Adoption

I have lots of friends with some great blogs (see my sidebar and enjoy!), but I want to share a new blog that I am reading. Waiting For Aamina is my cousin, Rachel's, blog in which she will be sharing her adoption journey on the baby girl they are waiting for who will be from Ethiopia. Also, she is handcrafting vintage jewelry and all the funds are going toward their adoption, so you'll have to check it out! She is working on getting her etsy shop up and running, so if you love jewelry you have to see this stuff...she is oh-so-talented!

Now, I have to share a cute little conversation that occured between Zora and I this week. She has heard me talk quite a bit about orphans & adoption because Joel's parents were actually both raised in an orphanage and spent some time in foster homes. We also have talked about some of our friends who have adopted children, and she is also very anxious to meet her new baby cousin, Aamina, from Ethiopia. On top of all of that, Zora and Lily both have been talking quite a bit about wanting another sibling (but Mommy says NO!). So, here is the conversation we had on Tuesday night...

Zora: "Mommy, what are we going to do tomorrow?"
Me: "I'm not sure. Why? What would you like to do?"
Zora: "I want to go to an orphanage in the morning and pick out a baby brother."
Me: "Well, sweetie, that's sweet, but why do you want to go to an orphanage. Do you not want Mommy to have another baby?"
Zora: "No, because God might give us a baby sister instead, and I want a baby brother!"

Joel and I were trying our hardest not to laugh hysterically while we explained to her that adoption is a very special process that can take a very long time and that there is a lot of paperwork and money involved. If only it were that easy, there would be so many more unloved children with loving homes!

I have to share another quick Lily moment as well...

We were sitting in service on Sunday night and the preacher was talking about Christ's crucifixion and how much He truly suffered for mankind. As he was describing it Lily crawled up in my lap and whispered, "Mommy, why did Jesus get nails in His hands and feet?" I said, "So that some day you would get to go to heaven and live forever with Him." She thought about it and then she said, "Will I ever have to get nails in my hands and feet?" "No," I said, "Jesus did that so that you would never have to because He loves you so much!" Upon hearing that her face broke into the sweetest, biggest, and most sincere smile I had ever seen. I could tell that even at the tender age of 3 she was truly amazed and grateful that Someone would do that for her. Think about it... He did it for you, too!

Field Trips!!

We aren't really able to go on a vacation in the summer because it is Joel's busiest time of the year, so I've been trying to make this summer as fun as possible with some field trips. We've just been doing things locally that are fun for adults and kids alike. Some of our favorite spots this summer have been Big Splash, bowling, the zoo, and the free movies at the Riverwalk. This week we tried some more places and had a blast!

On Monday Daddy came home early and we went to Incredible Pizza. We ate all the food we could possibly hold and then went to play some fun games. After cashing in all our tickets for prizes we went back to eat some super yummy desserts! I don't care how young or old you are that place is awesome!!!

Tuesday was a very, very long, fun-filled day. We left home at 8:30 in the morning and met up with Nana Betty and cousins Nate & Alli. We all traveled to Seminole together to visit the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum. It was absolutely fantastic! My mom and I were both so impressed with it (it by far outweighs anything T-town has to offer) that we ended up buying memberships. It will be a place we visit very often throughout the year and the hour-and-a-half drive is completely worth it! The entire museum is set up like a little town where the children can pretend/role play anything they could imagine!

School Teacher

Emergency room... I loved this part of it because the children could ride the bike and the skeleton next to them would mimick their every move so that they could see what their bodies' look like on the inside while riding a bike... how clever!

Firefighter

Dentist's office

Caboose

Stars in a movie!

Ambulance driver

This station let children experience what it would be like to have a handicap or disability.

Indoor playground

Fighter pilots

Doctor's office

Dinosaur bones excavation site

News broadcast

Kiddie Homeland

Outside maze

Alli and Lily make a huge sheet bubble

Judge Lily :)

Is it just me or did any one else out there not know that there are such things as black swans??? These beautiful birds were in the museum's pond out back. Rather than being white with a black beak they are black with red beaks. Absolutely gorgeous and graceful!

After all of that fun we drove to OKC to visit our Granny Bea and didn't get home until 10:30 that night! What a day :)

We tried to take it easy on Wednesday but then Thursday we went all out again on a field trip to the Aquarium with Mamma and Papa. What a cool place! The highlight of the day for the girls was getting to touch the stingrays and sharks.

Check back soon! We're sure to have some more fun to share again next week :) Have a great weekend!

Silly Lily

So all of you parents out there now how your heart just explodes every time you look at your children. Sometimes you feel emense joy & pride and at other times you feel sorrow, but your children make you overwhelmed with some kind of emotion on a daily basis.

I have to say that Lily is my child that always makes me laugh. I cannot even begin to tell you how funny she is ALL THE TIME even when she's not trying to be funny. The child just has a wit and sense of humor about her that crack me up!!! I truly wish I could remember all of the funny things she does, but if I were to record them all I would run out of paper quickly. I'm going to share just a few that have happened recently...

The above picture is on a day that we were playing in the yard without water. She just happened to want to wear both of her water rings. Then she started making these absolutely ridiculous faces that she now loves to do and calls it her "chubby baby face". Here's a couple of videos of the same day. She was full of humor that day!

One day we were in the car and she asked me to play a song off of my MP3 player. I asked her which one she wanted and she said, "Fritos in my heart". HUH? I'm totally confused because I know without a shadow of a doubt that I do not have a song with that title. After her continuing to request that song over and over and over and over and over (you get the picture) we were both getting a little frustrated. She was irritated with me for not playing this song and I was irriatated that she kept asking for this song and would not let up! I finally realized it was this song.

A couple of weeks ago we were at the dinner table and Lily let out a very loud burp. While I was getting ready to correct her and take this instance to remind her of proper table manners she said something that made me laugh so hard I threw all edicate out the window. I had her repeat it for the camera because it's much funnier to hear her say it...

Yes, that's right, she "burped-ed like a fat old man!"

She also pulled a stunt recently at church that made all people present laugh. The service was over and we were in the lobby waiting on Daddy to shut all of the sound system equipment down and I hear her little voice say "I need to go pee Mommy!" I was talking to 3 or 4 ladies of the church, so I turned around to see her waddling into the bathroom with her clothes down around her ankles and her little hiney shining bright! It's so hard to scold her for things like that when I'm laughing uncontrollably and tears are streaming down my face!

While she can be extremely funny she is also very sweet and tenderhearted and sometimes just the things she says make me laugh out loud. She loves to tell people that they are handsome or beautiful, and on a daily basis after I get dressed she tells me how pretty I look. The words she uses are so cute when she says them (I'm going to try to spell them how she says them). Imagine her chubby little hands stroking my cheeks as she says this in her soft, tiny little voice:

"Mommy, you go-jus (gorgeous)"

"Mommy, you bootie-full (beautiful)"

Hmmm... that one could have a double meaning :)

"Mommy, you just pwe-shus (precious)"

And that one by far is my favorite because that is the perfect word to describe her...

Absolutely PRECIOUS!

Letter from the President!!!

This morning we went to Big Splash and when we got home I saw a great big envelope sticking out of our mailbox. When I picked it up I saw it was addressed to Miss Zora Renae Summers and that the return address said

White House

Washington DC

That's right! Zora got a letter from the President!!!

When we began homeschooling I chose a handwriting program called A Reason For Handwriting (which I highly recommend!). It is a terrific program that teaches handwriting and uses God's Word to do so. Every week Zora would learn a memory verse and each day she had to write certain words or phrases from the verse. At the end of the week she would write the verse on decorative paper and choose someone to send it to... that's why I love the program... it teaches handwriting, Scripture memorization, and it teaches them to minister to others!!!

Okay, so back to my story :) Back in April her verse for the week was

What a wonderful thing it is for a nation to know and keep God's laws!

Proverbs 29:18

She chose to send it to the President that week and she even painted him a picture of the American flag. I also helped her write a letter that told a little about herself and that she was praying for him to lead our country in a godly manner . So, today she received a response!!! It is on official White House Letterhead with the President's seal on it and was a nice little letter thanking her for her encouraging words. At the bottom it was "signed" (more like stamped) by President Obama. What a special treat to receive right before we celebrate this wonderful nation's freedom!!! And what a treasure to save and put in her scrapbook :)

Father's Day

We had a very enjoyable and relaxing Father's Day with the special men in our life yesterday. The girls chose to surprise their Daddy with cinnamon rolls, fruit and milk in bed to start his day. Then he opened his sack of goodies which included some homemade pictures from the girls. We turned each of their footprints into a picture for Daddy. Zora chose to do a remote control...

... and Lily chose to do a rocket ship.We then went to church and afterward we ate lunch with Papa Donnie (Joel's dad).

After calling several places and even trying to get into a few we ended up at Mazzios because we were starving and the wait times were too long. It might not have been the steak the men were hoping for, but we all enjoyed the time together and everyone loves pizza, right??? Papa Donnie got a footprint picture in his sack of goodies, too (thanks Elisabeth for the fish idea!)...

I love the verse we put on the pictures for the grandfathers...

"Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children."

Proverbs 17:6

We then went to visit Poppy Joe (my dad) and give him a sack of goodies (yes, he got a fish footprint picture, too!)

We are so blessed to have these men in our lives. I'm very grateful!

Change

So far this year seems to be a big year for CHANGE in our family. Some of the changes we have welcomed and some we have found ourselves questioning WHY, but when it comes down to it I know that God sees the overall picture and always has our best interests in mind - for that I am very thankful. Some of our friends are also facing exciting changes right now - new jobs, new homes, new babies - and some are facing very difficult changes - loss of jobs, medical problems, financial problems, etc. I want you to know that you are all in our prayers and that we love you very much. As I was doing my Bible study this week I read a Psalm that is very comforting whether the changes you face are exciting or discouraging...

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-

he who watches over you will not slumber,

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you-

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm-

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore."

Psalm 121

On the lighter side, I've been trying to make changes in my own life this year to better myself. I made a New Year's resolution to begin taking better care of my body and I committed to exercise on a regular basis. I have now made it a little over half the year and I am still as committed to it today as I was in January! Not bad for someone who's motto used to be "I only run if my life is in danger!" :) I've also been trying to "lighten up" a little and not be so structured all the time (anal as Joel would put it). I'm slowly getting better at this, however there are some things that I will always be particular about... I can't help it, that's just the way God made me (is that a good excuse???)

Another change we've been working on around here concerns the girls. I've always made them eat healthy, and I've always made them eat whatever I put on the table (I don't fix them separate meals), but for the past couple of months I literally fought with them about eating at every meal. I felt like the wicked stepmother forcing food down their throats, kicking and screaming all the way. I decided one day that I was done with that. So Joel and I came up with a plan and some groundrules. We told the girls that there would be absolutely NO complaining or arguing about food. If they started to complain or argue about it they would simply get down from the table and go to bed hungry. The next rule was that they must eat everything on the plate - no questions asked. The last rule was the time limit. We just automatically set the timer for 30 minutes and if they are not finished there will be a consequence. Unsure if the new plan would work we set it into action. The first couple of days we had some consequences, but once they understood the rules and knew we were serious about it, they have been great! I must say that the past couple of weeks I haven't had to fight with them about any food and I've got them to eat and even start liking some vegetables they would never even touch before! And all without raising my voice...I'm loving it!

We've made a couple of changes to our house too. For a while now our house has needed some serious attention on the outside, but we've put it off because we added on the playroom, then we had to get the addition sided, and now we have finally had the time to paint. Joel painted the main part of the house, then I added all of the finishing touches with the trim and shutters. Joel really topped off the project by tiling the front porch. We were really pleased with the final product!

We also made changes to Lily's room. Last year we tried to get her to move to a big girl bed and she refused, so we just took the front rail off of her baby bed and let her have a "toddler bed" (check out this old post). Now she is officially in a big girl bed and we got to redecorate her room. While she was away spending the day with Mamma and Papa (Joel's parents) I went shopping and fixed up her new bedroom. She was so surprised and absolutely loves it!

I made one more change today and it was to my hair. When I get sick of a hairdo I want to change it immediately. I don't want to think about it, I just go DO it. I went to a salon today and found a really cute picture of a haircut that I loved, and showed it to the lady. She said it would work perfectly with my face shape and the kind of hair I have so I was so excited, then when she was done I was disappointed. I like my new haircut, BUT it does NOT look like the picture. ARG! Is that frustrating to anyone else??? Oh well, I'm sure it will eventually grow on me (key word here being GROW I hope!)

With all of these changes - whether exciting, discouraging, lighthearted or serious - I'm glad to know that there is always a constant that I can count on, and that is my God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Hebrews 13:8

Summer Fun

We are so busy already this summer it is unbelievable, but we are having a BLAST!!! There's so much to write I don't know where to start, and this post may get a little lengthy (and these events did not necessarily happen in this order)

We've had lots of fun playing with our friends...

Having Britton over for a day

Playdate at Emma's house

Playdate at Aubrey's house

Playgroup friends

Having our cousins Nate & Alli for a day

Having Noah & Eva live with us for a couple of days before they moved


Having Uncle Jake for a day

Both of the girls also did swimming lessons these past two weeks. They both did a fantastic job! Zora started in the 4/5 year old class, then was moved to the 6 year old class, and by the 3rd day of lessons ended up in the 7/8 year old class where she completed the rest of the lessons. The older class was a little above her physical ability level, but nonetheless she tried her hardest and pushed herself and really did a good job. She learned many different swimming styles, breathing techniques, and even how to dive properly.

Lily started off in the 3 year old class and was moved to the 4/5 year old class. Her lessons weren't quite as intense as Zora's, but she did learn some proper arm & leg movements and how to breathe correctly when swimming. She also did a great job jumping off the diving board - even though she refused to jump alone - she always wanted to be dropped off :)

We've also been busy reading and working on the summer reading program at the local libraries. Zora (as always) is a little book worm and I don't even have to suggest that she read... she reads all day long for the sheer joy of it (she takes after her Mommy).

Lily loves to read, too, but of course she has to wait around on someone to read to her, so we all try to take turns. We also attended one of the library storytimes and listened to a farmer talk about all the different kinds of animals he raises. The girls loved it and even got to pet a calf!

Some of our other activities include the zoo, Big Splash, and bowling. We plan on visiting all three of these places all summer long because we have family passes. SO MUCH FUN! I don't have any pics from Big Splash because I don't like taking my camera there for several reasons, but I did take my camera bowling today and got some cute videos of the girls. We were lucky enough to be accompanied by Nana Betty, Nate, Alli, and Papa Donnie!

They really did pretty well because they had and little ramp and used the bumpers. Zora's final score: 78 and Lily's final score: 73

I have more to post about other things that have been going on so check back soon. Until next time...