Leaving America- it's only an ocean away.

There was a lot going on today. Isaiah woke up this morning with 104 fever, Layla woke up with an earache, and Caleb had vaccines at 10 am. So, after an hour at the Doctor's office we found out that Layla had an ear infection, Isaiah has a virus NOT the flu (THANK YOU JESUS)! and Caleb doesn't like to be stabbed in the leg, in fact he screamed. ay, yay, yay. All the meanwhile my dear friend Steven was on my mind. This was his last day in san antonio texas america. I am so sad, but so happy that he is finally going to be with his family. (His birth family as we have adopted him as uncle steven). :) I am reminded that true friendship is amazing, and to actually connect with someone beyond the surface is an incredible gift. I am also reminded that what is really important is love in life. The dishes can wait, the laundry can wait-time can not. Although I wish I had spent more time with my old friend, I am grateful for all the time we had. How grateful can I be to be a girl on a bus, singing for the Lord-and wanting to make a new friend. Thanks for not thinking I was crazy Steven, although I am sure it may have crossed your mind. Thanks for hanging out with us for Holidays, Thank You for loving the kids, thanks for EVERYTHING-camera included , thank you for becoming part of our crazy family. ;).  Steven jokingly says it's only 10000 miles away, only an ocean away-but the truth is it's really only an email away-a picture on facebook, a few days in the mail.  So, be careful LIN HUAPING.   I promise to write-besides how else are you going to practice your english???

Uncle Steven. 

Lets rewind to a couple weeks ago-Sai won his soccer game-we had fun at the zoo with sai's best friend Juan, Josefina and baby brother Julian-and layla falls asleep reading about baseball???

Isaac loving Caleb!

Sai at his game.

Sai posing at the Zoo.

Chillin in his ride....

Later on that night...Layla falls asleep reading about the dodgers??? 

sai and Simba

Caleb loving the zoo.

ay, yi, yi!!  I still have yet to ask for permission (sorry Ren)-but I most definantly will tomorrow.  PROMISE!  I am happy to report that I have been working on my temper, my yelling and *gasp* yes- my lateness.   <-----not sure if that is a word.  YES RENEE-IM WORKING ON IT-But I am not promising any miracles as of yet...hahahaha.  I have been trying to make sure that I am at least 5 minutes early...including Sai's soccer practice, Sai's games, and omagoodness-even paries/functions.  I am praying like the dickens every time layla gets her mama's attitude, and overlooking the things people do to make me mad...which is surprisingly working very well.    I know that at any moment I can fall off the bandwagon, but thus far I am good.  PRAY FOR ME!!!  When you think you are having a wonderful morning full of love and kisses-think of me cause chances are I am NOT!  lol.  I really don't know what has been coming over Layla-she is just impossible in the morning.  If she wakes up in a bad mood and she went to bed late - it's cause she's tired/ if she wakes up in a bad mood and she went to bed early- it's cause she slept too much!  WE CAN'T WIN!  :)  I hope you all had a great day-Hope tomorrow is better. 

Layla will surely Lap me....

It was a long day.  Nothing more can be said of that-
Layla and Isaiah had soccer practice again today, and yes...many apologies Steven but the Nikon stayed safely at home...for now.  I am going to get my read on tomorrow so I can at least get off the auto photographs I have been taking.  :)  I did get some really good shots of last sundays game, which I may add-sai helped win by making 1 goal.  He was so excited-mainly because I bribed him with MandM's.  :)  BTW Sai has a new best friend...or this is his first best friend!!  I love that Sai has finally found a friend that is so much like him.  we love to watch them play...but I can't post pics until I ask for permission of course!  It's so nice to be able to sit down and let kids play-especially when they  get along so well.  I love the fact that I don't have to play referee during playtime.  We love you Juan!  :)
As for Layla, well lets just say we really miss Charly!  (SERIOUSLY). 
So, Layla has a marathon to run, (in a couple months)-so I have some serious conditioning to do!!!  So I am on the lookout for a jogging stroller for my little love Caleb...he is going to have so much fun!  Hopefully I don't go kaput on my first and only lap...hahahaha.  Don't claim it, don't speak it, think positive, speak positive words-pray for me!!!!  ;)

A beautiful view with NIKON...

This weekend we had a going away get together for my dear friend Steven. ( He is going back to China). While throwing him at least a decent gathering was priority on my mind, we only invited a few important peeps...;) Steven-who is actually UNCLE Steven to my kids sat me down to give me a little going away present that was SO far from little!!!! As I tore the present paper I couldn't believe my eyes....a Nikon D 3000-something that I have wanted for so long!!!! Now, sorry my love (Mike)-but this has to be the present of the year....or maybe a few years!!! ;) Holy Cow, Steven managed to give us crystal clear memories for many years to come!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN STEVEN. So, sufficed to say-I am posting many pictures on my blog today....so ENJOY! I sure did...and thank you everyone who came-it was a good night!




***and yes-that is my Dad AND My Mom in the same house-I have such an amazing Mom, Dad, And Stepmom-A Little Girls dream can come true even as an adult! I love you guys so much!

Pictures at the top-  Layla and Addison decided to pull a Renee and put marker on in place of makeup....hahaha.  ;)  The guys...where were you uncle Randy????





                  Layla loves her popsicle!  Beautiful eyes!



Dad And Steve



Caleb Hanging Out



Addison eating some yummy cake!!!!



                    Caleb and my mama!



Uncle Steven-We are going to miss you!!!



Me!  Au Natural! 




I know!  He smiles just like my dad!




Elva, Steven, Dad

Morning Monster

This morning Layla woke up not just on the wrong side of the bed, but it seemed maybe she didn't get any sleep at all. She was on a rampage from the moment I said "good morning". After many attempts to wake her up I finally picked her up out of bed-so she told me she hates me and that I was a mean mommy. COME ON! Seriously? Fifteen minutes into my day and I was already beginning to lose my patience. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Thats all I could say to myself. Anyhow I tried to stay calm but lost my cool after 30 minutes when she said she wasn't going to brush her teeth so her breath could smell in the brattiest tone. So yea, I yelled. Ugh! I don't remember being so defiant at such a young age!!! ;) Anyway, I finally grabbed her and hugged her- surprisingly she hugged me back then I got her out the door. Believe me that might have been pretty bad-but it could be worse. So, I promise Layla and Caleb share the same brain-not five minutes after she left I went to kiss and hug Caleb to Wake Up and he was in the worst mood. SHEESH! What's a mom to do? So I had a long morning, but a pretty decent day-THANK GOD FOR THE RAIN!!!! Although I hate driving in the rain, we needed it so much. Our grass was non existant-and the rain has made the days so much cooler than they were just a week ago. So, 9-11 has come and is about to be gone again. Mike is still working-I miss him. :(

A Hot Mess....

Maybe The kids Look More Alike Than I Thought

I just found these pictures-doesn't she look so cute!

Mike woke me up at 6:30am to inform me that our water heater was leaking....A LOT!!!!  So many things ran through my head-explosion, electricution, scalding.  All very serious, but the foremost on my mind was MONEY.  I walked into the garage to find water almost to the garage door.  Boxes that were on the floor looked mushy-ready for the trash.  I couldn't believe it-I wasn't amused to say the least.  Then I took a deep breath and just thanked the Lord in prayer that none of us had been hurt-water heaters are so dangerous, especially if something like this goes unnoticed for a long period of time.  So-Mike turned off the water supply to the house and I called into work. We started to clean out the garage box by box, bag by bag so we could call a company to come and fix the problem.  So, we got to spend the morning together, clean our garage completely, and learned something new about the upkeep (which is apparently important) of water heaters.  Mike was able to temporarily fix the problem which should hold at least until next pay period in a few days.

Layla, Piano, and Tooth Fairies

LAYLA'S SELF PORTRAIT

Layla started piano lessons a few weeks back, and honestly, between work, house cleaning and getting ready for school-we just hadn't had time to put a much time into teaching Layla her notes.  (We had only learned the first five notes on the treble cleff scale, and still hadn't learned about higher octaves and all that jazz...which i don't think Layla should have been learning yet anyway).  So, we are at her lesson and her teacher is obviously annoyed that Layla still doesn't know her notes (this is like her fourth week of 30 minutes lessons once a week), and I start to get a little agitated with her (the teacher).  Then I could not believe it when she starts asking Layla to find the C an octave higher than middle C....ummm-can you tell her what an octave is?????  Then she starts asking her to find other notes an octave higher than what she was learning.  Am I supposed to be TEACHING her myself at home?  In that case-what happens to the parents who know nothing about reading music?  Anyway, on the way to the car Layla asked me if she had done bad, and I decided it was time for another teacher.  I was so upset, I never realized how perceptive kids are at such a young age could be-so then I was REALLY upset.  So, even though we were paid up for the month Layla didn't make it to her last piano lesson.........flash to today-

We hired a new piano teacher who will come to our house every wednesday for 45 minutes to an hour depending on how much time Layla wants to spend at the piano (how long her attention span will last for the day).  Today was her first lesson, and I couldn't be happier with this teacher.  He is so wonderful and patient!  He started the same piano book from the beginning and really made sure that Layla understood about notes, measures, lines, spaces, and kept asking her if she had any questions-and she did!  I was so proud of her, she was so attentive-give or take a few minutes at the end of the hour today.  So, she is on her way to becoming a pianist.  Or singer, or whatever she wants to be-just as long as she enjoys doing it!


On a different note, we are collecting food to fill a box for an organization through our church.  A couple days ago Layla asked if she could have a baby doll-and I told her that we didn't have money right now to buy toys, that we needed to make sure that we had money to buy important stuff like food.  Layla made a pouty face and started to have attitude-arms crossed and all- so I closed my eyes and prayed a little prayer for God to calm my annoyance and give me patience. I then explained to her that some parents didn't even have enough to buy food so we should be thankful  and grateful that the Lord has blessed us with what we have-and that we need to make sure we still have enough to help those who have less than us and reminded her that we still had those boxes to fill at home for the children who didn't have enough to eat.  She still stayed quiet, but I left her alone.  Yesterday Layla was telling me about her day and out of the blue told me she wanted a few of her teeth to fall out.  After asking her why, she answered for the money that the tooth fairy would give her so she could help buy the food for the kids who didn't have enough.  I giggled to myself, so happy that she really was listening-although she shouldn't feel she has to share the job of money maker.  I told her that Jesus was so happy to know that she wanted to help-but that we didn't need her teeth just yet.  ;)  The Lord is teaching me patience through Layla- how am I just getting this?

Labor Day Fun

Hi Addison!



Yes???

The Nanacita!

Addisson and her DAddy.

Isaiah is showing us how big the snake was....

Layla Posing For the camer as always!

Caleb looking at a dragon fish at the aquarium.

We have had Zoo membership cards since march of this year, and have gone maybe a couple times-which is SO CRAZY! The kids love going so much, and I promise their is something new that they are excited about every time. Caleb was so interested in everything that was going on around him-it was too cute to see his face when he was seeing something he didn't understand, something new. Which was everything! :) Crystal, Steve, Addison, and my Mamma went with us which was really nice since we haven't had a family day in a while. When we went to pet the goats Caleb was so excited-he wanted to lay with them, I think he thought it was my BF's dog which he totally adored-only the goats weren't too excited to have him trying to sit on them!! :) Caleb misses you Shelby!

Flashback to August 24th

Sai all slicked up and ready for school

Ready, you can go now, Mom....

Walking, so anxous-

I love her so much!

First Day Of School- First Grade That Is!

So Layla's first day of school has come and gone. We had "orientation" last week which calmed a few of my anxieties about Layla's teacher. She seemed really intent on the kids learning their way-and finding that way which is both our jobs-which I am totally on board with. So now Layla and I have an hour everyday to ourselves so she can teach me what she is learning in school! haha. I am really looking forward to Isaiah's homework which will start in the next few weeks. Oh, BTW- Isaiah's transition is finally complete-he is officially a Pre-K-er. HOORAY! (Transition started with just having lunch in the new "classroom", then lunch and a nap, then morning lesson lunch and a nap...and so on until he was spending the entire day in his new classroom). Isaiah has already learned so much in just a the few weeks we have been working on letters-and now that he is in pre-k it can only help more, so that is exciting news.

Living With Some Major Talent!

We had such a great day last weekend. (sunday to be exact). I have a confession to make- up until about a week ago I hated to go to our backyard. It's been so hot and the yard looked more like a room that hadn't been cleaned in a really long time. I really just hated to look outside. I had already forgotten that the yard was one of the main reasons I chose this house in the first place. It used to be so beautiful...until we moved in! So-I decided to try my hand at mowing and actually enjoyed it. It was hot, but nice. Anyway, so we all were outside just playing-layla soccer *which is odd cause she hates it* and Sai, Mike and Caleb were playing catch. I was walking around taking millions of pictures, and actually got some decent shots. Caleb amazes me-I can't believe how good he is at sports, it really blows my mind. He loves to be involved with every minute-which isn't possible of course, but he didn't throw a tantrum or cry-he just resorted to playing on his own for a few minutes when dad and sai were throwing the "fast" balls. Sai has gotten so good at catching the ball. Layla was just running around kicking the soccer ball in her Sunday dress and red cleats-I couldn't have chosen a more perfect outfit. I am so blessed. Life is so wonderful amongst all the chaos. oh and I love not having cable...


Caleb resorts to throwing the ball to himself....aaawww!


How beautiful can a BOY be????


Isaiah's Action Shot Available for Autographs!


Triple Threat! Beauty, Brains, and Sports.


We just can't stop him-he loves the game!


He's mad, he just wants someone to throw the ball to him!!