Normal

Life around here has been what I consider 'normal' summer. In summer, all slows down. Life seems to keep going in its natural chaos and weekends are filled with BBQs and friends. So I thought I had no pictures to share with you, but when I downloaded them, I did, in fact, have a few - and at least four near the end should make you laugh.

The adventure of our garden continues...K getting ready to pick her last carrot and giving you her best "arg!" face.

Em with her last carrot - they love to pull them out of the ground! (Don't worry, we replanted and should get a second round).

Waiting for the fireworks on the fourth.  Am and I got together since both our hubbies both had to work that night.

Actually watching...

I think the girls put on a 'show', as they often do, and then wanted a pic.

These two are best buddies.  I even have K feeding him as one of her chores so he likes her even more than he always has.

K made Dad that beautiful necklace.  :-)

My peas and my carrots might be gone, but my corn is in!  First corn from our garden.

Hopefully you have seen "Puss in Boots".  In this animated movie, there is a girl cat who is called 'Kitty Softpaws' and she is K's favorite character right now, so the other day she told me she wanted to dress up like Kitty Softpaws.  When I asked her what she meant, she said a mask and cape like when she is in the dance fight with Puss.  So, I found the only black shirt in their closet, sewed here and there and invented a mask.  Then I took one of my old shirts and made a cape.  All of this and what do you get?

I present "Kitty Softpaws"!

She literally runs all over rescuing people...with a mask on.  M and I crack up laughing every time we see her.  She is pretty self-conscious of what she looks like and is very concerned that she looks 'silly'. We, of course, reassure her she does not, (while we laugh), and for some reason, this makes it seem even more funny.  We also took a video of the dance she made up.  It will be wonderful blackmail material some day soon.  :-)  When I asked her if I could take a picture, she informed me that she wanted four pictures and then proceeded to give me exactly four poses.

This is easily my fav.  Holy cats!  She makes me laugh!

I don't know why we have a picture of the dinosaurs' campfire so I am just going to guess it was requested.  It may have been a not so subtle hint that we need to go camping soon...might need to put the tent in the backyard again since Dad is working graves so camping is not really an option unless he is on vacation.  September my babes!

Speaking of September, I have decided to teach Em myself.  This was a huge decision and very hard for me but in the end, two things kept reverberating in my head: First, I actually do trust God to lead me and direct me and second, I believe my skills as a teacher and my instinct as a mom make me the most qualified teacher in her life right now.

I have shied away in the past because of how much patience it requires to teach her anything and have wanted to pawn at least part of it off on someone else.  But over time, I have realized that for me, this mentality is just me not stepping up to what God has called me to do.  If you ask me truthfully, I believe her sister is more valuable to her than a thousand teachers.  Separating them right now feels more wrong than any other thought.  They play all day long together, playing pretend, building things and basically forcing Em to develop 50% of the skills on her IEP, (and many more not listed).  Why do you think her highest scores are always social?  Anyway, it's time for me to admit a four-year-old's got that part under wraps and it's my turn to step up to the other half.

So, unless something major changes, I need loads of prayer!  It's not just the academics, (that part is easy to me), it's all the rest of it - the stuff she does not develop naturally because of who she is. And now I need the patient endurance to stick with it every moment of every day.  Prayers coveted.  We start Monday (so when we go on vacation in September, we can take a full vacation).  The beauty?  I know I can't do this on my own so I am totally reliant on God and that's always a recipe for success.  God is faithful.  And God is good!

Oh, speaking of God being good...for those who do not know, the baby girl my brother is trying to adopt passed her first court date and now Mo heads out to Ethiopia next week for their court date on July 25 or 26th.  Courts close August 6th so praise God He will do this by the hair of our chinny chin chins.  They still have to go back one more time to pick her up if all goes well.  Please pray for safety and for them to pass the last court day!

God Bless!!!!!