A Day with Mrs. B.!

We had an amazing day yesterday! I think anyone would say it was a rare treat! The girls' Kindergarten teacher invited us to spend the day at her house. Mrs. B. is a great teacher and we are so grateful that the girls had her for their Kindergarten year! If all progresses as planned, she will be the girls' First Grade teacher next year too! We couldn't be happier!

Mrs. B has horses! Imagine our delight when we discovered this the first day of school! It was a match made in heaven between Mrs. B. and Emily! Below are the girls meeting Diesel. Mrs. B. has 3 horses but to make things easier the girls rode one horse- Bart. They each got a chance to brush Bart before saddling up. Emily was in heaven! The girls put their helmets on and were ready to go! Mrs. B introduced us to many people and animals along the path. She is patient, sweet and "gets" the girls and their individual personalities. They rode two at a time and switched out along the way. Grammie and I walked with whomever didn't ride- but Emily usually walked with Mrs. B., helping. There are peacocks everywhere- we saw quite a few males showing off their stuff to the ladies. Below we are returning from our adventure (notice the peacock on the roof!) The girls give Bart a well deserved treat! Maddie and Bart now have a special connection... While getting some solo riding time Bart almost rolled over on Maddie while she was riding him. Mrs. B was able to stop him from doing so, but the result was a buck and Maddie fell off. It was scary- but she is ok! After some TLC and rest, she was a trooper and got back on him for the ride back to the house. I am very proud of her for being so brave. We kept an eye on her the rest of the day (thank goodness she had her helmet on!) and gave her some Tylenol before bed. She was up and at 'em today- she's one tough cookie!
To finish the day we BBQ'ed hot dogs and then went for a swim in Mrs. B's pool. It really was a wonderful day and we are so grateful to Mrs. B. for having us at her home. It's not often you come across a teacher like Mrs. B.!!!!

We're still here- Part 2!

Yikes! It's been awhile since I've ventured over here. Valentine's Day to be exact! After taking this "short" blogging break- I am back and hoping to get on track with regular posting again. I have missed it! I have lots to share but I think rather than trying to go backwards and catch up- I will just start with the present and add updates here and there?? We'll try it and see how it goes!
First up? We have FIRST GRADERS in the house! The girls finished their Kindergarten year with tears in their eyes because they didn't want to stop going to school and seeing their teacher Mrs. B every day. Warms my heart to hear that since education is SO important to us and we want the girls to love school! Several tears later, Mrs. B and I reassured them that this wasn't the end- 1) we are going to Mrs. B's house TOMORROW to ride her horses and hang out in her pool (very cool and special!) and 2) Mrs. B is going to be their First Grade teacher next year!!! YAY!!!!!The girls have grown up so much this year- no more babies/toddlers/preschoolers in this house! They are little people now- with opinions and we are for sure busier than ever. (is it easier? yes- but busier- if that makes sense?)

So for now I will leave you with the girls Spring pictures from April and our family portraits from church taken in January.

EMILY ASHLEY MADELINE

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine's Day was not forgotten in the midst of all these ear infections! With everyone on the mend we took to task addressing and signing LOTS and LOTS of valentines for the girls' classmates.

It ended up being a 2 day process but the girls did a great job! Friday morning they were ready to go to school and deliver their cards!

I got to help in the classroom during the card exhange. All the kids were excited and they all did a great job passing out their valentines! Maddie told every student as she handed them their card, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

On Sunday we had a quiet day at home. The girls opened their valentines' from us and we spent a lot of time outside because the weather has been gorgeous!! It was a great day!!

We're still here! BIG news!

Sooooo.... I'm not doing such a good job with my new years resolution to blog more. I find myself these days pulled in so many directions and with the girls being sick this last week- well- any "spare" time has been spent snuggling, wiping noses, getting drinks, giving medicine and napping (to name a few). In fact- here is my Facebook update from the other night:

3 sick kids, 5 infected ears, 1 set of red eyes, 1 fever, 3 coughs, 2 wheezing= 3 doctor's appts, 3 antibiotic prescriptions, 1 eye drop prescription, 2 on breathing treatments every 4 hours, LOTS of tylenol, 1 home from school tomorrow and 1 tired mommy!

Yep- its been rough this week. But I am full of HOPE that February will be better and I will be blogging more!

January ended up being a CRAZY month! Words can not express the highs and lows we went through in January- stress, laughter, tears of sadness, tears of joy- wow, we had the whole gambit. The end result.....

My best friend in the whole wide world and her husband (whom I fondly refer to as Hubby #2) are PARENTS!!!!

You may remember this post I wrote about in September 2008. Hope! On January 15th Michelle and Mike's hopes and dreams were answered with the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Emma Madison.It has been a very long road for them to get to this place. I have always said that I believe deep within my heart that Michelle and I were MEANT to find each other when we did and become friends. We've run this road to parenting together, supporting each other along the way, picking each other up when one stumbles and cheering the loudest when good news was received.

Adoption is NOT easy. It's a miracle, its a selfless act and its beautiful but its not easy. My heart goes out to Emma's birth mother. What an amazing woman. She also was MEANT to find Michelle and Mike.Emma is PERFECT. She's beautiful, happy and sheer joy! I had the honor of picking the Jarboe family up from the airport on their return. To say I cried like a baby is an understatement when I saw Michelle and Mike come out of the elevator with TONS of baby gear and this little bit of heaven in her arms. I just love this little girl and I love the joy she has brought Michelle and Mike.
With everyone home we are all in baby heaven now. The girls love holding her (though they were a little uncertain at first about her size). Maddie asked to hold her the other night when they were visiting us and when Mike put her in Maddie's arms she started to sing the "ABC" song to her- just like MY DAD used to sing to Madeline almost 6 years ago when she was a newborn! It was a tearjerker moment for all of us for sure!We all love her so much and being sick has made us sad because we can't see her until we are ALL better (girls are almost 100% but I'm down for the count now). We have fun and exciting plans ahead of us! Can't wait to share them all with you!!

The tradition continues!

Can you guess where we went today? I'll give you a few hints before I head off to bed- more to come tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

We have been hit with a flu bug so we are staying home for New Year's Eve. Yes- we have stayed home every New Year's Eve for the last 6 years- but this year we actually had plans that we had to cancel! Boo! That'll teach us!

As 2010 approaches rapidly (we will be ringing it in on the EST drop of the ball at 9pm here)- I do have a few resolutions that I'm making this year-
1) to be a better blogger- this is my scrapbook at the moment so I best keep it up to date!

2) to floss- yeah- I'm sure you could care less about this one- but I'm putting it out there. After experiencing the joy that is deep tissue cleaning last month- I hope to never have that experience again- flossing is hopefully the key!

And that's about it- besides to continue to be the best mom I can be to these lovely little ladies that are growing up way too fast for me to accept! We wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2010!! I have a feeling it is going to be a wonderful year!!

Merry Christmas- From our family to yours!

We are slowly emerging from the wrapping and tissue paper, boxes, packaging and tape! I promise lots of updates and pictures coming soon! Here's a few from Christmas!