Sprinkler Time!!!

Silly Oregon weather!  We are just starting to get a few days here and there of warm weather, so we haven't filled up the pool.  The other day it was warm enough and the kids wanted to play in the water, so on the sprinkler went!

 Can you tell he looooves this? 

 She actually went in this year!  This is the first time she's ever willingly gone into the sprinkler.

 So happy!

  ♥ ♥ ♥

 I think she's a bit terrified! 

 Love them!

Hopefully the weather will start getting warm on a regular basis soon so we can do more of this!  We just love the summer!

Today

Today is good.  

Lately, I have been struggling with depression, anxiety and just plain not being happy with where we are and what we have.  My life doesn't always look the way I want it to.  My house is almost always unkempt, my children struggle daily with obeying, my heart cycles through the grief of missing my babies, my weight is spiraling out of control, and Samuel and I are usually just passing ships in the morning while we switch off childcare duties.  Life is rough right now and it is getting the best of me.  Stress eating, fights with my spouse, short fuses with my children.  It's so easy to get caught up in all this mess and forget about all the blessings the Lord has given me.

But, today is good.  Although the kids and I stayed home from church because my stomach was bothering me, I got to sleep in and then snuggle with my little girl.  My husband didn't stay for the second church service and came home as soon as his coffee shop responsibilities were complete to help me take care of the kids and make lunch.  We were able to get a free propane BBQ on craigslist today to replace ours that recently stopped working.  The sunshine and my children's laughter streaming through our open windows as we worked in the kitchen.  Hearing the kids sing songs about Jesus with conviction as they dug in the dirt.  Eating lunch together, chit chatting about what the kids wanted to do today.  Watching my husband mow the lawn while keeping an eye on the children because being outside while he's cutting the grass gives me a headache.  Being able to magically cure an owie with a kiss.  Seeing Sapphira working on conquering her fear by willingly pet our dog, Sadie, for the first time.  Fresh flowers in my house for the first time in a year.  If I could, I would scoop up part of today in a jar, seal it up and put it on the pantry shelf to unleash on another hard day.

Thank you Lord. 

Today is good.

Merry Christmas!

We had fully intended on going to church on Christmas morning before spending time with my in-laws, but with Sapphira still dealing with a croupy cough and having to go to the doctor for a breathing treatment on Christmas Eve, we decided to play it by ear and see how long she slept in.  Well, since church started at 10 am and she slept until 10:45, we stayed home! :)  Although I was a bit bummed to not go, it actually made for a much better day since both kids slept in and were able to get some good playing time in with their new toys before their cousins came over and they opened new presents.  My in-laws got to our house right at lunch time so we baked some pizzas and ate quick before the kids exploded from anticipation. :)

 Cousins

 ♥♥♥

 Malachi loves watching us play Angry Birds on our phones.  He was so excited to get a "red bomb" bird :)

 One of her cousins gave her this Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.  She colors everyday in it.

 Malachi had also asked for a real soccer ball.  Grandma and Papa got him his very own!

 Her other cousin gave her a soft little puppy dog.  It got lots of kisses.

 Sapphira gave Malachi two transformer books.  Yippee!

 Sapphira loves toys where you fit shapes into holes.  My mom found this one at a second hand store and gave it to us to give to Sapphira.

 I made Sapphira this faux chenille blanket using this tutorial.  She immediately pulled it out of the packaging and wrappedherself in it.  ♥♥♥  I hope to get better pictures of this later.

 Miss E, a dear friend I used to work with, gave Malachi this Transformer toy.  He was so excited!!

I know this picture is soooo blurry, but it makes me laugh because the reason it is so blurry is because he just opened another Transformer toy from Samuel and I and was so incredibly excited about it.  Two Transformers in one afternoon makes for one excited little boy!

 Miss E also gave Sapphira a new tea set.  I couldn't get it out of the box fast enough for her!

 "Bumblebee to the rescue!"

 Organizing her new tea set.

 Happy to being playing with new toys with her cousins.

The Transformer we gave Malachi "transformed".  Here Samuel is reading the instructions and trying to figure out how it works.  A couple minutes later, Samuel gave up and let Malachi have it back.  Two seconds later, Malachi has it "transformed".  I guess you know you are getting older when you can't figure something out and you give it to your kid to do.  Also, notice Samuel's red Angry Birds shirt?  Malachi and Sapphira picked that out for him.

Sapphira begged her cousins until they played tea party with her.  That room was clean when she woke up that morning! oy

This year, we decided to give Malachi and Sapphira three presents each since Jesus got three presents from the wise men.  Malachi got a red Angry Bird and some Angry Bird band aids, a Super Why board game and a Transformer.  Sapphira got the faux chenille blanket, the tupperware shape toy, and a Timmy Time doll (don't worry...I didn't pay that much!!!  I got it on massive clearance over the summer).  It was so nice to have a specific limit on how much to give each child, especially since money is so short this year.  I have to say that they were probably happier with a few things they love instead of a bunch of stuff they think are ok.  I think this will be a tradition we continue.

We usually make a big ham dinner with all the trimmings, but since Christmas was on a Sunday this year we knew making the whole dinner would add too much stress to the day, so we picked up take and bake pizzas the day before.  I really enjoyed the no-planning aspect of the meal and something out of the ordinary.  After we opened presents and the kids had some time to play, we sliced up some apples and opened up some caramel that I made using this recipe from a friend's blog.  So stinkin' yummy!  Maybe another tradition... 

It was such a good day.  The kids stayed in their comfy jammies all day, got lots of playing time in with Grandma, Papa and their cousins, and we had a nice quiet afternoon.  Christmas always feels stressful while I'm getting things ready for it, but once it's here and happening, I'm able to relax and enjoy the day.  Another wonderful Christmas to remember.

Sickies

Sick, sick, sick!  It all started with Malachi on Saturday 17th.  He had spent the night at Grandma and Papa's house the night before and had been complaining about his neck hurting before he left and then his leg hurting while at Grandma's.  When he came home, I could tell by just looking at him that he was sick.  As the evening progressed, he began to refuse to move his neck, putting his le-le blankets around his neck to make it feel better, and just plain bawling over little things...sooo not like him.  At one point in the evening, his temperature was nearly 103 and just a little later was 95 and was accompanied by the chills and a belly ache.  The advise nurse said to take him to the ER.  We got right in and got settled in a room.  Poor boy just layed in bed and watched Christmas movies on TV and Cars on the laptop.  After a urine test and nasal flu swab (totally traumatic by the way!), it was determined he had a virus and the neck ache was simply some body aches.  They have him a dose of motrin and sent us home.  We were sad he wasn't feeling well, but soooo thankful it wasn't worse...that neck pain scared me!!!

The sweet nurses, gave him two Cars 2 cars to help him calm down after the nasal swab.  Poor boy...Daddy had to hold his legs, and I laid on his upper body and arms in an attempt to hold him still.  This special gift perked him up a bit.  When we picked up Sapphira from my parents house, he showed her the cars and said "see these cars, Sapphira?  They are so special to me!" ♥♥♥

On Monday the 19th, I came home from work with a sore tummy which progressed into the flu on Tuesday morning.  I had been saying I wanted to take a day or two off from work before Christmas, but body aches and vomiting weren't what I had in mind!  oy

Tuesday evening after we put her to bed, Sapphira began throwing up and continued to do so all night and the next morning.  She had a high fever, but was unable to keep any Tylenol down or the water she kept begging for.  We called her doctor mid morning and they scheduled her an appointment a couple hours later and they suggested we give her 2 teaspoons of gatorade every 5 minutes to try to keep her hydrated since often when your tummy is upset, it can't tolerate large amounts of liquid, but small frequent amounts are ok.  We got 8 teaspoons in her before she crashed in my lap.  Poor thing was soo tired since she hadn't slept all night due to her frequent vomiting.  About an hour later she woke up, asked for more drink, so we gave her 2 more teaspoons and she vomited all that up plus the 8 teaspoons from earlier.  Poor baby was so sick.  Her doctor gave her an anti-nausea pill and a bit later some tylenol which she was able to keep down.  After that she was able to keep liquid down and she guzzled gatorade all the way home.  After sleeping for the rest of the day, she was back to her normal sweet self.

Thinking we had all gotten this from Malachi, I was surprised to be woken up Thursday morning by Malachi throwing up at the foot of my bed.  I was so thankful he only did it twice and felt better later in the day. 

Since Christmas was so close, I jokingly told Samuel that he had 24 hours to get sick and be done if we wanted to got to our Christmas Eve celebrations together.  Thursday night was Samuel's turn, and felt normal by Friday night.  Thankfully we were able to participate in all our usual Christmas get-togethers.

This flu junk is so bad this year!!  I know of sooo many people struggling with this lately.  Hopefully it will run it's course and be done with soon!!

8.14.11--Winged friend

While playing in the backyard one hot afternoon, this winged creature paid us a visit. We had seen several dragonflies zip around the yard that day, but this one landed and stayed put for at least 5 minutes.  The kids are really into the Wild Kratts tv show and the characters on the program always give their "creature friends" nicknames that describe the abilites of the animal or how they met them.  I'm sure this show was in the back of Malachi's mind when he names this guy Backwards Flyer, "Ford-wards" Flyer (I just love how he says forwards).

 I can't help but imagine the Lord having fun creating creatures like this...look at all those tiny markings.  So beautiful.

Daddy finished up mowing the front yard just in time for Malachi to show him his new buddy and help him get a closer look before it flew away.

I am loved...

Wednesday was my birthday, and the day was filled with facebook wishes, text love, and gifts from special people...

From Samuel...he told me forgot it was my birthday :)

So beautiful

From my lovely friend and co-worker, Emily..

Love these colors together

I know that I have so many family members and friends that love me, but it doesn't hurt to have a physical reminder every so often ;)

12.3.10--Christmas tree hunting

Yesterday, we headed out to find this year's Christmas tree. Sapphira wasn't walking this time last year, so it was so much fun watching them both run, explore and play together.

She loved the texture of the tree branches.

Rubber boots with ruffled jeans...doesn't get much cuter! :)

Taking her turn with the tree cart. She could maneuver it better than Malachi did!

I just love this kid!

Open space demands running and running and running and...

Going straight...for the moment.

Hi, momma!

Walking in these boots requires concentration and tongue action!

Peek-a-boo!

Our tree...look the sky was even blue! What a gorgeous day!

Malachi thought the baler was very loud.

11.21.10--Snow!!!

My in-laws live at a higher elevation than we do, so when it started snowing at their house, we headed over for lunch after church. One of my favorite things in the world is sitting inside and watching the snow fall...so peaceful and relaxing. After we filled our bellies, we bundled up and headed outside. This is Sapphira's first time seeing real snow, so we were all curious to see what she'd think.

hmmmm...

I like it!!! :)

Riding in Papa's sled.

Papa pulling Addy and Malachi

Trying to catch up...but her Marshmallow Puff man suit got in the way! :)

Grandma picked up some snow for Sapphira to see and hit it out of her hand. This became a very fun game! :)

Running!

Snow angel

Bella pulling Addy and Malachi

:)

Grandma showing Sapphira how to catch snowflakes on your tongue.

Sapphira's attempt

I know this is blurry, but I love that you can tell how much Sapphira loves her Grandma.

I'm done out here...I'm COLD!!!!

Snow angel