The countdown is on

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

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

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.

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

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!

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!!!!!!!!!!!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!!!!!!!!

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

Will and his cousin Ava from FL.

T-ball time!

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!

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

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!

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.

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

husband/wife getaway ?????

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.

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!

“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!!!!

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"

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

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

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.