Whatcha doin?

Wow. I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted and that we'll be six weeks out from court tomorrow! I'm glad that time seems to be flying by but it's going to have to slow down once he gets here so I can catch up on all the days we've missed together! :) So, we're still working on getting our to-do list knocked out. Moving into an older home from one we had built and designed means needing to put some major personal touches on this one. After my wooden cutting board project I was ready to get the kitchen to a place that I felt was finished. So I started with a simple project of recovering our bar stools.  

There you have it. One transformation down and now on to the big project. Repainting our kitchen cabinets. We opted for a shiny jet black to make them pop against our bright walls. I love it!! 

BEFORE

AFTER

Then it was time to send Little Man off to middle school camp!! Oh how can it be! He had a blast in the mountains of Colorado and couldn't ask for a better week weather wise. It was nice and cool. Our church was the Yellow Team so we stocked up on some fun gear before he left and he went all out!! I am so proud of his confidence and the man he is becoming.

While he was at camp, Princess and I "took the week off" and decided to head to A town for a few days. Our family and friends threw us an awesome shower/celebration to celebrate Little J's adoption. We received our translated adoption decree so it was now official in English too. He is our son! 

Little Man got home just in time to join in the celebration with us and we loved seeing so many people that we love dearly. Imagine our surprise when so many of them were wearing orange! It really shows much they love and support us and all the causes we're passionate about. My mom even made cute little orange bottle cap magnets with the word "HOPE" on them to remind guests to pray for the orphans in Africa. It made me teary. 

 My bubba's beautiful family!

My mom and Michelle

Grand-Papaw, Aunt Becky and cutie Isaac

My sister and cousin Kara

FRIENDS!! Michelle, Cindy and Shannon

The family that wears orange together, stays together :)

Adam and Mamaw

Once back home, it was back to work! I was determined to get Little J's room put together and it helped that we received his bedding as a shower gift. So I put up the coordinating border, added the valances, hung up the letters for his name, unpacked and washed everything else and now all we need is his cute little face! 

Meanwhile, I had the crazy notion that my almost 12 year old was old enough to learn how to mow the yard. I loved mowing growing up so we got out there before the sun got too hot and had a mother/son mowing lesson. He did great! Now, when the weekends in the fall are filling up with football games, etc. daddy won't have to add this to his list! 

On Sunday we were blessed to get updated pictures of our littlest man from friends who were there picking their son up to come home. I was thrilled to see they are still letting him suck on his two fingers. He's going to need those during the craziness of coming home. We were submitted to embassy this week so now we're literally on a day by day notice of when we can bring him home! I am so ready!! I just love him!

I can't believe how much older he looks with his hair growing out. I may need to keep it really short for awhile so he keeps his "baby" look a little longer. 

Next up, getting our school room ready. I knew I wanted to put some fresh paint on the walls but couldn't decide on going fun or neutral. Then my husband said something that made complete sense. "It really doesn't seem right for us to not have at least one orange wall in our home." So off I went to find the perfect fabric and color. We LOVE how it turned out and one wall became two. I recovered three pillows in the fun fabric I found and bought a slipcover for the couch in there. Now to order curriculum for the next year and we'll be ready to start! One day.... 

So after all this fun, I'm kinda tired. :) Princess left for camp this morning and we're headed to get one of Little Man's friends for the weekend. I think I'll just let my body recoup and try and clean house. I can't be too tired when we get "the call" ya know! Happy Thursday!