Our other children...

Marc came with "baggage" 12 years ago! These two kitties, Tom and Pooks! They are brother and sister and love each other very much. Now, I wasn't a cat person AT ALL...but after some time, I grew to love these two kitties. Tom is a needy kitty and talks nonstop. But at 10pm it's bedtime and he is the best snuggle bug ever and then his screaming turns to purrs. Pooks is a very independent kitty, but LOVES "comPOOKER time" (computer time) and wants to be held while I check emails etc. And now I can say with a genuine heart that... When you have a cat (or two)...Every day is PURRRRfect!

Pre-K Graduation

Pre-K graduation was AMAZING! If I was so emotional over this, High School and College are going to kill me!! My Uncle Lester, Aunt Carol, and cousin Danny came to celebrate with us! Ana shouted from the stage, "I see Danny...Danny is here!"

This is one of Ana's classmates! She's a sweetheart!

Ana walking down the aisle...

Getting her diploma from her teacher, Ms. Amy... Ana with some of her classmates after receiving their diplomas!

Congratulations Ana, We are so proud of you!

She's Got a HOLE in Her Mouth!

Back in May, Ana had a dentist appointment and she had an abscess on her gum. It was infected and had to be pulled immediately so that the infection didn't spread. Of course, this was the week of her Pre-K graduation and we had to fit it in between parties and graduation practices. Ana was SO brave and did so well! Had her apt. in the morning and was able to make it to her party that afternoon! The Tooth Fairy visited Ana's school earlier in the year and I asked her what she brings to kids who loose their teeth. She told me, "one money for one tooth". So being that it was her first tooth, and it was removed by the dentist (under anaesthesia) she got "4 monies" (quarters)! The Tooth Fairy even left "Tooth Fairy dust" on her pillow!! :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day THREE years ago we were still in Russia and it was the first full day we got to be with Ana. 12 May is our "Gotcha Day". But it was a quick pick up from the orphanage and straight to a 12 hour night train to Moscow. We woke up the morning of Mother's Day in Moscow and it was my first full day as a MOMMY! I could not have ever imagined a better gift! She is my sweet little girl who brought so much more happiness to my world!!! I love being a mommy!

Kappa Delta Sorority Reunion

Disney World Vacation!!

The Glory of Easter!

Paperwork is FINISHED FOREVER... FINALLY!

April 28th is our Adoption Day. The day the Russian courts said we were Ana's parents! Even though our "paper pregnancy" was over...we still had 3 years of reports to do for Russia. WELL...we mailed our LAST report in April! To celebrate, Marc took the day off and we took family pictures (one of my favorites is the one I put on the blog). Then we drove to Austin to complete the final paperwork before we mailed it. The building we have to go to is right across from the state capital. So we did our "business" and then celebrated by having a VERY relaxing day at the capital grounds.
We had a picnic! Marc likes to have KFC on picnics and Ana LOVES their coleslaw and macaroni and cheese so we had a yummy lunch with HER picnic set. She shared most her meal with the animals who were brave enough to say hi.

We read books, chased birds, fed squirrels, sang songs and believe it or not Ana laid down and relaxed! I love this picture. VERY sweet!

She was SO sweet cuddling. We were there doing nothing but enjoying each other for over 3 hours. The Austin state capital is just so peaceful and beautiful. It was an awesome way to truly appreciate all that God has given us!

From the moment we met Ana, we KNEW it would be a Grand Adventure...and it has been!!

We Love BFCS!

This is the Founder of Ana's School! He started this school 10 years ago and it is truly an amazing answer to prayer. For him and US!

Rodeo Day!
Ms. Amy's Class...YeaHawwww!

Field Day

I was so worried about Ana doing Field Day. She has always been not as coordinated as her peer group, not as fast, and just all around "behind" due to her 2 yrs. in the orphanage. BUT...she ROCKED my world! She medaled in 5 of the 8 events! She was AMAZING!

She and Chase got second in the balloon toss!

She got second in the football toss!

Third place in the potato sack races! Which if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it! She did AWESOME!! She fell down and got back up and kept going and placed!

She tugged with all her might! Loving every minute of it!

She never got 1st ("the blue medal") and she kept asking why...never had a fit or got upset, but just didn't know why. So I explained that it didn't matter the color of the medal...just how she behaved when she received one. When Field Day was over, I went up to one of the volunteers and asked if they had an extra "blue medal" and when we got in the car I gave it to her telling her she was the BEST ONE in good sportsmanship and that was the best type of medal to get!

I was so proud of her!

Hairy Caterpillar...loved it! They made it out of pantyhose and grass!

Too CUTE!

Soccer's a Ball!

Soccer was great! Ana started out being that kid who picks flowers on the sidelines and turned into an assertive little runner who tried so hard to "swiper" that ball! (For all you Dora fans...you know who Swiper is!) One of her classmates has a dad who coaches through the YMCA and they asked us if Ana would like to be on their team. So we signed up and became a Hurricane!

This was after the first game...

Her AMAZING babysitter, came to watch her play a game! Ana was so excited to see her on the sidelines...

These are her FABULOUS coaches!

The champions! Awesome Season!

WHERE DID I GO?

To Third Grade!

If you have been wondering what happened to me and why I haven't posted in two months...I was teaching 3rd Grade! The school Ana attends needed a permanent sub for the remainder of the year. I had a blast and the students, parents, teachers, and administration were amazing! They treated me as if I had been there all along. It was a whirlwind and I was CRAZY busy...but I loved every minute of it and was grateful for the experience. I also loved going to school with Ana, blowing kisses across the campus when we'd see each other, sitting in on lunch with her while my students were at a "special", and the going home together at the end of the day! Perfect way to spend the day! Now that the summer has begun...I hope to get caught up on my blog! :)

What is Ana climbing now?

I REALLY think Ana is part monkey. She climbes EVERYTHING! I will go to check on her and she is up on SOMETHING everytime. If I had a penny for everytime I said, "Ana get down"... She Ain't Misbehavin! She's just playing!

"Ana get down!"

I promise she is allowed to use a door if she wants to leave the backyard! This is just more of a challenge for her! :) Also, if you look closely, she NEVER wears her shoes. If we can't find her shoes, they are 9 out of 10 times in the backyard somewhere.

Look how she moves the car so that she can get higher to get up into the tree! Smart little thing!

"Ana get down!"

YES, we do have a jungle gym for her!

I'm just so grateful she never falls! (Knock on wood!) NEVER a dull moment! :)

I Know My Site Words!

You Know You Live in Texas When...

For those of you who followed my Korea blog, you know about my "Not Quite Right" postings of funny captions or things I'd see in Korea. WELL, I've discovered that Texas has some fun things to share as well! Only in Texas would you find this bathroom sign...the hats and spurs are TOO funny!
This tree has an awesome cactus growing in it/from it...very cool!!

There are churches for Cowboys! And is the arena where you tie up the horses?

Pick a longhorn skull ....any skull ya want!

OR just put the horns on your car! Maybe paint the flag of Texas on the hood JUST to make sure everyone knows that you are a true die hard Texas weirdo! YeeeeHAAWWWW!

Russian New Year

Jan. 14th is one of the Russian New Year's Days. New Year's Day is when the Russian's give presents vs Christmas and I thought this would be a fun day to share with Ana's class. I brought in two of our favorite Russian kids books. One is a general over view of Russia (explained in kid lingo) and the other one is about Father Frost (Russian Santa Clause). We also brought in some of our favorite Russian toys and items for them to play with. The kids loved it! Ana loved it! She was so proud and excited the entire time. I ended our talk with Ana passing out Russian candy. It was a great experience for all of us and I look forward to doing it again next year!

Happy New Year!