JOY & Happy 13th Birthday Grant!!

Don't you wish you could be so full of joy just running down the hallway to your mommy? I just love my little bug and could not resist sharing this picture of her tonight in her jammies. Please press play on the music to the right... this is the picture to go along with the song "In My Daughter's Eyes".



Today, my little boy became a teenager... so hard to believe that 13 years have passed since the moment he was placed in my arms. After 23 hours of labor, he was quite the unexpected "big boy" at 8 lbs. 11 oz. at 10 days early. He has given me my share of snips and snails and puppy dog tails and I love my little buddy. Here we are tonight at his favorite Hibachi restaurant... this is a picture of the polaroid that the waitress took after the big birthday drum pounding Happy Birthday melody was sung (he is the one in the middle).



Love and FROG!

Sarah

Favorite Foto Friday #7

PEEK-A-BOO!!! My silly girl at the zoo playground.


And, because I can't choose just one this week, it's CRAZY HAIR/HAT DAY!! Her head got stuck in her shirt while taking it off and she thought she was hysterical! Don't you love the pigtails coming out the armholes?


Please keep the future of Guatemalan adoptions in your prayers.

Can't wait to see everybody's FFF this week! If you would like to be linked here, please leave me a comment and I will link 'ya!! Happy Friday!!
Tricia, Victoria & Sofia
Kerri & Ruby
Amy & Jonathan
Krystal & Parker
Robyn & Gabriella
Becky & Amaya
The Cash Crew
Tracy & Brenda
Sarah, Zech & Aidan
Shannon & Analise
Rachel & Aya
Katie, Angelika & Arianna
Corey & Sarah (Daddy too)
Heather & Allie
Amy, Benjamin & Hannah
Ellie & Angelena
Stephanie & Maya

New Pila for Dayli's Family!!

I was so excited to get an e-mail this morning from Sharon at Mayan Families. In the e-mail were pictures of my sponsored child and her family in Guatemala receiving the gifts that I sent money down for! It is amazing how inexpensive some things cost that can make such a huge difference to a family. One of those life changing items is a Pila (or a sink) that can be installed in a family's home and would allow them to wash their clothes and dishes in their home, rather than walking to a nearby water source or lake to do this work. Here is the Pila being unloaded off the truck:



Can you imagine if we were not able to just walk over to our modern washing machine and dryer and throw our clothes in and voila... clean clothes? Or putting our dishes in a dishwasher and coming back to clean dishes? I truly cannot imagine how families get by with as little means as they have. Dayli's family is lucky to have electricity ($11.20 US per month) and running water ($4 US per year) in their home. Look at this beautiful family! Fristy is 5, Dayli is 6 and their mother, Regina (who is expecting a baby in December).



Beautiful girls... Fristy and Dayli


Along with the Pila, I was able to send money down for Dayli to receive a new traditional outfit, called a huipil (pronounced "wee-peel") and corte. These outfits are beautiful and intricate and they can be worn for up to five years. Here is a picture of Dayli receiving her new outfit.



What a beautiful child!


I am so lucky to be traveling to Guatemala in November and meet this beautiful family! I am taking donations down with me for Mayan Families and can't wait to take Dayli shopping for some new shoes to go with her beautiful new outfit. Seeing this beautiful face just makes me feel so incredibly lucky to be able to make a difference in her life. I wish so much that I could do more.

If you would like to see some more wonderful pictures of the work Mayan Families does to help the families who live in Panajachel, please visit here... I promise you that these images will stay with you... Mayan Families Donations Being Received.

Some of the items I am collecting to take with me to Guatemala include hair items, such as brushes, combs, ribbons, barrettes, elastics, etc as well as baby blankets, underwear, socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you are interested in donating anything for Mayan Families and would like to send with me in November, please contact me through the comments section. There are hundreds of children in Panajachel and there are so many items needed. These are just a few of the items that are light enough and easily compacted that I am hoping to take down with me in airline checked luggage.

Wow, how one e-mail can brighten my day!! For those in the adoption world, it reminded me of the thrill I got each time I got a medical update or pictures of Sophie~Bug during the adoption process.

Love and FROG!

Sarah

In search of the perfect photo...

How is it that so many of you get absolutely perfect photos of your children? Out of about 30 poses, here is what I usually end up with:

The Back Shot, when only seconds before the camera finally clicked, she was looking right at you?


Top of the head...


Oops, another back shot (darn it)


Flappin' the arms to fly away


Cheesing it up inches away from the lens


Only looking up for a millisecond, then eyes down


Distracted...


Top of the head again


And again, even though the flowers smelled great


A little too dark


Still wrong lighting


Pretty girl, but not the perfect shot


An unexpected cute pose


And another one that just happened to turn out cute


I felt like I had run a marathon to get her to look up at the camera for a nanosecond and I am sure the neighbors are quite entertained watching me do all those antics to get her to look at mommy. So, all you picture experts, what is your secret? I would love tips on how to get better pictures out of my Canon Rebel. Thinking I might need a better lens than the one it came with?

The subject needs a little incentive too... what do you do to get those perfect pictures?

Favorite Foto Friday #6

Oh my gosh... it is Friday already (TGIF)! Since I am at work and don't have access to new pictures, I will have to dig into the archives of pictures I have shared over time with my co-workers. But, this is actually one of favorites of all time! It is a picture of Sophie and her foster sister, Olivia, not long after they both came home in the fall of 2005 in their cute little Guatemalan outfits.

Sophie and Olivia are one week apart in age and after my visit trip to Guatemala, I discovered that Sophie's foster mother also had Olivia with her. Unbeknownst to us at the time, both girls were heading home to KY!! The girls were born in a country far away, shared a crib together for five months and then miraculously ended up with their forever families living 30 minutes apart! It is so awesome to keep in touch with Olivia and her family, an amazing and blessed connection!!



Don't forget to leave a comment in the comments section if you would like me to link your FFF picture! Here are some of this week's FFF friends!!
Robyn & Gabriella
Krystal & Gerson
Kelly, Kollin & Kemry
Heather & Her Beautiful Boys
Amy & Jonathan
Shannon & Analise
Bestill & Sawyer
Marlene & Rylee the birthday girl
Tracy & Brenda
Alleen & Gabriella
Becky & Amaya
Many Blessings & Jellybean
Kerri & Ruby
Farrah & Madisyn
Home Sweet Home's Brayden & Arianna
Corey & Luke
Holly, Gia & Nino
Stephanie & Maya
Little Blog On The Prairie's Mindy
Lou & Anne Pearce
Candy & Kya Blu
Kelli & Kaleb
Lisa & Sophia

Wacky Wednesday

My daughter, Morgan, runs cross country. Each Wednesday is a different "Wacky" theme and she and her friends really get into it! This was obviously a pool party theme... that is my crazy kid on the far right. They actually ran around in a public park looking like this. They WON the prize this week for Wacky Wednesday!!



I love my nutty, fun-loving first born baby girl!! With all the ups and downs of parenting a teenager, she sure likes to have fun!!

Hey, should this be a recurring blog theme?? Could be fun!!!

Favorite Foto Friday #5

Yeah, I know... no posts since last Friday... very busy week. But, I couldn't leave you hanging without Favorite Foto Friday!

This week, I am choosing a series of photos that I took tonight of Sophie~Bug blowing her first ever bubble all by herself! I think she ate most of the bubble juice, but her look of determination (not to mention going cross-eyed trying to look at the bubble wand) and pride after she realized that she did it all by herself is priceless!

BUBBLES!!!







(Don't forget... if you would like me to link your FFF post, please post a comment and I will add you! Post any picture that is your favorite picture of the day, week, month, year, etc... I just love seeing everybody's favorites!)

Check out our FFF friends!!
Amy & Jonathan
Many Blessings & Peanut
Krystal & Elviz
Becky, Juliana & Amaya
Home Sweet Home's Brayden & Arianna
Robyn & Gabriella
Heather, Kyle, Brandon, Devin, Jacob & Allie
Kerri & Ruby
Kelli & Kaleb
Holly, Gia & Nino & G-Mom
Kelly & Cupcake (er... Kemry)
Candy & Kya Blu

Favorite Foto Friday #4

This is from Labor Day weekend at the pool. My little American Girl!



With 9-11 coming up and the elections down in Guatemala, I am so proud that we are United States Citizens. How lucky we are to have love, happiness and health.


(Please join me on Favorite Foto Friday... just post your favorite picture of the day, week, year or whatever makes that photo your favorite on your blog. If you leave a comment here, I will link your blog to this post so others can see your Favorite Foto Friday picture!)

Check out these links to my FFF friends!!
Kerri & Ruby
Many Blessings & Jellybean
Bestill & Sawyer & Tori
Candy & Kya Blu
Robyn & Gabriella
Alleen & Gabriella
Farrah & Madisyn
Krystal & Brayden, Parker, Gerson & Elviz
Amy & Jonathan
Lori, Nico & Sonja
Kelli & Kaleb

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Doing better in mommy-world today and sat down to play with my little Doctor Bug with her patient, Dora. Here is how Dora's checkup went...

Good, strong heartbeat!


This shot won't hurt a bit.


Time to check your eyes!!


Yep, you've got eyes alright!


Maybe a little CPR will make you talk for me! C'mon, say Ahhh...


NEXT!! Can we play puzzles now??

Ugh! Teens, Tweens and Terrible Twos

Who ever said parenting wasn't for wimps is right! We've been dealing with some not so fun stuff around here lately, sorry no pics today.

Teenager - Social Life is quite demanding. Wish I could have that much fun every day of my life. We have instituted a one night out per weekend limit, but there always seems to be something that comes up that makes it a weekend spent in the car for me (and little ladybug). And... have I mentioned hormones???

Tweenager - Constant, constant, constant need for entertainment or the boredom ensues and makes the mom wish she could check herself into a peaceful retreat for a few years. Why on earth did we ever buy him all those toys and videogames if he won't play with them... ALONE!

Toddler aka Terrible Twos - somebody stole my sweet, smiley, never fussy little baby Bug and left behind a whining, clingy, temper tantruming toddler. I know I have already been through this twice before, but CALGON, take me away!!

All suggestions appreciated!!

**UPDATE: Sorry for my rant earlier, just feeling a bit "invisible" I guess. Then, I ran across this timely post at Mommy Monsters today and feel energized to continue doing the best I can for my family. Someday, my children may look back and realize their old mom wasn't so bad after all and all this work will DEFINITELY be worth it.