Wings

This video is not up to date. This sweet beautiful little girl went home to be with Jesus this past Monday. I have no words adequate to describe the feelings in my heart...

I only knew Eden through pictures and updates from my dad. (He has grown very close to her family over the past couple of years and will be delivering the eulogy at her funeral tomorrow.) Biggest Brother played with her a time or two...there is picture of them in the video from the day they played in the snow at dad's. He told me she was Princess Leia.

There is no doubt in my mind that Eden is whole, and healed, and radiant in heaven! And for that I am thankful. No child should have to endure what she endured here on earth. But as a mother, my heart is just absolutely breaking for the loved ones missing her here.
In words from her blog, "Fly high pretty girl."





"For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." - 2Corinthians 5:1

These things should not happen...

Roll Call

Yes, I am that parent that refuses to use crib bumpers, kneels on every mattress at Babies R Us to determine the most firm, and does not let my children sleep with blankets until they are practically 10. Okay, more like 2. But Big Sis is now 2 1/2...and the state of her crib is a sight to behold. It began with a travel size pillow and blanket a couple of months ago, and has morphed into this!

Tonight I did an official roll call.

Here goes:

That's, 1 American Girl doll

2 Little Mommy newborn twin dolls

1 Little Mommy Sweet as Me doll

1 Birthday Baby

2 ballerina fairy dolls

1 yarn doll

1 Only Hearts Club doll

1 singing Sleeping Beauty

1 Build-a-Bear

7 Barbies

1 Barbie horse

1 Breyer horse

1 stuffed horse

2 lambies

9 books

1 pillow

3 blankets

and an American Girl catalog

And it all adds up to

...

1 Happy Baby Girl!

"Night night, sleep tight, see you in the morning light!"

Candid Camera

As evidenced by the "Sneaky Monkey" post, Younger Brother is constantly running off with my cell phone and taking pictures. Soo, I was inspired to get him his own camera for Christmas!

I went with the Fisher Price kid tough digital camera since all of the reviews indicated that nothing short of throwing it in a lava tube will cause its demise. It actually takes pretty decent pictures, though you won't be able to tell that here, as it struggles a bit in low light. Most importantly, he loves it!

I'm pretty sure he was trying to get a picture of himself kicking Biggest Brother in the head.

But he wasn't quite quick enough.

The close of bedtime prayer...he was supposed to be giving God "his full attention."

Afterward, he tried to convince me to let him sleep with his camera.

Sleep. Yeah right, Mama knows better! :)

A Christmas Present for Sugs

Today, I finally had the opportunity to take Big Sis to give Sugar the very special Christmas present she picked out for her.

An apple of course.

(apparently this is the face Sug will make when she sees her apple)
But that's not all!

Behold!

A brand new halter, hand picked with Sis's incredible fashion sense!

She selected it all by herself during a trip to Rod's Western Palace last week. It was a must-have.

Merry Christmas Sugs!

We love you!!!

With regard to the previous post...

Not to reveal anyone's secret identity or anything. But perhaps Spidey is simply misunderstood. Perhaps he too, just wants to be Prince Charming.

Spidey Crashes the Ball

Meet "Prince Derek"

Yes, that would be his Christmas sweater, basketball shorts, Narnia cape, and Peter Pan boots.

But according to him, he's Prince Derek. And he has arrived to take Princess Genevieve to the ball.

Meet Genevieve.

I'm glad to see that my son is chivalrous. However, does it say something that my daughter is acting as though this bow is just to be expected? :)

Let the ball begin!

A great deal of dancing was enjoyed by all.

That is, until...

Spidey burst onto the scene!

Prince Derek acted quickly to subdue the situation.

Giving the Damsel in distress just enough time to flee to safety!

Spidey however, made a daring escape to torment Prince Derek another day!

Toy Corner

As I was trying to finish a few last minute things before Christmas, Littlest Sis was happily entertaining herself with her corner of toys in the living room. She was being so sweet, I had to stop and take a few pics.

She was delighted to discover that pulling the orange triangle makes the little mouse go round!

Tons of fun!

Yes Sis, you are magnificent! :)

That's the Spirit

I am backtracking on my posts a little as it's been a very busy week!

Earlier in the week I was working on a Christmas card for a friend of mine. Big Sis really wanted to help! So I agreed to let her color the page opposite my writing.

She was working very hard!

So I leaned over and asked, "Watcha makin' Sis?"

And she proudly announced, "Potty seat!"

"See!"

I guess it's what was on her mind. Because she drew not one, but several!
And really, nothin' says "Merry Christmas" like a card full of potty seats! :)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

"For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!"

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

Alpha Wars

Today, as we were driving home from Grandpa G's, Big Sis was happily singing princess songs in the backseat. Then came the commotion and tears of protest. From what I could tell, the boys weren't doing anything to her. Younger Brother was just singing his ABC's. And therein lies the problem.

Truth be told, the only reason he was singing was because he knew it would ruffle her feathers. As evidenced by the smirk on his face. And boy did it!

(Speaking of his face, that's a red Squeeze-It mustache...no trip to Grandpa's is complete without one, or seven.)

She was furious about having been upstaged! I explained that brother was allowed to sing too. And he took FULL advantage of my ruling!

Her solution...take back the spotlight herself!
She began singing(shouting) the ABC song at the top of her lungs trying to drown him out.
Eventually, I was forced to put a hold on all further crooning for the rest of the drive home.
But not before snapping a few reverse pics with my cell phone! :)

A Lunchbox For "B"

Biggest Brother's lunchbox has been missing for over a week now. Last night, Younger Brother found it for him. Incidentally, he also found his own lunchbox and set it out with eager anticipation that I would pack him a lunch to eat at school as well. Younger Brother only goes to school for a half day. But he was so innocently excited about taking a packed lunch just like his brother that I couldn't let him down. Daddy kept the girls and...

After morning preschool let out, we met up with Biggest Brother in the big kid lunch room. I know the pic is out of focus but I love the excitement on his face!

Brother told him that Capri Sun makes you fun really fast.
His Capri Sun was gone in about 30 seconds.

We did have one urgent interruption...can you guess what it was?

Yep. Biggest Brother led him off to the boys room just in time! Thanks Brother!

At Biggest Brother's suggestion, we decided to stick around for recess as well.

Buggy is not the least bit daunted by the "big kids!" At one point, Biggest Brother mentioned a 3rd grader that had given him some trouble.
Younger Brother looked around intently and said, "Where is he?"
Biggest Brother said, "You can't do anything about it. He's a 3rd grader!"
To which Younger Brother replied, "Where is he?!"

I had to get a shot of this. Having just given a limb for December tuition...I couldn't pass this one up! The way I figure it, Brother attending the first five minutes of homeroom probably had an air pump paid for, maybe twice. :)

He is so ready to be a big kid!

Mommy is not.

And he absolutely loved every second of his lunch/recess experience!

Crickets

You know those long uncomfortable pauses where, when on TV, the sound of crickets chirping gets inserted? Yes, well, insert that now. The computer that houses all of my current pics is being highly uncooperative, and my husband has the cable to link the camera to the new computer. Therefore....crickets! Enjoy.

No one ever said not to make the best of it however. So here's a little fun fact for you...

Did you know that if you count the number of times a cricket chirps in 14 seconds, then add 40 to that number, it will tell you the temperature outside?

Thank my father for imparting that little trivia nugget to me as a child! :)

(Posting as usual should resume tomorrow.)

Goodbye Huggies, Hello Heels!

Big Sis is becoming such a big girl! She is now completely out of diapers/pull-ups, even at night. And today, she got her first pair of "heels". She skipped off down the hall like a pro as soon as she strapped them on!