Check out our American IDOLL!

Visit Shepherd's link to see Hadley singing "Happy Birthday"!

wwww.shepherdkeck.blogspot.com

Remember to share "the little things"!

I got an email from a precious woman at my church. Anna Braswell sent me an email telling me about what Hadley said tonight at Cubbies... I wanted to be sure it was on the blog so she could see it in years to come. From the mouth of babes....

"Also, Hadley was so sweet tonight at Cubbies. We were asking in circle time for the kids to share anything you did this week that was fun, or special way God has blessed you, and questions like that, and Hadley said she was thankful for her brother Shepherd in China, that you are going to bring him home soon, later i asked her if you did anything special for shepherd's birthday today, and she said she blew out the candles, I didn;t quite get all of that sentence when she said it, but it is very obvious she is excited to be a big sister,and it blessed me to hear her speak tonight. Anna Braswell"

Hadley was referring to her blowing out the candles on Shepherd's birthday cookie. We explained that she got to blow out the candle because Shepherd wasn't here yet. She took it all very seriously.

The next time you notice something from your friend's child, be sure and tell them, you may never know how much it means to someone to hear the sweet words your child it saying....

We like hangin' out with Barbie

We have a new friend. Hadley and I visited her twice last week.

She is small, black and likes to lick your face if you will let her.

Hadley has named her "Barbie" and she is a doll.

Hadley and I are both animal lovers. I would have 5 dogs if Chad would allow it. I suspect Hadley will be the same way. When we go to Target, we like to go over to "PetLand" and visit with some really neat four legged friends.

The worst part is leaving, of course. One day, Barbie might just come home with us!

Just kidding, Chad!!!

A Date with Daddy

Last Friday, my little girl had a date.

Mom helped her get ready. We started with a long nap (mom got in on that action, too!). We moved on to a bubble bath, pedicure and the perfect hair-do.

While I was getting her ready, she looked at me totally serious and said, "Am I getting married today?"

My heart fell into my stomach. I was already panicking about the prom and she had fast forwarded into marriage.

Hair done, toes dried, dress pressed. The time had come for Hadley's date to pick her up.

The doorbell rings and I walk Hadley to the door where Daddy is standing on the other side, flowers in hand.

Hadley beamed and I fell in love with my husband all over again. He took her to the Father/Daughter Banquet at church. They ate dinner, listened to a speaker and danced.

It was magical as you can see in these pictures. I know Hadley will certainly have high standards for the man that picks her up for the prom - not to mention a husband. That's because Daddy is laying some serious ground work. Any man in Hadley's life will have some big shoes to fill.

Thanks, Chad for showing Hadley what love is! You are a great daddy!

Candace + Chad = True Love!

Well just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on April 21! We went out to a great dinner and lingered over the food and just talked. Quality time, seems like there is so little of it just for the 2 of us anymore...

My little HoneyPie is so good to me and I love him dearly. Now, we are about as different as night and day. He likes to save money, I like Target. He likes "Antiques Road Show" and I like "Cops". He likes to stay up late at night, I think that is ridiculous! Somehow, though, it works for us. Probably because he has the patience of Job and doesn't get his feelings hurt easily. He claims that when I am mad and ranting, he only takes in about 1% of what I am saying.

For that matter, he probably does that when it's a normal day.

Good for him, just don't let me know it.

Happy 7 years Chad!

Old Friends are Best...

Last week Hadley and I had a real treat. My beloved neighbors from Texas were in town for a work convention at DisneyWorld, so Hadley and I headed to Orlando to meet up and have fun.

And we did. To tell you the truth, I didn't know if she would really remember them. Was I surprised. Granted, we have pictures of these precious girls up at our house, but still, would she be shy and unsure?

Nope! They ran into each other's arms in the hotel lobby. I about did that to their mother, Colleen, I had missed her so much, but I refrained. I know she's glad about that..

We had a great day. It was like we hadn't missed a beat. We had been next door neighbors. I was spoiled. The girls are precious, Colleen and Derrick are very cool and what's more, they really loved Hadley. Well, Chad and I adored their girls too. We had great times hanging out on Colleen's driveway, watching the kids play, while we discussed the deeper issues of life, such as electrolisis.

I remember sitting on Colleen's couch crying that we were moving. Lots of those emotions stemmed from the fact that we were moving from our home, next to them. She surprised me when she said that they were also moving. And they did, a couple of months after we were gone. They live in Arizona and now we live in Florida.

I am glad we stay in touch. Colleen also knows alot about the issues we will face with Shepherd. I really do count on her advise and opinion.

All this to say - "It was great to see you all!" I really miss our "Driveway Days". God was so good to put us next to this wonderful family for 2 years. I hope when our girls are turning 18, we will still be seeing them from time to time.

Check out Shepherd's blog...

Go to Shepherd's blog to check out the latest about our process!
Also, you can see the action from our huge garage sale this weekend!

www.shepherdkeck.blogspot.com

That's Alright Mama!

Elvis is alive and well at the Keck house.

It's something the Edwards girls hand down from generation to generation.

My mom loves Elvis, I love Elvis and now, Hadley loves him.

When my mom was here, we watched an Elvis concert. I really didn't pay any attention, but all of a sudden I looked up and Hadley was entraced. It was hilarious. I guess it's true - Elvis' music never gets old!

One particular song caused her to break out into a dance. Then, my mom started dancing with her. "That's alright, now Mama" has become an anthem around here. She frequently bursts into singing it, especially when she may be about to get into trouble...

Dancing in the living room to Elvis, I can't name how many times we danced to Elvis in my mom's kitchen. When we were young, like Hadley, all the way through high school and college. Cousins, friends, animals, no one was immune to the beat.

I love to see my family doing things that I did when I was younger. Watching my mom dance with Hadley made it possible for me to see what it must have been like when I was 3, dancing to the King of Rock and Roll.

However, I think Hadley is a much better dancer...

Happy BEARthday, Hadley!

Yesterday, we celebrated Hadley's 4th birthday. Her actual birthday is not until May 19, but we will either be on our way to TN to leave for China, or IN China, so we wanted a special day for her, without being distracted!

Usually, I like to do the parties myself, coming up with themes, etc. This year, however, we needed it to be a little easier. We chose to do a Build-a-Bear party.

10 of Hadley's best pals showed up for the big day. Hadley's main concern was that everyone sing Happy Birthday. She couldn't wait for that part.

We had a great time making the BEARS. Even for us CRAFT-CHALLENGED gals, this thing was pretty much a breeze. After all, when I work the preschool area and take the 2 year olds to the craft room and see a project laid out with popsicle sticks and glue, I break out into a sweat...

We then moved on to the food court, where my fantastic husband had set up the tables, gotten the food and laid it all out. I told him later, all the moms were bragging on him -see, guys, it doesn't take much!

One thing I will say about Chad and the party. He realizes the birthday party is my realm. He helps like a champ. It works well for us. I really appreciate him on those days. He makes them easier for me, not harder.

At last, the Cookie Cake was served and everyone sang. To see her sit there with that sweet smile on her fact was priceless.

I love kids birthday parties. Looking at all those adorable, chocolate covered faces, I can hardly imagine one day they will be grown up. But I have heard from other moms (one of them is my own mom to be exact) that is goes so quick. Some days that is hard to believe, but other days, like birthday parties, I get a glimpse of the pace these days are traveling.

And, man, they ARE quick!

We are holding our breath!

I got an email from our adoption agency on Friday. They had written the immigration office in Tampa and got a response right away!

Now, keep in mind that we have called, emailed, visited 2 offices of our Congressman and even called his wife at home.

For 2 weeks we have carried around the "not knowing". That has been so hard, I will admit.

When they finally emailed them, I was relieved. I wish they had done it sooner. It might have saved me many hours of laying awake at night. Let me put it this way, I am very up on political matters, as I have watched about 10,000 Resmussen polls on FOX in the wee hours of the morning...

We know we won't travel on May 1 - we are hoping for May 22 or 23 (the next group to go). I promise to keep you posted!

It is amazing, though, how, during the day, I have felt mostly happy. I have had my moments, but I really am thankful that the Lord has provided me many distractions, mainly a blonde headed 4 year old... She has been an angel and has made me laugh more than usual. Turns out, laughter IS good therapy.

And the Winner is....

I just made the phone call to inform the winner of the IPOD Nano from our "Chip In" contest!

Amy Maze is the lucky winner.

Hadley picked the name, as you can see in the photos.

We would like to thank everyone for participating. I wish we could give you all an IPOD, no, strike that, I wish we could give you a cruise! Or a year's supply of Chick-fil-A sweet tea, whichever one floats your boat.

Congratulations, Amy! Now, all you need is to locate a 6 year old to teach you how to use it...

Warning: This Post might make you sick to your stomach.

It made my stomach hurt all day!

On Wednesday I read an email that rattled me pretty much all day.

A friend of mine from my beloved Austin had sent me a package, wondering if I had gotten it. It was a CD with pictures on it from a trip we had taken earlier in the year. She had included the CD, a note and 2 bracelets for Hadley to play with. Oh, yeah, one more thing was in there...

Diamond Earrings

Yes, you read right, diamond earrings.

I didn't see them.

They are now probably sitting in some landfill when they could be on my ears, twinkling. I could see myself at exclusive parties wearing "a little black dress", beaming a perfect veneer, Zoom whitened smile at everyone as they remarked "what beautiful earrings you have ". I would be the envy of the evening.

Instead I eat tomato soup out of a can and wonder how I am going to reply to the email that just informed me I had thrown away perfectly good, twinkly diamond earrings.

I worried all day that she might be mad. I wondered how I could be so lame. I even recreated the scene by getting the same kind of envelope and putting the CD, bracelets and note back in there. I racked my brain to figure out now it could have happened. I called the Post Office to see if it was insured. He told me it wasn't if I hadn't had to sign for it. I told him I knew that but asked him just to listen at how bad the situation was.

He agreed, it was indeed bad.

Of course my friend called me and blew it off. She really did. I cannot get over her generosity. It's not everyday you get a surprise like that! If anyone sends me so much as a postcard, I will rip it to shreds to make sure nothing sparkly is in there.

I could not believe that she sent me those earrings. I was truly touched. I love generosity, it makes everyone happy.

I bet that is one happy, happy landfill.

love
plain-eared Candace

Candace: aka the "COW"

Most of you probably don't know that I have a new gig. I have been working for the past several months at Chick-fil-A as their Unit Marketing Director. I am a liason between Chick-fil-A and schools and businesses. It was a great way to earn a little extra money for the adoption...until last Thursday....

When I had to be the COW.

For those of you that know me, you know I really don't mind doing this kind of stuff. As a matter of fact, my first job was for "The Clown Around", where I dressed up and did children's bday parties and made balloon deliveries.

But now, I am 37, a mother, for crying out loud and I am in a COW suit.

I had a gig at a private, Christian school. I show up, but the COW suit on with help from the school secretary. I get into the huge COW thing and am literally almost gagging at the smell. Lots of 18 year old boys have worn this thing before me.

For some reason, I got really chlosterphobic for about 5 minutes. I didn't think I was going to handle keeping that suit on. I tried to convince my head to quit spinning and my stomach to stop churning. Finally, I felt OK.

I ventured outside to walk around and mingle with the students. I was heading over to the preschool area and I walked into a low hanging light. I hit it so hard it knocked me backward. A COW flying through the air is not a cool thing. Take it from the COW.

It didn't hurt because that thing is huge and hard but those kids loved it. I guess I thought I was too good to be the COW, turns out I'm probably not qualified to be the COW. Got me down off my high horse pretty quick!

Well, I made merry for the rest of the visit and the kids were so cute wanting to give me hugs. When I took it off, I was so sweaty I couldn't believe it. One good thing about that stinky suit, I bet I lost 2 pounds!

Hey Everyone - a final plug for Chick-fil-A - EAT THE CHICKEN SAVE THE COW!

My last day is tomorrow... I will miss it, but I am glad for the reason - I am getting a new baby!!!