Wish I Had Videotaped This....

The girls were giggling so hard, riding around the circle, down the hall, through the kitchen, living room, back through the hall, around again, almost crashing into the couch, the wall, etc. They were hysterically laughing which ALWAYS makes you forget all your troubles

This is What we Do for Fun

Kevin and I are trying to keep our houses in good working order and updated. With the current economy looming over us, we feel very fortunate to currently have good tenants and we are also fortunate to have the ability to fix a lot of the problems ourselves. Not everything, but a good number of the chores fall within our realm of experience (or guesswork). Like in some weird Walter Mitty fashion I sometimes find myself fantasizing about finding high end tile on the clearance rack or walking past an Empire desk in the garbage which would work perfectly as a sink somewhere. These pics are the Before and After shots of the condo, where I spent a huge part of my July. Just in case you were wondering why our girls barely knew us at the end of the summer . . . .

What a Difference Three Years Makes

Hard to believe it's been three years since we laid eyes on Frannie. She was so scared for about 3 days -- until she realized what a harmless goofball she had for a father and started to giggle. If November 2 is truly her birthday (yep, it's an estimate b/c she was about 3 weeks old when "they" found her), I pray for her biological family who are also thinking of her, wondering where she is. I pray God puts an unexplained peace in their hearts, trusting that she is happy and healthy.

Grace's Birthday

Last year we were mere days away from going to China to get our hands on our little girl so we missed her 2nd birthday by about 3 weeks. This year, we got to hold her, tickle her, bake for her, make her crown and smother her with all the lovin she deserves. She will be having her third palate surgery on September 15, along with replacing her ear tubes and fixing her hernia. Please pray for an easy one this time!

Ballerina Girl

Frannie started her ballet class. She is just a little excited!

First Day of School

The girls had an emotional start, but evidently they had a good first day of Pre-K and daycare (same place for them, different rooms). Grace told me she liked it, which is saying a lot for her. She is still in diapers (yep, not ready) so they had to make a last-minute switch from the "potty-trained" room to the "not quite ready" room.

My first day of school went great. I can't tell you how much I miss my students every summer and how grateful I am to have such great parents who greet me with open arms every year! I will be working 32 hours per week so Wednesdays I get to stay home and take care of some business or read a book or do some laundry, yeah!

Grace's surgery is set for September 15. In case you are wondering, she is having a p-flap surgery (fixing the palate again), her hernia fixed and new tubes installed in her ears. Don't tell her about this surgery, I want it to be a surprise. Not funny, but seriously, I'm not telling her until September 14. By the way, by complete coincidence, Grace's anniversary date of officially being OURS is also September 15.

The pictures are from our trip to the Harkness cabin (thanks again Doug and Lucy), the first day of school and a post-Wendy's Frosty photo taken of my two girls who handle Frostys in drastically different ways, as shown by this picture. Click on the bottom picture to get the full effect of the chocolate ice cream aftermath. It's ironic that your name is Grace -- you are just like your Mama!