Snapshots of Vacation- part 2

We were there for Father's Day, so we had dinner out.  We actually waited until Monday to avoid the crowds.

Snapshots of Vacation

We traveled earlier than usual this year, June instead of July.  We left at 3:00a.m. and headed for the coast, a twelve hour drive which Andy did on 30 minutes of sleep with only a one hour break.  When we arrived we found the house to be the best suited we have ever had for this large family, and the beach was great.  I heard many times over the week that we should rent this house again next year.  We shall see.  This year ahead is a big one for us.  Dad covered the rent this year, and we are so grateful.

Our group this year included:

Dad, Susie, Lesley, Andy, Zachary, Savannah, Wyatt, Julia, Tiffany, Austin, Logan, Tara, Jonathan, Danielle, Regan, Ira, John, Tessa, Joshua, and myself.  That's a grand total of 20.

We enjoyed a pretty drive.

Once we arrived most of the group spent the time poolside or on the beach.

Ira loved the water and the sand.  He found the sand to be to be tasty.

I will continue to update with more snapshots of our week.

Dreaming

Julia, Savannah and I often enjoy watching Say Yes to The Dress and other bridal shows on TLC.  Julia voices her very strong opinions about dresses.  She makes it particularly clear that she does not want to wear my dress - not her style.  Savannah, on the other hand, says she wants to wear my dress.  I am fine either way and have no intention of pressuring my girls to wear it.  When I had it preserved, I even laughed and said that since it would be unlikely that I would have a daughter as short as me, preserving my dress was probably a waste of money.  The skirt is tulle, so it cannot be let out.  It would have to be removed and replaced to be lengthened.  I think it could be pulled up at the waist.  Ironically, Savannah is shorter than me, and Julia is Asian.

Just for fun I asked Julia to describe her dream wedding dress for me last night.  She felt like drawing it would be better than trying to verbally describe it.  As you can see, she is dreaming of a fit and flare dress with a sweetheart neckline.  She wants bling across the neckline and on a belt that she plans to use to accessorize this gown.  She wants a sparkly train and plans to wear a tiara with a simple veil attached.

I am so glad I asked her to do this.  How fun is this keepsake picture?!

Let's Catch Up

I have neglected the blog lately as the last few weeks have kicked my tail.  We have been busy but manageably so.  This post is all about catching up.

Finishing the School Year

Wyatt finished the school year last week, and he finished strong.  He brought home a "Most Improved" award and an honor roll certificate.  Wyatt is a typical boy in that he only shows me what is important to him when it comes home in his backpack.  Upcoming field trip?  The permission form is in my hands the day it is handed out.  Most everything else is only seen by me on that once a month occasion when I actually go through his backpack myself.  When he came home several months ago with an order form to buy a hardcover book with a story he had written, I knew he wanted that book.  Of course I ordered this special keepsake of his hard work in elementary school, and we finally got to see the final product last week.

Wyatt's last week of school was also my last full week.  It wore me out.  Andy was out of town, and Julia's birthday was on Tuesday.  It seemed like there were extra errands every night, and a late night finish at a swim meet on Thursday did not help.  When Saturday rolled around, I spent the majority of it in bed.  I returned to work for two days this week but have the week so full of appointments that it does not feel like a break yet.

Swim Team

Wyatt and Julia reluctantly started swim practice in the ice cold pool a few weeks ago.  Wyatt hates being cold and begged to quit.  I felt cruel forcing them to do this, but Julia loves it, and Wyatt is on his way to loving it.  He definitely likes it now.  It is a fun team with lots of great families.  My only regret is that we didn't do this last year.

Celebrating

Two Gotcha days arrived last week. June 7 was our 8th anniversary of meeting Julia, and June 9 was our 5th anniversary of meeting Wyatt.  I totally forgot Julia's Gotcha day and never mentioned it on the 7th.  She really wanted the family to go to an amusement park for her birthday, so we did just that on Wyatt's Gotcha Day.  I think we all had fun.  I have yet to get out Gotcha Day gifts, and we did not do a special dessert, but my mother of the year award was doomed months ago.

before getting soaked

after

proof that I got Wyatt to ride a log ride- he doesn't like heights or spinning, so dodge cars and tame rides are what we do

How cute is he? 5 years after joining the family

He wanted me to take this picture.  He wants is printed and framed for his room.  I need to get on that.

all my kiddos- Yes, Julia won another stuffed animal, and Andy won a basketball.  Both shot hoops for their prizes, of course.

Picture Day

Among our appointments today, I had Julia's annual portraits taken.  She wanted to wear her new dress, and her tan lines are already starting to show, so I worked this appointment in before she gets too dark. Julia's toenails were a mess, so we raced from appointment to appointment today, and I polished her toenails just minutes before we had to leave for her picture appointment.  I figured it was possible that they would show in the pictures or I would not have bothered.  This made me think of my mom.  She made me take off nail polish before formal portrait sessions if she thought my nails would show.  I could not wear nail polish to church or most places where we might go to gather with friends.  I do think, however, that she would have gotten a kick out of Julia's sparkly toenails and would have approved.

For the record Andy and I caved tonight and let Julia get her first pair of dangly earrings a year early...yep, fourth child.

I think that catches us up.

Growing up so fast-literally

It's official today.  Julia is nine!

It has been a low key day since we already celebrated her birthday.  She wanted pizza for dinner and a special treat - fudge.  We obliged on both.  

The day started rather dramatically when Zach went to take Wyatt to school and discovered that someone slashed one of his tires right in our driveway.  Oh Joy.  

However, today is a special day in our family history.  Eight years ago today, we boarded a plane to go meet Julia, and she turned one.  Five years ago today, we boarded a plane to go meet Wyatt and were heartbroken to leave our other three kids at home.  I think Julia has been contemplating adoption as she asked today if I think her birth parents are dead.  I know there are many more questions to come, and I hope we can take the whole crew on a heritage tour of China within the next few years. We are still reeling from the weak economy, so we keep taking dreams off of our list, and a trip to China is highly unlikely.

Julia has grown so much physically.  We visited an amusement park a few weeks ago, and she was 1/2 inch short of making the cut to ride the biggest rides.  Two weeks later, she was 1/2 inch over the 54 inch requirement. I think there may have been some measurement error.  Can a person grown an inch in two weeks?  Regardless, over the past year, she has definitely grown significantly taller.  It has affected her tumbling as she has not been able to keep up. It will be interesting to see how tall she gets.

The pug in the picture is one that Julia won shooting basketball at the amusement park.  Because she scored 2 out of 3 baskets, she won the medium prize.  She named it Phineas because my brother has a pug that looks just like this named Phineas.  Julia was so excited about making 54 inches that she kept her wristband that verified it and tied it to the hang tag on the back of the dog.  She was thrilled to have a souvenir, and I guess she will be wanting to shoot baskets every time we go to the park.

I am glad that at nine, she is still sweet, sassy, and lovable.

Some Things Never Change -Celebrating Julia's birthday.

She thinks life is a party, and she's the guest of honor.  That is what I used to say about Julia when she first adjusted to family life.  In eight years with her, not much has changed.  Julia turns 9 (sniff, sniff) on Tuesday, and we have celebrated her birthday all weekend.  

We started with a small celebration on Saturday with Andy's mom.  Finding a date to get everyone together was tough, and we settled on today because otherwise Julia's birthday would be celebrated two weeks from now.  Even today was not ideal.  Andy's mom could not make it today, so she came yesterday with a special dessert and some fun gifts for Julia.

cookie cake with chocolate icing for our chocoholic

Julia loved the manicure set.

The party today was a bit bigger, but this is a family party year.  I only do friend parties every other year, and I will likely be kicking myself for that next year when Julia's birthday and Zach's graduation fall in the same month.

triple chocolate cake

Julia mostly asked for clothes this year.  She has never been much of a toy fan, and I have to admit that I really wished for some fun trinket.  She loved the dress that we let her open in front of her granny so that she could wear it to church today. Julia's list is usually produced well in advance of her birthday as she anticipates the big day with exuberance that sometimes we think she will spontaneously combust.  She usually asks for a number of big ticket items.  This year I laughed when I read her list, and she had written, "I would do almost anything for this- an ipod touch."  That was out of the budget, and she has asked for one for years now, so I guess we should start trying to find a way to save for it.

She asked for clothes, and the family delivered.

Ira had some fun with the hat Julia received for her birthday and this cap of Wyatt's.  He's so stinkin' cute!  How can I not take lots of pictures of him?

Our tradition of pictures with the family.

I have just two days left until my youngest is 9 years old.  Unbelievable!

We had a great time, and the fashionista has some new clothes.  She's so excited!

Who makes the orphan a son and daughter

The King of Glory, the King above all kings-lyrics from This is Amazing Grace 

Josh Farro, Phil Wickham, JeremyRiddle

Wrapping up the school year

We are winding down what seems like the never ending school year.  Three kids are out of school, one to go with just three days left, and I have seven working days left.  As we finish the year and try to start some summer fun, I thought I would share what we are up to.

Teacher Gifts
With two kids in elementary school, we are still buying teacher gifts and rightfully so.  Both Wyatt and Julia had a great school year under the direction of outstanding teachers.  For Julia's class, everyone worked together to purchase a spa package for her teacher.  How sweet is that?!  She deserves it.

Wyatt had two teachers this year who split the weeks.  A long time ago, a friend of mine who teaches elementary school told me not to give teachers coffee mugs.  They get many of these.  So, last year I took a different approach to the mug thing. We bought Tervis cups with lids.  The reality is that almost every teacher carries some sort of drink all day long.  Tervis cups are friendly to hot and cold drinks, almost spill proof, and dishwasher safe.  A misplaced lid can easily be replaced.  Andy and I have four between us and plan to collect more as they are great for soccer water breaks and hot days in a park.  For the teachers we fill the cup with Hershey's kisses, and we have a great gift in my opinion.

End of Year Awards
Savannah and Julia finished the year strong.  Savannah made the all "A" honor roll, and received a Bible Orientation award.  I don't totally understand the Bible award because only one student was eligible to receive it during the award ceremony, but three students actually received the award and are given credit for it.  She comped out of as many finals as she could, but every student must take at least one final.  The ability to comp out which requires a 95% in the class is up to the individual teacher.  Savannah ended up taking two finals and got to spend the official last day of school at an amusement park with Tiffany, Jonathan, Austin, and Logan.

Savannah ended the year wrestling with a tough decision and has decided to hang up her field hockey stick.  She will try cross country, so we will see how that goes.  She has really loved conditioning all winter at school, and we are grateful that she can continue that regardless of whether or not she plays a sport for the school.

Julia was delighted to make the honor roll, so much so that she actually took a picture of her certificate and posted it on my Facebook page.  She also received the "Faithful" award because she was never late to school and turned in all of her work on time and was a faithful friend to her classmates.

I rarely see Zach any more. The end of the school year brought less relief to him than I expected.  He continues to work and is picking up shifts.  Football practices begin on Monday.  Zach has another year before he pursues whatever comes next whether military or college, and I sometimes feel like he is already gone.

Fun Stuff
Julia and Wyatt both enjoyed field day this year.  Julia won 3rd place for running (cracks me up because she claims that she hates to run, but she wants to do a triathlon).  She got 2nd in the softball throw. She is a born athlete for sure.

Wyatt clearly had a blast.  I couldn't be there for field day but was thrilled to receive these pictures from a friend.

I have taken a different approach to summer this year.  I usually try to keep summer low key and avoid scheduling too much.  This year I forced Wyatt and Julia to join a swim team.  I got a little help from my friend Trish who is bribing them.  She's so fun.  This switch is hard on the whole family because it means we have to change our pool membership.  Our kids have grown up at a pool that is huge, reasonably priced and flexible with inexpensive guest passes.  In exchange, they get to swim at a nicer but much smaller facility this year, and guest passes are unreasonably expensive which means taking friends will be far less frequent.  However, Andy and I just felt very strongly that this would be good for Wyatt and Julia on so many levels.  Practice started this week, and Julia loves it.  She already loves the head coach and his very positive approach to coaching.  Wyatt claims that he does not like it (mostly because it is cold which I completely understand), but he grabs a snack and gets his swim trunks on first thing when we get home from school every day.  I think they will both have a blast, and Andy and I just might have a blast too.

Right now as I try to finish the school year strong, we are at the beginning of a three day celebration of Julia's birthday....more to come on that.