Monday Moments

 

I heart these two. Big time.

Summer Bucket List: the red ball

So this wasn’t actually in our summer bucket to do, but when I saw it was marked down from $49 to $9.99, I knew it had to come home with me!

And it really is as fun as it looks!

Welcome Stacey

Whew, yall been wondering where I’ve been? I’ve been a busy busy lady. We are adjusting to our new normal, which is early mornings, drop off lines, school lunches, a teenager, two toddlers, and lots of folks who need momma!!

But let’s start at the beginning….

Stacey’s room was all ready, and it was time to go get her.

Monday we headed to the airport to pick up Stacey. According to the track my flight app on my phone her flight was delayed, but I didn’t 100% trust that, so we left like it would be arriving on time. Well, it was actually delayed so we took the boys down to see the damn.

Then to the airport. The boys make quiet the welcoming committee!

And then, there she was…

The boys immediately took to their new best bud!

And in true Brown family fashion, our first stop was at Sonic!

Stacey brought lots and lots and lots of gifts for our family. I’ll post more of them later, but please check out my babies in their Chinese outfits! Could they be any cuter?!

Stacey has started school already, met new friends, gone to church and has her first teenage outing with friends this weekend. Wheweee, see, been a busy week!

We’re busy settling into our new normal, getting to know each other, setting boundaries, and having fun! We are excited about the next 10 months and looking forward to having Stacey with us!

Exchange Student

I have lots of adventurous, albeit, sometimes crazy ideas. I know for a fact that is why God gave me Nick Brown. We could not be more different in that area, and thank God, he tends to ground some of my wild ideas or I’d have our family living in a tree in a jungle all Swiss Family Robinson-like.

Imagine my shock when I came up with another one of my crazy ideas, and without batting an eye, he said YES!

And here we are, just 17 hours away from opening our home, our lives, our hearts, and our family to a 16 year old girl from China for 10 months.

The weight and enormity of this little endeavor washes over me in waves and at any given moment, I can be found making a to do list (pretty sure I have about 7 started), nesting, panicking, savoring the simple moments with my boys, tearing up, or having an all out panic attack. Just kidding, I haven’t had a panic attack…. yet.

Um, in case you were doing the math, little ole me, who has officially been a mom for just a little over two years is about to jump into the deep end of parenting- A TEENAGE GIRL. Yes folks, I’m thinking this might be a little crazy.

I know taking this step, this leap, is God ordinated, we have seen His fingerprints all over the process and I cannot wait to watch the rest of the story unfold.

We chose the country and the student prayerful and know that God is bringing to our door the one He has chosen for us, the one who will become part of our family, the one He is asking us to love as a daughter and sister, and most importantly the one He is asking us to introduce to Him.

We’ve had several people ask us “why”. Why we are doing this. Why when our life is busy with two toddlers are we taking on a teenager. Why why why? It’s simply really, as Andrew Peterson sang tonight (he’s awesome, by the way)

“There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love”

We are in a season of our lives that we can’t GO and BE the feet of Jesus, but we can’t STAY and BE. We are choosing to spend 10 months pouring love into a girl in our own home. We want our boys to know that mom and dad chose love. We chose to serve, we chose to extend ourselves and our family. We choose to sacrifice. There is a great wide world out there and we choose to make an impact. We choose to love big.

The weight of responsibility of being a parent is enormous and we want our children to see that we chose to be a light, to love, to carry other to Christ even when it would be easier to say no, to keep our life simple. I know one day I will look back on this decision and note it as a step in our family’s journey to something big for the Lord.

As I sit here and type this, our girl is on her way to us. She’s in the air; she’s hugged her mom and dad goodbye and walked down that terminal into the great unknown. And can we just have a moment for that mother who is letting her daughter go. Um, boys, this momma ain’t doing that. You will live with me forever. The end. 

Well, wait, I just tracked the flight, she’s stuck on the runway, where she has been for over an hour, oh gracious. But she’ll soon be in the air, and I’ll be up most of the night stalking this flight!

I feel like I did before meeting our boys, I’m excited and nervous and anxious. Her room is ready, our hearts and home are ready. Signs are made, balloons have been ordered. We are ready to love big as a family.

Summer bucket list: go carts

I heart that Nick has every other Friday off. I love the extra "Saturday" we get as a family! Today, between the mile long to do list and errands getting ready for Siyi to arrive on Monday, we squeezed in a Bucket List activity- Go Carts! 

I knew the boys would LOVE it and they did!

Brodie and momma rode together. He was so stinking tiny in that seat!

Daddy and his co-pilot, Bates.

Brodie squeeled with delight when the light turned green and we took off. We had the entire track to ourselves which was super nice! The boys' favorite part was passing each other, so we did that a lot! Bates loved to wave at us as they passed!

Unfortunately, when the red light came on, Daddy and Bates were in the lead and took home the title. But in my defense, the guy did tell Nick before we took off that he had the faster cart.

We went inside and played Bazooka Ball. It was a super fun game of shooting foam balls at each other. And those balls would FLY! It reminded me of that game on American Gladiators when the Gladiator shoots from the tower as the contestants run through the course trying to hit the target above the Gladiator.

I would love one of these guns at home to fire at the folks who are being uncoorpartaive or have bad attitudes! 

Another fun bucket list item done and some family fun before our newest addition arrives. Although Bates requested we bring her back to ride go carts again!

"we are dolphins"

Today the boys both graduated from swim lessons!


This is actually their second year to take swim lessons from Ms Sue and their second year to graduate from the parent and child class!

Bates was signed up for the preschool class, which is the same class just without mommy, but after one and half lessons of sheer terror, he came back to class with Brodie and momma (and daddy!)

We love Ms Sue and value that she teaches so much more than simply how to kick and "swim" but really teaches them how to be safe (and swim too!)

The boys can both now swim short distances, one likes to do it much more than the other, though!

Brodie swam the entire length of the pool with me in front of him lifting him up for a breath every so often! He is incredible to watch!

We have high hopes for both boys to conquer the preschool class next summer!

Thanks D'd for the awesome Christmas gift, and the boys have already put it on their list for this year!!!

Watch Me Grow: July

A few weeks late, again. But you may notice no more concrete and what is an almost finished cork floor!

Big B

This child is incredible. He blows me away with his huge heart. The things he remembers to pray for humble me as his mother. He reminds me to slow down and savor every moment, to “snuggle one minute”, to “smell this flower, momma” to make sure you always kiss goodnight. He is my joy.

little b

 

This child is amazing. He loves fiercely and with his entire being. The way he celebrates everyday moments just makes my day. He reminds me to move fast, to “go fast mommie” (but safely and under the speed limit), to always be on the lookout for the next adventure and to never ever forget to “show them your happy face.” He is my heart.

the B team

Best buddies

and momma’s boys.

Good golly, I love these boogers!

Phone picture update

It's time for an iphone photo update. So thankful for that little handy thing to capture life on the go! 

I'm reading these two books. My reading material is not what it used to be, that's for sure. I recommend both these books but am LOVING Wild Things!!!

We had our house pressure washed a few weeks ago, best entertainment ever. The boys said we were a "car wash"

My sweet Addie girl. She helps me balance the boy-ness!

It finally rained. Praise the Lord! We were out running errands and I glanced down at Brodie in the parking lot and saw his ears had caught on his jacket. He'll grow into them. ;)

And running errands in the rain means puddle jumping. And yes, we all ended up soaked.

My Asian rednecks.

Our little garden is exploding! I have a stocked freezer and fresh veggies everyday. Gardening rocks!

I'm not sure how I lived 30 years without knowing about these little gems, but thank you Megan for introducing me to the Roo Cup. Purchase for $6.99 and refill all.summer.long with Icees or Cokes for only 25 cents! Yep, we've gotten our money's worth. And I'm sure I'll be getting a letter from Sonic any day asking me where I've been!

My little bud on a late night Roo Cup run!

I put together a few busy bags to keep in my purse and Bates LOVES this activity.

We ate lunch at Chuy's and the boys came home with the dough they make the tortillas out of. Bates immediately got his fry pan from his kitchen and make tortillas all afternoon. This kid loves to cook!

 

 See, speaking of loves to cook. Making pudding with momma!

And I finally found something to keep Brodie occupied when I need a few minutes. Give him a butter knife and anything that will cut. A peach was a great item- kept him occupied for 30 minutes.