Ready to fight the lines at Universal

My treasures!

Kiddos posing at Universal

Kid's toasting butter beer at Adventure Island

Will inside the jaws of  a sharkkkkkk!

Jacklyn in Jaws!!

Will and Shamu!

Being as we are just an 8 hour drive to Orlando, we took a few days of our Christmas vacation and went to Sea World. and Universal Studios/Adventure Island.  I shared a few pics of our days.  The drive down was not so much fun as we hit a lot of traffic and rain.  It made for a long first leg of our trip.  We made it safely though and we enjoyed the trip.  Sea World was our favorite place of the 3 parks we visited.  We arrived home on Christmas Eve and still had preparations to do for Christmas Day, so it was a busy evening.  After this trip we all agreed though we are more beach vacation family than amusement park family!!

My 3 blessings......  This is one of the two photos that made the cut for this years Christmas card.  I'm always pretty picky about the photos I take for the card, but this year I lucked out and the kids only had to put up with my camera clicking for about 15 minutes.  I'm looking forward to some time off of work  to spend with the family.  We have a few things planned for the time off.  Below is the other photo that made the Christmas card cut.  I love all 3 of their smiles!  

Here is Will and his BFF from the neighborhood.  They were out in the backyard playing Wiffle ball without shirts as you can see.  I sure love it that you can be out in Dec. in barefeet and no shirts!! They played ball for at least an hour and a half with Jeffrey.  They came in to claim a drink from me as they worked up quite a thirst out there.  They play HARD.  We had a beautiful weather weekend.  Jack had a tennis tourney and our Jaymie Claire turned 12 on Sat. She is having her party on Wednesday since it is a half school day.  I took Jaymie out to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, her favorite sub place for lunch and her daddy brought her home OLIVE GARDEN for dinner.  Will and I took her shopping for a few new things and to end the night after Jeffrey and Jack got home from the tourney the kids decorated the Christmas tree!!   We are blessed!   Back to the grinding work week tomorrow.  Only 3 more weeks til our break from school.  So looking forward to that.

I'm back!!! At least for today.  The blog format has changed and I could not figure out how to log onto my account or when I sat down to didn't have the time to figure it out.  All is well here in NC.  Everyone is healthy and we have no complaints.  Life is good as Will would say.   Today he went to his first NFL game with his daddy.  He had fun and I'm sure will be wanting to go back again.  We have just 2 days of school this week and then the rest of the week off!  I am so ready for a little vaca.  I still have not got my groove since going back to work PT.  

Here is a pic of Jack and her doubles partner.  They won state this year.  Jacklyn had a great undefeated record in both singles and doubles.  She won singles court 3 at state too.  Ms. Jaymie is still flipping around at her Acro fitness and has adjusted to Middle School.  

Updates!  It's been way too long......guess life has kept me too busy this summer.  It also doesn't help that my camera is in the shop and has been for over a month now as I wait for it to be fixed.  So these photos are from the beginning of summer and I have had a whole summer go by with no pics on my camera!!Hopefully they will call soon saying it is done.  I will have to take those first day of 1st grade photos and first day of 6th grade photos a little late.  Jacklyn has already started her sophomore year along with her tennis season. She is 3 and 0 so far..... This new school year has also brought me back into the workforce as I have accepted a job as a part time EC (exceptional children) teacher for 4-6 grades.   I start with students this week.  I'm still able to get the kids off to school and am home for them when they get off the bus.  That was important for me and so I took the job that fit my schedule!  I'm not used to working with this age group, but I'm sure I will love it and hopefully make a difference in their lives!  All kiddos are doing well.  JC has added another class to her acro schedule so now she does a hip hop zumba class and elite tumbling.  Will is enrolled in golf and soccer for this season.  He loves both sports! He has some great High School coaches this year who are really enthusiastic about soccer!  I am looking forward to his first game!  Jeffrey has been out of town the last week and will be for this week also.  He is at his 3r year banking school in Washington, so I have been a single mom.  1 week down and 1 to go!  Thats all for now,  as soon as my camera gets back in my hands I will be posting more.  I'm also hoping to do the turning my blog into a book thing for Will.  He often watches the video I made of his first year home.  He is also very interested in the girl's baby books.  He continues to bring much love and joy to this family although sometimes Jaymie would beg to differ.  They are truly a bonded brother and sister relationship with the brother sister fighting and all!! Well, off to start my last weekend b4 school starts with a nice walk with my dog Oscar in the beautiful NC weather.  Then all of us are running some much needed errands!!!  Food in the house would be nice.  uggggh, and I have to buy food for the dreaded packing of the lunches!!!!

How cute is he?  Our little ball player and of all teams he was assigned to the Dodgers... his Daddy's favorite team!!  He went 2 for 2 at his game on Sat. am.  I love watching baseball.  We skipped the tball league and went straight for the hybrid pitching machine.  He is doing great with it so far!!  Don't you just want to eat him up?

Will's Questions

I knew the day would come, just not sure when.  Certain small signs, overhearing kids and such, and the day finally arrived and of all days it was Mother's Day. Mother's Day is bittersweet for me.  I am a very blessed wife and Mom and I don't take that for granted.  When Will joined our family, another mom entered the picture.  The mom who gave him life and now I am the one who sustains and nurtures his life.    My heart aches for so many moms who have to give up their children for  survival...and my heart continues to ache for the children who don't have a mom to celebrate.  Last week Jeffrey and I were sitting on a hill watching Will in a tennis clinic.  During a drill, I waved to him and shouted some encouragement.  A boy standing in line next to Will saw him communicating with us and asked "are those your parents?  and he then proceeded to ask...are you adopted?     I haven't had the conversation with Will.  "The conversation" that is me telling him you are adopted and explaining what all that meant... He knew we picked him up in Ethiopia, but sometimes I think he thought that's how we just sometimes get kids.   Well, Sunday evening Will was asking questions so I took a deep breath and laid it all out for him.  Of course as with everything he encounters, he took it in and asked a few questions like, was my mommies skin brown?  Did you pick me?  In which I answered his questions with answers like he was born in my heart and both his mommies love him so very much.  I told him his mommy whose tummy he came out of was in heaven, and he seemed ok with that.  A few more questions about Ethiopia, and then he snuggled right into my arms and I cradled him and stroked his brown curls as he fell asleep next to me.  Will is so resilient,  he tackles life head on and has the wonderful trait of always looking at the brighter side of things.  This trait will serve him well in life and I will continue to nurture it.  I am privileged to hold the title of mom to all my children.  I am glad the conversation took place on Mother's Day, and as I pretty much knew, Will gets it, accepts it and embraces what he has.  My plan now is to get to the library to check out some children's books that can help him process this more, and continue to feel blessed to be raising this angel we call Will.

April update!!

Cousins enjoying an evening boat cruise!!
Will loves his cousin Lukey!!!
Jaymie and Will being their typical selves down at the boat dock.
Jeffrey and Luke enjoying the evening boat ride!

Had some visitors for the past two weeks, some from FL and some from WI. Here are a couple pics from the WI visitors. Hadn't seen my nephew or sister in almost 2 years! Yikes. It was fun showing them around our stomping grounds. Will loved having Luke around. I've stopped working for the school year as the district I work for ran out of money to pay me. I still have to go in for some testing of kids for a couple hours here and there and will also sub for half days if the need arises. I am booked for end of grade testing also... So, since all of my visitors are now gone, I am starting to try to catch up on everything! I get to feel what it is like to be a real stay at home mom while the kids are in school! Wow, that's a first for me!! All kiddos are doing well. Jaymie is finishing up 5th grade and will attend a middle school next year!! Yikes. She has an end of year show to put on for her acro fitness at the end of May. Will is in soccer twice a week. He scored 8 goals in their last game! He has another game tomorrow evening. Next sport up is machine pitch baseball. We will see how that goes. Jeffrey is more excited than Will I believe. Jacklyn is continuing to do great in her studies and on the court. She is planning on earning an income this summer by teaching tennis lessons to beginners down on our subdivision tennis courts.

Well, yes finally another posting... not sure if anyone even reads this anymore except my own children!!! But regardless, I'm going to keep posting when time allows me! I've heard you can publish a blog into a book and I may just plan on doing that, but not quite ready to put closure and hit the pause button on this blog quite yet. Kids keep me so busy getting them from here to there. We just recently took a family vacation to Key Largo. We met my brother and his family there. Lots of fun hanging out with cousins we don't get to see too often. Im hoping we can meet up for an annual trip ever winter.

If you can believe it, Will's 3 year Williversary with us has come and gone. Hard to believe I was in Africa 3 years ago. It seems not so long ago, but yet it seems like we have never been without our little man. He is doing well in all areas. Keeps us hoppin with all his sports. Jaymie and Will just finished their basketball seasons and now Will has started soccer, and Jaymie continues with her Acro fitness. Jacklyn continues with tennis year round.

Nothin beats searching for starfish in the keys!!!
Our tween beauty!!
Well, If this pic doesn't say it All. What a ham!!

Wordless Wednesday

100th day of school

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!!!!!!!!!!!

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!”

I

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

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!!