Picture Perfect Monday - Hattie Likes ...

... getting dirty ...

... getting MUDDY ...

... going swimming ...

... and her grandparents!!!

The Big (dreaded) Day

Today is the big day - my (gulp ... deep breath ... sigh ... tear) 40th birthday.

Can someone please tell me when I got this old? 'Cause, honestly, I do not FEEL that old. I chase a four year old and a 10 month old around all day, and I think that keeps me pretty youthful. At least I hope so.

Of course, said 10 month old is still not letting us get much sleep. So I probably LOOK every bit of these 40 years!! Ahhh, thank goodness for makeup!

My mommy had to leave this morning. There were tears - more like a four year old than a 40 year old!! I was hard enough to say goodbye when she was on the other side of the state, but this "other side of the COUNTRY" stuff is super stinky! I hate goodbyes as it is, but on my birthday? That aint right!

Hubby knew that she wouldn't be here, so he had a little shin dig for me last night. And there was not even one black balloon, over the hill joke or cane and walker gift. Thank you for that Hun!! There were, however, a LOT of people (he has two bros. and two sisters, they have families ...) and a LOT of food. It was a ton of fun. He sure knows how to love me well :)!

Also yesterday, my washer FINALLY got fixed. We spent $130 on a part that was just as defective as the original one. But my BRILLIANT man found the flaw and took the old part to work and fixed it himself. Then he came home and fixed my washer. But not before the girls, my mommy and I spent a good chunk of the day at the laundromat! It was steamy and humid and not so much fun - but not as bad as i thought it would be. I had three of my very favorite people with me and we bonded. It also helped that there were toys there, we brought bottles and food AND we remembered to bring a DVD player and Lady And The Tramp!!

We also made cookies yesterday. That was fun - here are some pics of my pretty big girl - a cookie pro - and my lovely baby - a cookie rookie - and their Grandma sharing more good times.
(pay no attention to the other woman in the pics - she is getting old, ya know. Plus, she had NOT done a thing with her hair yet!!!)






I would show you the finished product, but the cookies did not last long enough to take a picture!
They were yummy though!

Getting Old and Getting Organized

So, I told ya that my Mommy is in town. And I told ya that she spoiled the girls silly. Well, today she is spoiling me.

My mommy is an organization QUEEN. And I am ... well, NOT. A sad fact that drives even me to the brink of crazy. I cannot tell ya what it does to my man.

My poor, sweet, wonderful man. (Did I mention handsome and patient?!?)

So, we went on a little trek this morning to a few different stores. We gathered some organization tools and accessories, because my mom, she had her a plan. We had us some lunch and did a little more shopping (all with both girls, and they did so great. So very great!), and then headed home to get me organized. What would've taken me a year, 11 months and 29 days, took my mommy about three hours.

Sadly, I was not even organized enough to take the "before" pictures ahead of time. BUT, when we are through, I promise I will post the "after" shots. 'Cause they are gonna ROCK my friends! She is doing my kitchen and my craft area - which has been more like a dump and run area. Actually, they have both been dump and runs. But the way she is doing it, I truly feel like I can keep it nice. I am so very excited.

She has to leave on Friday - my actual birthday :( - but we are having a time while she is here. Later we are off to the laundr-o-mat. The washer, $200 plus in parts later, is broken AGAIN! My hubby, who has fixed everything else, is at his wits end. We do not know what we are gonna do. Do we keep spending money to fix it or do we just give in and get a new one? STINKS!!!!

Looks like I may get a new washer for my b-day. I can live with that. I just hate to spend all of that money.

Prayers are welcome and coveted.

Sweet Times

My Mommy is here. And it kinda rocks. She is spending the week with us. One whole week of having my Mommy all to myself. This is the best part of following my man to the other end of the country - I don't have to share Mommy time.

Except that Mommy time is completely taken over by Grandma time.

She and Sophie had a rockin' good time on the couch - literally. Sophie likes to bounce and rock-n-roll all over the place. Or, in this case, all over Grandma's tummy.


Until she just plain wore her little self right out!

Hattie gave Grandma a little concert on her whistle.

Gave her a little of the Word from her Bible (which Hattie literally has memorized!)

And then, for kicks, let Grandma read the Bible to her!!!

For my girls (and my mom) to be able to make memories like this, I will gladly take a backseat to their time together!

Besides, I got my time in last night when we went to see Mamma Mia together.

Oh. My Word. I LOVED THIS MOVIE.

As soon as it was over, I asked her if we could see it again tomorrow night. If you are a fan of the musical, a chick flick, a love story, a feel good time, a comedy or Meryl Streep, see this movie. I had heard that Meryl Streep had trained as a singer, but good golly. I had no idea. She was amazing! And combine that with her acting ability and SHAZAM!!!! Pierce Brosnan reminded me of Christopher Plummer in Sound Of Music - not so much of a singer, but oh so charming! And the girl who played the daughter - WOW!!! She lights up the screen and has a voice on her to die for!

Can ya tell I liked it?

I did. And I want the soundtrack. If anyone is keeping track my birthday is in 3 days.

But let's not discuss that.

Hey, guess what ... my mommy is here!!!

And we saw Mamma Mia!

It was OK ... :)

Picture Perfect Monday - Grandmas

My mommy is in town (YAY!!!) and I am telling you, the girls are LOVIN' it - 'cause when Grandma comes to town ...









... two little girls get Spoiled BIG TIME!
(ASnd this is just the first day of shopping!!! Gotta go - girl's night with my mommy to see "Mama Mia"!!!)

And Finally ...

As I told you earlier this week, we had our six month post placement visit for our sweet Sophie bug this week. Considering that she has been with us for 10 and a half months (since birth!!), we thought we would still be waiting a while. Our only prayer was that she would be adopted before the end of the year.

But God likes doing things bigger than that.

Yesterday I received a call that we have been waiting for! So, with great pleasure, we would like to announce ...



Anyone and everyone is invited to share our joy. If you are in the area, you are welcome!!!! Just email, call or trap me at church, and i will let ya know the details!

Can I get an AMEN?!?!?!?!

Can Anyone Say IRONY?

OK, first of all - BIG NEWS COMING TOMORROW!!!!!! And I do mean H*U*G*E!!!!

Second of all - DTE is the power company in our area. Meaning that they keep us all up and running electrically speaking.

Yesterday's concert - Steven Curtis (amazing man of God and incredible musician) Chapman and Michael W Smith - was at the DTE Energy Theatre.

Yesterday's concert was canceled mid way through Steven Curtis (did I mention totally anointed singer and songwriter and ambassador of the One True God?) Chapman.

The reason why the concert at the DTE ENERGY Theatre was canceled?

(drum roll here ....)

The POWER KEPT GOING OUT!!!!!!

In the words of my sweet friend "Super Model": "that s*cks".

(For those of you who may be sensitive to the word "s*cks" ... we'll just say "Oh my, how unfortunate!")

*sigh*

Did I mention BIG NEWS TOMORROW!!!!
(You won't want to miss it!!!)

Beneath His Wings

This morning I was reading my Max Lucado devotional book - which, by the way, is FABULOUS!!! - and he was telling a story about being caught in a sudden storm at a picnic. They ran to the car and, as they were leaving, noticed a mama bird protecting her baby from the storm by covering him with her wing. He compared that with the way that God promises to hide us beneath the shield of His wings as we go through storms in life. Not IF we have storms, but WHEN!!!

I needed that!

And I need HIM!

Tonight Hubby and I are going to see Steven Curtis Chapman. I am beyond excited - I know that it will be amazing. This is only his third or fourth show since losing his daughter Maria so tragically a couple of months ago. I cannot IMAGINE the courage it must take to go back to the world. To sing songs written in her honor. To try to "kick it" through the fun songs and try to hold it together through the tough ones. I will simply be sitting in the audience, and am not sure I can do it!

I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child. Much less losing one so suddenly - without warning.
I used to wonder which would be worse - losing a loved one without the chance to say good bye, or watching them go through an extended illness. I have been in both cases - and have felt both kinds of agony. Watching Paula die was THE hardest thing I have ever done. But the honor of holding her as she walked into Heaven was beyond a Blessing. I got to tell her how much I love her and tell her what I needed her to know. I got a sense of closure and peace, knowing that she was in such a better place and that her pain was gone.
With my sweet Angie, it all happened too fast. Angie was a girl in the youth group that I helped "coach". The heart for God that beat in this girl was beyond compare. And, Honestly, I do not believe I could have loved her more if she was my very own child. She held such a special place in my heart - still does. I was honored to be the one to baptize her into the faith. And, oh my golly, her faith was strong. On March 17, 2005, Angie was in an accident that took her life. It was sudden and fierce and NOBODY got to say goodbye to her.

And I am here to tell you that THAT pain is soooooooooo much worse. Nothing prepares you for the sudden loss of someone so healthy and young. Nothing at all. It is a storm. One that we cannot protect our children from and so we must trust that the FATHER can - and will. And does.

All this to say that we are going through a storm right now - truthfully, in comparison to losing a loved one, it is more like a little sprinkle, but still. It is tough. The adoption journey was costly. And all of the expenses were out of pocket expenses, so we had to use credit cards for a great deal of other "stuff". Add to that the fact that we were trying to "get somewhere" in a business deal with some wonderful friends. Let's just say that we were not cut out for sales and so we were selling to ourselves and made some errors in judgement. All of it is stuff we will and do use, but it is now stockpiled in our basement and we can do no more. We have had to let people down and that stinks. That really stinks.

So now we are trying to find our way through this financial jungle. We are praying hard for wisdom and guidance. We want, so much for all of this to glorify HIM - and HIM alone. And, as we discussed last night, God must have something pretty big in store, because you would not believe how hard that devil dude is fighting us on this!

First of all, we had the incident where Hubby was driving down the highway and the truck in front of him suddenly started "off loading" it's cargo. All over Hubby's windshield. Into the body shop for the car and out of the pocket for the deductible.

Then I crashed the car - yep same car!!! Back into the body shop and even MORE out of the pocket!

Then our less than two year old washing machine broke. An expensive part was ordered and it was fixed. But, did I mention the part was expensive? Yeah!

Then came the storm that blew off part of our roof. More money out of pocket for the big deductible. The REALLY big deductible. And it hit us hard.

And now, the washing machine is broken AGAIN. A different part this time. A more expensive part this time.

Now, I know that God is protecting us from this storm. I am fully aware that we are under His wing. I believe with all that I am that we will get through this and, on the other side, we will get to give all of the glory to HIM. And to Him alone. And yet this storm is hard. And, at times, we are feeling lost. Lost, but never alone. Never EVER alone.

In the beginning of all of this fun-ness I was praying that God would make funds available to get me to San Antonio for the Seista Fiesta (a party for all of my Bloggy Beth Moore Friends, for all of you non siestas) and that I would get to at least be in the same room - if not get to actually MEET and HUG my BFF Beth Moore!!! Now, as much as I would LOVE to get to go, I am simply praying for a break in this storm. Hubby is feeling lost as well and will probably HATE that I am putting this out there. But we need and covet your prayers my friends. Seriously.

I honestly cannot wait to see what HE does with all of this. But I am asking you to pray that we have the strength to go the distance and that the enemy is kept at bay. We seriously need a break here. We are not asking for a windfall, just a chance to get back on our feet. And a light to find the path that He would have us follow. The path that will most be to His glory in the end.

If you stayed through this whole Post, Bless you!! And thank you in advance for your prayers.

We love you all!!!

A Princess and A Ballerina

Before we begin our adventure - Today we are (FINALLY) meeting with our caseworker for our "Six Month Post Placement Visit" for Sophie's adoption. (Yes, she is ten months old and has been with us since birth!) This is the final step before filing for adoption finalization!! Please pray that all goes well and we can make her our FOREVER daughter soon!!! She IS our forever child in our hearts - we just want to make it official!!!


Saturday Morning started off lovely (except for the fact that the graduation party was a "pool party" and it was POURING out!). Hattie decided it was a lovely day to be a princess and Sophie was in such a sweet mood that we decided to make her a ballerina! Here's how it all went down:


Hattie - "see my Ring - awww, it's so pretty!! I must be a princess!!!"



Sophie - "see my tu-tu. I must be a ballerina"

S - "OK Mommy, I am ready for a picture!!"
H - "Oh mother, PLEASE - do you ALWAYS have to put that camera all up in my grill?!?!"

Mommy - "Uuuhh, Hattie - your pretty princess panties are showing!!"


S - "Yes, but sister - those shoes are to DIE FOR!!!"


S -"Strike a pose!!"

H - "Is it a DUCKIE ya kiss to get a prince?"

S - "Nah, it's a froggie - but I think mine is broken!!"

S - "forget frogs and ducks - I'm just gonna call that stinkin' prince!!"

Daddy - "HEY! No princes until you are 45!!!"

And half an hour later the Ballerina - so smiley in these pictures - was puking her little guts out!!

Picture Perfect Monday - Our Weekend

We had a very big weekend - 80th B-day bash, Grad party and a baby shower - enjoy the show!!!

The Birthday Boy ...

With all the grand kids ...



Uncle Harry STILL trying to make friends with Sophie (looks like he found an in!!) ...

The mommies to be ...

Hattie doin' her thing ...



And that was just FRIDAY!!!!

More to come - including a lovely princess and a ballerina (who got very sick very soon after!!!)