First Day of School

Well, where do I begin. We were told the bus would arrive at 6:10 am so we went out at 6:05, needelss to say the bus never showed up till 6:25. I really don't like the beginning of the year. Gerry is working 3rd shift for the next two weeks so he went out at 2:30 to wait for Andre to get off the bus but it didn't show up (which is only 5 minutes away) they were late leaving the school so Andre didn't get home until 3:00. Last year we had a lot of problems with the bus situation, they know me very well. At least this year he was dropped off at the right bus stop and not some where else. When he finally got home he said he had a nice day but his teacher was crazy lol. Leave it to my son can you tell how this year is going to be. He said he wants to change teachers but I hate to tell him he is stuck with his teacher and I pray this teacher will be the best teacher he has. Needless to say homework tonight didn't go so well. I will ask everyone for prayer on this. We had a talk before bed this evening and I just hope and pray he gets what I had to say to him. I will be praying for a better day tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

First Day of School 8-20-08

I still can't believe that Andre has started school already. It seems like yesterday he just got out. Now he is headed into the 4th grade at Carolina Springs Elementary. Andre was a little scared and excited to go back to school. He is nervous about his teacher and the homework he will have. He has a male teacher who is known for not putting up with any bad behavior and giving out a lot of homework. I pray that the homework won't be as bad as we are thinking it is going to be. I sit here and I am amazed how he has changed over the years. It brings tears to think he is 9, he isn't my little baby boy any more and believe me he lets me know that. But like I told him he will always be my baby no matter how old or how tall he gets. lol
I guess this is his scared look. LoL
Andre has taken it upon himself to shop for himself now. Which was fine with me. Last year he was into the camouflage, greens, browns and blacks but this year more preppy look.

Andre and Hailee on the couch. Boy does she like it on the couch. I was told she was only in a cage so I think she is in heaven now. She is a princess and you should hear her when she is outside it sounds like a kid screaming when she wants in.

Look who is jealous, Honey, she fit her big old bottom in Hailee's little bed. lol

The kids surprise

I just told the kids we were getting another dog. We were blessed to get a maltese named Hailee. The kids had been after us to get another small dog. The look on their sweet little faces make it all worth it.
This is our newest member of the family, Hailee. This was taken in the car right after we got her. She had traveled all the way from Flordia so she wasn't too sure what was going on.

Hailee at home in her new bed. I hate to say it she is spoiled and doesn't seem to use it too much now. Someone is always holding her or putting her on the couch. Hailee has become Andre's dog, she loves him and sleeps with him. He is tickled to death that he finally has a dog who wants to be with him all the time. Until the other night I was in bed and he brought her in our bed and said I don't feel like sleeping with her tonight. lol So needless to say she slept with us and so did our other dog who is much bigger, Honey, cause she is jealous. lol

Tara praying

Tara praying, how sweet it is to see my sweet little praying with all her heart. It brings tears of joy to see this.

Last night of VBS

Tara singing at VBS

Last night of VBS

This week the kids had VBS at our church. Not only was it a blessing for the kids but Gerry and I was able to spend some much needed time together too. We were actually able to go out to eat without hearing mom, mom,mom or I don't like it here can we go to McDonalds? I really don't like going to those places but only do it for the kids lol. But just to let everyone know we DID NOT go to any McDonalds or Burger King thank God. The kids had a lot of fun at VBS and came home very tire. These pictures are from thier last night at VBS, they sang all the songs they learned. As you will see Tara totally enjoyed singing but Andre didn't. So needless to say he just stood there. But the good news is Andre wasn't the only one not singing. Afterwards the church had hot dogs and cake and sat off fireworks.

Andre enjoying the water slide and running around with his friends. Tara just got done eating an ice cream incase you can't see it on her face, lol. Marget and Sheila sitting around trying to stay cool. Good luck girls it won't work lol.

VBS kick off Calvay Chapel

Here is Tara having fun jumping. She enjoyed it so much but only went in it one time. But it was sooooo hot on Sunday it really was hard to enjoy being there. It had rained just before the kick off and it was sooooo muggy.

Tara at Nana and Papa's house while taking care of Nana. She looks like she is being sneaky about something. She has to be up to something probably chasing the cat's or dog who knows with my sweet little Tara. I love her hair, thanks to her big brother. Andre loves to play with her hair and does really well doing it for me.

Little Miss Tara

Our very first picture of our little spicy girl, Tara, known in China as Luo Xin Xiang. We received her referral picture on September 3, 2005. As I sat there looking at that sweet little face I just cried and couldn't stop saying how beautiful she was. All while I was on the phone with CCAI. They are a wonderful agency and I am so glad we used them for our adoption. This sweet little girl was born on December 6, 2004 and is located in Hunan Province. We traveled to China in October.


Tara Lee
December 6, 2004
Hunan, China

Andre at Lake Erie in PA. We went to PA to help out my mom, who broke a toe and needed surgery. I was able to get away for a little while to take the kids to the beach for a while. He has been taking swimming lessons so he enjoyed going into the water without mom:( He is at an age that I am finding hard to find a happy middle. He is growing up and I want to keep him little so he tells me about it when I get a little too over bearing. lol I just love him and I'm growing with him too.

Sweet little Andre

This is the first picture we received of Andre. It killed me to know he was over there without us and couldn't wait to bring him home. I loved that sweet little boy from the moment we were told about him and couldn't wait to hold him for the first time. He was the most percious little boy I had ever seen. This picture was taken by Suzanne, she is the person who helped find him for us. Actually, there was a lot of people that was involved. We are very grateful to everyone who helped us adopt him. I don't dought for a second that God was involved from the begining. We had a tough time but in the end God made sure Andre came home where he belonged. Andre was born December 19, 1998 in Russia. We traveled to Russia in December, what an experience it was. I ended up sick, I believe from the heat on the air plane ( it was so hot I went to the restroom to cool down). They believe keeping everyone hot. Gerry ended up taking care of everything, exchange of money, food, paper work ect. while I was sick our first night in Russia. Actually if it weren't for Gerry and whole lot of prayer I don't know what I would have done. We had to go through some tough process to get Andre and we ended staying in Russia a lot longer than expected, three weeks.