POTD #31 - Make-A-Wish Spa Day

Last night, Kennedy and two of her friends from her ballet class, Angelina and Symphony, got to be sorority girls for the evening! :) The Chi Omega house at Vanderbilt held a spa night for all the Make-A-Wish girls and their friends in the Nashville area. They got their finger and toenails painted, ate a bunch of yummy snacks, hung out and watched some TV, and danced!!!

Kennedy, of course, loved to show off her dance moves for all the Chi Omega girls. She may have even taught them a move or two! haha :) The girls in the house were amazing with all the Wish kids and their friends! They treated them like royalty and you could tell they were all having so much fun! I didn't even see Kennedy for a lot of the night, she was off being a sorority sister! :) Who knows, maybe in another 12 years she will be pledging Chi Omega for real! Thanks girls and Make-A-Wish for a wonderful evening. Kennedy is still looking at her pretty nails today! :)

Kennedy and Angelina getting their nails painted... 

 Kennedy's fingers are sparkly! :)

Symphony, Kennedy and Angelina enjoying their spa treatment! 

Time to do the toenails! :)

Then Kennedy wanted to paint some of the big girls' nails!! They were great sports!

Admiring their beautiful nails! 

Time to dance!! :)

The girls got some great dance partners! 

My little performer and the girls having fun!

The girls in front of the Chi Omega House at the end of the evening

One last pic of the girls and their nails and then we took off to the Cheesecake Factory for a quick bite to eat! 

Love these girls!!!

And God Said... "Wait."

I know that many of you have already heard about the Hook Family's court case that happened yesterday (in the middle of the night our time), but just in case you haven't, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about it here so you all could be on your knees again tonight! Clark and Angie Hook got to go see Evan the other day (I think it was day before yesterday, Russia time... this whole time thing throws me off!) and Angie said that Evan remembered her from her first trip and ran right into her arms...

Mother and Daughter... a beautiful sight!

Yesterday was court and, like the Davis family, Clark and Angie were in there for over 5 1/2 hours. Clark had a speech all prepared about why this judge should approve their adoption. Prayerfully, she and the prosecutor listened. Closely. 

However, there was a problem with one of their American documents, and though their facilitator tried to fix it, the time difference made it hard... not much is open here in the middle of the night! Anyway, the judge granted them a continuance for a day until today (the middle of the night here tonight) to see if they could fix whatever this problem is.

SO once again, pray, pray, pray!!! Angie said that it was evident that the people in the court room had no idea that kids with Down syndrome could have a good life or function in society. Pray that they can prove to them they can! The judge's decision will of course not only decide Evan's case, but also have a huge impact on Kirill who's appeal is underway right now. The Davis' learned that the judge has the power to change her decision without a long, drawn out appeal process, so please be praying for that as well. These two cases, also affect a third family, the Moreno Family. They are currently waiting for their court date to this same region to see this same judge who will decide the fate of their adoption of Baby J. They are relying fully on God... all three of these families... and it's a beautiful sight to see. Please join with them in prayer for their sweet children to be home soon, where they belong.

POTD #30 - Randomness!

I am running out of ideas for pictures! LOL I'm glad tomorrow is the end of the month! Here are some leftover random pictures from throughout the month. Enjoy the randomness! ;)

Some of Kameron's drawings... I wish I had a better shot of these!

Kennedy's chicken... she adds more and more detail every time she draws it... 

Look at it now compared to December... 

The girls were dancing

Sister hug :)

Sweet boy

This is Keeghan's alien... hate that the glare was on the screen! Love my artistic kids! :)

Reece's Rainbow, Twitter and Patricia Heaton

What in the world could these three things have in common? Well, you see, it all started with Kirill... word is spreading about this sweet little guy, far and wide, and somehow Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond, The Middle) got word of him and looked into Reece's Rainbow... here's what she had to say about what she found...

"I know there can be big pitfalls to social media, but I will be forever grateful to the tweeter who alerted me to the work of Reece's Rainbow.  I clicked on a link to see the faces of those little neglected angels who have passed on, and immediately started weeping.  It was so heartbreaking.  Sometimes we feel helpless in the face of such horror, but because of the example of Andrea Roberts, we see that, with a lot of hard work and perseverance, there is something we can do. 

Between work and family, I don't have a lot of time.  But I do have financial means and a public profile.  God charges us to use our circumstances, whatever they may be, to share His love with the world.  I had just hit the 10,000 mark for Twitter followers, and the idea hit me - give $10,000 dollars - one dollar for every "Tweaton" who follows Reece's Rainbow.  Accomplish supporting this great organization along with spreading awareness. So far, in a few hours, RR has about 500 new followers, and I hope many more to come.   

I am involved in supporting various charitable organizations, but I have recently been asking God to show me where he wants me to be.  I think Reece's Rainbow is an answer to that prayer.  These kids have had very few people to be their voice, but Andrea Roberts has changed all that. I am so grateful to be a part of her work."

And so, remember when I said to watch for ways how you can help? Well, I still want you to pray, of course! PLEASE! But, you can also help out in another huge way! You can go follow Reece's Rainbow on Twitter. Don't have a twitter account? It's really easy to set one up. You don't even have to ever use it if you don't want to! Just set it up and click on the Reece's Rainbow page and hit "Follow". That's it. They could get up to $10,000 with Patricia's help! While you're at it, it might be nice to follow Patricia, too! ;) Thank you Patricia for supporting Reece's Rainbow in this amazing way that most people just aren't able to, and thank you all for helping out by following Reece's Rainbow!

POTD #29 - The Littlest Sincess (Repost)

This story and these pictures were originally posted on November 11, 2008 when Kennedy was asked to be a flower girl in our friend Kristin's wedding. I thought it would be fun to post them again for those who haven't seen them yet... or for those who just wanted to see them again. :)
Once upon a time in a land not so far away, there lived a little Sincess.
One day she was invited to a royal luncheon...

where she was sure to mind her manners and etiquette...

and she was told she would be going to a royal ball!
The little Sincess was SO excited!
It would be her first ball and her best party EVER!

The next day, the royal hairdresser came to fix the Sincess's hair...

while the little Sincess kept an eye on everyone around her,
you know, to make sure they were doing their jobs!

When the royal hairdresser finished the Sincess's hair,
she placed on her head, the royal tiara.

"What do you think?" The little Sincess asked.
Everyone in the land agreed she was indeed, very beautiful.

When the Sincess arrived at the palace, she changed into her royal gown...

"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed, "I'm so PRETTY!"

She curtsied for her loyal subjects...

And of course, made sure they all stayed on task...

You could tell that the little Sincess just felt SO beautiful...

She even signed that she is a "beautiful girl"...


Soon, another Princess came out with some royal flowers
and the little Sincess asked to see them.

"Oh... they're so wonderful," the Sincess thought.


Back in the waiting room, the Sincess got hungry, so she had some Royal crackers...

And a drink made for a Sincess...

Then she signed "Thank You" to the Royal chef...


The Sincess then went to talk to the Royal Prince...

Then she took a portrait with the other Princesses...

The Prince tried to get in on the action, too!

Then the beautiful Sincess sat and waited patiently...


It was finally time for the Sincess to go outside for the Ball.
She waved to all her fans...

She checked on the rose petals in her basket...

And she smiled for the royal photographers...


She posed with the other Princesses for some royal portraits...




Then she found a handsome Prince to talk to...

And another Princess joined them as well...


The little Sincess prepared her royal rose petals for her grand debut...

And then she waited while the other guests arrived...


Before the Ball started, the Sincess wanted to practice dropping the royal rose petals one last time, so another Princess helped her...

And then they had to pick them all up again...

Practice went well and it was time for the ball!!!


The Sincess and the Princess walked down the aisle and dropped their royal rose petals...

And before she knew it, the ceremony was over and it was time to walk back!


The little Sincess went to talk to the Royal Grandmother for awhile...

And then she went to play with the Princes and other Princesses...




The Sincess posed with the whole Royal party...



And then it was time for the Royal feast!


The little Sincess didn't want to get her gown dirty, so she got a little help with the royal soup...


Then it was time to DANCE!



By this time, the little Sincess was very tired...


so she found another Princess to hold her...



The little Sincess had a fabulous time at the Ball!
And she was the talk of the land...


On the way to the Royal carriage,
she proclaimed that her next Ball would be even better that the first.

And she lived happily ever after.

THE END