Look Mom, only 2 wheels!

Lord help me!

Oh, Gees!

He is so proud of himself.

Rylee feeding Reon!

T-ball, Tree Climbers and Shout!

Wyatt's T-ball team "The Phillies"

Aren't they all so adorable!

Wyatt up to bat #1

Wyatt up to bat #2

Well, at least he is improving. It's all too cute to even matter!

Wyatt in Grandma and Papaw's tree.

My Little Monkey Boy!

Rylee trying to keep up with "Bub boo"

I love that smile!

SHOUT OUT!!
I want to give a "BIG SHOUT OUT" to my friend Vanessa. Vanessa and I have been friends since the beginning of the adoptions of our daughters. We went on two visit trips together, our actual Embassy Appointments were on the same day and we went on the mission trip to Casa Hogar Feliz this past December. I feel that God has brought us together for a reason and I know we share the same drive to help the children of Guatemala.
Well, Vanessa, her husband and their three kids are going to Guatemala next week. She is taking her daughter, Arianna to meet her birth family. I was so lucky to meet Arianna's birth family in December. I fell in love with those children. I am so, so sad that I will be missing this trip!
She will also be delivering items to two different organizations. One is Education and More http://www.educationandmore.org/ and the other is an orphanage Casa De Sion http://casadesion.blogspot.com/.
I am hopeful she will come back with a lot of information so we can start working together on some meaningful projects.
Safe and happy travels Vanessa!!!


I am planning to go back but it will be in February. I started back at making Guatemala Travel and Adoption Crafts in hopes to earn money for the trip on E-Bay. Wish me luck!
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZall4funraising

Rain, rain, go away!

Friday evening everyone showed up. First Grandma and Papaw and Uncle Scott, Aunt Caroline, Lily and Sofie, then Aunt Janelle. Woo Hoo! We are all so excited about what fun the weekend will be. Scott and Caroline had to leave because of work the next day but while we were there we got a Family Photo!

Here we all are!

Lily & Wyatt eating Aunt Janelle's Birthday cake. YUM!!

Aunt Janelle reading the kids a book.

Saturday morning, we woke to RAIN :(

Come to find out it was just the beginning of the wet and cold weather.

Rylee and Sofie in the rain with umbrellas.

Rylee did not mind the rain.

She was having so much fun with her cousins.

Wyatt and Lily. They are so cute together.

Can you tell they are holding hands?

I am so happy they all get along and play so well with each other.

The rain kept us in most of the day. Here we were playing Hide and Seek.

Believe it or not, there were a lot of good hiding spots in that cabin.

Lily hiding in one of the top cabinets. She is a good hider.

Craig hiding under the table.

Lily, Wyatt, Sofie and Rylee.

Lincoln State Park had activities for kids this weekend. We weren't sure if the rain had cancelled the events and the kids were getting "Cabin Fever" so we decided to go and see for sure. They had a Kite Flying Contest and an Egg Hunt scheduled. Yes, an Egg Hut!

Here are the kids with their new Bucket Hats ready for fun!

Well the Kite Flying Contest and the Egg Hunt were cancelled because of the rain but that didn't stop us. We decided to fly kites anyway and a lady there had given us about 2 dozen eggs for the kids.

Rylee with her kite.

Craig did a great job flying his kite. He ended up using string from 4 kites. He was so proud!

Can you see the kite?

The rest of day was spent back at the cabin. Trying to stay as dry and warm as possible. The kids slept like little logs. The weekend went really well considering a few bumps. I hope to get these kids together again soon. What a great bunch they are together!

Breakfast Sunday morning.

Look what the Earthquake (Mother Nature) left us!

What a beautiful day Friday was. After such a miserable night, God blessed us with perfect weather. It is so nice to be camping so close to home. We live about 5 miles away from Lincoln State Park. So, I packed up the kids in the car took them home with me to feed them breakfast and I got to take a shower. They wanted to come with me because I had mentioned picking up doughnuts on the way back and they wanted to pick their own. When we arrived back to camp the kids sat on the step and ENJOYED their doughnuts!

After we got the kids hyped up on sugar we decided to go for a bike ride. Well, we walked, they rode. Rylee, not such a good peddler or stearer so Craig and I tied a rope to her handlebars. It worked well!


I am a little disappointed for Wyatt. Last year he was riding a 2 wheeler. He definitely grew too big for the bike though. For his birthday he and Daddy went to Wal-mart and bought this bike with his birthday money. Well, the bike is so big he can't stand up and touch the ground while he is on it. So we had to put the training wheels back on it. He didn't complain about it but me, being the mom that I am, am. He WILL get another bike soon!


Taking a break and checking out the water temp. Oh, Yes, way to cold to be playing in!

Then we found a playground and that's when the real fun began.
Craig started off by being himself!

Like Father, like Son!

Rylee doing her own thing!

Wyatt and Craig at play!

Then we hit the swings!
We really need to add one of those to our playground at home.
Rylee looks like she is enjoying the swing but she really prefers the big swing.

Wyatt wanted to try the baby swing and discovered it was a little painful to his legs. I made him stay in there until I got a picture of him. I am a mean mom, aren't I? Look at that pitiful face! Oh and the hair... He wants to let it grow. He says he wants to be a "Rock Star"!


I did start to freak out a little while Rylee was on the big swing. Her little arms are not that strong and she was going pretty high. But, Boy did she love to swing.

Singin' and a Swingin'!

Bottoms - Up !!

What great fun we had!


More fun with crazy Daddy!

Thanks to everyone that reads our Family Blog and for your comments. I really enjoy Blogging and to answer your question. Believe me, I do NOT like mice at all but after the mattress was out of the cabin so where the mice. So, yes, I will camp again. We love camping!

Mice!, Raccoons!, EARTHQUAKE?!, Oh My!

We started our camping trip Thursday at Lincoln State Park! The weather was PERFECT!
After unloading and making our little cabin "Comfy Cozy", we settled into our beds.
The cabin had 4 bedrooms and Thursday night it was just us! We selected one of the bedrooms that had 2 sets of bunk beds. Craig and I slept on the top bunks and Wyatt and Rylee got the bottom bunk beds.
Craig decided to sit by the camp fire and enjoy the night for a while. Just shortly after getting the kids asleep, I start to hear a scratching sound and every time I would move to listen closer to find out where it was coming from it would stop. When I realized it was coming from the corner of where Rylee was sleeping, I freaked out, I ran outside to tell Craig there was a "Critter" in our room under Rylee's bed. Craig came in we turned on the lights (kids are still sound asleep) and no movement was heard. We went ahead and put Rylee on the top bunk with me and Craig decided he would go to bed too. Just as I was seconds away from sleep, Craig jumps up and says there are mice in his mattress and they are scratching to get out! Eeeewwww! He picks up the mattress and throws it out on the porch then jumps into the bottom bunk with Wyatt. Now we can rest. Oh no, now what is that noise? Critters outside trying to get in? RACCOON trying to get into our garbage can on the porch. Gees, I need some sleep and now Rylee as little as she is know well how to take over a twin size bed. I did get doze off between the kicks and the thrashings. Then somewhere around 4:30 AM, I woke to the strangest sound and the whole cabin was shaking. I yelled for Craig, "What is that?"
"It's a Earthquake, get down here!" Craig said jumping up and grabbing Rylee from the top bunk! It lasted about 40 seconds then I looked over at Craig and said "We don't have Earthquakes. What are you suppose to do in an Earthquake?" After it was over I jumped up and turned on the Radio. Yep, it was an Earthquake! Back to bed! Did you notice I did not say "Back to SLEEP?"

Is this "Normal" behavior?

Does this kind of stuff happen at your house?

Is this a form of Abuse and if so who is the abuser?

I ask myself this a lot!

My Babies' 5 month baby pictures

Rylee at 5 month old.
Photo received from Guatemala

Wyatt 5 months old.
Photo taken on his first visit to Holiday World.

Ooops!

Happy Birthday Aunt Janelle!

You are the BEST AUNT EVER!

Freezing under Thunder!

I think "Thunder Over Louisville" may have been a bad idea. Boy, was it cold! It wasn't really bad until you stopped moving. Then it got awful cold! When it started raining we decided to leave. Did I tell you how cold it was?!

Wyatt, Mammaw, Rylee and Maddy
Our walk down the river front.

Rylee and Maddy taking a break on a hillside.

A sea of other nutty people on the river.


The air show! Pretty Cool!



Wyatt on one of the wooden chickens.


The Ky Derby Pegasus and Wyatt.
I guess it wasn't that bad but, it was cold!

Mmmmm, I wike Chawkit!

Woo Hoo! Spring is here!

The weather is soooo BEAUTIFUL! I am so happy to not only see signs of Spring but feel it too. I think I have a small case of seasonal depression and I feel so much more energy and just generally happier with weather like this. My body doesn't like it much this morning though. We were outside most of the day yesterday, after church and naps. I was nonstop doing yard work. Rylee was busy playing in the playhouse and picking dandelions, Wyatt being the older child, I thought, I would not have to watch him very close BUT, I was wrong! I caught him almost on the roof of the house. He was climbing up the antenna! UGH! Next, I caught him all by himself down near the ditch. With all the rain we have been getting it has some pretty fast running water going through it these days! UGH, again! The last was, I was working in the front yard, he came running up to me and said he had to go potty. I told him to go in the house. Well, I guess he did not feel he would make it in time and had decided to pee on a tree. Next thing I know he comes stumbling around to the front of the house, pants to his ankles and said he accidentally peed ON his pants. Standing there naked he argued with me and refused to pull up his pant. OMG! What am I going to do with this boy!

Warnings - Where NOT to eat and What Not to Buy!

A have been involved with a couple of incidences that I would like to share with you all. Call this a warning of BAD customer service. Sometimes you just get tired of being pushed around!

Where NOT to eat!

Tumbleweed on the River in Louisville, KY

This past Saturday, well 3/22/08, we visited family in Louisville, KY. During our visit we decided to go out to dinner with our extended family. Their ended up being just eight of us. First thing, we were seated, orders were taken, and everyone is happy. Well it all started going bad when they seated a group of young girls right next to us. It was a birthday party for a 13 year old girl and her friends. They were a bit loud but that is not upset me. Who ever is in charge of the volume knob of the music decided to turn it up to drown out the giggling. Well, then everyone had to talk louder to hear each other. Things began to get chaotic then so I asked one of the waitresses to please turn down the music. She nodded her head "yes". Well, it never happened. But I, being a nice person that I am, just let go. Things were loud but, Oh Well! After dinner I asked our waitress for a box for our leftovers. She even repeated it to me. I had bought Rylee steak and she had only taken a bite or two because she had filled up on chips before dinner came. I had ordered the Buffalo Chicken Salad, very good but a too much chicken. We also collected some fries. (Since my trip to Panajachel, I DO NOT throw away any food! If you have been, there you know what I mean.) Well, after taking my children to the restrooms I came back to the table. Guess what! Food was gone and no box. I asked my family where it went. They said the waitress took it. Well, maybe she took it to put it in the box in the back. Out she comes... No Box! I asked her about it... She says she will get the manager, I wait, the manager comes out, says nothing to me, the waitress comes out, I am confused now, so I ask her if I am suppose to be waiting for something, The Manager say "Oh is there a problem?" I explain what happened then I ask the waitress "Do you not remember me asking for a box?" She stands there blank look on her face and says absolutely nothing. This is so embarrassing and infuriating to me. I said "Forget it!" and walk out. Oh, the manager did say he would make me another steak but it would take about 15-20 minutes! We had already been there for 2 hours and my kids were outside waiting. Ruined my day! I keep thinking of all those, I should haves and this post is one of them.

What NOT to buy...

Polaroid Products

My wonderful husband bought me a very cool Digital Photo Frame for Mother's day last year. He even bought one of those really nice decorative frame covers. I just loved it. I had it on my desk at work. I displayed all kinds of photos from my kids to my trip to Guatemala. One morning about a month ago, maybe longer, I came in and my screen was showing only half photos and some had lines through it. I e-mailed Polaroid and no answer. So, I e-mailed again this past Monday. I received an answer so I thought I would share a little information I receive with you about them.

"Your Polaroid product carries a limited 90 day warranty that begins on the original date of purchase. The dated receipt is required to validate the warranty period.

Based on the information contained in your email, we are unable to provide warranty service to you under the current policy. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any further questions about this decision, please review the warranty statement that came with your Polaroid product. Polaroid does not have an out of warranty service program at this time as the cost to repair is comparable to the price of a new camera."

Well, it's not a camera, but I get the idea!

This was my response...

I am very disappointed and I am sorry you feel there is NOTHING that can be done to help me get this repaired. I will be sure to let all my friends and family know by posting this information on our Family Blog. I used and LOVED it for all of 8 months. I am sure that this Digital Photo Frame was not inexpensive. I have priced new ones starting at $120.00. I can not believe you all only stand behind your products for 90 days. Basically your response tells me all your products are disposable after 90 days since you have no repair center. Interesting news to share!

Wyatt's 5 year old photos!

I know, I am about a month behind.

I just had his 5 year pictures taken this past weekend.

This is our son.

He has given me so much joy in my life.

He is proof that God answers prayers!