Pied for Lilly and Owen!!

Remember this post??

Well guess what! Lilly has been over the $500 mark for awhile, but today Owen made it! His AT total now is..

They are both now over $500, so Rachel and I were pied. My little brother Elijah wanted pie on his face too, so he grabbed a handful and smeared it all over. :)

But guess what!! There's more!! Guess who else hit their AT goal today??? LILLY! She MADE HER ANGEL TREE GOAL OF $1000 thanks to a challenge that was set up!!

Do you want to see Michelle, the RR donations coordinator get pied?? Help us get Owen to $1000!! We only need about $500 more! That is soo doable!

THANK YOU SOOO VERY MUCH TO EACH PERSON WHO DONATED TO LILLY AND OWEN FOR ANGEL TREE SOO FAR!! You rock!!!

Go here to visit Angel Tree!

Tears of Joy...

Today, Selah flew back to Flordia, and her family will be there soon after their long drive. Selah went home (or at least in the same state) today... a milestone she wasn't expected to reach. Thank you Jesus!!!!!!

She is now at a rehab facility in Jaxsonville, FL, and her family will stay in a hotel nearby while she continues to recover and they can get their house set up to care for her. I am still in shock that this is actually happening... the date they were supposed to leave kept getting delayed, but it was all part of God's perfect timing.

Today is Jon's birthday... what a special birthday present!!

Keep following Selah's progress here on her Mommy's blog!

And the news story - http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Selah-Clanton-Canal-Rescue-Strong-Memorial/u8cCRxscs0u1xvTqu0Ot0w.cspx?rss=1485

What's going on here.

Rose asked me today why I had blue under my eyes. Wondering myself I went to the bathroom to look, thinking it was marker or something. Nope. Not marker. Just dark circles from being tired. :)

I'll admit, during the day I often do feel like doing this...

He wanted cake. I told him no. Mr Stubborn refused to get up from the table because he still thought he would get some. :) I turned around a couple minutes later to find this. Being a good blogger, I of course took a picture before carrying him to bed.

I'm finding out sleep is over rated when you're a mother, or in my case, the fill-in mother. :)

In other news... things are going well here for the most part. 

~The weekend is over. 

~Day 1 of the school week down. 

~Didn't miss any buses. 

~Ruby is sick, with a fever on and off. 

~Theo isn't feeling the best, and had a really bad diaper day. He's has only had about 5 baths in the past few days. 

~I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Wouldn't be a proper trip for me without getting sick! Actually come to think of it, I didn't get sick in DC, but that's the only trip I can think of that I didn't. ;)

~Ruby swallowed a hard candy she got from Grandma on Saturday...it was only a few seconds before I got her to cough it up, but she did start turning purplish blue. Soo scary!!

~Dishes and laundry are usually done, though it's a never ending job for 11 people!!

~The house is still standing.

~They got a fair amount of snow yesterday at home. It was really weird to watch it on TV (Packer game, we are fairly close to Green Bay). No snow here, but it was 12 degrees this morning when I got the kids on the bus. Glad I brought my winter coat!

~I'm excited I get to cook lasagna tomorrow.

~I need to stop listing off random things to make my list longer.

We're hanging in there, I'm tired, but I'm loving these kids, and I'm soo thankful for this experience no matter how hard it may be at times!

Maxim and Adam

After 8 long years of waiting, Maxim met his mama today.

Thank you Jesus!! He is as adorable as ever and the his siblings can't wait to meet him! I am soo THRILLED he is finally going to come home to his family!!

He will be loved and cherished. He will be redeemed.

Read more about him here on Stephanie's blog.

♥♥♥

Do you know who this is?? It's Adam.

He has a wonderful family who is working so hard to bring him home. Do you know who his family is? They are the same family who tried to bring my sweet Logan home!

Because they can't proceed with the adoption of Logan, they are working to bring sweet Adam home from a terrible institution. He is 5 years old and less than 17 pounds. He has hydrocephalus  and need medical care urgently.

Right there is a Hidden Treasures Auction going on for him. There are only a few hours left, please go and bid on some items to help bring him home! And you can visit his mama's blog right here!

Thank you!

the little things...

It's the little things like...

...an adorable pic with Ralph,

...Ruby showing me the bus book that we have read 50 times in the past few days,

...a little stinker pretending to sleep on my bed,

...a concert with Ruby in undies and two hats,

...Ralphie playing with his trucks,

...a bird Ralphie spotted,

...an "A" Ralphie found in the sky while waiting for the bus (do you see it??),

...Theo's adorable rare smile that is soo worth doing anything to see,

...watching Ralph play 'Sam the Fireman',

...finding 20 pictures on my camera of the room I'm staying in and a certain someone's leg, and realizing that the door to my room somehow got left open and I had my camera on my bed (Mr. Ralph, do you have anything to say about that?),

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...baking pumpkin muffins with Rose and Ruby and watching Ruby trying to get her mouth around the circumference,

...watching Rose and Ruby pose with their foil flowers,

...trying to take a pic of Theo that's not blurry because he loves the camera,

...trying to remember Zhen was being naughty when he flashes this killer smile,

...trying to get a good picture of us when Theo isn't staying away from the camera,

...and so much more that make me smile and remember to make happy memories and count my blessing even on when I struggle.