My kids striking a pose before trick or treating!!  Timothy wasn't sure what a pose was but after being told quickly made one!!  Although Emily is almost too old for Trick Or Treat Timothy is at a perfect age to really enjoy it.  I love seeing him get into having fun without having to think about it. Halloween turned out to be pretty cold but they had lots of fun!!!

Halloween Photos

Timothy decided even though he was Scooby Doo last year he wanted to be Scooby again. Emily was a pirate at the last minute. She thought she was too old for trick or treating until I mentioned she wouldn't get any candy. They both had fun and got way too much candy!!! Now we are only a few days away from Thanksgiving and where has the time gone? Christmas is coming!!

The day before Labor Day

I am so glad we went to the rides yesterday. Today was a Labor Day washout and even the parade was cancelled. Timothy and Emily rode the rides yesterday and had lots of fun. In the end we had to stop because Emily had rode too many, too fast and was feeling sick!! We have had a soaked Labor day staying at home.

But I don't need a nap

Timothy is at an age where he doesn't think he needs a nap anymore. I told him today that we were going to take a nap. Of course he said "Why Mommy?" and my response was because we are tired. He told me he wasn't tired and I said " Well my body is telling me I am tired". We drove a little further and while walking in the front door Timothy says to me "Mommy, my body is telling me I don't need a nap". First, I laughed and then I said "Well Timmy, My head is telling you yes we do". I finally got the little rascal down for a nap and 5 minutes later the home phone rang and woke him up. Oh well, he was recharged and ready to go again. Thank you God for a healthy and very active child!!!

Home in the Mountains of NC

Wow, this summer has been hotter than any summer I can remember here in Western North Carolina. There were at least 16 days over 90 degrees this month. Most people usually associate cooler weather with the mountains and it is just not the case this summer. We put a small pool up in the yard for the kids to play in. They have had fun doing lots of things this summer. Emily knows the summer is getting away from us and back to school is around the corner. She will be going into the 7th grade this year. Timothy is going to be in the more at four preschool program at Saint John's. He would just as soon stay home with me than go to school but it really is good for him. He is such a Mama's boy and I am loving it. How could I not be? I love being a Mom to the kids. God has given me two special kids. I am blessed. So, we will enjoy these last few weeks of summer and the hot weather. Hope everyone else enjoys it too!!!

Getting back to life and family

I have only talked about adoption on this blog in a mostly positive way. I have mentioned the word disruption a few times and most in the adoption community know what it means. Sometimes the words disruption and dissolution are used interchangeably but I usually use the word disruption. Disruption is a term used for stopping the adoption process before it is finalized and dissolution is a term for legally undoing the adoption process after it is finalized. Disruption is considered a bad word in adoption and I, personally never thought it could happen to us. As all of my friends and family may know we adopted for a second time last April and our lives have not been the same since. We disrupted the little girl we adopted after having her for 5 months. We knew when we first met her it was not a good match, but felt we had to try and make things work. She had more needs than we were told of and our family never bonded with her. Our extended family did not see things the way we did and our relationships have been forever changed. It is funny to me how people think they have a right to have an opinion in your life and want to make decisions solely based on what they want. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made in life and my husband and I had to make some hard decisions. Most importantly through everything we have done from adoption to disruption we have learned to listen to what we know within ourselves and not cave to what others are saying. Adoption is not a journey for some folks and disruption is never the path intended but God found a way to use us in his plan and I am thankful. I look at the photos of our family before and after our second adoption and think, "What happened"? The emotional toll has been hard on us and our kids but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I pray God will use our experience to help others. I would say to anyone who knows someone having trouble after adoption to not judge the situation or the family. You honestly never know until you have walked in their shoes. If it can happen to us, it can happen to anybody. Sometimes love is not enough, sometimes those hard life decisions are not popular with anybody but they still have to be made. The most important thing that I know from our experience is that life is short, too short to care about what people think and the other thing is that God will only give you as much as you can handle. We have emerged a more loving and understanding family. I thought when I lost my first child at 9 days due to prematurity that I could never hurt that way again but it made me feel a deep empathy for others who lost children. Now, I have a deep understanding of an adoption gone wrong and feel such empathy for others having issues. If God will allow I want to be there for others as much as possible and share our story as unpopular as the topic is. I am hoping Scott and I can teach our children to be understanding and caring people through our lives. We have so much fun together and life goes so quickly, we can't just hit pause. We are so blessed and happy with our family and want to share with everyone!!!

Here comes Santa Claus in July

We visited the Santa's Land theme park in Cherokee NC today. Wow, was it hot. The older kids were good sports about the kiddie rids and Santa. Timothy and Victoria were glad to see Santa a little early!!