On most days, MK is up for a challenge. Saturday was no different. I noticed our front door was less than sparkling, so I engaged MK in a little cleaning.

She managed like a sport and asked for more water often.

When she was all done, this was the look I got. My interpretation of this stance/look is, "See, I can do anything!" And she can! (Or at least she thinks she can because she is "bigger and she is three years old!" I hear those words quite often lately!) I will say, though she is indeed bigger, she is still our baby girl at heart. A few weeks ago, she asked to use a booster seat in the car. We gladly switched her from the car seat to the booster. She was so proud to be in a big girl seat. As she was getting into the car yesterday for a trip to SC, she asked for the baby seat back. She said, "I a baby. I need to sleep." The booster is not ideal for sleeping toddlers and their bobbing heads. The switch was made and she kept telling Ryan, "Thank you daddy for my baby seat. I love it!" And then she slept all the way home....just like every baby should!

Monday thru Wednesday my boys were busy selling toys, cookies and lemonade. It was so much fun for them and fun for me to see how they lured in their unsuspecting customers, the neighbors. Each morning they pulled out two tables with chairs, made new signs and got out the "tip jar." Thursday brought on a new set of goals. The neighbor and P decided to sit in our driveway and play music with the lovely tip jar beside them. All this coupled with swimteam practice every morning, school and baseball. Swimteam is in full gear now. Pryce was able to swim at the first meet on Tuesday. Pryce is my guy who loves sleep and needs sleep and has his father's gift of being able to sleep at any given moment. On Tuesday, Pryce was one tired guy. And on Tuesday night, at the meet, he was even more tired....and scared. He was chosen to swim his first IM....this event is a four lap swim with every stroke. This is the same event that another one of my children, no name will be mentioned, was asked to swim last year and he promptly told the coach that he would not be doing it again! It is a challenging, intimidating swim. Pryce, who normally dives head first into most things, was scared, tired and less than excited to be doing this event. Add in the fact that it was 10:15pm when he finally got on deck to dive in.....but, the little man got up, met it like a man and came in THIRD place - we will take that for a first try! Colin was out on the baseball field during the first meet....their team won, yahoo, and they will begin their season tournament this upcoming week! We began school this week too - sort of. The boys and I are just not fully ready to swing into school again. I thought a month would be enough to rejuvenate us, but.....we compromised. We are full swing into reading, math and grammar. Colin began a new math book called Life of Fred....for a child who loves to read, it is a great resource. Colin thinks it is hilarious! And he is learning too....what is not to like?! Our week ended with a bang....our adoption group gathering! We LOVE having this group in our lives.....and seeing the children grow together is wonderful. It has only been two months but in those two months, we have welcomed two babies home from China, and one domestic kiddo will come home this month! Our family and another are in the process and just the other day our social worker emailed to say there was yet another family in our area going back to China for their second child! Woo-Hoo!

Pryce, our loving, sensitive, goal setting, determined little guy. He is his own person, not sure where he gets that from! On Monday morning, he awoke ready to conquer the day. He went to Ryan and asked if he could have a little sale. Ryan moaned a bit at this idea. Pryce said, "Dad, I want to sell some of the toys that we don't play with anymore. I need a sign. I need a table. I am going to give 1/2 of the money I make to church and the other 1/2 to our adoption fund." What dad can say "no" to this?! Even the rain could not deter our little man. He sat out there for almost an hour, no luck. I began to feel sorry for him so I went out and purchased a few cars for my nephew. Then the bottom opened up and the neighbor kids came out from all over. It was like being on Wall Street, the offers were flying and the negotiating of prices were well heard. After a few sales were made, Pryce decided to bring in the big guns and add a tip/donation jar to the table. This is the part that got me yesterday. I went out to tell the boys that they must pack everything up and close the store down for the day. It was well into the afternoon and they needed to rest for the big night ahead - a swim meet for one and a baseball game for the other. There were several kiddos on our porch hanging out. One little girl piped up and said, "I bet Mason-Kate is so excited that she will be getting a sister. I just donated some of my money to help bring her home." You see, it is not about the money. It is about the fact that the child thought outside of the box and helped others and she did it eagerly. The life lessons that one is taught from a child - priceless!