Our Story

Several people have asked-Our original blog was www.journeytoannagrace.net -You can read the story of our journey there-I am still blown away by how blessed our family is-we are so grateful for the journey that led us to our precious Anna Grace. I am grateful for the opportunity to be the mother to 4 such wonderful children. They are all unique and precious and I am one lucky mommy!

Woo Hoo!

My girl just sent me a text message saying SHE MADE THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM!!! Woo Hoo! Can you tell I am a proud mommy! She starts practicing tomorrow and games start on Sept. 8th. I can't wait to watch her play! GO ASHTON!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we had special guests. Miss Ella brought her mommy and daddy to see us. They spent the weekend at our house. We had so much fun. Ella was all smiles and giggles and she and Anna Grace had fun together. Nikki and I got to scrapbook for a little while and we had so much fun catching up . We went downtown to Falls Park and Nikki got lots of good pictures of everyone. We are so blessed to have met such wonderful families during our trip to China. We treasure the friendships that we made. It is so neat to see the girls together and watching them grow.

Dollywood

What a weekend we had. We got to meet up with Bobbi, Jake, Lillie and Maddie (we missed Dillon but he had to work) We spent the weekend in Tennessee and had so much fun. The kids all had so much fun together. I felt really special because Miss Lillie let me hold her and shared lots of hugs and kisses. She sure makes us want to go to China again. She and Maddie are just precious together. Such sweet sisters. Hayne could not get enough of them as you can see in the pictures. The 1st collage is us at Dollywood. The boys took turns riding with the girls and Adam even rode in a duck alone because they wanted him to ride.
The next collage is in our room having snacks. Anna Grace and Maddie were enjoying fruit snacks while Lillie grinned like crazy next to Hal. Hayne loved the game table and Ashton and Adam were deep in thought on the DS games.
The next collage is when we were leaving to come home. I love the one of the boys getting big hugs from the girls.
Finally, we took a detour and headed back to Dollywood. The kids had so much fun and Ashton won a big Scooby Doo.
It was a great weekend. We are blessed to have such good friends.

Birthday Boy

I can't believe that 6 years ago today, our baby boy was born. John Hayne Rice was a surprise that we never expected and a blessing that we are sure we never deserved. He is my boy. The apple of our eye and the joy and laughter of our home. He is so funny and makes us laugh out loud daily. He loves life. I can't believe he is in school now. I miss him so much during the day. This morning we had a birthday celebration. He requested m&m waffles. He was so excited to see the decorations and open his presents. He was thrilled with his Power Ranger socks. I love his genuine happiness with everything. After school, we went to Build A Bear and he made "Rocky" the TRex. He had so much fun picking out an outfit. Then we met Nana, Papa, Shag, Johnny, BJ, Jesse, Mary and Walter at Outback. Hayne was thrilled when Nana and Mema gave him a Nintendo DS Lite and BJ gave him a Power Rangers game. He has not put it down.
I am so grateful for the gift of my precious son and he reminds me everyday that sometimes the best things in life are not planned(our perfect plan was 2 kids-my how times have changed)

Ashton

Ashton headed off to her 7th grade year at Middle School today. She was up at 6am getting ready. She looked so pretty with her new haircut. I can't believe that she went to school without us today. It is the 1st time we have not taken her to her 1st day. Ashton loves volleyball and is trying out for the team at school. She has tryouts tomorrow so say a prayer for her. She loves blogging and her blog puts mine to shame. She is so talented. She has a list of people waiting for her to give them a free blog makeover. She writes like an adult and I sometimes forget that she is still a child. Anna Grace was so sad without her today. She kept saying she was sad and needed sissy. Ashton is like a second mom to Anna Grace and I could not do it without her. She bathes her, dresses her for bed and feeds her. I am so proud to call her my daughter. Check out her blog so you can see what I mean.

Hayne

My how time has flown. It was only yesterday that Ashton was starting K5. Part way through her 1st year, we found out about our precious surprise, Hayne. It was like starting all over. I had no idea how much we would enjoy having a new baby in the house. From the beginning, Hayne has been my buddy. We have sent the other 2 off each year with tears in our eyes, but knowing how much fun we would have together. Trips to the shop and out to lunch were plenty. The others were so jealous when they would get in the car and hear about the neat things we did that day. I have enjoyed every day that I was able to spend with my baby boy. I can't believe I had to take him to K5 today. He was so brave. He had a wonderful day and is looking forward to picking out a prize for being so brave. He will be 6 years old tomorrow. He is joining the swimming team and the YMCA and cannot wait. He loves Power Rangers and anything Narnia. He loves his family and especially the little sister who calls him Haynie Grace. He is growing up so quickly. I am so proud of how well he did today.

Adam

Adam is starting 4th grade this year. He will be changing classes for the 1st time. He is very happy with his teacher, Mr. Fowler(who happens to be a big Tiger fan). I can't believe he is almost 10 years old. It seems like only yesterday, we were taking him to his 1st day of K3. I believe I only worked up the nerve to take him to about 8 of his classes the whole year. Every day we had a new reason why he needed to stay at home with mommy. He will be playing baseball this fall. He loves to play. Everyday he wants dad to throw ball with him in the yard. He has also fallen in love with swimming. He has become quite the swimmer. He can swim laps around me. Although I am so proud of him and what a wonderful young man he is becoming, I wish I could freeze time and keep him this age forever.

1st Day of School

Where does the time go? I can't believe it is the 1st day of school. 3 of my babies have headed out to school. I think this was the hardest year yet. Anyone who knows me knows how much I don't want my kids to grow up. I love this stage. Being their mommy is the greatest thing ever. Last night was so hard. The boys had to go to bed in their room by 9 and they were so sad. They kept telling me how much they did not want to go to school. I had to be positive and not cry with them. They all did great this morning and we got to school WAY to early. We left Ashton at home to car pool with our neighbors and it was a sad moment realizing it was the 1st time she had ever went to her 1st day without us-bad mommy moment. We were finally able to drop Adam off at his class and then we headed to the kindergarten hall. Hayne was so brave. He bit his lip to keep from crying. Bless his heart, he was so strong. There was a child sitting next to him who just sobbed out loud. It made it much harder for Hayne to be strong. His teachers are wonderful(Ashton and Adam both had them for K5). We are blessed to have such loving teachers to take care of him. I held it together until we were leaving and then all of the PTA moms got a good laugh that I was at the Boo Hoo breakfast instead of the Give a Cheer one. I am so sad that they are all gone today. We have had so much fun this summer and I am going to miss them so much. I love being a mommy and I can't wait to hear how their day has gone. I will upload pictures later.

Favorite Foto Friday

WOW we have been SO busy! Next week school starts back and Hayne is starting Kindergarten! :( Here is a picture of my sweet babysitter Kayla and the kids'! Today was her last day with us before school starts back! She will be missed! I will post about our fun week sometime soon! Have a great weekend!

~Angel~

More Fun

Anna Grace finally calmed down when Nana walked her out of the eye office. Nana and Mema went with us to Chuck E Cheese. Nana got lots of tokens and bought Anna her own special Chuck E cup. We had so much fun. The kids won 1260 tickets-a big win for us and they had a ball picking out prizes. Thanks Nana!

Our Adventure in Glasses

Princess has glasses

Today, Anna Grace received her glasses. They called this morning and told us they were ready. Nana and Mema met me and the kids at the office. Anna Grace was so sad and cried her little heart out. It broke my heart. I think she was mostly afraid of the doctor. When we finally left the office she was fine. It was so amazing to watch her look at things as if it were the 1st time she ever saw them. I am sure it was amazing to see things clearly. She loves the TV-I think she can finally see what is happening on the screen. Thank God we were able to get her an appointment with such a great doctor. I am thanking God for the little signs that led us to have her checked. I can't imagine if we had continued to let her go without glasses. She is proud of herself and keeps telling us to take pictures. It is priceless. She has the best attitude. She has gently pulled the glasses off 3 times today. I think we are going to invest in a strap so that we don't lose them. Thank you for your prayers-we are grateful to have so many people who love our precious daughter.