Mr. Independent

I don't think that this kid is ever going to skip school.

Our Monarch has Hatched

 Grandma and Moe gave Calan a Monarch caterpillar to take home.

He rode the entire two and a half hours with it on his lap.

 We've been finding caterpillars in our backyard for a couple of weeks now.

 Of course it came out of its chrysalis while Cit was at school.  He was able to see the wings before we left that morning.

 As soon as he got home we took the butterfly outside at let him go.

We've Lost our Minds

A couple of days ago we went to the hospital to bring home a baby.  Not our baby. Really one of the sweetest babies I've ever been around though. He eats well. He sleeps well. And he's a great trial run for the kids. Once Cora arrives they will all be experts. Camille loves to feed him his bottle. Case has been super sweet and loves to pet his head.  He went for his first visitation with his real mother today.  She is the first bio-parent that I've had the pleasure of meeting.  That was interesting. Especially because she told me not to get too attached to him. I wanted to tell her "Don't worry, I won't treat him like one of my own."  She also informed me that he likes a pacifier.  Once again... interesting that she is so knowledgeable about a baby I've had longer than she has.  He is 6 days old today and such a doll.

This is Codes feeding the three big kids cereal, while holding the baby, with the dog on his shoulder. You know, typical Dad stuff.

Look what Cit found

This cicada was hatching out in our backyard when Calan found it. We brought it inside and watched it hatch. the kids got to hold it before we let him go again.

O.M.G.C.C.

Calan started SCHOOL!

GCC opened their Early Learning Center & Cit will be apart of their 1st year.

We are so excited to know that he will be surrounded by staff and teachers that put Jesus first.

He already loves his teacher & keeps telling us that he is going to make 5 friends.

When I ask him what their names are he tells me, "kids."

He is super excited about nap time at school too.

Yesterday I finished getting all of his school supplies and he picked out lion scissors. 

Super cool.

Last night when we we were talking about dropping him off at school for his first day he told me he was going to cry. Then he made the most pathetic cry noises I've ever heard. 

He didn't cry.

He ran to the train table, put on a hard hat and took out a big bin of trucks.

This is going to be a pretty cool year.

The Bubble Gun

Thursday at the Lake

It was chilly but perfect.

We wore hoodies for the first time since last winter.

Kenny, Allison & Big Ron are the best ever.

They fed us too much food.

They let us be way too loud.

And they made as laugh way too much.

It was a perfect ending to the stressful feeling that court brought earlier that morning.

We didn't even get home until after midnight.

And we killed them at some euchre.

(Cody & I won by 1 point!)

Not a Cit-less Chair

We're back to our Fall traditions

Look what this goose has on his lips

Crackers.

 It seems like we save the Duck Park for cooler weather.

It's been cooler & I'm loving it.

We took a long walk tonight then ate dinner before going to feed the ducks Saltines.

Ducks & Geese love Saltines.

Before we arrived someone dumped a ton of cereal over the fence and the ducks & geese must have had their fill because they weren't eating much of our crackers.

 Daddy dished out the goods & the kids couldn't get enough.

 This was the first year that Case was able to feed them too.

 He also fed himself.  He's becoming such a daredevil. 

It's DONE.

This is what we did last night.

After court was finished. 

We went out on a pontoon. 

It was a long day. 

So many people wait for a day when the papers are signed and adoption can begin.

Our wait is over. 

Termination of Parental Rights.

Kinda sad.

Really happy.

For us.

Now in my free time I will be contacting a lawyer.

Filling out papers.

Cleaning the house.

Taking Calan to school.

Cooking. 

Trying to stay in contact with friends.

(I'm getting pretty crappy at that.)

Changing diapers.

Crafting.

Checking email.

Taking pictures.

Cutting 60 tiny little finger & toe nails.

Feeding pets.
Reading my bible.

Writing out bills.

Dealing with therapists. 

Answering my phone.

Waiting for a chrysalis in a jar to become a butterfly.

Making appointments.

Keeping appointments.

And then having a baby.

I am still going to be the best wife I can possibly be to my husband.

I'm going to try and be as patient to my children as I can.

And we will be adopting Camille. 

Forever she will be ours.

Her name will change. 

And she will be ours.

Forever.

A Monday

Or two ago we had our last evening riding horses.

My computer has had too little memory for me to be able to download pictures for a little while now. I just transfered and deleted over 7 thousand pics in the last day or two so it's time for some updates.

There is a Fall Session at Crooked Creek that begins in a week or two but I'm not sure if I will feel up to it after Cora gets here.

 The two big kids LOVED riding & Race Car still isn't too sure if he even likes horses.

 He does like s'mores.

 A LOT.

Ms. Peggy

 Tonight we went to Calan's open house for preschool. 

I think we are going to love Ms. Peggy as much as Calan already does.

 We all got to play in Calan's classroom for 2 hours. 

There was a great sand table, paints, markers, toys...

Before we left we were able to play a little on the playground. Somehow Calan removed his shirt and drenched a girl with water.

Songwriting

Gone horribly wrong.

Last Night

We celebrated Calan's third birthday at the big Chuck E Cheese.

Grandma & Moe sent Cit a gift card so that we could spend the evening eating pizza and playing games.  Three hours later we cashed in some of our tickets and everyone got some Smarties candy, a cheap toy and a full belly. We went home to video chat with Grandma & Moe then took a bath and read some of the books Kelly got Calan for his birthday. He went to bed last night with the dump truck that Kelly got him and NO Big P. Big P is now only for babies and he is going to give all of them to Cora.

THREE.