It's E's Birthday!

It's Eli's 7th Birthday! Big day! The only problem is he has been driving me nuts! His 3-4 week motto has been "That's not fair!" or some version of 'Whine, whine, whine..." or crying about nothing! Hopefully, this is just a phase? What is this? Hormones? A 7-year crisis? The only problem is....he is so stinkin' cute! I want to squeeze him and kiss him while telling him to shut his trap ALL at the same time!!!

For many of you this sounds like a broken record. Sorry. Your story is your journey, right? So here it goes anyway....we tried to get pregnant for a few years. When Asa FINALLY came along, I was overwhelmed by grace. Not something I earned. Not something I deserved. Simply Grace. A son. THANK YOU JESUS!! I still see grace in Asa's eyes.

Here is the kicker. I truly believed I would have to do it ALL over again to have another child. Years of agonizing over infertility, marital tormoil, and spiritual confusion. I was not looking forward to it. And yet, when Asa was 8 months old, we found that I was surprisingly pregnant! THANK YOU JESUS!!! Mercy. It flooded my thoughts. It overwhelmed my prayer life. A merciful God we have. I still see it in Eli's eyes. My child of mercy.

Here is what I know of Eli after 7 years long...
*A zeal for life
*A lover of people
*A boy who loves to be active
*A boy who fall asleep the minute his head hits the pillow...bc of the above issue!
*A persistent and overt lover of family time
*An infectious smile
*A boy who is INCREDIBLY athletic
*A boy who is falling in love with the One who created Him.

I could go on and on. I'm sure you have a similar list for yours.
Happy 7th Birthday Elijah. E. Li. Bigg'Un. Noggin'.
You are amazing.
I love you!
Mom

I'm still here!

Before you all abandon my blog altogether - I thought I'd better update it!! Here are snapshots of our life -

Adoption Update- Still waiting to hear about a referral. We had hoped we might be receiving a referral in September of an adorable sibling set but they rejoined their biological family. We are back to 'square one' in our hoping. I promise to blog the minute we accept a referral.

20 Year Reunion - I attended my 20 year High School reunion this past weekend! I had a blast seeing all of my old friends. Everybody looked great and I don't think I've stayed up that late...since I was in high school!


The boys - Asa is playing soccer. He's played before but seems to have found his niche in playing goalie. He is rocking it!! Eli is playing flag football and of course is amazing. He threw his first completed pass this week! (They usually just run the ball). School is great. They both love school still which is SUCH a blessing.

Fritch - doing awesome as always. Big GP sponsor event coming up at the end of November. Enjoying our fall season together.

That's all I got! Nothing funny - nothing deep - just some updates!
Love to all!

Garage Sale - Super Success!!!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We had a super successful garage sale weekend! Over $1700!! Thanks to all of you who donated items for us to sell. We were crazy busy all day. We continue to enjoy our fall and look forward to the time when we 'know' who will be joining our family!

4th Time's a Charm!

So...we got to go out on the river again Labor Day weekend with our great buddies! Eli is my child who is uber-atheletic - He got on water skis for the 1st time this weekend! I was so proud of him! He was so proud of himself! I was bragging on him when he got in the boat about how great he did and he calmly said 'Yeah, but I didn't get up until the 4th time.' Hilarious. He's 7. I think the 4th time is pretty darn good. Our friend, Tom, was in the water with him the whole time coaching him. He said E looked at him after about the 2nd time and said "I think it might be easier if I just try it with one ski!" His optimism paired with his persistence is amazing to me. That was really what I was the most proud about - his persistence. It will take him far in life. That and his atheleticism. And white, blond, hair. And blue eyes. And infectious laugh..and....



Asa signed up to play soccer this season. Eli and his buddies wanted to play flag football but Asa was certain about soccer. The thing is at age 8 - we go play on the mainland instead of on the island. Most kids in our area drive over to a different island for soccer but we aren't ready for that level of competition and commitment yet. He didn't know anybody out there when we went for evaluations last week (because the coaches 'draft' the kids at this age but that's a whole 'nother post!) But when we got there without our brother or friends in a sea of 8-10 year olds - my Asa jumped right in there - made friends in one hour and had a blast! I was SOOOO proud of him! I told him the whole way home how impressed I was that he was confident and kind and REALLY GREAT at soccer! We find out who drafted us this week and then start our season. Asa's confidence will take him far in life. That and his blond hair. And blue eyes. And incredible kindness to others..and...

I love my boys. I'm not ashamed to say it!

Garage Sale this weekend! Seriously - my garage is OVERFLOWING! Get over here and buy some stuff, people!!

PS - Congratulations to Camille and Aaron on the birth of their new baby girl!!
MBY Youth - check 'em out on FB!

Ok - I mean, Sat. Sept. 12!!

Our Garage Sale is actually Sat. Sept 12th! Thank you to my dear friends who keep me on my toes! Our garage is filling up fast! You guys are amazing. Keep it coming!!

Garage Sale - Coming Right up! Sat, Sept. 11

Hey All!!

Short & sweet, this post will be! We are having another garage sale on Sat. Sept. 11. If you need to clean out, start now! Bring us your stuff! Our garage is already starting to pile up! We made $1300 at our last sale in May for the adoption. We are giving it one more go round!

Thanks for all your love and support!
Amy

Great school start!

Well, now I've just become a blogger-slacker - a slogger, if you will.

We started to school last Thursday and have had a great few days to start us off. My boys are in 1st and 2nd grades and I am so fortunate because they LOVE school.
E has the same 1st grade teacher as Asa had last year and we are thrilled about that. She goes to our church and loves on them so much. She's also a great teacher :)! Asa got the teacher he wanted as well. A teacher who lives in our neighborhood and also talk about her faith frequently. We go to a public school but we live in such a small area - it feels like a private school to us! Even though there are 5-6 classes of each grade, it still feels like a small community. Great moms - great teachers- great support.

I think I'm going to start painting! Ha! I took art lessons growing up and loved it. I think I'm super mediocre at a lot of things. I can pick up most anything and be pretty good at it - but I haven't mastered much!!! But yesterday, I went to a painting place in Charleston with some friends from work. It was a blast! It's called Bottles N Brushes. We painted for a few hours and I think I may have a new hobby! Maybe I'll post some of my artwork...if you're lucky.

That's it. Adoption news is still. They've had a few children become available in the past couple of weeks but they are all the same age as E & Asa. We aren't in a hurry. It's a good thing!