Cindy's Birthday Pictures

Today

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY

EVERYONE!!

Please pray

I ask that you pray for a 16-month-old boy who was ran over by a car today around 1:00PM. I will give you his initials. (KS). I work with his mom. Please pray that there are no internal injuries and that he will come through it ok. He was alive so that is a praise already. Pray, pray, pray.

Thank you.
UPDATE: KS is doing fine, walking, talking, and whining a little because he is very sore, but he has no internal injuries and no broken bones. Thank you all for your prayers. God is AWESOME!

November 6th

was the best day I've had in a LONG time. It was my birthday. Birthdays are so special. Especially when you surround yourself with people you love.

I started out with breakfast ALONE with a book. Cherry pancakes at the Cracker Barrell HIT THE SPOT! Yum.

Then I went home to watch some of my taped DVR shows that I NEVER have time for.

Then my wonderful husband took me to lunch at the Olive Garden. It's only my FAVORITE restaurant of ALL time!! Then I picked Emy, Cristian, Josh and Luke up (in that order) and we went to the park (another favorite of mine).

Then home to watch Batman with the boys (Emy was chatting on the phone with a friend). The OLD Batman with Adam West, yes you know the one. Where everything looked fake and their outfits are hideous! But yes, I love it. I mean, CAPES, really! Haven't they seen the Incredibles? LOL!!

Then it was off to my Papa's for cake, ice cream, more time with my fave people, my wishes for another happy year and presents. As Luke says, YAY MOMMY!!

Y'all.......I am so entirely blessed. I have a God that loves me no matter what, Jesus who died for me, a mom and dad who raised me with some morals, a sister and her family who I adore and love to fuss with, my husband who is a total posting just waiting to happen (it will happen). He is the BEST. And finally my children......what can a mom say. My kids are so special to me! I love them soooooooo much and just could hug on them all day long.

Blessed I say! I will post some pictures of my party later, but now I'm tired and have to get some rest.

Love to you all. Have a great weekend.

Josh is 13!!

My nephew Josh turned 13 on Oct 27th--yep, I'm way behind on blogging!! I just wanted to share that he is a terrific nephew, I love him so much!

Josh came home when he was 5 months old and ever since then, we have spoiled him rotten. To the core rotten!

Josh is creative and funny and he has the best sense of humor (of our entire family, I think). He is slow to anger and quick witted. He is helpful to have around, he will work so hard when I need him to and he loves Emy & Luke so much. He and Luke really bonded when Luke came home.

Happy Birthday Joshie!! We love you to the moon and back!!

This made my day on Thursday!!

My friend Angie is dressing up as a "submissive wife" for her church Holyween party!!

Don't you love this picture of her??

LOVE IT!!!

We've been busy!!

I really do wish I knew how to post pictures in some kind of order. This is the last picture I wanted to show--LOL

This is Luke AFTER the fair and his candy apple.

Emy got a beautiful face painting that lasted 2 days!!
Luke chauffered me around at the fair...this is the view I had from the backseat of the OLD cars.
This is what we saw when we came around - EVERY time....Ma and Pa waving like lunatics...LOL

All smiles for a while

Believe me, he didn't stay this happy for long. He started throwing fits so we had to leave really early. Poor Emy didn't even complain. She's such a good girl.

Man, I filled this swing UP!!

Did I mention, I do NOT like the swings.

Geez, what we do for our kids.

This sundae was bigger than Emy but she attacked it!

Emy and I rode this ferris wheel.

Hubba Bubba and Emy

Emy likes to try to juggle so we took in a juggling and acrobatic act while we were there.

Riding the ponies

Picture day at school

Luke's first day of full-time preschool with his teacher.

He loves her food.

Playing UNO on a Sunday afternoon.....Four of my favorite people EVER!!

Luke was napping during this time.

The pics above were from the NC State Fair!!

We may go again tomorrow, without Luke.

He was way too over stimulated by all the activity and it put him in a very bad mood.

Will post again soon.

Love y'all.

Later.

Cristian turned 9

My nephew is 9 years old! how did that happen? He is such a sweet, kind boy. He loves to hunt and fish and camp. He had an overnight campout (w/ army guns, bows-n-arrows, etc). He had a blast!

My gift to him you might ask---well, of course, being his favorite aunt---I bought him a quiver for his arrows, an arrow, and a hunting hat!!

I love you Cristian!!

You are the coolest 9 year old I know!

This and That

Well, Luke started preschool and he goes every Tuesday and Thursday. He LOVES it!! He would rather go there than stay with my mom and that is saying something folks. He is doing well. Teachers are Mrs. H, Mrs. C, and Mrs. R. Luke says Mrs. R is his best friend!!

He even buys his lunch every day at the cafeteria and carries his own tray and everything. They make him drink milk instead of water and that is the only negative I've seen. Luke LOVES water....but not enough to complain about the milk at preschool. LOL!!

Emy is doing well in 1st grade. So far, so good. She has missed three days of school though because of a fever, sore throat, cough. Then Luke caught it from her and then I was lucky enough to catch it from him. Why are the daddies immune to this stuff? Doesn't seem fair, does it?

My asthma has kicked in but I do feel a little better today. Luke is with my mom today because his babysitters are sick as well. This stuff is spreading like wild fire here in NC. The swine flu is in all of our schools here and it looks like its gonna be tough to beat and keep at bay. Emy was SOOOOO HAPPY to go back to school today!!

God is an awesome God and he is the ultimate healer and I will continue to believe that we will be healed from all of our ailments.....love to all of you and I hope you are having a great Fall.

Luke

Luke started preschool today
:o)

This and That

Luke when he first came home (this is a BEFORE surgery picture and WITHOUT glasses)

Luke AFTER surgery WITH glasses
Luke's new car bed :o)
Emy pulled her 1st tooth today!

My artist!

Bowling w/ the whole gang

Emy and Luke (one day AFTER his eye surgery)

Poor little red eyes!

Alot has been going on, as you can see--Emy started 1st grade, lost her 1st tooth, Luke has had eye surgery.

Later guys!!

Luke's surgery/Emy starts school

Luke had bilateral eye surgery on Thursday 8/13/09. This little fellow still amazes me. He didn't cry when they took him back, he just hugged me, kissed me and went to "blow up a balloon" A.K.A. get gassed--LOL!! The nurses were great and his doctor is just TERRIFIC!!

We went for post op today and Luke is healing well, doing fine and loving his glasses...we finally got a measurement (hopefully that is the right word). We never knew for sure how well he was seeing with glasses and now we know. . He is seeing 20/100 in the left eye, 20/40 in the right eye and 20/30 with both eyes--that is WITH glasses...poor thing can't hardly see without them...We are continuing to patch his right eye for 2 hours every single day and he does not enjoy that too much, but I always win that argument!!

Luke is doing so well, I just can't say enough about how this little boy has warmed my heart. I love him so much!! It's so hard to believe he has just been home for 18 months!!

CAN you believe it?? My Emy is starting 1st grade on Tuesday--we met her teachers tonight and I am so very pleased with them. They are so enthusiastic--Emy can't wait for Tues morning to get here. Mrs. D and Mrs. B are awesome teachers and I think Emy will learn alot from them..There are only 17 students in her class which is a definite PLUS!!

My Emy--1st grade--where does the time go? It seems like yesterday she came off of the airplane, her eyes the biggest thing on her (or was it her lungs) LOL!!

Did I mention I love her so much too!?! She is the sunshine in my life--almost always cheerful, finding happiness in every nook and cranny of her young life...such a sweetie girl.
Emy speaks so clearly now--I can barely keep up. Stay tuned for more to come in the next few weeks...Lots of pictures to be posted--probably next week sometime!!

Until then.

Happy 8th Gotcha Day Cristian!

I cannot believe it has been EIGHT years since Cristian came home to us from Guatemala. Josh was 4, I was 29, Darrell was, well younger, and time has flown ever since. Cristian will soon turn 9 years old--unbelievable!!

Happy Gotcha Day Cristian!

You are very special to me and always will be.

I love the way you soak up information about sharks and all kinds of wildlife--you learn so fast--I love to hear you talk about all the facts you know! You are the BEST little hunter I know. And, you are my favorite person to share a meat pizza with!!

As soon as I held you when you were a baby, you had my heart--completely!

I love you to the moon Little Man!!

And I always will.

Me and Cristian, Emy, and Lukey
Cristian & Josh watching the tube with Ang.

The great big yummy cookie!!

I brought Angie some lottery tickets and told Cristian to pick the numbers!!

He LOVED that idea...LOL!

Emy LOVES Cristian and he loves her but sometimes they connect like oil and water, baking soda and vinegar, fire and ice. You get the picture? So this rare hug I caught on camera!!

YAY!!

Hope you enjoyed our Gotcha Day pictures.

I love you Cristian!

My children teach me.....

So, I was teaching children's church at the campground last Sunday and Emy tells another little girl "I have two daddies".

And I said "huh"?

And Emy said, "Mama, you know Jesus is my daddy too".

So, there!

Kit Kat or Nick Nack?

Emy calls the candy bar "Kit Kat" a "Nick Nack". . I think that is so cute, I have never corrected her. Darrell came in the other night and said "What in the world is a Nick Nack?". I've been looking all over for a Nick Nack and come to find out, that is what Emy calls a Kit Kat!!

See, I knew that already--I just laughed at him and said "I know".

I'm the Mama--that's how I know....LOL!!

Church Funny

So, yesterday we are in church (me, Darrell and Luke were). Emy spent the night with Ma (my mom) and wanted to stay as long as possible :o)

So, the music was really fast and we were clapping and Luke was bouncing and praising the Lord and I looked over at Darrell because I heard someone stomping their foot. It was him! I told him right then that "this ain't no hoe down boy". It was so funny!!

We both lost it and couldn't keep straight faces and all Luke said was "laughing? Mama? laughing?"

Funny to us, probably had to be there!!

Some vacation pics

My sweeties

Relaxin by the pool
At Fort Fisher Aquarium

Beachin it

We had a wonderful 4th of July at the beach!!

Over-reaction or just playing it safe?

Hey everyone! I took Emy for her FIRST trip to the mall on Saturday and we had the best time. My best friend, Christy and her daughter, Haylei went with us and it was an all-day girls day out. We left home around 10:30am and didn't get home until 9:00PM!! Woohoo....We ate at Chick Fil A for lunch, had a fruit smoothie for afternoon snack (Emy had a Brownie Blast) (Christy and Haylei had blizzards), then had supper at Cracker Barrel (my all time favorite place to eat!)

We found excellent deals at The Children's Place and Sears and JC Penney. Emy LOVED the shoe stores. She loved trying on clothes and modeling them for us!! She is a hoot, and well received at all the stores. She kept us on our toes, for sure.

Anyhow, while I was there (at the mall), I kept Emy practically tied to my side and she felt smothered, no doubt. But, I didn't even let her go into a bathroom stall alone--am I crazy or just playing it safe? I think it's a little bit of both but I can't help but feel "better safe than sorry".

The one time she got away from me I grabbed her hand (she didn't like that too much) but I just can't help it--basically she only got in trouble once for trying to "get away" from me. That was while I was trying to read one of those stinking mall maps--concentration, right!

We also went to a "Claire-like" store where she bought some fake fingernails and nail polish and some earrings...she is ready for church now y'all.....LOL!

She tried to run around the clothes and tried to play in them and I just got all panicky and told her we couldn't do that or her mommy would go nuts! LOL!

So, what do y'all think? Am I crazy, or over-reacting, or am I playing it safe? For some reason, my biggest fear has always been that someone is going to try and take my children--I think I watched one too many episodes of America's Most Wanted. Maybe it's because of the LONG wait we had before we ever brought her home?! Or maybe I'm just a nut?!

Do y'all ever feel this way?

Please, I want your honest opinion and I totally WANT your tips for shopping in busy crowded places with my busy, fun-loving little girl...thanks!!

(seriously, why don't they make leashes for 6 y/o kids--just kidding)

And, I'm also packing for the beach this week and cleaning my house so I won't feel guilty about leaving on Friday!! busy, busy, busy.

Later y'all.

Summer is FLYING

Well, don't you think so? I can't believe a few months ago we had snow on the ground and now we are into 100-degree weather here in NC....amazing. We are headed for vacation in a couple of weeks for a week at the beach and we can't wait for it to get here. Swimming, sunshine, sand and shells--we can't wait!!

Emy has always loved the beach and Luke loves it too..we are happy about that because Darrell and I could live there--not kidding--we love it that much!

So, just checking in with y'all. How is your summer going? Are you spending it doing fun stuff? Let me know!!

Later taters!

Cindy

Well, we've been so BUSY!

Ready for bed!

Chillin by Connie and Ray's pool
Running through Tina's house! Hey Justin! I'm playing with your toys!!

See? Luke is behind Emy going through those little trucks like there's no tomorrow--LOL

They even got to pet the bunnies while they were there!

This is Snow Ball

They LOVED her!

Nails-ahhhh-that feels good! (Daddy loves to get his back scratched)Little monkeys

No more baby swing for Luke!

At my Pampered Chef Party!

Haylei & Emy in Emy's room!

Luke & Cole color together!!

My favorite feet

Emy, taking a break at the beach

Absolute JOY

A REAL smile!

Darrell's favorite hobby

Following in her foot steps

Cheesin

Footprints!

Luke's prints

Emy's print

Darrell's poor sunburned feet--LOL--I TOLD him to wear sunscreen.

Maybe next timehe will listen?!

Nappy time

Buckets of FUN

Genuine smiles

Coming home!! Score!

Caught the ball

Rounding 3rd

On 2nd--ready to run

Luke adores Emy

Emy & Alex

Alex & Emy

Ebony & Ivory

Pa's birthday dinner (Pa w/ the grands)

Multitasking

Swinging

Tude

Hugs

Buddies forever

Goofy grin

Hope y'all enjoyed all the pics.

Later.