A sad moment for Bella

Let me set the stage.  It is after dark, therefore quite late and past the time any respectable parent should let their 4 year old play with fire sticks.  Arabella is happily twirling her sparkler, anxious to see the next picture on my camera of her glittery circles.

She reluctantly shares the spotlight with her cousin Ned.

I get a photo of Ned alone.

Arabella pitches a fit about losing my full attention for even a moment, throws her still sparkling pyrotechnic on the ground, and starts to wail hysterically.

She runs to Daddy for support and sympathy.  He makes it all better.

  

Shortly after, we leave and Arabella falls fast asleep.

My Lemonade

“You are the lemons, I’m the Lemonade

Without you, I wouldn’t be made”

A little rhyme from my Jake, sung to me in the car the other day out of the blue.  I was concerned at the beginning of the ditty that it would have something to do the that other lemonade saying, you know the “when life hands you lemons” cliche.  I was quite relieved and amused to hear the second line of his poem.

Jacob is always singing, humming or rapping little quips like this.  He is so very full of life and keeps us smiling all day.

 

4th With The Fam

Well, actually it was July 2nd and it wasn’t the whole family, but you get the picture.  My family uses many excuses to gather and this was no exception.  Actually, this particular gathering was initially in honor of cousins who were visiting from out of town.  When their plans changed, we decided to party anyway and make it a celebration of Independence Day – complete with fireworks in the driveway.  My kids just love fireworks, as most kids do, so they had a great time.

I’m very thankful for my family and although we were not all there, I very much enjoyed my time with them.

Monnie-Moo, Aunt Jill, June & Glen, Jean & Nelson (not pictured because their loser daughter never got the shot are Jane & Troy, my wonderful parents).

    

  

       

Sparkler fun… I’m a bit worried about how persistent Jacob was about setting something on fire.  Of note, he did not succeed.  Joseph picked up 2 sparkles, made a horrible face when I tried to snap his picture and transitioned to “helper” role, lighting the magical sticks for the little ones.  Unfortunately, on this particular occasion, none of the cousins his age were in attendance.

    

 

    

   

On to the main show.  Brad was the Fireworks Master and did a wonderful job balancing having small children rushing ground zero and keeping them all safe.  Unfortunately, he did not visit the Boom Boom Ladies for the entertaining explosives.  He took the cheap way out and headed to Sam’s (thank you, honey).  They were perfect and the kids were in heaven!

  

                   

Arabella’s Sparkler

Here’s my Photo of the Week.  Had to do it – just too cool a shot .

Happy Birthday, America

The home of the brave, the land of the free.  I love my country.  

We are pretty patriotic around here.  My grandfather, father and husband all served our country in the  U.S. Army, and I am so proud of them for that.  I’m also reminded of the many men & women who are still sacrificing their time, relationships, and their very lives so that I can be free.  So that my children can be free.  For them, I am also eternally grateful.

Sometimes I worry about the direction this country is headed, and it is in those times that I am thankful that I have a God that is in control of all things.  And in spite of my concerns, I am incredibly blessed to have been born into this great country.  On this day, the day that we celebrate the anniversary of our Independence, my national pride swells.  My prayers are lifted more than ever for our leaders, our soldiers, our people and I look squarely into the face of our flag giving thanks once again for my freedom.

The Tumble

Abraham followed his sister down the unfinished stairs to the basement a couple of weeks ago while his negligent mother was refilling his juice cup.  He decided to reenact the Jack ‘n Jill nursery rhyme and took quite a spill, log-rolling down each step with heart pounding thuds.  Amazingly, he stopped his descent at the step just above where Arabella was watching in horror, about 1/3 of the way from the bottom.  That, I realized later, was a tremendous blessing as the two would have certainly incurred more injuries tumbling together had he not decelerated.  After a good 30 minutes of some serious crying, his now swollen lip was no longer bleeding and he was complaining that he “hurt”, pathetically holding up his right paw.  

Because I had experienced a broken arm with another toddler, Joseph (who broke his in the church nursery at 15 months of age and was not under my supervision ), I erred on the side of caution and dragged him out at 8:30pm for an xray.  It definitely pays to have connections. 

By the grace of God, it was just a pinky finger that he injured and his wrist was fracture-free.  He wore this adorable splint until we received the final xray results.  I was relieved and grateful for his protection once again.   

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to learn from his mistake, as he is still quite enamored by stairs.  I will continue to pray for angelic covering for him and all of my children and will watch him more closely .

    

All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.

Winston Churchill 

Hmmm.

Abraham’s Rainy Window

OK, here’s my Photo of the Week.  Abraham has a favorite window in the house.  It is only a few inches off the floor making it perfect for him.  It is also in the kitchen where everyone tends to gather and is high enough for him to look out over his “kingdom”.  I took this picture this afternoon when he ran to his window after hearing the thunder.  We love rain around here, and I love that I captured my angel wistfully surveying the brief storm.  

Goobers

Joseph: “What kind of pie is this?”

Mom: “Peanut Butter Pie, actually it’s called Goober Pie.”

Joseph: “Well, that makes sense cuz’ Goobers are peanuts.”

OK, I’m not 100% I knew that, although I think I did.  

Mom: “How’d you learn that?”

Joseph: “Georgia History.  We are the 3rd best selling Goober State right behind Texas and California… No, actually it’s cotton that we are 3rd in, we’re 1st in Peanuts.”

Thanks, Joe, I appreciate your school a little more today.

More than a Father

It is a bit ridiculous that it takes a special date on the calendar for us to remember to give some extra love and attention to the men in our lives that we care for so dearly.  Yet, here it is.. Father’s Day!

I have always been blessed with strong men in my life that have loved me, supported me, and made me the woman I am today (good or bad ).  A grandfather who we miss dearly this Father’s Day, a father that I have more respect for than I could ever express, and a husband who is my life partner.

Because one of my many hats is that of daughter and this is Father’s Day, I want to share just a moment about my Daddy.  You see, I have been blessed beyond measure when it comes to my dad.  He is first and foremost a Godly man and raised me to have a heavenly perspective.  Sometimes he was a little too strict, at least in my humble teenage opinion at the time, but I can completely understand every decision he made now that I’m a parent myself.

I have many memories of my dad growing up but the overarching theme was that he was always there for me, my mom and brother.  He would show up at JV football games at 4pm on Thursday afternoons to watch me cheer, when I now realize he probably had to rearrange his schedule to do so. He gave up Saturday mornings to watch me compete in gymnastics and took entire weeks of vacation to drive a bus full of teenagers as our church youth choir toured the country.  In fact, he was in attendance at most every event I participated in & never gave me any indication it was an imposition for him to be there.  

One of my fondest memories is sitting in the living room with him after everyone else was asleep sharing my insecurities, latest boyfriend problem, or asking him about moral or biblical issues.  This tradition that started in early adolescence lasted well into my adult years when I would come home to visit from college or Med school and the wisdom I gleaned from him is irreplaceable.  If he was ever bothered by the fact that our talks had interrupted his movie or book, he never ever let on and he never turned me away.

Thank you for being my rock. Thank you for believing in me then and now.  Thank you for loving & teaching my children and for always being there, being you.  They adore you and I respect you. You are a wonderful father and grandfather.  But you are so much more than just a father, you are my Daddy.  And I love you.

 

Timeless Treasures

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”  A. A. Milne

It’s also an advantage of being a pack-rat.  A couple of weeks ago I started working through some boxes that were lovingly moved from storage at our old house to storage in our current house.  Wow, you cannot believe what I found!  Some of it went directly to the trash, some to Goodwill, some went back in a box because although I could think of nothing to do with the treasure now I couldn’t bear the thought of getting rid of  it.  I’ve already admitted I’m a pack-rat so no judging.   Some of the items were so historical that I had to photograph them before discarding them, which I think is making major strides as 2 years ago they would have remained in my “stay” pile and now only live on in cyber space.   And one of my most interesting finds landed in Arabella’s room!  

Deeply hidden for many years, I discovered my childhood Barbie case.  

I, of course, have fond memories of the special toys that resided within and was immediately flooded with nostalgia.  There were 3 very sad Barbies and 3 Ken dolls – actually 2 were Ken and one was Donny Osmond, complete with his purple jumpsuit.  Come on, someone give me some love on this and tell me they, too, had Donny and Marie Barbies .  “I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit Rock ‘n Roll”.   Poor Marie was apparently a victim of the years as her purple dress was recovered, but there was no sign of her.

In the old box, there were no sparkling princesses like those that are contained within my daughter’s current Barbie case and none of the dolls had buttons that allowed them to sing a tune made popular by a $14.99 DVD.  But there was a lot of classic ’70s clothing and even a pair of knee-high pink boots.  Most were, as would be expected, in less than perfect condition but they proved to be a real treasure anyway.  They provided me with fond memories and Arabella with hours of play.

                 

Princess Dress, circa 1973

Princess Dress, Circa 2009

Apparently, although Barbie has changed with the times, she herself has remained timeless and comes out shining, even if she is a bit worn.