not been up to much...

...just doin' summer-y things. :o) this summer, we've gone swimming A LOT. everyone is super tan, especially shiloh, who never seems to burn! we've been camping, to a water park, to kentucky, on hikes, done tons of coloring and painting, and let's not forget the old' faithful, McDonald's playland, for those rainy days. :o)

we've enjoyed the summer off from accepting new placements, but are now back to taking in more. we've added our name back to "the list" and listed our vacancies, and we'll see what happens! i wouldn't expect any calls until the beginning of the month, though. still praying for that special child(ren) to come up for adoption, though. we've let all the social workers that we know aware that we're looking to adopt, and we're just waiting for God's timing. while we have no problems at all with international adoption, we just feel wrong every time we look into it. nevermind the financial issue -- if God's will was for us to adopt internationally, he would make a way -- it's just that every time we try to forge ahead with a "plan" to seek out adoption, we feel God gently pushing us back, telling us to wait. but waiting is so hard!! ah, well. He knows best. in the meantime, we'll just keep doing what He's called us to, and take in children as they come, helping them get back to their families. we're getting pretty good at it by now, i think! and i think shiloh is starting to understand it better, although she definitely longs for a permanent sibling. *sigh*...

anyhoo, that's that. here's some pictures taken over the last couple of weeks. our other kids, tyler and rachel, aren't in these b/c we can't post pictures of them publicly while they're still in state custody. rachel is gearing up to go home within the next few weeks, and we're still not sure how long tyler will be with us. his case keeps dragging on...

first of all, here's shiloh at an impromptu photo shoot i did with the kids at a local park. they all looked so cute one day, that i couldn't pass it up! shiloh wouldn't stop laughing, though!



shiloh and i on the back deck. i was taking some pictures of tyler's new haircut, and of course, shiloh couldn't be left out. she wanted to take a picture of us both:





okay, not sure if you'll be able to see them or not, but there are two teeny tiny frogs in there. at the beginning of the summer, we left for the weekend and came home to about three hundred tadpoles that had hatched in our pool. we kept some and watched them turn into frogs. they've got an actual mini terrarium-type thing now, but this was our makeshift one until we got to the store. they literally sprouted legs overnight! the picture is sort of sideways and it's blurry -- sorry! there's one stuck on the right side, near the top and a little green one sitting on that big rock in the middle. they're still only about a half inch long! the kids had a good time going out back and finding rocks for them. :o)





rachel and lump. just thought this was funny. i can post it b/c rachel's face isn't showing. the reason i took a picture is b/c , as spastic as lump is, he actually let her cover him up with a blanket! i took three or four pictures before he moved. he must have been really tired or something... (notice the baby is walking in shiloh's dress-up high-heels. diva in the making...)


...wonder where she gets it? :o) here's shiloh dressed up in snow white the other day. she had to dress up her dog. that dog is actually my dog that my mom got me from Build-A-Bear. when rick and i got married, we had a beagle named Penny Lane, so mom got me this, and I loved it. I soon discovered Mom's odd sense of humor, though, when I pressed its paw, expected a beagle bay, and heard a cow moo instead! she thought it was hilarious! weird.... ;o)

this is our current beagle, Ruby, in "her" spot in front of the window. she likes it b/c the afternoon sun comes in and makes that spot all nice and warm. :o)

all righty, that's it for now. the kids are chasing each other around downstairs with a giant orange bouncy ball, our licensing worker just left after a home visit, the baby just woke up, the dogs need to go out, and i need to leave to pick rick up from work! gotta get! :o)

Summer Pictures

okay, after that downer of a post last time, i thought i'd do something more happy and post somes pictures. i know it's been forever since i have, but things have been a little crazy, as always.

b/c it's been so hot and rainy this summer, we've done a lot of indoor crafts and playing in the pool. this first one is of a painting we did with everyone's handprints all over it. it turned out really well, although i don't have a picture of the finished product. sorry. :o(



next, we took a TON of toys out of the girls' room. they weren't playing with half of them and their room was always a mess. so, we decided to start a rotation so all of the toys get played with and there aren't so many in the house. now, our garage on the other hand.....

this is shiloh helping to make biscuits and gravy one morning. we have this a lot. it doesn't take long and it's sooooo good!

another craft. they spent hoooours working on these. i just gave them some sparkly pipe cleaners and a value pack of costume beads. it kept them busy literally all day and they still play with the things they made.

(they were still in their pajamas when i took these, obviously. shiloh's been on a thing lately where she wants to wear our shirts all the time.)


after pool time, waiting for me to come help her get dressed. demon child, anyone...? she sure looks creepy in this picture...

outside again, another day when the weather wasn't actually too bad.


she was trying to come up with a silly face to make, but it wasn't working out....


...then she found one. :)

she's so pretty.

helping rick dish out leftover cheese enchiladas. she really loves to help in the kitchen.


i'm not sure if you can see him, but there's a small frog on that tarp. we found him when we were uncovering the pool one day. we named him jeremiah.

and then moved him to a safer location.

then, when i sat down at the table to crochet while the girls played, i found another one! we named her lilly. i'm not sure how we knew she was a girl, but we knew. she stayed right there the whole time i was outside, like 2 feet from my face. funny.

what we didn't realize at the time, though, was that the frogs were spreading the word that our house was the place to hang out, and, apparently, to lay your eggs. about two days later (and after seeing a TON more frogs on our back deck), hundreds of tadpoles hatched in our pool. we had to clean it out, obviously, but it was craziness.

shiloh and lara, playing in the clown car...


mamaw, when it was still possible for her to come and sit with us...

so, rick shaved his head. and here are a couple of pictures. i'm not sure if there's really any more i can say about this.


shiloh being sweet, wading at the edge of her pool.


on another pool day, snacking outside.


this is phoebe, the stray we found a few weeks ago. she was pregnant and we took her to the humane society, where she was adopted. yay. :)


lump apparently didn't want his picture taken. he doens't look too pleased.
phoebe again. geez, she was so precious...
and here's dallas! he sure is getting gray, isn't he? he's almost 10, so i guess it's about time. he's actually lost some weight, although he could still stand to lose a few pounds. but, couldn't we all...? ;)

my friend, erin's, cake she made for her daughter's birthday. it was the Veggie Tales' "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." i thought it turned out so well!

something random to keep the girls' entertained. and it did for an hour or so. i cut out the middle of a paper plate and used a hole punch to punch holes all around the outside. i gave them some of my yarn and let them make whatever design they wanted and then decorate it afterwards. i think they mostly just liked getting to use "mommy's yarn," since they see me use it all the time. they still play with these, too, which i really like to see.


just hanging out, playing with shiloh's leapster.

shiloh at the park.
shiloh and lara, giving me scary smiles.
we stayed for awhile and found a big field area and had a snack picnic under a tree. i brough some embroidering stuff to work on, i let them pack a bag of toys, and we stayed there for almost three hours that day! it was awesome!

shiloh decided to wrap herself up in her blanket, it was so cute.



i though these were so funny. she just took off in the middle of the field, wearing her blanket.
still walking...

yeah, i'm not sure what this is about, but i had to take a picture. that poor panda didn't stand a chance...

showing me how she really feels...

and, lastly, these are pictures of a dress i made for her the other day. it didn't take long at all and it turned out MUCH better than i expected. she needed some church dresses, and i couldn't find a pattern i liked, so i just traced different parts of one that i knew fit her. i wasn't sure it would work out, but i think it did!



shiloh's only requirement was that it could "spin like a princess." she throws a major fit any time i try to put her in a dress that comes at or above her knees. it HAS to spin. :)


she was spinning and ran into the camera. hah.

pondering a leaf...


posing. i actually didn't ask her to do this, she just couldn't sit still. we were getting ready to go inside, and she plopped down and said "take my picture, please!!!" so, i did. :)

my two favorites of the ones i took:


i hadn't intended for that to be a photo shoot, but she was just being so cute, i couldn't help it!

anyhoo, that's it for pictures for now. off to bed. :)