Who's The Guy Hiding Behind The Cup??

Oh! That would be Julie's boyfriend Jon! Heh! Jon, his mom Gisele and sister Miri were in town for the weekend so the P.C. and Miri "ddddrrrraaaagggggeeeedddd" Jon to see this Chick Flick. He was the ONLY male in the theater...and had a great attitude I must say! The girls had a blast ....and speaking for this group...want to go again. Can you do the Hoedown Throwdown? Or, is is it the Throwdown Hoedown??

Last But Not Least....

...our sweet, sweet Leni. This girl would never hurt a fly, is a friend to all animals, "unless you're a cockroach' she says:) At the ripe old age of 7 she's the size of a 10 year old, lives for mud, and is our resident 'dirt magnet'. I never had trouble keeping clothes clean till this kiddo came into our lives:) This precious angel has taught us to love what God loves...and to slow down and see things through very different eyes. She's quiet, unobtrusive, but funloving and a great companion. (Geez...I sound like I'm describing a pet!!) She gets along with pretty much everyone and is very content to take a back seat to the resident blond. (Like the blond really gives her much of a choice...heh.) Actually she and Eloise are best buddies and although only a year separates the two...they couldn't be more different. I think everyone that gets to know this special gift from God develops a very soft spot for her:) Anyway....here is her letter to her Dad on Father's Day.


Dear Dad...
I love the way you fish with me. (Hmmmm....let me think...they dug up friendly worms and fished off the lake bridge last weekend catching 6 fish in about 15 minutes!!) Everytime when I fall and get a booboo you always take care of me. Hmmm.....When I was a baby you used to call me hairball. (Uh...so not true! Even though she is Italian:))Everytime I get scared of raccoons you help me not be scared of them (we had a raccoon family invading our garage at Christmas..The Dad shot them with a BB gun) Mom! Mom! What did you write Mom??!! So, Dad, I love you no matter what and so could we please get on an airplane and go to France? (????) I loved it when we went to Bruster's and so Dad...Happy Fodder's Day! I love you...

Love....

Leni VanLue


If only life were always as simple as this....
All notes in parentheses are by the mother:)

And Then You Have Eloise~

Yea...this is normal.:) This girl is either high or low. She considers middle ground just plain dull.

This is Jon. Julie's 'Friend' with a capital F. :) Here is Eloise using her manipulative charm on the poor boy...trying to get him to so something for her. I wish I could remember what. She's very dramatic if you haven't gotten the picture yet.

It was close to 100 degrees here and Leni sprayed her with the hose. Do you feel sorry for her?????? Yea...we didn't either.


Who decided Father's Day was the appropriate time to don her Tomato Red Christmas Dress? We love this girl and all her antics! Lately she has been responding so very well and even wrote her own worship song:) (Did we hear angels rejoicing????) Let's peek in on her letter to her Dad on Father's Day and see the realities of our Curly-headed 6 year old's mindset.

Dear Daddy,
Happy Father's Day...(mmmmmmm....giggle....giggle....snort..giggle...twist...turn....stand on head a little.....giggle) Thank you for buying me ice cream, and a webkin from Texas. (Ok, our Dad hasn't been to Texas in a year. Surely she could think of something in the last year he's done to inspire her:)...but ok....she picked Texas) Thank you for buying me presents. That's all.
Love,
Kristin

Clearly....we need to work on the materialism multiplying in this child's heart.:)

And FYI...she's an awesome kid that helps me immensely with the other 2 girls. I couldn't or wouldn't want to live life without her....even though because of her I go to bed exhausted:) Heh.

Happy Fodderz Day!

Tradition has it that each child writes a letter to Dad on Father's Day. We musn't tamper with tradition.... So....here they are from the bottom up:) First we have Katie Mei's interpretation of a 'Letter to Dad'....

Dear Dad,
Happy Fodderz' Day! (Fingers go in mouth and we're acting very shy even though we're not ....but we just have to be in the mood to do what is being asked of us and this child is very moody). MOOOOOMMMM! Tan you tell me what to say to Dad, MOOOOMMMMM?? Tan you?? (Mom, "Katie, is he a good dad?") Yeeesssss, and I want to draw a mmmiiillleeyyy face, tay MOOOMMMMM?????

Love KKKKKKKK (which is how she signs her name)



(Dad got a smiley face for Fodderz Day from the teeny-tiniest VanLue.)

This pic cracks me up! She was spitting over the bridge into the lake to make the fish come up:) Nothing but high class ladies around here.

We Heart Heart VBS!

We gotsome saaawwweeeeetttt 'long hair' from the dollar store as a reward for good behavior this week!!:) Eloise shows off her carabiner full of memorized:) scriptures and her "God's Eye" she made today. We are very excited about our new hair the most:)

These kids raised $4200 to support micro-financing farming in developing nations this week!! WOW!! The target countries were the Dominican Republic and South America.

Music Class everyday was a workout!!

Rec class was 'themed' as well around the scriptures of the day:) What a blast!

More rec time....this time it was a relay ball game.

Caught a sneak peek of Katie as she was going to her music class:) Look how tiny she is compared to the other girls!!



Whew! What a week! Here's a few more photos from our busy, busy VBS centered week! I even had a mom tell me today she was going home to 'plant the seed' for adoption in the heart of her husband after being around us all week. This made me smile:0)especially after seeing our girls in full force all week....attitudes and all:) You never know what God will do just by sharing your story!! And now...back to laundry, school (yes, even in the summer) and reality as we seek to immerse ourselves back into real life again!

We Heart VBS!!

The church where the girls have attended preschool the last few years has the most well executed Vacation Bible School I have ever seen. The last 2 years this mommy has had the privilege of teaching as well. This week the P.C. are in RARE form attending CAMP EDGE!! We have danced, painted, laughed, run, climbed, crafted, swung from giant ropes, and hopefully listened about God's word as we have TREKED through scripture. We spent Sunday decorating our classrooms with a 'camping' theme including pop-up tents, flashlights, bugs, and even a 'fire'! Every day has been a different 'color' which has been a little challenging making sure everyone was decked out in the hue of the day.....and when the teacher I teamed with dropped out on SUNDAY NIGHT!!....well..that was quickly overcome as well. This mommy went on solo teaching one of the 1-2nd grade classes including a certain blond and a certain Italian mama:) It has been a stellar week of memories for these little ladies.The director had Katie in her Pre-K class so I'm hoping to be stealth and sneaky n take a few pics of her as well. Here's a few picures from today. I don't post pics of others children without permission, so you will see only our little ladies on 'red' day making the marble-rolling-in-paint-bandanas that had paint laden marbles rolling all over the classroom floor....and eating graham cracker campfires made with white cream cheese outlined with a perimeter of m&m's with broken pretzel sticks as the 'fire-wood'. Cute huh?? We had 15 kiddos in our class and it has been so much fun sharing the gospel with these little people!! And that's why we heart VBS!! Tomorrow's the last day and we are ssssaaaaaadddddd!

Rumors are flyin....

...over at China Adopt Talk. We have some friends anxiously waiting their referral from China after 3!!!!years and.....they are next!!!!! Very exciting! We should know something in a few days:) Hopefully I'll have some new pics for tomorrow.

...stay tuned:) It's a crazy week. What I am doing as a priority is reading "Loving God with All Your Mind" by Elizabeth George. I can't recommend it enough !. It's been a life changer for me:) In the meantime, Katie is at 102 degrees
And definitely not happy, while mom teaches VBS.....which by the way is a blast!

Party Time!

Miss Katie Mei is 4!! We loaded up and took on Monkey Joe's for a fun afternoon and then back to the house for pizza, cake and a what-has-become-a-tradition pinata. Can't believe my baby is growing up....well in age...not size:) She's still a peanut! Enjoy the pics of our time celebrating!


Julie and Tay

Now...they're 4 and 3! Katie on the left...Cade on the right.

Sweet Sadie tries a ride:)

Love these kids! Poor Colin...the only big boy:)


Whoooo!!!! There goes Katie!

Wild things....mostly referencing the blond:)

I LOVE this pic! Alexis, Lauren, Katie and Kristi-loo

Mama's oldest two...they remind me often that they were here first:)

No comment needed....



Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

Happy Birthday Katie Mei!

Today we celebrate birthday #4 for Katie Mei! Where, oh where does the time go? Here she is on her first birthday...just a short month after placing her feet on American soil....and here she is today, running down the beach like any Florida girl! We love you Katie!! Happy Birthday!!

While we celebrate today...please continue to pray for those Christians still in China facing persecution for their faith! Please don't allow the freedom we experience here to make us lazy and unfeeling towards those who give their very lives daily as a sacrifice to spread the Gospel!

Does Someone Have Their Eyes Shut?????

Please meet Katie Mei's new friend....Bailey Kate! She's all of 3 weeks old as we met her for the first time yesterday. Mom Megan and Dad Clay stayed with the Princess Collection X 2 when we went to China to get Katie 3 years ago....at that point they were childless but in faith to have their own. In the last year and a half they have added 3 beautiful little people to their family! The story gets better as they had their first son, Cole....then adopted a little boy Cooper, who happens to be only 2 weeks younger than Cole...then Mama Megan finds out she's expecting Bailey Kate! Cole and Cooper aren't even 2 years old yet! Heh...yea...we're laughing at God's sense of humor too:) This family is amazing us as they love and care for these precious gifts!! Please pray for Megan as she figures out how to take a shower :) and go to the grocery store:) with 3 gifts under 2. What I think is awesome is how God has envisioned this family for adoption and answered their prayers in ways they didn't imagine or could never have expected. I love it!! .....and FYI....the camera was screaming at me that "someone has their eyes shut!" as I was taking this picture. Go figure. And why did this come out underlined????? I do not know.

Happy Birthday Mel!

I wanted to take the time to tell my extraordinary Daughter-in-law Happy Birthday and to explain why she is so dear to this family:) We knew Mel and her family for years as our first 'set' of kids were growing up. She is the oldest of 6(!) and the only girl. She and Jason first became interested each other on a medical mission trip to Bolivia.I can still remember my husband coming home from 2 weeks in the rugged conditions saying...."I'll bet Jason and Mel get married." I totally didn't see it and brushed him off. Well, here we are 6 years later and I couldn't be more delighted in my son's choice for a wife! She takes superb care of my son and delights in making a home for him. Equally is her care for our little buddy...Cade. He is the joy of their lives and ours as well. I'm amazed at how Mel tirelessly serves the "boys" in not only caring for but anticipating their needs (and wants!!). Her patience is remarkable!! I see her reaching out frequently to the ladies in her homegroup and wanting all to feel cared for as individuals...not just a body in a group. Mel is extremely organized and therefore through her example encourages others to pursue excellence in all things. Her heart for the Lord as she 'runs her race' is evident in the way she chooses to structure her time and days. I wish I had a 'blip' of her self-control and discipline! She has truly taught me to desire more of this in my life!! And last but not least....her care for our girlies and her in-law family. Mel goes above and beyond to include us and make us feel not like the 'married-into-side' but genuine friends. I love the relationship we have with this remarkable girl! So...thank you Mel for caring for our boys and us.....even in all the craziness of an unconventional family!! We love you very much and all you do to make our lives sweeter!

Four Is Easier Than Three...Part 2

...especially when you bring five and six!! Julie's Jon was in town and we loaded up all 4 pickles (I'll explain that in a minute), and headed to NSB. Gotta get 'em tired! (Julie and Jon too...heh) Anyway, Jon did water duty and made sure all got their surfing fix. Julie was the Top Chef food hander-outer. The only thing to top the day was having a great friend who owns a condo:) Here's some pics of our adventures....

P.S. We now call them the 'pickles' because I was calling them the 'little kids' the other day and a family member thought I was shouting for 'pickles'. It was funny at the time but now seems kinda lame. I thought it was funny so now they are all referred to as the 'pickles' and they really do answer. Heh.

Four is Easier Than Three...Part 1 1/2

The face of the Chocolate Dougnut! These two grabbed the bag and were scarfing those babies down rapid-fire while fighting over the last one. Yum for them...yuck for me:)..Great delight was found in the ooey-gooey warm chocolate doughnuts covered in sand.. melted in the heat, at the beach ...our happy place:) Thanks to Jon for introducing the little folks to these mini-choc treats! Who knew war would break out over who got to hold the bag that was coated in sand 'n' melted chocolate?? Forgot to photo the bag eventually tattered and torn from so many hands grabbing and shredding. Heh. BTW... I would've never let my older kids have these when they were little. They simply were not allowed. This set...sure, why not??!! And...I must say...the littles were more covered in choc than the photos allow. That's what pools are for:)

Four Is Easier Than Three! (Part 1)

There I've said it! We had the Cadertot for a few days this past week and all here have come to the conclusion that having 4 littles is a much more workable number than three. The 'little' littles play together magnificently and everyone has a buddy. There was no 'being left out' drama or really any cat-fights. It was glorious! The little ones are currently both 3 years old and K is 6 with Leni at a whopping 7. Needless to say though, my computer time has been non-existent. So...on that note....here's a few pics from some of our adventures. Day one...we took on the zoo. They have a splash park there which was a hit....and all that wanted to were able to watch a cobra eat a rat. Fun huh?? We're very, very sad that Mel missed this exciting feat but I hear they feed daily at 2:30.:) Hurry! You don't want to miss it!! They also give the big cats a giant hunk of meat they can drag around and be taunted by our little angels!Barbaric but true. I don't know why zoo people feel the need to do feeding time while little children and queasy moms are watching. Science maybe?? Sorry...no photos of the rat ingesting but all kiddos and Mom Jo thought it was spectacular. The mommy just stood far, far away under the air conditioning vent.:) We wore these little bodies out so they just fell over at bedtime!.....part 2...forthcoming:)