our weekend...

wow, what a good weekend we had as it was our first camping trip so for this year (2006) & we'd a great time... we left friday afternoon to go camping with my parents (papaw & nana) in greenfield, IN & returned last night... my brothers family also stopped by as did our son & his girlfriend, so we'd a 'site' full & we loved it!!

here's a pic of our younger 3 (L to R: ruby 3y, kiara 4y & karleigh 2y) posing as nana grabbed her camera (notice kiara's 'neckhold' on her sister ruby??? - sisters!!)

ruby was mapped again...

well spike took ruby in this AM for her next mapping & they up'd her CI unit... she's got 3 new programs to work with so we'll hopefully be able to bump her up soon... we don't go back until the end of july, so for now, they feel she's doing well... she actually did hear the phone ring the other day when she was in the living room alone... after hearing it ring, she brought it to me & said, "HELLO!"... it was neat to see that she heard it & knew it was the phone!!... i'll write more when i can as we're going for dinner tonight & then tomorrow we're heading out to go camping for the weekend!

the festival was a hit!...

we had the festival at my parents church this past saturday & god blessed us with wonderful weather!... there was singing, face painting, activities for the kiddos, food, drinks, fellowship, etc... spike & i sang a few songs & had a great time... here's a pic that my mom took... i'll add more pics to this post in the next couple days as my mom took a bunch, but hasn't sent them to me yet... although on the pic it says 01/03/2004, mom apparently hasn't 'set' the date as this was just taken this past weekend (5.20.06)... here are some more pics that i thought you'd all enjoy!

what a beautiful day...

what a beautiful day it is today!!... the sun's shining bright & the winds blowing lightly... i took the girls this AM & we went in our neighborhood to garage sales & boy, did we hit it big!... i found a TON of clothes for kiara & for a little bit of nothing *smile*...

ruby ended school yesterday & the other 2 (kiara & karleigh) will end next thursday... they all love school so much!!... next year kiara will attend a new preschool (tuesday, wednesday & thursday), ruby will go back to the same school that she attended this year (tuesday, wednesday & thursday) & karleigh will stay home with mommy... i had all the time in the world when dustin was younger to enjoy him, the same happened when brit was younger as i did daycare so i was home with them all... kiara came home & i sucked up every bit of time i could with her as i knew she'd not stay little long... then karleigh came home & after being home for only 1 month, we began rubys adoption & were so wrapped up in getting her home (eg: working on paperwork, tons of phone calls to haiti & making trips to haiti every 6 weeks) so i don't feel i got 'my time' with karleigh... she's now 2 (came home at 5m) & i can't wait for a bit of 'mommy & karleigh time'... i'm really looking forward to it!!...

tonight, we're planning on staying home since we've got the festival to sing at tomorrow & we'll be gone most of the day... it'll be fun & we're praying for nice weather...

i'll try writing more over the weekend to keep everyone up on what we're doing... stay safe & be blessed!

our anniversary...

well, today was great... spike & i've been married for 15y as of today & man, how far we've come as a 'couple'... when the '3' of us were married (spike, dustin & i *smile*), we were a complete family, or so we thought... a few years after we married we added brit (1995) & again, 'thought' we were finished... we added kiara several years later (2003), karleigh (2004), ruby (2005) & i now can honestly say, WE ARE DONE!!... we love our kids dearly, but the 3 younger ones can sure make mommy tired by the end of the day...

we met my parents at cracker barrel for lunch & then he & i went to logan's for dinner... after dinner we went to see flight 93 (good movie!) & just got home... we're bushed so i'll close for now, but will try & write more tomorrow!

we've been practicing music!...

spike & i've been practicing music for an upcoming festival at my parents church... it'll be this weekend & we're all praying for good weather *smile*... we're very excited & hope to have a wonderful turnout... they're going to have singing, food, face painting, fellowship, etc. & much more i'm sure... we'll post pictures as soon as we can!

what a wonderful mothers day!...

i realized today, that this was my first mother's day with 'ALL' our kids!... for the past few years, i've celebrated mother's day with 'some' of our kids, all the while knowing that another one of our children were still waiting for us in haiti... this' gone on now for several years, but now we're complete & all our kiddos are 'home'!!...

we went this afternoon to sapporos japanese steakhouse & man, was it great!... we then took the younger ones home & took brit up on her offer to watch the girls & spike & i went to see poisidon & it was wonderful (sad, but a very good movie)...

we've got a very busy week coming up as we've got: school for brit (mon - fri), ruby (mon & wed), kiara (thurs), karleigh (thurs), one of our best friends, barbara, flying into town for the night & will be staying with us (tues), choir concert (wed), our anniversary (thurs), brit's youth night (fri) & singing at a festival (sat) (which we've yet to prepare for - YIKES!)... we'll certainly be ready for a quite day after we get through with all we've got planned...

i'll post more when things calm down!!

"thank you God for giving me 5 'wonders' that You hand picked... they're all perfect & i'm blessed to have them call 'me' mom"...

what a wonderful mother's day it's been *smile*

another child coming home, PTL!!...

well, this'll be short as we've friends that were traveling back home from haiti today & we received a phone call from them a bit ago & were told that they not only were arriving tonight with their little girl, eli'anna, but they're also escorting another little girl, angi, (indianapolis, IN) for some other friends of ours that only live a few minutes from me!!... i went to haiti last march with melissa, angi's new mommy & we spent several days there with ruby & angi... ruby arrived home last july & now angi's arriving tonight!!... they've 2 other children, but aren't telling them where they're going so it'll be a HUGE surprise for them as they've been soooooooo excited for their new sister to come home... they're also getting a new brother, waldy, from haiti as well, but he'll not be coming home for a few more days (paperwork, ugh)... it looks as if he'll be escorted in by barbara, our facilitator, next week sometime (looks like maybe tuesday??)... we'll post when we know more!!

kiara's 4y old today ("boo hoo", says mommy)...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DEAR KIARA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU!!

well, today our little girl, kiara, turned 4... she came home from haiti @ 10m in 2003, but i still can't believe she's 4!!... she's such a great kid & enjoys life to the fullest... she's got a wonderful little spirit about her & loves to make people 'feel good'... she's always saying things like, "you're the best mommy in the world", "i love my babies" (meaning ruby & karleigh), "i'll always be your baby girl", etc., etc., etc.... i'm honored that the lord allowed me the opportunity to be in her life & she in mine... i'm a much better person/mommy for it too... she brightens my day from the moment she wakes up until she closes her eyes at night... i love that she's a 'sniggler' & still likes the 'mommy & me' time... we get her 'popper kisses' all the time & smiles on top of that... i'm in amazement of how far she's come since arriving home, am blessed beyond anything i could've imagined & can't wait to see what god's going to do with this precious little one... we love you honey & happy bday...
now i need to get ready to leave, as we're taking kiara out for dinner to her favorite food joint - mongolian BBQ (or as she puts it - 'monkey BBQ'!!)...

ruby's been bumped up a notch...

well, ruby had another mapping this AM at riley & they cleared all her programs & gave her 3 new ones... she's doing fine on the lowest setting today & so we'll leave it there for a day or so & see how she does before bumping it up... we've to take her back on may 25 so they'll change her settings again at that time... we'll continue to keep posting as things move along, but for now, she's hearing some things, just doesn't know what direction to look... she does love wearing her CI though & wants it on first thing in the AM... the drs. say to begin not only having her sign the things she wants (ie: book), but also making her say the word (best she can) & if she won't try, then she doestn't get what she's asking for... we'll start working on this right away & hopefully we'll start hearing her 'talk'!

today at the zoo...

what a wonderful day we had with the girls... we got up this AM & went to the zoo for the day... we'd beautiful weather & everyone enjoyed themselves so much... the girls were great & we saw all kinds of animals... we signed all the animals that we knew & have determined in our minds to learn the ones we don't know!... here are some pics of the animals that were our favorites!... hope you enjoy them!

we're heading to haiti...

well, it's now 'on the books' for spike, myself, brit & my mother to head to haiti october 5-12... we've been planning this trip for some time & booked the tickets today!!... we're all very excited as we'll be able to spend a lot of time (again) with our girls' bfamilies (YEAH!!!) & we'll be working with foyer de la nouvelle vie (the organization that we used to facilitate our adoptions), the zacharys (haitian missionaries that we know & have known for several years), visiting with some more missionary friends of ours & showing brit & mom the sights, etc., etc., etc.... we all can't wait!!... brit's more than excited as she's never flown & this being her first trip & it's overseas, she's just beside herself *smile*... yeah, we're going to haiti (again!!!)

what we've been doing over the past few days...

well, where do i start... some of the things that have been happening around here are: (not in any particular order)

on a somewhat 'sad' note: someone backed into spike's new van the other day so he's been working between insureance companies & dealerships in order to get it settled, repaired, rental car while getting repaired, etc....

on a 'better' note: ruby's doing very well with her CI... she's starting to hear some things as her teacher was telling me that on monday of this week, a little boy sitting beside her was making noises & she signed, "TOOOOOO LOUD!" & plugged her ears (if only she knew how loud she is!!)... she's really trying to talk & tries repeating everything we say (sometimes WAY off of how it sounds to us, but she's trying!)... they reprogramed her CI last friday to 4 new programs (1, 2, 3 & 4) & we're to get her up to level 4 by her next appointment (on the 9th) & she was just raised to program level 2 this evening & is doing great... i think we'll begin uping her program levels more quickly as she's doing just fine...

well, i've really got more to write, but it's now 12:30am & i've been on the phone for over an hour so i'm off to bed & will write more tomorrow (& hopefully add pics!)