My Heritage?!?

Recently I was introduced to a website that I found quite entertaining.  If you upload a photo it will recognize the face(s) in the photo then tell you your celebrity match.   Needless to say I've been busy... 

Nasuuna= Beyonce

Geremu= Carl Lewis

 Cullen= Carrie Underwood

 I have lots of close-up, head on pictures of my kids to choose from and it increases the accuracy (in my opinion).  Nick was a little more of a challenge, I struggled to find a picture on my computer that Nick wasn't wearing a hat in- every celebrity match for Nick also had a hat on... Weird???  I should also add because the pictures of Nick and myself aren't close-ups the format is a little different.

Nick= Mike Shinoda

 Last but not least,

Me= Ronaldo

Awesome right?

At this point I'm sure you are all dying to check out your celebrity match, here's the link. 

A Trip to see the Dr.

 This Memorial Day weekend I went down to Notre Dame to see the new Dr. in our family.

You might recognize him from his sexy legs...

I brought Cullen and Kennedy along for the fun.  It was great to have a little alone time with Cullen.  He was digging all the attention from the adults.  

And since Kennedy is fun she got to come along too.  She was a pretty good sport when it came to hanging out with a guy that may or may not have forgotten deodorant on a 98 degree day...

We took a little time to cool off by heading up to Lake Michigan.  The state park we stopped at had a CrAzY long car line just to get into it...  So we skipped that idea and instead found a path less taken...

 Pretty sure it's less taken because it was a bit of a hike in (up and down the dunes) and the sand might have been roughly 140 degrees.  By the time we got there our feet were on fire.  Fortunately the lake cooled them off pretty quickly.  Cullen enjoyed the adventure.

Chad is my cousin I spent a ton of time with growing-up.  I always seem to have a good time with him regardless of what we do, and this weekend was no exception.  Based off of Cullen's laughing at night and refusal to sleep when Chad was around I'm pretty sure Cullen thinks he's pretty fun too.

 I'm posted this just because I'm not sure what Kennedy is doing...

 In other news, we have two baby ducks.  

They are getting very big and will soon be taken to their new home. 

Mother's Day Weekend

Nasuuna and I headed to my parents house Friday night to try and catch a bit of my Dad's baseball game. Nick and the boys stayed back because they had a run to do Saturday morning...

 Nick and the boys came to my parents house after the run, they missed his Saturday baseball game but they did make it for Pop's Birthday Celebration!  

 Nasuuna got a chance to spend a little time with her girl Kennedy.

Today we stopped by to wish Aunt Kathy a Happy Mother's Day.  

You may remember, she is the one that made Nasuuna her quilt and pillow...

Well, she also made Cullen one...

 And Geremu...

 They are BEAU-TI-FUL!  

The kids LOVE them.  Tonight when I put them on their beds they kept thanking me.  I'm pretty sure I am the wrong one to thank.  They are now tucked in, sleeping soundly, under their new blankets- in their own beds!  Love my Aunt Kathy!

Before heading back home we stopped to show Adisa what God's Country looks like from up above...

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's and women waiting to be Mom's out there today.

Meet the Chickens...

One of the classrooms I've had the privilege of working in this year had baby chicks.  When Nasuuna had surgery a few weeks ago we got to chicken-sit.  Which resulted in entertainment for a girl who couldn't do much and two of my kids falling in love with the chickens.

 Cullen liked watching the chickens but wasn't that interested in touching them.  When I reminded him that he wanted to be a zoo keeper when he gets older he corrected me, "Mom, I want to be a zoo keeper with a net."  That ought to be interesting...  Last week we brought most of the chickens to their new owner.  The kids loved looking around the hobby farm.  I'm looking forward to the day when Cullen is walking around with a goat in his net.

*On a side note, when Nasuuna celebrated her birthday at school she got a birthday hat.  Now in Nasuuna's eye a birthday isn't really a birthday without a hat. So she insisted that we get hats for Cullen's birthday.  Everyone wore their hat on Cullen's birthday- Nasuuna has been sporting the birthday hats ever since.  Apparently it's an everyday accessory.  If I would let her, she would wear birthday hats to school- every day.  Instead she mostly just sports them around the house & neighborhood.

In the Words of Kelly Clarkson...

Miss Independent...

Miss Self-sufficient...

Miss Outta-my-way...

 Miss Almost-grown

 So, by keeping her heart protected

She'd never ever feel rejected

Little Miss Apprehensive

I said ooh, she fell in love...

We are creeping up on the 6 month mark as a family of 5.  The girl that I met back in October in Uganda is certainly not the same girl that we know now.  We have come a long way as a family in the last few months, but we still have a long way to go.  

I LOVE these kids of mine!

 Next post I hope to tell you a bit about the chickens my kids and I have fallen in love with...

My Earth Day Baby's 7th Birthday

Today was Cullen's 7th Birthday. I can't believe I have a 7 year old...

Cullen is a thoughtful, compassionate, loving and happy kid. In many ways this kid is the heart and soul of this family. He is the mediator and the voice of reason. He is creative and says things that I'm often left scratching my head wondering where he learned that from.

For his birthday we had some friends (Billy & Katie's Family and Maddy) over on Saturday to help us celebrate to the theme of Ugly Dolls & Rainbow Magic. Maddy brought her face paint to liven the party up...

I attempted to recreate something I saw on pinterest but lost interest/failed in doing so after 4 cupcakes...

Today Cullen woke-up to some rainbow pancakes... And lots of love!

Cullen has never been one to ask for the typical present. Two years ago all he wanted was a cuddly sweater for Christmas. This past year he asked for another brother or sister, a month after Nasuuna had come home. So I wasn't too surprised when Cullen told me that he wanted to go on a date with me (his mother) to see The Lorax for his birthday. Be still my heart...

He has wanted to see The Lorax since it went to theaters, the book is one of his favorites. When the movie was over he looked at me and said, "Mom, this is the best Birthday EVER! I'll never forget my 7th Birthday." Man I love this kid!

It does only seem appropriate that a child born on earth day would love all things plants and nature. If there is a seed or plant to plant I can always count on him to do it. I'm certain I have numerous peach and avocado pits, apple seeds and other such things planted all over my yard thanks to Cullen.

Happy Birthday Cullen!

Easter, A Week After the Celebration

Before heading on Spring Break the kids colored Easter eggs. Since Cullen and Nasuuna love all things crafts and Geremu likes mixing colors that don't match Easter egg coloring was a success! We had so much fun that just this week I was easily talked into buying a few more egg coloring kits so we can enjoy egg coloring year round! I didn't get many (or any) good pictures so what you see below is as good as it gets.

Easter morning we celebrated at my grandparents house, Bob and Nita's. The kids had a great time looking for eggs and their baskets...

Cullen was a world class egg hunter this year.

Gere was a good egg hunter too. Nasuuna probably should have been prepped a bit more.

It wasn't that she was bad, it was that she didn't really understand the sense of urgency. She also didn't really know/understand what was in the eggs until the hunt was over.

When Cullen realized just how much butt kicking he was doing on the egg hunt he would pick up eggs and say, "Here Nasuuna, I found an egg for you." Cullen just might be one of the sweetest kids EVER!

Last week was an exciting week, I was able to spend a little time in a labor and delivery room. This labor and delivery room was in the form of a 5th grade classroom with chickens and turkeys hatching. The whole experiences was A-MAZING. My kids even got to go in and check out the chicks. All of my kids LOVED it. This last weekend Nick took Cullen up north for the weekend. The two littles were stuck with the boobie prize- ME. So I took them back over the weekend to visit the chicks again. Thanks to the teacher, Allison, I even have some cute pictures.