Week 4 of Summer

 Summer is going by too fast! Gage had a great time at mini camp & can not wait to go back next year.  He didn't miss me like I missed him.  :(  I posted some pictures taken by the church & can see why he didn't miss me much, they look like they had SO much fun!

The group of all the soon to be second grade boys

Bible study with his group

Okay, I packed my son individual baggies with clothes for each day & pj's for each night.  Each bag was labeled "Friday PJ's", "Saturday clothes". etc.  All that organizing & then I see this picture of my son wearing his PJ top with his Saturday shorts.  He said he forgot to change his shirt that morning...oh that boy!

This was Gage's group for the week.  He made a new friend & it was the first thing he had to tell me about as soon as I saw him...not, "Hi Mommy" but "Come meet my new friend"  I'm so proud of him for being such a outgoing kid & always happy to try new things.

The sad part was that after he returned from camp.  A couple of night's later, he asked me not to walk him upstairs & tuck him in.  He said he's a big boy now & can put himself to bed.  My heart sank & my eyes started to fill with tears.  I hugged & kissed him goodnight & let him go upstairs on his own.  I then went into the bathroom & cried.  I remember the days when I was always willing to give my kids to people so I could just have a break.  Once Madison became a teenager, it hit me how fast they change & grow up.  I now really cherish the moments I have with them because I know 13 years feels like a blink of an eye.

Monday I took Gage & my niece & nephew swimming for a couple of hours.  It's so hot here that even the water was warm.  The kids have been going to VBS at my brother's church every evening.  Madison helps my SIL with the missions part while Gage enjoys the fun.  It's been nice having some evening time alone with just Autumn.  I found a fun new app on my ipad for us to play together & one day she enjoyed feeding me some popcorn.  ;)  It's the small things with her & I love that!

Tuesday we took the older kids to Jump Street.  It's a place filled with trampolines that go up the wall & other fun activities for the kids like a mechanical bull to ride, different types of slides, & trampoline dodgeball.  James decided to switch his schedule for us this week so he came as well.  :)  The boys had the most fun so I think we decided we need to go back sometime for them.  Afterwards, we stopped to get some yummy cupcakes from Gigi's.

Jordyn & Madison

Daddy & Gage on the trampolines

Wednesday was nothing special.  We just hung out at home (I cleaned some) & Autumn had therapy. 

Today (Thursday) we had bought a Groupon to rent a boat for 5 hours on the lake.  We had a blast!!!  My brother, SIL, & kids, my cousin Steph & Jordyn, and then our family (minus Autumn) all went.  It was so worth it!  We cruised the lake, swam, ate, & fished.  

Ready for our day at the lake!

Gage driving the boat

Dean's turn to drive

Turns out my little fish is also a fisherman.  This child LOVES to swim but not once did he go swimming, he just wanted to fish.

Madison & I swimming...she's scared & had to stay by my side the entire time in the water.  Big baby!

Me just floating :)

Chris, Dean, Jen, & Haley

We stopped to fill the boat up & let Gage fish while we waited & it's the only fish he was able to catch the entire time. He wanted to catch a catfish so I'm so glad he did or we would not of heard the end of it.  He was so happy! I do have to say, daddy was helping him fish the entire time except for the 2 mins mommy helped & that is when he caught his fish.  He's a fisherman like his mommy, not daddy...haha!  I actually was a great fisherman when I was little & always caught those fish!

Steph & Jordyn

Uncle Chris helping Gage hold his fish

I am ready to go buy a boat now.  :)  It is VERY rare we find an activity that the entire family enjoys (Madison hardly likes ANYTHING) but we ALL loved spending the day on the water.  I grew up going to the lake when I was little & James grew up fishing at the coast so it's fun to be able to pass on the love of water & fishing to our kids & watch them enjoy it as much as we did. (okay, Madison does not enjoy fishing or swimming in the lake that much but she did LOVE riding in the boat) ;)  Of course we missed not having Autumn but hopefully one day she will be able to join us too.

Summer Fun

As the week ends, I am exhausted but SO blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids & just enjoy doing so many fun things with them during the summer.

Monday was just a regular day with grocery shopping, therapy, and took Gage in for his 8 year check-up. He was seen by one of the other doctors in the office which I really liked. He completely agreed with our decision about not doing growth hormones or ADHD medication right now. He said giving the hormones would just make him become something other than he was meant to be & I agree. If he's not defienct & just small then that is completely fine & no harm is being done. Now, to just get his endocrin to stop pushing them as well. :) He has grown 3 inches since last year & gained 4 lbs so looks as though the thyroid medicine has helped regulate his throid & pushed his growth as well. He agree to not pursue ADHD medicine unless it gets absolutely necessary for school & so far he is doing good. The medicine will curve his appetite & stunt his growth & we can not afford for that to happen. He is completely proportional with his weight & height so the dr is satisfied with that. He's still not on the curve charts but never has been...he likes to make his own line underneath. :)  Madison & my niece planned out a Magic show for us that afternoon.  I got to go back stage to get an autograph & picture with the great Haley after the show.  :)

Tuesday we took the kids to the Studio Movie Grill to see Madagascar 3.  It's a theater that has tables & you can eat a meal while watching the show.  It was the first time Gage & I had been & we loved it.  It was expensive but a fun, new experience.  Gage actually sat through the entire show without asking when it was going to be over.  I think munching on fries helped keep him engaged in the show.  :)

Wednesday we decided to take ALL the kids to the aquarium. Autumn rarely gets to go do anything fun with us because it's either too hot or an activity she can not participate in or we never know how she's going to act & it just becomes a stressful day for everyone. I know she loves fish so we decided to bring her along. She LOVED it & did AWESOME!!! She liked being able to push herself wherever she wanted & kept going back to 2 certain tanks...one with jellyfish & the other with lion fish. They also have an area where the kids can touch & feed the stingrays. Ok, I become a kid at these places & enjoy them more than everyone else. Gage was too scared to feed them so I happily did it for him. They are such awesome animals!

Touching the stingrays

That evening we had some friends in town & they came over for dinner.  Here is Autumn & Abby in their chairs.  Such adorable girls!

Thursday we got up early & drove 1.5 hours toTyler, TX to check out the Caldwell Zoo.  I would LOVE to visit every zoo that exists so I needed to add this one to my list.

Gage would of stayed in the petting zoo all day.

My cousin, Steph, with the kids on the playground

All 4 kids standing in 1 elephant footprint

After the zoo we went to CiCi's pizza to have some lunch & then it was back on the road to home.

That night it was time to pack Gage up for his very first trip to church camp.  It's a mini camp for 1st & 2nd graders so it's only 2 nights but that's a long time for this momma.  I've sent him to stay away with relatives but never with strangers without me to make sure he's doing what he needs to do & behaving like he should.  It's good for the both of us but I hate that my little boy growing up.  :(

So, today I sent him off to camp & will pick him up on Sunday.  He was SUPER excited & could not wait to go!  I cried after I dropped him off but I know he will be in good hands.  It will be a nice, restful weekend here but next week will be another fun-filled, busy week.

Still waiting

Still waiting on report.... Just want to say hi to my bff Tanya too since I know she checks my blog daily. ;) love & miss you!!!! ;) Later I will blog about our fun-filled week but just wanted everyone to know...I am still waiting....

The waiting is driving me crazy!!!

The hardest part about adoption is the waiting. We submit our homestudy & then wait for someone to respond. Once they do, it's even more waiting for the next step. Some case workers will respond right away that it's not a good match, some say we are being considered, some send psychological evaluations for us to read & then we don't hear an update when we say we are interested, & some don't respond at all. I understand caesworkers are extremely short handed & there workloads are too much & that is the reason for the delays. I just can not help being frustrated knowing there are kids waiting in foster care with families lined up with their doors wide open to accept them but the paperwork & process takes so long. We have been chosen as 1 of 3 families who may be a perfect fit for one certain little boy. He needs a psych eval done so they did it on June 2nd. His caseworker said it needed to be done by the state & turned in to her by June 10th. As soon as she receives it & the 3 families review it, there will be a selection meeting to see which family will be best for this boy. Well, here is is June 15th & the report is still not done & not sure when it will get completed. I may just be too impatient but every day that passes I think of it as one less day a child is sitting at home with his forever family & making memories. I know it's all in God's perfect timing so nothing is really being missed by His plans but they are by mine! The other little boy we are interested in, we have not heard back from his caseworker since she sent us his eval so we have no idea what the status is with him. I am so impatient so all of this drives me crazy! I literally check my e-mail every 15 mins when I am home just praying I get an update. Nothing. So, I continue to wait...

Visit from friends

It was a fun-filled week because our friends from back home came to visit us for a week.  They arrived on Monday & we hung out at the house, played, and had dinner.

Gabe & Gage...friends since they were about 1 & 2 yrs old, now 6 & 8

 On Tuesday, we went to a water park called Surf and Swim & spent 5.5 hours there.  It was fun but we got a little too much sun (at least I did since I forgot to put sunscreen on myself even though I remembered to apply to Gage 3 times that day).  We came home & ordered some pizza & the kids played even more.

On Wednesday, we went to the Dallas Arboretum to check out their glass sculptures & have a picnic.  It was HOT & HUMID!!!  We literally had sweat dripping from our faces just from walking around, there was no breeze whatsoever!  Wish it would of been cooler so we could of enjoyed it more but we still managed to see most of the park & get out picnic in.  Good thing it was free for the season passes my brother has since we only stayed about 2 hours.  ;)

I wish Madison would of gotten better pictures of this sculpture but she only "photographs people" & not objects.  Such a teenager!

These were so amazing!!!

Our picnic

Madison had a little shadow for the week, Lily

Thursday, Autumn had a doctor appointment so Sarah went shopping for the day.  We gave the boys a break from each other because they were starting to argue a lot. :)  She came back with the fun straws for the kids, they were a huge hit for the rest of the week.

 Autumn has gotten so much better about interacting with others so this visit her & Lily were able to play a little together.  They rolled a ball back & forth to each other & every time Autumn threw her DVD case on the floor, Lily was there to pick it up for her.  Once Autumn pushed Lily away & Lily came & told on her.  Autumn also did not like when Lily would touch her bed & Autumn would push her hands away.  She's such a mess! Thursday night we took the kids to the pool for an evening swim which was lots of fun.  However, I guess I irritated my eyes & rubbed them too much & by bed time it was burning & itching really bad.  I have scratched my cornea when I was a teenager & it felt the same.  Finally, about 1am, I texted James to see if he could take off & run me to the ER.  Sure enough, I have a small cut on my eye.  They numbed it, gave me a tetanus shot since it's been awhile since my last one & gave me some Lortab for the pain.  Got a pain med prescription & eye ointment.   I forgot how I hate how it makes me feel.  I felt too loopy to sleep so did not get much rest Thursday night. 

A

 Friday was a lazy day.  I still was in pain so I slept A LOT that day.  I think I had 2 naps in 1 day. Sarah's husband came to join the visit so they took the kids swimming again & spend the rest of the day just playing at home.  Later they took their kids to check out our Harbor area & had a good time.

Saturday, they went shopping while I stayed home with all the kids.  We got the petting zoo out. ;)  I let the kids hold the snake, hold the rats, & then we fed the snake. I received a call from the shelter that our foster dog had gotten adopted!!  I took him back for the week since we were going to have company & hoped he would get adopted, if not was going to get him again on Monday.  So, looks like we will have a new foster dog next week. :)
 The kids played & played.  Sarah & Bill took the boys swimming again.  We all went out to eat & then they came to church with us.  After church, we all went out for ice cream!  This morning they left & we are back to our regular schedule....time to clean up!

Next week, Gage has VBS & Madison will be volunteering at VBS.  My nephew will get to stay with us for a couple of days so we will be busy for week 2 of summer as well.