We went to a Tulsa city park called Turkey Mountain today. We had a great time. I made little scavenger hunt lists (pictures of nuts, leaves, dirt, grass, etc) for Jada and James and if they found everything on the list they got a treat. So they collected all their goodies in a cup and got candy pumpkins for all their work. Then after hiking and eating we just stopped and played on the trail making mud and painting the rock.

Jada really enjoyed filling her cup with the things on her list but she kept dumping it. She, like every two year old, was very slow at walking and would periodically yell "I'm commin!!"

James was proud of his hiking pack. It was very heavy and he carried it for a long time - such a stud!

As usual Kinley really enjoyed eating the dirt.

These are the bugs we caught while hiking, isn't the green one cool? I am really growing in my ability to give my kids nasty science experiences! Alicia was the expert butterfly catcher!

Jason, Emily and Kate came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. Isn't baby Kate beautiful? We played dress up while they were here, Kate was a ballerina and the big kids wore my old tap recital costumes. James has been having to wear girl dress ups but we now have two male oriented options for him. We'll see what he chooses?? This is what Kinley does every time we ask her to smile - isn't it pretty and feminine?

We went to the OKC fair with Gigi and Bop. It was fun but very busy with all three of them so I forgot to take very many pictures. This is James having the camel ride "he's always wanted".

This was a freakish animal at the petting zoo that we thought belonged in a Dr. Seuss book.

Josh and I dressed up to go to the anniversary party and James asked if he would get to wear a tux when he was big - it was really cute!

The day Josh was fully in charge of dressing Jada?? :/ I had to razz him a little!!

Here is a sample of Kinley's adoration of James - he still gets her best laugh! It is also a sample of our everyday craziness - someone being "bad" someone laughing at the one being "bad" and the other one talking incessantly. Things are continuing to get a little better here. Josh's new branch office administrator started Monday and it is going really well. Hopefully she will stay for a while and they will be a good pair! God is dealing with a lot of my deep down sin and I can see some light at the end of the tunnel as far as growing as a mom and being able to better handle kids. The girls are going to stay at Gigi's next week so James can have some alone time with us then the next week we are going to Beaver's Bend for our annual camping trip. Lots of fun ahead!

Ok, where to start? Well, things are going tiny bit better. James and Jada are now having small moments of fun together. They are both still in major need of training and the days are intense. I think Jada is actually stepping up her difficulty level so we'll see? We had the first visit with Jada's worker in our home on Monday. All of us were on the couch and James made some reference to me spanking Jada. I looked at the worker and said "I have not spanked her" then James said "yes you did mommy"! I was shocked and in utter disbelief that this was happening to me. See we actually have been praying about and discussing using some form of spanking with Jada because she is in such need of it but we haven't #1 because we haven't gotten a peace from God and a close second is because we knew James would tell on us! Well he told on us and we didn't even do it. This coupled with the fact that our case workers biggest worry about us is that we spank our children - I was totally floored. Anyway, I asked James why he thought I spanked her and he said because I took the spoon in her room! He doesn't miss a thing. Well I told him that he lied about something very important and that he needs to not talk to anyone about his or his sisters' discipline. OH BROTHER!

Two weeks ago we all went to the doctor. Jada got two shots, James had a recheck on an old ear infection, and Kinley was diagnosed with bronchitis and a double ear infection. She was prescribed a nebulizer (sp?) We say she likes to hit the A-bong (a for albuteral (sp?)

One day that it rained we played in the garage and there is a low spot in the corner that hold water after a rain. I went inside to put Kinley in bed and came back out to James and Jada naked (except Jada's shirt was twisted around her shoulders) jumping in that nasty puddle! They were eaten alive by mosquito's but they had a blast.

Another day we played in the garage and James decided to build towers and run into them with his bike.

This is all three of them playing dress up. Poor James really needs some boy dress ups. I just can't tell the poor thing no when he asks to put on the tutu so he can dance with his sisters. He has also decided to like wearing a zebra print hair bow around the house. I need some help!

She is so precious!

Isn't she beautiful!

Jada loves to put on Mr. Potato Head's glasses. She has been doing this since we got her and I finally got a picture of it. She is so silly.

Kinley is a full time walker now! It is so fun to see her up!

We went to the pet store and the clerk got out two greyhound puppies for the kids to play with. It was so cute and this puppy kept trying to eat James' hair. James has been lobbying for a puppy since then but I think he is beginning to realize he is barking up a dead tree!

So the reason we were at the pet store is because Captain Bob finally died after a long struggle with who knows what. He hadn't been himself for a while and when we came back from Labor Day he was stuck under the rocks not moving. We went to pour him out and he miraculously came back to life! Three days later he died for real. It was sad but James was comforted that when he went down the toilet he would go to the ocean. So Monday we replaced him with Greenie Pete (he's orange). James had picked Greenie to be our new fish name right after Bob died. Josh wanted to name him Pete for Pistol Pete since he's orange but James was not budging on Greenie therefore he's Greenie Pete just like Captain Bob was Captain for Josh and Bob for James. I guess we'll always have two name fish. Josh and I were invited to a black tie 50th anniversary reception for some of his clients. It was at Southern Hills Country Club. It was really fun and fancy. I got a new White House Black Market dress at Name Brand Clothing for $30! It was nice to dress up and go out with my handsome Edward Jones man. This last weekend I had a cleaning job with my friend Alicia. He father in law and husband are in construction and have remodeled a beautiful home near 28th and Lewis and they asked us to do the final clean. It took us 15 1/2 hours but we had a great time together and he got a good dose of role reversal with our husbands. Josh did awesome Friday and Saturday but by Sunday he was a little worn out. I asked him if he got to pick Edward Jones or home with the kids what would he pick - he said Edward Jones! I said me too! not really - his job is super hard and I could never do it in a million years. I am so thankful I get to stay home and train our children no matter how hard it is.

We learned in class that there is usually a honeymoon phase when a foster child comes into your home. Well, I forgot about that and was thinking that the first two weeks with Jada were great and it was going to be smooth sailing. Then we started week number three! I'm not sure who went bad first but it is a toss up between me, James, and Jada. I think I have myself back in control and I'm working on J and J. They have been fighting constantly, James is bossy, controlling, hateful, disrespectful, and has a very strong desire to hurt Jada. He said during a discipline session "I just need to know how long she's going to be here?" Another day he was telling her the toys are not hers and my mom got onto him and he said "well we just don't know how long she's going to be with us". Needless to say it has been a tough adjustment having a two year old sister. The good thing is he has decided and begun to show that he loves Kinley to pieces. He has been very kind to her and they seem to be bonding under the new pressure. Jada has decided to whip out the strong will on us. We tell her to do or not do something and she just stares at us with a blank look at best or grunts and does the opposite or throws a fit at worst. She is a normal two year old it is just that we can't do with her what we did with our last two year old. Time out is what we do but she doesn't seem to mind it at all and doesn't seem to be learning from it. She is having trouble sitting still for anything and with being social with many people outside of our family. She still seems overwhelmed by our lifestyle. I do believe that in spite of all that she is attaching to us and us to her. It will be a long road but by God's grace we will adjust and hopefully help leave God's mark on her heart. We took a little vacation to Hot Springs, Arkansas with my parents last weekend. We had a great time!

I think we actually got a decent family picture!

We went to an petting zoo/alligator farm. It was really cool, they even had mountain lions!

We went to one of the lakes in Hot Springs Village to ride paddle boats but they didn't have any so we just took of the kids clothes and played in the water!

We are working on smiling for the camera but it is not favorite.

James got to climb on a real Army tank

We've had Jada for two weeks and the adjustment is going well. I have had the hardest time with it but things are getting much better. Josh has been amazing at including Jada and loving on her. James has accepted her with open arms...well...except when she has something he wants....or does something she isn't supposed to then he gets freakishly controlling and bossy (I have no idea where that comes from). Kinley likes her and hasn't seemed to miss a beat. Jada seems to have taken well to us. She gets a little overwhelmed by James sometimes but loves Kinley and wants to help take care of her. She is very obedient and kind. She sleeps and eats well. It is truly amazing how adjusted she is for what she's been through in her short life. She goes to church nursery, YMCA nursery, and soon bible study nursery all without a problem. We were getting out of the car at church one night and Josh was unbuckling her and she said "kank you daddy for my car seat". It melted Josh on the spot. It also made the $50 we had to drop on it feel like nothing. Josh was showing her pictures of the planets on his phone and was naming them all, he got to Uranus and she said "my what??" We laughed hysterically. Sorry I don't have more stories and pictures I just have to adjust to three and I'll get back on my game!

Aunt Emily and Kate came to see us Tuesday. We had a great time doing life together and the kids enjoyed each other.

We picked up Jadalynn "Jada" this afternoon. They all enjoyed reading books and getting out every toy we own. There was no crying, protesting, or withdrawing. She came home played, ate dinner, read books and went to bed an hour and a half earlier than she's used to. Isn't she beautiful!

She seems like a dare devil, she stood up on the train and threw her arms in the air and then jumped down and straddled the seat then laughed heartily.

Sorry this video is sideways - I'm a dork and can't remember to take it the right way. It is of Kinley walking!!

Couple of updates. Kinley had her first time out yesterday and her first "go to bed without dinner"! It was sad but she is getting quiet an attitude. You can pray for wisdom, creativity, and consistency for me and Josh! We also THINK we are getting a little 2yr old girl Wednesday at 4. Please pray for all of us in that transition. We will let you know if and when it is final.

Summer Fun

Last week we went to a new park in Tulsa that Quick Trip funded. It is a great park with five water features that are perfect for little ones and a great multi age playground.

Kinley just crawls up and down this four tiered one over and over. It's really funny when the water surprises her.

Isn't Josh a great photographer - we have some many amazing pics but it would take forever to put all of them on here - he needs his own blog!

James loved the baby potty chair (don't know why it got named that) but it spins really fast.

Fish Face

Wednesday we went to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum with our friends the Butter's. It was great fun - Kinley went to the moon!

This was her first fruit smoothie (with yogurt) she loved it but soon broke out all over and got a runny nose. I need to start dealing with the reality that she probably isn't going to outgrow her milk allergy :( That night at the amusement park (you'll read about it in a minute) we were all having ice cream and she wanted a bite so bad, she just stared at my in the eyes as if her heart was breaking and I was the meanest mom in the world to deny her ice cream. So dramatic - but I stayed strong and gave her cotton candy instead!

We went to a little amusement park in Bartlesville called Kiddie Park and the kids loved it. Every ride is a quarter and even Kinley could go!

Next we went to the Watermelon Festival in Rush Springs. Steve's family gets together every year for it so we got to see his brothers and sisters and have a great day of fried food and good conversation. This is the monster truck James loved. When we were on the way home he said "I just can't wait until I grow up so I can get my monster truck and drive it in the grass" he said it would be brown like mud and he would drive on the side of the road in the grass and the cars on the road wouldn't see him because he would look like mud.

The slide was a little faster than he expected but he handled it well.

Kinley loved the jeep but it took a long time to get started and it was past nap time so by the third lap she was leaning out the door in a daze. Everyone was laughing and a little worried she would fall out but she made it and was up and smiling by the last lap.

Her favorite carnival food was corn on the cob.

...and corndog breading

James loved the hot dog...

but the watermelon more, he ate so much his tummy hurt

So after all the fun we all need to catch up on a little sleep Still now concrete news on foster care - we'll let you know!????