Isaac Turns 8

A "deer hunting" cake was requested...
what better place to find such a cake than Wal-mart?
I typically make our kids' cakes, but this year I thought I'd take a break.



Isaac was pleased, as you can see.



My beautiful baby boy... how is it possible you are 8 years old?



Grandad came for a relaxing weekend visit, always a treat to see him and Coco.



The day ended with our traditional dual birthday date, just him and I,
shopping and part-taking of a slab of ribs at Texas Road House.
Birthday money spent on a nice pair of roller blades.

Smiles and love all around... I love you my precious one. Happy 8th birthday!

Gun Control

She's the cutest gun toting gal in the east. Even on a bad hair day.

In Training

In North Carolina, basketball is a big deal.



As is picking a university to side with... Duke, Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, just to name some of the top choices.



So, Daniel, (almost 3) is in early training for a full ride.
We are holding out loyalties for whichever school gives him that scholarship.



Time to put on that game face, Daniel.



Your future fans are depending on you :-)

Fun on wheels.

It's Complicated.

I have actually written a few posts, and never posted them. I'm kind of in a weird place in life right now, having an overload of changes, thoughts, contemplating the past and future... living in the present.

It's hard to write posts about the mundane, when so much of my life is not mundane right now. However divulging details of our life in a public format is currently not possible. So much revolves around our involvement with foster care and Daniel's biological family. I will say God has done some great works in our lives and relationships in these areas. We have put our big van to GREAT use over the past few months :-)

So, for a basic update on the less complicated happenings...

~ Lauralyn lost her first tooth about 10 days ago! My baby girl is growing up.

~ New bikes all around! Daniel was given a 12" bike from a friend who had an extra, replacing the little bike that finally broke beyond repair. We got Lauralyn a 20" bike which allowed Kristin to take on Lauralyn's 16". Mr. F was also given a bike by our neighbors, so let's just say if you are driving down our street, watch out for the Haut Biker Gang.

~ We are just days away from being done with our homeschool year! We will continue schooling over the summer months with reading and math so that no review will be needed come the start of Lauralyn's 1st grade and Isaac's 3rd grade year.

~ We have LOTS of trips planned this summer, taking full advantage of having a 3 year old as our youngest. Three camping trips are already planned with our good friends, as well as a trip to visit family in MD. Oh, and two weeks at the beach!

~ Noah built a fabulous tree fort for the kids last weekend with the scrap wood we had. I have a talented and amazing husband.

~Isaac is halfway through his baseball season. This season he is a D.T. Firecracker.

~ It's been a beautiful spring with much of our time spent outdoors. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes made there appearance this week. BOO. Time to break out the bug spray. Yuck.

I do have pictures to post on much of what I mentioned above. I'll post them soon.