I love this man.

Happy Father's Day, Paul! Seeing you in your "father role" is almost more than my heart can take. We love you so much!

I love to do this...

It's so fun to compare how each of the kids looked at the same age. So here ya go...

Brigg. Nalani.
Ayla.

See?!?

Brigg got his first set of golf clubs from nana and papa b on his 3rd birthday. Wasn't that just yesterday??!!

His love

Today was TKD promotions. Brigg did a great job. I love watching him do this. He has grown so much over the past year and a half. He has become more confident and found a way out of his shell. And I am quite certain he will be receiving his blue belt on Monday. We are so proud of him!!

As much as he loves TKD, he loves golf more. And for his birthday dad and mom got him golf clubs. They came in today and he has been pulling them out of the bag and rolling them around in his hands since dad brought them over. He literally posed with each and every club. He then told me I needed to get a picture of his clubs without him in it. (You can thank me now for not posting all of these pics!)

They fit in his golf bag that he got from Nana and Papa B for Christmas perfectly!
He will be starting his golf lessons on Friday. He's been waiting all year for this.

He's getting so big. Not looking like that little boy who got his first set of clubs at 3 years old! Where is the time going?!?

Water, Storms and Clouds

We can't get a break! This weather is so crazy and the Mighty Mississippi has escaped her banks.

We were downtown after church tonight and also after yet another rain/hail storm. The clouds really were beautiful.

And I think we are to expect another round of storms tomorrow. I'm hoping they are wrong.

A Milestone

She ate.

She almost cleaned out the whole bowl.

I have coaxed her with fruit...a food that the bigger kids didn't get until their first birthdays.
But it worked.
Now I have to convince her that veggies are just as yummy as fruits!

Oh.My.Gosh.

No words.
But somehow getting to know eachother...


I think they shall be great friends!

The Kids

it's about bedtime and the kids are settling down.
They spent some time laughing at Ayla before she went down for the count.

Brigg is preparing for his promotions tomorrow and Saturday. He'll miss TKD, but for now is happy he'll have some time off.

And Lani. She came over and asked if I knew how much she loved me.
I said "No. How much?"
She stood up and showed me.
I think that's a lot for a 4 year-old!

Going, Going, Gone

As expected, Ayla is starting to sit up on her own. She still isn't real stable though.

But she gets a kick out of getting her picture taken while trying to stay balanced.

And sometimes her laughing gets away from her and she tumbles over.

It's just too cute! (And check out those rolls on her legs!)

Oh this child

How I hope her only memories of her childhood don't include a car seat.
That is where she has spent a good portion of her life thus far.
It's getting a little more difficult as she gets older though. She's not sleeping in it near as well as she used to. And I am a woman of schedule. She has none. I know she would if we were home all day long. She wants to have a schedule, but I'm always dragging her somewhere and waking her up. So she gets 20 minute naps here and there. Hoping after June ends, this will get better. Until then, she still seems pretty happy in that comfy little seat!

British Soccer Camp

Lani has been waiting for months for this day to arrive. Finally a day where she is involved in the same activity as Brigg. They both thoroughly enjoyed British soccer camp this morning, despite the rain. I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice the rain. And I forgot my camera. So the pics are courtesy of Amy!! Thanks!

$50

I received $50 in gift certificates to the restaurant that served me raw chicken. Hmmmm. Good thing they have a bar, too! :)

And it's gone...

One cleaned out freezer of frozen breastmilk sent off yesterday! YAY! Last month I received an email that read:

"Dear IBMP Family,
As a current or past donor to International Breast Milk
Project (IBMP), today is a day of celebration for you. At 10:54 A.M., IBMP Bank
director Robin Gaylord watched a Quick International Courier truck pull away
with another shipment of donor breast milk, beginning the journey from the U.S.
to infants affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Thank you for making a
difference in the lives of these very sick and malnourished babies.
Today
IBMP sent its 6th shipment of donated breast milk to South Africa. The shipment
consisted of 43,000 ounces of tested and pasteurized donated breast milk, which
is equivalent to approximately 10,000 infant meals. In the past, milk has been
sent to the iThemba Lethu milk bank in Durban to supplement their local milk
collections for their orphan home. This shipment will be shared with Milk
Matters, a milk bank in Cape Town, South Africa."

So that is exciting. A great program indeed! If you are interested or know someone who would be interested, visit HERE!

I lived

And am feeling much better today. I was pretty fixated on my chicken ordeal yesterday and couldn't eat anything until supper last night. So after a meal (followed by a hot fudge sundae!), and my first full night's sleep all week, I feel pretty great today. Got a sitter for the kids this afternoon while I run up to the airport to welcome the Landers home! SO EXCITED!! It's been a long time coming.
Paul made it home yesterday, a day later than expected. With all the storms in DC, his plane was very delayed which caused him to miss his flight home from Minneapolis. He ended up spending the night there and getting out the next day.
Brigg is counting down the minutes until the sitter arrives. hhmmmm, he must be sick of me already.
Busyness starts next week with Brigg and Nalani both in British soccer camp and Brigg starts golf on Friday. The next week is swimming lessons for both of them and Lani has Science camp. The following week is Camp Abe Lincoln for Brigg. Lots to do this month! But after that things slow down. Brigg has promotions next weekend. He will be promoting to a blue belt. He is going to take some time off of TKD after that. At least for the rest of the summer. He's been going at least 3 times a week for the last year and a half and I think we're all pretty burnt out. It's been GREAT for him and he may choose to go back once school starts, but for now he is so excited to no longer have the 3-4 times a week commitment!
It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just ate raw chicken

I want you all to know I love you.
I ate raw chicken tonight.
I'm not even kidding.
Totally raw chicken.
Paul has been in Washington DC for a couple of days. I'm kinda losing my mind with the kids alone. Mom called to see if I wanted to go out to dinner, so of course I agreed!
I ordered tequila lime chicken. Sounds fab, right?!?
WRONG.
It came and I cut a row off. It was covered in fiesta colored tortilla chips and tequila lime sauce. I took my first bite and honestly said, "Ooooh. This is good!"
Then my phone rang.
It was Paul. He was stuck on a plane in DC. Huge storms. Won't let them off the plane, won't let them take off. They would be on the plane for at least an hour.
As he is telling me all about this I am continuing to eat my chicken. Yes, the raw chicken.
I ate the whole row. Really wasn't even thinking about what I was eating. Just thinking "Crap! He won't be home tonight. And I watched that scary Dateline the night he left and haven't slept but 3 hours each night since! Guess I won't be sleeping tonight either."
So I go to cut off the next row.
I think to myself, "Hmmm. It seems kind of 'jiggly'. (i know, very techinal and intelligent here)."
So I look a little closer.
It is gray.
And did I mention raw?!?
Totally raw. Not even slightly cooked.
I tell Paul, "I'm so sorry honey that you are stuck on the plane. But I have to go. I'm eating raw chicken." And I hang up.
The cook comes out and literally says, "I'm so sorry! To be honest, I really don't know how to make that dish right. I prepared the chicken yesterday and froze it. I guess I didn't leave it down long enough. Sorry. Would you like a pork chop or something?"
Ummm, let me think about it. NO!
Ugh, blak, spagh, ghack.
I'm sorry but that is disgusting.
He proceeded to bring out two HUGE fried ice creams.
"Here. Have these on the house. I want to make amends."
I said, "I'm not MAD at you. You don't need to make amends. I just ate raw chicken. I truly cannot stomach that fried ice cream."
So in case I don't wake up in the morning, know that I love you all very much.
And that the raw chicken was my last meal.

Ayla "eats"

Ayla "eating"
really, is this normal at 7 months??
:) she's funny.

Eating?

I know it may look as though she is eating...

but she is not.
she is spitting it all over and laughing.

although she really does like those biter biscuits.
too bad their is no nutritional value in them!

really. she's going to be 7 months next week.
i hope she is eating by the time we send her to preschool.

A heated Guitar Hero session...

Video

I'm trying to upload a post with a video using the blogger video tool.
I'm not sure I'll be successful. It has said "Uploading Video...your video will appear here when finished" for about, oh, I don't know, 3 hours. I'm thinking it really isn't uploading. Anyone have experience with this?

Now I can breathe

It really was a long night and day waiting to hear from Africa...but we DID! And they have the babies!!!!! What a long journey...and they still have a ways to go before getting back to American soil. So thankful they have the babies in their arms!