Adoption Milestones

We are still slowing making progress with our adoption- more details on the adoption blog- fourplustwoequalsone.blogspot.com

We have put in a letter of intent to the country of Lithuania for two specific children- twins!  There is still lots of paperwork to complete, but we hope and pray that these two are the ones God has for us.

IF these are our two kiddos, they had a birthday this week!  They turned four.  We sang to them and celebrated in their honor.  I can't wait to have a HUGE party for them to celebrate what will probably be their first birthday party ever!!

We had a HUGE yard sale to help raise funds.  Originally we wanted to have only one- but we were so blessed with donations that we HAD to have another!  We simply had NO room in the house- the living room was full.  The playroom was full.  The sunroom was full.  The garage was full.

We had good friends come and help up set-up- Al and I started at 5:15am, and by 7am we had the tables full.  We never did get all the stuff out of the sunroom or garage!  We sold stuff like crazy and were able to raise some money!  Now we are fairly certain that we can get all the donations into a moving truck to take to Chester for our originally scheduled yard sale!

Already Asher and Annalise have taught us so many lessons.  We are humbled by our friends generosity- helping at yard sales, clearing out their attics and garages, and offering words of encouragement.  So many people are excited about this journey and they are putting their words into actions by helping!  We can't wait to meet Asher and Annalise- and thanks to many actions and prayers of our friends, they will be here soon!

Big Moments

There have been some Big Moments happening around here!  

First up- The End of the Year Kindergarten Performance!  Alden was so serious during his performance- and he did a great job!  Clearly neon is the "in" color!

Our neighborhood pool decided to open a weekend BEFORE Memorial Day- so of course we went!

Yes, they had the entire pool to themselves for about 15min.  Then some other kids decided to hop in- it was chilllllly!

Our dear friend and neighbor graduated with her Masters!  Such fun celebrating her and her accomplishments!!

Lainey came for a sleepover- which morphed into all weekend!  We loved it!!  Here they are with their American Girl Dolls ready to watch McKenna

Sunday after church, we all headed back to the pool- where they swam, warmed-up, swam more, for 3 hours!!

Flying Addie!

CANNON BALL!

Best Buds

Addie decided she wanted to make dinner and she chose to make French Toast!  She did a really great job- hired!!

Addie, the ever-teacher, taught Alden how to do subtraction one morning during breakfast.  He loved it- and then they took turns making up problems for the other one to solve.  So sweet!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was bitter-sweet.  It was strange to realize that this will be the last one where it is just the four of us- and it was harder than I expected realizing that I have two more children that aren't with me and who desperately need me.  The day was special and I enjoyed all the special touches the kids and Al did to make me feel extra special!  {They make sure I feel loved and appreciated every day, but today was extra-specially more}

I LOVE my new Tervis!

This Tervis shows what an amazing and attentive husband Al is.  I mentioned several weeks ago that I saw a friend's Tervis with cute owls on it and that I thought it was super cute.  That was it.  He went out, found and purchased the Tervis for me!  Being that mindful and caring is only reason #4,503,431,984 that I love him!

My Two Loves

After lunch we spent some time at a park- the kids running around and being happy allowed Al and I to talk, which is a win-win in my book!  Addie made me a beautiful necklace that I love!

It was a great Mother's Day and I look forward to next Mother's Day when I have FOUR children to be thankful for!

Shirts!!

As you know, we are super excited to be growing our family through adoption.  We designed, along with the help of Miss Sarah, this shirt.  We hope it sums up adoption in general- of children or even of Christ with us.  We will be taking orders through May 28th and then will have some extra!  Leave a comment if you need help placing an order!!

Colors:  Adults- gray and light blue,  Children- pink and blue

Sizes:  Adults- XS- 3XL,  Children- 4-12

Costs:  Adults- XS-XL- $20, 1-3XL $23, Children- $15

We can mail them to you- $2.50 per shirt

Here is the wording on the shirt- the lettering is different

Brother  Family  Grandma  Acceptance  Sister  Caring  Laughter  Hugs

Memories  Father  Faith  Mother  Dreams   Chosen Adoption  Love  Aunt

Joyful  Forgiveness  Grandpa  Kind  Uncle  Giving  Cousin  Hope  Patience

Yard Sale!

We are adding to our family- as many of you know- and here is the super snazzy flyer that Miss Sarah designed to help us advertise it!

Already we have TONS of donations and more just keep flooding in!  We are SO excited and SO blessed!

If anyone wants to come and help us- let me know!!  It's going to be a good time!

Catching Up

My apologies- life has gotten away from me!  We have been busy just living life- nothing super special or glamorous but we love it anyway!  Since you really only want to see the kids- here we go!

Teacher Appreciation Week Gift from Goddard!

Both kids had a stomach virus- Addie puked in the middle of the night, got it all in the toilet, and was fine in the morning.  Alden- not so much....  He was miserable for 24hrs.  Since Al was out of town, I got to take the day off and just spend time with him.  He did end up giving me his virus, but it was worth it to get to spend so much time with him!

Looking pretty pathetic....

And by 6pm, he was smiles!!

Our dear friends the W's came back!  They have lived in Chicago for the last long 8 mo and we were SO happy to have them back!  We celebrate the girls' birthdays together- they were all so sad to have missed each others birthdays but we made up for that!

Three beautiful birthday girls!!

Of course, we did routine things like grocery shopping- so much fun- and yet sad since they can't both fit in the car- it's too tight of a squeeze!

Addie loves that she can put her gymnastics to good use- scaling the basketball hoop!

Handstand on the balance beam!

Alden continues to be the cutest and most promising baseball player!!

I have conquered yeast!!  There is a super simple recipe but the kids LOVE these and eat them every day for lunch!

Picnic with friends!!

As you can see, our life is wonderfully full!

Monument 10K- Tradition!

This year, the Monument 10k, one of the largest 10k's on the East Coast, had weather that was simply perfect!  It's been cold- bitterly cold- rainy, or hot and steamy.  You never know what the weather will be like in April in Richmond!

Last year, Al didn't get to run in this race since he was needed to help on a job in DC- we did have fun in DC, but I digress.  So...  We were super excited to go back this year!

Al left earlier than the kids and I - we stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get Munchkins (what else says "Go Runners!" than sugared bread?), found parking (which is no small feat) and then made our way to our standard spot- mile marker One!

For those of you who don't know Richmond, at this spot, you can stand on the grassy median and cheer all the runners on.  The race loops around and then goes by on the other side of the median- mile marker Five!  From one spot you can literally watch the entire race!  And there are bands playing on either end the block.  Perfection!

Ready to cheer for Daddy!

How the race got it's name- only 1 of the many monuments!

Alden proudly displaying his sign- Addie didn't want to show hers...

Ready to cheer- sign, check- donuts- um, they were all gone, so that was just mean!

The front pack- these men were amazing!

And the main man we cheered for- looking strong!!

Mile 5- we have crossed the grassy median and are on the opposite side of the street.

Alden High-Fiveing Daddy

Adeline getting a High-Five

It was a great race- it was Al's 6th time to run and he did well!  In years past, he has run it with a friend or group of friends- and I hope that can happen again in the future.  If not- we still enjoyed spending all the time outside together and being a piece of Richmond history!