Quote of the Day

It's Drug Free week at school. Lots of extra counseling and extra talks about saying "no" to all kinds of drugs.

Cameron's retelling of the counselor's message today: "You know Mom, you can drink something like root beer, but it's different, but like root beer, and if you drive, you won't be able to see, at all. Then, if you hit someone, they will take you out of the car, and the other person, and you will go to prison." Moral of the story: Don't drink root beer. Don't go to prison.

Signed, Sealed?, and Delivered

Adoption Update #234...

From my email on Thursday: another form from the Adoption Specialist...then I got a phone call asking  if we could get them notarized and in LR by the Friday. I copied off the papers at home, and met Richard in LR at 11:15 on Friday. Fortunately, he was flying in from a 2 day trip in Houston. 

We met the AS at the DHS office, signed the papers, had the papers notarized in the office, and the AS followed us out of the building to FILE them. FILE them at the courthouse. LIKE, when they are "accepted" they'll put us on the docket...maybe in the next two weeks? Who knows? 

I had Sheridan take a picture of us signing...I think SOMEDAY we'll want to remember just how hard they made it all, and yet, how much we wanted to do it to have Jordan and Cameron as part of our family, officially. 

Quote of The Day: When we were waiting on our copy of the newly signed papers, Jordan asked if we were going to go to eat. (I mean, it was 11:30 and she's ALWAYS HUNGRY) 

Richard (jokingly) answered: "No, we're not eating today. At all."

Jordan: "Hey! You just signed a paper saying you would provide for me!"

Parent/Teacher Conferences : good news!

I've never been uptight about going to P/T conferences, I look at all the papers that come home, I keep up with what my kids are reading, and who they play with at recess. I'm always looking for a concerned look by a teacher, and I ask about their behavior...or anything else I should know. But, with one exception (not to be named), I've never been caught completely UNAWARE. So, this year, we've had the kids for only a half of a year, and even though we know them better than before, I wasn't sure what to expect.

It was an AWESOME day of conferences to hear all our teachers say that they enjoyed our kids in their classes. It's really what we want. We 've always encouraged our kids in school, not necessarily to always get As, and they don't always have to be at the top of the class, but they have to do their best. Both Jordan and Cameron are making LOTS of progress in school, have good grades and are being good friends to their classmates. They both have been warned about talking...but that's understandable, being Rogers and all.

Number 1: I'm thankful they like school and are doing so well.

Number 2:  I'm SO very thankful Sheridan is not only doing well in school, but ENJOYING it too!

 

INTRAMURAL CHAMPS

Lauren is on an intramural flag football team called SHOW STOPPERS. They won their first game 54-0, The second game was something like 48-0. The championship game was held in the ATU football stadium and was the closest game they've had: 25-6. And that was the ONLY touchdown scored on them all season!

I had no idea that intramural games ever went off-campus, but they have qualified for the regional intramural football championships in Stillwater, OK. No kidding.

They'll take their highlighter yellow jerseys, their armbands with plays and their big dreams to the big stage in OK on October 31. Big stuff for such a little girl!

DOUBLE DIGIT BIRTHDAY

Jordan has lived as a Rogers for 10 months. She's waited through all 7 of our birthdays for hers. It's been hard! She couldn't decide if she wanted a party like Sheridan (painting), a trip (Erin's) or a bounce house (like Cameron's). For a 9 year old, it would seem normal to want to talk about all the options a birthday party could entail...but for Jordan it was her VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY. It's hard to put my mind around that.

She has had limited exposure to the kinds of parties I like to throw...all kinds actually, but with the help of her sisters we encouraged her to have an after-school party with just a few of her friends and she chose tie-dye as her theme. She doesn't care that Erin had a tie-dye party when she was 8...she was just SUPER EXCITED to have the invitations to take to school and the girls who came.

We actually started the day with her breakfast choice: waffles AND eggs. She got to open all her birthday cards and a gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Richard met her at school with a pizza (her favorite food) and root beer (a treat). THEN, we picked she and her friends up from school and brought them home for THE PARTY!

Lauren came home to help and we had such a great day! It was beautiful outside, it was party-like inside and it kept a smile on her face for over 48 hours.

As much as Jordan has seen or been exposed to in her 9 years...she has an innocence about her because she hasn't been in a lot of different situations. Getting 4 birthday cards in the mail....never. Getting money from grandparents....never. Talk of starting a savings account...never. Having a day all about her...never.

Double digits are BIG. And it's going to be a great year!

Fall

I love pumpkins, I love cold mornings and cool evening breezes, I love playing outside without sweating and opening the windows during the days.

I can't wait for the trees on the Lane to start changing...

SWEET Saturday!

My sweet son, so like his father...a planner of surprises and a romantic at heart. (warning...many pictures in this post!)

He planned 3 surprises for Saturday, October 11...and ran into these hurdles:
His ROTC group was told a few days before that they would go on an overnight trip and be out of town 10/10 until 10/11 at noon.
Katelyn got primary RA duty for Saturday, which means she was required to be at the desk and have the phone until 6pm.
The game time for the HUGE Arkansas vs. Alabama wasn't announced until one week before the game.
There was a 90% chance of rain the ENTIRE DAY.
BUT...all hurdles were cleared as the day became a reality.

Saturday morning: Katelyn is notified she doesn't have duty, someone has taken it for her. She and Ryan make lunch plans...in Bentonville.
They head to Crystal Bridges museum...Ryan tells Kate they have a little time to kill before lunch, so Kate wants to browse all the art while Ryan is almost pulling her out the back door during a 15 minute delay in the rain.
They run into a friend from Mountain Home, who was "working on a project" and asked if they would pose for some pictures in front of a sculpture.
As they finished her instructions, she asked if they wanted to do any poses. Ryan had Kate face her, then he got down on a knee and asked her to marry him!

They drove to lunch...with huge smiles on their faces, and were shown to the back room of ShoGun where ALL of us were waiting! Katelyn had NO IDEA that her family was there. It was surprise #2 and it was perfect!

During the rainy game, we were freezing, the HOGS were playing well, but there was a party to plan! Ryan had invited all their college friends, and family to come celebrate. It was LATE for us, but a wonderful time to celebrate with a fun family, sweet friends and a precious couple.

I'm full of thankfulness, and hoping for the same kind of wonderful relationship that God has given Richard and I.