It's been awhile since I last posted an update. So, here is our summer in a nutshell, what's going on now with us, and some adoption news.
- Riley and Walker took swim lessons at Bowers Park with Coach Blewitt. Riley was moved up to Pre-Team and Walker was moved up to Advanced Beginners. They did awesome. Riley even competed in two swim meets and won several ribbons. We are convinced that Walker has gills...he is a FISH in the water! Walker's lessons were 3 days a week and Riley's were 4, so we pretty much lived at the pool for the months of June and July.
- Riley had a ball at Kidshine Performing Arts Camp. This was the second year for our church to host it. She played David in the "David and Goliath" skit, and she sang a solo. Unlike me, she never gets nervous on stage and did a fantastic job
- Riley had her first ever slumber party for her 8th birthday. They had a great time watching movies, getting their toenails painted, eating pizza and just being silly.
- Owen had a Sesame Street birthday party for his 2nd birthday. I think I had as much fun as anybody just watching him eat cake...hilarious!
- Just a couple of weeks ago, we went to Gulf Shores - while everyone else was in school. No crowds = happy momma! It really was nice and very slow-paced. We got LOTS of beach time (Owen's favorite. He calls it "big waddo"), pool time, and eating seafood time (my favorite).
- Here is a pic of my garden. I had the best time growing tomatoes, zinnias and okra. My squash and zucchini didn't do too well, but there's always next year.
- I ran my first half-marathon in June....Renaissance Half-Marathon in Ridgeland, MS. It was so much harder than I ever expected, but what an accomplishment! I was thrilled! So, now I am beginning to train for the St. Jude Half-Marathon in Memphis in December.
Riley has started swimming with Crimson Tide Aquatics. This was her first week and she seems to really thrive. Coach Blewitt (that taught her this summer) is one of the instructors and talks about how Riley is smiling the whole time she is swimming. She is exactly right. Even when she is underwater, the child is smiling!
Homeschooling is so mucn fun, and very rewarding. We are having a great time and I love every minute with my kiddos. We are members of the King's Co-op, that actually meets at our church every Friday. Walker loves his karate class he is taking at co-op and Riley is excited about her Archaeology and 4-H classes.
Owen is talking more and more everyday. It seems like it all happened overnight. One day he was just saying a few words like Momma, Da-da, night-night...and the next day he was talking in complete sentences. It is so much fun to hear what he comes up with. Just now, he looked outside the front window and saw Tim cutting the grass with his sunglasses on. Owen said, "Daddy cwose his eyes?" So cute and so much fun!
In Adoption News...
We have had two different fundraisers this summer. In June, we had a garage sale that raised over $800. Several people donated a ton of stuff and we are so thankful. It was well worth it and we will probably do it again in the Spring. In July, we spent a whole day working on two widows' homes....we painted the outside of one house and did general clean up inside and out of the other house. They desperately needed some tlc. We got this idea from the Both Hands ministry....one hand helps the widow while the other hand helps the orphan, as the Bible says in James 1:27. Each of our workers were responsible for getting monetary support that went towards our adoption. It was a very exhausting, yet productive day.
We have had the first of three homestudy interviews with our homestudy agency, Lifeline. Our social worker is wonderful and we will be going back on September 11 for our individual interviews. Tim will be interviewed for 45 minutes and then it will be my turn. Between now and then, Tim and I both have to finish our autobiographies, work on getting our passport and finish up some required reading. We did get confirmation in the mail that our fingerprints and background checks were all good...but that was just for the state of Alabama. Now those go to the FBI...I've heard that's where it takes the longest. Our social worker told us to expect this part to take the longest and encouraged us to mail our fingerprints in before doing anything else. So we wait.....
Lately, Tim and I both have been watching other couples' Ethiopian adoption videos. This has really encouraged me and helped me see that some day we will be able to go over and get our sweet Olivia. It is definitely hard, but I know my God is faithful.
We will keep you posted....