Looking for the Rainbow;)

It was a rather cold, dreary and rainy Monday. The BIG boys had the day off from school due to a teacher workday. There were no alarm clocks to set before going to bed on Sunday night, no lunches to pack, and no buses to catch first thing in the morning. Everyone slept in and we all enjoyed a little extra rest.

PURE BLISS!  

What a nice way to kick-start the beginning of another full week.

And because it was rather blah outside, I thought a little something extra was needed to ensure our day wouldn't turn out like the weather;)

I surprised the kids by making them rainbow pancakes for breakfast.

Yes...it kind-of looked like they were eating play-dough, BUT even so...
 my kids thought they were AWESOME.

I mean, who wouldn't enjoy eating a bright blue or purple pancake, right!?!?

After breakfast, I asked the kids if they wanted to hit the Y pool for a swim.
A unanimous "YES" was heard around the kitchen table.
 So off to the pool we went.

Going swimming in the winter is always such a fun and unexpected treat!

We met my sweet friend, and her four little girls there for a morning of swimming fun!

We stayed for several hours before it was time to head home for lunch.

The BIG boys hated to leave, but the babies were tired, hungry, and getting a little grumpy;)

I think swimming wore everyone flat out though, because as I type this...

 my house is really quiet. 

No one is actually napping, (I'm banking on a 7:00pm bedtime for ALL) but everyone is content and playing quietly!

***We received BIG news today concerning our adoption! 
Our I-800 was approved!!!
This is HUGE!!!

What we thought would take up to 60-90 days waiting for approval, happened on day 46!!! 

What this really means for us is that now we have EVERYTHING we need in order to send our dossier to China!

Our paperwork still has a few more "stops" it has to make (like Raleigh, Washington DC, and California) before it will be bound for China, but it will be on it's way VERY, VERY soon!!!!!!

This was the best news we could have received on this gloomy Monday;)***