Abraham Ethan

I just realized that I didn't post a picture of Ethan's Halloween costume!!!

He was very excited and proud to be President Abraham Lincoln.

Needless to say, he was the one and only Abe at the Fall Festival!

His little friends kept asking who he was supposed to be
and random people (mostly the elderly)
kept taking pictures of him.

That little nut of mine!  Ha!!

Goings On

Last night we were surprised with two tickets to see the Rangers play the Mariners last night!

Since there were only two tickets offered David decided to take his little baseball player with him, which gave me some much needed time to myself.

Boy was it nice!

I got to watch Julie and Julia for the first time.

Still can't believe it's taken me so long to see this movie.  It was WONDERFUL.

Makes me want to learn French and turn this into a cooking blog.

When D and E got home at 11, Ethan was all over the place telling me about their great seats and how the ladies behind him gave him their peanuts and how John Hamilton didn't get to play because... {seriously, this is how he said it!  just one big run on sentence}  ....he hit the wall and hurt his ribs and how they didn't get to catch any foul balls.  Needless to say, he was a bit wired.  Ha!

This morning was Ethan's parent teacher conference, which I was almost late to since David is uber sick and I had to get him all set for the day!  I honestly thing it's either a severe cold or the flu - and we don't have insurance on him right now - yikes!!!  I hope it'll go away soon, we have a family reunion to go to on Saturday.

Anyway, parent teacher conference:  It went much better than I expected.  Obviously Ethan has issues that are holding him back but his teacher and Iare working together to get him everything he needs.  The Lord really blessed us with a GREAT teacher!  She's offered to tutor him after school each day to help him catch up to the other kids!  She's even working to get him into Occupational Therapy to help him with his writing issues and motor skills.

(more info on this topic HERE)

So anyway, that's us in a nutshell right now!

Josh Hamilton Ethan

We're so excited that Ethan's finally playing baseball!

I love being a baseball mom, even though I've only had the title for a little more than a week.

There's nothing more exciting than cheering for your boy from the stands!

Even if the heat index is 105 degrees.

Most of you know that Ethan likes to change his name a lot.

He's been Honky Tonk Ethan, Ballpark Ethan, Abraham Lincoln Ethan and more, I just can't remember them all.

Anyway, before his baseball game he informed us that his name was John Hamilton Ethan.

He was crackin' us up out there in right field.

Just after I shot this photo he turned his hat sideways and untucked his shirt, which is a no no, then proceeded to basically take over 2nd base.

I guess he felt the second baseman wasn't doing it fast enough.

He didn't hit anything his first at bat but the second time around he made contact with the ball and took off for 1st base!

He really proved to his coaches that he's got some potential!

I can't wait to see how he improves!

One thing we've got to help him with is not running on his heels, he's pretty quick as it is but just imagine if he ran the right way!!

I love my Josh Hamilton Ethan.

The Downside

With the exception of the obvious stuff (cults, aliens and the end times) sometimes the History channel is not the best channel for your children to watch.

They can learn all kinds of CRAZY things.

Now I have to make sure he's nowhere near me when I put on mascara.

If I am caught he taunts me for putting guano (bat poo) on my eye lashes.

Did you guys know most mascara is made from bat poo?

I didn't.

...till now.

Thank you, History Channel,

my son and I will never look at mascara the same way again.

Also, enough of the "asteroids hitting the earth" shows.

I'm tired of being woken at the crack of dawn by a frantic little boy who's thoroughly convinced that we're about to be hit.

Oh, and will you do a series of shows on Abraham Lincoln?

He's my son's hero and I'd much rather him learn about ol' Honest Abe than the sacrificial practices of the Knights of Templar.

His Last Hurrah! (lots o' pics)

I know you all (all 3 of ya) have been waiting for E's back to school pictures for so long - I've finally got them uploaded to the computer and on this here blog.

The weekend before school started was SUPER busy for Ethan.

We packed in all kinds of activities for Saturday and left Sunday wide open so he could rest and get ready for school.

Our first stop Saturday morning was Ol' South Pancake House in Ft. Worth.

If you're ever in the area stop by there and get the German pancakes - delicious!!!

Bonus: They're open 24 hours!

Here's Ethan's gigantic up of hot chocolate.

As evidenced by the whipped cream around his mouth, he loved it!

Then we headed off to the Hunter's Extravaganza.

My hubby is a hunter and E is looking forward to the day that can also be "a real hunter".

Here's E posing in front of the rattlesnake pit.

There were two men just hanging out inside, I guess to wrangle them...?

Whatever the case, you couldn't pay me enough to set foot in that place!

No way, no how!

Then we moseyed our way up to Denton, TX for the

North Texas State Fair and Rodeo.

This is a family tradition.

The fair, not the rock climbing. It's the first year I remember seeing the rock wall.

David made it to the top, Ethan only made it half way.

Anyway, back to the tradition of going to the fair...

It all started when David and I were dating.

He brought me out here and the only things I remember are that the cowboys did all the events on mules - the barrel racing was a riot; I sat in gum in my favorite J. Crew pants; we saw the Bellamy Brothers in concert.

Oh, and that I was totally, 100% in looooove!

The petting zoo is always one of our favorite stops.

They typically have deer, goats, kangaroos, chickens (like the curious fellow below) and a very cranky mule.

I just love this chicken.

He followed me around most of the time we were out there.

Then came the rodeo.

I love the rodeo.

It's one of the MAJOR perks of living in a southern state.

I love how patriotic they are and the North Texas State Fair's rodeo always starts with a prayer and it always brings tears to my eyes.

Can you tell what that is under my bleacher seat?

It's a calf.
We sat right above the holding pen. It was fragrant to say the least! Haha!


Best cowboy hat of the night!


Blurry photo of a buckin' bronco. It's very difficult to get a picture of them, by the way.


I LOVE this next photo!!! My husband was really in his element!

He's always so joyful when we're out there!!!

He felt pretty out of place this year, though.

Usually, he's decked out in wranglers and boots but this year he was in cargo shorts and a Gap polo.




Once the rodeo was over, we let Ethan choose one ride (it was 10:30 at this point) to go on and he chose the "Superman Ride" - that's what he called it since they lay on their tummies and fly through the air.




This is one of the best things about living in DFW!




What a fun day!!!



Sunday was just a lot of church, laundry, cleaning and relaxing!
Despite the fact that I had a migraine, Sunday rocked. I love a lazy Sunday.


Finally, here are Ethan's 1st day of school photos!!!


He was SO excited about school but most of all to FINALLY use his Scooby Doo lunch box!





Here he is getting settled into his classroom!




I'm so glad he's still in love with school!!



Hopefully he'll still love it March!!

I'm scared...

Our book club pick for this month is Like Dandelion Dust by

Karen Kingsbury.

It's sure to be a fantastic book but I am really afraid of reading it.

Here's what the back of the book has to say...

Jack and Molly Campbell enjoyed an idyllic life in their small hometown outside Atlanta with their adopted 4-year-old, Joey. Then they receive the phone call that shatters their world: a social worker delivers the news that Joey's biological father has been released from prison and is ready to start life over--but with his son. When a judge rules that Joey must be returned to his father, the Campbells, in a silent haze of grief and utter disbelief, watch their son pick a dandelion and blow the feathery seeds into the wind. Struggling with the dilemma of following the law, their hearts, and what they know to be morally right, the Campbells find that desperation leads to dangerous thoughts. What if they can devise a plan? Take Joey and simply disappear...LIKE DANDELION DUST.

One thing I haven't talked about too much are the circumstances behind the custody battle for Ethan. Partly out of respect for the bio mom, who I found out occasionally reads my blog, and partly out of fear of bringing back all the fear of possibly losing him.

I can't tell you how many days we spent on our knees after a call from the social worker.

We were regulars at the alter during the adoption. We knew that only God was in control of the situation. I'm so thankful that everything's finalized and settled and we have security knowing that he's forever ours.

Anyway, I'm 5 chapters into this book and so far I'm enjoying it.

I'm just nervous about the rest of them...

Here We Go Again

I can't believe summer's over.

In just three short days I'll be taking a new 1st day photo.

This is Ethan's 1st day of Kindergarten.

He's such a big guy now.

It's hard to believe how fast they grow.

We really hope 1st grade is great for him.

Sadly, though, it hasn't started out on the right foot...

Last night was Meet the Teacher night.

He was BEYOND excited.

I didn't find out until later

but he filled his pocket with Bandz

to give to his new teachers and friends.

When we got there we looked over the class lists at least a dozen times. We could't find his name anywhere! We even checked the kindergarten list!

Long story short, we found out that even though Ethan was registered, and everything was in order, they simply overlooked him as they were putting the classes together.

We should find out today if he will go to his designated school or if he'll have to go to the overflow school down the road until a spot opens up for him.

We're praying that they'll fit him into a classroom - I'd hate for him to get attached to his temporary teacher and classmates only to have to change schools halfway through.

I feel like this is going to be an interesting year...

So Excited!

Back in January I was bribed (still waiting on my pony, by the way) into sharing my testimony during

Chapel at the place where I work.

Little did I know that there was a reporter in the audience.

A couple of months ago the reporter, Tammi, asked if she could

publish our adoption story in the local Baptist newspaper she writes for.

So, a couple of weeks ago Tammi sent out a sweet little photographer - I wish I could remember her name - to take photos of us for the article.

I am so excited about what God could do through Ethan's story.

He's already done so much!

David was saved as a result of Ethan's adoption!

Tammi came into the office today and shared these pictures with me.

The first three are Ethan's "modeling" photos.

He got so excited that a photographer was there just for him.

The last photo is the one they are going to run in the article.

I love it SO much!

He's Coming Home!

WAHOOOOO!!!!

We're picking up our wild man tonight!!!

I can't wait!!!