Summer Is Here!

We just finished school for the summer!!! Whoo-hoo!! Now I hope to get caught up on some rest, reading and relaxing. The three R's of my summer plans. :) Things will be busy around here until after June 23rd (my baby brother gets married!!) but it will be nice to not have school responsibilities on top of all of it.

 Last week the kids had their end of the year science party. Their grandparents came and they were thrilled to show off some of the stuff they've done this year. (If I've never said it before, my kids attend a science class once a week for 2 hours...it's awesome! They've dissected stuff, blown up stuff and created some really cool experiments.) 

Princess volunteered to say the "Welcome" speech for the party. I was so proud of her...she wrote out exactly what she wanted to say and everything. She's getting so big. 

 Then last Friday, we had our annual homeschool ranch day. As always, it was a lot of fun and the kids played themselves into exhaustion. Within an hour of everyone getting there, we saw a horny toad! So exciting to see these little critters roaming around.

Parents and kids alike took turns feeding Tex. 

Even Princess fed Tex this time...it was a first! I laugh at her face in this picture...she is completely grossed out. :) 

Every one dunked their heads in the water tank to cool off before watermelon

Including my dad :)

And then we had some that decided to go "all in" :)

It is always a nice way for the kids to bond with their friends.  

Of course, Little Man did a great job of either running from the camera or making a face every time I took a picture of him so I don't have many of him. 

Everyone had a great time and already looking forward to next year. 

In other news, my facebook fast was short lived because we got news recently that an orphanage was closed and all the kids from it were moved to an orphanage that our agency works with. So that means there will be more kids for them to refer out and that is GOOD NEWS! Also, I have a cousin that had a baby recently and facebook was the only way to see pics of that new baby! :) So, I'm back on. 

Anyway, life around here is so good. I feel things are changing in our hearts and desires and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us. Happy summer!!

Shiny Happy People

I cannot believe it has been a month since I last posted. I really dislike going that long but it seems like there has been either too much going on to post or I don't have anything very interesting or positive to say. :) One day at a time is how is goes around here these days. 

Unlike last year, we have been getting rain!! Every few days we get rain (and sometimes hail) and that makes me very excited to get my garden going. The other night while driving home I looked at the awesome water tower that sits behind our house and the sky was such a dark, majestic blue I had to stop and take a picture. The coolest thing about the picture though is that the windmill is actually about 2 miles closer to me than the water tower. I like how it turned out. 

For several months now Princess has been asking me if we could change her room. She was outgrowing the castle, fairies and princess decorations and wanted zebra print, peace signs and lime green. Not an easy theme to wrap your mind around. So I put it off as long as possible and shopped for things here and there until I finally came across the perfect item to use as my jumping off point. 

One Friday, Little Man went to the ranch with my parents and was going to be gone all weekend so we got started! It was hard painting over the hand-painted mural but I took several pictures beforehand so we wouldn't forget what it looked like. 

 Princess helped me every step of the way. Since about Christmas my shoulder has been acting up and really hurting me, so I knew that painting was not going to be easy. But she was very responsible and careful and ended up doing a fantastic job with the roller. (By the way, they diagnosed me with having tendonitis in my rotator cuff...fun stuff).

We did the bottom half of her walls with a darker lime green and the top half with a lighter shade. I craved a limeade the entire time we painted. To pull the two colors together and add in the hot pink and zebra from her bedding, I found a hot pink ribbon, sewed on zebra ribbon and then hot glued it into place as a chair rail. I also re-vamped her bookcase to fit the decor a little better and be more exciting than just a white bookcase. 

                                               
 She picked out several things to add to her walls and re-arranged her furniture to give it a whole new feeling. She plays more in there now than she has in the last 6 months.

 Ta-Dah!! A completed, bright, funky, and fun tween room that fits her personality much better and will last for several years.

Another project we have been working on is building raised garden beds for my garden. What I discovered last year is that certain areas of the garden got more sun and things grew better in these areas. So we made these boxes to strategically place in those areas and plant only there. They turned out beautifully and I'm so ready to get things in them. I've already decided each box will have its own theme. We will have a "hot sauce" box with tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro. The next one will be my "veggie box" and will house green beans, okra and black-eyed peas and the back box will be my "mound box" and have squash, cucumbers and zucchini in it. It should be a lot of fun to start growing things again. My garden was literally my sanctuary last year and that is where I prayed for our adoption the most. I've missed it.

 Last but not least, it is track season once again and Princess is running better than ever this year. She is so super fast! Those long legs of hers really come in handy when she's running. So far this season she has helped her team get 3 first place ribbons! We are very proud of her.

I don't really have anything new to report on the adoption. But we are still waiting on God and we know His timing is perfect. I am taking a "facebook fast" and every time I want to check facebook, I'm going to pray for the adoption instead. Hold me accountable!! :) If you are still praying for us, THANK YOU!! We really appreciate it and would love to thank each of you personally but this is as close as I can get. Hope your spring is moving along smoothly and you are enjoying it as much as we are!