Space and Love

Jeff and the kids love to watch sci-fi shows together. Last night at dinner, the conversation revolved around a recently viewed episode of Star Trek Enterprise. To watch them (which is usually what I'm doing because I have no idea what they are talking about) intently discussing the details of the episode and laughing hysterically at the "inside" jokes was comical in itself.

Seeing my princess daughters discussing warp field reactors and various alien life forms always cracks me up. At one point , I pointed out to Jeff that somewhere there are young sci-fi loving boys who have no idea the gems for wives we are raising.

My point was driven home today with a conversation I had with Abby. This week, she has asked to have Guess How Much I Love You to be read as her bedtime story. So each night we've read about loving as high as we can reach, up to our toes, and to the moon and back. So I was not surprised at all, when I told my little sci-fi loving girl that I loved her, that she responded with, "Mommy, I love you to a parallel universe and back."

The Next Chapter

It has been awhile since I've written about my little family here. With the passing of a dear friend--who "lived in my computer" and will continue to live on in my heart--I was reminded of how fleeting our time is here on this planet. As I looked back over the pages of her blog this week, I remembered sharing with her the laughter and tears, her joys and fears, as she chronicled tidbits of her daily life. She always told me that she liked to keep a blog so that her (6!) boys would know what was stirring in her heart as she was going through this time of raising them up. Now that she is gone, those words will allow her youngest boys (and her grandchildren) some insight into the woman they only had for a short time. So I'm dusting off this old blog and going to try to capture some of what's going on in our life. Having just moved three hours from our closest family and friends, this will also be a way that they can keep current with our new life 'up north.' Back to piling stones...

I Heart Faces: Silhouettes

I decided to join in the I Heart Faces Challenge this week. This week's theme is silhouettes.

Swinging on the tree swing at Nana and Pa's is a favorite for our kids. Many hours have been spent flying high on that swing.

Check out all of the other silhouette entries by clicking on the box below!

When Kids Go Camping

My parents took the kids camping this weekend. To say that they had a great time, would be an understatement. They did not want to come home. But, come home they did, and along with the dirty kids, came all of their dirty laundry.

Laundry is always an interesting thing in this house. The list of things that I've found in my washing machine and dryer is a mile long. So, this morning when I was switching over a load of laundry from washer to dryer, I wasn't completely surprised when two snail shells fell to the floor.

I quickly called out, "Who put snail shells in their pocket?"

Grace replied, "Oops! I did. Uncle Dave and I found them on a trail, so I put them in my pocket. They were still alive." Then she asked, "Do you think they are still alive?"

"Probably not," I told her as I laid them down on the kitchen table, "they've just been washed in the washing machine."

About twenty minutes later, as I walked through the kitchen, I screamed when I saw a trail of slime going across the table, leading to one of our UNdead snails.

The kids immediately went to work googling "snail care" and gathering the neccessities for having a pet snail. So meet our new pet, Jesse.



**UPDATE**

As I was publishing this post, Abby came running in yelling, "It's awake!! It's awake!!"

I asked her, "Oh, did your snail come out and see his new home?"

To which she replied, "No! The other snail on the table...waked up!!"

So, meet our other new pet, Sandy. He/She is not dead, just shy.

Top Garage Sale Finds of the Week

New, in-the-box patio table to replace our table that was shattered last week during harsh winds - $20

New, in-the-box ceiling light for the kitchen -$2

Cinderella dress, angel wings, halo, princess wand, Dora backpack with accessories, big beaded bracelet, three purple necklaces, and a pair of Skechers light up shoes - $4

Abby enjoying her garage sale finds - Priceless!


(Click on picture to enlarge)

I decided to participate in Today's Thrifty Treasures over at Southern Hospitality. This is my first time participating and I'm sorry that I don't have photos of the table and the light. However, it's obvious that the best finds of the week are pictured up above! But, I'll make sure to take pictures of my garage sale/thrift store finds from now on!

Piano Recital

Grace had her first piano recital last night. She played wonderfully!

There was something about seeing her up there that made me get all teary eyed. And it made her Daddy get pretty choked up, too. Maybe it was the visual reminder of how quickly she is growing up. Are we really sitting here watching our little girl play the piano before this large group of people? Or was it how she bounced up on to that stage with such confidence (even though we knew she was a little nervous), played her piece with clarity and without hesitation, then walked away from the piano with a beaming smile? Then again, maybe it was the little flashes forward to the many, Lord willing, recitals to come; knowing that this is just the beginning and picturing her all grown up, playing even more eloquently than she played last night.

Yes, all of this was going through my mind during the, oh, approximately 35 seconds that she was on that stage. In trying to keep the program from running too long, the students were allowed to play only one song; for Grace, and many others at this time, their repertoires only contain songs with very few measures. So, it was a rather quick showcase of what she has learned over the last six months. However, it was definitely long enough to fill her Momma and Daddy with an overwhelming amount of pride, joy, hope, and love.

Bravo, Gracie! Bravo.

Swimming

The kids begin their swimming lessons next week. They're excited about getting back in the pool. Abby is constantly asking when she is going to go to her swimming 'yessons'. I'm hoping to be able to spend a lot of time in the pool this summer, like we did last summer.

Here's a little video of the kids swimming, last summer.

Dirt

Around here, another sure sign of spring is...dirt!

There's dirt...

...on faces.

...under little fingernails.

...on knees.

...on bottoms.

...covering the kitchen floor.

...in a ring around the bathtub.

...on the bar of hand soap.

...in the kitchen sink.

...on my 'good' towels.

It's spring time, there's dirt everywhere...and I'm lovin' it!

Pizza and Pins Party

We decided to have Grace and Jacob's birthday parties together at the bowling alley, last Saturday. Along with all the grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, they both got to invite a friend to come along. We had pizza, pop, cupcakes, and lots of bowling. I was surprised by how much work it was to keep things going and was worn out by the end of it. To think that I had come up with the idea to have it at the bowling alley, instead of our house, to make it easier on myself. Hmmm...my little plan backfired on me! Ha! But, as crazy and hectic as it was, we had a good time.

Paco and Grandma decided to bowl some, too. It had been many, many years since either one had bowled. Paco, having had his heart surgery back in December, did wonderfully rolling the ball down the lane. However, Grandma showed him up a little (well, all of us, actually) when on her first ball, she rolled a strike!

Geocaching with Nana and Pa

To end our busy St. Patrick's Day, we met Nana and Pa for some geocaching at the park.

Pa leads the way.

LOVE

Everybody jump!

Us.

A great end to a beautiful day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A little St. Patrick's Day fun for breakfast.

I made shamrock pancakes with little 'pots of gold (coins).' Yes, banana slices as gold coins are kind of lame, but I was trying to keep it fairly healthy!

Signs of Spring

Daffodils and crocus in full bloom

Little girl spring dresses hanging to dry

More time being spent playing at the park

Geocaching

With the beautiful weather that we've been having, we've been trying to enjoy the outdoors as much as we can. Waking up to a gorgeous day on Saturday, we decided to spend the day geocaching.

If you don't know what geocaching is you can read more about it here. In brief, it's basically a treasure hunt using GPS. People hide little 'caches' in all sorts of places, then they post on the internet the longitude and latitude coordinates of the hiding place. Then, we put the coordinates into our GPS and set out looking for the hidden cache. The cache usually has a log book and some little, inexpensive trinkets/toys, that the kids can swap out with one of their own little toys.

It's a wonderful way to get outside, enjoy nature, and get some exercise. It makes hiking even more exciting for the kids because they know that there is going to be a 'hidden treasure' to find.

Here are some photos from our adventures this past Saturday:

And the days go by...

I've been horrible at keeping our little blog current. I'll try to do better with it because I know there are some family members out there who would like their fix of stories and pictures of the kids. Hehe!

The last two months have been rather uneventful...which is a good thing. We've just been busy with day-to-day activities and our homeschooling. We've also been enjoying the little breaks in the frigid weather, which allow us to get out and play a little bit.

As you all know, we're in our birthday 'season' here, so that keeps us busy. It's hard to believe that our baby is now FOUR! I took a little photo walk down memory lane and made a little video to celebrate the past 4 years with Abby...I mean, Sweetheart. Yes, she still insists that we call her Sweetheart. :)

So, here is a quick look back on four years with our little Sweetheart.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Awakenings

I was awakened by the ringing of the phone the other morning. It was my father-in-law calling to talk to Jeff. I hate to admit that 2 weeks ago, if he had called early in the morning - on a day perfect for sleeping in - I would have been a little annoyed. I like my sleep. Sadly, I'm not a morning person.

However, on this cold, rainy morning - the day after Christmas - I found myself choking back tears as I listened to Jeff chatting on the phone with his dad. I could hear Jeff's words fumbling about as he fought to keep his emotions in check. I could only imagine the array of thoughts and feelings he was experiencing as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

Relief. Amazement. Joy. Thankfulness. And I imagine a part of him was having a hard time trying not to think about what could have been - or, what almost was.

Two weeks ago his father survived a life threatening aneurysm; an aneurysm that went misdiagnosed for two days. He then survived an emergency, 10-hour surgery to repair the extensive damage caused by the rip in his aorta; a rip that spanned from his heart all the way down to his legs. It was a surgery only complicated more by the need to perform a double bypass and replace a faulty valve.

Then, as his father laid in his hospital bed, recovering from the surgery, it was discovered that he had developed a life-threatening lung infection. Just his being awake, lying in a bed, having a ventilator doing all of the breathing for him, was too taxing for his body. So, as quickly as they had woken him up, the doctors sent him back to sleep. And we watched him sleep for 6 days. And we waited for his lungs to get better.

And we prayed.

It was then determined that he would need extensive therapy on his lungs, so the insertion of a trach was scheduled for Christmas Eve. However, on the morning of Christmas Eve, the doctor who was supposed to do the procedure fell ill with the flu; so, they rescheduled the trach placement for a few days later.

Then, on Christmas Day, he woke up.

The doctor re-examined him and it was determined that his lungs had made such improvement that he no longer needed to have a trach inserted. So, they took him off the ventilator and he began to talk, again.

And we all gave thanks for the beautiful Christmas gift that God had given us.

So, the day after Christmas, as I listened to Jeff talking on the phone, I gave thanks that he had been given another opportunity to have a conversation with his dad. I gave thanks for being awakened by the ringing of the phone.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Here is the Christmas card that I came up with for this year. Although, I'm not sure that I'm going to get them sent out in time. I'm still waiting for the prints to come in the mail. Also, my father-in-law had extensive heart surgery on Tuesday, so we've been spending quite a bit of time at the hospital. It has been a very rough road, so far, however, he is slowly improving. The fact that he is still with us has been the best Christmas gift, for sure.

Merry Christmas, to you and your families!

The House That Patience Built

The kids and I built a gingerbread house today. It was our first time doing one and at one point I was thinking that it may, also, be our last. This was another parenting moment that required so much patience; with the fragile gingerbread walls, the icing that needed time to dry, the shall-remain-nameless-3 year old who kept licking the candy before putting it on...patience was required.

I'd love to say that I flew through the whole task with flying colors, but I didn't. However, I made sure to get right with the kids when my patience wore thin and, in the end, we all left the table with joyous memories of building our little house of candy. The event even made it into Grace's journal. And she only writes about the fondest memories of her childhood in her journal.

And we will do it again.

One of the biggest lessons that I've learned as a mother is that I can't run away from the things that I need to work on in my life. Although, sometimes I really want to avoid situations that are going to require me to work in areas that sin may be lurking, like my impatience. And that's exactly what my impatience is...a sin. And how can I say to my kids, "Sorry, kids. No more (enter activity/situation that requires patience) because Mommy doesn't have any and she's not willing to work on that sin in her life?"

So, I try to keep moving along. Growing. Stretching. Learning. Getting it wrong. Getting it right. And my kids go along with me, sometimes having to see, all too clearly, the sins in my life, but also getting to witness my overcoming them. They get to see that Mommy's not perfect but she's still trying to get it right.

And I pray that they'll take that approach in their lives, too. I don't want to raise them to believe that it is okay to be complacent in their sins. I want them to be able to go on to build their own houses...with candy and patience.

Family Night: Christmas Lights Drive

We had a rather easy Family Night this past Friday. Jeff is working a very hectic schedule right now, so I knew it would have to be something easy and kind of late, since he wouldn't get home until around 9 that night. When he got home, we were waiting in the van for him and we took off on a hunt for Christmas lights. We, actually, do this quite a bit during the season, as we go along our way to other places. However, the kids were very excited because the main goal for this drive WAS the Christmas lights. They would yell out to us when they could see a house all lit up, "Mom, turn that way!" Or, "There's one!"

We listened to Christmas music on the radio as we wound our way through different additions and we sang Christmas carols, too. Abby is at a wonderful stage where she sings so loudly and without abandon...even when she doesn't know the words. She had all of us giggling throughout the night.

As we drove along though, I did have a specific house that I wanted to see. So, we made our way to the other side of the city, in search for this house. It's one of those houses that is all lit up with lights that are choreographed to music. Not exactly my cup of tea, however, I knew that it would be something that the kids would enjoy. Unfortunately, I didn't know exactly how to get there, so I ended up having to call my Mom and have her give us directions. Which caused Grace to get a little nervous because she does not like to hear that Mommy and Daddy don't know where they are going. After a few wrong turns, we eventually made it to our destination.

The kids were squealing with excitement when they saw the house. They quickly unbuckled from their seats and clambered their way over to the windows facing the blinking lights. They watched and danced with the lights as they flashed along with the music

At one point, I could hear Abby climbing over coats and car seats as she made her way towards the front of the van. Without a word, she climbed up onto the console next to me, grabbed my face in her hands and gave me a big wet kiss on the cheek. Then, she turned to her Daddy and did the same thing with him before she climbed down and made her way back to her spot at the window.

So, without much planning and about a quarter tank of gas, we were able to have another memorable Family Night. So much so, that the kids ask almost nightly if we can go back and see the dancing house.

For more Family Night fun, visit Heather at Whittaker Woman.

A Little Getaway

My mom, sister, and I slipped away for a few days last week. We left the menfolk home with all of the kids and flew to Florida. It was wonderful! We stayed at a nice little resort on Marco Island. We had a great time full of conversation, laughter, and even some tears...but mostly, laughter. I hadn't laughed so hard in a very long time.

A few things from the trip, which will mean nothing to any one else, but I know my mom and sister will appreciate them:

~Morning walks on the beach, combing for shells.

~Beautiful sunsets

~My inability to drive and do anything else at the same time, like tune the radio, talk...breathe.

~The response from the valet at the resort when I asked him for directions to Walmart.

~3 o'clock sorbet on the beach

~U-turns

~Dolphin tattoos (No, we didn't get tattoos, but we joked about doing it.)

~My sister carrying around her coupon book...everywhere.

~Christmas lights

~More U-turns.

~Our daily lunches on the beach.

~Plates and bowls. ;)

~Building Rudolph to send a photo to the kids and then getting to watch other people stop and take pictures of him.

~Mom trying to get her bulging suitcase zipped shut for our return flight.

~Panther crossings

~And, more U-turns.

It was a great time and I feel blessed that we were able to do it!

A New Name for Abby

Abby has informed us that her name is no longer, Abby. She now wants her father to call her, Sweetheart.

As for the rest of us? We are to address her as, Daddy's Sweetheart.