In Over Her Head!!

Lizzie is one of the most courageous, hard headed and determined little souls I think I have ever known. She has overcome such obstacles in her short little life and does so with a strength that just doesn't seem possible for one so tiny! Her latest challenge was going under at the pool. She has watched her big brothers and her sister at the pool and decided that it was about time that she learned how to go under - on purpose! One afternoon, Lizzie's biggest brother decided that he was going to help his littlest sister with that goal and sure enough, he had her going under, jumping in and swimming under water in less than 2 hours, as Daddy and Mommie watched (and cheered) from the rocking chairs!! Gotta love big brothers!!!! Here is a little video (not from that day, unfortunately - the one day that I forgot my camera) from the 4th when she was showing her grandparents what she had learned!!! "Watch this" is the phrase of the day around here now!!!

Lizzie's First "Mommie" Haircut and Chocolate Cake

No, the two are not realted but Lizzie did get her first at home haircut and we did make a chocolate cake!! Lizzie's hair looks much less mullet-like and the chocolate cake looks well.... let's just say that it is hard to satisfy 5 kids with only one cake!!!

First, the haircut!


Very cute!!


This was a huge deal for me because when we got Lizzie, she was sporting her orphanage buzz cut - freshly done I might add!! I waited a long time for her beautiful hair to grow. To cut any of it off, was almost painful for me. I have to say, howwever, that she looks SO adorable with her little pixie cut!!! Lizzie, on the other hand, could have cared less!!!


Now the cake!!


Let us at it!!!!


Now for the decorations!


The compromise!!!


YUM!!!


How did this happen???


Who cares!! It was GOOD!!!!

Photo Fun!!

Ok, so yesterday I decided to try out some of the settings on my very portable but not very, um, high tech camera. It was so much fun and the kids actualy cooperated!! Imagine that! They have gotten to the point of running in the opposite direction when Mom comes anywhere near them with the camera!! I can't really blame them, I have gotten kind of obnoxious lately. Just wait til I (hopefully) get my new camera!!! Hehehehehe!!!!!

Food Setting (loved this one)! BTW, Carla nailed it, we are "somehwere in the South" and they were boiled peanuts and yep they were YUM!!!



Flower Setting! This one was great too and my Mom's beautiful yard proved the perfect backdrop!! Too bad I didn't inherit her green thumb! Her house is like a plant/flower spa! Mine is more of the plant/flower horror house!!


Splash Setting - Not impressed!!!


Portrait Setting - Beautiful!!!


Pet Setting - Who knew???


Sunset Setting - Very Cool!!!

Happy 4th of July!!

It was a fun day spent at JuJu and Gada's! Lots of swimming, good food, family and fireworks!!

Crazy Kids!!!

Can you tell where we are from????

Pretty Girls





And the Fireworks!!




It was a great day! Thank you to all those you risk their lives to preserve our beautiful country and freedom!!!!

E. Beach

Took a little weekend trip to our "family" Beach!!! This beach is where I spent my summers growing up. While we don't get there as much as I would like, we go when we can and de-stress (as much as we can with 5 kids and 4 dog in tow) and reconnect!!! It is a wonderful place to be!!!

New (kind of) clothes

I have a wonderful friend who regularly gives me bags full of clothes that her adorable daughter out grows. YES!!!! She is a huge bargain shopper and gets many of her clothes from Good Will. Talk about hand-me-downs!!! Over the years, she has given me some really beautiful things - from Good Will!!! Well, she recently gave us a box full of stuff for the girls and we had a great time going through them and trying some on!! You cannot tell me that boys and girls are not biologically different! I have tried my best not to make our girls into girly girls (although I think I was one), but put a box of new (kind of) clothes in front of them and watch them go WILD!!!! Our boys would have dumped out the clothes and used the box to slide down the stairs in, but could have cared less about some new (kind of) clothes!!! I had to take a couple of pics of Lizzie trying out the cutest hat and a rain poncho of all things and a dress that I found at Target for a mere $2!! I love a good deal too!!! She was really enjoying herself and that makes me smile!! My littlest angel was actually able to fit into a size 4 shirt!!! My guess is that it had been washed and dried about a million times, but hey, it was a size 4!!!

The Poncho



My Bargain!!




Lizzie can also open just about any piece of candy (her fav thing) that you give her. So far, her so called "special need" has been such a non-issue! I wish more people would understand how special, indeed, these beautiful children who wait far too long for a family are!!!

The Dog Wash

So Kendal (our foster dog) had gotten to the point of dropping huge clumps of hair and trailing a cloud of less than perfume quality air behind him!!! Time for a bath! Not only did Kendal get a bath but so did all our other furry (very furry) children. My vaccum cleaner is thanking me today!! Only Memow the cat escaped the dreaded B word today!! Even the kids ended up WET!! They hated that - yeah right!!!

Poor Tazzie



Take Cover!!



The Shake!!



Kendal's Turn!



Revenge!!!



All Done!!



The Wet Ones!!!