Tooth Fairy Loot

Brennan was SOOOO excited for the Tooth Fairy to pay him a visit last night! My mom bought him the adorable little frog tooth holder seen below. He hung it from his bedpost with his tiny tooth in it's pouch!

This morning he was ecstatic to find a fancy new Star Wars light saber tooth brush which actually lights up, a dollar bill and a pack of gum along with a teeny, tiny note that the Tooth Fairy left just for him. She also left some of her fairy dust behind in his room!

His joy is evident in the picture below! I'd call the Tooth Fairy's first visit to our house a smashing success!

Next time I think we'll throw some "tooth fairy money" into the mix as well!

First Date

Brennan has his first date tonight....

With the Tooth Fairy that is.... :)

At 5 1/2 years old, he's more than ready, he's been begging for this date for months now! Me however? Not so much! How can he possibly be old enough to have reached this milestone already?

I was feeling rather sad about the idea of him growing up and getting big boy teeth. So of course I had to have one last photoshoot this weekend to capture him while he still had all his baby teeth...that will never happen again...sigh!

Stop growing big boy, we want to keep you little for awhile longer...

Support a Family of Hereos

This week I watched as people around the country came together to raise enough money for ONE MORE orphan to come to America this Christmas. In less than 10 hours $2,800 had been raised and this boy who would have been "left behind" had a winter host family. Many people I know gave generously even though they were fundraising for their own hosting/adoption costs. One of them was a dear friend who is truly a blessing to all those around her! While her husband is overseas on deployment she is not only holding down the fort at home and raising their three kids but she's invited two adorable little Latvian orphans to spend Christmas with them as well. ALL while her hubby is off serving our country! This family is very near and dear to my heart and with Veterans Day just a few days away I thought we could all come together to BLESS THEM and THANK THEM for the many sacrifices their family has made for our freedoms! Hosting has a financial commitment and these two little ones will be the 7th and 8th children they have hosted over the years. Would you consider making a donation on their behalf to help offset the costs of hosting? They are in the throes of fundraising and still more than $1700 away from their goal. This is a great chance to "support our troops" in a very real, practical, and meaningful way.

They have not asked me to post this, in fact they do not even know I am asking as I have blocked them from seeing this post :) I would LOVE to see people I know from far and wide all come together to bless this special family who has sacrificed repeatedly over the years for the rest of us!

To donate use this link, click on the button that says "donate to a specific child" and put B0329 "in the note to sellers" line (see below). If you somehow miss the place to designate, please let me know and I will notify our accountant as to where your contribution should go. 

 

I'd LOVE it if you'd consider sharing this with your own friends and family and ask them to join us in blessing this family as well!! $5, $10 and $20 donations will add up quickly if we all give a little in support of this honored military family!

P.S. If you know which family I am referring to, please don't ruin the surprise!

A Family for ChuChu

Sometimes a child on our New Horizons for Children photolisting just jumps out at me! I first told you about ChuChu here!

From the moment I first saw a photo of this little guy I was captivated by his sweet face!! This adorable little boy was born without arms and I worried we'd have a hard time finding a family to step up and host him. Turns out I shouldn't have worried at all, not only did we find him a host family it was one of our very own coordinators who stepped up to host him. And not only that they are adopting him!!

Watching their hosting experience via Facebook it was evident he was meant to be with their family! Check out this video slideshow, I'm guessing you'll fall in love too!!

His family is now fundraising to bring him back as a PERMANENT member of their family! If you'd like to help them do that you can check out their fundraising site here! 

We Are Thankful

It's that time of year again...our Thankful Tree is now gracing the walls of our new house!!

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this family tradition. The kids look forward to choosing something to write on their leaves each night and I love saving them to reflect back on each year.

This is our fourth year doing it and it's become a treasured family tradition for sure!

Some highlights from our tree in 2012 were:

• Jesus!
• Everything in the whole wide world and Jesus!
• Dzintars, because I love him!
• Thankful that I don't live in an orphanage.
• Thankful that I have a mommy and a daddy and they take care of me.

Oh and we can't leave out:

• pizza and macaroni and cheese (one guess who wrote that one). 

Our Thankful Tree 2013

We have pictures of the kids in front of this tree each year and I LOVE watching them grow! To see our trees through the years you can go here. 

What are you thankful for???

If you'd like to make your own Thankful Tree learn how here!

Happy 4th Birthday Kiki Grace

Last month our little princess turned 4! I can hardly believe it! I keep begging her to stay little and she keeps asking me when she'll be as big as Brennan or when she'll be a teenager! UGH, it's driving me crazy! Don't be in such a hurry to grow up little one, mommy loves you just the way you are right now, once you hit your teen years all bets are off, just kidding...kind of!

Kaelyn is equal parts girly and tomboy, sweet and sassy, serious and goofy, stubborn and easy going and such a blessing to our family!! She loves princesses and fairies but is also perfectly content playing garbage trucks with her brother. She LOVES to sing and can remember pretty much anything if it's set to a tune. She's also quite a talented little actress, often acting out scenes from her favorite shows.

We're so blessed to call her ours! Here are some pictures of our favorite little girl in all her four year old glory! 

 Our birthday tradition, a decorated door the birthday streamers to run through when you wake up!

With her wrapped presents!

 

Her birthday loot!

She'd had her eye on this movie and Brenny was so sweet to buy it for her! It was her favorite gift!

Birthday donut for our princess!

Wearing her new "Sofia the First" shirt and hugging her new Sofia doll.

Pics from her Party :) It was "Sofia the First" of course.

Grandpa and Grandma.

Gramma and Grampa.

Auntie Nay Nay

The Royal Guests

Two cute cousins!

More cute cousins. 

Enjoying her birthday loot :)