Seven Years Together

 

The Many Faces of our Mia...

We Celebrated our Seventh Forever Family Day together on April 4th.

 

 

This precious little girl brings so much joy to our family. She is sassy, funny, sweet and quite ornery at times. She is loving, caring and kind to everyone. Her smile lights up a room, and oh how I love to hear her giggles and laughter. We love her more than words can ever express! Thank you Lord for this beautiful child.

He has Risen! Jesus is Alive!

Our Easter celebration is a celebration because of our Lord Jesus Christ! He conquered death and because of his resurrection those who believe in him will spend eternity in heaven with him. We awakened to an absolutely glorious day! We are so privileged to share the Resurrection Celebration with a wonderful church family! We enjoyed a morning full of beautiful worship of our Lord and Savior. Following our church service, we headed home to enjoy family fellowship over an Easter feast. After eating, the kids headed outside for the annual egg hunt. They are always so fast at hunting that taking pictures becomes a feat. I did manage to get a few action shots...not professional quality by any means. It is always pleasurable to watch the kids excitement and joy at hunting and finding those colorful eggs. It is just as fun to watch them as they check out the loot (Another one of our family traditions is to add surprise eggs to the hunt). I always love to listen as the kids dig through their eggs, find their prizes, and barter and trade for candies and prizes. As my kids get older and reach their teen years, more and more are leaving the egg hunt behind. I know I am going to miss these family times and traditions, and so, I am enjoying each and every moment!

The Easter Bunny DELIVERED!

Checking out the loot

Hunting on the unfinished play structure...

The hunt is on...(that is Miss Melinda, our Children's Minister joining in the race)

He is so Proud

Discovering their prizes...

Found the dollar egg!

Easter Preparations

Upon returning from our time with the KKrew, we began to busily work on our school work. We are trying to get "caught up" and on target for finishing this year of school at the end of May. Since our week has been a busy one, we looked forward to Saturday with much enthusiasm! We slept late, had banana/chocolate chip pancakes, and then did fun things getting ready for our Easter celebration. The kids always love dying eggs and this year was no exception. We made the traditional family Bunny cake. I gave Nolan "artistic license" in designing, cutting and decorating the cake(He had a bit of help with the icing and decorating). The whole decorating group did a good job!
Our day was just a fabulous, fun-filled, family time.

Making the traditional name egg

I want to dye this pink

How many colors?

So excited for his turn!

The big boys decided to get on the decorating before the eggs were all gone

Some finished name eggs

Beautiful color cups

Cutting and Shaping the Bunny cake

The finished cake complete with a belly button!

A Homecoming

Waiting Anxiously for their parents

There they are...

Mommy, Daddy,...K!

Hugs All Around

More Hugs!

The Crowd

There She Is!

A Precious Smile

Smitten with her big brother

Once Again, we were blessed to be a part of welcoming home Connie and Clayton and their precious little one. Welcoming home adoptive families is nothing less than wonderful! It never, ever gets old! It never, ever fails to bring me to tears! It is an amazing testimony to what God blesses us with whenever we say "Yes" to His Call!  Each and every time a child gets a forever family, it gives but a small glimpse of the love of Jesus. The love He showed to us giving His life so that we can be adopted heirs with Him for eternity. There is a saying that I read recently (which I love!). It says, "We adopt not because we are the rescuers but because we have been rescued." A Welcome Home party is but a brief glimpse of the love and joy that we get to experience when we are welcomed home to be with Jesus. Oh How I Love A Welcome Home Party!

Final Days with the Fab Fifteen

Well, as you can imagine, the final days with the Fab Fifteen were busy days or at least filled with activity. The kiddos spent much of Spring Break playing outside, riding bikes, exploring in the forest and many hours of play with Legos. They continued to enjoy each other's company so very much. It is difficult to explain how well they do get along...God orchestrated for sure!
In addition,we took a trip to town for hamburgers at our favorite place, Freddies, and then we braved the big "W" store with all fifteen. I dislike that place, especially when taking my kids there. I can't explain why exactly, except to say, it is always super stufffed with items and super crowded. Trying to manuever around the store and keep all my chicks with me and out of people's way becomes a monumental task at times(or so it feels). Anyway, the thought of taking 15 had me a little stressed. ln actuality, it turned out to be easy thanks to each teen taking some of the smaller ones and going off to explore. A few stayed with Brad and I, as we were shopping for birthday party supplies. I still managed to forget a few things that I had wanted to pick up but nothing "earth-shattering". The kids were well behaved, and no one asked for anything (which my kids usually drive me crazy with even though it never works). Most importantly, we left Walmart with all fifteen kiddos.  
Princess Kennah's birthday was Wednesday, and so we thought it would be fun for all of us to have a mini-celebration. We knew that she would celebrate when mom and dad returned;however, we thought it would be a fun activity for all the kids. Anything to keep them busy, and everyone loves a party. The birthday girl requested a princess party. We honored that request with a "princess" theme. After a birthday dinner, the party began. We had to pretend to "blow out"the candle (because that was one of the things I forgot). Everyone was ready to dig into the cake and ice cream, and Little K was very excited about opening her presents. She was surrounded by lots of helpers, but she managed to get the gifts open much to her delight. Her smile brought happiness and was all the thanks anyone could need. She was(is) a beautiful princess indeed!

Princess Cake for a Princess

Opening presents

A Princess Doll for a Beautiful Princess 

Breakfast with the Fab Fifteen

Funny Cereal Face (Can't help but love this cutie...MY BABY)

Boys, Boys, Boys...silliness extrodinaire!

Coco Crisp are a healthy breakfast,right?!

These are yummy!

Mealtime with fifteen is crazy at best...But after 13 days together, we have developed a system and it works! It is easiest to limit choices and to serve plates in an assembly line. Breakfast is slightly different, and I learned the hard way that the majority's breakfast of choice is waffles or cereal. (Yeah...made eggs, bacon and toast one breakfast...not many happy plates :)! ....even my kiddos who like the occassional big breakfast preferred cereal/waffles...makes it easier for me!...) 
Funny Story: We have had meals provided for us by the church...praising the Lord for His provision and for their generousity! Weekends have been my cooking days... I love to cook, but have to say it can be a bit difficult with bunches of kiddos needing my attention. It is difficult, as well, to find things that ALL will like (because,of course, " its not like momma's"). So, for Sunday lunch, I made beef stew using Beef Stew Meat, Carrots,Potatoes (my momma's recipe that has withstood the test of time and lots of  kiddos). It was a hit! Most of the kiddos ate it well, and they soped up the gravy with cornbread. One K~krew teen loved it a bit more than most...eating so much that he was miserable (2 huge, heaping bowls)! He kept going on and on about how good it was and how he enjoyed it! I am thinking he is just schmoozing me...!  However, yesterday (Monday) Brad was asking him something about food and being hungry. He said,"I am getting so full...so fat... because of Ms Kim's food." To which  I replied, "No one has been forcing you to eat so much." His reply,"I know, but that "stuff", you know that "Stuff", you made yesterday. It is so good! It reminds me of China. It taste just like "Dog Meat"... Brad and I started laughing( we just couldn't help ourselves...). He said, "What?! It does! It taste just like dog-meat I had in China." Oh, Dear! It was meant as a compliment, I think!??!
Since, serving time went smoothly this morning, I was able to take some fun pics as they ate and played.

Legos, Oh how I love thee!! (many hours of entertainment!)

Have to chase these guys off the video games and outside...

The only kid of picture I get of Nate these days...

The Rock Star Breakfast...(not really her breakfast, but she loved aggravating the teen that it belonged to)

More Sunday Silliness Pics

More crazy pics...

Tried to get them all to cooperate, umm yeah...

Little K burst into tears, 4 yr K covered her eyes, our bunch decided to be silly...

Then K boy decides to refuse...

Teen K convinced Littlest K to look for mommy...

Let the Silliness begin...

Look, I am making them laugh...

How many kiddos can we fit in this one bathroom?

Wait! Isn't it our turn yet?!