EIGHT

Wilson, my first baby, you are...

{enthusiastic}

{insightful}

{dashing}

{adventurous}

{prepared}

{creative}

{perceptive}

{playful}

...and so much more. You forever changed Mommy & Daddy the day you entered this world. You consistently challenge us to be more.

We often say you are an "old soul." And while we joke that its because you act like an old man sometimes, the truth is your little eight-year-old heart is sensitive beyond your years. You seem to know when there is a need, and you do your best to help. You are visibly bothered when you aren't able to help. I pray that your heart stays sensitive to the needs around you, even though it might be hard to carry that sensitivity sometimes. God will bless you for it, I know it.

Daddy and I could have never imagined the joy you would bring into our lives. And we would have never believed that at age 8 you would be in the middle of a fundraising goal to help people you might never meet. Its thrilling to see your relationship with God grow, and a blessing to be able to see Him challenge you through this. We love you.

at-home VBS (plus some sewing pics)

Sometime after our VBS at church, Walker mentioned that he wished "every week was VBS!" And I thought I probably could find one at least for each week in June...but I wasn't serious about that. I kind of dismissed his comment until sometime after I had gone crazy from the continual fighting that was happening on a regular basis during the summer days.

So I did some googling. And I found some free VBS stuff online - I knew I would, google is good like that. Of course, I took bits & pieces to make it work for these two, but it was really pretty fun. And the fighting decreased (somewhat).

The theme was based on Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

It was a five-day lesson plan, but the boys were into it some days and not so much on other days so it took us two weeks. And that's ok, because it was fun. Here are a few pictures from them playing with our "fruity" playdough (I used this recipe for kool-aid playdough - the boys had fun making it!)They also made mini-books with each of the characteristics listed - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Ironically, Walker's patience fell in the dog's water dish). In the process, Wilson and I memorized the verses. Walker remembers two characteristics without fail - joy, and self-control! We talked about how the Holy Spirit can help us display this fruit in our days. And that we should pray for help. The boys made little reminders for their rooms that say, "make today fruity" - you can see one on the side of this picture with Walker.
And naturally I wanted a reminder too. Mine is for the kitchen. While googling "fruit of the Spirit craft tutorials" I found this. I had to load the verse myself so I could get it to print to fit in an 8x10 frame. That website was so fun!

Oh, and I had done some sewing last week too; the background fabric of the boys' "make today fruity" reminders is scrap-fabric from this pillowcase dress. Its very fruity!
I took these over to Bit of Benning, we'll see if some of them sell.

I have two other theme ideas for at-home VBS ; hidden treasure, and the Armor of God. I'll kinda play it by ear to see if the boys want to do it some more. I figure centering our play around scripture is a good way to get some of it stuck in their brains for the long-haul. And, it is fun to say to the boys, "Make sure you are fruity while we're in the store," and give them a little wink. ;)

Running Brad

Brad ran in the Peachtree Road Race yesterday - along with 59,999 other people. One of those other people was Brad's boss; pictured above (who is moving in a couple weeks.) Brad didn't quite make his goal pace, but he did finish well. And I am so proud.

I think you probably know how much Brad hated running not all that long ago. The combination of the asthma diagnosis with improper treatment made running a horrible experience for Brad. Add to it the bosses he had at Fort Sill that assumed Brad was a scammer and it was just awful. He often felt defeated. As his wife, I hated it for him. I think there are few things worse than knowing your husband isn't being respected (and I'd be naive to think that this only happens to husbands in the Army).

As you might remember, while Brad was in Africa his running experience began to change. He has worked hard. He's invested time and money into improving his running. He has stopped claiming that he "just isn't built for running." And I've mentioned this before but its worth repeating, God has blessed Brad with some great guys that have encouraged his running efforts. Brad downloads sermons to listen to while he runs. The time he spends running isn't just about running. Somehow, God has turned running into a benefit for Brad.

Brad has taught me (and our boys) an incredible lesson. "You might not be that great at something, you might not even be built for it; but sometimes its what you have to do. If you give it to God, and ask Him to help you; if you work hard, and invest in getting better; you will. God will take this thing you struggle with and make it a treasure*."

Granted this lesson was not taught using words, but actions.

* and yes some days running is nothing more than a giant suck-fest, but Brad is not defeated by it. That is the treasure.

We'll update Wilson's blog later with more pictures and his perspective of Race day.

summer reading program...

Wilson has been devouring books. I mean, this kid can R-E-A-D! Wow. So I decided to take him to the library two weeks ago while Walker was at MMO. But the library by church was "closed for renovation." Bummer. We decided we'd go to the main library after we picked Walker up on the way home...

We were so glad that we had to go to the main library! They have a huge children's room and there is no shhhhushing necessary. Awesome! Here's Wilson, in the Hardy Boy's section...And Walker with his bag full - Barbie made these bags for the boys and I just added the little pocket on front for their library cards this week. (Walker wanted to get his own library card on his birthday! And, forgetter-mom did not want to have to keep track of 3 library cards!)
Yesterday, we had some family errands to run... Brad dropped the boys and I off at the library while he went to the bank and post office. I was at a loss for where to find a good list of decent, age-appropriate books... then I remembered the homeschool curriculum that was used when I was in Africa... Sonlight! I found their book lists and uploaded the pdf to my phone so Wilson will always have some suggested reading - for when he finishes all the Hardy Boys' books!

Wilson checked out his first Encyclopedia Brown book yesterday. Brad had recommended it a few weeks ago, when we saw it last week at the library Wilson wasn't too sure about it. Well, he changed his mind by this week so he got it. He started reading when we got in the car. To finish off the errand running we had two more stops to make: first, Wal-mart -where we all went in; and second, Big Dog Running - where the boys and I waited in the car while Daddy went in to get a belt for his race (more on that later). Of course, we had to stop at Sonic because it was Happy Hour...

And when we got home Wilson says, "I finished the Encyclopedia Brown book already."

Wow!

Good thing I let him pick out 4 books this time.

Oh, and shortly thereafter Walker told me that he had finished ALL of his books. Little cutie ;)

Rangers in Action

Last Friday (was it Friday?) the boys and I went to see this thing called "Rangers In Action." Brad has mentioned to me a number of times that I should take the boys out to see it. I guess I was hoping for a time when Brad could go with us, so I kept putting it off. But since its summer and we had nothing going on Friday morning, we decided to head over there.

We got there a few minutes after 9 - Brad said it started at 9. (I'm always so punctual). Apparently it got changed to 10am, but it worked out perfectly because if we had gotten there much later I don't think we would've had very good seats. It was packed!

Here are the boys waiting for the show to start... I told the boys to grab a hat or sunglasses because I didn't know if we'd be facing the sun...Basically, the Ranger Instructors demonstrate all kinds of things that the Ranger students learn in Ranger school (and beyond, I think). I can't really explain well how spectacular this show was... better than any I've seen at a theme park, for sure! Walker wasn't happy when he found out there would be explosions...
I took a couple of videos, but this is really the only one that turned out - you see some guys and bags fly into the water out of the chopper toward the end...


Walker's favorite part of the demonstration was the "Australian Rappel" and Wilson liked when some of the Rangers performed a STABO extraction by helicopter across the pond. There were 4 Rangers suspended from the helicopter on a rope. It was pretty sweet.

If you come visit and its during an RIA (Rangers in Action) you can bet we'll take you out to see it... maybe we'll bring some earplugs for Walker.

birthday recap

Walker wanted to help make his own birthday cake. He picked chocolate, with chocolate frosting. I wanted to try the Cracker Barrel Coca-Cola Cake recipe, but he wanted to stick with a tried and true recipe - Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake. It is quite good, and I've made it twice and it has turned out twice - that's sayin' something.
Here's a little video of the cake-in-progress....


This might have something to do with why he likes to help. ;)
He still has a great-gift-opening-face...
Blowing out the candles... he started blowing as soon as we started singing...
Is it just me, or is he ridiculously adorable? {Oh, and wasn't it sweet that Wilson let him borrow the "#5" that Yaya had made him?}
He's especially fond of this puppet book from Meme and Grandpa Carl...
...but his favorite gift is the mircrophone. Oh boy!

five years

Walker, my child, you are...

{vivacious}

{affectionate}

{opinionated}

{lighthearted}

{super}

...and a million other things.

You make me rethink things I never thought I needed too.

You just recently taught me that #3 in the bathroom refers to blowing your nose. And you stated it with such certainty - convincing both Wilson & I that perhaps the rest of the world already knew that.

Last night as we talked about how God helps during hard times, you took my breath away. At first you said, "He makes them go faster." Daddy said, "not always," and we remembered about how Daddy was deployed for 15 months and God didn't make that time go faster. We asked you and Wilson how God helped and you said, "He gave us peace."

Your initial birthday list - before your brother encouraged you to be more thorough - had three things on it:
1). Wilson not to read all day.
2). Matchbox cars to fill up the bathtub to the ceiling.
3). New brother or sister to be home.

Oh son, your heart is so incredible. I pray you will always have your own special way of looking at life. I pray you will let God use you in amazing ways to show His love and share His peace. And as you continue to grow and become more of a boy and less of a baby, I pray God will protect my heart so I can let you become the man you must be. You were made for God's glory, I pray I never stand in the way of that.

blueberry pickin' time...

really, Saturday morning was about as perfect as it could be for blueberry picking... it was cloudy and in the low-70's, which has not been the norm around here in the mornings!

Here are a few pictures from our pickin' time...Wilson was a very serious picker...
...guess he gets that from his Daddy... ;)
don't they look lovely? it was different this year in that there were so many ripe berries intermingled with unripe (is that a word?) berries...
Walker showed me nearly every berry that went into his bucket for awhile, he'd give a little description about its size or color and then hold it up for me to examine before dropping it into the bucket.
Walker and I worked together & Brad and Wilson worked together. Walker and I sampled the berries from each bush before deciding to pick from it or not... some trees are sweeter than others.

---sidenote---
I made a discovery after standing on a fire ant hole... I have a very mild reaction to fire ant bites; an initial sting and then nothing: no itching, no swelling, just a couple little bitty welts. So I guess that's good news.
---return to original post---

As we finished filling our buckets (we picked two gallons), we were all clumped up together at the end of the patch. Pouring our pickin's into two buckets to see if they were full. Discussing the chipmunk, the weather, the berries, and a variety of other topics.

Another patron came out from the bushes and announced, "I don't really care if the berries are any good down here or not, I've just thoroughly enjoyed listening to your family chatting. My oldest son is 24 and his name is Wil and it just took me down memory lane to listen to you this morning."

After she walked away, we were all a little quiet. She yelled back, "I'm not listening anymore, you can keep talking!" It was pretty funny.

Today I am going to make a blueberry pie and give blueberry jam a try. We froze at least 20 cups of berries over the weekend. Something sweet to savor throughout the year along with the memories!

Survey Says... {round two}

Father's Day Survey - 2011

...the boys originally answered the same survey questions in 2009, you can click here to see their answers then...

What is something your Dad always says to you?
Wilson: um, let's see here...."stop fighting"
Walker: I think its 'not to be naughty.'

How tall is your Daddy?
Wilson: hmmm... 5 foot 4
Walker: shrugs shoulder

What makes your Dad...
a. Happy?
Wilson: us not fighting
Walker: when we don't fight

b. sad?
Wilson: us fighting
Walker: when we fight

c. laugh?
Wilson: that's a hard one... me saying something funny
Walker: nothing

What is his favorite thing to do?
Wilson: Spend time with the family.
Walker: I think his favorite thing to do is probably wash the car, that is probably why he washed the car yesterday.

What does he do when you are not around?
Wilson: Yard work
Walker: He sometimes grills out.

What does he eat for breakfast?
Wilson: cereal
Walker: Sometimes he eats something that is brand new, like Frosted Flakes or Honey Nut Cheerios.

What is his favorite food?
Wilson: he never really told me that, but I'll go for "Brats!"
Walker: I think steak.

What is he really good at?
Wilson: Soaking us with water
Walker: Grilling

What do you and Daddy do together?
Wilson: Play the Wii
Walker: Sometimes play board games, and when you and Wilson were at Cub Scouts, Dad and me wrestled, that's what he likes to do with me.

How do you know he loves you?
Wilson: He will play the xBox with me
Walker: Sometimes he picks me up at church and I think that means he loves me.

What is your Dad's job?
Wilson: Medic
Walker: To get money.

Is there anything else you want to say?
Wilson: uh-uh
Walker: shakes head no

a little more VBS!

The theme this year for VBS was "Big Apple Adventure" Here are the boys by one of the posters...
Wilson was, of course, with the "big kids" while Walker and I were in pre-school land. There were over 400 kids participating in the "big kids" part of our VBS! Each day the kids could participate in dressing up as different things from NYC. Thursday was "Tacky Tourist" so Wilson and I plastered "I ♥ NY" over anything and everything we could find... we tried to fill his backpack with some pamphlets & maps too...

He thought the socks with the sandals was especially tacky.
I can't tell you how many times he said, "thanks for helping me with this, Mom!" Again, so adorable!

VBS!

Our church had VBS this week!

When I went to the leader's meeting before our Asheville trip, I discovered that I was slotted to be a "floater" with a note next to my name that said, "will help with three-year-olds only." While I was a little impressed with my boundary-setting-skills the wording of my boundary was a little skewed... I said "the older kids" which would've included 4 & 5-year-olds as well. ;) Anyway, I was prepared to be the one that bounces from room to room making sure that all of the hard-working teachers were able to get breaks when they needed them...

But then, one of the 3-year-old teachers had strep so I got to be in the same class all day, every day. And I tell you what, we must've had the absolute best group of 3-year-olds ever. They were so chill. And eager to do every game and activity that the VBS curriculum had to offer. And there were only 4 of them! I always feel a little weird posting pictures of other people's kids on the blog, but I thought this one of their hand puppets would be alright... such cuties!oh. and did I mention that I have had some sort of awful-summer-head-cold-thing this week? And Brad was working crazy hours as we continue to set heat records here? So evenings were a bit rough around here. But thankfully Brad downloaded me a new album and listening to it while making dinner did help my spirits... like my fancy iPhone-speaker-amplifier? (I love all the crystal that has been making its way to my house lately from some very special ladies!)
(Oh... and that recipe, really is the best. waffles. ever. Interested? click here.)


And you know they say that if you have to take a test that if you dress up it will have a positive impact on your test results? Well, I thought I'd try wearing Walker's Statue of Liberty crown while I made those waffles... and honestly, from this picture, you can barely tell that I feel like I was just run over by a truck... well, only my head, the rest of my body felt relatively fine... So, I think there is something to that theory...
...and a handful of chocolate chips never hurts either....
Back to VBS....

I found out this week that Walker is a big, big helper in Pre-school Worship (they have it every Sunday and had it each day during VBS). The lady that leads it said that her son has a hard time controlling himself in there and Walker will sit by him and say, "You know your mom wants you to sit still!" Here's a shot of him helping lead a song, "Good things, good things, Jesus does good things..." So adorable.

gone fishin'

...{like two weeks ago}... but I never posted the pictures, so here you go. Koka wasn't sure what to think about this little fish hanging on a string in front of her nose...
I didn't really pose Wilson well so its hard to see the fish hanging in front of his camo. shirt. I guess camo does work at times. He is an adorable little fisher, isn't he?
Walker was reeling in itty-bitty-fish all afternoon. He loved it. We ate this one. Raw. Right there on the pier. Or not. (just checking to make sure you read all the words).

And afterwards, the boys played in the backyard with squirt guns & the sprinkler while Daddy watered the lawn... I especially like this one which captures Walker swinging on his belly face-first to the sprinkler. That's our Walker... all out, all the time.

True Things

So you know that we are in the "waiting" part of adoption. Waiting for a placement. Waiting for who knows how long. Waiting. Sorta reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh the Places You'll Go." Do you know the part? Where everybody is just waiting?

That's where we are. And honestly some days I am better about waiting than others. I waver. The most recent Bible study that I completed at PWOC was titled, "He Speaks to Me," by Priscilla Shirer. In the last week, there was a quote that really got me... pretty sure I even posted it on FB in case one of my "friends" needed those words that day.

"Believing is an action we must choose. A direct correlation exists between our level of belief and patience. Whether we believe God will do what He says will determine whether we can wait graciously for Him. Our lack of patience indicates we don't really believe the God we claim to trust."

That put my impatience in its place. I believe God will do what He said He will do. I believe He has called us to this adoption from the State of GA foster care system. I believe He will bring our baby-child home in His perfect timing. But some days, I need help. And I remembered a passage in Mark that really encouraged me...

We actually studied it for half-a-page in the study I did last fall at PWOC, "Living Free" by Beth Moore. Anyway, Mark 9:17-24 is about the man that wants Jesus to heal his son. The man's son had been possessed by an evil spirit since childhood. It would throw the boy into convulsions, even tried to throw him into fire and into water to try to destroy him. The disciples tried to help, but they could not. The dad was most likely devastated that not even these men could help his son.

The father said in verse 22, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" And Jesus replied, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes."

And do you know what that boy's father cried out? "I do believe; help my unbelief!" {Mark 9:24}

In the Beth Moore study, she follows up that verse with this statement:

"I am convinced that God would rather hear our honest pleas for more of what we lack than a host of pious platitudes from an unbelieving heart. When I am challenged with unbelief, I have begun to make the same earnest plea to the One who would gladly supply."

Me too, Beth. That is my same plea today. I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!

Imagine my delight when I discovered this song...

birthday boy

this guy had a birthday while we were away... I think it was a good one. I am continually amazed by him; as a father, as a husband, as a follower of Jesus Christ. He's what most would call a "good guy." But he is also so much more than that. I am blessed beyond measure to be called his wife.

I pray the year ahead is full of all kinds of treasures for you, Bradley, as you continue to follow after God with all of your heart. Thank you for being the leader in our family, thank you for submitting to His will for you, even when it doesn't make sense to everyone else. Thank you for choosing Him as your guide... it makes it so much easier to follow you. I love you. Always and forever.

And you knew this would be on your birthday post, right? After all, "you are a novel in a sea of magazines..."

"well, that was ...

...awesome!"

We had the greatest getaway weekend with David & Casey! I'm not sure exactly when the plan was hatched, but we decided to get-together for the long weekend, and to ease the driving we decided to pick a place to meet up rather than staying at one of our houses. We chose near Asheville, NC. We found a cabin on vrbo.com. I'll admit, I was a little hesitant about what to expect, but I think we did alright with our choosing...

Here are the guys on the porch by the front door...

{and the pics are in random order, so please overlook that annoyance}

Walker tried out the fountain downtown Asheville...
and both of the boys enjoyed multiple dips in the hot tub on the deck... as did Uncle David & Daddy... for some reason I only got in once, and Aunt Casey opted out for the sake of not cooking baby. Good call. The guys enjoyed it a lot though!
I don't remember the name of this creek but its by Chimney Rock, NC. The boys had fun playing around in it... (until someone notified us of a snake...)
We all waded in it a bit, it was so cold & refreshing!

here is a collage with some other views from the cabin as well as more from the creek...


We went to the 11th annual Mountain Sports Festival, it wasn't exactly what we expected (we decided maybe the first or second day would've been a little better than the last day), but there was fun to be had - the boys tried out the climbing wall. I was really bummed that I had a dress on so I couldn't do it - or wait, no I wasn't.
I actually forgot the camera so all these pics are from my phone. I somehow missed taking a single picture of David or Casey, so I guess we'll have to do this again... ;) I think if I had the camera I would have actually taken some of those kind of pictures, the phone/camera thing doesn't seem legit for those kind of pics - at least in my mind - for now. Maybe one day I'll get it.

Anyway, it was great to get to spend time together with them. I'm not sure why it has taken us this long to plan something like that... hopefully it won't be that long before we do it again. I'm guessing the next time we see them will be in their hometown when we meet the little man on his way! So excited about that!

fun news

In case you didn't know, we went on a nice little getaway this weekend where we met up with David & Casey and stayed at a sweet log cabin near Asheville, NC... I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow (most likely)...

...but in the meantime, I just wanted to quickly tell you about a phone call we got on the way to Asheville (not THE phone call). It was Wilson's teacher, Mrs. Z. She was calling to let me know that Wilson's report card and awards were ready to be picked up in the office. And there was one other thing she had to tell me that she couldn't tell me on Monday when we picked Wilson up...

... she is moving on to 3rd grade - and bringing her class with her!!! How awesome is that? We were actually at Wal-Mart when she called and Brad couldn't for the life of him figure out who on earth I was talking to, or why I sounded so giddy! It was such a fun and unexpected blessing for us!

I told Wilson and he said, "I guess I don't have to pray about my 3rd grade teacher anymore!" He gets a big grin whenever we bring it up. He's pretty happy about this development.

we kicked off the morning with some Alice Cooper...

...because... "SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER..." and for unknown reasons, whenever we arrive at the last day of school I can't help but belt out some Alice Cooper. And the boys look at me like I am making up my own song... and then when they hear Alice Cooper sing it they look at me in disbelief, "like really? there's a song like that in real life?"

So the actual last day of school is not until Friday but because Brad has leave this week we worked out a deal with Mrs. Z. so Wilson could spend more time with Daddy. She helped get everything ready for Wilson and gave him his end-of-the-year treat bag yesterday. We are so thankful for her. She has been a wonderful teacher and again we feel blessed that Wilson has had such a great year at school.and for a reminder of what his first day of 2nd grade looked like:

Wilson's world...

Wilson was also hard at work last week while Yaya was in town. He got to show-off his map skills on this end-of-the-year project. Thankfully we found a website that had free printable world maps. Yaya was a big help in this project too...You can see he was pretty pleased with the final result! (So was Mussy, she's so proud of her boys!)