And Tater, too!

(there's a chance he is a bit dramatic. wonder where he gets that??)

Jennie and Tate came down as well. Of course Jennie did an amazing job on Nalani's hair and make-up. She not only felt like a princess, but we actually made it to the recital ON TIME. Amazing! And Tate was a riot. I think he thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with his cousins, uncle and favorite aunt!! :)

Nana B visits

Donna made the 4.75 hour trek to come for Nalani's recital. It was a gorgeous weekend and we just had so much fun hanging out! Donna had only been gone a few hours when the kids started complaining of missing her. We so wish she lived closer...

A glimpse...

It's been a long day. Here are a few pics from the day. Sighs of relief all around. Other than one make-up game, soccer is over. And dance is over until the fall as well! Lani did fab. More pics and details tomorrow...

We really ARE fun...

You would just never know it these days. A few weeks ago I was being kind of silly with Brigg and he was laughing. Nothing out of the ordinary really. But he says to me, "Mom, you're funny!" Well duh! What do you mean I'm funny?!? OF COURSE I am funny. I'm totally funny! Why do you not know that?
Well maybe because I feel like I spend most of my day focusing on keeping them alive. This would include reprimending them for various risky behaviors, reminding them to stay in the yard, yelling as they run through a busy parking lot to get back by me, rushing them to brush their teeth in the morning, barking at them about what they need to remember in their back packs and on and on and on. That, my friends, is neither funny nor fun at all.
Tonight at Nalani's preschool picnic I ran into a friend. I was there alone with the kids. Ayla was in the backpack on my back and I just felt fried. We have 2 showers in this house, none of which work properly at the moment and Paul doesn't have a spare minute to fix them. I had gotten Brigg off the bus, shipped him off to TKD, took Nalani to her 2 hour dance rehearsal, flew by mom and dad's to pick up Brigg, ran home to pick up the brownies to take to the picnic and walked over to the park. So I ran into this friend and I unloaded. Almost in tears she told me that I indeed looked a little frazzled. Um yeah. Frazzled. Yes. It's summer. Paul is working long hours and I am running around trying to get the kids where they need to go. The kids miss their dad. I miss their dad. I am tired. There are days when I think our best bet is to just leave it all behind and head out into the wilderness. I don't know.
But back to fun. I DO remember the days when I was fun. When Brigg would have been caught off guard if I wasn't in full-fun mode. When it's just "us" and we have a full day together, we really are fun. We enjoy eachother. We laugh. We are spontaneous. Just seems like those days are few and far between anymore.
So a whole lot of words about nothing. Sorry.

The day...

Not much going on around here.
Took my car in for an oil change and they washed the outside. So I figured I should tackle the inside. It was trashed, but now looks much better. Lani is my little cleaner. She loves to help!
Feeling a little bit distracted today. But trying to focus on being productive.
Ayla still has a cold and it seems to have settled in her eyes. They are oozing green. She has a doctor appointment on Monday and I'm would like to be able to make it until then. But even as I type this she is fussing in her crib...not napping well at all. That is rare for her.
Walked to the school with the girls to pick Brigg up. He loves to come down the hall and see us waiting for him. Lani picked 2.7 million dandelions on the way home to put in a vase. Cute.
Soccer tonight...I think it's our LAST practice! Dance rehearsals tomorrow AND Friday night and recital on Saturday. It will be fun to finally see all their work on stage!! :)
Seems like my days are filled with lists and places to be. Still trying to figure out how to balance it all and be a good mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, cousin, neighbor................

The face

The face we have all come to know and love.

It's rare to get any other look from her when I pull out the camera. She makes me laugh. And she has some long eyelashes!

Happy Mother's Day to ME! :)

Yes, that is the shadow of me on top of Paul's pick-up, taking a picture in that bottom photo. Funny.

Cut out for it or not...

I am a mom.

I think Ayla thinks I do an ok job...

And last night we had a mothers' day slumber party in our room. I got to pick out the movie (I picked Rudy!) And Paul made nachos, popcorn and chocolate milkshakes.

The kids crashed on our bedroom floor and slept like rocks the whole night through.

I can handle times such as these. Fun. I can handle fun. It's the responsibility part where I have trouble. I suppose it will be a life-long endeavor. So thankful I don't have to do it alone.

Ugh...

It was one of those mornings. I don't feel like I have mornings like this too often, but when I do, it just plain sucks. I got Brigg off just fine with the Landers and I worked on Lani's costume hair and make-up for over an hour and a half...

You see, I don't DO hair and make-up. Somehow I needed to pull it off for pictures though. This is a big deal in a little girl's world and well, I just wanted to help Lani feel like a little princess. There really is nothing she enjoys more. I don't know where she gets it, but I can guarantee it's not from me.

So I curled and I sprayed and I pinned and I applied make-up and even wove in the black ribbon in her costume. It was quite an ordeal and I had to pull out some tactics from deep within to pull it off. Lani was pleased. She said she felt like Cinderella. Mission accomplished. (Jennie will be doing hair and make-up for the actual recital and will put mine to shame!)

So we were RUSHING out the door to get there by 9:45...the time I had been reminding myself of all week. Paul walked in just as I was grabbing the picture order form.
Only to find that pictures were at 9:30-9:40. It was 9:35. I screamed. I ran.
We pulled up to the studio and jumped out of the car and started running through a million little ballerinas. I saw a mom I recognized. "We're done. You missed them."
My heart sank. I held the tears. They squeezed her in for individual shots. She will not be in the group photo. And I spent almost 2 hours working for her to look like this...

She didn't care.
She looked fabulous.
She told me she loved how I did her hair.
I got her back in the car, buckled her seat belt, shut the door and walked to the back of the car to call Paul.
And cry.
Some days I just feel like they deserve better. Some days I just feel like she deserves a mom who can pull it off right. Today is one of those days.

stuff

not a lot of time to post here. it's going to be a busy morning. and well, i'm already in a pretty crappy mood because i have a feeling we are going to have bed-wetting issues until the children move out of the house and it's just plain frustrating.
lani has dance pics at 9:45...which means she needs to be dressed in her costume with hair done and make-up on by 9:30.
brigg has soccer game at 10:00. yes. that is a problem. considering paul is working. have i ever mentioned i have the utmost respect for single parents? i have no idea how they do it!
thankfully the landers have 4 boys so they were bound to have a soccer game this morning as well. brigg will be joining them at 8:30 to head to the fields and the girls and i will head over after pics. (secretly, i was praying for rain. usually god doesn't answer my prayers in the way that i hope though.)
so off to try and figure out how to put lani's costume together.
and the hair and make-up thing could be rolling-on-the-ground hilarious.

No Joke

It was pretty nice out tonight so I decided to feed the kids their supper outside.

They finished up and proceeded to run around the yard screaming for about an hour.
Yeah, I'm thinking the neighbors love us!
At one point I heard Brigg telling Nalani, "I do it all the time. It's not a big deal. Just do it."
I went outside to find her under our big pine tree.
Squatting.
Yes, pant around her ankles.
After some more running around and a later-than-usual bedtime, we were just getting ready to head up to bed ourselves.
This is what Paul found on the steps leading up to our room...

This is no joke. He is dead asleep on the steps!
I have no idea how long he's been there. We put him to bed about an hour and a half ago.
I'm thinking he just might have a stiff neck in the morning.

It's almost time...

...for the kids to go to bed.
whew.
they are bathed.
and in their jammies...watching spongebob.
paul is on his way home from work and picking up some bare, cooked chicken wings to throw in the sauce sitting on the stove as soon as he gets home.
there is fat tire chilling in the fridge (which btw was on sale at hy-vee for 9.99 a 12 pk!).
it's been a long week.
and i'm ready for a night with my husband. period.

Chicken Nuggets

For mother's day Nalani's preschool teachers compiled all of the students favorite recipes and printed them up in one book to send home with each student. The kicker is that they let the children give them the recipe...without the parents knowledge. Apparently they asked each child what their favorite dish was that mommy served and then how she prepared it. Being the wonderful mother that I am, Nalani chose Chicken Nuggets. Um yeah...of the frozen genre. So here is her recipe...

CHICKEN NUGGETS
Recipe by Lani Burback

Mommy buys them at Hy-Vee. Comes in a red bag. She dumps them on a plate and warms them up in the microwave for like 7 seconds. My mom puts them on a plate so the table doesn't get all messy. I eat them with Ranch Dressing.

So there you have it. Feel free to try this at home, but I warn you, the "dumping them on a plate" part is pretty technical and can easily ruin the whole meal if done improperly.
Oh my...

My girls.

By the way...

As of this morning, the individual Africa Bags are sold out. But there is one more chance for you to pick one up! On Jody's blog, she will be auctioning off 8 bags starting tomorrow. Each bag will have a theme and will be filled with some seriously fabulous items. Examples would be great jewlery, skin care products and tomorrow's will have a FLIP CAMERA! Many of you have already purchased a bag, so if you think you know someone who may love a silent auction via blog, will you pass on the info? Direct them to Jody's blog and there they will find all the info. Check it out yourself for further info. They are SO CLOSE to bringing these kids home. It is completely possible that they could be traveling to pick them up in less than 2 weeks!

More of the "helpers"

Sorry I don't have pictures of ALL those that helped out, but you know who you are!!

The morning

jody and amy spent the morning in my living room finishing up the africa bags. they are sewn, ironed, addressed and off to the post office as i type this! it was and intense couple of hours! :)

Ok, maybe not TOO intense. there may have been some laughing and fun involved...

And no doubt a lot of love went into these bags. Jody made sure that each person that ordered got a bag that we all felt fit their style or personality. and then each heart was ironed on...

And no doubt a prayer was said 3 times over with each bag the was finished up. it was a labor of love. and i think i speak for each person that helped out when i say that we loved every minute of it and we felt all the closer to holding zeke and kora in our arms...

The 5 month pose...

We have pics of each of the kids at the same age in this same pose. I love to compare how they look alike or different as babies. So here's Brigg...

Nalani...
Ayla...