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We are combining our blogging to one family blog!
Come visit us at Heads Up Seven Up!

Her eyes still sparkle!

Today Jailyn went to her first eye Dr. appointment and look what she came home with!
(Actually they are on order, but should be in next week!)

What a whirl wind week!

We have had such a crazy, busy last week! Conner tested for his conditional Black Belt! He did a great job at his belt test! He was the highest belt and had to do Pattern 6 and his specialized Pattern 7 all by himself in front of everyone! He did a great job!!! We are so proud of him! A few more months and he will be a full Black belt!

Saturday we finally were able to celebrate Kenzie's 12 birthday! She had 8 girlfriends over. We played a lot of obstacle course games... The theme was "I survived a Japanese Game Show". If you watched this TV show last season you will understand. Hai Majide!!!
We also spent 3 hours at the neighborhood pool! It was a fun day!!! Kenzie really has some nice friends! Happy Birthday girl!! We love you!!

Sunday we were honored to be "Family of the Week"!!!
We were awarded tickets to the local Water Park, Hawaiian Falls! We also had a Cabana for the day, and a Cabana boy! He was sooooo cute!!! We felt so pampered!! We had a great time!
After the day at the water park, Kenzie had a soccer game. They won!!! It was a great game!!

Monday - First day of school for all of the big kids!! And two of them are going to new schools. Thankfully we were organized and had our backpacks ready to go!
We have a few traditions for the first day of school - one being we measure the kids to see how much they grew from the last year - Brady grew 2 inches and has hit the 6 foot mark!
Kenzie - grew 2 3/4 inches!!! Way to go girl!!!!
Conner - grew 2 1/4 inches!!!
Jailyn - grew 3 inches!!! Wow!!! She is still only 24lbs.

They all had a great first day of school! Jailyn missed them so much!!! All morning she was asking for them!!!

Tuesday - Jailyn had her first evaluation for Pre-school. Our school district offers two different pre-school programs for Special Needs kids. She had so much fun talking with the therapists who were evaluating her, and of course she had them wrapped around her little finger! She did a great job. We will find out next week which pre-school she will be in. Jailyn is excited to go to school. This is making me so sad, but I know it is what she needs to succeed. Plus, when Jorja gets home this will give Jorja and I some alone time.

When will Jorja get home? Good question!!! We are hoping to receive our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China in about 3 weeks. When we sign this and send it back to China we will be waiting to get our Travel Approval! We are still hoping to travel before Thanksgiving! Can't wait to get our little girl home!!!

~ Jodi Sue :)

I have a High Schooler!!

We have officially entered into the High School years!! Brady registered yesterday. Got his class schedule, his first High School ID. How exciting!
He is very excited but nervous about doing his best! I love that!
He will be trying out for soccer when school begins! Oh, I hope he makes the team!!!

Cute pictures of my Jailyn!!!

Future Olympiad!!!

Maybe some day!

I'm soooo happy!!!

I love the Olympics!!!! I will be glued to the TV for the next 16 days!!!! I love to hear all the stories of all the athletes! I love to hear how they fought to make their dream come true!! These athletes have such endurance, not just physically, but mentally! I admire every one of them.
It is also so fun to see China hosting the Olympics! 1 1/2 years ago when we visited Beijing we saw the "bird's nest" being built - it was amazing! But to see it tonight filled with over 90,000 people -WOW!!!

I will enjoy the Olympics this year but I will be excited when they are over and the officials in Beijing go back to work! Hopefully, they will work fast to get us our paperwork and give us the okay to go get our little girl!!!

Jay, do you have your collectable Coke cans? :)

This photo is from the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs! I was so excited to finally get there!

FC Dallas!!

What a fun evening! Our soccer club, Manchester Soccer Club, enjoyed their signing party at the FC Dallas game vs. LA Galaxy!
Yes, Beckham was there in all of his glory! and FC Dallas shut him an the rest of the Galaxy's up!!! 4-0 Go FC Dallas!

Kenzie and Conner (and other players from our club) walked both teams onto the field! It was really cool!

Imaginary Friend or Sister-to-be?

Jailyn is getting very excited for Jorja to come home. We think she has finally realized that Jorja is not just a picture of a beautiful face! Jailyn loves to go "big girl bed" shopping for beds for her and Jorja. Jailyn hates to sleep alone - every night she says ,"Jorja will sleep in my room." She has also begun giving people assigned seats in the car. "Jorja will sit by me!" Of course, this brings up the whole topic with the other three kids - how are we all going to fit in our mini-van? We'll fit - everyone may not sit exactly where they want to - but we will fit! :) We are hoping for gas prices to go down as we find our selves taking two cars to one location! (We can dream!)

BBC is going great!

We are having so much fun this week! The kids are all getting along great , having a great time playing games, working hard on their crafts and listening intently to the Bible Stories! This is a great bunch of kids!
Here a few photos of what our week has looked like so far! Fun! Fun! Fun!
And yes, by 2pm I am taking a little cat-nap daily - to re-energize for the next day!

Backyard Bible Club!

This is the week! In a few hours my backyard will be full of kids from 2 years old - 13 years old! YEAH!!!! (actually, the little kids get to stay in side - a way from the heat! It's supposed to be 102 degrees today! :)

If you live in or near McKinney and want to join us this week - we would love to have you! Just email me - soccermom@tx.rr.com

If you aren't able to come please remember us in your prayers! Please pray for safety and fun for all! And especially that God's word is heard by the kids and adults who attend.

Have a great week!
I will post photos soon!

Potty Trained!

Yea! Jailyn is potty trained! I figure almost a week with out an accident is officially potty trained! She was pretty easy! She still surprises us when she calls out from the bathroom! "Mommy I went tinkle!" What a good girl!
She loves her new underwear and loves to pick which pair she will wear for the day! :) Some days she can't decide on which pair so she tries them all on!
We are so proud of our silly girl!!!

Christmas in July

I need your help! We are already thinking of Christmas ideas! With child number 5 coming home this fall we are really trying to stick to a budget (ha!ha!) We would like to do some homemade gifts, but I need ideas! These ideas need to be for Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and cousins (ages 8 - 13 (boys and girls).
Teacher gifts too!
In the past I have cross-stitched (very time consuming - not enough time)
Scrap booked
Painted canvas
made blankets
I'm running out of ideas!
My mom has suggested that we purchase something at a garage sale! We can make it into something else or leave it as is, but it has to be purchased from a garage sale. I think this sounds fun - but not everyone in the family agrees. :)
Our families have also said, "Just buy for the kids" but one of my brothers has no kids and the other only has one kiddo. And Bryan's brother only has two kids and his sister's kiddo is an adult now. So I feel bad not getting them something when they are buying for our 5 kids!
Any suggestions would be helpful! Please leave your suggestions in the comments! There may be others who want ideas too!

Happy Christmas in July!

Happy Meal!!!

A Happy Meal never tasted so good!
It didn't even taste this good when we got home from China!

My mouth is finally feeling a wee-bit better!
Last night I was able to get a Hamburger Happy Meal chewed! :)
Oh, it was sooo good!
I'm really tired of chicken soup!!!

I went back to my oral surgeon today - there is still some infection so I will do another week of antibiotics. He did a few nerve tests and said that I have about 50% of nerve sensitivity back, mainly on the left side! Prayerfully this will get better soon! If not, there is surgery that can be done - but that wont be for another 6-9 months! I told him that I need to go to China before then!

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

My favorite Birthday present of all!

Do you remember how the Cosby's always sang a song or had a performance for their mother's birthday? Well, I do and I always thought that would be the greatest birthday present ever! Well, guess what I got it this year!

Kenzie and Conner put together a show - Anderson's Got Talent! Too cute!!!
They laid out the Red Carpet for me and gave me VIP seating!
Jailyn did her acrobatics! The girl is a natural! And loves to perform!
Conner wrote and sang a song for me! I will have to share the words with y'all at another time.

They even had a commercial - Advertising the dresses that I am making to help raise funds to bring our little Jorja home!

Then it was time for Kenzie to show off her Stranger Danger karate moves! Sorry Dad was the recipient of her kicks and punches!
Even Jailyn got into the act with Conner! Glad he is teaching her Stranger Danger!


Too cute! Maybe next year Brady will not be so shy and show off his hidden talents!
He did a great job as photographer for me though! :)

Hanging out with friends from church

We always have a great time with these friends!
This band was soo cute! Conner has a guitar from our Rock Band game,
N has a Wiggles Book shaped like a guitar and Jailyn has a broom!
Too funny!

We went bowling too! Fun for all!

Happy 12th Birthday Kenzie!

Conner woke up and came running down stairs to get us all to meet Kenzie in bed and sing Happy Birthday too her! I think he was more excited about her day then she was!
How sweet!
Since we had had an exciting week prior and have more activities this week we thought we would just hang out. Kenzie and Conner both had friends over, we swam and played all day!
Later in the evening, my wonderful friends, Jackie and Selinda, watched Jailyn so we could go see a movie. Kenzie wanted to see Hancock! It was fun and even better because I wasn't worried about Jailyn! Thanks friends!!! :)
The movie was good, but bad language.
We had a fun relaxing day!

Happy Birthday Girl!

Some cute water pictures of the kids!

We do love being in the water!
This was a great day of just hanging out!

Kenzie and Moms Birthdays!

Yes, my darling daughter's birthday is the day before mine! We love this! and we try to take advantage of it often! This year we decided that we needed a weekend of R and R- just the two of us! We haven't done this for three years! Kenzie is 12 now - so it seemed like the perfect time!
I'm not sure who was more excited - Kenz or me! Since I was having my wisdom teeth pulled on July 1st. We decided to get our manicures and pedicures done prior to my surgery! This was a great idea! Kenz has been such a huge help to me with Jailyn this summer that she deserved a little treat!
Friday the 4th we watched fireworks with the rest of the family but we were really excited to get out of the house the next morning and begin our weekend! I had told her where we would be staying and some things that we would do - but there was one BIG surprise that I wanted to keep that way! For weeks Kenz made me give her clues as to what we were going to do. These were the clues I had given her:
- One doesn't have to dress up, but it is more fun then arriving casual.
- We may do a bit of dancing.
- You have been there, but have never seen this.
- You may be in it some day.
and the last but not least
- Not middle school but...
That's right -




High School Musical! It was great! One of Kenzie's soccer team mates and her Mom came with us! It was great fun! We hope we can go see some more LIVE performances!

After the show we went to dinner with our friends, and laughed and laughed!
Then our friends went home and Kenzie and I returned to the Westin! Yes, I have never stayed at a Westin! It was beautiful! Kenzie was sold when we walked in the room and she saw the flat screen T.V.!

We ended up going to the pool for about 3 hours! Kenzie was water logged! It was so relaxing though!
We were a bit hungry when we went back to the room -so I ran to the nearest store to pick up some snacks. Love the Westin but refused to pay $6.00 for a small can of cookies! :)
When I got back we munched and cuddled and watched The Bucket List! Great movie!

In the morning we spent another 2 hours or so at the pool! Kenzie found a family to play ball with. This sweet family made us miss our boys and Jailyn, but it didn't last long. :)
The rest of the day was spent shopping! We hit a ton of stores and were able to purchase Kenzie some school clothes for next year.
But best of all we spent the whole day chatting and goofing off! We had a wonderful time! I wish we could do this every year!

Thanks for a great weekend Kenzie!!!!


Here I am sporting my swollen face and muscle cramped face! This is the biggest smile I could get!

Kenzie in the mall trying to decide what # she likes her sleep number bed at!

Wisdom Teeth

What other 41 year old gets their wisdom teeth pulled?
Yea, I guess I am a late bloomer!

I had to get the two bottom wisdom teeth pulled on July 1st. Though I hate any dental work! I'm such a chicken! I wish I could have muscle relaxers when I get my teeth cleaned! I knew the process would be bad, but I never thought the recover would be this bad!
Not only did I have to have the teeth pulled but I also had to have bone graph's on the teeth next to the wisdom teeth.
I swelled like crazy! but I didn't bruise. :)
The pain medicine made me sick to my stomach - that was horrible!

My kids were great! They totally let me stay in bed for two full days! They each helped take care of each other, including Jailyn! Kenzie was my nurse, and was wonderful! She made sure I took my medicine on time and that I had my ice packs on and off every 30 minutes! I didn't have to think about anything - she did it all!
Brady took great care of Jailyn, feeding her and even changing her diaper! :)
Conner is my cuddler - so when ever I needed to be cuddled he was there for me!

Nine days later I am still only eating that which melts in my mouth. (Last night I was able to eat yummy birthday cake! - Kenzie's!)
Today I went back to the surgeon and found out that the left bone graph is infected. So now I have to clean it out 3-4 times a day. It kills!
I also have nerve damage. The question is - how much nerve damage? The nerve could be upset because of the infection, or there could be semi-permanent or permanent damage.

I am now on new antibiotics and will be doing my exercises! Prayerfully this ordeal will be over soon! I have another scheduled appointment next week. I hope I can go in next week with a full smile, not the lazy smile I am sporting now!

A boy meets his mommy!

My yahoo friend, Julie, has her little guy!!!
What a happy boy! He is so cute!!!
Congratulations Julie!

A Happy Ending/ or beginning!

YEA! A happy adoption story, like a roller coaster there are so many ups and downs in adoption. Like many scream or hold their breath on a roller coaster so does one through the adoption journey.
Praise God this family is finally together!!!
The Houston's

More then half her life

Yeah! We have hit the mark!
Over 16 months and 6 days ago Jailyn was placed in our arms! She was 16 months and 6 days old!
From here on out we will have her in are arms longer then she was a lone. We love cuddling with her, reading books to her, playing with her, teaching her, watching her grow! No one in the family can imagine what life was without her! In some ways Jailyn has changed our lives, but in other ways - nothing has changed. Jailyn loves being part of our family and loves the craziness of all of us! As Kenzie says, "Jailyn is most happy when she has an audience."

Jailyn has come so far since we first met her! Her speech has improved incredibly! Even people who are not family members can understand her! She loves to talk!

Jailyn will be a huge help as we bring Jorja home! The birth order may be a bit confusing as first as I'm sure Jailyn will be teaching her big sister the ropes!

Two new beginnings!

Presley Claire has joined the Reis family! Amy and Derek are head of heals!
And another dear friend, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! They have two older boys so when they found out the were expecting a girl they (especially Mom) where so excited!
Congratulations John and Becky and boys!

Little Lexi will not be coming home

Oh, International adoption! Roller coaster after Roller coaster! Lexi's mom and dad, Amy and Derek, left so excited to hold their precious daughter for the first time! Though they held her in their arms for a short time, they will forever hold her in their hearts. Their story is on their blog at Our Journey To China
Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Praying for peace for your entire family!

"I like water"

One of Jailyn's favorite sentences so far this summer! We just purchased her a sprinkler. She loved it! Cosmo thinks it's pretty cool too!