What's Happening at the Liles' House

We recently took a trip to Lenoir City, TN to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. He informed me that I need to update my blog because he doesn't do facebook. Here's to you, Dad.

Life with 4 kids is amazing, a whirlwind, busy, crazy, and so many other words I can't describe. We are enjoying the children. They have definitely changed our world-for the good!! They pretty much go to school, go to after school care, do homework, and attend Rebecca's cheerleading events. We are signing them up for the Upward Bound basketball/cheerleading program at a local church. I think they are excited to get to participate in something.

Rebecca had her first cheer competition this past weekend. It was a very small competition (2 squads in her division). They came in 2nd. It was a great opportunity for the 7th graders to see what a competition is like on a very small scale. It also gave us a chance to see what kinds of improvements we can make. We have 5 more to go. We hope to increase our score each time.

Eric is doing a great job playing Mr. Mom. He picks up the kids most nights and gets them started on homework. I don't know what we would do without him.

I think everything finally caught up with me yesterday. I came down with strep throat. NOT FUN!!

Cheerleading, homework, and kids about sums up our life right now. Sorry there's nothing more exciting to post.

Life Is Good

It has been too long since my last post. A lot has happened in the Liles' house. On August 5th, we were blessed with 3 beautiful foster children. We had been working since March to get them in our home. Doubling our family size has been quite an experience. One that I wouldn't trade for the world.

We were blessed by friends and co-workers that showered us with the necessitates for everyday living with 6 people: laundry detergent, food, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, games, and gift cards. They helped make our financial transition much easier. Thank you to everyone!!

School started on August 19th. Eric was a trooper taking each of them to their Meet the Teacher night. Because I had to be in my classroom to meet my new little ones, he took one of them at a time to meet their teacher. Everyone at the school was so impressed with Eric. The kids are in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. They have adjusted nicely and love their teachers. We are having to learn how to balance the homework, but life is good.Rebecca is in the 8th grade this year. I can't believe it. She was excited about school starting and being "The Big Dog" at the school. She and her friends couldn't wait to be able to stay in the cafeteria in the mornings instead of having to wait in the hallway for school to begin. Oh the things that excited them. : )Here she is on her first day of middle school.

Rebecca has been an amazing big sister. She really helps us out with the night time baths and bed time. She loves to play the Wii with them and straighten the girl's hair. The hardest part for her has been having to share dinner "talk" time with them. We still manage to take her and do small little things with just her. I think(know) she likes that special attention.

Rebecca and I have also been VERY busy with cheerleading. We practice 4 days a week. It is

very time consuming for me. I love coaching and the girls. I can't wait to see what this year holds for us as a squad.

Eric's office is doing a management class. He goes in early on Wednesday mornings to learn how to become a better manager. He even has to study at night. It's kind of cute.

We aren't allowed to post photos of the kids on the internet. Sorry about that. Trust me when I say that they are beautiful children and we are enjoying them very much!!

That's it for now. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts next time.