Years ago Noah and Sellers used to love to grab a blanket and sit in the space behind my knees when I was laying on the couch. They coined it "the nest". At times they would race to see who got to watch TV in mama's nest. I loved when they would sit in my nest.It's not easy sometimes getting little boys to sit with you a while. I had forgotten about the nest. Noah and Sellers are much too big to fit in my nest now and the littles weren't around then to know about it. But out of nowhere Tuesday night I was laying on the couch and Sellers (who is nearly my size) said he wanted to sit in my nest. So I tried to make as much room as possible for my grown size boy to fit in my nest. We laughed as he got comfy and he settled in for a cuddle in the nest. Mason was standing nearby and quickly wanted his turn in the nest. After Sellers got up Mason cuddled up for his turn in the nest. Shortly after John decided to take everyone to the pool. Mason hopped up and looked at me and said, "mom, I'll be right back, take care of my eggs".

Last night John and I attended orientation at the elementary school three of our kids will be attending. We had to split up so we could make each class and hear the teacher's expectations for the year. I went to Wyatt's eagerly wanting to meet his teacher with this being his first year of school. I walked in the room and sat down. It wasn't long before this thought occurred to me.

Nine years ago I walked into a Kindergarten orientation for the first time for Noah (who turned 13 Saturday btw). I remember sitting there 9 years younger and thinking that some of these parents looked too old to have kindergartners. Well last night I looked around the room and I have officially become one of those parents! These parents looked soooo young and I wondered are they old enough to have kindergartner's? Man, I will be ancient by the time I take the rest of our kiddos!

Today I'm on my soapbox.If I had a dollar for every person who has told me how great it is that we adopted Lily or expressed interest in adoption but has not made any step towards it I could probably fund another adoption. Everyone thinks it's a great idea but not for them. Why? Adoption IS a miracle. Adoption IS a blessing. Adoption is taking a chance but it is welcoming Jesus into your very home.






But if you can't or don't want to adopt you can help those who do. Lori is auctioning off an iPad to raise money for her third adoption. Go check it out here:







Or An Orphan's Wish, the organization I volunteer with is having a sponsor drive. They are striving to gain 100 new sponsors for their kids in China who need special care. Right now you receive a cool t-shirt if you sign up and for each new sponsor the volunteer that referred them gets their name in a drawing for a trip to China to visit these precious children. Check it out:



http://www.anorphanswish.org/what-you-can-do/100-sponsors-in-100-days



And if I haven't interested you yet then maybe you could simply pray for an adoptive family, or pick a orphan to pray for that they will have a family. There are many ways you can support the 147 Million orphans in the world. After all 147 is a lot of kids...

It is time for a new blog design. The header pictures are so out of date it's sad and our lovely daughter doesn't even have a picture on top. Does anyone know a good person to do this? Please leave me a comment if you can recommed someone. The person that did mine no longer does it. Thanks!

 I would have posted sooner but I had to wait and tackle the whole memory issue on my computer which I finally did today. John and I celebrated our 15th Wedding Anniversary July 8. Since I was working this year I decided to surprise John and secretly plan a cruise. I booked the cruise all by myself and didn't breath a word of it. After keeping it a secret for several months I blew it. We were standing in the closet one day and I showed John a dress I had just bought and then said "won't this look cute on our cruise". His eyes grew big and he said "we're going on a cruise?". Yes dear we are. So my hint about the view from my treadmill changing was about the cruise only I never made it to the treadmill because we were too busy doing other things. But if I had made it, it would have looked something like this:One of the best parts of a trip like this is how John truly loosens up and becomes that person I remember long before we had the responsibilities of our life today. I really enjoyed spending time with that side of John. Our ship looked a little something like this.

Has this ever happened to you?

You remember you need to get something out of your car so you grab your keys and head to the door.

As you walk through the Laundry room you remember that a load of laundry needs to be moved from the washer to the dryer so you do it.

Then you see a wet bathing suit that you child left out so you hang it up.

Next you see that someone got the battery box out and opened up a new pack of batteries leaving the trash everywhere so you pick up the trash and walk to the kitchen to throw it away.

When you get to the kitchen to throw it away you see the rest of your lunch you forgot you hadn't eaten so you stand up in the kitchen and try to finish it.

Then your child yells from upstairs "can somebody come wipe me?". You run upstairs and take care of that.

Once upstairs you see that the bathroom is a mess with toothpaste all over so you decide to clean the bathroom. Once satisfied you head back downstairs throw away the rest of your lunch you really don't want anymore.

The phone rings and you talk to such and such for a while.

When you get off the phone you have a sense that there was something you forgot to do.

Oh yeah, I was heading to the car to get my calendar (45 min. ago!).

On the way to the car through the laundry room you notice the dryer is done.........


This is why I feel like I never actually accomplish anything.

I have coined this problem I have as MIADD: Mommy Induced Attention Deficient Disorder.
It's what happens when you are in charge of not only your stuff but the house, your husband and your kids and for me that is a lot. Unfortunately there is only one cure and it just won't work for me. I'd like to keep all the little reasons this happens around, at least for 2o or so more years....

June 15th Wyatt will celebrate his 5th Birthday. Wyatt was the third boy in our family and God made him with such a special personality. Wyatt is also affectionately called Bobo by friends and family though the nickname is gradually falling away. Lately I have tried to call him Bobo more, I never want to forget how everyone would call him Bobo all the time. I can still see vivid memories of him running at church with his hair flapping up and down and his little friends calling his name. Not Wyatt but Bobo. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Wyatt that helps to tell his story.

She invited her family that could be here to join in the party.

And wanted a cake with her picture on it. The picture she chose is my favorite of her in China. It is one of the photos taken of her on the red couch.

To make the day really special family members were asked to write a letter to Lily and we would place it in her memory box. The letters were very touching and will be special to her forever. Right now she sleeps with them under her pillow.

It was a wonderful day to remember how one little girl has changed so many lives.

Seriously sorry for not posting for sooooo long. I have wanted to but am having issues with my computer memory and can't download pictures and what I want to post just needs pictures! I am not very good with technology so even though I bought an external hard drive and supposedly saved all my pictures to it I am scared to death to delete them! I am someone who is known to just buy new memory cards instead of deleting pictures because I am so scared of losing my pictures, silly isn't it?

but quickly....

John started his new job, reluctantly. He still tried to convince me he didn't need to work as I was dropping him off at the airport for his first day. Turns out he really likes the company and is grateful for the steady income of a good job. He feels that he is representing a good product and can really make a difference!

School is wrapping up, we have 3 days left. Two are just half days full of fun so really they have nothing left. This year has gone well, next year some of the O'Cain Crew may just stay home and be homeschooled, stay tuned on that one!

My last full time night at work is Jun 11th. I am grateful to be going part time after that working just a few nights on each schedule. I am excited about spending the summer with the kids. Even though we aren't going on a family vacation this year we have a lot of ideas to make the summer fun. John and I are celebrating our 15th Anniversary this year and I have a little secret trip planned for John and I. I cannot wait for that! It has been three years since we have had a vacation with just the two of us!

and soon I will have pictures, when I have the time or guts to deal with it!

One year ago today I nervously stood in a Chinese Government building and met my daughter for the first time. This past year has been an incredible experience. Lily is such a blessing to everyone who knows her and she has changed our lives.

Here is a little montage to celebrate our 1 year anniversary.

i know many adoptive families follow a blog called The Journey. I have mentioned it before and honestly it is an amazing young woman and an amazing story she tells. i just checked her blog and you must read her current post and you must go to 147millionorphans and buy one of the Ugandan necklaces. I am and you just must. if you can read that post and not feel like you should buy a necklace (even if you never wear it) i would be surprised. they would even make a special Mother's day gift.please go check it out.

Kickball is a favorite with kids around here. One child of mine takes it very seriously. He even got in a fight at school over kickball and a classmate threw him to the ground. Lately we've been having some good fun playing kickball at home. The only problem...that same child forgets he's playing with preschoolers and has a not so athletic little sister. But we are still having fun. Here are some pictures from a recent game.





Mason running to base, something he forgets and has to be reminded to do or he'll just stand there.



Does this child look like he is serious about playing some kickball?