Our Africa Pig

Ok... so here it is-- "Our Africa Pig"

The Goal: Fill the pig & go to Africa!

The Rules: It's pretty simple really... At the end of EVERYDAY any change; quarters, dimes & nickles and any $1.00 (occasionally 5's & 10's) bills get dropped in the Africa pig. Sometimes that even means raiding daddy's pockets, car and wallet!!

Everyone is pitching in!! Thomas even donated his birthday money & all of the kiddo's have emptied their own piggy banks into the Africa pig!!

I have NO idea how much money is in the pig as of now-- I have to talk myself out dumping it and counting it daily. It's getting pretty heavy and we still have a long way to go!!!!

Here is your fair warning, if you enter our house you might be mobbed by my kids (or myself) to empty your pockets into our PIG-- here it is sitting right by the door!!!

Thanks in advance!! =)

Happy Father's Day

My dad, my hero!

The top 10 reasons my dad is the best!!

10. No need to have proper parts for any job-- my dad can "rig" anything!!

9. He ALWAYS has a job to tinker on

8. My dad is a super hero-- as a kid I used to think he was even strong enough to pick up our house!!

7. He always knew the best trick-or-treating houses to hit

6. He made the best bologna sandwiches with mustard smiley faces

5. Makes the best burnt hot dogs

4. A major 'softy' .... you can talk him in to ANYTHING!

3. My dad is super supportive. Even if he hasn’t always agreed with me and the things I’ve wanted to do, he has always been there for me and helped me accomplish my goals.

2. My dad is a proud man. He showed me the importance of being true to myself no matter what. There is no shame in knowing what you want and standing up for yourself. No matter how big or small my differences with others, he’s always assured me of the importance of staying true to me and being proud of myself for the person I am.

And the #1 reason MY dad is the world's best dad.....

He taught me to appreciate all the small things in life, the importance of family & friends, the value of a dollar (even tho my mom would disagree!! LOL), and he has the biggest HEART of anyone I have ever met. He is truly my hero and I'm proud to be his daughter.

*He is the best "BABY" (grampa) in the whole world and we couldn't imagine a day without him!! He's always a good sport-- whether he's getting his make-up done or his nails painted by one of his SIX granddaughters (I WONT post the pics =) or if he's crusin' in his hot rod with his ONLY grandson-- he's the proudest grampa around!!

Love ya Dad, Happy Father's Day!

Artificial twinning... trouble X 2!

Artificial twinning is an expression used to describe unrelated children in a family whose birth dates are less than 9 months apart. These can be a combination of biological and adopted siblings, adopted only, step or foster siblings. In our case our biological son and our adopted daughter are only 6 weeks apart in age.


I am often stumped when I get asked about my children from strangers. I always say I have a 7 year old and two 4 year olds. Of course they always say "TWINS?" I'm not really sure how to answer.... I usually say "umm, I guess you could say so" that usually leaves them completely confused and gets me out of explaining the WHOLE story.


There are some agencies and families who oppose artificial twinning, claiming it disrupts birth order-- but for us, it was perfect for our family. Both our son and our daughter have adjusted well and are just like any other brother and sister. They are in the same pre-shcool class and love having the comfort of each other when needed. They, of course are the best of friends and the worst of enemy's-- they are.......brother & sister! Don't mess with one, unless you want TROUBLE x 2!

We TREASURE Africa

Finally....Fasika got her wish-- her "own" Africa for her bedroom! Fasika is infatuated (like her mommy) with anything to do with Africa- So today she and I applied a wall decal that her daddy designed to sell at our etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7194025. We decided to hang it over her cedar chest. She was excited to display some of her other Africa "treasures" around it too! She loves it and it's a perfect addition to her sweet little bedroom!!