Happy Birthday Caroline!

The kids had a wonderful Christmas but I want to leave my thoughts on Christmas with my last post. My focus is solely on Caroline! My one and only daughter turns two on the 29th. We celebrated her birthday tonight with a Dora party. We had her BFF's over tonight for pizza and cupcakes. She was born amongst a large crowd of boys so she is surrounded by many males in her life. Which is perfectly fine with me because she can be all girl and she really doesn't have to compete. And believe me "all girl" she is ~ complete with mood swings. When I was putting her to bed tonight I took a good look inside her mouth and found out that she is cutting her eye teeth ( I guess that's how you spell it.) Which explains the recent drama around the house. I wasn't sure if it was the terrible two's or a cold or just her mood but I think her teeth are to blame for her unhappiness.

We had a sweet little party for her. I decided to stray a little from the norm and we did a book swap. Everyone brought a wrapped book and each child went home with a new book. It was fun. The moms (all teachers at heart) enjoyed sharing the books with their little ones. In all the chaos we had a scary little moment with Connor. Somehow he got ahold of some food that caused him to have an allergic reaction. I had everything clearly labeled but all the other kids were eating right there along side him and he either got ahold of someone's pizza or one of the cupcakes that were made with ingredigents he can't have. I took the time to make special cupcakes for him and Caleb but there was a mix up somewhere. He kept holding his stomach and complaining so I gave him some antihistamine but that didn't stop the reaction. In the past he has puked when he has a reaction and this time he did the same. He puked in the kitchen sink and then all was fine. Scary moment but all is fine now!

We had a special visitor to Caroline's party. Aunt Leah!!! The past few Christmas' Leah comes down to visit from North Carolina. We really enjoy our time with her and catching up on all the latest. She came bearing gifts and she did a great job helping me with party, she even cleaned up Connor's puke (what a friend!) So I'll end this post with a list! I'm such the list maker!

My favorite things about my beautiful daughter are:

1. The way I ache when I look at her. It makes my eyes well just thinking about how beautiful she is to me.

2. The way she says "Mamos" instead of Thomas for Thomas the train. She loves trains!

3. The way she curls up in my arms with her blanket and bunny and sucks her thumb as I read her book, slowly stroking her face with her blanket. She is very attached to her bunny & blanket.

4. The way she sleeps in most mornings just like her mother! She loves to sleep! A girl after my own heart.

5. I love that her favorite meal is a good ol' fashioned hot dog, broccoli, & some mandarin oranges! Yummy! I also enjoy broccoli and oranges! She's just like me in so . . . many ways.

6. The way she loves her grandparents. Especially both her PawPaw's. Somehow she has them wrapped around her little, crafty finger.

7. I love her little language she has created all on her own. She has a pretty good vocabulary but she also has this little language she uses when she is playing. It is quite funny to listen to when she doesn't know you can hear her.

8. I love if she is put on the spot she'll either start whispering when you want her to say something in particular or she'll say ouch to everything she doesn't like. If she doesn't want someone to talk to her she says ouch. If she doesn't want the attention on her she says ouch. It's rather funny!

9. She loves juice! A cup of juice is a magic elixir that heals many wounds.

10. Mostly I love that she is my one and only daughter and she is Caroline! My sweet, dark haired, olive skinned, unwavering, sensitive, expressive, darling daughter.

Away in a Manger

While I watched Alma sing Away in a Manger this morning in church it brought me back to my first Christmas as a mother. Christmas of 2005 Connor was 6 months old and I remember rocking him and just crying thinking of Mary and baby Jesus. Most of the story is so incomprehensible for me. Watching the movie The Nativity Story last weekend really opened my eyes again. What an amazing task - being the mother of the Son of God. Being chosen by God to carry his son and care for him, teach him, love him, kiss his boo boos, wipe his tears, change his diapers (or whatever they used back then), nurse him. Could you imagine? I don't know if it is because again this Christmas I have another baby boy to cradle and adore but this Christmas I again just hold my sweet baby boy and cry. What an amazing gift! I am so . . . thankful for my precious children but also that God gave us his ONLY son. As a parent I can't even imagine giving up one of my children but He only had one and he gave it to us. Mothers, you know that intense emotional bond you have with your children, that ache you have deep down in your soul when you look at them. Could you imagine being Mary? The questions she must have had - Why me? Am I doing this right? Am I a good parent?
Ever since that first Christmas as a mother I have loved the song Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant. I added to my playlist. Listen to it and rethink that story of the first Christmas. Take some time and thank God for his precious gift of a baby, his only son, to save us all. Watch The Nativity Story and keep in mind the true reason why we celebrate Christmas.

The Tale of Despereaux

I've been reading the book The Tale of Despereaux with the three students I tutor. We finished the book this week and we have been anxiously awaiting the movie. We went tonight to see the movie. I took Connor with me and Jeanne took Josie. I must say it was a disappointment. The movie was nothing like the book. Books are always better and that definitiely rang true in this instance. I LOVED spending time with the kids I tutor and I really enjoyed hearing them discuss the book and compare it to the movie. That was the highlight for sure. They are an amazing group of kids and I am so blessed to be a part of their lives. It's my chance to scratch the itch of teaching which I do miss.

Brailee, Ethan, & Gavin I am so proud of you. I could tell you really listened to the book because you were able to tell me all the details and you compared and contrasted like champs!

Unwelcomed Guest!

For about a week now we've noticed that some kind of critter has been sneaking on our porch at night and leaving us "presents." We assumed it was our neighbor's cat. Last night before we left for the Christmas program at church we taped up the small hole on our screen door where we thought the cat was coming in. When we got home we found another "present" so we realized that the critter was still on our porch and it wasn't our neighbor's cat. Craig spent some time on the porch poking around while I got the kids ready for bed. He came in and asked for the camera. It was a possum! Craig beat the living snot out of him but the critter was just too fast and he ran and hid in the back of my freezer by the motor. So we turned off the lights and opened the screen door in hopes that he would emerge on his own and escape and luckily he did. About an hour later we checked and he was slowly making his way to the door.

Wal-Mart might only be 2 minutes away but we still live in country as far as I'm concerned! Nasty, Nasty, Nasty!

On a side note: Last Thursday we got the opportunity to go see Wheel of Fortune being taped at SeaWorld. We had a blast spending time with our good friends Jeanne & Joey McDonald. Yes, Vanna is still pretty even if she's like 80 or something! Thank you Lori for the tickets and thank you Samantha for watching Coop and thank you MawMaw & PawPaw for watching Connor & Caroline! It was a nice date night!

Groovin' Gingerbread style!

I just had to post these cute pics of Connor's preschool class pretending to be The Gingerbread Man. Mrs. Dawn Windham was their teacher and by looking at these photos you can tell they had a blast! Thank you Mrs. Dawn for the genius idea, Connor still loves playing with his gingerbread man costume!

You Can't Catch Me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Run, Run as fast as you can

You can't catch me

I'm the Gingerbread Man

We've been learning all about the Gingerbread Man this month. I've been reading them books, they've been playing Candy Land, and we've even made a extra large gingerbread man and a gingerbread house. At preschool this month the kids learned the letter G and played a special Candy Land Castle game. It's been a lot of fun! I attached a little video clip of Caroline saying the gingerbread chant.

Christmas Time is Here!

This past weekend we decorated for Christmas around our house. We put up the trees - one fancy one for me and one kid-friendly one in Connor's room. We hung the homemade stockings that were made for my children by a dear family member. We just had a good time enjoying each other's company. I made homemade pumpkin waffles the night we decorated and it has inspired me to check out a few more recipes for other variations on waffles. I'll let you know how they turn out.

The kids and I have been reading all about the Gingerbread Man and other books about Gingerbread people. I'll make another post soon showing you all the sweet treats we've been putting together that correlate with the gingerbread theme.