Happy Halloween!

Here's a few things I know to be true:

 

** High school sports even trump long-standing traditions in a small town.  In the village of H, Trick-or-Treating activities were moved to Sunday because the football team was scheduled to play on Halloween.  That was awesome for us.  Twice the fun, twice the candy.  Everybody wins!

 

** It's really fun to have cousins that are the same age and gender.  The mermaid, the dancer, the creepy clown, and Attila the Hun really do have fun together.

**  It's pretty much impossible to get a decent group picture with four children.  I've been trying for years without much success.

** Making costumes without the ability to sew forces one to be creative.  It's amazing what you can do with hot glue, Velcro, and safety pins.

**  My nephew successfully fulfilled his vision of being a creepy clown for Halloween.  Shudder.  Hope this picture won't come back to haunt him when he's on his own campaign trail some day.  Vote for J!

**  Four is fabulous!

 

 

**  There is no better candy out there than Reese's peanut butter cups.  In fact, we had to remind our kids to go for the good stuff if they had the opportunity.  Steve came up with a catchy mantra to help them remember:  If it's orange and square, put it in there.  

**  Although we got two pumpkin buckets full of candy tonight, I seriously considered going out to buy candy.   It was a beautiful night for Round 2.  Atilla the Hun, accompanied by a mermaid, pillaged the neighborhood hoping to seize and consume every piece of candy that was encountered.  They were happy with their haul, but there was not a Reese's PB cup to be found.  Can you believe it?  I think it's time for us to start going to the neighborhood association meetings so we can bring up the important issues.

 

**  It's fun to dress up and get candy.  Happy Halloween!

 



My Heart Hero

It's been well over a year since my boyfriend had his little heart repaired. 

Surgery was so successful that one would never even know this handsome prince had a congenital heart defect. 

 

Praise God!

 

He's active...

and cute...

 

and active.

Did I already mention that he's active?

 

He's also a little bit famous.  His story was featured on the local news, and most recently he and his family were stars in the video for Midwest Heart Connection's annual gala.

 

 

It has been such a blessing seeing God's beautiful plan in action.  This little guy surely has a piece of my heart.  Love him!

 

 

See for yourself how E IV is doing now.  I guarantee you will smile (and maybe even tear up a little).

 

Hearts of Hope 2012 video

(scroll down to the bottom of the page)

A Pep Talk for Me

Feeling small?

 Sad?

Having a hard time even faking it?

 Distracted by the world?

 Well, now is the time to talk yourself off that ledge,

 stick your neck out there,

call on God to help you dig deep,

and start embracing where you're at in this moment.

 Put on a smile and live this precious life.

 Enjoy today.

 Laugh more.

 Relax.

 Choose joy.

 Bust a move...

 or two.

 Remember that it's impossible to stick the landing,

 if you never jump.

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.”  ― Groucho Marx

Gremlins

Questionable parenting move number 9,681:  Allowing our children to watch Gremlins. 

Judge away, judge away...because I know I would.

E loved the cleaned up TV version, but I'm still not entirely sure how this one made it onto our fairly conservative approved movie list.  I guess if she can handle the creepy Wizard of Oz flying monkeys, she can handle watching a gremlin partying in the bar. 

Without a doubt, this was probably not the best decision we've ever made as parents.  At least there hasn't been any nightmares.  E has implemented a few extra rules with her stuffed animals though.

E:  I'm pretending my bear is a baby.

Me:  That's cool.

E:  Could you watch it for me?

Me:  Sure.

E:  Just make sure that nobody gets it wet, ok?

Every Dang Week

Really, Monday?  Back so soon?

 

An Attempt At Healthier

I've been on a healthier eating kick ever since our Olympic party.  Major exceptions being the season opening Husker football game and two birthday celebrations.  To be completely honest, E's birthday celebration was more like a week long junk food extravaganza for us, but she only turns four once, right?  And we're just wrapping up a two day fall from the wagon because we had to celebrate our cutest four-year-old niece's birthday as well.  Love you bunches, H! 

This may not sound like an impressive or actual run at healthier eating, but compared to our "Diabetes by August" track we were on this past summer, it's definitely a start.

Anyway, as I was saying, I've been forcing my family to eat better lately.  I've been trying to make healthier versions of some of our favorites (pizza) and have had to banish others (candy and fruit snacks).  When I review a recipe, I can frequently be overheard saying, "I think I can make that healthier."  Although everyone (namely Steve, J, and E) aren't willingly jumping on board, my antics have not gone unnoticed.

A recent conversation with E as we passed a car with the driver smoking a cigarette...

E:  Mommy, that girl is smoking.  That is disgusting! 

(I don't think she knows that I used to love smoking.  Let's keep that our little secret for now.)

Me:  Ya, that's gross and very unhealthy.

E:  Ya, that is not good for her.  Mom, do you think you could make her healthier smoke?

Girl Legos

Let's face it. 

Legos are cool.

But their cool factor went through the roof when they created the Lego Friends line, also know as "girl Legos" in our house. 

 

Cute, cute, and more cute.

 

E has a few sets, and she loves them.

 

We put this set together yesterday (Thanks, H!), and almost immediately upon completion, she had the dog peeing on the tree.  Even Legos need to mark their territory apparently.

She politely asked me to play with her today.  After receiving the instructions that she would have the mommy figure and I would have the three daughters, we started our scene.

E (providing the voice for her mommy character):  How was your day?

Me (providing the voice for one of the daughters):  Good.  What did you do today?

E:  I went to work all day.

Me:  Oh, what did you do at work?

E (breaking character and adding her personal aside):  Well, it's hard for me to explain what I do at work because I've never actually been to work, and I don't know what people do there.

I Sometimes Forget He is Only Six

For their cooperation during our recent photo session, the kids were rewarded with a trip to the book store, one of their favorite places.

 

As if we needed more evidence that God has blessed us with two very different children,

E picked out books about Barbie and Max & Ruby while J chose a book about China and another about learning to speak Chinese.

 

J's been quite interested in China lately, even wanting to learn Mandarin, so I wasn't surprised to find this paper in his backpack.  However, it did make me smile.

 

The conversation we had when I asked him to tell me more about this...

J:  I copied it from that flag book I have.

Me:  Oh, I see.  Do you know what Communism is?

J:  Yeah, kinda.

Me:  Well, it's basically when the government owns everything and makes all of your big decisions for you. 

J:  I know.  And one time in Beijing, lots of protesters, like thousands, were killed because they were protesting against Communism to try to get it changed.

Masterpiece

 

Is there a better way to celebrate our four-year-old coloring machine than hosting an art party in her honor?

 

We didn't think so either.

 

 

Thankful for the beautiful day, we were able to enjoy bubble art...

 

 and sculpting and molding...

E was so proud of her pattern...

 



We had full participation except for one attendee.  We'll forgive him and his lack of interest just because he's too cute for words.

After a few projects, we needed to feed our starving artists with their own edible masterpieces.

 

Praise the Lord for the perfect weather so we could celebrate outside because artists are messy! 

The creative juices continued to flow...

Our last project was a group mural in which our little artists used feet, sponges, spray bottles, squirt guns, and whatever else they could find to paint together.

 

 

Not all of the paint made it on the cloth, but this little lady sure thought it was funny to chase her daddy around with paint-filled water guns instead. 

 

Clean up time!

Indeed a wonderful party to celebrate this beautiful masterpiece.     We love you, E!   For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  (Ephesians 2:10)