Fall is NOT in the air...

I was hoping the title was going to be fall is in the air, but it isn't. We keep hoping and waiting and waiting and hoping, but to no avail. We will have a cool day, then back to heat. Hopefully slowly by surely cooler weather will make it to us! Clark keeps talking about it snowing, ummmmm...and I keep correcting him. He is convinced that because we got a little dusting last year, it will happen again this year. He talks about making the snowman, guess he forgot that it was only about as tall as a ruler! :) Oh well, I bought some yummy apple cider so we can pretend that it is fall. He is excited about Halloween coming up on Saturday. There is a fall festival at the church where he goes to Mother's Day Out. We will go there for a while, then trick or treat in the neighborhood. Ali is opting out of dressing up this year, but wanted a Halloween shirt to wear when we walk the neighborhood. Seems like yesterday that she was the cutest little scarecrow EVER to walk the face of the earth!! Oh how time flies.

Ali had a swim meet last weekend, and did wonderfully! She placed in the top 8 in every event. She won 3 first place ribbons. We will be going to a swim meet at UT in Austin in November. This will be her 3rd time to swim there...she loves it.

There is not much news around here. But, I will end with some funny Clark sayings...I don't want to forget all these silly things!

We were having lunch and Ali told Clark to hurry up and he told her, "don't worry about me, worry about you." (guess he had heard that before?)

Clark was eating breakfast and I had gone upstairs. He started talking to me and didn't know I couldn't hear him. Ali told him that I couldn't hear him and that he would have to tell me later. He said, "I'm not listening, talk to yourself." (ummm, yeah..he got in trouble for that smart talk!!)

The ladies guild at church gave out little boxes to fill with change to bring back to church to help the needy. Clark brought his home, emptied his piggy bank and brought it to me. He told me it was to help people that didn't have money, and then he told me it was all he had in his bank. Isn't that sweet?

Ali told me the other day that she decided what she wanted for Christmas. She said, "the Jonas Brothers...like the REAL DEAL." Yeah, she wants Joe Jonas for Christmas. Ha! T.C. responded like this, "you have to get rid of your cats then, because if we are taking in the Jonas Brothers we can't have the cats too! haha...great Dad response!

soccer, swimming, and birthday party

Seeing RED!!!

Red hair that is! We saw our little nephew, Kai, this weekend...and lo and behold the little cuteness himself is a redhead! I was so surprised. My mom had been holding out information from me. He is SO adorable. We had not seen him since May, and he has changed so much. He is a year old now and almost 20 lbs....he's come along way from the 2 lb. little fellow he started out as.

Yesterday, we met my parents and Jay and his family in a small town halfway between Houston and Lake Charles. We all had lunch together, and ended up staying about 3 1/2 hours. I still love the fact that we live so much closer to my family now. For years, we all just dreamed of being able to do something like that together.

Clark started his second season of soccer this week. His first game was supposed to be Sat., but it was rained out. It seems to be a well run league, and I think he will really enjoy it. In his mind, he is THE MAN out on the field. Ha-Ha!!

Next weekend will find us cheering on our favorite swimmer. It will be Ali's first short course meet of the season. She will be swimming another 500 meter race, which she doesn't exactly love. It's good practice.

Here are a few funny Clark sayings from the last couple of weeks:

The children and I were in the car and Ali asked me to see if I could name her 3 favorite sodas. I started guessing a couple and she corrected me and said one was grape Fanta. Clark chimed in, "you mean like Fanta of the Opera." (ok, now that's funny...right?)

When I told Clark that he was going to see Nona and Poppy this weekend, he told me, "just tell Nona not to kiss me 'cause boys kissing girls is just weird."

We gave Clark our old cell phones to play with, and he loves talking on them. He was playing with them other day, and I asked him to run upstairs and put his shoes away. He runs off to do it, then runs back to me and puts the phone beside me and says, "tell me if it rings." Then later we were at the grocery and he had one in his pocket. When he pulled it out, I asked why he brought it with him and he said, "because I might need to call somebody." (kids these days!! haha)

Have a wonderful week.

soccer and family

Home sweet home....

It is always nice to get away and have a change of scenery, but even better to get back to the comfort of your own home. We had a lovely time at Horseshoe Bay Resort and the Gaylord Texan. Both hotels were wonderful, though completely different. Horseshoe Bay was relaxing and serene, while the Gaylord was...shall we say...over the top! It was kind of like being at Disney. Put it this way, it had a huge (and I mean HUGE) atrium with a replica of the Alamo, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, a windmill, canyons, etc. all inside! It was so entertaining to just walk around. There were miniature train sets that Clark could have watched all day. Our room was on the 5th floor overlooking the center of the atrium. We would sit on the balcony at night and just take it all in. Amazing! Yet, Horseshoe Bay was so tranquil. We would just walk the grounds and enjoy the serenity. The marriage conference went very well. I went back and forth between checking on Ali and Clark to sitting through some of the sessions. We paid Ali to help us with Clark while we were there. She was thrilled to make some money. One other staff couple brought their one year old daughter, and they paid Ali to babysit one evening so they could go to dinner. I'm sure she is contemplating what to spend her money on...however, knowing Ali, she will hang on to it for awhile.

While we were in the Ft. Worth area (Grapevine actually), we were able to visit with a family that we were in Ukraine with. They adopted their son from the same orphanage that Clark was in. We flew into Ukraine on the same day, and were there the entire time together. We were so excited to get to see their son again. He was 2 1/2 years old at the time of adoption. He is now 4 1/2 and several inches taller than Clark (no surprise). They got along so well...like they knew somewhere deep within that they shared something pretty special. It was great to see them together again. Although this time, they were both speaking English. They took us to lunch, and then we took the kids to play at Jump Zone.

We signed Clark up for another round of soccer today. He will start in 2-3 weeks, I believe. He was hoping he started tomorrow. Ha!! Maybe he will learn to not be such a ball hog this time around...time will tell.

Ali is full force into swimming. She will have a meet the middle of October. It's been a couple of months, so I guess it's time. :) She is also playing the guitar with a few others next Sunday morning in church. She loves to do that. She could play the guitar around the clock, I do believe.

I will leave you with quite a few pictures from our week.

Horseshoe Bay and the Gaylord

Back in the swing of things...

We are on week 5 of being back in school around here. I think we are finally into the swing of things, so to speak. I suppose Ali is as used to her morning swim practices as she is going to get. I mean, who REALLY enjoys getting up at 5:00am? She has been a trooper about it for the most part. Though I sang to her to wake her up one morning, and she was none too pleased about that. She asked me that night at bedtime to please not sing to her the next morning. Haha!!

The kids and I were able to make a quick trip up to Shreveport to visit family for the Labor Day weekend. We had a great time in a short amount of time! T.C. was supposed to join us, but the shuttle was late taking off and so it wasn't possible. Clark was able to follow one of his favorite cousins around, D.J. He loves D.J. and wanted to be in his presence every waking moment! Sunday morning Clark ran to D.J.'s room and D.J. had gone to the store. Clark walks in his room...no D.J...he went in Lisa's room (D.J.'s mom) where she proceeded to tell him where D.J. was. Clark just responded..."HUH"...kind of like, I dare him leave without asking. Ha!! My cousin, Lisa, and her husband had a family cookout on Sunday. We had a grand time, and we all ate WWWWAAAAAAYYYYYY too much. It was delicious.

On our way out of town last Friday, we stopped of at the Houston Museum of Natural Science to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. It was wonderful...simply amazing that they were so well preserved after so many years.

We are looking forward to a little get away soon. We have a National Guard marriage retreat/conference that T.C. will help teach part of here. We usually leave the children at home and my parents come to keep them when we have these retreats, however, they are joining us for this one. We thought they would love the lake and all the resort has to offer. After we leave the conference, we are heading to the Grapevine area for a meeting that T.C. must attend for NASA. This resort looks fun also! A definite perk of homeschooling is being able to travel and not worry about having to pull them out of school. School just comes right along with us! (though Ali would just like the week off...the mean teacher says that is not happening! :) )

Clark is still enjoying his new gymnastics class, and eagerly awaiting soccer to start up next month. I'm just not sure if I am ready for somewhere ELSE to be during the week. I'll get it figured out. He starts back to Mother's Day Out on Monday, and is so excited to have his same teacher from last year. Hope she is ready for this wild man again. :)

Here are some pictures from our past week.

Never loose sight of everday joy!

There are times I am so completely overwhelmed at the life God has given us that it almost takes my breath away. No, I'm not talking earthly wealth (though maybe one day T.C. will get that Hyundai Genesis that he really wants...but maybe not, and that's ok too) or things the world would call "important"...I'm not talking about that sort of thing at all. I mean those moments that I look around as we are together as a family, and look at our children and my husband. To be so thankful that God entrusted us with 2 incredible children, and that he gave me the most amazing husband ever. (ladies, I know there might be some of you out there that want to beg to differ..heehee...but we can agree to disagree:) ) T.C. works so hard for our family to make it possible for me to be at home raising and schooling them. That is a priority for him, and he does it without complaining...EVER! What can I say, he's awesome. (and being really darn cute doesn't hurt either) Anyway, I digress. This week we faced a little something in our marriage, that made us evaluate just what kind of a job we are doing at making our marriage a priority. We realized we were falling down on the job a little. It wasn't anything major, don't get me wrong. Just enough to make us take a step back and put into focus just HOW important it is to focus on US amongst the chaos that is our lives. I mean, we do have a competitive swimmer and a gymnast/also soon to be soccer player...which equals to not a lot of time for much else. However, we never want to loose sight of the fact that we were US before we were Mom and Dad! I am more in love with this wonderful man that God chose to bless my life with 14 1/2 years ago...than I ever thought possible back then!! I'm one lucky gal.

Clark was so disappointed yesterday. We drove out to a church that was holding the Upward flag football evaluation, only to realize it was way further out than we realized. The drive isn't feasible with Ali's swim practices being in the opposite direction. Once he wiped away the tears, and stopped asking why he couldn't play football, we convinced him that we would definitely find him a sport he could play. We came home and found a soccer league that isn't too far away that starts in Oct. We will be registering him this week. He was very excited, but WON'T stop asking when he is going to play soccer. It might be a long month! You know I love to recount Clark's humor, so that I can have a copy of it later down the road. Well the last couple of days T.C. has been talking to him about chivalry. I admit, at first I was thinking "really...seriously...with a 5 year old?" Guess you can't start too young. Anyway, Clark really ran with the idea. So...to bring it down to a 5 year old level T.C. explained it like this, "boys save the girls and fight the bad guys." SOOOOO...last night Clark told him, "Daddy, I will save the GGGIIIRRRRLLLLSSSS...and you fight Darth Vaver (that is how he says Darth Vader!!). Haha..he also added that "Mommy will be our princess." I like how this boy thinks! He is rotten people...ROTTEN! His phrase of the week has been, "that makes me sad." He says it EVERY SINGLE TIME he has gotten upset lately. It was cute the first time, not so much the 50th time!

Well, our first two weeks of school were relatively painless. I think I have just about figured out how to school two at once. I am sure it will continue to be a work in progress. Clark DOES talk a lot...ummm, did I mention A LOT? So, we must quiet him down on occasion...ok, like every single day. Ha!! But all in all, so far so good.

Ali had a blast last night at a swim party for the confirmation group at church. You would think she wouldn't want to look at a pool outside of swim practice, but she still enjoys being in the water for fun. Can't believe she is now a second year confirmation student....before we know it she will be finishing 8th grade and getting confirmed!! Yikes.

Tonight is date night in the Judd house.......sweet!! We love date nights. Ali's first question is always "where are you going to eat?" She wants to plan ahead and see if we are going somewhere that she likes (to see if we will bring her something back...hahaha).

Have a great week!!

Ready for hubby to be home!!!

It has been a tiring week with T.C. in Connecticut on business. His plane can't land soon enough! Our home just isn't complete without him here.

We are trying desperately to try to get back into the swimming groove. I am supposed to be waking Ali up in 4 hours for a bright and early morning practice.....but I'm not. She will play hooky. I just can't bring myself to wake our little man up at 5:00am and KNOW he wouldn't go back to sleep in the car. So, the morning practices will have to wait until T.C. is home. However, she is managing to get 6 practices in this week...so hopefully the coach won't complain too much. Could we possibly be involved in a more time consuming sport? Huh? Ha!! She loves it, so that is good enough for us!

Well, I am officially exhausted and better call it a night. Hopefully I will have some cute pictures from the football evaluations on Sat. You know I will sure try.

One in 8th and one in kindergarten...

How did that happen? One minute the kiddos are itty bitty, and the next minute....not so much! I can't believe our first born started 8th grade last week. She will be driving before we turn around (she is already talking about it...but I sort of ignore her when she does, like I don't hear her..haha, just kidding). Well, I am officially homeschooling two children now. Clark moved upstairs to the school room this year. He and I were just doing a little school here and there downstairs before. He likes being upstairs and having his own desk. Things are going remarkably well so far...and for that I am thankful.

T.C. left bright and early this morning (Monday) for a business trip. I have so much respect for single mothers. I truly don't know how they do it day in and day out. It is exhausting just trying to figure out the logistics of it all. Where is my clone when I need it?

Swimming started back today for Ali. She (or should I say WE) have enjoyed a 3 week break from swimming. It has been nice.....it almost spoiled us. However, reality hit us today as I am still trying to figure out how we are going to do umpteen swim practices, gymnastics, and flag football in the evenings. Somehow it will all work out...it usually does.

Yes, you read that correct......Clark is going to try his hand at Upward flag football. (all 30 something lbs. of him...heehee) He is excited. The evaluation is Saturday morning, and I will be the one with the camera!!

Of course what is a post without pictures?

Enjoying the southwest....

The children and I just made a spontaneous trip out to Albuquerque, NM to visit with some dear friends of ours. We had not been back since Ali was 5 1/2 and we moved away from there. It was so much fun being there again and seeing lots of old friends. Clark was SO excited to see "the big mountains" that he almost couldn't contain himself when we were picked up at the airport. He saw them flying in, and couldn't wait to get a closer look. Our friends home backs up to the Sandia Moutains, so he did get an up close look! Ali remembered quite a bit. We drove by our house on base, and she was recalling many memories that I hadn't thought about in some time. Our friends took us to many tourist spots. We rode the tram up to the top of Sandia Peak, visited the Pecos National Historical Park and saw Pueblo ruins, watched Indian dancing at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, walked around Santa Fe and Old Town, toured the Balloon Fiesta Museum, the aquarium, and had dinner with friends. It was so much fun...a nice ending to an incredibly busy summer. I also got to see a childhood friend of mine. She and her family relocated to Albuquerque a couple of years ago. I had not seen her since we were teenagers, so it was wonderful to see her again. We giggled about stories of days gone by!

Tomorrow brings with it the beginning of school for us. I will be the teacher to an 8th grader and kindergartner. Oh please pray for me about the latter! No...REALLY! He is much more interested in rocks, bugs, cars, trucks, and the like. Not so much on letters and numbers.....we shall take it slow. The thought of it all breaks me out in a cold sweat. Just kidding, I think.

Here are some pictures from beautiful New Mexico. Our God created such majestic things for us to enjoy.

New Mexico

The summer went where?

I sit here amazed that it is almost Aug. and I absolutely can't believe it. I'm tired just thinking about what all this summer held for us. Of course there was our vacation in May, then camp for Ali, my brother and his family came for a little visit, both kids had VBS and a music camp at our church, we went to Indiana for the 4th of July, had our niece come for a visit, Clark went for his first time at Nona and Poppy's by himself, and many many many swim meets. It has passed so fast. Ali was training 18 hours a week for swimming, which obviously took a large chunk of her summer. She just had a champ meet this past weekend and is now on a 3 week break. What will we ever do with ourselves? Ha!! I think I am ready for the consistent schedule that fall brings. I seem to keep up with that better...I know what is when. This summer I just couldn't seem to keep up.

The kids and I are traveling one last time this summer. We leave bright and way tooooo early Sat. morning to fly out to Albuquerque, NM to visit with some dear friends. We haven't been back since we moved from there when Ali was 5 1/2. I think she has changed a little since then. Ha!! I want Ali to see some of the fantastic Indian ruins since she doesn't remember all that much from living there. I've already started making my "must see" list.

Our trip up to Indiana for the 4th was nice. The weather didn't cooperate much. However, it was much cooler than the heat we have been enduring, so it was fine. We got to see some of our friends from Louisville one day...always enjoy that! Clark was able to meet his great grandmother and two aunts/uncles for the first time. We were able to spend some time out on the lake, which the kids loved. Ali had the chance to tube again, always a bonus for her!

I can't believe I am even typing this, but we are celebrating Clark's 2 year anniversary of being home this week! I am sure I don't know where the time has gone. It was 2 years ago this week that we were handed the final paperwork that officially made us Samuel Ruslan Clark Judd's parents! Wow! What an amazing day that was. There were times I wondered if that day would ever arrive. It did, and I was so thankful God had planned this all out before the creation of the world. This tiny little guy half a world away was brought into this world just for us. One of my FAVORITE songs right now is called What Do I Know of Holy by Addison Road. Love, love, love it...google it and listen!!

here are the words

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

(CHORUS 2)
What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

(CHORUS)
What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?

It just rings so true for me. There were times I just absolutely made God too small. When I had multiple miscarriages...check! When we started the adoption process and felt overwhelmed with the STACK of paperwork...check! When our adoption was put on hold because of changes in the adoption process in Ukraine...check! When we got to Ukraine and the realization hit me that I was going to be in Ukraine without my husband for an unknown amount of time...check! Oh the list could go on and on. However, it was through those times of trials that God revealed himself in such a real way. He carried me, he comforted me, he provided for me in ways people just could not, and in the end I was left wondering why I ever doubted his trustworthiness. He is trustworthy, he is our rock, he is our strength, why do we make him too small? If we are never tested with trials, then he is never able to reveal himself to us in such a profound way. It was through those difficult situations that I came to realize how huge our God really is. He can carry us when we can't carry ourselves, and he wants to. I recently read this quote "worry ends when faith begins...and that faith ends when worry begins." Well put. Now, here I sit in July of 2009 feeling so blessed to have our beautiful 12 year old daughter and our full of life little 5 year old son! (and a pretty amazing and cute hubby too!) I am so thankful for the woman half a world away who chose to give her son life, and give us the opportunity to love him so much more than he will ever know! For that I am so grateful.

I like keeping track of things Clark does that we don't want to forget...so here goes another memory for the record books. Ali had a swim meet this past weekend up in The Woodlands. She decided to act 12 years old, (she is pretty darn good at it by the way) and get a little mouthy with me. I was not so happy, and we proceeded to have a "discussion" about it when we made it to the car. Ok, I admit...I was HOT! However, I was trying to not loose my cool, but apparently Clark thought I was coming across as rude. He blurts out "Mama, God doesn't want us to talk ugly...he doesn't like it...Mama, God doesn't like that." T.C. and I had to hold back the chuckles and try to explain that Ali had been disrespectful. :) It was a great reminder though, that the little ears around us hear everything!

Some pictures from the last few weeks...

summer camp, swim lessons, business trip....

What a title, right? What can I say...I am about to head out to VBS and don't feel very creative right now. Since I last posted, Ali spent a week at a Lutheran camp with friends, Clark had a busy "social" calendar, T.C. spent several days in Washington D.C., and our precious nephew had open heart surgery! It has been busy around here. For starters Ali had a fantastic time at camp last week. However, the laundry that comes back is always disgusting! Ha...just part of it...what did I expect. They went canoeing, swimming, archery, challenge courses, Bible study, met new friends, and the list could go on and on. She loves that camp and is already looking forward to next summer. They offer a family weekend camp that we might look into. While Ali was at camp, T.C. went on a business trip...that just left Clark and me. I didn't realize a 5 year old could have such a busy social life. Ha! He had a play date at McDonald's with a friend, watched a friend's pool being dug another day, went to a movie with friends, etc. It kept me busy! He also had swim lessons the past 2 weeks. He loved it, but not real sure what he actually got out of it. I will be signing him up for another round of lessons with someone else.

Ali had an all weekend swim meet this past weekend, right after camp. Actually on our way home from camp we stopped off in Houston so she could swim one event Friday night. We returned Saturday and Sunday for the other 6 events. She was exhausted from camp, but she did fine. She swam her first 400 freestyle. She was nervous about the distance, but she did well. This Saturday she will be swimming in a champ meet for the summer league. I think we might get a break from meets for a short time after that.

This week Ali and I are helping with VBS at our church. We are working in the craft station. Clark loved his first day yesterday. He talked non stop on the way home telling us what all they did. He did have a mishap with his glasses though. During the ending assembly in the sanctuary, a child bumped into him and the glasses went flying and were stepped on. OOPS! However, they were able to be bent back...thank goodness.

Our little nephew, Kai, had open heart surgery to repair the hole in his heart. He did great and is home already! What a blessing. I hear that he looks 100% better now. His coloring is good, he has energy, and he is eating much better. Can't wait to see his "post surgery" new self.

Well, I will post pictures later.....gotta run to get Ali from morning swim practice and make it to VBS on time.

Summer is in full swing around here....

How did summer get to be such a BUSY time? I thought it was supposed to be laid back and lazy. Ummmm, not with a swimmer in the house. Ali's new swim coach kicked the schedule into high gear now that all the kids are out of school. Starting this week, there are 11 scheduled practices per week. Yes, you read that right! That means twice a day Monday-Friday, and one on Saturday. They can miss a "max" of 2 times a week bumping it down to a mere 9 practices a week. In his words, "if the HAVE to miss...otherwise they should be there." It is like swimming boot camp. They are lifting weights, running, and of course swimming. She doesn't seem to mind. As Ali put it, "I sure won't get bored this summer." So true, so true! Though she will be eating us out of house and home probably more than usual. Can you imagine the calories you burn working out like that?

Clark had his final soccer game last weekend. He wishes the season wasn't over. He really enjoyed it. The same church offers flag football in the fall, won't that be a riot? He is starting swim lessons tomorrow morning. Though according to Clark he can already swim. He is truly convinced of that! I mean, he has spent more time watching Ali swim than almost anything else...but he thinks that in and of itself means that he can already swim. Ha! We shall see.

Ali and I are helping with VBS this year. Ssshhhh, she doesn't know that yet. I sorta kinda signed her up without her knowing. Moms are good like that, aren't we?

Ali and her best friend, Sierra, are at my parents house. They did this last summer, and wanted to repeat it this year. They were SO excited to be going for a few days. Clark really misses her...it is too quiet around here.

A couple of weeks ago my brother and his family came for a few days. We had a fun time seeing some sights around town. Yes, that means we got to see our stinkin' cute nephew, Kai. He and Clark are going to get into some serious trouble together in the future...I just know it. Aaahhh, boys!

The kids and I have already started exploring some things around the Houston area. Last week we went to the George Ranch We really enjoyed it. However, we didn't get to see everything, as we had to cut our visit short. Clark fell and banged his knee up pretty badly...as I mentioned earlier...BOYS! Oh well, we have an excuse to go back now! We have also been to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Genghis Khan exhibit. We want to go back and see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. Oh, I can't forget this exhibit we saw when my brother and family were in town. Ali was in heaven!

Ali had a swim meet at UT in Austin over Memorial weekend. She loves swimming at a college pool! Anyway, while we were there we saw the most incredible sight. We were returning to our hotel room after dinner one night, and noticed the sky was filled with black things flying around. We couldn't figure out if there were birds, butterflies, etc. It finally dawned on us that they were bats...LOTS and LOTS of bats. Ok, there were seriously thousands of bats. It was the most amazing thing.

What is everyone doing this summer? Leave me some comments and tell me your plans!!

soccer, last day of school, time with family

Mickey, Mickey everywhere!!!

We were back to reality on Thursday evening, as our vacation came to an end. Ali was very sad to leave the magical world of Disney behind. Clark claimed to be ready to see his dogs and cats. Whatever the case, we had a fabulous time at Walt Disney World. We visited all four parks, and one of the water parks. We were even able to see a space shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral last week.

We began our vacation with a 2 night stay in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. That was our stoppin' ground many years ago when Ali was a baby. The kids really enjoyed playing on the gorgeous beach and riding go-carts at a favorite spot in Destin. We even got to enjoy some scenic meals overlooking the ocean...a real treat for me. After our relaxing couple of days at the beach, we headed down to the Mickey overload. Our hotel was so much fun. It was called Pop Century Resort and it had HUGE icons from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. It was a lot of fun to just walk around and look at the buildings. You can go here and check out the resort. The first night we took the kids to the T-Rex Cafe at Downtown Disney. It is the same idea as Rainforest Cafe but with a dinosaur theme. Clark loved it of course, but Ali did also! She said she liked it better than Rainforest. (we never know what our preteen will like) The next day we began our race to visit all of the parks, with our first day being spent at Magic Kingdom. I mean, you have to see that magnificent castle first, don't you? We had lunch reservations that day for a character meal at Crystal Palace. We had lunch with Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger.The food was delicious and it was fun seeing all the characters make their way around the room. The second day we spent at Epcot. Let me mention something before going ANY further....Orlando was having record heat while we were there. Oh lucky us! It was in the mid 90's the entire time. If there is something you should know about me, I am not toooooo crazy about the blazing heat. I have a problem with overheating, and it can turn ugly. Ha, I won't go into detail. We tried our best to stay hydrated. However, despite the heat....did I mention RECORD heat :) ....we didn't let it get us down. We did, occasionally, resort to sitting through cheesy 3-D movies to take advantage of the A/C! Hahaha. Ok, back to Epcot...the heat got to us that day and just didn't feel like going through all of the countries. We rode rides in the future world, met characters, and quickly walked through the countries...and called it a day. The kids enjoyed swimming at the hotel that evening to cool off. The next park visit was Animal Kingdom. Ali talked herself into riding Expedition Everest (a roller coaster) and found out that she LOVED it. She rode it multiple times and wanted to ride it even more. We saw a wonderful Lion King show and fun parade. Animal Kingdom is a great park with a great safari ride. We took a break from the parks the following day, and toured Kennedy Space Center. We were able to see a shuttle on each launch pad....very cool. Our fourth park to tour was Hollywood Studios. This was one of Ali's favorite parks. We had a fun lunch at Sci-Fi Dine In (on Mother's Day) and had a great time. It looked just like an old drive in theater, only indoors. They dim the lights so that you feel like you are outside...with stars glowing on the walls, etc. This was Ali's choice as we did the character meal for Clark. We sat in old fashion cars converted to tables, all facing the HUGE screen playing old sci-fi movie clips. Clark enjoyed this park as well. He was able to see Buzz Lightyear, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Woody from Toy Story, and characters from Little Einsteins. That night we stayed and watched an amazing show called Fantasmic. Ali claimed that it was the coolest thing she had ever seen. The next day we went to watch the launch and didn't visit a park. On our last day, we went to one of the Disney water parks, Typhoon Lagoon. We all agreed that it was the best water park we have ever been to. There was a huge wave pool, a snorkeling pool where you were able to swim with small sharks and fish, and there was so much shade! It was lovely, and we will definitely go back if given the chance. We finished that day with an afternoon visit to Magic Kingdom again. We stayed and watched the incredible fireworks display. Clark was just simply amazed. It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful vacation!

If you want to experience pure unadulterated awe, just take a small child to Disney. I just loved watching Clark light up every SINGLE time he saw a character. He especially loved having his picture taken with them. He would rub their noses, bellies, etc. The characters got to where they would rub his nose also. He loved it. I was constantly wondering what was going through that little head of his. I remember doing the same thing with Ali when she was small and we took her. It was pure bliss to just take it all in through my child's eyes. I couldn't STOP taking pictures.

Well, I will leave you with LOTS of photos from our trip. I took some at the water park with a waterproof camera and still need to have it developed.

What's going on with me?

Oh me oh my....my blogging just continues to go downhill. Or I guess in reality I am just so busy living that there is not much time to "write" about it.

I will back up to Easter. We had a wonderful couple of days with my parents Easter weekend. They came up for a night and joined us at our "Journey to the Cross" at church. They were able to watch Ali and I make our acting debut as ladies explaining the palm branches. Ha!! Ali wasn't too thrilled. (ummmm, she's a preteen...enough said) The program turned out wonderfully, especially considering it was the first year for it. Easter morning...not sure what we were thinking...but we decided to attend our sunrise service. I will admit that it was a lovely service, but we had to leave our house at 5:40am. (yawn!) Thinking we will catch the second service next year! Anyway, it unfortunately rained that afternoon, so the Easter bunny had to leave the eggs inside this year. Creativity was the key to pulling that off.

Last weekend was spent at the University of Houston for one of Ali's swim meets. It was the first long course meet of the season, so Ali was a little nervous. She did just fine, and looks forward to other meets during the summer. She decided to join the community summer swim team in addition to her year around team. We will have swim meets every Saturday mid May through the end of June. We are changing year around teams as of this Friday. We weren't completely happy with some dynamics with the team, so another opportunity presented itself and we ran with it. We hope this is a great opportunity for her...a new coach, new team, and a more dedicated Ali. She truly loves the sport of swimming and wants to push herself to improve. She is probably going to start swimming 6 times a week now. Don't ask me HOW...but we will figure it out as we go along. I know it sounds crazy to a lot of people (going to swim practice 6 times a week), but if it is what she loves...then we will do what it takes. Some days that means running from swim practice, to a soccer game, and back to swim practice...but that is life as we know it. And have I ever mentioned, I LOVE my life. Even with the chaos of running 10 different directions at times, I wouldn't change a thing.

Clark is loving soccer. He had his second game on Saturday. The game last week was rained out. We have gotten massive amounts of rain 2 weekends in a row...enough already. Ha! Anyway, he ran his heart out at the game. He definitely wants to have the ball...ALL the time. He will even try to kick it away from a kid on his OWN team. He doesn't care...he just knows he WANTS that ball. It is pretty funny. He is understanding the rules better now, which is definitely a good thing. He actually kicked it to the correct goal this week!!! That was a great bonus. He will be sad when the soccer season is over. However, there is an indoor soccer place here that I might look into. Well, speaking of Clark...he continues to make us laugh with a few funny sayings. Here are a couple from the last few weeks.

Clark: (he was playing with an 18 wheeler truck and he proceeded to tell me what he was pretending...) "Mama...I am driving, Ali is right here (pointing to the passenger side) and you are in the back." (meaning the trailer portion....GREAT...see where I line up in the grand scheme of things)

Clark: (we were in the van on the way to the swim meet last weekend and he was drawing on his magna doodle) "This is you, Mama...you only have ONE eye because an alligator bite it off." (ummm, that is just fabulous...he erased it and started over...but this time...) "Now you have a hundred eyes and LOTS of legs" (his drawing this time was a person with MANY eyes and LOTS of legs...I am beginning to get a complex)

We are down to 5 days until we head off into the wild blue yonder!!! (vacation that is) Wew, lots to do between now and then. I keep telling Ali to wear old clothes this week so that I can keep the newer things clean and get them packed. We will see if she listens. We decided to spend a couple of nights in Ft. Walton Beach, FL on the way down. The beach is just too beautiful to pass up. The kids will enjoy playing in the sand, and T.C. and I will enjoy some relaxation before the craziness of "the happiest place on earth." Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Disney as much as a child...but relaxing, it just isn't. I might also get to see some old friends along the way.

13 years.......seems crazy to say that. T.C. and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary this weekend. How is that possible? Seems like just yesterday he was sweeping me off of my feet as a cadet at the Air Force Academy. Surely I'm not 13 years older....I mean I was JUST a 21 year old young thing becoming rather smitten with a handsome young fellow! How did the time pass so quickly? Yet, when I look at where we have come since those days so long ago...I realize how much time has passed since then. We have lived in 4 states, not counting Colorado where we started....have 2 children, endured graduate school, spent time on active duty in the military, and changed careers to hopefully settle down. Wew, a lot happened in a 13 year time frame. All I know is that we are more in love now than we ever knew possible. God blessed me beyond measure when he sent that cute dark headed cadet over in my direction...and my life would never be the same...thank you Lord!!

Here are some pictures from Easter and beyond....

Easter and beyond...

I am getting worse instead of getting better at this blogging thing! I'm not sure what's up with that. I guess I feel like my weeks are repetitive and therefore not usually "blog worthy" if you will.One day leads to the next, and before I know it, yet another week has flown by. I am looking forward to the approach of summer. Things might slow down a bit, and I can perhaps enjoy some laid back time with the kids. It is nice when we don't have deadlines with schoolwork, and preschool to run off to. The kids will have their usual activities of swim team, gymnastics, and hopefully some swim lessons for Clark. Somehow though, summer seems a little more carefree. Ahhh, I look forward to it.

The countdown has begun for our vacation. We leave 3 weeks from Sunday to head down to the "happiest place on earth"....Disney World. The children are so excited. (ok, the big kid is too...and that would be ME!) I have such fond memories of going there as a child, that I want our kiddos to have that too! We will be getting 5 day hopper passes and plan on visiting all of the parks along with one of the water parks. It is such a blessing that they are having a special for military right now and giving away a 5 day pass to the military member (and we LOVE free!!) and only charging $99 for the other family members! What a great deal. It is saving us quite a bit of money. I also found a great rate at one of the Disney value resorts. I go a little overboard on all the vacation planning, but hopefully it will pay off in the end. We have reservations for a character meal with all of the Winnie the Pooh characters. Clark should enjoy that. We wanted to do the same character meal that we did last time, when Ali was 7. However, it was already booked....who knew you needed to plan your meals 3 MONTHS ahead of time. Jeepers! Hopefully it will be a week filled with many wonderful memories that we will think back on for years to come.

Clark had his first soccer game last Saturday. T.C. was sad that he had to miss it. It was his National Guard weekend, so he had to work. Well, the game was definitely "America's Funniest Home Videos" worthy!! It was hysterical. Clark sure had enough enthusiasm. He would get so pumped when ANY goal was scored...even if it wasn't his team member. Ha! The kids would generally kick it into whatever goal was closests to them, regardless if it was the correct one or not. Clark is turning out to be quite the ball hog. He got tackled a few times as a result of that. Oh maybe the rules will click in the coming weeks.

Ali made good grades on her last report card...all A's and a B. Thank goodness she got her daddy's brains. I think she is looking forward to this being her last 9 weeks of the school year. She has another big swim meet next weekend. It is at the University of Houston. She is really wanting to join the community summer swim team again. It is hard juggling 2 different swim teams, different practices, different meets...not sure yet what we are going to do. She swam on that summer team 2 summers in a row, and really looks forward to it. Oh the things we do for our children, like live at the pool all summer long in the 100 degree heat. :)

Ali got her braces off last week. To say she was excited is an understatement. After 4years of having first expanders and braces, a small break with permanent retainers, and then braces again, she was ready! Her teeth look beautiful. (thank goodness, after all the $$$ spent..haha)

We hope you are enjoying spring. It is lovely with all the flowers and trees in bloom. The warmth in the air, and the wind in the trees. For us Texans, it is a much appreciated time of nice weather before the heat of summer arrives.

I hope you join us, as we try and turn our focus to Jesus' empty tomb. May we anticipate the celebration of the resurrection this Easter weekend. I am so undeserving of what Christ did for me at the cross. But so thankful he paid the price for OUR sins! Thank you Jesus.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks. Clark attended an Easter egg hunt at the church where he goes to preschool...the bunny was there too! He was so excited.

Spring breakin' it...

Wow, it has been a while since I posted. I am getting bad at the whole blogging thing! I guess I just get busy living daily life that I forget to blog about it. Life is passing me by at an incredibly fast pace these days. I see first hand how our children's childhood will pass all too quickly. It makes me sad at times. I just want to freeze time sometimes. (and at other times I want to fast forward...haha...just kidding...just a fleeting thought when I deal with yet another tantrum or preteen attitude)

We have been spring breakin' it this past week. It was a fun time, free from school and other activities. We went to Lake Charles and spent several days with my parents. The kids always enjoy getting royally spoiled by the grandparents. Funny how when you become grandparents, you forget all the things you didn't let your own children do when they were young...but somehow it is perfectly fine for the grandchildren!! HUMMMM....oh like cookies for breakfast, coke galore (or should I say Root Beer..and I believe Mom's words exactly were "Ali can have an much Root Beer as she wants, I know it is her favorite" heehee), candy (as often and as much as they want), etc. Hahahaha...oh Mom and Dad you know I am kidding...Ali and Clark LOVE the spoiling immensely. I wish I had had that growing up, so I am so thankful they do!

While in Lake Charles, we were also able to get some baby Kai sugar!! He is so precious. He is over 11 lbs. now, I believe. At six months old, that doesn't sound like much...but considering he started out at just over 2 lbs., that is great!! That little guy will be going off to kindergarten before we all know it.

We were also able to fit in a couple of outings with friends towards the end of the week. Ali wanted to get together with a friend from church, and Clark wanted an outing with a school friend. Bayou Wildlife Park was one outing. It is a lot of fun. You take a tram ride around acres and acres of land where the animals are free roaming. There is also a petting zoo...Clark fell in love with a baby goat. For Clark's outing, we went to the Downtown Aquarium and had a great time. We had never been before, so it was fun trying something new. We had lunch at the restaurant, and rode the shark voyage train. It goes through a shark tunnel, which the kids loved.

This weekend was mostly filled with house cleaning. Ummmm, not my favorite chore...but a necessary evil. We did, however, manage to sneak in a trip to the beach on Saturday. Galveston is slowly but surely trying to make a comeback. The beach was packed! The kids made sand castles til' their hearts content.

Today I HAD to clean out Clark's closet...wouldn't it be nice if those things cleaned themselves out? Ahhhh! By clean out I mean pull EVERYTHING out and start over. I did get a little sentimental cleaning out his dresser. I came across the clothes I bought him in Ukraine! They were so little. He was so little! He wore 12 month shorts back then. (sniff~sniff) The next couple of days I am tackling my side of the our closet. We bought a new cabinet today that I am going to use to get organized in there. I am bound and determined to organize that closet!!! I am wondering......after cleaning out a couple of closets......can this qualify as my "spring cleaning?" But too bad we have to start out in the garage next. YUCK!!!! Now that will be a major undertaking!!

Clark started soccer this week. It was so cute. Let me tell you, what he lacked in talent, he more than made up for in enthusiasm. Hopefully the rules will sink in eventually! His first game is in a couple of weeks.

Ali gets her braces off on April 1st. She can't wait. The countdown has begun.

Well, I will leave you with some photos from our week!

spring break

Goin' for gold

Ali had another swim meet this weekend...today and tomorrow. Today, she got a gold medal in her 50 free!! This was quite a surprise for her, as she doesn't usually place! She was beyond excited. It was a champ meet. She also got a 5th place ribbon in her 100 back. Her hard work is paying off, as she seems to be pushing herself more than in the past. We are so proud of her. We don't care whether she places or not, just that she does her best! But it was sure a nice bonus for her.

Just wanted to brag on our girl a little. Here are a few pictures of Ali's medal, the kids playing some indoor basketball (I know...crazy, this goal should be OUTSIDE!!), and Clark showing off his batman pj's!

Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention our excitement on Tuesday...ok, maybe not "excitement." Ali was finishing up her breakfast on Tuesday when I came in to get Clark something to eat. She was taking her dishes over to the sink when we bumped shoulders on accident. She happened to loose her footing and fell over our trashcan. It was such a freak thing. Needless to say, she headed for the tile with dishes in hand.......glass was everywhere and she ended up slicing her thumb. (her cereal bowl broke in her hand when she hit the floor) We got her cleaned up and headed for the ER. She ended up needing 4 stitches, as it was a very deep cut. The doctor said she was fortunate it was in the pad of her thumb and not further down...it would have cut tendons. She did pass out on the last stitch...it wasn't numb and she felt the needle enter and exit...OUCH! She was such a trooper though! The doctor couldn't believe she didn't even flinch when he gave the numbing shot right in the middle of the cut. It was enough to about make ME pass out watching. (it doesn't take much) However, she just squeezed my hand and made a face. Never a dull moment around here......

swim meet

The season of Lent has begun.....

Growing up Southern Baptist, I was not familiar with the Lenten season at all. However, since becoming Lutheran, it has been fascinating to me to learn all about the traditions other denominations celebrate. This season has to be one of my favorites. We began the season at our Ash Wednesday service last night at church. We were all given the sign of the cross on our foreheads with ashes. It is such a beautiful remembrance of what all this season holds for us as Christians. You can read all about it here. Actually, the children entered and exited the church Sunday with the Alleluia banners. We will not be singing alleluias until Easter morning! Clark made a cute alleluia picture in Sunday School and he carried that, as did the other children in his class. It was so cute! I hope to spend this season reflecting on my life, and all Christ did for me on the cross. Ali and I will be participating in a program for the children called Journey to the Cross. You can read all about it here. We are going to be doing the palm branches station. Children will wave palm branches in the air and place them on the pathway. It will be the first time our church has done this, and we are so excited about it. It will give the children a tangible example of Jesus' journey. I can't wait for Clark to experience it all. The children will end their journey at an empty tomb.

Tuesday did not start out so well for Ali. She should have slept late and avoided the incident all together! But as it was, she was in the kitchen eating cereal when I came in to get Clark some breakfast. She finished up, and was taking her dishes to the sink. I was walking past her headed to the pantry when we bumped shoulders. No big deal, however, somehow she lost her footing...turned around...and fell over our trashcan...onto the TILE floor. Yeah, generally not something you want to face plant on. She, of course, instinctively tried to catch herself........but with her breakfast dishes in her hand! The glass went flying, but the cereal bowl broke in her hand. We didn't realize immediately that she had cut herself...I was more concerned with if she was hurt from the fall. I grabbed her to help her up and we realized her hand was dripping with blood. She had gashed her thumb pretty badly. After washing it off, we realized it definitely needed stitches...so off to the ER we went. The doctor said she was fortunate it was the pad of her thumb. If it had been the lower part, it would have cut tendons...NO FUN! It was a very deep cut, requiring 4 stitches. She was a trooper, the doctor couldn't believe she sat so still for it ALL...even the numbing shot RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CUT. I couldn't watch that part!!! I would have had to have been picked up off the floor....and hospital floors REALLY gross me out! Try keeping a 5 year old boy off the floor....yeah right! Clark definitely got a good scrubbing off that night! Anyway, when all was said and done...she was all stitched up and in quite a bit of pain. It seems to be feeling some better now. The stitches will come out next Wed. She went from an ear infection last week, to stitches...I do believe she is ready to not see a doctor for a while!

Clark is going to play on an Upwards Soccer team! He had his evaluation this past Sat. It is going to be so cute. We had to buy the smallest cleats that they make..oh, and also the smallest shin guards. Practices begin the week of March 9th. He are hoping he runs towards the correct goal. Haha!!

The most recent Clark funny is what he came out of children's choir last night saying. His teacher, Miss Stephanie, was talking to the kids about Lent and that yesterday was Ash Wednesday. So this was Clark's take on it after choir. He came running out to us after choir was over with a cute Lenten calendar page to color. It is in the shape of a cross, etc. and you color one number a day leading up to Easter. He proudly tells us, "today is after Wednesday." Me, "it is Ash Wednesday, honey." Clark, "oh yeah, Ash Wed."

Ali has another swim meet this weekend. T.C. will miss it, as it is drill weekend for the Guard. She hopes to improve her times even more than she did a few weeks ago.

Have a great rest of the week!

Having fun at putt-putt

Last weekend, the kids and I met some friends at Putt-Putt Fun House for a day of goofing off. They had a blast. On Saturdays, they have a great $10 deal that we had to take advantage of! The kids played putt-putt, some games, Ali and Sierra rode the bumper boats, and had lunch. We will definitely be doing that again soon! You should have seen Clark playing putt-putt. It was hysterical! He didn't care if the club was turned the right way or not...he just started swinging! :)

Nothing new around here really. We are trying to get estimates for our fence. We need our entire fence replaced. Can you say it with me........cha-ching!! Yikes. We hope our neighbors are willing to pay their portion. We are supposedly only responsible for half of the fence, but we seem to be the only ones READY to get it replaced! I am a little tired of the ghetto look in our backyard. The orange plastic temporary fencing is not so cute.

Clark seems to be doing well with his speech therapy. I love the therapist, she is SO patient and sweet. She is really trying to get him to focus on the hypernasal sounds. It is going to take some work on his part...we'll get there.

He loved exchanging Valentine's at school this week. He brought home a bag of goodies. He has been taking huge Reese's hearts to all of teachers. He loved doing that. He wanted to bring flowers to his music (hand bells and choir) teacher at church. Isn't that funny? (but we just stuck with the chocolate) A girl in his class wanted to give Clark a special "big" Valentine. The mother thought it was so funny that she had to stop me the other day and tell me. She said when they were shopping for the class Valentine's, the daughter said "I want to give Clark a big one." I thought that was too precious! Such a ladies man....haha.

Ali is just swimming her heart out. She has another swim meet in 2 weekends. She is also thinking about playing in the "strings" band for the Lenten season at church on Wednesday nights. She is going to take a look at the music this week to see if she can play it. Our music director was so excited to find out that she plays the guitar. It will be good for her to play in front of a group and to get comfortable with that. God has given her a talent that I want her to learn to share for His glory!

God gave me the MOST precious moment this morning. He does things right when we need them the most. Ali has swim practice on Saturday mornings from 8-10am, and this is one of my days to drive (we carpool with another family). I usually take Clark to a McDonald's playland to play for a while during the wait. This morning was a little rough, he got in bed too late last night...and I had to wake him up too early this morning. Needless to say...he was a little whiny! I was trying to do a little of his speech therapy homework in the van before we headed to McDonald's...there were a few tears shed...and a little frustration coming from the mom, I admit! However, we make it to McDonald's, order our food, and start eating. After a few minutes, a nice man (maybe early 50's or so) comes up to our table and rubs Clark's arm. He told me what a precious boy I had, and what a blessing he was. The entire short time he talked he was just staring intently at Clark...it was beautiful. He almost looked like he had tears in his eyes. It was very touching. I just told him thank you and that yes, he was a blessing. The man then just walked off. It left me wondering if this man had gone through something sad with a child, but I will never know. However, it also instantly reminded of this wonderful blessing that sat right before me eating his sausage biscuit. He is SUCH a blessing, and I was very thankful for that reminder! We will always be grateful for the children God has entrusted to our care.

I am posting some pictures from our outing last weekend...and our furry babies.

putt putt

Ali....the serenading swimmer

Ok, maybe she can't REALLY mix her two interests. However, she was in a swim meet this past Saturday, and also a guitar recital. She literally hopped out of the water from her last event, and ran into the dressing room to change for the music recital. We made it in time, thank goodness. She was nervous about the recital, as she doesn't like to play in front of people. However, once she started, you couldn't even tell. She did a great job. I will post some video clips at the end. She played a duet with her teacher. Her teacher considers her one of his "advanced" students...so after only playing for about 3 years, that isn't too bad. She really loves it.

As for the swim meet...we were blown away. She improved SO much from the last meet she was in. She shaved 30 seconds off of her best 200 freestyle time. That is awesome! Her second best improvement was shaving 24 seconds off of her best 100 backstroke time. We were so proud of her! As her coach said after one of her events, "if you can do this well at the meet...don't be farting around at practice." Hahahaha!!! Ali thought that was pretty funny. I must say, the girls can definitely do some talking at the practices. Ha!! (to be expected) As Peter Pan says, "girls talk too much." :)

Clark is coming right along. He began speech therapy a couple of weeks ago. His first actual therapy session was today. The last 2 weeks were evaluation. They are working on his hypernasal speech. The therapist is hopeful it can be correct. She said a little time will tell if it is actually a medical issue that doesn't allow him to cut his airway off when saying some sounds. Hopefully it is just a matter of retraining. We will wait and see. Each week we will have "homework" to work on prior to the next weeks session. He did just fine today...was a little distracted with some toys that were in the room. Of course, the boy lives to play!!! The therapist was impressed during his evaluation. She said he has a great grasp of the English language after only 1 1/2 years. We have been trying to do a little more schooling at home. He is doing so much better on writing his letters. He started out behind the curve, but we are hopeful that he will catch up. He would just much rather be riding his bike than sitting in front of some school books. (of course) Another funny I can add to the list...the other day Clark comes out of our bathroom holding MY toothbrush:
Clark: Someone left their toothbrush on MY sink
Rachel: Well actually that is OUR bathroom and that is MY sink...so I left my toothbrush by my sink
Clark: (with a confused look on his face) You need to put your toothbrush up.
hahaha!!!

swim meet and guitar recital

Happy Birthday...to my honey!!

I just wanted to send a Happy Birthday shout out to my wonderful husband! We decided to celebrate last night, as we had to get Ali to swim practice tonight. It was fun. Ali cooked up the dinner with a sandwich recipe she got out of one of her cookbooks. She even made the cake, though she let Clark act like he helped a little too.

T.C.'s birthday