What We've Been Up To:)

The end of June brought the annual dance recital. This year, Tatum was in it!!! She did 2 dances...a ballet to You've Got a Friend in Me and a tap to I've Got a Dream. Mommy and Daddy were just beaming watching her:) She had so much fun! Colin made it through the first half and then hung out with the girls in the back for the second half:)
We headed over to our neighbor's house for the 4th of July. What a great day!!! The kids and I spent the morning at Nationals watching the girls dance. We hung out with friends all afternoon. The kids played, ate a lot and went swimming. Even daddy joined in the fun!!!!
Tatum celebrated her 3rd Gotcha Day on July 7th! I can't believe she has been home for 3 years already. In the same breath, I can't remember life before she came home:)
The kids found out that in October, they get to be in their first horse show:) Colin was practicing his grooming and tacking when a nice man gave him a lucky horseshoe. He was nice enough to share it with his sister:)
This weekend, we had our neighborhood blockparty. More friends, food and fun!!!
Brookie received her photo album of us and was so happy! The pictures of her brought tears to our eyes and we can't wait to go get her:) We will be leaving on July 21st!!!!! Packing has begun:) Make sure you stop by while we are away as I will update the blog everyday:)

The zoo

We went to the zoo with Nana. We saw a baby emu and a huge turtle! They had a pond are with lemurs on either side on islands. The sloth bear was sleeping sitting up and looked like a big stuffed animal:) They also had beautiful birds and crazy looking wild hogs. The kangaroos were all lounging on their elbows looking like little divas! Tatum liked the ringed-tailed lemurs the best and Colin liked the zebras.

When we were finished, we headed over to the park next door:)

Memorial Day Weekend

What a wonderful weekend it was! We got together with the neighborhood for a cookout. It is always nice to hang out with the adults and watch the kids play. Mini golf was on tap for Sunday and we ended the evening with some ice cream:) We did our annual stepping stones on Monday. Dennis did a great job mixing and pouring the concrete:) Colin and Tatum loved squishing the shapes into the mold and then stamping their names in. It was so hot and humid that it took quite a while for it to cure:) Popsicles cooled everyone down while we waited! Can't wait for Brookie to make her first one next year!!!!!

Brody

Reece's Rainbow is holding a 5/5/5 warrior challenge for their waiting 5 year olds. Knowing that Brookie will be home soon, I wanted to help a child who is still waiting. Brody is in EE and most likely has autism. He has no one to hold him and tell him that he is perfect just the way he is. I am trying to raise awareness and money for his adoption fund so that his family may find him soon and give him the life he deserves. I have made glass heart necklaces and will be selling them for $15. Just donate to his fund and leave a comment. I will get it out to you right away!!! Please consider helping this beautiful child:)

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter:) We ha and my mom, uncle Bob and Auntie Moira come over to our house. The kids loved reading with everyone and playing silly games. My mom made her bunny cake and the kids loved helping with the decorations. We had had good food and great company. Can't wait for everyone to be together again:)