Beach Shots

We must have been at the beach at the perfect time of day for lighting. The reflection off the lake was lovely. The girls loved running around in the sand, and the adults loved watching them. The peace and calm of sunset was God-breathed. If you ever have a chance to visit the Lake Lure area of North Carolina, I highly recommend it!

Family Vacation

I had the best vacation ever over the Memorial Day weekend. My parents, brother and sister and their families joined us in Lake Lure, NC - a gorgeous part of the country and a place that you really have to try hard to get to. We took one twisty road after another before arriving, and it was well worth the zig-zag path to see such an awesome locale. The scenery was divine, and being with family was incredible. It wasn't nearly long enough, but it was salve for my soul, just what I needed during all of the recent whirlwinds of change. Here are a few pics from our together time. More to come later.

Great Expectations

How does one do it well, or right, when it comes to announcing an event that may or may not come to pass, but whose impact will change many lives, one way or another? Mmmm...I don't know, so here's my best shot:

We are expecting...
...expecting to be blessed by God in immeasurable ways in the days/weeks/months to come.
...expecting to welcome into our world a tiny baby boy whose life will be joined with ours within the month and whose story we'll share for a lifetime.
...expecting to open our hearts to a dear young couple who have decided to place the life they created into the arms of our family in a few short weeks.
...expecting that having a son in our home will have an amazing impact on our lives.
...expecting God to hold us all in the palm of His hands until the adoption is complete, and if something happens to disrupt it, expecting Him to help us all put the pieces back together.

I guess that's it; we're expecting, and it's a boy!

The Many Faces of a Black-Eye (No Make-up Included)

For all you Sesame Street fans out there, this lovely look is being brought to you by the letter "H" and the number "3."

My oh-so-unflattering self portrait collage was taken during a conversation with my Mom just tonight. Long story short, I was lying in bed trying to get Hannah to join me in going to sleep last Saturday night. She was excited and antsy about settling down, since we were spending the night at my in-laws. After numerous attempts at getting her to go from sitting up to the supine position, I counted backwards from three to get her to lie down (my favorite mommy tactic - the countdown). She complied when I got to "one" by doing the Nestea plunge into my cheekbone. Needless to say, I saw stars and my cheek swelled up like a peach! The better it heals, the uglier it gets. Sometimes love really does hurt; literally.

The Misadventures of Spring

Misadventure - the first: See Hannah. See Hannah learn. Go, Hannah, go. Learn, Hannah, learn. Oh, my - look! Hannah can unscrew bottle tops. Wow - Hannah! Oh, my - wait! See Hannah unscrew the top of Mommy's nail polish. Hannah paints her little toenails red. Very red. Pretty toenails, Hannah.

Misadventure - the next: Oh, look - the wind is blowing. Let's fly kites. Go, kite, go! Oh, no! The wind isn't strong enough. Let's run. Up, kite, up! Run, Jaycie, run! Oh, no! Away from the power lines, Jaycie - away! Stop, Jaycie - STOP!

Tagged - For Real?!?

I think that someone tagged me before Dana did, but she reminded me most recently, so...

Here's how this one works: 1. The rules are posted at the beginning. 2. Each player answers the questions about themselves. 3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and ask them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago: Getting adjusted to life in the big city (Bowling Green) and trying to figure out what it meant to be "the youth minister's wife."

Five things on my to do list for today:
1. Rest
2. Relax
3. Recuperate
4. Do laundry
5. Breathe

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Pay off my family's debts; buy my parents places to live near all three of their kiddos; take both sides of my family to Hawaii; adopt lots more children; build my dream library.

Three of my bad habits:
1. Biting my cuticles
2. Devouring Blistex
3. Breaking the rules of tagging games

Five places I have lived:
1. Louisiana - lots of spots
2. Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
3. Natchez, Mississippi
4. Buna, Texas
5. 9 different places in Kentucky

Five jobs I have had:
1. Writing tutor
2. Administrative assistant
3. Children's librarian
4. Public relations coordinator
5. Outreach manager

Five People I Want to Know More About:
1. Jennifer White (who should really start a blog - tee! hee!)
2. all of my other blogging world friends (who've likely all been tagged by now)
3. John James Audubon
4. the worlds coolest children's poet - Charles Ghigna (but he's too busy to blog, I'm certain; Jaycie's reading his latest book in the photo above)
5. the person who created this tagging game

Hannah Loves Cole Loves Hannah Loves Chocolate

Kate and Gilbert brought their sweet little guy over a week or so back when they were in town closing on their house. Hannah loved playing with Cole, as well as mugging for the camera with him as you can see below. I think Cole has just about caught up to her in height, and he sure was talking lots more than last time we were together. These two were as sweet as the brownies they were devouring. Thanks for coming to see us, Kerrigans; we miss you!