How to calm a wild 4 year old.

Supplies needed:

Energetic 4 year old

Clothes that can be stained {even though paint claims to be washable} 

50 cent birdhouses from Joann Fabrics {kid's camp section}. They also have wooden ones for $1.25. 

Big bottles of water-based paint from craft store. {don't waste $ on crayola paints that will last you two painting sessions}

A beautiful day

Cheap paintbrushes from Home Depot

An iPhone or camera to capture the stillness, because it surely won't happen again until bedtime. 

Last week B had a difficult time coming down from solid two weeks of family visiting, which included lots of wonderful attention. After a particularly rough morning, I decided a painting intervention was necessary.

I love to see his whole body just relax with the paintbrush in hand.

His inquiring mind just settle and concentrate so intently on his masterpiece.

The puckering of the lips, the togetherness of the feet, the crown of curls. In this moment, pure perfection.

Thank you God, for these moments of stillness and beauty. 

Then nothing beats the paint removal hose shower; the squeals, the giggles, the dancing. 

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High Five for Friday - June 201

1. We visited the children's museum near us yesterday.  B and Nana had a blast together! 

2. B and and his first scooter injury! 

3. B had a blast pushing Lah-Lah on the swing. Unfortunately she was not near as thrilled!! This one just cracks me up!

4. Lah-Lah looked so cute in her shades! Unfortunately she thought chewing on them was much cuter!

5. I was definitely spoiled with my sister visiting us for a week! She's soo good with the kids! 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Life these days

Since I last posted, preschool has ended, a summer-long television purge has begun, my sister visited for a week, Lah-Lah turned seven months, B obtained his first scooter battle wound, Lah-lah is obtaining seven new teeth, and now I'm preparing for my mom arrives for a week-long visit in a few hours!  I know that's like eight blog posts already and the ten other blogs I should've written from April and May are looming over my head!!

I am tuckered out and it actually took me three days to write this much of a blog post!  It looks like until I have this summer-mom thing down, Bumber's Bumblings is going to take a bit of a summer sabbatical. I will pop on here and there, and will be having some great guest bloggers writing about adoption, cooking and summer activities with kids!  I'm hoping by sometime in July, I'll be able to start writing again!  For right now, I'm going to try to soak in these moments with my family.

"The days are long and the years are short" keeps ringing in my ears.  I don't want to miss this summer!

Teething stinks

Crafts help us through the days

You can find me on instagram, user name: bumberjoy, to follow along on day-to-day adventures with my family!

The craziness and cuteness I deal with every day

Backyard oasis

my sis with the kiddos

Love and happy fun summer to all of you!!

High Five for Friday - May 2013

1. Does this baby girl ever love her daddy!!!

2. After a particularly rough start to our day, I enjoyed a sweet back porch chat over freshly-baked muffins, while baby girl was sleeping!

3. BUBBLES! My big boy finally mastered the technique of blowing bubbles this year and is so excited!

4. Lah-Lah is on the move and is totally amazed at our rock floor linoleum!  

5. Nate and I with B at his preschool spring program!  Can't believe he's done with 3k preschool!  Next up Pre-K!  

Hope you all have a wonderful memorial day weekend! My sister is flying in for a week--so excited!

PRIZED! A review and a giveaway {Winner announced}

Congrats Georgia Beckman on winning the book "Prized!"! For those of you that did not win, you can pick up the book on the website for $10 shipped!  If you order before Memorial Day, Noelle will sign it (or write a note for a gift to someone) for you!  Just mention on the order that you came from Bumber's Bumblings!

My dear friend, Noelle Toscano, just recently published a book, PRIZED! Your Journey as His Daughter. Noelle and I have been friends for almost 10 years now!  We met right after Nate and I were married and have been great friends ever since.

Prized! Your Journey as His Daughter is a fresh and inspiring new perspective on how to live as God's precious daughter.

The teenage years bring some of the most challenging experiences. Do you know that the choices you make now will affect the rest of your life?!

This little book talks about some of those deep (and not so deep) dilemmas that teenage girls face every day. Funny, sometimes intense, sometimes silly, sometimes scary, and always honest, Noelle will help you navigate through the confusing times that you will undoubtedly face.

Using events from her own life, Noelle candidly helps you in your journey as His daughter." 
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Prized! is a very easy read for the pre-teen or teenage young woman in your life.  I read through the book in one afternoon {though I'm a bit of a fast reader} and it absolutely held my attention throughout the whole book.  I found myself reliving some of my pre-teen, teen and college years and thanking God that time in my life is over.  I definitely wish I had this book to read and re-read as a teen girl.

The book is filled with relate-able stories, helpful tips, and the truth of God's word. Her recognizing and addressing making and maintaining friendship is truly a pivotal part of a teen girl's life. She also addresses understanding and relating to parents, the crazy word of dating, and realizing your full potential as God's beloved child.

You will want to buy one for every young woman you know!

If you have a young daughter, niece, granddaughter, or friend, this is a wonderful gift.

The book is also being used across the country as a book study in church youth groups.  Noelle has also written a leader's guide to go along with it, PRIZED! Your Journey as His Daughter - Leader's Guide.

Purchase the book on Noelle's website for free shipping!

Now, for the giveaway! Noelle is graciously giving away one a signed copy of this book to a lucky winner!  All you need to do is use the handy-dandy box below and follow instructions to enter the giveaway. There are several different ways to enter the giveaway, beginning with leaving a comment on the blog with who you would give the book to!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sending a hug

Sending a Hug

It all started with a playdate with my friend, Melissa  and her sweet twin girls. It was a little wet outside and we were growing weary of the bickering over toys.  We decided to help them with a craft that they could send to their grandparents that live far away, as both of our children's do!  I remembered that B had received several rolls of this paper for his birthday from his grandparents.  

We laid each child down on their back on the paper and traced their head and stretched-out arms. I don't have pictures of this because it was quite the feat for wiggly four year olds!

We then taped the outlines of each of them to the kitchen floor with painter's tape so it would be easy to remove from the floor and paper.  We equipped them with a ton of markers, colored pencils and crayons and let them create!

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This was just a couple weeks before Mother's Day and the week of my sister's birthday.  He wanted to make one for Aunt Dee-dee, as well!  

I tried to roll them up and send them, but it made more sense to fold them up and send in an envelope I already had.

What a fun surprise they had when they opened the packages!

Mothers Day 2013

"A child born to another woman calls me Mom. The depth of the tragedy and magnitude of the privilege are not lost on me" 

-Jody Landers 

I read that quote on Facebook yesterday and was so impacted. They are words I think of so often, but they don't come out quite so eloquently.  

This past Mothers' Day weekend, I was able to once again, spend time with Ash, B's birth mom,  celebrating together, both as mothers to an amazing little boy.  Our schedules didn't allow for us to have  an evening to ourselves like we were able to last year, but we spent the day with B and Lah-Lah, which was great! 

Ash spent the night on Friday night and had the chance to see, first hand, how exciting it is to leave the house for the day with two children.  Our first stop was for iced coffee; my new addiction, compliments of my precious 6 month old still not sleeping through the night.  No complaints, just thankful for coffee.

It looked to be a rainy gloomy day, but we still decided to brave Longwood Gardens.  

I am so glad we did!  Usually weekends are slammed, and especially holiday weekends.  Thanks to the gloomy weather, the place was quite sparse and the sun finally did come out!

I know, I wasn't exactly dressed nice for the occasion.  I've been having some ankle pain and really needed to wear my running shoes. I didn't want to be that mom wearing running shoes with my skinny jeans, so I dressed appropriately

Here are the outtakes from trying to take a picture of us three!

I love this one of these two!  An extremely vibrant conversation about how the pizza boxes are used  without all of them falling down!

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to have Ash in our lives.  The magnitude of the privilege is not lost on me.  

At times we wonder if we are sharing too much. We, as a family, are trying to really think about what and how we share on-line and how it will affect B and L down the road.  

When we were together on Saturday, I received a message from a friend of mine that made both me and Ash cry, "Hey friend, just want you to know I've been thinking about you a lot lately. My relationship with my foster son's mom is growing. I keep thinking about your courage. What it takes to let Ashley in on the intimate details of your life. Thank you for setting such a Godly example, my friend. He really used you to open my eyes when we met last year. I will be picking my foster son's birth mom up today for his 1st Bday party. Just wanted you to know what you are doing is changing lives......."

This is one of the countless messages we have received that lets us know that sharing our hearts is worth it.  If more people could break down those walls of insecurity and fear, there will be more children out there that don't have to choose between biology and legalities.  I know, first-hand, every situation is complex and this extreme openness is not always best for all parties.  But even an opening of your soul to your child's first or birth families will give your child permission to ask questions, to wonder, to be okay with missing what his life could have been.  And I know that is hard stuff, but what is harder in my mind, is forcing a child to stuff those emotions away and not deal properly with their emotions, which can cause irreparable damage to their mind and spirit.  

If a mother and father can love more than one child then why is it so hard to understand that a child can love more than one mother and father? - Unknown


Also, please stop over to Open Adoption Bloggers and read an interview that Ash and I did for Mother's day!