It's not ALL about the adoption (it just feels like it)....

While it may seem that our whole life revolves around the adoption - since that is what I talk about the most on this blog - that is thankfully far from the truth.  The waiting is hard enough when we are this busy.  So, because I have been negligent in updating my blog on a regular basis we will do a quick catch up.  

Jonathan got to attend camp this summer.  He has wanted to go for a couple of years but circumstances (many of his own choosing) kept him from going.  This year though he was determined and old enough to attend the camp put on by the local children's hospital specifically for special needs kids.  The whole place is wheelchair accessible and the staff:camper ratio is at most 2:1.  It is really an incredible place and Jonathan had a great week - so much so that he cried from the minute we showed up to bring him home until an hour after we had arrived home - that is over 2 hours of tears!  Needless to say, he is planning on returning next year and would really like to stay for 2 weeks.  I'm not sure this momma could handle that!

 

Joseph made a big decision at his session of church camp this year - he accepted Jesus as his savior!  Thankfully he was smart enough to save his baptism for a time when Mom and Dad could witness it since we were out of town at the end of camp.  It's has been really fun to see his excitement and to see him growing in his faith (and apparently in stature as well - look how tall he is getting!!)
 

It wouldn't be summer at our house without a healthy dose of 4-H.  While Eric still dreads it, the rest of us enjoy every moment of fair week (except the oppressive heat) and they have so much fun seeing their placings that it is worth all the fights, sleepless nights, and tears that go in to finishing the projects.  Charity and her cousin are in the same grade and so they model their sewing projects together.  It was sweet to see that even though they were each others' competition, they were still willing to pitch in and help with all the little adjustments that need to be made as you wait for the judging.  And lets face it - they are both stinkin' adorable!  (In case you were wondering, the girls made their shorts/skirt.)

Michael and Charity also showed pigs this year.  We are taking a breather from that project next year so this year was extra important to them.

Joseph had a great 4-H year - receiving champion for his woodworking and foods projects.  Of course that meant we had to re-bake his muffins for the State Fair but we were super proud of him.  Both of those projects are very competitive so it is quite a testament to his (and my brother - the woodworking coach) hard work.  He thinks animals are too much work (smart boy) so he spent way too much of the week like this:

The three older kids enjoyed the watermelon eating contest.  Notice Charity on the end cheating by using her hands and not caring who sees her.

In the end, Joseph came the closest to winning but still fell short of a perfectly clean rind. 

 I couldn't resist the yummy watermelon so I conned my cousin's wife and her sister into going out to compete in a lady-like fashion.  I have to say - it was delicious!

Jonathan ran into one of his buddies from camp one day.  They spent several minutes catching up and playing ball. 

The bottom line for fair week:  It's a lot of hard work,

 

 tiring, 

and downright fun!  (These are from the battle of the 4-Hers - basically an excuse to get wet and dirty!)

 

All too soon, summer was over and it was time for the first day of school.

Jonathan is in 3rd grade.

  

Joseph and Charity are in 5th grade and at the middle school with Michael who is in 6th grade.

We have had a busy fall with two football players and a "futbol" player.  Luckily Joseph and Michael are on the same team and Eric is assistant coach for Charity's soccer team so it keeps our running to a minimum. 

Michael plays center and nose guard.

Joseph plays running back and defensive end.

Soccer pics will be coming soon - I just haven't made it to a game with my camera yet.  (You can bet little miss has given me grief about that one!)

Just in case you think we haven't had any adoption work going on - so not true!

First things first - get the American Girl dolls that I received from my cousin shipped off to the Doll hospital for a makeover.

Before (this picture cracks me up.  I call it "Babies in a Box"! )

After - they are SO cute!

 Next, take black bunk beds and make them white....

Then turn this room:

into this:

And the final step on this side of the pond is - packing! I managed to fit all of the girls' stuff into one suitcase so then Michael, Eric and I will have two checked bags to put ours in.  I had to guess on sizes, not knowing how much they have grown in the past 4 months.  Thank goodness dresses and leggings are forgiving! 

 

 

 Now we just wait to hear when we will be traveling.  We hope to know by the end of the week since we had court on the 14th of this month.  We are anticipating late October or so but honestly it could be earlier or later - we just don't know.  

 

So, there we are.  All caught up.  I'll try to be better about updating once I am home with 3 little girls.  I'm kind of living it up in my last few weeks of relative freedom and trying to get all the things done that are made more difficult with preschoolers in tow - such as going to the hairdresser, dentist, trips to Cost.co, volunteering in the kids' classrooms, going to the gym, afternoon naps, catching up on Net.flix - you know, all the important stuff.