Masterpiece Mothering

Goodbye

2012-01-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

It has been a privilege and an honor to have Beverly in my life. I wish I could simply wish away cancer. *Sigh* Today I'm driving solo to North Carolina to say goodbye. I doubt I'm going to make it in time, but at the request of her family, I am sure going to try. I'm glad her suffering will be over and that she'll be meeting Jesus face-to-face. I'm also glad this goodbye is not forever. If you are a praying person, please pray for Bev, her husband Joe, and their boys, Christian and Dante.

Lesson Learned...

2012-01-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

I visited the dentist a few weeks back and was reminded {again} that I have horrible teeth. The dentist strongly suggested that I get a Waterpik flosser. Yes, it was expensive. But yes, I love it. It's amazing how much more junk it gets out of my teeth than traditional flossing. It has also helped my gum inflammation to go down! I use Listerine in the water to help even more.

However, when using the Waterpik flosser, there are a few very important guidelines you must follow religiously. I share these rules with you based on my own experience.

1. Fill the Waterpik basin with warm water and a capful of Listerine.
2. Turn the Waterpik on and begin water flossing your teeth.
3. Bend over the sink and leave your mouth partway open so the water and gunk can drain as you floss.
4. Widely open the eye in the back of your head.
5. Don't let devious husband sneak up behind you while you're flossing with a high powered stream of warm minty water.
6. Kick devious husband in the shins before he has a chance to grab your sides and yell "BWAH!" at you while you're flossing with a high powered stream of warm minty water.
7. Never scream and drop the pik into the sink, because it doesn't turn off just because you let go of it.
8. Remember that the pik has a curly cord that will cause it to rotate toward your face if you drop it in the sink.
9. Remember that the high powered stream of warm minty water shoots a very long way when it isn't contained by the cavern of your mouth.

10. Above all, NEVER allow the Waterpik flosser to shoot a high powered stream of warm Listerine water up into your nose and sinuses as it is twisting and falling into the sink when you scream and drop it because you didn't remember to kick devious husband in the shins before he grabbed your sides and yelled because you didn't open the eye in the back of your head while you were flossing!

FYI, Listerine was not intended for use in the nose and sinuses. And neither is the Waterpik flosser.

Second Post for Today

2012-01-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, I don't like to post twice in one day. But sometimes there is news that compels me to post again. I think the arrival of a new niece and a new nephew in a 9-day span is good reason to post twice in one day, especially since my two sisters-in-law emailed me priceless photos of these new little people. I am one proud auntie!

So, let me introduce...

Silas Timothy

January 14

7 pounds, 4 ounces

Born to Matt's sister Julie (and Timothy) in India

Leah Hope

January 23

7 pounds, 14 ounces

Born to my brother Brandon (and Amanda) in California

Artsy Fartsy

2012-01-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

I love love love to make things. I can happily say that I never waste time on Pinterest because I actually make a lot of the things I pin. I've made so many things, in fact, that I started a "Things I've Made" pinboard where I re-pin the projects I've completed. The thing about that is, they aren't actual photos of the things I have made. I thought it would be fun to post photos here of the things I have made, for posterity, you know. I don't sit around crafting all day. I did, however, devote part of almost every day in November and December to making Christmas gifts. I LOVE what I made for everyone, and I think they all loved it too. So as you look at these photos, remember that I made these things over the course of 3 months.

I made these cute skirts for my nieces. There was another one--madras plaid for my rainbow-loving niece--that isn't pictured here.

These burp cloths were also really easy, thanks to that delightful product called quilter's basting spray.

My little niece (who just arrived on Monday) got this pretty cloth-wrapped canvas for her nursery.

My dinosaur-obsessed nephew B got this cute hat.

This monster cap went to my nephew C, and nephew A got the same hat in blue. My sis-in-law says the hats rarely leave B&C's heads. I need to make one for Pepper, too.

I couldn't find a Christmas dress that I loved for Snapper, so I made this sweet skirt for her instead.

I haven't used my Cricut much since switching from paper to digital scrapbooking. I was so happy to have a reason to use it again! This wreath was really easy to make, and the end result was stunning. I made about a dozen of these for teachers and family members.

I had originally planned on making these for all my aunts, cousins, and sisters-in-law. However, it would seem wood letters were a popular gift this year, and I was only able to find about half the letters I needed. I didn't make as many of these as I had planned. This was probably my favorite gift to give this year.

Coasters were a ridiculously inexpensive--yet lovely--gift. And they were super easy to make! It just took a lot of time because I had to let each layer (3) of Mod Podge and each layer (4) of sealer dry completely. It took all day.

Snapper has 4 swim coaches. I wanted something unique that they would enjoy using, so I made them clipboards to hold their heat sheets at swim meets. They were a hit! I also made photo ornaments for them--photos of the coaches with Snapper--but I forgot to get a picture of them. Boo!

Ever since Snapper was 3, we've had the tradition of making cookies for our neighbors. With gluten out of our diets this year, I didn't make any of the traditional cookies. We made gluten-free candies instead! These are peppermint patties.

You can't go wrong with Buckeyes! YUM! I also made caramel corn and salted caramels. Even more yum!

I absolutely love wreaths. The remind me of my mom, and they make me smile. I have made a few wreaths in the past, but they are getting pretty tired. My goal for this year is to make a new wreath for every season/holiday. Here is my Valentine wreath. I cut a whole bunch of 3" circles out of red felt, folded them in half and in half again, and used basting pins to stick them through the point, into a heart-shaped foam wreath. Then I glued on a bow. Simple!

Pepper has a very loose tooth. He's the kind of kid that will not be able to leave his tooth alone under his pillow. He'll have to check on it throughout the night, hold it, touch it, etc. When the tooth fairy arrives, that tooth will be lost somewhere in the bed. So I got out a bunch of fabric scraps and made these cute tooth fairy pillows. One is for Pepper. The other two are for my nephew C (age 6) and my niece A (turning 5 next month).

As we prepare to welcome additional children into our family, we thought it would be a good idea to post our family rules in a visible place. Matt and I had a meeting, developed these rules, and backed them up with Scripture. I need to do a post about our rules in case another family would like to use them, too. I wrote the rules and corresponding verse references on strips of pretty scrapbook paper. Then I mod-podged them onto a 12x24 canvas. The word Family is a cheap cutout from Michael's. I painted it black with acrylic paint and hot glued it on. I need to get black grosgrain ribbon, which I'll use to hang the canvas in our living room. I love how this came out!

Wonderful Week!

2012-01-25T14:39:00.000-08:00

Last week our best friends from California flew in for a week. We had an amazing time with them! The kids had their first cross country meet, in which they went all out for Uncle Stan and Auntie Noel. We spent time with our Florida best friends. Matt and Stan played disc golf three times. Noel and I scrapbooked. We spent an afternoon at the beach. And the four of us adults went to Universal's Islands of Adventure to celebrate Matt's birthday. We talked into the wee hours. We laughed. We made memories. Oh...and we took pictures. Lots of them. And here they are!

Pepper's goal for the race was to keep going the whole half-mile. He succeeded! He only slowed to a walk one time. And he didn't finish last!

Snapper's goal was to run her whole mile and to finish in the top 50. Not only did she run a {nonstop} 8-minute mile, she came in 17th out of 95 girls in her age group!

It was fun having Uncle Stan and Auntie Noel there to cheer them on!

Stan and Noel are Snapper and Pepper's godparents. We cherish our times with them, and hate it that they live 3000 miles away.

Bored in the car on the way home from the beach.

Matt and I spent part of our honeymoon at Islands of Adventure 11 years ago, and Stan and Noel spent part of their honeymoon there 9 years ago. It was so much fun to make a trip back there together! In this photo we're drinking butterbeer (butterscotch+cream soda=beverage bliss) in Hogsmeade. Butterbeer is one of Harry Potter's favorite treats. Being a Harry Potter junkie myself, I had to try it. I was not disappointed!

Riding the Caro-suess-sel.

Emily Hates Leukemia...(and all cancer, actually)

2012-01-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

If you have been following my blog for the last few years, you will remember my friend Bev. She has been battling leukemia for the last 5 years. Here is a post that links to her story. She had a second bone marrow transplant 3 years ago. She has been in remission since then, but has struggled with a host of other debilitating problems. We spent 5 days with Bev and her family at the end of December, and I am so glad we did. Yesterday Bev went for a routine check-up. Her blood work showed a very high white cell count, so they did a bone marrow biopsy. Sadly, it confirmed that the leukemia is active again. While the prognosis for someone in Bev's situation is extremely poor, she (and we) know that God, the Great Healer, has her in His hands. We are trusting Him, no matter the outcome.

Please pray for Bev, her husband Joe, and their boys Christian (10) and Dante (12). This is really, really hard.

WHINE!

2012-01-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

Sweet little Pepper boy--age 5 1/2--is in the thick of a detestable phase. It's a whining phase. The worst of the whines come out when he has to do homework. I've nearly reached boiling point a few times due to the thickness of the whine. Seriously, it makes me cringe. Yesterday I ended up having to let Matt take over halfway through the homework because I could not get that boy to stop whining and do his work.

Today I decided to try something new. I told him he could whine about his work all he wanted, but only during pre-set whining periods. He was surprised...very surprised. For homework today he had to do a shape matching coloring page, a penguin math page, and he had to write the numbers from 51-80. He got a do a good whine before each page. Every time he changed colors on the first page, I gave him 5 seconds to whine. I let him whine for 5 seconds twice during penguin math. Then he got to whine at 65 on his number writing. Every time, without fail, he managed about 2 seconds of whining before he burst out laughing. It lightened the atmosphere of our homework time considerably. He finished his work in about half the time it usually takes him, and he didn't truly whine at all.

I think I've found the solution, y'all!

My Children are Actually Planning Ahead?

2012-01-14T12:44:00.000-08:00

I can't wait for Tuesday! Our best friends Stan & Noel are coming from California!!! It has been almost 2 years since we last saw them, and even then we only got a day with them. They are coming for {8 days} and I know it is going to be WONDERFUL! Snapper and Pepper don't know who is coming, but they do know we have to pick someone up at the airport on Tuesday evening. Snapper decided she wanted to get started on this week's homework early so she will have more time to spend with our visitors. Pepper agreed with her, and he has gotten a jump-start on his homework, too.

All of last week Snapper was working on research for the paper/presentation she has to do about the Apalachee Indians, a large group of Native Floridians. The paper isn't due until the 23rd, but she didn't want to have to deal with it at all this week. She averages about 3 hours of homework per night as it is. So Snapper buckled down today, researched three websites, took an additional 2 pages of notes, and we wrote her paper together. She dictated to me, I typed exactly what she said, and then we went back through and edited it together. We got to talk about a lot of the things she has been learning in writing and language arts, such as transitions, flow, colorful language, variety in sentence structure, and punctuation. We also used the thesaurus. It is so much fun for me to watch her developing as a writer. Her thoughts flow to naturally, and she is extremely creative. The end result was a lovely story titled Niponi's Tale: An Apalachee Anecdote. It is 2 solid pages telling all about the culture, customs, government, and historical importance of the Apalachee Indians. She is building a diorama with her small group at school, too. As soon as I finish here, we're going to build several tiny Apalachees out of Sculpey clay. They will be Snapper's contribution to the diorama. I am so proud of my sweet girl for working giving up 3 hours of her Saturday to work so hard to finish this project early. She was focused, cheerful, and diligent the entire time. It shows such growth in her! What a long way we've come in the last year. Proud, proud, proud!

Next, Pepper and I are tackling his January homework folder. His teacher is a firm believer in worksheets, and he has a bundle of them. There are 25 math worksheets and 14 phonics worksheets, as well as a family project and 20 minutes of reading each day. All are due the last day of January. We just got our packet yesterday. She also sends home bags of books tailored to each child's reading level. After the child has read each book three times, you send the bag back and the teacher swaps it for another bag. Pepper and I usually read them together every afternoon. This morning he delighted me by picking up his book bag and independently reading 4 books! They are level 2 readers and he made it through all of them entirely on his own! I worked quietly in the kitchen while he read right through them, using his decoding skills to sound out the words he didn't easily know. He was so proud of himself, and so happy to be independently reading for pleasure. Pepper is going to be my reader...I just know it! Proud, proud, proud!

Dental

2012-01-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

I like my dentist, which is a very good thing, because he rarely has good news for me. Last March I had to get a root canal. It ate my entire chunk of insurance money for the year, and I couldn't afford more dental work during the rest of the year. I went back today with a fresh $1000 of insurance money to use on my teeth. I had two large fillings done (yuck) and a fat load of x-rays. I walked out of the office 90 minutes later and $186 poorer. But it doesn't get end there. In the next 6 weeks I get to pay:

3 fillings+1 crown+1 root canal= $1500 that insurance doesn't cover.
Oh, and because I apparently have "genetically compromised" teeth, I have to get cleanings every 4 months instead of every 6 months. Does my insurance cover that third cleaning? Of course not!

Gag
HACK
Cough
CHOKE
Quiver...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Okay God. The ball is in your court because I don't have $1500! This can't wait because the 3 teeth needed fillings are all in danger of needing root canals in the next few months if we don't fill them now.
*Sigh*

Revolving Door of My House

2012-01-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

The number one problem with living in Orlando (apart from the disgusting love bugs that take over the air in May and September) is that our whole family lives on the other side of the United States. I miss them all. A lot. Snapper went to California last summer to visit, but the rest of us haven't seen my family in almost 2 years. I also haven't seen my best friend, Noel, in 2 years.

But that's all about to change!!!

One week from right now I'll be on my way to the airport to pick up Noel and her husband Stan, who happens to be Matt's best friend. They are going to be here for A WHOLE 8 DAYS! I can't wait! We're going to sequester ourselves in the house and just spend time together. I anticipate a lot of laughter, crafting, and good times.

When they go home, I won't have any time to get blue, because my daddy and step-mom are flying in on February 3! They are staying for 5 days, and I can't wait to see them!!!!!

Good times. Fun to be had. Memories to make. YAY! *does happy dance around the living room and oils the revolving door* Who else is coming to Orlando to see me?

Unreal

2012-01-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

I feel like I'm living in unreality right now. Is unreality even a word? If it isn't, it should be, because it fits me. Five short months ago we were arriving home from our month-long road trip with the discussion of adoption fresh out of our mouths. We had decided to consider adoption from foster care. I went down to the library and began a period of voracious reading. When I say voracious, I mean that in 6 weeks I read every single book our county library has on foster care, adoption, attachment, child abuse, etc. That's 32 books with a grand total of about 10,000 pages. We started our foster/adoption training scared out of our minds about what we were getting into, but still feeling strongly called by God to move ahead.

I asked God to either give me a clear "out" or to crystalize the call so I could move ahead confidently. In September I learned I was pregnant as I had a miscarriage. God spoke to me so tenderly through it. He used the miscarriage to remove any doubt from my heart, and to push me forward. Not only did He NOT give me an out, He took away my fear ad gave me unbelievable peace. We went through our training all fall and graduated December 6. We expected the home study to begin mid-January, and that we would receive certification around Easter.

Here we are, January 8, and we are on schedule to receive certification in five short days! We've begun getting our house ready for new kids. My adoption blog has tripled readership in the last 3 days. Matt and I have begun seriously planning some support-raising trips because we need to raise $1200 new monthly support by summer in order to prepare our finances for two new family members.

We've got our eye on a few children who at first read of the profiles seem to be possible matches. As soon as that home study is in our hands, it will be going out to some case workers. When I think about the fact that God already knows which kids are going to be ours I get goosebumps all over. It still seems so unreal to me that I may know sooner than later. Each time I get on the photo listings I pray and ask God to guide me. I wonder if I'll get goosebumps when I see their photo for the first time? I'm prone to goosebumps...

I'm really thinking that this whole process is like being pregnant. These kids started growing in my heart way back in September. When we went to that first class, it was like getting a positive pregnancy test. We started to acknowledge that kids are coming. Starting to scan photo listings in early December was like getting that first ultrasound and seeing a tiny heartbeat. These faces are real little people and one or two of them are ours. Now we're well into that second trimester. Having the homestudy done and purchasing a bunk bed for Pepper's room is like feeling that baby kick. It is suddenly physically real to us. Can I just say I'm loving the absence of morning sickness, leg cramps, sore boobs, and dislocated hips?

But anyhoo, this all seems unreal somehow. I've wanted to adopt since I was a very little girl. Matt and I have talked about it since before we were even married. And now it's happening. Oh my wow!

Adoption Update 1/5/12

2012-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Our home study is tomorrow! I am very thankful that we were detailed and thorough in our paperwork. It has cut several hours out of the home study process. Tomorrow's meeting is so our caseworker can see our house and check it for code and safety requirement, interview our kids, meet our cats, and go over a few things with Matt and me. Then we just have to wait for her to put it all together and get the necessary signatures. I can't wait for it to be done so we can officially start searching for the next members of our family!

Second Post of the Day

2012-01-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

So I don't like to post more than once in a day, but I will forget this if I don't write it down now.

Epic parenting moment!

Playing Disney Scene It with the kids tonight. The question for Pepper was: What kind of cats are Si and Am from Lady and the Tramp? He looked at us with that blank expression that means he doesn't have a clue. We decided to help him out a bit by giving him a hint.

Matt and I burst into song, complete with the accent.

We are Siamese if you please!
Buh-bum-bum-bum
We are Siamese if you don't please
Buh-bum-bum-bum

Then we looked at each other and burst out laughing! What an awesome parenting moment!

The blank stare from Pepper continued, but Matt quite obviously knew the answer, so he got the points for their team. I think we both should have received bonus points for our very excellent rendition of the classic song from Lady and the Tramp.

Do You Like THESE Towels?

2012-01-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

I recall a childhood Christmas--I believe it was the year I was 5 or 6--when we bought my mom dish towels for Christmas. My dad bundled up my sister and me, loaded us into our Oldsmobile, and we headed out to Macy's to shop for Mommy. She got quite a haul that Christmas! There was the puffy gray coat, a bottle of Lauren by Ralph Lauren perfume, a handsome set of kitchen knives, and a stack of dish towels. I still remember the dish towels with the matching hot pads. They were a cream color with forest green accents. Some of the towels had chickens printed on them, as did the hot pads. Anyone who remembers my mom will probably remember how much she loved chickens.

My 6-year-old self stood in front of the towels and thought, "What a dumb, boring present! When I grow up, I'm going to ask for exciting things for Christmas. I will never want dumb, boring dish towels!" Despite my thoughts, the dish towels went home with us, and were placed under the tree as a gift from my sister to my mom. The knives were designated as my gift to Mommy.

A few days later (or so I'm reminded by my family every Christmas), my mom took Jenny and me shopping for my dad, also at Macy's. On our trip around the store, I showed her a puffy gray coat. "Hey Mommy, how do you like THIS coat?" And then some knives..."How do you like THESE knives, Mommy?" And perfume..."Smell THIS perfume, Mommy! Isn't it pretty?" And of course, towels..."Do you like THESE towels, Mommy? I think they'd look great in our kitchen!" On Christmas morning, my mom pretended to be surprised. Then she told the whole family about my antics. And I've never been allowed to forget it.

This Christmas I received a nice chunk of Christmas money to spend on myself. A portion of it will be used on a laser hair removal package I got on Groupon. So much vanity, I know! But when I was pregnant with Pepper, I think he leaked testosterone I started sprouting a regular beard; unfortunately, it never went away. Time to do something about that! After I paid Groupon, I still had about $20 left. Guess what I did with it?

Remember those dumb, boring towels we bought for my mom? I went out and spent the rest of my money on dumb, boring towels--with matching hot pads--for my kitchen. And you know what? I did a happy dance in the aisle at Target when I found them! Some are dark red (my favorite color), and some are red and white checked. They look lovely hanging in my kitchen, and I was very glad to finally be able to throw out the nasty, old towels and hot pads we have been using since we got married 10 1/2 years ago!

So I guess I've grown up, huh? Dish towels and hot pads are an exciting present. Yup, I think I've grown up. I do love THESE towels!

Hopes and Dreams

2012-01-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of every new year, I love to sit and dream about what I want to accomplish in the coming year, and about the pre-determined events that will take place.

It is really fun to go back and read my old journals. I have made my dream list every year since I was 12. Earning vaulting medals, making straight A's, getting my driver's license, and winning goat showmanship at the fair were among my jr. high and high school dreams. One sad year, getting family counseling so I could speak to my parents again was my hope. Another year, my big dream was to get married. The next year the goal was to get pregnant (little did I know, I already was...just!). So much has happened throughout the years, and so many of my dreams have become reality. I am so blessed!

2012 Hopes, Dreams, and Goals

Do a final purge of the house/garage/attic. Each time I purge, I am able to let go of more. Time to reach another level of "simplify."
Complete our home study. Lord-willing, that should be done in the next few weeks!
Welcome new baby nieces and nephews! Niece Leah Hope and another new niece or nephew (gender & name unknown) will be born in January! One will be born in California, the other in India.
Spend time with visiting friends and family. Katie, the awesome college girl I mentored when she was in high school, is coming from Arkansas next week; Stan and Noel (our best besties) will be coming from California mid-January; and MY DADDY AND STEP-MOM arrive from California at the end of January!
Raise more support. Ah yes, such is the life of a missionary. There's an ebb and flow in this way of life, and right now we're at an ebb. It's time to move toward a flow. We need $1200 new monthly support in preparation for growing our family. This means travel for Matt.
Take a solo trip to California. My Granny is 94 years old. Parkinson's Disease and dementia are taking their toll. I haven't seen Granny in almost 2 years. I'm hoping to make the trip to see her in February or March. Just me, unless someone wants to give me $1500 for 4 plane tickets...
Take the kids to the west coast to visit family. Our hope is to fly to California/Portland/Seattle/Spokane in the early part of summer. I checked fares today, and it will cost about $2000 for multi-city flights for the four of us. If I'm a frugal money nazi between now and April, I think we can manage it. It has been almost two years since we last saw our families, and with new kids coming into our house, we want to go once more before we have to buy six plane tickets instead of four.
Go to Sea World. A lot. Remember those amazing rates I got on Florida resident passes? I plan to make the most of them.
Welcome a new child or two into our home. If I get my wish, we'll be adopting a brother/sister pair. Do we know who they are yet? No. Well, maybe. If a particular pair are still available when our home study is finished, I'll be calling their caseworker.
Celebrate anniversaries and birthdays. This summer we'll see our 11th anniversary (June), Pepper's 6th birthday (July), and Snapper's 10th birthday (September).
Move forward with my projects at work. I love what I'm doing, and I'm ready to make forward progress.
Continue to drop weight. Because of going gluten free, I've been consistently losing 1-2 pounds each week. I'm hoping that this pattern holds, and that the 2 miles I'm walking while Snapper swims 3-4 evenings per week will help firm me up. Down 2 sizes by the end of the year would be awesome!
Go on more dates with my hubby. We've not been good at this at all. Our foster/adoption class got us out together every week for 3 months, but it definitely wasn't a date. Even if we can go out once a month we'll be making progress.
Finalize an adoption. This is my hope, but the timing is completely in the Lord's hands.

I think it's going to be a full year! I'm excited to see how it plays out.

A New Year

2011-12-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

9:25 p.m., December 31, 2011.
I just arrived home after 5 days in North Carolina visiting my friend Bev. My bed is wonderful, and I am thankful for my laptop that allows me to blog from amongst my pillows and flannel sheets. Fireworks are exploding outside as the greater Orlando area gears up for ringing in a new year. For the first time in a long time, I plan to be asleep when the ball falls in NYC. I'm too wiped out from the trip to stay up.

2011 was a year of high highs and low lows. I posted on Facebook tonight how glad I am that God is always faithful. As I look ahead to a year of unknowns, I can rest in the knowledge that God sees what I can't see, and He is faithful. 2012 seems less scary when I look at it from that perspective. Now is a good time for me to reflect on the last year. Tomorrow, maybe I'll post on what I'm looking forward to in the coming year, because there's already a lot to anticipate!

High: Ringing in the year with new friends who have become some of our dearest friends this year. We love you, Ron, Christina, and kiddos!
Low: Difficulties with the kids' old school, including an uncooperative principal, a class switch for Snapper, and a run-in with a bully that ended up going all the way through the district's bullying discipline process. While it was stressful for Snapper in the process and hard for her to be a bully's target, justice was done and Snapper learned valuable lessons on courage, forgiveness, loving your enemies, and standing up for what is right.
High: Getting connected with Tracie, Laura, and Brandee through church small group and ladies' Bible study. These three amazing women have become my best friends here in Orlando, and I adore them.
High: Getting to go to a NASCAR race at the Daytona Speedway. Sure, it wasn't the Daytona 500, but it was the Budweiser Shootout, which was AWESOME!
Low: Experiencing problem after problem after problem with our house, only to have the landlord refuse to fix the problems. It was made even worse when he blamed the problems on us, and tried to make us pay for them.
Low: Having both of our cars die in the same week, and being without a vehicle for a month. Ugh!
High: Receiving the gift of our Cadillac from a ministry partner. Really? Someone gave us a beautiful car!
High: Finally getting to start working with Bright Media/DG4Kids after 10 months of raising support. We love it, love it, love it!
High: Having a week with our friends Brian, Carol, and their 3 girls. They came down from Tennessee for Easter and spent 8 days with us.
Low: Experiencing more problems with our house, being told we would be let out of our lease early, and then having our landlord change his mind.
High: Finding the perfect house in the town we wanted to live in, near swim team, in a great school district, at the right price...and the new landlord being willing to hold it 3 months for us until we could get out of our other lease!
High: Celebrating our 10th anniversary! Oh, how I love my man. He is the best!
High: Road trip across 12 states, including 10 days at Cru's U.S. Staff Conference in Colorado.
Low: Unforeseen road trip issues that ended up costing us $2000 more than budgeted.
Low: A sudden drop in our support that landed us in short paycheck land from August 1-December 15.
Low: A miscarriage.
Low: Discovering that Snapper and I are gluten intolerant.
Low: Our van breaking down. The repairs will be extensive. We're saving up, and hope to have the money to fix it this month.
High: This year's school is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Snapper's two teachers and Pepper's teachers all share our faith, which gives us great common ground with them. They are wonderful teachers, and the kids are doing so well in school. It makes up for our awful year last year.
High: Watching Snapper excel in swimming. She is fast, strong, and has won the hearts of her coaches. She has also made the sweetest friends at swim team.
High: Graduating from foster/adoption training, having our case moved to top priority, and preparing to adopt one or two children in 2012!
High: Giving the kids Sea World passes for Christmas.
High: Having our church decide to start supporting us...and we never asked them for support! What an amazing encouragement!
High: Loaded tangelo, lime, and grapefruit trees in our own back yard! YUM!
High: Losing 30 POUNDS since August as a result of going gluten free! Oh, and I feel better than I have since I was a kid.
High: Knowing God better because of all He has done in our lives this year. Seeing what He brought us through, remembering how He provided for us, experiencing His protection and care, and knowing without a doubt how much He loves us--all those things make me eager to move forward into a new year. Happy New Year to you, and may God make Himself known in your life as He has in mine. He loves you so!

From My Home to Yours...

2011-12-24T20:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas Eve night, we celebrated Jesus at our church's Christmas Eve service. Then we came home and enjoyed a delightful dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, and collard greens. The kids opened the customary new pajamas and put out a plate of gluten free caramels for Santa and a plate of carrots for the reindeer. Matt tucked them into their beds, where they are peacefully dreaming right now.

Tomorrow morning we'll kick off our day with birthday breakfast for Jesus--complete with the reading of Luke 2 and singing some favorite carols--followed by opening stockings and the gifts from our family in California and Washington. Because we went to church this evening, we've decided not to try to rush out to church again in the morning. We open gifts one at a time, savoring each one and remembering the loved one who sent it to us. Around 12:30, we're heading out to spend the day with our dear friends Curt & Tracie and John & Laura. None of us have family in Florida, so we spend holidays together as adopted family. Our time tomorrow promises to be full of good food, lots of fun, and rich fellowship.

What I anticipate to be the highlight of tomorrow, however, is Matt's and my gift to our family. Because we are hoping to welcome two new children into our family this year, we decided to forego any new "stuff" for Snapper and Pepper. They're going to have to get rid of stuff as it is, so why add new stuff to the mix? We pooled our resources and purchased.....drum roll please.....Sea World season passes for our family!!! The Florida resident rate made this extremely affordable for us, and it cost about the same as what we'd normally spend on gifts for the four of us. I've put together a scavenger hunt for the kids. There are eight clues that will ultimately take them to their passes...which are currently taped underneath their chairs at the breakfast table. I am SO EXCITED to see their sweet faces when they discover their gifts!!! Video and photos forthcoming.

Again, from our family to yours, Merry Christmas! May the Lord bless your family as we celebrate His gift to us.

Missing Mom

2011-12-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

Today would have been my mom's 62nd birthday. It's the 9th birthday of hers we've celebrated without her. Oh, how I miss her.

Every year when I was little, we used to go to the Tyrolean Inn, a wonderful, little German restaurant in a mountain town near where we lived. My mom was German, and she loved German food. Tonight we're making German food for dinner as a way of remembering and celebrating her life. Later this afternoon the kids and I are going to make lemon bars, which were her favorite dessert. After dinner tonight we're going to watch videos of my mom. She has been gone for 8 1/2 years and I haven't watched any video of her since she passed. I anticipate I will experience every emotion in the book. I think I'm ready for it, but whether I am or not, it's time for the kids to hear her voice and see her move. They know her through stories and photos, but it's time for more.

Happy Birthday, Mommy. I love you.

Adoption Update

2011-12-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

Big update!
Our first home study visit is scheduled for January 9!
This is big news because we didn't expect to even hear from our adoption caseworker to schedule the home study until mid-January!
Each day we get a little bit closer to finding out what precious child/children God has for our family. This step is a big step!
I'm just a little bit excited...

Enjoying Christmas

2011-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

Because I love Christmas so much, I really want to savor the month leading up to it. See, I'm the kind of girl who doesn't generally like surprises because for me, half the fun of an event is the anticipation. I love to plan, and I love to do fun things with my family. Before we moved in June, I got rid of a bunch of my Christmas decorations. I am tired of having every corner of my house full of clutter--albeit cute clutter--during the month of December. So I ended up keeping what is really meaningful to our family, and I sold/donated the rest. The freedom from clutter has given me much more time and energy, and a general sense of peace. I put some of that time and energy into our advent calendar. The focus of the calendar is to spend time with the family during what can be a very crazy month. During our morning devotions and dinnertime readings, we are focusing on Jesus, the true reason for the season.

Day 1: Make a paper chain to help us count down to Christmas!

We ended up not doing this activity on December 1st because we were getting ready for our trip to Snapper's meet. So the kids made their chain on Tuesday with the babysitter while Matt and I were at our last foster/adoption class. I don't have a photo of it, so I'll post a picture of the advent calendar itself. I made it myself and thoroughly enjoyed the process. Before you get too amazed by my creativity, remember that this is not an original idea. I found it on www.pinterest.com, and though the colors and some of the design on mine are uniquely mine, by no means did I come up with this on my own. I am very good at being a copycat! I plan to store it very carefully so we can use it for many years.

UF Swimmer

2011-12-05T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well.
That meet ended up having a few surprises.
1. It wasn't a mid-size regional meet...it was a large international meet! There were swimmers there not only from all over Florida, but also from South Carolina, Georgia, and Cuba!
2. There were probably 1,000+ spectators there each day. A normal meet might have 100 parents who are only interested in their own child's swim. These spectators cheered for every event, rang cowbells, and were generally happy and loud.
3. Snapper's coach was not there at all. Her coach on deck the was coach of the next level up, and he was quite impressed with her. And he thinks she's a cutie pie (which she is).
4. Snapper made only slight improvement on the events I thought she would kill, but made huge improvement on the events that are typically her slowest.
5. The intense noise, chaos, and crowded nature of the event would have completely turned Snapper's world upside-down just 6 months ago. She amazed me with her poise, confidence, and relaxed demeanor throughout the meet. None of the craziness bothered her in the least. She swam her heart out and did great!
6. Did I mention that she got her BB time cuts in 100 IM and 50 Backstroke? That's a big deal for a just-turned-9-year-old!

Way to go, Snapper!

We have arrived at UF! Time to go swim in the O-Dome.

This is one of two competition pools. It was totally packed during warm-up. The other pool was packed too, as was the outdoor pool. That's a lot of 12&Under swimmers!

Snapper and teammate R during the National Anthem

Big meets like this can drag on, especially when there are 30 heats of 200 Freestyle. The Nintendo DS and iPhone games help make the time pass faster.

In the absence of Coach Gaby, Coach Joe took good care of Snapper. He will be her coach when she moves up to the next level.

Back at the hotel, we splurged on some Ben & Jerry's ice cream!

We spent a relaxing evening as a family playing the Wii in our hotel room.

National Anthem, Day 2

Snapper's starting block ritual: chew the fingers and adjust the goggles until the very last second.

She has gotten much more aggressive on her starts recently.

It was fun having an overhead view of the meet. I got some new angles on her swimming.

Her Butterfly is absolutely beautiful, no matter which angle you're watching it from.

Time to head home. The weekend was a great success!

The Big Swim

2011-12-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow our family is making the trek to Gainesville, Florida, where my sweet 9-year-old will be swimming in a big meet at University of Florida. There will be teams there from all over the state, with 170 female swimmers in her 10&Under age group alone! The big deal for Snapper is that in order to swim in this meet, she had to make a set of rigorous time cuts to qualify. I am proud to say that she got the cuts in every stroke and distance, with the exception of 100 Fly, 200 Free, and 500 Free, which she has not yet done in competition. She is seeded middle of the pack in everything, which is great considering she just aged up into this group and is one of the youngest swimmers. She is very excited to get to swim at UF, and she is thrilled that her hard work at practice has paid off. This will be a neat experience for her.

Snapper will be swimming: 100 IM, 200 IM, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, and 50 Free. She is not swimming 100-yard events because they fall on Sunday. We figure 2 days is enough swimming for a first big meet. Good luck, Snapper! This is going to be an awesome weekend!

P.S. If you want to watch her swim, Florida Swim Network will be providing streaming coverage of the meet. Go to the website and look for the link to the Gator Swim Club Holiday Classic. Coverage begins at 1:00 p.m Eastern time on Friday, December 2 and Saturday, December 3.

Friday: Events 13, 23, & 33

Saturday: Events 53, 63, & 73

I don't know which heat/lane she'll be in. If you want to tune in an watch, please leave me a comment with your email address. Then I'll email you Snapper's name so you can find her. Oh, and if you do watch, please send her a shout-out. They broadcast it live, and she'll get it later in the day. It makes her day!

Craftiness

2011-11-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

A couple months back I made the commitment to make all Christmas gifts this year. Can I just say it has been F-U-N? I've gotten to use so many of my crafting supplies that have been sitting unused since about a year before we moved away from Little Rock. My Cricut die cut machine has been working overtime, as has my glue gun. On our road trips, my crochet hook stayed very busy. The camera has been clicking away. I've also put my sewing machine to good use. The best part...the gifts I'm giving are more beautiful, personal, and special than anything I've ever given in the past! Oh Christmas morning, I can hardly wait for you to arrive! I just wish I could be there in person to give most of the gifts.

I love Christmas, and I love the month of December. Because of all the hustle and bustle of events surrounding Christmas, there are so many opportunities to do fun things as a family. This year Pepper is finally old enough to attend plays and concerts. He can really "get" what Christmas is all about. And he understands numbers and the concept of the calendar. We are capitalizing on this in two ways.

First, we're observing advent. After dinner each night, Matt is leading our family through a neat study he found on some phone app. It focuses on preparing our hearts for Christmas. It uses Scripture, stories, and the history of traditional Christmas carols to focus us on Jesus. Tonight will be our third night.

Second, I'm making a super cute advent calendar. Rather than opening a door and seeing a picture or getting a candy, the kids open an envelope and find an activity for our family to do! I've already got it all planned out. The coolest part is that almost everything is free! Orlando has so many wonderful free events. It is really going to be fun! I worked hard and got caught up on housework this morning so I can make the advent calendar this afternoon. We'll begin this one one December 1 and go through December 24. You know, I think that sounds like a fun December blog focus, and a unique way to approach Project 365 for December! Speaking of Project 365, I haven't forgotten it. I've just been incredibly busy with work, the kids' schoolwork and sports, and other things. Too busy to sit and edit pictures. But they're all safe and sound on my hard drive (and backed up, too!). Life will slow considerably in January. I'll get caught up then.

Thanksgiving A Little Bit Different

2011-11-28T06:36:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has always been pretty much the same for me. Lovable, wonderful, traditional. The same foods, the same customs, and always spent with people we love. And we've never traveled for Thanksgiving. I remember the Thanksgiving when I was 13. Our family was taking a few months of retreat from the world. We stopped school, stopped church, and stopped going anywhere. Because we were homeschooled, we had the freedom to do this. My vaulting and our 4-H activities are the only things we went to during a 4-month period. In those few months, we spent time getting our home in order. We deep cleaned and purged. We spent more time with our animals. We took long walks in the redwoods. We did a lot of reading. We took naps in the afternoon. And we spent large quantities of focused time as a family. I did not love it at the time. But as an adult, I can look back and see the purpose, and how our relationships were strengthened because of it. That Thanksgiving we didn't even spend the day with family. Instead, we smoked a turkey, made a few pies, and took our Thanksgiving dinner camping. We camped in a very primitive cabin for 3 days at Big Basin State Park in California. We did some cool things like hiking and bike riding. But Thanksgiving was a flop. I didn't like the turkey, and cherry pie doesn't heat up well over a campfire. It felt like Thanksgiving never happened because of the absence of our traditions and the people we usually spent the day with. I said I never wanted a different Thanksgiving again.

That was 19 years ago, and this year I finally caved. When our friends Brad and Kathy invited us to go away with them to their friend's beach house for Thanksgiving weekend, I instantly agreed. The beautiful house is on an island not too far from Fort Myers, Florida, on the Gulf Coast. We had to pre-cook Thanksgiving dinner and take it with us due to lack of oven space in the beach house. We carried all our food and water with us because the only water supply on the island is rain caught in large cisterns. We had to take a water taxi to get to the house. And it was pure bliss. The house backs up to a state park, so our section of beach was very private. Every morning Matt and I got up at sunrise, took cups of coffee, and walked the beach together looking for shells. During the day, we took the kids down to the beach to play. We also had use of a kayak, a jet ski, and two golf carts. Oh, and I made great use of the hammock. The water was 75 degrees, and the air ranged from 76-81. Total perfection. Though the food was different than past years and I was not in my own home, we were able to carry some traditions with us and we spent the day with people we love dearly. Our Thanksgiving weekend was a complete success! Here are photos. In a few the sky looks grainy. That's because I saved them very low resolution for the web.

The house faces the intercoastal waterway. This was our house for the weekend!

Thanksgiving dinner with wonderful friends.

A different--yet delightful--way to spend Thanksgiving weekend!

We found this gopher tortoise just cruising along the beach.

Matt and Pepper built a shell garden. The shells were plentiful on this beach.

A relaxing afternoon on the porch.

Matt spent much of his weekend underwater, looking for bigger shells. He was rewarded with this one!

We did Snapper's 9-year portraits at the beach. This is one of my favorites.

This one is my very favorite.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS ONE!!!

And this is me. Hee hee!

Headed home after a very restful, refreshing weekend. Now I can enjoy Christmas!

Abby Update and Dinner Theater

2011-11-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

After 5 days in the hospital, Abby is home! A pediatric neurologist who specializes in seizures came in to examine Abby's case. After watching video, reviewing records, and studying Abby's EEG results, it was determined that Abby is not having seizures! The EEG was normal. She never lost consciousness. And when she appeared to be having a seizure, they were able to stop it by tickling her foot, and none of the anti-seizure medications worked. It would appear that Abby's "seizures" are really "Abby-isms." They get worse when she is tired or stressed. The doctor said they seem to be a coping mechanism. Lotte and Clay are going to do some research to see if they can figure out another answer. Possibly the issue is developmental or sensory. We are all very relieved, though, and we thank you for your prayers.

On a totally different note, I sat eating dinner with my family last night, and I felt like I was watching a production unfold. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down notes while we ate and talked. I must have spent half of dinner looking over at Matt, sharing meaningful glances and internal laughter of delight at the conversation around the table. I am so glad I took notes because it was too sweet of a moment to forget.

While were eating the extremely delicious chicken that Pepper helped Daddy cook...

Pepper: "This chicken is yucky, but I'm still going to be a cook when I grow up."
Snapper: "If you're going to be a cook, you have to taste the food you're making so you know if it's good or bad."
Pepper: "Not this cook! I'm going to be a not-tasting cook. I'll just make the food but not eat it."
Snapper: (in some sort of French-British hybrid accent with nose in the air and a superior expression on her face) "You must taste the soup, just a wee taste from the edge of a spoon. Oh no, this soup needs salt, Just a pinch, mind you." (shakes imaginary salt into an imaginary pot of soup and gives it a stir) "Oh dear, still not quite right. Must add some more salt to make a delicious dinner for our guests." (takes another imaginary taste) "Ah yes, much better. Now you see that you absolutely must taste what you serve if you are to be a cook."
Pepper: "Nope. Not going to taste it. Actually, I'm going to be a cooking pilot so I can have coffee and food on my airplane. And I'll have a cooking machine. Please pass the celery."

After gagging on a celery string, Pepper asked Daddy to put peanut butter on the celery because he likes it better that way. While Matt got the peanut butter from the pantry, Pepper began to sing the Peanut Butter Jelly song, substituting "celery" for "jelly." Ha ha!

My newest addiction is Pinterest.com. Have you discovered it yet? It is an AWESOME idea-sharing website. You can create virtual bulletin boards where you can post just about any website/recipe/tutorial/craft/decorating tip/etc. that you like. I am using Pinterest as my idea bank for my homemade Christmas. I've also found some other great ideas that I'm implementing in my home, such as The Thankful Tree. I made one for our kitchen table, and the kids are loving it. After Pepper finished his food last night, he wrote out a tag to put on the Thankful Tree. While he wrote, he recited Psalm 118:1. "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good." That started us on another conversation altogether.

The verse I have tied onto the vase that holds our Thankful Tree is 1 Timothy 4:4-5. "Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the Word of God and prayer." Using the verse on the tree was taking the verse slightly out of context, but it fit the project. We decided to read 1 Timothy 4 together so we could understand the context of it. The first part of the chapter talks about people who are hypocrites. They use their own legalistic following of the law to puff themselves up, when in reality, they aren't living in relationship with God. They focus specifically on what foods you can and can't eat. That reminded Snapper of when Daniel and his friends refused to eat the rich foods of Nebuchadnezzar, choosing to eat only vegetables instead.

Snapper: "They wouldn't eat the meat that had been donated to the Babylonian statues of stone. They would only eat the salad that had been donated to the Lord Jesus our Christ."

That made me laugh, and we had to do a little bit of clarifying. Our evening Bible journey took us back to the book of Daniel, and the circumstances that brought Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar's palace. Matt told the kids that God caused the enemy to prevail. Both kids were really into our discussion, so Matt wisely used it as a teaching moment. He asked how God could let bad things happen, or even cause bad things to happen if He is a good God. Without missing a beat, Snapper launched into an explanation. She is a deep thinker, and she never fails to astonish me with what she puts together in her head. She spoke too fast for me to write down word-for-word what she said, but here's the gist of it, as close to how she said it as I can remember.

Snapper: "Sometimes things happen that seem really bad to us, but they are part of God's plan. God allowed Joseph to be abused by his brother, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten in jail. But God had a plan that was bigger than what Joseph could see. God's plan was for good."

Matt played devil's advocate and asked Snapper how God could use the death of a baby for good. Or how He could make something good out of a tsunami wiping out a whole kindergarten.

Snapper: "I don't know how anything good could come out of it, but I'm not God. God is good. And His plan is better than our plan. Mom, God even let your mom die from cancer. I don't understand why, but something good came out of it. If your mom hadn't died, I wouldn't have Salty in my life, and she is really special." (Salty is my wonderful step-mom.) "We don't have to have all the answers. We'll probably never know all the whys. But we can trust God because He knows the answers. We just have to trust Him."

At that point, we turned the conversation to the character of God. Before the kids ran out of steam, they told us that God is:

Good (Snapper)
Loving (Snapper)
Gives good things to His children (Pepper)
Provides (Snapper)
Answers our prayers (Pepper)
Forgives (Pepper)
Knows everything (Snapper)
Is everywhere (Pepper)
Is faithful (Snapper)

Most of our dinner conversations aren't this deep. But when little hearts are open and ready, we jump on it. Our whole ministry revolves around the importance of teaching kids who God is and why it matters. This conversation last night confirmed for me yet again how critical it is that our children know God. It is a learning curve for me, incorporating God's attributes into daily conversation. But I'm getting it, and so are the kids. Want to know more about how you can teach your kids who God is? Visit our ministry website and click on Family Adventures. It is a free devotional series for parents to use with their kids. The activities, stories, and discussions are wonderful. Check it out!

A Weekend on Deck

2011-11-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

During this time of year, the pool deck is our second home. Snapper has swim team practices 4 days per week. And from September-December, and again March-May, she has meets just about every other weekend. We've just entered our third year of swimming, and I feel like we finally have this routine down.

Here's what a meet weekend looks like for us.

Friday Night

Wash towels/parka/team clothes if necessary
Pack the cooler. Typical meet fare includes: string cheese, yogurt, fruit, carrots, chips and salsa, turkey slices, peanut butter rice cakes, water, and Gatorade.
Pack the clothes bag. On cold meet weekends like this one was (it was 45 degrees when we arrived at the pool yesterday), we pack: Parka, sweats, team hoodie, under armor, 5 pairs fuzzy socks, Crocs, slippers, team t-shirt, gloves, ski cap
Pack the swim bag. Our swim bag always includes: A book, Snapper's Nintendo DS, towels for after warm-up and each event, 3 pairs of goggles, 2 team caps, and Mom's clipbox.
Load the clipbox. It is a plastic box with a clipboard on top. In it I keep: 2 highlighters, 2 sharpies, 2 pens, USA motivational time standards, Florida Age Group Championship time cuts, and the heat sheet. I use all of those items to get Snapper ready for her swims, and to keep track of how she's doing.

Saturday Morning

Wake up at 6:00 and get dressed for the meet.
Eat a high-protein breakfast. This morning we had apple slices, sausage and scrambled eggs.
Load the car. Besides the cooler, clothes bag and swim bag, we take: our canopy, 4 chairs, a thermos, cocoa mix, and cups, blankets, camera bag, advil, and visors/sunglasses/sunblock.
Make sure Pepper has an activity bag packed. He usually brings: his travel Lego table, his Leapster and games, and a few action figures.
Warm-ups usually start at 8:00, so we leave our house early enough to arrive 15 minutes prior to warm-up. Today we left at 7:15.
Arrive at the meet. Set up camp, write Snapper's events on her arm with a sharpie, and debrief with the coach.
Snapper warms up while we finish setting up camp.
Enjoy the meet! Today it started at 9:00. Cheer for Snapper, cheer for teammates, visit with other parents, take photos, take video, get critiques from coaches, make memories, have a great time. We always manage to have a lot of fun.
When the meet is finished--today it finished at 12:45--pack up camp.
Go out to lunch with favorite friends from the team.
Head home.
If the meet it a 2-day meet, we put wet gear/towels in the dryer. I refresh the cooler and highlight Snapper's events on the next day's heat sheet while the towels and clothes dry. Then I repack the clothes bag and swim bag. Snapper always likes to have a soak in a hot tub while I get ready for the next day.

Sunday

Repeat Saturday
Download photos from the camera and camcorder, and upload photos and video for family to watch.
Record Snapper's times in my swimming spreadsheet.

She had a great meet this weekend. In December, our team is traveling to a larger, regional meet in Gainesville. In order to swim at that meet, the kids have to have earned qualifying times. When those times were posted, we were really excited to find out that Snapper was qualified for several events! This will be a very fun experience for her because the meet is being held at the University of Florida pool, and we will be staying in a hotel! What an exciting thing for a 9-year-old!

There were a few more times she wanted to try for this weekend: 50 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and 200 IM. She swam her heart out both yesterday and today, and earned qualifying cuts in all 3! In addition to those, she will be swimming 50 freestyle, 50 butterfly, 50 backstroke, and 100 IM at the Gainesville meet next month! She is also qualified for 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle, but opted to swim the other events instead. She may get to swim on a relay team too, but we won't find that out until later. We are super proud of Snapper. She has worked really hard for this, and her diligence and determination is paying off. Here are a few fun photos from this weekend.

Sneaking a peek at mom during warm-up

Waiting for the Medley Relay with buddy T

She swam the breaststroke leg of the relay. Here's her awesome start!

Going fast in 100 backstroke! The writing on her arm is her reminder of what events/heats/lanes she is swimming.

Snapper had a fabulous 50-yard breaststroke swim today.

Seizures

2011-11-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

This is my baby cousin Abby. She just turned 1 last month. I am introducing you to her because she is in desperate need of all the prayer she can get.

3 days ago, Abby's parents noticed that she would occasionally stiffen up and stare into space for a few seconds. After seeing it happen several times, they decided to take her to the doctor. The doctor identified seizures and admitted Abby to the hospital for tests. That was yesterday morning.

She had several seizures yesterday evening and the doctors were able to see them. Her MRI and EEG came back normal, and everyone had a good sleep last night. But early this afternoon, the seizures started getting worse. Abby's whole body is now being affected. The seizures still aren't violent, but they are getting more frequent and are lasting longer. After having 15 seizures in an hour this afternoon, the doctor gave her anti-seizure medication and another shot to relax her muscles.

Sadly, she did not respond. As the evening has progressed, the seizures are getting worse. No medication is working, and the doctors can't figure out what is wrong. I come to you this evening asking for prayer for precious Abby. Please pray that she would be able to relax and rest. Pray that the doctors would be able to find out what is causing the seizures, and that they would figure out a medication that will help Abby. Pray for Abby's parents Lotte (my first cousin) and Clay. Needless to say, this is a very frightening, helpless place for them to be as parents. They are trusting God through it, but that doesn't take away the pain. Please pray that God would give them peace and comfort. As selfish as it sounds, please pray for me, too. I am also feeling helpless and so far away. I am in Florida and Abby is in California. Not that I could do anything if I was there, but at least I would be there to pull close to my family.

I know from personal experience that prayer is powerful, so on behalf of all my family, thank you for praying. I will update as soon as I know more.

Here's a photo of Snapper with Abby when Snapper was in California this summer.

Caught in the Act!

2011-11-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words. I'll let these pictures do the talking. But first, let me set the scene. All morning on Saturday, the house was filled with the laughter and other happy noises of my two children. Then, around 11:30, I noticed that the house had gone silent. But then I heard a rustling in the kitchen. And I noticed that the pantry light was on. And I remembered that the Halloween candy is in the pantry. And I grabbed my camera. And this is what I found. BUSTED!

Dressing Up

2011-10-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

My kids love to dress up in costumes. I love to dress up too, and I always have. I don't have that many great Halloween memories from my childhood because my mom never really decided whether or not our family would celebrate Halloween. I never knew from year to year if we would or not. I remember always being very disappointed on the years we didn't do anything. For that reason, I let my kids dress up and go trick-or-treating. We talk a lot with the kids about the scary things we see in the stores and in some people's yards at this time of year. We choose fun, light-hearted costumes. And we reach out to the people in our community. This year required two costumes for Snapper and three for Pepper. We couldn't manage to double up. But it worked out great because I was able to make everything. I bought the material on sale so it hardly cost me any money at all! I think the grand total for 5 costumes was $22!

Wednesday was Bible Character night at Awana. Snapper dressed up as the tree in Psalm 1, and somehow I managed to not get any photos of her. Bummer! Pepper was Moses from John 3:14. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Pepper had recited that verse at Awana the week prior, so the timing was perfect.

On the 30th, our church hosted Trunk or Treat for the community around the church. We did an Angry Birds themed trunk. The kids wore their Halloween costumes and we all had a blast. Snapper chose to be a parrot this year because she knew my friend Tracie's little ones were going to be pirates. Snapper thought it would be funny to be the parrot carrying around the pirate.

Book Character day at school landed right on Halloween. All the kindergartners and 1st graders dressed up as their favorite book characters. Pepper was Brother Bear from the Berenstain Bears series.

And then tonight was Halloween. Originally we had planned on spending the evening with friends in another part of town. But Pepper and I were sick late last week, and I just didn't feel up to going anywhere tonight. We stuck close to our house and took the kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We live in a lovely neighborhood, so it was really pleasant being out this evening. We walked around the beautiful lake that is a block down our street and the kids got a lot of candy from the gorgeous, lakefront homes. It rained all day and cleared up around 4:00, so it was nice and cool and the air had a wonderful, fall-ish, wet leaf smell. We walked around for about an hour, and then came home to hand out candy. Matt set up a table with coffee and cocoa, and we took advantage of the BOGO candy at Publix to make sure we had enough. We had been hoping to meet some of our neighbors this way. To our disappointment, we only got 3 trick-or-treaters. To my delight, we finished the night with 4 monster bags of candy left over, and a whole container of pumpkin spice creamer! It was a very fun week.

Now we begin the countdown to Thanksgiving in earnest. We're looking forward to spending that weekend at a friend's beach house in the Florida Keys with our wonderful friends Brad, Kathy, and Vonette. And then Christmas is right around the corner! I've made great progress on my Homemade Christmas challenge, but I still have a lot to make. Can you guess how I'll be spending the 55 days until Christmas?

Then and Now: A Post for Snapper in Years to Come

2011-10-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

As of 2 weeks ago, Snapper has been doing swim team for two years. It has become a really important part of her life. She is at the pool 4 afternoons each week. Most of her friends swim with her. We moved in June largely to be closer to the pool and to get Snapper into school with these swim friends. We believe that the solid relationships she is forming with this awesome group of kids is extremely important for her, especially since she has gone to so many different schools in the past years. We're hoping to keep her in this same school district all the way through the rest of school. We couldn't be happier with all that swimming brings to our lives, and its many benefits for Snapper. I hadn't planned on posting about this, but tonight I was looking through some 2009 photos with a friend and I came across photos of Snapper's first swim meet. I was blown away at the difference in my swimmer girl. I thought it would be fun to post them, just as a way to mark how she has changed.

Little Snapper, age barely 7, at her first meet swimming for the Arkansas Dolphin-Lasers. Crying during warm-up because the 20 minutes of continuous swimming was too much for her. Crying on the starting block because she was afraid her goggles would come off during her dive. Struggling with asthma. Didn't know any of her teammates yet, and very shy about introducing herself. Enjoying practice, but not too sure yet about this whole swim team thing.

Bigger Snapper, age almost 9, at a mid-summer meet with her Florida team. Swimming a mile or more during practice and coming out of the pool ready to run a mile or ride her bike. Only deals with asthma when she is sick. Bold and confident, bonded with her teammates, fiercely competitive, cheering for her team, and completely loving every aspect of swimming, except for push-ups and lunges on dry land days.

Timid dive at the first meet, October 2009

Strong, gorgeous dive now, April 2011

Notice the absence of muscle tone in her back and shoulders, October 2009.

Check out the muscle tone now! She grins when she sees this photo, taken October 2011.

Yay for swimming and yay for Snapper! Baby girl, this post is just for your memory book.

Awana Funny

2011-10-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I have the privilege of participating in Awana at a local church. In case you're not familiar with it, Awana is a weekly Bible club for children. Kids work through a handbook, memorizing Bible verses and touching on important theological principles. They hear a Bible lesson, earn awards, and play fast-paced, exciting games. It is a great program, and I am thankful for how it grounded me in my faith when I was a child. My kids are in Awana now, and they love it as much as I did. This week as they were working on the memory verses, they said a couple of funny things that I don't want to forget.

One of Snapper's verses was Luke 12:6-7.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid! You are worth more than many sparrows.

Snapper had learned the verse well, but she had a mental lapse when we were reviewing the verse on our way to Awana. She got to the last sentence and instead of You are worth more than many sparrows, she said, "You are worth more than a bunch of pigeons!"

HA HA HA!

Pepper's verses this week were John 3:14-16. John 3:14 says, Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.

Pepper announced to me that this is his favorite verse in the Bible. Why? Because it has a snake in it, of course! He repeats that verse over and over every afternoon when he gets home from school, emphasizing the word snake.

HA HA HA!

Pepper has also been learning the books of the New Testament. We have a fun song that helps, and Pepper loves to sing the song. He sings it over...and over...and over. Between the song and the snake verse, I'm definitely getting my Bible exposure daily this week. Last night on the way to Awana, Matt and I started using our hands as puppets to lip sync to Pepper's New Testament books song as Pepper sang it. Pepper thought that was the funniest thing he has ever seen. He laughed hysterically, still trying to sing. He laughed until he was snorting and crying, and all the rest of us were laughing along with him. This is one of those memories that will stay at the forefront of my mind when I remember Pepper at this age.

Swim Weekend

2011-10-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Two years ago when Snapper's swim lessons teacher asked me to have her try the summer swim team at our community pool in Little Rock, I never dreamed we would be where we are today. At her last meet in September, Snapper posted one of the fastest 8&under girls 25-yard butterfly times in the state of Florida in the last 2 years. She amazes us with her love of this sport, her hard work at practice, and her consistent great performance at meets. When the opportunity came up for Snapper to go to an out-of-town meet, we decided she has earned it.

We left on Saturday morning for a meet at a club 2 hours away. The 3 other girls on Snapper's relay team got to go too, which made it extra special. We all stayed in the same hotel and we focused on making it a fun, relaxed weekend for everyone. At the meet we all set up our canopies and chairs together. Some of the kids brought board games; some brought soccer balls and volleyballs. In the long waits between swims, the kids ran around and played together. Every time one of the kids went to swim, the others came along to cheer. We all shared dinner together at Olive Garden, and ate breakfast together in the hotel. At the hotel on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, we took all the kids to the hotel pool to play. All the parents sat around and visited. Even if there had been no meet swimming, it still would have been a really great weekend.

But there was meet swimming. We found that the relaxed atmosphere, play time, and support from their teammates made all the kids swim better than ever before! All of them put down new best times in multiples events. Snapper tracks the USA Swimming Motivational Time Standards and tries to earn faster cuts each time she swims. At this meet she got BB cuts in her 50-yard butterfly and backstroke, which are faster cuts than she has ever gotten before! It was really exciting for her. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend.

Progress Report Bragfest

2011-10-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

*Disclaimer* This is a proud mommy brag post

Last night was our parent-teacher conference with Pepper's teacher. I was really curious going into it, because Pepper has been going through a stubborn phase recently. I knew his teacher had some problems in September getting him to complete his class work, and I wasn't sure if that was stubbornness or just adjustment to kindergarten. I really didn't have a clue what to expect from the conference. I didn't need to be concerned. From his teacher I learned that...

Pepper is extremely bright. She thought I'd spent a lot of time working with him on academic stuff. The reality is that I do only the normal amount of work with him. I don't want to put any pressure on him. He gets great instruction at school, and he doesn't need a second school day when he comes home. We read together every day, I help him with his homework, and I am working with him on forming his letters correctly when he writes. Other than that, I don't do any school stuff with him. He is just really bright, and he absorbs everything that is going on around him.
Pepper is very advanced in his literary skills. He scored as high as he could score on his placement tests.
Numbers are, as I expected, his strongest ability. He only missed 4 questions on the diagnostic math test of skills they need to have mastered by the end of kindergarten. Seeing as how he took the test one month after school started, I'd say he's doing pretty darn well.
He is already starting to write sentences, which surprised and pleased his teacher.
His progress report grades were all 100%. I didn't realize that those percentages were based on actual test scores. All our past schools have not given percentage and letter grades until 3rd grade. They have done the E (excellent), S (satisfactory), and N (needs improvement) style of grading for the younger grades. This school gives actual grades starting in kindergarten. A+ in reading, language arts, social studies, science and math! WHAT?!? That is one smart cookie of a 5-year-old that I have!
His behavior in class is outstanding. He listens well, doesn't speak out of turn, participates in discussions and activities, speaks respectfully to his teacher, and is consistently kind to his friends. The only area he needs to work on is time management and completing class work in a timely manner. After this discussion with the teacher, I suspect Pepper doesn't care about his class work because it is boring to him. It is time to talk to the gifted teacher and get him going in the talent development program. It will provide additional challenge for him.

Needless to say, we are very proud of our little buddy. He isn't outspoken like his sister is, so it can be hard to tell what's going on in his head. I realize now that there's a lot going on in his head. He is very bright, and I know now what he's capable of. Time to develop it!

Snapper has never had an ounce of trouble in school. Her kindergarten teacher was the first to recognize her potential, and she has continued on that track, consistently landing at the top of her class with very little effort. This year has been a bit different for her. She has surprised herself and us by bringing home her first C on a test, and consistently scored B's on her reading tests. We've been frustrated because the tests are open book tests. There has been no reason to get low grades (a B is low for Snapper who has only ever scored lower than an A on one test) when the answers are right in front of you. After this morning's conference, we learned that...

Snapper's ADD combined with her giftedness is a factor in her lower grades this year. She overthinks everything, and asks a lot of unnecessary clarifying questions. Her teachers told us that Snapper reads deeper into questions that she needs to, and she has difficulty taking questions at face value. For example: Mrs. Jackson orders 10 pizzas for her class party. Each pizza has 8 slices. There are 20 students in Mrs. Jackson's class. How many slices does each student get? Snapper wants to talk about different scenarios. What if some students only want 1 slice? Does Mrs. Jackson want any pizza? What if a student is absent? What kind of pizza is it?
The reading and social studies tests require that the students pick out important information to determine the answers to the questions. To Snapper, all the information is important. When she underlines pieces of important information, she ends up underlining everything. It is all interesting and important to her. For Snapper, whose recall ability is incredible, an open book test is overwhelming. She can't pick out what information is most important. The teachers gave us some great strategies to work with Snapper on this. It means I will need to spend more time with her, reading with her and teaching her how to discern what information is important, and what it not.
Snapper is an amazing writer. Her writing teacher is delighted that she is using what she's learning in class--vocabulary, voice, similes, grammar--and applying it to her writing. She packs her writing with detail and variety, and her teacher says she is going to go far with her writing.
Snapper has an A+ in science, and is barely shy of A+ in Language Arts and Math. Her math skills are advanced, and she has already mastered 58% of the 4th grade math standards. This percentage is among the highest in her grade!
Her behavior is excellent. She has developed a wonderful circle of friends, she loves to help and serve in the classroom, she uses good manners, and she is an enthusiastic participant during class projects and discussions.

I am very pleased with how both the kiddos are doing in this new school. I am proud of their hard work and excellent grades. I just have to gush about their teachers, too. They know my kids, and they are working hard to meet their individual needs. I always have a tiny smidgen of guilt in me when I talk with most of my family about having our kids in public school. I always get the feeling that they are less that pleased with us for going this route and not homeschooling. But after today, I am reassured that this is absolutely the right thing for my kids. Snapper is receiving the support from her teachers for her special needs that I would not be able to give her. Consistently working with other gifted kids challenges the way she thinks and makes her a stronger girl. Pepper needs the structure and interaction with other adults. The growth in him in the last 14 months since he started going to school has been remarkable. I am so thankful for our school and our wonderful teachers. And I am proud of my kids.

World's Best Alarm

2011-10-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I had a really hard time waking up yesterday morning. I could not get my eyes to open, so I ignored my alarm and buried myself deeper in my pillow. Enter Pepper, wearing nothing but his undies, and shivering violently.

"Mommy, I want to cuddle with you before I get dressed. I'm freezing!"

I, being the nice mommy that I am, (and secretly overjoyed about a few more minutes under my cozy covers) decided to welcome in my 5-year-old ice cube. He snuggled in close, sighed a deep sigh, and looked up at me with mischief twinkling all over his adorable, stinker face.

"Mommy, I am going to stick my face in your nice, warm boobs!"

At that moment in time, my eyes responded favorably to the morning, and my feet hit the floor, ready to go. I guess that's one way to get me out of bed!

On This Rainy Day...

2011-10-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Central Florida is getting drenched by a slow-moving tropical system today. It is 67 degrees outside, and it hasn't stopped raining since about 9:00 last night. Weatherbug tells me we have gotten 5 inches of rain already, and it will not be stopping any time in the next 12 hours. Needless to say, we scrapped our beach plans for today, and we've made other plans. Pepper has croup too, which influenced our decision to stay home and have a very quiet family day. Here's our agenda for today.

Fold and put away 5 loads of laundry
Wash all our sheets and make our beds
Kiddos are cleaning their rooms.
Snapper is on bathroom cleaning duty.
I need to clean up the Mod Podge mess on my craft table. All week I have been working on Christmas gifts, and I am finished with the Mod Podge part of the project.
Matt and I need to work together on our massive family portfolio for our foster/adopt trainer. It is due this week. We still need to write a letter to the birth parents of the kiddos we'll be adopting, and a letter to the kiddos, too. No, we don't have a match to specific kids yet. That is still a few months away.
Matt needs to write another thousand words on his life story, also a requirement of our foster/adopt trainer.
The kitchen needs a once-over.
I have lasagna soup to put in the crock pot for rainy day dinner yumminess.
Is yumminess a word?
Once all those necessary tasks are done, we'll have some fun!
The kids and I are going to make papier mache pumpkins using Walmart sacks as the forms.
While the papier mache is drying, we'll pop some popcorn, make some gluten free cookies for Mommy, and watch a movie.
Matt and I are going to take on another Rock Band challenge.
Throughout the day as I have time, I'll work on crocheting the monster caps I am making for Pepper and my nephews for Christmas.
I might edit photos so I can get caught up on posting my Project 365.
My cinnamon candles are burning, and my plastic fall leaves are adorning my living room. The windows are all open and the air conditioner is off. My precious family is home with me. I am extremely content. Thanks, God, for the perfect fall day.

Thinking About Christmas

2011-09-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've been crunching the numbers, and our Christmas budget is going to be very small this year. In all reality, it is probably even too small to do Black Friday shopping. I am going to have to get creative. Oh wait...I already am creative! And this year I have a new friend. Its name is Pinterest. Have you discovered this amazing networking tool yet? Pinterest is my new best friend. It allows people to share links to things they like. This ranges from suggested reading lists, to recipes, to home decorating ideas, to CRAFTS! I am all about the crafts, and I have two amazing friends here in Orlando who are just as creative and crafty as I am.

Browsing Pinterest tonight got me thinking a lot about Christmas, and all the people I usually have to shop for. I have 3 nephews, 4 nieces, and two more nieces on the way. And then I have several young cousins that I love to send gifts to. And then there our siblings...9 between Matt and me. Don't forget our parents. And our grandparents. And the kids' teachers. And Snapper's swim coaches. And our wonderful friends. I have never done elaborate gifts, but even when I buy simple and on sale, it still really adds up.

So...

I am sticking my neck out here and making the bold, brave (or stupid) decision to make all of my Christmas gifts this year, with the exception of Christmas jammies and stocking stuffers. I will make everything else. I am super excited at the prospect. I will still have to buy all the materials, but by shopping the sales and using coupons, I am very confident my budget will be in much better shape than if I were buying everything ready-made.

Did I mention I love crafting? This will be an awesome challenge for my creative juices, and I can't wait to see what I come up with.

Tracie and Micael, I challenge you to join me on this!

THE Party of the Year

2011-09-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Last week our beautiful Snapper turned 9. Because she didn't get to have a party last year, we had a special party this year. She invited 10 special friends, all of whom are testimony of God's goodness to Snapper. She has the sweetest friends. We took the girls on a trip around the world...without ever leaving our house. This party was a tremendous success. In case you want to duplicate it, I will post my supplies list and estimated cost.

Invitation

I created a plane ticket invitation using my digital scrapbook supplies and Photoshop, and printed it on white card stock. I have the template if you want it, and I am happy to share.

Total Cost of invitations (including envelopes and postage): $7

Check-in for the trip

I made a passport for each girl using navy blue poster board, white card stock, and a gold marker. The girls signed their passports when they checked in on arrival at the party. I created the passport pages using my digital scrapbook supplies and Photoshop, and printed them at home. Email me if you want the template. I copied the emblem from the front of my real passport using a gold pen.

For each country, I created passport "stamps" for each country, and printed them onto stickers. The stickers I used were Avery 8293 labels. I already had these, so they aren't counted in the cost. The girls collected a stamp in their passport at each new country they visited.

Total Cost of check-in: $4

Stop 1: China

Decorations: I made a Chinese flag our of poster board. The table was spread with a white sheet. I hung red paper lanterns from the ceiling. The lanterns were purchased 3/$5 at Party City. Snapper found a Chinese calendar somewhere, and she added that to our decor, too. A few traditional Chinese songs downloaded from iTunes onto my iPod set the mood perfectly.

Activities: First, the girls decorated lunch bags with markers and travel stickers. They all very creatively decided to make their bags into suitcases for the trip. I love that they came up with that!

Our other activity in China was fishing. The girls raced to pick up Swedish Fish using chopsticks and dropping them into a Chinese takeout carton. The Chinese takeout cartons were super cheap at the local Chinese restaurant. The girls got a kick out of this game.

Favor: Takeout carton and Swedish Fish

Total cost of China: $23

Stop 2: Ireland

Decorations: I made an Irish flag out of poster board, and hung it over the television in the living room. I cut a big shamrock out of the leftover green poster board and taped it to the side of the television. I hung strips of orange and green streamers from the ceiling for an extra splash of color.

Activities: Matt connected my laptop to the television and showed Irish dance videos off YouTube. The girls were enthralled, and had fun trying to imitate the moves of the Irish dancers. While they watched, I had two other moms help me do the girls' hair. We did two French braids halfway down, and tied the braids together in the back with orange and green ribbon. Then we curled the hair that was hanging down.

Favor: Hair ribbons

Total Cost of Ireland: $6

Stop 3: Italy

Decorations: I made an Italian flag out of poster board, put a red, plastic, Dollar Tree tablecloth on the table, and twisted red and white streamers over the table. I found an Italian flag centerpiece at Goodwill for $1. I later saw the same centerpiece at Party City for $5. I had Italian music--Il Volo and Josh Groban--playing in the background.

Activities: The girls made their own pizzas on individual flatbreads. While the pizzas were cooking, they had salad. Drinks were their choice of sweet tea or water.

Total Cost of Italy (mainly for food): $40

Stop 4: France

Decorations: I made a French flag out of poster board, and covered the table with a blue, plastic, Dollar Tree tablecloth. The soundtrack from Ratatouille--which we already had--provided nice background music. I borrowed an Eiffel Tower statue from a friend to round out the decor.

Activities: I purchased a pad of Acrylic paper at the craft store. I drew a large circle (~6 in. diameter) on each paper. I made artists' pallets out of white paper plates, and put a dollop of 7 different colors of acrylic paint on each pallet. I gave the girls plastic cups of water and a variety of paintbrushes (which I already had), and asked them to use the paint fill their circle with a colorful design. I will be mod-podging their beautiful, creative artwork onto a canvas to hang in Snapper's room.

While the girls were painting, the other moms and I gave the girls French manicures, using $1 bottles of white and clear nail polish from Walgreens. Tip: Wait 1 minute after finishing the nail paint, then dip the fingers in a bowl of ice water for 30 seconds. It causes the nail polish to harden quickly.

Favor: Tube of lip gloss

Total Cost of France: $14

Stop 5: Mexico

Decorations: I made a Mexican flag out of poster board, and spread our two Mexican blankets on the lawn for the girls to sit on. I found a pinata at a local discount store for less than half the cost of the same pinata at Party City. I got all the pinata candy at Dollar Tree.

Activities: Pinata! While Matt helped the girls with pinata, I made tropical drinks to carry out to them. For the drinks, I used a 50/50 mix of generic lemon-lime soda and fruit punch from Dollar Tree. I got the little umbrellas to put in the drinks from Dollar Tree also. Pineapple slices were a nice finishing touch in the drinks, too.

Favor: Candy and little umbrella

Total Cost of Mexico: $22

Stop 6: USA

Decorations: I covered the table with a blue, plastic Dollar Tree tablecloth. I left up the red and white streamers from when this room was Italy. I removed the Italian centerpiece, and replaced it with an American flag, also from Dollar Tree. I got lucky and found red star confetti in the clearance bin at Party City.

Activities: Cake, presents, and dancing. I downloaded some popular kids' dance music from iTunes, and it was a great hit. As soon as Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus came on, the girls burst into song. I was lucky enough to get it on video. I absolutely love 9-year-old girls!

Cake: Snapper wanted two kinds of cupcakes, so that's what I made. I borrowed a friend's cake decorating set and put swirly buttercream frosting on the cupcakes. I topped the chocolate cupcakes with blue sprinkles, and the confetti cupcakes with red sprinkles. I looked everywhere for flags of the nations toothpicks, but I couldn't justify spending $5 on shipping for the $1.99 picks from Oriental Trading Company. I ended up making flag picks to go in the cupcakes, using flag images from the internet, printed on card stock and glued to toothpicks.

Playlist:

Cha Cha Slide by Mr. C

Cupid Shuffle by Electric Slide Dance Party DJ's

Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus

I Like to Move It by Party Cats

Who Let the Dogs Out by Party Cats

Chicken Dance by DJ's Choice

YMCA by Party Cats

I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas

Rods and Cones by Blue Man Group

I Speak No Americano by Yolando Be Cool and Dcup

Favor: Flag pick, Passport

Total cost of U.S.A. (including cake ingredients): $12

Here's Snapper with her BFF, S, at the end of the party.

I don't have enough great things to say about this party. All week long I have received emails from moms telling me how their girls are still raving about the party. Snapper comes home from school telling me that her friends keep thanking her for the party. I think I have shared enough here to help you duplicate the party if you so desire. It was a blast, and I know Snapper has a wonderful store of memories from it to stash away.

He Gives and Takes Away

2011-09-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Whenever there is a lot of stress in my life, my body responds by throwing off my cycle. Yesterday morning I finally started, 2 weeks late. Last night I started having bad pain down in my guts, and I assumed it was from eating pizza and a cupcake at Snapper's party yesterday. I am gluten intolerant, so abdominal pain is normal when I eat gluten.

But then I realized I was having a miscarriage. I lost a tiny baby last night, about 6 weeks into my pregnancy.

On one hand I am deeply sad. I am fascinated by the combination of Matt's and my genes, and the beautiful kids we have produced. I would have loved to have seen another one, to have had the privilege of raising another flesh-of-my-flesh little one. On the other hand, I see this loss as a tender gift from a God who loves me more deeply than I have ever loved my kids. He has a plan for me, and having this baby would have stopped His plan from moving forward.

Three months ago, Matt and I began moving forward to start an adoption. We are beginning our foster/adopt training with the county on Tuesday night. I have read extensively about adoption, foster care, and the issues we will face, and to be honest, I am scared out of my mind. There has been a part of me that has been doubting whether or not we can do this, whether I am willing to disrupt my easy, happy life to welcome a wounded child into our family. I asked God several times this week to close the door on adoption because I am scared and because I am selfish.

God is not closing the door. He is speaking reassurance to my heart. On Tuesday, as a direct answer to prayer, He provided a special babysitter for us on nights when we have our training. We needed someone who could either drive, or lived close enough for us to take home late at night. We needed someone who could stay up late on school nights, because we won't get home from our class until 10:00. We needed someone who could give us a low rate, because our finances are so tight right now. The young lady God provided is on Snapper's swim team. She swims at the same time Snapper swims, but with a more advanced group. Her sweet mom will play with Pepper in the pool while the girls swim, then will drop them off at our house. She is homeschooled, so staying up late isn't a problem for her. She lives 2 minutes from our house. Because she is 13, her rate is $5/hour, which is half the going rate for the other babysitters I considered! Confirmation #1.

To some, a lost baby may seem a harsh way for God to speak. It does not seem that way to me. Here is how I see it. We have lost 4 other babies in the past. The last one was in August of 2007. Since then, Matt had an illness that the doctor told us would leave us infertile. That was confirmed by no pregnancies in the last four years. This precious baby reminded me that God is the one who opens and closes the womb. He is able to open my womb if He wants, even though we are "infertile." But His plan for us is not to have any more babies. He gives and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I know our baby is happy and whole with Jesus.

On Tuesday, Matt and I will be moving forward with our adoption plans. I am sad about our baby. But I am no longer afraid. I know with confidence that this is God's plan, and He will give us what we need as we adopt.

My Week in A Frame

2011-09-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday

Snapper had a swim meet, her last in the 8&Under age group. Since we were on the road so much this summer, she missed 7 weeks of summer practice. I wasn't expecting much out of her at this meet, so I didn't break out the video camera. Big mistake. Snapper took 1st place in Butterfly, swimming 25 yards in an incredibly fast 17 seconds! Considering there were 43 others in her age group who swam Butterfly, this was a huge accomplishment! She finished the the day with a 1st place, a 2nd place, and two 3rd place ribbons!

On Sunday

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY SNAPPER! After church, Snapper and I went with friends to see the Central Florida Ballet's production of 9-11: An American Moment. We met with our church small group in the evening. I cried all day. Cried and cried. 9-11 coincided with a hormonal wave that rendered me useless all day. On the way home from church came the car incident.

On Monday

I had a productive day at the office. I have been assigned a very awesome project that is fun and exciting to work on. I am not at liberty to say what it is, but it is really great, with the potential to have a huge impact on thousands of kids. I have been plagued for a few days by a feeling of being fuzzy in my head. I am pretty sure it is hormone related. I hope it's hormone related.

On Tuesday

Snapper called me from school right before my Bible study started. The dramatic monologue went something like this.

Mom, (sob sob), I am at the nurse's office (sniff snort). My teacher sent me to call you (cough gag sob sob). I just know (hiccup sniff) that you forgot (gag snort) that I have chorus after school (hiccup) today. I just KNOW that I will be standing ALL ALONE (whimper) on the car ramp after chorus (sniff sniff) because you won't remember to pick me up. (WAIL). And poor Pepper (cough cough hiccup) will be terrified because he will have to ride (sniff) the bus (snort) alone (choke gag WAIL). I started thinking about it during class (sob) and I got all worked up (sob) and I started coughing and choking (cough cough choke choke cough gag hiccup). So my teacher made me come call you to calm me down (WAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIL)! But I can't (sniff sniff) calm (snort gag) down (hiccup hiccup cough). I think I have pneumonia and I am going to DIE (WAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIL sob sob sob).

And I thought I was having hormonal trouble!

By the way, not only had I not forgotten about chorus and late pickup, I had prepared Pepper to ride the bus alone. He was thrilled, not terrified. And I had reminded Snapper that morning that I would pick her up after chorus at 4:00. *Sigh*

On Wednesday

I spent a delightful morning working on plans for Snapper's birthday party which is this weekend. The theme, which she came up with by herself, is a trip around the world. Two weeks ago I made awesome plane ticket invitations, which I won't post because they are full of identifying information that I don't want floating around cyberspace. Today I made a passport for each girl coming to the party. They are also awesome. On our way to Awana in our van--which happens to be our only working car--it made a funky noise, the speedometer quit working, and the transmission got stuck in second gear. We took it to Auto Zone and had it tested. The problem is electrical, and the source is up inside the dashboard. This is not going to be a minor fix. *Sigh again.* The happy news of the day was that Pepper got his Sparks vest at Awana!

On Thursday

Since we now had no working cars, my friend Tracie loaned me her van for a couple of days. Matt spent the morning running errands, including picking up the parts for the Cadillac that a ministry partner bought for us. I spent the morning with my friends Tracie and Micael crafting and working on details for Snapper's party. Snapper won a special award at swim team, an award for being the hardest worker in her level! Matt was able to fix the Cadillac with no trouble! We are thankful for God's provision, and that Matt is handy.

On Friday (today)

Confirmed. The fuzzy head was hormone related. The hormone wave has washed out, and my head has returned to normal.

Matt is sick today. This is a problem because it is crunch time for the party, and I was counting on his help. I had to wait until today to buy most of the party supplies, because I just didn't have the money until today. Matt is a total wimp when he gets sick. A head cold (like he has now) may as well be scarlet fever according to his level of neediness. He naps in the living room because he wants to stay close to me. I just have to shake my head and smile, and keep Emergen-C going into him.

Snapper came home from school with her weekly grade report. For the fourth straight week she got 100% on her grammar test, 100% on her math test, 105% on her spelling test, and a B on her reading test. This perplexes me because grammar, math, and spelling require consistent work and thorough understanding in order to receive such good grade. The reading test each week, on the other hand, is take-home, open book. An A should be pretty much a given for Snapper. Her downfall each week has been the essay question. Somehow she manages to write random gibberish that doesn't even remotely relate to the question. Today she earned 0/11 points for the essay question. I am truly perplexed.

Pepper has stayed on green (perfect behavior) for three weeks in a row now, of which I am quite proud. He also got 100% on his math test this week. His perplexing behavior today was that he peed in his pants at school. When I asked him why, he said he didn't know he had to go potty. That, my friends, is a big fat bologna sandwich. Pepper has not wet his pants, or his bed, in well over two years. When I questioned him further, I learned that his favorite buddy had an accident today, too. Hmmm...suspicious? Yes.

Saturday (tomorrow)

I have ten 9-year-old girls arriving at 11:00 for a trip around the world. Snapper didn't have a birthday party last year because we had just moved here. We are making up for it this year. While the party is not an expensive one, it is really creative, and promises to be the party of the year. I have heard from several moms whose daughters have never been so excited about a birthday party. With the general trend being to have parties at the movie theater, bowling alley, Build-A-Bear, or another party venue, I think all the girls are ready for a classic, at-home party. I promise I will post photos soon.

Opportunity to See God Work

2011-09-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

"All our human problems can be traced to our view of God." --Bill Bright

If God loves me, if He is always with me, if He is all-powerful, and if He never changes, then my problems cease to be problems; rather, they become opportunities to see God work.

A few days ago, I started up the Cadillac, and it made a funky noise. Then it shook all over and shut off. I waited a minute and tried again. Then it was fine. Day before yesterday, the Check Oil Level light came on, even though we had just put oil in last week. Tonight, on the way home from Life Group at church, the car overheated and shut off. As Matt checked the engine, the kids and I prayed, offering our situation up to God and thanking Him for this opportunity to see Him work.

This story becomes more meaningful with a bit of background on where we're coming from right now. Due to circumstances beyond our control, our trip this summer (which I must add was a required trip, not just a vacation) went significantly over budget. Those expenses came out of our ministry staff account right before our paycheck processed. This coincided with the Labor Day holiday weekend, and all of the donations that normally hit our account on the 5th were delayed. The combination of this resulted in a short paycheck for us this week. When I say short, I mean short...as in $1.34. Yup, $1.34. Enough for a pack of gum and a laugh. There are still bills to be paid, and the pantry and fridge are running low. We haven't been worried at all, because in the last 7 years we have been missionaries, God has always provided for us. And we have seen some very lean times. But God has always come through. If I try to analyze where we are right now, I know I will be overwhelmed. That's why I decided right away to give it to God and let Him handle the details. And guess what? He will.

Praise #1: The car hung in long enough to get us to Auto Zone. When it shut off, we were safe and sound in the parking lot.

Praise #2: My bestie Tracie was able to be there in 10 minutes to help me with the kids, to feed us dinner while we waited, and to take us home.

Praise #3: Our friend Amanda was willing to let us use her AAA if we couldn't get an additional tow using our AAA.

Praise #4: Our AAA worked with us and was willing to tow the car home.

Praise #5: While we were waiting for AAA, a mechanic randomly came over to talk to Matt. He looked at the car and found the problem. The water pump tensioner broke, destroying the water pump, the water pump pulley, and the water pump belt. It is relatively easy to fix, and the parts aren't horribly expensive. The mechanic told Matt exactly how to fix it.

Praise #6: One of my church friends texted me in response to my SOS post on Facebook. She and her husband offered to help pay for the parts, and to help Matt put the parts in.

Praise #7: Another dear friend here who is also a mechanic called and offered to help however he could.

Praise #8: My children, as well as several friends, were able to see God respond to our needs. The kids and I thanked Him in advance for His provision, and they saw Him in action in a very tangible way.

This isn't over yet. We still have a wad of bills to pay. We still don't have a dime in our bank account. Though part of the money for the repair is coming on Tuesday, it isn't enough to buy all the parts we need. But none of this is a problem. Our family is trusting God to work, and we are watching expectantly to see what He does. No matter what, He gets the glory because without Him, we can do nothing to fix this.

The Final Meet

2011-09-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow my baby girl will turn 9. For a swimmer, this is a big "aging up." Swimmers go from swimming 25-yard races as 8&Unders, to swimming 50 and 100-yard races, and even a few 200-yards, as 10&Unders. Today was Snapper's last meet as an 8-year-old, and she was amazing. She won her butterfly race (1st out of 46!), and finished 2nd or 3rd in the other strokes. She dropped time in 4 out of 5 races, too! It was a great way to finish her 8&Under swim career. She's moving on up. I put together a fun video of her swimming the last two years. Watch if you want. I'm so proud of my little swimmer girl!

Highlights of 8&Under Swimming

Project 365: Week 23

2011-09-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

We finally got around to hanging most of our pictures. I haven't had these out since we left Little Rock.

After two nights of sleepover at her friend S's house, and a day at Universal Studios, Snapper was worn out. She slept for 3 hours that afternoon, and still went to bed at 8:00.

Pepper got a can of magic webs (silly string) from Nana for Christmas. He had been saving it for the right time. This was the right day!

Homework routine. Snapper gets all cozy in her blankets every day, and diligently does her homework. Zoe is faithfully there with her each day.

Pepper checked out "Can I Play Too?" from the library. This is now his favorite book. Lots of laughter while we read it together...over, and over, and over.

Homework together at the kitchen table. This is my favorite time of day, getting to sit and talk with them as we learn together.

Pepper's homework this day was to read his book to 3 different people.

Plastic Autumn

2011-09-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am jealous. I am sad. I am homesick for Little Rock.

I get on Facebook every morning, and all sorts of friends all over the country are posting about how excited they are to have fall weather.

I love fall. It has always been my favorite season. In past years I wrote special posts about how much I love fall. Here's one of my fall posts from 2008.

I love the cool weather, the crunch of the leaves, the fall scent in the air, the fun decorations, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and looking forward to Christmas. I love taking photos of my kids surrounded by the rich colors of fall. And now I live in Florida. Instead of crunchy leaves, I have blooming hibiscus in my front yard. Beautiful yes, but a poor substitute for my favorite maple tree on Green Mountain Road in Little Rock. While my northern friends are cozy in their new jeans and sweaters, my kids are wearing their tired, worn-out shorts and t-shirts to school for a few more months. I am hoping we can make Snapper's shirts hold out until November. She is growing, and she has worn most of her clothes to death. She only has six shirts that are in decent enough condition to wear out of the house. While stew and soup recipes are beginning to pop on on many friends' blogs, I am still cycling through salad recipes, alternated with evenings of grilling out to keep the house cool. We have no migratory birds passing through. Oh no, we are beginning to have our annual fall invasion of Love Bugs. Gross. In Little Rock, I used to love decorating my house with fresh fall leaves, bringing a splash of color and the woodsy scent of fall inside. Now I have to raid Hobby Lobby to create a plastic autumn in my home. I have yet to find a candle that can recreate that beloved scent. Crank up the air conditioner and cook some beef stew and pumpkin bread. As long as I don't have to go outside, I can create the illusion of fall. I guess it is better labeled as a delusion. Boring Plastic Autumn.

I'm sure that when I am romping on the beach in January, my jealousy will have faded. But for now, *sigh.*

The Bible, According to Pepper

2011-08-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I was sitting at my craft table cutting quilt pieces. Snapper was reading in her room, and Pepper had been playing out in the patio. All of a sudden, I heard his sweet little voice speaking from behind the couch. I turned to look, and saw that he had on his puppet, Partner, and was using the couch as a puppet stage. After about 10 seconds of listening, I jumped up and tiptoed over to the computer to transcribe his monologue. This was one of those rare opportunities I have to capture brilliant pieces of life, and I am so glad I didn't miss it. Matt has the video camera at the office, or I would have recorded the puppet show that way.

"Hi there, boys and girls. Welcome to the Bible Show with Partner. I'm Partner and it is time for you to learn about the Bible. So listen up, boys and girls, because there's going to be a test. God makeded Adam and Eve and they lived in a perfect garden. They didn't have some clothes back then, so Adam and Eve had to hide in the bushes all the time so nobody could see their you-know-what. And a snake came that was really Satan and makeded them eat an apple. But God told them not to eat it or they will die, so they were disobeying God. He was really mad and makeded them go out into the dirty, mean world. And Noah builded an ark because God telled him to, and he took lots of animals on the ark, even dinosaurs, and God flooded the world. After the flood, He sent a dove and a rainbow. And Ruth's husband died. Her and Naomi went on a trip, and Ruth went and gotted to take food from Boaz's field. Ruth was Jesus's great-great-great-great-great-infinity grandma. Jonah was on a pirate ship trying to be a pirate and run away from God. It got real stormy. and God wouldn't stop the storm. So the pirates throwed Jonah into the ocean and a whale came and ate him. He was in the whale's tummy for 3 hours...no, 3 days. He prayed and God is everywhere so God heard Jonah praying.Then the whale barfeded Jonah up, and Jonah never disobeyed God again. And Mary had a baby in her tummy that God put there. And Joseph married her. And their baby was born in a stable in Bethlehem. His name was Jesus. And Jesus is God and Jesus is God's Son. And shepherds came. And a big star. And angels. And wiseguys. It was the coolest night ever! Zaccheus stole all the money. He was little and he climbed a tree to see Jesus. Jesus grew up and did no sins, so He died on the cross. He died on the cross for all our sins because everybody sins. And Jesus was dead. And then 3 days later, He roseded from the dead. Someday I'll see Him in Heaven because He is my Savior. He can be your Savior too if you ask Him to save you. He saveded my life when I was dying in the pond so I know He is real. Jesus forgaveded my sins and saveded me forever. I hope you were listening, boys and girls. Now you have to take a test. That's all for Partner. Bye!"

A Grand and Lorious Plan

2011-08-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

My kids are riding the school bus this year. It was a big decision...Not! After a week of spending 90 minutes in the car each day driving the *one mile* to and from school and waiting through traffic and car lines, we opted to try the bus. Because our kids would have to walk along a very busy road to get to school, we're eligible for bus service, even though we're only a mile away. There is only one stop between our house and school, so they're only on the bus for about 10 minutes each way. It works out great for us, and they love it. Yesterday I learned that they use those 10 minutes on the way home to plan their afternoon. Yesterday when I picked them up at the bus stop, they were bursting with their plan.

Snapper: "Mom, we have a grand and glorious plan!"
Pepper: "Yup! A grand and lorious plan."
Me: "Sounds exciting! Let's get home and we can sit together and you can tell me all about your plan."
On the 1-minute drive home, I heard that Snapper and her friend C stay in at lunch to sharpen all the pencils and clean the whiteboard because they want to serve their teacher. I also heard that Pepper had to move his star today because he was touching one of his friends when they were in line for the drinking fountain. Apparently this teacher is serious about "keep your hands and your feet to yourself."
Once at home, they unpacked their lunchboxes while I scooped a dish of ice cream for each child. Every now and then it's nice to have a break from their traditional after-school fruit and cheese snack. We gathered together around the table to hear "The Plan."

Snapper: (takes a deep breath, sighs dramatically, places both hands on the table) "Our plan really is grand and glorious. We have decided that we are tired of fighting every day."
Pepper: (vigorously nodding) "Yup. We're tired of fighting. We love each other and we want to get along."
Snapper: "So today we are going to try something. We are going to do our homework. Then, we are going to go in Pepper's room and I will help him clean it."
Pepper: "We'll clean my room together. Then I'll help Snapper clean her room."
Snapper: "Then, as a reward for our hard work, I will put my Irish music on my cd player. I'll put Pepper's favorite song on repeat, and we will dance together." Pepper's favorite song also happens to be Snapper's favorite song, too...
Pepper: "And we'll dance until the cows come home." Where did he get that? I don't think Matt or I have ever said that...
Snapper: "And we will not be mean to each other."
Pepper: "Yup, we're not allowed to be mean. We'll only be very nice. I'll give Snapper lots of hugs."
Snapper: "And I won't push him away when he tries to hug me."
Pepper: "And we won't do anything without permission."
Snapper: "He means he won't come in my room without knocking, and I won't sneak in his room to borrow his toys without asking him."
Pepper: "And we'll all be one big, happy family."
Snapper: "Yup. One big happy family."
At this point Pepper whimpers like a puppy, bolts from his seat to Snapper's seat, and falls into her arms crying. She starts crying. And I finish off my ice cream while my two kids cling to each other and howl. I am still not sure how I managed to keep a straight face. OH THE DRAMA!!! These kids are running on the school's cross-country team this year. I'm wondering if I should put them in theater instead...
When I kissed their sweet, sleeping faces on my way to bed last night, I realized that they had successfully carried out their plan. Not an ounce of argument was heard in our house yesterday. I hope they bring home the same plan today, because I'm loving it!

ADD: Snapper's Story

2011-08-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

I love Snapper. She will turn 9 in a few weeks. She is sweet, compassionate, and intelligent. If I could bottle her energy and sell it, I would make a fortune. The kid could (and has) run 1.5 miles at school, then gone on to swim a mile at swim team, and comes home full of energy and ready to ride her bike or roller skate. Ten months ago, after years of frustration and struggle to follow directions and complete simple tasks, Snapper was diagnosed with ADD.

We conferenced with her teacher, filled out a pile of paperwork, and met with her pediatrician. We made diet modifications and decided to put her on a low dose of medication to allow her brain to function better. Our goal was not to calm her down, but to allow her to function in such a way as to reach her full potential. We experienced some bumps as we tried to find the right interventions and medication dosage for her. Ten months later, we have finally found the perfect balance. The combination of a high protein, low sugar, complex carb-rich diet, coupled with intense exercise, intervention at school, and the right dosage of her medication has turned Snapper's life in a totally different direction. Though her ADD symptoms have been present since she was 3, they really began to interfere with her everyday life when she was 6. It all came to a head a year ago. At the beginning of last school year, a simple math worksheet would take an hour for Snapper to complete unless I was sitting with her, coaching her through it. When she did complete it by herself, it was full of errors. Writing assignments caused a torrent of tears, and could take as long as two hours. The prospect of taking a test gave her an upset stomach. Her teacher often described her as being frantic. Cleaning her room was torture. I couldn't even have her unload the dishwasher because her head was always in the clouds, and she would drop dishes. It was difficult to have a conversation with her because she would change the subject so frequently, and left thoughts hanging. She even used to regularly get in the shower with her socks or underwear still on.

Life is different for Snapper now. Every day she comes home from school, unpacks her lunchbox, gets a healthy snack, tells me about her day, and settles in to do her homework. Last Thursday she calmly told me that her class had taken a diagnostic math test, and she had "quite enjoyed it." Yesterday she started with math, which was 2 pages. After she knocked out the math, she pulled out her book, set the timer, and read for 20 minutes. Then she got out her reading notebook and wrote a full-page log of what she had read. She used her dictionary to look up two new vocabulary words, which she copied into her notebook. Then she put her papers in the proper place in her binder, packed her books and binder in her book bag, cleaned up her space, and headed to her room. Without help. Not even a peep from me. Independently completed her homework in 1 hour. When I checked her math paper, she had not made a single mistake. Her reading log--which isn't due until Friday--was beautifully done. No tears, no struggle, no frustration, no errors.

Over the last week, Snapper had made a huge mess of her room. This always happens if I don't step in and make her clean it up every day. I let it slide this week, and it was really a pit. Historically, when her room has gotten this bad (because of my neglect) I will tackle it myself. The amount of mess she had in there would have been enough, a year ago, to crumple her into a heap on the floor in tears of total overwhelmed-ness, and she just could not do it. An hour and a half after she entered the pit yesterday, she called me in. This is what I found.

All her clothes neatly folded and organized on the shelves. Not a toy or earring or scrap of trash on the floor. I opened drawers. I checked corners. I snooped and poked and prodded. And guess what? Everything in that bedroom was put away in its proper place. It is neat, organized, and clean. She even dusted and vacuumed! I'm telling you, it's a miracle. She has come so far! I am so thankful for a good doctor, for great books to educate Matt and me about the specifics of ADD, and for successful interventions on Snapper's behalf. Snapper's self-esteem took a major boost yesterday, and she is loving life.

*Lest I make this process sound like it has been simple, let me assure you that this is not the case. The decision to put her on medication was a very difficult one. But as our pediatrician put it, if someone has poor eyesight, you get them glasses. If a child has cancer, you get treatment. If Snapper's brain is constantly in chaos because it doesn't function as it should, you get help for her, even if help comes in the form of medication. It took us three tries to find the right dosage, and the times when the dosage was wrong were hard for Snapper. Too low a dose just took the edge off. Too high a dose made her nervous, jumpy, fearful, and tearful. But now we've hit the sweet spot. Snapper will tell you that she can turn off the noise in her head. Her thoughts don't get sucked into space. She doesn't constantly feel like she's forgetting something. When she tries to focus, her brain does what she tells it to do. She isn't always nervous anymore. When she looked at the mess in her room, she automatically came up with a plan to conquer it, and it became a challenge, not a nightmare.

Difficult process? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely!

Project 365: Week 22

2011-08-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

It's Meet the Teacher Day at the kids' new school. Snapper is excited to have Mrs. N for homeroom, writing, math, and science. She has Mrs. H for reading, language arts, and social studies. She has a third teacher for gifted. Busy girl! Pepper can hardly wait to start kindergarten. His biggest concern is whether or not there will be any adorable girls in his class...

Spider-man and Spider-girl. Pepper and his friend A love to dress up. I think Pepper especially loves this girl because she enjoys his collection of boy toys. She even has her own Optimus Prime costume! A is one cool little chickie!

A's big sister S is Snapper's best girl friend. They love to be together.

First day of kindergarten and 4th grade

Mr. Tough Guy reading...Cinderella? LOL!!!

Look at what Pepper is holding. Uncle Paul and Auntie Jessica sent him a bag of plastic bugs for his birthday. It was the most perfect gift, because he loves those bugs and plays with them every day. He is holding a grasshopper he named Popper. Look carefully at what Matt is holding. It is a real grasshopper that I named Goliath, because it is as big at the over-sized fake Popper that Pepper has! Yikes!

Project 365: Week 21

2011-08-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Our new town has a monthly farmers' market. We celebrated being back in town by making a morning trip to the market.

Snapper's swim team had a year end party and awards ceremony. She had fun bowling with 5 of her favorite teammates. We are very proud of Snapper for earning the Spirit Award for the team. She also won a high point trophy--a big accomplishment when you take into consideration how many girls are in her age group in Central Florida!

There are lots of chickens roaming free through our town. These chickens make their home outside the library.

Snapper and Daddy spent some time online researching our family history.

Pepper wears his helmet when he rides his hoppity-hop. Mr. Safety Patrol!

This was an epic battle between Darth Daddy and Jedi Pepper!

Pepper turned 5 when we were on our road trip, and I didn't get the opportunity to take his portraits during his birthday week. So this year's portraits were done one month late. Happy belated birthday to my 5-year-old boy!

And He Laughed!

2011-08-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

My little Pepper boy loves books. He loves to sit with a pile of books, enjoying the illustrations. He loves to have books read to him. He does not, however, understand the importance of learning phonics. Yes, he wants to read independently...when he is 6, he says. But the fact of the matter is that children are now taught to read in kindergarten, and he is 5, not 6. The time to learn is now. So every day when Pepper comes home from school, we sit down together and spend 20 minutes working on reading. We have developed a nice routine. When I homeschooled Snapper in 1st grade, I used the Spalding Method to teach phonics and spelling. This method gave her a wonderful foundation, and she has been very successful in those subjects. Because of the success Snapper enjoyed, I have been working on phonics with Pepper at home.

Pepper's teacher sent home a list of the most frequently used words in the English language. Every day we read through a few sections of the list. Pepper does not enjoy reading the words. He does, however, perk right up when he finds those words in his books later. Together he and I have made flashcards of the phonograms he is encountering in the words on his word list. As of today, 6 days into school, Pepper can read the following phonograms and can identify the sounds they represent:
oo wh
ee   ing
ay   ng
oy   tch
er   ow
ar   sh
or   th
We will continue to add more phonograms every day. I know (from experience) that understanding these will help him to become a much stronger reader and speller.

Every day after we finish his word list and phonograms, we apply that knowledge by reading an easy book together. He has gotten to be a much more confident reader after only a week of working on this together. I look forward to the day when it "clicks," and he can understand why we work on phonics together. I think the "clicking" began today. We were reading our book, and he encountered the word "playing." He gasped, pointed at the word and said, "There's ing! That word is play-ing!" I love those moments.

Our book today was Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems. It is a hilarious story of an elephant and a pig who are playing catch, when a snake friend asks to join their game. The snake exerts noble effort, despite the fact that he doesn't have arms. Pepper read (without protest) almost the entire book. And throughout the whole story, he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Even now, a half hour later, he has taken the book to his room and he is reading it to himself, chuckling. If you have little kiddos, go check out this simple book from the library. You are certain to enjoy a good laugh, too.

Project 365: Week 20

2011-08-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Day 1 in Wyoming. Matt and Brad were roommates in college, and we look forward to visiting Brad and Amy whenever we can. It is really fun to see our kids enjoying each other.

Snapper loved Brad and Amy's dogs. They are too cute!

Back in Little Rock, we got to meet with our community group from our church there. Bob and Sylvia are precious friends who happen to be some of our very favorite people. Sylvia was Pepper's Cubbies leader during Awana 2 years ago, and he adores her.

We stayed with friends Scott and Jenny and their four sweet girls. They are coming to visit us in December, and I am counting down the days!

Homeward bound!

We spent the night in Hattiesburg, MS, and then had breakfast with my high school friend Christian. We have only seen each other one other time since his graduation, so it was awesome to catch up with him.

Another day on the road.

On our last morning, we stopped and swam at Panama City Beach in the Florida panhandle. I had planned on doing portraits of the kids, but the humidity was so ridiculous that my camera completely fogged up. So I was stuck using my phone camera, which just doesn't cut it for me. Bummer! The saddest part of the day was seeing the evidence of the Gulf oil spill. While everything looks okay, the water has a foul smell, and there are tiny oil droplets clinging to the bits of seaweed in the water. When we were searching for shells in the water, we found some tar balls. When we went back to our hotel to shower, we realized that our skin was oily, and it took hard scrubbing to get our skin clean. So, so sad.

Project 365: Week 19

2011-08-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Halfway through our conference, every ministry was given two days to meet individually. Because our team is so small, we decided to use our time to build our friendships, rather than having meetings. The 5 of us spent a beautiful day eating at fun, local places and enjoying scenic Rocky Mountain National Park.

Meanwhile in California...Snapper got to be the first of our family to meet the newest cousin, Baby A.

While Matt and I were in our conference, Pepper got to go to Kids' Camp. He loved every bit of it, except for the "forever long nap" (30 minutes) each afternoon.

Meanwhile in California...Snapper got to have a sleepover with my Auntie Maggie. AM is my mom's sister, and she is the important link my kids have with their Grammy. Since my mom isn't here to know her grandkids, AM is substitute Grammy.

Every year, the conference team brings in a few big-name performers for the staff to enjoy. This year, we were treated to performances by Tenth Avenue North, The David Crowder Band, and our favorite, Tim Hawkins. We got second row seats, which were fabulous. It was also a bit gross, though, because Tim Hawkins sweats like nobody I've ever seen.

Meanwhile in California...Snapper got to have a sleepover with my sister, Auntie Jenny, and Uncle Daniel.

On Sunday, we took Pepper up to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Our intent was to take him to Frontier Days, but a flat tire and a tornado warning thwarted our plans. We ended up seeing a movie and buying a cowboy hat for Pepper instead. And I got this awesome photo of my guys!

Meanwhile in California...My best friend Noel drove 3 hours to spend the day with Snapper. Snapper will always cherish her memories of the day the two of them spent together at the beach and the Boardwalk.

She is back! After 9 days apart, we were very happy to get our girl back.

Our conference finished on the 16th. On the 17th, we drove up into northeastern Wyoming to visit our good friends Brad and Amy.

Project 365: Week 18

2011-08-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

On our last night in Little Rock, we stopped for frozen custard at our very favorite place, Shake's. I'm telling you, there is nothing more wonderful on a sultry summer evening than a concrete made of chocolate frozen custard with crushed Reese's cups mixed in. Oh. My. YUM!

This road day through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas was made much more fun by caravaning with our dear friends Jim & Karon and their three kids. We had lunch at Braum's, stayed in a hotel with a pool, and enjoyed dinner together.

The kids were thrilled to add cross another new state off their "States Visited" list. At ages 5 (Pepper) and 8 (Snapper), these kids have been in 30 U.S. states!

After a great night with friends, we headed to CSU Ft. Collins for our staff conference.

July 18th. With pounding heart and sweating palms, I put my precious daughter on a plane by herself. I couldn't hold back the tears as she walked down the jet bridge. As required by the airline, I stayed at the gate until her plane took off. It's a good thing I did, because after 20 minutes of sitting on the tarmac, the plane returned to the gate with a major mechanical problem. Southwest is amazing, though. They got everyone off the plane, moved us to another gate, and brought in another plane. No frantic struggle trying to get everyone re-booked onto different flights. No one was bumped. After a 2-hour delay, the entire flight boarded a different plane, and they took off with no problem. Snapper did great. She sat next to a nice, older lady who comforted her when she got sad about leaving Mommy. Snapper said that she stopped crying as soon as the plane took off.

2 hours later, she ran off the plane and into the arms of my parents. Snapper was spoiled R-O-T-T-E-N during her 9 days in California. We are SO glad we chose to send her to them.

Our conference kicked off on the 19th. There is nothing in the world like worshiping with 5,000 other missionaries. It was beyond words.

Matt got to teach a seminar along with his manager, Kathy. During the seminar, we launched our puppet video blog. Click on this photo if you want to see the blog! Matt wrote it and is the puppeteer. I recorded it. Oh, and I made the puppet. Pretty cool!

Meanwhile in California...Snapper got to have a sleepover with her beloved cousins C&L. When their mommy Missy and I were kids, we used to love to have sleepovers together. Sometimes our moms would take us on Pajama Rides at night. They would steal us out of our beds, put us in the car, and take us to some wonderful place, like the ice cream parlor, or the toy store, or on drives to see Christmas lights. Missy took the girls on a Pajama Ride for frozen yogurt.

What Makes Me Proud?

2011-08-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

On Friday at Meet the Teacher, Snapper's teacher sent home a questionnaire, requesting information about each child in her class. The questions were typical, and were easy to answer. There was, however, one question that was more out of the ordinary.

What makes you proud of your child?

That made me think. What does Snapper do that makes me proud? She has many accomplishments that make me proud. I am proud of her excellent swimming. I am proud of the awards she has won. I am proud of the great memory she has. I am proud of her cuteness. I am proud of the obstacles she has overcome with her poor eyesight and her ADD. I am proud of the sweet relationship she has with her brother. I am proud that when she would walk through the halls of her old school, she was always greeted by children of all ages. But none of those were things I wanted to put down on the form. It got me thinking: what about Snapper am I the most proud of? It didn't take me long to come to my answer.

Snapper has a tremendously compassionate heart. Ever since she was very tiny, she has been drawn to people who have special needs. Whether it means holding the door for an elderly person, befriending a child with a disability, or standing up for the underdog, Snapper reaches out to people in need. At the end of 3rd grade, she even stood up (against two 5th grade boys) for a girl who had relentlessly bullied her all year. Snapper doesn't care what others think of her; she will stand up for what is right, even when it means going against the flow. She joyfully and willingly serves people with special needs. That is what I am most proud of.

At pick-up each day, Snapper goes from her classroom to the K-1st grade car line, where she waits for me with Pepper. When I arrived to pick up the kids today, I was surprised to see Snapper's teacher waiting for me. She came to the car and told me that Snapper had walked into the classroom for the first time this morning, and headed straight over to the little girl in a wheelchair. She immediately formed a friendship with this child, and spent the whole day assisting her. Because the chairs in the cafeteria are permanently attached to the tables, the wheelchair does not easily fit at lunch time. The little girl in the wheelchair asked if Snapper can join her at a separate table for lunch each day. The teacher requested permission, which the principal immediately granted. For the duration of the time this little girl will spend in the wheelchair (a few months), Snapper will be her lunch buddy and classroom aide.

What makes me proud? I am proud that on Snapper's first day in a new school, she reached outside of herself to serve a child who had a need, a child that the other kids overlooked. I wish I could take this particular moment and display it in a trophy case, because it means more than 1000 Awana trophies and swim medals.

First Day of School, 2011

2011-08-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Pepper

5 years old

Starting kindergarten

3 feet, 8 inches tall

38 pounds

Size 13 shoe, Size 5 slim shorts, Size 5/6 shirts

Snapper

Three weeks shy of 9 years old

Starting 4th grade

4 feet, 4 inches tall

62 pounds

Size 3 shoe, Size 7 slim shorts, Size 8 shirt

Pepper

Loving, cuddly, affectionate, friendly, creative, imaginative, funny

Snapper

Generous, compassionate, kind, friendly, energetic, spunky, smart

Pepper

Most looking forward to eating lunch at school.

Can't wait to see if there are any "adorable girls" in his class.

Snapper

Most looking forward to making new friends.

Can't wait to learn about Greek mythology in the Gifted program.

Pepper

Favorite subject is math.

Snapper

Favorite subjects are math and science.

Loving each other more and more as they get older.

So happy to be together at the same school this year!

Pixie

Can't understand why the kids did not come home with me. She kept vigil, sadly meowing at the door, waiting for them to come home, for 2 hours this morning. Now she is my shadow as we adjust to the quiet house together.

Kindergarten Eve

2011-08-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

It is 9:55 p.m., Kindergarten Eve, 2011. My kiddos went to bed at 8:30 tonight. Their backpacks are waiting by the front door, all sparkling and new. Their fresh, spotless lunchboxes are loaded with nutritious lunches and our traditional first-day-of-school notes. I have been wandering aimlessly about the house, reminiscing about my first Kindergarten Eve four years ago. I remember sending Snapper off for her first day of kindergarten. She was not quite 5, and Pepper was just 1, not even walking yet. I remember the empty feeling when I left her at school, and took my baby boy home with me. The house seemed so quiet without my bubbly, energetic girl to keep me on my toes. I remember sitting on the couch and crying while I cuddled little Pepper, already imagining ahead to the day when he would enter kindergarten. I cried harder at the anticipation of the agony I would feel at sending my baby to school. I remembered trying to mentally picture Snapper as a 4th grader, and I just couldn't do it. It seemed impossible that she could ever be that old or that big.

Well, today is my last Kindergarten Eve, and tomorrow is the day I could hardly imagine 4 years ago. Snapper is not only old enough for 4th grade, she is also very ready for the exciting challenges this year will bring. Pepper is thrilled to be entering kindergarten, mainly because he gets to eat lunch at school like Sissy does. He is also really looking forward to doing math, which he loves. His main concern: "Do you think there will be any adorable girls in my kindergarten class?"

As for me, my life is definitely changing tomorrow morning. At 8:20 I will drop them off, make an appearance at the kindergarten parent sob party our principal is hosting, and then I will come home to a very quiet house. I expected to be really sad because my baby is starting school. But guess what? I'm not sad. The grief I once imagined has not materialized. I am quite excited, actually. I am looking forward to having time to run laundry and vacuum the house without interruption. It will be nice to be able to sit down with a cup of tea and really enjoy my Bible study. I'll be able to go to the office 2 days each week, and I won't have to leave staff meetings at 10:30 to go pick up Pepper from Pre-K. I'll actually be able to go to the grocery store by myself during the day. If I had to choose once word to describe the way I am feeling right now, it would be WEIRD! I am quite sure that when 2:45 rolls around tomorrow afternoon, I will be delighted to jump in the car and go pick up my sweeties. I anticipate hearing all about their day; it will be fun helping them with their homework; and we will all enjoy being back together each afternoon. So while one chapter of life is closing--the parent of a preschooler chapter--another chapter is beginning. And I think this chapter is going to be really great.

Project 365: Week 17

2011-08-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

We spent the first few nights of our trip with our dear friends Brian and Carol in Tennessee. This is their new baby, R. Pepper adored her, and couldn't get enough of holding her.

Brian and Carol's 3rd daughter, A, has finally gotten old enough to be a fun playmate. She and Pepper had a great time together.

When we crossed the Mississippi River and entered Arkansas, I felt like we were coming home. After all, it was our home for almost 5 years!

We enjoyed a fantastic Sunday afternoon on Lake DeGray with some of our closest friends.

I had to include this picture, too.

Matt's youngest sister, Debbie, and her hubs, Ryan, live in Arkansas. It was a treat to get to spend time with them.

One of Snapper's top priorities was to spend time with her friends M and M. These girls have been friends since they were 3 years old.

Pepper celebrated his 5th birthday while we were in Little Rock. His birthday party at the pool was pretty much like a family reunion for him. It was such fun seeing his friends and how much they have all grown in the year since we moved to Florida.

I made this incredibly awesome cake for Pepper after he requested a "bears at the beach" cake. Unfortunately, the jello and frosting melted as soon as we got the cake out of the fridge into the 100 degree heat and humidity. It was still tasty, though.

Project 365: Week 16

2011-08-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

On June 30th, we celebrated our 10th anniversary. I love this man more every day.

DG4Kids is doing a puppet video blog! I made Danny to star in the blog. Visit www.dg4kids.com to see the first video, which we posted last week!

We had a cookout with swim friends after their swim meet. Snapper is blessed to have wonderful team mates and friends.

This is Snapper's new best girlfriend. She spent the night and the girls enjoyed playing dress-up, having tea parties, and doing all things girly together.

Our 4th of July was very low-key this year since we were preparing for a month-long road trip. We did find a great fireworks show near our home.

The kids enjoyed some quiet time at the local library while Matt and I used the library's internet to help us gather everything we needed to register the kids for school. Being without internet at home for nearly 3 months made me realize how much we have come to depend on it.

Finally...it is time for our road trip! The few hours I spent making these seat-back organizers were totally worthwhile. They served us well over the course of 4 weeks and nearly 6,000 miles.

Project 365: Week 15

2011-08-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

Nana sent Pepper's birthday present a few weeks early. Love some Spidey!

Today is moving day! Thanks to the great friends who helped us get all our furniture into the new house.

First meal in our new house. The kids thought our makeshift table was so much fun.

I was so happy to put this special table in our house. It is the table that belonged to my family when I was growing up. So many great memories associated with one beat-up piece of furniture.

Pepper is Daddy's helper. They assembled my craft table together,

The first storm we experienced in the new house proved to us the importance of having functioning gutters.

We quickly put our screened-in porch to good use by having a Bright Media conference call out there. Love our porch and beautiful back yard!

Project 365: Week 14

2011-08-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

Daddy loves his little kiddos.

Pixie the Fierce loves to play rough with Daddy. I think this is one of my favorite photos ever!

When we move, Snapper is going to miss our sweet neighbors Z & B.

This storm produced a tornado just a few miles from our house. Though we didn't see the tornado, the storm was spectacular as it developed. Matt and I stood outside and watched it as long as we could safely watch.

Zoe is the sweetest cat I have ever had (and I have had a lot of cats!). She loves to cuddle with Pepper.

Taking a break from the grind of packing. Check out his shirt...it's my favorite.

Snapper spent quite a lot of early summer break reading.

Project 365: Week 13

2011-08-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the first day of no school with a trip to the beach. Snapper's best bed D came with us.

We had a blast at Gatorland with Grandma.

This was Snapper's face when she learned she had won her first individual event at a swim meet--25 Breaststroke!

We celebrated Father's Day a week early by spending the day canoeing and swimming with friends at Wekiva Island and Wekiva Springs.

Pepper's new best bud Ashlyn

Pixie does not like the packing process. She does, however, love all the boxes.

She likes the baskets, too.

Project 365: Week 12

2011-08-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

I posted Week 11 today, too. Don't miss it!

Pepper's class had pirate party to celebrate the end of the year. One of the activities was walking the plank. So cute!

My little man is a Pre-K graduate! Oh, how the time flies. (I expect I'll be saying that a lot in the coming months).

Matt and I flew to New Orleans to work at the Weekend to Remember. We had some free time, which we used to explore the French Quarter. We were totally NOT fans of NO. It is really dirty and it felt so spiritually dark. We did, however, thoroughly enjoy the food, especially the beignets from Cafe Du Monde.

At the beginning of the weekend, this couple was in serious crisis. I got to talk and pray with them several times during the weekend. On Sunday, they came to me and told me they were going home to tear up their divorce papers. Glory to God!

When we got back to Orlando, we took MIL to Campus Crusade for a tour of the Jesus Film Project. Very very cool!

We brought back beignet mix for Snapper, and it was delish!

Last day of Pre-K and 3rd grade. *Sigh*

Project 365: Week 11

2011-08-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, after 3 months of chaos and no internet, it is time to get caught up on Project 365. I will post one or two each day until I get caught up.

Pepper made this little whale at Pre-K. It was just too cute not to share.

I took photos of the kiddos for Matt for Father's Day. This was my favorite of many great shots.

Snapper's class built this paper town in social studies. They had a contest to determine which student got to bring it home. Snapper won, and "Johnsonville" became the new playground for Pixie. This earned Pixie two nicknames: Catzilla and Cat Kong.

One of the year-end activities for Snapper's class was a vocabulary parade. Each student was assigned a vocabulary word. Then they had to make a hat representing that word. Then all the 3rd graders paraded for the K-2nd graders and shared their word hats. Snapper's word was "vibrant." I taught her the basics of sewing, and she tackled making a hat with my sewing machine.

We celebrated Memorial Day with a picnic at the splash park with friends.

Vocabulary Parade day! Snapper's hat was definitely vibrant!

My MIL came to town so Matt and I could go to New Orleans to work at the Weekend to Remember getaway. Before we left, we spent a fun day at Gatorland.

She's Back!

2011-08-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

After 2 months without internet, I am back online! I tried to post from my phone, but 3 sentences into my first post, I decided it wasn't worth the frustration of typing on a teeny keypad. Because it is 12:07 a.m. I am not going to attempt to post anything smart right now. This comes as a promise, though--once my kids start school on Monday, I will be rejoining the blogosphere. I am SO HAPPY to be back!
For now though, au revoir.

Project 365: Week 10

2011-05-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

*Don't miss my Week 9 post that I also posted today!*

Having dinner together each night is a top priority for us. Some of our best conversations happen at the dinner table.

Pepper's buddy Little N comes over for a few hours after school each day. On this day they got really silly with watermelon.

I am making a puppet for Matt to use on the puppet video blog he is working on for our ministry. This is Mr. Puppet in his early stages.

Guess what? We have a broken car. Again. Story of my year. This time the problem is with my van: nothing in the dashboard works. The problem is not yet solved.

My favorite remedy for the grumps is GNO. My best girls and I went out for sushi and frozen yogurt. Oh, and lots of laughter, too. Behind me is Tracie. Across the table from back to front, Laura, Anita, and Brandee. The 5 of us do pretty much everything together. Tina, in front of me, was a fun addition to our crew.

While Matt, Pepper, and I attend a conference in Colorado this summer, Snapper is heading to California to spend 9 days with Gramma and Poppa. Due to heightened security measures and the fact that Snapper will be using the airline's unaccompanied minor service, she is required to have a state-issued ID. We spent an hour at the DMV to get her ID card. She is an official Floridian, and can't wait for her trip!

Little S is on Snapper's swim team. Snapper had a great time at S's birthday pool party. Poo on my camera phone that messed up the color in this photo, necessitating the change to black and white.

Project 365: Week 9

2011-05-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it is summer and none of my clothes fit me right. Thought I haven't been eating badly, there has been A LOT of stress in my life the last year--especially the last 6 months. Up goes the stress, on goes the weight. Time to break that cycle, though. Each day when Snapper swims, I don the running shoes and walk/jog 2 miles. Making a change, and making it permanent.

I grew up going to Awana each week, and it made a huge impact on me. Snapper has been in Awana since she was 3. This year she completed two whole handbooks, as well as the extra credit for the first book. She memorized approximately 230 Bible verses over the course of 8 months. Awards night was a great time to celebrate her accomplishments, and more importantly, the eternal treasure she has stored in her heart.

Unloading the dishwasher is one of Snapper's daily chores. She also cares for the cats, clears the table, and keeps her room clean. On the weekend, she cleans bathrooms, tidies the family room, and helps me with laundry.

This amazing market sells hormone and antibiotic-free meat and an incredible assortment of fresh fruits and veggies. I make the 20-minute drive to the market every week because the food is so good, and because it ends up costing me about half of what I would pay for the same things at the regular supermarket!

Snapper and her relay teammates cleaned up on awards in their age group at their meet this week. I think Coach Gaby is a little bit proud of them. Snapper was thrilled with her first medal--in 50 meter butterfly!

We started working with our new ministry this week, and they threw a welcome party for us, complete with pinata! Sorry for the poor photo quality. My camera phone doesn't like dusk lighting.

Another morning in Pepper's Pre-K class. He has had an amazing year!

Project 365: Week 8

2011-05-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, one of our ministry partners offered us a matching gift to help us identify the last bit of our support. We are now only $100/month away from being fully funded! To help us find that last bit of support, we made a video using our Bradley the Bear. I can't post it here because it gives too much personal information. If you want to see the video, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll email you the link. I moderate all comments, and to protect your privacy, I will not post any comments that contain email addresses.

My beautiful Zoe. I so totally love this cat!

I have a love/hate relationship with this photo. It is super cute and all, but my kids look so old!

We celebrated Mother's Day with a picnic at the park with friends.

This photo was from Mother's Day also. These life-sized foam cutouts of the kids were their cards to me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I absolutely love them. Both kids put in several hours on decorating them. Love, love, love!

My little man is conquering the water! Though he hates that I force him to swim longer and longer distances, I know that it must be done. We live in Florida, so we are around water all the time. Yesterday Pepper swam independently across this pool 3 times. I estimate the distance to be around 20 yards. When he was done, he insisted he was "swim sick," but now I know he can safely navigate water that is well over his head. Way to go, Buddy! Mommy is so proud of you!

Yes, I am missing one photo this week. It is of a rather sensitive nature. Again, if you are interested in seeing it, I would be more than happy to share it. It is a happy photo that I can't post here right now. Leave your email address in a comment.

Project 365: Week 7

2011-05-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

These three girls, ages 7, 8, and 9, have been best friends since they were 2, 3, and 4. It is so much fun to watch them grow up together.

God is so cool! One of our awesome ministry partners provided his ebay car dealing skills and half the funding to purchase us this wonderful car!

First official day at Campus Crusade! It just happened to fall on Take Your Child to Work Day, so we got to take the kids with us!

Playing games with Brian and Carol is one of our favorite things to do.

We spent Brian and Carol's last Florida day at DeLeon Springs, a favorite spot of ours.

Three days after getting the new car, the battery and alternator went out. GRRRRR! Once again, I am thankful for a husband who has the know-how to fix cars.

My own personal Spider-Man!

Project 365: Week 7

2011-04-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

I bought this little bench for Snapper's American Girl dolls. Pixie--our resident diva--had other ideas.

Pepper has come so far this year in his writing! He is starting to put words together.

Pepper helped me make lemon bars. He did most of the work himself!

On Good Friday, Matt and I went with our friend Ira & Brandee, Curt & Tracie, to go see a stage performance called "The One." To say it was wonderful would be an understatement. I was blown away! It was a perfect way to prepare my heart for Easter.

Brian and Carol are some of our best friends. They--along with their girls--are here on vacation, staying with us for a week!

Easter family photo. As Matt pointed out, each face tells a story. A lizard ran over Snapper's foot. She screamed and scared Pepper. The rest of us caught the hilarity of the situation. My favorite photo from the day!

Morning devotions with Daddy/Uncle Matt

Project 365: Week 6

2011-04-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed the splash pad on a hot, April day.

At Awana this night, I got to walk Payton through the process of receiving Jesus as her Savior! There is no greater joy!

Ever the sense of humor! Snapper was clowning around in her new hat.

Remember my friend Bev who has leukemia? She came down to Orlando for vacation with her family. We loved getting to spend some time with them.

Hanging out with swim buddies while waiting for the meet to start.

My faithful, dependable friend Mt. Never Rest!

Snack break during a long afternoon spent car shopping

One Glorious End and One Bright Beginning

2011-04-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

Who has made desolations in the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

He burns the chariot in fire.

Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

The last year has been an incredible journey. In the last 13 months, we have:

Prepared our house in Little Rock to sell
Finished a 6-year ministry with FamilyLife
Sold our house
Packed all our stuff and put it in storage
Drove 10,000 miles through 24 states (I think 24) in 6 weeks
Took all our stuff out of storage, said goodbye to our wonderful life in Little Rock, and moved to Orlando
Adjusted to a new life in Orlando
New school, new church, new friends, new swim team, new everything

As if this wasn't all enough stress, add in that our full-time job has been raising support for our ministry. Both Matt and I have been home all day, every day, doing whatever we can to connect with people and identify the funding we have needed in order to start our new ministry. It would be a fat lie to say this year--particularly the last 8 months--have been easy and fun. Yes, there have been awesome blessings, and we have come to love Orlando. But going through life without any sort of routine, and knowing that there is no specific date when life will return to "normal," is extremely stressful.

There have been some other factors that have raised the stress as well: difficulties with the overpriced rental we live in, the sad death of our car, lingering illness, and wads of red tape from the parent organization we work for. During the last week, I have clung to the words of Psalm 46, because even though all the difficulties I listed aren't squat compared to war, and the mountains falling into the sea, they are still very difficult. The greatest difficulty has been not being able to work at the job we moved to Orlando for. 8 months living here without the job has been HARD.

This too shall pass.

This is only temporary.

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I AM GOD.

Sorrow may last for a {long} night, but joy comes in the morning.

And joy does come in the morning. This morning, God allowed Matt to meet with Ellis, the man who is in charge of all support raising for Campus Crusade. Ellis looked at our funding, looked at our budget, pulled out his machete, and chopped right through the wad of red tape. On Tuesday, we get to set up our office! And we get to start working with Discover God 4 Kids! This is the part of the story where I jump up and DO MY HAPPY DANCE ALL OVER THE HOUSE!

There is a "but" in here, though. We still need to raise $300 of new monthly support. It is, however, only because Ellis has our best interests in mind. He believes in us and wants us to succeed, so he has put up a matching gift! For every dollar of new monthly support we receive, Ellis will match it for a year, up to $1500. I can't even begin to express how cool and how generous it is for him to do this for us. It is an amazing shot in the arm, the encouragement we have needed. We are confident that God will flood in the last $300 of monthly support that we need. As soon as that $300 is identified, we can work full-time.

God is faithful. He has been our refuge and our strength though the last, rocky year. He has been ever present. And you know the cool thing? That will never change, even as we move forward. Today, April 21, 2011, we exalt Him! We will be still and know that He is God. To God be the glory!

Project 365: Week 6

2011-04-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

Poor car! The fuel pump went out, leaving us high and dry, without a registered, running car.

Once a month, my Bible study group takes lunch and an activity to a very special private school. This school provides a free, Christian education to children with special needs that come from impoverished families. This month we took pizza and told them the story of Easter using FamilyLife's Resurrection Eggs. I love these precious kids.

My husband is incredible! He replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, spark plugs, and plug wires in the Windstar. Alas, 3 days later, the Windstar lost its cruise control, and a day later, the transmission said KA-THUNK. Later this week the poor, old Windstar will leave us for the salvage yard. We are now immediately in the market for a new(er) car.

Our car was not the only sick member of our family this week. Fortunately for me, it was a 24-hour bug.

After a rough week, we needed some fresh air and relaxing, so we went to the beach. Pepper learned how to ride the small waves on his boogie board!

My gift to my friend Tracie's son for his first birthday was photographing his birthday party. Man, does this kid know the right way to eat cake!

Snapper and her best bud DD are great helpers with DD's little sister. She loves the big kids!

Putting It Into Practice...

2011-04-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

I am so glad I wrote that thankfulness post this morning. I am glad because it gave me the right perspective for what happened this evening.

On our way to a hotel to visit friends who are in town, we stopped at a red light. Our car shut off. Matt started it. Then he put it in gear. Well, he tried to put it in gear. The car said, "KA-THUNK!" And then it wouldn't move. You guessed it...it was the transmission.

It is now 10 p.m., and tomorrow, Teal Windstar will be leaving us for the salvage yard. At a whopping 15 years old with 225k miles on it, the cost of a new tranny is far more than the car is even worth. We are once again without a legally driveable vehicle. Am I complaining or depressed? Nope! Here's why.

1. I am thankful for the 2 years we had that car. It was given to us by a family that didn't need it. It gave us 40,000 miles, and lots of great memories.

2. I am thankful that it died on the way to the hotel at 4 p.m., instead of on the way home at 10 p.m.

3. I am thankful that Matt was driving, and that it didn't die when I was alone on my way somewhere in rush hour traffic...like I would have been if we hadn't been going to the hotel.

4. I am thankful that it happened right as we got off the freeway, not on the freeway during rush hour.

5. I am thankful for the nice man who left his car running at the stoplight in order to help us push our car to the gas station a block away.

6. I am thankful that Enterprise car rental agency was 1/4 mile away from the gas station.

7. I am thankful that the AAA tow truck was only 3 miles away, and not occupied with another call when our call came in.

8. I am thankful that a mere 30 minutes after the car died, the tow truck was hauling our car home, and we were on our way to the hotel driving the new rental car.

9. I am thankful that the money was in my bank account to cover the cost of renting a car for a week.

10. I am thankful that God already knew this was going to happen, and that He already has a solution to this car problem prepared for us.

Now we embark on the great adventure of buying another car. I am not worried about where the money is going to come from, nor am I worried about what kind of car we'll end up with. I am anticipating that God is going to do something really cool, and one week from now, I'll be driving a car that is just right for us. Stay tuned!

P.S.
11. I am thankful that it was the van with no air conditioner that died!

The Thankfulness Solution

2011-04-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

If I look around and put my eyes on me, it is easy to find plenty to complain and get depressed about. But as I discussed in my last post, thankfulness is the solution to my issues. This morning I am choosing to give the struggles of the last few weeks to God, and focus on thanking Him instead--not the general "thanks for my warm home, loving husband, and great kids" kind of things. Specifics.

Emily is very thankful for:

A pantry and fridge full of healthy food to feed my family, and the money God provided in order for me to purchase it.

A husband who is handy, and was able to put a new fuel pump in the Windstar without much difficulty.

The functional Windstar, with windows that roll down. Natural air conditioning of sorts...

My Culligan water filtration system, that filters the "swamp" out of our Florida tap water.

Getting to live 30 minutes from the beach! I love the beach, and go as often as I can.

The Awana program, and how much truth it has instilled in Snapper and in me over our years of participation.

CoffeeMate Italian Sweet Cream creamer to go in my morning coffee. There is something so comforting about starting my morning with a cup of hot coffee.

iTunes and my collection of music. I have music for every mood, and music that speaks truth to me at the darkest of times.

My friend Tracie. We spend as much time together as we can, which ends up being several times each week. She encourages me, prays for me, laughs with me, and makes really great coffee.

My best friends in CA, AR, and TN, who continue to be sources of love in my life, even across many miles and time zones. Noel, Karon, and Carol, I am thankful for you!

Swim team. Watching my sweet daughter glide through the water brings me such joy, because swimming is a sport she loves, is really really good at, and that has helped her grow in all areas of her life.

Our pastor, Pastor Dale, who has an amazing gift to teach the Word of God in a way that is simple enough for a child to understand, but deep enough to grow a mature believer.

Thai food, bliss for the palate.

The funny things my children say.

The "artsy fartsy" craft genetics in me. Life is so much more enjoyable because I can work on a scrapbook, sew doll clothes, make a new wreath for my front door, stitch a quilt, or make note cards to send to friends.

Two soft, fluffy, cuddly kitty cats named Pixie and Zoe, who love me without question, and make my home a happier place.

The really cool wildlife that lives in our neighborhood, especially the Sandhill Cranes and the red-throated lizards.

The anticipation of a whole week with Brian and Carol in just 11 days!

The anticipation of working at the FamilyLife Weekend to Remember in New Orleans in June!

The anticipation of a visit from my parents in October!

Getting to live in a place where people will come visit us. In our 8 months in Orlando, we have already had more visitors than we had in 4 1/2 years in Little Rock.

Guacamole and hummus. But not together!

The fun of saving money by using coupons and shopping the sales.

NASCAR. Yeah, baby, yeah!

The Legos that frequently attack my feet on the family room floor, and keep my son happily occupied for hours on end.

My Reef flip flops. Foot hug and paradise!

The delightful fact that our neighborhood has trash pick-up TWICE each week!

Pepper's teacher, Mrs. F, who makes school a delightful experience for Pepper each day, and has taught him more in this year than I ever could have managed!

Snapper's teacher, Mrs. P, who understands Snapper's many quirks, and nurtures Snapper's love of learning, while still challenging her to stretch herself.

My delicious camera. Yes, I called it delicious. It is as satisfying as my favorite meal!

The Word of God, which is more satisfying than anything else in my life. Pure truth, guidance for life, and assurance of God's great love for me.

Yesterday, God taught Emily:

Even though we have not been allowed to report to our new ministry, we are not "without ministry," or "without work." Yes, Matt is home full-time. But because of the lack of constraints on our time, we have been available to do so much. Whether it is fixing the kitchen sink for a lady with a bedridden husband, or sharing pizza and the true story of Easter with a school of children from severely impoverished families, or helping a disabled widower get moved into a new house, or helping lead a women's Bible study, or caring for the 5-year-old son of a working mom, we have a ministry. God is using us here for His purpose, even if it is, for the time, different from what we thought we came to Orlando for. If Matt and I are available, and if we are willing to act when God gives us the opportunity to serve others, He is using us. We eventually will begin work with Discover God 4 Kids. In the meantime, we can rest knowing we are doing what He called us to, because this is where He has us.

Okay, I think I am done. I am thankful to be thankful!

A Lesson Taught, A Lesson Learned

2011-04-12T06:14:00.000-07:00

My son taught me a lesson last night. The funny part was that I thought I was teaching him a lesson. It all started at the dinner table. Matt made dinner last night, a delicious dinner of shake'n'bake chicken, rice, and caesar salad. Pepper climbed into his seat, took one look at his plate, and began to whine.

"EWWW! Not THAT again! I don't want chicken. And I don't like salad. And I don't want rice. Why can't we have mac and cheese? I don't want this dinner!"

Complaining at mealtime has been a struggle with our little guy recently, so I took the standard response and sent him to sit on the stairs until he could come back with a thankful heart. As I finished pouring the drinks, I could hear him stomping his feet and crying on the stairs. I went and sat with him, prepared to scold him for his bad behavior. Then I am convinced God gave me an idea. I picked up my son, cuddled him in my lap at the computer, and googled "images of malnourished children." For ten minutes we looked at pictures of starving children Pepper's age. Bloated tummies, shriveled limbs, transparent skin, and desperate faces filled the computer screen. As we talked about those children, Pepper grew more and more solemn, his eyes finally filling with tears.

"Mommy, how could I ever complain about a nice chicken dinner and yummy rice and healthy salad? Those poor children would love to eat a dinner like mine. I am so so so sorry, Mommy. I need to tell Jesus I am sorry, too."

He did. And he prayed fervently for the starving children. And he cheerfully ate his whole dinner, frequently commenting on how delicious it was, and how he wished he could share his wonderful, healthy food with the starving children.

While I assured him we would take action as a family to meet the needs of desperate families in our community, that was not the lesson I learned.

The past few weeks have been really difficult for our family. Our ministry work is on hold, due to some red tape that we are trying to work through. We have encountered some mechanical problems with the house we're renting, and we're frustrated with rent that is higher than our budget can handle (long-term). I have had a persistent cold, or maybe allergies, that have left my ears plugged and my sinuses screaming. We are waiting on the California DMV to send us a replacement title to our Caravan so we can get it registered. This has been a 7-month battle, trying to get that title! The tags on that car have expired, rendering it undriveable for now. To top things all off, our Windstar died. Needed a new fuel pump.

I would love to say that I have focused on God, trusting Him to work things out. I wish I could say I was thankful, cheerful, and content through it. But no. I am a whiner, just like my son.

"EWWWW, God! Not MORE problems! I don't want to keep waiting to start our work! I don't like being sick. I hate having a weak hot water heater, and I am sick of paying so much for rent. Why can't the DMV just send us our title so we have a working car with working air conditioning?" Whine whine whine! Moan moan moan! Complain complain complain. Mentally stomp my feet and kick things. Sit on the couch and cry. Grump at my husband. Snap at my kids. Neglect my housework. Feel sorry for myself.

And then I showed my son the pictures of the starving children. And he showed me the solution to my problems: thankfulness to the ONE who loves and cares for me.

I had a talk with God this morning, and I told Him how sorry I am for losing sight of how much I have to be thankful for. He changed my attitude and my perspective, and revealed some things to me. If I write my list in this post, it will be too long, so I will post my list later this morning.

Do you ever struggle with this like I do?

True Beauty

2011-04-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have a beautiful daughter. She was beautiful when she was born, with long, delicate fingers, enormous, blue eyes, and a full head of black hair. She was a beautiful 8-month-old, when she surprised us by going blond. She was an adorable pixie of a preschooler, charming everyone she met with her generous smiles and outgoing nature. Now she is 8 1/2, and grows more beautiful every day. When we walk her through the halls of her school each morning, she is greeted by kids of all grade levels. On Sunday mornings at church, she is loved by her teachers and classmates. Each day at swim team, her teammates and coaches are delighted to see her. Everyone knows and loves my girl. She is truly beautiful, and her beauty is magnetic.

As I list her features, I know how physically gorgeous she is. She has:
Sparkling, blue eyes
Clear, soft skin
Silky, healthy, blond hair
Slightly irregular teeth and an infectious smile
A toned, muscular body
Graceful, delicate hands
Adorable dimples

But the kids at school and church and swim team aren't drawn to my daughter because she is gorgeous. The beautiful spirit inside of her is the source of her magnetism. In this era of obsession with physical beauty and the sexualization of younger and younger girls, I believe it is important to teach my daughter that true beauty comes from within.

I wanted to take her away for the weekend during spring break so we could spend time together to discuss true beauty and the power of modesty. However, our budget took some unexpected hits (root canal, car repairs, rising gas prices), and the getaway was not feasible. So we went away for the day instead. Here are the highlights of what we covered.

1. God gave us the gift of our bodies. It is important that we are good stewards of this precious gift, which means learning how to properly care for and present our bodies in a way that honors the Maker.

2. God designed boys and girls differently, and for unique purposes. The soft curves of the female body are meant to be attractive to boys.

3. Because God designed boys to be visually intoxicated by girls, it is important that a girl keep certain parts of her body covered. Those parts of her body--her breasts, her belly, her bottom, and her upper thighs--are secrets meant to be saved for her husband.

4. It is possible to dress in a way that is cute, fun, and attractive without exposing those secret places.

5. Ultimately, the way my daughter dresses should draw attention to who she is, not how her body is built, and should bring glory to the Creator of her body--God.

Before we left for our day together, we discussed these points. Then we talked about some easy shopping rules to help determine whether an article of clothing received an A (acceptable) or an F (fail).

The Tummy Test: When I raise my hands all the way up in the air, does my tummy show? If so, is it the shirt or the pants that are the problem? An easy remedy to this is to layer a long cami or tank top under the shirt.

The Sweat Test: If I were to get sweaty, would my shirt stick to me like a second skin? If so, the shirt it too tight. Get the next size up.

The Booty Test: When I bend over and touch my knees, can you see the outline of my underwear? Do I feel like I need to pull up my pants? If so, the pants are too tight, or are too low on the waist. An easy remedy for too-tight pants is just to try the next size.

The Criss-Cross Test: When I sit Indian-style (criss-cross), can you see a lot of my inner thigh or all the way up to my underwear? If so, the shorts or skirt are too short. Try bermudas, or get a longer skirt.

The Joy Test: Does the look and style of the clothing make me look and feel joyful? Styles that are too dark or too mature for my age get an F on this test.

We went out to lunch. Then we visited several stores, hunting for good bargains and cute, summer clothes. Thanks to the Goodwill and Ross's bargains, and awesome sales at Kohl's and Children's Place, we outfitted Snapper for the summer--including her Easter dress--for $65! Everything she got gets an A grade, and is as cute as can be.

As she got an adorable, new hair cut, we talked again about how true beauty comes from inside. A girl who is confident and humble is beautiful. A girl who has positive relationships with her parents and siblings is beautiful. A girl who puts the needs of other before her own is beautiful. A girl who is living her life to bring honor and glory to God is beautiful. Kindness, generosity, gentleness, joy, loyalty, friendliness, compassion, humility, patience, respectfulness, and faithfulness all contribute to creating a beautiful girl. Without those inner traits, a physically beautiful girl loses much of her beauty.

How thankful I am for my beautiful daughter! Yes, she is physically beautiful. But her beauty goes much deeper than her skin. Her true beauty is found within.

Oh, I am so proud, I just must add that Snapper's relay teams--both Freestyle Relay and Medley Relay--are the new State Champions in their age division! Way to go Snapper, T, C, and A!

Project 365: Week 5

2011-04-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

This photo will get a whole post of its own. I took Snapper out for a day of celebrating femininity, learning about what true beauty is, and the power of modesty.

We had two very stormy days during spring break. By the time I took this photo, the hail stone had been melting in my hand for close to a minute. It was silver dollar size when I picked it up!

Though Snapper has always been a strong reader, she has never really loved to read. On this day, she discovered for the first time the joy of getting lost in a good story. She read for 4 hours!

When the storms finally passed, we enjoyed a day at the beach with our friends John and Laura and their sweet kiddos. We love the beach!

One of my very best friends, Carol, is having her fourth daughter this summer. I spent much of spring break at my sewing machine, working on the quilt I am making for my new "niece."

Snapper finished her spring break with a bang, getting to attend a swim clinic with Olympic gold medalist swimmers Ryan Lochte and Josh Davis. Not only was meeting them and getting to wear their medals very cool, Snapper learned a lot, too.

I had to post a second photo from the clinic. They spent some time working on powerful starts and strong streamlines. Snapper's start is looking beautiful, and I am blown away by how muscular she has gotten!

Though I have only known my friend Tracie for 7 months, she has already become one of my dearest friends. I got to have the fun of doing 1st birthday portraits of her son. Isn't he adorably edible? Yes, I want to eat him all up!

Project 365: Week 4

2011-03-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Snapper's ribbons from the Area 2 Championship Meet! Ten events, ten new personal best times, ten top-ten finishes, seven top-eight finishes!

Matt is Mr. Handy. He fixed the sprinklers for our landlord.

Pepper's class had Rodeo Day, complete with stick horse races. Pepper's horse Shredder "was too hungry to run fast," finishing last in the races. However, Shedder (made by Mommy) was too adorable, and won a design medal for Pepper.

Pepper's first visit to the dentist. He got an A+ for oral hygiene and health!

We had Asian food night with our best Orlando buds, John & Laura and Curt & Tracie. Homemade Asian food, yummy drinks, games, and lots of laughter made a fantastic evening.

Our cat Pixie regularly catches this black garden snake that lives in our yard, and she always brings it in the house. Matt taught Pepper how to handle the snake--named Mr. Cloven Battle Droid Snake--so that Mommy always has a man around to take Cloven back outside.

My kids love to play dress-up together.

Project 365: Week 3

2011-03-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Testing out the new fishing pole at the beach in Cape Canaveral. No bites, but still fun.

Grandma made her famous popovers for breakfast. Yum!

My first quilt is finished! I made it for my new nephew, Aiden.

Ack! Is this boy cute or what? I want to eat his precious face!

We had dinner at the beach on Grandma's last day here. She loves to play with the kids.

If you look closely, you can see that Snapper is crying. Goodbyes are so hard.

Project 365: Week 2

2011-03-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Daddy's birthday gift: a big fishing pole for ocean fishing

Snapper loves swim team!

Zoe loves to sleep in a box

Snapper and buddies with Coach G at the Championship Meet

Snapper had her swim meet event info written on her arm. Little A wanted to be just like Snapper, so she wrote on her arm, too. And on her legs.

Pretty shell for a pretty girl at St. Pete Beach

Grandma is here from Spokane for a week!