Happy 5th Birthday Naomi-The Party



House Decorated and ready to go!

Banner I made

Has to have glitter!

Pom poms I made

Craft time for the girls

Drink Station

Colorful straws

Lunch: Goldfish, Veggies with Ranch Dip, Jalepeno Popper Dip with chips, Fruit Kabobs with Dip and Hot Dogs

Dessert: Key Lime Cupcakes and Frozen Bananas

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

Naomi and Nene

Naomi and Opal

Matching pajamas

Pajamas all around!

Returning Warrior Workshop

Two weekends ago Darrick and I were invited to attend the Returning Warriors Workshop.  It is held all over the USA but thankfully for us this one was held in Seattle.  It is fully paid for by the military and totally worth every penny.  We arranged childcare for the kids-Naomi went to Auntie Karen's and the boys and Oliver went to the Timmermans.  We arrived in Seattle Friday afternoon at our 4 star hotel and attended a buffet dinner.  We enjoyed our night relaxing in our room and watching TV. 

We had an early morning the next morning and had to sit at a table that we would sit at for the rest of the weekend.  Each table had one facilitator and then we had 2 other couples and one single sailor.  There was about 100 people total who have all returned recently from being deployed. 

There were presentations and workshops on the affect of stressful deployment situations, how to adjust back to life at home, but I think the best one was giving everyone a chance to share their story of what it was like for them.  This we did with the other members at our table.  They each could relate to one another and support each other.  The service members were called "warriors" and then they could bring a "Guest".  No one wore uniforms  or used their titles so that every one is equal.  Another meaningful event was the Banquet of Honor.  This was held Saturday night and we got to dress up.  As we walked in to the room we walked through a huge group of people cheering for the service members and thanking them for serving.  It was very touching.  We had a delicious dinner and were each presented with certificates of appreciation.

At the end of the dinner each service member was presented with a hand-made quilt made by a group called Quilts of Valor.  There was a huge table with so many beautiful quilts. Each person was able to pick the quilt they liked best.  Darrick picked a beautiful quilt that was very patriotic.  We all love it and it is very warm and cozy.

We are so thankful that we could attend and talk to others who are going through the same difficult transition as us. 

Happy 5th Birthday Naomi!

Home Study Improvements

Fireplace screen: check

At our Home Study the Social Worker gave us a list of things that we needed to do before we can be approved again.  Here is what we did! 

Handrail on the stairs going upstairs

Check! Darrick did awesome making it!

Second bed in Naomi's room

Check!  $20 on Craigslist

We are now all ready!

A special poem for our bathroom

When I was a little girl, my Grandma Vanderbilt taught me a poem about a robin and a sparrow.  Then one year she found a postcard of it and framed it and gave it to me.  It is a cute little poem and I thought it would be great in our bathroom.  But it only the size of a small postcard.  So I enlarged it on a copy machine, put blue paper on the back and put it in a frame.  Today Darrick hung it on the bathroom wall for me and it looks great.  Now we can all enjoy it for many years to come! 

Choices

Living Room

BEFORE

Close up of paint design on walls

AFTER

Yes, Darrick finally got his new TV!

Dining Room

BEFORE

AFTER

Pictures on Wall

Flower Art on opposite wall

Our First Weekend Project

 This weekend we started on our first project in our home.  We decided to start with something small that would still have a nice impact.  We decided to paint and fix up our one bathroom.  I had a bit of a color scheme in mind, one that matches our bathroom towels, so we got a few paint samples.  We left them on the walls for a few days and then decided we liked the top one best, which was called Cay.

 It was really easy to start because everything in the bathroom is white.  We just needed to tape off some things and get started.  Our plan was to paint the top half of the wall and ceiling Cay.

 It only took a few hours one afternoon.  I did most of the painting which was nice because it gave me time alone to think.  My Grandpa had just passed away and I found out one of my best friends has breast cancer, it was a rough day for me.

Our house was built in the 1920's so I wanted to keep a little with that time.  I use a mason jar to hold our tooth brushes.  I found these cute towel holders at Kohl's.  I had been searching for months for towel hangers with glass knobs and couldn't find them anywhere.  Then one day I walked into Kohl's and found these.

There are a few more finishing touches I am working on and then I will post final pictures!

First Game

Today Jacob had his first game of his soccer season.  His team is the Lightening Dragons.  Two of his friends from Port Gardner, our school, are on his team and Darrick is the assistant coach.

He played a great game and had a sweet slide tackle.

We lost but he had a great time and can't wait for next Saturday!

So glad we were able to share this last memory

Adjusting

It has now been 2 weeks since Darrick has returned and the word that best describes us right now is: adjusting. 

The first few days the kids smothered Darrick.  There was a lot of fighting and jealously over who would sit by Darrick or have his attention.  That has settled down a bit this week.

Darrick is enjoying relaxing and exploring our new home. 

Since the kids are so interseted in Darrick, I have had a bit of time to myself.  I found time to relax and read a book.

We spent this past weekend at Family Camp at Mount Hermon.  It was a good time for us to just get away and spend time together as a family.

Not we are getting back to life.  School is getting ready to start and we are adjusting to our new normal.

Today our social worker came over to update our Home Study.  She said it will take 2 to 3 weeks for the update to go through and then we will be able to be matched with our new daughter.