I have assistance blogging this evening. Meet Jeanne Barone, my "bestie". Anybody who brings me a starbucks coffee when I'm blogging is my "bestie" (; The above picture is my most favorite childrens consignment shop. First stop when I arrive and my fall shopping is done! We arrived by lunch and enjoyed a fried shrimp po-boy. (sorry no pic. the sandwich didn't last that long) the road trip was uneventful and we made it in 10 hrs. Leaving at 2am makes a significant difference in every one's attitude. Hard to fuss when you're staring at the back of your eyelids. I wish there were more pics from the road trip itself but when you're chasing little people around the rest stop the camera is the last priority. They were all really cute and happy to arrive. They love staying at a hotel and bouncing around the room touching hotel germs. Jeanne is currently commenting on how old her hands look. If I look that good at nearly fifty I'll take those old decrepit hands! I have pictures from the buddy bowl-a-thon to share and they are great! We had a blast. Thank you Chloe's buddies. I'll try to share them tomorrow when I am not so tired and can compose a clear concise thought. Good night
Monday, August 30, 2010
I have arrived!!!
I have assistance blogging this evening. Meet Jeanne Barone, my "bestie". Anybody who brings me a starbucks coffee when I'm blogging is my "bestie" (; The above picture is my most favorite childrens consignment shop. First stop when I arrive and my fall shopping is done! We arrived by lunch and enjoyed a fried shrimp po-boy. (sorry no pic. the sandwich didn't last that long) the road trip was uneventful and we made it in 10 hrs. Leaving at 2am makes a significant difference in every one's attitude. Hard to fuss when you're staring at the back of your eyelids. I wish there were more pics from the road trip itself but when you're chasing little people around the rest stop the camera is the last priority. They were all really cute and happy to arrive. They love staying at a hotel and bouncing around the room touching hotel germs. Jeanne is currently commenting on how old her hands look. If I look that good at nearly fifty I'll take those old decrepit hands! I have pictures from the buddy bowl-a-thon to share and they are great! We had a blast. Thank you Chloe's buddies. I'll try to share them tomorrow when I am not so tired and can compose a clear concise thought. Good night
Friday, August 20, 2010
surprise! surprise! surprise!

And not the kind most of you are thinking. I know most of you were holding your breath thinking,' they're pregnant again!' Nope. The kind that make you wonder what you have done to deserve such wonderful friends?!!!! We came to the office this evening to find this beautiful mural painted on the wall. Thanks to the most amazing office manager and artist, Nan. With the help of her sister Lawanda and a friend they have personalized our office with something very close and dear to us. We started this non-profit to fund research and education for NDSS. But also, to celebrate what joy Rebekah has brought to our life. If you are like most couples you pray for healthy babies. We always have.We never expected to adopt a child. And certainly not a child with special needs. But their was a bigger plan for our family. One that we were not as in control of as we thought. When we heard about Rebekah something in our hearts changed. We knew we had been blessed with a perfect love. And here we are today! These are lives to be celebrated. People to embrace for the work they do in our community and more often than not, with a smile on their face and a cheerful heart. Josh says it best, "This is Rebekah's world and we're all just renting space."
Thank you, Nan and Lawanda and Bonnie! This is a beautiful gift. And such a big part of who we are as a family. I hope it sells lots of Buddy Bucks, too!!!
Stay tuned to the blog for the next few weeks. The kids and I are driving to the Grand Canyon w/out Josh. This ought to be interesting. The hotels have wi-fi so I am going to update the blog daily. ( I hope) And no worries, Grandma Summers has agreed to accompany us on our adventure. Josh will also be joining us later in the trip. He'll fly out and meet us there. He loves to travel, also and is envious he can't drive across the country. ;) He's especially looking forward to the TSA body cavity searches! Must finish folding laundry so I don't wake up to this tomorrow. No rest for the weary. Ha!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Back in the saddle
We're finally back, but it took multiple espresso shots to get us to 10pm. There is always the strange look I get when ordering the quad grande white mocha. Unfortunately, you really do have to watch them make your drink. My brain knows when they short change me on the caffeine. Late nights and early mornings are in full swing as we are deep into fundraising mode for the Buddy Walk in October.
Where do these children get their energy? Rainie Grace is still up watching Little House on the Prairie. She seems to always get her way when the pitch goes up in her voice, "Can I please watch Laura Ingals?"
KC and I both grew up with animals in our homes. As parents, neither one of us has any tolerance for pets, but this week we have completely lost our minds. We finally broke down and got a...gecko. And some fish. Really pushing the limits of what my meds can control.
Brandel turned one a few weeks ago, and has started walking everywhere. Surprisingly, he hasn't been run over during the onslaught of hugs I receive when I get home in the evenings. What a great feeling to get all that love to end my day. We are still debating on what to do about the hair. It's crazy. Thick, wavy, curly...just like me. Ha! My bald spot is getting so big I look like Tebow during Broncos Camp.
My turn to rub Rainie Grace.
OK. I love rubbing Rainie-Grace's feet at 10:40 at night. However, I interrupted the kids evening w/ a Chic-fil-a craving. The closest Chic-fil-a is 35 mins from here but I rationalized it by stopping at Staples for ink cartridges. ;) I was a little stir crazy since I've been in this house all week but an hour into our excursion, and two chocolate milkshake clean-ups later, I remembered why I don't go anywhere; my nerves can't take it! I did survive two days at St. Augustine Beach on our summer break. I didn't think I'd make it that long w/ the 118* heat index and 3 little people. Sight seeing was less then appealing in that heat. As was chasing the crawling baby down the shore to the Atlantic ocean that was ready to drag his cute self to sea! Rainie-Grace and Rebekah loved the waves but neither were any match for the undertow. Needless to say, my options were to sit in a beach condo or drive the two hours to my comfy bed and CLEAN home. Hmmmm ...... Now that was a vacation. Three babies who only want to snuggle mama is easy. It's those boys that will wear me out! Or my nerves anyway. They enjoyed themselves fishing and body surfing the rest of the week. Fortunately, we watched shark week the week after the beach vacation where Josh and the boys fished night and day w/ bait in their pockets in waist deep water. After watching that I'm certain they won't do that again! On a lighter note, we are all practicing our bowling skills on the wii since we will be bowling in the best buddy bowling tourney in Spring Hill at the end of this month. Thank you Zuidema family for this fun event. We are also plugging away at our studies. Still finishing up last year and we will not be taking a break so we can start this year before Halloween. I remind these kids that their whole life is a break w/ the number of trips we go on through out the year. But that's the joy of homeschooling. In summary, our day to day is pretty mundane. We are really excited about our Buddy Walk this October. Which is approaching surprisingly fast considering Rebekah and Brandel are still taking swim lessons! Rebekah floating on her back in the pool while hollering is quite a sight. Josh says that's part of the survival technique; you'll hear her in the pool if she falls in. I'm seeing swim scholarships for my girls. Really nothing much else to share. I just wanted to update this blog since the last post was FOUR months ago. But now that I have Josh on board we'll do this more often. Good night.
Where do these children get their energy? Rainie Grace is still up watching Little House on the Prairie. She seems to always get her way when the pitch goes up in her voice, "Can I please watch Laura Ingals?"
KC and I both grew up with animals in our homes. As parents, neither one of us has any tolerance for pets, but this week we have completely lost our minds. We finally broke down and got a...gecko. And some fish. Really pushing the limits of what my meds can control.
Brandel turned one a few weeks ago, and has started walking everywhere. Surprisingly, he hasn't been run over during the onslaught of hugs I receive when I get home in the evenings. What a great feeling to get all that love to end my day. We are still debating on what to do about the hair. It's crazy. Thick, wavy, curly...just like me. Ha! My bald spot is getting so big I look like Tebow during Broncos Camp.
My turn to rub Rainie Grace.
OK. I love rubbing Rainie-Grace's feet at 10:40 at night. However, I interrupted the kids evening w/ a Chic-fil-a craving. The closest Chic-fil-a is 35 mins from here but I rationalized it by stopping at Staples for ink cartridges. ;) I was a little stir crazy since I've been in this house all week but an hour into our excursion, and two chocolate milkshake clean-ups later, I remembered why I don't go anywhere; my nerves can't take it! I did survive two days at St. Augustine Beach on our summer break. I didn't think I'd make it that long w/ the 118* heat index and 3 little people. Sight seeing was less then appealing in that heat. As was chasing the crawling baby down the shore to the Atlantic ocean that was ready to drag his cute self to sea! Rainie-Grace and Rebekah loved the waves but neither were any match for the undertow. Needless to say, my options were to sit in a beach condo or drive the two hours to my comfy bed and CLEAN home. Hmmmm ...... Now that was a vacation. Three babies who only want to snuggle mama is easy. It's those boys that will wear me out! Or my nerves anyway. They enjoyed themselves fishing and body surfing the rest of the week. Fortunately, we watched shark week the week after the beach vacation where Josh and the boys fished night and day w/ bait in their pockets in waist deep water. After watching that I'm certain they won't do that again! On a lighter note, we are all practicing our bowling skills on the wii since we will be bowling in the best buddy bowling tourney in Spring Hill at the end of this month. Thank you Zuidema family for this fun event. We are also plugging away at our studies. Still finishing up last year and we will not be taking a break so we can start this year before Halloween. I remind these kids that their whole life is a break w/ the number of trips we go on through out the year. But that's the joy of homeschooling. In summary, our day to day is pretty mundane. We are really excited about our Buddy Walk this October. Which is approaching surprisingly fast considering Rebekah and Brandel are still taking swim lessons! Rebekah floating on her back in the pool while hollering is quite a sight. Josh says that's part of the survival technique; you'll hear her in the pool if she falls in. I'm seeing swim scholarships for my girls. Really nothing much else to share. I just wanted to update this blog since the last post was FOUR months ago. But now that I have Josh on board we'll do this more often. Good night.
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