Family Bike Race

ALL. SUMMER. LONG. Laila has been talking about and planning a Family Bike Race for us.  I am not joking.  Every day, she has mentioned it.  She had it all figured out.  We were going to all take our bikes to Cottonwood Creek Park and "race" around the track there.  She has reminded us regularly that we need to do it and we finally did!  

Everyone ready to go!  

 (I participated in the race, too.  Laila regularly reminds me, "Mommy, you don't ever ride your bike."  I want to make sure that since I am not in any of the pictures that it is on record that I did participate in this big event,  and I did ride my bike.)
                         Laila counted everyone down to the big start of the race.  And, we're off!!

 Love, love, love Isaiah's expression in this one

 The aftermath

 Do you think she had fun?

 This chick is a beast on her bike.  I don't even know how many times she rode around that track.  She never stopped or got tired.  She kept up with us and kept asking, "One more time?"  We have to get her ready for the Tour De France some day(can girls participate in that race?)

Afterwards, I took the younger 3 to the playground for a little bit of playing

 I can't think of a better way to end the family bike race than a trip to "Yogurt in Love"

 No one argued with that idea!

I do believe this will become an annual event.  I love it when my kids start traditions that we can continue.  I especially love that Laila thought up this idea and executed it all on her own.   Family Bike Race 2013 in the books.  Who knows what exciting additions we will make to next year's big event?

Soccer Camp 2013

For the past few summers, my friend, Mandy, has been doing a soccer camp for 4-6 year olds.  I have missed it every year, but she was kind enough to let me know and get our spot early on.  I asked Laila and Isaiah if they wanted to play soccer.  Laila said, "No, I want to play basketball and football."  (We'll figure that one out later.)  Isaiah said, "YES!!"  At one point, I told Mandy not to hold a spot, because I needed to figure out if it could work out for us.  Her response, "I want that kid."  Well, at that point, she had me.  Who doesn't want an amazing, godly, loving influence in the lives of each of their kids.  You see, this isn't just ANY soccer camp.  This is one that teaches Bible verses and lessons and has a snack and plays fun games and learns soccer skills on top of ALL OF THAT!  Isaiah got to be with some of his buddies and under the loving coaching of Mrs. Mandy for 4 straight mornings.  

Can you tell how excited he was to be there?

 Look at the guns on that boy!

 It turns out, he has some soccer skills.

Every day he got there early and warmed up on his own

Mrs. Mandy had a journal for each kid 

 He even learned his memory verse complete with actions without any help from me:

"Whatever you do work at it with all your heart just like you are working for God"

 An awesome bonus to it all was that Mandy asked Lauren to be her assistant coach for the week.  

Lauren LOVES soccer.  It was a great experience for her and she even earned some cash!

Soccer Camp 2013 was a huge hit with us. Thank you, Mandy for your investment in my kids!!

11 Years of Life

Abby turned 11 years old on July 24th.  The night before she and Lauren spent the night at her friend Micah's house.  The next morning we all met up at King Soopers parking lot to caravan to Parker to a small water park for the day.  It was Laura(yes, I have many friends named Laura) and me with 11 kids ready to go.  Except, there was one small problem.  We woke up to chilly temps(50s) and rainy yuckiness.  The weather forecast said that the weather would be much better in Parker so we decided to risk it and head up that way. 

Abby's breakfast she chose in King Soopers of chocolate milk and blackberries

 I ended up with all the girls and Isaiah in my truck.  As we got closer and closer to Parker, the sky was clearing, the sun was peeking through and the temperatures were rising.  We cheered with the rise of each degree, and when we finally arrived, it was 78 degrees!  (That is still cold for my taste, but it sure beat 55 and rainy!)

The crew all ready to go in 

 Isaiah waiting for me to take him to the water

 Big sis, little sis

 Sam and the other big boys played lots of bball in the water

 The bday girl with her sis and her friend

 We were able to get in 4-5 hours before the sky started clouding up again.  It was a small water park so the kids were ready to leave by about 3:00.  As we were walking to the parking lot, they spotted a huge park next door and begged us to play for a while.  They played "groundsies" for almost an hour before we loaded them up to head home.

Sam got stuck in the baby swing.  That was exciting.

 The drive home was treacherous.  The rain started falling just as we were leaving town and it poured, no, I mean REALLY POURED the whole way home.  It even hailed some.  I have never driven in such awful wind and rain.  I was exhausted when it was all over.

We came home that night and had pizza for dinner

 Abby's bday dessert request was funnel cakes(and yes, I made a gf version for her and Rick)

 Yummy!!

 Look at the fingerprints on that sliding glass door!!  Appalling!

 The next morning we had a bfast of french toast and she used her new monkey mug that she got for her bday from Isaiah and Laila.

 Rick and I took her to On the Border for her bday lunch

 Daddy's Little Girl

 Afterwards, we took her to apply for her passport.  We stood in line for a long time.  

She was pretty tired by the time it was our turn.

 Signing her name!!

One step closer to going to Swaziland in October!!

Abby,

Your personality continues to bloom the older you get.  I am amazed at your strength, resilience, and perseverance.  Although those traits can sometime frustrate me, I know they will benefit you as you grow up and make your own decisions.  You are a girl who knows exactly what you want and won't settle for anything less!!  You are spunky and feisty and sometimes a little sassy.  Your determination will come in handy as you face the challenges in your life.  You have endured several years of headaches and are finally experiencing some relief.  I am so thankful that you can be a kid again and not live every day in pain.  You have to take care of yourself each and every day to keep healthy.  

You are a perfectionist(I am sorry you got that from me) which leads you to do things really well.  I pray that you will learn much earlier than I did that it is okay to make mistakes and that being perfect is not the ultimate goal.  You are creative in ways that only I can imagine being.  I cannot wait to see how you decorate your home someday.  Hey, maybe you can even decorate mine for me!  You are musical and artistic and to top it all, a really hard worker.  You have the ability to manage a lot of things and are so organizationed.  Really, I am so impressed to see all of these qualities in you.  Not many people have all of those qualities wrapped up together.  You are such a leader, especially to Isaiah and Laila.  

I pray that as you prepare for this trip, that God will speak to your heart deeply through the whole process.  You are getting a lesson in His Provision as you trust Him to provide the funds needed.  You are getting a lesson in working hard to make something happen that God has called you to.  I cannot wait for the day that I get to see you hold those sweet babies and play with the kids that you have worked so hard for, for so many years!  This is going to be a life changing experience!!

I love you Abba Dabba Doo.  You are my dream come true!!

Love, 

Mom

Summer Milestones

One of the things the 3 little kids like to do in the summer when their siblings are having sleepovers with friends is have brother/sister sleepovers in the boys' room.  One night, when I came to bed, I found Isaiah and Laila asleep like this in the floor:

 How in the world they could ever get any rest like that, I have no idea.  I can barely sleep in my big bed with all the right conditions.

Speaking of sleeping, Laila moved into a big girl bed!!!  She was so overdue.  She is a 5 year old, the size of a 6 year old, still sleeping in a toddler bed!  We sold her toddler bed in the yard sale.  We had a box spring and frame, and were gifted with a twin mattress!!

 She has so much room now!

 Wearing her matching jammies she got for her bday from her friend, Amiah!

 Abby moved up to a bigger bike.  This girl just keeps getting taller and taller.  She now wears a women's size 8 shoe.  Whaty, what, what??

 We spent over an hour in line at the kids' school last week waiting to find out who their teachers will be for this year.  I do believe that kind of patience earned this fro yo afterwards!!

This is our last week before school starts.  I am ready and not ready all at the same time.  The weather is already changing here to fall and that saddens me beyond words.  There has already been snow on Pikes Peak.  UGH!  I am afraid we are going to have a very cold, long winter this year!!

Summer and Friends

Those are pretty much two of my favorite things.  Put them together and my love bucket overflows.

We have had some opportunities over the last couple of weeks to spend some time with some really special friends.

It started with a drive-thru lunch with friends from 18 years ago.  We met Kurt and Cindi when we moved to Dallas.  We started out volunteering as youth workers in their youth ministry and when they were called to come to Colorado Springs for a ministry position(yes, small world), Rick took the position of youth pastor.  Now, all these years later, both of our families are chugging along in ministry both in very different phases than we were when we met.  They are in TX while we are here.  Crazy!!

These two are the real deal and were mentors to us as a newly married couple and young Seminary students.  They had us in their home over and over.  They let us eat their food.  They included us in family activities.  They let us stay over really late many nights chatting.  They made our adjustment to Dallas so much easier, especially for this small-town girl who was not used to the big city!  Kurt and Cindi, thank you so much for stopping in to see us.  We continue to be inspired by your ministry to your church and your family.  We want to be just like you when we grow up!!

 Just a few short days later, we had the opportunity to connect with the Elliotts as they head to their new assignment in Germany!!  Carrie is my Hawaii adoptive mama kindred spirit.   God crossed our paths through our adoptions, and I love every chance we get to hang out!!  I think a trip to Europe needs to be in my future!!

 Girl time!

 These two are truly "brothers from another mother."  

They are only a week apart in age and two little peas in a pod!

The Elliott and Clapp Kiddos 

Yes, all these children are from only 2 families!!  

 I LOVE that we got to connect before their flight left Denver!!  

Thank you, Elliotts for adding the craziness to your day to see us!

Of course, no trip to Denver is complete without Krispy Kreme.  

We made a little stop on our way home!

 Laila and I were treated to a special bday breakfast with her friend, Amiah.  

These two go so well together.  

 Our friend, Jan is in town from Qatar, where she is teaching.  

It is a tradition for Rick, Dixie, Jan and me to have an evening out together when she is in town!

We have big dreams for Beyond Survival as a group!

 Lots of laughs and lots of love for these two!!

Thanks, Jan, for giving us your precious time while you are here!!

This is what life is about, people!  Investing in the relationships that God has placed in our lives.  So many people would give up everything to have these types of people in their lives.  

I am truly BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!! 

Where's Laura?

I am still alive.  I have been chugging along on project after project with very little time to sit down at my computer.  The August Madness that we deal with every year began at the end of July this year for us.  Here is a sampling of what the last 3 weeks have looked like for me:

Celebrating Abby's 11th Bday

 Yard Sale Prep, Execution, Tear Down, and Recovery

 Soccer Camp for Isaiah (Lauren was an assistant coach)

 Hair Week(Enough Said)

 School supply Sorting

 School Supply Shopping

 Uniform sale Preparations

 Organizing and trying on uniforms with the kids

This time of year is traumatic for me.  There are lots of big expenses coming our way all at once.  I find my stomach in knots all the time as I feel like I am just shelling out money left and right.  Maybe it's the 19 Expo markers, 13 boxes of Kleenex, 13 glue sticks, (I could go on and on), that are overwhelming me.

  This is also the first time I have ever been working on a Swazi trip at the same time.  That brings its own set of challenges and financial stresses.  We are moving forward with our team and beginning to plan the details of what we will be doing.

This phase of parenting has pretty much rocked my world.  That is a whole blog post on its own that I am working through in my mind.

In the midst of all of these activities, there have been even more that I hope to share in the next week.  The Clapp Family calendar has been full, and we are trying our best to suck every bit of life out of the last two weeks before school start!!