All in one week

Last week, I saw some of my most favoritest people all in the same week.  It was a full one.

Nana came to help Em finish off the nursery.  Hannah will be here in a week and a half!  

My sweet pal who ditched us for Georgia last year, came back for a few days last week.  We enjoyed catching up.  She stayed with the kids when we went to Korea, and only saw big D for a few minutes when we came home!  It was so fun to show her how far he's come. (And I failed to get a pic of her with him..shame!)  The kids loved seeing Mr. M too...

..one especially!   

On Friday, the boys and I caught up with Abs, Mandy, and Hunter.  It's funny to me that Garrett called Abby, Abigail the whole time:)  She turned 5 last weekend!  How the time flies!

It's so fun having so many cousins the same age!  Garrett has not idea how lucky he is.  When he starts kindergarten, he'll have 4 first cousins starting the same year...2 from my side and 2 from the White side.

Hunter had changed the most to me.  He's not looking so toddlerish anymore.  He's such a sweet little man. Thanks for letting us crash for an afternoon Mandy!  Great to see you!

TGIF

Four year old hide and seek:)

We had a full week of fam and friends.  (more detailed post to come:)

I may hide under my couch tomorrow while the Razorbacks play Alabama.  I just can't watch...

Frowning

When I looked outside the window this morning, I could have sworn the razorback was frowning:(  It was a rough Saturday in hog country.

Yes, our pool is in the shape of a razorback. If you look closely, you can make out an eye and tusks on the bottom. It was hub's idea.

He's one crazy Razorback.  

How did we do it?  Well he's the brains.  He took a 6 inch photo of a razorback and on the computer, blew it up to 20 by 40 ft.  He printed out 180 (or so) sheets of paper which composed the image.  One VERY chilly February day we taped each sheet of paper onto butcher paper..

....until the image was formed.  

Then we traced it with a sharpie...a very large sharpie.

Finally, we cut it out, rolled it up, and waited for the digger.

And that is how you make a razorback pool...in Texas:)

I got this SAWEET ornament in the mail today from my dear friend Laurel.  I just LOVE IT!  Thanks sweet friend! (Mary jumped in the pic...silly girl)

This and that

This week has been a busy one!  My sister's baby shower was last night.  She's having baby Hannah in a few weeks!

Can't wait to meet her!  Em has waited a very very long time for this sweet girl.:)

All of a sudden I'm not sure about the coloring of this pic...she looks a little vampirish.  Oh well, too lazy to re edit.

Sis had her braces and habit breaker removed this week!

She's been such a trooper...the habit breaker was quite a piece of hardware (it looks like a fork sticking down from behind her front teeth.)  It made eating cumbersome, and most kids only last 6 months.  She had it a year because it took a long time to correct, and she really had a good attitude when the ortho said...not quite yet!

Today was Grandparents' day celebration at school, so they had to dress alike.  They love gparents day!

Bunny came to eat lunch at their school.  David warmed up super duper quickly this time!  

Crazy girls.  I didn't get a better pic because I left my camera on the wrong setting.  Bunny, hope you got some with your cam:) Thanks for coming!

Back to school

Garrett started pre-k today.  

You know I had to go diggin' for old pics because it's what I do.

2 years ago.  LOOK AT HIM!  Oh how they change.  I will not apologize to him for this outfit..EVER.  I LOVE IT.  In fact, I wish I had tried to squeeze David into it.  He is the same exact age as Garrett was in that picture, but he just looks older to me!  I don't know....I may have to try it...so stay tuned.  

I really don't aim to color coordinate every first day pic.  This is truly the only shirt I found in the closet that was long enough to cover his torso.  He's grown so much this summer.

Big D look AT YOU!  

He was on the move this morning, and there was no slowing him down.  I decided after much debate to put him at Garrett's pre school on Tuesdays.  He's done great at church all summer, and there is no question that he is attached.  

He took a nap on a map for an hour.  They said he did great.    He's carrying "puppy" you see.  "Puppy" is his lovey.  He didn't come home with it, but he found it lying around and became attached.  I usually don't let him take it on road trips, but today was a must.  I thought he'd be a train wreck after, but he was great all afternoon!  Yay!  

Blessings

We didn't blow out the last weekend of summer....cause it'll be above 95 deg for at least a few more weeks:)

Hubs worked most of it, so my gracious friend Kelly braved the pool and the park with me.  I was telling her, I'm kind of to the point where I can't go many places with out two adults.  We only lost one child....but we found him relatively quickly.  It's really the only way I get my heart rate up these days.

I posted this picture because it is pathetic.  It is the ONLY picture I took all weekend...and my finger is in front of the lens.  I'm really down on my game!

I caught the kids doing a little jammie dance off.  I didn't know Garrett was into Just Dance these days.  

I started reading "1000 gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  I bought it maybe last year, but never really had the desire to read it.  I needed to read it...now.

The past few months, I feel like I've been walking in quick sand....working really hard and going no where.  Yes, as a family we've come a LONG way from three months ago, but as a mamma I am in one of those exhausting phases where I am spinning my wheels with what feels like very little to show for it.

You've been there.  We all have seasons like this, and I'm in one of those times.  It's hard to be patient.  It's hard to get excited about spending the day making a lot of meals, folding a lot of laundry, watching a lot of blues clues, reading a lot of books, working a lot of puzzles, putting a lot of sunscreen on, breaking up a lot of boy battles, answering a lot of questions, driving kids a lot of places, cleaning up a lot of messes....and then doing it all over again.  This is the typical day of a stay-at-home mamma.  I know I'm BY FAR not the only one!!!!  

Did I mention how many fights I am busting up between the boys??

Ok sorry.  There is a point.

I have fallen into the trap of being very negative.  I've had no tragedies or illness to battle or REAL hardship.  I've just been REAL down as a mamma because breaking up fights and fits all day will do that to a person.  

....So I read this book.  It's nothing earth shattering (but a great read).  It's right there in the Bible.  "Give Thanks."  How many times do we read over and over to give thanks?  Jesus did it repeatedly...even at the Garden in his darkest hours before the cross.  

I was reminded over and over that a heart of ingratitude is really contrary to Christ.  I've been letting that sink in.

It's not my desire to be ungrateful.  I want to be thankful, but I think it will require a change in my thoughts.  Sometimes we just have to train ourselves to think a certain way even when we don't feel like it.  BOO!  (Of course, the best of training and intent is futile without the work of the Holy Spirit, but it does require a will on our part to try!)

I've noticed I may have rubbed off on Allie because she is waking up very funky these days.  She has been so negative, and I'm left scratching my head, "Why is she acting like this?"  Hmmm...I'm so thick skulled some times.

She and I had a date night on Friday and I asked her why she is so negative when she wakes up.  She didn't really have an answer.  "I just want to be."  Hmmm...sounded a bit familiar.

I told her we should try something together since it was a struggle we share.  I told her we should write down a blessing every morning at breakfast and then maybe just maybe we would start out NOT being so negative.  (The book is about writing down 1000 blessings...did I mention it's a good read?)

I gathered the note cards up from the past couple of days.  Mary decided to join us, and I will say...

They made me smile...

They made me...Thankful.

Busted

It's not nearly as exciting as you think.

I caught the boys PLAYING today.

PLAYING.

When I say this is one of the first times in 3 months that I've seen this, I'm not stretching the truth too much.

Last week was down right ugly.  David wanted "mamee" (Mary), and missed her while she was at school.  Garrett (Gebut) was not really on his short list of entertainment choices.  With good reason, I might add.  Garrett has not been willing to play.   He's been the great instigator with David.  He's spent three months aggravating him actually.

  Because the girls are out of the picture during the morning, they've started to notice each other.  David wants to hold Gebut's hand in the parking lot now, and Gebut has gladly allowed.  

This morning, Gebut was so excited to find a real live calepittar (caterpillar).  He asked for a cup, and David wanted a cup too.  They went out digging for worms...a perfect male bonding experience.

Tonight, as I often do, I asked Gebut, "do you like your brother?" (I've asked this question at least 4 x a week.)  He almost always says no.  

Tonight, he said, "yeah I love him."

He said it casually, but I think it was a change in the tide. 

If you aren't completely bored, I have a funny from Monday to share.

I was at Chickfilet with the boys.  I have to sit inside the kid aquarium or David will start screaming, so I sat on a bench while they went up and down the slide.  I was reading on my phone and not paying any attention.  ('cause you really do quit paying attention by the fourth.) 

I didn't realize a conflict brewing.  David was grabbing a toy from another child, and he did it silently, but the child became upset as expected and started crying.

The mom of the child, was sitting with them and also became upset.  I finally noticed, and jumped up to intervene.  She looked at me irritatedly, and said, "Where is this boy's mamma?!"

I immediately said, "he's mine."  And she either didn't hear me because by now they were both screaming, or it didn't register immediately.

She started to ask again, "Where's this boy's .....?"

I then said a little more loudly, "He's MINE."

At first I didn't realize the confusion on her face.

And then it hit me.  She was looking for an Asian mamma!

(The very same thing could have happened to me because I'm really bad about saying the first thing on my mind.)

Ba ha ha. 

It was my first adoption "funny" since we've been home.  

Had to write it down....