The Month of May - In Review

This has been a busy month for us.  Most of our activities are finishing up for the school year, and we are looking forward to a relaxing (NOT!!!) summer.

outside the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco

outside the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station

Kacee finished up her first few months of school.  She still enjoys riding the bus everyday and has learned a lot.  In less than 2 months, she knows how to count to 10 and identify the written numbers.  She knows all of the colors.  She can recite and identify all of the letters of the alphabet.  She knows several shapes and has learned many new songs.

asleep with the IPad

Kenzie and Karli had their ballet recital, finished their term at gymnastics, and completed their first level of swim lessons.  Karli will be taking a class over the summer to help her transition to kindergarten.  Kenzie will be going to MDO over the summer.  Both will continue their swimming lessons.

before their first swimming lesson

Kenzie

Karli

before their ballet recital

Kenzie's AWANA award ceremony

Karli's AWANA award ceremony

Keaton finished flag football for the season, moved up to Webelos II in boy scouts and was promoted to fifth grade.  He made the straight A honor roll and scored in the highest group on the state standardized test, TAKS.  He will begin swimming lessons, too.  Keaton will also go to boy scout camp, nature camp, and church camp.

moving up to Webelos II

Kylie has done remarkably well in her first year of public school.  She was moved to Honors classes in January and has maintained a straight A average all year.   She did extremely well on the Texas standardized test, TAKS.  As a matter of fact, she is one of a few sixth grade students who will be starting Algebra I next year in seventh grade (instead of ninth grade).  She auditioned for the highest band in middle school, Honor Band, and made it into the group.  Kylie was selected for an end of year band award and language arts award for doing so well in those subjects.  Her grade had a field day, and Kylie came in first in the 800 m race; her PE teacher wants her on the track team next year.  Kylie will go to yo-yo camp, church camp, and nature camp this summer.

final band concert

award for straight "A" honor roll

award for language arts

award for band

Kayla has also done great this year.  It is very hard entering high school (10th grade) without ever having been to school.  She was inducted into the National Honor Society for having such a high GPA.  She is a very active member of the Student Council and participates in several UIL events.  Kayla was awarded the Spanish I and Theatre I awards for doing so well in those classes this year.  Kayla now has her learner's permit and is driving around the neighborhood.  This summer she will turn "16", go to church camp and Camp Electric in Nashville.  Oh yeah, she also has a boyfriend, Adam.

Kayla and Adam

National Honor Society induction

award for Spanish I

award for Theatre I

Easter

Enjoy some pictures from our day.

Happy Birthday Kylie

Kylie turned 12 today.  We celebrated her birthday by going out to a local Hibachi Steakhouse.

Pictures of the Kids

A few weeks ago we went to Alto to visit the kids' grandparents.  While there, we took some group pictures.  Here are a few of the better ones.

Playing At the Park

Kacee's First Day of School

Kacee has been enrolled in the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program since she came home.  However, once she turns 3, she is no longer eligible for ECI services.  Therefore, today (her third birthday), she started preschool at the local elementary school.  Here are some pictures taken this morning on the way to school.

Happy 3rd Birthday Kacee!

We had a small family party to celebrate Kacee's first birthday with our family.  She had a great time and really enjoyed opening her presents and eating the cake.

Busy, Busy, Busy (as usual)

These past few weeks have just flown by.  Here is a quick recap of what has been happening in our lives.

* Kayla is a nominee for the top Geometry student at her school.

* Keaton (finally) was able to celebrate his birthday with his friends.

virtual reality roller coaster ride

video from virtual reality roller coaster ride

* Sports have been continuing with practices during the week and games on Saturdays for Kylie, Keaton        and Kenzie.

* The weather is finally warming up and we can wear shorts.  Yay!!!

* school
* dance
* scouts
* gymnastics

When God Calls

First off, I would like to say "THANK YOU" to Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity.  She has a post up today that we can link to and ask others for prayer (and show off our family).  My daughter (see sidebar) started this blog, but she is so busy this year with school that I have taken it over.


We are a family of 8, soon to be 9.  We have adopted 3 times from China (2007, 2008, and 2010).  After our last adopt this past July, we thought our family was complete, but God had other plans for us.  Not only is He calling us to step out on faith and adopt again, He is asking us to adopt out of birth order and adopt a 13 year old girl that will be aging out soon.


See, in China, once a child turns 14, (s)he is no longer eligible to be adopted.  Imagine never knowing the love of a family.  We never thought we would be the family for an older orphan, but God is persistent when He calls.  We didn't want to listen at first.  I mean, our van only seats 8, so we will have to get another type of vehicle.  We only have a 5 bedroom house, so where would we put another child?  What about all of the time and attention she will need?  Will we neglect our other children?  Plus our family already thinks we're crazy.  We voiced these and many more concerns to God, but ultimately, He calmed our fears.  And we found peace knowing that we are following God's plan for our family.


We are asking for prayers:

that we will get our income tax refund for our previous adoption credit from 2010 - It seems like the IRS is holding a lot of them for some reason.  We need this refund in order to pay our next fee that is due when we send our dossier to China.

for a speedy process  (We hope to send our dossier to China (DTC) within the next 2 weeks.)  


that we are able to communicate with our new daughter once we are DTC so she will know we are coming for her


that our new daughter agrees to be adopted - In China, older kids are asked if they want to be adopted on Adoption Day, and they must sign their name.  Some are not even told ahead of time about their new family.


that we can use frequent flyer miles to travel 


that our new daughter had an easy acclimation into our family 


that our children at home accept their new sister without any major problems


Please let me know you dropped by.  Our blog usually does not get a lot of visitors, and I would love to read your comments.  


PS - If you scroll down to February, you will see a picture of our new daughter.

A Week In Review

Thank God it is Spring Break here.

Last week was another jam packed week. My dad came home from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. We had another sports filled weekend. Below are some pictures of Keaton at his flag football game. Kylie and Kenzie went to their grandparents for a few days. This week is a relaxing week at home with the family. Kayla was accepted into the National Honor Society this past week. Yay Kayla!!!

A Week In Review

No pictures this week as I have been spending a lot of my time at the hospital with my dad. Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes. My dad is doing a lot better.

Anyway...our week was a normal, ordinary, busy week. We had sports, dance, gymnastics, school, babysitting, and church. I love having my kids in activities, but it does get a little difficult managing our schedule.

Kylie's School Picture

This picture was taken in January before Kylie got her haircut. She looks a lot like Kayla.