Video of the Week - Week 31 - Swimming

This video shows a little of Amelia and a little of Ava at one of the last lessons of the summer season...both have advanced so much!  Amelia is jumping in, by herself (!), and Ava has advanced to the butterfly, freestyle, and breast strokes!

Project 365 - Days 212-218

Trying to catch up...seems weird to be going all the way back to July!!

Day 212 - July 31

This was my best attempt to get a picture of the bird's nest (with the Momma inside) in our tree outside.  She built it well within the tree so it was difficult!!

Day 213 - August 1

Quick trip to the American Girl Doll Store in Dallas.  The girls got to pick out a new outfit for their dolls and we had lunch (though not at the cafe there - they were closing :-(

Day 214 - August 2

Did I mention it was hot this summer?  And that we were in a major drought?  One of the few times in Texas where the heat index is LOWER than the actual temp...which 109 was the actual high that day...

Day 215 - August 3

Swimming lessons began again - second 2-week course for both the girls...

Day 216 - August 4

Ava loves taking her lessons and learning with the teachers and coaches.  She considered joining the swim team this fall but decided against it after I explained to her that it would involve going straight from school to practice 3x a week (which means no play time after school) and they don't "play" in the water at practice, they actually swim hard!

Day 217 - August 5

Love love love this verse...what a great reminder to keep our eyes on the Lord, even in the midst of trouble and tribulations.

Day 218 - August 6

We've started an evening ritual of getting in our swim suits, going up to the barn to muck the stalls, feed, and turn out the horses to graze overnight (coolest part of the day) then we run and jump in the pool to cool off and clean up!  Rosie joins us at every step but lays, gazing out the back of the property, looking for evil lurkers!

Video of the Week - Week 30 - Parelli

Here is a Q&A with Pat Parelli about the Yo-Yo Game, one of the essential games taught in the Parelli program.  This is an issue I occasionally have with Tommy and so I found the info helpful.  For those of you who have horses and practice Parelli, perhaps you might too!

Project 365 - Days 205-211

Day 205 - July 24

Starting off breakfast with a little Angelina Ballerina on the iPad...

Day 206 - July 25

Swim lessons have begun again and this little girl is loving it!

Day 207 - July 26

Stole this one from last week because I needed a filler but here is Amelia with her great-uncle Darin ;-)  As many of you know, Amelia can be quite shy when first meeting people and while she has met Darin before, it had been awhile, but she warmed right up to him.

Day 208 - July 27

We were at the grocery store after swim lessons and Amelia was tuckered out.  She put her head down on the handle and fell asleep...here's what it looked like from the top (to give some perspective)

Day 209 - July 28

First fire of the season that hit close to home.  That's the back edge of the fire on the left side of the screen and you can see the trucks and cars of volunteers from the fire department lining the road leading up to it.  This particular fire was directly across the street from the Big Cat Care rescue near our house.  Very scary for them...in fact, this fire re-ignited in the middle of the night and thankfully, the owners' Great Pyrenees dogs started barking, woke them up, and when they discovered the fire had reignited, they called the fire department again.

Day 210 - July 29

Mi-Wah, my high maintenance barn cat, needed his first of several seasonal allergy shots so it was off to the vet.  Like most cats, Mi-Wah does not like going there and apparently, all the cats like to hide in this cabinet door, so the tech opened it so Mi-Wah could climb inside and "hide".  Didn't get him out of his shot though...

Day 211 - July 30

Speaking of cats, here are my other two showing some brotherly love.  They sat there for awhile grooming each other and as it does most times, inevitably turned into a wrestling match!

War Horse

Really excited about seeing this movie.  It comes out on Christmas Day...

Have I mentioned...

That we received updated pictures of our peanut a few weeks ago?  I wish I could show the entire photo but I can't, so here's a smidge...

She doesn't look like a baby anymore - she's growing up!  And she's walking and continuing to get great care and therapy until we can get to China.  

Have I also mentioned that I think we may have decided on a name?  I'm not 100% sure so I'm not going to post it yet.  I like how it sounds with Ava and Amelia, and I like the name by itself, I'm just not sure it fits her.  And it might sound a little bit trendy.  (Of course Ava and Amelia's names have become trendy - not so when I named them - but it may fit in after all!)  We shall see...


We are currently waiting for our homestudy to be approved (it's been achingly slow) and then we will submit our I-800a to immigration.  Then we will wait for our fingerprint appointment and once we have that and it is cleared, then we can send our dossier to China.  I was just SURE we'd have that done by the end of the year but now I'm hoping it's before the end of January!  At times the wait is really hard and other times, I think because we've been through it before and I've been praying like crazy so the Lord is giving me peace, the wait is okay.  If all the approvals come (because nothing is guaranteed) we will get her on His timetable.  Not mine.  And that is a big relief!