:)

Fi-nal-ized (v): to put in final or finished form

Today, almost 6 months from the date we brought her home from the hospital, we had our finalization hearing via conference call with Judge Blake of Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center in Miami who confirmed what we already knew...Jossalyn Ruth-Ann Duke is "official"! Please don't think we ever doubted this moment but it was an awesome phone call that put a lump in both mine and Chris' throat! It was also wonderful that Martine, with A Bundle of Joy , who was there with us when this journey began, was also here as our Notary today!

To "celebrate", I decided to take the kids to Bruster's to have ice cream for dinner after I picked Jaxon and Tyller up from camp while Daddy-O mowed the amazon, ahem, I mean yard. (yes they had a "real" dinner once we got home)

Here are a few pictures of the princess on her special day!

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

I looked at my journal from almost 6 months ago to the day. I also blogged about it here.

Our God is an awesome God!

007? More like double-o'-fun!!!

Jaxon is at camp this week so I wanted to do some fun activities with Camron and Caden (and Jossalyn of course). After seeing Cars 2 this weekend, they have been doing a lot of Secret Agent pretending. So I decided to give the boys a fun little "mission" of their own!

They woke up to a special letter waiting with their breakfast.

The letter gave them a clue. The mission was underway. And off we went!

Our first clue led us to Chick-fil-A. Well, lookie here, another clue was there waiting for us!


They couldn't wait to open it up!

Oh, yay! This one is sending us to Babies-R-Us! Notice this clue clearly states that Mommy NEEDS to do some shopping. Whoa, whoever left these clues is SUPER smart. ;)

Another clue was waiting at Babies-R-Us! Wonder where this one will take us.....

Hmm, where could this be? They aren't even open yet! The door is locked? Guess we better knock....

And there's our good friend Pat from Longhorn! He has our final clue!

This clue tells us to go to the mall....and buy a disguise....but not for us? This took some thought!

**little do Agent Duke and Duke know that I am the mastermind behind this plan**

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

They got to buy new clothes (aka a disguise) for their Build-A-Bears! The smurf hats were a perk!

We had a great time and ended our adventure with a nice lunch with a dear friend and her sweet grand baby!

Joss is 6 months old!

It's hard to believe our little Princess is 6 months old today! She is still as sweet as ever. She just has the best disposition! She talks, babbles, and yes, says Da-Da! She is sitting up, although doesn't think twice about plopping down onto her belly. She loves to put EVERYTHING in her mouth! No teeth yet but is a major drool box!

Notice the drool!

This was her the other day but I had to share how she cheeses the minute she sees the camera! LOVE this girl!

***Disclaimer***
the following post is my personal opinion, based on my personal convictions...

A weakness of mine has always been putting too much value on what other people think. I have to remind myself constantly that I am to seek the approval of my Lord and Savior, no one else.

Just as Paul said, "Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ"
(Galatians 1:10)

I am choosing to delete my facebook account. I am not a person who spends a great deal of time there anyway , but the time I spend there could definitely be used more wisely. Rather than spend 10-15 minutes surfing facebook while I feed the baby, I could spend that time praying for her instead. If it's during the day, I could spend that time catching up with an old friend who I haven't talked to in a while...oh wait, other than on facebook.
I feel like there is a whole world of actual FACE time passing us by. My social networking now will have to consist of calling a friend on the phone and asking them to meet me at the park or at "chickalay" rather than posting it on facebook and hoping someone shows.
I don't want to have to worry anymore about my posts. Will they offend someone? Will they make someone laugh? It doesn't matter. I am not striving to please others.
My convictions come from the strong desire to DO something. The Holy Spirit is tugging at my heart. I want to spend my time making memories. I want my daily activities, both with and without my children involved, to matter. I don't want to look at facebook and feel that twinge of, "oh, well, maybe I should be doing this", or,"look what so-and-so did, maybe I should be doing that too".
Do I think I will miss facebook? Sure! But I need to be obedient. And that means deleting the account and being content in doing so.

Pencil Cake Time

At the beginning of each school year, we have a pencil cake party! It just so happened that Mimi, Grandpa, and Nannie came to visit today so they got to enjoy the yummy cake (which doubled as Mimi's birthday cake) with us.

I CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVE A THIRD GRADER AND 2 FIRST GRADERS!!! I wonder if they are still going to smile this big when they are in high school and I am STILL making the pencil cake.... Oh, how those smiles make this mama's heart melt!

Girls Weekend

Some friends and I snuck away to spend a kid-free weekend at the beach last weekend. It was so nice to sit and relax and talk and laugh and laugh and laugh some more. Of course I missed my babies! I had a sweet note tucked in with my Bible from Jaxon reminding me of how much he loved me. Oh, the heart of that child! Then when I returned, the house was clean and I had a huge sign welcoming me home on the garage. Sweet rewards of mommy-hood!

And they're off!

Yes, we still ate at chickalay....who can pass up free food??

We had a beautiful day on the beach!

Aww, they missed me!

Alpaca, Dogs, and Homeschool Kiddos OH MY!

What do you get when you cross a bunch of furry Huacaya Alpaca and a bunch of homeschool children? Well, a REALLY fun field trip, of course! We traveled to Walkertown today and visited Whispering Hollow Alpaca Farm! The kids had a wonderful time!

Me and my sweeties

The children listening closely to all the interesting Alpaca facts!


This is Alpaca fur once sheered. It's really soft!


Nana came along for the fun too!

Almost everyone who went with us.

An Alpaca's favorite snack.

Hmm, what is that??? Beans??

Oh, THOSE are BEANS?? :)

The Anatolian Shepherd dogs who guard the Alpaca. They are BIG, but they are cute!

The Alpaca down below once we left their environment. They were starting to relax again!

God Bless America

Happy 4th from the Darling Dukes!

Camron and Caden

Tonight at church, Camron and Caden were baptized. They were so cute and so serious, just taking in every word said to them....and there was a LOT said! The baptismal robes they wore were the smallest they had but they were still rather big! It was precious seeing them lift them up to climb in and out!

We ended our evening with dinner and dessert at Longhorn with Nana, Poppi, Grandma, and Papa. It was a wonderful, beautiful, memorable day!

Look how big they are!

I had to post this because you can see the love in Camron's eyes looking at Caden.

Watching those before them and waiting patiently!

Camron was first

Caden's turn

Pool Days

One of my fondest memories as a child is going swimming at my Grandma and Papa's house. They lived about a mile away from me and my cousin lived right in between. We would ride our bikes to the pool and swim the days away. I have 3 boy cousins. David is 10 years older, Jeremy is 6 weeks younger and Shane is a little over a year younger. We grew up like siblings and I love them all like brothers! Seeing my boys swim in the same pool brings back so many memories! It's also pretty funny that of my cousins and myself, I was always the most adventurous in the water with Jeremy close behind and Shane always took a LOT of coaxing! My boys are the same way! Jaxon is me, Caden is Jeremy, and Camron is Shane!