Happy 4th of July 2011....

Happy 4th of July from our 6 Little Firecrackers......Thanks Karen for the great pics....you are the greatest....
So, thankful to have all 6 of my babes in my arms this 4th of July...So much to be grateful for!! Hope you all have a blessed Holiday...Happy Monday to you all, kj

Grab This Month's Woman's Day....Cause....

Hot off the stand...this month's Woman's Day Magazine features my big sister, Kelly, and her Non profit : Ordinary Hero!!! So proud of her:

It came out yesterday..and I'm being OVERWHELMED with emails about her organization (I help her out with waiting children inquiries :) All the emails is a GOOD thing...praying people are touched, motivated and called to make a difference in the life of a child in need!!!

**Way to go BIG SISTA!! All my kids think Aunt Kelly is famous!! LOL She's always on the local news here and then she hit the 700 club show...now magazines!! So neat that she's making such a difference. Glory be to God!!

***And, BTW..I AM still on Summer Vacation!! LOL Just couldn't resist telling yall about this!! Oh...and...we took some GREAT new family pics today...sneak peek coming soon!! :) Happy Saturday to you all, kj

A Great Video to watch (while on summer break :)

Oh, how i LOVED this Gotcha Day video that just came out!! Precious and worth the "sit" on my blog while I'm on Summer Vacation!! :) And, Karen....are we gonna get one of these suckers out for my Wes?? Just wondering.....ha ha (no pressure or anything LOL)

Enjoy...i promise you will!! Made me cry....(and some great Ordinary Hero shirts are being sported too...just an added bonus :) Pause my music at the bottom of my page first..fyi

happy thursday to you all, kj

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!! And, some other Bloggy Announcements..

Yes, we have a couple of WINNERS...thanks to ALL OF YOU for playing!! That was fun!! This blog thing totally cracks me up...just sitting at home watching the madness of the clicking and refreshing going on made me laugh!! Hundreds of hits were happening every minute!! Funny!!! I'll announce the winners at the end...so take a peak....but first...some bloggy catch up and announcements:

***First, my hubby deserves a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY shout out!! He's the best daddy I know, and i couldn't go on with out at least saying I THINK MY HUBBY ROCKS..and our kids think so to....So...here was his OFFICIAL Father's Day pic I made him take....and of course...can you figure out the "ham" in our family...LOL:
Yes, half of the kids were in their bathing suits cause we were heading to Kentucky to see the older generation of DADS....
So, with that said (since my camera died while there)..Happy late Father's Day to Poppy, PawPaw, and Great Grandpa Wes!! And, here is a pic of my LuLu riding her bike at Poppy and Jule's house on Father's Day...She's so cute I couldn't resist the pics of her on this old bike:


AND...another announcement is: My sweet boy is fully walking now!! He rarely crawls now at all!! He still falls a lot..but he just gets back up and keeps going....such a sweetheart...
And, yes, his outfit is too big....He's really moved into 6-9 month clothes..but I bought this at Cracker Barrel in 12 month hoping to get a longer wear out of it..and well...it swallowed him...but he's a cutie either way....



The kids LOVE visiting Jules and Poppy...such a fun place!!
And, Jules pulled out the water sprinkler for the kids...i forgot to bring Wes a bathing suit..so he helped himself to some fun with his clothes on :)......
AND...another announcement is: The surgeons had to reschedule Wes's surgery...I added it to my side bar....The surgeons planned some end of summer family vacations during out first date...so we got bumped to August...which is fine!! It's about 3 weeks later than our first date...and my kids will be back in school by then..or heading back...so they'll be busy while I'm stuck in the hospital for a week!!! So...the NEW DATE IS AUGUST 16th!!! We SOOOOO appreciate your prayers and support during his surgery!!!

**And, the WINNERS for my 1 Millionth hit are:

1. Christie at www.knowingnobounds.blogspot.com . She was HIT # 1,000,001!!!!

And:

2. Kim at www.thechangemecrew.blogspot.com. She was HIT # 1,000,002!!!

And:

3. ???????? No one has come forward for the BIG HIT!! I'm waiting to see IF someone comes forward so I can send them a tshirt too!!! We'll see!! IF YOU HIT IT..email me..or leave me a message so we can congratulate you too!!!!!! :)

****And, my last announcement is that I'M PUTTING THIS BLOG ON SUMMER VACATION!!! :) Yes, I'm taking the rest of the summer OFF except for reasons of some SERIOUS cuteness!!! :) I'm going to focus on my FAM..and giving them my FULL attention..and I'll be back blogging sometime around when Wes has his surgery!! Yesterday was the first day of summer...I hit my 1 millionth hit..and I thought...WHAT A PERFECT TIME FOR A SUMMER BREAK!!! So...for the rest of June and July..I'll be blogging as little as possible!!! Then I should be back to regular business in August as the kiddos go back to school...Fall falls upon us...and Wes heads into surgery!!!

That's my plan stan!! So, I'm going to TRY and resist blogging...BUT..if I catch a REALLY cute pic...I might be forced to post it!! I mean...we do have family pics coming up!! :) So....UNTIL THEN....Happy Summer to you all....Happy Wednesday to you all....and think of me...cause I'm sure I'll be having BLOGGER WITHDRAWS!! LOL kj

Oh..My..Almost 1,000,000.....

LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE the 1,000,000 .......or..... 1,000,001 .....or 1,000, 002 HIT!!! YOU will all win an Ordinary Hero shirt of your choice!!! Try to leave message, take pic of your number...something to show me that YOU HIT IT!! Or email me at Kristi@ordinaryhero.org Good LUCK!!! :) kj

Did We Really Just Go Camping With 6 Young Children?

Yes, we DID!!!!! And, YES, we're NUTS!! My sister Kelly's text said it all, " Did you really take all those babies camping? You guys are insane!!" LOL

*WE ARE BACK!!! The smell coming from the camping laundry pile is about to make me gag, and the exhaustion I feel right now (the Venti Starbucks I just had didn't help a bit) is kicking my tail....So...more on our camping adventures next....BUT...we're HOME..and we SURVIVED....and the hubby and I decided we might NOT be the "camping" type, after all!! LOL

BUT....OH....the KIDS LOVED IT:
And, yes, we cheated and rented a VERY TINY log cabin at the camp grounds INSTEAD of opting for the actual TENT...Does that still count as camping???
We made SMORES and all that good stuff....so that still counts as camping, right??? It's the best compromise the hubby and I could come up with...and the kids loved it..and the babes and I weren't sleeping in a tent for two nights...
And, another one of my sisters asked if we COOKED our own food over the camp fire?? Ummmmm...no we cheated there too....we drove down the road to the local Cracker Barrel and ate there!! Does that still count?? Ok, so we ate there TWICE!! We just weren't prepared and didn't take ENOUGH stuff to survive off of for two days and two nights.....
We'll do better next time....IF there is EVER a next time!! :) I took about 100 pics of our adventures....More soon when I get my head above water (and this awful smoke smell gone) !!! :) Happy Saturday to you all, kj

Happy 2 Year GOTCHA DAY Lucy Lane!!!

I just can't believe i've had my BABY GIRL in my arms now for 2 years!!! It has truly been an amazingly, wonderful 2 years!! Lucy lane is truly a gift!! I'm blessed and the lucky one to be her momma!! I remember the day she was placed in my arms like it was yesterday:The moment she was placed in my arms was one of the most spiritual moments of my life....You could truly feel God's presence!!!

I'll forever be grateful for my beautiful daughter!! She was perfectly made for our family!! Her personality could not be a BETTER ONE.......

My Lucy Lane introduced me to a country that I instantly fell in love with....Her healthy, spunky, lovable self opened the doors to many more God ordained miracles....

Bringing Lucy Lane home was just the beginning....the kids welcomed her with open arms and we were instantly in love!! And, my heart was instantly OPEN to what God had in store next......
And, Lucy lane has been able to keep up with her travel buddies too....We've had several play dates and reunions with friends since she's been home....Below..she carries a special bond with her Best Buddy Silas....They came home on the same day on the same plane to the same city....
And, TODAY they are still buddies....
We even got together this week for them to see each other and play......I pray their friendship lasts a life time....

And, here are some of my favorite pics of my sweet Lucy lane lately:

She is beautiful on the inside and out!! She is spunky, fun, hilarious, sassy, sweet, huggable and perfectly made....

And, one of my sweet travel buddies sent me this....love it:

Because of YOU Lucy lane.....so many children are NOW home with their forever families....Your life has inspired more people and changed more lives than you'll ever know!! Glory be to God!! Lucy lane, you opened my heart to those in need in this world....You inspired the most amazing trip in December.....You took me to a part of the world...to a village I never dreamed I'd go....I met a woman...a young woman I'll forever be grateful to... a young woman that gave birth to you on the side of the road...a young woman that LOVED you enough to walk and walk until she found a safe place for you...an orphanage...where you'd have the life she always dreamed of....You'd have the life she prayed for you to have...SHE GAVE YOU LIFE BECAUSE SHE LOVED YOU....And, because of that....OUR LIVES ARE BLESSED:

And, because of YOU Lucy Lane....and that precious meeting....YOU NOW HAVE A BABY BROTHER!! You opened our hearts to things that we never dreamed possible!! You may have inspired a lot of families to adopt...you may have changed a lot of families for the better....BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY...YOU CHANGED US!! You inspired us to adopt again....YOU have forever changed the life of your precious little brother....If it weren't for YOUR adoption Lucy lane...I never would have been in that remote village...in that remote orphanage in December....God has certainly been in every detail since the VERY beginning....

So, TODAY we celebrate Lucy Lane Martha being in our arms for 2 years!!! You are one of the most amazing people I've ever met. We love you beyond words!! And, we certainly can't imagine our lives without you!! And, here is the ORIGINAL Gotcha Day video for our Lucy lane.... the video that has touched many.... Enjoy it again if you haven't seen it lately!!

Happy 2 years home Lucy Lane...We are forever blessed to have you in our arms.....and Happy Wednesday to you all, kj