My Kamden is graduating from K-5 at Spearman Elementary in a few weeks and we couldn't be more proud. She has learned so much this year! We are amazed by how hard she works and how determined she is (when she is not tired). She has toughed out having homework every night after such a long day of learning. Guess this will make her more prepared for the first grade. Learning new lightening words has become a daily task . . . and she is mastering it. Creative spelling is questionable to me, but according to the learning professionals this is the best way to learn correct spelling. The jury is still out on that one! Hopefully "real" spelling will click soon, because the crazy, creative stuff is killing us all!

This picture kind of gives me chills. It is almost like a flash forward! Merely a blink and she will be graduating from high school and our flock will have left the nest. Oh, my . . . don't even want to think about that or I will cry. We have many more school years, full of challenges, successes, accomplishments, and maybe a couple of small failures to keep her humble, but I am sure she will go through it all with that big smile on her face. Kamden is our rising 1st grader and we love her with all of our hearts!

Angel & the Rice family are in China with ANDREW!

The Rice family of 7!

Angel (my sista' from another mother) and her family have made it to China safely and are enjoying a lot of sight seeing and bonding with the newest member to their family, Andrew. On Monday I helped her pack a few small bags and load her car with all the suitcases for their trip. On Tuesday they were on their way to Chicago and then to Beijing, China (13 hour flight). It was Wednesday evening when they landed in China. They had dinner and settled into their hotel room and tried to sleep for a few hours before meeting Andrew Thursday morning. It was still Wednesday night here and my favorite show "American Idol" was on at the same time as the Rice family was meeting Andrew. I sat at the computer with headphones on my head, cell phone in my hand and "American Idol" on the TV. I was so stressed out for them as the time ticked away! Thank goodness for some comic relief from the horrible singers who were trying out! Lord, what are some people thinking? Laughing is good for the soul and I quite enjoyed laughing while waiting to hear any news from them. Finally, the phone rang and I was given the ok to get on Skype and there they were! I could see Andrew, Angel and Hal and the other kids were bouncing with joy on the hotel bed in the background.
I am so very happy for them! Andrew is fitting in just fine. Loves to eat and belly laughs. He is such a blessed child to be coming home to the good ol' USA with the Rice family who will love him unconditionally for the rest of his life! I have only gotten to talk to Angel twice on SKYPE, but it was great and I almost felt like I was there. By the way I regret not going. If only money grew on trees and my kids were self sufficient - then I could have gone! Being the realist I am I figured I would be good support on the home front - not to mention I feel very needed here!

I am getting emails everyday giving me post to add to Angel's blog and loads of great pictures. I am spending hours trying to get everything updated, complete with pictures, including her FaceBook. Seems like time actually flies when I am on the computer. So much for getting anything done around here. My family thinks I have become addicted to the computer over the past few days and possibly need an intervention. They are just going to have to get used to this until our dear friends arrive safely home and plant their feet on South Carolina soil. February 5th is the date they will be coming home and we plan on making it quite the big deal at the Greenville / Spartanburg airport! I am going to try to get FOX News to come out to use the Rice family as a human interest story like I did with Anna Grace's arrival. Keeping my fingers crossed that works out.
Angel's mom (Anita a/k/a Nana) and I have talked several times everyday exchanging information. She has talked to Angel a lot more than I have so she has loads to share. She has been working on a scrapbook for them to occupy her time. She also wishes she had gone with them, but if she had I wouldn't have her to talk to, so selfishly I am so glad she stayed home. I got some large poster boards from her to make "Welcome Home" signs for the family's return. Gotta' get to work on those because she keeps asking me if I have them done. Feb. 5th just seems so far away right now!
It is Saturday, so I better get busy doing something other than sitting at this computer. My house full is feeling a bit rejected! I think the Jolly Green Giant creeped in and shook the house, so I have got to do something productive or it will self-destruct! Lovely laundry is always calling if nothing or no one else is!!!

I'm Back in 2010!

The DAVENPORT Family

My, my, my! It has been quite a while since I posted! I am such a procrastinator! First of all we are all doing great, including my Daddy! He has been home for a few months now and continues to heal. My Mother has taken great care of him and has become an unregistered, totally unofficial, but wonderful NURSE! Daddy is still not fully healed on his chest or belly, but in time Doctor Fowler believes that he will. We really don't want him to have to go back in the hospital, so slow healing works for us.

Christmas was wonderful this year (thank the LORD!). My parents came over on Christmas morning and had breakfast with us like all Christmases before (except 2008 of course!), and looked at all the toys and games Santa dumped down our chimney! We all realized how normal Christmas felt and appreciated the entire day even more. I couldn't help thinking back to last year and how horrible the holidays were for all of us . . . especially my sweet parents. Being in the hospital during Christmas was simply SAD! I can remember tears rolling down my cheeks Christmas Eve while walking into the lonely, peaceful, heavily decorated entryway at the hospital. I tried to gather myself and my emotions together and walk into my Daddy's room without looking like I had just had a meltdown, but I knew they could see it written all over my bulging, watery eyes and cherry red nose. I left that night crying as I numbly walked through the lobby and continued sobbing the entire way home. Thankfully that time is behind us and Christmas 2009 was a wonderful celebration of family togetherness and blessing! We were truly thankful and very blessed to all be here!

My children are growing so quickly! Kamden is enjoying her K-5 class and is learning so much this year! She is discovering so many new things and thinking in such a mature "little mommie" way! The way she views the world (and those in it) and the things that come out of her mouth is comic relief for the entire family. Cole is in sixth grade at Wren Middle and is putting forth so much effort. It makes my heart feel good to see how much he cares about learning. He has been willing to stay after school to do extra work in math and it is really paying off. Cole can't help but sing songs from the 80's with the radio and it makes me smile! Max is a ninth grader and is doing the Virtual Charter School from the computer at home. He seems quite satisfied with his current situation as compared to the high school setting. He is able to take Spanish and a couple of other classes that were not offered at Wren High for ninth graders, so that will give him a head start! I will have to admit that it has all been an adjustment for me! Actually, I have felt a lot closer to Max and we talk quite a bit more. This is a wonderful age to bond more with a growing teenager and I feel lucky to have this time with him! Anyway, life has been good for the Davenports and we are working together to continue on our path.

Now that we have officially entered a new year, I figured this was as good a time as any to get back into the swing of blogging. My best friend, Angel, is getting ready to venture to China in a few short weeks to adopt a special little boy named Andrew. We are all very excited and look forward to watching and reading all about it through the magic of the Internet! I will be heavy into the blog world because of this adoption, and need to catch up with my own blogging anyway. So here goes the Funny Farm again . . . up and running! Oh, and yes . . . I still have my chickens and sing in the barnyard everyday! Haven't quite taught those birds how to clap yet, but they lay blue eggs, so I don't complain!