Princess - It's a Vivas Thing!

Jan 27 2013

What happened?

Apparently I need to update my blog!

In the past year, we gained two new children and had many changes in our family.

And there are many more to come!

It amazes me that in just a few short weeks, the Good Looking One will be married to this angel!

And that these two are turning 20 and 13 this year!

The Talented One is almost half-way through college studying music….and she’s half way thru middle school!

(And the Drama, oh the Drama!)

And then, there’s the Smart One and Bboo….the Smart One almost finishing his first year of HIGH SCHOOL and Bboo…sniff sniff…finishing up high school forever. She’ll be 18 in just a few days…and he’ll be 16 this year!

I wrote my first blog, four years ago this past week, Whatever in the Whole Wide World. As I sat and read it this morning, I was taken back. It’s amazing how time flies by so fast you can barely keep up. It seems it wasn’t so long ago that I was the one preparing for my wedding to the love of my life, and now we’re getting ready for our son’s wedding. Where did the time go? What happened? I’m not sure, but I do know that it is true; the older you get the more you remember the past. The Smart One and I sat at lunch the other day and talked about, “Remember When?” I realize I did most of the remembering, but we had some great laughs.

Don’t get me wrong! I am so looking forward to the memories to come. I love the new relationships that we continue to build and look forward to where we are going. I just can’t believe how fast we are getting there!

Oct 25 2012

Adoption Day!

We waited a long time for today; it’s been over 10 long years. There were times when we gave up. And then, God would bring them back. There’s a story to tell…another day.

Today, I want to share with you the joy of our adoption.

They were so excited...waiting to go in and get this thing over with!

"Miss Cathy" our very dear friend...thank you for being there for us!

"MIss Elaina"....God placed you here for a reason...to bring these children home, no matter the cost to you. Forever we are grateful!

Taking pictures helped with the waiting!

Standing before the Judge, waiting to start! (Comical Moment: Our son lets the judge know he is matching today!)

Attorney explaining to the judge why we are asking to adopt...almost there!

This is the point where I lose it... Cathy and Elaina cry along with me!

Thank you, Cathy, for capturing the moment!

While they pick out gifts from the judge...

They're smiling...because "no one can ever take them away from us again"

It is with the deepest, heartfelt gratitude, that we thank you all. Thank you for praying for us throughout the years. For holding us when we lost them again and again…and for rejoicing with us each time we got them back. I can’t imagine going through this without our “prayer warriors.”

For those of you who share “Thankful Thursday” with me…this is mine! (I love you, sisters!)

It’s sinking in…it’s real…I guess we’d better figure out how to add some more rooms to this house!

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in Hope

Be Patient in Tribulation

Be Faithful in Prayer

Aug 12 2010

And finally…

It comes to an end. Or a beginning.

They are moving home. They are filled with joy because they are going home to their mother. Starting at a new school; a new beginning.

I want to feel that joy, but to be honest, my heart is breaking. As much as I look forward to putting my own family back together, I ache at the loss of those two precious children. When I come home from work; they will be gone. There will be no more fights to brush the teeth and comb the hair; no more arguing; no more appointments that take up so much of our time.

But there will also be no more laughing at the ridiculous things that he says and does. No more praying for dreams of dragonflies and butterflies. No more, “Aunt Hope, can we talk?” before she goes to bed. No more hugs. No more…

Instead, there will be time for those who have patiently waited for the past 18 months. Now, when they ask, I won’t have to put them off; but instead, I hope to put them first. I pray that we’ll make the most of our new time together. I hope to make each moment count.

As my heart breaks, is it possible to be filled with joy as we start a new beginning? I think so….and for today, I’ll find my joy within…just for the joy of it.

Jun 13 2010

VIP Weekend!

Our weekend started out with Chicken Noodle Butt coming home as his class VIP! This meant that he got to keep the classroom pet…a stuffed lizard…for the weekend! He was very excited about his new friend!

It was the Talented One’s 17th birthday on Saturday, making him one VIP for the weekend, too!

Does he look happy?

We didn’t get to celebrate his birthday much on Saturday though, because hubby was in a wedding. Once his wedding duties were over, he changed out of his tux and we had some fun on the dance floor! Well, they had fun dancing while I had fun snapping pictures!

This is the Drama Queen dancing with her cousin.

And then there is Punky having a ball with the Drama Queen, Chicken Noodle Butt, the Princess, and a family friend. Can you see Chicken Noodle Butt getting down in the background? They boy went crazy on the dance floor! I wish we’d thought to video tape it as I’m sure we would have won some type of award!

And finally, the Drama Queen got her wish and was able to dance with her daddy. She was able to twist her way down while Daddy did his best to keep up with her, laughing the whole time. I just love this shot! I’m sure one day when she gets married and has her own slide show, she’ll have this one on it as a Daddy/Daughter memory!

And after all of that, we finally had a family celebration for the Talented One’s birthday. And I never even took my camera out and snapped a picture! But I did manage to have a nice time just talking and eating and hanging out. Not a bad weekend at all!

May 31 2010

Laughable Moment #27

Saturday evening, we were sitting around with Punky and the Good-Looking One’s girlfriend, watching a movie. All of a sudden, the Drama Queen comes downstairs with Chicken Noodle Butt. She dramatically informs us,

“Mom, you need to take care of Chicken Noodle Butt, his face is glowing in the dark!”

Not exactly the words I was expecting to hear out of her mouth, but as I looked up, his face was indeed, glowing in the dark.

And he was crying. And we were trying really hard not to laugh.

You see, he’d been given a glow in the dark thingie that he’d snuck upstairs to his room when he went to bed. And he’d apparently kept cracking it until some of the liquid leaked out onto his hair and face. So, he was glowing.

We quickly got up and took him into the bathroom. Punky picked him up and held him over the sink while I ran water over his hair and face. Not sure if we’d gotten it all off, we shut the door, turned off the light, and discovered that yes indeed, he was no longer glowing in the dark!

Meanwhile, the Princess was waiting outside the door with the glow in the dark stick that she’d taken to bed with her. She was handing it over to us, as she quickly stated,

“Here, take it! I don’t want to be glowing in the dark!”

See, it’s moments like this that made me decide to blog!