Feeling the need to take a bloggy break for awhile. Just have a lot going on and am trying to process (survive) it all. Don't really want to write about fun things the kids are doing when I'm not feeling particularly "fun" sometimes...just seems wrong somehow.

There are times when I just need to step back and review my life and how I should be living it - this is one of those times. Please don't judge me.....just pray.

Am also thinking of going on private status with the blog if/when I do return.

Will try to continue checking in on everyone else's blogs, but probably won't be as frequent.

Take care folks!

~LJ

Sisters

This is what happens when a boy enters a household of girls. Poor little guy was dressed up by big sister Emily! We have more pics of Mr. Max in a Cinderella dress too, but dad wasn't happy about those pics at all! lol

E's New Room

When we received our referral for Max, we had to do some furniture rearranging so we could get a room ready for him. We knew that Emily was going to move up to the larger queen bed from our guest room, so we gave her a choice of rooms. She ended up staying in her current room, but decided she wanted a more "grown-up" look....she *IS* almost a teenager after all! LOL :-) (yikes!)

Emily still wanted bright colors in her room, but only as "accents", so she chose a simple comforter in off-white. I surprised her with custom art with pics of herself for one wall. I had seen this cool photo site online, but couldn't afford their prices, so I just altered the pics myself and printed the pics at Wal-Mart. The 5x7 prints were only $.58 each and the frames w/mats were $5.00 each. I think it's a great look for a budget deal.

Emily made the other wall her "photo wall"...with pics of family/friends, along with a couple of pieces of her artwork. She also made her F4E canvas a focal point. The F4E name is what she and the other 3 girls from her China travel group have dubbed themselves (Friends 4 Ever). All of the girls have a banner like this in their rooms...so sweet that they have such a great connection. I was also happy that Emily didn't go *so* grown-up and decided to keep her trophy shelf for awhile longer. :-)

Anyway, here are shots of her room...before and after.

Before:

After:

Super Kids

Lots of noise, lots of running through the house. That's what I get when the kids decide they are "super girls". Allyson and Claire tied blankets around their shoulders and helped little bro Max with his "cape" too....then all proceeded to run through the house, yelling "Super Girls!". Yep, even Max yelled super girls! lol When I couldn't stand the "noise" any longer, I asked them to take their yelling outside and I grabbed the camera. :-) Even big sis Emily donned a cape for a few minutes.

Not great pics, but it's the memories that count. (the girls had to slow down outside for the camera, and so that Max could keep up! lol)

I Heart Faces - Silly Face Photo Contest

I've been a reader of the I *Heart* Faces photography blog for awhile now, and thoroughly enjoy seeing all of the photos. I've never entered one of their contests but decided to jump in this week for the silly face photo contest. This is a shot of Mr. Max playing with daddy's magnifying glass. ...another pic taken while entertaining the little man in the car. :-)

Rock Stars

What does it take to be a rock star these days? Only a comb and a hairbrush! These two had the best time singing into their "microphones". I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Little Helper

Miss Claire is a girl who doesn't like to help out much around the house...she's pretty much our couch potato. She doesn't like to work hard and sweat either. I had to laugh last week though when I saw her outside with a shovel. We hired our nephew Jeremy to work on redoing some of our landscaping, and it wasn't long after he arrived that Claire was outside, shovel in hand, helping him. Maybe all the girl needs is a cute guy around here more?

Picnic in the Park

In an effort to get away from the house for awhile (& *not* go shopping), the kids and I took a trip to the Pea Ridge Military Park. We watched a short video about the Civil War, and then drove through the park, stopping to take a few pics by the old cannons. We also packed a picnic lunch and had some really good "lazy" time on a blanket under a tree.

Have I mentioned how difficult it is to get a good picture of Max? It seems the kid is always in motion or looking away when I press the shutter button. Or...in this case, raising his shirt so everyone can see his tummy! I've been deleting lots of shots from the camera, but I think I'll keep this one. :-)

In the Car

Sometimes we have to wait a few minutes for big sisters to finish piano practice...and sometimes if the "king" is sleepy, he gets impatient and throws a major fit (& believe me, he KNOWS how to throw a fit!). This was one of those days, so in order to stop the whining from turning into a full meltdown, mom pulled out the trusty camera and played peek-a-boo. The camera had an amazing effect as it looked through the headrest at the "king". :-) Thanks to Emily for keeping her camera in the car!

A Little Catch Up

So far behind on blogging. :-(

We've just been busy with summer fun "stuff". Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks:

Claire having fun on the trampoline

Max in daddy's shoes/hat - and Max just looking cute

Ally *finally* celebrated her birthday with a party - #11 !!!

Little drummer boy & riding on big sister's shoulders

Monkey see, monkey do