Happy 4th of July!

We went to our cabin on Saturday for a few hours. We haven't been able to go down due to all of the flooding so it was nice to actually make it to our dock! Jarika and some friends from Joplin were down and had been swimming all day and were ready to go tubing. I think Scott had a little too much fun throwing them off of the tube! Addy even swam with me for awhile and seemed to like it :) that is until a huge wave came and she got a mouthful of water! YUCK! We came home and spent the entire drive coming home in a major thunderstorm! Not fun!

Yesterday we went to our annual 4th of July parade here in Marshfield. It is the biggest parade west of the Mississippi! It was sooo hot! The temp was only about 84 but the heat index was killing us. Scott had to take Addy to the car for a bit to cool down. We toured the square and then came home to get ready to go to my brother's. I made fruit salsa with cinnamon chips and white chocolate covered strawberries with blue sprinkles :) We had a really good time, food was great and spending time with our whole family is always fun!The Grand Marshals were Tony, Shaelea and Shaydon DeCamp and Leona Jett (Leasha's mom) I know their mama was smiling from above:) We all miss you Leasha!

Addy was getting our friend, Boston's belly, it was too stinkin cute!

Cooper wore Uncle Kent's ear protection during the fireworks, the noises were really getting to him. Addy had a complete meltdown and spent the majority of the time inside! We did convince her to clap some after they went off but she was sooo not impressed! Some neighbors had set off those floating lanterns and I even tried to convince her they were for the lost princess, Rapunzel, but she wasn't buying it!

New Bathroom

Since Cooper moved down to the basement and Jarika is gone :( the boys now use the downstairs bathroom. Sooo I thought the hall bath needed to look a little girlie since only Addy is upstairs now. So we went from a sports theme to this:

I think it's pretty stinkin cute! I got this adorable decal on Ebay, I love it!

I have finished painting Cooper's old room and should have it finished after I get the valance in. I want to paint some things on the walls to match the valance once it's here. The room is going to be a playroom/scrapbooking room for Addy and I, however, I think Carlene would look absolutely darling in there sleeping on a nice comfy bed surrounded by things that are all her own :) Have you tried to win the Kindle yet? Click here to get your chance to win and to help out Carlene's grant!

Woo hoo!

Please ignore the nasty background in this classroom, the wall is getting an overhaul! It's a cruddy cell phone pic too :(

Addy cut paper all by herself today :) this is a new skill for her. She has TINY hands and has a lot of trouble with her fine motor skills so were thrilled to see this today!

I'm taking it as a sign

Last night while I was reading blogs I once again got to see the precious girl that I have prayed and prayed for. For awhile I was so happy because she had a family. Unfortunately it didn't work out and my precious girl needs a home fast!!! Scott and I live a good life, we have what we need (more even) and are able to pay our bills. However, that's about it. We don't have much left over at the end of the month and once we build up a savings it's time for Christmas or some other big thing comes up. So money is what is preventing us from committing to an adoption through Reece's Rainbow at this time. I was reading Renee's blog and I see my girl again. Her previous committed family is doing an amazing fundraiser to help double Carlene's grant fund! She already has a grant of $9,500!!! If this is doubled there is a great chance that our family could do this. We could commit to bring her home! Naturally,we would have to make sure we have family support for this since there would still be a need for more of the funds. However, there's a chance!!! So hop on over to Renee's blog and chip in to win a Kindle!!! For just a $10 donation you can enter to win a Kindle, how cool is that?


So, I'm taking this as a sign. It's a sign to spread the word about Carlene, she's already been transferred to a mental institution. This is devastating. She has such potential! She is a precious 5 year little girl that needs a family to help her grow and flourish. If she is meant to be ours, it will happen. If not, the least I can do is help out her family to help bring her home!

First Place!

Jake's team won First Place in their baseball tournament this weekend! Way to go Jays!

Busted

Since Addy got her stronger lenses she prefers to watch TV like this:

I have no idea what's going on with that, it may just be that she realizes that she can pull up there, she used to avoid the entertainment center like the plague so who knows!

We are not letting her do this and she knows it. She heard the camera and turned around and said "cheese", such a stinker!

Ouch!

Toy Box-1, Toe 0!