And the Award Goes to...

Well, we finally did it...we dowloaded the pictures off our cell phones and printed them after 3 years. We thought we would go down memory lane and give out prizes to the best of them...

and the winner is...

"We Thought We Could Make it to Florida and Back/Or How to Change a Spark Plug Correctly"

Our spark plugs had been changed right before my sister and I went to Florida, well about two ours away from home on our way back...thank goodness....the car shut down. The good news...Jacob was in the area and had just left 6 flags. The bad news....(1)it was 5:oopm and a major wreck prevented not only Jacob from getting to us, but every tow truck in the area was rushing to the accident. (2) Jacobs Yonger brother and 2 nephews were with him ( I felt bad they had to be there) (3) Traffic soon came to a standstill after Jacob got there and saw the sparkplug burned off (above is the picture of what it should and shouldn't look like) we had to go through 2 hours of traffic to get to the next exit and buy parts (4) the stores didnt have what we needed and we ended up having to stay the night in a motel. Good news...every one we were with was super nice about it and Jacobs family came down and hitched our car on the back of the truck and towed it home...oh so crazy. That is why this Picture is NUMBER 1.

#2 - Best Neighborhood wagon


#3 - Best Smile




#4 - Best flood in our backyard ( notice the river connecting to the field in the back)

#5 - Biggest Christmas Tree So Far ( I figured hey they all cost the same....why not?)

#6 2nd Runner up for Best Sleeping position ( Our lab, Luck is on his back and Ella as usual wants to be all cozy asleep in my lap)



#7 - 1st Runner up for best sleep position...Ella with her head under the couch.

#8 - 1st place for best sleep position. This dog is NOT allowed on our bed, but we had piled a bunch of blankets on our bed and I think the heated mattress pad was on also, and it was just too much of a temptation. I came in the room because I heard snoring and couldn't figure where it was coming from...and well....here is Ella.

#9 - The Best trip together last year - Washington DC

#10 - Best Dance Moves

#11 - Most Adventurous Turtle - We found this Turtle on the way up the mountain trying to cross the road.

#12 - Most Memorable Anniversary - We thought that we had our nice camera charged but we didnt, we moved onto another smaller camera...the batteries were missing, the batteries in the drawed we dead...so the cell phone took the memorable picture of the night we ate a romantic dinner on the top of a cliff, Jacob almost flinging his ring on accident off the cliff, and jacob proposing again to me. Love it!

#13 - Best Cornbread Ever! - Who could for get my first Cornbread Festival? Fried cornbread, bluberry cornbread, Jalepeno Cornbread - you name it! And then add a buttermilk drinking contest and you have got a winner!

#14 - 1st Runner up - Best Resued Dog - This dog was found with no collar and COVERED in fleas, Ticks, and bites....Jacob rescued him, brought him home, gave him a bath and then took him to his parents house. Look at this poor Dog ... He didnt even want the bacon!....He recovered quickly in the country and was lovingly named Doorbell for obvious houndly reasons:)

#15 - 1st Place Best Rescued Dog - this 6 week old puppy was a drop off on our Porch and became our "Luck"

#16 - 1st Runner up - "Troublemaker" - Ella loves smores ...that is really all I can say about this.
#17 1st Place "Troublemaker" Luck also loves smores ( above) but he also loves Maple Syrup (below) and then getting into his bed and tearing the green fluff out of it and getting it stuck all over his furr.....he was one discourage puppy after trying his best to get it all off....

#18 Best laugh of the Year...my nephew Zach

Well I hope you have enjoyed our awards...Till next year...or two..or three...or four...

Mixing my Two loves...Kids and Photography

You know...I love love working with children and hearing their imaginations create new worlds for them. I love even more when I can help them create a little of that imagination into reality.
When the children showed up for Halloween I had them pose in whatever way they thought, the character they had dressed up as, would pose.
Then I took their pictures home and edited their photos. I then made a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" book out of the pictures. The results were pretty astonishing, I'm having a bound book made as we speak by BLURB.com.
Here are some of the pics below...

If you would like a picture or your child in a similar way and either want to know how ( you must have Photoshop) or want me to do it for you...Just let me know! I would love to!

Now I Know

You know, over these past few years I've gone through a lot of emotions and a lot of questions, but a main one has always been, could I really adopt? Could I make that transition easily? Going from my daily business to a baby in my arms without any pre pregnancy planing, could I love a child out of no where unconditionally as they were my own?

Of course in thought I would like to say yes! But when it came to reality would it be possible?

I can now say without a doubt, oh yes. After finishing my last job working with children under the age of 6, who have disabilities, and obstacles of poverty that many of us do not even have to deal with in our nightmares, I can say oh yes I definitely could.

Their humor and unconditional love for me has really touched me. Friday was a fairly emotional day for me saying goodbye to those kids who have helped me through more heartache than they will ever know. They lightened and mended my pained heart helping me to heal. I looo-ved all of the funny things they said and did, but mostly when they would tell me they loved me, or invite me to their birthday parties, or hug me for no reason, or sing crazy songs with me and draw me pictures to take home. Or finally "got" what Ive been trying to teach them, and watch them turn around and teach another child.

Some of my favorites have been:

1. Whenever it was time to keep our mouths quiet and a child would scream, " Miss Leisa, look what I did, aren't you proud of me?" I would quietly give them a huge smile and give them a big thumbs up. One day I asked the kids if they were happy about something we had just done, and when I turned around to look at them and see why they weren't answering me I got 12 thumbs up from all my 4 year olds.

2. "Miss Leisa, you are my favorite, and because of that you can sit by me at lunch and listen to my mp3 player." (He is 4 years old!)

3. " If I am a female, and my daddy is a male, what is an email?"

4. I asked one girl if she needed special lotion for her chapped cheeks, specifically wondering if she had prescription lotion and she said, " uhmmmmm.... I think because I am a special girl that I DO deserve special lotion!" She is three years old.

5. When I asked a girl what "Love" meant to her to put on her valentines car for her mom...she said..." It's being joyful about something that you got but didn't really want."

6. I'm 5"10 and get a lot of comments on my height like....." Your Huge!" " Are you still growing?" ...... and my favorite, I was trying to tie a knot in a balloon but my fingers were too big to fit through the hole and one of the kids told me that it was because I have " Massive hands"

7. I was asked on my first day there by a four year old if i lived at home by myself, I said...no, that I lived with my husband. I was then asked if I had kids. I said no, not yet. And this little girl said to me, " Don't you know that when you get married you are supposed to have kids? All you have to do is go to the doctor and get him to take away some blood and poof! you have a baby."...(I also had a little girl tell me that she was a potato in her mom ma's belly until "one day i just popped out!")

8. I asked a little boy what the word "Family" meant and he said... "My heart"

9. One day I looked over at a little girl playing house with a boy and girl doll. apparently they were getting married because they were talking and then they kissed. But while they kissed she made sure to sing " I know you I walked with you once upon a Dream" and then stopped the song when they stopped kissing. Someone watched a little bit of Disney I suppose!

10. A couple weeks ago a little three year old boy pipped up and sang " TOO MOR OW, TOOOO MOR OW, I Love YA TOMORROW, YOUR ONLY A DAY AWAY!" over and over to me. Oh I love it! I wish i had written more down each day I worked there.


11. And I love everyday that a child clings to me, or happily screams my name, or wants JUST me to do something for them like tie their shoes or read them a book, or teach them how to zip their coat or fix a puzzle. I play football with them outside and they all want me to catch the football so they can run and try to catch me as I dodge their little hands. Or when I dance with them and teach them silly little line dances or swing dance with them picking them up in the air. I just love those little happy giggles, or being the only one who can calm their little tears. I sure will miss them more then they know.

One of them asked me on my last day why I had to leave them and take a new job...ouch...I wished I could have explained to him why. But no answer seemed good enough for him. But he took the news with stride and opened up his mp3 player to play his favorite song.."TNT" one more time for me.....if we all could take changes in life so easily!

But the unconditional love I have for each of these children reassures me that without a doubt I could love any child placed in my home and has healed my heart in preparation for that exact future moment....whenever that may be!