J.Michael's B-Day Part 2

Instead of wraping J.Michael's present we decided to do a treasure hunt. Emily our master riddler got to work on clues from the Star Spangled Banner that lead J.Michael to his gift. It was a fun adventure for all of us. Here is our hunt by video.

J.Michael's 11th Birthday

J.Michael has grown up to be a bright, handsome, brave, strong, witty young man. I am in awe of how my little boy is becoming a man right before my eyes. He has grown what seems a foot in the last year and is quickly approaching my eye level which I am sure will only be fleeting as he surpasses me by his next birthday. J.Michael and I got to spend the afternoon together, just the two of us running errands and completing preparations for his birthday. He requested an ice cream cake from Coldstone (a family favorite I would add). He also got to make the dinner menu which consisted of Fried Crawfish tails, Mom's kefir cornbread and Emily's famous tossed caesar salad.
After our delicious dinner that J.Michael and I cooked together (he is also a great helper in the kitchen-one day his wife will really appreciate that he knows his way around a kitchen) J.Michael opened his presents. He previously opened his gifts from grandparents last weekend since they were in town for Kathlena's birthday. His gift from Dad and Mom came with a twist--instead of unwrapping his gift he had to follow clues for a scavenger hunt that led to his gift. The clues Emily, our riddler, made them up from the lines of the star spangled banner. It was quite clever and fun.
The surprises continued as he opened another surprise which was a borrowed copy of the third installment of The Lord of the Rings movie. J.Michael had been looking for this movie all week and we kept him in suspense thinking we could not find a copy to watch and that we would have to do something else. He was a great sport about it all and many thanks to the Beach family who let us borrow the movie and was in on the surprise!
In the words of J.Michael "It was one of the best birthdays yet!"
J.Michael we love you and will always love you. We pray that the Lord would accomplish much for His kingdom through you in your devotion to Christ.

Kathlena's Birthday Party

We celebrated Kathlena's first birthday party with both sets of grandparents and Uncle Todd at our home. Kathlena being 4 years old seems like such a big jump from 3. I am not sure why that is, but it has seemed an even bigger leap considering Kathlena has gone from looking/talking like an infant to being this vibrant, energetic, confident little girl. She is a rough and tumble and keeps up with her big brothers, but also is very prissy and loves pretty dresses and babies. She is such a little mommy. Having a little brother or sister soon will suit her very well.

Her Uncles keep her outfitted in pink camo and J.Michael topped the day with a pink cap gun that she had to wear right away as you will see in the slide show below.

*be sure to pause the music in the sidebar to hear the video.

Happy 4th Birthday Kathlena!

Hard to believe that our little Kathlena is already 4yrs old. All week we have been working with her to hold up 4 fingers and say "I am 4" when someone asks her how old she is. It is also hard to believe she has only been with us for almost a year now. This 4th birthday being our first together. We missed it last year by 20 days, although we were sad then it has been a sweet first celebration as we are finishing our first year together. We had so much fun going to Party city to pick out her birthday theme--1st Birthday Girl with pink butterflies in patchwork.

A funny story--when we were checking out at the store the clerk asked whose birthday it was to which I replied, "Kathlena" while pointing to her. The clerk then proceeded to ask her how old she was and Kathlena responded with "4" while holding her little fingers up. The clerk continues to check out our party favors, cups, napkins etc. that all state "1st Birthday Girl". At one point I think that she is going to make mention of this, but apparently decides not to. I would have gladly explained as I am always willing to share our story of adoption.

Kathlena's grandparents are also coming this weekend for her party on Saturday. Her Uncle Todd also. She received birthday cards from her great Aunt Susie and great Uncle Nolan as well as her great grandmother--Mema. Here are some pictures of her opening them

Card from Mema


Card from the Mackey's
*don't forget to pause the music in the sidebar when listening to videos

Emily is 14, Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Kathlena and Mommy playing in the dressing room while

Emily tries on clothes.

Kathlena loves shoes and size does not matter.

Hmm...this looks like some shoes I saw on

ladies in Russia.

Well we settled on the glittery flip flops like

Mommy's.

After we had our fill of bargain hunting at Ross and "playing"

dress up we decided to get a bite to eat at Chili's.

We had a quick lunch...Nachos mmmm

Okay, Mimi I really want that chip...enough pictures and

hugging, I am hungry.


Emily's great food photos...doesn't this make you want to

head to Chili's right now?

Kathlena is really taking to getting a pedicure.

The ladies were so sweet they gave her lotion

to put on too.

Emily's beautiful toes...I remember when they were Kathlena

size...they grow up too fast.

One of Emily's favorite dinner's Chicken Pot Pie made by

a sweet lady around the corner from us who sells her home

made goods. Mom's Secret Chef

Emily's ultimate birthday cake, Reese's Peanut butter

Playground from Cold Stone.

J.Michael was trying to get Kathlena's cake...

I was shocked she didn't stick him with her fork.

Obviously she is loving her piece of chocolate cake now.


Mom and Dad staking claim to their leftovers.

Before Pedicure

After pedicure...cute feet. Can you tell whose is whose?

Kathlena got confused and thought our painted

toes were candy...must be the chocolate cake buzz.

Sweet Emily at 14 with no more braces!!!

Hope you had a memorable day my darling Emily. You are a crowning jewel to your mother and father. Your strength of character, love for your heavenly Father and gentle sweet spirit bring much joy and happiness to our household.
 Psalm 1:3 "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." We love you.-Mom and Dad

No internet...much to post...limited access

Our internet line hanging over the road was knocked out by a disaster relief truck last week. Charter, our internet provider told us 2 weeks before they could get to us to fix it. This is the third time this has happened-the last time the line repairman having mercy on us did attempt to move the line as high as he could without restringing more line.
This past Friday by some miracle the charter lineman was out at our house last and "fixed" the line only we still did not have internet as our modem was fried when the line was yanked...arrrrgh. So, today David was off to Conroe to get a new modem only to come home and find not only the newly repaired charter line on the ground, but our phone line also which was our plan B to switch internet providers to Consolidated...they are due out to connect tomorrow. So we will see how this goes, but posting will be sketchy since a homeschool mom with 4 children in a Starbucks for hours is not very conspicuous nor cost efficient.
On a brighter note today is my oldest blessing's 14th birthday. It has been a big week for her as she got her braces off too. What an even more beautiful smile she has now. Wow, does time fly. It seems only yesterday she was a baby and now so grown up. I will write more and post pictures about our girly day as I am able. Happy Birthday, sweet Emily!
We will have another consult with the optometrist tomorrow for Andrew. The immediate good news for him is NO MORE PATCHES! He has been so relieved even if it is only for a short time as we suspect we will need to use them but in a more directed, specific way. The optometrist was able to tell us what is going on in his eye and that he is trying to use a different part of his eye to see which all the patching was not going to improve his vision. I am so excited to see where this leads us and so thankful that the Lord directed us this way. He is so faithful!!
Okay, Emily and I have to get out of Starbucks and head home for her birthday dinner. Hoping to post more soon. Have some adorable video I want to share of Andrew and Kathlena playing...their language is growing so rapidly and they are the cutest little kids. We are closing in on our first post placement visit also so I am beginning preparation for this also....

Andrew's 6th Birthday

The birthday boy! Look at how much he has grown!

September 20, 2008 4 months later.

May 29, 2008

Here we are trying to blow out candles

Still trying and finally all 6 are out. Good job.

Having fun with the blowouts.


Our faithful photographer! Thank you Emily for video too.



Pawpaw helping get toys from their packages.


Kathlena watching so patiently.


Andrew woke up today 5 no more but 6! We have talked all week about birthdays and how fun it will be to be 6yrs old. We had a real time trying to find his birthday cake though as most bakeries are still not up and running yet from the hurricane power outages. But even this became a first birthday memory. When we finally found a chocolate-chocolate cake at Kroger Andrew excitedly told all around us that it was going to be his 6th birthday tomorrow.


We had planned to have a small party and were so thrilled that both sets of grandparents could make the trip. He had a very special day with "Cars" decorations. It was so neat to see him open presents likely for the first time on his birthday. He wasn't even sure what to do but quickly caught on.


Kathlena wanted to blow out his candles so she had a turn after he blew them out too. It turned out to be a little warm but we managed to have a nice party outside and then quickly headed into the house for A/C. Here are some pictures from Andrew's special day. We love you, our sweet son!

Snake Found...Happy Birthday Daddy!

Okay, everyone can rest a little easier...especially me...the snake has resurfaced. I had pretty much resolved that this was going to be a Shiflet legacy as I distinctly remember Grandmommie telling me the story of David's snake's mysterious disappearance that remained a mystery. I suppose this is why I was not as shocked as I should have been when the snake went missing.

Poor Daddy...it is his 36th birthday and his first big surprise of the day was that he found the missing snake stretched out on the floor next to his desk in his home office. Having not even had the chance to take a sip of his morning coffee he was confronted with a tiny wiggling stick that reared its head up ready to grab its unsuspecting breakfast bug. All I know is I am so glad it wasn't me as I am sure everyone for 3 counties would have known we found the snake had it been me before my coffee. Daddy on the other hand just picked him up and put him back in his tank and gave J.Michael the good news.

Now our still nameless snake is safely back in his secured tank...slightly more secured. I keep threatening to call him Houdini if no name arises soon.

Thirty-six years ago today J. and Kathy Shiflet became first time parents of a little boy who would grow up to be the man I married and love more with each passing year. I am so thankful for J. and Kathy and I celebrate this special day with you.

Daddy(David) was serenaded by his wife and four arrows over the phone with a special solo added by arrow #4(Kathlena). Thankfully, we did not get Daddy on our first try so he has it recorded on his phone to retrieve and listen as often as he likes. We did however catch him on our second try and sang again for him live. For his birthday he requested his favorite homemade cheesecake and a quiet evening at home for dinner. Well, we can make sure he has the cheesecake but, quiet left us almost 14yrs ago. :) I love you honey! Hope your day was special.

Kathlena's Birthday Take 2

Well I thought I would have done this sooner but, June 1st was too soon after our arrival home and July 1st got away from me so Aug 1st seemed like a good plan to celebrate Kathlena's 1st birthday with us. This was her 3yr 3mos. old birthday. We pulled out the cake from the freezer that I saved from her birthday celebration we had without her. I am still in awe that we have had them home for 2 months now.

Yesterday we read the book "Happy Birthday, Moon" by Frank Asch . All week we have been "B-4 rowing" Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown so I pulled Happy Birthday, Moon off the shelf as a go along knowing we would celebrate Kathlena's Birthday today. We actually read it yesterday and it was so cute because the book starts out the day before Bears birthday too (I had not remembered this until we read it). Andrew and Kathlena loved this book and it was so sweet to talk to them about Birthdays. They both seemed to really be excited about it. A cute sidenote for Grandmommie...this book was given to Emily by Grandmommie and PawPaw for Emily's 3rd birthday and now Kathlena is enjoying it too!

From reading the book Andrew greeted Kathlena first thing in the morning with "Happy Birthday, Kathlena" he was so happy for her. All week we have been talking about brothers and sisters--daughters and sons too. It has been so precious to see Andrew and Kathlena become brother and sister for them. Kathlena is so proud to be a sister...she would say it over and over and laugh. Andrew wasn't so sure at first but, quickly decided he liked being "brother" and began repeating it over and over with his big smile on his face. Both are growing and changing so quickly...I feel like I see miracles happen everyday in them. Here is a video from our party...your fly on the wall into the Shiflet home. Kathlena loved the blowouts more than the cake. She is not a sweet eater...what?!? yes, I know how can it be. Well, her brothers make up for it.

J.Michael's 10th Birthday

Just one week ago we were celebrating Kathlena's Birthday and now it is J.Michael's turn. Receiving a special birthday surprise that we would be leaving in one week to bring his brother and sister home topped his list of gifts this year. He had requested one of his favorite's for breakfast--chocolate chip pancakes(these were whole grain with kefir of course!); lunch we made his favorite taco soup followed by his most favorite of all for dinner--Fried crawfish tails. Do I have a budding chef on my hands or what?

Emily and I also made a large chocolate chip cookie with icing and candles for him to blow out on his birthday. He also had cards from family and a coffee maker/package from Grandmommie and PawPaw(hee hee, no coffee maker it was a safe sent UPS in a coffee maker box--wished I had a picture of J.Michael's face when he saw that it was to him.) His granparents know him well as he loves locks and safes! Thanks for making his 10th birthday special with surprise packages! :-)

He also received a phone call from his birthday buddy and good friend Taylor Gunnels. The boys have known each other since they were 2yrs and 3yrs old and have birthday's 2 days apart. When they were 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 they figured out that for 2 days they are the same age so each year since they call each other on their birthdays. It is quite cute...their conversations have changed through the years but what remains the same is their sweet friendship.

Today is J.Michael's 2nd birthday celebration with one more to go. Yes, we have really been excited about 10yrs!!!! He had his first little party with Nana and Dodad a few weeks ago since we would not see them for his birthday. We celebrated with cake and presents--receiving the airsoft sniper rifle he has been wanting. His Mema (Great-Grandmother Davis) celebrated with us--Thank you for the birthday money!

First cake was ice cream oreo.

Uncle Todd helping J.Michael

assemble his new airsoft rifle

First shot...works great! Thanks Dodad!

His Mom and Dad got him the "red dot" scope he was wanting for the airsoft sniper rifle. Emily also gave him a "camo" colored scarf that she knitted for him. It was so sweet...she was telling him she made it for when he goes hunting with Daddy so he doesn't get cold. So thoughtful Emily, what a sweet big sister you are to J.Michael.

We have one more cake and party to go on Saturday. Father/son airsoft war party that he has been dreaming of having for a while. It should be great fun...I think the Dad's are just as excited! J.Michael has mowed the yard and is busy setting up "hideouts" throughout the yard.