A Thorn Among Roses

a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this week... while at the chiropractor's office, paige DID NOT keep asking brooke, "what other things don't you know on the body chart?" trying to get her to ask me all about the not girl parts...i was NOT flipping out and giving paige the evil eye...she was NOT laughing her butt off. i DID NOT work out with my trainer after 2 years...i can not believe i just said that out loud...anyway, i DID NOT almost die when i saw my body fat percentage. i DID NOT sweat like a flipping pig...and my legs were NOT even sweating. the next day, every strand of every muscle in my body DID NOT hurt to just move. brooke and sofia DID NOT eat a donut next to me while i worked out with my trainer...and i DID NOT get a tall coffee before because my bod could not function. jada DID NOT say 'when I get big I will marry daddy because i wouldn't want to marry a stranger. that would be dangerous.' sofia DID NOT meet all her goals and require...

little miss sofia is quite the little dare devil... risk taker...adventurer! she doesn't need no stinking little toddler slide...she wants the drop dead, zero gravity big kid slide!!! but check out that smile when she gets herself in order... i totally see sky diving and bungee jumping and lots of scary activities in her future...wow. now, i'm even a little scared!

summer break has come to an end...and school is in full swing. one night, the girlies asked if they could eat dinner in the fort instead of at the outdoor table with us. it was a huge hit...they loved it! anything in a new place is kinda fun...so dinner at the fort was a total hit!!! unfortunately, they didn't eat any better or clean up their messes better...but they did have fun! Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

the girlies and i planted some seeds... well, we raked a few lines in the dirt and tossed seeds around and... look what we grew!!! some of them are still coming in...i'm amazed at how the petals fold out and get soooo big! the bees are really buzzing around {look close} and i love the possibilities in the picture department!! dreams are the seeds of change. nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream. debby boone so, i'm off to plant some more seeds...not the flower growing kind, but just seeds!

i hear jada yelling and i look out to see this... she's screaming..."hello? is anybody in there?" then, as if there were an answer, she starts singing... "pop it. lock it. polka dot it. country-fy and hip hop it..." oh yes, hannah montanna was in our mailbox!!!! and jada and "han-mon-tan", as jada calls her...were doing the hoe down throwdown! so you know i grabbed the camera! ...and when she noticed me, she just started cackling! you gotta love a girl that has style and pizzazz...and well, imagination to spare! so i'm thinking she def needs this shirt!! and some dance lessons bc that girl is good!!!

i love my bible study group of girlies!!! they are awesome for a number of reasons... they are fun {which is so important in life} beautiful and even pensive when they need to be... they laugh at themselves {another super valuable lesson in life} and they are down right supportive, loving and awesome!!!! they love jesus with all their hearts... they are trying to do the right thing in a world that is full of temptations... and they are doing it together!!! so i'm paying tribute today to girlies in high school who take a stand for their faith ...who don't just allow others to form who they are. they are formed by who they worship and who they serve . high school girls need {NEED and DESIRE} loving support from adults. we all do, actually. pray for our teens...and if you can serve them, do it...and remember, tell them how awesome they are. they hear it sooooo little. and mentor...mentor when and if you can...in any way. you never know what affect you will have on someone...

a few things me and the fam DID NOT do this week... hubs and i DID NOT go to starbucks after the high school open house to see a dune buggy {yes a dune buggy} full of post high school stoners in the parking lot. they were NOT still smoking something very funny...wacky, if you will :)...we DID NOT laugh at them and DID NOT start making up stories about where they were going next...to kroger for twinkies or pizza hut for the buffet. when they left, they DID NOT have a pillow on the back bar for a dude to sit on and we DID NOT die laughing even harder. brooke DID NOT tell me in the car, "i am not very fond of that boy, joey, mom." one of the neighbor girls picked up head lice from school and i DID NOT itch my head for 3 solid days convinced that they jumped 2 houses over and attacked us. i DID NOT have lice dreams or wake up one night itching my scalp so much that i had broke the skin on my forehead. i am NOT freaked out by those gross and disgusting things. eeewwwwww. paig...

sometimes life is hard...and you just need your daddy.

hum along... ...and these are a few of her fav bday things! bounce houses and friends and silly nilly faces opening presents and sitting together! hitting pinata's and beating it to death... these are a few of her fav bday things! {i know, it's a stretch, but i couldn't get it out of my head} as for me, brooke's bday was a multi day event...she had a fam party and a friends party and one at school too! but of all of them, my fav thing...def the beheading of the "horse" pinata! the kids were totally undaunted by the actual be-heading...they just dove in and jabbed their hands int he body of the horse and went after the candy... ryan, of course, offered his expertise...offering his golf club to hit it across the yard and spew candy all over...he didn't win, btw. in the end, the best part was seeing my precious b getting bigger and bigger and more beautiful every day. for now, i will have to accept that my babies are growing up...but no one can ever take awa...

it's time for the answers...or the best options...so here we go! debi from who says 8 is enough asks, "what surprised you most after adopting a child of a different race?" well, interesting question. i really thought i had it relatively figured out. honestly, i worried about the black community not understanding and i had no idea that the white community was going to be the problem. i have found more support and love and dignity in the black community in our interracial fam...the white community has tended to be more questioning and digging, if you will...the "why did she end up in foster care?" "did her birthmom do drugs"...all questions i don't get so much with brooke, who is adopted as well, but white. after that serious answer, the next biggest thing...white people trying to give me advice on not washing her hair every day. if i had a dollar for every time a person who has no idea how to do aa hair told me to not wash her hair every day,...

did you know a pure heart starts with your hair??? well, maybe... you know my jada loves to do some hair! i'm gonna be honest, i don't let her do mine all that much bc, well, it gets tangled and knotted in the brush...and it hurts! but ayla, well, she lets jada just play hair stylist to her hearts content! this is the "pre-jada" styled hair...and isn't ayla just precious??? one of the things you may or may not know is that brown girlie pies have to grease their hair every day. so, jada took ayla to the bathroom to grease her up...and ayla let her...with hand lotion, not real hair grease. {if you ever get hair grease in white girl hair, it does NOT come out...just don't do it} look at the diligence...she's so intense. then, the styling commenced...and look at the joy on jada's face! and look at how happy ayla is...not sitting with disconcernment...just joy! and ayla isn't just good with jada...she's just a sincerely loving woman. i learned th...