Disney Cruise Part 1!

This will definitely be multiple posts. We had so much fun on the cruise and if the kids, Poppy, and I had our ways we'd be back on another yesterday. :D 

Kevin was kind enough to give us an early shuttle to the airport. All he charged with a hug! 

The kids were sent the cutest backpacks from our Disney travel agent. Perfect for snacks and Big Baby.

Ross provided an airplane selfie. This was Avery's first time flying and she did great! 

There were zero flight issues and we landed right on time. 

Then we had the shuttle... Hot. Mess. We were stuck in traffic forever to get to our hotel. The air didn't work either. It was just a Debbie Downer. 

Fast forward to the next day. We washed the funk of our shuttle off and woke up to being picked up by a Mercedes limo van for just us. It was truly the best! The air worked. We had chilled water. Tons of soft comfy seating. Yes please! 

Driving up on the interstate you could see the ship. 

A couple of videos of the excited kids - including some howling. ha

Getting closer...

We made it! 

to be continued...

Ross Randoms

I have been noticing a trend for a while now. Boss is agreeing to let me take fewer and fewer pictures. 

This first picture is pretty funky, but needs documentation. He lost his double tooth this summer! Missy Collins had to pull it for us at church. The gum had grown down inside the tooth since it had a hollow spot b/c of the fused part. Crazy weird to look at until it went back to how it should normally appear. 

Ms. Mari kept him for a day before camp start and she got him an Elvis "CD"! He was thrilled and gave it to Pop b/c he knew of his love for Elvis!

Why hello President Kennedy. 

Ross, Bella, and Addi went to a golf camp this summer too. They had tons of fun! 

This was also a huge summer of swimming for Ross. He even started jumping off the diving board! I never imagined the dude would so quickly turn to loving to swim! So fun! This is the only picture I have of our swimming times this summer, but it'll do. Avery still mainly plays on the steps, though she has ventured out around the shallow end.

Ross Randoms

I have been noticing a trend for a while now. Boss is agreeing to let me take fewer and fewer pictures. 

This first picture is pretty funky, but needs documentation. He lost his double tooth this summer! Missy Collins had to pull it for us at church. The gum had grown down inside the tooth since it had a hollow spot b/c of the fused part. Crazy weird to look at until it went back to how it should normally appear. 

Ms. Mari kept him for a day before camp start and she got him an Elvis "CD"! He was thrilled and gave it to Pop b/c he knew of his love for Elvis!

Why hello President Nixon. 

Ross, Bella, and Addi went to a golf camp this summer too. They had tons of fun! 

This was also a huge summer of swimming for Ross. He even started jumping off the diving board! I never imagined the dude would so quickly turn to loving to swim! So fun! This is the only picture I have of our swimming times this summer, but it'll do. Avery still mainly plays on the steps, though she has ventured out around the shallow end.

Avery Randoms

It has been way too long since I posted so I'm going to do some making up. First we'll start with an Avery randoms post. Pics I've taken over the last couple of months that I want us to keep up with, and that I know she'll love in the future. 

Ms. Carly sent this me a bit ago. Avery loves Hercules. She was always so gentle with him, and I'm told loved to be his vet and check up on him every day. 

Grace Lutheran also did a veggie and flower garden this year. The kids LOVED it! Avery wanted to water it all the time when I picked her up. 

A few outfits she put together herself, along with telling me how she wanted her hair styled. 

Her very last day at Grace Lutheran. They had cupcakes to bit farewell. I think Avery had blue. :)

Looks like Lorelei did too. 

Avery loves Grandad. She talks about him pretty much daily. She'll weave very interesting tales of what they do together. I decided to print her a pic of her very own. She was thrilled and randomly carries it around with her. 

She's a special mess to our family. Such personality. I'll end the blog with a quote from yesterday. 

Per the norm Ross was giving Avery grief so at two different times she elbowed him in the backseat. I told her if she did it again she'd be going to her room when we got home.

Ross to Avery - just really you need to obey mommy. 

Avery to Ross - well I try but you just bother me and make me rude! 

Girl has a point. 

Last Day of School

The last day of 1st grade was here before we knew it. Part of the time it seemed like summer would never get here, and then boom it was here! He had a great 1st grade year!

Mrs. Somers. He loved her, and so did I. She was perfect for him. 

Avery finished up at Grace Lutheran too. She and Ross are both going to the Athletic Club for summer camp. So far so good. 

Mother's Day

The best we got. It was a good day! We went to church with Mam. Ate lunch in Little Rock. Had a quiet afternoon. The kids picked out the dress for me as their gift.

Walk for the Waiting - Ross' plan

Our family has been working toward helping waiting kids for a while now. We pray for them. We volunteer. If we could ever get approved we would be able to keep kids in our home. Ross' heart has picked up on the importance of what we are doing. He gets it.

Walk for the Waiting is an annual event and money raised goes towards organizations who have a love for these kids. I carried some pamphlets in the car and Ross just started reading it in the backseat to himself. He studied that thing. He knew the statistics. He got it. One day he said - "Mom we need to raise money for the kids." We tossed around different ideas and he settled on baking cookies. When this started my hope was for him to make $100. I knew he'd be thrilled. I also set out to make sure he was most involved b/c this was his plan. So we picked out cookies that he would do.

Pecan Pie Bark was a great hit. We bagged them up. Announced he was ready to sell. He set his price at $10 a bag (but he'd take more) and he started selling. 

Then something even more amazing happened. Addison decided she was going to have a lemonade stand and invited Ross to join her with his cookies. Our friend that runs Project Zero got wind of it and helped us advertise, and we even made them their own donation page. It was humbling to see how many people supported our kids. 

The crew. Trey and Bella helped too! Mari and Bethany are always great to support the kids .

Robyn was chair of Walk for the Waiting this year and she even came back from some lemonade. Mr. Jerry came by as well and even gave the kids a ride in his car. 

While the big kids were busy selling, the little kids were busy playing. (and obviously stamping their legs)

The kids had the idea of challenging Mrs. Christy with Project Zero to beat her in donations. Here I was hoping Ross would make $100 to donate and all of a sudden they were in thousands. 

The day of the walk came. Our family was ready. 

We checked the donation page at the start of the walk and the kids had done it. They beat Project Zero! In fact they were the 7th top team out of every team. 

Obligatory pic of winners with the sad loser. 

Mega Excitement!

That night I went to tuck Ross into bed and he was drawing on the iPad. It was the Walk for the Waiting emblem. I pray for his heart that it never loses its sweetness and love for people, and Jesus.

The following day they were invited to speak at church about what they did and the reason. I am beyond proud of these kids. I told Addison's mom if by chance those 2 ever get together there is no telling how many kids they will end up adopting. :)