A friend of mine has recently adopted two kids from Ethiopia, bringing her total to five sweet children. She has also partnered with an organization called Children's Hopechest and is trying to find sponsors for the children in an orphanage about an hour south of Ethiopia's capitol.

We have chosen to sponsor a child, and since my friend is traveling over to the orphanage in about a month, we are getting a care package together to send to the little girl, Hana, that we are sponsoring. Yesterday, A and I were talking about Hana and thinking of things we could send to her. He drew her a picture, and then at dinner, he prayed that Hana would have a mommy and daddy. It was so sweet and precious to see him start to show compassion for others. Then he suggested that we put a mommy and daddy in the care package for her. How innocent and sweet children are! Their world is so uncomplicated.

I think this is part of what Jesus meant when He said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." I am so challenged to be like a child. They don't let logic or human restraint stop them from asking for huge things and expecting them to happen. They just trust that their Parent will solve their problems.

Volleyball

A few weeks ago, we took the boys to a volleyball game at our local high school. I used to coach the Varsity and JV teams for 5 years before the kids were born, and the final group of girls I coached are now seniors. The team is playing so well this year, and it was fun to see the girls again and cheer them on.

Ever since that game, one of A's favorite things to do is play volleyball. He is such a visual person and soaked in every detail of the game. He knows how to hold his hands when he passes the ball, and he even knows how to put his thumbs together the right way. It's pretty impressive how he notices every little detail.

But as much fun as playing volleyball is, his favorite part (and C's too) is the huddle. After pretty much every play, C yells out, "Mo huddle Momma." Then the boys run to me, put their hands in the middle and stare at me with expectant eyes. It is my job as the "coach" to put together a motivational speech such as "you are doing a great job and working together as a team." A spends the entire speech nodding his head at me as though he is hanging on every word I say.. These huddles are always ended by the command "Warriors on 3." Then the boys count "1 - 2 - 3" and scream "Warriors" as they lift their hands in the air. Then they return to their positions ready to play some more. It cracks me up every time. I think A's serious face as he soaks in my words and C's screaming "Mo huddle momma" are my two favorite parts and make me laugh the most.

Advice for K and L

Dear Aunt L and Uncle K,

I think you are having a baby boy and you should name him Carson Palmer.

Love,
A

KY Wool Fest

We joined P's family down in Falmouth, KY for the KY Wool Fest. It got off to a rocky start when the last 5 miles took us 1 1/2 hours! I think we probably would have turned around and drove home if our sweet C wasn't in the back seat asking every two minutes if he could see the sheep yet. The boys were amazingly patient as we sat and waited. We even got out and walked a little ways and then waited for P to catch up to us with the car. Once we made it into the Festival, the boys had a blast. There were animals to pet, Festival-type food to eat and a pony ride! A laughed a huge belly laugh the entire time he was riding the pony. You can kind of tell from the picture below. It was just pure joy. And of course C, our animal lover, loved seeing all of the animals.

Museum

This morning, P and his dad took the boys to the museum. They had a blast, and I had 3+ hours to clean and scrub my house! I mean deep clean... even moving beds and dusting underneath. It feels so good to have a clean house. I know it won't last, but it makes me feel more relaxed without all the clutter and dust everywhere.

Here are a few pics from the museum.

Rain and a Parade

Last week, we had our first rainfall in a long time. The boys were going a little stircrazy, so we put on our boots and raincoats and went out to splash in the puddles. It was a blast! C was so excited to splash and would run from one puddle to the next screaming "mo pudduh momma". Of course, this is the only pic I got of them. Not sure what the funny faces are all about, but its a pretty cute pic.

This weekend was homecoming weekend, so we met up with some of our neighbors and walked up to see the homecoming parade. A was a little leery at first because he hates loud noises. But it turns out he loved the parade once he realized they throw candy into the crowd. The screeches the kids let out were similar to Christmas morning... pure, unadulterated joy. Of course there were some tears when A found out he couldn't have candy for breakfast the next morning. I know... I'm a mean mom :)

The boys and their friend E picking candy up from the streets.

Our sweet neighbors, Baby M and Baby T.

C showing off his loot. This is only about half of what the boys accumulated. They got more candy than they got on all the past halloweens combined!

Mr. J and our big boy pulling the little kids in the wagon.

Some of our favorite friends: E, C, A and J

The Bengals vs. The Redhawks

It's fall, which means it's the season for football. After watching a few minutes of the Bengals game last weekend, A decided he'd rather play than watch. Here are the oh, so beautiful outfits that they donned to the park. They each needed jerseys (C's is a as close as we could come), helmets (again, the younger brother had to settle for a football hat instead), footballs and gloves because A noticed that the receivers all wore gloves when they were catching the ball. So in temperatures reaching near 90, my kids wore gardening gloves and winter gloves to the park to play. I have to say it's pretty adorable to hear a 1 1/2 year old say "hut, hut, hike".