Elijah's birthday party

As usual, we went round and round trying to pinpoint what kind of party Elijah wanted. Finally he decided he definitely wanted a puppy party at a local park that has a cool sand thingy. The only problem was his birthday is in February. This winter has been one of the worst winters weather wise, so going to the park in February made me shiver to just think about it! We decided, or I decided and he agreed, that we would have his party the 2nd week of March, and maybe the weather would be better. Our gamble paid off! The weather was beautiful for his park/puppy birthday party.

The birthday boy with his button

 The puppy pinata and puppy goody bags

Nana and Anna ready to party!

Jamie celebrated with us

First we made the craft

Enjoyed the snacks!

 Ready for cake!

While the kids played, Mimi and Papa took Miss Layne to play in the park.

We ended with a pinata

The poor puppy didn't withstand many whacks, his head separated from his body pretty quickly.

The candy free for all

 The weather was great and the kids all had a great time…a birthday party success!!

Rainbow in a jar

First of all, I must issue a disclaimer. I did not come up with the following experiment, I read it on an online blog. But, I like to think that intelligence isn't knowing everything, but knowing where to go to find whatever you need to know. Soo, I'll take credit for being intelligent (sometimes)!

This was an experiment to demonstrate density. We talked about everything being made of molecules and the more molecules, the more dense an object is. We took honey, corn syrup, dawn dish detergent, wesson oil, water and rubbing alcohol. We used food coloring to make sure they all were different colors.

The kids made guesses (hypothesis) about which would be the densest. We then layered them each in a jar.

Voila! Our rainbow in a jar. Then we went online and found a chart that listed most of our substances and their corresponding densities. (We put them in a different order in another jar to see the heavier ones sink into the lighter ones.)

Very pretty, isn't it? By the end they could tell me all about density and which substance was the most dense and the least dense.

When Dad got home, they were excited and wanted to show him our masterpiece. Anxious to receive my, "Atta girl" from John, I started peppering the kids with questions. Of course, they both just stood there and looked at me like they had never heard any of those terms or concepts before. Eventually I was able to jog their memory and they spouted out the answers that I originally had hoped would validate me as a teacher.

Anyway, they had fun and maybe they learned something in the process. And maybe, just maybe, there was little lesson tucked in just for the teacher regarding that nasty little villain…. Pride!

They may fight like cats and dogs by day...

But at the end of the day...

They really love each other!

Two little ones need families!

These two little girls are looking for their families. Could it be you or someone you know?  They are on our agency's list and they have asked us to help get the word out that these precious little ones are waiting.

Sarah

Sarah was born in January of 2010 and has Down Syndrome. She likes to play outside and her favorite thing to play on is the slide. When indoors she loves dancing to music and looking at picture books.

Amber

Amber was also born in 2010 and diagnosed with Down Syndrome. She is very active and loves crawling and walking to find new toys to play with. She is is quite outgoing and loves to cuddle!

Both of these cuties are in China. Our agency, A Helping Hand, has their files and would love to talk to anyone who might be interested in giving either of these two a family. You can contact Hannah at
hannah@ahelpinghandadoption.org or call her at (859)263-9964.

The adoption of Abbey and Elijah has been a wonderful thing for our family. Our adoption journey has been an amazing time of growth, of seeing God work and beginning to  understand a little bit more of His heart.  I'd be more than happy to talk to anyone and answer any questions you might have about adding to your family through adoption. You can leave me a comment with your e mail address. 

I know that God desires for these children to have families. The adoption process starts with God's quiet voice speaking to your heart. Are you listening???

Meet visitors

When Evie Claire got word that her Mimi and Papa were going to be in Maryland, she decided that she just had to go! Since she can't quite drive yet, she had to bring her parents. Of course, I was ecstatic to see all three of them!

She's grown so much and is ever so much more social. I had a wonderful time "chatting" with her!

and so did Papa

Aunt Abbey was a little bit excited to hold Miss EC

While at the meet, she fell asleep in my arms and took a little nap. One of life's best feelings…a sleeping baby to cuddle with!

I'm so glad that Evie's parents made the trip from New York to Maryland so that we could see all three of them for a little while!

Lucky Thirteen

Well, it wasn't so much luck, but a lot of hard work that brought Daniel and the rest of UNCW's men's swimming and diving team their 13 straight conference championship!

The meet was held in the aquatic center at College Park, MD.  John, the kids and I made the long drive toward the north, in order to cheer our favorite breaststroker on!

They are old hats at the "W"…

The hotel had an indoor pool, which helped pass the time between sessions. It was so cold that the heated pool created quite a fog. They didn't mind at all.

Daniel contributed to the win with both of his breaststroke events, but he had to fight back to do so. With his first event, 200 IM, he didn't perform very well, and wasn't happy with the time or place. At first he was a little distraught, but he buckled down and had a really good 100 breastroke swim.

It was so cool to get to see him parade in,

And pictured on the big screen as he was introduced,

Getting ready

Taking his mark,

and he's off!

The four day meet came down to the very last relay. The Seahawks won the relay with a new record, and along with that, they won the meet. This win was extremely sweet! Last summer, the administration publicized plans to cut the program. There was a huge outcry and they rescinded their plan. Several of the best swimmers left during the uncertain time to swim at other schools. So, they were low on there scoring swimmers. But, with a lot of tenacity and hard work, the remaining faithful did it!!

There was lots of celebrating afterwards.

The coach, (in the Hawaiian shirt), even got in the middle of it.

I noticed Daniel, after the celebration, going over and shaking the coach's hand. Later, I asked him what he said, and he said he just thanked Coach Allen for all he had done.

We waited around until they came out from the locker room to congratulate the champions.

Someone wasn't so keen about waiting around. They were upset to be getting back to the hotel after the pool had closed. They found a spot to sit and Abbey worked on getting out her loose tooth, while Elijah fought sleep.

Finally our champion appeared!

With the other sophomore swimmers

With his girlfriend, Cat, who is also a swimmer. The girl's team placed 4th.

Well done and well deserved!

I'm so thankful that we got to be there to see this win!

Next: We had special visitors at the meet.…