The Medal Ceremony

Winners all around!

Standing victorious...

Olympic Moments

 Future Olympians :: 2028

Swistak Family

Williams' Family

Celebrating a goal in soccer

Getting ready to swim

Diving into the pool

Freestyle swimming

In the starting blocks :: Ready for the 100 meter dash

Water Archery with Mr. Blake

 Fencing :: A fan favorite

Olympic Ready

We are ready for a party... 

{Alekzander is still convinced that its a birthday party}

Its the third gathering for the viewing of the 

Olympic Opening Ceremonies with some sweet friends.

The first time in 2008 {sans children}, we ate Chinese take-out 

and watched the ceremonies when they were in Beijing, 

then we watched the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games 

{this time with one toddler and one newborn} 

and feasted on cuisines and beverages from several different countries.

This year, there has been quite a lot of excitement
and build-up shared among the 'big kids' over this event.  

The little ones {now almost 4, 2.75, and 1.5} 

don't even know what they're in for.

Custom-designed Olympic T-shirts

{Designed by Andrew produced until 3 a.m. on the eve of the ceremonies}

Countries represented include:

Australia :: Lauryn

The Gambia :: Blake

United States :: Alekzander, Carter, and Kate

Slovakia :: Andrew

Poland :: Ashley

Bound-to-be-delicious :: Authentic British Dessert 

{A favorite of my favorite British friends}

Homemade butterscotch has a gold medal in my book!

{Fish and chips, bangers and mash, and shepards pie are also on the menu.}

{Finn McMissile & Holley Shiftwell - British cars in Alekzander's favorite movie}

We are looking forward to gold medal entertainment 

planned and sponsored by

The Smiling Coast of Gambia

including Watergun Archery, 100 meter dash, and much more...

Bubbly Moon

 Not much is sweeter than a clean, blue-eyed babe

 Pretending to be Santa Claus

Jealous of these lashes

Full Moon

Discovery by Sea

 Under the sea in the yellow submarine...

Riding the waves on a speed boat...

Discovery on Land

 Discovering the lay of the land via ambulance, firetruck, and compact car...

Exploring rural life on the farm by working with his hands...

 Searching for only the finest ingredients at an upscale Charlotte grocery store...

Discovery by Air

 When I grow up, I'll fly my own plane,

I'll soar from Charlotte to London to Barcelona, Spain.

Alekzander's most favorite part of Discovery Place Kids was the Discovery Airline's "big board."  I thought for sure he would enjoy rearranging the board {like Curious George does in his favorite story, Curious George Takes a Train}, but he actually preferred clearing off the entire board.  He was mad when his buddy came to help him by putting up the signs.  The best we can figure is that he was trying to make sense of all the chaos by 'organizing' and starting with a clean slate.  Such a silly boy!

The Guide Book

 

 

For better or for worse, 

I try to let my actions speak louder than my words 

when it comes to my faith ... 

Alekzander may not be shy about this topic at all.  

In fact, he may become a Bible pusher as he has a new fascination with his Bible.  

It came with us to the park yesterday and Lowe's today 

{the lady at the checkout counter was nice enough to give him 

a special little bag for his Bible that he put on the counter 

so that it wouldn't get wet in the downpour}.  

He says its his "Guide Book" and tells him where to go.  

...continually learning truth from a two year old.

A New Best Friend

Its been a while since I experienced true heartbreak, and I won't soon be forgetting the effects...

Andrew and I were on our first trip away from Alekzander... all the way across the country in California.  My mom got to come play with Alekzander; aside from his innocent questions, "Mommy, you stay with me?" at bedtime the nights before I left, he was as happy as could be with his Mia in the room next door.  Two and a half days of CA sunshine and fun, we received a phone call that turned our world momentarily upside down {and later another phone call that forever rocked my world}.  The dogs got freaked out by a stranger in the yard, started to fight, and in the craziness, Kaila bit my mom twice.  Badly.  A trip to the ER and a phone call to Animal Control later, Kaila was taken away by CMPD.  Hospital/city protocol -- dog bites are followed with a mandatory 10 day quarantine.  {The event that has stuck with Alekzander and come out of his semi-consciousness in 3 a.m. ramblings :: Why Kaila in police car? Why Kaila mean to Mia?}

Syra took a vacation of her own to be boarded for the final 2.5 days of our trip; when reunited with Andrew and Alekzander, Alekzander said, "Syra happy."  She was glad to be back, and I know Alekzander was happy to have her back at home.  He has been extremely in touch with everyone's emotions lately and will give us "feelings forecasts" - though mostly for Syra.  Apparently, sometimes she is sad, but it is her first time without her sister in the house.  Sometimes I am sad when I hear only one doggy dinner being devoured and when, late at night, I start playing the what if games and wonder if Kaila was afraid of the fireworks, or if anyone was kind to her that day.  Breaks my heart over and over.

Today we found out that Kaila, after her 10 day stay and evaluation, is able to be released from Animal Control's care.  Unfortunately, she will not be released back in to our care for the benefit of our family's safety and the dogs' well being and health.  I really, truly believe she would never bite one of us and I feel major guilt over this, but it was a decision that had to be made; the dogs had fought pretty viciously with each other a few other times before {over the course of the last 4 years}, but we kept giving them second and third chances ... and giving ourselves time to love them better and love them harder.  Immediately I started worrying if she will get 'zabavas' lovingly showered into her cage by another toddler; if someone will even give her a chance like we did; if she will be hugged and brushed.  The adoption agency from which we got her 6 years ago is going to foster her and try to find her a good home.  So hopefully she will feel love again and learn to trust another male and be the faithful and protective companion to another female.

I shouldn't find it surprising that my two-year old would have the most healing, calming effect on me.  Persistent, "Not cry, Mommy.  What happened?" and "Not be sad, Mommy" to   the tune of 50 times in a row finally sunk in.  And his requests to play cars and "Be happy" could not be denied.  I will miss her - my first furry baby of my grown-up life - and the tears may come again, but the fortunate thing about this situation was that it wasn't worse than it was; Mia won't have to have surgery; Kaila will get a second chance at life; and Alekzander has gained a new best friend.

He has been overbearingly sweet to Syra:  building her beds, reading her books, talking to her, hugging her...  She follows him up and down the stairs and kisses him like crazy.  I think she and Alekzander are compensating for their buddy, Kaila.  Even without saying so, I know they miss her too.

 

As our family adjusts to one less dog in the house, I know the tears are trivial in comparison to other families who are dealing with the loss of a loved one. Though not a family member of mine, one little girl, who is now in Heaven, certainly had a piece of my heart.  Two hours after we heard about the commotion at home, I got a second phone call that rocked my world. One of my students drowned several hours earlier during her vacation at Smith Mountain Lake.  My focus and concern was shifted from our family to theirs.  The Ruckers lost their precious 12 year old Maddie; perhaps the sweetest girl I have ever met.  I worked one-on-one with Maddie since last summer and immediately got wrapped up in her sweet spirit.  Unabashedly, she was my favorite ...  I looked forward to being greeted by a shy, sweet hug, listening to her stories, hearing her heart for her family, and watching her experience success after success in the most humble fashion.  For such a little thing, she left a lot of love behind her.  While the visitation and funeral services were heartbreaking, we are confident she is on the lap of Jesus, telling him stories about her horse, Shadow.  She is riding one of God's creatures, fearless, free from sickness, smiling wide as the Heavenly winds blow her hair; without a doubt, she is breathing down life lessons like:

'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

{Alfred Lord Tennyson}

 

and "Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."

 {Kahlil Gibran}

Tears have come from a deep place of love over the course of this last week and a half.  While I would certainly like to change the circumstances of both situations, I would not change the way I have loved.  If anything, I know now how much more love I need to share.

G.I. Bear

 

We're so proud of Uncle Jeremy.  

He's a big deal in the Airforce 

{and a big deal in our hearts}.

He sent Alekzander this special 

Airforce bear for his birthday ... 

... and we almost missed a pretty cute photo opportunity!

{Ignore the tears, he was mad that we told him 

that he couldn't wear the jacket as PJs!}