Jordan, Jordan, Jordan!

This is the photo that changed your life forever!

This is you with your future Grandpa

This is you on the day we started the process of making you part of our family!

Visiting ruins in Morocco with Mom

Yay! The day you got your visa! We're almost home!

Your 1st US haircut

Your first Christmas. You were so excited to open presents that were just for you!

Us at Christmas

Your new "official" family!

New experience #1793..... SNOW!!!

Our new puppies! You love our new puppies and tell me almost every day!


Another new experience..... FISHING!


Our cute Jordan! You are such a character! You have such a cute smile and a sparkle in your eye that is so captivating! I can't believe you were still in the orphanage- to me that is another sign that you were meant for our family! You waited for us!!! I am so excited to see where you go in life and what lies ahead! The kids love to play with you and you and Brinley have become such cute buddies. It's fun to watch and experience things with you. Every day you amaze me with the new things you have learned. I hope you are happy here with us.

We love having you in our family!

Jordan turned 3!!!

Happy Birthday Jordan! He was so excited for his birthday! He has seen almost every one in our family have a birthday and finally got to have his! All day long he went around the house singing "Haby birday to jodan" over and over. He also asked me if those presents were his about 15 times! We have been remodeling our kitchen so we decided to go out to eat and then have his party at the park. He was so excited and loved the park! It's amazing how much difference a year can make. He had never seen a park and was scared of the swing and slides and now they are his favorite! I hope you had a Happy Birthday Jordan and we love you!

Such a stinking cute kid!

Mackenzie's Kindergarten Graduation

My kids are so funny, and Mackenzie is no exception. All of them do not like to "perform" in front of people (can't say that I blame them). They don't talk to their teachers, bishop, or friends mom's if I'm there- they just hide and act bashful. Every program we have the same issues. They try to hide the invitations or not tell me about it thinking I won't come. If they find out I know about it they tell me they won't sing if I come. FYI- I have never made fun of them or even critiqued there performances, I don't know if Richie was this way or not, but I could probably count on one hand the # of times I sang in a primary program, and school programs on the other. - just not my cup of tea!!!

Well her graduation was this same way. She sang the songs for 2 weeks straight to me and then a day or two before, she insisted that I was not to come. She said she wouldn't sing if I did. So, cleverly, I dropped her off and "planned" a pick up spot for when it was over & then went and parked and sat in the back. She truly thought that I was not coming and kind of sang the songs but you could tell she was still a little shy.

She still thought we hadn't seen the program until we got in the car and Brinley said something about the program. :) Then she pouted and was mad for a little while till she forgot about it.

I can't believe that next year she will be gone all day! And Brinley and Jordan will both have preschool 2 days a week...... what will I do with myself?!?!

Micailey's playin ball!

Micailey's coach was out of town and asked Richie if he would pitch that game. Micailey was excited to have her dad pitch to her! She is her daddy's girl and loves to play ball!

Rich's dad came to watch the games

(we had Micailey and Mackenzie playing at the same time- luckily on fields close together!)

Baseball has begun!

Mackenzie gets to play T-ball finally!!! She has watched her brother and sister play now for a few years and is so excited to get a turn!

I love Mothers Day!

I love Mothers Day for several reasons. I obviously like being pampered for the day, but even better than that is the excitement of my kids when they get to give me something that they made and are so proud of! There is a little extra twinkle in their eye that day that I love to see!

This year I got to sleep in and Rich and the kids made pancakes and sausage for breakfast and the kids could hardly even wait till breakfast was over to give me their gifts!

My very creative card from Dallas that has a buckle to close it and some other tabs and moving parts inside

This is my bath salts, bookmark with a cute poem on it, and note pad from Micailey

And Mackenzie gave me these service coupons, card, and notepad.

Jordan was so cute. He was able to go to a preschool for a few days to be tested and they happened to be making Mother's Day Gifts that day. He is so proud of it & SO excited to give it to his Mama! He still keeps track of it on the fridge. It was "missing" one day and he was so concerned! The coloring went funny when I took a pic of it, but it really is a darling picture of him!

He is starting to learn the word LOVE & is using it more frequently. He started out saying "Mama, Gampa lubs me huh mama" and " I lub puppy" and the other day we were sitting in church and he leaned over and said " Mama, Mama, do you lub me?" & he was so excited and giddy when I crinkled my nose and smiled at him & said "yep, I lub my Jordan!" It melts your heart and makes the hard days go a little better!

BACK TO MOTHER'S DAY.......After church, I was sitting there thinking how I wanted to spend the rest of "my day", and I had a few thoughts, but then I thought.... "is that how I want my kids to picture me.... On Mom's special day she doesn't want us around? With out my kids I wouldn't be a mom! I want them to remember me being a fun mom that loved playing with them and being with them. I'm always grouchy or too busy every other day, so I decided that on Mother's Day in my life from now on I want to spend the whole day being with them, having a happy attitude, playing games, watching movies, reading books, making cookies...... what ever they wanted to do. So they decided that they wanted to play Pictionary, so we did-twice- and just had a nice relaxing day at home.

I was almost on the verge of tears the entire day though with mixed emotions. I was a little emotional for the blessing of being a mom to my kids. I love them so much and can't imagine a day with out them. I missed them SO much while I was in Morocco! That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Before I left, I just sat on the floor and cradled my "babies" crying, not knowing what to expect in the journey I was about to take and knowing that their life would be forever different when I got back.

I was emotional because I have these 2 new boys that have never known love like this and who now have a "Mama" that they are so proud and excited to give a gift to. Their life (& ours) is so different now! It brought on a whole new side to Mother's Day.

And last but not least, I was emotional and missing my own Mom. I miss not being able to talk to her and get advice, or share exciting moments with her. I'm sad that she isn't here to see my kids grow up. I'm sad that they don't have her in their life. I don't know why she had to go so soon. I don't know what we are supposed to learn from this or the purpose in it, but I just wish she was still here and that things were the same. To all of you who's mom's are still here with you, give them a hug, tell them you love them and cherish the times that you are together because there will come a day when your heart will ache to be able to do that again!

Rich's mom was out of town that day, but I want her to know how thankful we are for her & how much we love her! She is a great Grandma and the kids all love being with her! She is constantly helping us out with babysitting, family dinners, or stealing a kid every now and then for a day..... the list goes on! But we are so thankful for all that she does for us!

I know I am really behind on my posts, but I hope every one had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Family time at the Reservoir

Okay, so I have a confession. I have lived here for 8 years and have never been up to the reservoir. Honestly I didn't even know it existed for 6 of those years. :o) But Rich's brother planned a family dinner up there on May 16th so we ordered Pizza Hut and took the kids.

Gram & Gramp's and Kate & Luke took KFC.
Sorry to the rest of the fam, my camera batteries died after this pic, the rest I had to use my phone


The kids had a blast! They love doing anything like that! We ate at a shady little table, and then the kids ran over and played on the playground....till they discovered that Rich's brother, Bret had brought fishing poles!!!


Bret & Jordan


Jordan caught a fish!!! (Thanks Bret)
He was so excited!


Kenzie waiting for a bite.... she was sad cause she never got one :(
Maybe next time Kenz!

Mackenzie & Micailey - look at that.....beautiful green water?!?

Micailey's fish :)

Dad helping her
They loved holding the fishing poles, reeling them in, and then letting them go.

Jordan and Rich's sister Kellie chillin

Dad and Brinley

Mackenzie holding a worm!!!

My girls are "bug" girls.

They like to play in the garden dirt and look for worms and RolliePollie bugs

and make them houses.

At the end of the day, we all had a fun time!

Dallas was able to go on a hike with his cousins and Aunt, almost everyone had caught a fish,

we had good company, and our tummies were full of yummy pizza!

What more could you ask for!

We had ice cream for family night tonight! :p

(see #2 below)

Guilty as Charged

I don't know if any of you follow the "Meanest Mom" blog, but she had a post on her blog that made me laugh. She made a list of all of the things that she was "Guilty" of .... so here is a few of mine. Those who know me well will not be surprised by a few of them! :oP

1. About 4 or 5 days out of 7.... we don't get dressed! We live in various pairs of pj's. Once on Brinley's 3rd day in her pj's, my husband asked me if I only did one thing today- it was to change her pj's! Hey- if your home- why not be comfy!!!

2. Almost every night the kids beg for a treat or ice cream and the answer is usually NO. Our reasoning is that we need to save it for a family night treat. But then... in the dark, quiet of the night.... we eat a big bowl of ice cream! And for some reason, on family night.... we never have ice cream! I don't know how that ends up happening.

3. The kids sleep on top of their covers with a fleece blanket that they shove under their pillows in the morning so that their beds look made, and sometimes .... they don't even put the fleece blanket away! ....*gasp! and my bed only gets made 2 or 3 times a week!!! ....*double gasp!!

4. Some days I resort to eating dinner on paper plates, just so I don't have MORE dishes piled in my sink!

5. I have found, unknown to me, that my child has worn the same socks for 2 days (possibly more-I didn't want to know) in a row. That grosses me out! If my socks come off during the day, and I need some again later- I get a new pair!

6. If the hubby isn't home for dinner.... it's pancakes or cereal! Take your pick. On a good day you MIGHT get spaghetti!

7. My kids probably spend WAY to much time watching TV! But hey, they can count to 10 in Spanish- and now a little Japanese thanks to Kailan (sp?).


That's all for now! It's getting late. My hubby wasn't sure I needed to disclose any of these "guilt's" in the first place. But I figure if you know me... you already know 99 % of them any way, and if you're still getting to know me.... you're going to figure them out real quick! Feel free to share your "guilt's" with us so that we all feel "normal". I know I'm not alone!


http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

Mackenzie's Egg Drop

Waiting for the janitor to start the Egg Drop

Getting ready to drop Mackenzie's egg

It looked good all the way down! The parachute even opened!

This is our "tried & true" Egg Drop master piece. We have made it the same way 3 times now.

We take a whole bunch of grocery sacks and squish them into a shoe box with the egg in the center, tape the lid on and make a parachute out of another grocery sack, and "wa la" - you have an Egg Drop master piece.

Mackenzie with her friends, Capri & Brailey

Mackenzie's teacher opening it up to see if the egg broke



And it was a SUCCESS! The egg was in one piece!

Good job Mackenzie (and Mom!)