New Year's Eve at Chuck E Cheese...

Every year we meet up with our friends to hang out and exchange gifts at Chuck E Cheese. We all get to visit and the kids get to play. Fun for everyone! Mia got to ride some rides with Allison and Thane and Seth were all over the play gym with Grant! Caitlin and Maedline were all about the games and getting tickets to cash in. We all had a great lunch and loved our gifts! But most importantly we loved getting to spend time with our dear friends The Umphreys! After our Chuck E Fest, we ended up at Aunt Karen's house for more gifts and an evening for the grown-ups! We ate, played games and rang in the new year with our best friends! What a blessing! We look forward to the new year and all the great times we'll have together!

Christmas Morning At Home...

We woke up at about 8 am to an eager crowd! Everyone was ready to make a mad dash to the family room! I love watching the children as they come down the stairs in anticipation of what is under the tree. This year, Santa was VERY good to us all! Caitlin got the cell phone she asked for, Madeline got the entire SpiderWick Collection, Thane got the Lego Millenium Falcon, Seth got a Thomas Lego Set and Mia got a Playskool Bubblegum peek-a-block Ball toy! Mommy and Daddy also unwrapped alot of goodies. We both got lots of CD's and DVD's this year! We look forward to catching up on some of our TV shows through DVD! :) Too much fun! We finshed out the morning with big hugs and thank-you's and then we were off to Grandma Nancy's for a big lunch with the extended family! We ended the day visiting one more time at Grandma Roxie's! We are so blessedto have so much family to visit with!

Christmas Eve at Gma Roxie & Papaw Dan's

Christmas at Grandma Roxie and Papwa Dan's house is always an event. There are 9 grandchildren and 7 adults there! This year we also had 2 friends! So it was hectic and loads of fun. The tree was absolutely overflowing with presents! Caitlin loved her suede jacket from Aunt Tina and her new bling bling jeans from Grandma and Grandpa! Madee loved her new Disney Mix Click MP3 Player from Grandma and Grandpa. Thane Loved all his gifts especially the new Xbox games. Seth loves helping everyone else unwrap their gifts, but really liked his Walmart Semi Truck! Mia of course loved the paper and boxes. She got some nice new clothes and toys though. My dad was suprised to receive a new Dell Laptop and my mom got a solid 18kt gold watch! WOOHOO. I can't wait to borrow that one! ;)

As always my mom fixed an incredible meal and we had fun watching all of the children's faces as they opened each gift. Christmas really is my favorite time of year!

Christmas at Gma Nancy's and Papaw Jim's

We exchanged gifts with Grandma Nancy and Papaw Jim and it was great. Mia was more interested in the paper, but got some neat things. Caitlin got an Orlando Bloom calendar, andDigital Dance Revolution for xbox. Madeline loves her new Kareoke Revolution for xbox and her American Girl things for Molly. Thane was excited to get lots of new Xbox games and a signed picture from Tony Stewart. [Mommy went to high school with Tony and called in a favor from a friend :) ] Seth loved his new Lego Knights Kingdom playsets. We also got a second xbox for downstairs. This way, the girls will have a chance to play their new games and not have to be in the boys room to do it! :) It was a great night for all!

Caitlin was also cheering for her school in the Holiday Tourney. So, we were at a game, then home for gifts, and back to another game! The girl bulldogs were out the first game, but the boy 'dogs' made it to the second game where they played a valiant game to lose only by one! Maybe next year we will bring home the holiday tourney banner!

Christmas Party Go-ers!!!

Well, we are officially in the holiday countdown!!! We have attended a few Holiday parties and the kids have the 'present bug'! Every day it's, 'How many days until Christmas???' We have a Christmas countdown calendar, but I am the only one who can read it. :) ha ha.

All the kids got to see Santa, and it was Mia's first time! She did really well and didn't cry at all! She just looked at him like, 'What's with all the fuzz on your face?" It was cute!

We went to The Harley Davidson Chapter Christmas Party and the boys got Remote control cars, Madee got a doodle bear, Mia got a toy piano and Caiti got a bag of goodies! We also attended a friend's party where each kid got a bag of candy and goodies! They are loving it! A big thank you to those hosting the parties! We love to see, and visit with all our friends and family!

Tree trimming....

Cheek out these reindeer! hahaha What a fun night tree trimming is. Yeah right! 'Mommy is it my turn, he already had a turn...hey, that's MY ornament! Daddy can I help, oops, sorry, I was being careful...." I am sure some of these comments will sound familiar to you as well! :) Now, the night did go just like that, however, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love these memory making moments with my kids!

I made the executive decision to put up 2 trees this year. One for all the children's ornaments and hand made beauties and one for the front room that has all the more expensive ornate blown glass ornaments. I call it my Mary Kay tree! It is decorated in mostly pink!

You will have to come by and check them out! We hope you enjoy your tree trimming festivities!

'Thanes'-giving Day...

Well we just had one of our favorite holidays! 'Thanes'-giving Day was a success. We have had this new holiday for a couple years now. It all started, when Gavin mentioned that Thanksgiving Day was coming up and suggested that we change it to Thane's giving day, so that Thane would have to give him a gift. This of course was a joke.

Well, Thane got really excited about being able to give gifts to his loved ones. He was so excited that he did not quit asking me about it. So, I finally took him to the local dollar store and he proceeded to choose gifts for each member of our family, and our extended family. We took them home and he wrapped them all with love and care, packed them in a backpack, and waited to 'deliver' them.

On the next day, 'Thanes'-giving Day, we went to our usual holiday meal. After we ate, Thane passed out his gifts and watched everyone loving their gifts. He was smiling from ear to ear. It was so sweet to watch! He was so proud of himself and so happy!

Now, he looks forward to it every year. He often asks, "how many days until 'Thanes'-giving, mommy?" I hope you all enjoy receiving these gifts as much as he loves giving them to you. What a sweetie! I don't know how long he will want to celebrate this holiday, but we will encourage him to do it as long as he likes! What a joy it has been to see him give to others!

Happy Birthday Girls!!

We had a great party for the girls! Mia is 1, Madee turned 9 and Caitlin will be 12! They are all growing up so fast. We got to share this day with lots of family and friends. Mia went face first into her first birthday cake, and hammed it up for everyone. Mia got a couple new DVD's, some clothes and a shape sorter! The girls got new bedding and curtains for thier rooms, some perfume, a couple of purses, and some new jammies. They each had a friend spend the night. What a day! Thanks to everyone who came! We love spending time with you!

Mommy goes to Colorado....

I just got back from my annual Mary Kay Fall retreat in Colorado. It is hosted by my national Sales Director Jan Harris. It was the best retreat I have ever been to! We also stopped on our drive down from Denver to Colorado Springs, at the Garden of the God's Park. The scenery there is so beautiful.

We saw the 'Balancing Rock' and Karen and I were somehow coerced into climbing up to it for a picture. The only problem is that we were in high heels! You should've seen some of the looks we were getting! ha! We managed though, and now I have this really great picture of us 'holding' up the rock! hee hee!

The weather there was great, it snowed one morning but, it melted off by the afternoon. I got alot of great training from some of the Top Directors in our area! What an awesome trip!

Our Unit was #5 Most Improved so far this year! Woohoo! Kerry was also #9 in the Top 10 Court of Recruiting! We are off to a really great start in this Seminar Year!

Trick or Treat...

Well, there were quite a few stops on our Halloween tour this year! We just load into the car and make the rounds. After all, as we tell the kids, 'It's not about going to all the houses in our neighborhood and filling our buckets with candy, It's about spending time and making memories with the ones we love.' (Of course, we have a big bucket of candy to show for it though! haha) We all got into the spirit as you can see. Gavin was all festive in his orange shirt, I dressed up as a witch, Mia is a sunflower, Caitlin is Padme Amidala, Madee is Princess Leia, Thane is a clone trooper, and Seth is Jango Fett. We went with a Star Wars theme this year, if you can't tell ;0). The kids wanted Mia to be a Star Wars character too, but just couldn't dress her up as yoda! Ha! Enjoy! They sure do look sweet!

Happy Birthday Boys!!!

We had a great birthday party for the boys. I think we had record attendance! haha The theme, of course, was Star Wars. Thane even dressed as a Jedi. We always love visiting with our friends and family. The boys were thrilled with all their gifts and got to work playing with them immediately!! Thanks to everyone who came to help us make them feel special!

Caitlin is a Cheerleader!!!

Caitlin made the Rockcreek cheerleading team!! It was pretty heated competition as there were only 10 spots and 20 girls who tried out!! We are so proud of her, and we know she is proud of herself! Here are a few pictures of her in her uniform and in action at her first game.....

Rockcreek's colors are black and gold and thier mascot is a bulldog. Her games are every Wenesday night and our team is doing really well so far with only one loss. How much fun is that?? I 'm sure if you make it to a game you won't miss us. Our family takes up almost a whole section of bleachers! hahaha!

Pumpkin Fun...

We attended the Pumpkin Festival at the nearby Whipker's Family Market. It was loads of fun. We got to find our way through a corn maze, participate in a pumpkin seed spitting contest, pet some animals, go on a hayride and pick our own pumpkins! What a day!

Thane was so funny in the corn maze. He was our official navigator. He was so excited he was almost running through it, and Seth was hot on his heels! We would end up at a dead end and he would quickly say, "OH, I knew it, we should have went the other way!" I was so tickled with him. He was smiling ear to ear the whole time!

Caitlin, Grandma Nancy and I, decided to enter the pumpkin seed spitting contest. Caitlin was first an didn't spit it much farther than her feet! haha. It was funny to watch, until it was our turn. My seed fared pretty well and so did Grandma's, or so we thought until the man next to us let his rip! His was way out there and he took home the prize. (A free pumpkin!)


Next we were off on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. We were going to each select our own 'perfect pumpkin'. Mia decided to nap for a bit and stayed at the barn with Grandma and Grandpa, so I was on the lookout for two orange beauties! ha! As you can see, we were successful in our quest! All of the kids picked pumpkins so big they almost couldn't carry them. Which broke rule number 1: You must be able to carry your own pumpkin. Oh well, we all made it back to the car with no cracks!

After the kids played a few games, it was off to have thier faces painted! Madeline also decided to go on a pony ride. Her pony's name was Joey. She loved it! I couldn't convince the boys to try it though!


We ended our visit with a trip through the market for a couple of beautiful mums and a caramel apple for mom! (her favorite treat this time of year!)

Once we were home, of course we had to decorate the pumpkins! The kids were hard at work preparing them for thier porch debuts! This is my very favorite season of the year, and we have been enjoying every minute of it!

Mia goes to school.....

Mia had her first week at preschool! Now, I know you are thinking, "Wait a second, she's too small for preschool!" She is just in the Mom's Morning out Program. I am the Lead Teacher in the Toddler class on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. So, she goes to the Infant room on those days. She is loving it. There are other kids for her to play with, and of course some of my co-workers, who just spoil her rotten for the 3 hours!! lol ;) She had her picture taken like all the other 'big kids'. It is so sweet. I will post her and Seth's official school photos soon.

Caitlin has been keeping busy with her cheerleading practices and her piano and flute lessons. Madeline is doing great with her guitar as well. She also met a new friend in her class. This little girl just moved in on our street too.

Madee is excited to get to know her better. Both girls had their last fast-pitch softball game on Sunday. They are glad to be done with this season, and Madee is looking forward to next season!

Thane and I worked on a Science project this evening. We put leaves between wax paper for a 'window' display. He had alot of fun collecting the leaves from all the different types of trees in our yard. Seth of course made one too 'just for fun'.

Seth has been really busy helping me with Mia. He is the official stroller driver. He also is on 'binky' patrol. He makes sure she keeps up on her kiss quota per hour too! haha!

So, as you can see, we have been keeping busy. There is never a dull moment here! We are looking forward to the fall festivals that are coming up. Stay tuned for the pumpkin patch picks!:)

Mia Grace

Well, we are finally home with Mia! It has been a long process, but very rewarding. She is such a sweetie. This is our first family photo opportunity.

Please stay tuned as we will start regularly updating this site!

First day of school!!!

Well, we got everybody to school on time! Here they are waiting on the bus. I don't know if I have ever seen it rain on the first day of school! I followed the bus to school (not because I'm crazy, I volunteered!) to help the new Kindergarteners and First Graders find their classrooms. Man it was really coming down. Seth is getting excited about his school starting on September 7th. We'll have to put one of him up on his first day! (That is if daddy remembers to take the camera!) We hope your first day of school went well!

Lot's of love-

Wilsons :)

Back to School Shopping....UGH!

Well, I don't know about you....but I am about all shopped out! There, I have said the unspeakable! You all know me, and my affinity for shopping...but taking 4 kids shopping for all their different needs (and wants) in a 2 day period...well, that my friends is suicide! Because of our time restrictions and travel with our adoption, we hadn't done ANY shopping for school until this week. We have officially completed it! I usually spread it out and have it all done way before now. We have visited every mall there is from Greenwood to Louisville! And I am sure Caitlin has tried on every pair of jeans they have! You can see from the picture, she finally found the right fit! Stay tuned we'll have first day of school pics next week!

Welcome!!!

Welcome to our new family site. We wanted a way to share our day to day 'stuff' with you. There is alot going on, even when we aren't traveling half way around the world to make an addition! We hope you enjoy our site and watching our kids grow up!

BIG LOVE-

Gavin, Sonja, and kiddo's

nevermind....