October Catch Up

Where did the month of October go? Time has been flying by way too fast, but I am grateful for the change in seasons, cooler weather, and the upcoming Holidays. I love the fall/winter! We still haven't put the shorts up yet, but we at least have busted out some light jackets here in Houston. Such weird weather we have!

Anyway, let's play catch up on October in the Albus' home. "J" celebrated his 5th birthday on Oct. 11! He was so excited about his "Pump It Up Party!" We also celebrated him at his school. I went to his "celebration of life" at his school. Sort of a weird, secular, ceremony, but still sweet! I cried the night before because we had to make a poster with pictures and a description of "J" for each year of his life! The grief for the lost time and lack of pictures/stories of his first 3 years totally snuck up on me! But, in the end we are so very grateful for the time we do have with our sweet 5 year old!

Here "J" is carrying the globe around the rug. He went around one time for every year. The candles represent the sun. I told you it was sort of a funny ceremony.
"J" blowing out the candles at school with his "special friend" Lacey looking on. Isn't she precious?! They are quite a duo!
On "J"s actual birthday (also Columbus Day this year) we had the privileged of attending family camp with our adoption ministry from church! We did all kinds of attachment based activities with the kiddos and also learned more about connecting and correcting our sweet boys. Here Jeff is making our birthday boy into a hot dog! The whole group also sang "happy birthday" to "J" which our little extrovert ate up!
I treated "J" to pancakes for dinner as well! That lil' guy loves pancakes and having them for dinner is even more fun!
We also got to go to Dallas to celebrate sweet Drew's 2nd birthday! What a sweet little train conductor he made!
The boys loved riding in the real train with the other kiddos!
While we were in Dallas we just had to go to the State Fair. We missed it last year so this was the boys' first time to go!
Here they are planning our day with the map!
We went to the petting zoo but it was the last day of the fair and the animals were clearly not hungry for any more of the feed. Sweet "A" patiently held it out in the shovel anyway!
I am so jealous of this camel's eye lashes!
We love Big Tex!
And the Birds of the World show is also a huge favorite for our little family!
"A" was scared of the Ferris wheel at first but soon got distracted by the beautiful aerial view of the fair and sky line!

This green house was a new exhibit this year and I just thought it showcased some amazing craftsmanship! We had a blast in October! A Halloween post is coming soon so keep checking back!

Fellowship and Service are Rising

I have had these pictures loaded on the blog just waiting to be blogged about for almost a month. Oh my am I behind! I think it has something to do with how tired I am of posting the back of the kids' heads. But, in less than a month that will be no more!

We recently started a new Sunday School class with 11 other couples at our church. The class is called the Rising and we have already found such community with the other couples and membership is growing! It is rare to find this level of authenticity and a true desire to spur one another on in our walks with the Lord! We have a different mission project each month planned by a different couple each time and geared toward the kids being able to be involved as well. Our first month we served here...

Our kids scoped and bagged beans with all the other kiddos and "A" sweetly helped a gentleman sweep up after! He is really into cleaning, much more like his daddy than his mommy in this way!
Here "J" is sporting one of our class t-shirts with our class scripture.
We also recently went camping with several of the other families from the class. I was a little nervous about how the boys would do with that much room to roam, but the other couples (even those without kids) were so good about helping corral all the kids! I told you there was true community! Kristina was smart and brought those light up necklaces for the kids to wear so we could see them in the dark! She saved me from having a heart attack, I am sure of it! We made smores around a camp fire together too! So fun!
Here's my hubby after he put up our tent! I think this is the first time I have ever slept in a tent, but I'm sure not the last because our boys LOVED it!
We woke up to beautiful scenery and more sweet fellowship!

We had a great camping site right by the lake!
All the kids get along so well! They played together digging in the dirt and running around. Who needs toys when you have fun and creative play mates like these!?!
I think this game is called bauche ball, but whatever it is the boys enjoyed it!
This is "J" and his lil' friend Cole! They have played together several times because Cole's momma Summer is a sweet friend of mine!
Jeff and I "competed" in a couple's competition.Some how we "missed" all the other games (AKA my hubby was hiding) but horseshoes...

and this game whatever it is called where you hook this ring to the tree. Jeff was really good at it!

The boys enjoyed pounding the guts out of this pinata! "A" has some serious swing! Maybe we should try baseball!

Since the camping trip, the Rising has had another family service day at a nursing home. Our family made visits to several rooms praying for the residents, handing out gift bags and crafts the kids made. The kids also sang for the residents and helped them play bingo. The son of one of the residents told us he could truly tell how it brought joy to the residents who he says are often sad when he comes to visit! I love that our class is so dedicated to teaching our kids how to love God and serve Him through serving others!

This fresh perspective on what truly matters is really at the heart of how God is moving in our little family! He is calling us to simplicity. We are simplifying our schedule and prioritizing God and one another over more activities and things. I am pretty sure God is just beginning this work in us, but I am so grateful that He is teaching us this so early in our kids' lives. I would hate to look back in 10 years and wish we had modeled for them how to truly cherish family and be self sacrificing with their time and belongings!

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday we received the phone call that we have been waiting for over 13 months to receive. We were given THE date. The date the courts catch up with what God sealed in our hearts from day one. Friday, Novemeber 19, 2010 is the day we will finalize "A" and "J"s adoption! We are going to be finalizing on a special day for the courts as they are celebrating National Adoption Day which is the next day. There will be a photographer present and a few other additional touches. It is just so neat how it worked out that we get to share our special day with others and celebrate not only our family, but adoption in general! This coming Tuesday we have our last home visit from the caseworker and agency worker. We will be doing the adoption placement at this time as well. We are so excited!! We are looking forward to forever with our precious boys! Thanks for your prayers on this journey. We have loved sharing our story with you and hope you will continue to follow us on all of the adventures to come. Oh, and soon, very soon...there will be ONLY full on face pictures of those sweet smiles!

Runners Up

YAY! We are runners up in the contest! $25 off....that is 25% off. Not too shabby! If you don't know what I am talking about scroll down or go to the link!

First Time

They say there's a first time for everything and so....Today I am entering my first, and I am sure not my last blog contest. I wouldn't do it for just any old prize though...this one is special. Remember this post about our awesome family photo session in the park. We get complements every single time someone sees the pictures hanging in our home. One of them even graces our blog header. Well that wonderfully creative, easy going, sweet photographer is Sarah Craig. She is launching a new website: http://fishlipsphotography.com as a part of her quickly growing business, Fish Lips Photography. I would LOVE to help her promote it, and maybe just maybe get a little something back like a discount on her already very reasonably priced photo sessions. We are planning to take some new photos (PS: kids are growing like weeds) around finalization and I sure hope she can do them for us! Anyway, check out her site and I will definitely let ya'll know if I win!

I Want My XBRL!

Jeff started a new job a few weeks ago as a XBRL Financial Reporting Specialist with Bowne & Co. Bowne & Co. is a 235 year old company based in New York with offices in most major US cities and across the world. The company specializes in shareholder communications among other things. His main function will be reviewing client SEC documents for proper taxonomy tagging. XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It is a XML based computer language that enables computers to read financial documents filed with the SEC. It will have other uses as well as it develops. It has been mandated in the United States for only a little over a year therefore it is an exciting new technology. Last week Jeff traveled up to Dallas for a week of training, which was very detailed. He is very excited about his new job. The greatest thing about the job is that while the hours will be long at times most of the work can be done remotely which allows for greater flexibility in the realm of having active children.

1 Year Down, Forever to Go

I'm sure most of you noticed our blog ticker or all my mentions leading up to the anniversary of the boys coming home. Some call it, Gotcha Day and well...it seems like a great fit for the occasion! Ours was this past Saturday, September 11th but as has become our little family's way we made it last for days! Friday night the four of us went here....

Or as the boys call it, "the animals restaurant." We have been once before and they asked to go there every time we have passed by it since. Needless to say, our little balls of energy get a bit "wild" themselves with the whole sensory experience. But, special occasions such as this warrant special circumstances...so the Rainforest it was! We even had this right before bedtime....
and made it look like this...No not really, we had to get a to go container for half the brownies, but J made sure the ice cream didn't go to waste!
Saturday, J had a birthday party for a friend from school so I took him while Jeff and "A" went to reading tutoring. By the way, "A" is making amazing progress in learning to read! We are so proud! Saturday night we went to Los Cucos with our friends, the Stephensons! We are so blessed by their friendship especially journeying through fostering together, and they love on our boys which means the world! Sunday was busy with two trips to church...but we managed to fit in a batch of cookies on our special plate! I really feel like we have turned a corner and am so grateful for all of your prayers for our family as we became just that, a family. Now, we are ready for the courts and paper work to catch up with what God has already sealed in our hearts!