Sunday, March 22, 2015

Happy 7 Years of Forever MK!

7 Years of Forever!
It all began with one little 10-month-old baby girl....
and 7 years later, she continues to pave the way for us....
 a morning of her favorites - chocolate donuts, oranges and strawberries....
 and a day off from school....
and she got to wear her favorite dress without a bow, sigh.  
7 years looks good on this girl!  
She is my sweet girl who helps me without hesitating!  Love her to pieces and so much more!

Four Years of Forever for Maddox!

Gotcha, Gotcha, Gotcha!!!  We love remembering this day with our girls - the day they joined our family forever! Just like I will never forget the moment my boys entered this world, I will never, ever forget the moment I first laid eyes on my girls!  
Per Maddox's request, we had Cheerios for breakfast and a night out with the family that evening....and in between, we wore our Cinderella slippers to see the Cinderella movie!  What a beautiful message for my girl on this day of celebration!
"Have courage and be kind" - can't wait to see this movie again and again!  
Three days later, Maddox was all smiles once again as she had her very last day of speech therapy!  
This little girl has my heart!  She is everything from loving to sassy to spunky to hilarious to cuddly and everything in between!  So thankful that God opened our hearts to adoption and this beautiful baby!  
My "hippie baby" forever.  I love you sweet girl!

Bowling 101 - Don't mess with mommy:)
Every ball I bowled was either a strike or a strike....it was a rather good day for me!  We all laughed because typically I lose.
 Teen Pact
These three guys had a day to see and do as our state senators and state representatives do at the capitol.  They each presented their bills  - Pryce's bill was that all sports arenas should be equipped with ChicFilA while his buddies suggested all should have a mandatory naptime and a 3 day school week.....
 We stepped outside and there were the tiniest little snowflakes coming down.....the only snow we will see this year!
 Maryn loves to blow bubbles and I love her little lips....
 Skating with our crew....it has not been done in two years!  Pryce and MK took off as if they had just been skating yesterday.....and Maddox, well, she was off and skating as if she had been doing it her entire 5 1/2 years of life.  
 And our littlest bit wasn't about to let everyone skate without her!  Upon arrival and everyone getting their skates, she let it be known that she was in need of her own skates as well.....and she was going on the rink do or die:)  We love her spunk!
 As Ryan says, "A sign of things to come!"  We heard giggling the other day coming from our closet.  When we went in, we found Maryn being tattooed up by her big sister, Maddox....these two are only a portion of what was all over her body!  Oh my!
 Trying to make the best of school....outside and perfect!
 Build A Bear gift cards are the best and our girls had the best time building bears together!
 They stuffed, and patted their hearts....
 bathed them and clothed them....
 and couldn't wait to take them home!  

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Almost 8 months home and she has the sweetest, softest voice that sings and talks all.of.the.time.  (In order to keep this real, understand, she does scream LOUD too!) However, her voice is precious!

I will ask her quite often who loves her and she immediately responds, "Mummy!" - a little british hint within her tone;)

We went to the library recently (again, keeping this real.....obviously we should go more often as Maddox leaned over to me as we were entering the building and asked, "Mommy, is this the place that you have to be real quiet?") and little Maryn beamed from ear to ear, running circles around me and shouting, "I like it!  I like it!"

She has an obsession with the Ipad and frequently asks, "Where de I-pap go?"

We sneeze and you hear this little voice say, "Bwesh you!" (Bless you)

We try to help her do something and she is quick to say, "I do it!"

She will ask for something, usually something sweet to eat, and I will tell her no.  She will wait a minute and then say, "Pweesh mummy?"  (Please mommy)

She loves to be noticed and often can be heard saying, "Mommy, wook! Wook at me!" (Look)

When you ask her if she would like to do something, she will respond, "Sure!"

She copies everything and as I type this I just heard her say, "I will honey!" - Ryan just said this to the girls and she wanted to put her two cents in;)

I wish I could just bottle up the cuteness!  She is growing up too fast, as they all do, and there are moments when I just want to keep her little a wee bit longer!

Social Etiquette

Pryce and his friend, Kayley, participated in their first "Social, Inc." event.
For four weeks, they attended classes together to learn social manners - all the ins and outs of manners!  
 These two have been friends since their Kindergarten days and they are looking forward to beginning Social in the Fall together and dancing the nights away!  
This guy continues to grow up!  We are so thankful for the young man he is becoming!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

A Little Catch Up


MK will be a Fairy Sprite in the upcoming ballet the Roar of Love.
She is soooo excited!  The Fairy Sprites get to do ballet and scream and do cartwheels all in one scene!
 Maddox and her "sister friend" Brooklyn....these two are the best of buddies and we just love watching them grow together!
 The deer continue to visit our backyard.  We love watching to see just how far into the yard they will come before getting spooked and taking off back into the woods.  
 Miss Maddox got a hair cut!  Short hair suits her mighty personality and we love her new look!
 However, I about died as I watched her getting the hair lobbed off!  That's a lot of hair!!!
 The Kenney Family joined us for dinner recently.....the Kenneys were some of our very first friends and we love their friendship!  
 Speaking of the Kenneys.....during dinner, this picture appeared!  Pryce and Jules, so very sweet!  I remember Pryce used to tell Julia all the time how nice her hair looked!
 The weather here has been nice for a few days!  So nice that Colin decided schooling on the porch was the way to go!
 Miss Maryn embraced the weather as well....
 she was a kicking machine and had so much fun playing ball with us.
 This baby girl is precious!  Most who meet her just want to squeeze her!  The cuteness is too much!
 And she is a sweet one too!  Of course I always ask her who loves her and she will say, "Mommy!" in the sweetest voice ever!
 Maddox is never at a loss for finding something to wear.....she loves to dress-up!  
 It's that time of year again!  Bruster's Pajama Day!
 We all headed out in our pjs and indulged in a free waffle cone filled with some ice cream goodness!  Yummo!

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Happy Fifteen Years, Colin!

And just like that, he is 15 years old!  The night before his birthday, I kept telling Ryan about that night 15 years ago.....how we went to our last baby shower, how we were prayed over, how I had this horrendous, sudden pain just as we were leaving the baby shower, how we drove to our home thinking I had a bladder infection, how we called the doctor and they told me to drink water, how we decided to go to the hospital without unloading the first gift from our car, how Ryan said, "I am just going to get your toothbrush and your pillow, just in case"....how they calmly stated that I was in labor and there was no turning back now!  I will never forget the nurse going to all the trouble to make Ryan's bed in the hospital room thinking we would be settling in for the night.  Little did we all know that our Colin would make his grand entrance just four hours later!  
 I had to share with Colin how I stared at him the first day and just could not believe that my dream of being a mother had come true!  I also told him how the nurses called several times from the nursery during our stay to let us know that they would be bringing him to our room - he was being a bit disruptive in the nursery and waking the other babies!  Ha!  It was the beginning of his no need for sleep!
 At fifteen, gifts are secondary to how you celebrate your special day!  Thankfully, the boys worked extra hard to get ahead so we could take a day off from school.  We began with scones - Colin's favorite breakfast treat and then we were off to play racquetball.  
 Though they had read up on how to play the game, there were a few minor glitches in their game.  One being that they lost their ball to the vent.....the vent that is located next to the ceiling:0
 Let's suffice it to say that I just love birthdays....so, I could not let the day go by without having some of Colin's favorite friends over to celebrate with him.  A little Ultimate coupled with Mafia and some cookie cake with ice cream equalled a fabulous afternoon.  
 We said goodbye to everyone and scooted out the door for a special dinner at Garlic Clove, Colin's request!  Our children have grown-up going there to celebrate special days, it's a tradition of sorts.  
 The one thing Colin asked for the entire day was to open his gifts at dinner.  So, gifts at dinner we had!
 Admittedly so, I miss the younger days with our boys and gifts.  Gone are the days of trucks and noisy toys and in are the "I just want money for my mission trip and I need socks" days - eeekkk!!!  Again, I am a birthday person so there has to be a few gifts!  
Fifteen and counting! I love this guy so much!  I remember rocking him when he was just a few weeks old and thinking he would never grow up!  I could wrap my thumb and index finger around his little legs, he was tiny!  And here he is, 15 years later.  
Our first son, first child, aka "the experiment."
This year he continues to homeschool, an adventure we began when he entered into the 4th grade!
He stays busy with basketball, friends, church, school, drums, listening to and creating music, Ultimate,  eating and eating more!  He is a teenager in every sense of the word.  He wants to sleep later, stay up later, eat all the time, and repeat.  He is his mother's child and would likely forget his head if it were not attached to him....he is notorious for forgetting his shoes!  He adores Maryn and tolerates MK and Maddox - his love for them is 100% yet there is no gushing over those two due to their age-appropriate antics.  Maryn, on the other hand, had him at the word hello and he happily obliges when she asks him for a hug and/or a kiss.  It is precious!
He has big dreams that involve fancy cars and even fancier homes.  He would like to be a pharmacist or possibly a computer science guru.  We tell him all the time that law should be a consideration....he debates well and often has valid points.
We cherish the time that we have with this guy!  We are so thankful for him and his humor that brings joy to us daily!