Introducing....4/52

This is Flynn.  He is named after Flynn Rider from Tangled.  He and his sisters are babies from a boston terrier, and her oops partner.

This is little miss Quincy.  She is full of personality and carries herself just like a miniature boxer.  She looks the most like their mommy.

This precious love bug is Chia!  Noelle named her after a Chia pet.  She is the sweetest of the group and really just wants a lap to sit in.

Before you think oh my, she has lost her mind, I will go ahead and say that none of them are staying.  They were posted on a facebook group that I belong to as free.  I have worked in rescue way to long to know what happens to animals that are offered for free.  Unfortunately we also have a few people in our area that have learned that free puppies and kittens are a lot cheaper to feed to their boa constrictors than purchasing live rats.  Not to mention the people who jump on free animals to use as bait dogs for their fighting dogs.  It is a real problem, and as soon as I saw these guys, I couldn't let it be their fate.  We also haven't fostered in years.  I used to all the time, so I decided the kids might enjoy it.

This has been a great eye opening experience for my kids.  They got to see first hand how even small puppies like this could live in such poor conditions.  Each puppy had at least 200 fleas on them.  They were so weak and they are bloated up with worms.  They helped me bathe the puppies, then the sat and picked off all the dead fleas.  It was extremely time consuming, but they continued their hard work until each of them were flea free.  They helped me take photos of each one so they could be used by the rescue for petfinder.  They have loved on them, fed them, and taken them potty over and over again. They have even cleaned up the potty accidents.  They have all quickly learned why we adopt adult dogs too.

The puppies have been a blast, but tomorrow they will head to the rescue for their spays and neuter so they will be ready for their forever homes.  We are praying that they will be loved and cared for as much as we have loved them.

If by any chance you are in the market for a precious little half boston terrier puppy, please let me know....I know where you can find some precious ones!!

Miss America 3/52

Last weekend the girls and I gathered around the TV for a first in my adult life.  We were going to watch the Miss America pageant.  I have never been a big fan of pageants, but we were a little vested in this one.  We knew a girl that was going to be in it, so for us, it changed everything.  Not only did we know her, but we had also researched her competition, and had found four girls that we would be cheering on.  So, on January 12th with excitement, we all watched and rooted on Miss Alabama, Miss New York, Miss Alaska, and Miss Montana.  Of course Miss Montana immediately captured my heart when I found out she was autistic.  Three of our four made it to the top 15, then there were just two, then it was down to hoping for just Miss New York to win.....and by golly, she did.  We couldn't believe that our little Mallory was now Miss America!  I still wish she had been representing Alabama, but just the same, we are so proud of her!   This created so much excitement for the girls.  

So now, everyday after school, Noelle does Hope's hair and makeup and gives her "pageant lessons."  After learning about Miss Montana, Noelle has a dream that Hope could be the first Miss America contestant who is mentally challenged.  They are having a blast doing pageant school every day.

I told Noelle that she needs to start working on the interview portion now.  That would seem to be our biggest problem.  While I am still no fan of anything that puts that much emphasis on beauty, I am having fun watching Hope and Noelle bond with their afternoon routine.  Who knows, what the future will bring though.  We sure never expected to see Mallory take the big crown and she did.  It was her dream and she dared to chase it!  That is one thing I hope each of my kids do.  I know that God has a path for them and I am hoping that each of them dares to follow those God given desires.

A Wishful Wonder 2/52

We really enjoyed the beginning of our week with Rob.  He had brought a special gift for Noelle all the way from Ireland.  They were penguin bars.  They are wonderful little chocolate bars and each one has a penguin joke on it, similar to the jokes on laffy taffy, but all about penguins.  She loved them.  He brought the rest of us fun stuff too.  My favorite thing was a really nice Irish chocolate bar, and it made it even better when Rob called it "proper" chocolate.  There is nothing like eating proper chocolate.  I know I can't arrange my children's marriages, but I would be thrilled if any of my girls brought a guy like Rob home.

 He attempted to teach the kids how to do an Irish dance.  I don't think it went well, but he tried.

Hope had fun too.  She kept slipping her arms in his jacket with his arms.  He was such a good sport and I am sure his jacket sleeves are just a little big now.

 Rob also got introduced to our stair sliding past time.  He went down several times.  The funniest moment was when he came down with just Hope.  They landed at the bottom and Hope says, "I'm laying on your wee wee."  Oh my goodness, what a mess she is....I'm not sure we will ever properly filter what comes out of her mouth.

The other great thing about having Rob was that we got to spend tons of time with these guys too.  I have missed our China team.  Tori missed out on all the fun, but Kelsey, Natalie, James and Blake were here for the festivities, and I have a feeling they will be back for breakfast again sometime soon.  I have some new french toast addicts.  After this picture, I drove Rob back to the airport.  I did really good and didn't cry until I was almost home.  I miss him.  The kids miss him.  When they got home from school and everyday since, I keep hearing, how much they miss Rob, or how something smells like Rob.

Thanks for coming Rob!  You are welcome back in Auburn any time.

We rounded out our week trying to get to the heart of the problem with Hunter's reading disability.  I along with several of his former teachers has suspected that he may be dyslexic.  However, we have confirmed that he is not.  Or that if he is, he has already learned how to mask it.  It was also explained to us that he really is extremely intelligent.  I have said that all along.  Hunter is amazingly smart, it is just different.  Not autistic or aspergers different, just different.  He loves to take things apart and recycle the parts to make new things.  This little gadget he made is almost like a tattoo gun.  He makes things like this everyday.  Unfortunately, this doesn't help any of us learn how to help him.  After all his testing was complete, it was obvious that yes he has a learning disability in reading but it still isn't identified.  I am hoping that we can figure it out soon.  I would love for reading to be as easy for him as everything else is.

All the Way From Ireland 1/52

The people that we build relationships with in the summer in China are a mazing.  You only get a week with them, but their is an unbelievable bond.  They become your family and when it is time to go, you miss them.  Rob has a huge heart for orphans, and his love and care for them is so amazing.

Rob was blessed to secure a scholarship to the Passion conference in Atlanta last week, so he got an unexpected trip to America.  He then got to spend a few days with a family in Atlanta.  They weren't just any family, they were the family that had adopted his buddy from camp two summers ago.  I'm sure their is nothing greater than seeing what God has done for his little boy then seeing him be a part of a family, he is now someone's son.  Rob advocated for this little guy, and because of that he is now loved.  What a picture of the gospel!

My kids took to Rob instantly too.  He had a skype relationship with them already, so they were so excited for him to arrive.  They have kept him entertained.

Part of our China team got to come hang out with us too!  We were missing some, but it was great to be back together.  When I look at this little group I am so encouraged about our next generation.  These kids are all amazing!  Tomorrow we are off to show Rob what Auburn in like.  We have big plans to take him to the girls dorm and have him say "stunning" in his Irish accent.  They are going to love it!

My 2012 Favorites

This past year Noelle has grown and changed so much!  I'm not sure I want her to grow up, but I couldn't ask for a better daughter.  She is so kind, responsible, and grounded.  These two are my favorites, because they both let her natural beauty shine!

Hunter always has the same look when I ask to take a picture of him.  I love this first one because it just radiates the love he had for my dad.  I could easily pick every picture I take of him but I think these two are my favorites.

Hope has such a delicate beauty, that she is easy on the camera.  She is a joy to take pictures of, because she is always so excited that someone loves her enough to want to take her picture.  She melts my heart more and more each day.  

LeeLee is surprisingly one of the hardest in the house to take a picture of.  I love this first one because it is just so LeeLee.  Never the typical poser, always outside the box.  The second I love because it is just who she is.  Living upside down is a way of life for her.

Of course I have to include my favorite of Pippa since she is a highly photographed dog according to Paul.  I love this little dog, and I am so thankful to constantly have her by my side.

I picked a few of my group favorites too.  The first was just a fun week, and I think that week will be a memory the kids will always have.  They loved our budget spring break, and they owned it.  I love the beach, so as soon as I see the waves behind them, I smile.  The one from last week makes me smile too, but my favorite has to be the water tower!  I am blessed to have four kids that truly love spending time together.  That is how it should be, and I pray it remains that way.

I will not being doing a 365 this year.  I have loved it, but I have been so amazingly tired some nights as I have struggled to keep my eyes open to post, but I will be doing a 52 week project along with random postings here and there.  So, I will see you all on Sundays!

Again, I want to say thanks for following along!  According to my site meter, I had a little over 60,000 visitors throughout the year.  I had 17 of you that stopped by every single day to see what was going on, and I'll be honest, it humbles me to know that you all wanted to keep up.  I don't know who you are, or where you live, but I'm impressed that the 17 of you hung in there with me.  My prayer is that you have been somehow blessed by stopping by.  I hope you will continue to check in on us as we grow, learn and stumble through this crazy thing we call life.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for 2013.

Happy New Year! 366/365

I thought I would buy the expensive party poppers this year for our New Years countdown.  Some of them worked......

 some didn't.  We even reloaded and tried again.

Then we gave up and decided it would be fun just to throw the confetti up and watch it fall.  This is one of those "it was the thought that counts" scenarios.  Hopefully this is not indication of how our 2013 will go.

Happy New Years from our house to yours!  We all hope that 2013 is filled with immeasurable blessings.  We pray that each of you finds peace this new year.

Thanks for following along on our 2012 journey!  It has been 366 days of ups and downs, good times and bad, growing and tweaking, but most of all it has been about growing together as a family and growing towards the Lord.

Dreaming of Peace 365/365

First of all, did you catch that?  365!  I have made it....except for the being in China then instantly having the flu, I have made it.  I just need to go back and tweak those posts that I was to exhausted to do.  Maybe that will be tomorrow's job as I sit at the laundromat.  And yes, there will be a 366 tomorrow since we are in a leap year!  

But for today, I want you to see my perfectly imperfect children being so typical.  We downloaded a new game today.  It is Pudding Monsters, and even I love it!  Everyone was playing.  All piled in together, playing.....shouldn't that be peaceful.  Nope, not at my house.  You see that littlest one mastered the game faster than anyone else, and she couldn't stand it when others couldn't get it perfectly.  She would just have to reach over and swipe the little pudding monsters into the correct position.

Hunter, is generally my second best at figuring these type of games out, so he didn't want help.  Especially help from his little sister.

 She had her fun mocking him because he couldn't get it, then would act like she didn't care.....

only to strike with her toes instead of her fingers. I promise I have tried raising them properly, they just have their moments.  I do cherish these days though.  I have talked with several friends over this shorter than usual break, and they are ready for their kids to go back to school.  I'll be honest, I hate that I only have three more days with them.  I love having them home.  Yes, we have had some moments, but I just thank the Lord that all my children are here to have those moments.  I can't help but think of all the families who just wish all their children had come home from school and they would give anything to watch their children have just one more "moment."  I've been thinking a lot lately on how one's perspective changes everything.  So even in the craziness of our family I choose to see us as imperfectly perfect!