Memorial Day Weekend 2011

We started the weekend with an old fashion drive in double feature on Fri night!

Waiting for the movie to start...

Then on Sat. it was a pretty low key day. Samantha had her piano testing at ASU and did great!

Here she is warming up in a practice room.

Then we had the family over for swimming and food...always a grand time!

Cousins...and yes, they are wearing matching suits...totally by chance.

Grandpa and Zekers

 Elli practing her monkey crawl

 Grandpa and Elli

 One brave little girlie...she LOVES swimming!!

 Aunt Kimmie and Zoee taking a relaxing ride on the raft.

And finally our boy...it took him several attempts over the course of the last few weeks to get the nerve to swim this summer but once he believed he was going to be fine he hasn't looked back!!! Good job buddy.

Mood Disorder, not otherwise specified

I have tried to sit down and write this entry for several days now and have had a difficulty finding the words. For those with children with special needs or additional education the title is something you may know about...for the rest of us I will simply say this is Nathan's current diagnosis.

Worse case scenario...he will have an official Bi-Polar diagnosis by the time he is in middle elementary. Best case scenario...he simple has a chemical imbalance that will cause his moods to fluctuate from time to time. (Us woman have no idea what that is like...hahahah) And then there is everything in between. It is a sobering and scary diagnosis all in one. Sobering because finally we have at least some idea what is going on with our sweet boy and scary because at times his future seems so unpredictable. Mind has been racing...are we the best equipped to be his parents? Is this the best family dynamic for him? Are there people out there with more training and education available to meet all his needs? What is God's will?

We of course are not making any rash decisions and now that I have said that I don't want anyone jumping to conclusions that we do not want him in our family...because we do, but it is hard sometimes to understand mental illness and forecast the long term. If we deny ourselves even asking these questions than I think we are not allowing God to work on our hearts either. I have every desire to spend time in intense prayer, seeking God's will in all this. His will may very well be that He wants him with us but what if it's not? Oh the dilemma of free will. What if there is not "wrong" answer? What if God says either one is a path I desire for you to take but the growth and overall outcome on you life will be dramatically different...and I mean that in the positive. What if He has significant growth in either option? Ugh....see my frustration? And with all these questions the last thing I want is to act or not act out of fear. Nathan's diagnosis at this point seems treatable with medication, which is such a positive result right now. Will it always be treatable? Will he always take his medication correctly? Here I go again...asking questions that just lead my mind around and around.

I guess this is just another opportunity for prayer and waiting. We have not had any pressure to make his adoption final so we feel very blessed that God is giving the time we may need to uncover more layers of our little onion. So now, we spend the next 3 mths monitoring medication and watching his behavior very close to make sure we are on the right path. Ultimately we want him to feel good about himself, have success in school (and life for that matter) and be a happy little boy. If you feel lead, please feel free to join us on prayer and I will be happy to update you with any progress and if you have any advice or expertise to offer I am always available to learn more and more. What a blessing to be given such a beautiful little boy to care for.

Love my man!

End of the Year program

Hannah had her spring concert last night to usher in the final week of school for her 4-5 preschool class. She has developed a few close friendships and look forward to spending some days together this summer.

 This is her teacher, Mrs. McCumber and her bestie...Sophia

Lined up waiting to enter the church...

Project Complete!

I have been wanting new counter tops since we moved into this house almost 8 yrs ago, but with a young family it just wasn't possible. About a year ago we started talking seriously about making a change. We discussed several things...most bang for our buck, smartest way to go for our big family, and what we really wanted if money wasn't and issue. At the beginning of the year we began doing some research and discovered we really wanted granite. Of course we both had different ideas about color but my choice won in the end. Then we needed to decide if we wanted slab or tiles. Our time is valuable when you 5 kids that need our attention. We priced out the slab and while it wasn't too pricey if we installed it ourselves I finally spoke up and said what I really wanted was the granite tiles. My hubby and I make a great team when it comes to projects and I think it is good for our marriage to work on things around the house together. It really brings us closer! We started on Thurs, April 28th with the demolition and finally finished up in time for Mother's Day! The pictures below document the progress and then with the final product! We both sit and stare at it with BIG, BIG smiles on our faces. It feels so good to put our own hands on this project!!!

Happy Mother's Day

I was overwhelmed with hand made cards and gifts today from each of the kids and I loved it all. Each one was excited to give their creation to me and I loved seeing the joy giving to another brought o each of them. We went to church and had lunch at G and G Self's (and celebrated Leah's birthday too). In the afternoon we went to a movie and had my favorite dinner! It was a great day to be a mom.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

This adorable baby is TWO!!! My amazing sister in law made her this dress which I love! We invited 3 little friends from church who all turned two in the last week. They were so cute and it was a blessing to have them over and chat with the mommies. Look out world...she is two!

Dbacks game with my Samantha Girl

Last night it was Samantha's turn to go with me to the game and she was so excited since she was the last one to get to go with me. We headed out a little early since it was a school night and enjoyed another gorgeous AZ evening. My Dad had called last week to ask me to go visit his high school baseball coach who happens to works at Chase Field on the Diamond Level which is where our seats are. Mr. Ackers is a very nice man and spoke fondly of my Dad. He is also now on my prayer list because he lost his wife just last month to cancer. The game started out a bit slow but did get a little more exciting about half way through. We headed home in time to see the thrilling end to the game on TV. As always treasured moments with my kiddos is the best!

Easter afternoon at the park

It has been heavenly here this spring and so we decided to hang out at the park on Easter afternoon. I had bought each of the kids bubbles and silly string and the park seemed like the ideal place to play with these fun new things. The kids were a bit crazy as reflected by some of the pictures but I assure you no animals where injured in the making of this fun! Hahahah!

Love my family...