A Month of Celebrating.....

As promised a long time ago, I'm finally back with some pictures of our month long celebrating!  :)

We started off February with Joy's birthday...her 12th!   She had her party at the gymnastics center.  (I don't think I've mentioned it, but she's not taking dance this year, but gymnastics instead, as well as guitar).  It was absolutely the easiest party we have ever had for her.  I brought cupcakes, drinks and a tablecloth and just showed up!  The kids had free run of the entire place and had a wonderful time!  Not everyone that she invited could make it, so we only had a handful, but the ones that came really enjoyed themselves!  Here's a few pics from her party:

That's cupcakes in the shape of the #12 (in aqua blue...her favorite color)....

Then next up was Luke's (3rd) birthday party.  (Well my dad's was in between Joy's and Luke's).  We just had a small family party here at home for him and it proved to be the right decision.  He was so totally into his Thomas the Tank Engine table and trains, that I could hardly get a picture of him looking at the camera!  He loved his Thomas cake too!  Just having all the attention on him with the balloons and singing happy birthday made him beam!  Here's a few pics from his party:  

Pop and Luke playing with the new Thomas table and trains...

He was totally into this train table and set!

Caught this very excited expression on camera!

Then just a week after Luke's party, was Colt's 22nd birthday.  We spent most of that weekend at The Great Homeschool Convention (which was fantastic) but we were able to go as a family to a Tim Hawkins concert and then we celebrated with a birthday dinner at Hibachi Grill with family.  It was our first time to eat there (recommended by Colt) and it was wonderful!  I still can't believe my oldest baby is 22 though! 

Colt's dessert of choice was buttermilk pie

Blowing a kiss bye to Aunt Jo & Uncle Wayne

Mama & Daddy

And between all of that, our homeschool support group held its annual geography fair.  I bet you can't guess what country we did?  :)  Of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to share China!  I wish we could visit every country we've done in the geography fair because it sure makes the country's culture come alive when you experience it!  Joy & Luke both dressed in their Inner Mongolian native costumes.  Joy, of course, did most of the presentation , but Luke did come up and say "Ni Hao" (hello).   Here are some pics from the geography fair:

Other countries that were presented besides China were Russia, Brazil, Italy, France, Israel, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Madagascar, and Ireland.  And they were all wonderful!  It is definitely an event that we look forward to every year!  We're already brainstorming on next year's!

Oh, and last weekend, we went to Alabama and celebrated my Grandma's 93rd birthday....yes, 93!  :)  I think she still looks beautiful! 

Luke was a little overwhelmed when we walked into the church for the party with all the relatives coming to see him (for alot of them, it was the first time).  It's times like this that we see insecurities arise again in him.  He stuck to me like glue, hanging on to my shirt.  Overall though, he did great!  

I love the look he's giving baby Grayson (that I'm holding).... 

As you can see, he warmed up to everyone after awhile and even let go of me for a few minutes!  :)

Joy, cousin Laci, and Luke

 Now, I'm hoping that life slows down just a bit for us now because frankly.......I'm tired!  :)  I'm also ready for warm sunny weather so we can spend some time outside.  

Thanks for hanging with me and for coming back for visits (even though I've been absent).  I appreciate each everyone of you and your time spent here!    

Blessings to you!  Have a great weekend!  :)
~ Tammy ~

Lesson Number One

Since October, Joy taught a beginners dance class in our homeschool group, leading up to the performance at our Christmas party in mid December.  The girls ranged in age from 4 - 11.  Not only was it a learning experience for the girls in the class, it was just as much so for Joy, as she choreographed and lead the class.  It was challenging at times teaching the wide age range a beginning dance class, but she loved those girls and enjoyed teaching the class.  

Her dance was a blend of dance and martial arts since their song was from Mulan:  Lesson Number One.  For the dance, Joy "played the part" of Mulan with the girls following her lead.  They dressed in their best Chinese attire for the performance.  

(from left to right:  back row:  Bobbi, Sarah & Madison; middle row:  Susannah, Saja & Cora;  front row:  Joy, Lily, Lydia & Aliya. 

Everyone did a great job!  I was proud of my Joy, as well as all the girls in the class!   

A Great Day for Apple Picking

Today we had our first homeschooling "field trip" for the school year.  Our homeschool group visited a local apple orchard for apple picking. 

When we woke up this morning, I told Luke that we had to get ready because we was going to pick apples.  He obviously didn't understand what that meant because he came to the breakfast table, expecting an apple for breakfast.  When he didn't get that, he told my mom on the phone something about an apple as well as jabbered about apples in the car on the way over.  Then when we stopped to check in at the market, he noticed some baskets of apples, and I guess he thought we were buying apples then, and was very excited.  I had to tell him again, that he was going to pick apples off a tree. (It's hard to remember that he doesn't know the meaning of all those English words just yet).  Well needless to say when we arrived at the orchard and he had his little bag, and caught on to what we were doing, he had quite a time!

He picked and picked until his little bag was so full that he had to drag it behind him!

Joy had no trouble filling her bag either!  I was a little worried about how much we would owe at check-out, but it turned out that we ended up only spending $5 on apples! 

Joy and her friend, Molly Grace posed for a picture at the orchard.

After picking, we headed back down the gravel road to the market, to pay for our apples, and even added a package of deep fried peanuts (which I had never had and are actually pretty good).  I wish I had tried the cajun deep fried ones though.

We noticed they had pumpkins.  Joy and Luke picked out a pumpkin each to take home.  Luke kept trying pumpkins, until he finally found one he could lift and handle!

Of course, we had to take a photo in the pumpkins.

And in the corn stalks.

It was a lovely day for a field trip.....wasn't quite as hot and I think I can tell that the cooler weather is headed our way.  There was a little breeze in the air.

Then it was home for Mr. Luke to take his nap.  He slept for a little over 3 hours, so I think we wore him out.  He left his half eaten apple sitting beside him waiting for him when he woke up.... so he could finish it.         

Now it's time for the caramel apple pie and apple dumplings........something nice to look forward to this weekend!  :)

Gifts of Love

Gifts of love. That is what I call them. The love that has been shown to our family...to Luke....warms my heart.

Almost two weeks ago, our homeschool support group surprised me at gym (our weekly meeting day) with a shower. I have no idea how they all managed to keep it a secret from me, but it was a total surprise! They called me into the snack room and this was waiting for me!






To celebrate Luke coming home, they all chipped in and bought a bush/tree to plant in his honor. But it wasn't just any bush/tree. It was a money tree for us. Hanging from the bush were many cards! They were unsure as to what was most needed and wanted to do something for him (for us). Sitting at my kitchen table, I cried as I read all the very sweet notes.



They were very generous and it came at a time when the need is great. Travel to China is going to be more than we thought as airfare in June is considerably higher. The fact that our homeschooling family would do such a thing for us really touched our hearts!

In addition to that, at the end of the year picnic with our homeschool group, there were more gifts brought.

Rebecca and her family gave us the buddy harness. My silly kids have been trying this out on each other already! It's so cute! Thank you, Rebecca!



Julie and her family gave Luke these shoes (love those shoes), the bathroom sticker set and Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle. (Joy thought those vehicle stickers for the bathtub were just the coolest and I had to restrain her from opening and playing with them). Thank you, Julie!



And Kellye brought me this adoption scrapbook kit! What special pages I can create with that! It's red too... Thank you, Kellye!



And last but not least, yesterday these arrived from a dear blogging friend....a gift for Luke from Mandy (A Mayberry State of Mind).



Aren't they perfect for Luke's room? Mandy has her own business, Creekside Creations. Check out her selling blog! She does such beautiful work. I'm so thrilled to have these blocks for his room! They are just adorable! Thank you so much, Mandy!



Thank you so much to all of you, for the love that's been shown to Luke and to our entire family through the prayers, gifts, and words of encouragement as we wait to bring Luke home. Sharing our excitement with us has meant so much. God bless you all!