Almost Time!

This coming Sunday, the kiddos and I will be heading back to California!

Josh will be with us this time, and Joel will be holding down the fort with our pets. The best part about this trip is the reason for it - my sister and Clint are finally heading to China to bring Kelly home! We'll be staying with my niece and nephew while they're gone, and we are all so excited! Caleb and Camryn have always been such wonderful older cousins. Not only are they so sweet with them, but the example they set for my children is one of integrity, self sacrifice, and respect. Thank You Caleb and Camryn!

I'm also THRILLED to have several weeks with these two! I don't get to spend nearly enough time with them, and I look forward to all the fun we'll have, and strengthening my bond with them. I feel so blessed that my sister has placed such enormous, sacred trust in me. And I CAN'T WAIT to finally see Kelly in her Mama's arms! I keep imagining what that is going to feel like, and I still can't fathom the raw emotion that moment is going to hold. It's hard to go through our daily routine when all of us are really California Dreamin' - we are SO ready to be there!

We Love You Jen, Clint, Caleb, and Camryn -- SEE YOU SOON GUYS!

Just Pictures

All Made Up
Her Response To, "Okay Hannah, Show Me A Pose!"
"Okay Hannah, Show Me A Kissy Face"
"Emma, Where's Your Kissy Face?""Hold Still Hannah . . . I'll Just Clamp Down On Your Head To Be Safe"
Goofy Girls!
Birthday Pictures!

Here are some pictures of our weekend. We "officially" celebrated Emma's birthday on Saturday since my Mom was here with us. We had such a fantastic weekend together, although it's always so sad to see her leave.

I think my favorite moment of her visit was the first day when Eli came home from school and found her here. I hadn't told him that she was coming, since he has a hard time understanding time frames. She was driving, and I felt if she was delayed at all he wouldn't understand, so I let it be a surprise. He was so cute coming in the front door. He stopped in his tracks before even opening the door and his jaw dropped! He signed "Grandma!" and ran to her with the biggest smile on his face. He had brought home a plant from school and he handed it to her, it seemed he felt the need to present her with a gift, lol. He sure loves his Rinnie, and it's wonderful to see him forming these family bonds. We had some good "girl time" with Hannah and Emma at the mall on Saturday, and even got to enjoy a dinner out with just the two of us. We love you so much Mom, thank you for blessing us with your visit.

Love,

Jen

SO Glamorous!

Emma got a make up kit for her birthday, and she and Hannah are having so much fun. Here is a video of Emma making up her little sister. They both have colds and sound pretty stuffy, so hopefully you can understand them!

"Make Up Girl", Hannah cracks me up! And I love that once Emma realized she was being recorded, she immediately suspected that it may end up on my blog - doesn't she understand about the importance of creating a historical record?

Happy Birthday Emma!

Above: Emma at 5 years old; Below: Emma at 6 years old
I felt like I needed a birthday cake image for this post, so I chose this one below. I have to add that I hated this cake. I hated it so much that I actually tossed the pan after it was finished, lol! It was so time consuming, and required hand mixing so many different colors of icing, I thought my fingers were going to fall off! And the next day, everyone ate it! Ever since Emma's 4th birthday, I've stuck to simpler patterns!



Happy Birthday to my sweet Emma, she turns 7 today!!

We are going to officially celebrate her birthday on Saturday, because my Mom is coming from Missouri and we wanted her to be here. However, she does get to go out and spend her birthday money from MomMom and PopPop, and we're going to see a movie today as well.

Emma, you add so much laughter and sunshine to our lives. Seven years ago today, I was both excited to be having my second baby and a daughter, and nervous about the way our life was about to change. I didn't know yet how your smile would light up the room, or how the sound of your laughter could bring tears to my eyes. I had never seen the sunset playing in your hair while you sat under the tree in our front yard, deeply engrossed in conversation with the Mama bird tending her eggs above you.

(Do you remember? You were so worried she'd be bored or lonely, you spent time every day talking to her until her babies hatched!)

I love being your Mom - in fact sometimes I feel as though you give me more than I could ever give to you. I love you, my baby girl!

Movie Night

Last night, the girls and I had a "Girl's Only Movie Night" after the boys had gone to bed. I've done this a few times with the boys, and the girls were so excited to have their turn! I borrowed the movie "Ella Enchanted" from a friend - it was very cute, by the way!

I have never thought about the fact that both girls have only ever seen very "chaste" kisses both onscreen and off, since Joel and I do try and control ourselves around the children. However, the kisses in this movie were not quite the happily ever after "pecks" they are accustomed to. Just as I began to feel a teensy bit uneasy about it, Emma says:

"What are they doing?!?"

"Kissing", I answered - in what I hoped was a very nonchalant tone.

Emma:"Oh, okay - well it looks like they're biting each other's lips. Gross. I'm not ever going to kiss someone like that."

Somehow, I resisted the urge to whip out pen and contract on the spot, and elected not to comment at all. Fortunately, I didn't have to suffer any uncomfortable questions like the one I was most anticipating - "Does Daddy ever kiss you like that?"

It reminded me of the day that Joel and I gave up "grown up" TV before 8 p.m.

Joshua was almost 2, and he looked up at the TV during a similar scene. His eyes became like saucers, and he exclaimed, "Mama! Why man eat her face??"

Oddly enough, that was pretty much what my first kiss felt like . . .

Love,
Jen

To My Amazing Mom

"The Girls - 2005"

Dear Mom,

I wish that I could be with you today, and show you in tangible ways how much you mean to me. Every day, I am aware of how blessed I am to call you "Mom". Every day, I know that you are a phone call away, that I am held up in your prayers, that I am loved by you. That knowledge is a constant source of strength and comfort to me.

Thank you, for being such an amazing Mom.

You are such an example to me of what it means to be a servant to those you love. Your "love language" has always been one of servitude - of taking care of your loved ones. And you take such amazing care of us! Each of us knows that a visit from Rinnie means our favorite foods, special comforts, and most of all the warmth of your love and much laughter.

Thank you so much, for always making me feel as though you love being my Mom! I pray that through your example, my own children will feel that from me as well!

We can't wait to see you . . . just over a week left! In the meantime, Happy Mother's Day! We all love you so very much, I hope that you know - today of all days - how very cherished you are.

"Her children rise up and call her blessed . . . "

All My Love,

Jen

Favorite Mommy Moments

Happy Mother's Day!

I am blessed to know some fantastic Mommies, I hope each and every one of you is blessed today. I decided to make myself a Mother's Day card, lol, by putting together a little blog post that included some of my favorite "Mommy Moments".

I'm so thankful to be "Mama" to my kids!

Love,

Jen

Saturday Pictures!

Daddy Is Good At Snuggling . . .

And Dipping!
My Sweet Mother's Day Gifts From Eli!

Rugby Looks Dubious
This Is What My Feet Look Like, Every Time I'm In The Kitchen
This Is What My Lap Looks Like, Whenever I'm Sitting Down

Hodge Podge Post

I almost had some really great pictures for you all this week, almost! Here is what you missed:

• You almost saw a group of three baby squirrels lined up in a row on our fence, who looked like they were watching the inhabitants of our house like a television show. That would have been so cute, right?! But the three baby squirrels ran for it when I turned on the camera.
• You almost saw darling pictures of Rugby curled up in the chair by the window, watching over the neighborhood - but he follows me everywhere and jumped up the minute I went to grab the camera.
• You almost saw gorgeous pictures of the girls playing outside, laughing at one another. Again, I went to grab the camera and they were gone. (Don't panic grandparents, I don't mean really gone, just that they had split the scene).

So, I submit, that if I'm going to have a really interesting blog, I'm going to need a batman style gadget belt for my camera, and a powerful zoom lens before those baby squirrels grow up. They are the cutest things ever, I swear! Oh, and Rugby is going to have to learn "stay". Until I have these necessary tools, I thought I'd post these stories which are most likely interesting only to my Mom and sister.

Yesterday I was doing my routine 6 month cleaning out of the kids' rooms. You wouldn't believe the stuff that builds up, even with the fact that they clean up their toys every evening before bed. I had been in the girls' room for about half an hour, and as usual I was becoming increasingly irritated by the volume of junk I was finding. I thought to myself, "it's like trying to clean out a magpie's nest!" And with that random thought, something hit me: each little piece of "junk" was something that one of the girls had treasured enough to give it a place.

It was amazing how my perspective changed, and my eyes were able to see new things. I noticed that many of the tiny scraps of notebook paper stuffed hither and thither had words like "Mom" and "Dad" lovingly inscribed in the center of big red hearts. Each bit of string had been collected from some park or trail where it's bright color had caught the eye and imagination of one of my daughters. One of my favorite magnets was "decorating" the nightstand, no doubt cherished for it's painted scene depicting a cottage bedecked with roses. (Incidentally, I have sensed that the symmetry of my fridge door has been off for some time, this explains everything). This wasn't junk that had been scattered by careless, messy children. These were things that their child's eyes had found beautiful or interesting enough to save. I found myself smiling fondly at each item, and trying to guess which daughter had collected which "treasure".

Yes, I still threw them all away. If I hadn't, my whimsical daughters would soon have been buried beneath scraps of paper, bits of string, and stolen magnets. Before you shout me down - I did let them keep the magnet.

On a similar note, I love to listen to my children play. I usually have at least one of them near me as I'm bustling about the house doing one thing or another. When they think I'm busy and not listening, they tend to abandon themselves wholly to their play. Yesterday, Emma was playing outside the room I was working in. She was trying to walk her two favorite stuffed dogs, Alice and Wolfie, together on the same leash and becoming increasingly exasperated with them. They were not cooperating. Having two dogs myself, and having tried to walk them together on a split leash, I admired her restraint and her lack of offensive language. She noticed me watching her, and said in mock frustration, "Mama, Wolfie is just not doing a good job on this walk. Alice is trying to do well but Wolfie is ruining it!". "Wow", I said, "That is so frustrating - sounds like Wolfie needs 'The Dog Whisperer' to come over and set him straight!" Emma gasped and whispered fiercely, "He can hear you Mama! Maybe he's just having a hard time because he's got alot of stuff on his mind."

And with that, Emma, Alice, and Wolfie walked off in a huff. It looked to me like Wolfie was still dragging behind stubbornly.

One more story from my Eco-Warrior and her trusty companion. Last evening, Emma found a bug in her room. Emma treasures all bugs, from the tiniest gnat to the nastiest spider. She carefully collected the little guy in half of a plastic Easter egg and rushed him outside. I heard the following conversation through an open window:

Emma: "Oh No! He fell in the dirt instead of the flowers!"

Hannah: "It's okay Emma, he'll be okay - he's just a bug"

Emma (in high tones of offense): "He is NOT just a bug, he has feelings just like you!"

Hannah (in tones of wonder): "Really?? He really does?? Wow!!"

Emma (in her most know-it-all voice): "Well, yeah Hannah, he's a living thing! How do you think bugs walk around all over the place if they don't have feelings?"

I've actually wondered that quite often about some people I've seen walking around, apparently without feelings. Seriously, though, I love the innocence in Hannah's wonder, and the ardent faith in Emma.

Well, that's all I've got to report from the nest for now. Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon!

Love, Jen