Misc Rambling

Just a few things to note in this journal of mine:

1.  Convo between me and Halle Caroline this morning:

me:  Halle Caroline!!! You made a 70 on your Africa vocab quiz!!!
HC:  well, it wasn't about Ethiopia.  I make a 100 on everything about Ethiopia!!!

nice Halle Caroline.  way to make your little bro proud.

2.  Brooks has officially turned into a teenager.  Pray for me.  And I hear that 7th grade girls are horrible as well.  I've got 4 months.  Pray for me some more.

3.  I am about to pick Brooks up from school to take him shopping for his 8th grade dance/banquet thingy. Pray for me some more.

4.  I am beginning to think that people don't believe we are adopting.  This is taking so long.  I actually avoid people sometimes, because I know that they might ask about the adoption.  I am so sick of saying, "we're just waiting".  It really stinks.

5.  It's really hard having 2 girls doing the same sport.  Hurts a momma's heart sometimes.

That's all for today.  Happy Friday and weekend!

Hoping you all had a fabulous Mother's Day! 

I just had to share what Ellison made me at school for Mother's Day.... after I received this sweet, funny gift.... I had to go get the one Halle Caroline made for me when she was in 4th Grade.  I had it out to get framed because I loved her's so much also.  But 2 years later, it still is not framed! 

Ellison - 9  years old

 Notice the pink TOMS shoes with the little blue tag at the back... love it!

My commentary:
- awesome and skinny! ha!
-Lover of chocolate, diet coke, and beaches - she hit the nail on the head there!
-relaxed when "tanning" - I rarely "tan"!
-gives love, response, and money to our church.  This makes me laugh... evidentally we have been making an impact on our kids about giving money to the church! lol!
- who fears solicitors--- I have been teaching the kids that they don't owe it to any solicitor to open the door to them.
-The last one makes me really laugh!  My favorite place is the beach, so yes, I would like to see ANY beach! And I am a flight attendant, but often complain that I wish I wasn't (she's ratting me out here), and I really complained about having to do 6 science fair projects between my kids through elementary school.  Halle Caroline did 2, and Ellison did 4.  I was worn out by the last one! Evidentally I complained about that a lot too.
- And for the record... I'm just glad to have a job during these hard economic times, but I HATE having to leave my family for 3 days at a time sometimes.  Just in case someone was gonna leave a rude comment.

Here is Halle Caroline's that she did when she was 9

My commentary:
-Lover of Sonic diet cokes, Target, and Pink - she hit the nail on the head too!
-Who needs her iphone - umm, yes, I start shaking if it is missing for 5 minutes.  Reisens (the candy)- maybe not so much! ha!
-Who gives monogrammed stuff - yes I have a monogram business - most everyone always receives monogrammed gifts from me/us.  And we like to occasionally take Sonic drinks to teachers. It's fun!
-Who fears Hobo's (okay.... I think she couldn't think of anything! lol!) and my favorite "US LOOKING UGLY!"  CRACK ME UP!  It's true, people, it's true.  When the girls were little, they had HUGE bows and everything matching at all times... I think I have relaxed a little on this.... But I hate to say that I do on occasion tell them they are not leaving the house looking like "ragamuffins".
-Who would like to see a pink slug bug in the middle of her living room! Well, the story here is that I stalked a lady that lives close to us for FIVE years that drove a pink convertible slug bug.  I would scream AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS every time we passed her.  I knew where she lived!  And Derek happened to pass her house everyday on the way to work.  I told him that if that slug bug ever came for sale... that he better call about it!!! One day, he called me and said, "you are never gonna believe what is for sale?"  The pink slug bug was for sale!!!  It had been for sale for 20 minutes and they had tons of calls after us.  It is the most ridiculous purchase we have ever made in our entire lives.  But I love it more than anything... well except my family.and maybe my iphone. and my ipad.  Kinda thankful I have it now, because of the gas prices!

And.... both girls mentioned diet cokes... I am happy to say that I am 22 days clean and sober of diet coke today!!!! I always knew how bad it was for you... I finally received one of those crazy emails that was the straw that broke the camel's back and I quit.  But just fyi - the email said that the average person that quits drinking diet coke will lose like 17 pounds.... well, this was the theory that I was wanting to test.... and NO - I haven't lost any weight.  But it could be due to the fact that I have taken up Sonic limeades.... they probably have a million calories!

It's so fun to see what your kids pick up from you! Too funny!

May is just crazy

I seriously think that May is a crazier month than December.  There is so much end of the school year stuff going on with the kids! I completely forgot about a major meeting that I was supposed to be at this week...AND, I was in charge of bringing desserts to a teachers staff meeting.... and I completely forgot that too! Seriously... what is happening to me???

We have just had a super crazy week.  Brooks had tennis tryouts at the high school this week for next year.  (really, HIGH SCHOOL! :(  that makes me really sad, high school.)  So that was stressful.  Then, on top of that, the girls had evaluations for cheer to see which team they will be on next year.  It's a big mystery as to which level team they will be on.  Both the girls have worked their tail ends off to get extra skills so that they can be on a certain level.  I am just so extremely glad that the owners and coaches of our gym prayerfully consider where each girl should be.  So, I know that they will end up on the perfect team for them.  But, seriously, I have spent like 15 hours at that gym this week! goodness gracious!  Praise the Lord, I finally got the wifi code for that joint!

Halle Caroline had a fun field trip.  They got into teams  and built cardboard boats and then covered them in duct tape.  Then the foursomes got to race their boats at our local natatorium.  It is always a super fun thing for the 6th graders to do.  Here's a pic of her and her sweet friends.

Ellison had her 4th grade play day... which is a huge deal for the 4th graders.  They get to go to the High School field and have a field day against some of the other schools in our city.  It is super fun!  Well, who knew that Ella was a little "fastie"!?!  Her PE teachers, who are in charge of Play Day, and who are also, highly competitive... had Ellison in all these important races.  Evidenly she is one of the fastest girls in the 4th grade.  But she was told not to brag about it (by the teachers), so she probably won't appreciate me writing this in the blog.

  

1st place on the shuttle relay!!!

This is where she is about to run the 4 x 100.  Her PE teacher looked at her and said, "Ellison! Sit down and rest!" ha!

The most important race of all of Play Day... the 4 x 100.  She is the first leg.

 One of her teammates and buddies!

okay... so 4 more crazy weeks of school... I will survive!

On the adoption front... I did email our caseworker this week about some things ... and then I said, "feel free to shed any light on a little toddler boy referral for us"... Ha! she answered back, "I got nothing."  well those weren't exactly her words, but basically. :(  And so we wait some more.  And I guess our summer vacation will not be to Ethiopia.  Darn.

Halle Caroline Goes Xtreme!

Halle Caroline had her cheer banquet last night.  It was a pretty big deal.  The girls got all dressed up in their finest for the big night.  It's too bad it was rainy and like 40 degrees. Crazy Texas weather.  Here are a few pics from her fun night...

Halle Caroline and her bff Chandler

Halle Caroline and her bff since birth, Miss M. Ha! Great minds think alike - they showed up in the same dress!

 Chandler and Halle Caroline with their awards!

We were so extremely proud of her for getting her teams "Outstanding Leadership Award".  There was only one given out per team and Halle Caroline got it for her team, Promise.  Her bff, Chandler got the best  "Outstanding Attitude Award" for her team, Honor.  I had to give the girls a little speech on the way home about how proud I was of them.  There were very few awards given out for "character" for each team... and we were so proud that both of these sweet girls received these awards chosen by their coaches.  It says a lot about these precious girls.

We are so happy to go to a gym where the girls are encouraged each and every time they step foot in that gym to "let your light shine"!  Halle Caroline has just blossomed this year, finding something that she loves and is passionate about at Spirit Xtreme.  We are so blessed to have a place where our girls can go and do what they love but also be surrounded with awesome, sweet coaches that pray over them and remind them that Jesus is most important.

Way to go Halle Caroline!!! It's been a great year!