I finally did it!!!

I finally did my first cornrow braids today!! You cannot even imagine how excited I am. I try very hard to be purposeful in my hair care for Ayana, and I have been trying to do cornrows for months. Thanks to Youtube and an awesome mom who posted several "how to" videos I learned and was finally successful today. I cannot wait to keep up this new talent and try fun, new, fancy hair styles for her. Oh, and in preparation for the 4th of July I just HAD to do red, white and blue beads. She had people fussing over her at Bashas today because if it, which of course she loves.

Pizza Night

Trying to fill the summer days and nights, so tonight we made homemade pizza. The kids' individual pizzas were not perfect but they ate them anyway. They also asked if we could do this again soon. I had this picture perfect event planned in my head starting with the kids helping me make whole wheat pizza dough in my bread maker, BUT I found out today that I threw away the mixer tool in the last loaf of bread I made...oops! I ordered four new ones incase it happens again.

this was the adult pizza...sausage and pineapple...yummy!

Summer Explosion

"Studio Go"

Game Show

The kids have been having a blast at this years summer explosion (aka VBS). It is an old fifties themed game show and so much fun!!! This picture I took today because it was crazy hair day and they were pretty crazy with the green hair color. As they are getting older I see their hearts really beginning to bloom and grow in their understanding of God and HIS love. Both earned money from helping clean their Grandmother's house and both wanted to give some of their money to help build houses in Mexico for families who have less then they do. So sweet and proud moment. Just love these two!

Court update

Leeah's Dad had a court hearing today and it looks like she will be staying here for a while longer. We are blessed by this update and look forward to the next few months as she grows and becomes a little lady. Thanks to Jessica for making this adorable bow...I LOVE IT!

Camp "Backyard Treehouse"

Friday night, Shane and the kids slept out on our new swing set, (thanks to the Littles). It has a great "upstairs" landing that the kids have affectionately called the "treehouse". Shane filled the air mattress and with pillows, blankets and a good old fashioned breeze from God all slept soundly. First of course they goofed off a bit, hence the silly picture, and then in the early morning hours Shane snagged a sweet picture of sleeping children. Have I mentioned just how awesome a Dad he is? This backyard sleep over brought back so many memories of when my bro and I used to sleep on the trampoline when we were kids. Oh, how great are these simple yet amazingly fun summer days and nights.

Bubbles

After our 24hrs away last weekend we knew we needed to make "playtime" with the kids priority so when we got home we played bubbles. Such a fun, simple way to get kids very excited. Shane, the bubble master, did a great job of getting enough bubbles for everyone to pop. But I can't have my cake and eat it too, so because bubbles create spontaneous, fast movements from the kids they are blurry but i couldn't resist taking a few shots anyway. I think we will have to try the slip-n-slide this weekend.

Bubble master in training!

LOVE this facial expression...remember soap in the eyes hurts, so must protect with crazy faces.

Monster Fun

We visited the AZ Youth Museum in downtown Mesa yesterday and it was a great time. Thanks to the William's, who had admission passes, we met up late morning and had some "monster" fun. Their latest exhibit is obviously monster stuff, and the kids gravitated to the make you own monster puppets and puppet show stage. There was so much more hands-on activites for the kids including a "dress up" monster room and a black light room, or as the kids called it, a glow in the dark room. We enjoyed lunch together and headed home for much needed naps. This was a great way to spend a summer morning.

Leeah 6 weeks

Ok, so this sweet girl is officially 6 wks old today. It is really hard to believe she has been with us for that long already. She is plumping up nicely and those cheeks are becoming extremely kissable. She is about 9lbs now, so right on track. The sickel cell stuff we wont know anything until she is 3mths old. They have to take so much blood from her to run all the tests and she is just too tiny yet. We are still waking up at night, but down to only one time, which I can deal with. She still loves to be awake at 3:00am so I have been on the couch the last few nights giving her the opportunity to cry it out a bit and go back to sleep. Seems to be getting better, she was only awake for about 20 min after eating this morning. She is becoming more and more social every day. She is starting to smile at me and the kids which just melts your heart.

As far as her "status" with regards to CPS, her Dad has a court hearing next week and if he has all his paperwork in line she will go with him right away. Funny thing is I think I would be ok with that. I have learned alot about myself over these past 6 wks, like I am not that young and energetic like I used to be. But also just trusting God to care for her. And of course we would be sad for her because her future would be such a question mark. We know the kind of life we would give her, and we can't control the kind of life she would have with him. It is an interesting crossroads for sure. I guess the bottom line, as with our own children, she belongs to God pure and simple. We have no "claim" on any of these kids, we are simply entrusted to care, love and teach them about God, He takes care of everything else.

United as ONE 12yrs ago today

Shane and I celebrate our 12th anniversary today and wow, can I just say we are more in love than ever. We were blessed to have the Deela's stay over and take care of all the kids so we could escape for 24 hrs. (That was 6 kids, 4 of which are two and under!) We went to a resort in Scottsdale, ate at Flemmings and enjoyed a Dbacks game today. We also took time to reflect on the past 12 yrs. We discussed how much more happy we are today and how much our life has changed. We remembered being dirt poor and how God has blessed us today by allowing us this time away. We are just so gooshy with love, hopefully that will carry us into several days as we returned to reality land this afternoon. All in all, an amazing time together that just makes our relationship so much stronger!

Jam Session

Last weekend my Father-in-law played his Indian flutes at a "gig" in Gilbert. He has 2 CD's and Shane plays the diggerydoo in the back ground and another gentleman plays base. It was a bit sureal to see these men I love "jamming" in front of a crowd and actually getting tips for a job well done. I am told that there are more "gigs" planned in the future...who knew they would love it so much. I think they need matching outfits though...don't you?

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Nathan, as you know has been obsessed with airplanes in the past. He has not given up that love, but instead has increased his love for trains and cars. I pulled out Jacob's old train set and he has played with it for two hours straight. He is so smart and makes all the correct sounds while pushing the train around and around.

Vegetarian Quiche

I do get so tired of making the same old meals weeks after week. I also have picky eaters so really I can only try new entrees every once in a while. Tonight I made this amazing vegetarian quiche which I found in a vegetarian magazine. Can you say yummy, not to mention pretty to look at! It is very simple...for those who are not huge fans of veggies (me included) it is flavored really good.

Pilsbury Ready to Bake crust

10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

10 or more cherry or gape tomatoes, halved

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup low fat milk

pinch of nutmeg

Mix eggs, milk and nutmeg in a small bowl. Layer cheese, spinach, onion in pie crust. Pour egg mixture over spinach and place tomatoes through out. Bake at 350 for 45-50 min.

Refreshing Dessert

This is an east way to get a refreshing summer treat! Mix 2 small boxes of raspberry jello, only doing the boiling water part of the recipe to dissolve the jello. Using a mixer, blend two tubs of whipped cream cheese and only large tub of cool whip together. Refrigerate and add fresh raspberries on top. Oh so delicious!!!

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burgers

We had this amazing dinner on the recommendation of a co-worker of Shane's and it was yummy. First you take ground beef and make two patties pretty thin...maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch, think depending on your taste. Then mix the cream cheese with the jalapenos and green onions. Place a spoon full of cream cheese mixture in between the two patties and press the edges together. We cooked them on a George Forman grill because we ran out of propane. For the adventurous you can mix mayo with some Tabasco for a little extra kick. Lettuce, tomato and a side completes the meal! Yes, it has jalapenos in it, but it is not extraordinarily "hot". There is some wonderful spicy flavor, which we love, but a perfectly acceptable amount of heat for those less adventurous. Please try it and ENJOY!!!

Morning at the Zoo

I found out that members can get into the zoo at 6:00am this summer so we tried to get up early and beat the crowds. We did not end up getting there as early as we wanted, but we were able to visit the new splash pad. It has a cave, slide and waterfall. And a bonus, we were home before lunch and everyone is napping now, including Shane! The kids had fun I think...at least that's what their smiles say to me.

When did this sweet baby of mine start looking like such a little lady?

Gotta love the pure joy on her face...very cool shot!

Oh those boys...aren't they so cute?

Those look like perfect "pinching" booties!

Summer Learning for me...yippy!

My Mom and I signed up for a non-credit photography class this month. We start class on Tues, June 16 and it goes on for three weeks. I am super excited!!! I may be able to take a decent picture most of the time, but this class is going to teach me how to use my manual settings and work on catching the right light with the correct shutter speed/aperture. I have desperately wanted to take a class like this for some time but all the classes I had seen were using a 35mm film camera and I prefer my digital. The other part that makes me super excited is that I get to get out of the house for three Tues nights...ahhhh that is so cool! As I am getting more and more comfortable with having a newborn again and realized just this morning that I am ready for a couple hour break every once in a while. And I have to thank my amazing hubby who is more than willing to be at home with a newborn and 4 kiddos while I get this break. So, look for my 'assignments' to show up here in a couple weeks!

Dbacks Game

On Saturday we had the privilege once again to go to a game as a family. The Diamondbacks organization is amazing and just like last year they dedicated a whole game to foster care awareness and we we able to get discounted tickets. The kids LOVE going to the games...when we got to our seats Nathan just sat down, started clapping and yelling "BASEBALL, BASEBALL, BASEBALL" over and over! He made friends with a fellow fan sitting next to him and was captivated by the game the whole time we sat there. As you can see they enjoyed pizza and snack bags provided by a local charity. They also each got a hat and it was Stephen Drew Bobblehead day. I will admit however that two adults to five kids is not the ideal baseball viewing ratio, but still very fun. I love watching their expressions as the game and plays go on.

Not the best pictures, but still shows all the fun we had!