There's just something about a boy and his hat

My baby is cute. And I don't think I'm saying that just because I'm his mama. This boy stops crowds wherever we go, he is super de duper cute!

Then he decided that he is, in the deepest part of his soul, a cowboy. Most days he asks for his boots, it doesn't matter that it's near 100 degrees and he's wearing shorts, boots are what he wants to be wearing. But his hat, well no real cowboy would be caught without his hat, and Jack's no different. His hat, he needs. Every morning, before we're dressed, before we've eaten, before I know what my middle name is, Jack is asking for his hat.

On it goes where it will stay all day long. He wears it to eat, but has to take it off for sleeping and car seat sitting, much to his dismay. His hat has a little elastic band inside of it to help it stay on and girlfriend let me tell you, that band is one dirty, sweaty, stinky thing. Jack sweats like nobody's business, and his hat only makes his head sweatier, so all day everyday my baby is walking around with a cowboy hat, that if removed reveals and soaking wet head of hair.

Now whenever we're out Jack is most likely decked out in boots and a cowboy hat. Boy, I thought he got attention before! There is just something too cute for words about seeing a two year old boy, walking around Target, like he was dragged off the ranch and forced to shop with the girls.

You know what they say, you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy. :)

The Farm

We spent father's day weekend in Decatur, TX at my grandmother's home, a place we call the farm. We moved around while I was growing up and so there is no childhood home for me to go back and visit. But my grandmother's home goes back as far as my memories go and when I'm there I find a peace that I'm not able to duplicate anywhere else.

I was itching for a vacation, so this trip felt like more than just a trip to visit family, it felt like a mini-vacation. I looked forward to it all week, which made the week that much more fun, and the trip did not disappoint.

Kyle took off on Friday, so we got up and left, on the road by 8 am, that's a record around here. We decided to take the roads through the small towns instead of on the interstate, this is my favorite way to get anywhere because just about every town we go through I start to imagine myself living there. As we drive I decide what type of job Kyle would have, what type of house we'd live in, how big our garden would be, and how we would fill our days with swimming and cooking and gardening (it's always spring or summer in my head in these cute little towns).

While driving through Glen Rose we passed a natural spring with rock slides and decided spur of the moment, that we should stop and go swimming. So we pulled over at a city park and spent a couple of hours splashing and playing (and falling on our butts !) Then we came upon a wonderful restaurant that was just fancy enough to taste really good, without having to be embarrassed that you just came from the river and have small children. We ate on the porch of this old house that has been turned into the restaurant and I had a thousand glasses of water with lemon. The menu had a just a few really good dishes to choose from, this always makes me very pleased, most menus these days completely overwhelm me and make me anxious trying to read all the choices and decide quickly, while keeping my kiddos under wraps.

We made it to Decatur that afternoon and began visiting with my grandma and her dear friend who cares for her Ms. Betty. Ms. Betty had planned out a full weekend for us with chores for Kyle, fishing and kiting for the kids, a downtown fair for all of us, and lots of wonderful cooking. No matter how hard I tried to help, Ms. Betty took care of everything for us, and I left feeling refreshed and rested.

On Sunday we went to my grandmother's church, a tiny little church in the middle of the country that was built a hundred years ago (or so, I'm not sure of the exact date). The people were sweet, the music was wonderful, and afterwards my children swang on the same swings that my father and I did when we were their age.

We left a little reluctantly on Sunday afternoon, spilling over with the love that had been given us that weekend, and already looking forward to next time.

Intervention

Hi...I know, I know, I've been absent all week. The thing is, every time I turned on my computer this week (and it was a lot, trust me) I had something very important I had to do and so I never made it over to the blog.

What was I doing, you ask. Um...I'm not sure I want to tell you. See I don't want people to think the topic of my blog has changed. And really, if I'm being really honest, I'm afraid if I tell you, the people who truly love me might stage an intervention.

Ok, Ok, out with it. All week I've been reading Midnight Sun. It's the fifth book in the Twilight series, that was never finished due to it being leaked on the internet. But the author, released a copy on her website for fans to read.

And this is what I've become, a weird, Stephanie Meyer stalker. I read every outtake on her website and of course the entire Midnight Sun copy, and I hate reading on the internet.

The good news is, it's done. She said she will no longer finish Midnight Sun due to it's being leaked. And I'm now convinced I've read all the material there is to read in regards to the characters in Twilight. I am both sad and relieved all at the same time.

This week, as I come down from my high of getting just a little more of those characters, I will return to normal. I will blog regularly, I will blog about my children and my life, and I will not blog about vampires or other teen romance stories.

I may however see if there are any local support groups for Twilight addicts, to avoid the need for an intervention.

What Kyle does for fun

We just got back from a long weekend at "The Farm", the closest thing I have to a childhood home, it was an amazing, relaxing, pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming, kind of weekend. I'll post a long post on that soon, with lots of pictures of course.

But for now, this:

This is what my husband thinks is funny. And Kylynn and Jack couldn't agree more. Me being the stick in the mud that I am thought it was a little mean, I mean I don't want her to get a complex. She's a girl dog afterall!

Kyle said he immeadiately thought of the hyenas in The Lion King, I can see that. Kylynn said first thing, that she sees a zebra, I promptly looked at a picture of a zebra we have in our playroom and sure enough, I can see that too.

Completely unrelated thought, it was hot, I mean make you run inside for cover hot this morning at 8 o'clock when I went out to water some plants. Whew! I need to get creative on fun things to do during this heat wave that is summer around here.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

My life has returned to normal once again. I went to the store today and bought things our family needed and did not forget what I was doing there. I talked to a friend on the phone and actually listened when she talked, not just pretended to listen while I contemplated what would happen next in the life of my vampires. I now am sleeping through the night soundly not taking hours to fall asleep only to wake up way to early and not be able to fall back asleep.

Yes, I have finished the Twilight series, and though I enjoyed every minute of it, I am relieved to be done reading it. I someday would like to take the time to think about exactly what it is about these books that have this addicting affect on everyone I've spoken to about them. So if you want to read them, go for it, but you've been warned, do it when you've got some serious down time.

I just started reading, Lift by Kelly Corrigan, this afternoon. And it is just what I hoped for, beautifully written, with paragraphs that are so insightful that I go back and read them three of four times to allow it sink in before I can move on. It is nice to be back to reading a book I want to read slowly, to have each word matter again.

Summer is beginning just the way I hoped, with reading and relaxing and reflection on what my life should look like in order to honor the One who's given it to me.

Read a different blog, just for today

You have got to click over to Flower Patch Farmgirl today. A beautiful post about adoption, she is an incredibly talented writer and this post meant so much to my heart.

Blessed

We had our home study this morning, it was quick and painless, as I thought it would be. I knew what to expect this time and I even knew who to expect as we had the same social worker coming out to do it. We had seen her less than a year ago for our final visit for Jack's adoption, so it was all very familiar.

Now the abyss of waiting begins. Once this home study makes it way over to Korea in a couple of weeks we will be placed in line, so to speak, for a child. This next phase will take over a year if all things stay the same, but with this type of thing you just never know it could be less or more time depending on a thousand factors.

The reality of our child coming home to us in the future is only on the fringe of my thinking. I don't allow myself to think of it too often and never for more than a fleeting moment. I allow myself the excitement of thinking someday we will be a family of five, but refuse to dwell on the wait that lies ahead of us. It's a coping strategy that I used with Jack's adoption and it served me well, so as strange as it seems I'll remain in a type of denial until an actual child is assigned to us.

Lately I've been trying to have a conversation with myself about the fact that there is no guarantee that this adoption will be anything like the last one. Unfortunately it's easy to think I know what to expect, that I already know every step on the path laid out ahead of me. I'm afraid I'm setting myself up for disappointment and confusion if I don't try to enter this adoption as a new experience, as familiar as it seems.

I've been thinking about names lately, not specific names, just a random thought of a name here a name there, of what type of name we will want to give him. With Jack I was careful to not think about names until we had an actual child to name, I hope this is not a sign of impatience.

Some of you have told me you're praying for us and again I feel the privilege of walking through this experience with a group of people we love who support us so well that I know I can walk the long road ahead. I often reflect on how so many of you have embraced us and our decisions on how we want to build our family and carried us through the difficult times, when you could have just kept your focus on your own lives. Blessed does not fully describe it, but it's the best I can do, we are blessed.