A+J=BBall Stars

The boys finished up their first season of "organized" sports a couple of weeks ago. They started to get the hang of basketball towards the end and "J" even made a couple of baskets in the games. Not an easy feat for a kid 1/2 the size of all the other kids! "A" on the other hand preferred to win over the crowd with his charm and dancing skills instead of his athletic ability.

We were just grateful no one got hurt and our boys learned about being a part of a team.

During the last game, "J" was much more interested in snack than actually playing. Here the sweet assistant coach is showing our lil' #7 how much time is left before it is over. Shortly after this "J" sat down in the middle of the court and refused to get up off the floor.
Except for this brief moment when he made a "play" on one of the 4 girls on his team! That's our lil' Romeo!
Each of the boys enjoyed post game team parties and received this trophy. It's a bobble head and a very cute one at that! Next up, soccer! We are pretty sure this sport will be a hit with our boys since it is 98% running, which is their favorite past time!

Super Weekend!

This was a gorgeous weekend to be outside with what hopefully is the beginning of spring time weather and we took full advantage of it! AND we got our Daddy back after 2 months of crazy long work weeks! We are talking 75 hours a week and mostly 7 days a week working! The boys would see him a few minutes each morning, but that is it. We all missed him dearly and I truly struggled through basically single parenting. My parents helped a lot and sweet friends encouraged and prayed for us which made all the difference. I thought/prayed a lot for single moms, widows, and families whose loved ones serve our country far from their families.

We celebrated and reconnected by eating out and playing! We also had an amazing family photo session at beautiful Herman Park on Saturday. One of our fellow church members that I follow through blogger but had not officially met until our session is beginning a photography business. We were one of the lucky few who got in on her amazing offer of a free session to jump start things and build her portfolio. Boy were we lucky! She captured our family in action, enjoying the outside and each other-just what we wanted!

She was a joy to be around as well. Our boys immediately connected to her warm personality! I definitely recommend her to any one that is in the Houston area! You can view her blog here and there are a few more photos of the boys there. I can't wait to see the rest of our session, but the previews will hopefully hold me over!!

After the photography session we rode the train around the park and then went out to eat and for frozen custard! What a super weekend!

LOVEly Weekend!

We had a great Valentines weekend! Jeff is still working a ton due to the end of year 10K report scheduled to be completed (hopefully) next week. I was a little nervous he wouldn't get off work in time Friday night for us to go out for our Valentines dinner. We had already reserved and paid for the kids to be cared for at Parent's Night Out at church, so I really wanted to get to utilize it. Jeff did have to work a hour or so late, but we had plenty of time to have dinner at "Our spot", the Grotto.

Here we are enjoying our favorite dessert, the Italian wedding cake! YUM! You will notice in this post that I am quite the food/animal photographer. Try not to be jealous, but it's true, I have skills!

Jeff had to work after the boys basketball games Saturday afternoon, but Sunday we celebrated as a family.
It started with my attempt at a creative "I heart U" donut breakfast and goody bags for my littlest Valentines. The boys have wanted to go to the zoo for weeks, but Jeff's work schedule made that difficult. So, Sunday afternoon we surprised the boys with a trip to the zoo. It was a great way to spend our first Valentines Day as a family of 4! How lucky am I to have 3 sweet valentines?
Meerkats are very popular at our house!! Jeff and I even got hooked on their "reality show" a couple of years ago and were bummed when it ended!
Daddy giraffe and baby were super cute!
But not as cute as my sweet boys, walking hand and hand. Our new header includes a close up of their sweet hands. Totally melts my heart! Yes, J has a monkey "leash", no we didn't have to use it. He loves his Curious George back pack so he wanted to wear it anyway and we tucked the tail in so it didn't drag the ground. Yes, we are "those parents", but you would be too if your kid was known to take off running at Olympic medal worthy speeds with no regard for his personal safety!
I like this photo of the stoic tiger, J's favorite.
Both boys loved the monkeys, all different varieties! These guys' eyes cracked me up!
As did the pouty lip of this little gal apparently sad to be single on V-Day.
The boys could have watched the orangutan swing around all day!
TOTALLY captivated!
This king of the jungle was also very popular with our boys! We visited him and the tiger a couple of times! We didn't quite see everything in one day even though we stayed until closing. No worries though because we got an annual membership and will definitely be back soon!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentines Day! We have begun the celebration with donuts, goody bags, and have plans to go to the zoo a bit later on. I couldn't be happier to be sharing Valentines Day with all 3 of my loves!

Daily Dependence

So I try hard not to get on soup boxes on here because in general I don't want to offend anyone, but today it may seem like I am on one. Perhaps I am, but what I really want to convey through all of this is our faith in God's sovereignty and our love of our precious boys.

We are going through a particularly difficult junction in our journey as a family with daily reminders of how fleeting it all could be. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this particular experience is not something most families encounter. Perhaps just foster/adoptive families and families who journey through life threatening health issues share this practical daily need to treasure every moment. We are in the midst of doing just that and truly I am so grateful that I have the honor of spending every day with our boys, especially at this time of uncertainty. Speaking of uncertainty, it has placed a tremendous strain on all of of our earthly relationships. Friendships that once brought mutual encouragement, have become distant and injured by very vulnerable emotions. At the same time, a couple of friendships have flourished and grown and provided me in particular an outlet to share my heart freely without fear. For these I am very grateful. One sweet friend recently drew my attention to the verses that follow the verse we have on the boys wall. I have begun praying this truth over us and our boys. The entire passage of Isaiah 43 is awesome but here are some particularly powerful verses for our present circumstance:

When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

³ For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.

⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

Through these verses I am reminded of God's characteristic of sacrificial love which protects His children at all costs!

While praying recently about our situation and seeking God's wisdom. He very clearly gave me another verse which I pray many times a day to center myself on His sovereign plan for our family and His ultimate will to receive glory. Again, the entire chapter brings comfort but this little phrase is always on my lips:

^{Psalm 46:10}

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

Please continue to pray for us as we grow closer to God and to one another during this difficult time of uncertainty. Your prayers and encouragement on our behalf truly mean more to us than we can express!

Privacy Consideration

I have been considering making our blog private for a while now. I think I would feel more free to share my heart here if I knew who was listening. Any thoughts?

Stuck in the Muddy Mud

So, I have done some silly things in the past, one of which was lock myself in the garage...actually I've repeated that mistake a few times. But today was too funny of a goof up not to share.

"J" and I had a perfectly pleasant morning complete with an appearance from Spider man and a lot of cape wearing. When it came time to go to his weekly OT appointment, we headed off on the 20 minute trek to the clinic. I was feeling quite accomplished because we were on target to be early even with the stop to get gas. We were happily cruising down a 2 lane dirt road when the truck in front of us dropped his ladder out of the cab of his truck. The ladder didn't hit us, thank God and landed right in between the 2 lanes on the road, directly on the double yellow (do not pass) lines. At this point I start honking my horn and trying to get the man's attention so he won't lose his ladder. He keeps waving at us, thinking I guess we are someone he knows. I follow him all the way into his neighborhood where he finally pulls over to see what I want. He kindly thanks me after I inform him of the lost ladder and where he dropped it. He offers for me to follow him back to the road as I have totally lost my way in the unknown neighborhood. Here is where I make my first big mistake. I should have parted ways when I found my way instead of curiously following the man to see if the ladder was still there. In case you were worried, it was and someone had very kindly taken it out of the road and leaned it up against a fence. Did I mention the area is a tad bit more rural than other areas nearby and apparently everyone there is quite thoughtful?

Even after the detour we are still going to be on time to our appointment, that is until I try to turn around on the narrow 2 lane dirt road. I pull into what looked like a driveway but was really a very short, narrow rocky path that let to a fence that had a sign on it that read "Beware high voltage." Not the best place for me and my precious "J" to say the least! I was too chicken to stick my tail end out there in the road so I made my 2nd major mistake. I tried to turn around on the dirt driveway that was surrounded by mud. Yes, we got stuck in the mud and the harder I tried to get us out the worse it got. Mud was flying everywhere and at that instant I wished I had a SUV instead of my low lying Saturn sedan. I tried to explain to "J" to be calm, but we were stuck. It's almost comical that the boys often pretend their toy cars are "stuck in the muddy mud." It was for real no matter how much I wished we were pretending. Just then "ladder man" pulls over and offers to help us. I laughed about how I paid it forward and the return was much quicker than expected. Our bald super hero for the day and another kind gentleman who stopped to help made a make shift tow cable of what looked like an old fire hose and pulled us out of the mud. The lady with ladder man commented that this is what you call "southern engineering."

Despite the antics, it was an excellent opportunity for me to clearly show "J" the value of helping other people. At one point he asked to get out of the car while the men were trying to get us out of the mud, probably wanting to help. I got to tell him that when he is a man he can help other people like our friend the ladder man was doing for us now. I love any chance to plant seeds of character in my little men! We needed a good car wash anyway and the boys got a kick out of that experience too!