OH, How I LOVE Me Some Adoption Showers!!!! :)

How about an adoption shower to kick off the Mother's Day weekend!! :) There is nothing I love more than celebrating children coming home to their forever families..and entertaining..and well, add those two together..and it was a perfect way to spend my Mother's Day weekend!! :) Above, is my sweet friend Gwen WHO we were celebrating today...She will be leaving soon to pick up her two Ugandan cuties, Joseph and Daisy!! This will take this Momma from 4 to 6 children...and well..that is all the reason we needed to celebrate and throw a party for her!! :)

I loved more than anything the MANY faces of adoption that were running around my home...such a beautiful sight!!! I also had everyone wear their http://www.147millionorphans.com/ gear to surprise Gwen!! It was awesome to see everyone walking in with their different 147 gear on...so fun..and yes, Gwen loved it!! :) Above: a picture of foster care adoption...He was 3 when he was adopted by his momma in pink!!

I had my normal table ready with yummy food (yes, feeding people is one of my favorite things to do :)

Another face of adoption..Macy was a domestic local adoption!! (oh, and my friend Karen in orange was adopted herself...so that counts too :)

above, the face of China adoption....

Gwen showing us her latest article in a local magazine...Yes, Gwen and Suzanne are always in the news or in the paper or magazines or being asked to talk, etc. etc....it is so cool to watch their 147millionorphan business TAKE OFF like it has...Praise God!!

Everyone hanging out in their GEAR!!! :)

Books filled with pics of Joseph and Daisy....(and a Ugandan quiz, of course....thanks Holly for coming up with that :)

Another beautiful face of adoption........

Another beautiful face of adoption...........

If you look across the table....another adorable face of adoption..............

another beautiful face of adoption........

The cupcakes were a hit with all the little ones :)

The cake wasn't their best creation...but it did the trick!! :)

Daisy's were on the table to celebrate Gwen's sweet Daisy coming home soon!! :)

Suzanne entered with a massive gang!!! (all in their 147 gear :)

Pics of Joseph and Daisy were everywhere!!

Tracy, above, the new mom to 7 was present!! :)

Gwen had tons of friends stop by...which isn't surprising since she is loved by everyone in town :)

All 4 of these Momma's above have adopted!!

Gwen and Suzanne...13 children between these two women!! wow!!

LL was sporting her shirt today too....Here we are showing off our new shirts!!

We attempted to get a few pics of everyone in their gear...but people were coming and going in shifts..so it was hard to catch everyone...but we tried!! :)

My kids ran around having fun with all the kids that came...LL never left my hip..well, except to eat everything she could get her hands on !!! :)
I think her favorite was the chocolate cupcake with pink icing!!! Don't ya think?? :)

**What a fun day!! I feel so blessed to always be surrounded by SO many women that "get it" and inspire me each and every day!! I feel so honored to be able to organize this day for Gwen!! I can't imagine anyone more deserving than Gwen to be showered with Gifts for her new little loves entering her life!! Praising God for each and every one of you walking this CRAZY life with me!! :) Happy Mother's Day Gwen...and Happy Mother's Day to all you incredible mommas out there!! :)

and happy Saturday to you all, kj

Oh, She's So Yummy!!!!!!

Yes, she's super YUMMY...even when found in the butter!!!! :) The butter just makes her that much yummier!! LOL This pic, above, is EXACTLY how i found her yesterday!! The camera was literally sitting in front of her, so I just had to grab it and SNAP!!

I had left the butter out after making my 5 little people breakfast...and well..she managed to push up a stool, open the top..and dig right in!!!!!

She liked to show me HOW she could put the top back on.....

then would quickly take it off again and take a good handful out!!! (yuck, i know :)

Oh, this girl is a smart little cookie!! She's into stuff ALL DAY!! I've had messy kids, neater kids....well, LL is a "into everything" type of kid!!! :) She pushes that stool around and can get to ANYTHING she sets her mind to.......

Yummmmmmmy, butter kisses!!!! :)

" Oh, wait...Mom looks like she's coming to take it away from me......just one more fast bite before my prize is stolen away from me.............."

***Yes, my girl is completely nutty!! She cracks us up ALL THE TIME STILL!! Her other latest trick: I put her in her bed (pack n play) to take a nap or go to bed for the night...then...wham...a loud THUD...and here she comes running right behind me with a big smile on her face!! She's a climber!!! :)

****I pray you all are lucky enough to find a little brown, naked baby in your butter some day!! :) Happy Wednesday to you all, kj

The Clean Up is Underway...(and some Shout Outs)

Yes, we had a tiny bit of clean up at our home...but NOTHING compared to the devastation in our neighboring areas in Nashville....I've heard nothing but story after story for days now of families that lost everything...AND had no flood insurance!! They are saying this type of rain and flooding comes ONLY ONCE EVERY 1,000 years!!! Crazy!! Our kids LOVED helping Daddy shovel rocks...They were so tired of being inside that they were jumping at any chance to run out back in the rain to help!!! The two babies and I hung out and watched from the house :) Daddy did end up taking them for a walk around the neighborhood IN THE RAIN...and 3 yr. old George joined them on that adventure and had quite some fun in the flowing rain!!! :) LL and I thought they were nuts as they walked back in the house soaking wet!! :)

Well, you feel helpless in situations like this...cause you just want to help those hurting...but WHAT can i really do with 5 young children in tow at all times!! Well, I thought about it...and then a friend gave me a great idea......I put a laundry basket out in the middle of the kitchen floor and told the kids to fill it with their toys!! I told them we were going to give it away to the kids that lost everything in the flood!!! We also gathered a few blankets...and hit the local Target on our way out of town too....WE bought new socks and such......AND DROVE STRAIGHT DOWN TO ONE OF THE EVACUATION RESCUE CENTERS!!! The kids had no idea what we were going to see or do....(and really...i didn't either)....but, we pulled up at one of the local colleges that was housing a couple of hundred evacuees!! The kids helped carry everything in (as I carried two sleeping babies that fell asleep on the way there :) AND THEIR EYES WERE LIKE DEER IN HEADLIGHTS when we turned the corner and saw the hundreds of sleeping people on tiny little cots!! The cots were lined up in rows..one after another in a huge gymnasium room. They saw children playing and the Red Cross keeping it all organized!! The toys were taken straight into where the children were...and a little Red Cross lady came over to thank my kids and take the rest of the things from them!! My 6 yr. old Julia looked at her and said, "Why are they all sleeping in the middle of the day?" She explained that they were all tired from having a rough and traumatic couple of days...

I do think it made a lasting impression on the kids...I sooo wanted to take pics inside with all the people sleeping and my kids handing over their toys.....but it just didn't feel right!! I couldn't possibly take pics of THEIR DEVASTATION to glorify myself on my blog...so, you'll just have to trust me on this one....the kids were precious giving their toys away AND a great lesson was learned here which is all that matters!! :) (pictured above were the trucks outside full of different volunteers helping out..and I got one pic inside with some cots where people were divided out whether or not they had kids with them)

***So, no I didn't really feel like I helped AT ALL in comparison to all the disaster areas around town...but I keep hearing of HOW much help and volunteers are pouring into these neighborhoods and it makes me so grateful to live in America where HELP is just a minute away...where entire churches come together to help out people and neighborhoods in need.....These people will be back on their feet before too long...but i'm sure the kindness of these strangers coming into their neighborhoods and helping them WILL LAST A LIFE TIME!!!

****Now, some shout outs!!!!!!! :

1. The O'Leary Family from www.fromgodtoghana.blogspot.com let me know their adopting from Ghana....They are selling some awesome shirts...front:back: They also have a fabulous daughter with a big heart for the orphan that is also selling a tshirt to help "feed" the orphans while on their trip...You can visit their blog to read more about it...sounds like a great family mission!!!

2. Also, I received an email from the Reeves Family letting me know about their amazingly, beautiful crosses they are raffling off....The hubby actually makes these crosses...and they are certainly one of a kind:

You can check them out at : www.reevesfamily-fun.blogspot.com

***That's all the energy i have for the night :) I found LL in the Country Crock Butter tonight....I had left it out on the counter...and the girl figured out how to push a stool around and climb up to reach anything she wants :) Pictures to come soon :) Happy Tuesday to you all, kj

The Flood Of the Century....Wow...

Wow....the rain just won't stop in the Nashville area...Amazing amounts of rain!!! We've been stuck inside for two days doing LOTS of this: We live on a hillside, so we're safe...but our poor little community is completely flooded...Flooded in a way that this area HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!! Power outages everywhere...lots of homes around us don't have water....homes evacuated....We just weren't ready for this much rain...CRAZY!!! The news is filled around the clock with stranded motorists, water rescues, tornado warnings, and sadly even local deaths!! :(

We've had a constant water fall coming off our back yard....for two days........

The road in front of our house is a flowing river with mud and rocks at all times.......

Our back yard is just pouring water off its hillside..............We've watched and watched from the windows....we've played every craft in the house, watched every movie and every tv show we can find, played hide and go seek, ball and freeze tag until we're bored out of our minds....You see...we're an active family...It is hard on us to stay home this many days in a row.....So.....

We finally unleashed our wild animals and told them to GO FOR IT:

Memories to last a life time for an 8, 6 and 5 year old.............

LL was napping and my sweet George wasn't about to go out and get wet with his big siblings:

He stayed close to his Momma...but he did disappear inside and reappeared with his rain boots...Cutie boy!

***Enjoy a few more pics from around our local neighborhood:

Below is the park where our AFrican Fellowship was held last Sunday....Glad it wasn't THIS Sunday: Yikes..........

My sister Kelly likes a little adventure...She's been out with her kids snappin pics:

She caught this car stranded....You can see, below, her son DOWN in the action...Crazy Cam!! He's in the red shirt havin the time of his life....My nephews are nuts!! :) (you know..in a good way :)

Here's our local YMCA...this is about a mile down the road from me....crazy....

Our interstates are all shut down (obviously so from the picture above)

*** I found this news clip on my sister's face book page...crazy stuff:

***And, it is STILL raining!!! Hope you all keep dry...I'm kind of liking the fact that we live on a hill now... Praying for all those effected in our area......

Happy Sunday to you all, kj

Ordinary Hero....What a Night!!

Last night was my sister Kelly's Ordinary Hero Fundraiser Event Dinner....What an awesome night!!! It was a night filled with great friends, food, entertainment and a room filled with people that WANT to be Ordinary Heroes in the Life of a Child!!! And, the night was a HUGE success!! Praise God!! Above is my sister Kelly and me at last night's event..I'm so proud of all that she has accomplished so far through Ordinary Hero....and can't wait to see ALL the lives that will continue to be changed!!!

Sister Kasey (in pink) was present too!!!

There was a great silent auction too!!

My girl, Karen and her mom came with me!! We had a great time!!

Our table!!!

***Here, below, is the video that was shown last night!! It was so awesome and shows a lot of what OrdinaryHero is about and some of the things they have accomplished.....Enjoy!!! (you'll want to pause my music at the bottom of this blog page )





****Congrats Big Sis on your GREAT night! It was awesome! And, Happy Friday to you all, kj

Ok...So I Tried.....

Yes, I actually tried something NEW with LL 's hair!! You see..I kind of have that "why fix it if it ain't broke" mentality....So...I LOVE the bow headbands in LL's hair...so....why try anything else?? Well, I broke down...I also totally HEART pigtails on my girls...I would still put pigtails on my 6 and 8 year old if they'd let me...but...they ONLY want ONE pony tail in the back now (some how that is much cooler than mom's pig tails )....so....I've MISSED my piggy tails...so I decided it was time to try them on my LL:

Well, she really still doesn't have THAT MUCH hair!! The girl has a fabulous thick, wonderful "mohawk" still...but the rest of her hair is STiLL growing in and is pretty short and thin!!! So, I just split the "mohawk" down the middle and gave it a try!!!! Below she is giving us her "fishy" face while sporting some "pig tails" !!! :) I took many pics of her "first time" piggies and TRIED to get used to it...but I was sooo missing that big bow on her head :) Below she gives us the side view of her pig tails:

Ok, so I am HER Momma and I could eat her up any day any time I think she is soooo precious, and I do think she is just too CUTE any old way I do her hair....but...it was time to head to the park to meet some friends....and....the bow won in the end:

ahhhhhh, I feel much better now!!! I mean...that bow is like a drug....I JUST must have it!! :) Next time I'll try big, huge bows on the pig tails...maybe that will make me feel better :)

Can she go her whole life with JUST wearing headbands with huge bows attached?? Do they come in adult sizes?? :) Happy Wednesday to you all, kj

The Comment(s) of the Week!!

Well, i must share our experience on Saturday while looking for a new cook top:

We were fixing lunch for the 5 munchkins on Saturday when POP...the cook top blew something and ALL the electricity in the house WENT OUT!! The hubby manages to get the electricity back on ONLY to see that the LARGE eye on the cook top is in full HIGH GEAR and NOT turning off...So...the only way to get it to turn off is to unplug the WHOLE THING from under the cabinet!! We unplug the thing and realize that after 8 years and LOTS of use..that it might be time for a new one....So we head out to the local Appliance Store to check them out!!!

**We, of course, have our 5 sweeties in tow and walk in "thinking" someone will hopefully sell us a new cook top quickly and then we'll be out of there....Well...up walks OUR sales person and first thing out of his mouth:

Sales Guy: "Wow, are yall trying to be the Gosselins or something?"

Me: "WHO?"

SG: "You know...Kate Gosselin?? Are yall competing with Kate Gosselin?"

Me: "No, i think she has us beat by quite a few!"

SG: (he starts counting my children) "1-2-3-4-5....No, she only has ya beat by 3"

Me: (I just smile and decide i'm probably not gonna like this guy :)

He continues to show us some cook tops letting us know that "THEY ARE VERY EXPENSIVE"! Again, I just smile and kind of ignore his bits on WHAT a big purchase this will be!! (i'm thinkin...do I look THAT bad today...do I look like I can't afford a cook top or something :)

After looking at a few cook tops, he goes on to say:

Sales Guy: "So, you all really need to research this first on a computer! I mean, do yall have a computer...Can you afford a computer after feeding this many mouths?"

Me: "uhhhhh, Yes, I have a computer!" ( i look and notice my hubby's face turning shades of red)

SG: "Yes, I guess you can probably afford a computer if you can afford to go to Seaside, Florida (and points at my sweatshirt I am wearing).

At this point, i can see the blood boiling in my hubby's face...He's about to let the guy have it, but he's keepin his cool UNTIL:

My 5 year old Hal goes up and opens up one of the ovens on display...

Sales Guy: "Son, don't open that, I keep lives snakes in those things."

Hal looks up at him like "I know that you are joking"

Sales Guy: "Don't think I'm joking son...I really do keep lives snakes in all this stuff."

My hal isn't amused and continues to open the door..

Sales Guy: "Kid, seriously DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

That was it...The hubby takes LL from my arms and in one second flat gathers all our other kids and heads straight out the front door RED FACED AND ALL without saying a word...BUT LEAVING ME STANDING WITH THE SALES GUY ALONE!!! I smile at him and say, "ok, well I guess that it's time to go...I better go help my husband" (that's all I could think of at the time :) and I turn and go too!! ( I busted a gut laughing all the way back to the car...cause I couldn't wait for my hubby's reaction :)

****Yes, I dont' think he's winning "Sales Guy" of the year!! And, we still have our cook top broken and yes, my hubby is still talking about the RUDE, INAPPROPRIATE sales guy at the local appliance store!! All I can do is laugh....things like that just crack me up...or maybe it is just seeing my hubby GET SO MAD!! Seriously, funny!!!

Just had to share...Happy Tuesday to you all!! kj