oh. my. word.

Its a good thing that this little face is so stinking cute.

Seriously.

We brought doughnuts home for a treat tonight. I turn my head for 2 seconds (literally...I was still in the kitchen) and this is what happens:


Its too bad the picture doesn't capture what he was saying.

"Uh-oh."

"Mmmm"

"More treat?"

Crazy little monkey.

back at it

I've really been wanting to get back on track with getting our food storage. But, with my back injury and then surgery, it just couldn't be a priority. However, today was the day to get things going again.

The Food saver is a miracle machine.

For real.


Kaden loves helping and pushing the buttons.


Bosten just loves helping.


Today we did almonds, powdered sugar, butterscotch and chocolate chips, jelly beans, and pancake mix.

Then it was on to updating our 72 hour kits.



We got the food sealed into bags, as well as emergency stuff (blankets, matches, gloves, etc.), and diapers. Can I tell you how much room it saves to do diapers like this?! Now I just need to add clothes and water and we're good to go!

I love feeling like we're getting things together. I've still got a long way to go, but I've got a plan, 2 little helpers and a miracle machine!

preschool carnival

Today was the last day of preschool. Kaden's class celebrated the event with an outdoor carnival.

Both classes were invited, so Brody got to be there too!

They played duck, duck, goose! while waiting for everyone to get there (which happens to be Kaden's favorite game)

Bosten was pretty excited about the whole thing too!


There were 9 stations that the kids rotated to....pin the nose on the sun, bean bag toss, made a visor, ring toss, bowling, play dough cut outs, wiffle ball toss, relay races, and a fishing game.

You may have noticed that Bosten was in the middle of everything...he thought it was great to have so many kids to play with AND be outside.


Did I mention that they got to throw water balloons at the teacher...who happens to be Lindsey?


Popsicles and treat bags at the end made it a perfect way to end the year!

the zoo

We figured it was more than time to take the boys to the zoo. Kyle was off today, so off we went. It was a great day to go, and we had lots of fun checking out all the animals.

Kaden had lots to say about everything. Bosten was too busy looking at everything to have much to say....that is until we got to the giraffes. He really thought those were fun.


Both of the boys LOVED the carousel. Kaden wanted to ride an elephant, and Bosten was thrilled just to go for a ride.


We saved the train for last. Bosten and Kaden both yelled, "Choo-choo" and it was a perfect day to go to the zoo.

our orange goalie

Kaden is playing spring soccer, and really loves it.

He loves that his jerseys are orange, that his aunt Lindsey is the coach, and that he gets to play with 2 of his cousins!


Yesterday he decided that he wanted to play goalie. He actually did really well, and stopped the other team from scoring about 4 goals. (But he still likes to run really fast and kick the ball as hard as he can!)


The funny part of all of this is THERE IS NO GOALIE at this age level. He's just decided he wants to stop the ball, and he does a great job.


He also has a great cheering section!

Good job, Kade!

chocolate gifts are always good

Kaden has been really cute today about Mother's Day. He has said, "Happy Mother's Day", Mom several times and its always been accompanied by a hug and/or kiss. He was dying to give me my gift this morning....you know that infomercial that's all about the amazing brownie pan? You know the one...makes perfect square brownies with ease?!

Well, that's what Kaden decided that I HAD to have. We talk about how great it looks every time it comes on. He informed Kyle that he HAD to get it for me, because it would be so great when we make brownies together. Funny, huh?!

As soon as he got home from church we got to work.


It was so exciting and he had to check on them every 5 minutes (even though we had the timer set). He even got fancy...one row got M & M's, one row got chocolate chips, and the last row was plain so that we could stencil cool shapes with powdered sugar.

They tasted great...as great as any brownie would taste.

I love this little boy! I love that he picked out a gift that he thought I would love and a gift that would give us a chance to do something together.

truly a miracle

I'm a mother, and its a miracle.

Truly.

I've been thinking about it a lot as we're approaching Mother's Day. I think I've mentioned before how much I used to hate Mother's Day. It was such a hard day and such an in your face reminder of all that I desperately wanted.

However, that all changed when Kaden's birth mom chose us to be his parents. And again, when Bosten's birth mom chose us. We love these amazing women and I'm sure they have no idea how much they changed our lives.

I've always loved this song, even before it meant something personally.

Happy Birth Mother's Day to Kaden and Bosten's birth moms. We love you and are eternally grateful for your decison to place your baby boys in our home!

We're also praying extra hard today for our next birth mom. We know she's out there somewhere and facing really hard choices. Please help us find her, and please keep her (and us) in your prayers. Adoption is hard....hard for everyone involved, but it is also a miracle and one that I'm truly grateful for.