Oh Where, Oh Where did my little blog go?

I really have a good excuse as to why I have not updated in almost a month. Our last 3 1/2 weeks have been crazy! And yes, I mean crazier than usual...

Why you ask? Well, we finally got our first foster placement! Yes... a year's worth of classes, trainings, inspections and scrutiny finally has paid off and we have a new little boy to add to our already boy filled home!

Meet "Little Bit".

He is an 11 month old that is for sure keeping us on our toes!! He came to us pretty sick but in just 3 weeks time, he is a different little boy. He is so happy, playful, very active and is just pure joy to take care of.

How has our life changed you asked? Well, along with the normal baby responsibilities such as

bottles, diapers, high chairs, car seats, baby food, many sleepless night, etc... we have also had numerous doctor's visits, therapy appointments, several caseworkers, phone calls, tons of paperwork, medications, court dates and so on and so on. This has been a huge adjustment for all of us. None of us would take back even a moment though. We are already in love with him and it is worth every minute of disrupted schedules and sleep deprivation.

And you know, we are foster to adopt so we have in the back of our minds that he could be the one. Now it's very rare for your first placement to be adoptable but he came to us from a unique situation and the chances are already in our favor. But, we also know that at any minute he could leave us.

However, this is our motto with "Little Bit".... "We are going to love him as long as we have him; whether that's a few weeks or forever".... and believe me, he is not hard to fall in love with!!

For obvious reasons, I will not be putting his face on this blog. But I will leave you with this pic. I won't be hard for me to not show you his face because most of his pictures look like this anyway.


Did I mention he is active?

Fans... Fish....and a Faire

We were so busy the month of May.... we basically were in Dallas every weekend. This is not common for us but one weekend was Six Flags, the next was a visit to Arlington again but this one was for a Rangers game at Arlington Stadium. We have never taken the boys to a baseball game and some friends of ours got some great tickets. So not being huge baseball fans, we weren't sure how the boys would like it. Again, the weather was perfect; sunny and low 70's (rare for Texas in May). We had so much fun.... so much to look at and take in. The food was so good and the boys had a blast. This is definitely something we will be doing on a yearly basis from now on...

Boys on the top deck... Six Flags in the background

It was a gorgeous day and we had great seats. We could see everything and still were able to enjoy the cool breeze..

We just love Carrie and Bryan

Especially Isaac!!!

Later that week, my dad had the day off and so we took his new boat out on the local lake to test drive. When I was growing up, both of grandparents had lake houses and I grew up swimming in the lake, skiing, tubing and riding in the boat. My boys have had a very different upbringing. They only like to swim in a pool where they can see the bottom ;-). So this was a treat for all of us.

The boat went really fast.. Love Isaac's face in this one

We can't all fit in the boat at once, so while Ethan and Nanny were taking a spin, Isaac's and I fished.

He is looking so handsome and grown up. Where did my baby go?

One of my favorite parts of our lake outings growing up was to ride in the boat when it was being put up.... they don't look so thrilled.

Okay.... our last outing of the month of May was back to Dallas to the Scarborough Faire with Miguel and Flea. Again, picture perfect weather. We have been so blessed in Texas to have a fabulous May. It's 100 today so the reprieve is over.

I digress...

Anyway, I have been to this Renaissance Faire about 20 years ago with my MIL and SIL before Steve and I got married but it has tripled in size since then. It is about 36 acres of pure dorky fun... and wow are we dorks!! I love this kinda stuff. I don't get all into it like some... no dress up or pretending to speak in old English but I do like watching those who do. And ok, making fun of them just a bit ;-)

This first pic only true geeks and dorks will appreciate!! As we were walking in among all of the Lords and Ladies, Isaac spotted this guy in a long trench coat from behind. He says to me "Momma, look, he looks like Doctor Who". Just then he turned around and Isaac said "It is the Doctor!!" If you didn't already know from a previous post here, we are HUGE Doctor Who fans. This guy was great. He said he dressed up as the doctor b/c he is a time traveller and can show up at anytime time period. Needless to say, this was the favorite of the day!! He was a trooper and posed with the boys!!

After the Doctor encountered, as soon as we walked in Isaac was challenged to a dual. All I had in my purse was a hair brush. Thankfully that is all it took for Isaac to vanquish his foe and move on to enjoy more of the faire.

Okay... I had to include this one. This guy was really freaky. We were not sure if he was part of the faire or just a freak that liked looking like Satan. I really don't like this element of Renaissance Faires. The Renaissance is a real time period but for some reason people use such occasions to just be freaky... We saw him a couple of times and steered clear every time.

Miguel went straight for this eye patch. He had been looking forward to buying one since last year. It was pirate day at the faire after all. This was truly disturbing to look at though because it was exactly the same color as his real eyes...

Steve and Flea's favorite part were the giant Turkey legs.

This Friar and Ethan had a great conversation.

This was an awesome contraption that produce bubbles... it was so cool to watch go around

The bubbles were filled with smoke.. this was my favorite part.

The parade...

They also had elephant rides. We didn't try this. Looked fun though.

Isaac finally was able to buy his favorite instrument, the Ocarina. It is a small clay flute. He plays a lot of the Legend of Zelda and has been asking for one for a while. It came with a song book and he has already learned how to play about 5 songs. He wears it everyday on his neck and plays constantly. He is actually very good. I am going to take a video and show you sometime.

Steve is so goofy. I love his face in this one. He is so fun!

Ethan took this one. Thought this angle was more "artistic"

Isaac got his Ocarina, Ethan jumped on the trampoline.

He went really, really high. High enough to give a mom a true heart attack

Our final thing to do was watch this human chess match. Each time a piece was moved, it had to dual with the opposing piece to see who stayed on the board.

Again, where did my little boy go?

Isaac would not leave Felicia's hair alone. Thankfully she is a trooper

We have had such a great month. We don't get to go on week long vacations, so we really cherish the little weekend adventures. Especially ones with good friends..

June is already starting to be a busy month. We just got word today that we are getting our first foster placement on Tuesday of next week. A 10 month old little boy. So much to get ready for and we are so excited. The summer is going to be adventorous for sure!!

Rollercoasters and Street Fights

Mother's Day weekend we headed up to Dallas to attend Homeschool Six Flags Day for our 6th year in a row. We love Six Flags but in the Texas summer heat, it makes it miserable to go anytime after May. We are blessed to have Homeschool Day in the beginning of May so that the weather is usually perfect. This day was no exception; partly cloudy and 70 degrees. It was fabulous.

My mom and dad and I took the boys and our friend Ben up for the day. Steve had planned to go but with work being so busy right now, he just couldn't take the day off :-( He and I both love to ride roller coasters so it was hard not having him there!!

Thankfully my dad still loves to ride them and my mom likes to watch so we had a great team.

The day started with all smiles....
The first ride of the day made them all a little woozy....

Especially poor little Ben who had never ridden a roller coaster before :-)

The second ride made them all a little wet...

But by the end of the day , 7 hours under our belt, with our last ride was ridden...

Isaac saying "That's it?"

We were still all smiles......

Isaac was a real daredevil this year. He is finally tall enough to ride all of the rides and he did!! He was so excited and can't wait until next year. He even wants to try the bungee swing! I think I have an adrenaline junky on my hands!

That evening after we had eaten at our favorite after Six Flags restaurant, Steak -n- Shake, mom and dad took the boys to Ft. Worth while Ben and I drove home alone. My parents wanted to spend some time with the boys so they headed to the Civil War Museum and The Great Wolf Lodge for the rest of the weekend. Since it was my bday and Mother's Day weekend, Steve and I had some alone time.

The next day, we were invited by our good friends Miguel and Felecia to watch a reenactment in a nearby small town. Miguel is a civil war reenactor and we love to go watch. This was a unique battle because the town of Jefferson, TX was never actually attacked so actually this was an enactment on what could of happened if the Union had entered this port territory. Although Jefferson is a small town, it used to be a major port in the 1800's. Steamboats would travel up and down the Sabine River bringing cargo to the Confederates from New Orleans. This battle is also unique because it is fought in the street. Very up close and personal.

It begins with a parade through town.

The marching in of the soldiers.... Miguel is the one with the great beard :-)

Union troops lined the streets calling for the surrender of the Confederates

By the end, the streets were littered with the bodies of Union Soldiers and the Rebel yell could be heard up and down main street :-)

Of course the South won this battle and kept those Yanks out of our port..... gotta love Southern pride.

We celebrated the victory with a burger at the famous biker bar, Auntie Skinner's. A must visit if you are ever in Jefferson. Great food and great live Southern music.

All and all a great weekend....

More Picture Updates

I can't believe that I haven't posted pictures of my BFF's baby shower! Now that baby Will is a month old, it seems kinda silly. I have to celebrate the day right?

It was a fun shower hosted by Jessi in her lovely home. There was food, friends and the little girls put on a play for us. Really all they did was sword fight and kill each other but it was entertaining to say the least.

Over Spring Break Isaac had his "old neighborhood" friends over to spend the night. Isaac has really gone through withdrawal from our neighborhood. He made great friends and enjoyed playing outside all of the time. So he was beside himself with excitement when they came over.

Ben, Josiah and Isaac

They each made their own pizzas and played video games until midnight. Every boy's dream right? The next morning they ate a pound of bacon and 15 pancakes. Whew...not ready for having to feed teenage boys!

Just wanted to add a church get together at Mazzio's. I have said how much I love these people!! They are like family to us.

Next was a field trip with our homeschool group to the Fish Hatchery. This was our first time and a really cool field trip. I didn't realize how many fish we have in East Texas muddy rivers and lakes. The guide even said that the Discovery Channel show "River Monsters" had filmed an episode there. Apparently our local lake have Alligator Gar that can reach up to 8 ft. Ooohhhh and I grew up swimming in these lakes.

Big Aquarium

They had a diver with a microphone that introduced all the fish that were in the tank.

Creepy giant catfish

We also got to fish. Ethan was the only one in our group that caught one

Lastly in this post, Ethan participated in a bike-a-thon to raise money to send a Chinese orphan to a week of summer camp. He worked hard to raise the money and was such a trooper. He ended up biking 12 miles. For an self proclaimed "inside kid", I was proud of him. He reached his goal and this summer he will be getting a call from the orphan he sent to camp. He really hopes it's not during his week at camp