BFFWAOP

So the other day my Princess informed me that I was her BFFWAOP. Huh? I know what BFF stands for but I was completely lost on the WAOP part. "It's Best Friends Forever With An Old Person mommy!" :) Should I be thrilled that at this stage in her life she considers me a BFF or should I be offended that she thinks of me as an old person? Hmmmm.....I think I'll just take the BFF part while I can have it. :)

Have a great and blessed day!

Weekend Wonders

Last Friday night we attended the annual light parade downtown. We started many years ago and it has since become a tradition. We usually meet early with my sister and her family and either stand on the sidewalk to watch or like last year, we both had sick kids so we stayed in our car and let them poke their head out of the sunroof to watch. Either year, we've attempted to do it and do it together. :) This year, our neighbor from down the street joined us and we even got my dad in on the fun.

This seems to be the preferred method of transportation if you weigh less than 50 lbs.

(My nephew Jaden and brother-in-law Jeramy)

She's slightly over the weight limit but Papaw didn't mind. :)

My aunt Carolyn also joined us this year which was a first. Do they look like sisters?

The current day cul-de-sac gang

Like I said, we've been doing this for awhile. I found these pics from our first parade in 2004. Little Man is 3 yr old...I think he started the shoulder transportation idea. Isn't he so cute!!! He's grown up so much!

And if Little Man was 3, that means Princess was just weeks from turning one.

But she still enjoyed the lights and being held by her Goo-Goo.

(Not much has changed along those lines.)

Ahh...if they could only stay that little forever. :)

Saturday night we got the great pleasure of meeting a local family that adopted from Ethiopia three years ago. How we found out about this particular family's journey was a God thing in itself. See, since we started this process, I've been praying that my hubby could find a man that he could relate to, trust to ask questions to and talk to that had been through this process themselves. My hubby doesn't open up to just anyone so I knew that was a pretty tall order. And how many families that live where we do adopted from Ethiopia really? But I prayed anyway. Come to find out, a friend told me about this family who adopted and are the best family and the more she talked the more I realized I knew who she was talking about. The dad is our main go-to guy for our kids Upwards sports. We started coaching with him three years ago. He and my hubby already have formed a guy-bond through sports! The guy that I had been praying for was there all along and the relationship is already built. Answered prayer!! So anyway, I hadn't met his wife or little girl yet so we set up a time and went and shared cookies and cider with them.

Let me just say...their little girl is A. DOR. A. BLE! We fell in love with her within minutes! She is so bubbly and feisty and friendly and so dang cute! While the kids played, we visited with her parents and looked at pictures and her mom was so kind to sit and answer my million questions. This truly was a very special night. We left and my spirit just felt full. But before we left, little Miss Abby asked me to please take their picture. Of course!

(Sorry the quality is bad...it was taken with my phone.)

We are just so blessed!!

Here Piggy Piggy

There are some very obvious signs that we are a homeschooling family. For instance, on any given day you could find a bowl with some sort of food product in it labeled with a sign, "SCIENCE EXPERIMENT: DO NOT EAT." Or that it is completely normal to see semi-finished art projects all over the house. How about the fact that my kids find it odd on the days I ask them to put on actual clothes and not do school in their jammies. But the most recent sign that we are a homeschooling family made me really laugh and I had to share.

What do you mean it's not normal to find a piglet in a plastic baggie lying in your drink fridge? Well, that little piggy had a very important purpose and I didn't want him stinking up my house.

A dear friend of mine who also home schools her kids called me last week to ask if I wanted a pig. There co-op science class had dissected pigs and had an extra and she really thought my kids needed that experience too. While I agreed, I had no intention of doing this by myself. So what's a girl to do but call her daddy and beg him to come help her. :) Gotta love those Papaws....they are good as gold.

So a few days later my mom, dad and brother came over to help guide us through this process. Turns out, Princess was NOT interested in taking part in this at all and wasn't shy about letting us know that.

So she proceeded to go to the living room and cry for the momma pig who had to be worried about her baby pig who had been taken away from her. (Maternal instincts at their best....I have a feeling she's going to be my biggest helper with the new one.) So I respected that choice and told the boys to start without her. Little Man was meticulous with the scalpel. He did such an awesome job. He listened to instructions and was really interested with all the different parts that they discovered.

Princess in the meantime decided it would be much more fun to read to Goo-Goo.

So there is another obvious sign that we home school...sometimes it is a full family affair to accomplish what needs to be done.

As for the piggy, she got completely torn apart....internal organs, muscles, brain....you name it, they found it and inspected it. I just will spare you from all the gory pictures.

My brothers part in all of this? To sit back and make pig sounds while they were dissecting. Oh brothers! :)