Creating Memories

A Wonderful Weekend With Friends

We spent a great weekend with friends. On Saturday, we took a road trip and went to
the "Greatest Show on Earth"

On Sunday evening, we celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival at Marla's "little slice of heaven". Marla hosted a fabulous event. There was incredible food, dune buggy rides, and a hayride to a magic pumpkin patch, where the kids picked their own pumpkins to paint.

We also had a balloon release which was very touching. We all wrote notes on our balloons, to the birthmothers of our daughters. It was very beautiful.

Ava and I filled chinese take-out boxes with goodies, to hand out to the kids at the Moon Festival. We sort of bribed the kids, and said if they cooperated for a photo shoot they'd all get a treat. How does Anne Geddes do it? ;-)

Here are the treats we made for the kids:

We finished the evening with a bonfire, roasted marshmallows, s'mores and the children welcomed nigthfall with lit chinese lanterns. Marla is a hostess with the mostest. Thanks for a great time.

A Reflective Week

A week with no power -- some internal reflection, an epiphany, a lot to be thankful for:

Sunday a week ago, Ike arrived in town with 70-80 mile winds, leaving a huge portion of our town without power. We had power again after a week, but many residents in town are still waiting for their electricity to be restored. Please pray for all the families across the U.S that are dealing with the aftermath of Ike.

Pic of our side yard

It actually wasn't bad being a "pioneer" family for a week. I'm thankful for many things:

* We got to know our neighbors better and spend time with them. We all rallied and helped each other out. We realize how fortunate and blessed we are to live in this neighborhood....such a genuine, neighborly sense of caring and community.

* We live by the sweetest 83 year "young" lady. The kids and I picked acorns out of her front yard after the storm and we made a Fall centerpiece for Jake and Ava's table.

* We got to spend a lot of quality family time together playing games, cards, and reading by the light of a Coleman lantern. The kids got incredibly good sleep and their behavior was so good. I also came to the huge realization that the kids were so much happier with less T.V. and less computer time (as in Mommy on the computer less). Yes, I love blogging and checking in on all the awesome families out in "bloggerville", but realize I blog too much and am going to cut back for the sake of my family. It's amazing the additional spare time you have when there's no electricity: no TV, no computer, no Wii, no playstation, etc. And you actually survive without these things -- lol!! The kids were such troopers all week long that I wanted to do something special for them. So, I decorated the front porch for fall. I wanted to surprise them, and they woke up from their afternoon nap on Saturday to this...

On Sunday, we went up to my husband's hometown. His group was singing at a Fall Festival and we had the opportunity to spend time with grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a beautiful Autumn day....

I am going to make a true effort to blog less. Maybe there should be a 12 step program called Bloggers Anonymous - lol! But I will continue to check in on all the great people I've met through adoption and blogging....just such sweet and dear folks in "bloggerville". I"ll quickly be checking in and may not leave comments as often, but just know I'm thinking about you and still love following your family journeys!

Ike (not as in Turner)

Our town was hit by the residuals of Ike on Sunday. We lost power around noon. A big portion of our city is without power and it could take 7-10 days to restore (not complaining, poor Texas is reporting 4+ weeks for restoration). I'm posting from my Mom and Dad's but probably won't be blogging for a week. Look forward to catching up with everyone when I'm back. Please pray for all the families that have suffered fatalities and losses.

A Movin' and Groovin' day!!

Yesterday was a busy, movin' and groovin' day:

Morning:  the day started with Jake's soccer team.  They had picture day, practice, and then a game.  Jake has really picked this game up.  He's really fast, hustles, and definitely likes being the one with the ball.  Jake scored the winning goal for the team.  Way to go Jake!!

Noon:  We live in a historic section of town,  right by a park.  Every year there's a festival in and around the park, including a parade, arts and craft show, food, inflatables, face painting, and live music (the bands stand in a gazebo and sing -- it's very Americana).  After an early lunch, we walked up the street to see the parade.  This was Ava's first visit to this festival and she loved waving to all the floats passing by.  Jake especially loves this parade because the floats come by and throw handfuls of candy toward the children...it's every kids dream.  (so funny, that a dental group's float came by right after that, hmmm!)

The parade and the collected "stash"

Late afternoon:  Daddy and Jake walked up to the festival and met some other families.  Ava was a little under the weather and stayed home with mommy.  What a treat for Jake...candy earlier in the day, and now a coke!!! (thanks Leslie for the pics)

Evening:  When the boys got home we played a mean game of Junior Monolopy.  Ava was mommy's little helper as she threw the dice and held on to the "money".  Jake turned out to be the real estate mogul of the game and beat the pants of mommy and daddy.

We finished the game just in time as we started hearing the fireworks go off. Our house is in a great proximity to the park and we could watch the whole display from our front porch.   It felt like our own little private fireworks show.

Next year, we need to have a get together and see how many people we can fit out on the front porch :)

Faux pas or Faux-licious??

The Nester is having a P.O.O.P.I.E. (People Opposing Objectionable Pretend Plants In the Environment) Party. Thought I would join the party...here's some of my "greenery" from around the house.

Topiary -- added a little cheetah ribbon

 While we're talking about  P.O.O.P.I.E., topiary for le toilet :) he he

Table Centerpiece

Tiered Stand on Dining Room Buffet

Wordless Wednesday

Good News!

The sweetest family just got a referral for their second daughter, Rebecca.  Please go over to my friend Carolin's blog  to show some love and see a picture of their cutie.  She's got such a sweet twinkle in her eye, and the most "pinchable" cheeks.  Congratulations...we can't wait to meet her!

Jake's First Soccer Game

 

 

Jake had his first soccer game yesterday. Unfortunately, I couldn't go but Leslie was so sweet to capture some action shots for me. There's nothing cuter than seeing a group of 4 and 5 year olds playing soccer.  Can't wait to make next week's game.   I have to say, I've never seen such a unique combination of colors for soccer uniforms -- salmon and green!! At least when 15 little teams are all playing on the same field, their team will be easy to find : -D

Thank You

Wanted to send a shout out to Kate at Livin' La Vida Lia. She shared some photo editing tips with me last week. I hope to put them to use in future posts. Thanks Kate!!

Fortunate Friday

I heard a song on the radio today and part of the lyrics were "everyday is a bank account and our currency is time". I just love that. Well, I got to spend some "currency" with my parents yesterday. They came over for the day and helped me with some window treatments. I'm so thankful for my parents...my mother is so nurturing, talented, and caring. My father is smart as a whip, can "MacGyver" anything, and is always encouraging. They are both selfless people with servant's hearts. It was fun spending the day with them and getting to work on a little project together. I had bought some lined, velvet panels that needed a little something, something. So, I bought some brown and gold cheetah fabric and some trim. My dad installed the fleur-de-lis hardware, my mom did a little sewing and added the cheetah fabric, and I hot glued the trim on. My mom said, "why don't you let me sew the trim on?" I guess I wanted to feel like I was contributing - lol. Thank you Mom and Dad. I'm fortunate to have you as my parents.

Wordless Wednesday