Busy Weekends

Well I survived....5 nine year old little boys...overnight....birthday party!
Yikes!! We had it all planned out....face painting, fort building, rubberband gun wars, tank constructing....ect...



I honestly think they had all that done in the first hour...

It was loud, it was crazy...they had a blast!! Tim and I only looked at eachother a few times and counted the hours until bedtime...but Zahc loved it and that was what counted!!

The next morning, the boys all left..worn out and sleepy eyed..but we were off to Turkey Run State park. Taylor had a band competition down in Indy and we decided to make a weekend trip out of it. I totally scored a room at the Inn on last minute notice and we spent the weekend out in nature.




It was a wonderful thing to have our family close together. It seems as if the second we came home, we had to hit the ground running with color guard, football and play practices....not to mention a busy 3 year old. We havent had time to connect as a family unit uninterrupted since we have been home!

















I have to say that honestly it didnt go as well as I had hoped. Taylor was upset over not making State, Sammy decided to throw multiple temper tantrums and finally had to be carried fast asleep for most of a hike (poor Tim) after being put in his carseat for a "time out". We had an incident where the kids went too far and scared the bejezzes out of Tim, Emily had even less stamina than ususal due to a cold and had to be carried for a large part of the trip....You get the idea.

However, that is our life...it is messy, chaotic and not perfect by any means. We still had a good time over all. We met up with great friends, we had beautiful weather, we learned some new things and saw some beautiful scenery. God blessed us with a family of 6 and life isnt always perfect, but it is our life and we are so grateful to have each other...perfect or not..

Pumpkins....again

We had a couple of unseasonally warm couple of days this week and a good friend asked if we would like to tag along at a pumpkin patch near by! The great family that owned the patch taught us about how pumpkins grew, the different type of pumkins and we got to go on a hay ride and pick one out! We had loads of fun...





Sammy and Clara


Then Sammy got to play in the leaves for the very first time...



He had quite a lot of fun playing with Em and Zach







We also went to our Halloween at the Zoo







Once Sammy figured out that he would get candy if he gave them his orange ticket he was all in!!

Tonight I am sitting here posting as I am waiting for 5 little 9 year old boys to finally drift off to sleep...We played hard and I am so proud of all the boys and their big hearts to include Sammy in everything they did tonight! He was thinking he was such a Big boy! We had 2 birthday parties this week. A princess party and a military party...he had a ball at both!

Blessings
Amy

Announcements

Right before we left for China I started looking around for adoption announcements to send out when we got home. Sadly there just arent alot that really interested me. Lots and lots of baby announcements, even some baby adoption announcements...but very very few older adoption announcements and I couldnt find any with the asian reference I was looking for. I kept coming back to This site that I liked her announcements that she had done and figured that it couldn't hurt to ask if she did any custom announcements... and see if I could afford it :-)

Sharon answered me very quickly and agreed to show me a couple of ideas that she had for an asian toddler boy announcement! I was SO excited and couldnt wait to see them! She had them ready for me to see the next day and I fell in love with this:





Of course they didnt have the pictures of us in them then, but they turned out better than I even had imagined! She blogged about it here

I am so thrilled with them, the design, the paper with linen finish, the quick turnaround both with the design and the shipping and the great great customer service!

She did an incredible job!! Thank you Sharon! If any of you PAP's are looking for great chinese adoption announcements..you now know where to go!!

Blessings
Amy

Darth.....Sammy????

This is what our son does for fun....
He found Zachs old Darth Vader Mask...and proceded to chase every one all around the house being "scary".... Ya know, we would have thought it would have scared him...Not so much!! Blessings Amy

Snuggle bugs

I just love this picture....the boys are becoming so attached to one another! For the last 2 nights, Zach has wanted to sleep with Sammy (in Sammys TWIN bed!!) I can hear them up there chatting away sometimes, but isnt that what brothers are supposed to do?? I mean besides, wrestling, jumping, and all that other boy stuff???

We are in the process of planning Zachs birthday party and he switched at the last minute from a party at the laser tag place to a slumber party military style ;-) So I was making out the invitations and Zach said "Mom, I am not gonna have 6 kids at my slumber party, I am gonna have 7" I am like...Uhhh...no, we decided on 5 friends so 6 total...party favors are bought ect..." So my little guy totally surprised me and said "No mom!!! I meant cause Sammy is gonna be at my party too!! Wow...what a sweet heart! Of course I shouldnt mention that he told me to PLEASE find a friend for Emily to go spend the night with hahahaha!!!

Blessings

Amy

Pumpkin Patch...

Our local annual favorite fall place closed this past year and so we had to hunt up a new place to go pumpkin pickin...



This one had a train...that scored big points with the kiddos...




Had trails to explore...




and pumpkins to find...


and to pose with....


Sammy found a seat...


and Zach lifted some weight...


There were stories to read...


and pictures to take..

Overall we had a great time...even though it wasnt exactly the same as what we have always done in the past, it was fun!!

And can I just say that I am totally excited that my middle schooler still likes to dress like her Mama??? Does that mean I am not totally out of date...Yet???



Blessings

Amy

Wow, its been almost a week!!

Sorry for the delay in posting!

I seem to have no concept of time lately...we have been busy as ususal and our littlest munchkin accidentally broke my card reader = no pictures able to upload!

We have been busy with our usual busy lifestyle, but have had some fun stuff thrown in between...


red couch pictures at home




Making special halloween treats...




Sammy and I went to a very close nature area with some hiking trails...he wasnt so sure about the whole "hiking" thing...at first it was a "Mommy carry me while I whimper and shake my head no" thing...

But leaf finding was fun


He didnt care for the caterpillar

Look at the water Mama

Throwing leaves from the bridge

Getting braver!!



By the time it was time to go, he was having a good time....we will make a nature lover out of him yet!! This weekend apple picking and hopefully a pumpkin patch is on the agenda if the weather holds out!!

Sammy is also becoming quite a velcro baby per say. He LOVES his Mama...and his Emmy...everyone else are ok in a pinch, but he is NOT gonna be happy about it! He is really prefering me over Tim as well and that is difficult to say the least. Right now I am still going out alone when I need to go out alone (or take a shower for that matter) and he stays home with Daddy...He doesnt like it...but isnt hysterical about it either! Just doesnt make it pleasant when Mommy is the ONLY one he wants to feed him, dress him, change his diaper...you get the picture. I dont want to complain, but I am really praying that this stage ends soon and he starts attaching to Daddy more! He is still social, did great during a visit to my work today...but just wants Mama if Mama is anywhere near! Any advice??

Other than that, my biggest complaint is the amount of laundry that seems to have tripled each week! It is getting colder which means dinner gets easier since it is time to break out the crockpot! I have come to the realization that my todo list isnt gonna get done anytime soon! We have been home a month now and I am just finishing my adoption announcements! Thank you cards, cleaning projects, filing, putting pictures in albums....all will get done eventurally! My wise sister reminded me tonight that although I have been a mommy for a long time, I have never been a mommy of 4 and have never become a mommy of an adopted toddler before so I need to cut myself a break! Thanks Ellen!! I needed the reminder and I needed to hear that it was OK if my housework or laundry pile up...not to mention my to do list!

Blessings
Amy