Our Adoption Journey

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

100th day of school

2012-02-03T16:50:00.002-06:00

Will had his 100th day of Kindergarten today, so they wanted us to dress the kids like they were 100 years old. We added a little baby powder to his hair and some 3d movie glasses and wha'la this is what we got. How cute is he?

Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-25T19:29:00.001-06:00

2012-01-23T09:50:00.005-06:00

I came across the saying below these pictures and I really liked it. I now have to figure out how to display it in my house in some creative way. I think my kids need to read it often so it becomes molded in their little minds.... Now Im off to think outside the box to figure out just how I'm going to do this. I'll keep you posted!!

“Remember when you go into the world to keep your eyes and ears wide open. And be kind. Love one another and take care of each other. Tell the truth. Always do your best. Listen to the big people and the little people. Explore new paths and have fun! Get lots of rest. Eat good food so you may grow to be big and strong. Mind your manners and think before you speak. Remember to protect little things. Know that you are loved like crazy. Give thanks for all of your blessings. Above all else, Love, and you will do wonderful things in this world!”

2012-01-15T19:42:00.003-06:00

16pts, 1 assist, 2blocks, and 2 steals and 10 rebounds but who is counting?Final score, 32-10. Will scored half the points. But Who is keeping track right? Well, that would be my stat man husband. Will had his debut basketball game this Sat. afternoon. I got vide0 footage, but it never plays when I try to post it to my blog. So, these little snapshots will have to do. The kid shined out there. OK I'm going to like being a bball mom. My career as one has officially started. Will had so much fun out there playing with a team. His tongue stuck out practically the whole time. He sweat like a madman. He was in his element. It was so much fun watching him play and shine out there on the court. Some major fist pumping was taking place with Will's fists. The kids on the team got to pick their name and Will suggested the Trailblazers (his dads favorite team) and some others on the team liked that, so his first team name is the Trailblazers. Too cute. Go Blazers.

Starts tonight

2012-01-02T17:12:00.003-06:00

This little muffin starts his basketball career tonight. He is so excited, and so is his dad! I can't wait to hear all about his first practice. He got high tops from Santa and is looking pretty sweet in his little basketball sweatsuit. BTW this pic was taken this past week in Charleston, SC. We took a little overnight trip there. Check out the tree lined path. The trees and town were beautiful. I loved the spanish moss draping over the tree limbs. Will attempted to climb any tree he could. I'll try to post more pics later!!

I'm still here.

2011-12-20T06:10:00.005-06:00

Neglecting the blog... I hate it when the blogs I follow don't post for weeks and here I am a culprit of not keeping up with my own blog... Last week I took the kids out to take their Christmas card photo. I'm usually a little more organized in that area too. I won't post their actual Christmas photos that made the cut on the card until later this week when friends and family get the cards... but here are some that didn't make the cut. I just got my cards that I ordered from snapfish on Sat. so the cards went out on Monday! All the kids are doing well. Jack is already done with school for the semester. She aced all her finals and has a 2 week interim at her school when she returns. She is taking a sewing class and a MAC class. I think that should be fun for her and then she returns to 4 new classes for Spring. Biology, Alg II, Spanish(3rd year) and Art. Jaymie begins basketball games after Christmas along with Will. It will be fun to see how they develop their game. It will be Will's 3rd Christmas with us. It is nice to still see the magic of Christmas through his eyes. Can't wait to see what Santa delivers to the kids this Christmas. I won't ever forget the pics I got of Will at Christmas when he was still at his orphanage, so as the tradition carries on, we won't forget the little ones left behind there and continue to sponsor so they can feel some Christmas love while they wait for their forever families.

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2011-12-02T17:14:00.000-06:00

2011-11-29T06:08:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving break took us on an adventure to FL. We drove there and it was not all that bad of a drive. Drove 11 hours straight on the way down and cut the ride in half on the way back. We were able to get in two trips to the beach while we were there. Jeffrey has family in FL so we were able to visit with all of them. Will and Jaymie had fun snorkeling with their dad. Will lasted a little bit longer than Jaymie. Jaymie and Jacklyn spent a lot of time combing the beaches for shells and seaglass and shark teeth. Nice to get away, but always good to get home!

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2011-11-11T05:36:00.001-06:00

Zootastic getaway!

2011-10-28T05:47:00.010-05:00

Will getting cozy with the goats.

Jack and Jaymie feeding a few of the many goats that lived here!
This cutie was crawling up to Will to give him a kiss!!!
Always fun playing in the corn sandbox. I'm still finding kernels around the house!
This little fella was trying to escape!
Jaymie and Flower the skunk!!
Will crawled around with these cute little guys for a while. We learned they can feel when you pet their shell. They were not shy or slow at all! This one was only 8 years old.
My little angel!
Jaymie Claire feeding the Llama

We had a beautiful weekend here last weekend so we loaded up the kiddos and took them to a place called Zootastic. It was a really cute place and the kids got lots of "hands on" with all the animals there. They even got to hold a skunk. I loved the tortoises.

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2011-10-21T08:33:00.002-05:00

Be the Change

2011-10-19T12:43:00.003-05:00

The 3 C’s of life are choices, chances, and changes. You’ve gotta make a choice to take a chance in order to change. (unknown)

We made a choice, took a chance and loved the change. November is National Adoption Month. Be the Change!

fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2011-09-30T13:08:00.000-05:00

13-0

2011-09-23T08:03:00.002-05:00

Just have to post how proud we are of Jacklyn and her high school tennis career so far. She is shining out there in the HS tennis world. Even though I get very stressed watching her matches, I still enjoy it to some degree. The game builds her confidence and self esteem in herself and she carries herself well on the court. She has her daddy's calmness out there. Even during close matches she seems to keep her cool. Last night was one of those matches. 5-7, 7-5, 11-9 in the tiebreaker. She pulled it off after being on the court for a marathon 3 hours. CRAZY! She remains undefeated at playing #2 on the team along with the #1 player on the team. They are being interviewed on Monday by a reporter who wants to do a story on them and their undefeated singles records. I'll post a link when the story gets published. Go Jack!

Sept 17th 2008

2011-09-18T08:16:00.004-05:00

Yesterday marked the day that I got the call. Just like 9-11, I remember where I was and what I was doing the moment I got the call. The area code of the adoption agency in Washington was on my screen. I thought to myself that no way was this a call referring us our son. We had only had all our paperwork in for 3 and a half months. I was expecting at least a 9 month wait. But sure enough it was our agency calling to say they had a little 2 year old boy for us who was paper ready and were we willing to take a look at his medical file/paperwork report and see if we would like to accept the referral. Of course I really knew I didn't need to look at the paperwork or file as we were going to accept whatever child was referred to us. I wasn't at home at the time, but was on my way as I was picking up Jaymie from school. We drove home, opened the email and up popped the pic with the blue background. He looked so sad....broke my heart. I called the agency right back and said them to move forward and we would be privileged and thrilled to raise this little man as our son. We have been blessed through this adoption more than words can say. Although I hate the circumstances that lead to adoption...it is a wonderful way to build a family and I would do it again in a heartbeat....

Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-09-14T06:35:00.001-05:00

2011-09-12T10:43:00.004-05:00

My dad drove 1100 miles with his dog for a little visit here this past weekend. I think it had been 2 years since I had seen my dad. He seems to always look the same every time I see him though. He sure liked "lightening" our golf cart and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up getting one for himself now that he had so much fun cartin' around on ours. I had to get a pic of him with the grandkids on it. I think I will have to enlarge it and send him off his own copy!
Jacklyn likes to test her photography skills... and the above photo is one she took of Will the other night while he was laying down on our boat seat while we were taking a sunset cruise. I think it's pretty good. What gorgeous eyes you have little man!
Will and Scooter...my dad's dog enjoying time out on the lake.

Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-09-07T15:19:00.003-05:00

(Sorry Jeffrey, I know you hate it when Jaymie dresses up Will like a girl.... but this was just too cute to not share.....so much for wordless!!!)

Will's first day of Kindergarten

2011-09-01T06:22:00.003-05:00

Yes, the dreaded day arrived. My baby started Kindergarten. This mama had tears flowing like you wouldn't believe. It was to a point I think Will was rather worried about me. He kept looking back from the line as it moved to the bus steps with a look of, maybe I better stay with mama, she looks pretty sad. But, I motioned him that I'd be alright and that big bad bus took my baby off to school. The beautiful part of the day is explained in the pic above. Will was the first off the bus and came running to me. The pic is priceless. I love it. Worth a thousand words. Today he stepped on the bus for the third day in a row. I sure get my walks in with Oscar early and go non stop accomplishing things without interruptions. A whole new chapter in my life. The first pic shows Jaymie and Will.....this will be the only year that they are at the same school. Jaymie sat with him on the bus the first day which I thought was very sweet. Shes lookin out for her little bro. Well, I'm off to take Oscar for a walk. Oscar is lovin the early am walks!!

The countdown is on

2011-08-27T08:37:00.002-05:00

Well, it's official. Will has been assigned a classroom teacher, Mrs. Freshwater, and she officially gets to spend a good chunk of her day with him. sniff sniff. His teacher has been teaching for 30 years and she is just perfect for Will. Will didn't want to leave the open house as he was so excited to be in a real Kindergarten classroom. Today he informed me he will be on the bus going to school in 4 more days. He has actually been counting down for about 30 days. In addition to the days countdown, he wanted to calculate the hours this am. OK little Einstein, this countdown thing is making mommy very sad.....but happy too as he has come so far. Tuesday is the big day. At 645am I will have no children in the house. I'll admit I have a huge list of things I have been wanted to organize and accomplish without being interrupted, but I will miss the lazy mornings of letting Will wake up as he pleases and having no rush to get out the door. Jaymie started school on Thursday and really likes her teacher. That's always a good sign for her. She was put in the same class as her best friend here, so that was also a help. This is the only year that Will and her will be at the same school. I'm sure she will look out for her little brother! I believe we made a good choice in sending Jacklyn to the private school for HS. She really likes it and is enjoying being on the tennis team. So far, she is 5 for 5 in both singles and doubles. Another school year starting off in full gear... At least I'm not sending any off to college yet!

Visitors

2011-08-22T11:13:00.002-05:00

We had some visitors from FL visit us last week. In two weeks we have visitors from CA, and the week after that my dad is visiting from MN. I guess when you move to a warmer climate, visitors flock. We don't mind though. The more the merrier. The pic is of Will and his Uncle George. Will loves his Uncle George.

Starting HS

2011-08-15T05:23:00.003-05:00

Well, it has happened. Our oldest starts HS today. She didn't want me to take her pic, so you see here a pic of her taken a few weeks ago after she placed second in a tennis tourney. Jack is attending a private school for HS. It just felt right for her for now. She only has 24 in her whole 9th grade class. Not sure what the boy/girl ratio is. She is playing on their tennis team and has already played her first match and won in both singles and doubles. The team won as a whole too. Hononrs Geometry, New Testament, American History and Literature are the classes she is tackling this sem. Jeffrey and I are very proud of our firstborn. I hope she comes home from school today saying she loved it.

2011-08-03T07:35:00.002-05:00

It is amazing to me, but obviously not surprising how adopted children respond so differently to attachment related issues. I follow several blogs where some struggle with attachment, even when they adopt their children younger than 12 months. I can remember the struggles we had with Will by reading some of the social workers reports, but they really were very minimal. I have been mulling over what Will thinks of certain things. He will sometimes make comments to me like "How old was Jacklyn when you got Jaymie?" Almost as if he believes we all go "pick up " our children. But other times he will say he was in my belly, or I came to get him in Africa. Some children who were adopted at the same age as Will have said they miss their family. Never have I heard Will mention anything of another mother or father or something similar in that matter. I hesitate if I should ask...? Has he suppressed memories? Or do I just let him figure it out with his own timing. I wonder if he has family left behind? This whole topic breaks my heart. Am I doing him a dis service by not sitting him down and saying "hey, you were adopted and you had another mommy /or daddy that loved you very much." Or is his little mind too young to take that? He is off to Kindergarten in 27 days. Is he going to hear others say to him, why is your mommy white and you are brown? So many unknowns just mull in my head as I let this little man go out into the world. I'm going to be a wreck when he gets on that bus! And Jeffrey isn't even going to be around to be my shoulder as he will be in Washington at Bankers school again. For today, I will let Will open up when he is ready to. I just want to be prepared to say the right thing for the questions he may have.

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2011-07-15T19:23:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I catch a photo of one of my kids that just touches me. For some reason, this one of Will touches me. He is waiting for water to spray up from a fountain at a park. He wanted to catch it in his hands!

Fun at the Lazy 5 Ranch!

2011-07-13T08:49:00.005-05:00

We have a fun ranch about 20 miles from our house that we like to visit. The kids have fun feeding the animals and I have fun taking pics! Will sure has come a long way from being afraid of anything that had 4 legs when he first came home with us! Now I think he would jump on the backs of all these animals and ride them if I let him.

Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-06T19:59:00.001-05:00

2011-07-05T06:25:00.002-05:00

WE had a busy 4th of July. I am always amazed by how a few hours out on the Lake can be so exhausting. The kids had fun swimming and tubing and wearing their life vests like diapers. Will tubed by himself for the first time. He kept moving his fingers in circles while I was pulling him. When he got out I asked him what he was trying to tell me by his hand gestures. He said he wanted me to do donuts with the boat? What? Yeah mom like spin the boat in circles so he can fly out of the wake? Yeah right Will. Dare-devil!

Numbers

2011-06-30T09:06:00.002-05:00

Out of the blue today will tells me it is 10:04 then goes on to tell me that he has swim lessons in 56 minutes. A little glimpse into the mathematical mind of our just turned, not even in Kindergarten yet, 5 year old! ( And yes his swim lessons are at 11:00)

Hot Springs, VIrginia!

2011-06-28T11:06:00.002-05:00

Just because I like this pic of Jaymie! We went to Virginia a few weeks ago and stayed in a town called Hot Springs. They had natural springs there that we were told had healing powers! They have been around so long that even Thomas Jefferson sat in them! Crazy. Anyhoo, Jaymie, Jacklyn and I all sat in them to heal what pains us! I think it worked.......my pains are gone!

Martha moment

2011-06-24T05:49:00.005-05:00

Just call me Martha! Will had a tball game the night of his bday, so I made cupcakes that looked like little baseballs! Jaymie did the stitching on the baseballs and did a great job. Her brother was so excited to hand them out to his team mates. Will had a fun day and was very spoiled by all those who love him! Now, when he wakes up in the am and I say "good morning baby" he announces to me he is not a baby, he is FIVE. snif snif!

Happy 5th Birthday Will!

2011-06-21T05:34:00.003-05:00

I know I won't have time tomorrow, so I'm posting a "Happy Birthday" to our little man today. He turns 5 tomorrow. Can you believe it? Since I don't have baby pics of him, I look back at his referral pics and the million pictures we have of him when he first came home. He was so little! Love has helped him to grow to the 95% in height and 75th in weight. He is so excited about his birthday and it is fun to see the glow in his eyes and smile. He has been counting down the days. Numbers are his thing and I am surprised he hasn't come up with a little spread sheet to calculate the countdown. He has his tball practice tomorrow, so the girls want to bake cupcakes to bring to his teammates so that will be part of our day today! A little friends bday party is put on hold til next week. We are hoping we have good weather for a pool party down at our clubhouse. The weather here has been warming up and I'm sure all his little friends will have fun in the water together. My little man is 5 and I tear up thinking about it. We are all proud of how far he has come and this family just loves him to pieces. Happy Birthday to our sweet boy! xoxoxoxoxxooxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Father's Day

2011-06-18T17:43:00.006-05:00

Happy Father's Day to the man who gave me these 3 beauties and is helping me to raise them to be all they can be. Little did I know when I met him he would be the father of my 3 children. We were friends for 2 years before we started dating. Thank goodness I came to my senses and realized there was no better husband in the world for me. Happy Fathers day Honey and thank you for these gifts we were blessed to raise. They all love you to pieces just as much as I do.

Doctor visit!!!!!!!!

2011-06-10T12:26:00.005-05:00

Finding time to post and keep up with the blog lately has been far and few between. But now that summer has arrived, I hope to keep up a little better with the fun activities that we try to do to keep busy. Today officially marks the last day of school for my girls. So very proud of both of them! They both get such good grades and have such nice comments from their teachers. While the girls had their last day of school, Will and I went to get his last set of shots so we could turn in the paperwork for his Kindergarten registration! The photos above are of us waiting and waiting and waiting to get the physical and shots. Will was entertaining me with a glove. He is a ham and pretty much won over the heart of the doctor! He got three shots and didn't shed a tear!!!Today the kids have a schools out pool party down at the subdivision pool. It should be lots of fun! Enjoy the photos of my almost 5 year old! snif snif! :(

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2011-05-20T05:35:00.001-05:00

Will and his cousin Ava from FL.

T-ball time!

2011-05-18T13:41:00.005-05:00

OK, I'm back! Wow, a whole month since I've done a blog post! 5 girls visiting for Spring Break, a trip to CA and 5 relatives staying at the house for the past 9 days bout did me in. Now T-ball and swim team season have started! Here are a few photos of the little T-baller. You know he dominates the game! His first game was last Sat. and it is very comical watching the little kiddos learn the game of baseball! Will is all fired up for the game and we are looking forward to watching his games for our Sat. am entertainment!

2011-04-15T20:15:00.002-05:00

lookin for a good read? I'm ordering this book to read on my trip to CA. My sister just finished it and said it was AWESOME! I read the trailer on Amazon and looks like a good read to me!!! Just thought I'd share!

toothless smile

2011-04-12T07:31:00.002-05:00

Here's the priceless smile! Finally got him to let me take a pic of his "space" in his smile! Cutie Patootie!

peas in a pod!

2011-04-06T05:41:00.002-05:00

While looking for a unique gift, I came upon this website and thought I would share. thevintagepearl.com Good stuff for waiting moms and moms who are done waiting and have all their peas in a pod (the necklace I think I am ordering) It is so very cute.

2011-04-02T07:06:00.002-05:00

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Ghandi

husband/wife getaway ?????

2011-03-29T06:58:00.002-05:00

Well, doesn't this look like a place we could all spend a few days at? I would never pay for a stay here, but if my husband won a trip.... I guess he could drag me there. It is called the Terranea resort and it is in So. Cal. Jeffrey won the Summit Award at his work for the 3rd time. Previously we went to resorts in FL and Arizona. We had just gotten home with Will 2 years ago when we went to the winning trip to FL, so we took Will and the girls to FL with us. We were the only parents there who took their kids along for the trip. Yes, I was looked at rather weird for bringing my kids, but it was either that or I wouldn't go. Who would leave their recently adopted little one for a few days/ Since it was in FL, Jeffrey's mom was able to come and watch the kiddos during the awards ceremony so that worked out well. This time, Jeffrey kinda wants a little getaway with just the wifey, so after humming and hawing, I guess I will accompany him to get treated like a queen for a few days. I'll hate every minute of it though and miss my kiddos. I worry how Will will do, but his Auntie from FL with her two girls and Gramma from FL are going to fly up to take care of the brood while we are gone. We cant forget we have a dog that needs a couple walks a day and a cat that needs shots twice a day, so them coming to our home is a great help. I struggle with doing things like this because I feel money like what his company puts out for this should go towards helping those who need help.... like Ethiopian orphans, instead of paying for me to be pampered. Have to get over this or my husband is going to commit me to the looney bin. We leave in May, so I have a while to prepare Will for it.

2011-03-16T19:38:00.003-05:00

Take a good look at my baby's front teeth. Soon there will be an open space there with room for 2 new teeth to grow in! My baby! Pretty soon his clothes won't fit on the little hangers anymore and that is when I will really lose it! Spring has hit NC and we are enjoying all the time we can outside. A lot of the trees in our yard are flowering trees so of course I have to throw my kids up in them and take their pics. The previous owners of the house planted bulbs that I was not aware of, so it has been a pleasant surprise watching so many of them come out and up from the ground! Will and I check out their progress in growing every day. Yep, soon you will be seeing pics of him with tulips and daffodils all around!

2011-03-15T12:37:00.002-05:00

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
- Mother Teresa

We got away for a little one night getaway to Greenville, SC this weekend. It was nice to stay in a hotel, let the kids swim, sit in a hot tub and visit with Jeffrey's sister who was in Greenville visiting her friends. We went to a beautiful park that had great landscaping and a beautiful waterfall and river running through it. Always nice to get away from the routine. This weekend Will has soccer, Jack is running a 5K and playing tennis for our subdivision team. The team started playing matches last weekend. Permits for the deck/screenroom are being applied for and we hope construction starts on that by the end of the month. Thats about all that is going on with the Googins household!!

Let the deck demo begin!!!!

2011-03-05T04:43:00.006-06:00

The kids knocked the railing boards off. They can't wait to get the thumbs up to continue the demo. We have to have the HOA approve the new deck/screenroom so we are waiting for that before we destroy the old deck!
The deck will extend out to the left where the screen room will close in from the right of the outside door to the space between the window and edge of the house. Should be a fun home improvement. At least the dust and mess is outside!
Mr. "Big Hair" I think it is time for the summer shave!!!
Even got a little help from our neighbor Elle:)
Once Jaymie got the sledge hammer in her hands, there was no stopping her!
My Handy Manny!!!!

When we were house hunting in Mooresville last year, I really loved all the screen rooms on many of the houses we looked at. Unfortunately the house we felt was a perfect fit for us didn't have a sunroom. So... the demo begins. We have had 5 bids on replacing the deck with a composite board and adding on to it to build a screen room. We hope to add a fireplace as we want to convert our inside one to gas instead of propane,and our current fireplace backs up to the screen room, so we plan to but back to back fireboxes so we can enjoy the fire in the screen room to0. Those who know me well, know I am a total pyro, so this is pretty exciting for me!! The kids quickly moved in on the action when they saw me starting to demo the deck. They pretty much took over. I'll post some before/after/during pictures as the room gets built. I'm going to hit the flea markets to find the "perfect mantel" for above the outdoor fireplace.

Happy "Williversary"

2011-02-22T17:26:00.003-06:00

Has it been two years already? yep, today marks the day I carried Will on to the plane in Addis, arriving in Dubai, onto the plane in Dubai to fly to NY and then and then catching a plane in NY to fly into Chicago and then we drove him home to WI. LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE HANDS DOWN! Wow, what a scared little boy we had on our hands and my earliest memories almost fade, but thanks to this blog I can remember how those early weeks, months were and how far we have come. The doctors, the fear of dogs, his language and the words we used to communicate...... I will never forget Woosha, makeena, ooo ha, mastica, shinte, ishe. The drawing of blood for tests, the administration of awful medication, the meltdowns, the screaming tantrums. But all of this so worth what we have now. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat (hint hint husband). As all those who have followed our adoption know, Will has blended so wonderfully into our family. The pictures below show him today with his sisters and 2 years ago at the orphanage with Jeffrey. I think the picture of Jeffrey and Will is my all time favorite picture of Will. You can see in his eyes a bond, a sense of hope that this was the daddy who was going to protect him and care for him as best he could. So, we are now on to year # 3. More memories to make as a family and showing the world what LOVE can do. Pure LOVE, unconditional LOVE......the world needs more of it!

The 3 peas in a pod. Will.... 2 years after he set foot on US soil! WE are blessed.

You smell

2011-02-17T06:12:00.002-06:00

Will can say the funniest things sometimes. The latest was his interpretation of the song "You Smile" by the infamous Justin Bieber. According to Jacklyn it was the first song her and her date to the 8th grade formal danced a slow dance to. So she is walking around the house singing "you smile, I smile" This of course heard singing out of her mouth a few hundred times a day is liable to get caught in your head. Well, it got caught in Will's head. He was kicking it on the couch singing to himself and I overheard his catchy little tune.... except the words were wrong. He was singing in perfect tune, but the words "you smell, I smell" I said Will, it's not you smell it's you smile. He had this look like, yeah you know, I was wondering why you would sing a song telling someone they smell. Now it all made sense to him. Glad I cleared that one up!

8th grade Winter Formal

2011-02-07T07:05:00.005-06:00

Jacklyn and her favorite brother!
The lovely 8th grade couple! Could Jacklyn be any skinnier?
I love this photo! So cute!
Mom had to get them to do some fun poses! Always makes for cute photos!
Well, this week did me in, I registered Will for Kindergarten and my firstborn attended her first school dance with a BOY! A very sweet southern boy I might add! She had so much fun and I got some really nice pictures of her and her date so I thought I would share them! Will even got to step in for a photo with his sister all dressed up.

Coupon savings!!

2011-02-02T05:35:00.003-06:00

Besides teaching Will how to read, my other new years resolution was to start couponing again like I used to. We have a store in town that doubles coupons up to .99 every day and about once every 2 months they double coupons up to 1.99. Well I had been saving my $1.00 and up coupons to use, and yesterday was the day! Will and I hit the store with all the other coupon fanatics to see what we could save. Well the photo above is a sample of what we got yesterday as the total was 90.00 and we got it down to 34.00. Saving for that next adoption could add up quicker than I thought if I keep saving this way on my grocery budget! (hee hee) The store paid me to buy 4 packs of yogurt and I got a tub of butter that was reg. 2.29 for .29. I also got 3 tubes of toothpaste for free! Can't say it is not worth it to coupon!

terrific Tuesday

2011-01-25T06:06:00.003-06:00

Here's my Jaymie Claire looking as cute as ever! I love how creative my kids can get on the photo programs on the computer! They really have a lot of fun with it.

. com

2011-01-20T17:58:00.004-06:00

(Will and his little friend he met at a Bobcats came last week! Too cute)
I started teaching Will how to read the first of the year. Actually I made it one of my new years resolutions. Anyhow, he is doing really well (level 4 teacher friends) and he knows the first 25 sight words. Well, today I was having him write a sentence on kid pix on the computer and I told him to write the sentence "Will is fun" as fun was one of the new words in his book for the day. Well he wrote the sentence and then I told him to put a period at the end of it. He said "mom, what is that" I reminded him it was the dot at the end of the sentence. He proceeds to put a dot at the end of the sentence and then says shouldn't I put "dot com" Cracked me up. So I had him write out com by sounding it out. So apparently he has created a website called willisfun.com. Haven't gone to visit it yet thought..LOL

. com

2011-01-20T17:58:00.000-06:00

5th snow day in a row!!!!

2011-01-13T21:50:00.006-06:00

What do you do if your kid's school has been cancelled for the 5th day in a row, yes that's right you heard me. Day 5 snow day! Really? I thought I moved away from the midwest winters, only to come here and get school called off for what they say are icy road conditions. I guess the district lines go way North of us and the "country" roads are icy. I can't believe they don't spread sand or salt down on them and move on with it! My kids are in awe that they have called school off all week for what they see on the ground here. Well, since the kids are going stir crazy, I thought I'd get a jump start on having them make their homemade Valentines. Boy am I ahead of the game this year! Out came the glue and glitter and foam hearts and ribbon and I let the kids go to town creating their Valentines. So far they have made a good dent in the amount they need to make. Makes me happy to keep their creative juices flowing while we wait for the ice to melt on the country roads!!!

Asheville, NC

2011-01-04T10:22:00.006-06:00

Before Christmas we traveled about 2 hours from our house and toured the Biltmore. Quite an amazing house that was built 115 years ago and is still the largest house in the US. It was all decorated for Christmas and the decor was beautiful. It was amazing to think that they accomplished the building of this house so long ago. The attention to detail was pretty amazing. We were able to use some of Jeffrey's Hilton points to stay at the Hilton in Ashville, so the kids got to use the pool and hot tub. That is always a special treat this time of year. You can't see too much of the Biltmore in our little family photo but believe me. It is huge! I would like to go back during the summer time as I hear the gardens are breathtaking. The other photo is of our little ham. He found the shower cap in hotel rooms bathroom and thought he looked pretty cute sportin it on his head. Always good for a laugh! I've been a BAD blogger lately. I told Jeffrey I was going to stop, but then he reminded me I have people visit my blog that like to see how the adoption process of a toddler is going and our story encourages and inspires toddler adoption for some. There is a service that turns your blog into a book in paper form and I may do that, as Will loves this blog. He visits it a couple times a day to check himself out! So, I will move on and continue to post and advocate toddler adoption. Who wouldn't want to adopt once they meet this little character and his wonderful blending into our family? I have to get ready to start Will's 2 years home post placement report for the Ethiopian government and our agency. I think they will agree, Will had no complaints!

Photos of 2010 present opening!

2010-12-29T06:44:00.001-06:00

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Press play and give it about 45 sec to start playing!

My Christmas Gifts.....

2010-12-23T01:27:00.001-06:00

All I want for Christmas is for these 3 little angels to stop growing up so fast!!!!

Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!

2010-12-08T06:04:00.001-06:00

wii fun

2010-12-05T18:13:00.001-06:00

After this round on the wii, Jeffrey went to his room to pout! Poor daddy is being schooled by Will on the wii sports homerun derby!

Something to think about!

2010-12-03T13:05:00.001-06:00

"Borrowed" this from another blogger! Something to put in our hearts and think about!

Early this morning I sat snuggled up on the sofa. As the soft glow of the Christmas tree lights filled the room, I opened my bible to the book of Luke and began to read about Jesus birth.
Over and over the words "there was no room in the Inn" swam through my head and the Lord began to open my eyes to what He was trying to show me....
Door after door closing.
Person after person shaking their head no.
Voice after voice saying - 'we have no room'.
No room.
And I couldn't help but wonder how many of us are still doing that same thing today?
Because you see, while Jesus may not be roaming the earth today in human form looking for a place to stay-Matthew 25:45 tells us "whatever you did to the least of these, you did unto me".
Mother Teresa said it this way "Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."
Statistics tell us that there are 147 million + orphans in this world today.
A 147 million who are looking for room....
Room in our homes
Room in our hearts
And room in our lives.
If each one of them is Jesus in disguise- and we have no room for them- then have we truly made room for Jesus?
Or could it be that we have No room because those rooms are already full of things that don't really matter?
Stuff that isn't about His kingdom- but ours?
I cannot help but wonder how many of those Inn keepers ever realized that they missed the chance to be a part of the greatest miracle they would have in their lifetime?
And I cannot help but wonder how many of us still do the same today?

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2010-12-03T06:01:00.002-06:00

The kiddos enjoying Jaymie's birthday dessert! Jaymie's party with her friends is tonight! Should be a fun night with 5 little girls sleeping over! We have crafts and a Christmas movie on the big screen planned. My social little Jaymie is looking forward to it.

Happy Birthday Jaymie!

2010-12-01T01:38:00.004-06:00

10, yes, 10 years ago today we welcomed Jaymie Claire into the world. Happy Birthday to my one and only JC! You are truly a gift from above and have developed so many admirable qualities that make your dad and I so proud of you! Keep being the special girl you are with a tender heart and compassion for others. These qualities will serve you well in this world. Enjoy your day and know you are loved more than words can say. We love you! Mama and Daddy:)

Elfie returns

2010-11-30T18:11:00.003-06:00

Look where Elfie showed up this am? yes Will named him Elfie! Will hunted for him for a half hour this am until he found him. Kept the little guy busy! He giggled so hard when he saw him hanging out in the light in our hallway!

Elf on a Shelf!!!!!

2010-11-29T15:51:00.003-06:00

If you haven't heard of Elf on a Shelf you should google in and check it out. I'm starting this tradition with Will this year and he is absolutely fired up about the whole thing. I introduced the elf with the book today and he went hunting around the house for the elf. We still have to give him a name, but all in all Will is pretty enthusiastic about this little elf visiting his home and watching him and then going to Santa every night. When I ordered it, I got to choose between dark and light skin, but really the dark skinned elf kinda just looks like he has a good tan. No worries though, the skin color doesn't seem to bother Will. It is so fun seeing the magic in Will's eyes. He truly does have a twinkle in his brown beauties! So the hunt is on every morning at the Googins household! We will be searching different hiding spots where the Elf returns every morning til Christmas! Should be fun!

A day of thanks!

2010-11-25T06:12:00.003-06:00

Being thankful takes on a whole new meaning once you visit a third world country. My heart has never been the same since leaving Ethiopia, and never will be the same. I struggle a lot more with "things". Not wanting my children to have everything because so many have nothing. Yet wanting to show and teach them about being thankful for the little things in life and knowing that is what matters. The simple frozen cube we all call ice is what I truly missed while in Ethiopia. It is a luxury to me now, and I give thanks every time I press my cup up to the lever on the fridge and I hear the beautiful sound of ice falling! It is a daily reminder to me of little things in life we are to be thankful for. Family and health are top on my list of things to be thankful for. I had a scare with breast cancer this year. It is mind blowing what one goes through when the dr. comes through the door saying they see something that they want to further investigate. My thoughts during that ordeal go directly to my children and not wanting them to go through that journey with me. They are the reason I go in for a yearly mammogram for early detection. My hubby is my soul mate and I also am so thankful for him. His ability to juggle work, school and family continue to amaze me. I'm so thankful that his heart opened to adoption. So many families out there have the means to adopt.......so why don't they? I open up about adoption when I am approached and hope that I make an impact on the hearts of those who inquire. I am thankful for those who do inquire, as it is a first step to do what He has wanted us to do and that is to take care of orphans and widows. Will does know he is from Africa and will once in a while ask some questions, but he has never spoken of another mother or father as his memory may not remember. I sing praises of thanks to his biological parents and hope they are at peace knowing he is well cared for and loved or they are watching from heaven as their little boy grows up surrounded by love. Of course we all know I am forever thankful for the timing of Will and when he came into care at the orphanage we were adopting from. We were the next family in line waiting for a toddler right when his paperwork was complete. It is an unexplainable joy watching Will as he grows and thrives in a family that can provide for him and showers him with love. My children,my husband, my family, our health.... and ice! we are blessed and we are thankful! Happy Thanksgiving!

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2010-11-19T06:19:00.001-06:00

Mommy and her little man!

2010-11-17T07:31:00.002-06:00

Here is me and my little man before we left for preschool this am. Will has a performance in preschool today that I get to go watch. I sure he will look adorable on stage! It's been busy around the Googins' household. The girls stay busy with lots of homework and projects. For Thanksgiving this year we get to travel down the street to the neighboring subdivision to my sisters. I'm in charge of bringing the beverages! I'm always assigned the beverages. Must be my culinary skills that my family is not to thrilled with. The weather here in NC is still spoiling us! Leaves are still on the trees and we can go outside without bundling up! I'm enjoying that a lot! I will never take this weather for granted. I love it~Well off to preschool we go!!!

a little Will update!

2010-11-04T06:00:00.003-05:00

This little ham has been home with us for almost 21mo now. Just a few short months and I will be working on my 2 year post placement report. Wow, Will has added so much to our family. He continues to do so daily for us. His relationship with each family member is so special. Lately this little guy has been astounding us with his number sense. Numbers are his thing (just like his daddy) and his memory is so good too. He is adding numbers like 7+5 and rather quickly too. He knows when zero is added to a number the number remains the same and can add one to a number without even thinking. He also counts to 100 and beyond without a hitch. Will has a NBA logo memory game that he plays with Jeffrey a lot. A little brainwashing on Jeffreys part to get Will to learn his NBA teams. He knows them though and recognizes the icons when he watches basketball on tv with Jeffrey. He knows how to read the scores and which team has what score. It is pretty amazing to watch and I love that he loves sports. He is going to keep Jeffrey busy on fields and courts from here on out that is for sure. Thats the latest little update on our little man. I get to spend the day with him all day today as he does not have preschool. Lucky me!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T09:39:00.001-05:00

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Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!

2010-10-27T18:55:00.001-05:00

Fav Photo Friday

2010-10-22T06:42:00.000-05:00

2010-10-19T05:46:00.004-05:00

We squeezed in a quick trip to a pumpkin patch this weekend. Here are a couple photos from the visit. We also had soccer that afternoon which is why Will is still in his soccer gear! On Sat Will got his Ingerra bread and we tried out the modeling agency. It was a pretty legitimate agency, but many of the people there were older tweens and only a handful of small kids were there. They wanted the kids to walk down a stage, and I did not know they were going to ask Will to do this, so I did not prep him for that. It's not like I am going to have him modeling clothes live! I think he looks great in the still shots! Anyhow, little man was intimidated by the stage walking, so we left. We weren't going to force him. Jacklyn and Jaymie were pretty upset as they wanted Will to model so badly. I say just give it time and when he is a little older he may be a little more ready to understand it. It is not like this kiddo is going to lose his modeling looks overnight. He can only get more handsome in our book!

He's got the look

2010-10-15T05:36:00.006-05:00

I have been stopped on more than one occasion by strangers, friends, family etc... on how beautiful my little son in. I was out with Will last week sometime and I had 3 women stop me and comment on how he should be a model.... Well, I decided to do a little research on agencies in the area and I emailed his photo off to a couple of them. Low and behold, I was called by a scout this week that wants to meet Will on Sat. Well, the big subdivision rummage is this SAT and my girls are going to try to sell all the stuff we hauled here that didn't work in our house. It ends at noon and the scout wants to meet Will in Charlotte around 1:00 on SAT. So, if I can pull it off I'm going to look into it. It could be a scam and they call everyone who sends them a photo, but I figure it is somewhere to start. I've researched and they say to not give the agencies $$ up front. They are actually working for you if they are interested in his looks and once they find Will work, they can get paid. So, that is the latest in the life of Will. Tomorrow we are also off to Ethiopian food for some much need ingerra bread. Be on the lookout for Will modeling GAP clothes!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T06:15:00.000-05:00

2010-10-10T03:01:00.002-05:00

It's 4am and I should be sleeping... but can't. I hate it when I can't sleep when my kiddos are sleeping. I hope I'm not tired the rest of the weekend. Anyhow, thought I'd type a blogpost since it has been a while. Lets see.... updates...
Jaymie has adjusted well. She has had several little sleepovers at various new friends houses. She is my very social child and loves doing things with her friends. Last night she spent the night at a neighbors house which she seemed to enjoy. She has not complained much about getting up so early to go to school. Poor thing catches the bus at 640 in the am. She takes a flashlight to the bus stop. Crazy! She has been gently asking for a another cat/kitten to replace our cat Belle who we lost to kidney stones earlier in the year. So I have been on petfinder looking into a couple different cats. We will see how the search goes. Jacklyn is doing well. She is really happy being near her cousin again. She is challenged by her new school, but is keeping up. She is such a responsible girl. Her tennis game continues to improve. We just looked into getting her a couple private lessons to have her serve worked on a bit. She plays every weekend with the subdivision team . Will, well what can I say. He continues to do great. He loves preschool. He loves sports. He is busy. It is fun watching him play soccer on his team. He has another game today. The weather here has been just beautiful. My sister has relatives from out of town visiting so we took them on a sunset cruise on the lake this evening. Some leaves are starting to turn here and the sunset was beautiful. It was nice to be able to take a boat ride w/o kids as they all stayed at the house.... all 3 cousins and my kiddos and it was not even a mess when we arrived back home. Jacklyn and Maddie are good babysitters:) and free too. Enjoy the Fall weather wherever you are. LOVE this time of year!

Time for Soccer pics

2010-09-29T06:22:00.001-05:00

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Just when you thought........

2010-09-27T06:43:00.005-05:00

he couldn't get any cuter...... he digs though my sister's kids dress up box and puts on a cowboy outfit. He has my vote to be a cowboy for Halloween! This will be Will's second Halloween. Last year he was a cute little leopard. This year I think he will have a little more say in what he wants to be. He has been saying Spiderman, but then he is all covered up, mask and all! He thinks the blow up muscles in the costume are cool. I have not bought one yet,so I'm still not convinced that he won't change his mind and be lasso'd up by all the little cowgirls in the neighborhood if he wears this cowboy outfit. I've been warned by neighbors that Halloween in our neighborhood is just crazy. I've been buying a few bags of candy a week just to stock up. It should be fun. WE are looking forward to not having to cover up the kids outfits in Parkas because it is too cold outside to just go out in their costumes.

Enjoying the lake

2010-09-19T19:06:00.003-05:00

We had a small block of time between Will's soccer game and Jack's tennis match to get a little boating in today. Jeffrey and the kids had fun jumping off the boat and swimming around in the lake. There are a couple islands that you can pull your boat up to and lounge on which we also did for a while. I want to make a slide show with todays boating pics, but for now I leave you with these.... The weather here is still summer-like even though it is Fall in a couple of days.....I"m not complaining one bit

cutie pa tootie!

2010-09-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

Fav foto Friday!!! TGIF

2010-09-10T05:45:00.003-05:00

Jaymie's adjustment to a new school was my biggest concern about our move. She had a great group of friends she left in WI and it made my heart very sad she had to leave them. To my surprise, she did great with the transition and is making new friends every day. She likes her new school and teacher and starts her gymnastics on Monday. I'm proud of the way she handled the move. Email has been a wonderful way for her to keep in touch with her friends. She checks it every day and has little conversations for them that makes me think they will continue to stay close.

4's preschool

2010-09-09T19:04:00.005-05:00

Will was put on the waiting list of a few preschools here in our town and I was really thinking he was not going to go to preschool this year! But, low and behold, my first choice preschool called last Friday and said they had an opening! So Will started preschool on Wednesday. Isn't he handsome? There was a car accident on the way to preschool, so we were an hour late..... (thank goodness I had my ipad in the car for some much needed distraction!) but we made it and he did great. He was a little reluctant at first, but he eventually let me leave and he did great. I didn't get the pleasure of ever really picking him up too often last year because my wonderful friends and family did that when I was working (thanks nana, Christy and Sue) so I will be enjoying that this year. Oscar got a nice long walk while Will was in preschool and I did a WalMart run w/o kids! So as you can see from the photos, he is the big 4 year old preschooler now. Lets hope he enjoys the full 3 hours tomorrow. I know I've got plans for my 3 hours of no kiddos!

BMX bike track

2010-09-01T06:29:00.004-05:00

What is this pic of to the left you may be asking? Well, as an added bonus across the street from our house is some common ground with a small pine forest in the center of it. In the pine forest a little bmx trail has been created by someone for kids to cruise on riding their bikes. Will has taken a liking to this. Of course he has, it keeps him busy and moving! Anyhow the area also has a bench for moms to sit on as they watch their kiddos perform their skills on their bikes. It took a while for Will to get around it without falling, but he pretty much can make it around the whole course now. He sets little goals for himself as he passes me on the bench shouting "mom, I'm going to go around 3 times without falling," then he ups the goal to 4 times and so on. His determination is amazing. He often sets little goals for himself and keeps his scores of whatever he is doing to try to challenge himself with his next attempts of things. A truly admirable quality for such a little guy! This next pic I took of our house from the bmx trail so you can see how close it is to our house. Oscar and I have already spent many minutes cheering on Will as he goes round and round the trail and over the jumps. And yes, I know, he has no helmet and no shoes on. Thats how I rode my bike when I was little! Actually he had shoes on, but we all know how this little man feels about shoes and they were the flip flops, so they didn't help to much with gaining SPEED>
Don't you just love all the pine needles on the ground for cushion from the falls. He also dodges the pinecones that are all over the track

Is that smile priceless or what?

Has it been a year and a half already?

2010-08-29T15:16:00.006-05:00

I always like to look at before and after photos of different things to see the changes. Changes in rooms, or haircuts etc... But the changes we see in our little man from just a year and a half often take my breath away. The first two photos in this trio I took of Will yesterday. Yes, the last photo in this trio is a referral photo we got of Will. There is 2 years difference in the photos as his referral photo was taken in June 08, but I am still amazed. Lets see, in a year and half Will has been to the Ocean twice, learned his letters and sounds, is doing simple addition, can ride a two wheeler, is amazing on the trampoline, has mastered Mario bros on the Wii, and has moved from WI to NC. He always goes with the flow and adapts to new situations so easily. The determination this little guy has when he wants to do something continues to amaze me. I think the hardest thing about Will's adoption has been resting on me. It's not something I thought about too much during the adoption process, but something I think about daily since Will has been with us. It is his birth mother and the hole she must have in her heart and because of the hole in her heart the hole in my heart was filled. She may not even be still here on earth, but either way.....she had to say goodbye to this blessing and that whole situation challenges me daily. Why in this day and age people have to live like they do. Starvation and AIDS, corrupt government. I haven't put my finger on how I will make a difference yet.... Yes, I plan on going on some missions with the girls at some point and there is child sponsorship, but is the cycle ever going to end. Can it get better? Just food for thought.

We're still here!

2010-08-27T06:10:00.006-05:00

Out of town guests,including Winston the bulldog, back to school commotion (they started back on Wed) Jeffrey left for banking school in Washington on Sunday and will be gone thru labor day, and a little time for boating have been keeping us busy. Jeffrey's sister came up from FL with her two kids and husband to keep us company for a week while Jeffrey was gone. She left yesterday and we are getting things in order. We had a good time doing a variety of things including some boating and tubing on Lake Norman. I'm learning how to maneuver the boat in and out of the slip and pulling tubers. The more waves and the faster the boat the happier Jacklyn is. She is a thrill seeking tuber. Will has gone on with Jaymie too and they prefer the calmer speed. Jaymie and Will actually prefer swimming in the lake compared to the pool. I think they like jumping freestyle off the boat and bobbing around in their life preservers. I'm planning a special post dedicated to Will being home one and a half years.... can you believe it. I have to make some time for it! Hopefully this weekend! Thanks for stopping by.. I have been a bad blogger lately. It didn't help my mac needed to go to the apple care genius's and have its software reinstalled because when I updated it it had some sort of glitch and made him move VERY slowly! He is all better now and able to download my pics again. Thank goodness for applecare!

2010-08-15T10:01:00.001-05:00

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:)

2010-08-12T06:05:00.003-05:00

Heres are a couple pics of our 14 hour drive to NC from WI. What an adventure traveling with Bagheera. He actually did a lot better than I thought he would. We are still settling in here, but making progress daily. I hope to tackle painting Jacklyns room this weekend. The thought of my not returning to the classroom this school year is bittersweet! I know I will miss it along with my co-workers.....but being able to have more time for my kiddos and spending time with Will while my girls are in school will be nice too!

2010-08-08T07:49:00.002-05:00

Well, we were not there when Will cut his first tooth.... but we got to experience him losing his first tooth. He was jumping up and down on our trampoline with his cousin and he yanked it out. I was not there but Jacklyn was and she said he said "look I lost my tooth and then he threw it into the mulch that surrounds the trampoline. Great Will, doesn't he know that I save my children's teeth? Nowhere to be found! He came running into the house with a bloody mouth asking for his beloved Jaymie as he wanted to show her the hole in his smile! So here you have it. My little BABY has lost his first tooth. Makes me wonder, is he older than 4, but then I googled losing teeth and it said kids do lose them at 4......

Will's room

2010-08-05T21:49:00.002-05:00

Will saw Jaymie's room on the blog so the little prince wanted pics of his room on here too. So here you have it. We scored on having a baseball wallpaper mural already in one of the bedrooms, so Wills room was a no brainer. The bed I got on craigs list just days after I got here for a mere 60.00! It is Pottery Barn too! He was so excited to have his own bed. Now, when will he sleep in it? He still shares the love with either his sisters or Jeffrey and I. I'm good with that though:) Who can resist the little snuggle bug?

First change

2010-08-05T09:59:00.002-05:00

Jaymie's room is the first room we tackled since moving in as far as changing the wall colors. It was a nursery for the previous owners I believe and we had to paint over a mural, but decided to keep the giraffe and just paint his spots to match the colors of Jaymie's room. We had to paint over a darker color, so that made the job that much more time consuming, but Jaymie is happy with the (almost) finished product and that makes it worth it.

Bagheera

2010-08-01T06:07:00.004-05:00

Bagheera has been in our family for 8 years now. He completes us. He acts more like a dog than a cat and is very much loved by every member of our family. 2 days ago we thought we lost him. I had not changed the tags on his collar to our new phone # so I was very worried. Jeffrey had let him wander free in our backyard thinking he was going to be keeping an eye on him. Well of course he was distracted and forgot he was watching him and then all H _ _ _ broke loose when we thought he was gone. The girls go CRAZY when he can not be found. At first look around the yard we didn't see him. It is fenced in, but we still don't know if it is possible for him to jump the fence. He is kind of heavy... weighing in at about 20lbs. He is strictly indoors except for when we tie him up outside on his lead. He LOVES being outside and we have a flower that attracts hummingbirds growing over our back patio arbor and he loves to watch them. Needless to say, I went straight to petco after this ordeal and made a tag with our new number that gives Bagheera's name and says he is diabetic. Baggy was in the backyard hiding in some low bushes thinking he was a jungle cat. Thanks goodness we found him. Here he is in a basket on our computer desk looking like a rising loaf of bread!!!

Pool time

2010-07-29T20:43:00.002-05:00

Having a subdivision pool has been so nice! Love it. Well, except for today when the prince Will swallowed too much water from bobbing around w/o his water wings and decided to burp really loud and throw up all the water he swallowed and that caused them to close the pool for 2 hours. I don't think we were very well liked by the 7 other kids in the pool at that time. Oh well, live and learn. Other than that little episode, things are coming together slowly. I just started painting one wall in Jaymie's room :) I hope to finish the whole room over the weekend.

update

2010-07-26T06:07:00.002-05:00

MY Camera has been missing in action up until last night! Whew! I thought it may have gotten thrown away in one of the million of boxes we have unpacked. So I'll be taking some pics soon. Well, its been a week since closing and all the boxes are unpacked. Jeffrey hung up 5 things on the wall for me last night, so we are getting closer to completing the phase of "moving in". It has been HOT here this week. We had a busy weekend, but still took time to enjoy the pool and get out a walk the neighborhood. Jeffrey's mom arrives this week, so Jeffrey will finally get some dinners cooked for him. Ha! Meal prep is not the top on my priorities list right now. I plan on trying to get the kids their dentist and dr. this week along with signing Jaymie up for gymnastics. I also have to register her for school as soon as I can find her shot records. Jack has been registered since March and she is all set to go. She had homework assigned to her for over the summer and has already completed it. Will has done well with the move. He LOVES the pool and would be there all day if we let him. His swimming is coming along, and waterwings are a thing of the past with him. I also should have listened to him when he told me he did not need training wheels on his bike when he got it in June for his 4th bday. I told him that everyone needs training wheels for about a year.... well, he proved me wrong. He picked up a friends bike w/o training wheels,and Jacklyn and Jaymie ran down the street with him a couple of times and wouldn't you know this kid was up and riding a two wheeler. So the training wheels are off the bike now! I should have listened to him. He knows his athletic abilities!

Happy 17 years!

2010-07-24T07:09:00.002-05:00

17 years ago today I married my best friend. Who knew where life was going to take us! 3 healthy children, a couple of different states, great careers. We have been blessed and I will be forever grateful for this match made in heaven! Happy anniversary Honey! Here's to many more to come!

We are settling in, in Mooresville, NC

2010-07-21T03:42:00.003-05:00

We arrived safely in NC on Sat night and stayed with my sister until we closed on our new home on Monday morn. Ever since closing we have been unpacking! It's been a little overwhelming, but is coming along. All the kids and the animals did great on the drive here. The house is coming along! We got our internet/cable access this am, so we were all happy to be connected to the internet world again. All the kids seem to be adjusting and still excited to be moving into their own rooms. This is Wills first own bedroom so he is pretty excited to get his own bed. I have a few hits on some cute beds on craigslist, so hopefully one will work out for us. One of our couches we brought here for our bonus room does not fit through the doorway of the room,so we were kind of bummed. Hopefully I can sell it and use the $ to purchase a new one! Jeffreys mom is coming for a visit next week, so I hope to paint Jaymies room then. She currently is in what was the previous owners nursery so she is not to keen on the monkey and giraffe painted on her wall in what is supposed to be her hip hot pink and green room! She has plans, big plans and I don't currently have the time! She is learning about priorities. So we are settling in. I still have to register Jaymie for school and look into preschool for Will. Grocery shopping would be nice too! Oh, and I love having a fenced in backyard for Oscar. I just open the door, away he goes and I don't have to worry about him taking off to say hello to a passing dog friend!

Wordless Wednesday!

2010-07-14T05:13:00.000-05:00

Brewers game

2010-07-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

Jacklyn, Will, Jeffrey and I went to the Brewer's game last Fri. night. Jeffrey wanted to have Will experience a Brewers game before we left as there is no professional baseball team in NC... Here are a few pics of the evening. Will did as good as he could for his age. We had to get up and go to the kid zone for a while to break up the innings. I think it is a memory for him now and will remember it when we talk about it. I love the photo where he is swinging his bat and they put his name in lights. He was all over that!!!

2010-07-11T20:57:00.001-05:00

I've let a week go by w/o posting a couple of our 4th of July photos! This moving stuff is getting in the way of our life! We did take time to celebrate the day by going to a parade in a small town near us that has a HUGE turn out every year. Will hadn't heard of a parade before, so he got to experience it first hand and now has a memory of it! CANDY. He thought it was great that people were throwing candy at him. We didn't get to take him to this parade last year as we were up North at our friends cabin. I'm glad we got to take him. The girls had fun giving him the experience! We also got to go to a BBQ at my sisters house and the kids played in her pool. Will has taught himself how to swim and already swims the length of the pool. His sister Jaymie and him could swim all day long. They both love the water! My brother, his wife and their kids came down from MN too. So the cousins were together. It is always fun to see my brothers kids and my kids playing together.

wordless Wednesday

2010-07-07T07:37:00.000-05:00

MOVE

2010-07-03T07:09:00.002-05:00

To say our move has been a smooth process is a huge understatement. All in all we had 4 offers on our house, with the first falling through and causing the lovely ex buyers to file a lawsuit against us to recover their earnest $. That was a fun process. We ended up having to give it back to them as we could not have 2 accounts with earnest $ in them and we got another offer. We were planning on giving it back to them after we got another offer, but they got all in a hissy and filed papers. Some people...... Well that is all behind us now and we had a cash offer with no contingencies, so we took it and are leaving in 11 days. The pods we originally wanted to use are not avail, so we are using a we pack the boxes and they load and drive and distribute at the destination. Jeffreys co. is paying for it, so I guess its not so bad. So the packing has begun, calls are starting to be made, and we close on our new home in NC on July 19th. The drive should be quite an adventure with a dog, cat, newts and 3kiddos. We have to take 2 vehicles, so it should be fun caravaning with the kids switching cars when they get on each others nerves, or when mommy needs some quiet time. We aren't sure how we are going to attempt the drive yet, but knowing my hubby, it will be all organized on a spreadsheet for me!
The photo above is Will showing us he is 4 now. Did I tell you the first thing that came out of his mouth when he woke up on his birthday was" Mom, I'm 4 now, I can play soccer" So organized soccer in the Fall for him. We already looked into it for him at the local YMCA. I guess I get to be a soccer mom after all. and continue to be a tennis mom and gymnastics mom....and maybe a swim mom as Jaymie is expressing an interest in being on our subdivision swim team.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-30T04:49:00.000-05:00

Cabin trip 2010

2010-06-29T08:02:00.001-05:00

Make a digital slideshow

wordless Wednesday

2010-06-23T08:05:00.000-05:00