Drum Lessons

A few weeks ago Mig asked to play Byron's drums. A drum lesson ensued! Byron was on cloud 9 sharing his love for the drums with our littlest boy! As you can see - Mig smiled the entire time! ADORABLE!

On Two Wheels

This summer Selah asked Daddy if he could teach her to ride her bike without training wheels!

They took it slow - learning how to balance first.

This Saturday we went to the park to practice and she got it!

She is on two wheels now!!

Here is a short little video of our big girl riding her bike! Yay, Selah!!!

First Day of Homeschool 2014!!

Last Monday was our first day of homeschool of the new school year!!

We always start the day with circle time where we sing praise songs, have a Bible Study, and pray together. After circle time it was time for our first day photos!

We went school supply shopping the Friday before the first day and each of them also picked out one new outfit. This always makes the first day feel so special - which is sometimes hard to do when you homeschool. 

This handsome boy entered fourth grade! Can you believe it! He is getting so big! Over the summer he discovered the Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull, so we had to add that in our portraits. 

Selah entered Second Grade. 

She has loved reading every Magic Tree House book she can get her hands on - but she has to read them in order. No skipping! :)

Mig has officially started Pre-Kindergarten this year.

After just one week of school he can already sound out the words dog, dod, and bob!! I think we might have another early reader!

When the school day was over, we went outside to take a "we survived" picture! This time I got in it, too!

I am looking forward to another fabulous year of schooling these 3 blessings and am hoping to add blessing number 4 into the mix this year as well! I am so happy to be able to be their teacher and their mommy and thank God and Byron so much for giving me this amazing opportunity! Without the support of my sweet husband and the hand of my Heavenly Father I know that this wouldn't be possible. 

Making Room for Mei Mei

My goal this summer was to work on the kids' rooms. When we first decided to adopt, we thought we would move Gabe and Mig in together, let Selah keep her room to herself, and then use Mig's old room as a nursery for our little one. During our home study, though, our case worker encouraged us to room the two girls together since, chances are, our new daughter would not be used to being in her own room. Many times, they don't even have their own beds! Selah was ecstatic at the idea of having little sister in her room. The boys had already gotten used to the idea of having a boy room, though. So, we decided that everyone would have a room mate. The boys would go ahead and share a room, too! 

I started on the boys' room first. They decided they wanted a Star Wars room and chose dark blue and gray for their wall color. They were so excited that they got to help. Gabe said over and over, "I can't believe you are actually letting us paint on the wall!"

We found a couple of cool Star Wars posters, hung their lightsabers and I bought a vinyl Yoda quote off of Etsy. It turned out great!!

They quote says, "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is". So perfect!

In early spring Selah found an owl canvas that says, "I knew when I met you and adventure was going to happen. -AA Milne". She said that those must be little and big sister owls and had to have it for their room. We planned their room around that canvas. 

Selah's room has a deep red wall that she wanted to keep and then she picked out a pretty rosy pink for the other walls. 

 Their room turned out beautifully!! We added a toddler bed, some owl throw pillows and I made cute owl lanterns!

Selah's wall has a very swirly owl tree wall sticker. Aunt Barbie's sister owl art and an owl PopPop found decorate their dresser. On each girl's bed is a pillowcase cross stitched by Memaw. It is a room fit for a princess! We are ready for Mei Mei!!

Jamberry Party Adoption Fundraiser!

This is our last Adoption Fundraiser! Why fundraise for an adoption? It was weird for me at first to ask for help with our adoption expenses. Over time I realized that many people have compassion for children that are in need of a home and a forever family, but not all people are called to be that home and family. By giving financially, more people are able to take part in our adoption story. We hope that you will consider becoming part of our little girl's story by helping us make our dream a reality - and this is such a FUN way to do that!! 

A few weeks ago a friend of mine from church approached me about doing an ONLINE Jamberry party as a fundraiser. Byron and I discussed it and thought it was a good idea! If you have never tried Jamberry you are in for a treat! Jamberry nail wraps are heat and pressure activated vinyl wraps. They're unlike anything else you can buy, anywhere else. They're not polish strips. They outlast the dollar-store brands, and even the expensive salon brands. They don't chip, fade, or smell -- and they don't dry out. Jamberry last up to 2 weeks on your fingers, and up to 6 weeks on your toes. Yep. You read that right. Just purchase a set (or 3 - they are buy 3 get one free)  of super fun nail wraps and you are helping us meet our goal! And we are SO CLOSE to being fully funded! 

An adoption from China costs on average $28,000.00. That is a BIG number! BUT we serve a BIG God! When we started fundraising we had $10,965 left of adoption costs. As of today we only have $900.00 left to raise!!! Praise The Lord for His provision and His hand in our adoption!

If you would like to help out with our adoption funding, you can purchase a set of Jamberry nails here: 

http://cmsal.jamberrynails.net/party/?uid=e00491a4-a338-442a-b98b-b884c52c9ed2

They are $15/ sheet and come in so many really fun patterns and colors. 

Choir Camp 2014

Last week was Choir Camp week! We love Choir Camp! This year I was a Shepherd for the 4th-5th grades, Selah and Mig were in Mini-Camp, and Gabe was Joseph in the musical "Joseph: From the Pit to the Palace". This was Mig's first year in Mini-Camp and he really loved it! Selah was chosen from the Mini-Campers to sing in an ensemble. She did a great job!!

I am so happy to have these pictures!! Cynthia Burch took these. She is a photographer that volunteers for the church a lot and posted these pictures on her site for us to download! I was video taping with my camera, so I couldn't take any pictures. 

Unfortunately, because of where Mig was standing, he is not in any of the pictures. :(

Below is a video of the Mini-Camp Performers. Mig is front row with red shoes and Selah is front row left. They are both wearing blue shirts. 

After the Mini-camp performed, it was time for the musical. I took most of these pictures during the dress rehearsal that morning so I could video during the performance.

This next picture is from Cynthia Burch - so beautiful!

Below is a video of the musical. My big camera is able to take video, but I have never tried using it for more than just short clips. Well - I guess that was all it is really meant for. It would shut off after about 12 minutes and then the memory card got full - so I didn't get the whole musical. I did get most of Gabe's part, though. Last year they sold a professional video of the performance and so I had planned on that being the case this year, too and wasn't too worried about getting it recorded myself. However, a few hours before the performance the parents were notified that DVDs will not be sold this year. SO SAD! 

Gabe played Joseph 1 and his buddy Brave played Joseph 2 (which were the "flashback" scenes). They both did an excellent job and had so much fun doing this together!

This was the first year all 3 of the kids were in camp! 

 Our church's music director, Kendall Lucas, was the drama director for the musical and spent a lot of time with Gabe during the week. They became buds as well!

We are so thankful and blessed to have a church that pours into these kids' lives in so many ways!