Squash Recipe Anyone?

Wanted: an easy, kid-friendly, squash recipe. Bonus if it involves cheese.

Seriously, who knew 3 little seeds could produce so much squash?

Now, if the rest of these tomatoes would hurry up and turn red, I know exactly what to do with them!

4th of July!

Hopefully everyone enjoyed celebrating America's birthday this year. I know our family had a renewed spark of patriotism this 4th of July. Traveling abroad reminded us that America is the GREATEST country in the world and we are all very proud to be Americans!

Here is one of America's newest citizens:

We were supposed to go on our annual camping trip over the weekend holiday with four other families, but the trip had to be post-poned because one family needed to be with grandparents that had been hospitalized. The camping trip just wouldn't be the same without them so we didn't go. It's just as well considering all the rain that came. Plus, Garrett was performing at the Smithville's Fiddlers' Jamboree all day on the 3rd. The weather was perfect that day. He did great in all his events. His dance team was in the finals, but they didn't win. Bummer. It ended up being a looong day! The festival was fun, but I didn't like being away from Nolan on his birthday. The night before, I told Nolan that when he woke up in the morning, he would be seven, but that I wouldn't be home on his birthday. He said, "I know mom, you'll be out shopping for my present!"

Lexi really enjoyed herself at the festival. She loves being outside, loves music, loves riding in her stroller, and loves lots of one on one time with me. She was in her element and was a real trooper from the time I pulled her out of bed at 6:00 am until when we arrived at back home at 1:00 a.m. My brother, sister in law, and beautiful nieces came to see us in Smithville. Nana was with us too. It was kinda nice all hanging out under a big tree on a blanket, listening to live music, with funnel cakes and fresh squeezed lemonade. They got to hear Garrett's gospel song and see his dance team. Aunt Cori also took photos with her really nice camera so I am looking forward to seeing those!

On Saturday, we threw a last minute birthday party for Nolan. It was a swim party and fortunately we finished swimming and eating just before a big storm rolled in. We did cake, cupcakes, and presents inside. Nolan picked out his own candles this year. He wanted a number 7, but also wanted to blow out seven individual candles. He chose a pack of red and blue little candles and didn't notice that they were trick candles. I didn't say anything either. It was so funny watching him trying to blow out his candles over and over again. Let's just say that it's a good thing he had a personal cake because I don't think anyone would want a piece of it after all the spit the way he was huffing and puffing out those candles. I think Nolan's favorite part of his party was the water balloon battle, but his new bike was a close 2nd!

Sunday our church had a huge BBQ Ribs cookout and fireworks show. It was dreary most of the day, but thankfully the rain held off during the fireworks. We found a fireworks stand still open after church and the boys had a field day in the driveway with their crazy assortment of firecrackers, spinners, smoke bombs, fountains, trucks, fighter jets, tanks, poppers, sparklers, etc. all purchased at rock bottom clearance prices. Lexi wanted to be right in the middle of the action, but I thought she would be safer watching from the kitchen window. The loud pops didn't scare her a bit.

On Monday night, we had a mini family reunion at our house. My three sisters and most of their kids came over for a cook out. The weather was perfect and I had tons of fun swimming with my nieces. They are all growing up so fast. My nephew (the ONLY other male grandchild besides my boys) and one of my nieces just graduated from high school and leave for college in September. Two nieces are currently in college. Another one graduates high school next year. Two more nieces will be high school in the fall. How could that be possible? The coolest part of the night was after dark when we got to see a bunch of shooting stars. There must have been a meteor shower or something. Our necks hurt from staring up at the sky so long, LOL!

Here is a collection of photos from our long weekend:

At Smithville Jamboree

Pool Party

Lots and lots of fireworks!

Water balloons and watermelon

Lexi and Liam during the fireworks show

Family cook out

Lexi surrounded by brothers and cousins. She is sitting in cousin Mason's lap. I need to give a shout out to Mason. She is one of my, oh, I don't know, say around five or six avid blog followers. Hey Mason!!! Tell everyone hello! Hope to you see you and your family again real soon!!!

7 Months

For our 7 month anniversary, Nana and I took all the kids to the Nashville Zoo. Here we are at the top of the bird Avery.

Okay, truth be known, that was a total coincidence.

Actually, July 2nd came and went without anyone even remembering what a special day it was. Instead of kicking myself over my scatter brain, absent-mindedness for forgetting to post about how time flies and all the happiness Lexi brings us, etc., etc., the more I think about it, maybe it was actually a good thing.

It means that adoption is no longer forefront in my mind. It's as if Lexi has always been an Abraham. She is just part of our gang. She is special in her own unique way just as all my boys are special. She's special because she is a girl with four big brothers who adore her. The fact that she was born in Russia, and that long and difficult road to bring her home, is no big deal anymore.

That's not to say we won't still celebrate milestones and anniversaries. Of course we will. And we will always be proud of and celebrate her heritage. But I think it's neat how we have been slowing progressing from being an adoptive family into just an ordinary, crazy busy, fun-loving family who just so happened to travel to Russia for their daughter.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it! At least I took lots of photos of Lexi that day...

These pics are not the best quality, but I love them anyway. Lexi is losing her "babyish" look and has become quite the active toddler. She really enjoyed the mat play area at the Zoo's Jungle Gym.

She also really enjoyed all the fish, spiders, snakes, turtles and frogs in the Aquarium.

My little firecracker turns 7

Trust me, there is never a dull moment with Nolan around.

He is our surfer dude, fearless dare devil, non-competitive, laid back, independent, brilliant child with a heart of gold.

Nolan always knows how to make us laugh.

He has taken many a year off my life (and that of several babysitters) with his crazy antics.

Oh, the stories I have on him....

Happy Birthday, Nolan! We love you, dude!

Shoes

So she is no Imelda Marco, but the girl has more shoes than all her brothers put together.


We have a system for shoes in our house. The "shoe bench" Miss Lexi is sitting on next to her display of fancy footwear has four drawers - one for each brother. As soon as the boys enter the house, their shoes MUST go in their shoe drawer. Shoes caught outside of their respective drawer may result in a loss of privileges for said shoe's owner. This has eliminated the inevitable "I can't find my shoes!" that we heard daily prior to implementing this system three or four years ago. Anyone ever been late because your kid lost a shoe? You need a shoe bench!

We are trying to find a matching bench for Lexi. All the shoes in these photos are not always on top of the bench. Mainly, because most of them do not fit her anymore. Not even the ones that still have tags on them. Sigh.

With all these shoes, guess how many pairs still fit?


Wait for it....

Yep, that's right. Poor Lexi only has one pair of shoes that still fit her piggys.

[Thank you Aunt Cori for passing these darling Crocks down to Lexi. She LOVES them!]

[Nana, this is NOT a hint to go out and replenish her shoe supply.]

Seriously, though, Lexi won't go shoeless. We are blessed to have so many generous friends and family that have donated girls' clothes and shoes to us. She still has a few pairs of sandals that she hasn't grown into yet. I'm sure it won't be long at the rate she is growing.

Since I love "before and after" photos. Here is another example of how much our baby girl has grown in the last six months. She wore the little black patent leather Mary Janes to Preston and Garrett's Blair Christmas concert. She had been home for two days. Look how tiny they are compared to her current Mary Jane Crocks.

Oh, gotta run! Someone just told me she wants to go swim. Well, not in so many words, but do you get the picture?

She stripped down to her diaper and tried to put on her swimsuit.

Good thing she doesn't need shoes to swim!

Father's Day - What a difference a year makes!

Father's Day 2008

These three photos were taken of our daughter on Father's Day last year and emailed to us the next day. We already knew we wanted to go meet her and had our Visas in hand and were booking our plane tickets for Trip One.

But we had not seen any photos of her. (There is more to the story that I haven't talked about on this blog yet.) I vividly remember checking my email fifty times that morning anxiously awaiting more information from our agency.

Then, there they were -- like a little Father's day gift from Russia.

Father's Day 2009

The following photos were taken today. Wowzer, what a difference!

2008 -2009

Yes, it really is the same child.

Our little girl LOVES her daddy too!

Happy Father's Day, Martin, from the whole gang!

Favorite Foto Friday

So I'm bit late for FFF, but here are some of my favorite vacation photos:

The Abraham Fabulous Five

These are some of the amazing sunsets we were treated to each night. The photo with Martin and me is foggy because my camera got wet that day filming Lexi going down water slides by herself. Oops!

Future Swim-suit model? (I hope not!)

On top of the 150 foot water slide

Garrett holding a red snapper (or so I was told). As usual, he immediately buddied up with a group of boys and they had a blast playing games and fishing all week. There was also a couple of cute little (giggly) girls who would hang out under our balcony and ask me when Garrett was coming out again.

Mmmmmm... Lexi loves Ice Cream!

One of the nice little coves.

SCUBA diving, glass bottom boats, and kayaking - all bit hits

Another favorite past time of Lexi's. Clearly, we need to upgrade our current hammock.

Liam being silly with a craft during dinner on the beach.

Two very cheesy smiles!

The Franklyn D. Resort in Runaway Bay

After spending ten days in paradise, I'll admit it is kind of nice to be back home and enjoying our slower summer routines. As wonderful as our vacation in the Caribbean was - and it was WONDERFUL - we needed nearly a week to rest up from all the fun. We love to travel and rarely go to the same place twice (except Disney), but the kids begged to go back to the FDR resort in Jamaica. We had such an amazing time there 2 years ago, I was worried that we might be disappointed this time. You know how you can build something up in your mind and then reality doesn't compare? Not so with FDR! It was even better in 2009!

We asked for the same room again because it has two awesome balconies, one with an amazing view of the beach and ocean, the other overlooked the pools. The 2 bedroom townhouse "room" was spacious and comfortable and had beds for all five of our kids. The beach on the resort was nice and swept daily by the lifeguards. The “cove” makes it easy for small children to play and they supply all the sand toys you kids could ever want - no need to pack any toys. You can also just walk through the gate to the beach next door for some amazing right-off-the-beach snorkeling. They have three pools with varying size slides. There is something for all ages.

And that goes for the food too. There is a grill open from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm and a kid's buffet every night at 5:30 pm. The main restaurant is on the pier and it was so relaxing to eat fresh grilled fish (as part of our five course meal) with the sound of the ocean waves hitting against the rocks and beautiful music playing. Did I mention this place was all-inclusive? That's the only way to go! After eating three huge meals a day for the past 10 days, all outside under huge cottonwood trees or on the pier, with fresh smoothies at our beck and call, and ice-cream whenever the whim hit us, it almost felt strange to sit down at our boring 'ol dining room table again. When the boys starting asking for different meals and asking me to get "this" and get "that" for them, I had to remind them, we ain't in Jamaica no more fellows! Ya Mon!

I really think the entertainment and staff are the best features of FDR. They are truly phenomenal and treated my children like family. By the first day, most of the staff already knew all our kids names. They played with them constantly - whether it was Jenga by the pool, tennis, hockey, soccer, volleyball, kayak rides, slide competitions, fishing, you name it - they always had time for them, and made my children want to move to Jamaica. They entertained Martin and I as well, with competitive games of volleyball and dominos and fun (albeit corny) games like Bingo and Ring Toss. It's these people (Curtis, Kervin, Kevin, Daniel, Sabrina, Tameka), along with the rest of the staff that make the resort so special. The nightly entertainment was great with Limbo lessons, talent shows, fire-eaters and Jamaican dancers. There was also dinner on the beach one night and a Mini-Miss/Little-Miss FDR Fashion Show.

From beginning to end, the service was perfection and the staff's personalities were warm, engaging, and fun. We love how they learned our names and our drinks the very first day and always served up a smile even when Garrett was ordering his 50th grill cheese sandwich and Nolan was ordering his 38th (virgin) Strawberry Daiquiri. You would have thought Lexi was royalty they way she was catered to by everyone. She was appropriately shy, stuck close by my side most of the time, and ran to me with the biggest smile as soon as she saw me coming to get her from the play area, but that didn't stop her from being completely spoiled by all the staff.

We had two vacation nannys, one for the boys and one just for Lexi. They were both very nice and so good with the kids. They helped keep everyone covered up in sunscreen and not one of us got the slightest sunburn this year. Yeah! The nannys helped with arts and crafts, pushed Lexi in the swing for as long as she wanted, made sure they were all feed and had fresh towels every time they got out of the water. They also cleaned our rooms and stocked the refrigerator with drinks and goodies everyday. Lexi's nanny stayed in the room with her while she napped every afternoon so I could spend time with Martin, the boys, get a pedicure, or just relax by the pool reading a mindless magazine (without feeling the slightest bit guilty). Martin and I even got have dinner with each other at the adult only restaurants three times. WhooHooo!!!

The scuba diving was great too. Preston got his Padi certification and he and Martin went on several 40 - 50 foot dives. He found a beautiful conk shell and the staff cleaned it up for him to bring home. We also climbed Dunns River Falls again and went to Dolphin Cove for the 1st time.

I read a recent review by another mom that called FDR "...the best place on Earth". That very well may be true, but I think the best thing she said was: "No, it’s not a five-star resort, but when you have three children who have just had the best vacation of their life and you feel the same, why would you want a stuffy, impersonal, five-star resort? If you are one of those people who won’t be happy unless you’re surrounded by opulence, this is not the place for you and, to be honest, I’d rather you didn’t go because you’d ruin my vacation. If you want your kids to have the time of their life, meet amazing people, and enjoy every second of your vacation, you definitely want to go to Franklyn D."

I'll post more photos soon. I only took 435 photos (and videos) so I'm sure it won't be hard to narrow them to say... the best ten or so.

I will also have a word of advice for fellow APs thinking about traveling to Jamaica using your child's Russian passport. For now, I'll just say life is always an adventure with us!