friends

 

These girls are a crack-up.  They are the best of friends.  I remember when we bought our house, and we hadn't met anyone in the neighborhood yet.  Lucas was 2 and Destany was 7 months old.  We really hoped there were kids on our street. 

One day, as we started working on the house to get ready for the move, a sign went up across the street.  "It's a Girl!"  Turns out there are many little boys on our street, but only one other little girl.  These two stick together.  It may get loud (oh, the drama these two create!), but their friendship is a gift. 

And yes, they have blue hair.  It's all the rage on our street.  Not on yours???

Rest assured.  That make-up kit is a goner.  They used the whole thing in one hour, much to my delight.  There are many layers of makeup on their beautiful faces.

adoption playgroups

As you can see, adopted children are photogenic, cooperative,
and exceptionally happy! ;) 

(Thank you, Annie.  That is the perfect caption! LOL)

Adoption playgroups are such a blessing.  Today we met up at a local Chick-Fil-A.  Six families, 16 children (3 are missing from this picture), and lots of fun and chaos!  We sat outside the entrance of the play room so no one could escape the restaurant without our notice.  The noise level in there was over the top!  Amazingly, the manager invited us to come back again soon.  Probably only because we were so successful at keeping noise contained in that little room. ;)

....so we could tell them apart

Lucas and Chez are really into catching caterpillars these days.  A few days ago they found two caterpillars that looked the same.  They couldn't wait to show us.  And then Lucas told me, "Mom, they're identical, so we marked one of them with a marker so we could tell them apart."

adoptive families

Spending time with other adoptive families is a priority for us.  This past week, we went to two different park playdates.  Lots of fun! 

(Some of the kiddos are not in the pictures because they are babies, or are foster children.  Or they couldn't be bothered with staying still for more than 10 seconds. ;)

evenings with the neighbors

We are blessed to live in a wonderful neighborhood, with several families with young children.  A few evenings a week we play out front, where there are spontaneous games of soccer and football, riding scooters and bikes, playing in the sprinklers, writing with chalk, and the occasional argument.  It's always an adventure!

buddies

Lucas looks forward to playing with his neighborhood friends ALL DAY LONG.  In fact, he often plans his day around the time they get home from school, finishing up his morning routines, chores, and homeschooling early enough to maximize their time together.  A day that is thrown off by errands or appointments can leave him in tears, worried he won't have time to play out front.  We are blessed to have such wonderful neighbors! 

This week, Lucas and Jonathon spent a couple afternoons playing out back in a fort.  It wasn't easy to get a good pic of them, but here is a pretty decent one.

And here is a sampling of the rest of them... 

 

 

...pretty impressive, eh?

Neighbors....friends. :)

These two have way too much fun together.... :)

Elise & the girls

It was one year ago that my friend, Elise, became terribly ill, battling both cancer and a serious case of MRSA, and she asked that Andy and I bring her girls to stay with us for a while.  We already had 5 kiddos at home, so it was quite an adventure!  (See here and here if you need a refresher.) 

Well, thankfully life is very different for them now, and this time Elise and the girls came for a visit together.  It was busy, noisy, and fun!  The kids kept us on our toes, and made some more happy memories together.


(The slideshow captions don't seem to be working, but kids' yoga was a hit, we celebrated Claire & Maya's 5th birthdays, and my sister and her kiddos joined us to feed the ducks.)