Hello again!

I've neglected my blog.  I'm sorry.  Life is busy.  In a good way!  My children are active-we have had 4 playing basketball, 2 in volleyball, 1 in track and 1 cheerleader this school year!  We took a Disney Cruise and visited Disney World as well!  It's been a fun school year-the kids have excellent grades and in 7 weeks they will be finished with ANOTHER year!

Our oldest was stationed 4 hours from home which is so awesome-he loves the Coast Guard!  Can't wait to spend some time exploring where he lives this summer :)

I've entered a sewing challenge, http://www.kidsclothesweek.com/home/?auth_token=jxUC5PzsLRpXytJ7GwoY so I'm going to show off some of my creations!

The shorts are a pattern by Elegance and Elephants-I've been looking at the pattern for a while now and finally bought it!  Love it-sooo easy to put together, I was shocked!  The tank pattern is self drafted.  I have some tweaking to do but overall like it!

The romper is Elegance and Elephants as well, I really like their patterns!  They are well written and easy to use.  I LOVE this fabric as well, wondering if I could wear something out of it even though I'm not really a floral person!

This is going to be a great week, having a excuse to sew!

Lancelot!

I want to introduce you to the most BEAUTIFUL (can you say that about a boy?) little boy.  My husband and I were reviewing his file because he stole our hearts.  Unfortunately we live 10 hours from the nearest Heart Hospital and I feel like it is much too far in case we needed to seek emergency care.  Lancelot has had a Glenn Shunt Procedure and will need another surgery.  He is a gem.  Look at his smile.  I didn't want to let his file go but felt it was the best for HIM.  He needs a family who will get him the medical treatment he deserves.  I wish it were us, but it isn't.  Please spread the word about Lancelot.  He is listed with CHI.  You can email me at sandraannrice@hotmail.com with further questions.

 

 

We have been doing a little bit of color touring since Lilli has joined our family!  We took a trip to Copper Harbor on Saturday and Sunday we visited Canyon Falls and Little Mountain.  The view from the top of Little Mountain was beautiful! 

These pics are from Little Mountain overlooking Keweenaw Bay, where we live :)

Since Lilli has arrived we have kept her very busy, I'm exhausted! Today, she started school in L'Anse and attended volleyball practice.   It was a good day!  Chad helped her out with Algebra this eve.  Good thing he knows what he's doing, because I don't remember anything from Algebra!  Maddie and Lindsey were here to help as well.

Lilli was invited on her first sleep over this coming weekend.  Good thing I love the family who invited her or I may have had to say NO!

It's funny how someone you don't know can fit so easily into your home and family.  We just adore Lilli and are looking forward to getting to know her  better!

I'm sure she must have taken a million pics already because every time I looked at her she had the camera up to her face :) 

Time to catch up on some sleep~goodnight!

She's here!

Lilli arrived yesterday afternoon, started to unpack and within a short time we had to leave.  I don't think she wanted to leave with her room partially unpacked but we had a appointment at the school to set her schedule.  We took care of that, picked  up the kids and drove a hour to watch Maddie play volleyball.  We didn't get home until 9:30 so Lilli's first day was busy.  She gets to sleep in this morning because she doesn't start school until Monday.  Tonight she rides the fan bus to Ironwood to watch our Varsity Football team who are undefeated!

I told Chad last night he is going to have to beat the boys off with a stick-there were random boys walking up to me to talk who never have before....hmmmm, pretty sure it wasn't for me ;0

The exciting news is that she gets to go to Prom!  We didn't want her to go in as a Junior because then you have 3 days of required testing so we registered her as a Sophomore but really wanted her to go to Prom, so the counselor called the Prom Coordinator and they said yes, she could go!!!

We are looking forward to our year with Lilli and feel honored to have her here!

We have a new addition to the family!

We have some exciting news in the Rice house!  We are hosting a foreign exchange student starting tomorrow!  Lilli is 16 and from Germany!  It wasn't in our plans for this school year but God had another plan :)  Here is our story:

I asked Chad this summer if we could host a student and he said we needed to wait until the kids were older  so I decided not to push it and dropped the subject.  The girls were  devastated because they REALLY wanted the opportunity to host. 

My friend Jen has a little girl adopted from China who is 5.  She is working for a company that places exchange students and is hosting a girl from China as well.  We made plans to go the the Parade of Nations where every country is represented, then afterwards we were going to have some Chinese food.  A few days before this Jen called to ask if I minded if she brought along another girl from Germany that was with another host family.  Of course we wouldn't say no :)  Chad was going to meet us later in the afternoon.  When he met us we introduced him to the girls.  They stood for a long time and talked.  He worried about Lilli because the situation she was living in was not great.  There was a lot of fighting going on and she wasn't comfortable.  By the end of the day he was telling me that we should offer for her to stay with us.  Really?  This is the guy who told me no several months ago???

We got the call on Monday that they were willing to place Lilli with us if we wanted to take her.  Ummm.....yes!  She will arrive tomorrow morning and we are all THRILLED!  She is very chatty.  She has a good sense of humor and has figured Chad out, and gives it right back to him!  The kids love her :)  We are looking forward to her company and learning what we can from her about Germany and are looking forward to helping her out with her English.  We believe she will enjoy the school here and fit right in. 

I have had the opportunity to "chat" with her parents on FB and they are as sweet as she is.  I can't imagine how hard it must be to let your child go half way around the world to live with a strange family in a foreign land but we are willing to take great care of her.  We look forward to meeting them in June :)

Ryan asked if he was being replaced tonight-we told him NEVER and he always has a room when he wants to come home to visit.  We are looking forward to this adventure with our new family member.  I'm hoping it will make me keep up with the blog better too!  We will post photos soon!

Wow, I have been a slacker!  Sorry-there has been so much going on around here I don't know where to start!

 

My boy is growing like a weed!  He is no longer the sweet little compliant boy that came home nearly 2 years ago.  He is loud, likes to "fight" and isn't afraid to say, "NO!"  He's a bit of a devil now but still loved SO MUCH! 

 He's taken a liking to the song "sexy and I know it" thanks to his teen sister.  Yikes!

We've had spring concerts and Honors Con that Madeline and Josie were a part of.  Next year we are hoping all 3 girls will be in since Maija will be in the 4th grade and eligible.

Summer is going by quickly already.  It seems when the 4th of July hits summer dissapears. 

Ryan will be home on Saturday for 10 days!  Woohoo!!!  Miss that boy so much.  We haven't seen him since November :(

Had to sneak Ollie in here too!

We've finished up with softball and basketball camps so our summer is free now which is wonderful!

These 3 girls and I traveled to Chicago last week and visited the Aquarium and Field Museum.  They took their first taxi and train rides.  Not sure they liked traveling that way or the traffic but had a great time anyway!

If you could say a prayer for my brother who is 12 years older than I.  He has Encephilitis and is hospitalized at U of Michigan Hospital.  We are praying for a full recovery.  Thank you and God Bless!