Living Life Out-Numbered

Beds, Squirrels, and Giggly Girls

2011-12-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

So Matt's favorite time of day is coming home from work! The kids are so excited to see him and I'm sure you can hear the girls squeal all the way down the road! On this particular day the girls were sitting in the window watching for daddy and went crazy when they saw him pull up. He couldn't resist pulling out his camera and snapping a few photos for keepsake :)

Marie sitting in the window.

Izzy all giggles and excited to see 'dada'

Izzy loves standing on the box under the window so she can keep a look out for daddy.

Colten got a pumpkin on Halloween on his school field trip. He decided not to carve it and leave it outside for decoration for Thanksgiving. Well, apparently the squirrels around our house were planning their own Thanksgiving feast. I have never seen anything like it. We have vicious squirrels! They attacked the pumpkin and clawed their way in to the seeds.

Yay!!! Onah and Marie finally got their bunk beds! Their room is SO much bigger now with bunk beds! They have room to play! :) Thanks to Aunt Sabra!

Trick or Treat

2011-12-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, we knock on people's door and they give us lots of candy?! Yeah, Onah and Marie LOVED Halloween! Izzy too, we let her eat a little candy and she was in heaven all night. I think Colten got more candy this year than he ever has! There was so much candy I couldn't figure out what to do with it all, so I put some back for Christmas! :) Now I don't have to spend money on candy for the stockings! I'm loving trick or treating for different reasons.

This year we had crazy animals...

Colten was a hungry tiger. He wouldn't keep his hood up cause he liked his face paint job so much...props to me, yeah that's right! Mom of the year award!

Onah was a restless horse...

Marie was a waddling duck...

And Izzy was a squawking chicken.

Hay Rides, Horses, and a Duck Hunt

2011-11-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

We had made a getaway to the farm in Madison for the weekend and had lots of fun. It is amazing how much more you treasure and enjoy the time in nature when you see less of it every day! Can't remember the last time we were at the farm in the fall but it was BEAUTIFUL and so relaxing that the kids and I decided to stay an extra day.

Grandma Lee had left the kids a Halloween treat with a special book. We took some time the first night to read the book together and eat their treats. The pictures glowed in the dark which was quite interesting trying to read by flashlight only to turn off the flashlight to see the cool glowing picture. The kids thought it was great fun!

Papaw Lee had prepared the wagon for us to go on a hay ride, so of course before it got too dark, Matt had to get it all ready and go for a short ride! He couldn't wait till the next day :) We drove around the lake and were so frozen the kids said, "we're done for tonight!" haha

Once they were thawed out the next morning they were back on the wagon and ready to go for a longer ride.

Daddy took the kids to the woods to clear a better path for the hay ride. Of course we all know that was just a good excuse to use the chainsaw...he has serious issues! :)

They found a fallen tree that they could walk across...to them it was a tight rope 100 feet off the ground!

Too cute, and they were so cold!!! We will definitely need to stock up on hats and gloves this season.

Hot Cocoa with Marshmallows+Rice Crispy Treats=Happy Warm Children

We picked up Jordan, Colten's cousin, to have some fun with us.

Can't tell the guy loves to ride? We made a 'list-o-fun'...aka things we wanted to do over the weekend, so of course Matt had to saddle up the horse and take the kids for a ride!

If only it were 'ol Chance, that would make it the perfect ride!

First up...Colten

...then Onah

...then Marie

Last but not least...Izzy. I think she was robbed, she had the shortest ride.

And then some more hay ride fun!

A glimpse of the colors of fall and the beauty that took our breath away. Pictures don't do it justice!

And our drivers through it all....

The kids and I found that the farm is the best place to 'go on a bear hunt'. We went on a walk on the farm and sang the song...'goin' on a bear hunt....' gonna catch a big one....I'm not afraid....OOOHHH LOOKIE....I see a _____, etc... We saw some tall weeds, a giant log, a creek, a gate, a hill, a pond, but no cave or bear. Just ducks and dogs. But Brody ended our walk with catching a duck! He carried it all the way back to the house, played with it, and I finally caught up with him and made him spit it out. Duck was not harmed...scared quackless...but not harmed. He was returned safely to his friends on the pond!

Can't wait to go back for our next adventure!

Dreams Come True

2011-11-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Cleaning out a closet recently we found Colten's "Marie Doll" This was the doll that he slept with every night since he found out about Onah and Marie. He called it his Marie doll and loved sleeping with it. Here he is 3 years ago sleeping with his Marie doll :)

What a heart-warming moment when we pulled it out showed it to Colten and let him explain to Marie what it meant to him! She was smiling from ear to ear. No more sweet dreams of his brother and sister coming home, now he can dream sweet dreams with them

That's My Girl

2011-11-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

So on Izzy's first birthday we learned something new about her...the girl loves chocolate and NOTHING else...

So I bought Izzy a special cupcake creature for her birthday to dig into all by herself. It was a cute little kitty; white cake with pink icing...too cute to eat! SHE HATED IT!

So like any good mom, I forced her to try it...SHE HATED IT EVEN MORE! Screaming, tears, lots of unhappiness on a happy occasion!

I thought maybe she just didn't like getting all sticky, so again, the wonderful mother I am says to self, "I know you'll like it if you just try it!" So I put some on a spoon and stuck it in her mouth, which resulted in...her spitting it out and continuing to scream, only louder now.

Took the kitty away from the crying baby who obviously was being traumatized and introduced the amazing cake I made myself...chocolate with chocolate icing. (mmmm)

Showing interest...no more tears...AND...

We learn two things about our daughter today... 1. The girl can turn it off in a second. 2. She loves her some chocolate, just like her momma! :) Happy Birthday Izzy!

Fall Fun

2011-11-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Boyd's orchard again this year with Tates Creek families and had a great time. Lots to do and see and evening came and we enjoyed a well built fire with food and an enjoyable concert put on by the kids. The best part however was our "Going on a Bear Hunt" with Pam Bolt! You had me laughing so hard I was crying and snorting, it was rather embarrassing! :)

Found a cute idea for some "jar-o-lanterns" in a family magazine. Found some jars that match the sizes of our kiddos and went to work :) They loved it and had so much fun!

Colten and his friend Drew as we arrived at Boyd's Orchard. Pretty much inseparable the whole day.

Izzy found a toy she liked, the tunnels. I think she could have played in it all day. She loves Peek-a-Boo! She'd never crawl all the way through...she'd stop half way and back right back out.

Pumpkin picking time! We went to the 'small patch' since you pay by the ounce :) Onah and Marie didn't get the concept that they were picking just 1 pumpkin. I think they thought they were there to clean up all the pumpkins, cause they pick up EVERY pumpkin, put in the wagon, and I'd take it back out! haha! We finally settled on just 1!

Riding in the wagon. We had to walk a long way to get to the 'large pumpkin's patch'.

Grandma and Papaw Lee came down for a visit and went with us to the orchard. This was such an irresistable picture with them walking with Izzy to the pumpkin patch.

TOO MUCH WALKING! We sat for awhile and enjoyed some apples while the older boys searched for 'the biggest pumpkin they could find'.

Our carved pumpkins.

We cut down the tree in the backyard this summer, but instead of raking leaves this year we had to rake PINE NEEDLES! urgh! Izzy was having fun helping daddy rake up the needles. Somehow she ended up IN them!

One Word: Crazy (Part 2)

2011-11-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well, here comes part to of my majorly behind catch up and I'm super excited about part 2 because I can publicly tell you about our 2 most recent additions to our family!!!! Onah and Marie finally arrived on US soil on June 9th, 2011!!!

We were pretty excited to get back to our family after a small delay in Liberia and introduce Onah and Marie to all the family and friends who came out to the airport. From there we went home and spent some long awaited family time together :)

Since being here they have both put on weight...imagine that! Love the fact that they have their own room, own toys, and get presents!!! LOL...whenever given anything, could be a tissue, they will ask, "For me? My present?" haha! For awhile Onah was our translator for Marie, but slowly but surely their speech has gotten better and we can understand her alot more than when she first came. Every now and then she'll get off on a long story or go off on Onah or Colten and we can't understand a word.

The hardest transition was sharing...still is, in Liberia you fight for what you want with all the kids. We took an over the door nerf bball goal and ball. As I was setting it up the kids swarmed me as I opened the package and fought over the empty box and plastic! I had to break them up and explain it was trash. I put it in the trash and later found it out and them fighting over it again! Since Onah and Marie were two of the smallest children in the house they were a bit spoiled when it came to getting what they wanted. If they cried they were told by the foster moms, give it to them. So, when we came home they thought all they had to do was make a scene and they'd get their way...not so. Learning the rules and how to live together has been the hardest transition. Colten has done and amazing job as a big brother, except now he doesn't want to share his room :) ha ha!

Onah is really athletic and very good at any sport we try and play with him. Of course he's really good at soccer, which makes daddy proud :) Marie loves to sing and dance. I think she'll be my little super star! Or a reporter cause she always reports everything Onah has done wrong throughout the day when daddy comes home..."daddy! I ate all my food; Onah not eat all his food! I keep my diaper dry! Onah not keep his diaper dry!...etc." Enough rambling...here are some photos...

Onah at the hotel in Liberia. He was trying to figure out what my headband was supposed to be used for :) He has THE CUTEST smile in the world! Melts your heart!

Marie and I walking on the beach in Liberia. They had never seen the ocean before even though they spent the last 3 years of their life 10 min. from the ocean. They were so afraid of it! We finally got them to stick their toes in the water as it came onto the shore. Meanwhile we sat down to enjoy spectating a game of soccer between Matt and all the neighborhood children and a wave snuck up on us and took our camera...destroyed it :( We got back to the states and called the company that made the camera and explained our situation. They said if we'd send them the hard drive they'd do everything they could to get our pictures and videos off of it.

Onah on his first horseback ride. Marie rode too, but she was screaming and crying...didn't turn out so well :)

Matt put together a long overdue swing set in our backyard. I was about to go insane with all 4 kids in the house during the summer cause there was nothing to do outside. The house has become more quiet during the day with swings and slides outback :)

Thank you Matt!!!

Marie's 3rd birthday part in the park! She had a blast. She loved the idea of having all those presents just for her to open, Onah was not fond of the idea. He kept asking, "mommy my birthday? My presents?" Poor guy has to wait all the way until April to celebrate his first birthday in the states!

First time bowling!

First time on a playground!

Onah loves to dress up in Colten's superhero costumes. (daddy might have fun doing it too :)

First baseball game! Marie danced everytime they played a song for he next batter :)

First tractor ride with Papaw Lee.

Onah was busy in the kitchen. He had his sippy cup, a bucket, and Marie's dress inside the bucket. I asked him what he was doing, "Washing my clothes!" haha. He'd pretend to sprinkle the water on it, pull it in and out of the water, wring it out, and hang it up! Too funny!

Swimming! I was amazed at how quickly this little guy picked up on swimming. Again, fits right in with all the little fish in our family! He can swim without his floaties now! Crazy.

All three in the pool. Marie likes the water too, but still needs her floaties to get around. She's getting there though. She'll be swimming by next summer! :)

Marie just LOVES her babies! She is a little 'mini-me' which sometimes helps me to see what I should and shouldn't do :) She loves taking care of her babies like I take care of Izzy. Feeding it, giving it a bath, changing it's diaper. One day I walked into my parents living room and she had gotten out her "hair grease" and put it all over the baby, and the floor! When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I fix her hair!"...Oh my!

Marie and Izzy have formed quite the sisterly-bond. Marie loves to chase Izzy down the hall and make her squeal and laugh. One day while shopping they were sitting in the cart together and Izzy kept leaning in for a hug. They were inseparable that day!

Visit with Grandma and Papaw Huff. Onah loves his papaw. He likes to play with his belly and says, "big gut" haha!

Somebody got some new sassy red boots! Fits her personality perfectly! She loves to wear them every day!

Marie carrying around her baby Liberian style. She came to me hunched over, like the moms do in Liberia when they're trying to put the babies on their back and a towel in her hand and said mommy put the baby on my back! She carried that baby around like that for hours! :)

Onah got some new boots too. They both had their own backpacks when we came home from Liberia and Onah loves to carry his every where he goes, even around the house!

Well, there's the update on all the kids. Things are great here, crazy, but great! Matt and I had a long talk last week of how we feel like up until now we have just been in survival mode and this past week we've made some changes to how we structure our day and explain the rules in our house. I think it's helping make our home more 'normal' :) If that's possible! I've loved all the snuggle time I get with my kids. It always seems like when one of them is done snuggling another crawls up in my lap for some mommy time. I love it!

I've gotten back into playing my guitar and singing at church every other month. In my months off I'm helping Matt on Sundays in Uptown. I really enjoy it, but find it's harder to get any practice in with all the kids running around. Never fails, I get my music all laid out, my guitar tuned and start to play and someone's crying or needs me. Somehow it always works out though.

Hopefully it won't be another year before I update my blog! :)

One Word: CRAZY (part 1)

2011-10-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been about a year since I've last updated so I think now would be a good time to post something on here :) So here's the plan...quick update and lots of pics! We'll start with Matt...

Matt is loving his job here in Lexington and is quite excited about lots of new opportunities God is opening up for him. Partnering with JME, Rescue night (where he is producing his first 'movie' LOL), and enjoying lots of time with Colten and boy scouts, karate, and school. He has changed his work hours so he gets off at 4 pm now and goes in earlier which is SUPER nice cause the kids get more daddy time and mommy gets more 'help' time. Here's a lovely pic of him getting beat up by his uptown kids in karate class!

Colten: Well, he's a big first grader this year and at first was not sure about having a new teacher. Really I think he was heart broken cause he had a crush on his k/1 teacher ;). He is doing very well so far. He's in the top reading group and ahead of scores for 1st grade in every subject. He's such a smart little boy! Over the summer he played t-ball and like every other sport he has tried was tired of it after a couple weeks. He's really good at baseball if he'd just put some effort into it he would be an allstar! :)

Colten is adjusting very well considering all the life changes he has had to make in the last year: moving, going from the only child to 3 siblings, etc... He of course has his jealous moments and was emotional for a while but he is doing just fine now. He gets lots of mommy and daddy time to himself. He recently started boy scouts and is in Karate, which he LOVES. He seriously thinks he's a ninja when he is practicing, invincible! haha He's made lots of neighborhood friends which is new to us. The little girl across the street has become one of his best friends they are always together.

I think he really likes being a big brother.

Kentucky Derby time, at Colten's school they have a 'kid-tucky derby'. Colten chose to be a jockey for the day and race on his stick horse :) He was so upset that he lost, but had fun dressing up!

Colten by the Christmas tree @ Tates Creek after his Christmas program. He is such a handsome little guy! Can't believe how much he's grown since Christmas! Kinda crazy!

Colten went with Matt last fall on a trip with the Uptown Kids to "the natural bridge". It was COLD and I stayed home with Izzy!

At our favorite park flying Colten's new 'airhog' he got from the Easter bunny! Daddy had just as much fun :)

Colten loves that there are trees he can climb in our yard all by himself. He's always up in the trees!

We went to see the Easter performance at SouthEast Christian Church. Colten LOVED it. Afterwards we saw all the actors walking around. He wanted to meet the guy who played satan??? but settled for the roman soldier cause he had cool makeup on his arms that made it look like he had huge gashes in his arms. BOYS!

Swimming at the Porter's house this summer. Onah and Marie had the 'puddle jumpers' life jackets on so of course Colten had to have them too!

Colten finally lost his first tooth! He was worried about when it would happen as lots of his friends had already lost several teeth. But it finally came loose and he wouldn't let us pull it! It fell out on the way home from church! The tooth fairy brought him $5! What was she thinking!!!!

Love, Love, Love this pic. Recently it was national walk to school day. Matt and Colten walked to school from the church and had extra time so they went through the park next to the school to kill some time. Colten enjoyed walking through the fog and went for a hunt and found several spider webs!

Isabella

Isabella is now a one year old! She turned one in Sept. She has been walking now for about 3 months. She had to keep up with all the kids in our house! She is definitely spoiled! She loves to wrestle with daddy and snuggle with mommy :) You can often find her climbing everything in the house! She has formed quite the bond with her big sister Marie. The two of them love chasing each other and giggling. My favorite is when I have Izzy in my arms and I open Marie's bedroom door to wake her up and Izzy starts squealing and giggling cause she's so excited to wake up her big sis. :)

She says momma, dadda, bubba, papaw, and tries to repeat words like more, bottle, baby, dog. She loves playing with baby dolls. Once I found her with a wash cloth and her baby doll scrubbing the baby's face :) Too cute! She hugs her baby and pats it on the back and tries to feed it bottles. Speaking of bottles. She is her mother's child. She is hooked on the bottle and loves finding them and carrying them around! Tried to give her milk in her sippy and she refused to drink it! Gave it to her in her bottle and it was gone in minutes! STINKER!

How has Izzy handled the last few months? Well, she is extremely jealous of when Onah and Marie sit on mommy's lap! She screams and tries to yank them off. She is getting better, however she still has her jealous days. She's learning to share my lap.

Looks like she will be getting tubes soon in her ears...can't quit these ear infections! URGH. I'm just hoping this is a good 'sick season' year for the Lee's! Less ear infections will be nice! Still NO TEETH! I'm wondering if they are ever going to come in! Doc says, everyone has teeth hers just having poked through yet :) We were thinking when Colten lost his tooth she'd get one, it didn't work that way! haha!

Izzy is such a laid back and happy baby! She's always got a smile on her face and brings our family so much joy! What a sweetie!

Here's her cute little smile at 5 months old!

Christmas 2010 sitting by the tree with Colten. They are like twins! It's crazy how much they look alike!

Izzy hanging out under the Christmas tree at Grandma Lee's. She loved looking at the ornaments and batting them with her hand.

Pretty blue eyes hanging out at Landon's birthday party.

I just love this side by side picture! Colten is on the left and Izzy is on the right. Now doubt they are related! :)

Speaking of being related! Is it just me or do these two have similar smiles ;)

OK, funny story...Matt was watching the kids while I went out for a bit. He fell asleep only to wake up to Izzy had climbed up on the end-table and was searching through his wallet! That's my girl, looking for the money...sorry honey, daddy has none! :)

Swimming with Colten on our summer get-away while daddy was at a week of camp. She has no fear of water, just like all the other Lee kids :) I know, I know...what's up with giving the baby a pen, she was happy, give me a break! LOL

Onah feeding Izzy her bottle. He thought it was pretty comical that she tried to pick his nose while he was feeding her.

Izzy and Colten had their first train ride when the Huff clan went on an adventure for October birthdays. It was alot of fun but we were ready for the 'rocky ride' to be over, especially those who get car sick! :)

Me and Colten and Izzy before the train ride :)

One of the cutest things ever! When shopping I try to find places to shop that have double seat on the cart. So Marie and Izzy were sharing the seat on the cart and Izzy would not stop hugging Marie! It was so cute. Marie would let go and Izzy would lean in and want another hug. I had to snap a pic for proof when they are teenagers :)

I LOVE SPAGHETTI!!!!

Too much hiking for Izzy

On Izzy's first birthday we gave her a 'critter cake' with pink icing. She dug her fingers into it licked it and started crying and screaming. I tried to feed it to her to show her she really would like it if she tried it and she kept spitting it out at me! So we took it away from her to make her stop crying hysterically. Grandma Lee had the grand idea of giving her the chocolate cake I had made for everyone else with chocolate icing and candies on top. Below are the results...

It was almost instantaneous,...tears to laughter :) Another quality like her momma...girl loves her chocolate!

Here's my diva birthday girl. I can't believe how big she has gotten! Last time I posted on here she was an 8 lb. baby laying in my arms, not look at her!

Ok, so this has become an extremely long post and I'm only 1/2 way through our family! I will work on an update on Onah and Marie and myself and post soon. I really should not wait another year before posting! It takes forever to update! Stay tuned for more to come on the Lee family!

This was our last family photo before all the craziness started. The calm before the storm :)

Isabella Grace Lee

2011-01-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

She has arrived. You can tell that life has been kinda crazy lately since I am just now posting about Izzy's arrival! Actually my other excuse is that our computer has not been allowing me to sign onto my blog account...strange? So I'm finally able to update my life ;) ha!

So Isabella Grace was born the day after my due date... September 29, 2010

She weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce and was 21 inches long and looks just like her brother!

Her timing in coming was perfect! Started having contractions at 5:30 in the morning took Colten to school and headed to the hospital from there. Was checked in at 8:00 and she was born at 2:45. Her birth was much easier than Colten's! Of course you know she's gonna be spoiled and her daddy is wrapped around her little finger already! Here's some more pics of our beautiful little girl. Going home!! She wore her little sister shirt and Colten wore his big brother shirt to school! Her first Sunday at church...and her first dress. She was so cute! Our new family addition. This was our first Sunday back as a family with our new little one. Colten loves snuggling with her before he goes to school. So precious! And she even has her brother wrapped around her little finger. She stole his blankie! Getting to know each other. She loves laying naked on the floor! She had a bad heat rash poor thing. It must have felt bette without clothes! Visit with Grandma Great!

Weekend of Walking

2010-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

So the doctor got my hopes up on Thursday and made it sound like I was going to have this baby before the weekend! Days passed by slowly and no baby so when the weekend came, we decided to go walking all day on Saturday. Looking back, I don't know what I was thinking cause I've tried everything only to make myself more miserable in the long run, so why I thought more walking would work is beyond me? :) But we did anyway. Besides it was fun to get to spend some fun quality time with just Colten before baby sis comes!

So we started off going to a small festival at a Botanical Garden where they had a corn maze, pumpkins, painting, and lots of other fun stuff. We walked the corn maze and was able to find some souveneir ears of corn, or for Matt and Colten more like swords for a great duel. Colten learned the secret of finding the good ears of corn: look for the ones that are so heavy they point down to the ground. The maze was nothing like 1 Fun Farm but it was nice cause Colten could lead us around and not get lost :)

After the corn maze we stopped by the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin to decorate and paint. Colten didn't want to get a pumpkin cause he spotted a cool gourd that was in the shape of a duck. So he actually didn't even look at any pumpkins he was consumed by the gourds :) Which is fine cause he'll be going on a field trip at the end of the month with his class to a pumpkin patch, over fall break he'll be going to a pumpkin patch with daddy and the kids in 'UpTown' at church, and we'll be going to another pumpkin patch with my folks to celebrate Oct. birthdays in the middle of the month, so he'll have plenty other opportunities to pick out the perfect pumpkin :) He said, "mommy it's just like in the book, 'Too Many Pumpkins', I'll have too many :)" Here is the 'duck' before the painting ensues. Colten and Matt were discussing a plan on how to paint the duck. They knew they needed eyes on it, but didn't know how to paint the body. After much discussion they decided to paint it like the horses in downtown Lexington. The streets of downtown are filled with 'the parade of horses'. They are horse sculptures decorated and painted in various abstract ways. Colten LOVES to look at them and see all the different designs and at school in art class he got to design his own. So he wanted to paint his duck like the horses in an abstract way :) My two boys hard at work. Colten eventually quit painting to get his face painted and left daddy with all the work. It was a good 40-60 split of the work :) The duck turned out cute and everyone commented on it (which made Colten's day). Before we left Colten had to get his picture on the tractor and Matt had to get my picture with him as proof that I was there in all my glory :)

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From this festival we left to head downtown to Rupp Arena and the Convention Center to see some Equine stuff for the equestrian games which had started. We walked and walked around the convention center for 2-3 hours and then left to head outdoors to all the festivities downtown. All of downtown was packed with tents, booths, live music, amazing food, and lots of people.

Along the way Colten had to stop and take a few pictures with some of his favorite horses along the way...

This one was Colten's favorite.

Colten was SUPER surprised when he spotted a race car. He wanted his picture taken so I stopped to take his picture next to it. He took a look at it and said, "no mom! I need to take another picture this time with my cool pose. So here he is in his 'cool pose' next to the race car...

We found some supper and watched some of the opening ceremonies on a big screen they had set up. Then we ventured over to check out some live music. As we waited for them to get the stage set up Colten entertained hundreds of people in the crowd with is crazy dance moves. It was quite funny. He was doing the 'pass the funk' wave, breakdancing (of course), s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n moves, the famous, "bear claw", and many more. He kept at it for a good 45 minutes! My favorite was when he decided to do the 'lasso and reel 'em in' move. All of a sudden I look up and see him swinging his hand over his head like a lasso into the sea of people behind us...throwing it out there, and reeling it in. I was too afraid to turn around and look to see who he 'caught', but about that time a lady came up behind me and said, "your son is too cute!" LOL He had me rolling all night long!

We finally got home at 9:45 and Colten was asleep within 5 minutes of being in the van on the way. It was a great evening with unbelievable weather and good times :)

Adjustments Are Hard

2010-09-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Wow this weekend flew by so fast! Matt's parents took a spontaneous trip to Atlanta to see Tamme and Sean and the boys so they invited Colten to go along with them. I was kinda hesitant at first cause I didn't want Colten to be all the way in Atlanta if I went into labor (worked out okay anyway), but knew I would enjoy a weekend with just Matt and I before Izzy comes so we met them and let him travel down with them. He had such a good time. Matt and I ended up going out to eat together and getting a couple movies to watch, then had a lazy Sat. afternoon shopping at Sam's Club (watching Matt get sample after sample LOL), and played some cards that night with some friends from church. It's been so long since we've hung out and played cards! It was fun, especially because the girls beat the guys in Euchre AND I won in Phase 10! :) It's definitely been an adjustment and alot of changes the past couple months being here. Matt and I aren't used to spending so much alone time together :) I enjoy it and I know he does too, but we are so used to being around people all the time we find ourselves getting bored alot :) I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones getting to me today, but I find myself a little homesick missing all my friends back in Muncie. Before I was able to travel to see them whenever I'd be missing them, but can't really travel now with baby coming any day. Speaking of baby, Izzy is due to come on the 27th and I was hoping with all the move and stuff going on that she would be showing signs of coming soon, but as of last week she's not. She likes it too much in there I guess...just like her brother! Who knows I have all this week still. I just really don't want to have to be induced like I did with Colten cause that wasn't a great experience, (as if any kind of labor is, ha). Today I'm in a cleaning mood so maybe that's a good sign? I'll be sure to let everyone know when she arrives. If she's anything like her mother she will be fashionably late :)

Home Sweet Home

2010-09-13T16:49:00.003-07:00

As I promised, here are some pictures of our new home. As you can see, Colten had to help me out by posing in each shot. He's such a ham! I didn't take pics of each room, but there are 3 bedrooms upstairs with a full bath, living room, and eat in kitchen with lots of storage and closet space. Downstairs is another living room and HUGE closet that is Colten's toy room. There's enough room in the closet for all his toys on the organizer system and lots of room to play even! It could be another room in and of itself! Attached to that is a half bath. Also a laundry room with lots of shelves and space for storage. The garage is full of everything that couldn't fit into the house that we'll have to sell :) Once it's empty Matt will fill it with all his stuff I'm sure! We can't change anything in the house or even hang stuff up until we close so as you will see it's not your typical 'Lee home' :) There's no color and way to many borders! But all that will change when we close especially Izzy's John Deer room and Colten's Ivy room! This is the view from the street. Colten's standing on the front step. I am anxious to see what pops up in the flower beds in the spring. The huge tree in front of the house is a red bud too, which will be so gorgeous in the spring! This is our living room. Everything is smaller than what we're used to but we're getting used to it. We have a second living room downstairs that we'll use as a bedroom when Onah and Marie come home. Colten's all about his bubble wand, or 'light saber' apparently :) This is our kitchen. It's an eat in kitchen so our table is to the left of the room. I love having a dish washer and water and ice on the door of the fridge! We call this room the dizzy room. The border of choice in this room is 80's theme and ugly...but we'll change that. The floor is in great condition but if you stare at it too long it will make you dizzy and feel like you're going to fall over. haha

This is Colten's room. Again, the previous owner loved her border! Colten's room has Ivy border. I know, perfect for a little boy right? ha ha! He's adjusting to a smaller room. Hasn't really said much about the size. He's pretty proud of it :)

This is the backview of the house. I love the deck out the back door. I would sit out there more often if it wasn't for those pesky mosquitos!!!

Two Weeks

2010-09-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't really feel like I look big enough to have a baby in the next two weeks, but maybe that's cause I'm so used to looking at myself in the mirror. Matt made the comment the other day, "Man, you're getting bigger and bigger!" I said, "uh...I'm pregant! What did you expect?" LOL! So I have about 2 weeks yet till my due date. I was thinking maybe the move and all would move it along quicker, but it's not looking that way so far. It's been quite an adventure with this pregnancy that's for sure!

The past two weeks have been crazy and I'll try my best to re-cap them for ya'll (I just had to say that)! ha ha. We still have not closed on our house in Muncie which has made us unable to close on the house here in Lexington. Apparently the buyers had to switch the type of loan they were buying the house on which, we think, caused the bank to have to re-do all the paper work and put them on the bottom of the pile as far as, 'needs to be done', so we continue to wait and get frustrated with no return calls or timeline as to when we will close in Muncie. The joke now is that I'll be in the delivery room hearing..."PUSH"...."SIGN HERE"...."PUSH"...."SIGN HERE"..."PUSH"..."INITIAL HERE"!

We did have an answer to prayer though and were allowed to move into the house we are buying here in Lexington. We had 7 days to close on the house after we moved in, which didn't happen obviously. So we were asked to pay rent so the owner could cover the morgage payment due. We're just grateful to be in our own house and be able to 'feel ready' for Izzy :) The 28th and 29th my parents came up for a visit which was really nice. We love it when people come and visit :) We got to show them around Lexington and had a great visit. The funniest part of their trip was our night on the town. Lexington is always having festivals and there is always entertainment downtown of some sort. I have always wanted to go downtown in the evening to experience it and I know my mom would like it so we were going to go and look for horse drawn tours that I had found advertized online. Apparently with all the construstion they aren't currently doing them. We searched and drove up and down the streets for quite awhile looking. We came across some live music and what looked like a festival in the downtown area. Colten spotted a bounce house so of course we had to stop. We found a parking spot and walked to the excitement :) To our surprise, and my embarassment we found when we arrived that it wasn't a festival at all...it was a college block party and everyone was drunk :) LOL...We stayed long enough for Colten to bounce for 5 minutes and left ha ha!

Matt has been extremely busy with work the past 2 months. He will be ready for a vacation after next Sunday ;) He's been busy trying to recruit volunteers and re-vamp a few things in the up-town area as well as get adjusted and figure out 'the system' and the check-in equipment and all that goes with being 'new on the job'. There have been several major events happen all at once at the church and has kept him busy busy busy, but I think he really enjoys it :) The past few weeks he's had the annual church picnic one weekend, this weekend was the fall kick-off event with the carnival, and next week is "All-In" Sunday so he has alot of planning for that as well. I think he will be taking a big sigh of relief after next weekend.

Colten is loving school and his new teacher. He comes home with funny stories every day and talks alot about the friends he's making in school. I am relieved cause I didn't know how he would do with the 'discipline policy' in class since he's never been in a strict classroom setting, but he is doing amazing! He stays on his 'green card' every day. Only had to pull it 2 times over the past month :) Last week he was so excited because he got "lunch bunch" for good behavior. This means for lunch he got to eat in the classroom with his teacher and watch a movie. He was so proud!

He went to the dentist for the first time last Friday...(I know, I know, he should have gone a long time ago, but what do you do when you have no dental?) Our Sr. High minister's wife is in the dental program at UK and was asking for patients to work on. I volunteered Colten :) It was only $25 for the cleaning and checkup so you can't beat that! She is great, and of course Colten has a crush on her now! He got everyone's attention in the room as he laughed throughout most of the check-up. No cavities and teeth look excellent :) His favorite thing was the sucky straw. He'd rinse his mouth stick the straw in his mouth and it would suck out all the water, instead of spitting it out. He tried several times to suck up Katelyn's hair :)

Last weekend we moved into our house. Matt decided to move everything in one night, Friday. He did and I was wiped out and so sore the next day. I didn't even do a whole lot! I was just overwhelmed by all the boxes and 'stuff' that wouldn't fit into our new house. We called Doug and Ellie in desperation and asked them to come down and help us for the day. I was so glad we did cause Ellie got my entire kitchen in order and everything put away. Doug cleaned up the backyard and mowed it for us and helped Matt carry alot of stuff and organize the chaos of boxes in the garage :)

Then Monday my mom came down and stayed till Thursday and helped with the rest of the unpacking :) We got Izzy's room put together and all our clothes and everything orderly. The only thing I haven't touched yet is the 'office' stuff. Colten has his own toy closet which he loves and it's convenient where it's out of the way cause there was NO WAY his toys were going to fit in his room :) Mom was able to stay and go to grandparent's day at Colten's school which he was thrilled about!

I had a group of ladies throw me a baby shower at church and got lots of cute girly stuff :) Then this past Sunday my sunday school class had another shower for me and wow, Izzy is set! She's ready to come now! I am stocked on diapers and wipes for a long time! I got lots more cute girly stuff and all the things I was needing. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such loving and accepting people! Of course they all want to babysit too :) I had some gift cards to use as well so today I was able to go out and get my itzbeen timer and moby wrap! I'm ready to have this girl!

I don't remember being this ready and uncomfortable with Colten. I'm to the point now where I don't feel the best everyday and can't walk for too long before I'm miserable and want to sit down anywhere. At night it's the worst cause my hips and tailbone get so sore when I sleep. I wake up and can't even roll over cause I'm so sore :( I made the comment the other day that I can't wait to have Izzy just so I can get some sleep! People laughed at me and said, have you forgotten what it's like to have a newborn? Seriously, at least I'd get 2 hours of sleep here and there vs. none at all. Plus Matt can help where right now there's nothing he can do to help me sleep.

Wow, I guess there's been alot going on the past 2 weeks! Hopefully I'll be posting about our newest addition soon :)

First Day Of School!

2010-08-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official! I have a kindergartener! School started in Lexington Aug. 11th. We were fortunate enough to find a house before school started and put an offer in so the school in our district would allow us to bring him there. We had to have a contract in place in order to send him to a school. Otherwise he would have had to be pulled out of a school after 3 weeks of being there. So things worked out well. Colten started out in Mrs. Lawrence's kindergarten class. Friday 3 days later we get a call from the guidance counselor. Of course I'm thinking..."What has he done now? Is he hurt? Why is he seeing the counselor?" Matt and I quickly called back and had a talk with her. She informed us that Colten scored very high in the reading and math assessments and thought it would be in his best interest to move him up to the k/1 class. (Worked for me since Colten refused to tell people he was in Kindergarten. When asked he's say, "1st"! I asked him why and he said it was because Kindergarten didn't have a number. Ha!) So on Monday Colten moved to a new classroom mixed with 1st graders and Kindergarteners. He now eats and plays with the 1st grade which he's not too happy about cause he doesn't get to see his old friends. In his new class, the teacher Mrs. Gahafer was on maternity leave and would return until Sept. So he had a permanent sub, Mrs. Alexander. I had to explain to him..."you have a new teacher but she's not your real teacher". How confused he must have been! So today...he left for school to meet his new and final new teacher, Mrs. Gahafer who is returning today. I think he's really going to like her. We've heard wonderful things about her and she even called on Sat. afternoon and talked for quite awhile about how Colten was doing and making sure we didn't have any questions! Well, enough about teachers. I'm sure you're wondering how the first official day went? We got up early and Colten was actually ready to get up at 6:30 am. (since then, he's been a total grouch and I've learned he's alot like me. Just don't talk to him unless he initiates it and he'll be better :) We got all ready in our new clothes and new shoes, new backpack and lunch box and he was ready to go. We all jumped in the van, after some pictures of course, and headed to school. On the way we read a scripture together that talked about God being everywhere with us. I told Colten through choked back tears that even though mommy and daddy won't be with him throughout the day, God will always be there by his side. There were so many people there! I'm not used to big schools. Grew up in small schools, taught in small schools, and even the schools in Muncie are small compared to this one! So I was in a little shock. Matt parked the car and I walked Colten up to his classroom where there were lots of parents and his teacher standing by the door. I helped him unload his stuff into his cubby, my eyes began to fill with tears and I knew I had to get out of there! So I quickly grabbed him, gave him a huge hug and kiss and said my goodbye and walked out. I was able to hold back all the tears until I opened the van door and then, I couldn't hold it any longer. Matt took me to breakfast, which was nice to spend some time with him and he was so nice not to make fun of me for crying. The day was excellent for Colten, he loved it, and was very well behaved from what his teacher had shared with me. My day was very long. I tried to find stuff to do to keep me busy. I thought it would be the perfect day to go and register for a baby shower, so I did :) Met Matt for lunch and went to wait eagerly in the long line to pick up Colten. (When I say long, I mean the line was like a mile and a half long! I waited 40 min. to pick him up! The line seems to go alot faster now. I think they got all the kinks worked out.) Anyway, that was his first day!....(I guess I should say, 'our' first day) Here are some cute pics of my little kindergartener! Getting ready to get in the van. (No it is not in reverse about to run him over, the lights came on cause we unlocked the doors. ha! I've had people ask) showing off his new lunch box! Mommy walking him into school and up to his classroom. Colten making his way up the stairs in school to his classroom. He didn't want me to walk beside him cause he wanted to show me how he could find it all by himself.

It's Been TOO Long!!!

2010-08-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Okay so enough with the procrastination! I have put off updating for so long cause I have missed so much which then makes me miss more memories, so I've decided to move on with what I've got and trudge forward on my posts :) I have alot more free time now so I should be able to keep up on my blog! The following post is going to be RANDOM, but hopefully fun. I haven't posted anything for almost a year so this is a quick re-cap of some of the happenings in the last year... It has been an interesting year to say the least, one of what will be great growth and perserverence. I know God is making us a stronger family equipped to serve him through whatever storms may come. The last year has brought our family closer together with a bind that no one can separate. I have a deeper love for my wonderful husband, who is the most amazing Man of God I have ever met, and of course a deep love for the other 'little man' in my life who knows just how to make his mommy smile when she needs a good laugh! Colten and I spent from August of '09 through the whole summer working on 'school'. He saw all his friends going to pre-school and wanted so badly to go, so...mommy and colten had school in our dining room and he amazed me with how much he learned! He is such a little sponge and is so smart! I loved the time we got to spend with each other and the time I got to spend using my degree to help him grow. (Matt kept trying to convince me to homeschool, but I know that would lead to a lot of frustration between Colten and myself. I would expect too much and he would go crazy not being able to socialize with other kids his age.) October came and with it was colten's obsession with Transformers. So for Halloween guess what the costume of choice was? None other than Optimus Prime! BUT Colten could not settle for a store bought costume...NO!!! His papaw sent him a cool video of a transformer costume that actually transformed into a car! He wanted it!...He had to have it!...So we googled it :) yeah, $7000. for a costume, NOT GONNA HAPPEN! To our surprise we found videos on youtube of people making their own transformable costumes out of cardboard and other materials. So Colten and his daddy were on a mission...Here is the end result... One of a kind hand-crafted body of optimus prime transformer made from a genuine cardboard box...priceless! Arms made out of top of the line cereal boxes, and wheels from solid pizza boxes...price...too high, don't even ask :) Complete with a one of a kind cardboard helmet. Not exactly sure how daddy crafted this one, but I know it was very difficult to get on and off and was very uncomfortable but to colten it was all worth it! And last but not least! The completed project....drum roll please................... So a couple funny stories...Went trick-or-treating and everyone loved his costume! :) I don't know if they felt sorry for him or if they really really liked it? Ha! Reguardless one of the houses we stopped at the man asked what he was, we told him a transformer. He says, "Oh, I used to make you!"...His wife had to fill him in on what a transformer was to a 4 year old. Not having to do with ELECTRICITY! Ha ha! The last house we went to Colten was determined to show them how he could 'transform' into a car. (He simply laid on the ground and thought he really looked like a car...it was the funniest thing to watch, cause he was SUPER proud of it! He thought he was IT!) A little old lady came to the door in her night gown, not knowing why this little 4 year old was laying on her front porch in cardboard boxes! He said, 'TRICK-OR-TREAT'. And she said, "Oh honey! I don't have any candy!" He came back to the car so mad..."I transformed for her and she didn't even have any CANDY!" It was a fun night! Also in the fall we had a fundraiser for our adoption. It was a bit chilly and involved taking care of 5 140 pound sows and 6 little piglets that became our own. I soon learned I am not cut out to be a pig farmer! Our garage wreaked!!! We had a hog wrestling contest and smashed up Matt's car all to raise money for our adoption. It was so much fun! Colten and his teammate Cade were ready to wrestle some pig!!! They were the "wild hogs"! Colten had a lot of practice at home wrestling the little piglets so he was ready for action. Here is a video for you to enjoy all the fun... Matt and I also joined in on the fun. Matt and his teammate ended up runner-ups in the contest, and Lori and I...well, it wasn't pretty. I couldn't stop laughing! And Matt and the Stockers had some fun of their own. Ashley and Michael decided to wrestle Matt instead of the hogs...don't ask! Here's a before.... ....and an after (poor Ashley) Matt's car was broken down and it was worth more in the junk yard, but before we took the beast to junk it, we decided to have a little fun with it. It's amazing people love destruction so much they were willing to donate a few bucks to take a swing at the green machine :) Colten's serious about leaving his mark. We always seem to enjoy the fall with fun activites...must have to due with the pretty colors and the weather? We took a little get away to the farm and had some fun. Here are some fun memories from the Grandma and Papaw's in Madison. Colten had too much fun with George and the babies. George is such a good 'ol boy and Colten just loved him :) More time with George. He wouldn't leave Colten alone. He kept following him. The yearlings liked him too! Mostly cause he was their size! Of course what would a trip to the farm be without a four-wheeler ride and apparently it's more fun when you get to chase the horses... Love this picture! Daddy thought it would be great fun to get all wet, I don't think Colten was too thrilled about it! "Dad...now I'm all WET!" ha! On the farm there is no shortage of fall leaves on the ground. Now that Grandma and Papaw have their playground set all up and running Colten and Paige, the next door neighbor, found it so much fun to pile the leaves at the end of the curly slide (let me rephrase....Stuffed into the curly slide and piled at the end.) and slide down into the large mass of leaves. One last pic on the farm. I love this picture. Nothing says more 'boy' than putting your slick boots on in the rain and walking down the stream looking for frogs! I think I have the cutest boy ever!!!! We took a trip to One Fun Farm as we do every year and got ourselves a pumpkin. This year they had a huge jumping thing. I know...very technical term :) But I don't know what the technical term would be! ha ha! All I know is that Colten LOVED it and would have jumped for hours if I let him! So I finally made it to Christmas of '09!!! YEAH! This year we decided we were going to go to a tree farm and cut down our own tree! Along the way we found an elf to help us pick just the right one... We didn't realize how big the tree farm was! There were sections of certain types of trees so first we had to figure out which type of tree was best for us (we chose the one that needed the less attention and would sustain our house and child and dogs :)...funny now I can't remember what type that was so next year we'll start back at point A confused! When we were finally headed in the right direction it was a long walk and thousands of trees to choose from. But we finally spotted the 'perfect' tree. Found a saw and Daddy and Colten cut it down for us! Colten loved being able to help! Once we got home we got busy with the decorating. It was a beautiful day, perfect for cutting down a tree and decorating. Finally after lots of work, the stockings were hung by the tree and the tree was beautifully lit up! Here's our family around the tree... Of course Spidy had to have his picture taken by the tree too! Colten was old enough this year to be apart of the Christmas program! It was about a little Christmas tree who all the forest animals helped make beautiful. Colten was a bunny in the forest...and a cute bunny at that! See if you can spot him (I might have helped a little). Here he is again. I think he was singing..."do your ears hang low" in his head. By the way, of course the bunnies hopped loudly on the stage back and forth to their spots. It was quite the site! Finally after all the wait, it was Christmas eve. This year Colten and I made an advent calendar because every day he would ask..."Is it Christmas yet?" So we found a santa face, colored him so nicely (Colten is an excellent colorer by the way) and counted down the days by glueing cotton balls onto santa's beard. It was so much fun. Colten and daddy made some cookies for Santa. I guess mommy should have helped because something went wrong! Santa ate them anyway, even though they were the most ugly cookies I've ever seen. (He might have been forced to! :) While the boys were preparing santa's cookies, I was preparing our annual treat for his reindeer....Reindeer Dust! It is sparkly and good. So it attracts the reindeer to our house and they get to eat a snack while santa's busy filling our stockings! Colten is getting ready to sprinkle the dust on the ground in his christmas pj's. Sprinkling it on the ground for the reindeer before bed. Christmas morning...Finding our stockings stuffed full of transformers and all kinds of goodies from Santa. This year Santa left Colten a HUGE surprise in our living room! He got a 4-wheeler that looks just like Grandma Lee's! He was so excited he couldn't wait to get bundled up and go try it out! Finally Colten started tearing into the presents under the tree. Colten got somoe hot-wheels stuff (of course) and an optimus prime mask that speaks like optimus! Colten even had a special surprise for his dog, Brody. Now only if Colten could teach him to 'fetch'! Winter came and went in Indiana and with it lots and lots of snow. Which was great considering Colten loves to play in the snow! I didn't think it was ever going to stop. We got a new toy this year for Colten to play with on the sledding hill. We found a snowboard at a yard sale and he actually is very good at staying on and snowboarding down our hill. I have the cutest video of him snowboarding but unfortunately it's in storage and I have to get this post finished :) so a picture will just have to do. Colten had many friends over to sled with him... And of course who could resist wrestling with daddy in the snow? Now for the BIG announcement that never made it to our blog. (I feel so awful!) In January Matt and I found out that we were expecting! We had decided that no one knows, except God, when our children from Liberia will be coming home, and why we weren't trusting God with the timing...I don't know. So we decided to let God be in control of our family (imagine that :) and if it was His will that we had another child of our own then He could make that happen, if not, then we continue to be faithful and patient knowing the day would come when our babies would be home. With all that said, we are pregnant (as I sit here typing with my belly hanging over the laptop and baby kicking it. Ha!). I am due Sept. 27th and we found out we are having a sweet baby girl. We call her Izzy, Isabella Grace Lee. And, no, we couldn't call her "Bell" because then she'd be made fun of at school...'bell...Lee'. Here are some fun pics we took over mother's day this year at the river with our new addition to the family... Matt and I (colten does such a great job at taking our pictures!) by the river. Colten and Mommy take a picture together. He's just so irresistable. I can't keep my hands off him :) I just had to put this one in here! My two tough boys...don't they look so intimidating! Well that's about all the news in a nutshell...or a three day process of putting it all on here! Our family had a really rough Spring and so therefore, I don't have alot of pictures or stories to share. In March, our world was turned upside down, when Matt lost his job. It has been a rough road that we still have not been able to make sense of and gone through every emotion possible to man, (I actually might have invented some new ones along the way :) The attacks from Satan were like I've never felt before. Definitely made me realize Satan is REAL and he is in persuit of robbing our joy and salvation! But... I did and still do get the chance to see how God honors those who are faithful to Him even when bad things happen that rock their world. -We were able to spend 3 months with 'daddy' in the best time of the year and have him all to ourselves! -God provided every step of the way, and continues. -God led us to a new church family and job in Lexington, KY just in time...his perfect timing. -Matt has so many opportunities at Tates Creek it's just blowing his mind! He's so excited about the things he gets to be apart of here globally as a children's minister that he could never dream of before. -Again, God's perfect timing, allowed us to sell our home in Muncie in such a horrible market AND allowed us to pay off our home equity loan we used were using to support Onah and Marie! (Just a side note...Before and still through this whole adoption process prayed that if it was God's will for us to adopt he would provide the whole way, meaning he would not allow us to become consumed by debt through our adoption, cause let's face it...a minister can't really afford adoption...I trusted in God knowing that when everything is said and done He will provide everything, so cool how we still see His hand moving through our adoption in small ways and HUGE ways of paying off a $10,000.00 loan! AMAZING! GOD YOU ARE SO GOOD!) -Just in the knick of time he led us to a house here in Lexington, that we will close on in a week, just in time for the baby to come! -God has placed people in our lives that have been like family when we are away from all of our loved ones and close friends. Families who have taken us in while we look and wait for a house the past 2 months! -Most of all I can feel God molding and shaping us into deeper and stronger followers of His. Refining us in the fire, using our struggles and moments of despair to make us usable for His purpose...why? Because somewhere, sometime, there will be someone who will need comfort that our experiences with God through this hard time will bring peace and comfort to. He uses every opportunity, good or bad, for His purpose! -Probably the biggest way I've seen God move is through our family. He has brought Colten Matt and I closer together than ever before. I have a deeper love for my husband through all of this. There's something that draws me to him more than ever before when I see how God has used him through this whole situation. He is such an amazing Man of God I can't even describe it into words. His actions, his words, his attitude, his perception, his love for enemies, goes beyond my understanding! All I know is watching him grow the last 6 months and trying to explain it...there's only one explaination...God has filled him with his love and spirit! Matt has led our family through the fire so honorably. I know God looks down on him and smiles! I LOVE YOU MATT! YOU ARE A WONDERFUL SERVANT, HUSBAND, AND FATHER! (in that order :) I'm sure there are many other blessings I've seen over the last few months and it's been hard, honestly, up until now for me to see those things. Do we still have our down days?...yes! Do I terribly miss my friends in Muncie?...absolutely! Do we still feel like satan is chasing us?...of course! But he doesn't OWN us! We push on to pursue the happiness God has in store for us! Well, I've rambled on and on about that chapter in our life! I'm going to end this post with some fun random pictures :) This was taken at a concert at the state fair last summer. We went to see Jeremy Camp and Mercy Me. Matt stood outside the gate by the tour buses to get autographs after the concert. He was so pumped :) We all know that Colten loves to dress up in his super hero costumes. Well, now he loves to dress his super dog up as well thanks to a movie he saw about a super dog. We went over to some friend's house for a nice night by the fire. This picture is hillarious! Probably one of my favorites! It has a story I just have to tell. One evening this summer in July while Matt was in Lexington, Colten decided he wanted to go out and hit golf balls by himself. After being outside for about 20 minutes I hear a terrifying scream and rush out to see why he's crying and sceaming! I run around the corner of the house to where he was hitting golf balls only to find this... He had gotten himself stuck in the bucket and couldn't get out. He was crying and screaming like I've never heard him do before. I thought something was terribly wrong. I immediately start dying laughing! and said..."stay there...I have to get a picture!" Ha ha! I know what a great mom I am. I had to have the memory! :) Colten has become such a great swimmer this year! We got to enjoy many of the pools here in Lexington before school started. Matt convinced Colten to go off the diving boards and he loved it. He was doing flips off them, and getting a little too comfortable in mommy's opinion. But that wasn't good enough...he feasted his eyes on the HIGH DIVE! He just had to go off. The first time, he climbed the long ladder up and walked out the edge looking down the steep jump and backed down the ladder he came. We told him it was ok. He still had plenty of years to try it and he didn't it was ok if he didn't do it this time. But he was determined after he saw a 6 year old girl go off! He wasn't going to be out done by a girl. So up he went again and this time was successful and we couldn't get him off of it the rest of the day! He's my little dare devil!

Smokie Mtn. Vacation Con't

2010-03-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Okay so a long time ago I started a blog entry about our trip to the Smokie's and never finished it! Well, today's the day :) Here are more pics and stories about our memories in the smokies with our best friends...

So after the aquarium we met up with our friends and went to a Colt's game in Cincinatti. We were kinda bummed cause it was a pre-season game and we didn't get to see any of the 'big name' players play, but Colten loved the experience. You can see how high up our seats were. Colten had a pair of binoculars that he looked through. Here's everyone at our cabin up in the clouds. We were on Parrot Mtn. which Matt had to climb to the top of and touch the sign :). We were the last cabin at the top. We had a great view but it was tricky trying to get our vehicles up there. The turns were so sharp that we couldn't make the last two. We had to pull forward, back up one turn, then drive up the next bit, pull forward, and back up into the driveway...it was crazy. But gave us many laughs to remember :) Our Mountain!!! So one brisk rainy day we decide to take a drive up into the mountains for some scenic views. There was this spot that Stacey thought we should check out. "Clingman's Dome" was one of th highest peaks and you could see several states from atop it. None of us were really prepared for the coldness that came with the altitude but we weathered the rain and cold and took the trech up the mountain. Wow...did my legs ever burn! Colten wanted to be carried, Emma was crying most of the way up :), and Tom and Stacey had a stroller to push. We made it to the top! It was cold, extremely windy, and rainy but we can say we did it! It was very beautiful up there but we didn't want to stay long b/c we were freezing. Again...more laughs to share when we look back on it. We each had enough time to take our pics and then left. On the way back down the Smokies we decided to stop at a place where Matt and I stopeed at on a vacation we took. Just a spot along the creek with huge rocks that you could walk on and explore. I thought it would be fun for Colten so we stopped. Remember it was cold so the water was bone chilling cold. There was no taking your socks off and wading the water. I can proudly say...I was the only one who did not fall in the water and get the shock of the cold. Below is Brad...he was first to fall :) he he Tom rock climbing...I believe he was second to get wet. No he didn't fall from there, the rocks were extremely slippery since it had just rained so pretty much it was you lose your balance and fall in. Matt jumping across the rocks. Matt would be next to fall in. Colten loved climbing the huge rocks. Of course all boys love rocks and to see them that big he was in boy heaven...I think all the boys were :) But he was the last to fall in and he got it the worst. Most of them just got their shoes and socks wet, but Colten fell in the water completely and was drenched and screaming cause it was so so cold we had to strip him down and wrap him up in a towel and took him back to the cabin to change. We couldn't help but laugh but the poor kid was screaming. He didn't think it was too funny. We did lots of putt-putting, I think I beat Matt most of the time ;) and Colten never really followed the rules but who doesn't love a round of putt-putt every now and then? All the guys took turns carrying Colten's little bro. "G" as we played our games of putt-putt. We played glow in the dark putt-putt. Colten found a man he resembles at the end. Hercules :) Colten loved playing laser tag. He was Matt's little side kick...he'd follow him and 'had his dad's back'...literally. I think Matt had such a high score cause he had eyes in the back of his head named Colten. Way to go little man! You were the real winner. He'd sacrifice the shot for Matt! Just a funny pic that Colten had to have in Gatlinburg. We found a car just Colten's size in Gatlinburg. He was ready for the keys. Matt and Colten VS. Mommy in go-carts...who won? Well, we all know that the go-carts for 2 always go much faster than the single ones. So it was an unfair race. Colten and Matt won ONLY BECAUSE their go-cart went faster! Had it been Matt vs. Terah in a real race...I think we all know who would have won and it wouldn't have been the man with all the talk :) Taking their victory lap. Colten dominating on the bumper cars. He really brought the thunder. He loved driving his own too. He thought he was pretty cool. We had a great time in the Smokies. The best part was the sharing of laughs with friends. Memories we will treasure forever. I look forward to many more!

Vacation to Smokie Mtns.

2009-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Over Labor day Matt and I and some friends of ours headed for Tennessee to the smokies. We all went in on a cabin and had a lot of fun. Colten was super excited to go on vacation. This is the first year we've actually gone on vacation and he understands what a vacation is. We did not any vacations last year and the year before that, Matt and I went on a short trip while he stayed at Grandma and Papaw's. So he was pumped and ready to go...especially since we got our new van and he can watch movies while we travel! Our first stop was in Cincinnatti to the Newport Aquarium and a Bengals game with Tom and Stacey and Garrett. Colten and I are checking out a 'Giant Alligator Snapping Turtle' It was huge! At first we thought it was fake and then it began to move...Colten went nuts!

Colten and I checking out my favorite...the jellyfish!!!

Matt and Colten trying to reach the jellyfish that didn't shock you!

Colten measuring up to a sword fish!

PRICELESS!

I found it funny after looking at the picture that Colten was doing his "happy feet" dance and the penguin is mocking him :)

Colten was able to pet the sharks in a special tank but was a little afraid to at first. I had to 'encourage' him to put his hand in the water and pet them as they swam by.

Not too long after and he was doing it all by himself!

Matt and I stopped to pose while Colten took our picture :)

Matt and Colten underwater in the aquarium. Colten loved the sting ray sharks. He had their names memorized and was on a hunt to find them!

Colten excited to be at his first pro football game...

Colts VS. Bengals...

GO BIG BLUE!

They ended up losing and no big players ever touched the field, but it was fun to take in the experience! We'll have to go again at Lucas Oil Stadium!

We had a fun night back at Papaw Birdie's playing Scrabble and listening to some poems before we hit the hay and headed out for the mountains in the morning...

A BIG DAY FOR COLTEN!

2009-08-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well, my little boy is growing up fast on me. Everyday he learns new things that make me realize he's not a little boy anymore. We were at the church one evening and one of his friends from church named Sam was riding a bike around the gym. Colten was interested cause he was riding without training wheels. Sam is 2 or 3 years older than Colten. The next morning Colten wakes up and tells Matt that he wants to ride without his training wheels. He says that he can do it cause Sam taught him :) He helps Matt take the wheels off, puts his helmet on, heads down the road and proceeds to ride without the training wheels, just like that. Of course he was wobbly at first, but I was impressed with how quickly he caught on with no help from us at all! After one block he was a pro! 2 days later he's riding down the hills of our yard! What a crazy kid!

Rodeo

2009-08-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Colten atop Joe at the Rodeo at MCR camp. We took a group of kids from church to camp and Colten and I got to tag along. While at camp he got to ride by himself for the first time!! Here he is on Joe at the Rodeo. Rounding the corner and placing the 'flag' back in the bucket. He made great time!!! :)

Be Aggressive...be, be, AGGRESSIVE!

2009-08-04T12:20:00.001-07:00

Pool parties at the Lee's always end up in a battle of pool basketball in which people come out hurt or all scratched up! seems harmless right? Then, it goes from a simple game to competitive! "FOUL!"...Apparently there's no such thing in pool basketball :) "Unnecessary roughness???"...nope Katie calls upon the "super powers" to win the game...funny thing about is, I don't know if they ever really keep score. They just like to beat each other up!

My Son...The Party Organizer

2009-08-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I come home from the grocery one afternoon and am greeted at the door by a very excited little boy. He says, "Guess how many shirts I have on?? Answer: 4!! "Guess how many shorts I have on?" Answer: 2!!! "Wanna know why? I'm gonna have a basketball party and at the church and all my friends are gonna come and if they get hot they can have one of my basketball shirts or a pair of my shorts!" "You know how many pairs of socks I have in my room??" Answer: 19 "And how many shoes?"...14 (now obviously he didn't count correctly :) "I have a pair for all my friends" (He's laid everything out to get ready for this party that neither Matt or I know anything about :) "Mom, if my friends get hungry I should have a snack for them. I've got it all ready downstairs in the kitchen..." "I've put them all in bags so they can share them". Wow, he's quite the planner!

Splash Island

2009-08-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

We took Colten to a cute waterpark in Plainfield...He loved it! I wish Muncie had something like this... Going down the slide... when it rains...it pours! Matt had to make him stand there just so I could get a picture :) ha ha! I think he liked it in the end... Colten was glad to have mastered the ladder. Matt was informed by the lifeguard he was not allowed to help Colten get across, but he wanted to do it so badly...he made it, and boy was he excited!!

What's Summer without Strawberry Pie!!!

2009-08-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

I finally got the recipe for the best Strawberry pie ever from April and Colten and I worked on it one afternoon...It was delicious!!! Colten helped cut up the strawberries...of course he had to eat while he worked! He approved ;) mmmm doesn't it look good??? He was mad that it had to cool in the fridge for awhile before we could eat it.

Born to Be Wild...or maybe just Born to Be a Lee

2009-08-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

Work day at Aunt Jo's turns into fun day for Colten. He got to ride the four-wheeler with the boys. Don't worry...he didn't ride by himself (I'm not that crazy!!! He IS a Lee :) Just a cute photo opportunity :)

PARTY!!!

2009-08-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

Landon celebrated his 3rd birthday, of course it was the best party ever cause it involved water according to Colten ;) First time down the waterslide...a little unsure and trying to get his balance...constantly watching the 'big boys' to figure it out. ...didn't take long :) what a cute birthday boy!!! Now time for some fun in the pool... Colten learned how to swim last year, and refused to wear floaties cause he 'had something to prove'. This year he refused to take them off cause it was much easier and less work to just wear them :)

Horsin' Around

2009-08-04T11:36:00.001-07:00

We took a weekend to visit the farm and meet the new babies... Colten and daddy getting their hands on the new babies at the farm. If this horse can handle these 3 all at once I think it will be a pretty laid back philly :) what a cutie... He's a natural Of course he had to have a short ride on 'ol Rose.

2009-06-12T17:39:00.001-07:00

2009-04-22T13:09:00.001-07:00

BELIEVE '09: SPEAK

2009-04-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

MEMORIES FROM BELIEVE AND THE CONNECT GROUP...

Twins...

2009-03-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Matt needed to work on Chance's fence last week. It was a nice warm spring day so Colten was excited about going outside and helping his daddy. They went to the store together to pick up supplies...I should have gone, they came back with too many un-necessary things. By the way, Colten is a "big boy" now, in case you needed to know. He can walk out to the car by himself with no help. Matt was given specific directions to pull in the drive after work, honk his horn, and Colten would come out on his own and hop in the car while dad waited in the car. He was not to get out and come in and get him. He could do it on his own. This poses a problem though when you can't buckle your own seat belt :) When they arrived home Matt changed into some work clothes and headed out. Colten immediately says, "Dad, I'll meet you out there. I need to change too." When he comes down the stairs I laugh out loud!!! He has on boots...just like dad, jeans with holes...just like dad, and a sleeveless shirt...just like dad. I love it when he tries to be just like daddy. It's so STINKIN' CUTE! Here are the twins after work relaxing together...

Colten's Photography

2009-03-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hanging out as a family one night, we were taking pictures of daddy and Colten. Colten wanted a turn. Here's how it turned out... Let's hope he find a different occupation ;) However, it's pretty good for his first picture??? At least you can see parts of us :)

Colten is 4!!!

2009-03-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go?? My little baby is 4 years old! He's no longer a baby :( We had a great time celebrating this year a little smaller than last year. We still had good times with friends and family, but I contained myself a bit this time with all the party stuff. Here are some pictures of our chucky cheese adventure with friends... concentrating even though the game is broken how cute is he?? He was so excited to spend the day at chucky cheese with his friends! let the party begin!!! All the boys!!! Scary image for the future!!!! HELP!!! On Saturday we had a small celebration with family and friends. Colten wanted everything to be super heros this year! He's into spider man and batman. He leared a few new ones on his birthday. He's into dressing up...he gets that from his daddy! He got some new super hero costumes and dresses up to beat up his daddy when they wrestle. It was a great time. Would have been better if I had remembered to buy ice cream!!! What was I thinking??? Colten with is spider man birthday cake. No I wasn't brave enough this year to make my own cake like last year. I went the easy route...Wal-Mart. Maybe next year!! Papaw's hanging out at the party, they were good for opening up those hard to open gifts...they always have a pocket knife available! of course...more race cars with tracks! Now we won't have to race on the kitchen floor, we actually have a track!!! SUPER COLTEN!!! future drummer boy. Let's hope he is better than his mommy... or Tom... Who's this cute little brother!!! He loves to play too! Thanks everyone for helping me celebrate 4 years with Colten!!! It was fun!

Fotos of Liberia

2009-03-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures from our trip to Liberia. Listen to the words of this song as you watch the faces of hurting people who need your prayers. It brings tears to my eyes knowing what I left behind. I want to go back to do more!

Sweet Music

2009-03-10T09:50:00.001-07:00

Monrovia United Christian Church welcoming us... (Pause music at bottom to hear...)

YOU'RE WELCOME!

2009-03-10T09:40:00.001-07:00

Following you will find a series of journal entries from Liberia. These are my feelings and what I experienced in Liberia. Many of you have been waiting to hear about my trip...here it is...first hand of what I experienced. I hope you enjoy, and find a love for the same people that I fell in love with...

February 16th, Monday

2009-03-10T09:31:00.001-07:00

We finally made it to Liberia!!! And it finally caught up with me...today/yesterday...I can't keep track. I don't know what the time is, what the day is! This is crazy. I remember wanting to just cry on the plane cause I was so tired yet couldn't sleep, hadn't showered for 2 days and was sick of airplane food! We arrived in Monrovia today. There's just something about this place that puts a smile on my face! Everyone tells you, "you're welcome!" WE had no problems going through customs! Walked right through (ALL OF US! Got back to the ELWA and TOOK A SHOWER!!! It was cold but felt so good! We loaded back up in the cars and went to church to meet everyone. It was dark and I remember driving for ever adn all of a sudden hearing loud music and people singing. It was a mob of people! They were running next to our vans, beating drums, saying "Yahwey!" and "Welcome". They were singing and dancing and grabbing our hands as we drove by, I felt like a super star or something, but they were al praising God for sending us to them! (HOW HUMBLING!) I remember shaking people's hands and hugging them and all of a sudden feeling little tiny hands in mine. I looked down and was instantly captivated by their smile sand I couldn't help but think of our little ones when looking at them. How I long to meet them and see them! I love the children in Liberia, there's something about them that is intoxicating. They are so lovable and you just want to squeeze them all! ELWA is where we are staying. We have a guard who watches over our house 24/7 and it is a gated cummunity right on the ocean. It is nice, but if it was back in the States there's no way you would stay there...there are better options back home. But for Liberia it's a Hilton! Our shower is a trickle of cold water and we have AC, lots of bugs but not many mosquitos! They come out in the rainy seasson and lucky for us it's not the rainy season :) Matt got attacked by a sea urchin...Leave it to him, the first 1/2 hour here and he's already injured...THAT'S THE COWBOY WAY! I think I'm gonna fall in love with this place!!!

Tuesday, February 17th

2009-03-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

I slept AWESOME last night! We were able to sleep a little longer today. Liberia reminds me alot of Jamaica. Drivers are never on time, traffic is crazy and people everywhere. Even the smells! (Diesel mostly ;) I started out working at the clinic. We had to set it up first and when we arrived there were probably 100 people already waiting! WE had rooms to actually take patients in and a make shift 'pharmacy room' as well as a couple rooms to take blood pressure and vitals. I walked around with Heather for al ittle while teaching those waiting about importance of clean water and washing hands. Then I took over Jamie's job of checking people in. I got to meet many people and talk with them and hold babies :) Many patients suffered from pain mostly stomach pain. More than likely form dirty drinking water. One 18 month old baby we saw today was 10 pounds! He was severely dehydrated so badly there was nothing we could do, but take him to a hospital. It makes me think of where my babies would be right now had God not found them and brought them into our lives. Would we be treating them today or would they fall under the 50% of children in Liberia that never make it? I missed them SO much today! At the VBS as children were coming in a little baby probably 18 months came in crying and walked straight into my arms. Seh clinged to me the whole time. It made me long for my babies! I hear we get to go and see them tomorrow! I'm SO EXCITED! While driving today we went through a part of town that was wall to wall peole. I couldn't help but gaze into the eyes of a the people we passed by starring into our car and see all the emptiness in their eyes. I've heard of people talk about the emptiness they see in other's eyes but never seen it for myself. Hopeless is what their eyes screamed. If only they knew of the joy God has to share. As we slowly drove by all the empty eyes I slowly see a flowing yellow image as we drive on by; I focus and notice a bright shining smiling face of a toothless little angel in a beautiful bright yellow dress clinging to her mother's hand as she's being gragged along while she's starring deep in my eyes beaming from ear to ear! That's their HOPE! The children of this country have the hope and I pray they can make a difference in their country and families.

Wednesday, February 18th

2009-03-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 43:2-4 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...For I am the Lord your God...You are precious in my sight...and I love you!" I woke up today and was sick tomy stomach. I longed for something cold and CLEAN to drink. The water at the ELWA house is not safe to drink so we are to bring bottled water from the church to the house each night for that evening and in the morning and I forgot. So I'm so thirsty!!! I guess we take water for granted. I can't imagine waking up every morning craving water. We got to the church and turned around to leave and go see the babes!!! I was nervous and we drove around Monrovia what seemed like FOREVER before we went. We had to stop at the hardware store for some metal for the building, at the pharmacy for some drugs, meet the newpaper reporter for a copy of the article we were in, and then off to find the AFAA house. Mommy with Onah for the first time...I miss you chunk!!! Daddy getting stuck around his little girl's finger for the first time :) Mommy still feels you in her arms sweet pea! We walked into the AFAA house which was nicer than where we are staying!!! WE walked in and saw all the children eating and said hellow. We walked back to the babes room and I walked in and grabbed Onah and he cried and cried and cried!! (he was afraid of us, white scarry people!) Matt held Marie. She cried for a little bit and settled down alot quicker than Onah...that is until we switched babes and then she cried a little more :) Onah continued to cry every time he saw a Liberian. They we SO PRECIOUS!!! I remember just kissing and kissing them. I gave them their girraffe and lion. Marie chewing on Colten's picture in her picture book. Marie chewed on hers, Onah was too busy crying to notice. They both loved the picture books we sent them. They chewed on them alot. At one point I held both babies. It was so precious to see Onah reach out and touch Marie. She fell asleep as he held her hand!!! :) Onah holding Marie's hand while she sleeps :) I TREASURE that time with them :) I held back the tears when we left but as soon as we were in the car driving away I cried all the way back to the church. It was hard leaving them. Onah has a herniated belly button which I know isn't really a big deal there, but to me I just want to get him home and healthy. Mercy cried when we left. I know she really wanted to go home. I PRAY God can make a way fro these children to come home. They SO LONG FOR HOME! BAck at the church we had VBS with about 400 kids! It is hard because you don't think they listen or understand. As I led worship they kept coming closer and closer to me and eventually I was pinned against the backdrop :) At the end of VBS Matt passed out bubbles at the gate and there was a RIOT amongst the kids. Denise literally broke up a fight! After dinner we headed back home. On the way we joked with David, our driver, about me driving. At one point we stopped for gas and he was actually going to let me! I told him I was kidding, I'd kill us all in Liberian traffic! I'm glad I didn't because we came to a traffic jam that was so much CHAOS! There were 7 lanes of traffic going the same direction on a 4 lane road. We were over in the 7th lane. The UN stepped in and started directing traffic and after about 45 minutes of sitting still we finally began moving. One lane all the way on the other side of the road started moving. Somehow, I still dont' know how, we ended up crossing 6 lanes of non moving traffic over to that one lane and moved beyond the jam, which we found on the other side was 7 lanes of traffic coming the other way!!! We literally had a 'stand-off' of cars. This is how Liberia works with traffic. When you have no lights or stop signs or any organization what so ever with traffic this happens.

Thursday, February 19th

2009-03-09T15:08:00.001-07:00

Psalm 62:6 "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken" Today was a hard day! At the clinic my heart was brokena nd I was shaken by two little babies. They looked like the babies you see in pictures of national geographic except this time it was more real! One little boy was 1 and 1/2 years old. and he was only 6 POUNDS! That's smaller than Colten at birth!!! His arms were so tiny and he looked so weak. You could see every bone in his little body. I asked the mother if I could hold him while I took his weight and fought back the tears! It was like holding a pile of bones. As I cradled his little bottom you felt nothing but bone! No meat what so ever! It was so heartbreaking. It makes me wonder why they have to suffer? This precious innocent child...why must he go through this? His mother was numb to the fact that her child was dying. I guess she's come to that realization? How hard life is here! And to think the government wants to keep these starving children from leaving the country. They need this help! Lives are too precious to be tossed aside like this! What God must think when he looks down and sees this little boy??? Back at the ELWA house we had no electricity. 2 Gekos got fried on the wire and power went out. 2 Liberians were up on a ladder with electrical cable trying to fix it. No...they were not electricians...just civilians! (Ocea would not be happy!) During our group time I struggled. We were to share what God was doing in our lives this week. I don't know! I know what I WANT Him to do this week, but I don't know what HE wants to do. I couldn't stop crying when I heard Matt say, he wasn going to have to leave without our babies. Matt's never doubted or lost hope and to hear those words made my heart sink. I don't know why I have to hurt like this. It's so hard! I called Colten afterwards and he cheered me up! He was so happy to hear from us. He giggled the whole time. I'm so sleepy. Another day of waking up with matted eyes from crying all night. I'm off to bed!

Friday, February 20th

2009-03-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today was a slower day for me. I was extremely tired when I woke up and we waited for an hour for Oretha to show up to get the laptop. When she showed up she seemed very non-social. I just feel like she's not excited about our children going home. She didn't set up a meeting with Eva Morgan and said next week she could set it up with her. We then reminded her hat we were leaving on Monday! On our way to the church we stopped at a pharmacy. Danny went inside while we stayed in his vehicle. I was 1/2 asleep and tried to ignore all the sellers who came up to our window trying to sell stuff. Next thing I knew Matt said, "hey" and 20 Liberians were swarming our vehicle yelling! I had NO CLUE what was going on. Apparently...a guy knocked on the back window which made us all turn to look while his friend reached in on the other side of the vehicle to grab Danny's cell phone. All the Liberians were wataching us like hawks so immediately they stepped in and came to our defense. I'm so amazed at their love and support for each other and us! They told us, "you're Americans! they want to steal from you. You're in Liberia now, roll up your windows :)!" We had a great story to share with everyone when we got to the church. 400 kids at VBS today! They sang so loudly and I broke a string! Very tired afterwards however! At one point I the kids were so close to me during worship I couldn't move my guitar or I'd clunk them in the head! It was great seeing their excitement! This morning Tony a boy that comes around the ELWA house in the morning was asking me to buy shoes for him. He said they pulled him out of school cause he didn't have shoes. He can't go back till he gets some and his mom can't afford it. I think at the end of the week we are going to find some shoes we can leave that will fit him. I was so tired tonight I came back and slept and for the first time I thought about our home and what it would be like to be there in my own bed. One interesting thing that happened today in VBS. We were trying to get the girls t braid a bracelet of yarn and they didn't understand what we were saying. I'm thinking...you all know how to braid! Look at your hair!!!! I learned I had to say, "PLOT IT!"...like magic they all started braiding! ;)

Saturday, February 21

2009-03-09T12:37:00.001-07:00

We went shopping today in the market!!! Bee and Danny went with us. Bee wanted to make sure she helped us all get good deals in the market cause she knew that they would all take advantage of us. And they did try, but we are good, I should say, Matt is good, at bargaining with them! We bought lots of things to put in the babies room so they can always be 'at home'. We bought Colten a couple drums...I'm sure he's gonna love that! We had Liberians stopping and taking our pictures with their cell phones. Again...it felt like we were famous or something. It was really hot today. Down while we were shopping you couldn't really feel the breeze as well. I could feel the sweat running down the back of my legs...gross! But we've been here for almost a week now and you don't really notice it much anymore, the sweat that is :) We came across a place where they were selling Liberia jerseys and they were a big hit for the people on our team. There were two Liberians there selling them and all of a sudden 30 Liberians came out of the woodwork and were all trying to sell you these shirts. They were crowding around us and all of a sudden I felt someone unzip my money pouch, luckily I didn't have any money in there and I quickly shut it, but I didn't see who did it, but in an instant Bee started grabbing us all and told us we needed to leave because there were 'bad people' around. Turns out I wasn't the only one who had their packs unzipped. Several people had their bags messed with and Big Jason, who's not called big for nothing, had a couple guys trying to stick their hands in his pockets. So we high tailed it out of there as a group. I'm so glad we have them with us. They took good care of us! After shoppig we went to the church to eat and on our way back to the ELWA house we stopeed at the AFAA house and the team spent some time with the kids there and we got to stay and spend a lot of time with the babies! We were able to feed them bottles and put them to bed. Our driver didn't come for us until 9 pm so we spent the entire evening with them! We of course held them the whole time! Never putting them down once :) Onah was constantly playing with Matt's face or watch or whatever else he had on him that was of interest to Onah. Onah wimpered just a little when we got there but not much crying at all! Marie kept falling asleep on me! We got to see Onah giggle and talk a little! The boys were playing soccer and he was facinated with the ball going all over the place. He kept cooing and jabbering at them. So I'd say, "onah kick it!" and he'd reply with "KAH!" It was so precious to hear his voice without crying and screaming :) We had the children write letters to parents back home and sang songs with them. We even played Chi Chi Ni with the boys! They couldn't believe we knew how to play their game! We ended the evening watching a movie with them...yes they have a tv there, run on a generator. The babies fell asleep in our arms and we left for the night when our driver came to pick us up. I left without crying this time!

Sunday, February 22

2009-03-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today was yet another emotional day. I think I've cried every day since I've been here. There is so much that grabs your heart and you do your best to be strong throughout the day and when night comes you can't hold it in any longer. We said goodbye to our dear friends at the Monrovia United Christian Church today. I'll never forget my brothers and sisters here! Matt and I gave Tofi a bible today with a message and some scriptures to keep tucked away for him. He is such a joyful young man! What a great smile and heart of gold! I'll never forget the first time I saw him running along side our van beating that drum and excited to see us that first night we were there. He has a smile you could never erase from your memory! There were 348 chilren at church today! Normal attendance for children is about 50 Bee said. They were all blown away. They all sat so quietly because they had a switch looming above their heads if they so much as made a peep they knew they'd get it! We ate lunch with the church family: Some gross looking stew stuff, I think it had fish eggs in it or something like that???? I didn't try it. But I did try the peanut butter soup and rice. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either! I ate alot of fruit :) After lunch we had a women's conference where I got to meet alot of wonderful sisters! I never knew how much the war had an effect on these people until talking and hearing their stories. In my small group alone 1/2 the women had lost their husbands in the war. Many were shot trying to run and flee Liberia. One woman has 13 children and is a single parent now. I can't imagine being a single parent to 13 children here in the US! They are struggling being a single parent in Liberia! I pray God watches over them and gives them strength and support! I pray he shows them He is their provider and their Heavenly Father! We talked with a man named Bob Z. I can't say his last name so I just call him Bob Z. He is a friend of Sam's from when Sam was in Liberia many years ago. He's a superintendant, equivalent to a govenor, in Liberia. We told him of our situation with the adoption. He said he wished he would have met us 3 days ago and he could have set up some meetings or something, but it was too late for that now. He asked us to give him all our contact information with our agency and he would see if he could help us out in any way. I don't know if he will or not, but it's worth trying???

Monday, Feb. 23rd

2009-03-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Monday: Feb. 23rd Today we left this beautiful place! I am on one of my many plane rides home and feeling very empty. I not only am leaving behind a people I fell in love with but my children that I fell in love with. No words can describe the emptiness I feel and the hurt that aches in my bones! I felt God carrying me through this week when I knew the inevitable was going to happen but now I am numb to it. I think I'm in that 'shock' stage. I just can't believe it didn't happen. We woke up early today to go to see the babies one last time before our flight left. We were supposed to leave at 7:30...Liberia time: they got there around 8:15. John and Larry were going to work at the church one last time so they dropped us off at the AFAA house. We were beginning to feel right at home in the AFAA house. We immediately walked back to get the babies and there was no crying today!!!! Onah was very curious about Matt and all his facial hair. You can tell they are really getting used to us! Marie was her usual snuggly self ;) We were feeding them a bottle when one of the house mom's came up to us and told us Oretha had gotten us a meeting iwth the minister of social welfare. (The case worker basically) and as soon as we were ready to leave we could. I of course was nervous because we had to take a taxi,...which took forever to get one, esp. on a Monday. I was worried we'd miss our flight and all that cause I know how Liberia time works! We got a taxi, headed out and met with the case worker who hasn't even looked at our children's paperwork by the way! She was no help. She showed no sign of compassion for any parent waiting on their children. One look at her and I basically tuned her out and let Matt do all the talking. I saw there was no use. She was kinda rude and acted like she didn't really want or have time to talk to us. I had to hold my tongue at one point because Matt was talking to her about the children we had seen over the past week, starving children who need help and can't get help because there's no where for them to go with children not being able to leave the country. I'll never forget this: She looked at him with a stone face, no emotions what so ever, and said, "I have a case of a boy who is dying on my desk, he has an adopted family ready to take him home, and he's ready to go home, but he's not going anywhere! Not until this ban is lifted. He'll probably die before he leaves." How can you say that with NO EMOTIONS! Their children are dying and they seem as if they don't care! I was able to not only hold my tongue, but the tears as well, but as soon as we walked out those doors I couldn't hold them back anymore! I made Oretha very uncomfortable because Liberians do not like crying I noticed. Whenever kids or adults cry they immediately tell them, "hush up! Quit crying!" I could tell me crying made her very uncomfortable but I couldn't help it! I couldn't stop! We made it back early enough to spend a few more minutes with the babies before our driver came to pick us up. Leaving was the hardest thing to do. I think it was the longest goodbye I've ever made. I couldn't put them down, and there was no stopping the tears. I miss them so much already and it hasn't even been a day. This is going to be SO HARD!!! We got back to the house and I just wanted to be alone but we had to pack up and head to the airport. No time to think things through. On the way to the airport our van overheated. David, our driver, took the cap off the radiator...bad mistake...it looked like 'ol faithful spewing out of our hood! Some boys from the village nearby saw a van of white people and came over. They took a can and ran to the nearest well to get us water, which you know by know, Liberia+village+well=long distance! So we gave them lots of treats and candy for helping us out :) They were so funny it was like gold. I think they'd do anything for more ;) So we made it to the airport and on the plane. We're headed home and this will probably be my last journal entry. I miss Liberia!

Imagination...What a Great Thing

2009-01-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

As you know we are still in the process of adopting. We have two babies waiting for us in Liberia. Since we have gotten their room all set up and ready for them to come home and Colten just can't wait! He so badly wants a brother or sister to play with! One day his blanket was in the wash and not dry by the time his nap came. I told him he could choose another blanket to sleep with and he wanted to pick one out of Marie's bed. So I covered him up with her blanket and he took a good nap. When he woke up he came down the stairs and told me, "mommy I slept with Marie! I snuggled her the whole time and she didn't even cry!" It was so cute. Later that night he asked if he could snuggle Marie again. I remembered that we had gotten a baby doll from Sam and asked him if he wanted to sleep with it and pretend it was Marie. Of course he was all giggly and excited about it. So we put her in bed with him and covered them both up with her blanket...since then he has informed me that now he sleeps with Marie, Onah, and God! That's quite the crowded bed! I had to snap a pic of him snuggling his sister...

Monkey!!!!!

2009-01-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

Colten has figured out how to climb to the top of our cabinets in the bathroom. He knew he was big enough to fit in them cause he would hide from daddy in the bottom one. But he learned that if you open all the cabinets you can use them as a jungle gym and climb from one to another all the way to the top. Then he's stuck up there cause he is too scared to get down :) Here's the little monkey making faces at me showing off his new trick. He was pretty proud of himself. Which is what we have found with him. Even if it's something we want to scream at him for like throwing water all over the bathroom floor, he's so proud of what he has done that he just wants you to acknowledge his accomplishments. That's a boy for you I guess!

Christmas '08

2009-01-16T06:34:00.000-08:00

I've finally got all my pics organized and put on the computer to be able to update my blog! We had a great Christmas! We did alot of driving but it was nice to get to see family and spend some time with everyone...esp. those who have lived on an island for the past 2 years and are back now!!! :) After the Christmas program Santa came to Harvest and Colten got to sit on his lap and tell him what he wanted..."Fire Cars!!! (cause they go faster!)" He was so excited he was literally jumping up and down screaming..."IT'S SANTA! IT'S SANTA!" I knew this year was going to be fun! Our little elf! Just like his daddy! I couldn't get him to take off the costume to take a "serious" photo! We had some nice cold weather that froze our pool over. Colten and Matt love to ice skate together on the ice. Here's Colten going on a little "date" with Violet on the ice! What a smooth talker! Christmas morning Colten woke up and checked out his goods and we were oblivious! We were passed out in the other room. He didn't even bother coming and waking us up! He ran in the room with his stocking and said, "look what Santa got me!" Santa had brought him a colts uniform with a helmet, but he forgot all the pads to go with it and Colten noticed!!! He searched the house from top to bottom for the first 20 minutes saying, "maybe he left them upstairs in my room?" We had to break it to him that Santa knew he was too little for shoulder pads. Then off he was to opening presents. Here he is with his 'fire cars'. He loves hotwheels cars! He has a collection going. He got a big rig truck that holds them all from his grandma but they don't all fit (and it holds 60 some)! Matt made Colten a marble track for Christmas out of PVC pipe. That has been great entertainment for the two of them. They have taken that thing apart and recreated so many different designs. I woke up one morning to some clanking noise and walked out of my bedroom to find it winding from the bottom of the steps to the upstairs railing straight up to the ceiling! It's a good bonding time for them :) At grandma Lee's Colten dressed up with his daddy to play Santa and his little helper for his little cousin Landon. Colten thought he was pretty special to be able to dress up and help his daddy pretend to be Santa! Uncle Bill and Aunt Christie had planned a fun treasure hunt for the boys to get their Christmas presents! It was really cute! They made a treasure map of the farm and had clues to find the next spot that had the next clue. Here is Uncle Bill sitting in the outhouse where the boys found the last clue. Funny though I think the boys were so consumed with finding their treasure and the clue that they didn't find the humor in Uncle Bill sitting on a toilet outside in freezing weather! The boys found their treasure buried in the hole of this tree! Colten had a blast and loved the hunt. He loves his box, it sits on his dresser and he loves it when I put stuff in there that he doesn't know about. It's like a treasure every time he opens it. Here are the three boys with their treasure. Tivon, Colten, and Landon. From there we headed to my family's for Christmas evening. Unfortunately I forgot our camera and couldn't take any pics. :( Colten got a cool race car...imagine that??? Colten liking race cars. This one was remote controlled which he thought was cool. We soon found out that all the remotes for all the boys cars work for each other so you never knew who was controlling who's car! :) It was like they were all possessed :) Matt and I got the dvd game Deal or No Deal. The first time we played it wouldn't you know Matt won the million!!!! I think I got a good deal, but compared to the million it wasn't. Wish it was real! Mom and dad got all the kids games this year which was a lot of fun cause we all got to try out each other's games and had some fun as a family playing together. It was a great Christmas. I love the time seeing family and celebrating the birth of a Savior!

DONE AT 2:05!!

2008-11-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finished! I have updated my blog! It only took me 3 hours! I hope you enjoy. For your reading pleasure I put everything in backwards so that when you read it, it will be in the correct order :) I tried to go month by month to fill you in on what has happened since May, besides adoption stuff. From now on, I will try to do a better job of keeping it up. By the way, I have created a new blog about our adoption. It is a private blogspot so if you would like to be invited to that email me and let me know. I will not be posting much adoption stuff on here as I don't want the entire world to know details of our adoption.

Visiting Aunt Deb.

2008-11-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to visit Aunt Deb. in Wabash. Colten had a great time and it was good catching up with her and Uncle Randy. Besides the two dogs that Colten loved to feed vegtables to, he found lots to play with at their house. Colten with Aunt Deb. And by the way, I do not neglect my child. As you can see Aunt Deb. has on a winter coat and hat and my son is in a t-shirt. It was May and not freezing out (well maybe in Aunt Deb's opinion). My Aunt is from Florida and does not adapt to cold weather well. So don't call CPS on me :) Colten with Uncle Randy. It was Colten's job to keep Uncle Randy awake as he was very sleepy due to a bad night. ...Uncle Randy's motorcyle and remote control cars he puts together. (I'm just glad Colten didn't break them.) He sure enjoyed racing those cars! Go figure...two things he likes best, cars and racing! ...and yes, it's a slot machine. This kept Colten's attention for quite some time, for many reasons. 1. You put coins into slots. 2. You push buttons. 3. It makes really loud noises (we couldn't figure out how to turn the volume down and it was LOUD!) 4. Money spits out at you! And that happened often! Colten was rather a pro at this game! I think my Aunt wants to kidnap him and take him to Vegas! Hey, not a bad idea to fund our adoption??? Is that wrong?

MAY

2008-11-13T21:59:00.001-08:00

Well, I think this is where I left off the last time. We were beginning to start t-ball, and boy was I excited! What was I thinking?????? Sure, my kid was the cutest one on the field but boy was he the most frustrating one. Words of wisdom, don't put your 3 year old in t-ball!!! Colten loved t-ball for the first 3 games. After that it was all down hill. I think his best position was catcher cause he was too busy throwing the ball back to the picher that he didn't have time to do art in the dirt :) I know all kids play in the dirt, but my kid refused to do anything you asked him to do. All he wanted to do was play in the dirt. But, it's all in the past now and I have cute pictures to show for it. That's all that matters right? Now, I think he's wanting to play soccer! Oh Boy! Here we go again. This was Colten's first big hit!!! His first time up to bat all season and he got a hit! What a slugger...and yes he's a lefty. On base and ready to run it in for a score! This is the most alert he was all season! No joke... I actually caught him paying attention!!! What a pro. ...and this is where it goes downhill. "But," you say, "he's chasing after the ball...that's good!" No in fact the ball wasn't even hit. He ran infront of the pitcher in the middle of the at bat to run across the field to say hi to his grandma and papaw Lee watching from the crowd. That's Matt chasing after him and bringing him back to his position... ...A good father/son talk... ...and there went the focus! This is what the rest of his t-ball career looked like. At least he got to hang out with one of his best buds Caleb.

JUNE

2008-11-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

Bill, Matt's brother, graduated from med. school which gave us a good excuse to take a mini vacation to Florida! We went in with his brother and stayed in a beach house. The beach was right across the road, and Colten remembers it vividly to this day! He loved the beach. He asks at least once a month if he can go back. He enjoyed the QT with his cousins. Every chance he got he was in the water. Probably 2-3 times a day, we went to the beach. Pretty much the whole day. He'd go in the mornings with his dad, come back for lunch, take a nap, go for an afternoon swim, back for dinner, and end the day with a romantic walk on the beach! Here are a few classic moments with Uncle Bill that I loved! I can only imagine the thoughts going on in Colten's head, cause his Uncle Bill is the coolest person to ever walk the face of the earth, in his opinion...not saying your not cool Bill, but personally, I think his mom is the coolest!!! "it's pretty simple, you just throw the board down and jump on it!" "No Uncle Bill,...really, I think you should use this one. Look it's got a cool dolphin on it!" I'd love to be back on the beach right now. Sitting in the WARM sand, listening to the waves crash in, and see those beautiful sunsets! Every night we had an amazing scenery. God is a great artist!!!

JULY

2008-11-13T21:21:00.001-08:00

VBS, VBS, VBS!!!! July was full of putting on many VBS programs! For our Amazing 80 journey we put on a VBS at my parent's church. We were the missionaries, and also at Ben Davis. I got the opportunity to lead worship at my parent's church which was so much fun! Colten enjoyed going to all the VBS programs cause he got lots of awesome snacks!! Not to mention he got to throw a pie in his Papaw Huff's face!!!! (thanks to his dad's great idea :) The VBS we did for our church was centered around the story of Noah's ark. So one night we got to bring Brandy, Colten's best bud! They spent a little time hangin out together. I love this picture! We also had lots of swimming in July as well. Our pool was a little high maitanace this year, but well worth it! Colten learned to swim on his own without the floaties this year! He was pretty pumped up about that. He does better when he keeps his head under water. For some reason head up signals, butt down and sink, for him. He mastered the cannon ball or the can opener by the end of July :)

AUGUST

2008-11-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

August started off with a long Saturday for Colten but an exciting one for my sister. She graduated from Purdue with her masters and we decided to go and celebrate with her and go to her ceremony. It was a long one but well worth it! Grandma Huff stocked Colten up with lots of snacks, books, cars, you name it and she had it in the bag!!! From there we headed to a wedding with our tuckered out tike. Not just any wedding...a catholic mass! He did great! I was so proud of the little guy! He had a long day and was ready to go home after that! Colten also got to go to the races!!! He loves cars and since papaw Huff is the racing chaplain it gives us lots of chances to go to the races. So we had to squeeze on in before the season was over. At first he couldn't keep his eyes off the track, he liked the loudness too. We were hoping to see a good crash in the figure 8 races, but no luck...I guess that's a good thing!

SEPTEMBER

2008-11-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot went on in September. Colten noticed a lot of his friends were going to pre-school and began talking about school. So he asked if he could go to school. Well, I don't see the point in paying someone to do what I know how to do, and he gets plenty of social time with all the church activities we have going on, so we decided to set up school in the play area upstairs. We made a bulletin board calendar and I pulled out all my teaching stuff and we went to town! He is amazing me at what he can do and how much he absorbs!!! He knows all his letters and their sounds, he knows his numbers up to 10. He can ALMOST write his own name, if he feels like it :). But what has really surpised me lately is his beginning stages of reading! We were playing on the computer together, a game called, Reading Rabbit Journey (something like that?) anyway, it was having him repeat words like am, I, see, at, it, apple, and look. (sight words) anyway, later, it was asking him to choose the correct word out of 3 words and he chose the correct one EVERY TIME! He knew to look for the correct initial sound to find the word they asked for. I WAS AMAZED! You'd think after teaching for 5 years it wouldn't be that shocking, but this is my 3 year old. I'm gonna become one of those parents that I hated during teacher conferences who thought their kid belonged in the gifted and talented class :) Okay, I'm not that bad!

OCTOBER

2008-11-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

Of course, the most important thing is that we celebrated my 29th birthday. I had a nice birthday spent with the two guys I love the most,...Matt and Colten! I'm not looking forward to next year! Colten and I got to carve a pumpkin. It was more fun this year cause he actually helped!! He enjoyed pulling the slimy seeds out but had a break down when we had to get rid of the pumpkin as it was decaying on our front porch. (He understood that though thanks to 'Sid the Science Kid'...thanks Sid!) It was pretty funny because as you can see the pumpkin once had teeth carved out. The older it got the more the teeth sunk in. One night as we were walking through the front door, Colten stopped to look at his pumpkin and said, "Mom, it looks like a papaw now!" We had a good laugh over that one. Also all month Colten had the treat of having his baby brother spend some time with him on Tuesdays. When our friends Tom and Stacey had their baby, Colten called him his little brother and it has stuck ever since. Stacey needed someone to watch the little guy on one day a week for the month and I had to jump on the chance!!! Here's Colten giving him a ride on his back...What a good big brother!

Murder Mystery

2008-11-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

I helped Kathy with a murder mystery dinner...80's theme... for our trip to Liberia. We had about 85 people come dressed in their best 80's attire!!! It was a lot of fun. Matt and I were both nerds!!! AWW!!! I must say he played the part better than I did :) Here's some pics from our fun night... Our good friends Tom and Stacey had a great 80's outfit!!! We couldn't help but not forget a great pic of Colten's little bro. dressed as 'toadstool'. How cute is he??? Sorry, Tom and Stacey, look good too :)

3 year old pictures!!!

2008-11-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

We haven't had the money to do the 3 year pictures yet, so today I finally decided that I would take Colten's 3 year old pictures myself, and save a little money!!! Why not? I set up a little studio upstairs and he thought it was fun! I was excited cause for the first time he actually smiled in a posed picture!!! And they turned out pretty good. Now I just have to make the effort to take them to Target and get them printed out! It might get done before Christmas! And of course....Colten had to have some goofy faces for some of his pictures. He loved these the best! He laughs every time he sees them.

Whats this????? A POST??????

2008-10-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been FOREVER since I have posted on my blogspot but I have BIG news!!! We have been waiting and waiting to hear anything from our adoption agency, and we finally did yesterday! We have a baby boy in Monrovia, Liberia!!!! He is 5 months old. I stare at his picture all the time! I can't look away. He's got the most contagious smile in this picture that I can't help but smile every time I look at it! Colten is super excited about being a big brother! He sort of is a big brother to his little brother Garrett, but in his words, "We get to keep this one!" He tries to take a lot of the babies home with him from church. He's so excited to have one of his own now! He's going to be an awesome big brother! I just want to give praise to God for our little boy. I have spent the last two weeks searching for God's will and calling out to Him and He is so good!!! How faithful He is! I feel like the scripture in Isaiah 40 "they will rise up as an eagle in the sky!" I want to end this post with a scripture that I wrote on my heart when I was going through one (probably not the last) of the roughest times through this process. It was just a few weeks ago when I realized I was longing more for a child than the Savior and had to get my perspective right again. God gave me this scripture to encourage me and keep my eyes focused on His will and His timing... Jeremiah 29:11-13 I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name, you will come to me and pray to me. And I will listen to you. You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart you will find me." He DOES listen, and He WILL be found if you search with all your heart! God, you are so good! Keep me focused on You!

Been So Busy!

2008-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Life has been so busy lately and just when I get a chance to relax it seems like there's something else that I've got to accomplish! It never ends. And it only gets worse with summer right around the corner and all the events Matt has planned for the kids at church. Matt's getting the 'rummage' fever again...it's that time of year. With all that said, that is the reason I am just now getting around to posting again. It has been awhile and so much has happened since I last posted a message. We are still waiting to hear anything about adoption stuff. This is the hardest part...waiting, waiting, waiting. At night we always pray for our baby in Africa. So now Colten makes sure he prays for HIS baby in Africa. He thinks he's getting one of his own! The weather has been awesome so Colten has been spending alot of time out in the yard playing and helping me garden. He usual quits on me after 5 minutes in though and leaves me by myself or wants me to come and do what he's doing. He needs a brother or sister so badly! I was reminded the other day that this year I don't have to tear down a classroom. I can't believe it's been 1 year already! It feels like I've been on a really long summer break! It's gone too fast and Colten is growing up so fast! Matt keeps bringing up the fact that Colten will go to school in just a few short years. I tell him I don't want to hear it...I'm sure you know that only encourages it! I guess one good thing is it makes me spend the time now,cause I'll regret it later.

T-Ball

2008-05-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Colten is on his first t-ball team. Matt is his coach, we'll see how that plays out on the field! He really enjoys it because he has a couple of friends from church on his team. His team name is the 'Angels'! Ironic?
He was so excited cause he had his first game last weekend and grandma and papa Lee were coming to watch him with Uncle Bill! But, the game was canceled due to rain. He argued with us all morning about that one!...."No mom, I do have a game! It's not too rainy!" Here is a picture of him making a 'big swing' as he likes to call it in practice.

He's funny to watch because he is like Matt's little twin out there and assistant coach. He has to do everything Matt does! One day at practice he was trying to catch the ball and the girl next to him caught it and her dad cheered really loud for her and she said, "did you see that dad? I finally caught it!!!" Colten was up next and of course he missed it. He came running over to the fence to inform me that he didn't catch the ball. (moping the whole way of course) I gave him the ol' slap on the behind encouragement of 'keep tryin' bud, and off he went happy as a lark!!! I think it will turn out to be more entertainment for me than him, but I'm sure I'll have some good clips to share in the future!

Circus

2008-05-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the circus back in April. We learned two things....
1. They will sell ANYTHING at a circus and get your money any way they can.
2. Colten wants to be a clown...Go figure!!!

My camera died right after the big cats performed so I didn't get many pictures. We saw lions, tigers, (no bears...sorry)camels, elephants, horses, dogs, and the cutest little clown. There was a little boy who was dressed as a clown and entertained while they set up different things. His name was Jim Bo and Colten loved him. He talked non stop about him for the entire week to follow. I think he liked his moves. The boy danced alot and juggled.

Colten also got to ride an elephant! All by himself! (Well without mom and dad) You should have seen them whippin' those kids on and off of there to get as much money as they could in their short 15 minutes! It was comical!

Exciting News!

2008-04-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

We received some exciting news today. We had contacted someone that we know in Liberia to ask them if they would like to help our agency look for a baby for us and they were excited about the opportunity! We heard back from them today and they said that they will be traveling to the orphanage early next week! I am so excited to see what God has in store and to see His perfect plan laid out before us. I have been amazed so far of how quickly and smoothly He has made things go and I get chills thinking of what we could hear next week from them. I would like to ask all of you who read this post to please pray for our baby. Please pray that God would have a baby waiting there at the orphanage for us. Pray that his/her needs would be met until we can get to them. Pray for Danny's safety as he travels there, and pray that God's plan will continue to work itself out that we will be in awe of Him! GOD IS SO AWESOME! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

Adoption News

2008-04-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

We are getting more and more excited every day now! Last week we FINALLY got all of our paper work in! Of course the paper work is never finished completely, but for right now we can say we have done our part and are just waiting. Our homestudy will be turned in this afternoon and our agency will send us a power of attourney thing to sign and from there we get put on a referral list! It's becoming more and more of a reality for me that there is a child in Liberia that God is watching over and protecting and has designed just for our family to love. I can't wait to meet him/her! Colten still thinks there is a baby in my belly everytime we try and talk to him about it. Hopefully we'll get him to understand, but he is so excited! I show him pictures of babies in Liberia and try to explain to him that we will have a baby like that soon and he gets all giggly! He is in a phase right now where he loves babies anyone. He'd kiss them to death if I let him I think. Here are a few pictures that I got off one of my favorite blog spots and a cute video of some beautiful baby girls. It makes me even more excited when I see these! (DON'T FORGET TO PAUSE THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM SO YOU CAN HEAR THE SOUND ON THE VIDEO)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I couldn't forget the boys!!!!

Missing Spring Break!

2008-04-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

I know after the first big snow here at our house I had posted a blog about things I miss about work, since now I am a stay at home mom...and loving it by the way! But there are little things that I really miss. Like in the winter I missed all the snow days. Because it was a time when I actually got off work and had a relaxing day. When you stay at home and the snow comes it is not really relaxing cause you just want to get out of the house! Well I was hit with another realization of what I miss about work...SPRING BREAK! As a teacher you looked forward to spring break the most because it is during those months where you have been cooped up with indoor recess for months and you can see the end in sight. The kids are getting on each other's nerves and fighting constantly. You can't move their seats to fix the problem cause they've already sat by everyone in the class. There is no new way to re-arrange the seating. And usually we would get away for a few days which was always fun. This year, I have no spring break and it really stinks! I was emailing with a friend the other day and realized that this is the first time in 22 years that I haven't had a spring break!!! 22 YEARS!!!! Needless to say I'm having a little withdrawl. And it doesn't help that all my friends have school aged children and are leaving for spring break somewhere with their kids. Matt did stay home for a few days and worked around the house last week which was really nice. We didn't go anywhere special but just having him around was cool cause you get caught up in the business of life and it seems like there are few days that we get to spend together all day as a family! So these are the things I miss about work. You notice it isn't really 'work' that I miss it's all the time off work??? ha ha! That's great!

Spoken To...

2008-03-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

I was hit hard today while reading a friend's blog spot. As many of you know our family is in the process of adopting from Africa. We felt God was calling us to help by offering our love to a child who needs it. I will let what I read speak for itself and maybe you can get a glimpse of what breaks my heart. It's from a missionary in Africa. This is what God sees when he looks at the world. We have a team in Swaziland, that nation in Africa where nearly half the adult population has the AIDS virus. I received this email from Gary Black in Swaziland today and it wrecked me:"The team found a four week-old laying on its dead mother yesterday, they kept it - we are getting it to the abandoned baby hospital Friday." What do we do with this? That's my son's team down there. I don't know about you, but I'm outraged by a world that produces situations like this. And while that may seem like a world away to many, for my son, it's as immediate as it is heart-wrenching. The only thing that appalls me more is that so many of us Americans who can do something about this are more interested in stuff that will only ultimately burn up in the big fire. God help us. God, help us to wake up. Help us to see how much you love the widow and the orphan. God help us to break as you are broken up over this four week-old. God, help me to lose this tortoise shell religion that sheds these kinds of tragic situations like water. Forgive me God for not praying more. Forgive me for not emptying my bank account for your little ones. God, we have lost true religion. We have sought finer sanctuaries and better parking lots. We have tried to fill our church pews with seekers, but we have not sought your children dying on their mother's chests. We need to see a way out of this mess that we've got ourselves in. God, help us in this 21st century mindset that we've acquired. I don't even know what else to pray." I was reading in Philipians today and God spoke loud and clear to my heart again on this same topic. The passage is Philipians 2: 5-11. Basically it speaks of how Christ came to Earth to become a servant and humbled himself to obediance to the point of death on a cross. Earlier in the chapter 2:1-4 Paul is telling the Philipians to be humble and "Do not be interested in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others." Just like Paul spoke in these few passages as painful as it descending is the only way to greatness. Jesus obeyed for the sake of love and we as His followers and the recipients of His love are called to do the same. Jesus says that the two greatest commands are to love God and to love others. That is what motivated Jesus and that is what should motivate us. I'm not saying we all need to go out and adopt. I'm saying God is calling all His followers to go and love others and be interested in other's lives not just our own. We come up with so many excuses as to why we can't. The truth is we can...everyone can pray. It cost nothing and there is so much power in it. By the way, WE don't do anything. It's all God's doing. We are merely the vessels that he works through. There was a time when I thought I couldn't do anything then I was reminded, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Paul says in Philipians 2:13 "God is working in you to help you WANT TO DO and BE ABLE TO DO what pleases him." Please pray for the mother and fatherless. Pray for their little lives and their salvation. That they may be given the things they need today. And if your bold, pray that God will allow your heart to be broken for the things that His heart breaks for. As His followers He has a lot of work for us to accomplish for Him.

Colten's 3rd Birthday

2008-03-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

One more game...pin the car on the race track. Colten wasn't very good at this one. But he had fun being spun around by his daddy. And he got to be Lightning McQueen so he was pumped up!

The famous race car cake! Colten was so excited when he saw the cake. He actually ran around the house looking for his racing shirt and put it on and told me that Tyler (a race car driver my parents know) was coming to his party and was going to let him sit in his race car...the poor guy was crushed to find out that wasn't happening...but he loved the cake!)

I also made these cute little candy cars. I even thought about those kids allergic to peanuts, but kinda forgot that alot of kids Colten's age don't know how to chew gum. I caught one little girl after she had eaten 3 pieces! OOOOOPS!

Colten loved all the attention when we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. I can remember him just looking at me and smiling from ear to ear! Doesn't he look so old in this picture!!!!

Colten had a slew of presents to open. Matt helped him out with them. It was funny cause while he was opening all his presents all the other kids were checkin out the 'loot'! It was the funniest thing! I love the chocolate on his face too!

It's a good thing he got this microphone for his birthday. He had to use it after each present to say 'thank you' to his friends. Most of the time you still couldn't hear him though!
After all the presents were opened Colten couldn't wait to play with his toys...either that or Tom couldn't wait to help him play with his toys, I'm not sure which????

What a party! On his actual birthday, which was Wednesday, we got to go to the airport, to pick up Matt. Colten was excited about that because he loves airplanes. On the way home we asked him where he wanted to go for his birthday and he said, "Hobby Wobby, do they have food there?" We didn't go to 'hobby wobby' we ended up going to escapades. Matt loved it cause he got to chase him all through the tunnels, might be a little sarcastic there. But Colten mastered it on his own and didn't need any assistance from us. I've already decided next year's going to be a little more low key! It was fun but expensive in the end!

Colten's 3rd Birthday

2008-03-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the party was great! Colten had a blast and can't wait for his next birthday. The cake that I made turned out to look like a car and not a bus (that's a plus!), but the lollipops didn't look so great, but everyone thought they tasted great so that's what counts I guess. Looking back at some of these pictures I just can't believe how old he is getting! I heard someone talking about kindergarten the other day and thought, I'm not even going there....I want it to slow down! It's fun to watch him learn new things and grow and change, but then you look back and wish it wouldn't go so fast! Thanks to all who came and made it so much fun for him! I know he appreciated it and it wouldn't have been the same if he wouldn't have been able to share it with his friends and family! Here are a few pictures from the party, (I say a few and there's a ton!)

We started off with some painting! That didn't last long for the boys. As you can see in the next picture there are only girls left at the table painting! I think Colten painted a whole 3 minutes on his car! A swipe of orange of course and black!

I was trying to think ahead because I knew there would be older siblings there. I thought they would enjoy putting a race car together more than painting a little car. Little did I know that it was like rocket science trying to get these cars together and it ended up keeping the adults more occupied than the kids!

Matt had made a race track around the room and we found these cute little race helmets! Colten and his friends had races around the track on his toys. This is where the boys spent most of their time!!!
Of course the adults had to join in on the fun too!!! They couldn't resist! Matt and his brother Josh battled it out in a crab race around the track! I can't remember who won, I'm sure they both would have been disqualified for not staying on the track...you know those Lee's everything turns into a wrestling match :)

Fun Pictures

2008-02-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

This was an attempt to cheer up my grandma Huff in the hospital. (I think it worked) It was accompanied by Colten's joke...'what did the chicken say when he crossed the road? "Boooga"!'
Recognize these twins? Colten had found his daddy's glasses and wanted to be a 'smarty pants'!
"Super Man" is ready for the snow. He loves to sled and play in the snow! (But not in his underwear!)

BIRTHDAY, BIRTTHDAY, BIRTHDAY

2008-02-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Now it's Colten's turn! He turns 3 this year. He is so excited about his birthday. He talks about it every day. He has a hard time holding up the 3 fingers so he tells people he's 3 but holds up the 4 fingers. This is the first year we decided to let him invite his friends his age to his party. So with that in mind we decided to have it at the church. I think me staying at home and planning things like this is not the best idea. I love it...but I might have gone a little overboard! But hey...It will be a birthday to remember! I think we will have about 50-60 people there. Not just kids, their parents too. I would feel like I was back in Jamaica with 50-60 kids in one room! (When we taught a VBS in Jamaica I had 80 kids in my 5 and 6 year old class! We had to use church pews to corral them in one area!) Matt decided that I should try and make the cake. His party is a racing themed party because of his love for race cars. So I went out and got a cake pan shaped like a car and decided, I would give it a shot. I don't know if it will come out looking like a bus or not. We'll see, I am making it today! That is my goal! Then I am making cupcakes with oreos on top and a lifesaver in the middle to look like tires. And Colten saw me looking on line one day and asked me to make these cake lollipops...so I am attempting those too! I feel like a Martha Stewart! On top of all that I made little race cars out of candy for the kids at the party. I think they turned out pretty cute...is it overboard yet? We had to find ways to intertain the people at this party so we of course got the classic pin the something on something. In this case it is pin the car in the winner's circle. We got these cute little racing helmets and are going to have tricycle races. We are also going to let all the little kids paint their own race car. I think I will need a spa treatment after Saturday! So Matt got a whole week for his birthday and Colten gets the whole church for his birthday! I think he will be pretty excited. He'll probably do his 'run around and yell at the top of my lungs because I'm so excited and don't know how to show it in the right way' think he does! Obviously I have a lot of work to get done so I will have to post the results of this party after Saturday sometime. Hopefully it won't be a couple months like it has been for me to post a blog again!

Matt's Birthday

2008-02-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Matt's birthday on Feb. 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd! Yep, pretty much the whole week was designated as 'Matt's birthday!' What's up with that? It was enjoyable though. Wed. night we have prayer meeting and Matt is in charge of the 'Truth Travelers' so he pretty much had to be there. So Colten and I took his cake to church and celebrated with the kids there. Little did Matt or I know but one boy in the Truth Travelers decided to call all of the kids and ask them to make a card for Matt. So he had a surprise party that neither of us knew about! Matt was so excited about that! He even got his favorite cookies, no bakes, from the kids! So from there Friday night we went down to Rushville for some of Matt's favorite specialty pizza, taco and cowboy pizza, at pizza king. We found out they are the only pizza king around that makes those two specialty pizzas! We met with our parents there and hung out for QUITE A WHILE! Matt ran into the manager, who we went to school with, and had a great, but long, conversation with him. Then Saturday night we went with some friends to Indianapolis to eat and laugh! What a great combination right? Our friend Stacey had a birthday on Friday so we thought it would be fun for the four of us to go out and celebrate (even though one of us kept insisting that it WASN'T their birthday...I won't name names....Tom...whoops it slipped!) Finally on Sunday the celebrations came to an end. I think Matt had a pretty good birthday!

Colten's Debut

2008-02-28T08:05:00.003-08:00

Colten loves to sing and dance along when Matt or I play guitar. Well, one day he decided that he no longer needed us and he wanted to play the guitar and sing his favorite song, "Never Let Go". Of course as his mom I think he is awesome! I'm a BIG fan! Remember...you'll have to scroll down all the way to the bottom of this page to pause my music if you want to hear him sing.

Ice Skating

2008-01-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

We headed down to Madison for the day to Ellie's kindergarten class. She has been teaching about penguins, so of course, Matt had to come see her class dressed as JP the Penguin! Ellie had a 1/2 day so she got to come home early and hang out with Colten. The lake was frozen and Matt was excited about skating on it and getting Colten out there, I on the other hand was not. I was worried to say the least and asked Matt to promise me he wouldn't let him out there. You know how hard that was? Sometimes I might be a worry wart...okay alot of the time...but I was serious this time. I had heard horror stories and just saw the worst was going to happen. I hadn't seen the lake for myself (Despite what you are thinking right now, he DID listen and didn't take him out on the lake...but he went out there. I still don't know how he kept Colten from not throwing a serious fit when he couldn't go out there.) As I'm sitting here typing I'm wondering..."how stupid I must look right now if he really did let him out get out there and just didn't tell me. He's thinking, 'I got her!'"----Anyway--- I walked down to the lake and Matt put on a good show for me to ease my worries and showed me how frozen it was...So,...I caved! He even talked me into going out on the lake! It was pretty fun! I have never skated on a lake before. So we had a little photo session to remember our firsts! We played with Royal, the dog, and his football and we used the rope to have a sliding contest! Matt won that one! Not to mention we froze. The pictures of us laying on the ice are really cute but it was a scarifice because of the wet pants we all had afterwards! But...what a picture huh? Oh and JP joined us. Colten thought that was hillarious!!!

Per Your Request!

2008-01-18T12:59:00.001-08:00

Only because you made the request...here you go. These are old pics but who doesn't like looking at pics of Colten? (That was a retorical question)

When Colten was a little over a year old we went out to visit "PoPo". For those of you who don't know, Ted and Regina Laird are two amazing people who loved me through highschool and were awesome role models for me growing up. They were a few of the many people who shaped and molded me into the person I am today. I remember seeing how in love they were and thinking I wanted a marriage like that some day, and I wanted to raise my kids with the same excitement and love that they did. (I'm not just sucking up!!!) They are truely amazing people! I watched their kids all through highschool and they became my second family. I love them dearly! The Lairds raise pigs and pigs are a huge part of their families lives. I remember Morgan, Nolan, and Jacob making me chase those little baby piglets and trying to make me catch one of them! Playing with the pigs and playing whiffle ball was always a must when I watched the kids. So when we went to visit...OF COURSE...Colten had to check out the pigs. He loved it! Since then he always asks about the pigs at Jacob's house! I remembers Jacob real well for some reason and always asks about him. (Sorry Ted but that's the truth) We miss you guys and need to come visit soon!

These are just for fun!! I couldn't resist...

Like father....like son!

My Comments

2008-01-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

Okay,...so my settings were all messed up and I kept getting on people about leaving me comments but little did I know that you couldn't leave me comments. I have fixed that. So now you have no excuses! So feel free to communicate with me. Oh, and thanks to my loyal friend Stacey who has always left me great messages! Love ya Stace!

Doggy In The Window

2008-01-12T11:05:00.001-08:00

Okay, this is merely to settle a bet that started with Tom and Stacey and has entered our home as we sing this song differently than our spouses. So....we found it online and here is how it is sung. I refuse to post on my blog who was right. We all know in our hearts!

Mixed Up

2008-01-11T13:30:00.001-08:00

Okay, not that it really matters, it just drives me crazy, but maybe not you....I just created two posts about our trip to the Children's museum. They are out of order. So if you struggle with things having to be perfect, like myself, you will want to read the second post first and the first post second...make any sense? So the title, "More fun at the children's museum", should be read second, unless you absolutely don't care...then do whatever you want! Enjoy!

More Fun at the Museum

2008-01-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

Did I just ask who would drive? Look out! Colten has found his second favorite thing...race cars! Papa Huff, look out! I'm ready to go the races again! He couldn't reach the pedals but he didn't care! He was ready to tear it up!

After racing in the car we went to the play place. Colten played in the water for a bit and decided to do some more racing of his own. He took off, and I saw him, so I started running after him. I knew he couldn't go far, but for a few seconds I couldn't see him and I frieked out! That is my worst night mare! After running into a poor little girl, he came into my sight again and I grabbed him! Okay, so I might have over reacted a little bit, but there were alot of people there! He and Landon wanted to play in the sand. Here are the cousins at play. Colten had fun showing Landon how to work the gadgets!

Colten's mind didn't stay occupied for very long! There was so much to do and see he couldn't stay in one place for very long. He has always tried to climb the climbing walls and has needed help doing that, but here he found a climbing wall he could do all on his own! He was so proud of himself! He told me, "mommy, say 'I'm so proud of you Colten'."

Landon was close behind. If he could say full sentences I'm sure it would be, "Wait up cuz!"

....Okay....so this next one I couldn't resist! I mean, where do we say our husbands spend most of their time? That's right!

And what usually occurs next, at least in our house, Colten can't stand to see his daddy all alone in the dog house, so he joins him! Like father like son I guess. I felt like breaking out a little jingle..."Who let the dogs out?...who...who,who,who?"

At least they are the good looking dogs? Right?

No trip to the museum is complete without a ride on the carousel! Colten had to pick a horse,...go figure! Aunt Tamme rode with him. He was so excited that he squealed every time he came around the corner and saw us! He would shout, "HEY MOMMY! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! followed by loud laughter all the way around the corner! It was so funny to watch him!

Landon chose a giraffe with grandma Lee! We had a hard time getting a picture of him actually looking at the camera! It seemed like he never looked at us until he was already around the corner. He was so adorable. Those island kids are the cutest!

After the carousel it was off to a race down the slide with Matt and Colten. I love this picture cause it shows how hard Matt tried to beat Colten, yet he couldn't. Colten, notice, is relaxed and enjoying the ride. Matt is workin' it, but getting no where! Isn't that how it always ends up? We try so hard to get ahead and it's always the people who don't work as hard as you who end up ahead? Ironic????

What a hopeless romantic! Colten is atop the ice castle desperately searching for his Juliet!

We had a great time at the museum and hope to go back soon. Colten didn't get to see everything there. He was upset that we didn't have time to go into the Science Works place. We walked right by it on the way to the parade...(That's where they line you up with this cute little flags...otherwise known to Colten as a fun poking stick and hitting stick...)and escort you down the ramps to the front doors and say, come back! I guess it is clever, they came up with a nice way to say, "Get out we are closing!" So thanks Tamme, Landon, Grandma Lee, and Papa Lee for spending the day with us at the museum! We had a blast!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Children's Museum

2008-01-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. Colten had a blast! We met up with his cousin Landon. Tamme, Grandma Lee, and Papa Lee showed up too. All the way up to the building he was checking EVERYTHING out! He saw a statue of a king tut thing and said, "Hey there's Jesus!" We had to correct him on that one! I don't know what made him think that was Jesus. So when we finally got inside he went NUTS! He looked up and me and said, "mommy I'm so gegsited!"...translated: "excited". He was all giddy cause there is so much to see and do as soon as you walk in the door!

So, here are a ton of pics of all the fun we had together!

Our first stop was of course none other than...the trains! There were trains going around up above us and Colten found this display full of choo choos!!! He was in heaven!

Around the corner was a cute little spot that had the train enclosed in some glass. There was a little tunnel underneath where Colten could crawl under the glass and peek up on the other side. Here he is on the other side of the glass looking for the train to come chugging by!

We found a REAL CHOO CHOO! Colten wasn't that impressed with it, but we couldn't pass on the opportunity to get a picture with it!...I'm sure he'll thank me later!

He did get excited when he found that we could get on the real train. Inside you could sit and watch the "town" go by out the windows. I don't know if he really ever understood that was what he saw out the window, but when we were leaving the train he decided to stand at the rail of the caboose and yell, "All Aboard!" I snapped a picture just in time. Then he said, "All aboard the Polar Express!"...he loves that movie.

...."My, what big hands you have!".....

...."And what BIG feet you have!"

It's a BEAR!...(These bears don't look too scary to me!)

Speaking of BIG...Colten couldn't believe how big an elephant really is up close. The elephants at the zoo didn't look this big from far away!

Landon, Tamme, Grandma Lee, and Papa Lee finally arrived at the museum to play with us! It took them so long we thought this might have been their transportation!
Tamme has quite the job here! "Faster Aunt Tamme!"

Maybe they came by boat! Colten and Landon are ready to board the ship! Wonder who will drive?

Colten's "New Stage"

2008-01-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have had little sleep the past 3 weeks due to the fact that my son has decided that he doesn't need to sleep at night. I often wonder, "Where did my little boy go? You know the one that thought he couldn't get out of bed for the longest time and wouldn't? The one who would go right to sleep, as long as we said our prayers, sang our songs, and told a story to. You know...the one who was a peice of cake to put to bed! Well, Colten has entered into a new stage of life I guess. He considers every time we lay him down as an opportunity to play and "test" his parents. It's kinda funny, not really cause it gets annoying, but at first it was funny cause he would just walk down the stairs and come stand right in front of us while we are watching t.v. after he had gone to bed and he will close his eyes. He thinks if he closes his eyes you can't see him. So he will stand there for the longest time giggling with his eyes closed thinking he is getting away with something! It amazes me that he still thinks he is invisible even though he has been caught in the action several times!

You know you learn alot about yourself when you have kids because they immitate you perfectly! The other day Colten was playing with this toy manger scene that he has. He put all the figures at the back of the table and baby Jesus in the manger at the front. He whispers to himself, "There now baby Jesus can sleep." Then he pulls baby Jesus out of the manger and giggles. He grabs Mary and Joseph, brings them to the front of the table, and yells, "Jesus, get back in your bed!" Like I said, you learn a lot about yourself when you have kids!

So, Matt and I decided, "Hey, he has a gate at the top of the stairs. Why don't we just close it at night so he can't come down the stairs when we put him to bed." It was like one of those "DUH!" moments! So the next night we shut the gate. It was awful! He cried and cried and yelled, "help me!" cause he didn't want the gate to be shut. (Maybe he gets that from his dad? Doubt that!) I told Matt he had to go up there cause I would cave. About 5 minutes later we found it was very quiet up the stairs. So we went up to take a peek and check on him. This is what we found....of course we had to take pictures it was so cute.

He had taken his bear and laid down by the stairs and the gate and fallen asleep. I picked him up and put him back in his bed and he never woke up. I hope we can get over this stage soon. It is cute to see some of the things he does but after awhile and throughout the night it does get to be tiresome! We have been telling him that God will snuggle him all night long. And I've been promising him that I will come up and give him one last kiss when he closes his eyes and goes to sleep. That has seemed to help a little bit. He did sleep through the night last nigh! He didn't wake up until 5:30 am. That is a huge improvement. Even though am not a morning person, his daddy is. So he enjoys that,....I think.

Snow Snow Snow

2008-01-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

It has snowed a lot so far this winter. People always ask me if I enjoy staying at home this year. I do but one thing I miss is that feeling of having a snow day! Used to be, snow days were a vacation for me. I got to stay home from work and sleep in on snow days. But now it's the opposite. When it snows I'm stuck inside with no where to go and nothing to do. So, needless to say when it snowed and we got stuck in we had to get out in it and have some fun.

The first time it really snowed Colten was so excited!!! He wanted to be out in it. So I got him all bundles up and took him out to play. He had so much fun. He was excited to be in the real thing. You know all summer he had "snow ball fights". He would throw pretend snow balls at Matt and I all the time. He even threw snow balls at God when we prayed at night. One night he was throwing snowballs at God and he looked at me and said,

"Mommy, that man in the boat threw a snowball at me."

I said, "What man are you talking about?"

He pointed to the corner in his room and said, "The man in the boat."

After a few minutes of prodding we had came to the conclusion it was either Jesus or Peter in the boat.

So needless to say he was very excited to be in that cold fluffy stuff.

After "pretending" to fall face first in the snow several times just to get the full effect, Colten decided to make a snow angel.

That didn't work out to well. He ended up smearing the angel's wings, head, or legs trying to get up. After I had bundled him up like the kid on "Christmas Story" it pretty hard to move around.

Colten wanted to have a REAL snow ball fight after that. He decided that I didn't throw enough snow balls at him and started throwing them at himself! It was quite the sight.

We tried to sled down the hill but it wasn't very slick. He ended up ditching the sled and enjoyed diving down face first. He didn't make it very far.

After we had enough of the cold we went inside. Colten posed infront of the Christmas tree and did a little "SNOW DANCE"

Then of course....what is a snow day without hot chocolate. Colten had to have his in a special cup...with a straw of course! I think this was the first time he had "his own" cup of hot chocolate. I love to drink hot chocolate so he has stolen lots of sips from time to time, but this is his first cup.

My first "Resolution"

2008-01-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Today I was reading in 2 Peter 1:5-8 and decided to make a New Year's Resolution. I have never in my lifetime actually made a New Year's Resolution. I guess I knew I would never keep them so what was the point. But this resolution is one worth keeping, I think. Cause there is a cool reward if I do. (You know things always seem better and more appealing if there is a reward...something that works out for your benefit in the end.) This is what I read: "Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness add love. If all these things are in you and are growing, they will help you to be USEFUL and PRODUCTIVE in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." It was like God said, focus on adding these things to your life this year. I know it isn't easy, but my goal is not to just add those things to my life but as it says, make sure it continues to GROW in my life. So your probably wondering...what do I benefit from this (I said I would be rewarded for this) A few verses later Peter says: "If you do all these things YOU WILL NEVER FALL" I'm all in for that!

2007-12-31T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it is a little late but it took me a while to set up the blog account. I'm very anal about making sure everything is just right with pictures and stuff beofre I go all in. So this is my first blog.....

Christmas morning was so much fun this year. I thought last year was fun, but this year Colten understood the Santa thing a little better and was so excited the night before about him coming and leaving stuff for him. He thought for sure that Santa was going to leave him a choo choo train. The next morning we had to wake him up. We woke up about 7:30 and brought him downstairs. Of course we had to pump up the fact that "Santa has been here! He left you something!!!" He was so excited! He instantly said, "He left me a choo choo!" We get down to the bottom of the stairs and Matt had the train going round and round. This is what our Christmas consisted of for the next 15 minutes!

Later Colten was thrilled to find out he had gotten his race track that he had asked for too! I love this pic of his face!

Matt got what he had been asking for....another garage door opener. He felt left our since his car had to stay out in the cold. I never really minded until I had to switch him cars since I don't have to travel as much as he does. Now he drives my car, and I have to drive his. After one time of driving the car and having to manually open and shut the door as I pull in and out I decided I should get him another garage door opener!

I was surprised by Matt with the gift that I had asked for. I didn't think I was going to get it. I had been asking for a guitar. I even went and showed him what I wanted! I didn't think I was going to get it 'cause I never saw it around the house, I knew he couldn't leave it out in the car. Christmas Eve he had asked to go by the church late at night when we got home. I thought that was kinda strange and I thought, "maybe he has to pick up my guitar!" But he walked out of the church empty handed. The next morning he got up before all of us. Left to go to the church, and switched around the guitar cases and made me search for my last present. It was right behind me the whole time and I didn't notice it! This is a "lowner" guitar until mine comes in. But it's still "sweet"!

So despite all the "stuff" we got for Christmas I found this year's Christmas was more joyful for me than any other for many reasons. The first reason is because it is the first year that I have been able to stay at home and enjoy the ENTIRE Christmas season with my family. I really didn't realize how much I was missing out on even when I had the days off from work. It was truely a different experience this year. That was reason to be joyful.Second, we spent alot of time giving this year. It was AMAZING this year to be such a blessing to so many others. Every year my family is a blessing to other families, but this year through a huge toy drive that God blessed our church with we were able to bless 6 families, and 46 kids at a local school! I must add that we were able to bless so many people only because of God made it possible. Matt wasn't even going to do the toy drive and at the last minute decided it's something God was calling him to do and we worried that we wouldn't have enough for the need that came about. We found real soon there is no need to worry about the details when God calls something into action! He takes care of it! He just needs us to be his hands and feet. He is the organizer! I was able to go on some "deliveries" with Matt to drop off toys and gifts to these families. It just brought such joy to me to be able to be apart of bringing the joy only Jesus Christ can bring into the lives and homes of these strangers!

God has deepened my love for Jesus' birth this year. I always knew what it was all about but not until he led me to scripture in the old testament about how Israel struggled to follow God and how he longed for them like he longed for Adam and Eve after they sinned and could no longer be close to him. ( I was reading in Hosea....a cool book about God's love story to us!) He knew the only way was to come down to Earth and help them. They were doomed to death! We in turn were doomed to death! God couldn't stand that! He said, "I will not destroy you in my anger, I am God not a human!!!!" Wow how powerful! He sent his son here. I have a new favorite Christmas song, "Angels We Have Heard On High". Because it talks about Jesus being brought here for a rescueing of God's people. Gloria (meaning extreme JOY) Hallelujah (THANK YOU!) How could you not shout HALLELUJAH knowing what God has done for you this Christmas season, out of the undying love he has for YOU!