T is off to college!!

T graduated high school in May, so in August she was off to college!!

Because she skipped a grade in elementary, she graduated a year early, at 17.  We wanted her to stay close because of that, so we explored colleges in the local area.  She chose Oklahoma Christian University, which is only about 15 minutes down the road!!  They have an excellent graphic design program, and she was very impressed with it.  It is a small private school, and hopefully T will love it!

We gave T the option of living at home, since the school is so close, or living on campus.  She chose living on campus because she wanted the full college experience.  I think it was the right choice, even though our house seems very empty without her here.

We moved her in to the dorm on August 25th.  We helped her unpack, decorated a bit, and had lunch, then we left her there and headed home.  R was more emotional than I was, but I have struggled day to day without her being here at the house.  T has been a huge help to me over the years since R has been gone so much.  It didn't seem SO much like being a single parent during the week when I had her here at home with me.  She was always happy to watch Little R while I ran A to activities, or ran errands.  She's a great kid, and we are really missing her!

But I am so proud of her!!  She is adjusting well to college life.  Doing well in her classes, still working enough to pay for her daily expenses, and she still meets us at church on Saturday evening and we spend the rest of the evening together as a family. 

This is the goal from the beginning...to raise these babies up into responsible adults and send them out into the world.  We are praying for Tori every step of the way, and we know God has big plans for her!!

The finished dorm room.  These dorms are old, and not very pretty, but we did what we could!

T and her new roommate!

Gotta love the concrete block walls, and school tile ceilings, right??

Saying goodbye

8 is GREAT!!!

On September 8, Little R turned 8!  We had a party with our super close friends we call "The Trio".  Two great families that we love to pieces!  When I asked Little R what he wanted to do for his birthday, of course it included them!

We started the day at Chuck E. Cheese's.  Little R didn't want to have an actual birthday party there, because he didn't want to dance with Chuck E. (his words).  So we had pizza and bought lots of tokens, and just let the kids play away.  He had a great time, and this is a place we don't go often...at all.  It was a huge sacrifice for R to spend a couple of hours there, but he has proven he will do just about anything for his kiddoes!

Can you tell he's happy???

After cashing in our tickets, we all headed back to our house for cake and ice cream.  Little R is BIG into How to Train Your Dragon, so he requested a Toothless cake this year. 

Toothless cake

All of the kids from the Trio!!  R and I have the oldest child of the group and the youngest child of the group.  :)

Making a wish...or praying...or both!  Probably for a brother...that's been his wish for many, many years.

Blowing out the candles!

After we had cake and ice cream, we headed to our neighborhood pool for our last swim of the season!!  I didn't get any pictures at the pool, but everyone had a blast and they swam until dark!  All in all, a great day celebrating a great kid! 
Little R continues to be such a blessing to our family.  He is such a unique kiddo, and not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh!  You never know what he's going to say or do!  He's all about Minecraft, Legos, and movies.  His favorite color is orange.  His favorite person is still Mommy, but Daddy is finally coming in a close second.  He is our prayer warrior...if anyone in the family has a need, they just tell Little R.  He is happy to pray for them, and God seems to listen to this little guy! :)   We love him to pieces and he makes our life fun!  I know I say it every year, but we are so blessed to have him in our family, and so grateful that his birthmom gave us this amazing opportunity.  Can't wait to see what God has in store for his life!!

Major Catch Up Post!!

I have been absent from the blog for a very long time.  I have done the one thing I didn't want to do...I've been so busy living life that I haven't taken the time to get it on here.  There is a huge danger to this, and I'm aware of that.  We have been so busy living life these past months, that there is no way I will remember the little nuggets of happy, sad, scared and all the other emotions that we have felt in that time.

So, I am determined to get caught up and then post at least every couple of weeks from now on.

So...where are we currently in our lives??

Rai is living in Lawton during the week, and comes home on the weekends.  Not ideal, but much better than seeing him every 3-4 months like when he was in Germany.  And its temporary...the countdown has begun to retirement from the Army!  He will retire in June of next year, and will start terminal leave in April.  We are so excited to be a family under one roof again, but there are also a lot of unknowns about where he will work, what he will do, etc.

I am still staying at home, although I may need to start working part time in the future to help pay for Tori's college, depending on what job Rai gets after retirement.  We bought what is hopefully our forever home in May, so I stay busy with projects here in the house.  I have painted almost every single room (with plans to paint more) and I've done several furniture projects (with plans for more).  I never have time to get bored, that's for sure!

Tori started college in August.  She is going to Oklahoma Christian University, which is only about 15 minutes from us.  But she is living in the dorms, and her absence is obvious in our home.  She's doing well, and actually seems to be enjoying the college lifestyle.  She still meets us at church on Saturday evenings, and we spend a nice family evening together afterwards.

Abbi is in 8th grade...her last year of middle school.  This is her 3rd year at the same school, which is a brand new experience for our family!!  She is involved in competitive cheer still, and loves every minute of it.

Ryan is in 2nd grade, and because we bought a house across town from where we were renting, he had to switch schools.  But it's a great school, and hopefully he will finish out his elementary years there.  He is still quite the comedian and always has a quick answer to any question.  You never know what he is going to say...or who he's going to say it to!!  Definitely makes for some interesting conversations!! : )  He is playing soccer and continues to improve, but he is still the smallest kid on the team!  Doesn't bother him one bit!!

And that's where we are at this very moment!!  I'm going to try and work backwards from here to catch up on the last few months of life....

All Star Cheer

After a lot of persuading, A convinced us to let her try out for a competitive cheer team this year.  We know very little about the competitive cheer world, but we are looking forward to watching our girl do what she loves!

Their first competition was at OKC University.  A was very nervous and excited, but they did great and won 1st place in their division!

Veteran's Day

Little R's school has a small Veteran's Day program each year.  This year they recognized veterans during their morning assembly time, and then served doughnuts in the cafeteria after.  Little R was so excited that Daddy got to come this year.  Last year he was in Germany, and little R took a picture of him up on stage...and cried.  This year was much happier!!

Little R decked out in his red, white & blue!  He was one happy boy!

Up on stage with all the other veterans.  Lots more than I expected, since we aren't in a military town.

Doughnuts with Daddy

Pumpkin Patch

Each year we try to visit a pumpkin patch...it's been a tradition since little R was itty bitty.

This year we tried a new location called Chester's Pumpkin Patch.  Found a Groupon and scored a great deal!

The day we went it was sunny and about 85 degrees and DUSTY!!  Not really fall weather, but fun nonetheless!

Little R's first ever pony ride!

Posin'

Even Daddy got in on the fun!

Hayride

Posin'...again!  This kid just has NO personality!

Cute kids

Inside in the shade to cool off a bit

Foosball got serious!

What you talkin' bout Willis?

Fall Break--Sea World

We had big plans for Fall break!  Originally we were planning a trip to Disney World because both girls got Disney trips when they were 5 years old, and little R missed his because we lived in Germany at the time.  But as we were planning the trip, we decided little R wouldn't enjoy Disney as much as the girls had.  He really isn't into Disney characters, and he also gets a bit overwhelmed at large places with tons of different things to do.

But what our little guy DOES enjoy is ocean animals!  So we thought we would scale his trip down a bit and head down to San Antonio to Sea World.  It was the perfect choice!  He had a blast showing off his knowledge of ocean animals, and the park was just the right size to see it all in a day and not be overwhelming.

The weather in San Antonio in October was absolutely perfect!!  The park wasn't crowded at all, and really the only negative is that Sea World's Howl-O-Scream activities had begun for Halloween.  The activities didn't start until evening, but there were lots of decorations up around the park...which was a bit scary for our guy that really doesn't appreciate the thrills of Halloween.  But he was brave, and even ended up posing with a few of the scary creatures!

And for all our military friends...added bonus...Sea World offers free park admission to military members and up to 3 more family members.  So all we had to pay for was little R's child ticket and the rest of us got in free!!  You all know I like FREE!!!

On our way to Sea World!

Did I pose my kids in front of every photo prop in the park?  Why yes, I pretty much did!!

R was brave enough to let the ducks eat from his hand.  The rest of us?  Not so much!

Another great photo opportunity...little R decided to really pose this time.

I let R handle the water rides...I don't like to get wet when I'm in my clothes...

A little arcade fun...

Another photo op...at first little R ran from the shark...but then he got brave, and even gave him a "high five" when we were done with the pic.

Little R had to get rough with some skeletons!

A practicing her "heel clicks".  Why?  It just seemed like the thing to do!

R showing proper technique!

We've always called A our giraffe.  She's so tall and lanky, and all knees and elbows.  But we decided on this trip, maybe she's a flamingo!  She does love pink!!!

We were stopped in the park and asked a few questions, and our reward was free funnel cakes!!  YES!!

This was probably little R's very favorite part of the entire day.  We stayed in watching the sharks for a good 30 minutes, and he would have been more than happy to stay longer!

Last wet ride of the day!  They waited all day for this ride to open, and then waited in a very long line to ride it. But little R's face says it was all worth it!

Ready to call it a day!

The next day we went to the Historic Market Square in San Antonio.  We lived in San Antonio for a while, and have visited several times, but we had never been here.  It was very cool!  Lots of handmade items for sale, and excellent Mexican food.

And we HAD to have Dairy Queen on the way home!!  We fell in love with Dairy Queen when we lived in Georgia, and we miss not having one nearby in Oklahoma.  So anytime we travel, we HAVE to stop at Dairy Queen.

GREAT trip!!  So glad we chose Sea World for little R's trip.  It was so much fun, and he immediately started talking about when we could go again!

A's Birthday Present...a Few Months Early!!

A is a big fan of concerts.  When a friend contacted me about getting some tickets to a One Direction concert in Tulsa, I thought it would make a great birthday gift for our girl!!

A and Maddi were the best of friends for the year we lived in Arkansas.  They have kept in touch over the years, and we try to get them together anytime we visit.  The concert was a perfect way to get them together for an evening...and they both loved it!!

One thing we've learned throughout our years of Army travel...when you connect with really good people, you hang on to those relationships long after you leave!  We have made some great friends in every duty station we've been...and thankfully we have been able to keep those friends long after moving away. 

Thanks April for scoring the tickets for us!  It was a night A won't forget, for sure!  So glad we could experience it with you guys!

A few people showed up for the party...

A and Maddi

I actually enjoyed the concert!!  Loved hearing their accents when they talked!

A little pre-concert love!

Another Soccer Season Under our Belts!

Little R has found his sport!  No doubt about it, soccer is this little guy's game!

He improved SO much this season!  I think he scored in every game and most importantly played hard and had a BLAST!!

This kid just has NO personality!  NONE!!

He's got his game face on!

In action...

One of his best buddies from school was on his team!  Added bonus!

Little R turns 7!!

Little R turned 7 on Sept. 8th.  I know I say it all the time, but I simply cannot believe it has been 7 years since we welcomed this little guy into our family!  He has been such a blessing to our family...so thankful God (and his birthmom) chose us.

We celebrated his birthday with a party at our neighborhood pool and clubhouse...just like last year.  Daddy was here for it this year, which made it even more special!

R wanted a Skylanders party, of course.  This boy is somewhat obsessed with the Skylanders game and watching videos on how to defeat the levels.  We now have a strict policy of how much time he can spend in front of a screen each day, thanks to Skylanders! : )  But our rule-follower is always careful to start the timer for himself when he plays...and he sticks strictly to his time limits.

Our little R has definitely blossomed even more this year.  He has such a big personality, and he is always saying the funniest things!  He is in 1st grade, and his reading is improving in leaps and bounds!  He is great at math, and is always amazing me with his skills. 

He is full of questions about anything and everything.  To say this little guy is inquisitive is an understatement! : )  He LOVES his dog, it is so cute to watch them grow together. 

He still loves waffles and peanut butter sandwiches and grapes and pizza and chocolate milk!

He's still full of energy, loves to talk, but is always up for cuddling on the couch, too!  Especially with Mommy!  Now that Daddy is home, they are developing a neat relationship (finally), but Mommy is still his "go to" person.  I'll take that and eat it up as long as I possibly can!!

It's been another year of blessings with this guy!  We are so blessed to have him in our family, and he definitely keeps it from getting boring around here.  We love you Little R, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

Set up and ready to party!

Instead of gifts, Little R took donations for our World Vision sponsored child in Ethiopia.  He loves getting the letters and pictures of what they are able to purchase with the extra money we are able to send.

Having a little fun with some of his best friends.  If all goes well, we plan for him to marry our little friend on the right! : )

Ready for cake!