Shannonogans: November '12

The anticipated month. November. The month we finalized the adoption. The month the visits came to an end and I regained my Fridays back. Every single free day usually got filled with a visit from CPS, CASA, or Arrow Ministries. All with good intentions, but added to the busy-ness of the fall.

Baylor Homecoming was the first weekend in November. Derek was at a wedding in Alabama, so I traveled with the kids to shout for some green and gold. The morning of the parade was not my finest. I hadn't had a quiet time, and I admit I was more concerned about my children not getting their outfits dirty prior to leaving the house then about their sweet fragile little hearts. One of those mornings that I am sure little soon-to-be-adopted children were wondering why they got stuck with that crazy lady. But we made it, I apologized later for my sinful reactions, and, through His Grace, we moved on.

We loved congratulating Jay Brown for Alumni of the Year.

Early mornings for this parade, but worth the fun. My dad got there early to save our spot, mom arranged Leal's and extras for breakfast, and we had a fun time. We even went after the parade to a local dentist to trade in our candy for toys. Win win!

Nosebrothers and a rooster

Grandma came by and brought delicious Pamela's muffins for all of us gluten-free eaters.

The game was fun. I got to see some old friends, and even saw an old baseball buddy at halftime, D'Ann Dunn, in town for her first Baylor Homecoming. The sky turned dark as I met the kids by the outside practice field, and they had a rain delay. So we headed home and finished the game from there.

That night I had many interruptions with kids for different reasons. Then Levi woke up the Waco pukes. We drove home with him getting sick the entire way home, but thankfully we had a makeshift trashcan. That night Justin got sick as well. First time we have had the stomach bug in our house ever, as far as kids goes.

November was the month of sickness. It took Levi a week for his poor body to recover, and Justin would go to school one day and come home sick for four days after. The entire kindergarten wing was ill. I never had a single free day that month, and somehow I didn't mind. The Lord was gracious during that time, and I am thankful for how He slowed our lives down to a necessary crawl. We missed soccer practices, soccer games, etc. and I was loving it. We got to take our allowance to Barnes and Noble and buy a book and learn about money. We had time to get haircuts during the day. The Lord was truly just getting us ready to change gears in the spring.

We made it to the last two soccer games

Gotcha Day. You can read all about our post here. A truly emotional day.

The next day Justin's class had a surprise baby shower for his teacher. So we celebrated baby Lazar.

We also gave her Christmas gifts as she was having her baby before the semester ended.

We had a Gotcha Party. I took maybe 6 photos. Such sweet friends that were able to come and celebrate with us. We hired Flip 'N Patties per Shane's request. They didn't disappoint with their organic Philipino food. It was worth every bite.

Gotcha, sweet kids.

So fun to have so many names to celebrate! The Lord's faithfulness is ever present in our lives.

These two are best buds.

The newspaper article we got in the mail from the adoption day.

This is solely to remind me next year how to do my pumpkins.

Thanksgiving was spent with the Michaelis family in Waco. The kids loved playing with their uncles and grandparents. Lexi was attached to the hip to Uncle Ryan.

Lots of Wii and encouraging Levi on how to play and not just beat the poor kid.

Grandma's creative seating arrangement.

This photo...so awkward. Just trying to change it up and ends up looking like a sea full of fingers.

Maybe practicing for CPR resuscitation.

Grandpa heated up the hot tub and had the kids swim one cold night.

Cruising in the car

Lexi's shirt. Bless the mommy that forgot the shirt that went under her outfit for family Christmas pictures. So I rolled up the sleeves of one of mine for her to wear. Yes, my three year old is wearing a gray shirt rolled up that her mother wore the day before.

We finally managed to get the grown men and children to all sync with smiles. The sunny day was preventing some of the preferred backgrounds. Alas, we got our winner.

Looking at Justin's gap is too funny since it's long gone with two permanent teeth and a large space in between.

Brothers

Gracious hosts

Reenactment of the fingers once again. We had a wonderful time with Derek's family and seeing how much we truly had to be thankful for this year. Praise Jesus!

Our church had it's second baptism at our community group facilitators house. They had just finished their pool and three members from our group decided to make a public profession of their faith. Sweet Debbie has been doing my hair for 12 years. There were times I didn't know if I could keep taking her mouth but the Lord firmly had me stay. Now, she is one of my best friends and encouraging sister in Christ!