Joseph had been asking and asking to carve pumpkins so the night finally arrived for this fun activity. Little did we know how grossed out and troubled Joseph and Jordan would be about actually scooping out the pumpkin seeds. I’m not so sure we will be carving next year! Anyways after the guts were out Joseph drew and carved his pumpkin all by himself.  Everyone really did have fun carving and even more fun seeing their pumpkin glow with the candles inside.  Trey really enjoyed making his vomiting pumpkin!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Mary!!!

We weren’t exactly sure when or where we were going to celebrate Mary’s 5th Birthday . We knew she would be recieving packages from Poland and grandparents in Texas and Mississippi so we were waiting for them to arrive before we set a date. I worked 3 days this week and Trey was in Laurel, MS on her actual Birthday so that day we were frazzled and I just didn’t want to have a rushed celebration. On Fridays our friend Trystan comes to stay with us while his Mom works and then they both stay for dinner , movie watching  and just hanging out.  We hadn’t said anything at all to Mary that it was her Birthday she just knew her Birthday was very soon, so we secretly planned a suprise Princess party for her. I dressed her in a pretty dress which she requested since Mrs. Bethany was coming over, that was easy with no questions asked. After Bethany arrived she took Mary up to her room to play while I got the dining table staged with table cloth, presents, balloons, and cake!!! The boys came in from playing out side and Jordan went up to tell Bethany and Mary to come down. Oh, how suprised our little girl was to see her Pink Princess Party!!! She was thrilled! She loved ALL her gifts very much. She had a good time talking to Grammy  on the phone about the Barbie computer they got her and to Mamaw as she opened her doll cradle and linens that Mamaw made her. Her babies fit in the cradle perfectly!!!  She recieved a very special gift from her Poland family that had a cute soft pillow and her favorite candies, cards with dear letters in them and a picture of St.Theresa that hung above her bed in Poland. In that package Trey and I recieved a CD of baby/toddler pictures of Mary which we are forever greatful and thankful for. There are some wonderful photos of her which I’ll share at some point. After opening presents we had dinner and then ate Birthday cake. At some point Mary leaned into Trey and said, “Daddy I’m proud of my Birthday!” with a big cheerful smile. We’re glad you like it sweet girl, we’re proud of you too:)

Saturday morning Joseph and Jordan geared up and headed out to hunt “ just like Daddy”. The were dressed accordingly and had all the arrows they needed for this hunt. They stalked, scouted, crept and creeped throughout the brush. Joseph being the wise older brother carefully schooled Jordan on the technique of holding the bow and pulling back the arrow. They checked their distance and double checked again, gauged the wind thrust and aimed precisely for the kill. Oh they are turning out to be such wonderful hunters “just like Daddy”. They were both successful on this day as they both stuck a trophy deer!!:) They make a Mama proud!

We had a blast at our Fall Festival at Jumpin Jax! Morgan sang and danced with the step team all in costume of course. Elijah would have been there too but was playing his final game of Fall baseball which he was incredible at! There was lots of candy given out and hotdogs, chili, drinks and JUMPING!!!

Joseph and Jordan are such buddies and playing computer games is something they enjoy doing as much as I’ll let them. These photos are just sweet brother shots and is how they sit and play games. I just love them and wanted to capture this small piece of their childhood.

This is Joseph and he is definately my Wild Thing! and I love it!!! He so loves this book and can’t wait to see the movie. Stephanie says, “Let the wild rumpus start!” See Where the Wild Things Are, in theaters October 16th. Unleash your inner Wild Thing. 

October 6, 2009  Happy Adoption Day!     It is hard to believe it has already been one year since we were in the Judges chambers in Southern Poland where he proclaimed us the parents of Mary Madeline Garrett.  Our family has grown in so many ways since adding Mary and we are all better for having her in our lives.

We celebrated Adoption Day by taking a photo of Mary holding a picture of herself in Poland. It’s amazing to see how much they change once they have thier very own Mommy and Daddy and family.  We also had a big Polish meal with country fried steak which is very similar to the battered pork or chicken we ate at the foster home, potatos, pierogies, pickled beets, sauerkraut, gravy and chocolate cake.  Mary quickly announced that the meal was “my Polish” and she chowed down too. She especially liked the pickled beets which will greatly please Grammy as none of the other grandchildren will eat them. We didn’t give any gifts since Mary’s adoption day is so close to her birthday at the end of October. She knows her birthday is soon and daily ask, “can I have that for my birthday, please please please?”  when she sees things on TV or while we are shopping. A Princess Party is her greatest wish so that’s what we’ll have   I’m not really sure if we’ll have the party at home or the park yet. We are having a big Fall Family Trunk-or-treat gathering at Jumpin Jax (an indoor jumping play place) very close to her birthday and on the birthday of another little girl at our church so we Mommas thought perhaps we would just combine their Princess Party with the event and say,” Hey this is your Birthday Party  Happy Birthday!!!!!!  “  Honestly, all her little girl friends plus more and our adult friends will all be there and the children will be wearing their Princess dresses and such so all we’d need to do is bring along her pretty presents and sing her Birthday Song:) It will be a 5 year old Princess Party she will never forget!!! Well I guess you’ll just have to check back in to see what happens.                               

We had a beautiful day to enjoy the Mt. Laurel Fall Festival. There was the fresh produce and home made goods as usual on Saturday mornings along with several clothing vendors, arts and crafts of all kinds, a Storm Trooper, Princess Leah, Snow White, 2 jumpers for the kids, lots of food, face painting, bubbles, popcorn, photographer booths and much more. Other than Trey and I getting separated for about 45min. (I forgot my phone in the car)  with different batches of children it was a lovely day. We ate there at Jimbo’s and then ran some errands and home to change into tennis cloths to go to the racquet club. We all had so much fun playing  on 3 courts side by side. Toward the end we played 3 on 3 and then Daddy gave every one a quick turn hitting a basket of balls back to him. Daddy made a deal if we hit him with a return ball then we would get a Klondike bar! What would you do for a Kondike Bar???!!!!