or just keep buying new socks?

"Praise you in the storm"

Ok, so I have decided that God has a sense of humor I do not understand. When our fridge went out last week they sent a tech out on Wed finally, only he was not interested in doing a thorough job and left after 5 min and did not fix it. So, on to another guy on Thurs who actually ran diagnostics and found the problem to be the compressor, oh but there was a catch...it couldn't be fixed until Monday. (That would be 9 days without the fridge) After getting a bit "loud" with the tech on Thurs and then started crying, (gotta love those hormones raging) I just laughed because what else could we do. We laughed all weekend and realized how spoiled we are in this country. The fact that I even have the possiblilty of a fridge makes me so blessed. So armed with the new additude we resolved to have Easter breakfast camping style, that is until the "rain" came down...or shall I say the leaking master tub through the family room ceiling. Yup, we have a major leak in our master bathroom and we cannot figure out if it is the pipes, faucet, or drain. Poor Shane, he is overloaded at work and now is giving up Men's retreat this weekend to tear out the dry wall and try to fix the problem. I am so proud of the fact that I have a husband who is willing to try and fix these things on his own and not just spend money to have someone else do it. His determination saves us bundles of money every year. Trusting God is growing us through this "storm" we are laughing all the way down this path. I plan on taking pictures to honor of our journey and to remind us God's path is the best path...even if it is all we can do to keep up.

Happy Easter!

Yummy Treats to Share

I saw this great commercial for Easter Rice Krispie Treats. They formed them in a shape of an egg, dipped them in chocolate and then rolled them in sprinkles. Last night we did it with the kids and it was great, messy, yummy fun. I do have to say that they are very tasty!

Yarn Braid Extensions

I am super excited about a new hair technique I discovered via Youtube. I have never been to Youtube and was visiting a blog of a family that adopted twins girls from Africa last summer and she spent last weekend adding yarn braid extensions to their hair. She learned how by watching a few videos on Youtube. Curiosity took me to those same videos and I was excited to try. I spent about 6 hours over two day working on Ayana's hair. They look so good! Her "hair" is now twice as long as it is normally and I can pull it into just about any style I want including pig tails or one pony tail. She LOVES her hair. She is constantly bouncing around, swinging the braids and touching how long they are. She looks so different too! It is fairly easy once you get the hang of it and it lasts about 4-6 weeks. Plus it is super cheap...like $5 for the yarn and free for my time!This is going to be my new summer/swimming hair do for her!

Opening Day 2009

I have always wanted to attend Opening Day for the AZ Dbacks and my sweet hubby bought all of us tickets for todays game! We had a blast and to top it off, it was a fantastic game. I love a good slug fest and we were not disappointed. Sorry, Herrman's, Rockies lost! Anyway, we love going to the games as a family and the older the kids get the more they understand the game and enjoy watching it. Nathan was even into it, although he loved the train ride more than anything and when we got off the train at the game he kept asking when we were getting back on. Baseball Season....my favorite time of the year!!!

This is Nathan SUPER excited about being on the train!

"Really God, is this the right time?"

So, our 1 yr old fridge went out over the weekend. Bad news...the warranty company does not work on the weekends. The really bad news...we didn't realize the issue until it was too late to save most everything in the freezer. (Deep Breath) I have been buying food using coupons and sales so I did have quite a few things stocked in the freezer and fridge so I am a bit discouraged about loosing all the money. The good news...we have an amazing cooler and we are able to keep the essentials like milk, cheese and eggs cold. Shane says think of it like we are camping...ok honey I will try! Hopefully we can get a tech out here tomorrow morning.

Kinky Hair Expert

I have decided to call myself an expert on African American hair. Ok, well I wouldn't exactly put myself completely into that catagory, but hey I am making progress anyway. I went to an advanced training class today, offered by our agency, about black hair and skin care. I learned even more than I already knew by trial and error. AND I got great recommendations on books with new, fancy black hair styles...of course ordered those from Amazon right away. Sooooo, in the off chance any of you ever come into contact with gorgeous african american children and need any advice, I am an open book, more than willing to share.