Ave Kate turns 6!

The birthday girl arrives in the kingdom! Ave Kate celebrated her sixth birthday at her favorite place. We had lots of fun and adventure.. like having a near heart attack when she got lost for what seemed like forever but was actually just minutes. She walked one way just steps ahead of me and it was like she disappeared into thin air. I kept circling the area we had been and luckily found her with tears and a look of despair on her face. Thank God! It was a scary few minutes.

We rode all the rides we could and watched the parades. Lily was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds and noise but she loved the rides and meeting the characters. All of the kids were totally exhausted (as were we) by the end of the night. Today we decided to rest up and relax by the pool. We will probably brave the crowds again tomorrow. I wore my most comfortable walking shoes and my feet still hurt.

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas..

The girls had fun decorating the tree. It was so much fun to watch Lily's excitement. She didn't know what to think about her first Christmas tree but she caught on fast to the decorating process! Olivia and Ave Kate were a big help-they can reach even higher branches this year...

Alyssa and Cohen spent a night at our house and did some pj piano playing.

Yaya's Thanksgiving weekend

We had our yearly pre-Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. It is usually the only time that everyone in the family actually gets together. It is a wonderful time for reconnecting and catching up. The kids have a blast playing with their cousins that they don't get to see enough during the year. I am very thankful that Karen (aka Yaya) insists on doing this yearly.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Olivia and Ave Kate's school has been on a bucket filling campaign. They have been learning about bucket fillers and bucket dippers. Being kind, courteous, and thoughtful to others helps fill their bucket. Being rude and disrespectful to others and hurting their feelings dips into their buckets. The children also learn that by filling other buckets that theirs get filled in return by feeling good about themselves. I think it is a great concept of teaching. It is based on a the book "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?" Today the author of the book Carol McCloud was at their school this morning to speak to the students about bucket filling and awarded their school as the first Mississippi school to be awarded as a bucket filling school.
How wonderful it would be if everyone became more aware of being bucket fillers instead of bucket drainers. So just ask yourself-Have YOU filled a bucket today??

pretty day picnic

It was such a pretty day today that we decided to have a picnic. We went to Desoto National Forest which is nearby thinking that we could hike some trails. There were no hiking trails to be found and not much to the place. We did at least find picnic tables to eat our chicken. My other goal for the day was to get some nice pictures with fall colors. We did find the trees with fall colors but my camera went out almost immediately. We still had fun and enjoyed the nice weather and sunshine. Next time we will research our destination better.

Friday night and family

A few pics from Friday night fun. Casey, Cohen, Alyssa and Grandma came over for dinner. Glen cooked steaks on the grill. The kids had fun playing and fighting over toys. Casey cut Glen's hair-notice the beautiful pic of the cut in progress;) Cohen had a new pair of boots that he did not want to take off. He wore them well.

Weekend happenings

We had a busy weekend even though it started out on a low note, We were all geared up to go to Jackson Friday night to Michelle and Buck's annual Tomb of Doom Halloween costume party. Ave Kate wasn't feeling well and the weather got stormy between here and there so did not make the trip. We ended up having a nice full weekend anyway. Lee, Erins boyfriend, came down for the weekend. I love having an excuse to cook so spent alot of time in the kitchen. Saturday night Casey had a Halloween party at her house. There were lots of cute little kids in costumes. Of course I forgot my camera and Erin's battery went dead so I have no pictures to show for it. We all had a good time and ate some good food. The kids trick- or- treated in her neighborhood. Lily caught on quickly and dug the idea of getting candy when she went to people's doors. The weather was perfect to top things off.

Wordless Wednesday

Honor student

Olivia made all A honor role at school. We are so proud of her and hope she keeps up the good work!

Halloween fun and hayride at the Richard's house

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We had alot of fun at the our friends' 2cd annual Halloween Party last night. There were lots of great costumes, a hayride, good food and great decorations. Mary Ann outdid herself this year. The kids and adults all enjoyed it. The weather turned a little cool so Lily wore a warm dinosaur costume instead of her little witch costume. She seemed to really get into the Halloween scene. She even liked the spooky hayride through the fields-of course she did cling to me for dear life as she told me how much she liked it...
(I don't know how the bird picture got into our little slide show and when i tried to get it off it went on twice.)

Olivia's 6 year gotcha day

Six years ago today we met our precious daughter Olivia for the first time in a reception room with 14 other families at her orphanage in Fuling. Words cannot describe all of the emotions that I was feeling. She was handed over to us by her nanny wearing a little pink outfit. She was so beautiful and little. She appeared to look right through us with her big dark eyes. She never cried. She seemed to have a quiet confidence about her from the very beginning. Her report from the SWI said that she did "everything with meaning". We soon discovered that they were right on target with that description. She has been that way ever since. She is smart, sweet, stubborn, sensitive, bossy, funny, friendly, and fiesty. She is a big daddy's girl. She is very independent. She never meets a stranger. She likes to have the last word. She is very protective over her little sisters. She loves to play computer games. She likes to be outside. She is afraid of the dark. She lights up our world. We are so happy and blessed to have her for our daughter. We love you, Olivia Lu!