family update

First a giant THANK YOU!  I simply cannot believe the number of encouraging and supportive messages I got yesterday (mostly through IG direct messages).  You guys know how to make a person feel good.  I truly had no idea that many of you really missed our blog.

I thought I'd give a family update here since many of you said you really miss that. It's long.

(this was at the MFA Houston Bambu exhibit this summer)

Dave doesn't have social media so I try to keep his profile low but he doing well.  He is golfing a bit, fishing and working.  He travels to Spain and France and Israel for work sometimes.

 (Will leaving for his junior year of college in August)

Will is in his 3rd year of college and doing really well. He turned 21 this summer and we celebrated in PA (post to come). He is in a fraternity which I have mixed feelings about but I think he has found a really healthy balance of activities in college.  He is majoring in Environmental Earth Science and Sustainability.  He also has a focus (maybe a minor) in Geology and is usually on the Dean's list. He works in a biology lab doing limnology research.  I don't know exactly what he does but it involves plankton and larvae and water:)  He is involved in some Christian groups on campus and is a Scholar Leader this year. This January he will be doing a J-term study abroad in Italy.  As a science major, he could not really do a semester abroad because they do not offer the courses/labs he needs but this should be a fun experience for him.  He will be in Rome with a short trip to Florence.  He is looking for a summer internship for 2019 in Environmental Science or Sustainability and is willing to go anywhere for the opportunity.  So, let me know if you know of any!  It is hard to find internships in that field. I am so incredibly proud of the man he has become.

(A fabulous event Harry planned and put on last Spring)

Harry is doing great. He finished his 10th and final year at Camp Ozark this summer and had a blast.  That place is etched deep in his heart. He is a senior at an all boy college prep school and ready to get on to his next adventure.  Lots of you asked about his migraines. They are pretty much gone.  He will get one occasionally but overall they are rare.  He has become an incredible photographer and focuses mostly on music/concert photography.  He is also still an entrepreneur and has so many fabulous business ideas going.  Harry is my kid who really did not like reading but once he found books on building businesses and marketing etc, he has his nose in a book a lot. He has applied to 8 colleges (UT, Baylor, Loyola New Orleans, Tulane, Loyola Marymount, University of San Diego, USC and University of Santa Clara).  He is super smart and I think he will have some great choices.  He refused to apply to any of the excellent business schools up north because he hates the cold! I truly cannot believe he will be gone in 10 months but he never really loved high school and is wise beyond his years.  College will be so good for him.

(Harry went to Seaside this summer with another family and lots of friends.)


(Kate's elementary school graduation)

Kate is in middle school and very busy.  As many of you know she quit competitive gymnastics and it turned out to be a great decision (going to write a post on this soon).  She ended up going back to dance and has just flourished.  Last Spring, she was invited to participate in a photography class through Rice University and loved it.  She is doing magnet dance, art and gymnastics at her school and she wants to join everything!  She dances at our local studio and auditioned for the company this year and made it.  She is in 4 company dances this year so she is at the studio 6 days a week.  I was very hesitant for her to dance so much but it is about 11 hours a week which is HALF the time she was in the gym.  She manages it well with homework and has all A's. She really loves dance and there is none of the pressure that stressed her out in gymnastics. She has a fabulous group of girls she dances with and they are all friends. She is so happy.  She still loves to bake but I don't love all that sugar in our house so we have cut down on that a little bit.  She bakes for friends and has a few "customers" who pay her for cookies etc.  She loves to read and is just a happy 12 year old.

(Scout is good too.  She is almost 12 years old so slowing down a bit but such a sweet dog)

I am pretty good.  I actually had a very rough year.  I won't go into specifics but I got very very sick after Hurricane Harvey.  I lost weight, couldn't eat and had some serious infections.  I have worked really hard to get myself healthy again.  I had some relapses and setbacks but I am doing well.  I work part time in my office a few blocks from home seeing clients for marriage, relationship, parenting and life coaching/counseling.  I also speak about once a month at schools, churches and other organizations on Parenting and Family and Marriage.  My most popular talks this year are on Technology and Kids and Boundaries in families. I love my job.  There is no better feeling than knowing you are helping someone make their family or marriage stronger.  And I have the best clients.  I am also in a few book clubs that I really enjoy, a fabulous women's prayer group that meets once a week and I still go to Bar Method for exercise.  I try to go about 3-4 days a week but with my health issues it has been sporadic this year.

So that is where we all are today.  As I proofread, I realized that it sounds like a lot of bragging about my kids.  Let me add...we have our fair share of talking back and anxiety and mood swings and other problems in our house.  We do.  I definitely am sharing the ups here.  And for the most part, these kids are pretty easy and I am super proud of them in their own unique ways.


So far people have said they want to see recipes, fashion, family updates and parenting topics.  Let me know in the comments if you have other suggestions for blogging topics.

Family News

I will post Christmas 2015 photos this week.  I have never skipped blogging about a Christmas and I can't start now.

Let's see what is new at our house...

Will has heard back from all of the colleges he applied to. He applied to 8 schools. He was admitted to all of them and got academic scholarships at 7/8. The only school that did not award a scholarship was Texas A & M (it is a GREAT school but it was his safety school as it is close and extremely reasonably priced).  It is too big for him though.

He has narrowed his options down to four schools and is visiting some this month.  I think he will have a decision by the end of February. Let's hope.

I have started gathering a few things for him for college as I see them... towels, a travel bag, etc... little by little. I think starting to get some things ready is helping me deal with reality. I know it might seem silly but it helps me.  I plan to make him a supplement/medicine box.  I keep all sorts of natural supplements and vitamins here and the kids always come to me asking...Mom, what can I take for XYZ?  So, I am going to make him one with all our regulars to take to school.

I am happy/sad about this phase. I know this is what we work so hard for as parents.  He is an amazing kid with great values and awesome options.  He is stepping out into adulthood.  It is still really hard to start letting go.

Will just finished up varsity swim season and has moved right into water polo.  It is weird knowing this is the last time he will be in organized sports like this as he will not swim in college.  He is leading two weekend retreats this month (confirmation and Kairos) and I am so proud of him.  That is where Will really excels and it is what he loves doing.  I hope he finds opportunities for Spiritual Leadership in college.  God gave him a gift for that.

Will and Elizabeth went to her Winter Formal this month.  I did not get good photos. It was dark and rainy that evening and I got a new camera and ended up returning it as it would not focus. Anyway...here are some shots.  They looked fabulous.  Elizabeth is really a beautiful person.

I began this blog 9 years ago on January 7, 2007.  Can you believe that?  I have 9 years of family memories on this site.  Thank you for hanging around that long.  I know a lot of people have probably stopped checking in as I don't write that frequently anymore.  But I am so grateful for the friendships I have made from the adoption community and the blogging community.

Kate is busy working on gymnastics, crafting, knitting and her science fair project.  She is looking at the difference between tap water and alkaline water on cut flowers.  Let me just say now...I loathe the science fair at this age.  I think that participating in ONE science fair in 5th grade or higher is a great idea. At her school it is mandatory in 3, 4 and 5th grades.  That is too much.  Kate LOVES science but this is killing it for her.

She is making sweet little hand made boxes for Valentine's Day for each kid in her class.  Then we will fill them with something.

Here are a few phone pictures of Kate..

{At a fun Spa birthday party}

Kate knitted this blanket for herself over Christmas break and Scout loved it.

So being the sweet thoughtful girl that she is...she knit Scout her own little blanket...

These are the Valentine boxes she is making completely by hand.... I think she has 20 more still to make!

Harry is doing well.  He is as entrepreneurial as ever. I don't think I am allowed to post about this businesses here though. He is currently playing lacrosse at his high school but he is not loving it right now.  We will see if he continues or finds something else to do in high school.  I do strongly encourage my kids to play a sport or be involved in their school community but I also want them to be happy so I don't "force" them to do something if it is not right for them.  He will find his thing.  It may be lacrosse and it may not be.

Harry got his driver's learning permit this month too...



I simply cannot believe how quickly these kids are growing up!

I spoke at a women's retreat this month on marriage.  I was dreading it as the retreat was right after Christmas and I was pressed for time to prepare.  But it ended up being such a blessing and honor to have the opportunity to share with these women.  God has made His calling so clear to me as I love getting to do what I do for a living. When I am speaking or working with clients, it never feel like work. It always feels like I am right where God wants me to be. And trust me there are many times in other areas of my life that I don't feel that way.

Life is really busy in our house right now.  Three kids, three sports, senior year activities, two working parents.  It is a good busy.  A full and blessed life.  I know it is all going to shift a bit in the next 6-8 months so I am trying to be fully present in the here and now.

Easter {2015}

Yes, it has taken me over a week to post about our Easter.  This week has flown by. Once my kids got into school and activities, I quickly learned that April and May are chock full of end of year commitments with school, sports, violin, church etc.

Also, on Tuesday afternoon my fabulous photographer friend, Shelly did a First Holy Communion photo shoot with Kate.  It was such a fun afternoon.  Kate had never had her hair done at a salon before. Her fine hair is somewhat challenging to put into an up-do (for me) so I knew I wanted someone else to do her hair on the special day.

Some I phone snaps

I have to share a little story about Kate here.  Shelly and I talked about where to do this photo shoot. We wanted a classic, pretty background so we settled on a old historic church downtown.  When I told Kate about going downtown, she said, "Mama, why would we take them at a different church? That doesn't make sense."  As soon as she said it I saw the error of my ways.  See, our church is pretty but it was built in the 1950's and although it is home to us and beautiful in many ways, I did not immediately think of it as the perfect backdrop.  Anyway, I thought about what Kate said and she was SO RIGHT.  We needed to take the photos at our church.  I am so glad God gave me such a wise little girl.  If I ever forget what is really important, she reminds me.

Anyway, the photo shoot was so much fun. Shelly and I snapped away for about 2 hours and Kate was cooperative and joyful and delightful the whole time.  She looked stunning and I got a little glimpse of what she will look like as a bride someday.  I cannot wait to share the five thousand photos we took but I want to wait until after her special day in May.

Back to Easter...  We often attend Mass at Will (and soon Harry's) high school.  It is a Jesuit school and I love how simple and meaningful the Mass is there.  The Jesuits give amazing homilies too.  So, we went to Easter Mass there.  It was a rainy day here but we managed a few photos on the back porch before Mass.

Harry was not ready yet and I wanted to check the light outside and it was already raining a bit.



Kate and I were not really planning on matching for Easter.  We usually do that on Mother's Day.  In fact, I had a totally different dress plan for me for Easter.  But that morning, Kate wanted to wear these and I had not bought her an Easter dress so this worked out.  Our dresses are from Kelly's Kids.

Then Dave took some of me and the kids.




Dave was making us laugh in this one above.  Harry is very funny and uses some interesting expressions and terminology that he picks up at his extremely diverse inner city public school. They are nothing inappropriate but just funny.  YEET! Dave was imitating him and we all cracked up.



After Mass, we came home and relaxed a bit.  Then we did our egg hunt.  It was wet and rainy so we did it inside.  We put $  (dollar coins, bills and two dollar bills) in the eggs now to keep the boys interested.  Each kid got to find 16 eggs.



Will found his eggs really quickly.  He also amassed the most money.  I think he had about $12 which was pretty sweet for about 3 minutes of effort for him!  He loves having doughnut change in his car.

Harry and Kate took a while and were finished about the same time.

I treasure each one of these silly little traditions so much. We just paid the deposit for Will's senior year of high school and included was a graduation fee and cap and gown fee. It just really drove home how much our family will be changing soon.  We fight and bicker and get on each other's nerves.  But we also have fun and really enjoy each other too.







After the egg hunt, we had a fabulous Sunday dinner.  It was a really great day.

P.S. I am not sure if any of you bought this  maxi dress but I did and I LOVE it.  The slits were a tad high for me so I had my seamstress sew them up a little (for like $7) and it is perfect.  I wore it to a fashion show for my Mom's group last week and so many people asked me about it. I got a ton of compliments on it.  Even the boutique owners who were styling our  fashion show wanted to know where it was from.  So, keep your eye out for a discount code or sale. I got mine on a good sale. It is light and comfortable and super forgiving.

At the Beach

We are taking our annual Seaside beach vacation a little earlier than we usually do this year.  It is just us here this week. My sister's family always joins us but they could not make it this week and we miss them so much!

We are having beautiful weather so far and it's been fun.  Of course, every year is a little different due to the ages/stages of our kids.  This year, Will gets up kind of early to go fishing (5am one morning).  That certainly did not happen last year! Harry alternates between fishing and skim boarding and trying to catch blue crabs.  And Kate is looking for friends at the pool and beach and this little lake off the beach that all the kids love.  It is kinda gross but all the kids hang out there. And Kate makes friends quickly:)

I always get a photo of Kate coming down to the beach on our first full day....

I cannot even express how much I love his bathing suit. I buy most of Kate's suits very inexpensively on Zulily, Target, etc.  But when I saw this one, I had to splurge.  It is from Albionfit and it is so well made and so beautiful.


Will and Harry are doing a lot of fishing...

Since Sunday was Father's Day we needed some beach snappies with the world's most awesome Dad.

Dave is an incredible father. He is so patient and loving with our kids.  He knows where to draw that perfect line between being a fun and "friend" kind of Dad and being in charge and shepherding them into being great adults. We are very blessed to share this life with him.  He always puts me and the kids first. Always.

People ask me sometimes why I don't mention my Dad on the blog.  My parents divorced when I was about 13 and I don't have a relationship with my Dad at all.  In general, I have been fine with that but I do think it is kind of sad that he does not know what incredible grandkids he has. That makes me appreciate the kind of father Dave is even more. I was lucky enough to have a fabulous step-father for about 20 years but he passed away from Parkinson's disease just before we adopted Kate.

Moving on, here are few shots from the first day we got here.  We arrived late afternoon and had the BEST lunch at the Red Bar in Grayton Beach!  Then we had a few hours at the beach that day...

Total coincidence but I love how our sand toy bag coordinates perfectly with Kate's suit:)

Dave and Will went to the grocery store and I unpacked the house and took Kate and Harry to the beach.

Kate and Harry caught a blue crab in the lake/tide pool thingy.  And they cooked it up and ate it.  They loved it.

These two have such a special relationship. I love it.

Dave and the kids on Father's Day....




 And then I jumped in for a quick shot too...

Yesterday we swam with dolphins in the ocean.  I put a shot on Instagram.  I'll post more soon.
Internet is very weak in our beach house but I'll try again tomorrow.

Will's Confirmation Day

Last week was Will's Confirmation.  In the Catholic church there are three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Holy Communion or Holy Eucharist and Confirmation.  Confirmation is when you are fully initiated into the Church as an adult and receive the Holy Spirit.  It is a big deal.  It is also the end of the formal education of catechism.  We all know that our spiritual learning and our spiritual journeys never end.

So, I was very happy that Will has completed all of his years of catechism and that he is now an adult member of our Church.  He worked hard the last two years to complete the confirmation classes, service hours and retreats.  Most importantly, I see Will live his faith out loud and I am really happy about that.

We did not have a big celebration but went out to lunch with friends after the Mass.

This is a picutre of Will and two of his good friends and one of the theology teachers at their all boy Jesuit School...

(Will, David, Mr. Gatis, Nick)

They all have holy chrism (an anointing oil) on their foreheads.

Will's best friend, David asked my hubby, Dave to be his sponsor.  It was really nice.

David is very tall in case you were wondering.

Will asked our good friend, Mr. G to be his sponsor.  We do not have Catholic males in our family and Will wanted a good male role model.  Mr. G is definitely that.

The Mass was very long (hence Kate's grumpy face in the following photos) but it was a lovely service.





I am little concerned about how she'll do next year for her first Holy Communion mass:)

Harry was an awesome big brother as usual trying to keep her happy during Mass.



And a few I-phone snappies at lunch...

We've been friends with this family since they were infants...






Harry and David.



Harry is on a bench:)