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!

Life's A Beach.....

....and then you have to go home! Our family is so fortunate that Ryan's parents own a beach house on Seabrook Island. We love to visit and we do not love for our visiting time to be over. This week was no different. Once again, the weather was perfect, the Lollipop Shop was open for business, the ice cream store greeted us with smiles, the outdoor concerts were played and we were pleased to have our friends come down to spend time with us.

Nothing could stop our crew in the water! Not a baby shark, not the many jelly fish that had washed up on shore, not the stingrays that lurked beneath the water, not the crabs - even the one that Pryce caught in his net all by himself, nothing could stop them....they were so thrilled to be in the ocean, to have big waves to ride, there was honestly no looking back.

MK, who decided right off that the water was not any place for a princess to be, took it upon herself to attempt to build a pyramid out of sand. She kept stating, "I will be a true princess when I am finished with my pyramid!" She has watched Dora one too many times apparently! When we were not busy on the beach, we were pool hopping across the island. It did not take long for MK to lose the life jacket and begin swimming on her own. Amazing!

Mason-Kate loves to say prayers. She always thanks God for our family and her boys and Finley and then she will move into more specific things. Tonight's prayer was said in anticipation of our upcoming trip to the beach. After she said her usual thank yous she went on to say, "And God, thank you for the beach house and my toys there and that I get to go there and for the sand....I love my beach house!"

A Week To Remember

What a fantastic week we have had in our home! Sunday we set out for a family day touring Stone Mountain. The boys were so taken with the ropes course, they chose to take the second highest route with their fear-of-heights father in tow! We ventured to the top of the mountain via a high speed tram and then hiked down a 1.3 mile trail to the bottom....even MK enjoyed this! The weather was beautiful and our time together was priceless. Following our Stone Mountain adventure, we met up with the Gruskin family for dinner at our fav restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. We loved catching up with them and can't wait to get together again! Visit their blog and follow along on their journey to adopt the precious baby girl who is waiting for them in China. Their site is http://www.littleboyhugsandladybugs.blogspot.com/. This family is very special to us! We met them during our fingerprinting renewal during our process to adopt MK and we have kept in touch with them since! It is amazing the threads that are woven together in adoption land.


Monday morning the children and I packed up and set out on our own to travel to see my grandmother. Following lunch with Nannie, a crowd gathered to hear Colin play the piano. They loved the entertainment as they clapped and danced and sang to some of the tunes. It was a great way to start off our week. That night, we stayed in town with my parents and indulged in some of Pop's famous burgers followed by his even more famous pancakes the next morning!

On Tuesday, we met some friends at the zoo. I am learning that the zoo is always entertaining no matter how often you go. The highlight of this particular trip would have to be feeding the Lorakeets. We were all taken with this delight!


Of course, the little girls enjoyed the birds and also spent quite a bit of time trading silly bands in their stroller or making monkey faces! These three have spent countless hours together this year during our co-op time playing house and store and picnic! So thankful for our friends!

Mason-Kate has been singing songs almost non-stop all year long in preparation for her end of the year show for preschool. She even woke up Thursday morning belting out her favorite song and declared she was so excited to sing for me and "her boys" at her school. Production time came, MK walked in holding her teacher's hand, and, well, she was so NOT excited to be singing for us after all! Our little buddy Colby took it all in stride, he did the hand motions and sang loud and just had a grand time performing.....

MK, on the other hand, spent most of her time up front like this.....following her performance, she came to me and declared, "I was just a little bit shy!" And with that, she set out to find some action in the jumpy thingies that had been rented for the end of the year bash!


Thursday afternoon, the boys finished up their homeschool tennis clinic! We have thoroughly enjoyed our year together. The friends and relationships we have established while homeschooling have been such a blessing to our lives. I LOVE that my children have had this opportunity. I LOVE that we are able to provide this for them.


*A milestone reached.....MK has started calling her big brother "Colin" more than "Col-Col"....she is growing up!

*This week our family was blessed beyond words with a special gift! We are so thankful for the people that God continues to intricately place in our lives.

My older sister is a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse. When she chose this occupation, it was all a great surprise to us due to the fact that she had never really held a baby. The one instance that I do remember her actually holding a little baby was on one Thanksgiving. I was holding a sleeping infant girl. She came over and, after observing that the baby was sleeping peacefully in my arms, she asked if she could try holding her. We traded off, she got settled with the baby and then the baby started to scream. My sister's response was to quickly hand the baby back to me.....she kept saying, "I don't know what to do! Here, you just take her!" And that was her experience with a baby. She has come a long way since then. Not only is she a NICU nurse, now she is also a mother. We were talking the other day and she told me of a baby in her care that was "pretty." She doesn't say this about too many of them but she said more than once how pretty this little one was. The unfortunate part is that this pretty little baby girl was born to a drug addicted mother and placed in the care of the state. Ultimately, the child was placed for adoption and on the day that the adoptive parents were to pick up the baby from the hospital, the birthmother appeared in their unit and pleaded to see the baby. Knowing that the baby was to be adopted, the nursing staff was all in a fix on how to handle this particular situation. In the end, the adoptive parents gave consent for the birthmother to see the baby. My sister shared with me how heartbreaking it was to watch this lady cry big tears as she cuddled the little one and bid her beautiful baby goodbye. This scene, one that I wasn't physically a part of, has been in my mind since then.

Growing Up With Brothers

Yesterday while riding in the car, Mason-Kate told me she wanted her water. I asked her to ask me for it nicely. She said, "May I please have my water?" and I gave it to her. She said, "Xie Xie!" which means "Thank You" in Chinese. I do not know the Chinese word for "You're welcome" so I told her, "De Nada" which is "You're welcome" in Spanish. She laughed at me and said, "Hey, that is what Dora Dora says on tv!" Tri-Lingual?

One of her latest games is the game of "Baby." She always has a baby. If she is with me, I am the baby. If she is at school, she has a boy in her class who is the baby. If she is at co-op, there is a little girl who is her baby. And she always has a baby doll (or two) in tow along with a bag of "loot" that includes juice and milk bottles. Of course, she loves being the mommy.

I love to hear her say, "You made my feelings." Translation, "You hurt my feelings." It is usually said after she is told that she is not allowed to do something.

She is now in a booster seat in the car....we finally made the weight and height cutoff! YAY. The best part is that she can buckle up all by herself because, as she tells me often, she is a "girl girl!" Translation, "a big girl!"