Wrapping Up Summer

September 15, 2014

Wrapping Up Summer

Basically, the same thing I say every time I get on here to post something. Things are crazy and busy and time is flying by faster than I can document. But I want to preserve as many of these memories as I can for our blog books so here is a very picture-heavy post with a bunch of randomness in an effort to catch this space up on our life lately.

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This kid. I've never loved a boy as much as him and yet I've never battled more with anybody in my life. Here he is, happily eating a piece of toast with butter after a 30-minute argument and fit over the fact that he didn't want butter on his toast, even though he originally asked for butter on his toast. He was very mad that I wouldn't magically make the butter disappear or drop everything and make him more toast with no butter. Crying-and-throwing-a-tantrum mad. But alas, I stuck to my guns and what do ya know?? Once he took a bite he decided that he did, in fact, like butter again after all. He even asked for seconds. I had to take this picture to send to his dad. This is so our Harrison. Love him to pieces even when he's being difficult!

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This was their last day of VBS. They were told to dress weird, and dress weird they did. They were so excited to pick out their outfits and I must say, they did a great job!

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So...I learned to never trust Harrison to be around a radio unsupervised. I ran in to drop off something at my mom's. We weren't staying so I didn't get the kids out of the van. We had a loaner van at the time and it had XM Radio in it. Harrison apparently didn't like the station I had it on and took it upon himself to unbuckle out of his car seat and change it....to this:

Yep, that would be the fully uncensored "Move Bitch" by Ludacris. He was all, "Mom! I put it on the 10's station! I found a funny song!" And all 4 of them were singing "Get out tha way, get out tha way, get out tha way" in their best thug voices for days. They thought it was hilarious. I did not. lol. Thankfully they didn't pick up on the "move bitch" part, because oh my gosh.

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The kids accidentally broke a big sand shovel in half and were not satisfied with my "it's just a cheap plastic shovel and can't be glued back together" answer, so they took it upon themselves to do this:

They wasted every single one of our bandaids and made a huge mess, but hey, gotta give them props for their resourcefulness.

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Here are a few pics from Harper's tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy:

Feeling pretty good thanks to the "happy juice"

So thankful for a tear-free goodbye

It was definitely not a tear-free recovery though. She was in so much pain when she first woke up that they had to give her morphine in her IV. But that knocked her out and they wanted her to be awake and drinking, so from then on out it was oral tylenol and ibuprofen, which she fought with all her might. And she has a lot of might. They had to keep her in the hospital longer than we were expecting but eventually she finally accepted a popcicle. And then I talked her into taking a little walk down to the gift shop to get her mobile. Poor baby felt so awful.

Snuggling with the Hello Kitty that Aunt Ashley had delivered to her room.

Speaking of Aunt Ashley, we owe her big time. She jumped through all of the hoops (and there are a ton of them) to get certified as a babysitter so we wouldn't have to send the girls to a respite home while we were at the hospital. She also took off work to come up here. So thankful for her love and support. She genuinely loves our kids...all 4 of them.

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This is what happens to Harper's pretty curls when she plays beauty shop and brushes out her hair:

"Mom, do I look so beautiful?" (You absolutely do, Baby Girl.)

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I feel like I spend 90% of my day constantly picking up my house. I don't know why I feel so stressed when it's messy and cluttered but I'm definitely working on getting over that and letting go of some of that control. Because it can be spotless and then 5 minutes later this is what it looks like:

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I needed to run some errands and took Harrison with me while the girls were napping at home with Rick. I treasure one-on-one time with my kiddos. It is always so special. He asked to go on a date to Panera Bread and I happily obliged.

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Hamilton had a super fun science-themed birthday party. The kids got to dress up and participate in several science experiments and LOVED it. This family is so dear to us.

Clearly you can see the cake was very tasty

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Harrison went to a Serving Camp where he learned some practical ways to serve and love others. He made this popsicle family and told everybody he likes to serve his mommy, daddy, and 3 sisters. He is always so excited to tell everybody that we are a foster family and that it is a way to love and serve God and his people. I wish everybody viewed it that way. His kindness and child-like faith is so refreshing and encouraging.

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I am constantly finding little treasures in my washer and/or dryer. This time it was a tube of toothpaste. Awesome. The kids apparently find joy in stashing random things in their hampers.

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I looked out the window and saw Harrison about to climb on this "obstacle course" he made. Super safe, right?! He figured out how to unscrew and unhook the latches and then hooked everything back up all wonky. He had to show me how to unhook everything because I seriously couldn't figure it out. Not a proud moment for me. His brain and my brain are definitely not wired the same.

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Our church had a parent dedication recently for parents with children ages 0-5. Our pastor prayed over us and we promised to raise and disciple our kids with Jesus at the core of our family.

Rick introducing our family as Harrison and I tried not to vomit from stage fright.

Meanwhile, Harper entertained the audience while we were being prayed over. She was dancing and twirling and so very clearly does NOT have the same stage fright.

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These next pictures are just a glimpse into our daily lives.