MY WAY MADNESS

I adore this baby boy.....

But it seems lately... this is the face we see.... It's what I like to call MY WAY MADNESS. He has to have HIS WAY! His daddy thinks I have spoiled him by giving him his way A LOT (ok, I am guilty!!!). But HOW CAN I SAY NO to that precious face!

He was enjoying this icecream cone.... It's not good unless YOU WEAR IT! I love that his NOSE is in the cone.

This is Abel's buddy, Sammy. Sammy enjoyed the ice cream too!

What's wrong Abel? My guess is, he was told no.

This is how we got him all clean... water hose! He loved it!!

Sammy... I think it's your turn for the hose!

He liked it too!

I love this picture... He looks like he is riding down the street on a scooter. He is just standing on it. He was bossing Tori (Sammy's big sister) around having her push him on the scooter. He doesn't talk really... he just grunts out his orders. It's cute!

TOO CUTE NOT TO SHARE!!

Eat my sparkles.. I mean my bubbles

This is such a fun story about my Addie.

Avery is the first born and the one who tries things out before the others. Avery has been doing swim team all summer. The other kids have watched her practice. I even asked Aidan and Addie if they wanted to try it out. Aidan said "no". Addie said "sure!". She joined the swim team. FOR 15 MINUTES.

When she tried it out, she didn't know how to swim but the have a class called the "feeders". She liked how they played ring around the rosie and went under the water but when she tried practice and they were done with that, she wasn't interested any more.

I didn't push her and her time on swim team was done.

WELL... this past Monday, I asked a friend if she would stop by and pick Avery up for swim team and then I would meet them there. She came to get her and said "does any one else want to go with us?" Addie said "I want to go". So she did.

Addie had been learning to swim this summer. She watches all the other kids swim and she practices in the baby pool. I have worked with her some in the shallow end and even talked her into jumping into the deep in to me (while I was on a noodle float) and then I would help her swim to the ladder. But she was not a swimmer. UNTIL MONDAY.

She rode with Andrea to practice... and with out me knowing, SHE (re)JOINED THE SWIM TEAM. When I got to the pool as practiced ended, they all told me how she almost swam the entire pool.

So the next day, I sent them with Andrea again. What I later found out was there was some pep talking going on in the car on the way. AND ADDIE WAS LISTENING TO ALL OF IT.
They talked to her about swimming in the meet on TUESDAY and she said YES. (of course, they told her she would get some Hannah Montana lip gloss if she did it... what a girl will do for lip gloss!)

Another (bribe) thing that Andrea did was she told Addie and Gracie Kate (that's Andrea's daughter) that she would get them all dolled up for the swim meet. WITH NAIL POLISH, SPARKLE TATOOS, BLUE HAIR STREAKING, MAKE UP...

The girls were MORE THAN HAPPY to be in the swim meet.

Here they are looking pageant ready for a SWIM MEET :-)

Gracie (the Diva) Kate

BEST COACH IN THE WORLD... Sarah!

The Bribe... LIP GLOSS

On the blocks waiting for the horn to blow. Addie is right next to me so she didn't make this shot.

Here she is.... I was SO proud of her!

GO ADDIE GO!

She finished 4th

Gracie Kate got a little freaked out. Coach Sarah jumped in with her to encourage her through the last little bit.

SHE MADE IT!

What a fun night! I am SO PROUD OF YOU ADDISON!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!!

LIGHTS
I just got some lights from a friend. I borrowed them because I am doing my FIRST WEDDING tomorrow. Ancelet Photography has expanded and now we (meaning me - haha!) are doing weddings. I am so excited and nervous all at the same time.
I borrowed the lights so I can use them on the bride while she is inside getting ready.
Addie let me practice on her today. She was such a good sport. She loves having her picture taken. She had lots of funny face pictures but I just put a few of them up :-)

CAMERA

So the "ACTION" part of our lives go something like this...

wake up, put on bathing suits, head to swim team practice, swim, swim, swim some more and then stay and play with friends. Come home, Abel naps, play, play and play some more... bed time... start all over.

SWIM TEAM - GO WAHOOS!

We had our first swim meet this week. It was on Tuesday night. This is Avery's first year to do swim team. It has been so much fun. I know it's a lot of practicing but I love that she is learning to be disciplined. She loves going and is enjoying being apart of this team.
Meet the Wahoos. I thought they made the word up... but it's really a fast fish... who knew! Just thought this was a cool picture. There are 130 kids on the swim team. This picture shows warm up time.

Great coaches!

My sweet Avery... Getting ready to practice before the meet.

Before every meet, the Seniors do a skit to get the team pumped up. Then they do cheers. It was so much fun. Avery was grinning from ear to ear. We actually WON THIS MEET!!!

Coach Brad leading the team in GROUP CHEER

OH MY... These ladies make life fun! I met Amanda (on the left) about 3 years ago. She has adopted from Liberia and that was an instant connection for us (adoption). Then, this summer...to my sweet surprise, I met Andrea. She is FUNNY! Look at that face she is making. It cracks me up. She is constantly saying something that makes me laugh.

Here's my girl swimming back stroke. I was so proud of her.

FUN TIMES!!!

FAMILY DAY!

We went to the mountains on Sunday for a family day. It was so good to just be together and hang out for the day. We got donuts on the way out, went and threw rocks at the Mountains (the kids' favorite), went and drove Cades Cove (BEAUTIFUL!) and then went through Pigeon Forge. It was FAMILY FUN!

Abel loved the rocks. He has such a good time picking them up and throwing them.
Aidan found big rocks! They all had a rock collection. We told them they could bring home 2 rocks each (I think Ted changed it to three) but they had to be SMALL.

Abel would get a rock in his hand and then back up to Ted so he could help him throw it. PRECIOUS!

Of course, I had my camera out there... I had fun taking pictures of nature. It was a GORGEOUS day!

This is how we spent of first part of our time... all 4 of the kids in the water. We forgot to bring towels but we did bring a change of clothes for each of them.

This is our drive through Cades Cove. If you are ever in the Smoky Mountains, you have to drive Cades Cove. It is 11 miles long. It is absolutely gorgeous. This was a picture I took from the passenger seat... you can see the side mirror view as well.

We saw 4 bears. This one was the closest we saw. What kills me is that people get out of their cars (WITH THEIR KIDS) to look at the bears. Not us! I will just look from the window.

We also saw deer. Several of them. Here is one.

Here is one of those guys who got out of the car to get closer to the bears.

See the three black dots... those are black bears. I think they were cubs... You know what they say... if there is a baby bear, there is a momma bear close by. That guy above... CRAZY! I chose to stay in my van, with my zoom lens...

FAMILY DAY = GREAT DAY!

Ethiopian Gathering

We got together today with our Ethiopian community. It is SO good to see everyone and hear of chlidren that are now with their forever families. To hear about those waiting to travel, those who are waiting for court dates (YAY AMY and DARRIN!) and those waiting for referrals and those who are waiting for home studies to be finished! We also had others join us today that are from Ethipian and Liberia. It was a great day!
Here is Miss Maya. Love her! I haven't seen her in TOO LONG! Julie told me that we are hanging out every week ... once a week... so we should be seeing more of her sweet face on THIS BLOG! How precious is this little one? She knows when she sees me to just smile and pose for a picture. What blesses my heart is that she knows my name!! You are a beautiful girl Miss O.

Maya and Abel... I was getting pictures for their slide show at their wedding. haha. RIGHT JULIE!??

This precious girl is gonna have a little sister! Her momma and daddy are going through the adoption process for the 4th time. Two from Guatemala and now there will be two from Ethiopia! Can't wait to meet her!

Lots of yummy food!

How about this flag cake?

Abel was having a blast playing soccer. I know you can't tell that's what he is doing in this picture but he is. He was watching the soccer ball. He likes to pick it up and throw it though. He doesn't get that you kick it. That'll come...

Here is his big brother showing him how it's done.

So sweet... Momma giving some love to her Sunny.

How great is Julie H? She brought stuff to make braclets. We need to restock her braclet beads. My kids had a BLAST making braclets. Even Abel got in on the fun.

This is so their future... Abel chillin' in the lawn chair and Maya making a phone call. Probably to her momma. This handsome boy just came home 4 weeks ago.

This precious girl has an older sister from Ethiopia. She was adopted from China. She came home 2 months ago. BEAUTIFUL!

My Addie :-)