Ladies' Clothing Swap Adoption Fundraiser

Towards the end of June a sweet friend of mine called me with a great idea. She and her husband wanted to contribute to our adoption fund, but they don't have a lot of extra funds to give so she wanted to know what I thought about a Ladies' Clothing Swap as a fundraiser. 

Each lady participating would bring 5 - 20 items of clothing they no longer wear and $5 to go to our adoption fund. We would gather together, snack and then draw a number. 

3 of us at a time (according to our number drawn) would go shop and pick one item each round. 

There were so many clothes donated! 

And not just clothes, there were shoes, jewelry and even a few household items.

One day Gabe decided that he wanted to help with adoption costs as well and has been making "prayer bracelets". We set those out to sell as well. I just love that sweet heart of his!

He still has a lot of bracelets and is making more everyday. If you would like one, let me know! I know he would love for you to buy one!

Ruth had her house decorated with some of my "China" things to set the mood. It looked fabulous!

Here is a picture of all of the guest. We had such a great time and we each came home with some great new-to-us things!!!

I also came home with $100 towards our adoption fund and some really sweet messages to our little girl! 

It warms my heart so much to know how prayed for, loved and supported we are and our little one is. I am so thankful to each person who has helped us out on our journey through thoughts, prayers, giving to a fundraiser, organizing a fundraiser and just being there to listen to us. God has blessed us immensely with each one of you! 

I wish I had more of an adoption update for you guys, but I don't. We are still waiting on our referral. Our agency expects us to be matched sometime between September and November. So, each day we get a little closer to seeing her face and know who we are praying for specifically. We have about $1,400 left to go on our adoption fund (which is amazing considering we started out with $28,000!). Another friend of mine approached me about doing a Jamberry fundraiser yesterday. If you don't know about Jamberry - they are awesome! It is super cool patterned stickers that go on your finger/toe nails and last 2 weeks at a time. Each sheet is only $10 and will last for multiple manicures. That fundraiser will start on August 11th and I will post more info on that then! Until then, just keep praying for us to wait patiently, to wait diligently, for our little one to stay safe and healthy and for a quick referral! Thanks, friends! 

My sister's beautiful family

A little while ago I told my sister that I really needed updated pictures of her family and that the next time they came up I would take some pictures for them. Well, she and the family came up to Denton for a few days at the beginning of the month so we headed out to Old Alton Bridge for a super quick portrait session! 

Rachel is not only the mom of triplets, but she is also a wedding co-ordinator in the Austin area. Her business is called The Fairy Tale Effect and so I wanted to add a little fairy tale to her portraits! 

Aren't the triplets adorable! Let me tell you, it is a lot of work to get them to all look at the camera! They were super hot and the sun was already up pretty high, but they were troopers and I think we got some sweet keepers!

My brother-in-law was such a good sport! They have a beautiful family and I am so glad I have some new pictures of them!!

Cow Day 2014

Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A is always one of our favorite parts of the summer! This year was even more fun because my sister and her family was here, too!! 

We spent the morning working on making masks. Each of us - adults included - colored a cow mask. Then we made signs and tails to go with them! By that evening everyone was ready to dress like a cow and get free food!

The triplets thought it was a lot of fun! They made super cute little calves!

In the past, Will and Rachel have made fun of Byron and I for dressing as a cow for free food - but I talked them into joining in this year!! In fact, this year Cow Appreciation Day was on July 11th, which is also 7-11 Day! If you go to 7-11 on July 11, you get a free slurpee - so we did that, too! It ended up being a "free" themed day. We ate lunch at Freebirds, had a free slurpee and free dinner. It really was fun!

And next year, we hope to have a new little calve in our herd! Mei-Mei just doesn't know yet all the fun she is going to have with us!!

More Belton Pictures

The good thing about a funeral is that it brings family together, sometimes even family that we haven't seen in a very long time. 

This is the McCleskey clan: 

Aunt Susan, Uncle John and my mom:

Aunt Susan, Uncle John, my mom and a photobomber (my cousin Katy). 

Memaw's sisters - my great-aunts - Jeanette, Irene, and Virginia. We were all so surprised to see Aunt Virginia there! She is not in very good health, but said she just couldn't miss it. 

The next pictures are just kind of random pictures. This is a rose from my mom's garden. She names her plants. And talks to them. And so my kids called them each by name and talked to them, too. There's nothing wrong with that - right?!?

One day while we were down in Belton we had Sonic for lunch and one of the kids got a water squirting camera in their Wacky Pack. Mig LOVED it. He asked everyone if he could, "take their picture - outside." Hee-hee! 

Here is Aunt Suzy being a super good sport in getting her "picture" taken! 

Say cheese!!

Sweet 6 for Selah!

Selah turned 6 on the 6th of July! 

She is a sweet, sweet girl and I am so blessed to be her mom! 

We went to the Old Alton Bridge in Denton for her 6 year portraits this year. The bridge is old and has so much charm! It was a perfect location!

This year Selah lost (and regrew) her first tooth, completed 1st Grade and has grown up in so many different ways.

Selah loves to read. Her favorite right now is The Magic Tree House series. She also loves dolls, nail polish and anything girly. Her favorite food is shrimp and her favorite tv show is Sofia the First.

She is very girly, caring and sensitive.

While we were in Belton we celebrated her birthday with family. 

She wanted a Frozen themed party. Aunt Rachel made her some beautiful cupcakes and I made white chocolate snowflakes for the top. 

We invited the triplets out to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and then went to GiGi's house for cake, ice cream and presents!

Aunt Barbie made an owl picture (by request) for Selah and Mei-Mei's room. It is beautiful!

It was a special day for a special girl!

GiGi's Cookie Bake-Off

GiGi had been planning a cookie bake-off for the week we were in Belton this year and my kids were SOOOOO excited. 

The rules were that it had to be a cake box cookie recipe, the kids had to make the cookies themselves (with supervision) and they had to be original and creative. 

Mig made chocolate-chocolate chip cookies with cream icing, oreo crumb sprinkles and gummy mustaches. He called them "Mr. Wendell Cookies" for a friend of ours with a great mustache!

Selah made lemon cookies with strawberry icing and crushed lemon drops on top. She called her cookies Strawberry Lemon Drop Cookies.

Gabe made blue velvet cookies with crushed spearmint inside and then dipped them in melted chocolate. He called them Star Wars Cookies. 

They were all very tasty! The triplets were the official judges and all participants received a trophy!

We all tasted a bit of each cookie and then voted. 

In third place were Gabe's Star Wars Cookies!

In Second Place were Mig's Mr. Wendell Cookies.

And first place was 

Selah's Lemon Drop Cookies!!

What a fun day and a fun contest!!