top 10

there is a lot of fun and exciting stuff going on around the ol' homestead. instead of taking time to blog about each thing individually, i thought i'd give a quick run-down:

1. our adoption of elijah miguel should be finalized on september 17th. yippee-kay-aye! what does this mean? well the main thing is: i will finally get to post a picture of the kid! oh, and he'll be a forever part of our growing family. -i guess that's exciting, too. ;)

2. mediation regarding the two other boys placed with us is scheduled for september 30th. if parents decide to relinquish their rights that day, then we begin the 90 days for extended family to come forward and then can pursue adoption. this means that possibly, by the end of january 2011 we might have all our boys as part of our forever family! we're starting to brainstorm on names. exciting!

3. our house is now off the market. we'll wait until next spring to put it back up again. whew!

4. i am enjoying "the excellent wife" bible study SO much and highly recommend it.

5. if you decide to pursue #4, please find awesome friends to do it with you who will spur you on to righteousness. it's kinda hard core and very counter-cultural!

6. we are helping plant a church and in the next few weeks, it should be moving up to the next level which is super exciting and a little intimidating.

7. the state fair of texas is coming at the end of september, and as i type this, i am peeing my pants with excitement.

8. i have now cleaned up the mess from # 7.

9. our part time nanny will now be working one evening a week so the hubs and i can go on a date night. i peed again!

10. i'm going to start subbing for a bunco group once a month and am excited to meet new people and learn a new game. i have no idea how to play! and i have no skill or luck. this should be interesting.

what's going on in y'alls neck of the woods?

kentucky

i feel like i owe an explanation to my 2 readers. where have i been?

well, we went to kentucky. i don't like to post online when we leave town because i am prone to stalkers. they are SO into me. --sarcastic tone is lost in blogging.

no, i'm just cautious. i don't want someone to break into our home while we're away and steal our doggies. ryken and emmy would miss us greatly. and they are our only valuable possessions. wait. can you OWN a dog? liz from mabel's house would disagree and might actually ban me from reading her blog just for saying it.

ok focus. kentucky.
we drove up, we drove back. we had a GREAT time there.
the total driving time up: 19 hours
the total driving time back: 100 million hours

it. took. forever.

but it was all worth it to see my brother and his family. the cousins got to play together. we got out of the texas heat. we ate yummy food.
wonderfulness.

but since all my pictures have all the kiddos in it, i shall leave you with this picture of gabe.
he's gonna be mr. july in a fireman's calendar.

longing

i'd like to take a little time to reflect on a wonderful time in all our lives. a time where temperatures drop below 95 degrees. a time when women no longer wear scantily clad shorts, skirts, and tank tops. a time where i can load the kids into their carseats without needing a towel to catch the dripping sweat. (sexy, huh?)

that's right. i'm talking about fall.

it's only august, and in texas that means that fall is a mere 7 months away. just kidding. 6.

as i took my kids out to the basketball court for them to ride their tricycles, and i realized i was sweating through my shirt, i couldn't help but long for cooler days.

i can't wait for fall magazines with cute centerpieces made from tree bark and pumpkins. i can't wait for the state fair of texas. i can't wait for snuggly time under a blanket watching a scary movie. ahhh.

come on, fall, i'm ready for yah.

yet another one

so i haven't been around much this past week because our littlest has been in the hospital...yet again.

it is only ok because he is worth it.

but after this 4 day hospital stay, and my husband working overnight all weekend, we are slowly adjusting to even more sleep deprivation and more medications that we have to administer.

see, we have so many meds for him already that we had to buy a rather large tool box to store them all in so they are lockable. (foster care regulations)

but now, we have even more...where are we going to put all these?

the whole thing was just not a pleasant experience. emergency room at 8pm on wednesday, didn't get admitted to a room until 2am, moved rooms 3 times, rude doctor, discrepancies between what our pulmonologist says and what the hospital doctor says, breathing treatments every 2 hours. whew.

i. am. tired.

we got released and arrived home last night around 11:30pm. there's laundry to fold, kitchens to clean (apparently i have several), floors to be mopped, and kids to hug and hold.

i have made a master list, because that's how i roll. and i will slowly but surely check off each box throughout the next two weeks. --this is positive thinking.

God really truly provided for us during our stay. great and wonderful friends brought food, took the kids to the pool, and prayed. i am very grateful.

although we are home, the baby is not totally well. please continue to pray that he would recover fully and that we wouldn't see that hospital again for at least another 5 months!