You're the ONE, 1-1!

(Why is it always this time of year when I find myself so far behind documenting our childrens' lives in cyberspace? )

Anyway, Landon celebrated her 11th birthday in March with a few friends. We had originally planned to travel to a local park and play games and have a cook out per her request. So, we allowed her to invite quite a few of her friends thinking it would be easier to have crowd control of a bunch of pre-teen girls outdoors with entertainment. Well....we did not even consider that it might poor down rain just moments before the party started. Ok. Jon and I decided we could do this...how hard could it be to have 20+ girls over for a birthday party indoors?

In retrospect, we will arrange the garage so that it can double as a dance floor, but other than that..we had a fabulous time and just plain wore out the Wii and Disney Sing-It. The hardest part was keeping the little brothers out of the mix *smile*

"You don't have to be a star, baby, to be in my show..."

Happy Birthday, Tallula!

Landon posing with her peeps at school.

Our little prince celebrates five years...

In February, Stephen (crown) Isaiah JaeHo Lucas turned five years old. Around this same time last year, he was not quite ready to have a huge celebration. He had only been a member of the Lucas family for a few weeks and we did not want to overwhelm him with too much activity. Well, this year he was completely and totally ready to have a "birfday" and made it clear that he wanted to have a party with his "bess sprens" (friends). And so, we did...and did..and again, we did. By the time the weekend was over, we were all partied out and we had one happy little guy.

Just this once...nothing like getting to eat whatever you want on your special day. Stephen chose none other than chocolate milk and powdered doughnuts. He was H-A-P-P-Y and kept watching to make sure I wouldn't take them away :-). We did not even make him choose a piece of fruit to go with his treat. I know, we live on the edge around here, huh?

Precious Hyun Hee (Stephen's care nurse while he was in Korea) is always so faithful to remember the children on special days. These are Korean coins she sent to him that were made in 2004, the year Stephen was born. Such an amazing keepsake for him..a treasure, for sure.

Showing off his coins.
This is the look of complete exhilaration. Grammy and Papaw showed up for his special day toting a full-size Lightnin' McQueen bicycle. Doughnuts and a new bike all in the same day....what more could a small boy ask for?

Too Too and Ethan smile for the camera at Monkey Joe's in Wilmington. They were exhausted from the car ride and a long day, and we were thrilled they came to celebrate with us. It had been a long time since we had seen our peeps. Love you 2-2 and Bros!

Wilson striking a pose..

Gram entertains the children, and yes, that is Lily, the DOG..inside the business. She was not happy in the kennel after the ride into town. Rotten. Enough said.


Birthday Boy..pure joy in that million dollar smile.

Landy Lu and Bros climbing..and climbing..


Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod. Presh.

Aussie Lou strikes her pose..

Stephen's best bud, Christian is showing off the remnants of the last cupcake.

I think he was saying, "No, I didn't get a cupcake yet". *wink*

Celebrating birthday lunch with friends at the "Rat House".

Chuck E CHEESE!

More cheese with sweet Helen.

THIRTeenager!

We are now officially the proud parents of a teenager. Jon and I have been bracing ourselves for quite some time expecting her to breakout into sarcasm and slam every door in the house any minute. So far, its quiet on the home front. We'll keep you posted. LOL.

Happy Birthday Austyn Nadine! What an amazing young lady you are turning out to be..

Sign of the times: everyone gathering around the computer to see the latest video on YouTube. Thankfully, it was just Bon Qui Qui and some Christian comedians they learned about from Mr. Wade (youth pastor). Nothing thrills my soul like the sound of my children laughing, and we get mighty tickled while watching Bon Qui Qui (will post later for those of you who have never viewed this little jewel).

Just another sign of the times: Austyn is sending a text message just before we serenade her with a round of "Happy Birthday". What is the deal with texting? Her phone sounds off at least a zillion times a day..what could be that important? I am certain there will be a new syndrome similar to Carpel Tunnel that is caused by excessive texting. Every young person in the continental US will show symptoms, I am convinced. I do love the new language that has evolved from this means of communication. OMG! Its gr8! I <3>? TTYL.

Taking a break from texting, dancing, singing and video taping the aforementioned activities (via cell phone, of course). There were definitely several future techies in attendance at her party.

We are so thankful that Austyn has such a good group of girlfriends. Each young lady was very polite and really sweet, and we did not detect a single Eddie Haskell in the bunch. Phew!

Jon Wilson turns 8!

Wilson celebrated his 8th birthday this past week. Where has the time gone? He is sure growing up before our eyes and is turning out to be quite a fine young man. I am fascinated more and more everyday by his wit, his intensity and his knowledge of wildlife.

A wise mother of six boys (huthem) once told me that the things I get away with involving my girls would not fly once Wilson was old enough to have a say. Boy oh boy was she right! He does not let anything slide. At five years old he said to me "Mom, you do not expect me to believe that a fairy flies into our home and takes my tooth and replaces it with money and then proceeds to fly back out of our house, do you?" Master of logic and probability: Wilson.

Happy Birthday, son. You are a treasure and a blessing to us.

Listening to Grammy wish him a Happy Birthday and sportin' his Boopsie's reading glasses. Dick Van Dyke allowed him to wear these on his birthday. Is he cute or what?

I guess this one is Star Wars meets GI Joe?

The fun continues with a little birthday Nerf battle. Is Stephen behind enemy lines with no weapon?

Pals

Nothing like a few good men to share your special day with you.

W-ild animal lover

I-ntense


L-ikes to be at home


S-trong-willed


O-pposite of non-picky eater :-)


N-urturing

Double Digits

A decade. That is how long it has been since I became a mother for the second time. Our little Landy Lu (Lu Lu, Landypants, Ta lu la..you get the picture) turned 10 years old last week. What a treasure she is to us. In order to honor her..we wrote her an acrostic that personifies each facet of her personality.

Happy Birthday Landon Kathleen!

Lovable

Athletic

Nurturing

Devoted

Optimistic

Nutty :-)

Per Landon's request: WebKinz Wheel of Wow Cake .

She was allowed to have a few girlfriends over for a sleepover (aren't we brave?). I am nobody's Martha Stewart, so our Webkinz hot air balloon crafts were a stretch for this clueless mom. The girls were great sports..at least until they started sailing them over the landing from upstairs.

:-0

Still very early in the evening...(I think they giggled all night!) Look who snuck in on the action....little Stevo! He and Wilson weren't sure how to act with the invasion of the females.

Luckily, there were Power Rangers close by in case there was a problem.

Stephen turns 4!

Stephen celebrated his fourth birthday during the last week of February (clearly we have been a bit busy). Jon and I took him out for a treat during lunch and he LOVED it. The waitresses brought him his very own sweet made with ice cream and cookies and fruit. Between bites he would eek out a huge grin and whisper "Mine, Mine".

Yes, it was his 4th birthday, but it was his 1st birthday at home with us. We figured it was a perfect time to introduce him to one of the famous rats...Chuck E Cheese (ugh!).

One year ago on his birthday I was sitting in the back of a van on my way to an adoption conference in Georgia. I sang a little song to a little boy half a world away that went something like this "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..." At that moment I had no idea if he would ever be a part of our family,but the Lord did..Praise His mighty name!

Happy Birthday Stephen Isaiah JaeHo Lucas, you are a gift.

May Days........

I feel like May just came and went. There was so much going on that I never had time to catch up. Here are just some of the highlights for those of you who keep up with our comings and goings..........

Happy 7th Birthday Wilson! I can't believe my baby is 7! We had a great time taking some of his friends to the Recreation Station (which is a glorified Chuck E Cheese), and they all returned to the house for a mega sleepover with Grammy, Too Too and Ethan, too! They showed up for the weekend to make his birthday complete!!

Van Gogh? Renoit? O'Keefe? No..it's Too Too and she's working up a masterpiece for Austyn's room. It is so nice having an artist in the family...considering I can't draw stick people correctly.

Thank you Melissa....the work is stunning!

Hasselhoff? No...this is my nephew, Ethan, who enjoyed some wicked body surfing while they were here!!

Here is how we spent the Memorial Day weekend.....

For starters, we had our final interview for our homestudy. Yuck! It just means we are one step closer to bringing home our son...it seems like it has been forever already! Here is Austyn with Carol our worker from Lutheran Family Services.

Happy 14th Anniversary! Did I mention that our last visit was also our anniversary? Boy did Jon love me for this one. At least he brought me beautiful flowers so the house smelled nice. He assured me he would have gotten them even if the social worker wasn't coming....LOL!!

Ahhhh...finally we get to relax. This is the inlet where we anchored our boat and spent the afternoon for a little day in the sun. It was so nice and we had our own little private spot right off of Hammock's Beach State Park. It was a great day of discovery. Austyn made her way back to the boat for a little shade and some peace.

...and that was the end of May.