I love this man!

Here's my hottie sanding the porch railing. What I discovered as I went out to check on him is that he was wearing purple womens sunglasses with rhinestones in the corners. Go ahead, zoom in and check them out. When I questioned him about his choice of eyewear he said, "I thought they were safety goggles." Just another thing that endears me to this man! If you have any projects to do in the future, I'm sure he will let you borrow them.

He has been supportive of my blogging adventures up until this point. With this post, I may have just lost his support.

Okay, maybe we miss Florida just a little

There is no place like home, indeed, but I must admit Florida is pretty cool too. Here are a couple of things we miss:

The wildlife...
This huge turtle was just strolling along outside where we lived! The kids wanted to keep him but I was too scared that he would give us jungle fever or attack us in the night or something. I fear I'm ruining my kids for nature.

Here's the wildlife at home...


We also miss the scenery...
Palm trees and lush greenery. Tropical flowers. Lakes (though alligator infested). The beach. And, my personal favorite, trees with moss hanging down from them.

Here is the scenery at home:

Goodbye palm trees, hello mounds of laundry and unpacking! After living in a small space, I realize that we have far more than we really need. This is a good time to clear some things out and get more organized. I've noticed that sometimes getting organized can be an idol in my life, albeit an ever-elusive one. I'm reminding myself in this post, that an organized home (and perfectly decorated) home will not ultimately satisfy me. Now, back to the laundry...

There's no place like it

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.
Robert Montgomery

I feel like it's pretty safe to say that my kids were among the very few children awake and playing from midnight until 1:30am last night. We, the weary road warriors, finally arrived back home. The kids were giddy with excitement and we had to let them have some time to get reacquainted with the place, even if it was the middle of the night. You know who else was giddy with excitement? The ever-faithful pooch, Ruby. I can honestly say I missed the hairy beast.

Sadly, our adoption planner was not among the big pile of mail waiting for us. I'm not sure why it was not. But I am overwhelmed enough by what needs to be done for our Home Study, so it might be the Lord's way of protecting my fragile psyche by not having me pour over both when we're just arriving home. He has a way of looking out for me like that!

Have you hugged a cow today?

Did you know Friday, July 11th was Cow Appreciation Day? Well it was, according to Chick-fil-A. And if you showed up at a Chick-fil-A dressed as a cow, you got a free entree. They even provided the cow headband making the costume design very easy.

Did someone say "free"? You know I was all about that!

Happy Belated Cow Appreciation Day everyone!

Happy hearts, heavy hearts

Yesterday was a good mail day. The checks came that we've been waiting for and so I no longer have ill feelings toward the US Postal Service. For now. And today, we sent our contracts into our agency, so we will hopefully be official clients very soon.

But even as we are rejoicing at the thought of welcoming another child through adoption, our dear friends Scott and Kira had to say goodbye to their 1 day old son, Jacob. We have prayed for little Jacob for months now. Sweet little Jacob will not be welcomed into Scott and Kira's home, but instead into the arms of the Father. If you think to pray for this precious family, I know they could really use it in this dark time.

I don't feel much like celebrating. But I do feel like praying...

True Confessions

My sisters and I used to love to play "True Confessions". This is when we found out that one sister hid a pie in the garage so she could eat it all herself. I won't name names. We also learned that the drawing my Mom proudly displayed on our fridge for 6 years was drawn by my friend. I erased her name and put mine on it. What a fun game!

I think I need to play it right now...

I'm not used to having cable. Apparently, I'm also not used to practicing self-control because I have stayed up really late nearly every night entranced by both the worthy (the What not to Wear marathon) and the worthless (Tori and Dean's reality show). My heart is being numbed and it's not healthy for my marriage or family life.

I have access to a work out facility. I've been once in two and a half weeks. Hardly a healthy lifestyle.

We are waiting on a check to arrive, so we can send it in to our agency and officially become clients. I am already impatient in the first months of an 18 month process. This is not a good sign.

But, my truest confession of all gives me hope and the power to change... Jesus is all I need. And maybe some Crest White-Strips.

How do we spell relief? P-O-O-L

Bill and I are BOTH working
this summer.
He is teaching
a class and
I am working on my tan.
I have my 20th high school reunion this summer, so this is serious business!


As far as the
tan thing goes, the boys are perfectly
bronzed and Emma and I are one shade darker than pasty.



Oh yeah, and I have this
other little "side job" of caring for 3 delightful (and exhausting)
smallish human beings.

































You can find us at the pool most days! It is our "happy place"! Who needs DisneyWorld???