That's a pretty loaded statement, but I really think it is going to happen for us! My heaviest burden has always been for my son and his learning disability. He is such a smart boy but life is not easy for him. He has always struggled in school and we have tried EVERYTHING in our power to help him. This last year was our worst yet. He basically gave up and stopped believing in himself. But God answered my most desperate prayer by plopping down the perfect private school right in our backyard practically! We have looked and looked for a private school but none were open to his needs. This last year, a small school relocated to a piece of land less than five minutes from our house. I stopped by to check it out and it was everything we hoped it would be. Today, we went for his placement testing and the director spent a good amount of time with him. I have not had the opportunity to discuss his particular learning style and challenges, but she picked up on it right away. They came out of the testing room and Alex was SMILING, relaxed and quite full of himself. She had boosted his ego so high just by sitting with him and understanding what he needed. She told us that he did great on the testing and was way more capable than he gives himself credit for. She offered some advice on things we can do over the summer to improve his processing and comprehension. She also asked that we purchase him his very own laptop. That made him very happy. :) She will get all of his books as ebooks and he can listen to the textbooks with headphones on his laptop in class. I am so impressed at her willingness to make so many personal accomodations for him. This is not a special ed school, he will be totally mainstreamed. But his learning needs will be met on an individual basis. What more can you ask for?!!!

We left for a celebratory lunch and I never felt lighter. I just know that this will be his year to shine. It brings tears to my just to think of him finally finding success instead of frustration at school. Okay, not just tears, but sobs! :)

Thank you GOD!

School's Out

No more rushing around in the morning. No more making sure everybody has lunch or lunch money. No more nagging about homework. No more getting stumped on those impossible to solve math problems. NO MORE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! :(

Well, at least for two more years.

Mandi has officially graduated from elementary school and is moving on up in this world to big, bad middle school. She had her awards ceremony earlier this week and we were so proud of her. She won lots of awards, but the most impressive was the Presidential Award of Outstanding Academic Excellence. That's right, the PRESIDENTIAL award! For this award, you have to have a GPA of 3.5 or higher AND score above 90% on the IOWA testing. We are so proud of her. We also got her Gateway Writing (another state test) test score and she scored 100%! We better get serious about saving for college because I think she has an ivy league in her future. It was very sad to walk out of Freeman's Mill (our school) for the last time. It was the end of an era. So many memories. When Linzi starts school, she probably won't go there. A brand new school is being built right across the street from our subdivision and is scheduled to open Linzi's kindergarten year.

Alex was bittersweet about saying goodbye to all of his friends and teachers at Osborne. He won't be back next year. We are sending him to a private school. I know he is really excited about going to this school, but he was also a little sad.

Linzi had her last day of not being in school. She will start preschool two days a week next year.

So now what will I do to keep them entertained???

Love Without Boundaries Art Auction - Live Now!

In every orphanage in China, children in need of heart surgery wait. Four years ago, Love Without Boundaries began their “Born in My Heart” art auction as a tribute to the miracle of adoption and to raise funds for these essential operations. You can truly save the life of a child by taking part from May 18-23. Every penny raised will help to heal a precious child, giving them the opportunity to grow and thrive, and perhaps even find a family of their very own. So please bid often and bid generously! Items will be added throughout the day on Friday, May 18th and the auction will end Wednesday, May 23rd when the final item closes.

This year we have approximately 250 amazing items, all donated by our fabulous supporters! Just a few of the items you won’t want to miss are: an autographed guitar from Steven Curtis Chapman, THREE giclee prints of “Bengbu Girl”…an incredible oil painting created especially for LWB by Zhao Kailin, a life-size Terra Cotta Warrior statue from Xian, several personalized custom lifebooks, beautiful watercolors, acrylics and oil paintings, collection-edition dolls, custom adoption videos, a stunning array of quilts including several “100 Good Wishes” quilts, photography, gift baskets, jewelry, paintings by Chinese orphans, clothing, heritage items, and so much more!

You will be able to access the auction from the Love Without Boundaries website homepage at: www.lovewithoutboundaries.com Please help us to make this year’s auction our best ever!

Love Without Boundaries
Art Auction Committee

Fun In the Water

We have been having glorious weather lately, so Linzi and I went outside for some water fun today. . .

"The water feels great Mommy! Come in with me!"

"What?!!! The water table is not for swimming? You're kidding right?"

"It fits me just fine."

"This is so fun! Can we get a REAL pool Mommy?"

"PRETTY PLEASE!"

Well, how can you resist that face? A pool WOULD be nice. Hummmm ;)

Little miss "I don't take naps anymore" is worn out from all that fun in the sun.

Then the big kids came home and saw the evidence of our day. They may think they are too cool to "play" anymore, but I know better!

YUP! It's true, boys never really grow up!

My Blog Fairy

The Blog Fairy has cast her magical spell on my blog! Thanks Verna! You are awesome! I was so indecisive, I know I wasn't easy. Especially when I am telling you I want one thing one day and the next day I come up with a totally different direction for the design. Thank you for being endlessly patient and your design is way better than anything I could have come up with on my own!

If you are looking for a new look then a visit from the Blog Fairy is your ticket! Just follow her link in the sidebar.