You Know It's Summer When...

...your kids look like this.

Well, at least my kids do.  When my boys were young, we made the yearly trek to see the doctor for poison ivy on their faces.  With Eva and Joy, it is no different.  They are out in the woods having a grand time like the brothers before them.  After all, it is summer!  And what kid doesn't want to build their own hideout?

Behind a tree covered in poison ivy?  No problem.  Just chop it off with you handy dandy machete.  Then it's all gone and no more worries.

Needless to say, Eva and Joy learned their lesson, as well as the phrase, "If it's three, leave it be."

This morning, I walked outside to behold this beautiful masterpiece.  I was amazed at the details these spiders took at constructing their own pagoda-like mansions.

Each little dome, held a single, tiny spider.  As much as I hated to see half of my bush destroyed, I couldn't bring myself to tear down the mansions.

Celebrate!

Today is her day.  Her last single-digit birthday.

She has blossomed so much from those first days in China so many years ago.

Afraid and frail.

But, no more.  She is happy to be loved.

And happy to celebrate.

With her family.

And, I celebrated being mom to Jordan, Seth, Jack, Ivy, Eva, and Joy.  I am so thankful for my children and an amazing husband.

(Flowers, purse, necklace, salt & pepper shakers, fun time)

I hope all you Mothers out there have had a wonderful day!

I Got One and 21

And, I love it.  We grew up with one that used all the time.  

And, as usual, we kids would forget to bring in the clothes off the line.  And if it frosted that night...well, our clothes were just frozen.  Not fun.  

Mike doesn't let me hang his clothes on the line. And, I won't hang out our underwear, just so you know.  I might hang out Jack's though.

Seth turned 21 years old.  We took him out for some good BBQ and had a great time with the family.  I'm so thankful for my big ol' family.

Ahhh...Spring

I'm glad it is spring time here in Virginia.  Our "winter" doesn't really hit us until late January, February, or even March.  And when it does...it is beautiful.  And this year it was a lot.  

There is just something about going down a snow-covered slide...

Usually, we get snow, it warms up to the 40's, and it is gone the next day.  That wasn't the case this year.  It hung around a long time.  Parking lots had piles of snow for a couple of weeks.  Then it snowed again.  And again.

It stayed cold long enough to make tunnels, sled, and burst a water pipe in our house.

Moxie LOVED chasing the girls when they went sledding.  The girls, on the other hand, weren't too thrilled with her interventions.

As much fun as they had, they enjoyed riding their bikes and scooters today... wearing shorts...in 70 degree temperatures.  Good-bye Winter, hello Spring!

Warmth

When I was very young, our family lived in an apartment in the suburbs of a large city.  At age 10, we moved to the very mountainous area of West Virginia.  We had no air conditioning (except my parents' bedroom).  The only heat, came from a large wood-burning stove or fireplaces.  I always loved the smell of the early morning fire mom or dad would start before all of us got out of bed.  Seth and Tia heat their home with just a wood-burning stove.  So, it is no surprise, they come over often to gather up some wood.

Saturday was a beautiful day for it.

We have quite a few trees to spare. 

 Learning how to swing that ax

Guys love their tools.

Mike finally replaced the truck that Seth totaled in 2012 when the drunk driver hit him.

Me and my girls (minus 1 girl).  Why does Ivy look so tall? 

I didn't swing an ax, or load wood.  I just fed the crew.  

It's Been A While

Life has been happening.  I rarely get the camera out because I am just busy with the family.  But I did pull some pictures off the camera from Christmas.  Nothing too exciting.

                        Before Eva's concert.

I'm still in awe at times that this girl, Eva, is my daughter.  She started our adoption journey and she is am amazing girl.  Every now and then I look at her (Ivy and Joy, too) and think, "Wow.  I'm her mom."  I don't really think about the fact that she is Chinese and I am not.  But, sometimes this whole adoption journey is overwhelming when I consider my life 20 years ago and compare it to now.  It has been an amazing journey, traveling on the other side of the globe to bring our daughters home.

Ivy and my mom

The girls finally got a checkers game for Christmas (thanks Grandma).  My mom loves to play them.  I am not a checkers or chess player.  I'm glad they have each other to play with.

Joy got new roller blades for Christmas.  And, I just found out that she won't use them because she likes them too much and doesn't want them to get dirty.  That makes no sense to me.  Apparently, she has been doing the same thing with the new socks and underwear I bought her.  She continues wearing the ones with holes in them because she likes the new ones too much to dirty them.  Does anyone else's kids do this?  Sheesh.

Jack with bedhead

Mike and I went out on a limb and bought Jack a zippered hoodie from EB.  Jack has not had a coat/jacket since he was 8.  He has refused to wear one, preferring only pullover hoodies.  When he was about 8, he would just put on 2-3 sweatshirts when he went outside to play in the winter.  He hasn't changed.  He still refuses to wear a coat.  Boys.

Tia, Seth, and Joy

I cannot imagine being bald in the winter time.  But, I guess Seth doesn't mind it.  It usually doesn't get too cold here in Virginia.  It stays in the 30-40 degree range.  This week it was 60 degrees for a few days.  Very pleasant.

I'm hoping to finally get some wedding pictures soon.  Well, as soon as Jordan sends them....