Brother & the boys visit, Meemaw's birthday, and cornrows!

Mike & the boys came down for a visit. We had a blast and a very busy time. I made a montage of our time together b/c it would have taken forever to try and upload all the pics. So here is an almost 10-minute glimpse of our time together.

The Cousins Make a Trip Down South!

We also celebrated my mom's birthday this past Monday. It was a nice time together to celebrate such a wonderfully strong, dedicated, loving Bride of Christ who is my mom!! She is truly amazing and has been such a rock in our family.

I also tried to learn and attempt cornrows on Clara's hair. Okay....don't laugh but I actually tried it on my mannequin head first and then Clara. I watched the video on YouTube by a member of a Yahoo group I am a part of adoptionhair_skincare. Her YouTube ID was katelynylyn and if you cannot find it that way you can just search cornrows on YouTube. I then re-did 3 of the top ones today and feel I did a better job. The last 2 pics in the orange shirt are with the new rows. They get fuzzy fast as her hair is still differing lengths and it is tough to get them all in there and smooth. For a girl who did not know how to braid and does nothing more with my hair than a pony tail or headband....I feel like I am coming along nicely. I still love using Blended Beauty products the best! I have gotten Taliah Waajid bodifying spray and Lock It up. I think I like the Mango & Lime Lock gel better.

This was the first attempt and before I added box braids in the back. I know they are not beautiful by any means but Clara makes any hairdo beautiful. I was thrilled I had them somewhat tight to her scalp.

Okay, this pic does not show her hair well but I love this pic of her despite Christian's butt being in the pic....=D LOL

Here is the second re-do attempt at the 3 middle cornrows. I was pleased with the middle one.

From a distance you cannot tell that all of them are not that perfect....;)

I am sorry I tried to cram so much into one post. I know I am bad about that. I just got behind in blogging and felt overwhelmed with getting it done. I also wanted you to see ALL my pics and made the montage b/c loading pics on Blogger is NOT fun!! I agree with Candy that they need to work on a better method.

That's it for now!

Easter....sorry so late!!

We had a fabulous Easter!! Here is it in pics..... I got behind in posting and had not put up Easter info. We spent a lazy day before heading out to Meemaw & Pawpaw's for Easter. Here ya go!

Every Easter the kids get baskets from Meemaw and Pawpaw. Meemaw was so excited about finding a HUGE Lammie for Clara. As a lot of you may know Clara LOVES her Lammie that Clara found at Meemaw's one time playing in the toys there. It then came home with us and is with us most of the time. Well here are some shots of the boys looking through their loot and Clara with her HUGE Lammie!

Here is some of our dinner.

We then colored some Easter eggs old-school style. I slacked on my job of being prepared and just happened to have food/egg dye in the cubbard. The red was missing though b/c the whole reason I had it was for red velvet cupcakes. It was still fun. We used a crayon and wrote on the eggs. Clara pretty much did not want much to do with it. She did try though and seemed to crack most of what she did.....it was still fun anyway! Morgan was with us (my cousin) and Jerry too.

Then I attempted getting some Easter pics....very unsuccessfully. Can you tell that someone was NOT in the mood. =)

And the hunt is ON!! ( A LOT of my pics turned out blurry...kinda bummed about that and did not post a lot)

Also most of you are aware how much my "princess" loves to play in the dirt....=) Here is a great shot of her snot, dirt, and all.....How can you not LOVE that face!!!As per my last post Aunt Candy has been working and striving hard to get Clara to warm up to her.....well her moment happened towards the end of the night and Clara hung out with her quite happily for a few minutes!! Candy was ecstatic. By looking at these photos you can tell where Clara's favorite spot is....

As an update since it has been a while since the last post...Friday Matt and Candy came over to pick up some cupcakes I made for her mom's (Margene's) Coast Guard Auxillary party. Candy almost had a stroke when Clara came to her with arms wide open...wish I had the camera at that moment. I am also posting a pic of the cupcakes I made for Margene. I was very pleased with them and the pic does not show how neat they really were. They were Key Lime Pie cupcakes and "Junior Mint" cupcakes as requested. =) Mmm, Mmm, good!!

My Daddy's 58th Birthday!

Yesterday we celebrated my Dad's 58th birthday. We invited of course Mom and Dad, Matt & Candy, and GG (my dad's mom) and my uncle Jerry over for a cookout. Candy & Matt brought guacamole...(mmmm, mmmm Candy makes some good stuff), veggie tray, & Candy made a cheese ball. It was her first attempt at a cheeseball and I would say quite a successful one at that. I have always wanted to make one of those but just have not made time to do one. We cooked out steaks with potatoes and Meemaw's green bean casserole with salad. We topped it off with cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.

We talked and played around in the front yard first. Clara has been very slow to share her love with everyone other than Mom, Dad, Christian, and Cullen. To be honest, she has just now started sharing kisses and hugs with us, but the flood gates have opened and she is more than willing to share on most occasions (unless you beg). Well, she is slowly warming up to share with other people too. Yesterday, Clara warmed Uncle Mattie's heart by sharing a good long hug with him. She just cuddled up with him and enjoyed it. By the look on Matt's face he was even more pleased than Clara. Candy is still trying to worm her way in there....it is so funny to watch. The harder Candy tries the farther Clara goes in the opposite direction. Don't worry Candy...it will come!! She is the clingiest so far out of our 3 kiddoes. I have to admit....I like it!! I love that she just wants to share her love with us but when I see others working so hard to get her to cuddle in and share kisses with them....I wish she would share more with them too. I know how it feels to want your nieces and nephews to gush all over you!! =) She is opening up though and it is happening more and more with others. Here are some shots of our hanging out in the yard and then the wonderful cuddly moment Clara shared with Matt.

Mom and dad were sharing a story of how a roofer had accepted Christ at their house! How exciting is that!! God is just AWESOME!!

We have the best PawPaw ever!! You can see the joy his grandkids give him and that is a treasure for me! My dad is a wonderful man and I never thought I could do as good as him for a father for my children. God is Great and truly blessed me with Clay. Clay and Dad are very good if not best friends (along with Uncle Mattie) and hang out regularly together on the golf course. My dad is a very mellow, laid back man and enjoys his time with family. The love for a daughter's father is just unexplainable!! I love my Daddy!! Isn't this the best picture!!! You just gotta love that face....."Hmmm..what can I get into next??"

We then went to the backyard to talk and play some more while Clay cooked some steaks up!!! Yummy!!!

We ate dinner and enjoyed the company very much. We ended the evening with Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. It was delicious!

There is nothing like having your dining room purpose as the schoolroom too. We are blessed with the home we have and we do love it but man it has been shrinking lately!! We have been looking at larger homes that might inclue more space/land, pond, etc. but with no luck so far. We will just keep looking and pray the economy holds in there too. So all the lovely school material you see is our lovely "formal" dining room. =D At least we can enjoy family time while learning the Fruits of the Spirit, Presidents, digestion tract, respiratory tract, bones, cardiovascular system, maps, and white board work we have been doing.....LOL But it works!!

I am going to steal a couple of pics from Candy when she gets some posted. She got a really good one of Jerry and Clara. I am sure she got a few from today at Brennan's birthday party. The kids were invited and it was at Pump It Up. Brennan is Candy's nephew. He was turning 5! I am ready to see them. I will share more when I can.

Happy Birthday PawPaw!! I hope you enjoyed your day! See ya tomorrow for Easter!

KK's 8th Birthday Party

Here is a montage of KK's birthday party from Saturday night. It was a Karaoke and Kandy Bar party. It was a great idea and it was so obvious that everyone had a fantastic time!! I got the honor of making her cupcakes.....Oreo with chocolate buttercream!! Enjoy!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mourning a loss and Celebrating a Birthday

Yesterday was Mamie's funeral. It was a beautiful, simple service that I know Mamie just loved. The family gathered early and was greeted by the many people Mamie touched throughout her lifetime. We then had the service and it was followed by a wonderful lunch the church put on. The church was wonderfully kind and their love for this family showed through their hard work and wonderful food. Although Mamie is happy, healthy, and has the best seat in the house, it is difficult to think of the family missing her wonderful smile, positive attitude and love for the Lord and life itself!! We will miss her dearly. I ask that you continue to pray for her husband, Pierce (Jampaw), and her 4 adult children who mourn the loss of their spouse of 62 years and wonderfully dedicated mother.

Yesterday was also a day to celebrate. Katelyn turned 8 years old!! We had the honor of watching her school play last evening. I think it was one of the most entertaining school plays I had seen.

Here is a shot of Dalton, Donna's son. He lives in our neighborhood and has a wonderful mother!! =D I was hoping to get a good smile....but he hung in there and just cracked a few.

The kids really enjoyed the play. I think this was the first thing Clara has ever sat quiet and still completely through in its entirety.

At the end of the play KK came out to all of us. Clara just thought it was the strangest, neatest, weirdest, funniest thing ever. I was wondering if she ever caught on that it was KK dressed up like a mouse. She would just laugh at her but in a very unsure laugh. Here is a little clip of her (look up at the top right to see clips of Clara laughing and also KK in actin!!.... We also caught a few good shots of her walking around with her dress up....She has figured out that clothes are just that...clothes and not part of everyone's body. She tries to lift up shirts and anything else on people and has also been lifting up her own shirts and dresses.

Stay tuned as Katelyn (KK) is having a GREAT birthday party tomorrow night. It is a karaoke and candy bar party. I have the honor of making her birthday cupcakes!! We cannot wait!! Pictures to come!!