It's a Hard Knock Life!

Did I tell you that Caroline got an extender put in the top of her mouth by her Othodonist two weeks ago. She has been trooper cause it has not been easy to say her lines with the wires at the top of her mouth. Here is Caroline's favorite scene. It was only on tape so I had to use our disc camera and the TV so sorry about the quality.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Annie Jr. Preview!

This weekend is the weekend for Caroline's Annie Jr. performance. We went to the dress rehearsal last night and we can give you a sneak peak. It fades out at the end cause we were trying to get Asher quiet and he wanted a better position to see Annie. Afterwards he kept asking to see Annie and was just enjoying her. It was much like seeing a character at the amusement park. Caroline's hard work has truely paid off. She really loves this drama stuff and it shows. I hope to get more of her scenes down loaded later for those of you that won't be able to see her performance. As for Caroline, we say BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!!

Molly in motion.

Caroline and a friend back stage.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

An amazing family!

I wanted to share a wonderful slideshow from a friend of mine that lives far away. Her son did an awesome job putting it together and it is for the one year celebration of their forever day with the family!!! This just makes me cry and burst with warm fuzzes! I just love her big family and they all just bust with joy on their faces. Enjoy!

Snow Ball Fight!

We have another snow day but really it should be called a freezing rain day. So do you know what fun you can have with a bag of cotton balls and a pair of old white tights????

SNOW BALL FIGHT!!!!!

We made many balls and started the fight! It was a good time and no one got hurt and yes you have to be burning many calories in the process. So grab and old pair of tights and cotton balls and have yourself a ball!

If you are looking for a treat to go with the theme. We take tortillas and fold and cut them into snowflake shapes. We put a little oil in a skillet and fry them on both sides for a minute or two. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and you have a snow flake snack! Enjoy your snow days!

More Snow!

We've gotten more snow and this time it has been the biggest of the year so far - 3 inches. We have had many 1 or 2 inches that come right at rush hour to delay us or with ice have called off school. Since this snow was actually deep enough and wasn't accompanied with ice we went sled ridding. Asher didn't care for the cold and only had a few rides down the hill before he asked for the car, but the older ones enjoyed riding.

Almond Oil Lotion

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me to make a great lotion for Asher. It is perfect for Asher's skin. I feel so domestic and sometimes wonder if I found the right bottles if I could have a small business making this. You can buy the ingredients at a great price here. So, if you have ashy skin and are having a hard time finding the right cure, give this almond lotion a try.

Just an FYI!

I'm not one to tell you how to spend your money, but I do want to make you aware of an opportunity that you can send some of your tax check this spring or the "rebate" we all will get, if you so desire. My friend has set up a website called http://barefootworld.org. I know that the reason for the rebate is to jump start the economy, but I can't help but think of some others that could use this money more than me consuming it. The current project is one that Caroline has just raise some money for this organization called blood water mission(aka. http://www.1000wells.com/). She collected money from her friends and they as a group took money they would spend on pop and coffee on their free time and donated it to give a water well for people all over the world that need clean water to live.

Again, I'm not telling anyone what to do but just giving you something to consider when you have some extra money coming your way. Recently, I've been challenged by what is consuming me. What do I consume and what consumes my time, my mind, my talents. So, I'll leave you with one question.

WITH WHAT ARE YOU CONSUMED?

Catching Up!

Well, it has been a while since I've posted and we've been sick and not taking photos. Here are some past photos from another day of skating awhile back and some creative videography from our oldest.

Skating Buddies

Blisters take away smiles.

Caleb and Dad

Fun with laundry

I wanna go out and run!! Sure looks warm to me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A sweet kiss and some great smiles!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What' s Happen'in?

If I was to post pictures of what has been happening the last few weeks (3 to be exact), you'd have photos of fevers, sore throats, coughs, aches all over and head aches. So far, knock on wood, Asher and I have missed the action. It started with Caleb having strep two weeks ago, then Abby last week and this week Caroline and Brad have a nasty flu. I may sleep on the couch tonight with the windows OPEN!!!

Since I don't have sick pictures I'll post this cute one of Asher and Buckeye watching Dad get some fire wood.

Ice Skating!

We usually get one good weekend of ice skating on a nearby lake and this is that weekend. Asher got on skates for the first time and we caught it on tape. By the end of our time there he was skating (or walking around) on his own. But I think he liked eating snow more (as is seen here). Abby loved spinning and Caleb loved falling and Caroline enjoyed spinning and dancing on her skates. Grandma joined us for the fun!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fun with our cousins!

About a week ago we had a great game night with three of my nieces and the kids' cousins. They are Marlene, Marilin and Olga (hope I spelled them right, girls!). We had a great night eating and playing a game called I'd Rather. M, M and O are all from Mexico and speak English really well. We try our limited Spanish we have but we don't do them justice. We had a great time and enjoyed lots of laughter. Olga is now in Indiana, Marlene is still in town and Marilin goes back to Mexico for a few weeks. We can't wait to do it again but it may be awhile that we can get all three of them together. They all three have come to the States to find work. I'm so impressed with them jumping into things here.

Wrap a Baby in Africa!

Would you like to help wrap a Ethiopian Baby in a nice warm blanket?

On February 1st a fellow adoptive mom is hosting a blanket party here on her blog. Go down to the Great Blanket Party heading for her explanation. If you would like to help her wrap up a few babies, I hope you’ll come and help out. There will be a paypal link on her blog that day to make it easy for you to donate. Every penny of your money will go straight to Ethiopia. February 1st. Let’s see how many babies we can wrap.

He'sGot the Whole World in His Hands!

Asher's all time favorite book!

This is Asher's favorite page. He always wants to pause here.

That makes me wonder what he is thinking. He loves Brad so much

and his Dad is his most favorite person in the whole world. He kisses this

Dad and says that it is Asher's Dad. I'm guessing he only sees the

relationship, and I find this so interesting!

This is my favorite page and I can't wait til Asher understands that

God has EVERYBODY in his hands, both his family in Ethiopia

(though we don't know anything about them) and his family here.

My thoughts are often with his Ethiopian family and this gives me so much comfort.

On Ice!

We had a great time taking in the High School Musical on Ice. I know it can sound kind of hokie but the show was really good and it was amazing what they could do on the ice. We found the music in us and we were all in this together (except Asher - past his bed time).

My Flag Girl!

Abby tried something new this weekend and has a new love. When she came home from school with the flier to sign up for this color guard clinic, she picked up my swiffer and started practicing. After two hours at the clinic this is part of their routine that they learned. I think she has found yet another thing she loves but you can't do it for school till 7th grade so for now, she can attend clinics and summer camps and of course, twirl the swiffer. Here she is . . .

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas and New Year!

Well, we had some wonderful time visiting with family these last three weeks. This is the reason I didn't update our blog. We were busy enjoying our time with Cathy, Greg, Ben, Luke, Mark, Todd, Beth, Marilin, Marlene, Olga, Emma, Evan, Josh, Aidan, Gary, Sarah, Alex, Mike, Jane, Rick, Josh, Jordan, Justin, Sharon, Drew, Alyse, Grace, CJ, Grandma Ewing, Grandma Shipley, Grandpa Shipley, Ben, Sara, Duke, Tim, Sharon and Courtney and many friends! So, you see I was a wee bit busy having fun. Because we had so much company we didn't do all the traditions that I was hoping to get to. We still had a beautiful Christmas surrounded by almost all of our family. We really missed seeing Walter, Connie, Nikk and Jeff.

Since I have over 100 photos of Christmas and New Years, I'll just pick a few.

Cousins playing Monopoly with electronic banking.

Cousins Chat!

My sis and I! She was a huge help!

Cousin game time!

Abby at Christmas Eve service.

Girls playing American Girl Game.

Josh and Asher in new PJs.

Todd and Beth's family from Mexico.

Ben and Sara and Duke from Tampa.

It's not Christmas Eve without a pageant!

So much went on and lots of fun stories so I'll fill you in as we get into 2008 here. I missed photos of our time with Uncle Tim and Aunt Sharon and Courtney. If you can send me some Aunt Sharon I'll post them :)!

Another Birthday Boy!!!

Nine years ago today, a beautiful BIG baby boy was added to our family. His smile is what everyone comments on when they talk about him. He radiates JOY and loves to smile and laugh. He has a wonderful sense of humor and a good time is always had with him. I love that he is a wonderful reader, loves his time at school and is a sports fantantic! He loves to watch sports and track players! He loves the Lord and loves his new Bible that he got which is a Bible for boys and has lots of wonderful extras like gross and gory facts found in the Bible - perfect for a 9 year old boy! Our family would not be complete without him. This montage is for you Caleb. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas Traditions!

We have many traditions for Christmas but they all come after our getting our Christmas tree, and that is a big tradition within itself. We go to a wonderful tree farm, ride on a horse drawn wagon, after taking pictures of the kids with trees they like we all pick a tree with Mom and Dad getting the majority vote! They have hot cocoa and funnel cakes and of course Santa to take photos with.

Birthday Boy with his Dad! Hansome Guys!


Birthday Gifts! Asher opening his talking Little Bill.
Taking it home to decorate!