100 Days of Kindergarten

Today Carter Wayne celebrated 100 days of kindergarten! He made a "necklace" of 10 bags each holding 10 items. He made it himself and he was very proud if it. At school they made "100" hats. It was quite a site to see him crossing the street after school with this hat on; he was wearing the biggest smile! I am so proud of this boy and how hard he is working at school. Love him so much!!!

DIY Weekend

This weekend was pretty low key since I have a house full of sick kids. Have I mentioned I hate January?!? Bring on Spring! I did clean the house which inspired Rodney to do some projects around the house. He removed the brass cover from the fireplace and cleaned it out- major update! I love the rustic look. He replaced the white cloth shades in the kitchen, ones that came with the house, with new bamboo shades. I love them! We also finally got some of our Malawian art framed and hung in the living room. I love it so much that I want him to get some more when he heads back. We are still waiting to hear from the immigration department about Peter's visa. We hope to be planning Rodney's trip back to get Peter in a couple of weeks. We want him here so much. Trusting in God's timing.

Good Weather and Good Times

This Saturday the weather was gorgeous!! Carter Wayne has been asking to have a picnic with my picnic basket all winter. Today he got his wish! The boys spread out on the back lawn and Carter Wayne kept bringing out food to make sandwiches. They even got ice cream when the ice cream truck came by. Yes, our ice cream truck even runs in January. ;-) such a fun day and a great memory. These boys have needed some time outside. Cold weather is brutal on a mom of boys- they have energy to burn!!

2 Weeks in the Parking Lot!!

We had a little celebration on Friday. :-) In Carter Wayne's class at school each student has a "car" and everyone begins each day in the "parking lot". If you break a classroom rule your car moves to a green light. A yellow light will result in loss of playground time. A red light gets a call to your parents. At noon each day, the kids move their cars back to the parking lot and get a fresh start. I love that part of the plan. :-) Kindergarten has been a growing process for us. Learning to use our words, control our emotions and our mouths isn't easy - I still struggle with those things myself. But on Friday we got to celebrate 2 whole weeks of Carter Wayne staying in the parking lot and I could not be prouder! We headed to Chuck E. Cheese and had a blast! We are always so quick to punish bad behavior, but it is so joyous when we get to reward good behavior! Way to go Carter Wayne!!!

Annalyse Turns 3!

Our sweet Annalyse turned 3 this weekend and had a fun party at Boingo Bounce. The boys had a blast and they love those sweet Silvey Girls! All these little ones are growing up way too quickly! Happy Birthday Annalyse! The Greenfields love you!

Peter's First Shower

This past Friday Rodney's work threw a wonderful gift card shower for us. They had decorated the conference room with balloons and streamers. They had cake and other goodies. They even made a slide show! It was so sweet! They gave us gifts and gift cards to buy clothes for Peter when he gets here. We were overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness and generosity. To me it reinforced how loved Rodney is by his co- workers. I am so proud of him. Everyone is so excited about Peter and it is wonderful to know how much support and love he will feel once this becomes his home. Can't wait to get him here!

New Year's Day

On New Year's Day we headed over to my parents house to eat our black eyed peas, cabbage, and apple pie. It was delish! So now we are prepared for our lucky 2013! The boys wrestled their Paw Paw for awhile and we headed home. Just my kind of day. I am very excited for the year ahead. 2012 was full of ups and downs. Some very high highs and very low lows. I learned a lot! I learned about God's discipline and how He loves me too much to leave me drowning in my sin. But He also loves me too much to give me an easy way out. God made me face a lot of my "pet sins" this year and showed me that comparing myself to others isn't a tool to feel better about my own sin. My standard is Christ and his holiness. That is my comparison. And thankfully in that lesson He showed me an overwhelming amount of His grace and unconditional love- I cry just thinking about it. His power and forgiveness through the cross is there for a reason- because we desperately need it, daily. He reminded me of the precious gift He has given me in Rodney and our family. I can't express how blessed I am to have a husband that loves God, me and our boys with all of his heart. I often have to pinch myself that God gave me the very husband I asked for, plus everything I didn't even think to ask for! I also learned that God is still the God of miracles! From my parents moving here to the adoption of Peter - God kept reminding me "nothing is impossible with Me." He showed me how very perfect His timing is and how the hard roads we walked before have led to this complete bliss I feel in the adoption of Peter. I am so open to 2013 and all it may bring, praying that each event - good or bad- brings me closer to my sweet Heavenly Father. I am working on some posts now about our trip and our journey to Peter. I just had to get the blog caught up to present day first! So hopefully that will be the last of my marathon posts! ;-) but knowing me, it probably won't. Happy 2013!

New Year's Eve

New Year's was low key (seems to be the theme with this year's holidays). Carter Wayne made some decorations for our "party". He made poppers, confetti, streamers and signs. We ate dinner then had a dance party. Our party lasted an hour and then we did our own countdown. I have never kissed three guys on New Year's Eve before! ;-) I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be at the start of 2013. Rodney and I did stay up till 10 that night. A new record since we got home from our trip! We are slowly recovering!

A Little Snow

We got a little snow over the break, but compared to the southern part of the state it was no more than a dusting! I am thankful we only got a little and weren't without electricity for over a week like so many! The boys enjoyed playing in what little we did get. Not enough for a snow man, but still enough to enjoy!

Christmas Day

We had a very low key Christmas Eve and Day. Recovering from a 2 week emotional roller coaster trip to Africa can cause that to happen. Christmas Eve my parents came over that afternoon and brought a meal. We ate, visited and opened gifts. We were all in bed by 8:30! Christmas morning was fun and special as always! Santa brought a trampoline! The perfect gift for a house full of active boys! My little engineer, Carter Wayne, worked on his new Legos all day! Sawyer had a blast with all his new angry bird toys! We were in pjs all day! Mom and dad dropped by to look at what Santa had brought. Once again we were all in bed and asleep by 7:30! The day was wonderful, but we all missed Peter so much. He will so enjoy Christmas here next year! I can't wait!