Titus Tariku is 3!!!

On October 9th, Titus celebrated his 3rd Birthday! He had a blast playing with his cousins and opening gifts. I think the best gifts were his huge set of power tools and his cape with mask. It was a hoot watching him zoom around! He shares the same birthday with my cousin Jacqueline! A few days before his party, we went to order his Dora and Diego cake. We made the order, but he couldn't understand why they weren't giving it to us. He made a fist and pounded it into his other hand and said "I want my Diego cake now!" We decorated the house with balloons and streamers and it was just such a blessing to celebrate our little man! Is he not the most handsome boy ever?!

Alex's 6th Grade Graduation

Way back in May, Alex participated in a 6th Grade Graduation with her classmates out at the Snodgrass' house. It was a beautiful night to enjoy this milestone; complete with great food, good friends, swimming and a bonfire. I just can't believe I've been homeschooling her for this long--never thought it would ever be like this, but I'm enjoying every minute of it (well, mostly). I'm so thankful to have such an amazing daughter to teach. What a gift to be able to teach her and see her succeed. I'm so proud of her!

Choir Concert

Waaaaaayyyyy back in May, the girls performed a choir concert/musical with their TEACH homeschool group. It was so precious and the girls did a great job. It was about the Lord's Army, hence the army camouflage. Alex had a lot of lines and a solo. The other girls had to memorize their scripture verses and say "YES SIR!"

Death Cab with My Cutie!

I love Death Cab for Cutie! I got to listening to them through Pandora's and then realized Brandon had a few CD's in his collection (makes it even more special!) On my birthday, Vince said (and I quote) "Well, I was going to take you to see Death Cab at Red Rocks... BUT, Westar has their hearing tests that day and it will be more expensive if I have to do it a different day." NO LIE! Really! Thanks for telling me! A month later, we found out that they were coming to play at River Market (or City Market-I don't know) and he got me some tickets! It was perfect weather, great food, good margaritas and just a wonderful night with my cutie! If you hadn't heard of the group before, you might think they are crazy hard rock, but the lead singer described them perfectly: "Sensitive Hard Rock". No wonder my husband likes them. The crazy pic was one where V and I were just feeling the music--good for the soul... LOVE THEM!

Titus--our 100K kid!

Praise the Lord for insurance and His protection over Tariku! On June 18th, Titus decided he needed to help Papa and Daddy roll a hay trailer back into place, unbeknownst to the guys. There was a water tank on top and they never saw him coming. Vince felt a bump and immediately stopped, which was wonderful that he did, because the trailer would have gone over his pelvis, tummy and up his body, the way he was positioned. When Vince got him to me, his thigh was twice as big (at least) as normal and the screams were unforgettable. I rushed him in the car and we drove as he screamed "STOP IT DADDY" every time we hit a small bump. HORRIBLE! As soon as we saw the doctor they told us a helicopter was going to pick him up and take him to Children's Mercy. We were crying and the morphine was not cutting the pain. His femur was broken! As Titus left on the helicopter and we followed behind in the car, Vince and I were just overcome with thankfulness and a deep sense of God's protection over our little guy. Tears flowed and all we could do going up to the hospital was praise God. Nothing like seeing your child get in an accident to help you focus on what's really important in life. Just being able to hear him breathe and ask over and over for "DORA!"
After all the bills, it will be around 75K. Add that to the adoption and circumcision back in March (poor guy), its around 100K!

He's worth every stinkin' penny!

Update--Long Overdue (Softball)

I downloaded pics today and it made me realize, it has been MONTHS since I have updated. I've got lots to update on, so I thought I would pic softball first. This summer was busy with all three girls participating in softball. It was Haley's first year and she loved it! Lila was probably the tallest girl on her team and Alex got to pitch in some games and actually did pretty well. (At least she never pitched it over the fence into the bleachers like her mom did)! By the way, I am going to try and make this a priority on top of homeschooling 3 kiddos. I figure the kids and Vince can pull clean clothes out of our huge "clean clothes pile" in my bedroom anytime they need something... :)