Introducing....

Since the McKenzie family has been back from Africa and conveniently living right next door - we have been treated to a "play" or "concert" two or three times a week.
This week Annalise and Ezra took stage front with their original song entitled, "Our Day Going to School". It was something between a rap song and a ballad. I think about half way through it became pure ab lib which in my opinion didn't detract from the performance at all.
This one probably won't go gold but the singers were darn cute.

These first few spring evenings have been perfect. Basketball and bike riding have gone on till there is almost no light left in the sky. And tonight, after the littles had been put to bed, I found the rest of the kids outside on the front porch listening to AnnaClaire read them a story.
Can we just freeze time right here for a few years?

Last To Ride

Sunday after church we went to Wal-Mart and all the kids got to pick out a new bike. This was pretty exciting but not as monumental as Samuel learning to ride a 2 wheeler. He mastered it in just a few hours of James running up and down the road with him.
Being the youngest of 18 makes everything he does amazing - complete with a huge cheering section.
They're all off and pedaling.

Yesterday was adoption day!
Emma, Ezra and Samuel, who came to us through foster care, became our sons and daughter forever.

A few years ago all our biological and adopted and foster kids were older teens or grown and I thought that we were done the "mommy and poppa" stage. But God used the empty bedrooms down the hall to whisper to our hearts again. He still had more blessings to send to us and we couldn't be happier. We have another sibling group of three that we will be adopting in a few months.

I was reminiscing over some old adoption pictures and noticed how much more mature James and I are now. (Nice way of saying - wow, we're really old this time around!) I have been mistaken for Samuel's grandmother but that's okay. I figure he'll be handy to have around when I'm too old to lift things and having little boys who will tell you that you're beautiful when you're 55 is pretty awesome.

So here we are again...giving baths, buying bikes, listening to kids learn to read and picking up and picking up and picking up.
Empty nests are over-rated.

Yesterday james and I celebrated our birthdays together and all the kids and grandkids came over to celebrate. There were presents and cake and kids everywhere.

And these 4 grandgirls were especially adorable-happy birthday to me!!

A Mad Dash

Our homeschool group roller skates twice a month this year and I love it. This week while public school was out due to snow I took all my boys with us. None of them had skated very much but that didn't stop them from enjoying it.

This was Jeremiah's second time on a rink and I noticed that he skated exactly like he lives life. Before he had a chance to figure out the way to best maneuver - he just took off. He skated at high speed for about 6 seconds before crashing to the floor. He repeated this over and over for 2 hours. He didn't interact with many people and he never really got any better at skating. Just a mad dash and fall and again and again. As difficult as this was on his body, living life this way is even more painful for him. He seems to have no ability to stop, take a cue, learn a lesson, and enjoy the people around him. Life is going to serve him up some bruises!

Winter in Gotham City

Today is February 16th and there has been no school since February 4th.

I don't need to count to tell you that the amount of time off is getting LONG!

This is different than summer break when everyone is outside swimming and playing and not being one inch from my face all day long.

Our only break in monotony is the occasional appearance of, not one, but four super heroes.

Snow, snow go away.