The Christmas Story

We have been a bit busy here with Nutcracker practice and such but I wanted to share some sweet video’s that are sure to put a smile on your face. A dear sister in the Lord shared them on her blog and I couldn’t resist doing the same.

My oldest three laughed like loons and loved seeing what Christmas really celebrates as told/shown by other kids.

The 10 minutes or less you’ll invest watching will bless you, guaranteed. : ) Oh, and if you’re a little like me and you relish hearing a good accent every now and again, this will fill your joy meter. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Halloween First

The kiddos were all excited to head out this year. I will spare you the details for how many times a day and for how many days Katie asked me if it was Halloween. : )

These three hit the streets with their dad this year. I was a bit thankful because it was quite windy and I wanted to stay with my little man. No, Ezekiel didn’t don a costume this year. We had one for him but he isn’t the best of sports and we just thought it best to forego the whole torture- for his sake and ours.

Kiersten opted to be Jessie from Toy Story. I searched and searched for costumes but they just don’t exist in her size.  She belongs to that grey category- doesn’t fit in children’s and doesn’t fit in women’s. Because of this dilemma we had a family first: I made a costume! We bought her shirt at Goodwill and then I painted on the decorative design. {We had painted cuffs for her wrists but with the weather such as it was we knew no one would see them under her jacket.} Then I bought the cow print fabric from Hobby Lobby and made some ‘chaps’ for her. They had loops on the sides so she could thread them through her belt and not have them fall down on her constantly. The ‘chaps’ worked out surprisingly well and were comfortable to pull on over her jeans. We only had to buy the hat and then braid her naturally red hair and we were set. She was very happy with the result thankfully! {A dear neighbor exclaimed over her costume and made Kiersten’s night.}

Next up- Iron Man. I wasn’t sure how this would all shake out because of the face covering mask. Isaiah was sure he would like it. He was a bit bummed that this year no raved over his costume. {I don’t think it bothered him until that neighbor commented on Kiersten’s costume. Then he realized no one had said anything about his costume.}Last year when he was Luigi several people commented on his costume and not really so much on the girls’. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. : )

Last up- Violet Incredible. Katie was precious as Violet. She wore this costume as much as she could up until the actual holiday. I had fears of her ruining it but thankfully she did not. She had a felt mask that had a band to go around her head. She wasn’t super thrilled with that set-up so I promised to paint on her mask. The effect turned out really cute.

The night was short, they were only out about an hour, but they came home with full baskets. All in all the night and each costume was a success. We’ll have to see if future years means more ‘homemade’ costumes! : )

Looks Can be Deceiving

He is a handsome little devil, I know. I am rather smitten with this little guy. {I get such a kick out of the way my boys’ cross their feet and their legs!} He is mostly a dear sweet boy…except for when meal time rolls around. If we hadn’t gone through this same song and dance routine 3 times already I might take things personally. He’ll eat everything he can- so long as it is a ‘snack’. You put food on a plate and set Littlest Man up to the table and suddenly the food becomes undesirable. How he thrives we’ll never know.

That is why I was a bit baffled to know he put his little hand up into my dish of raw, thawing chicken legs and then proceeded to lick it. Who knows what he thought was in the dish. Knowing he did this is seriously disgusting and a little disturbing. I am guessing it was the hope of what might have been in there that lured him.

The ironic part? He wouldn’t touch the chicken once it was cooked and put on his plate for dinner. : ) Go figure.

{Beloved was the one who caught Little Man in the act. He squawked at Zeke and then brought him quickly up to the sink where he cleaned his hands and tried to wipe out his mouth. I am happy and super thankful to report Zeke suffered no ill effects from his curiosity.}

A Very Pleasant Surprise

It is a rare thing, sad to say, when customer service pleasantly surprises you. A week before I got a call from Columbia I was ready to be done with the company altogether. Last year I bought new winter coats in the spring, when they were on sale, knowing the older two would need bigger jackets come Winter. Coats came and were hung up waiting until they would be needed.

Fast forward 7 months and Isaiah goes to put on his jacket only to have the zipper bust. Long story hopefully shortened- this type of jacket is one of those that has a zip in fleece so a simple zipper repair isn’t an option. (Believe me I asked!) The only option is to get an entire new jacket. I called the warranty department and sent in the broken jacket along with a copy of my receipt. In November I sent the part that was broken…not the whole kit ‘n caboodle. I received a call once that package had been received that I needed to send the outer shell as well. (Please, don’t ask me what I was thinking when I only sent in part of the jacket and not the whole thing.) That was done very close to Christmas. Between vacation time for employees and the holiday orders things were delayed.

I called a few times to hear the two pieces of the jacket sent in hadn’t been matched up so they were waiting. Then Spring came and I put it out of my mind since we were not needing the coat. But just a few weeks ago it dawned on me that I never heard from them again and never received a replacement jacket. I was a little bit unhappy at this revelation.

Less than two weeks after this I got a call, out of the blue, from Columbia. They had been looking through their paperwork and realized they haven’t rectified my situation. (WHAT?!) The gentlemen I spoke with was wonderful. We talked colors and sizes and a new replacement jacket should be here this week.

I am so thankful that the Lord took care of this situation for me.

I also have to say I am beyond blessed to not have had to nag and convince Columbia to send me another coat. I don’t know about you but I find customer service calls to be a chore. Columbia Sportswear went up in my estimation of companies and I will most assuredly be buying from them again. In a sea of lemons (or sharks) this company stands out. Thanks so much Columbia!

Who Would Have Thought?

I would never have guessed one small chip would create such a big problem. Our glass pitcher we use for everyday juice bumped the bottom of the shelf above and the teeniest, tiniest chip you ever saw came off one of the lips. I threw the chip of glass away and rubbed my finger gently over the now broken area thinking it to be no big deal. We’ll finish the juice and I’ll let my Hubby know of the damage.
 

Well…wouldn’t you know my Beloved would go and discover that teeniest, tiniest chip all on his own? He decided to wash that pitcher that night unbeknownst to me (because the pitcher had sat on the counter for a fair amount of the day, he dumped it and set to getting it clean). Once he was finished washing he noticed the water was looking a funny color and thought perhaps the juice was the culprit. Not so. His newly sliced hand bleeding into the water was causing the color change. The funny part? Beloved never even felt his hand get cut. Even thought he didn’t feel it that pitcher did a humdinger of a job on his hand. He found me saying, “I think I have a problem.” That hand was sliced so cleanly and deeply you were peering down at white.
 

The troops were rounded up in their jammies and our local emergency room got a visit. Not only did he cut is hand deeply, he nicked the tendon over his right hand ring finger. Stitches lightly added came home on his hand as well as a Monday morning appointment to see a surgeon.
 

Now, I don’t know how much you know about tendons but they are a delicate thing, to be sure. The tendon is a bit like a rubber band. Once it is cut, if you continue to stretch it, similar to a rubber band, it will continue to tear until it rips completely apart. Once the tendon snaps it retracts towards the point of connection. Then the surgery becomes a much bigger deal than repairing a nick. They have to cut up the line of the tendon until they find it and reattach it to the other end. Thankfully, Beloved’s was a nick and not a complete tear.
 

Monday he saw the surgeon and by Wednesday he had outpatient surgery to repair the nick. (I say nick because that is the wording the hospital staff used. However once surgery was performed it became known the tendon was sliced 85% through. That wasn’t what I had in mind when I thought ‘nick’. : ) ) Because Beloved’s tendon wasn’t sliced through completely they only had to reopen the original cut and add some micro-sutures The hand is healing nicely so far.
 

 I call it his Frankenstein hand. : ) I’m loving and supportive like that. Seriously though, he is doing great and recovering wonderfully. Thankfully with his job such as it is this was a small bump in the road. We are several weeks out from the initial injury and while he is still undergoing P.T. all is healing nicely.

 

All this to say, if you ever chip a glass, no matter how big or small, it should go immediately into the recycle bin! If you could have seen the size of the chip it would be unbelievable the amount of damage that has come from it.

 

Oh, I am sure you will believe me when I tell you my husband’s conclusion after all this: dishes are really too dangerous for him to do anymore and so he should be done with that chore altogether. (Isn’t that just like a man? : ))

Bagheera

This girl is something else. Truly. She had a wonderful opportunity this summer to participate in a musical play- The Jungle Book Kids. After undergoing auditions she landed the part of Bagheera the panther. I wish I could put in to words what this play was like for her. She enjoyed her self so much and stepped out in courage. Both my Beloved and I watched her perform in amazement knowing she didn’t get that confidence and acting ability from either of one of us. (If you could see my Beloved in action you would know the drama is all him. ~wink~)

She is growing up so fast, this one. We are watching and wishing time would slow down. One sign of her growing maturity was choosing to do this play while knowing the opening night of the show would land on her birthday, prohibiting a party. Oh, we did cake and ice cream and she had her bigger family party a week or so before the play so it wasn’t like she didn’t have a birthday. But the laying down of her special day was something that might not have happened a year or so ago. I cannot share the play with you…but wow, it was a sight to see. You’ll just have to take my word for it. : )

Since I mentioned her birthday here are a few pictures of her celebrating. I have fallen dreadfully behind on updating the blog, so you’ll have to bear with posts with more than one topic. : )

The hot birthday day gift this year was Lego Friends. Both Grandma’s blessed her with a few kits and away she went. I’ll have to show you a picture of the put together parts. They are definitely something to behold. You can completely see how Lego catered to the more detailed heart of a girl versus a boy.

Well, it is beginning, this update of the oldest girl. : ) Take care- lots of love and prayers!

Mazurka

This is the last of the recital dances for the KK girl and it is her ballet number. I wasn’t able to record this particular dance during practice. Thus the vantage point is much further away. She is the second from the top of the screen in the right hand side line. From there you’ll have to do your best to follow her. : ) Again, apologies for my oh so fine camera recording. Blessings on your day!

MVI 0712 from Jess on Vimeo.

Boogie Woogie Jitterbug

Kiersten did two tap numbers, the second of which was the Boogie Woogie Jitterbug. She’s such a knock-out. Did I mention before how proud I was when I saw her? : )

She was hamming it up for the camera. Such a nut! (I am not feeling super wordy so I’ll just cut to her dance, if you don’t mind.)

Boogie Woogie Jitterbug from Jess on Vimeo.

Amazing

That Kiersten-girl did an amazing job at her dance recital. I was just so proud of her!

This year was different for me in that I hadn’t seen Kiersten perform or really even practice any of these dances from start to finish until rehearsal. In the past I had always seen the dance long before the recital and that just wasn’t true this year. I have to say I was blown away by how amazing she did! I really shouldn’t have been because she always does a great job. I suppose it was the element of surprise in seeing it for the first time.

Recital week can be a bit exhausting and I could see it on the faces of those Mom’s newly joining the ranks. Each year gets better in that I know what is coming and can better adapt to it. Not sure if that makes sense- I suppose there is just some comfort (if that is the right word) in knowing what’s expected and how long and late the performance is going to last.

This year I had Kiersten take a rest-time both days of the recital. She laid down in her darkened room and listened to a story on tape and then fell asleep for a little while afterwards. That was a saving grace as she performed her last number about 10:15 both nights. (Have I mentioned she is a trooper?)

Well, I have hemmed and hawed enough already. Here is Kiersten performing the Waltz Clod! (P.S. This was rehearsal and Katie was working a bad nerve. I apologize in advance for my camera taking skills. The few times the camera dips a certain someone was yanking on my arm. You’ll hear my response to said behavior too! Oh dear.)

Waltz Clod from Jess on Vimeo.

(P.S.S. This is only dance #1 of #3. So, more to come!)

Wishing for Sweet Slumber

A few mornings ago I was in the kitchen cutting watermelon only to come out and find this exhausted little man curled up and fast asleep. He was smack dab in the middle of the others doing their thing and it hadn’t mattered. He was done for.

He had woken up quite early for him (5:30ish) and hadn’t slept super well the night before. I was going to wake him up after only an hour so that he would still take an afternoon nap, but when I went to do so he was sleeping so hard I left him be. Three hours later he roused himself. He has been battling a cold that just is hanging on tight and I know that all the rest he can get is precious and only aids in him getting better. (No, no afternoon nap was forthcoming after that marathon morning nap. : ))

I wish I could say it is only Zeke that has been depriving me of sleep in the middle of the night. He isn’t the main culprit. His next oldest sister, oh mercy, can she scream in the night. I can’t explain it but Katie has become terrorized by things in the last 6 months or so that didn’t bother her before. And as with most things involving small children there is no logic to her terrors, no trigger either, they have appeared almost out of nowhere.

The terror that is affecting sleep is her terror of The Train. We live a hop, skip and a jump from some railroad tracks. Have all her short life. Trains come through during the day and night. When the operator lays on that horn…that is it. She comes running for me. And in the night she comes screaming down the stairs. I wake hearing her and The Train simultaneously and leap from bed to meet her halfway. Thankfully all she needs for me is to hold her until The Train has completely passed by and we can no longer hear it.

It used to be that the operators working through the middle of the night would ding the bell more so than lay on the horn because, I don’t know, with the traffic lights programmed to shift to flashing reds and yellows at 11 p.m. it is safe to say not many people are out. It doesn’t seem to be a shared philosophy with the current operators. They lay on that horn something fierce.

I have tried to take away her nap (it has been coming, this just sped up the time table) in order to have her go to sleep more exhausted and hopefully less easily awakened. It works sometimes and others not so much. On particularly rough nights when she pleads with me to sleep with her, I do. I have a rough time of it and now I only give in if, after putting her back to bed after a Train episode, she returns because she can’t sleep.

Thankfully she cuddles into my back and doesn’t thrash around too much. And her bed is on the lower bunk. : )

Like all things…this too shall pass. Let’s make it soon, ok?

Handmade with Love

Kiersten has taken up making some gifts by hand and of course with love. Embroidery, with all its colors and fun patterns has made an impression. We stumbled upon embroidery by accident, really. The art book we were doing had a lesson where they talked about embroidery and then had the kids made a drawing of what they might embroider. I guess that just didn't really compute with me. Draw an embroidery idea? Why not just embroider for real? While I knew this probably wasn't super practical for Isaiah, I didn't see any reason Kiersten couldn't give it a go.

With embroidery on the mind I went to the best free resource a girl has- the library. We found some real gems in the way of books to get us started. One of them was this book -

There were really cute ideas and patterns. We just needed something to get us started. Kiersten chose a sampler type project.

There were a few different types of stitches used; satin stitching, french knots, stem stitching as well as back stitching were involved. The backstitch stitch is Kiersten's favorite. She did a really wonderful job. The sky is the limit now.

The other book she really likes is this one:

There is a CD inside to print off the patterns/designs. This particular gal uses some really eye catching colors which completely appealed to my girl.. I'll have to add a picture another time of the under the sea bag Kiersten made for her cousin.(We gave it away before getting a picture of it.) All the patterns and color ideas came from this book and it turned out really lovely.

After the sampler Kiersten decided to get a set of 3 plain bags in order to embroider them and then give them away. The under the sea bag was one gift and then Kiersten made this bag for another birthday gift.

I gave her a little help adding the fabric on. We got the 'pattern' by tracing the cover picture of a sticker book the girls had. Kiersten was pleased with how it turned out. : ) Next she is on to making a bag for herself. You'll have to tune back in to see the finished product!

Something New

Oh dear. I fear we have entered a new phase in parenting we were blessed to have avoided this long. This past weekend while we were visiting my in-laws Zeke took a fall. I didn’t witness the actual tumble, just its aftermath. We can only surmise that our littlest man fell and hit the edge of the coffee table.

He had a small gash on his lip but it was a bit wide. I will say that is the most I have ever seen one of my children bleed! My mother-in-law saw the cut and felt he would definitely need stitches. No one has had to have them thus far so I was clueless. We went to the walk-in clinic near their house and being a Saturday, it was rather hoppin’. To my surprise we were checked-in and then a medical assistant came out and said they would prefer we went elsewhere! Another first, being turned away from a clinic before the doctor even sees you. The doctor said they would rather we went to the emergency room to have him looked at.

I have to tell you that at this point I am wondering if this cut is serious enough to warrant stitches or action of any kind. Zeke was all smiles, had eaten some food, was running around smiling and his cut had stopped bleeding. I will saw it wasn’t scabbing over or showing any sign of starting to scab.

Anyhow, we went to the nearest children’s hospital. When the triage nurse was looking him over I had to ask her if this kind of trip to the emergency room was really necessary for his cut. She assured me it was…because his little gash had gone over the line of his skin onto his actual lip area.

To make this long enough story come to an end I’ll tell you the little guy received three stitches. He was such a champ through the entire day. It was close to 5 hours after he actually fell that the stitches were put in. In all that time he was a gem. We laughed and played and snuggled. The tears and wails were only heard the first 10 minutes after the fall and the last 10 minutes when they were stitching him up.

This parenting deal leaves no room for dull moments, does it?

A Star (or two) is Born

Kiersten and Isaiah were asked to help the kids pastor at our church out. I have to say I had to beg and plead with them. (Oh, please. It was almost comical trying to figure out who asked who to do this project. The kids were that excited.) You see Mr. J wanted the kids to take part in an espidsode for Orange TV.

This past summer Orange TV was birthed and has become something my kids look forward to. It is a way of further connecting Sunday morning lessons to home. Even with the wider range of ages in the kids - the 9 year old down to the 1 year old- all get a kick out watching what Mr. J puts together.

Anyhow, Mr. J called and asked if Kiersten and Isaiah would come in and film with him. He wanted to put together a quick tutorial for how to find verses in your Bible. Mr. J later confessed that due to Kiersten's animated facial expressions (which he had observed and taken note of on Sunday mornings) he thought she would make a great co-host. (She clearly lived up to his expectations in this department- you'll see what I mean. : )) And even though Isaiah didn't get to be on camera he had a blast being there while they taped and adding his voice to part of the show.

Dare I say a star (or two) has been born? You'll have to take a peek and cast your vote!

Fluke?

Last night I put all the kids to bed in the usual fashion. Zeke has been having some sleeping issues here of late and my patience with him in this area is waning. Thus when I put him in his crib last night and moments later he started in on the fussing (something he didn’t do prior to last week) I didn’t think much of it.

In the midst of hearing the fuss and picking up the living room (I know, delegate it to those who made the mess.) my mom called. We were chatting for a few minutes and Zeke wasn’t quieting down so I decided to go up. As I hit the landing there was my littlest son wailing in the dark.

I didn’t hear a thump. I promise you I didn’t.

How in the world did my child, whom I am 100% confident I placed within the confines of his crib, manage to get out?

I pray this is a fluke and not to become the norm around here. If this becomes the norm let’s just say bunk beds are most definitely in Zeke’s very near future. I try to keep them in their cribs until they are at least two…but there is always the exception to the rule.

I really am hoping (desperately praying) he’ll be content in his crib.

For now I’ll just be thankful that after checking him out last night I didn’t see any red marks or bumps and today no bruises appeared. Perhaps his nickname should be Little Houdini?

Tell me it won’t be so!

Teen-agery Confession from a Senior

Oh I could have bust a gut when I got off the phone with my mother-in-law. She’d called to confess. I have to say it had all the makings of what a teenager does when they know they’ll be found out.

Make no mistake, she would have been found out. And she knew it- thus the call.

Here’s the deal – this year we hired a company (4 of the siblings) to come help with the removal of snow from their driveway and patio area. My mother-in-law is 74 and my father-in-law is 81. Father-in-law has declined a bit in the last few years and just isn’t able to do much in the way of any physical labor.

And I don’t know about you but when you hear that your mother-in-law has been scaling ladders and cleaning out gutters (She repented of that pretty quick!) (And what is it with the old ladies doing this? My grandmother still had her ladder tied to her house until just this last fall when my Uncle Jack removed it. Grandma was 83. Lord help us.) meanwhile your father-n-law sits inside quite emotional because he knows he should be the one out there doing that but he physically can’t- things have to stop.

Thus the family solution to hire this company to help with the snow removal this winter.

Anyhow, my in-laws aren’t the patient sort when it comes to snow removal. When they could, if they knew it was going to snow, they would be up at 5ish or earlier to get started because it was welling on their minds. Even if it was still snowing they would get out there. (Keep in mind it mattered not if they had somewhere to be.)

So this particular day it was getting to be afternoonish and mother-in-law was sure the company had forgotten about them. Out she went to take care of it herself. (She is lucky she is too far for me to drive over just for the sake of taking her over my knee!) Low and behold the company drove past their house about 30 minutes or so after she finished, and seeing the snow was already removed, moved on to their next location.

Why then did she call?

We receive the bills. Each bill clearly states the date and time they came to remove snow. She knew we would wonder why we didn’t get a bill for that day and called to head us off at the pass.

It truly was funny. I never thought I’d live to see the day my mother-in-law would call to confess so she wouldn’t get in trouble! It didn’t work so well, but hey, she gets points for trying. : )

photo credit

21st Century

Oh yeah, we are slowly but surely making our way into the 21st century. I know all you techie people out there have been here for some 12 years now. We are just a little late to the game. What in the world am I going on and on about?

SKYPE.

Uh-huh. New to me, old to you. I know this is the way it is forever to be. We’ll always be a bit behind the times. Hey, my thought is I let you all get first dibs, work out the kinks, and then I’ll jump in with both feet.

My family is all out of state. (K, not entirely true. My family is all out of the state 50% of the year. Like the birds, my grandparents migrate South for the winter. : ) ) I had heard for some time about Skype and even talked more seriously about utilizing it when my mom was overseas working. Alas Skype was a bit of a no-no for her to use so the subject dropped.

Until this past weekend.

My dad and his beloved mentioned Skype and how they have been using it to talk to her family out East. They raved over how wonderful it is and how nice it is to actually see family members not just talk to them.

Leaning on their expertise we had our first Skype video call with them. We actually had two. How fun and what a blessing. We are working on how to play a game with Miss Rita who is some 1,000 miles away. Sleeping Queens, anyone? Although, I have been thinking the Hedbandz Game might be an easier option. I’ll get back to you on that one.

We had such a fine time talking/seeing my dad and his girls’ that we called my mom and told her she really needed to do this Skype thing with us. After a few technical set backs Grandma called us this morning and we saw her sweet face. (Grandpa’s too!) I was laughing at Grandpa saying Grandma would want to”call” daily. : ) After this mornings call I’ll just say I think Mom’s hooked. (I know we are!) After all who can resist those four kids making silly faces (because they can see who we are talking to as well as themselves) talking loud and over one another?

Thanks Dad & Jennifer, we are so glad you pushed us to get with the times. : )

(p.s. Skype is free. It doesn’t really get much better than that.)

Not Exactly What I Had in Mind

The other day I gave Kiersten a writing assignment: Write about an invention you would like to make, provided you had all the space and materials you needed. Tell me how this would help people.

We’ve been working through the Industrial Age in school, particularly with regard to the United States. We had just finished a book on Thomas Alva Edison. She was quite taken with some of the inventions he came up with like the phonograph, both to play and record sound. He also invented the light bulb and what we would call movie projectors. When the end of the story mentioned a museum on the East Coast we both thought it would pretty cool if we were to travel someday to see it.

Some other inventors we’ve learned about this year and last are Eli Whitney (cotton gin and making guns with interchangeable parts), Benjamin Franklin (electricity, stoves),  Robert Fullton (steamboat), Henry Ford (the assembly line)….

My thoughts were on a little deeper humanitarian level when I asked her to do this writing assignment. I have to say we were definitely not on the same page. Or were we? You be the judge.

Kiersten’s invention:

If I had certain parts, I would make an invention called the…”Let-You-Do It Inator.” (LYDI) What it is: a head piece and a remote control that looks like this:

This is how it works. The head piece goes on an adult and the kids gets the remote. When a kid wants to do something, like get two cookies or not do the dishes, the kid flips on the remote that acavates the head piece. Then the kid ask a question, “Can I have two cookies?” And the the adult says, “Yes.” So this invention makes life easer for the kids. THE END

Hmmm…I saw where she was going with this about two sentences in. Slick, real slick. I can see she has a real heart to make life better for other kids. : ) What say you?

I’m a Big Fan of Bon-Bon’s

When they are this cute, how can you not be? : )

This Bon-Bon had such a fun time and reveled in the experience of being a part of the Nutcracker. She has watched from the side lines year after year. But not this year. This year she joined the ranks of many a dancer.

(Kiersten is the first Bon-Bon on the left.) We may live in a smaller town but this production has been going on for close to 30 years. The last several of which Kiersten and her daddy have gotten all fancied up for and went to watch.

This year? This year it was Mom, Dad and Grandma who got all fancied up to watch. Our eyes earnestly seeking out one little performer in particular.

That’s right, Grandma flew in just to see Kiersten in her first appearance in the Nutcracker. It was already special but Grandma’s coming made it even more so. Such a treat and a blessing that she could be here. I know Kiersten won’t easily forget this year or how special it was.

She did have one complaint about the whole thing. It was putting on make-up, in particular the mascara and eye liner bother her. I think she is fine once it is all on but the getting it on is another story. I didn’t keep count of the times she said, “Make-up is my nemesis.” (And yes, that is her exact wording. I blame it on her Dad. : ) )

I won’t hold my breath that she will still feel that way about make-up a few years down the road. Who knows though, this could be one battle I won’t have to fight! (Hope is a beautiful thing.)

In any case this Bon-Bon did a wonderful job and has made a fan out of me. Honestly they don’t get much cuter than this. Congratulations, Sweets, on an outstanding job as a Bon-Bon.

Four Generations

I wanted to show you my grandma. I have to say I don’t have many pictures of her…but I remembered this one. When Kiersten was born (she is the doll face baby you see) my mom visited us and brought my grandma along. My mom really wanted to take a four generations picture and so we did.

I am thankful.

I hadn’t seen my grandma in many years but Memorial Day weekend when Ezekiel and I flew out to see my older brother graduate I got to see and hug her.

I am thankful.

This year I made it a point to call my grandma on her birthday. We didn’t talk long or say much of consequence but I heard her voice and she heard mine and I let her know I loved her.

I am thankful.

My dear grandma went to be with Jesus on Tuesday. She quietly and peacefully went into his arms and is rejoicing with all the angels and saints.

I am thankful.

My mom got to be with her during her final moments here. She really wanted to be there and she was blessed.

I am thankful.

Grandma feels no more pain.

I am thankful.

One day, when Jesus calls me home, I’ll see that sweet face once again. It makes me weep with joy. Such a gift to know. I treasure that I KNOW.

I AM SO THANKFUL.

Would You Believe…

it is 11 years & 4 kids later and I am still the better looking one? : )

Happy 11th Anniversary, Beloved.

(This was taken just after the Nutcracker performance Kiersten was blessed to be a part of this year- thus all the make-up on her sweet face.)

(I couldn’t resist. Beloved and I have been joking about things this week and this is just goes right along with all that. Believe you me the man deserves every bit I dish out. I only give as good as I get! : ))

Would you pray with me?

It has only been close to two weeks since my mom called to tell me my grandma has terminal cancer. She had been in a bit of pain since Thanksgiving and decided it was past time to have it checked out. Turns out her suspicions were well founded.

My grandma is rapidly declining and is in quite a bit of pain. She has loved Jesus for some time and she is ready. Would you pray with me for a sweet, peaceful homecoming for her?

Thank you so very much.