Where has all the time gone?!

It's been nearly a month since I posted last! Oops, I had no idea until I checked the date on the last post. Oh my goodness, what a roller coaster we've been on!

R has been in the hospital for over a week now, with Thing 1 and Thing 2 trying to come out much too early. They stopped her labor 3 times and she has had contractions off and on the whole time since then. They monitor her and the babies multiple times a day. If she can make it to 32 weeks they might let her go home.

Her friends had a baby shower for her today. She wheeled down to a special occasion room where her friends had decorated. It wore her out but she had a great time wearing real clothes and just doing something "normal". She also got to go to a chat session on Tues with the other "ladies in waiting" who are at the hospital trying not to have their babies too. R was one of two having twins and one of three military wives and one of three in the same week of gestation. It's always nice to know you're not alone in a situation and can help each other cope. She is at 30 weeks and 2 days. Prayers are appreciated.

JT has been able to spend a lot of time with R and for that we are grateful. He's done a great job taking care of his wife and babies. He even brushed and braided R's hair one day. How sweet is that?

J is brushing my hair as I type this. He's still loving high school and especially basketball. They are having homecoming week this week and he's thrilled. I remember R's first homecoming week and how  excited she was about it. J told me everything they were going to do and how short his classes were going to be and I just smiled and said, "You're my third child to have homecoming week. I know how it goes. But I'm glad you're so excited about it." J had a birthday since I posted last. He's 16! He continues to do well in school and at home. He's a bottomless pit and will eat just about anything. He's a bit lazy and has an attitude prob now and then, but he's a 16yo boy! We love him dearly.

We (the 4 of us) sat around last night and played games and sang Veggie Tales songs. What  a hoot! We are all looking forward to fall break and the beach. Bring it on!

A got an 85 on her stats test the other day and was thrilled with it. Woot! She likes her classes this semester for the most part. She also likes her job and continues to do well there. A and P are going to join us for part of our time at the beach, Lord willing and the creek don't rise. We are all looking forward to it. I hope it works out and doesn't disappoint.

My dad got approved by the doctors for the cochlear implant. Now he just has to get approved by the ins. We are hopeful that this would open up his world again.

I'm officially a junior in college now. I'm only 2 months behind where I wanted to be. I've done well after surgery and am pleased with it all so far. I was even going to play keys and lead music in church tomorrow but a major water leak at the church this evening has cancelled services. I did play the ukulele a bit this morning so that's good. I'm doing therapy twice a week for my wrist and it's going well. Fibro is ok too but I've had sleep issues and hip pain a lot the last couple months.

I'm trying to go through things and get ready for a yard sale. I cleaned out the game cabinet today. Well, I got all the games out. Trying to decide what to keep is hard. I came across my 20 Questions thingy. Have you ever played with one? It's creepy good at guessing what you're thinking of.

The "Ladies in Wheeling" episode of 4x4 Nation is coming out this week. Check it out if you can at www.4x4nation.com .

So, I think I will end this with a thankful list. I'm thankful that Thing 1 and 2 are still tucked safely inside their mommy. I'm thankful for medical care. I'm thankful for God, family and friends. I'm thankful for a chance to take a vacation. I'm thankful for the chance to "go to college" online.

Wowzer!

We have been unable to take a vacation or to sell a vehicle this summer. Those two items are inter-related. Sigh.... But we have had some fun along the way and some crazy busy times.

T is working on the ugly boat and nearly has it running. He never ceases to amaze me. It's still ugly but it has a new floor and we are working on that ugly part. Carpet and vinyl will go a long way towards making it not ugly.

J is sort of back to school this morning. He's at "camp" today. He gets his schedule, finds his locker, gets help opening it, finds his classes, etc. He was pumped and ready to go at 6:15 this morning. High school is a big deal. I cut his hair last night and I'm always a little nervous doing that. He loves it and proclaims it the best haircut ever and says he looks like Will Smith. I said, "Will Smith probably gets $100 hair cuts." And J said, "I know where to get it for free!" What a goober! But I'm relieved that he likes it.

A rode back to CO with R and JT and flew back home on Monday by herself. She navigated the airports just fine. She hit the ground running yesterday morning at work.

R and JT and T got here last Monday with the horses. Everyone is doing well except Dante can't believe that we expect him to forage for his own food. He keeps waiting for someone to give him hay. He's such a city horse. We had a nice time with the kids and had a baby shower for them. It was so much fun to watch R's stomach move around with the babies. Amazing at 4 1/2 months to see that. Nephews baby is due today and we had "the girls" lined up together for a pic. M is not much bigger than R. Ha! I will post a pic when I can.

I had a CT scan on this crazy wrist and there's a bone spur that's causing problems now. I'm trying to decide what to do. Gotta be able to hold those grandbabies when they get here!

How about a thankful list. Let's see; I 'm thankful for the promise of new life growing inside R and M. I'm thankful that J is pumped about high school. I'm thankful for our pets (most of the time). I'm thankful for our jobs. I'm thankful for God, family and friends.

Hmm....

I know I haven't been posting much but life is just so busy. And now I can't even figure out how to get my pics off my phone and on to my computer much less uploaded here. Sorry. And yes, T is a computer tech but he claims he can't figure out the droid stuff because he has an iphone. Whatever.

J has been very busy since school let out with his basketball career. You know, his freshman high school basketball "career". To hear him talk about it you would think it's a career. He is on his second basketball camp. Keeps us hopping and he's loving it. He certainly has the build for it. He eats constantly and there's not an ounce of fat on him. He just keeps growing. He has grown a foot in the not quite 4 years since he's been home.

A is enjoying her summer a bit more than last summer. She actually has time off to do some things.

T currently has all of the vehicles running, thank God. The truck, montero and A's car were all down for the count. Now he's working on the boat again. We are hoping to get it going for Father's day. We shall see. If he ever gets all the vehicles and boat running at the same time he has plans to make a "redneck theater seat" for when we go to the drive in. J calls it "a fe-ater seat".

I paid for milk, bread and eggs with coins from my last piggy bank today. Come on, payday! We NEED to sell a vehicle. I don't care if it's the van or the montero, we just need to sell something and try to dig out. So much for trying to simplify life. Ha! Men make plans and God laughs.

R and JT and the babies are doing okay. Little bumps in the road of life but they are healthy. They are keeping an eye on some fires near them.

Maybe I should do a thankful list. Let's see...I'm thankful for God, friends and family. T and I had a nice weekend near Atlanta a week and a half ago and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the beauty in the nature all around us.

Focusing on the positive

The title of my last post was "Trying to find the positive" and this one is focusing on the positive. So, here goes.

T's uncle is doing much better. Praising God for that. T's parents are in the states to visit with his uncle and reports are good. He's still in a lot of pain but he tolerated surgery well, a pin has been refastened, blood clot and pneumonia are resolving and he was sitting up. Good news, that.

We were concerned about a possible blood clot in my leg/fractured foot but an ultrasound showed no blood clot. We are happy about that.

All of us who are in school are passing or making good grades. Good stuff.

R and JT went on a marriage retreat for soldiers returning from deployment. They enjoyed it very much. What's not to like in Estes Park when you're with the one you love?

It's snowing. I don't have any where to go and there's food in the house so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

T was able to fix J's ipod. The screen was broken. Now he's working on a friend of J's ipod. It was touch and go for a while there with J's but all is well now. So, he's practically a pro now, right? Or he will be when he's done with this one.

Spring break is coming. 'Nough said.

This was kind of like a thankful list, wasn't it?

Stay positive!

November, adoption awareness month

November is adoption awareness month and adoption is something that we care deeply about. A couple months ago I wrote an email to the family who is adopting J's bio cousin along with 2 other older boys. Pray for them! What an undertaking. We spent 4 years "in process" with J and he's only been home for 3 years. It grieves my heart when I think about that and how different things might have been if he'd gotten home sooner but I have to choose not to dwell on that. For whatever reason(s), it took four years and he came home when he did. And if we choose to let Him, God will work it for good. I really believe that.

Anyway, I was thinking about all the things I wrote in this email and how much J has changed and how much all of our family has changed since J came home. There is still this undercurrent of sibling rivalry for lack of a better term between J and A. I have some theories about that but am choosing not to share publicly at this point. R got married about 4 months after J came home so they never spent much time together, although R was with me in Haiti the first time we met J. They may share a bond from that. I don't know. T and I have struggled at times in our relationship and in agreeing on how to parent this child, who is absolutely nothing like parenting bio daughters. Hey, I'm just keeping it honest and T and I are in a pretty good place right now. It can really pull at a marriage though.

The one who has changed the most is J. I was telling this mom who is in the process for 3 older boys (I think 2 are teens and one is pre-teen) all the things to be aware of and it made me see how much J has changed. I shared the funny stuff like automatic doors, flushing toilets, faucets, lost in translation, escalators and elevators, to the mundane like having to tell him ahead of time not to push any buttons, switch and switches or turn anything on or off before we walked into a room. If we had a penny for each time we told him to chew with his mouth shut we'd be rich!

And I shared how J would rage and cry and tantrum and you just knew that it was so much deeper than anything that was going on in the here and now. How I would hold him, pray over him, speak scripture over him while he raged. How I would dread getting calls from school (who have done a phenomenal job with him!) to find out what he'd done this time. And how J would trust us on a new level after one of those episodes and shed a little light on something from his past.

I shared with her how their maturity level is so far below their chronological age and how they have no concept of personal space and how J had a strong entitlement issue. He seemed to think, here I am, you waited four years for me, now I'm in America where everything is free so give me what I want while I kick back and watch tv. It still seems like ownership is way more important to J than doing something with what he owns. In other words, he likes owning toys, electronics, clothes, etc. but the owning of those things is more important to him than playing with the toys or wearing all the clothes. He never learned to play as a young child and though he occasionally played with toys it grieves me that he doesn't know how to truly play. Not at all the way our girls did. They played imaginatively over and over with their toys. They had favs that they carried with them. The same toys could be a totally new scenario the next day. Not so with J. Once in a while he would play with a toy and then never touch it again. I asked him about that a time or two and he would say, "I already played with that." So sad.

I talked to her about intense fears and how a lot of the negative behavior stems from irrational fear. I told her about his lying and what we did to get past it.

And now J is 15, doing ok in 8th grade with some ESL modifications, is a nice guy and pretty well-liked by everyone who meets him. He's going to be in a Christmas play at church. It's about a 30-40 minute play and it's just him and 3 others so he has a pretty big part. He is getting tired of the practices but doing really well with his part. I can't wait to see it.

I think adoption has a lot of hurts, lost expectations, and strain but it is also very rewarding. It's been so much fun to see the world through J's eyes these last three years. Everything is new and fresh. He's blossoming and doing well. I have no idea what the future will hold for him but for right now it's wide open. And after all, we are all adopted into God's family when we make a decision to follow Him.

And now, a thankful list. I'm thankful for God, family and friends. I'm thankful for generally good health, as my mom likes to say, we're in pretty good shape for the shape we're in. I'm thankful for modern conveniences and the multitude of ways to stay in touch with those you love. And chocolate. And the seat warmers in my van!

Whew!!

What a week it's been. Both of the kids have nasty colds. T is getting over a nasty stomach bug. I alone have remained unscathed. So far anyway. I figured I might as well lay in the bed and wait for something to hit. But so far, so good.

J is over 5'7" now. I thought he looked taller again. I have to keep buying longer jeans. He doesn't get any bigger around though.

Time seems to be absolutely flying by right now. I have a hard time keeping up.

I'm taking a theology class right now. It's kicking my butt. Too many big words and long sentences.

I have a doc appointment this next week to determine for sure about doing surgery on the wrist again. Sigh...

That's about it for now. Lots of stuff going on but not that much to share. Just a lot of busyness.

Maybe I should do a thankful list. Let's see. I'm thankful for access to medical care. I'm thankful for lysol. I'm thankful for the beautiful sun that's shining here today and the promise of warmth that it brings. I'm thankful for the chance to go to school. I'm thankful for God, family and friends. And seat warmers in my van. And I'd be thankful if I had some chocolate. I don't have any right now but I'd be thankful for it if I did.

Of Kids and Cats

Yes, it's been a while since I posted. Yes, the excuse is still the same. Busy, busy, busy. A works 40+ hours a week and goes to school full time too. Plus she has a boyfriend, who does the same thing. We hardly ever see her. Ah, college life. Those college students like to burn the candle at both ends, don't they? Hey wait. I'm a college student too. Classes are going well for me. Thanks for asking.

I had another MRI on my wrist on Wed. Praying that it's very clear what's going on and very clear how to treat it.

T has had something going on with his eye this week. Allergies maybe but wow, is his eye red.

We need to sell A's old car. It runs and can get you from point A to point B but that's about it. It was very dependable for her. If you know anyone looking for a cheap car that runs, put them in touch with us.

And now, the pics.

This cat... 

didn't know that this cat....

was under this blanket in this pic. He couldn't figure out why that blanket was moving and trying to attack him!

What? So I'm on top of your cabinets. So what?

I just want to take a little nap up here. It doesn't bother me at all if I knock something down.

This guy...

has a birthday this week. Happy birthday to a sweet (most of the time), charming (most of the time), thoughtful (most of the time), young man. Love you lots, J! Even if you are a goober when you take self portraits.

You know I wouldn't post pics without a sunset. I like how my headlights are shining on the road.

Fat cat in a guitar case.

T loves to mess with Diesel's head by ejecting the DVD and pushing it back in with the remote. For some reason this has always intrigued Diesel. And since we're so much more advanced than the cat we do it over and over and over.

Misty wants the world to revolve around her. No computers. No books. No tv. Just Misty. Only Misty.

We have 3 doors in the house and Misty will go out one and 10 minutes later come back in the next one in succession around the house. Then she tells us all about her big adventure. Diesel on the other hand wants to be outside only. If it weren't for food or an occasional nap on top of the cabinets he would stay out all the time. They don't get along well at all. But this morning they both wanted out the same door at the same time. There they are. Left and right. Goofy cats. And Misty came back in the same door 10 minutes later. She didn't even make it to the next door. Good thing I was here to open it for her. Could have been a disaster.

Thought I'd do a thankful list. It's been a while. I'm thankful for this crazy family that God has blessed me with. I'm thankful for access to medical care. I'm thankful for the jobs we have. I'm thankful for music and pets that enrich our lives.

Some random sentences

JT has been going on a lot of missions. Please pray for him.

R is safe even though she is painfully close to the fires in CO. She has remained ready to evacuate but was always just outside the evac areas. The bears are bothersome as they have been evacuated from their homes too and are looking for something to eat. R and Skylar would resemble an appetizer and main course to a bear. Please pray for her too.

It hasn't rained much if any in a month now. Everything is dried up and the grass is brown and crunchy. Add the heat to that and it's been miserable. We had a week of temps over 100.

J is changing his room around and singing "Feliz Navidad". He's so silly. Now he's on to a made up song about baseball. Must've come across his baseball stuff.

I've applied to school and I've been accepted. I can't tell what the next step is for sure but will work on it again today.

I'm wearing the wrist brace again in an effort to figure out if it's the varicose veins or the tendonitis that's bothering me the most. I'm thinking it's the tendonitis. Wearing the brace feels really good for my wrist.

We've been watching "Deep Space Nine" on netflix. J is really into it right now. He was telling us he wanted to watch "dat franky show". When we questioned further because we didn't know what he meant he said, "You know. Dat show wif de guys wif de big ears." T and I looked at each other. Ferengi's! Of course!

We went to a Haitian Adoption get-together in a nearby town. Loved it! There is such a bond with others who have walked the same path.

Fireworks have been banned in our town. The city is still putting on a show but personal fireworks are not allowed. I wish they would ban them in the county too. It's just too dry to be safe.

J's hair needs to be twisted. Again.

We have had multitudes of daddy long-legs spiders, or grand-daddy long-legs, depending on where you're from. They are a nuisance. Gobs of them. 30-50 of them in a huge, hairy-looking, ugly ball. They hang around the door and fall on you when you walk out. Gives us the heeby-jeeby's.

I'm thankful for a pool in the front/side yard. And I'm thankful for AC and that God created whoever came up with AC.

My sunburn from our weekend at the lake peeled. I am no longer snake-like and still have a little color to show for it. I'm so buying a long-sleeved swim shirt to wear at the lake though.

I put flea treatment on the dogs this morning. They can barely walk for stopping to scratch. Poor things.

Diesel is still dealing with allergies and now it's the congested kind. He's "rattly" and snotty. For a cat. He's on allergy meds and antibiotics. Again.

Well, I must get back to the laundry. It just won't wash and dry itself. Sigh...

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas! From our house to yours! Remember the reason for the season.

Before.

After.

We are thankful for God's gift that we are reminded of during Christmas. We are thankful for friends and family and little furry blessings, not the rodent type but the four-legged pet type. We are thankful for God's blessing and provision.

More November stuff

Busy, busy, busy. That's been our lives lately. I've come down with something, I'm not sure what but it's forcing me to slow down for a day or two. I hate feeling wimpy. Fibromyalgia has been whooping me lately too. Sigh...

We had a bad day with J yesterday. Interesting that it happened as we are finishing up Adoption Awareness Month. We are thankful that J hasn't dealt with attachment issues like Reactive Attachment Disorder. He does deal with abandonment issues. He's kind of in a "perfect storm" situation right now. He's 14 and in 7th grade, he's an older adopted child who spent 5 years in an orphanage, and he is in puberty. Zoiks! He had a meltdown at school and several more at home which all came to a head as a big fit. But after he calmed down from that he was able to engage, think, talk and smile. It was like a big zit that popped all over everything and then he was ok. Weird. Anyway, my adoption links for today are http://www.welcometomybrain.net/ . They are parenting two bio kids and 3 adopted. They have two with RAD. And another adoption blog I have enjoyed reading is  http://johnson-mccormick.com/ Their recent post on "Family Tree" Projects was awesome! They have twin boys adopted from Haiti and one bio daughter.

A told someone she works with that she was going to have her tonsils out and they asked if this was the first time. She said, "They can grow back?!" and he said yes. She believed him and came home and asked me about it. Goofy girl! She may have dyed her hair darker but she has blond roots.

Here is a cute pic of the cute kitty who lives where I work. This is Peaches peeking out over the counter. Too cute.

And I'm loving this pic right now. This is R's horse, Bridget, who is full of herself. She's so funny and has a great personality. I took this pic on my cheap phone and texted it to a bunch of people to see if they knew what it was. A few did. I knew R would know.

And now, a thankful list. I'm thankful for a great support group for J at school. There are a bunch of people who care about him and they help us out everyday with J. I'm thankful for animals. Cats and horses are two of my favs. And today I'm thankful for tylenol and advil.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Empty Arms Hotel, how can I help you!

This is actually a pic of a friend's dog at the counter where I spend most of my working hours. He belongs to the store owners, who are also our friends, and we were having a meeting and he kept popping up now and then and was just too cute! Sometimes just his paws and the tips of his ears and nose were showing. Precious!

A made cheesecake last night. I have sourdough bread rising and will bake it right before we leave so it's still warm when we eat. I'm also making broccoli casserole and sweet potato casserole. A wanted sweet potatoes with crunchy topping and since she won't be able to eat much at Christmas (tonsilectomy) I'm happily complying.

A is working this morning and then we are all heading over to my brother's house.

My adoption awareness blog for today is the Livesays. http://www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/ I "met" Tara via email and stayed with them one night on my way back home after spending a month in Haiti with J back in Jan of 09. They are all awesome people and I'm so glad I met them.

Thankful list for today. Let's see, have I mentioned that I'm thankful for dark chocolate? I am. And though I'm thankful every day (or should be) I'm thankful that we live in a country that sets aside a day of the year to think about and be thankful to God for our blessings. We are blessed. Happy Thanksgiving!!

More of the same (without pics)

I'm sorry it's been a whole week since I posted and that I have no pics to post. We promised not to show the people sticking their tongues out (from the last post) and that's about the only interesting pics in a while.

A had her appointment today and is scheduled to have her tonsils out on Dec. 22nd. Why then? Because her last finals are on the 15th and the doc does surgery on Mondays and Thursdays and the 19th was booked up. She might be groggy for Christmas but she will be ready for school in Jan. And like I told someone, she will get gifts for Christmas but she actually has to "earn" the scholarships and one of the requirements is attendance. He's using a procedure that she won't have stitches. I remember coughing up stitches for a while after having mine out back in the day.

J has been doing pretty well in school lately. I even got a call one day and answered with, "Uh-oh. What'd he do?" and she was calling to say how well he was doing. Woot! We have been letting him earn gum by having 5 days of good attitude at school. There's actually been a bit of emotional growth lately too. And by saying that stuff we are probably setting up for an epic blow up.

He continues to crack us up and do sweet things for people too. He prayed aloud the sweetest prayer for a friend the other day and ended with, "...and help her have a ever happy after." Too cute! Yesterday morning it was raining really heavy and we were amazed at the water on the driveway and in the pasture on the way to school. J said, "It's a good ting we have dat hole!" He was referring to the sink hole on our property where all the rain water runs down but it sure sounded funny.

My adoption awareness link today is http://www.debraparker.blogspot.com/ Debra is an adoptive parent who was also adopted herself. They brought their son home from Haiti after the earthquake. I remember seeing Ronel on Lori and Licia's blog and praying for parents for him. I've never met Debra but there is that bond of surviving Haitian adoption. And I love that she recently had her kids learn to serve each other by making each other's beds and making breakfast for each other. Brilliant idea.

My thankful list for today is, I'm thankful for access to good medical care. I'm thankful for a dry house, good food to eat, vehicles that run and money for gas. I'm thankful for my church family.

November thankfulness and awareness, cont.

When we started the adoption process we had no idea how we were going to pay for it but we weren't the least bit worried about it either. We applied for adoption grants, did fundraisers and I baked and sold a lot of cookies. I'd like to highlight a couple organizations who are helping families raise the money needed for adoption expenses. One is http://www.olivetreepromise.com/ It was started by some more adoption group friends who have a son from Ethiopia and are waiting on a daughter. And also http://www.showhope.org/ founded by the Chapmans. These are two great resources if you're considering adoption or would like to help those who are.

J informed us the other day that we kiss weird because he can't see the spark when we kiss. Too much tv?

A discussion last night during a game of phase 10 about the benefits of drinking baking soda water if your stomach is upset vs. the horrid taste turned into a discussion of what would happen if you swallowed peroxide. That discussion turned into comparing tongue sizes (don't ask-we don't know why). And some of the people in the discussion weren't even there with us. It was by text, which required pics of people sticking their tongues out. It was decided that A's tongue is the most versatile as she can touch her nose with it, curl and uncurl it and turn it over both ways without pulling it in. It was also decided that R, A and I have small/skinny tongues, J's is on the smaller side, and friend K, T and A's bf, P, have big/fat tongues. And we have no idea what JT's tongue is like. Got that all? And why is that important? We have no idea why. And A was questioning whether or not we are normal. Normal is just a setting on the dryer. And one of the people with a big tongue said they are better for tasting food. Whatever. There was a short discussion of dominant characteristics too, which stemmed from being able to curl your tongue or not. I know you just stuck your tongue out to see if you could curl it.

And now a thankful list. Let's see. I'm thankful again for family and friends and time spent together. It's a gift. I'm thankful for our jobs. I'm thankful for our home. I'm thankful for the little things in life that mean so much.

And, some random pics. K sent a pic to me of her holding this huge cat. It looks like she can barely hang on to him and snap the pic. The cat reminds me of Misty, only bigger. So I took one of Misty and I together and sent it to her. This is Misty and I. Misty is thinking, why are you doing this to me? and I'm thinking, look at us Misty, we are so cute (and snap the pic already you stupid phone). Or something like that.

And this is K and Hillis. Look at his face! Look at her face! Hillis is thinking, why are you doing this to me? and K is thinking, omg, I'm going to drop your furry lead butt (and snap the pic already you stupid phone). Or something like that.

More November thanksgiving, awareness and reminiscing

Ok, today I'm going to start with a thankful list. I'm thankful for the bright sun that's out today. I'm thankful for memories, family and friends. I'm thankful for the colors of fall. I'm thankful for music and the way it moves my heart and soul.

My adoption awareness link for today is some friends that we met at an adoption support group. They have two precious "special needs" (which didn't turn out to be anything at all) boys from South Korea. They blog at http://www.someshadesofbrown.blogspot.com/ .

And now, the reminiscing. My parents have been in the process of changing all their old slides into CDs. My dad emailed this pic the other day with no explanation. When I opened it I thought it was A. But the bib wasn't right, the high chair wasn't right and the background wasn't right either. Turns out it was me with Lord knows what all over my face.

And it so reminded me of pics of A when she was that age. Sorry for the blurriness of these pics. Most of them are pics of pics.

We could have been twins.

I started going through old pics yesterday. I have them in an old washtub by the base of the steps and I was going to move them upstairs. I had such a great time going through them that I might just clean them up and leave them downstairs. I haven't decided yet.

I found T's baby book and a bunch of old pics of him. Love this one. He still has the same grin.

When I found this one I said, omg! What a couple of dweebs!!

This is from one of those photo booths. Same time frame as the above pic.

One of my fav baby pics of R. The cat's tail is over her head and it looks like an orange mohawk.

The girls when they were about 5 and 2.

 I have no idea why this is in here sideways (thank you, blogger) but this was Christmas of 96. T's parents with all the grandkids except J.

R jumping into T's hands at some kind of ball pit place. I love her complete trust that he's going to catch her. That's A down in the balls.

Our biggest snowmen ever in TN. T could barely reach the top.

About that same time the girls were an elf and an orc in "The Hobbit".

We've been having "theme parties" for several years now and this was the year of the luau. I had a "coconut top" on over my swimsuit but under that shirt and I would "flash" people right when my dad took a pic. There were lots of smiles in those pics!

T's was one of the biggest smiles.

This is JT on the day he was sworn into the army.

I came across this wonderful pic of Haitian ingenuity. Notice the cement wall broken down for easier access to the balcony from the spiral stairs.

I compared it to our spiral staircase and shuddered at the thought of climbing the Haitian one.

Where Diesel loves to play.

This is Bridget when she was a baby. I like the way this pic looks like a painting. It was foggy.

Omg! This is T and his twin when they took the furnace and water heater apart when they were 2. One of the things the repairman couldn't even put back together and they had to get a new one, but I don't know which one it was. T is on the left in the white Jetsons shirt. Look at their feet. They were barefoot. It was a coal furnace so they were black. Their hands, their faces, their clothes! Love this pic.

And this is T and his older brother acting like they are racing golf carts. T is on the left.

Oh, I found these pretty pics of R. She was 17 and this was one of her senior pics.

 These pics were on my phone. Diesel is still trying to catch the water that falls from the faucet. He doesn't seem to tire of this game.

And he often gets a drink too.

Our house with it's fall colors all around us.

J got into A's theatrical make-up (with permission) and painted himself up. A's making a funny face behind him.

Speaking of funny faces, this is J blowing on a harmonica.

And this is one of my fav pics ever. A fell asleep leaned against the couch. Her knees buckled but she didn't fall because the couch was in her way. She was 2-3 at the time. Too cute!!

And that's all the reminiscing for now because I have to go decide what to do with all these old pics.