Fun in the Rain

When it rains, it pours here. The kids take advantage of the rain since the past 3 years in Colorado, it hardly rained.

Malachi turns 8 years old!

Happy 8th Birthday Malachi

(September 26, 2011)

This post is a little late as last week was Malachi's 8th birthday! I can't believe he is 8 years old! What a joy it has been to raise this son over the past 8 years.

My most silly Malachi,

Oh how your mama loves you! I remember vividly the day you were born and the first time I held you and looked into your sweet eyes. You are naturally the funny one in the house. You always make your mama and daddy laugh and continue to make me smile daily! I love your sweet hugs and kisses that you so willingly give. It is funny how you don't mind when others are in your personal space, or should I say, rather, you like to get in other's personal space by sitting so close to them and loving on them! I love to watch you wrestle around and play soccer with your older brother. I love how you play star wars with your sister as you teach her how to "fight" with a light saber. And everyone knows that you have become the favorite sibling buddy to Judah! It is so sweet how Judah calls you "Bubba" and prefers you to play with him and do things with him, sometimes preferring you over mommy! It is because of the time you have given him since he was born, playing with him and taking care of him out of love, all out of your own desire. All of your siblings love you dearly as you are such a fun, loving kid! Since you were little, you have always been the daring, adventurous one of the bunch. I love that about you! Honestly, you have little to no fear of most things and are willing to try new things all the time. I'm surprised that in 8 years, you have not broken a bone yet! Malachi, my son, I love you so very much. I love that I get to spend my days with you at home, teaching you many things. I am so very blessed that God has allowed me to be your mom and to raise you in His ways. Over the past year, I have seen you grow in your relationship with God by reading your Bible and talking about Him often. I am so thrilled that you love God, as this is the desire of my heart for you....that you will love God with all your heart and serve Him as a man. Just the other day you asked me to please turn the radio down in the car because you couldn't concentrate as you were trying to read your bible. Your daddy and I are so very proud of the little man you are becoming and the sweet, funny boy that you are! We love you so much! I love you, Malachi, with the greatest love that a mother has.

Happy Birthday Malachi!

Love, Mommy

(and for the record, I also love your long shaggy hair!)

Malachi eating his birthday breakfast request: "Daddy's" stuffed french toast. Other requests were as follows: Lunch--Creamed eggs on toast and for Dinner--Nachos

Putting together some puzzles that his siblings bought for him for his bday. Of course they are Star Wars!

An Obi Wan light saber that Papa and Andrea sent.

This shirt was bought and given to him by his siblings with their own money.

The remote control car that daddy picked out for Malachi. This is not your Walmart remote control car :)

Money sent from Grandma Carr (more money flowed in from aunts and uncles as well). He spent some of his money on some star wars movies and legos!

Sparklers, fun!

Judah trying to help blow out the candles.

And for the record, here are some of your favorite things at 8 years old:

Favorite:

Board Game: Star Wars Monopoly

Food: Nachos

Subject in school: Cursive Handwriting

Sport: Soccer

Toy: Legos

Movie: Star Wars

Favorite Star Wars Character: tie between Yoda and Obi Wan

Favorite Season: summer

Other things you love: riding your bike, camping, hiking, no bake cookies, hugs, wrestling around, jumping and climbing on and off of things, food, reading, and God.

Beach Fun!

We took the kids to the beach during a school day. We kept it a secret and surprised them. They had a blast and said it was better than doing school! Below are fun pictures of the awesome day we had!

What we are up to lately

We are currently at Fort Lee, Virginia and will find out the beginning of October where we will be moving to in January. I'm almost 26 weeks pregnant with baby "E". We call the baby "E" because both the boy and girl names we have chosen begin with the letter "E". The baby is due Dec. 29th so it can be a Dec/Jan baby. We are still adopting from Africa. We plan to continue with the adoption process in Feb 2012 after we are settled in with the move and baby. The kids are doing great in school. We are homeschooling and Josiah is in 5th, Malachi in 3rd, and Aliyah in K. Judah plays around, makes us laugh, and gets into everything during school! The older 3 kids are in soccer, cubscouts, and girlscouts. We are keeping busy around here for sure. Frank is doing awesome in his class and is in phase #2 of 3 phases. He will graduate mid December from this class. We are anxious to know where we are moving to! Well, that is a quick update around here!

Meeting my sister!

Labor Day weekend, we drove to South Carolina to meet my sister and her kids for the first time! I've posted before about my new sister but here is a quick update. My birth mom had my sister, Datra when she was single and 19 yrs old. Datra is 20 months older than me. She gave her up for adoption, and also kept it a family secret as well. My family did not know about her. Apparently, after the adoption, my mom did confide in my grandma and aunt that she did in fact have a baby and gave her up for adoption. She also confided in my biological father, who told me about the adoption when I met him in prison in 1999. I kept it a secret, as I was told that no one in the family knew about her so I didn't want to upset anyone, nor did I know if it was true. The secret was confirmed as truth about 3 years later by my aunt, (my mom died when I was 3 yrs) but she didn't have any info about my sister at all. Fast forward to 2011 when the internet is amazing! My sister found me on Facebook in March of this year! Amazing, right?!!

Anyhow, it was a great weekend and I immediately connected with my sister and just loved her kids! She has 3 children, Dacia 13 yrs, DaShaun, 11 yrs, and Da'mari 9 yrs. My kids loved her kids and vise versa! It was such a great time getting to know one another for sure. I also met Datra's adoptive father and he was such a great guy! He told me how my mom lived with his aunt for the last few months of her pregnancy and he got to know her well. He also commented on how much I look like my mom :) In the end, it is amazing how this story unfolds. One day, I may find the encourage and time and write a book about my life, and a memoir to my mom. I desire to do it, but at the moment, I just don't have the time to put into it.

Enjoy the pics!