Fun Pictures of Shay

Thank you to my friend Lisa for the wonderful pictures of Shay and her friend. This past weekend in Atlanta we held our big event of the year. We have to be away from home for five days. Since Shay starts school next year I thought it would be fun for her to come and enjoy all the cheerleaders. She calls them "Big Comets." I didn't get to see her very much but she had a blast. The weekend was a big success and we were Blessed with a very smooth event. When you have that many people in one place you never know. God answered every prayer and then some. So many people did an awesome job. I'm still tired and Shay has her cough and fever back again but we have this weekend off and I can't wait to enjoy it with Nathan, Shay and my mom.

Chinese New Year Celebration

 

We had a wonderful time at our local Chinese New Year Celebration. It was great to see old friends. Shay and Nathan had a great time.

Pine Wood Derby Day

 

The Batmobile made it's debut at our Pine Wood Derby. Nathan loves Boy Scouts more than any activity we do. He loves being with his friends and his leader is great. Our pack is just starting and is small but it is the perfect size for Nathan. He did a great job and was so happy to see his buddies cars. The four Tigers all raced together four times and we came in 3rd overall. At least we made it down the track in one piece. Nathan was hoping that they would each win one heat so they could all tie. His best friend won and represented the Tigers in the overall pack race.

It made me proud to see him happy for his friend and not worried about winning. He has had a great couple of days with many positive choices.

This past couple of weeks has been hard for him since I've worked more than usual. He keeps asking when we can have time just the two of us. It breaks my heart. We spent some time together this weekend but I owe him more one on one time soon.

Big Fun Weekend

 

We had a fun filled weekend. Shay had her first two day cheerleading competition. Her division is the youngest and earliest of the event. This meant we had to get up "before the sun wakes up" as Shay would say. They had an OK day one and a great day two but in their world as long as there is a goody bag, medal and or trophy they don't care what place they finish.

Saturday we had a surprise party for Nathan. I thought he had figured out the party part but when he came in the door and heard everyone yell "surprise" his reaction was awesome. The boys played in the gym for a short time and then the second surprise started. He wanted a magician for his party this year so I found one online and hoped that he would do a good job. WOW the show was incredible. The kids and adults were all entertained. Nathan's favorite trick was the final one where Hocus the live rabbit appeared. I was amazed at most of his illusions.

We extended our weekend with a snow day - Yeah! Shay had never seen snow before and I woke her up last night so she could see it coming down. We had a great time throwing snow balls, attempting a snow man (ended up being a mini me snow man) and making snow angels. It will be gone by tomorrow but it was fun while it lasted.

Help the Saunders Family

PRAY FOR SAUNDERS FAMILY - http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/
Linn and Dwight are the proud parents of 10 amazing children. They just recently brought #8 and #9, Elijah & Elizabeth home from Uganda. They are currently waiting to bring home #10, Jubilee from China. These darling souls are on fire for the Lord, and have such a passion to help all children find their forever families. They are such a fabulous example of how to be "Jesus" to others. Inspiring does not begin to describe these two. In their Journey to Isaiah in china and to Elijah and Elizabeth, several glitches were thrown their way, but never once did they waiver in faith. They clung to HIS promises, rallied all the prayer warriors, praised God every step of the way, and trusted in and relied totally on God to pull them through, And HE always did.
(Words from http://heart-smiles.blogspot.com/)

Wednesday their home burned down and they need everyone's prayers and help. Today their son Graham had appendicitis and needed surgery. If you want to read about their story please go over to their blog. Thank you!!!

Sick but Still Happy on His 7th Birthday

 

We've not had much time this week to post. Nathan turned 7 on Tuesday. Unfortunately he was sick and had to stay home from school. We have a surprise for him this Saturday. I will have more pictures and things then. We are all tired and feeling a little under the weather so I need keep this short.

PRAY FOR ABBY

Abby was adopted from Guatemala. At three years old, she was diagnosed with a high-risk, aggressive form of Leukemia. Certain genetic complications have put her chance of surviving the treatment at about 20%.

I am praying for her and her family. Would you pray for them too?

You can find more about Abby here, on her family blog: http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/2009/01/about-abby.html

Chirstmas Morning

 

Both my kids were very happy with what Santa left for them. Nathan kept saying "This is the best Christmas ever." and "I don't have any thing left on my list for my birthday." Shay just kept smiling and playing. Last year she had fun but she was really into it this year and it showed. The big kids i.e. Uncles and mom also had fun watching them play and helping Santa do his thing. We are very blessed and I hope my kids realize this someday. We sang happy birthday to Jesus and read the Christmas story the night before. I was most thankful to be together another year.

Santa Visit

 

This was our annual vist to Santa Claus. We almost missed it this year. Thankfully we had time in Oklahoma to catch a quick visit. They both had a great time and shared their desires.

Uncle Time

 

Nathan and Shay had the best time with their Uncles over the Christmas break. We were very sad to see them leave. I wish they didn't live so far away. I love you both and so do Shay and Nathan.

Christmas Catch Up

 

We had a great time at Nana and Papa's house. The trip started off shaky when our flight was cancelled and they could not get us on another flight for 48 hours. So we decided to drive. On a good day me driving alone for 9 - 10 hours would be hard but I had stayed up way to late the night before cleaning and getting ready. My plan was to sleep on the plane. With God's grace we made it half way and spent the night at in TN. I thought after a good nights rest I should have an easier trip but I don't bounce back like I did in college after an all nighter. It takes MUCH longer now. Luckly I had friends to talk to on the phone (thanks Lisa, Mom and others). We made it before any of the flights they planned to put us on. The kids were great especially since I didn't really pack for an 18 - 20 hour car trip.

This first set of pictures is from our first couple of days before Uncle John came. We found a Bounce U. The kids love having Buddy our elf. Each day they had a great time finding him. This was the first time for Shay to meet Uncle Darren.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

This is the cover of our Christmas Card. Which I don't have yet so it will have to be a Happy New Year Card. We are very excited to be going to Oklahoma and see Papa, Nana, Uncle John and Uncle Darren. This will be Shay's first time to meet Uncle Darren.

Shay was Mary in her preschool play today. She did a great job and didn't forget her line and sang most of the songs. She loved watching herself on the DVD. Nathan had his class Christmas party and is excited about not having homework for the couple of weeks. I can't imagine what it will be like when we have real homework. Hopefully it will grow on him. He also had boyscouts tonight which is his favorite activity.

We get up really early tomorrow to start our travel adventures. Next stop Oklahoma.

We Elved Ourselves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Wordless Wednesday

Deck the Halls 08

 

We had a great time decorating the tree. I am so glad my mom was here this year. Everyone had a fun time and I don't think we broke anything.

Look Who Turned 5!

 

Shay turned 5 on Monday, Dec. 1st. We had a great day and had her party at Monk*y Jo*s. It has been 18 months since she became my daughter and I can't imagine her not being here. We talked about her story before bed and I'm sure she doesn't understand all that we talked about. But she does know she came from China and that Mama loves her. Today she tells me "Jesus Loves Her and made her special."
Special Things about Shay's 4th year!
First full year at her forever home.
Had surgery to fix her palate and everything went so good - No longer needs Speech Therapy
Still loves to talk - all the time
Loves to eat - all the time
Favorite food Ramen Noodles
Very self confident
Favorite Activity - School
Favorite toys - Dress up - She is always a princess
Princess Ariel for Halloween
Sleeps with her stuffed animals and blanket but doesn't have a special one.
Thankful for "Candlesticks" (Story for another day - won't let her forget about that)
She loves to sing and read books (her own version)
Another story - Told her teachers the first day of school this year that - "They had to many rules and that she was not coming back the next day because they hurt her heart."
Seems to have lost most of her Mandarin but can still count, say hello, good bye and thank you
I feel so blessed to have her as my daughter. There are so many times I just have to thank God for letting me be her mom. She makes life joyful most of the time. There are times she gets in trouble and I can see that prissy side which will make the teenage years really fun. She feels the need to be the center of attention to often but what little girl doesn't.
On her birthday I could not help but think of her birth mother. I am so thankful for the choices she made. It must have been so hard for her. I hope she knows that she is loved and enjoying the life she has.

Happy Thanksgiving

Make a Smilebox greeting

Wordless Wednesday With Words

Look who lost their first tooth. Everyone is claiming some responsibility. I had noticed that his new teeth were coming in behind his baby teeth and I was afraid that the baby teeth might not ever get loose. Shay and Nathan were playing and he had taken her blanket and put it in his mouth. (Gross) She decide to yank it out of his mouth and loosened the tooth. He was not happy about that so I left it alone and the tooth stayed in for another week. Then we were reading and he really did not want to be reading which was beginning to build into an all out battle when he flung his arms and accidently hit himself in the mouth. Out came the tooth. He blamed me for making him mad but hey the tooth came out with out any fuss. I was such a whimp when I was little about teeth and was not looking forward to helping him since he is really bad with pain and boo boo's. But this was an answer to pray and now he wants to knock the rest of them out. Tomorrow he has to get a weakness fixed in one of his front teeth and is looking forward to going to the dentist. They have the coolest office with all kind of things for kids to do. Maybe I would like the dentist if I'd had that when I was younger. Right now I think the dentist ranks about last on my list of things I enjoy doing. The tooth fairy came and he got a couple of gold dollars. I can't believe he is growing up so fast.

First Cheerleading Competition

Shay had her first cheerleading competition this past weekend and it was so much fun. She is a member of a Tiny Cheerleading team made up of 3 - 5 year olds. They practice once a week for one hour and compete a couple of time during the year. They were all so cute and did a great job. For their first time everyone performed and seemed to have fun. They got treat bags and a medal. I could not help but cry she makes me very proud and really does a great job. It is hard having coached for so many years to see her out there knowing where to go and what to do. She loves dancing, singing and performing so I think we might be in this for awhile.

Wordless Wednesday