Photo Shoot Practice

Shane's Dad opened a booth at Mesa's downtown arts fair today so we went down there to support him, of course I had to take me camera in part to practice with using various natural backgrounds and light. The kids did great and I got a few good ones. It does help when you have amazing settings and models!

Uh Oh - Bad Parent Award!

This is what happens when you have too many kids and tell them to go to the changing table to get ready for bed and forget about them. Shane sent Ayana there and then ran upstairs for a minute to finish something else and "forgot" about her for about 10 min when we realized it was too quiet...this is what we found...her sound alseep! Oooops!

MLK Day Bowling

We took the monring on Monday to go bowling with our kids. Asjiah and Ayana spent the weekend with another foster family. We have come to terms with the idea that we do need a break every once in a while, it is better on our family as a whole. The kids have been begging us to go bowling again and we took advantage of the day off. Jacob has become a pretty good bowler and literally throws his whole body into it...quite the sight! Nathan was the best cheering section we could have asked for...he laugherd, cheered and clapped for everyone as they took their turn. We couldn't be more blessed!

Taking advantage of the weather

Can't complain about the weather...the kids LOVE being outside right now and I love being able to send them. We had fun meeting up with friends Courtney and her boys on Monday afternoon.

Redeemed!

For those of you that know me well know that I struggle with validation, and mostly with being Mom/Wife. I have been working on trusting God's validation and not expecting people to meet that need. Well as usual God does not disappoint! Shane works from home most Fridays and he has been a bit stressed with a large work load so this past Fri I decided to stay out of the house all morning to give him ideal conditions. After dropping off Samantha at school I took Nathan back to the mall to play until Costco opened. As I was getting him out of the car he pointed at the building and said...

"Mama, I walk, I walk Mama!" over and over. I had a huge smile on my face first because he recognized where we were and second because he remembered our last encounter there. He sure is a smart little boy and walk he did. He held my hand the whole time and I just kept praising his choices and good attitude. I was all happy inside and felt the validation that I had done exactly what I needed too during the tantrum. And the biggest joy is that he learned, he understood and made his own adjustments. Score one for the Mom!!!! (and God too)

PS That is his goofy cheese face...makes us laugh everytime we see it!

God's "Good Morning" just for me

When I went to pick up Suzy and boys for the field trip today her roses were stunning and I had to whip the camera out to capture their beauty!

Museum Field Trip

Samantha and I went to the AZ Museum of Natural History today for her class field trip. They have been learning about dinosaurs and they have a fantastic exhibit. In addition to the dinosaurs they have a unique exhibit on animal poop, yup that's right...poop. While a little bit gross it was also very educational. They have an old city jail and a gold panning river. She sure is special and soaked up all the information. She loves to learn!

Trying to find gold...

Watching the King of the Dinosaurs....