I have to share with you all this amazing family.  I met them while we were in China adopting Finn and they were adopting their beautiful daughter Maylie.  

We have stayed in contact ever since. Meeting them and their daughters made a big impact on Marc and I.  One thing I know for sure is that they are amazing parents of 4 beautiful, sweet, poised daughters who all have a huge heart for Jesus.    Now they are thrilled to be adopting their 5th daughter in the coming months!!

This precious child has been through WAY too much for any 4 year old to bear, more than even the typical orphan which is overwhelming enough. Her story has touched me deeply but I will keep it to myself as the details are not mine to share.  I am so humbled that my wonderful friends have stepped up to become her family.    They have stepped out in faith financially in a big way as well, and they are holding a raffle for an Ipad and some other fabulous gifts.  Would you please consider helping them bring Lily home and getting a chance to win the Ipad!    You can check out all the info on their website by clicking here    

And please know that I 100% can attest that they are a wonderful family that truly does need us to rally around them to help bring this precious child home! Please check out their blog, donate and help us spread the word!  Thank you sooo much!

summer slammed

I am laughing at myself right now because a few weeks back, before summer started, I was sooo worried about entertaining the kiddos during the long slow summer days. I purposely tried to pack the calendar so we wouldn't get bored. I'm an idiot.

We are going a mile a minute around here and it is just now slowing down, but only for a short while.  Marc and I did go on our  little getaway courtesy of our family no spend month of February...  We were looking forward to spending 5 days on the beautiful beaches of Mexico and that we did, at least for the first 2 days.  Then the rains came and hovered, tropical depression style right over our slice of heaven and we ended up spending the remainder of our trip in classy places like this....  

It may sound like I am complaining, and yeah I was a little bummed.  Blue sky and sunshine are the keys to my happiness, but I am so thankful that I got to spend a few days alone with my favorite person on earth. :)  

Every other waking moment of the first month of summer was spent poolside for the kids swim team.. holy cow what a time sucker.  but they had fun...

Finn even has her own personal time out spot on the pool deck..

4th of July was a hit as usual.  The kids love decorating their bikes and going to a little hometown parade. 

And then this week Marc, Collin, and I hopped in the car for parent/child orientation at NC state.  Such a beautiful campus, so overwhelming to think that my baby is grown and leaving home, even though I know he is ready for it.  It is surely bittersweet. From the way I see it they are going to make it easier on him than he's got it around here.  Amazing opportunities ahead for this kid.  He has made us so proud.

Summer Chores...

So we are one full week into summer- our chore chart is going strong and I am loving it. The one thing I've got going for me with all these kiddos is the manpower behind all these little guys. I may have been underestimating them... I wrote out these chores a little skeptical that they would be accomplished within my low standards... or without asking for so much help that it would have been easier for me to just do it myself in the first place... But seriously they are doing really great. For some chores they team up... the boys have one day where they do one load of laundry together (the girls do to, just on a different day) they did a great job, with little reminding that the clothes needed to be moved to the dryer and then folded an hour later. (you know I love you when I take a picture of the inside of my laundry room and post it...holy heck, don't you love all the hanging bathing suits)..

They also team up and take turns emptying the dishwasher every morning.   Other chores include, cleaning their rooms, vacuuming, and cleaning bathrooms.  I have enough little hands that we can split the chores so that they don't take more than 15-20 minutes of their time...

and the payoff for them is this.....

They earn a dollar a day to spend at the snack bar at the pool, there hasn't been one complaint yet!   Kind of a win/win for me as I was hating the snack bar and constantly being asked if they could get junk.. Now they can decide if they want to spend their money on junk or save it for something better.   So as I sit here this Friday afternoon, my house is clean, and I feel brilliant.   Please no one try to burst my bubble and remind me that I am only one week in...  By week 12 of summer I am hoping that we still have no complaints, an empty dishwasher, and clean"ish" bathrooms :)    What can I say, I am delusional an optimist :) 

Hope you all are enjoying Summer!  

Class of 2011

He did it...he gradulated :)  

 There's my boy about to walk across the stage...  with an ear to ear smile...  

 Proud parents , squinting and looking at the wrong camera :)  but together none the less.

 It's so fun to have such a big age range of kids.... One is turning his tassel,, one walks away from us pouting because she couldn't have candy she found stashed in my purse... Gotta love the crossed armed pouting stance.  If it wasn't so cute it would probably drive me batty.

 Way to go C...much love to you... You make me so stinkin' proud and I can't wait to see what amazing things you accomplish in the next few years!  Dream big!

Schoolz out!!!

Is the month of May just absolutely Crazy Bananas at your house?  I don't remember it being this crazy but holy cow-ser..... nuts I tell ya.  

   Ty had his preschool graduation last week...

 I tried to take photos of him getting his "diploma" and his performance, but my camera is acting up and since he was moving... my pictures stink... I'm so not ready to spend any moola on a new camera right now... so all my favorite followers will have to bear with me and my grainy pics...

 Can you tell I think this kid is ridiculously cute.. I do, I really do.  He is about to loose his top front tooth, and it makes me sad...   I want to hold on to every "baby" thing about him for as long as I can.

 I'm just surrounded by good looking men :)  I'll tell you, I am one lucky gal :)

 After Ty's graduation, the preschool had a little carnival and all the kids had a blast.

 I think I snapped this pic the one second he wasn't smiling the whole afternoon .

 And I just have to brag on this guy for a second, I know that is hands down the most annoying part of reading blogs,,,, "oh look here at my perfect life and my perfect kids"  Well we are farrrrr from perfect...but I am stinkin' proud of this kid... I hope one day I can act as much of a grown up as he does.  Last week there were soccer tryouts for a competitive soccer team.  I had my reservations about signing him up.. he is 7 for goodness sake.  But at his rec - coaches advice we had him sign up.  He is a year younger than most of the kids on the team...so we told him he was just going to do a 2 day soccer clinic. We didn't want to put any pressure on him, or disappoint him.  So we just said go play and have fun.  I know a lot of the kids were super nervous.  But Jack was just having a great time.  This boy ALWAYS gives 110% no matter what the conditions.. so we saw no need to hype him up..   Well he made the team and it was so fun to tell him, since he had no idea he was even trying out.  We are so proud of him... mostly because he always has such a great attitude and he always works hard and he never complains...(see, told ya I wanted to be more like him)  Ok,, Mama brag over :)

 Minutes ago my biggest boy just walked in the door from his last official day of high school.  So surreal.   I think having a houseful of kids lessens the blow for me a little bit.  I love this boy with everything that I am but I know for sure he is ready for this next big step.  He will be home for the summer and I better not catch him doing to much of this in the long afternoons.....

 I have issue with lazy kids.... I will admit that my issue is 90% based on pure jealousy... oh to be a lazy.. I dream of being lazy with nothing to do, no haunting to do lists...  He does have a job though...but now that school is out, and wrestling is over... It's gonna be strange to not see him going a mile a minute...

 Ty also had his last soccer game of the season...boy loves to play soccer.  Hopefully next year it will be a bit easier for him to keep up with his peers.  He has come a LONG way in the past few months.  

 The sideline crew :)

 We have a super busy week planned this week, with Collin's graduation and family coming in town...  so it just may be quiet around here for a couple days... Enjoy the first days of summer!!!

SUMMER BUCKET LIST

 the littles are now out of preschool and the bigs are counting down their last few days of school.  i am trying not to go into mommy panic over how i am going to entertain all these kiddos during the long hot summer days.   i love my kids, i really do, love every stinkin' one of them,  sure sometimes they have an off day.  and with as many kids as I have at least one is having an off day everyday...not me though.  i am always on my game, always chipper, patient, friendly, calm and in control of my emotions ( bwah-haaa-haaaa-haaa).

so instead of panicking,  i'm obsessing and making lists of fun, easy, not too messy and budget friendly ideas to keep us going.  no doubt most of our days will be spent poolside or on the sidelines somewhere, but this list makes me feel a little more in control of the situation.     we just might not get to everyone of these, but it makes me feel better to have a plan.  gotta keep them thinking i have things under control or my gig is up :)
so here is our summer bucket list:

GO TO POOL
GIVE EACH KID $5 @ THE FARMERS MARKET...MAKE A STIR-FRY FOR DINNER
FINISH READING ROOM
GO TO INDOOR PLAYGROUND
GO TO POOL
SHARK WATERMELON
GO TO POOL 
GO CAMPING
PICK STRAWBERRIES
GO TO POOL 
MAKE ICE CREAM
SONIC HAPPY HOUR
WATER BALLOON FIGHT
SLIP AND SLIDE
GO TO POOL
SUMMER FLAT STANLEY
TIE DYE
GO GET DONUTS IN OUR JAMMIES
MAKE UP A SECRET HAND SHAKE
PAINT A ROCK/ BUG GARDEN
SCAVENGER HUNT
WASH CARS IN BATHING SUITS 
CHOCOLATE COVERED MARSHMALLOWS ON A STICK WITH COLORFUL SPRINKLES
DECORATE BIKES FOR 4TH OF JULY
ORDER PIZZA AT THE POOL
LEARN NEW HAND-CLAP/SONG GAMES ON YOUTUBE 
FREE (OR DOLLAR) MOVIES
FREE BOWLING
GRILL PIZZA'S USING TORTILLAS FOR CRUST
RAINBOW PUDDING POPS  see link
(POOL)NOODLE AND BALLOON BASEBALL
LIVING ROOM CAMPOUT
ROAST HOT DOGS AND SMORES OVER CAMPFIRE
SIDEWALK CHALK PAINT  see link
LET ALL THE KIDS PICK OUT 1 FUNKY SNACK TO SHARE AT TR@DER JOES
CHUCK E CHEE@E
BIG BUBBLES  see link
BUTTERFLY ART  see link
PAINT
BEACH
SAND CASTLE CONTEST
MAKE AN ONLINE SCRAPBOOK AS WE GO, AND ORDER  IT OUT RIGHT BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS


now if i were a really nice mommy, i would post this up somewhere so that all of the kids could see it and get excited.  then we could cross things off the list as we went....but i'm not that good, i rather keep a few tricks up my sleeve.  and truth be told, if i let them know that i was planning on taking them for donuts in their p.j.'s,  i wouldn't hear the end of it and it would completely suck the fun out of it...for me at least.  My every moment would be consumed with " mama, mama, can  we go get donuts now?  how about now?  what if we put our jammies back on?  what about later?  are we going to go tomorrow?  but you said we were gonna do it?  you wrote it there?  when mama, when?  how about now mama? "   so  i'm keeping this list guarded and completely to myself.   but i thought i would share it with y'all.  and please oh please if you have any other ideas  by all means  share 'em!!!

Serious Summer Fun

Sometimes we tend to make a scene in simple places...We get a lot of looks and pointed fingers but mostly smiles...  we surely weren't being very conspicuous on our recent trip to Low@s... we were on a mission.  We had big plans for this weekend.... 

 And this was what we were after....

 **** DISCLAIMER, although this is what we ended up buying the first time around, we (and by we, I mean my hubby) ended up going back to the store to return this one and get the 10 ft by 100 ft plastic sheeting...this here 10 x 25 ft is for wimps :)

 I say, "go big or go home" ... wait we were home, never mind.

 I'm sure I will be pulling this puppy out several times this summer.  I mean seriously,  I think I had the most fun out of everyone... I even have a bruise on my bum to prove it... sorry ,  T.M.I.  for sure.

 This is just one of those simple things that I have a feel like my kids are going to remember for a really long time.  I think I am going to start a "making memories" file here on the blog.  I have really been thinking and noticing a lot lately that my kids seem to remember and love the simple things we do the best.  It makes me feel better when I'm stressing all of the things we can't do for our large brood,,, to remember that they don't talk about the Disn@y trips...they talk about the times when we do things like this...make the World's largest slip 'n slide (don't burst their bubble and tell them otherwise, they were talking about calling Guin@ss and I wasn't about to stop them)

100 foot plastic sheeting, 1 garden hose, & a bottle of dish soap  ===  HOURS of fun!

Easy summer recipes...the Cheatin' chicken :)

So I had a better idea for simplified summer cooking!  My very favorite CHEAT- the rotisserie (or roasted) chicken. You know the ones you buy at c@stco or s@ms.  When I go, I always pick up a few and the first night we eat the chicken with a few different sides.  Then I pull of all the meat from the rest of the chickens and I always know I have some easy dinners the next couple of nights.   I decided to write up a few of my favorite ideas using the leftover chicken.  All of these recipe ideas can be made in under 10 minutes of hands on time since your chicken is already DONE!  I went ahead and left out all the soup and casserole recipes because they just don't fit in with my idea of summer cooking.


 Also, sometimes I roast my own and I use this recipe here, I even sometimes use a rotisserie spice mix I buy at the grocery so I really just have to throw them in the oven for a few hours, I add some garlic potatoes and other roasted veggies and we usually make a nice Sunday dinner out of it.. I of course make 2 or 3 extra chickens to have left-overs for the next few nights {yes we eat a lot :) }


So here you go. All of the things I can think of making with a rotisserie Chicken as I sit here on the sidelines of the soccer field:)

"Greek"-ingredients  Chicken, sun-dried (or fresh) tomatoes, olives, feta, cucumber,Artichokes, mushrooms, lemon , onion,  parsley, Rosemary, Italian dressing

Pick your favorites of the above ingredients and put them on a salad, on a pizza, over bow-tie noodles, over couscous, in a panini,or in a pita with tzatziki sauce

Here is a step by step of our favorite I posted on the blog a while back 

"ASIAN" - 

chicken fried rice

quick stir-fry with a bag of frozen Asian veggies over rice or noodles

Asian slaw:  Prepared bagged cole-slaw mix add, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, a bit of sugar, red pepper flakes...top with chicken

MEXICAN ;Chicken, salsa, black beans and corn,cilantro, Lime, refried black beans, sour cream, black olives, green onions, lettuce,tomato, tortilla chips, taco seasoning

Take any combo of above and put them on a salad, in a tortilla, on pizza, over yellow, white or brown rice, over chips to make nachos, or on a tortilla and bake for a true mexican pizza.  

Chicken salad, so many ways... 

chicken simply over greens with favorite toppings.  My kids always like when I do a salad loaded with cheese, bacon bits, tomatoes and croutons, throw the healthy benefits right out the window :) 

Cobb Salad

Chicken Ceasar 

Asian chicken salad:  with chicken, mandarin oranges, veggies, sprouts, chow mein noodles and ginger dressing.  

other quickies:

Super Easy Chicken pasta: Chicken, frozen peas, add a tub of that new philladelphi@ cooking cream. heat. Pour over cooked bowtie noodles.  add some more Parmesan if you'd like.  this dinner takes about 7 minutes to make and my kids eat it up like mad.  

Buffalo Chicken dip:  You may want to consult your physician before making this one :)  

Spread a brick of cream cheese on the bottom of a pie pan,  mix shredded chicken with fr@nks red hot sauce and pour on top of the cream cheese mixture.  Finally top with blue cheese dressing and bake until all hot and bubbly..  the blue cheese will just start to brown.  Serve with Frito scoops... I even freeze this dip and take it to the beach.. it sure isn't pretty, but it satisfies the meanest of junk food cravings :) 

BBQ Chicken sandwiches : shred chicken, add BBQ sauce ,heat, and put on a bun with some slaw.

BBQ chicken pizza. you can use the bbq sauce for the "pizza sauce" sliced red onions (or caramelized onions) , chicken, cilantro, and cheese and bake

One of our family favorites :PANINI's

To make: use any type of bakery bread, you can grill the sandwiches with either sliced bread or rolls. Brush with olive oil or butter and toast in a panini press( or in a pan with a foil wrapped brick on top, or if your fancy like me, on a Ge@rge Form@n :) . Another beautiful thing about these yummy sandwiches is that you can assemble them before hand and then grill them up at dinner time!

 Here is a few good panini's using your already cooked chicken:

Chicken, mozzarella, Tomato and Basil  (you can even leave out the chicken on this one like we did HERE)

Chicken, salami or prosciutto, basil, fontina, and tomato on rolls with a bit of italian dressing and maybe even a sprinkle of oregano

chicken, apples, & cheddar

chicken, bacon, avocado (or guacamole)& provolone

chicken, pesto, tomato, & mozzarella

chicken, mayo, artichoke, squeeze of lemon, greens,& provolone  

chicken,  ham, provolone cheese, Fresh spinach leaves, or baby lettuce and a bit of mayo

chicken,salt and pepper, olive oil, drained jarred roasted red peppers -- chopped, kalamata olives, fresh basil and provolone cheese

Let me know if you have any other ideas.  I'm sure I think of a ton more once I hit the publish button :)  

Counting down to Summer fun..

Can you feel the excitement of summer???

 I sure can and I've been busy getting my tail in gear finishing up a few projects around the house.   I'm on a mission to channel my inner baby-sitter,   "say what???"  Well my goal is to be able to play along with the kiddos all summer long... you know, like a baby-sitter does.  I really want to be conscious of doing anything that doesn't have to be done.  When the kids are having a lazy day watching a movie...I want to be right there in the thick of it... not scrambling to get anything done.  So standards will be lowered... chore charts will be made [we gotta share the love :) ]...and I am thinking of pulling out this trick again... 

maybe with some more summery/healthy meals.  I'll have to get on that planning though, only a few more days of school. If you want the recipes/instructions from my last freezer filling extravaganza,, you can check out the link here.  

My super special Mudders day

 I hope you all had a great Mother's Day!  Isn't it such a great day! I almost have a little Mama guilt over how much I enjoyed my weekend.  Yes-sirreeeee.  I milked it, and made my day into a weekend.  I'm not the kind a girl that wants a day at the spa... I'm much more simple than that...but my simplicity can't be bought.... it takes time :)    My amazing, wonderful, thoughtful hubby pretty much gave me the weekend to do and be gone whenever and however I wanted.. so I took him up on it and spent the last two days being lazy and frivolous with my time and lovin' it.  Saturday I went and drove around a massive yard sale and picked up a bunch of goodies one of which was this book that I had been wanting to read....  

then I bopped around M@rshalls & homego@ds for way longer than I necessary and even tried on a bunch of clothes I didn't need.  I ended up buying the perfect little black dress that I have absolutely no where to wear it but I don't care... for $25 it made my stinkin' day cause it fits like a glove in all the right places...and not in all the wrong places if you know what i'm sayin' :)   Does wonders for a girls psyche...I'm a simple girl :)  

Then I came home, kissed my babies and headed outside for my hammock with my book under my arm.   b.l.i.s.s

and it is a great book.  so i spend the rest of the afternoon, sipping my sweet tea and reading.  

Then, Sunday morning we go to church, then out to lunch at my favorite sandwich shop.  then home.  I grab my book,  grab a handful of dark chocolates and shove them in my pockets of my jean shorts like a 5 year old and sneak out back to my hammock...Here's the message in one of my chocolates...made me smile. big.

I lay around so much this weekend that I finish the entire novel in less than 24 hours. Great book, you have to read it, love the characters. 

  We also do the rounds to soccer games, which is so fun. And the kids made me a big gooey chocolate cake with an obnoxious amount of sprinkles and frosting... Yeah  I accomplished nothing but it was pure perfection... to have this time that I just wasted being frivolous and unbusy and unrushed.  I don't get much time to just soak up books or just be,  I feel like I'm always rushing and doing.  My adorable hubby knows me so well... he knows what I appreciate and how I feel appreciated.  I know my weekend doesn't sound glamorous but to me it was pure perfection.  I felt like I was on vacation.Oh did I mention he also got all the laundry caught up so I don't have to do it tomorrow on my laundry day!!!  That is no small task of this rather large crew.... I didn't even make or think up one meal this weekend.. I was here in body but not mind... I feel recharged and ready to hit the ground running tomorrow!  I love being a Mommy, I love that I have such a great husband that appreciates and supports me.   (on a side note,,, can you count how many chins I have in the following photo..I counted 37.  oh well)  I am such a lucky girl!  I feel so blessed this mothers day... I hope you do to.  Big hugs to all my Mommy friends out there!!!

Do you know where our Mama is???

Try as I may I can not pull myself away from seeing the children who are waiting and having my heart broken time and time again.  I meet people almost everyday that have a heart for adoption but there is this looming fear of the "what-if's"...  What I really want to say is, "What if...you never open your heart to this child and you miss out on the biggest blessing of your life?"  "What if...because of fear of stepping out of your comfort zone, another child never knows what having a family means."  "What if... this child has a heart so big that they beam every time you walk into the room and they love you for the rest of your life."  "What if... you could be the hands and feet of Jesus in the crazy world"  I guarantee if you ask 100 people who have adopted at least 99 of them would say their lives have been drastically changes by adoption...for the BETTER! Not that we all weren't scared at the beginning...now we just all know better.  It's not always easy but it is always worth it.    

This is Pearl, she just turned 3 years old.  Isn't she precious.  She needs a Mama, don't you agree?  She has a heart condition that requires surgery.  Usually, it seems kids get surgery while they are in China but she has not yet.  I would love to see her find a family super quick.  She also has a cleft palate that will need to be corrected at some point once she is home.  My heart is aching for her.    See what her files says about her personality below...

 At the age of 25 months, she could understand the meanings of sentences and carry out the simple orders. Pearl liked to close to me, I interacted with other children no matter where I sat at the activity room, she always sat behind me quietly; sometimes she would put the toy phone to her ear, and press on the number on the homophone. Sometimes she would do a somersault for me, after that she would come to me and sit on my bosom with head lying on my bosom, shaking her legs while smiling; when asking her where was the dog, she not only pointed to the dog picture on the wall but also studied the puppy to call. Now Pearl is 28 months old, every day she will go out to play; once she put on shoes she will go to the elevator and waiting with children together; when reaching the small garden, at first she will enjoy the flowers and touch the tree, and then she holds the tree and hide it, meaning playing game of hide-and-seek with me. Now Pearl not only could have a dinner with spoons but also choose food; she likes to eat rice noodle and wonton; putting the porridge and the rice noodle in front of her, she often choose the rice noodle.She likes to eat dessert and all kinds of fruits and corn. This is Pearl, a young girl who suffers from CHD, and is delicacy but is quiet and sensible and adorable.  
And here is some updated info from a few weeks ago: Pearl can walk up and down the stairs holding onto the railing. She counts the steps “one, two, three, four, five..” while walking up the stairs. She kicks the ball with her foot and can throw the ball with both hands. She can play some games with the teachers using her fingers and dance. If she sees other children doing something wrong, she tries to tell the teacher by pointing at the child and say Ah Ah. She is potty trained and knows to wash her hands after going to the bathroom. She can put on and take off her pants and shoes. She goes to bed on her own when it is time to sleep. She feeds herself with a small spoon. She can say “Ba Ba and Ma Ma”. She says Wang Wang to imitate the dogs and says Wo Wo to imitate the roosters. When she sees the teachers, she says “Lao Shi Hao” (Hello, Teacher) and when she leaves she says Bye Bye and blows kisses.
   

And look at this sweety, Tori...She has already had heart surgery and recovered very well.  She is 4 years old.  Check out her cuteness and see what her orphanage had to say about her.

She can run and jump comfortably. She can walk up and down stairs by herself. She can say sentences with three to five words in them. She is a little girl who loves to talk, to laugh and to sing and to jump.  She recovered very well from her surgery.  She is not a picky eater. Tori has outgoing personalities. She loves to talk and laugh. She also cries easily. She likes to listen to music, sing, play with paper, draw, tear paper as a game. She doesn’t like stuffed animals or animal toys. Tori has normal intelligence and her motor development is also very good. Only her language development is somewhat slower than her peers but she has made much progress in this area as well. 


To find out more about these precious kids you can leave a comment with your email address or you can contact the agency that has their file here:  xqcai@comcast (dot) net

Weekend blessings

Ok, before I get to the point of my post I have to apologize for the photos from the last post... I was so psyched to try to post from my phone but the photos are the pits...so I am going to try again soon and hope for some better pics...hopefully I can get it to work better!   

I just gotta say is there anything better than a big group of families getting together for a potluck picnic, eating off paper plates, letting the kids run wild and spending a beautiful afternoon together?  We are so fortunate to have several amazing families blessed with the heart for adoption so close by.  We spent a wonderful afternoon together yesterday and I am still buzzing with love for all of them! 

The volleyball court turned into a huge sandbox for the littles...  and my apologies to anyone who was scrubbing sand out of little hair last night.  As I was washing Finn's sandy head, Mina ratted on her and told me she was pouring sand on other kids...  So sorry, I am usually not the oblivious Mom that lets her kid terrorize the sandbox.   If you have a complaint leave it in the comment section and I will make sure Finn delivers a bottle of "No more tears -shampoo" with an apology letter.  

 All in all there was over 60 of us...  and 6 of those families are waiting for word to travel and get their babies!!!!  So exiting!    Thanks all for the yummy food!

 Ok, you just have to see this adorable family.  I just love them so.  Not sure if you remember but almost a year ago I wrote this POST...about finding Ty because the sweetest woman came to my house to buy something I was selling on Cr@igslist... and she was wanting to adopt.. Well that precious woman is home with her baby now 3 weeks, and she is just the most precious little thing... LOVE
  And this photo of sweet baby Lucy with her Papa just wrecks me...  I seriously tear up.  Something about a father and his first baby girl....nothing compares to that love.

The littles playing a serious game of corn hole :) 

 and the big boys played football for hours,  my Jackson had a blast.

 I love barefoot little girls running around giggling and getting all silly.  These two are going to grow up and be party planners... they love a good fiesta!

 Such a great day and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing support and friendship with all of these beautiful families!