First Lost Tooth

C just lost her first tooth.  Yippee!  And she was not whiney about it at all.  (She's the first with that attitude.)

Home and a Loose Tooth

We're home.  And C has a loose tooth. 

Pics to follow once I get them on the computer.  Unpacking comes first.

Video of Solomon's arrival

A local television station was at the airport when Solomon arrived Wednesday.  It is one of the top viewed stories for the week and it's only 4 days old!  Click on the link below to view it yourself.  Less than 2 minutes long and it's full of GOOD news!

Video of Solomon's arrival at the airport

Once an Orphan...Now in a Family

Once there was a boy in Ethiopia whose parents were both dead.  He went to live in an orphanage.  He never knew what it was like to have a family.

Then one day when he was 16, a man, woman and their daughter came to his orphanage.  And they started emailing him.  And encouraging him.  And sharing God's love with him.  And they called the boy their son and brother.

And life looked a whole lot different.

Lots of things happened and one day, this boy flew across the Atlantic Ocean to go to college in America.

And to live with this family who loved him very much.

This boy's name is Solomon.  Our family had the privilege of being at the airport when he arrived today...

along with another 100 or so folks.

Balloons and signs were everywhere.

There's Solomon's mama hugging him as he walked out of the terminal.

Our four kids standing *next* to Solomon.  Everyone was wanting to hug him and welcome him.  And he was so very gracious to hug every person who came to greet him.

The Mestas Family...Solomon's family

You can read about their entire journey on Eileen's blog.

Happy Father's Day

All four children had been working on "gifts" for Dad this week.  They started off their day sharing them with him.  I just didn't take photos with this camera to share the excitement on the blog.

We went to church with Dad and I let eveyrone stay in worship to hear him preach.  We ate lunch at Jason's*Deli.  It was very hot outside and C wasn't feeling well so we didn't do any outside activities on the way home.

Dad and his fan club

Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the whole wide world!

Fancy Dinner

In Sunday School the kids' lesson was on "helping".  Since that is something we discuss *often* in our home, I was pleasantly surprised when they woke up today wanting to be helpers.  They cleaned their rooms more than expected as a daily chore.  They kept asking me all day how they could help.  Then around 4pm they asked if they could make dinner.  (That typcially translates, "How can we make a mess and you fix it?")

So after some discussion, it was decided they could make dinner.  The excitement was beyond belief.  It quickly became a "fancy dinner".  We all put on nice clothes.  I let them use the "good" dishes.  They did all the serving and we used very good manners at the table.

Our fancy dinner with Mom behind the camera.

On the menu was pb&j OR pb&m.  That's peanut butter and marshmallows.  We didn't have any marshmallow cream or small marshmallows so they used the big ones.  Quite funny to watch them eat trying to use good manners.

And for dessert...chocolate pieces to dip in pb.  (Mom had a graham cracker with whipped cream.)

Such a fun memory.

Oh, and the helpers disappeared after dinner to go play with Dad.  Mom cleaned but there were no pots and pans to wash!

We are very thankful for a church that teaches God's Word in a way that applies it to our every day life.

The End of Camp

It was a long week without our big girl and we were all very happy when the time finally came to go pick her up.  We got there a little early :) so we have to wait a bit.  Dad and the kids found things to do to pass the time.

Waiting for H...

H with the two counselors on the other side of her cabin.  (Ryan and Shelby)

H with the two counselors in her side of the cabin.  (Hannah and Holly)

Three  friends (with little brother's head - he did it every time I took a photo of them.  I think he missed his sister too and just wanted her attention.)

Ringing the bell.  They want to do it every time we're at the camp.

So now we are all home together.

H had an amazing week at camp.  Ask her.  She'll tell you all about it!

First Swim of the Summer

Our friends, the Mestas Family, invited us to go swimming with them.  So we pulled out all the swim clothes and towels and sunscreen, packed a lunch, and met them at the pool for a day of swimming.

B walked through the sprinkers.  It was so hot that any water was a welcome friend.

The Mestas' have five children 7 and under so they made good playmates for our three.  Thanks, James, Jeremiah, Josiah, Kezziah and Keren for playing with us!

E and Kezziah

C and Keren

It has taken me over two years, but both girls are my buddy now.

The five youngest Mestas' were adopted.  Read Eileen's blog for their amazing story.

Now we're on our way to pick up our big girl from camp!!!!

Memorial Day at the Capital

We went to the State Capital for our annual Memorial Day Celebration.  It's a good way to show the kids why we celebrate Memorial Day.  There are always plenty of veterans there.  We arrived a little earlier than usual this year so we went inside the History Museum to cool off for a bit.  There was a veteran showing items from his time in combat.  The kids (minus our big girl who is at camp) really enjoyed his hands-on talk.

B wearing the helment.  Such a cutie!

Checking out the hand grenade.  (Dad liked this part.)  Oh, it did not have a fuse.

Lots of cool things to see and compare to what they use today.

We met some friends there.  Here are three patriotic girls waiting patiently for the festivities to begin.

Finally...the bagpiper and JrROTC begin the ceremony.

I always love it when the color guard passes by.  We had an upclose view this year.  We opted for the shade.

We always get a photo of the kids in front of the memorial wreath.  (I wonder what H is doing at camp right now?)

So you can't go to the Capital without looking at the statues and things on the Capital grounds.  Here are our three lovely ladies...

Shooting the canon at their brothers who are just delighted to "fall down dead" in the battle.

Thank you to all the men and women who serve or have served in our Armed Forces!

Camp...Finally!

Our big girl had been counting the months/weeks/days/hours until she got to go to overnight camp.  She had a packing list made from the day she found out she was going.  She was packed (as much as she could) several days before the big day.

So when THE Sunday finally arrived, she could barely eat.  She was so excited!

After church we headed home to check over her packing one last time and load it in the van.  After lunch and a little waiting, it was time to leave.  (Little did we know, there were some folks standing in line for over an hour before us.)

We stood in line in the heat for about 45 minutes (there were lots of eager campers) but once the doors opened, registration was quick.  It wasn't long before she and her two friends were making their beds in their cabin.

Our big girl by her bottom bunk bed sporting her day camp shirt from last year.  Her brother missed her although you can't tell that he would from this photo.  Her little sister was not real thrilled with the fact of leaving H for a whole week.

H with her friends, Lizzie and Alexa.  (Alexa got the top bunk that her big sister, Emily, had at camp a few years ago.)  It's a tradition for the campers to sign the walls and beds when they are in that cabin.  They found Emily's name from when she had signed it.  And needless to say, these three girls left their names all over the cabin.

Our last glimpse of the girls as we were walking to the van.  One whole week without H at home.  It was going to be a long week for us! :)

Flag Football State Championship

Saturday were the state championship games for B's flag football team.  Everyone on the team was there to enjoy the day.  They played their first game at 9:30am.  It rained some but they kept going.  It was their first time to play on a wet field.  They still pulled out a win 18-7.  So then we *got* to sit for 1 1/2 hours while another game was played.  Then it was on to game 2.

B is #4.  He's blocking the other team there in the middle of the photo.

B played quarterback for a quarter (or most of a quarter) in each game.  On the play in the photo above, he did some kind of trick handoff then ran the ball himself.  He gained quite a bit of yardage.  The very next play he threw the ball for a touchdown.  They won this game 27-0.

So since they won that game we *got* to sit for another 2 hours before playing the final game for the championship.  Unfortunately, things did not go as well for this game.  The guys were tired.  (It was 4pm and they had been at the field since 9am in the heat.)  The other team had all older, taller boys (not sure where their 6 and 7 year olds were) which made it more difficult for our guys.  But even with the obstacles, they still played their hearts out.

We are very proud of Team Gray coming in 2nd for the entire state!  They are all winners!!

Team Gray

Part of the fun this spring was being on the same team as his buddy, Ian.  They are the Dynamic Duo on the football field!  (And their dads were the master minds behind the defensive line.)

League Champions

B's team won their game today 18-12 so they are the League Champions.  Next week they will go to the State playoffs to play for the championship.

It's a happy day here!

Photos and more details to follow once my friend who had a working camera gets the photos to me.

Update

My camera is not working so I don't have any photos to post.  Hopefully, I'll have a new one or the old one will be working by the weekend.

But life continues with or without a camera...B has LOVED his flag football games this spring.  His team is in 1st place.  They play for the *championship* this Saturday.  (Camera needed!)  He is very excited.

We are wrapping up our school year.  If the weather cooperates, we'll finish our science co-op tomorrow at a local botanical garden (we're studying botany).  Our Tapestry co-op finishes next Friday with our end of the year unit celebration. 

Brent is still the interim pastor at a church about an hour from here.  The children and I had planned to join him for Mother's Day but three of us got sick Sunday morning (two were in the van ready to go!) so we stayed home.  H leads in worship this week for "big church" so we'll try to join him again in two weeks.

Our summer days are filling up fast.  H goes to camp in June, VBS in June, a trip to TN hopefully in June or July, B goes to camp in July, a beach trip to VA somewhere in there, and before we know it...well, lets not go there.  :)  I'm determined to not fill the entire calendar with activities so we can just enjoy the summer.  And of course we'll do some school during the hot afternoons. 

E is reading now.  She read Genesis 1 to me with little help.  She just picks up books now and reads with little or no help.  C is learning words.  It won't be long before she is reading as well.  I'm not sure how it happens but it does.  Our babies will be kindergarteners soon.  We won't go there either right now!

That's all for now.  Happy Wednesday!

Sunday in the Gardens

We ventured over to Durham Sunday after church to visit the Sarah Duke Gardens.

Wow!

Dad and his fan club.

Bamboo in the Japanese gardens.

Beautiful C

Lovely E

Lady H

The bridge (one of several)

Handsome B

Mom and E

Mom and B

Mom and C

Mom and H

Funny faces.  It happens every time.

Happy spring!

Square Dance

We had a square dance for our unit celebration today.  One of the families in our co-op hosted the dance at their home.  (Quote by E:  "They live in a log cabin like Abraham Lincoln did".  Fact:  It isn't exactly like Abe's log cabin, but it's a log cabin.)

We had beautiful weather and lots of fun with friends.

The caller.

The spectators.

Mom doing a little "left-right grand".

H dancin' around the square.

Mom with her dancing partner, Will.  (B wouldn't dance so I grabbed one of his friends.)

More square dancing.

The view from the porch.  The caller "called" for almost 2 hours.

Not everyone danced but there was a nice tree to climb.

After the dance we enjoyed a pot luck dinner together.  Then most the kids headed down to the creek.  I didn't take my camera but they have a nice area to play in the water.  Needless to say, our kids felt right at home in the woods and the water.

Mom had to pull B out of a football game on the lawn for us to head home.  It was a fun day in every way possible.

(Didn't get any photos of Dad and Mom dancing together or of Dad and H dancing together.)