2-4-6-8 Who Do We Appreciate? Applebee's

The 2010-11 cheer season is in full swing. The girls are practicing hard this summer. Last Saturday, we had a team fundraiser at Applebees. They offer a pancake breakfast fundraiser. Each girl sold 10 tickets to the event. We served approximately 130 plates. It is a fun event for the girls. They rotated through the different jobs-meet, greet, and seat-wash dishes-serve. It is a great team builder as they get to know one another better and learn how to work together to get the job done.

Rebecca and her friends-Hannah, Lexi and Carl

My sister and her two boys were able to come and support Rebecca.

My partner, Doris-LOVE HER!!

The girls in their cute zebra outfits!!

Kids Wanted

We have been working for 3 months to become licensed to foster/adopt a group of siblings. They are not legally free for adoption, so we are going to start with foster care. The process is going slower than we would like. We really had hoped to have the kids before now. However, we ran into a small snag last week. We hope to have it resolved soon. In the meantime, our parents have been gracious in helping us with the bedding/decorations for the bedrooms. Donna, Eric's mom, bought the girl's comforter sets. They are precious. My mom made the curtains for their room.

My mom has gone crazy over the boy's room. His favorite color is red, so I decided to do a plain red comforter. Momma Hope bought it. She also go him a precious lamp. The base is a small baseball bat. You turn it on by pulling the whistle. She also bought sports stickers for the wall, bookends, a shelf, and a wall plaque-all in a sports theme. He loves to play sports!! She also bought a set of baseball sheets and made the curtains for his room.

We appreciate everything they have done. Now if we could just get the kids. I know they will love their new bedrooms.

Logan's Visit

We were finally able to get my youngest nephew, Logan, to visit us by himself. He loved coming so he could go swimming. He was a little fish. He played and played for hours, many times all by himself. Here are a few pictures of his fun:

Oodles of Noodle Fun

Fun with Uncle Eric

Just Chilling Out

Blowing Out the Air

Playing the Wii with one of my students, Connor

He fell asleep on the gym floor during cheer practice

We absolutely enjoyed having Logan. We hope it is the first of many more summers to come, just like his big brother, Jordan has done for 15 years.

Proud Aunt

My oldest nephew, Jordan, graduated from Madison High School today. I am so proud of the young man he has become. He was an honor graduate and plans to attend Western Carolina in the fall. I must say, he looked very handsome in his royal blue gown.

The Griffin Family

Jordan with Momma Hope and Grandad

Jordan and his girlfriend, Anna

The "Brown" Family

Show us some legs, boys.

I know that Jordan will become successful in whatever he does.

I love you, Jordan!!

June Gifts

It's that time of the year. We received 4 high school graduation announcements and 1 elementary school announcement. Place on top of that a wedding invitation. I'm the type of person that likes to get the "meaningful" gift. What to do on a budget? This is what I made the two girls:

One is going to UGA and the other to USC Aiken.

This side has their initials.

Filled with medicine cabinet needs: pain relievers, thermometer, antibiotic ointment, and band aides.

One of the graduates is my nephew, so he'll get a special prize. The other boy will get money.

Wow... a month full of gift giving. I'm proud of all of the graduates!!

A Little of This and A Little of That

Just a few updates on the Liles family:

1. We don't have any answers about the foster/adoption process. The biggest hold up is the North Carolina background check. We were able to obtain another letter from the Duplin

County Court that says we have no child protective service cases against us. We are waiting to hear from the SC DSS lawyer to see if that will suffice. We also have our home study to do.

We're just waiting to hear from the lady that does it. We had really hoped to have them by this coming Monday, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. We're just praying that it happens by this time next month-maybe sooner.

Rebecca and I worked hard last weekend getting her room put back together and the craft/computer room cleaned out. That was quite a task. Eric has painted the girls room. Now

we just have to move their beds in and buy all of the bedding for all 4 children.

2. Eric went on a fishing trip to Missouri last week. He went with a former co-worker. They had a great time. He actually caught the longest fish both days he was there. He won a $35 pot for the longest fish. : )

Here is the winning trout from the second day. Way to go, Eric!!

3. The 2009-10 school year has come to an end. I can't believe I now have an eighth grader. She had her awards ceremony today. I wasn't able to attend for the first year ever. It was right at our dismissal time, so Eric went instead of me. Rebecca won an award for A/B Honor roll for the entire year. She received a certificate and a medal. We are really proud of her. She works very hard for her grades. Eric had a difficult time getting her to pose for a picture. The one he was able to get was only because another mom/teacher was taking a picture of the group. She has great friends and does well in school. What more can parents ask for?

4. Eric is growing a garden. The plants below began as very small plants in 4 inch pots. They have really taken off. On the far left are cucumbers. Tomatoes are in the middle. Squash is on the right.

Here are the first "fruits" of his labors. I am looking forward to fresh veggies this summer. Yummy!!

5. Sights around the yard:

I love hydrangeas. We have this beautiful one on the side of our house. It has really taken off this year.

Eric planted two more near the pool last summer. This one is absolutely beautiful. I love the purple tint. I can't wait to watch it mature like the other one.

That's it for now. I'm looking forward to some rest, reading, family time, and crafting.