Crazy...

Omigoodness! Things are so crazy around this house today. The hubby was at home.
He finished up a hefty do-it-yourself project...and the new doors he hung look mighty
nice. Good job baby!

There was a tragedy that affected our eldest daughter at school. Her first experience with the
death of a classmate. It bothered her, in fact her exact words were "I felt like I was
going to throw up". It is hard. The realization that life doesn't last forever and that sometimes
the young do die first is a hard bite to swallow. We let her know there aren't any mistakes and that the Lord knows exactly how many breaths we will all draw. We hope she finds comfort in knowing that nothing is a surprise to God. He is still here and still loves us all.

The kids have projects out the kazoo due this week and next for the end of the 6 weeks and then school will be out for the summer!! My kids need a break. All kids need a break. Heck, those teachers definitely need a break :)

The little girls are going stir crazy. I really am not a big fan of the public restaurant playground but I am about to give in. Our yard and the parks have been groady and muddy from all of our rain lately. Poor girls. There is only so much paint, chalk and reading one kid can take without room to burn off steam. Tomorrow maybe the sun will shine and dry things up for us. Speaking of rain, it made our yard really green and the flowers that have not bloomed since we lived here are blooming. They are growing so pretty. It's cool to me how when God gives us rain it looks like everyone has had some pricey fertilizer on their lawns and they are so lush and beautiful. We can spend $100+ on a water bill and Miracle grow our yard and it will still look thirsty. Just an observation...check it out for yourself. It is true.

I can't find my camera anywhere. This stinks so bad because I am convinced I was the last one
with it. Can you have memory loss in your mid 30s? If not, I may need to sign up for a case study on it...I know I could provide good data for them.

Talk to you soon...hopefully with photos :)

Home 2 Months :)

Love's Referral Photo

Bringing Love in the room for the first time!!
Love at home with her family for 2 months!!

Well, the 27th marked our 2nd month home with our little "Love". She is just as precious as the first day we laid eyes on her in Wuhan. She had three adorable pig tails and the sweetest temperament. She was happy and energetic even those first minutes with us. She is a laid back, easy going kind of gal. But, as far as organization or planning...well, the brain of this new mom to 4 is fried. I am not good at it yet, but I am trying.

Back to Love, she has changed so much. She:

*babbles English words more regularly now

*loves to take a bath and would do so anytime and anyplace

*enjoys being outside

*loves her siblings

*loves her vacuum cleaner and to "vacuum"

*when she is hungry will laugh with excitement when she sees her food coming

*wants to be like her big sister Hope

*loves to drink from a straw

*she'd give a monkey quite the competition in climbing

*she likes to lean on her stomach on things and let her feet hang and swing them back and forth

*loves grilled chicken most

*brushes her teeth like a mad woman

*can hear even the lightest sound within a 2 mile radius when trying to nap

*loves to dance to "Here Comes Peter Cottontail"

*loves to sing and to lip sync

*heart melter

*smile provoker

*living love potion

Love is perfect for our family. I could not have imagined how well she would adjust to our family. She has bonded amazingly well and quickly. We are blessed beyond measure that we were chosen to be her parents...we don't deserve this child.

Memorial Day Fun!

Mi Mi and Love
Faith and Hope
Hunter with Love
Faith and the Sunscreen Remover :)

For memorial day we went to my sister's friend for the day. We enjoyed the typical fare of grilled burgers and watermelon. Plus, there was every kind of fresh fruit available...yummy!! Her friend has a pool and a really awesome porch that allowed those who wanted shade to enjoy it and those who wanted sun still had plenty of room too. All of our kiddos love, love, love to swim and be in the water. Love had her first time in the pool. She is hooked...oh Daddy...we "need" a pool. I heard that a lot. You know when you have a pool you can't wait to get rid of it and when you don't have one...you really miss the days you did. The kids had on plenty of sunscreen and we re-applied several times but the slide I guess would remove the sunscreen as their bodies rubbed against the sides and back....and well, our fair skinned Faith is a wonderful new shade of tomato red. She is only in a little pain. Poor baby. She did get to wear her new swim suit though. Hope had much more freedom in the pool this time. She just wore floaties and went everywhere she wanted. It was a good time. We appreciated the time with family and even though it was hot...it was a lot of fun.

Camping Trip

Hunter and Hope 4 Wheeling
Just Fishing
Hunter with "the Catch"
Permission to throw rocks...yes!!
the snake...yuk~

This past weekend the hubs, Hunter and Hope all went camping with some good friends. They had a blast. They only stayed a couple of nights. The land is right on the river and they enjoyed the fishin' and swimming. They did not however enjoy the snakes that they continued to encounter. Hunter even came up on and killed a rattlesnake...yuk!! Hunter talks about them like no big deal. He's been told to be on look out for them, where they might be and what they look like since he was about 2. He loves to go hunting and fishing and snakes are just part of that. I am learning to deal with it. Of course, what bothered me more is my Hope was covered...literally covered in bug bites. I am not sure if it was chiggers or mosquitoes. For some reason no matter how much or what type of bug spray we use... it doesn't seem to phase them. She is usually like the repellent for all the other people....they swarm her and leave everyone else alone. Either way...it isn't fun for her and they are everywhere...even in her hair!! Poor baby. I asked her about staying home with Mom next trip...I got a quick "No! I'm a fisher gurl." She isn't that bothered by them apparently. They ended up catching 2 nice size catfish and they are "true" campers. They eat what they catch or kill. No going into to town for DQ or some other local name restaurant. They really enjoy the camfire at night and even night fishing. They just love it outdoors :)

I am glad they had a good time and I am not one bit jealous of the fact they were there. Faith, Love and I all went shopping for Faith a new swimsuit and had some nice food from a good resaurant. I have tried camping. In fact I spent 3 full nights during the impending Y2K days and I am not a good camper. I never thought I was spoiled until I realized I would give up family time for a shower and toilets. A woman has to draw the line somewhere. And if you are ever caught with no toilet and it is freezing cold outside and your husband is out hunting...don't let your children know you used a cooking pot...they will rat on you everytime...not speaking from experience or anything ;)

Brandita

Well, hello!

Welcome to our new home!

We are so glad you are here. We have been debating switching to a new blog and here we are....

For those of you who know us personally, things are going to seem a little strange at first. I think you'll catch on rather quickly though. For those of you who don't, well...We are a growing family - both in size and in challenges. Our 4 kids are: our oldest son "Hunter", our eldest daughter "Faith", our middle daughter "Hope" and our youngest is "Love". They are the biggest blessings! We are a family that believes we are saved by grace alone and knows we are not perfect but thankfully we are forgiven.

Our intention for this blog is to serve as our family scrapbook. We also wanted to keep our family and friends in touch with our crazy-wonderful little world.

Brandita