All Soccer-ed Out

It was soccer finals this weekend & we had a soccer coach meeting Friday night. Then we ended up playing in four games on Sat. that were then followed by a soccer party. Phew! Both Nathan's U-7 team & Luke & Mark's U-10 teams won their first games, which was awesome. Even though they all fought hard in their second games, they lost - but, all in all, had a great season. They learned a lot of good skills & had FUN! We're OK to take a break for awhile now.

 Luke is #19 & John & Mark are in background...during half time.

Romeo practices his therapy dog skills gameside.

Today we are watching football & RELAXING! Yeah! 

Happy Friday Thoughts

Cowboy on the Front Porch

I asked Nathan if he was trying out his costume for "candy day" and he informed me that , no, he just felt like being a cowboy.

He sure is a cute one.

Ears

At 10 weeks - those radar ears are starting to stand up.

He is very cute & a big handful!

Nathan #8

The throw in

This was Nathan's first season of soccer & he had such a good time. Nathan made it extra FUN, as he does with pretty much everything in his life. :) He played every position at some point & his team experienced some great wins & improved a lot over the season. The final championships are this weekend. We'll be cheering for our cute little #8. 

Oh, My Heart!

These pics are so dear to my heart that they are almost hard to share. But...I know they will bring a smile to your face. These were taken in the very first few minutes that Mark & Luke & Nathan & I all met each other. Precious, precious moments & memories... (I just received them today from a lady who just happened to be there at the right time with her camera. So thankful!)

The four best days of my life:

* the day I accepted Jesus Christ into my life

* the day I married John

*the day Mark was born

*the day we got to bring Luke & Nathan home

Today...

It is five pm. and so far today I have:

*served my three children two meals and two healthy snacks
*taught them reading, math, science, geography, Bible and various lang. arts skills
*done a sugar crystal-making experiment with them
*let two of them help me make a fruit salad
*did several loads of laundry as well as two loads of dishes
*cleaned & tidied up as I went along
*walked the new puppy at least six times and watched carefully to make sure he didn't eat anything too wierd (he's at that stage)
*watched same puppy like a hawk all day since I am house training him
*supervised chicken chores
*collected eggs
*read my children a story
*made a "thank you phone call"
*told my littlest son stories while he sat on my lap on the back steps while I watched said puppy
*gave medicine to my sweet old Boxer
*swept up some dust bunnies
*answered innumerable questions
*helped read directions to "Risk"
*supervised a tubby bath, added the tub food coloring
*thanked God as I went along through the day
*had a bit of fun on Pinterest (I confess)
*began defrosting chicken
*fed three dogs
*dusted furniture
*completely re-organized all our current home school supplies because they were so awful I couldn't find things
*got the mail
*added to the grocery list
*took a few pictures



...and guess what........... my house is a WRECK!!! 

It doesn't look like I have done a thing all day!

...and you know what............................I've decided that it's OK.  :)

Dogs...

Romeo is 17.3 lb at 9 weeks & his ears are starting to stand up just a bit.

He has also discovered the joy of digging & getting nice & dirty.

Juneau is exhausted from chasing after the little guy!

Friends

We recently had a super (but sadly short) visit with some of our dearly loved friends in Ohio. As many of you know them, here are the pics....

 Nice tongue Nathan!

Our boys did such a cute pose with Ian & Isaac ...

...that ended up looking like this!

Pretty Laura & her cute boys - the only problem with visiting them is that now we miss them more!

Forever Family Day

We just celebrated our Forever Family Day #2! It seems in so many ways that we have almost always been together but it was actually just two years ago that we had a special ceremony at Beacon House in Ghana. All the kids sat in a big circle around the five of us & prayed for us we officially became a bigger & better family. There were many tears shed (both happy & sad) & it was so very hard for me to leave many of the precious children behind, but we were all very excited to finally be setting out all together.

The last two years have not been easy but John & I are both so thankful for all three of our beautiful children. We're crazy about them (except for when they are making us crazy! Ha!)

More Puppy Love

Here's the new guy..."Romeo". He's 8 weeks old, 13.6 lbs. and is a black & silver German Shepherd Dog (otherwise known as a super soft & cute biting-machine!)

Here he is in our car with his brother, "Schultz", that we also brought back from Iowa (for another family).

Romeo on bottom of the pile

Here they are with Mark, so you can see how big they are - Romeo on right.

We're Home!

After more than 30 hours in the van, two puppies, two hotel rooms & a great visit with friends...we're happy to be home again. Both the boys and the puppies travelled very well and we took plenty of stops for snacks and then got to stay overnight with some dear friends in Ohio on the way home.

Puppy cuteness pics coming soon...