Pumpkin Patch 2015

 We love going to the pumpkin patch in LJ every year! The girls look forward to it and call October "the pumpkin patch month." This year we got to go at the same time as our Mitterlings, which made it even more fun!

 Love these goofballs! They are such a great pair and a wonderful balance for each other!

School Days for Calli

 We just love Calli's school, her teachers and her class. She loves it so much too, and it is one place where she is always completely comfortable, not anxious, and just able to be herself because she feels so safe and happy. She still goes just two days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday from 9-1. Ms Jeannie and Ms Liz are her teachers and they are so awesome, always planning such fun activities and learning opportunities for the class.
One day Ms Wendi and Ms Amy, two of the directors, planned a fun "safari" day for the kids! They made binoculars, got to wear animal hats, and set off to see lots of different animals. Calli's teacher told me that when they saw the pandas and were told that they are from China, Calli yelled out "I'm from China, too!" I love that so much!

 Under the sea!

 Calli loves to tell us about when she gets to bake at school. That's one of her favorite things to do at home, and she gets so excited to help make something at school as well.

We are thankful for Wee Place and love the opportunities she has there!

Calli's Readoption

One final thing we had left to do pertaining to Calli's adoption was to complete what is called a readoption, now that she is home. We have been putting it off a little - for several reasons. One reason is because it isn't something that is required. Her adoption was final in China, and she was an American citizen as soon as she set her feet on US soil. The purpose of the readoption is to get her a US birth certificate (or certificate of foreign birth) that will make official things easier for her down the road (things like school registration, applying for a drivers license, etc). Also, we were told that she can't get a US passport without this (she traveled home with her Chinese passport), and we definitely want to travel internationally with her someday and will need this. The other reason we've been putting it off was just because of cost - court fees, lawyer fees, etc. But we haven't had any post-adoption reports or visits to pay for in the past year, and with medical expenses being less this year, we finally made it a priority to do this.
When we started the process though, we were pretty confused as to what the process actually is. I had people to talk to in other states or with our agency (also out of state) but the process is different from state to state, so I needed help specifically for how to complete this in Texas. I spoke with a lawyer out of San Antonio, and she helped me a little, but we were going to have to travel to San Antonio to complete the hearing, and her costs were just really high. So, Randy had the idea to contact a friend of ours from church who is a district judge in Brazoria County. Judge Mills helped us learn what we needed to do and really just went above and beyond in helping us get to where we could have the hearing. She was wonderful. She set the date for the hearing for us, completed the order, and all we did was show up, pay court fees and we had the hearing ordering the state to issue the certificate! It all felt so official and we were excited to get a picture with her in the courtroom. :)
Next, we still have to somehow have Austin issue us that certificate, and we have a friend who is a lawyer in town who has also adopted internationally that is helping us navigate that part of the process. We are just so thankful for friends who are connected and know what they are doing! We couldn't have done this without them. Hopefully soon we will receive that certificate in the mail and Calli will just be further protected and things will be smooth for her as she ages!

Cheer Clinic

The girls both got to participate in the cheer and dance clinic that our high school puts on! Kendall did this in kindergarten, but we were out of town last year when it happened. Cooper felt so big, getting to do this with Kendall this year, and it was fun to watch them try something new together. The clinic was early in October, and then they were able to show off what they learned before a football game a couple of weeks later. We were proud of them!

On the field before the game.

 Sarah and Caleb came to watch them, and Riley was in town visiting from Minnesota!

 Cooper's "dance teacher," Miss Laura, was one of the dancers that helped the girls get to the field. It was great to be able to send them off with a familiar face!

So proud to be down on the track! We are proud of our little cheerleaders!

Cooper's Little Library

 Cooper has had lots of visitors at her little free library since we got it in the ground! I think I posted about this on her birthday, but this was something she has been wanting for a long time. She wants to be a librarian when she grows up, and one day she saw something about little free libraries on the Disney channel. For her birthday, we had a friend at church make one for her, Pops and Kiki helped us paint it, and we registered her library with the Little Free Library organization online. We posted on facebook that it was open for business and her friends started coming! We have been so thankful for all her visitors and for all the friends who have checked out books, donated books, and given her library some business! She keeps a little notebook inside where visitors can write notes and let her know they stopped by - she checks it every day and checks the books every day to see what is new! 

If we are home when visitors stop by, Cooper always wants to go out and greet them, but we have also had friends send us pictures when they stop by if we aren't home. We have met some neighbors through her library, and we know of several neighbors that have been by multiple times. It has been so much fun for all of us!

September misc

A little randomness left over from September:

The girls participated in the Fun Run fundraiser their school had this past month. They got donations for how many laps they ran. I didn't go the day of the run, but got these pictures from friends. Love that sweet Cooper and her intensity and focus!

Calli and I went and ate lunch a few times with the girls this month. Their lunches are back to back so we are there for about an hour, but it's fun to see them at school!

In her Cheetah class, Calli's awesome teacher set up a super cool doctor's office! It has everything from an eye chart and glasses, to a waiting room, x rays and cute little felt bandaids she made. Calli LOVES playing doctor at home and apparently she is loving it at school too - her teachers say she is for sure going to be a doctor when she grows up. She is just loving that center so much. I was thankful for these cute pictures her teachers sent me.

Some parents at our school organized a See You At The Pole event. It was before school and we all gathered to pray for our kids, school, and country. It was weird to me to be taking my kids to participate in something I did as a teenager. We had some good conversations around it and were glad to be a part.

Earlier this past month, Calli had her very own playdate! Poor third child just doesn't have that many playdates that are just for her, so this was fun! Kathy and Greg were keeping Haddon for the week, so she brought him over one day while Calli and I were watching Bethany. The three of them had fun together!

Girls' Trip to Nashville!

The last weekend of September, Kristin, Mary and I went to Nashville! We had all been wanting to go to Lifeway's dotMom conference for awhile now, and finally planned this past spring to make it happen when it was in Nashville this fall. Kristin used to live in Nashville, I had never been, and Mary had only been on a trip in high school, so we were excited about having her show us around!

The conference was Friday to Saturday, so we planned to fly there on Thursday and home on Sunday. Because of the flights we chose (cheaper!) we actually had a lot of time on Thursday and Sunday to hang around and explore Nashville! We left Houston at 6 Thursday morning and got to Nashville by 8:30. So, our first stop was the Pancake Pantry! Apparently this is a really popular breakfast place and lots of famous people go there. We loved the food but didn't see anyone famous - bummer.

From there we drove through downtown Nashville, saw music row where all the bars are that lots of artists got their start in, and then went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was so big and so pretty!

 

Then we went to the Grand Ole Opry! So cool to be somewhere so famous. We walked around a little but opted out of the expensive tour. Definitely got our picture by the massive guitar, though.  

That afternoon we did a little shopping, checked in to our hotel, and then drove south to Franklin and walked around their downtown area. We ate at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant and it was great food! Loved sitting outside in such beautiful weather enjoying good food together.

Friday morning, Kristin and Mary had a long run to get in, and I tagged along with them to walk. The guy at the front desk of our hotel told us about Radnor Lake, which was close by, and it was beautiful! There was a trail all the way around the lake and then lots of hiking trails that shot off up into the mountains. I walked the whole way around the lake while the girls ran, and we loved it so much we planned to come back later in the weekend.  I saw deer, chipmunks, and lots of cool birds. Such a great place!

Friday the conference started at noon and we just really loved the whole thing. The emcees were two bloggers/authors I love, Christy Nockels led worship, and all the large group and breakout speakers were just awesome. We all came away very refreshed and challenged and just loved getting to be at the conference.

I am a huge fan of Melanie Shankle, who is from Texas, went to A&M, is a blogger, has written three books, and is just so funny. I told the girls my goal was to meet her and get my picture with her and we ran into her on the second day we were there! I asked her where her Aggie ring was, we talked about both being from A&M and now we're kind of best friends. :) She was very nice and just so funny.  

 

 

After the conference was over, we put our red lips on and got ready to go find Taylor Swift. :)

 

 

Saturday night we ate dinner at a restaurant where I was able to watch the Aggie game, and then Sunday morning we woke up and went back to Radnor Lake. This time we all stayed together, hiked around the lake, and even hiked one of the "difficult" trails up and down the side of the mountain. We were worn out but loved being at the lake again and it was a great end to the weekend!

 

I was so thankful for the time away, for time with sweet friends, and for time at the conference. Randy took such great care of the girls, Gigi came down to help for most of the time, and they all had a blast! It was a great weekend!