My niece, Rylie, turned nine on Saturday. My mom had a party at her house on Friday night...with homemade pizza...yummmm! 
It was a beautiful evening and how fun to sit outside and enjoy it. 
Little Emmi is almost one already...can you believe it? She is packed with sweetness...can't get enough of her! Mom and I try to share. =) 
The kids(and certain adults) provided their own entertainment...running, wrestling, climbing and laughing.
Kaiya looks like she's about to give Jake a big spank on the Hind.
Something very common at our family get togethers...usually of the competitive nature takes place. A beanbag war broke out between this big kid...
and this big kid.
It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.
Too bad it had to be the birthday girl though...she still looks cute in her new birthday pj's from grandma. =) 
She was soon all smiles again. =) The second party of the weekend was for a cute little boy who turned two last Wednesday. Lincoln is our nephew...son of Curt (Kevin's brother) and Sarah.
It's his party and he'll cry if he wants to.
This little guy has a fascination with vacuum cleaners...yep, that's a vacuum cleaner on his cake. I love it! What a creative mama who really knows what her son would love. He got his very own vacuum for his present...a real one. =)
Thanks, Sarah, for sending us this picture. =)The party was at Bonneyville Mill Park...one of my favorite parks. Great place to take a family picture.
This verse was printed on our bulletin on Sunday:
When the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. Don't try to squirm out of your problems. When your patience is in full bloom, you will be ready for anything. James 1:3-4
It was just what I needed for that week. I do feel like I'm squirming with impatience sometimes through this adoption process...especially this week as my daughter asked with exasperation "why is it taking sooo long for a baby, mom?" I have asked Him the same thing myself...it's hard not to be impatient and wonder if it's ever going to happen at times. I was thankful for the encouragement that came from James.
The kittens are getting bigger and moving around more. They are getting cuter too. I caught Kaiya getting a closer look at them earlier this week. 
Today was supposed to be strawberry picking day, but the rain changed our plans...and boy did it pour! What to do with two busy little bodies that can't go outside? I put them to work. They were eager to help...asking over and over after they completed an assigned task "now what, mom?...what else do you want me to clean?" I thought to myself "this is going to take a lot longer", but to my delightful surprise we got the house cleaned in record time. 
One of their assignments today was unloading the dishwasher. Caedmon usually does this on his own, but I told them to work as a team on it this time since Kaiya needed something to do as well. Once again, in record time they completed the task. I was super impressed! Kaiya was a big help (from watching me more in the kitchen I guess)...and actually knows where things go better than her brother. I see this job being transferred to her in the near future. =)
Their reward for working so hard was homemade chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven in the afternoon. 
This is a sweet reward in this house because I don't usually keep a lot of sweets and baked goods around. Grandma's cookies show up now and then too, so don't feel too sorry for them. =) They get plenty!
Caedmon keeps asking me if there are still cookies left in the freezer. I told him we were giving them all away to the neighbors =)...he asked "Can we make different ones for the neighbors?"
On Sunday we went to a Tincaps game at the brand new baseball field in Fort Wayne. WOW, what a beautiful place it is!
Our little brother, Immanuel spent the day with us as well. 
Notice Kaiya's expression...she was actually trying to make a silly face, but it looks more like she's annoyed. She cracks me up! 
I'm not a huge baseball fun and can get bored pretty easily...this game was quite exciting though with 4 or 5 home runs and the Tincaps winning the game in the end.
After the game was a free Christian hip hop concert.
Two weeks ago, Kevin woke up around 4am because he heard a rattling noise. He investigated the hall and came back to bed. At 5am the dog started barking which isn't uncommon if he sees an animal...we didn't think much about it. About an hour later we were all up...a little sleepy...and getting ready for school and work. Twenty minutes before it was time for us to leave for school, Kaiya asked if she could feed the cats in the garage. I said "sure"...having no idea what the next twenty minutes would entail.
She was back in shortly stating that there was a "rat" in the garage. I said "no sweetie, it's probably just a dead mouse." The cats will occasionally leave them around for us to dispose of. I asked Kevin if he would get rid of the "mouse" before he left for work. 
As you have probably guessed by now, it was not a rat or a mouse...it was a baby kitten lying cold and stiff on the cold garage floor. Abby (the mama cat...well, kitten) had three kittens tucked inside a small little shoe cubby and there wasn't any room for this one I guess. Kevin told me to take it inside and warm it up. I freaked out a little "you want me to do what?" "how?" So I took the cold kitty inside, put it on a heating pad and dried it off until it started to move and cry a little.
Meanwhile, while investigating the birthing scene outside, Kevin found two more stiff cold kittens on the driveway. In the house they came. By this time I was feeling a bit more confident and was in rescue mode doing all I could to help the poor little helpless things.
All six survived and are doing well. It has been fun watching the kids experience the whole thing, and for that reason alone I have to say it has been worth having them. Despite her age, Abby has been taking exceptional care of her babies. Caedmon commented "She's the bestest good mom just like you, mom!"
She's always concerned about Abby being with her kittys 24/7. If Abby goes outside, she carries her back in the garage. I've explained to her that she needs a break sometimes and it's ok if she's outside...but, I'll still catch her carrying her back into the garage...sometimes even through the house. 
Oh dear. I'm not an "animals in the house" kind of person...although my mom will tell you I was the same when I was that age...sneaking a whole liter of kittys into the house while she was at work many times. 
Sister-in-law, Sarah was there with her boys. My cousins Jenny and Rachel came with their children and Aunt Dot joined us as well. So fun to catch up with them...thanks for having us mom!
On the way home, the kids and I made a couple stops. I like to stop by the Fork's store in Middlebury for popcorn and odd items I don't ever see in Ft. Wayne. We also stopped by the cheese factory which was PACKED. 
The tour bus in the parking lot should have been a clue to me. We shoved our way in, sampled a few cubes of cheese and grabbed a bag of assorted cubes to purchase on our way out. Unfortunately they were not making any cheese while we were there either, but it was fun to stop by anyway. 
