Summer activities

Being home all summer (and on a budget) takes a lot of creativity. I have to plan and select activities that are fun for the girls but also aren't going to break the bank! Last summer I had a whole calendar of things-this year-I am taking it week by week. 

Mondays are our designated cleaning days. We sweep, mop, vacuum, laundry, do it all-the kids know this and they help out that way we can play all week!

Tuesday: this week we took a walk and went to the library. They love the library. While we were there I picked up the summer activity schedule. 

Wednesday: water day-we hung out in our baby pool with the sprinkler. Then it rained :/ well at least it kept with the theme.

Thursday: baking day. The kids wanted to make daddy a cake! So they picked out the ingredients and decorated it themselves.

Thursday night I took the girls to a members only party at the children's museum and then to see Grandaddy who just got back from his month long trip!

Friday: adventure day. I had a lot planned  for this day so by calling it an adventure we made all the errands/activities fun! 

Aubrie Kate had preschool water day at the church. So I dropped her of there and madyson,Mia and I went to see our friends Bridgett and ken! They had just had their baby, Joshua!

We picked up aubrie Kate around noon and napped! 

That night Our town had a 5k race for chick-fil-a, and a free viewing of the sandlot at night! 

Saturday we went to the nursing home to celebrate my Maw's 87th bday-then we did some shoe shopping

And took a trip to old navy 

It was a busy week! What sort of things are you doing this summer!!!???

Oh what a week!

Here the girls are last Sunday evening. I love these 3! That face has been ever present on Mia Margaret's face since her shots.

On Monday we got a new kitty. Still no officially name-we have tossed around Snuggles,Samoa, Mae, and tiger liley but nothing official yet!

This is her fist pumping the end of Monday.

Tuesday I took the little girls to first grade field day!

Wednesday-me and the wee ones went for a walk around town. We love pretty close to some places so I want to start walking more. This was our test run. The library.

Wednesday night we had a gluten free pasta meal. It was really good!

I bought this for Amelia to wear her first night in the hospital. It just now fits. Have I told you how thankful I am for her? God really has done some awesome creations with our girls.

Thursday was Luau day at school!

And we had a tball game. Mia wore her fancy headband.

Friday was the last day of school. The. The girls and I went to the children's museum.

After some window shopping at home goods we visited daddy at work and tried out some of his new furniture.

Yes-she passed out in the middle of the showroom. That rug is ah-mazing.

We came home and watched cartoons and I got a pedicure

Today we spent the day at my aunts house by her pool with some of our friends! It was a great WEEK!!

You don't have to be a big girl.

I am extremely sentimental today. Madyson finished up first grade. Her first 2 years of school are over and she is headed to the 2nd grade. I don't know why-but 2nd grade seems so "old". It feels like we are on the Rock-N-Roller coaster in Hollywood studios and they are about to launch us forward SO fast...I better pull down that safety bar.

As we were getting ready this morning I showed Madyson her picture from the last day of kindergarten compared to today-she got a little sad.

"Momma, my friends say in 2nd grade its not cool to watch Disney Jr...or wear Carter's clothes...or not have an ipod with Taylor Swift and Katy Perry on the playlist. They said, we are big kids now and that all that baby stuff has to go away."

I asked Madyson how she felt about this she said, "I don't want to grow up.  I like my shows and my clothes and I don't care that I don't have an ipod.

As we hugged-it made me think-when did childhood become limited to 6 years? When did society/parents make the decision that little girls have to grow up so fast?

This year my girls grew a lot.

Spiritually-They both grew with their walk with the Lord. Madyson is ready to become a Christian.She understands what it means, she understands following Christ, she is ready to talk to our Family discipleship pastor.

Mentally-They have learned so much. Madyson is loving chapter books-Aubrie Kate is focusing on early readers. Aubrie was behind earlier in the year-but she is catching up! Madyson loves math-addition/subtraction etc.

Physically-They are almost twins! both in the 40lb range-just a few inches apart-1 shoe size apart and the same size in clothes! At the beginning of the year they were a 3t and 5t now we are at 5t/6 for both.

Socially -Madyson has opened up a lot this year. Aubrie will happily talk to waiters, ask for to-go boxes and tell you all about the legend of whatever she is obsessed with at the moment. We had to take away Disney shows A.N.T Farm, Jessie, and Shake it up. The  girls wanted to "be like the characters" and smart mouth-disrespectful-boy crazy little bits were just too much for me to endure-cue Jake and the neverland pirates.

I think as parents we sometimes get caught up in the "everybody else" world. If everybody else is getting this or doing that-then my child should too. I know I suffer from this because...well...let's be honest...who likes their child to feel left out?

But as the year progressed-I really started deciding that I want my girls to enjoy being little. I want to stretch out the desire to play with American girls and dress up. I want them to enjoy snuggling and watching movies that don't have preteens making out. I want them to belt out their KLOVE songs that speak of hope and faith rather than Taylor Swift's latest break up.

One day-they aren't going to be little anymore. They are going to be big girls in a big world. I want to know 100% that before they enter that world-they are ready. That they will be able to make decisions based on morals and values and not because "everyone else is".

So sweet baby-
You don't have to be a big girl right now. It is summer. I want you to sleep late, play with your sister, run through the sprinkler, get excited over ice cream day, soak in the blessings around you.

When school starts-I want you to go in with a great attitude coming off of a fun summer. I want you to be ready to learn all the fun things you will learn in 2nd grade. I don't want you to worry about who's on the cover of the latest teen magazine-because baby there are so much more important things than that. I want to make sure that you are secure enough to be an example, a leader and to be able to feel accepted for it. 

As you prepare for your new chapter in life-lets focus on the milestones you should be focusing on. Growing more spiritually, keeping our brain open for learning,  keeping friends close that share the same values as you, and maybe finally defeat the fear of riding without training wheels.

You are going to grow up-but don't worry-I am on your side. We will take it one step at a time and we will make sure that you get to enjoy the things you like for as long as you want. Here's to summer! Now, lets go have some ice cream.

Love, Momma

She doesn't like my singing

For your viewing pleasure-my child the critic.

http://vimeo.com/66783511

A week in iPhone pics

Sunday was Mother's Day. Our first without Todd's mom. We went to church and then to the nursing home. My Maw is getting worse-she only remembers my mom by name. And I am 100% sure that is God's doing. The day she forgets-the realization will hit my mom. We had a picnic outside and enjoyed introducing Mia Margaret to Maw. Mia has 6 great grandma's still living. She has met 3 so far. It is important for me for my girls to know the women in their lives. They are limbs of our amazing family tree.

We had Tball Monday instead of Tuesday this week. Totally messed my week up. 

Mia at the game.

Tuesday I finished up laundry!! Whoo hoo!

And we met Robin Preiss Glasser.

 Wednesday

I downloaded a beautiful mess app.

Thursday Mia went to the doctor and got shots. 

Then we went to the pool for the first (cold) swim.

Friday

The girls spent the night away. So for dinner I had peanut butter and milk am dessert at smoothie king.todd and I watched safe haven and rearranged the girls room.

Saturday we went kayaking and hung out with the family and had a fish fry!!

 

Coming up-2 tball games, last week of school and summer!!!!!!

Meeting Robin Preiss Glasser

Being the mom of three girls is extraordinary (that's fancy for really good). One of my favorite things to do is read Fancy Nancy books! We adore (that's fancy for like) Nancy and Bree and jojo and Frenchie!

Last March we had the privilege of meeting Jane O'connor-the author of Fancy Nancy. She was very sweet and made my girls SPRING!

Today Ms. Robin Preiss Glasser, Children's choice illustrator winner, was in town! She actually had visited Madyson's school earlier that day. Madyson came home sad because I didn't send money for her to get a fancy nancy book at school. She didn't know what was to come!!

I told the girls to get fancy, we were going to meet a friend in Jackson. When we pulled up they saw the RV and knew what we were doing!! 

We sat towards the back so I could make an escape (that's fancy for exit) if Mia decided she wanted to be the center of attention. Ms. Robin read to the girls, told stories about the drawings, taught the girls to balance bananas on their heads...and signed books! 

That's Aubrie on stage balancing a banana!

aubrie asked for some glitter-Ms. Robin obliged (that's fancy for willing took time out of the forever long line to make AK happy) and added some more glitter to the girls. Sidenote: Robin Preiss Glasser is the most caring-sincere woman. She really loves what she does and you can tell by the way she interacts with the girls!

Afterwards we got to go inside the fancy nancy RV!! We are already planning on talking Todd into getting us one! It was made for the broadus girls!

It was a very fun afternoon!!

Yes, aubrie was elated (that's fancy for excited) to be in Nancy's shower.

The MOM of all post.

✌I never wanted kids. Actually, when I was a server (Todd worked there too) I would make him take my tables if a family with kids sat down because I didn't feel like dealing with the mess and the screams and such.

Fast forward 8 years-and I now am the blessed Stay-at-home mom of 3 amazing and different daughters.

As "Mother's Day" approaches-I can't help but to think about my friends that are longing to be a mom. I never had that desire. If God had not of given us Madyson as soon as he did-who knows what would have happened.

I have several friends that are either in the adoption process waiting on their match or their yes from a birth family-I have several friends that are struggling with infertility and several friends that are celebrating this mother's day as their first with their precious newborns.

I am not here to share the horrors of being a mom-because well-that's not what God intends for Mother's to focus on. He wants us to cherish our babes.

I was young when I had Madyson. 11 months married and turned 22 the day she was born-but you know...Mary was young when she had Jesus. Although I am sure Jesus and Madyson were different styles of infants-it was a scary blessing all rolled into one bundle of baby goodness.

Aubrie Kate entered this world just as fast as her sister. All I knew is by month 36 of marriage I had 2 babies and I been pregnant 1/2 the time. 

That's when you sit back and look at God and His plan. And wonder what curve ball he is going to throw at you next. 

The time frame is 6 months after Aubrie was born. I was ready for another baby. I had done diapers for 3 years-I was in a routine. I was ready. But God knew I wasn't.

See-what I didn't know is in the next 4 years-we would go through so many trials. God knew that Todd's mom was going to get really sick, God knew that Todd and I would have some marriage bumps that we would need to work through. God knew that I needed to love being a mom and grasp the meaning of it before I had another baby. 

For 4 years I prayed and prayed and prayed. Adoption opened up a whole new desire in my heart. The whole process was exhausting but worth every tear. Hearing biological children wouldn't be in the cards-broke me-but I knew God had a plan. Having a miscarriage made me angry, heartbroken and stronger all in one devestating month.

Then one day last summer-my whole world flipped. 

Enter Mia Margaret-the baby that I longed for. During her entire pregnancy I really related to Sarah in the bible. She longed for a child for Abraham and was older when she finally became a mom. although I am much younger than she was-I am still older than the times before. This time it's different. Diapers and sleepless nights are blessings not duties. Snuggles and stopping just to hold a baby ranks way over a clean house. it's not that this time it's better-I am just in a place where it's the desires of my heart to be momma-to treasure these baby moments-because I know how fleeting they are. 

If there is a "point" or a message to this whole post it's this: If you long to be a mom and feel that it is never going to happen. Have faith-keep praying. Although you're ready-you dont know what God has in store for you. You don't know what trials are coming your way. 

If your celebrating your first Mother's Day and your tired from sleepless nights-dread those mounds of diapers a day-frustrated because everyone tells you to enjoy this season-when really you just want to enjoy a nights sleep and a glass of wine. Fear not. It will NOT get easier. Yes they will sleep (eventually) and potty train (hopefully) but then you will have big kids and that's a whole other season....

To my sweet fellow adoption mommas who are waiting on their precious one-they will come. They.will.come. God promises the orphans that they will be cared for (James 1:27) and you will be the one to do it. You are ready but your sweet baby is not. His/her story is already beautifully written and although we don't know it yet-we will. And the whole waiting...the many no's will one day make perfect sense. Just trust my friend-just keep the faith.

Happy day my friends. 

Love you all-