Noah's Birthday Party

Saturday we got to celebrate Noah's belated birthday at a party with all the Siak/Cannons.  It was a lot of fun.  Noah requested a spaghetti dinner, so I made Grandma Scoggins famous spaghetti recipe and it was a big hit!  It's been a big month of birthdays, and we were glad so many people who love Noah got to be there to celebrate his big day!

Winter or Spring?

The weather guy last night warned that since January was so mild we should expect winter to show up in February.  Well, I should hope so.  Don't get me wrong, I love some mild weather, but I really, really, want to get some use out of our snow sleds!! We live in the area of NC that is known for having "four seasons."  And this year, we seem to have skipped winter.  Wednesday it was such a beautiful day (62 degrees when I picked up Noah from school!) so we headed to the park to enjoy the beautiful day. 

Those are after school snack oreo teeth.

Ella lost her pushing priveleges shortly after this was taken.  She thought it would be fun to see how high Luke could go while mommy was holding the camera.

Luke loved going down the slide with Noah and Ella.

This is her go-to angelic pose.

Yippppppeeeeee!!!!

Smarty Pants

You might be tired of me bragging on how smart Noah is, but I just cannot stop myself.  We got a note home on Tuesday asking us to attend PTO because Noah was going to receive a mid-year award.  Four students from his class were selected to be honored.  The teacher told us she never gave out two awards to one student, but had to make an exception this year.  Noah got the reading award certificate and the citizenship award.  We are so proud of him.  Not only is he smart, but he is kind to others. 

Their heart is in Ethiopia

I love a good afternoon away from my kiddos.  It's great to recharge, and rarely happens.  As a matter of fact, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to and from the dentist last week.  I got to listen to my own music and had a quiet ride without any questions from high pitched voices.  However.  I cannot imagine not seeing them every day.  Smelling them (and sometimes wanting to not smell them).  Hearing their funny conversations.  Smiling without thinking because they are smiling so stinking cute-ly at me.  Loving on them.  And getting a good snuggle. 

And my heart hurts for my sister and her husband as they are waiting.  Loving via pictures and video, longing to smell his smell and witness his smile face to face.   

Join with me in prayer.  Pray that the doors will be swung open to grant Will and Bek a courtdate so that they can travel to Ethiopia to meet their son.  That the obstacles will be knocked out of the way.  That after the first visit that they will receive an equally quick second courtdate to bring him home to his forever family.  Forever. 

I admire their patience, perseverance, transparency, and how God has used them through this entire process.  Thanks for praying.  To learn more about their adoption journey, and how to pray even more specifically for them on a regular basis go to http://www.yestoadoption.blogspot.com/.

Blog-cation

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted.  I never go over a week.  So here's a quick recap of the past two weeks.

~ Sarah has a minor procedure on her forehead.

~ Then has an allergic reaction to Bactrin ( no more sulpha drugs!!) and enjoys a nice evening in the ER.  My bff Kim came to the rescue and kept me company until 2:30 am - she is my rockstar.

~ Quick trip to Kings Mountain to celebrate Jack's birthday

~ Matt's watched football and is prepping for the super bowl, but thankfully fantasy football is over!

~ Ella discovered Bear Grylls (Man vs Wild) on Netflix and I would trust her knowledge if I'm ever lost in the sahara desert.

~ Noah is still loving his 3DS

~ And Luke got his second taste of chocolate, a chocolate dipped animal cracker (I made chocolate covered strawberries and had extra choc left over - not gonna waste it so I dipped animal crackers in it - delicious!!)

~ I've been skyping - with Grandaddy Cagle,Mom, Bekah as we do the 30 day shred, and I even got to see a quick video of my precious nephew Israel!  (http://www.yestoadoption.blogspot.com/)

~ And we are currently having a blast with a quick JohnMark visit.



January Birthdays!

January is a month of birthdays.

January 2 - John Sr (Matt's Dad)

January 7 - Mary (Matt's mom), LJ, and Jack.  And Beau Buhler

January 8 - Noah Siak and Elvis.

January 9 - Buck Buhler

January 28 - Steve Scoggins (my Dad)

Getting together with everyone is impossible, but last weekend we were excited to get to spend their birthday day with Mary, LJ, and Jack.  We met at the Fuddruckers in Greenville and thankfully got to enjoy time together in the closed off back room (to say we are a loud group of people, is an understatement).  We enjoyed food, and playtime together.  It was a great night!

These cousins love each other!

If Benjamin got any cuter it would be illegal

I wish I could say Gabe won...

All 3 born on the same day:  Mom, Son, 1st Grandson

8 is Great

How have eight years have passed since the day you were born... My sweet Noah turned 8 years old on Sunday.  We celebrated in high fashion.  Church with Granny + family, Chilis for lunch (Noah's choice) with the whole crew, Chuck E Cheese to play some games, Target to spend some birthday money, McDonalds for dinner (once again, Noah's choice), and a birthday cake at home to end a fantastic birthday day. 

If you know my Noah, you know how awesome he is.  He's a first born because he is driven and strives to please Matt & I.  He is more smart than I was at this age.  He loves to be a big brother and I would be lost without his help.  He loves Jesus.  He laughs til he almost pees his pants on a regular basis.  His daddy is his hero.  I could go on and on and on about the incredible young man God blessed me with.  I can't believe how time flies by, and how quickly my "baby" is growing up.  I am so proud of him!!

9 Months Old!

Oh, Luke.  You have captured my heart.  Our little Lukey is in such a fun and dangerous stage of life.  He is a speed army crawler.  And just two weeks ago he started to pull up.  He falls backwards and bonks his head on a regular basis- we are trying to teach him how to fall and not hurt himself. He squeals with delight when he was happy.  And at the same time growls when he's happy too.  He also magically makes his mouth into the smallest little o shape and says "ohh" all the time.  Gerber Graduates Veggie puffs are on the menu daily - which makes Luke smell like a cool ranch Dorito all the time.   Daddy has become a big fascination of Luke this month.  When Matt comes home during the day Luke lights up and trys to jump from my arms to get to him.  He's not gained much weight in the past few months although he's gotten a lot taller, and battled the croup/bronchitis/ear infection/cold this month.  But he is healthy and oh so happy.  And perfect.

Look What I Can Do!

I am wishing time would stand still on a daily basis these days.  Luke is growing up so fast.  Noah's in such an awesome stage of life, and Ella, well, she's our princess.  Last week Luke decided he was going to start pulling up.  I know from experience what will follow soon behind this latest accomplishment... walking.  If only I could freeze time...

Heads Up

This is almost my favorite time of year.  You wanna know why?  The target Christmas toy clearance.  About 3 years ago I discovered it.  Target marks down a HUGE portion of their toy section all the way down to 70% off.  I'm talking about row after row.  Last year I got some AMAZING deals.  In fact, let me tell you+ about one... Toy Story Super Shooter games marked down from 17.99 to 3.74.  On the box was a $5 off coupon.  I walked out of the store paying $0 + they gave me the 1.26 overage towards the other toys I bought on super discount.  I bought 5 that day and used them as birthday presents throughout the year.  Speaking of which, this is the perfect sale to stock up on birthday presents for the year/christmas presents for next year.  My total for last year was about $50 out of pocket out of which I bought all of Ella's birthday presents (for November) nephew/nieces Christmas (19.99 vtech toys marked down to less than $5!), Luke's Christmas, 8 presents for my birthday gift closet, and some stuff for Noah.   

So enjoy this little heads up.  And let me know what deals you find.  The mark downs begin now (they start at 30%, then go to 50, then 70) and end usually by the third week of the month.  Enjoy!

Papa Siaks 60th Birthday

We got the priveledge of celebrating John Sr's 60th birthday at our house this past weekend.  Almost all of his kiddos were there + wives + grandkids.  We ate some great food, laughed a lot, watched some old home movies, listened to entirely too much talk about football (ahem), and ate an amazing cake.  The guys ended the weekend playing golf with their dad, one of their favorite things to do.  It was a great weekend!


The Birthday Boy & his present- a picture of all his kids.

 

Luke and his buddy Benjamin

The kids played outside & especially loved this jump on rocket toy.

Let's sing!