A Gift Worth the Wait

And now for the letter "L"

2012-01-25T21:58:00.003-06:00

Our week started off pretty rough, but we've had a very good day today. We had a parent/teacher conference (a routine meeting, scheduled months ago) on Tuesday. We had dinner with B.B. and Scooter Tuesday night. And we've been working on getting SM to sleep in her room all night, without getting up and coming into our room. She has done great. She is getting more rest and waking up in the morning in a much better mood. We've been so proud of her.

This afternoon, between getting home from school and us leaving for church, we made her class snack for this week. Sara Madalin doesn't have school Friday so they are having their special snack for this week tomorrow. I made a couple things for the letter "L."

First, they are having some LION MILK. Well, actually they are having regular milk that is decorated to look like a lion.

Then, they are also having LAMB CUPCAKES. These are not my greatest work, but I think the 3-year-olds will enjoy them just the same.

Friends at the Fish House

2012-01-22T20:43:00.003-06:00

First, thank you for the emails, comments, and phone calls in response to my last blog post. Parenting is the toughest, yet most rewarding job I've ever had. It's always encouraging to know Reagan and I are not in this alone.

Friday night we were invited to diner with B. B. and Scooter. We decided to get SM a sitter since dinner was going to be late and we knew she'd be tired if we took her. So, our neighbor's daughter, Holly, agreed to keep her. Well, when it was time for us to leave, Holly wasn't home, so her mom, Tina, came over to carry SM over to their house. Not long after SM left, Tina texted me and said Sara Madalin had asked where her "Reagan" was. She was asking where her "husband" was, but only knows that Reagan and I go together, but didn't know he's called my husband. Then, right after that she texted and said Sara Madalin had asked if Holly was a poacher, because she was out hunting. She heard that word at Animal Kingdom when we were at Disney. She asks me randomly what it means. I've told her it is a word that means someone is hunting on someone else's property. So, when heard that Holly was hunting, which obviously means, in SM's mind, that she was poaching. I'm sure Sara Madalin kept them laughing the whole evening.

We laughed quite a bit ourselves. We met B.B. and Scooter at their house. Scooter had invited several of us out to dinner at the Family Fish House. He wanted as many of us to ride there together as possible. So, he borrowed a flower delivery van for us to ride in. Here are B.B., Scooter, and I before getting into the van.

I don't know how old it is or where he borrowed it from, but the only doors that worked were the driver's door and the door that's open right behind us in this picture above. So, Reagan and I (and the others we picked up later) had to get in through the passenger door and climb through to the seats in the back. And there weren't enough seat belts. Good times, y'all.

When we arrived at the Fish House, Wayne and Susie were there with two of their sons and all 5 of their grands. It was VERY LOUD. Had I known the little kids were going to be there too, I would have brought SM. The first thing Skyler asked when she saw me was where was Sara Madalin. She would have loved to have seen them all. Here's our crew.

Cash is the cutest thing. He was showing me his trick of holding a spoon on his nose.

Here's Scooter and his brother, Wayne. We love spending time with them and their families.

We had a great time and enjoyed some good food. We hope to all get together and do it again soon.

And now, for the rest of the story

2012-01-20T10:32:00.003-06:00

Remember all those cute treats I shared pictures of in my last post? The spider/suckers, the mice/kisses, the Bugles? I was proud of those. I worked hard finding things like that online, then preparing them for Sara Madalin's class. I was so excited about their party because I thought they would all enjoy it so much and it would be a sweet memory for them. Sara Madalin was excited - for the party, but most importantly, because she knew that she was going to get to eat some of those chocolate mice I carried.

But there's more to the story than I shared in my last post. And I feel like I would be deceiving people that read our blog if I didn't share the rest of the story that goes with that post about the party. For one thing, I don't want people to think I try to paint a picture that our family is all about smocked dresses, hair bows, and fun parties. And when Sara Madalin looks back at this blog one day, I want her to know why we made some of the tough choices we had to when she was a child. So, I have to be honest and share that Sara Madalin didn't get to enjoy those treats or the party. She didn't even get to go to school today.

Thursday when I dropped her off at school, I also dropped off the treats I had prepared. The party wasn't until Friday, but I wanted to drop those things off because it was quite a bit and I didn't want to wait until Friday when I had it all prepared anyway. So, I dropped SM and the treats off and went to church where I've started volunteering as a conversational partner in ESL classes. I was there for a couple hours, then had plans to meet some of the ladies from my SS class for lunch in honor of one of our friends who is having a baby next week. I had just parked at the restaurant and my phone rang. I saw the name of SM's school on my ID. It was the preschool administrator and she told me that SM had bitten another child and that she was being very aggressive at school. They asked if I could come pick her up. I said I'd be right there.

The day before (Wednesday) she had scratched her friend Wright. Miss Melodi had told me about that when I picked her up. I made her apologize to him and they hugged and made up. She was punished for her behavior by not being allowed to watch any movies for the rest of the day. (We have been working to find which punishment really worlds best for her. We spank her, we put her in time out, we take toys and privileges. Usually, taking privileges like movies works best for her.) I thought Thursday would be a good day for her. She was sweet on the way to school. She even prayed that God would help her to be kind to her friends and not bite, scratch, pinch, shove, or hit. SHE prayed that. Not me. So, when I was called, I was shocked by her behavior.

When I picked her up, I had already decided the punishment I would have to issue. I knew it was going to have to be drastic, and some might even think mean. I picked her up, loaded her in the car and asked if she knew why Mommy was there to pick her up early from school. She did. She told me who she had bitten and why. Then I told her that she would be staying at home with me on Friday. It meant that she would miss Show and Tell. It meant that she would miss school. But what upset her the most was that she would miss the party. It broke my heart when she started crying. As a matter of fact, we were both crying. I think I was more upset than her because I realized she's missing a party that will be the only one of its kind in her little life. I hate for her to miss something special and fun. But through my tears I had to explain to her that she could not treat her friends like that. She could not bite and scratch and hit. I tried to explain that those kinds of actions have consequences. I really don't know if she understands that yet. But she will learn, and I would rather it be a lesson that we teach as her parents, than one she learns later in life in a much harder, more damaging way.

So, we went home, I put her down for a nap, and we went about our day. Her teacher called me last night and we discussed what had happened. She was very encouraging and told me that SM is not the only child this age that has bitten. She's not the only one that has struggled with aggression. She also told me that she would miss Sara Madalin on Friday, but she understood that was her punishment and that she supported me in that decision. I wanted her to know that I wasn't keeping Sara Madalin home because I was upset about being called. It wasn't that at all. I'm thankful that she is in such good care at school and that discipline is as important to her teacher as it is to us. I kept her home, and reminded her why she was here and what her friends were doing, so that hopefully she thinks twice next time before she takes her frustration and aggression out on her friends.

We've had a good day so far. We got up at her regular time, 6:30. I had her help me strip the linens off all the beds and made her carry them to the laundry room. Although, she enjoys helping me, so I'm not sure she understood that was part of her punishment. We cleaned her room, bathroom, the den, and kitchen. She's gotten several hugs and kisses and has been really sweet and well-mannered. I did remind her at 10:00 that her friends were having their party and asked her if she remembered why she wasn't there with them. She did and told me again who she had bitten. I reminded her that we don't treat people that way. After that, I don't plan on mentioning it again. I'm not going to continue to guilt her for something that she's already been punished for. For her snack, I let her help make some muffins. She has watched a couple of episodes of Bubble Guppies and we're about to get ready for lunch, then her rest. We may go out and run an errand or two this afternoon. I'm not sure if her punishment will make her change her behavior or attitude at school, but I do know that controlling her temper and aggression is a lesson that she will learn. And maybe I'll survive to see it.

Another thing I wanted to note about yesterday is that I am thankful that God has placed women in my life who are as flawed and imperfect as me. There are people that will read about our life yesterday and say, "Oh, my child would never do that." or "I never had to discipline my child for those things." or whatever else perfect people like to say about their perfect children. But yesterday God gave me a couple friends who reminded me that no child is perfect, and no parent is either. But thankfully we serve a perfect God who can give us wisdom and strength and guidance. And I'm thankful that He does that through some special friends that let me vent to yesterday and who gave me Godly advise and support.

Hickory, Dickory Dock...

2012-01-19T17:56:00.007-06:00

For the past couple weeks, Sara Madalin and her friends have been studying nursery rhymes at school. To end this series of lessons, tomorrow they are having a Nursery Rhyme-themed party at snack time. I signed up to bring snacks, along with another mom. Here are the items I prepared and dropped off today.

First are suckers made to look like spiders, playing off of the Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Spider that scared Little Miss Muffet.

I found the idea on Pinterest, of course. Here's a list of the supplies I used:

dum dum suckers
black paper napkins
black pipe cleaner
self-sticking googley eyes

I took dome dum-dum suckers and wrapped them in a small piece or black paper napkin, just enough to wrap around the sucker once or twice. Then, I cut two pipe cleaners in half to make four pieces of the pipe cleaner. I wrapped each piece around the stick of the sucker, making four legs on each side of the spider. Then I attached the eyes. I shaped the pipe cleaners to make them look a little more like spider legs, rather than sticking straight out from the side.

Next I made some mice, to go along with Hickory, Dickory Dock.

Again, another Pinterest idea. Here's the supply list:

Hershey's Kisses (Talk about temptation, I've had no refined sugar, chocolate, or caffeine since December 31. I wanted to eat about half that bag of kisses. But I ate not one.)
pink felt (for the ears)
googley eyes
pink ribbon (for the tail)
tiny pink pom-pom balls
double-sided tape

I cut out the ears (free hand) and attached them to the bottom of one of the kisses using a small piece of double-sided tape. Then I attached the two kisses together with more tape. I put the eyes on, then taped a small piece of ribbon on for a tail. Finally, I attached the pom-pom ball with a small piece of tape for the nose.

I also carried a bag of Bugles chips, as a play off Little Boy Blue's horn.

Finally, I bought some bottled water and wrapped a strip of gingham wrapping paper around them.

I placed them in a blue bucket and now they are a "pail of water" just like the one Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch.

Another mom has ordered some cake pops that look like spiders and some cookies that look like Humpty Dumpty. I think it's going to be a cute party.

I had not originally signed up to help with snacks this week. But when I found out that only one person was scheduled to bring something, I let Miss Melodi know I'd help too. Now, I did sign up for next week. So, I'll also have a snack for next Friday as well. If it turns out cute I'll post pictures.

Play Date with Wright

2012-01-17T17:52:00.003-06:00

I do believe my daughter has met her match.

This is Sara Madalin's friend from school, Wright. He and Sara Madalin have very similar personalities and I believe she's come close to meeting someone who might possibly be able to keep up with her. We met Wright, his mom, and his little brother for lunch, ice cream, and play time Monday while they were out of school. They had a great time together.

It was funny watching them play. They would lose track of each other and run over to us where we were sitting and talking. Then they'd ask (scream), "Where's Wright?" or "Where did Sara Madalin go?" They are both FULL of energy. And they really enjoyed each other. Wright's mom and I enjoyed some adult conversation.

We will definitely have to plan more play dates in our future.

It's all about the "cleaks"

2012-01-16T21:04:00.004-06:00

If this doesn't look like a future professional athlete, I don't know what does.

But then again, as her momma, I might be just a little biased.

We have officially signed up for Spring Soccer at a local club in the U4 (under 4) division. She starts practice next week and has her first game on the 28th. If I told you she is excited about playing, I'd be lying. Cause she's ECSTATIC!!! We went Saturday morning and bought her cleats (or cleaks, as she calls them), shin guards, shorts, socks, a ball, and some Under Armor. She wanted to wear the cleats and shin guards out of the store. Seriously. She had a little "fainting spell" right there in the store, complete with wailing and gnashing of teeth, because I took the shoes off her and put her street shoes back on her.

All we have left to complete her uniform is her jersey that she'll get from the club, and a pair of short to wear under her soccer shorts. The only reason we don't have those shorts is because I couldn't find an XXS for our thin little athlete. Luckily, her soccer shorts have drawstrings.

AS SOON as we got home Saturday afternoon (after enjoying lunch with Granny and Gramps), she begged to put her gear on and go outside to "practice." She was a natural, if I do say so myself.

We let her play for a little while, then she took a little rest (that's code for "nap" at our house). I told her I would wash her clothes and they'd be ready for practice when we go next week. Well, when she got up from her rest, one of the first things she asked was, "Did you wash my soccer clothes yet?" See, just a little excited, huh?

And if you think I wasn't made to be a soccer mom, I've got a little video Reagan took Saturday that would prove you wrong. I'd post it, but I'm too embarrassed by my enthusiasm. Let's just say, no matter how many people are there to cheer on those sweet little 3-year-olds, Sara Madalin's momma will definitely be heard. That's my baby, and I've waited a very long time to yell her name from the sidelines of a sporting event. Good thing she's still too young to be embarrassed by that.

Get ready for some soccer posts, y'all.

Blessings

2012-01-15T16:30:00.000-06:00

Last week was somewhat of a blur for me. I can remember that I slept good every night. Probably because my days were so full. I'm thankful for the activity, and I was especially thankful for the sleep. But to be quite honest, blogging was not on my radar at all. I know our lives are not as busy as some people, but we do stay pretty active and on the go. I was trying this past week to set up a time that I could speak with our adoption counselor at BCS, and I was telling her when I would be available, when wasn't a good time to call, and all that. When she and I finally spoke (Friday morning while I was shopping in Dollar Tree), she said, "You sound like you stay in your car and on the go quite a bit." Yeah, I do. I won't share my weekly schedule, but I do travel a lot during the week.

Which kind of brings me to what I'm blogging about today.

I see a lot of people while I'm out. People I'm meeting for various reasons. And people who are asking for monetary donations or food or work. One day last year I was out running errands and shopping. I had just come out of Target. I was walking to my car and a man approached me and asked if I could help him and his wife. He was asking me for money. He was dressed in a shirt that was far too large for him. He looked like he'd not shaved or bathed in some time. He looked like a lot of the men I've seen sitting on the side of the road holding signs asking for donations. I had some money that I keep in my car for such situations. I've given money to people in need before. But that day I told him no, I couldn't help him. I jumped to a quick judgment that he was probably not going to use the money I gave him for anything but alcohol or drugs. I made that judgment just because of his appearance and what little history I thought I'd had with people who looked like him. I hate to even admit that, but I did. I made a quick judgment and told him no and walked away pushing my buggy full of things I can't even remember buying.

I left Target and went to my next stop. But I couldn't forget that man.

I called Reagan, in tears, while still in the next store on my list. I told him what happened. I told him I needed to go back and see if I could find that man. So, I drove back to Target and drove all around the parking lot looking for him. I looked to see if there was anyone in a parked car that looked like him. I drove to the lots of nearby stores and looked. Then, I parked and went back into Target and looked for him. I never found him. But I've never forgotten him. I've prayed for him many times since that day. I've prayed God would forgive me for my disobedience that day. And that He would forgive me for my pride and selfishness. I've even prayed that God would give me another opportunity to say "yes" to someone else like him. And God has from time to time. But, as I said, I've never forgotten that man. Whether he, or the next person I come across like him, uses the money I give them for food, or alcohol, or even drugs, I'm not accountable for that. I'm accountable for obeying God when He presents opportunities for me to be His hands and feet.

I've prayed for other ways that we could minister to people like him, and so many others that Sara Madalin and I see on an almost daily basis. Then, a few weeks ago (or months - I can't even be sure what day it is half the time, much less how much time passes), I saw a friend mention on her blog that she had made what she called "Blessing Bags" with her son. Then, I saw more information about them on Pinterest and I pinned them in hopes that Sara Madalin and I could put a few together. So, Friday, while she was at school, I went to Dollar Tree and picked up enough supplies to put together 4 bags. I'll tell you what all I bought to put in them in a minute.

First, and probably the most important thing we put in them was a small book of John that I picked up from church. They are palm size and a simple, easy read.

Along with that, I put in the following:

rain poncho
soap
wash cloth
toothbrush
toothpaste
aspirin
deodorant
tissue
hand sanitizer
hand lotion
beef jerky
peanut butter crackers
cookies
granola bar
snack mix
gum
mints
a comb
band-aids
chapstick

Here's one of our finished bags.

I made up four of them - two for Reagan's car and two for mine. Sara Madalin and I prayed that God would give us someone to pass these along to in the coming weeks.

And just as an aside, I would love to tell you that when I told SM that we were going to do this "project" that she was all like, "Yay Mommy. Let's do something for those in our community that are less fortunate. How can I help?" But she wasn't. Once I put everything out on the counter, her first requests were for some of the mints and gum. She couldn't understand why those things were in our house and they weren't specifically for her. She's only 3, but hopefully she'll soon learn that when we make things up to give to other people, it's for other people, not us. My prayer is that by doing these things and teaching her to serve others, that someday she'll have a heart that is giving and sensitive in ways that mine may not be.

The Wheels on the Bus

2012-01-11T07:30:00.002-06:00

I was cleaning out my email this week and found this video I had forgotten to post. It was taken by Reagan while we were at my sister's house for Jeremiah's birthday party. Her husband, who is a school administrator, also substitute drives a school bus. While we were at their house, the bus was parked out front. So, of course, never having been on a bus before, she asked to look inside. We took her out there and she had a blast. Reagan and I were laughing at her and all the things she said.

Jump-o-line

2012-01-09T07:30:00.000-06:00

I almost forgot to post pictures of Sara Madalin playing with her big Christmas gift. She got a Little Tykes Trampoline. She calls it a "Jumpoline." She didn't get to play on it for a couple days because it rained here all day Christmas Day and the day after. But she's enjoyed it everyday since then. I took a few pictures of her outside playing one day last week.

It was Reagan's idea to get the trampoline for her. He thought it would be a great way to WEAR HER OUT and burn some of the abundance of energy she has. The only problem is, she only jumps on it for about 3 minutes then she wants to move on to something else. But she is enjoying it. That's what's important.

Date Night, Finally

2012-01-05T20:09:00.003-06:00

Many of my days are spent cooking, running errands, making sure Sara Madalin is where she needs to be when she needs to be, and cleaning toothpaste off the bathroom mirror. So, when Reagan and I have a night where we can go to a movie or dinner alone, I look forward to it pretty much all day long. One night this week we decided to call Miss Amber to come over so we could have a little date - just me and my guy.

Sara Madalin loves Miss Amber. When I told her Amber was coming over, her first question was, "Is she going to put me night-night?" (She's kind of fond of her momma when it's time for bed.)

I said, "Yes. But when you wake up in the night, Mommy and Daddy will be here." Then I told her all the fun things she and Miss Amber would do, like paint, and dress up, and dance. She loves playing with Miss Amber, and Amber is so good to her. She also knows how to discipline SM in a way that works, and for that I'm thankful. She doesn't just let SM run all over the place and do things she knows we wouldn't otherwise let her do.

So, Miss Amber showed up a couple hours before Reagan and I were planning on leaving. This gave me time to get ready (most days I'm lucky to get a shower and wash my hair, much less put on make-up and run a curling iron through my hair), and do a few things I couldn't otherwise do while SM is awake. They played and painted and dressed up. Then, when Reagan got home, I came out of the bedroom to say good-bye to Sara Madalin. She said to me, "Mommy, did you enjoy your movie?"

Bless her heart. She thought since she hadn't seen me in awhile that Reagan and I had gone and were returning from our date. I told her we hadn't left yet, and that we were about to leave and would be back soon. She was a little clingy, but not too much. As I said, she really likes and enjoys Miss Amber. We gave hugs and kisses and left.

Before we left, I did take a few pictures, with Amber's assistance. Here's SM and her BFF, Amber.

And then me and my girl.

Finally, me and the fella who put a ring on it.

We saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. We enjoyed it. I have to say, Tom Cruise looks pretty good for a man his age. But he always looks so weird when he runs. But then, I'm pretty sure I do too.

Anyway, SM went to bed pretty easily for Amber. Amber said she asked for me and whined just a little, but she went to sleep around 8:30 which is about the time she is asleep every other night.

She woke up and came into our room around 11:30, which was earlier than normal, but I told Reagan it was probably because we'd been gone when she went to sleep. Once she woke up just a little in the night, I'm sure she remembered that and came to our room to see if we were home yet. When she came in, she stepped up on my stool beside the bed and said, "Mommy?" I looked over at her and gave her a kiss. She said, "Mommy, I missed you so much." And then she gave me sweet kisses before walking over to her little bed in our room.

A date with my Honey, sweet love from my girl, and no toothpaste on the bathroom mirrors. It was a good day.

"I'm trying to sleep."

2012-01-03T21:00:00.002-06:00

We had one last day Monday to enjoy our little Christmas break. We have enjoyed the few days we've not had much of a schedule, and no where we needed to be. We've slept a little later, stayed in our PJs a little longer, and enjoyed more than a few long naps. Sara Madalin and Reagan have enjoyed watching a little television together each morning while I prepare breakfast. Here they are Monday morning watching - can you guess? SPIDERMAN!

She told me the other day that I'm Firestar and her Daddy is Iceman.

Monday evening our friends brought over a futon they were getting rid of. Sara Madalin has been sleeping (most of the night) on a pallet in our room. When I saw they were getting rid of the futon, I told them we were interested in getting it from them. Anyway, they brought it over after Reagan got home Monday night. To say Sara Madalin was excited to see them, that would be a huge understatement. She loves Miss Jackie. When I told her they were coming over, she immediately said, "Wet me go get my backetball." And she was all over them while they were here. They stayed a little while and it was soon her bedtime. I went in with her and brushed her teeth, got her PJs on, and read her story. Then, I turned her light out and closed her door, leaving it open only a small crack. Then, I went back into the dining area where Reagan, Nickey, and Jackie were still visiting. We were trying to be quiet, but we were talking and laughing. About 20 minutes later, SM walked in from her room and said, "I'm trying to sleep." We all just laughed at her and I went to tuck her back in. She went on to sleep and we visited for quite awhile.

When she came into our room in the middle of night, she went right over to the futon and climbed up on it and slept until we woke her around 6:40 Tuesday morning. I told Reagan, I really don't' want to encourage her to sleep in our room, but I also don't want her to have to sleep on the cold, hard floor when she does come in there. We'll see how this works. If she starts coming into our room too early in the evening, we'll have to move it out and work on getting her to sleep all night in her room. I'm so torn when it comes to these things. I want to embrace these days when she's still so young that she wants to be with us at night. But at the same time, I know it's good for her to sleep on her own in her bedroom. So, right now we are compromising and putting her to bed in her bed, and allowing her to come into our room later in the night/early morning.

While I was taking a shower, Reagan snapped this picture of her.

That's good sleeping right there. (And she's got a Spiderman band-aid on her hand, in case you might be wondering.

Tuesday morning on the way to school, I told her how proud I was of her for going on to sleep even though we were all in there talking. She said, "Why was they still there?" I said, "We were all talking and visiting with each other." She said, "Dey was loud."

Family Christmases

2012-01-01T21:27:00.005-06:00

We had Christmas meals with both our families this weekend. Well, with most of our family.

Saturday, my sister, Brandi, and her husband and children came over for lunch. She sent me a text Saturday night thanking me for inviting them and for all the food. I replied, "Thanks for caring enough to come. And for bringing ALL THE CRAZY!" Cause it was nothing if not that with all our kids in the house. And on top of all the excitement from the kids, I let SM have an Oreo ball. She was wired. She loves having her cousins here to play. She hated to see them go.

My sister gave her a Spidergirl costume for Christmas. When SM opened it, she couldn't have been more disappointed. She said, "Aww." It was if she'd been given coal. She doesn't like to be referred to as Spidergirl, and she didn't want a GIRL costume. My sister and I looked at each other and laughed. I had warned her that might be SM's reaction. I simply said to SM, "Tell your Aunt Brandi thank you." She also got an inflatable Spiderman chair. It has been added to the collection of her chairs in the living room that she and Taco takes turns sitting in.

My house was so loud and chaotic, I forgot to take any pictures. I hate it too, because they are all just growing up too fast.

Tonight we went to Mr. Brown's to eat and exchange gifts. Sara Madalin was the center of the show, as usual. She was really sweet, and so, so funny. I did take a few shots, mostly of SM, tonight. Here's my girl waiting patiently to open gifts. She wore her Spiderman shirt from Universal. And we've caught her several times lately, sitting so prim and proper with her legs crossed like that.

She and Cheyenne are the only cousins who get gifts anymore. All the other "kids" are in their 20s, so they don't get gifts any longer. Oh, and Papaw still gets gifts too. He had lots of help opening them tonight.

She finally got to open her gifts. Mallory had gotten her a bag FULL of Spiderman things - pens, markers, notebooks, and hand sanitizer. She opened the bag, pulled the first pen out and said, "Wook! It's my favorite movie!!!" We all laughed.

Here she is with her Papaw right before we left.

She was such a sweet, funny girl tonight. She was still her busy, mischievous self, but she was well-behaved and kept us all laughing. I'm so thankful for all the laughter she has brought to us and the rest of our family. I love that girl!

In With the New

2012-01-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

That's a little girl who was excited about shooting fireworks last night. Sue-Sue and Day-Day bought quite a few fireworks. Then, before we headed over to their house, we stopped and let her pick out about $20 worth of fireworks. She had a blast! ;-)

Now, as I mentioned in my last post, I have thought a little about some of the goals I have for this new year. There are a million things I want to do, but I narrowed my most specific goals down to a list of about 7 or 8. Here they are.

1) Find more ways to minister together as a family. I'd like to teach Sara Madalin more about ministering to others this year. Her school and our church both have many opportunities to minister, and I try to involve her in those activities as much as possible. But I'd like for us to look for ways that we can minister to others in our lives as a family. If anyone who reads our blog has any suggestions in this area, please feel free to share them with me.

2) Finish my graduate studies. I have been working on my Master's Degree in Communications since January '08. Then, SM was born in May '08. I took off a few semesters right after she was born. Then I have worked, taking one class per semester since then. I have 2 3-hour classes left, a research project and presentation, and comps. My goal to finish is August. It will hinge on whether or not one final class is offered in the Summer. But, hopefully, I will finish my course work and testing and have a graduate degree by this time next year.

3) And wouldn't it be perfect timing if, after I finish graduate school, we get a call about a new baby? Yeah, I think it would. So, I'm praying SM gets a new baby sister or baby brother this year and I get to decorate a new nursery in our home. I've already got several ideas. But the only way I'll get to share them is if we actually get a baby who needs somewhere to sleep. So, pray about that, will ya?

4) I'd like to take a family photo each month. I take photos pretty much every day. But usually the only subject is SM. We haven't had a professional family photo since our first Christmas as a family. I'd like to take more photos of the three (or hopefully, four) of us.

5) I'd like to plant a bigger garden this year. We grew a few tomato and bell pepper plants this past Summer. I'd like to have a box garden with a few more things this year.

6) I would like to be in good enough shape to run in a few more 5K races this year. I have wanted to register for a few more since I ran my first this past August. So, I'm going to try to plan to run 3-4 this year.

7) I need to purge. I would sooner throw something away than keep it. So, I plan to get rid of some things around the house. CraigsList, Ebay, and Goodwill will be my new best friends this year. Shhh, don't tell Reagan.

8) Finally, in my spare time, I'd like to make some of the fun, beautiful things I've pinned on Pinterest. I've tried a few things, and maybe I'll post those soon. But there are so many projects and cute crafty things out there. I love creative people and projects. So, maybe SM and I can make some pretty things this year.

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Out with the old...

2011-12-31T08:00:00.002-06:00

Remember this little post at the beginning of 2011? I'm not surprised if you don't. I haven't thought a whole lot about it in the recent months myself.

I had big plans at the beginning of the year to get some stuff done, huh? I think it's funny that I entitled the post, "All is Quiet on the Home Front" cause, for us, 2011 was anything but quiet. In 2011, we completed our home study and continued our wait for a second child through adoption. We passed on a private adoption of a baby boy who is now thriving in and loving his new family. We got hit by a deer coming home from church one night. We said our final good-byes to my precious mother-in-law. We celebrated the 3rd birthday of our little Sugar-girl. I got to run in my first 5K event. Sara Madalin started at her "new school," as she still calls it. We spent some time with friends. We visited Sara Madalin's birth family. And we met Spiderman and went to Disney. As far as I'm concerned, our year was anything BUT quiet.

So, how did I do on that list I made at the beginning of the year? Let's see...

1) Unpack all the boxes in storage. Well, I'm far from complete in this area. But we have definitely made some progress. I have unpacked all our videos, books, and games and placed them upstairs in the bonus area. Now, I just need to figure out or purchase a way to organize them. But as you can see, the shop/storage building is still in need of much work.

2) Organize the bonus room and craft room. I've made some progress there as well. It's still not an area where we can let the kids come and play unattended, but I think that it will be before much longer. We hope to purchase a few things for this area in the coming months. If I remember, I'll update on it at that time.

3) Learn to use my Canon Rebel. I attended a class early in the year that was given by a local professional photographer. It helped me learn a lot about lighting and settings on my camera. When I try, I can take pretty good pictures. I have also done quite a bit of reading that has helped me. And recently, I purchased a copy of Photoshop Elements from a friend. I hope to load and learn to use it soon.

4) Cook at home more and eat out less. Well... I guess I can't expect to reach ALL my goals in one year. I have cut back on my eating out during the week. As a family, we usually only eat out on Friday nights and then about 3 times on the weekends. We are just on the go so much that we aren't home to eat during the weekend. But pretty much every week night I cook. On the nights I had class, I would could something in the Crock Pot or have a pizza in the freezer for my people. Now, I just need to cook healthier for us.

5) Cook and give away at least one meal a month. I can't say that I've given away one meal each month, but I have cooked and given away quite a bit of food this year. We've had several people in our Sunday school class who've been sick that we've carried food to. I've cooked and carried a good bit of food to my Daddy, who is single. I hope to continue to use meal preparation and delivery as a ministry in the coming year.

6) Entertain more in our home. We hosted friends at our home for a couple game nights and a Super Bowl gathering. We also had several of my college friends over one afternoon this Summer. And of course, SM's birthday party was held here at our home. We enjoyed having people here. I hope to again entertain at home this coming year.

7) Spend less time online and more time doing constructive things. I haven't tracked my time online. There are some weeks I feel like I spend more time on the computer than others. I think since SM started school, I have definitely spent less time online during the day because I'm not home. I do answer and write emails on my phone, but I don't web surf as much as on my computer. I could definitely stand to spend less time online, even still. I have been able to craft and read more. I've read through almost all the Harry Potter series. I know, I'm way behind in that area. But I viewed the series as a kids' book/movie. I've enjoyed reading them though. Rowling is incredibly creative. I've also read The Hunger Games series and can't wait for the movie. I'll probably read those books again. I've crocheted. I've sewn several outfits for SM and appliquéd a few things as well. I enjoy sewing and crafting and hope to spend as much, if not more time, doing a few creative things this year.

Now, what are my goals for 2012. I've been thinking about that. Maybe I'll share them in my next post.

Happy New Year!

Sara Madalin's Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-30T18:00:00.004-06:00

I love it when my baby girl brings home something from school or church that she made. I have a box FULL of things that she's made just this year. I'm not a hoarded and I will throw away something sooner than I'll keep it - except when it comes to Sara Madalin. I keep everything she makes a mark on. When she started bringing home Christmas ornaments this year, I was so excited. I told her that her ornaments were heirlooms and very special. Here a few of the ornaments that we added to her tree this year.

This is a hand-painted ornament that her teachers gave each student this year. They are in the Turtle class, so they all got a Turtle ornament.

This is an angel whose wings are her little hand prints.

She almost made me cry one day during Christmas break. She walked over to our big tree where we have an ornament from her first Christmas. It's one that she and Reagan made and gave to me for Christmas that year. It's a cast of her hand print at just 7 months old. She walked over to it a week or so ago and said, "Wook, my hand was wittle when I was a baby." Made her momma want to cry.

Here's a gingerbread man she made.

Another ornament with her handprint, this one with snowmen

A reindeer ornament

Nativity/candy cane

The felt reindeer I made for her Christmas party

A wreath

A glitter star

Funny story related to those ornaments. They were all in a paper bag when she brought them home from school. I took them out of the bag and started putting them on the tree. I put the bag in the trash. I was picking up around the house when Sara Madalin came running to get me. She said, "Mommy, come wook! I decorated the kitchen for Christmas!" I went to the kitchen to find that she had pulled the bag out of the trash and poured the glitter all over the floor. I, of course, got onto her for pouring glitter all over the floor, to which she replied, "Mommy, you are being a Grinch."

Hope you've all had a Merry Christmas! See y'all next year.

Christmas Morning 2011

2011-12-30T07:30:00.002-06:00

Christmas morning began around 6:00 a.m. at house. That's only slightly earlier than most other mornings around here, so we weren't too surprised.

I went into the living room first and Sara Madalin and Reagan came in a few minutes later. I took a couple pictures of her coming over to the tree to see if Santa had brought any presents.

I know people do gifts on Christmas morning several different ways. We've done it different ways and we've only been doing this for a few years. Usually, what we do is if she has a big gift, that can't be wrapped, it's left unwrapped. If I can put it in a bag or wrap it, I do. It's always so fun to watch her open a gift, especially when she has no clue what might be in the package. And this year, since she only asked for a whistle and a slinky, she was clueless on pretty much everything she got.

I put her gifts in a large red bag and placed that under the tree. She pulled the bag out and opened it to see what was in it.

The first thing she pulled out was a fleece Spiderman blanket I had made her. I seriously think we could have given her that, a whistle, and a slinky, and we'd have had the happiest girl in the world that day.

She usually wakes up and comes into our room in the middle of the night and lies down on a pallet beside our bed and goes back to sleep. Sometimes she'll ask for a sip of water, but usually, she goes right back to sleep and sleeps until the sun starts shining through the blinds. When she comes into our room, she brings this blanket and her baby doll. It's so funny. And sweet.

We moved the bag over to the rug and she began to open her gifts. I didn't get her a lot of gifts, and nothing very expensive. She has such a short attention span, I figured it would be a waste of time and money to go too far with the gifts. Plus, I'm sure in a few shorts years, her wish list will include things more expensive than a $3 whistle and a $2.50 slinky. I'm putting off splurging until those days come. She was so happy with what she got. Occasionally, she would shake a box before she opened it. It was funny to see her this year. She was so excited.

She got a Princess alarm clock. It's also a night light. It has a setting that plays music when it's bedtime. Then a light and alarm that comes on when it's time to get up in the morning. So far, we've set those things but she hasn't paid one bit of attention to either.

She got a chore/reward chart. We hope to start using it soon. She does pretty good when a reward is involved. Especially when the reward is something she can put in her piggy bank. So, if she gets so many positive marks for something in one week, she'll get a quarter. Some of the things we want her to start doing is picking up her room at night, going to bed on time without getting up a million times, and NO WHINING. I'll let you know how that goes.

There's that Slinky.

I really did enjoy watching her open her gifts. But I stole more than one glance at the growing pile of trash. I couldn't wait to get that cleaned up.

And there's the whistle. It was in her stocking.

She got some books, some markers, stickers, a Princess Barbie with a couple outfits, some kitchenware and plastics cups for her toy kitchen, along with the things I've already mentioned and shown above.

She also got one BIG gift. It was a gift that had to stay outside. And because it rained all day Christmas day and the day after, she had to watch it through the back door for two days before getting to enjoy it. I'll show you that in one of my next few posts. her Daddy is pretty proud of himself for picking it out all on his own and putting it together.

____________

By the way, I got her Christmas gown at a little shop in Spanish Fort, AL. I picked it up on a girls' weekend trip a couple months ago. She looked so precious in it.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-29T20:31:00.004-06:00

In keeping with our tradition we've had since before Reagan and I married, we went to his sister's house Christmas Eve for a chili dinner with his family. I think we were all a little sad remembering Mrs. Brown at that time. When we get together for holidays, it's a reminder that someone is missing. We enjoyed our time together, but we all missed her a little this holiday.

While Susan was finishing up dinner, Sara Madalin went to Mitch's room. While in there she found a wig he had worn to a 70s party at school. She asked him what it was and could she wear it? When she came out to the kitchen wearing it, I told Reagan that was a look at what her hair will be like one day if we never cut it. It's also a lot like her hair when I pick it out and don't wash it in the mornings.

After dinner, she and I decorated cookies for Santa. I had made them at home while she napped earlier in the day. We brought them with us so she decorate. She put a few sprinkles on the two I gave her to decorate.

Then she wanted to "taste" the sprinkles.

Then, I guess, she figured she might as well enjoy the rest of it, and ate the frosting off the tops.

Sue-Sue always has her a gift to open on Christmas Eve. Sara Madalin could hardly wait to get her hands on her present.

It was a new baby doll. Susan had gone to Chicago on business a few months ago and bought SM an American Girl Itty Bitty baby doll at the American Girl store there. SM loved it! She named her Belle and has carried her everywhere.

After leaving Susan's, we came home and got ready for Santa by putting out reindeer food in the front yard. She had made it at school. The day they made it, she told me that night as I got her ready for bed, "We made reindeer food today." I said, "You did?" She said, "Yeah, I ate some."

After putting out the food, she came in and put some milk and cookies out for Santa. She wanted to taste them so bad. But she did good and didn't eat any at all.

She went down to sleep fairly easily. Well, as easily as she ever does, which means we only had to fight her for about an hour to stay in her bed. She got up and came into our room around 2:00. She went straight to her pallet and went back to sleep. Then, around 6:00 she woke up and climbed up onto my step stool beside the bed. I said, "Do you want to get in the bed with Mommy and Daddy?" She said, "No. Living woom." So, that's how our Christmas morning began.

Happy Birthday Jesus.

2011-12-25T09:07:00.001-06:00

Daddy's Party

2011-12-23T21:25:00.004-06:00

Sara Madalin and I visited with Reagan today as he and his co-workers had their Christmas lunch. I had dressed her in a shirt with a cute Christmas tree appliqué and a pair of pink corduroy pants. But then she told me, "I want to wear a tutu cause I want to be a dancer when I grow up." And since there was no mention of Spiderman in that conversation, I said ok. Then, of course, we had to add the light-up shoes. And we were off.

Here she is with her Daddy at the end of lunch.

There was tons of chocolate desserts. She tried to sneak one but we stopped her. Instead, she got to eat a LoftHouse cookie - one of my personal favorites.

Will and his mom, Carla, were also there to eat lunch with his dad, Henry. I told Carla that Sara Madalin needed her own shirt like Will's.

Sara Madalin received a few gifts while at the store. Nee-Nee gave her a Spiderman punching thingy. (You inflate it, punch it and it bounces back.)

She also got another gift from B.B. Or gifts, actually. She got a pillowcase with a princess crown appliquéd on it, and a Disney Princess puzzle and book. She asked for the pillowcase to be put on her pillow before going to bed, and we read the book as one of her bedtime stories.

She had a great time, as always, with everyone at the store.

Family Vacation December 2011

2011-12-23T09:15:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we have been planning for most of the year a trip to Disney with Reagan's sister and her family. (And by "we," I mean Reagan and Susan.) We tried to get Reagan's dad to join us but he just didn't feel he could make the trip and all the activities. He felt it would be too much for him physically. We hated he couldn't make it, but we all enjoyed our time together.

We waited until after SM's party at school last Thursday, then flew down to meet Susan and her gang. They had already been there for a day and a half. We met them Thursday night for dinner at Hollywood Studios. We really enjoyed our meal.

SM enjoyed her first Shirley Temple.

Friday morning we headed over to Animal Kingdom for breakfast and some play time.

Mandy, Mitch, Reagan, and I rode the Expedition Everest roller coaster while SM stayed with David and Susan. There was an observation area, and she sat with David and watched the people on the roller coaster.

Reagan and Susan went back up for a second ride. Mitch took SM closer to watch the people ride down the mountain. There was one empty cart that came down. We aren't sure why they sent an empty car, but Mitch told SM it was because the people had fallen out and the Yeti (in the ride) ate them. She re-told that story to any stranger that would listen to her for the rest of the week. David was with her one time later in the week when she was retelling it to some woman as we waited to eat dinner. He said SM was telling her about the people falling out and she said, "And it was serious!"

Later that evening, we went to Epcot for awhile. She got to see Snow White. She spent about 2 minutes with Snow White. Snow White looked at one of us and said, "She's a handful, isn't she? I can tell after just a couple minutes."

Saturday was our Universal Studios day that I posted about already. Sunday we spent our day at Magic Kingdom. SM got to ride all the fun rides for her age. She rode the Snow White ride for the first, and probably last, time. She's not ridden it before because I thought she would be too afraid. She sat with Susan while she rode it. When she got off the ride she said, "I wasn't scared. I was really brave." We told her she certainly was.

Here she is with Mandy and Susan on the Dumbo ride. She didn't want to ride with us when they were around.

She rode several other rides, including the Haunted Mansion, where she rode with Mandy and Mitch. They said she asked a million questions. After riding, we got a snack and sat and waited for the Celebration Parade. We had kept her from chocolate so far all week, but we did let her have one chocolate Mickey ice cream bar. She enjoyed every bite.

This next picture cracks me up. Toward the end of the parade, the cast invites audience members to join them in the street and dance. They had only said it once and this girl was up on her feet. She never looked back at any of us, as most kids her age would do. She certainly doesn't need to ask Santa for self-confidence this year.

After the parade, we went to a character meal where between seeing the characters, we fought SM to stay in her chair long enough for Reagan and I to eat our meal.

Our last full day at Disney was spent at Epcot. We had breakfast with the Princesses to start our day.

We spent a little time playing here, then headed back to the hotel for the rest of our day. We had a late flight out on Tuesday, so we went back to Hollywood Studios for part of the day. We had a terrible first leg of our flight home. It had been a long day. We were all tired. SM had not had a nap and the flight left right at the time she would have normally had dinner. She screamed most of the flight. She was beyond exhausted and didn't even know what she was saying most of the time. She finally fell asleep right before we landed for our lay-over. We arrived and found that our connecting flight was delayed for 3 hours and that we wouldn't be arriving at our destination until 11:30 that night. SM slept in her stroller in the airport until right before we boarded our connecting flight. She was in a much better mood and drank some milk and slept most of that flight. She and I have been spending the last couple days catching up on our rest and preparing for the weekend.

We had a great family vacation, but we are all glad to be home.

Spiderman!

2011-12-22T19:08:00.006-06:00

While we were gone this past week, we visited Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure in Orlando. We were there with Reagan's sister and her family. We had planned the trip back in the Spring, after Reagan's mom passed away. We had hoped that Reagan's dad would go with us, but he chose not to. I think he kind of wished he had gone after hearing from Susan while we were on the trip. We enjoyed our time together. SM loved having Sue-Sue, Day-Day, Mitch, and Mandy with us. And I think they enjoyed her as well.

While at Universal, we planned to find Spiderman so our daughter could meet her hero. We got to the park when it opened and first headed to the Harry Potter area. Mitch and I really wanted to see and ride the attractions there. I wanted to try the Butterbeer. After convincing my husband that it contained no alcohol, he got me a cup. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't a fan. It was too sweet. I took a couple sips, let Mandy and Mitch try it, then we tossed it and hopped on the Dueling Dragons roller coaster. We tried to get SM to ride the Hippogriffs, but she wouldn't, so we headed to the Marvel comics area of the park.

On our way to that area of the park, we saw a face painting booth. We stopped so SM, who was already wearing her Spiderman costume, could get her face painted. She took it very seriously. She didn't want the artist to mess up the paint, so she was more still than I think she's ever been in her life.

Seriously, she didn't move until the girl was done. She even got a little red lipstick to finish off the look.

We got to the Spiderman meet and greet area just as Spiderman was coming into the photo area. I wish I'd had a picture of her as he turned the corner and she saw him for the first time. It was priceless. She was beside herself. She was about the 4th person in line and she kept looking around everyone ahead of her to see him. Then, when it was her turn, she was speechless. She just kept looking at him. He was so good and got down on her level and talked to her. It was probably the greatest moment of her little life.

Here they are throwing their webs.

There was a green screen behind them and a professional photographer took a picture of them and placed it on a magazine screen and they both looked like they were throwing webs in a comic scene.

She also saw Captain America. She didn't have a clue who he was until we got home and her Daddy looked up a cartoon of him on Netflix.

We met up again with David, Susan, Mandy, and Mitch. Reagan and I rode the Hulk roller coaster with Mandy and Mitch while Sue-Sue and SM rode another ride nearby. David sat and watched.

She had a great time with her Sue-Sue last week. When Susan was around, she had little to do with us.

We went over to the Dr. Seuss area next. She rode a couple rides there, then we watched the Grinch Christmas show.

She got to meet The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. She hugged and kissed all over them.

We had people all day who stopped us to tell us how cute she was in her costume and painted face. There were even a few people who stopped and asked if they could take a picture of her. Little did they know, she was just being herself. We were happy to see her enjoying herself.

I struggled with whether or not to even post these pictures, or others, from our trip. I have "friends" read our blog and then joke about how often we take her to Disney, and the other things we do for her. I've considered making my blog private, so I can again have the freedom to post what I want about our lives without having to deal with the criticism of those who think our life is excessive. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, if someone has a problem with our life or the things I blog about, they don't have to read our blog. It's that simple. I'm not trying to be mean, and I appreciate the readers we have and all the encouraging comments we receive from time to time. But it really bothers me that there are people in our life that read our blog just for fodder to criticize us. People who I would expect to be our biggest supporters and encouragers, but are instead spreading negativity about our family. It hurts, and it also makes me sad.

I'll be the first to admit, our life is not perfect. Our family is not perfect. And I am the least perfect person you will ever meet. But we love each other and I want to remember the times we enjoy as a family. I write about these things for us and for those who truly care about us and can be happy for us. Do we spoil our daughter? Yes. But we're her parents and that is our job. Every parent spoils their child to some extent. We are blessed to be able to make some of her dreams come true, like seeing Spiderman at Universal Studios. Every parent wants to make their children's dreams come true. We are no different. But, in our opinion, we don't lead an excessive lifestyle. We give to others, our church, and missions. We live in a modest home, drive modest vehicles, and save in other areas so that we can splurge on these kinds of trips and spend time as a family. We are blessed and grateful for what God gives us. I want to remember these times we spend together. So, I'm going to post our pictures and our stories. I know that these times and memories are precious and I want to someday look back and remember them through these pictures. And when that time comes that we don't take as many trips together as a family, I'll have these precious pictures and stories to look back on. And I'll be glad I posted for our family, and not for others.

Sara Madalin's K3 Christmas Party

2011-12-22T07:51:00.003-06:00

So, we've been gone for a week. And while we were gone, I just didn't make time to blog. But we're back and I have a few minutes to post pictures from Sara Madalin's Christmas party at school.

Her party was last Thursday. Several of us had signed up to decorate and bring snacks for their party. Another mom and I got together and planned out a theme. The theme we chose was obviously the same theme that most every other mom in our area had chosen, because when we started trying to find party supplies, the pickings were slim.

We decided we'd go with a Rudolph theme in our decorations and snacks. My new co-party planning friend, Lauren, took care of the table decorations. She took some brown plates, attached antlers and eyes, and had a reindeer head. Then, we put smaller red plates on top of that for a red nose. It was so cute.

Lauren and I found tons of ideas on Pinterest. I sent some links to the other moms helping us, so they could put a few things together for the party. I sent a link for reindeer candy canes to Katherine's mom, Lucy. She is so funny. She replied to my email with the question, "I'll be glad to help, but where do I get these things?" She's said she's not crafty. I pointed her in the direction of Hobby Lobby and told her to take a picture of the finished candy canes with her, in case she had to ask for help. I'd say she did a great job with her first craft project.

Lauren made these chocolate covered marshmallow reindeer. They were so cute, and a HIT with the kids.

And here are my poor little Nutter Butter reindeer. They may not look very fancy, but those 3 year olds never noticed.

I also made felt reindeer ornaments for each of the children. We used small table trees as decorations. We put the ornaments and some small red balls on them and used the tree on each table where the children sit.

Once we were done preparing the room, the children were called in from another room where they were watching a movie. They were so sweet and I was so proud of Sara Madalin and how well-behaved she was. She was second or third to enter the room. She was surprised to see us in the room when she got there. She had her hands folded behind her back and waited until Miss Melodi said it was ok to come over and say hello to us.

We had talked to her about us being there for the party. In the past, she's always acted up once we were present in a setting we aren't normally party of, like ballet or something of that nature. Anyway, we talked to her about us being at the party and told her she needed to still obey Miss Melodi and Miss Tricia with us present. And that she needed to sit still and wait her turn, and all those things. She amazed us with how well-behaved she was. She was so sweet. I was very proud of her.

They always say their blessing before snack and lunch each day. It was so sweet to see them pray together with us all there.

Then the real party began. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. We had also told her she could have one chocolate thing. She obeyed and only chose one thing - the chocolate marshmallow. They all enjoyed the treats, whether the marshmallows, cookies, or chips.

William Wright's little sister, Gloria Helen, was also there. She thought she was as big as the other kids and did everything they did. She reminds me a lot of SM.

After their snacks, the children moved to their rug to share with us some of the things they've learned about Christmas. Again, SM was so well-behaved and sweet. She answered questions and made this momma so proud.

Finally, they got to open gifts. Reagan and I are so happy with what all she learns at school. Not only is she learning the basics like her alphabet and the months of the year, she's learning scripture and manners. One example of that was, before opening their gifts, each child gave the gift they brought to the person whose name they had drawn. As they received a gift, they had been instructed to say, "Thank you." Then they all waited until everyone had a gift and Miss Melodi counted to 3 before they opened their gift. So, they were taught restraint and thankfulness without really even realizing they were being taught a lesson. And would you look at these sweet faces once they were allowed to open their gifts.

Here's a picture of SM and all the other girls in her class. I don't even want to think about the drama that is to come among this little group.

I tried to get a group picture. This was as close as I got. It was certainly not an easy task.

Sara Madalin and all her friends had a great time. Lauren also made them treats to carry with them, such as reindeer food, and reindeer noses, that we found on Pinterest. Then, we also brought home tons of Christmas ornaments that they've made this past month. I hope to take photos of those and post them soon.

Christmas Challenge: Holiday Greetings

2011-12-14T20:00:00.000-06:00

How's this for a Holiday Greeting? That's Sara Madalin kissing the (bald) head of one of our close friends, Jimmy, at the company Christmas party Tuesday night.

His wife, Renee (or Nee-Nee, if you are SM), was holding her and she just leaned over and kissed him on the top of the head. Then she rubbed on it some. It was kind of funny.

As I said, we went to the Christmas party for the company(ies) where Reagan works. The drug store employees, along with the gravel pit employees, the Radio Shack employees, the DME company employees, and any other company that operates out of the store, all met for their annual Christmas dinner Tuesday night. Before we left I tried to get a picture of SM in her outfit I had made her for the party.

That would have been a darling picture had it not been for (A) the fact that her Momma still hasn't put a skirt under that Christmas tree, and (B) she had stood still so you could actually see the Santa appliquéd on the front of her dress. Nonetheless, she's pretty cute.

Here she is with Amy.

We haven't seen Amy in a few months and when SM ran up to her, the first question she asked was, "Where's you baby?" She was talking about Baby Will. It caught SM a little off-guard when Amy said there was a baby in her belly. SM just looked at her stomach trying to figure that one out. Thanks, Amy, for all the questions I'm going to get in the near future from that conversation.

Here's Reagan and Scooter.

Scooter was able to stand and give testimony of all God has done in his life these past few months. From having surgery for Krohn's disease, to having a tumor discovered in his colon, which resulted in being diagnosed with Stage4 cancer. Then, being told just last week after his PET scan that there was no sign of cancer anywhere else in his body. It was great to hear him share how God had touched his and his family's life through this.

Here's SM with another of Scooter and B. B.'s daughters, Anna. We love Anna.

Scooter and B. B. with all three of their daughters - Shannon, Anna, and Amy.

And because she's B. B., and can get away with it, SM was given a whistle right before dinner. Talk about a happy little girl when she saw it, that would be SM.

She blew that thing during dinner. Then all the way home. And most of the time she's been home today. I'm SO happy B.B. gave her that whistle.

We had a great time of fellowship and enjoyed the food so much. On the way home from school today, I asked Sara Madalin what her favorite part of last night was, thinking she'd say the whistle. She said, "The mashed potatoes."

So, there you go. A great dinner and a whistle. Who can ask for more?

Christmas Challenge: Reindeer

2011-12-13T06:00:00.002-06:00

Every year I take a picture of SM in these reindeer antlers. If they make it through this year (she's a little rougher with them than in past years), I'll photograph her in them until she's married.

If you want to see her in past years, here you go: 2008, 2009, 2010.

We actually have several reindeer around our house right now. I showed the reindeer cookies I made in yesterday's post. I also appliquéd her a reindeer t-shirt to wear to her party Thursday. And I made some reindeer felt ornaments for decorations and favors at the party. Just like Chocolate, Reindeer are EVERYWHERE!

Canton Christmas Lights

2011-12-12T19:30:00.001-06:00

Sunday evening we met our friend, Jana, for dinner and then drove to Canton to see the lights. We try to go each year. Jana works for the tourism office and heads up the light festival. We enjoy going to see what she's done each year. It's also been fun to see how Sara Madalin has changed each year. For a look back at past visits, click HERE for 2008, we missed 2009, and but you can click HERE for 2010.

Here are my people as we arrived last Sunday night. It was pretty cold, and already SM's bedtime. So, we didn't stay too long, but enjoyed ourselves as much as we could, as quickly as we could.

We went into the lobby of the hotel that serves as the Tourism office. There was a display set up in the lobby with Santa and his list. Sara Madalin looked for her name, but there was no "Sara" on there.

I got a quick picture of her in front of the tree before heading outside to let her ride a few rides.

Here she is with Jana right before riding.

They rode the train and the merry-go-round. We all rode the horse and carriage together.

Here she is on the carousel. She was so tired, but she wanted to ride it all.

As I said, we rode a few things. Then we went into one of the animation museums before heading home. It was so fun to see Jana and look at all the lights. She and the crew in Canton put so much work into making this event enjoyable for so many that visit each year. I'm glad we got to see her and that SM enjoyed herself so much.

Christmas Challenge: A Winter Wonderland

2011-12-12T06:00:00.003-06:00

One morning last week I stepped outside the backdoor to snap a few pictures of the frost on the ground, and I just happened to catch this.

Do you see him? He was pretty fast and I almost missed him. He was running across our backyard. Almost every morning when Sara Madalin and I leave for school we see at least one, sometimes more. There have been mornings I've seen then in our backyard, then a few more up the road past our neighbor's house. I saw no less than 10 in our field across the road one night when I came home from my evening class. Just like Chocolate, the deer are EVERYWHERE!

As I said, I had stepped outside to take a picture of the frost on the ground. Or as Sara Madalin calls it, the "frosting." Here are a couple of quick photos I took.

It actually snowed on us as we were headed to school one day last week. SM was so disappointed that it didn't last long, stick. But then again, when she sees the "frosting," she thinks it's snow usually. I hope it does snow at least once this season for her to play in it. I know she would have a ball.

Christmas Challenge: Something Sticky

2011-12-11T23:25:00.001-06:00

If you are on Pinterest, I think it's safe to say you've seen these little babies all over the boards.

Source

Don't be fooled, they are not that easy to make and not that neat and pretty when they are done. I attempted my first batch this past Saturday. Evidently, there is a bit of a learning curve to making these things. This is one of my better looking ones.

Out of a whole bag of Nutter Butter cookies, I have 14 decent Rudolphs to take to Sara Madalin's class party on Thursday. Depending on how much time I have, I might attempt to make a few more. But they are a mess to make. I had chocolate all over the kitchen by the time I was finished. I didn't even get pictures of my mess because I had melted chocolate burns on my fingers. It was bad, very bad.

I was telling my friends in Sunday School, if you are thinking about making those, DON'T. Put that bag of Nutter Butters down and walk away.

Christmas Challenge: Away in a Manger

2011-12-10T06:00:00.002-06:00

This is the Nativity set that Reagan bought me one of our first Christmases as a married couple. He bought the manger scene first, then added the other barn yard scene and a few of the animals later. This is one of my favorite decorations that I put out at Christmas. It is currently set up in the dining area. I keep thinking that one year I'm going to get creative and add some little trees or something, but I never have. I think it's special just as it is.

This is Sara Madalin's nativity that is on her dresser in her room. It is plastic. She enjoys playing with it. She loves to hear the story of "baby Jesus." She asks for it all the time. And in the books that she has gotten every day, there are several that re-tell the story on a level that she can understand. Even the character books that she is opening (like Berenstein Bears) tell the story of the birth of our Savior.

I have several nativity sets, and a few snow globes that have the nativity scene in them. We were given many of them as wedding gifts. But there are all fragile and too special to display as long as there is a toddler in the house. So, for now, these two are the only two nativity scenes that we have on display in our home. We are so very thankful for what the Nativity represents, not just in our home, but in our hearts.

Do you believe?

Christmas Challenge: Santa Claus

2011-12-09T06:00:00.004-06:00

These photos are of Sara Madalin during her visit to Santa while we were in Florida last month. My friend, Nicki, told me about this Santa. She had taken her boys to him last year. I loved the photos she posted of them with him. They were candid, not so much posed. And Santa looks real, not fake. We decided to take Sara Madalin one morning before heading home from our vacation. Luckily, I had brought one dress outfit for her on our trip. It's not her Christmas dress, but she looked cute and dressy, which I was happy about. We paid for and received a disc with the photos that the photographer took. I uploaded and edited them just a little before posting them.

When we got to the mall where Santa was, there was no one in line. It probably helped that we went around 10:30 on a Monday morning. So, we walked right up to him. Sara Madalin was in awe. It was so sweet to see her reaction to him. She was a little shy, but she walked up to him and gave him a big hug. And who can resist those big blue eyes of hers, especially after getting a sweet hug? He scooped her right up onto his lap.

You can just make it out, but look to the right, directly behind her head. There is a Spiderman ornament on the tree. I didn't notice it until I was editing the photos. If Sara Madalin had seen that when we were visiting Santa, I'm pretty sure there would have been a fit to take it with us.

They kind of told her how to pose, but she is not really good at taking direction (from her Momma or anyone else). She still took great pictures, even if she didn't pose exactly as the photographer requested.

I cropped really close on this next photo because I love her beautiful eyes. And they were full of amazement this day, you can actually see it.

One last kiss for Santa before leaving. She was so happy, she talked about it all day.

She asked him for a whistle and a slinky. She's pretty easy to please. At least when it comes to what she's asking Santa to bring for Christmas. Not so much the rest of the year.

"H" is for Hamburger... Hamburger Cookies

2011-12-08T20:15:00.002-06:00

Each Friday Sara Madaln's class is treated to a special snack by a different parent. We signed up for the days we'd bring snacks at the beginning of the school year. Miss Melodi asked that we bring a snack that starts with the letter the children are studying that week. I signed up for "H," "L," and "P." For several weeks I've been trying to figure out what I was going to bring for snack that started with the letter "H." I thought about Ho-Ho's, or hash browns, or even mini hot dogs. Then, a week or so ago, I saw Angela Thomas post on her Facebook page these cute little Hamburger Cookies.

They were just too adorable not to try. So, I wrote down her instructions and gathered my supplies. Wednesday night after SM went to bed, I made up 2 dozen. Here's the supply list, for those who might be in need of an "H" snack as well:

Vanilla Wafers

Keebler Grasshopper Cookies

Coconut

Honey

Sesame Seeds

Green Food Coloring

A Tube of Yellow Frosting

A Tube of White Frosting

First, take a vanilla wafer and put a small dab of white frosting on it. (I put out 12 cookies on a piece of wax paper and did this step 12 times, then moved to the next step. )

Then, I placed a Grasshopper cookie on top of the vanilla wafer. It is the "meat" of the burger.

Spread some yellow on top of that. It's supposed to look like cheese. Reagan said it looked like mustard to him.

Dye about a cup of coconut with green food coloring. Then spread a little of the coconut on top of each cookie. It's the "lettuce."

Take a fresh vanilla wafer and put a dot of the white frosting on it, then place that at the top of your "burger."

Once your burgers are assembled, spread a small dab of honey on the top of each, then put a little sesame seed on top of the honey. From start to finish, I may have spent about 20 minutes on this. So easy and cute.

I placed each of my "burgers" in a cupcake container so they would be more secure as I transport them to school on Friday.

I'm taking these, along with some Hi-C juice boxes. I plan to run by Chic-Fil-A right before snack time and pick up some of their small, round hash brown potatoes and drop those off by school as well. I hope the kids enjoy eating these as much as I enjoyed making them.

Christmas Challenge: Stamped and Addressed Christmas Cards

2011-12-08T06:00:00.002-06:00

One Christmas tradition I love is sending Christmas cards. I have had our cards for this year addressed for about a week. I'm hoping to get them stamped and in the mail today.

Since Reagan and I married I have always tried to send out Christmas cards with our photo on them. I think this year might be the first year that I sent a card that didn't have me or Reagan on it. This year's card has photos of Sara Madalin and Santa. We visited him while in FL in November. I'll post those pictures tomorrow. But for today, here's a glimpse at our Christmas cards for this year.

Chocolate is everywhere!

2011-12-07T16:30:00.002-06:00

I mentioned in a previous post that Sara Madalin's Elf had come to visit last week. He came on December 1st while she was at school. He brought with him a note and a wrapped gift. Here he is hanging out waiting for her to come home from school.

When she realized he was here, she just didn't know what to do. She's at that age when she doesn't know how to react to something, she just gets silly. So, once she got the sillies out, I told her what the note said. It just told her that he had come from Santa and would visit her during the month of December. He also said that he had brought her a gift to make her Christmas season special and that as long as she was well-behaved and good, that he would bring her something every day until Christmas. Here she is opening the first gift from her Elf.

(I know the hair is a big distraction, but please tell me you noticed the shoes. Yes, they are on the wrong feet. She cracks me up with those things. She insists on wearing them ALL THE TIME. I think it's because she can put them on so easily by herself. When I tell her we are about to go anywhere, or when she pretends that she is shopping with her babies - as she was that day - she puts those things on.)

The Elf had brought her a book (that she never even realized we'd read last year) that told her a little about himself.

Once she finished opening it, we read the book. The most important things I told her to remember was that we couldn't touch the elf (or his magic would leave and he'd go back to Santa and never come back to us) and we had to name him. You will NEVER guess what she wanted to name him.

Spiderman.

I said no.

Her next suggestion was Chocolate. So, we now have an Elf named Chocolate that we look for every day. He even paid a visit to us while we were gone out of town this past weekend. While Reagan and Sara Madalin were bringing our bags up to our hotel room Saturday night, Chocolate dropped in to have a cup of coffee. When Sara Madalin realized he was in our room, she was all silly again. She just couldn't believe he was there - somewhere other than our house. After bringing our luggage to our room Reagan let her hop on the luggage trolley (she loves to ride it when he uses one) and go with him to put it back downstairs. He said there was a little old man in the lobby and as they passed him, Sara Madalin yelled out to him, "Chocolate is everywhere!" The little man just smiled and said, "Really?" Reagan said he tried to tell the man that she was referring to her Elf, but he's pretty sure the little man had no idea what Reagan was talking about.

Chocolate has brought some really great books to Sara Madalin and she is enjoying him and them.

Christmas Challenge: A Wreath with a Red Bow

2011-12-07T06:00:00.003-06:00

This past weekend, as we were traveling around North MS, we made a stop in the beautiful city of Oxford. Reagan looks for any opportunity to stop by the campus of Ole Miss. While we were in the area, we thought we'd drive around and look at the town where he spent a few short years of his youth. I, personally, wanted to shop and see the Christmas decorations.

We parked on the Square and walked around. It was late in the afternoon and getting colder, so we didn't stay out long. But I was able to get a few photos for today's challenge - a wreath with a red bow. Actually, I was able to capture photos of several wreaths. This first was on a fence off the Square.

This wreath was hanging on a light post on the Square. I love how you can see the steeple of a church in the background.

This is not really what I would consider a traditional Christmas wreath, but I thought it was cute, so I snapped a picture. When I first saw it, all I could think was, "Wow, there is no telling how long it took someone to make that."

After walking around the Square, we drove around the campus of Ole Miss. Reagan enjoys looking at how much campus has changed since he was there. As he drove by the Lyceum I had him stop so I could photograph these two wreaths hanging on the doors at the entrance.

And since we were already taking a stroll down memory lane and reminiscing about what my husband's life was like some 20 years ago, he decided to take his daughter and I to one of his favorite restaurants from those days. I took a photo of it too.

Yes, seriously... Of all the places in Oxford, Misssissippi, he took us THERE... To EAT!

(I almost hate to show that picture after all those lovely wreath photos. But, y'all, if I hadn't shown a picture of it, no one would believe me when I told them we ate there.)

It's a place called The Sizzler. And believe me when I tell you, I think it's safe to say it can't have changed much in the 20 years since my husband last ate there. The food was ok. But I was told by my tour guide that it wasn't just about the food. Eating there was about the history and atmosphere. And by atmosphere, he means it's the kind of place that the waitress, after she takes your order, sits down at the table next to you and smokes a cigarette and eats her meal while she waits for yours to be prepared.

It was classy, y'all.

Christmas Challenge: Candy Canes

2011-12-06T06:00:00.001-06:00

Last year I found a great recipe for Peppermint Bark. It was so easy to make and was a hit with everyone I gifted it to. This year, I decided to try it again and make it for some of assistants and special class teachers at SM's school. Monday night I made our first batch of the season so she could take it to some of them this week.

I start with a tub of candy canes that I usually find at Sam's.

Before I got too involved in my candy-making process, I made a cup of hot cocoa to sip on while I worked. I put one of the candy canes on the side of the cup to melt in the cocoa.

Then, I opened up some (no, MANY) of the candy canes, placed them in a large ziploc back and crushed them with a rolling pin.

Once I had enough peppermint pieces, I melted some milk chocolate candy coating in a double boiler. I lined a sheet pan with wax paper. I poured the melted chocolate into the pan and placed it in the freezer to harden. While that was cooling, I melted a package of white chocolate in my double boiler. Once it was melted, I added about a cup of the peppermint pieces and stirred it to mix it well. I pulled out the pan of milk chocolate, then poured the white chocolate/peppermint mixture over it. I then returned the pan to the freezer. Once it was hardened, I broke it into pieces a little smaller than the size of my hand. Here's a shot of it right before I placed it in an airtight container to store in the fridge.

I'll wrap it and put it in decorative containers, then give it to special people on our list. As my daughter says, "It's yummy in my tummy."

Don't You Just Love Surprises

2011-12-05T11:05:00.001-06:00

Y'all, I love a great surprise. I like being the person who is surprised. But I LOVE being the one pulling off a surprise.

A few weeks ago, I emailed Sara Madalin's aunt. Not my sister. I'm talking about the sister of Sara Madalin's birthmother. I told her that we wanted to surprise Sayra (SM's birthmother) and Nana (SM's grandmother) with a visit. We haven't seen the family in person in over a year. We saw Nana briefly this past summer, but haven't been up to see them since last September. So, I emailed Stephanie and she and I began to make plans for Reagan, Sara Madalin, and I to come up for a surprise visit.

We went to see some of my family Saturday in north MS, then traveled over to the area where Sara Madalin's birth family lives Saturday evening. Sunday morning, we showed up at their church. Do you think by the looks of this next picture that Nana was surprised to see us?

We had actually seen Papa (SM's grandfather) as we drove into the parking lot of the church. We kind of tried to drive on the other side of the lot so he wouldn't see or recognize us. Then, after we parked, Nana drove by and parked on the next aisle over, right across from us. She could only see the back of our car and she didn't even notice us there.

We waited on Stephanie and her kids to arrive, then we went inside the sanctuary. Stephanie went down to where Nana was putting her Bible and purse down and told her she needed her to see something in the foyer. We were standing in the back of the sanctuary, and when she turned around, I snapped that picture above. Then, she almost ran to SM and scooped her up. I'd say she was surprised and pretty happy to see this little girl.

She carried SM around to show her off to all her friends at church. Since SM thinks everybody she sees knows her anyway, she had no problem with that. She hugged and kissed everybody. I think there were more than a few people with tears in their eyes as Nana made the rounds.

We then headed outside to see Papa. He was still helping with directing traffic in the parking lot. Nana disagrees, but I think SM looks a lot like her Papa in this next photo. Her eyes, chin, and little grin favor his.

We wanted to surprise Sayra too, but she figured us out. Stephanie had told her she really needed to try and be at church on Sunday. Sayra asked, "Is Sara Madalin going to be there?" So, Stephanie had to tell her yes.

Sayra and her husband arrived a little after service started. They have a one-year-old baby girl named Abby. She is Sara Madalin's half-sister. Sara Madalin has never met her before but Sayra had barely sat down before SM headed over to check out that baby.

Abby was pretty good about letting SM touch her and kiss her at first. But after a minute or two, I think Abby had enough. She looked at her mama as if to say, "Who is this kid and why does she keep touching me?"

SM sat with us during church. I knew Nana would want her to. She did pretty good. I had brought her bag full of stuff to do. She tore that bag apart during church pulling things out. She kept handing stuff to me and Nana to hold. She also made Nana some flowers with torn paper and Wiki Stix. Overall, she was pretty good considering she's not accustomed to sitting through BIG church.

At the end of service, she was sitting in Nana's lap and must have discovered lipstick in her purse. Before either of us knew it, she had the lipstick open and was trying to apply it to her lips. It took both of us to get it from her. Then Nana put a little lotion on SM's hands and SM started rubbing Nana's cheeks and neck with it. (I think she was doing that because I put lotion on her cheeks to keep them from getting red and chapped at school.) Isn't this a sweet picture?

After church we headed to Nana's for lunch. When Stephanie and I were planning our visit, I told her I thought Nana would be upset if we surprised her and she didn't get to feed us. We've learned that is one of her talents and areas of ministry. She shows love for her family and friends by making sure they eat, and eat well. I didn't want her to be disappointed with not getting a chance to feed us. Plus, we like her cooking. Anyway, Stephanie said she would tell her that she wanted her to cook for her family and Sayra's family and their brother and his wife. That way, she'd have already prepared a big meal and we could enjoy it too. Boy did we! The food was delicious.

While we enjoyed Nana's cooking, she enjoyed having her family all at her house on Sunday afternoon, especially all her grandchildren. Here they all are eating together in the dining room.

That's Sara Madalin's older sister, Emily, to her right. Emily was a very good big sister while we were there. She watched and helped Sara Madalin the whole time. All the kids played really good together. The older kids are a great help with the little ones. See the little boy with the curly red hair? That's Stephanie's youngest, JonArthur. Sara Madalin to a T! Curious, busy, personality for days! And the curly hair just like her.

It didn't take SM long to learn if she was about to get into trouble to run to Nana or Papa. Here she is laying in Nana's lap after one of us had gotten on to her about something.

Here are all the grands. The oldest is Kayleigh at 10 years old. The youngest is Abby, who just turned one.

SM and her Nana.

And this next picture makes me tear up every time I look at it. Here's SM with the woman that gave us the greatest gift we've ever received, her birthmother Sayra. SM LOOKS JUST LIKE HER!

I've been trying to talk to SM some at night about Sayra. I told her one night after we read her book and prayed that Mommy couldn't have babies and that Sayra had her. I told her that Sayra had let us come to the hospital and be her Mommy and Daddy. Then, as we traveled to see them this weekend, I told her we were going to see her birth mommy and I wanted her to be real sweet. To be honest, I don't have a clue if I'm doing all this right, but I'm trying to be as open and honest with her as I can about who she really is and how God brought her to us. I hope some day she understands it all. I think growing up with them in her life will help her later on. That's what we're praying for anyway.

Right before we left, we were all standing around talking in the kitchen area. We looked over and SM was in Papa's lap, charming him out of a pair of ear plugs she'd found on his side table. They talked about those earplugs for a long time. She was the most still of the day while sitting in his lap. I think, given just a short period of time, she'd have him wrapped around her little finger.

We had a great visit with everyone. We will never be able to thank them enough or express to them what this little girl's life means to us and those who know her. She is such a blessing to all of us. And there is no way I could not share her with them. I want her to know where she came from and who she is. She's not just our daughter. She's their daughter, niece, granddaughter, cousin, and sister. We are so undeserving of what God has given us through her and through them. We pray our life and our actions give all glory and honor back to Him for what He has done.

Christmas Challenge: Something Warm and Tasty

2011-12-05T06:00:00.003-06:00

Today I'm sharing a photo of something warm and tasty. Currently, there's not much tastier for me than a tall caramel macchiato with whip and 2 Splenda. It's my love language.

I've never been a coffee drinker. But there is something about this combo that I love. As soon as the weather turns cool enough each Fall (or Winter), I have to have one (or five). There's a Starbucks about a mile from Sara Madalin's school. If they didn't cost $4 each, I'd stop there and get a cup every day. But I try to limit myself to 2 or 3 a week. However, Reagan has helped me out with my addiction a bit. He researched and perfected a home recipe recently. He makes me one most mornings now before SM and I head out for school. He's a good husband. And he KNOWS my love language.

Christmas Challenge: Gifts Wrapped Under the Tree

2011-12-04T06:00:00.002-06:00

Today's photo assignment was to post pictures of gifts wrapped under our tree. Now, Sara Madalin and I did a project last week where we wrapped some empty boxes to place under the tree as decorations. It's probably no surprise to anyone that those boxes stayed wrapped for less than 24 hours. By the time she got home from school the next day, she had unwrapped them, along with an actual gift that was wrapped to carry to her cousin's birthday party this past weekend. So, needless to say, there are no wrapped gifts under my tree.

I do, however, have photos of some books that I wrapped last week. This was another Pinterest idea I tried this year. I had actually seen this last year on a blog I read. I didn't think SM was ready for it then. I definitely think she's ready for it this year. She loves for us to read to her. We read every night before bed, usually before nap time, and often times in between. I even catch her in her room with a book many times, pretending to read. When we read, she will start calling out the letters at the top of a page and telling me the sound they make. I'm glad she enjoys it. So, this year, I wrapped 24 books, one for each day from December 1st until Christmas Eve. She gets to open one each day. I'll tell you how we're doing it a little later in my post. Here is a shot of the stack of books.

I taped a ribbon around each one and labeled it with a number. The number on the gift is the date on which she opens it. She opened this one December 1st.

She will open this book Christmas Eve. It's "The Night Before Christmas."

I tried to rotate the books in such a way as she will open a "character" Christmas book one day, then open a nativity or advent based book the next. For instance, she opened "The Elf on the Shelf" book on the 1st, and a book about the manger on the 2nd. (She loves to read about Baby Jesus.) I placed all the wrapped books in a tote and placed them under the tree - for this photo and post only. After the photo, I hid the tote and the books in my closet.

She doesn't know she has one for every day leading up to Christmas Eve. If she did, that's all I'd hear about.

The way she's getting them is, her Elf (whose name and first visit are deserving of a post all their own) visited her while she was in school on December 1st. He left her a note with her first book. The book was about him. Each day, when he visits, he brings a new book. She gets to open it and we read it then, and again at bedtime if she chooses. She usually has two books at bedtime. So, we'll probably read the book she receives that day, along with another book of her choice. I thought it would be a fun and exciting thing for her to do leading up to Christmas. Also, I'm ready for some new material and this is a good way to ensure we don't read the same book every night - at least for a few weeks.

At the end of the season, I'll pack all these books up. Next year, I'll pull them out, sort through and take out the ones I think she's outgrown, maybe buy a few more, and do it all again. I'm thinking she'll catch on to me and figure out when she's about 5 years old that she's getting the same books as previous years.

Christmas Challenge: The Christmas Tree

2011-12-03T06:30:00.003-06:00

This is our family Christmas tree. It sits in the corner of our living room. I turn it on as soon as I get up every morning. I love having it on and the fire going. It makes the house seem so warm and cozy.

I have had a difficult time finding a tree topper that I'm happy with. I've bought a couple of different stars, but they don't seem to fit just right. When I place them on the top, they lean to one side. So, for now, we have no topper. I'm hoping to buy or make something along the lines of THIS. But it will probably have to wait until next year.

We have so many ornaments that this year I wasn't able to fit them all on there. We have bought an ornament each time we've gone on a trip during our marriage. When SM came along, we began to buy even more. My plan is to one day (in the very distant future, when she's married) give her the ornaments that were bought for her.

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments on our tree right now. The first is Sara Madalin's first Christmas ornament. I still think it's one of the cutest ornaments on our tree.

This next one is my ornament. I saw something not long ago that said, "Given enough Diet Coke, I could rule the world." True, very true. Although, I do drink less now that I probably ever have.

I bought this ornament at a craft show, I think.

This is Sara Madalin's favorite ornament on the whole tree. It plays the Oscar Meyer wiener song. It only has one volume setting. LOUD. It's the only ornament that she is allowed to touch, although, Reagan and I are both re-thinking that.

These two ornaments were a gift from B.B. our first Christmas as a married couple. (Our 15th wedding anniversary was November 23rd.) We always put them at the front of our tree.

This is a new addition to our tree this year. Guess who picked it out.

This is another tree in our living room. It's a small, 3 foot tree that I placed beside the fireplace for Sara Madalin. I've put the ornaments that she's made so far on it, and I'll add to it as she makes more. I think, in the coming years, I will put a larger tree in her room and put these ornaments on it in there. Right now, I don't trust her not to tear them up, so I keep the tree and these ornaments where I can (hopefully) guard and protect them. The star and the extra balls are red, because that is her favorite color.

This is the tree in her room. I probably could have gotten a better picture. This one is a little dark. But it is very pretty.

We turn her tree on at night, when it starts getting dark. I read her stories at night with just the tree on. She loves it. She wants me to leave it on all night, but it's just too bright. And I have a hard enough time getting her to settle down and go to sleep as it is.

You can see in this next shot one of the ornaments we made last week. We also have a little pink tulle and some other pink ornaments on there. It's topped by a pink star and the skirt is actually a tutu of hers that is too small.

Those are our trees around the house. I have a couple small trees on the front porch. I haven't finished decorating out there, but hopefully will get a few shots to post once I have. I told Reagan one night last week, I wish I could leave the big tree up year round. I just love the coziness of having it light the room at night.

Christmas Challenge: A List

2011-12-02T06:00:00.001-06:00

Oh, I do love making a list! I have lists of things I need to do today, this week, and this month. I have lists pretty much everywhere. And not just at Christmastime. I run off lists year round. Every. Day.

Right now, because of the holidays, I have a few extra lists. I have a list of things I need to make for the house for Christmas, such as, a new tree skirt and stockings for all three of us. That doesn't include the sewing projects of outfits for SM and other crafts and cooking projects I want to do. I also have a list of things to prepare for her Christmas party at school. Then there's the list of photos I'm taking for these blog posts. I wrote out which pictures to look for, so I could carry it around with me in my wallet. I also wrote down photo ideas I had to go with the subject/topic of each day.

And of course, there's the Christmas list. It's pretty short this year. We only buy gifts for the children in our family. There are only 5 or 6 cousins on Reagan's side, and about that many on my side. As you might be able to tell by the lack of check marks in the next photo, I'm way behind on this list.

I also have a list of SM's gifts this year. It was pretty short. She only asked for a slinky and a whistle. I found the slinky at Target for $1 and the whistle at Bass Pro for just a few dollars. I got a few more small things and I'm done.

I know this was probably one of the most boring posts I've ever done, but I kept with the subject for the day, so I can at least check it off my "list."

Christmas Challenge: Something Red

2011-12-01T07:00:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I pinned and downloaded a list of photo ideas for the month of December. I think the list I chose to use was originally from this site. I thought it would be fun to try and capture photos for the month following her list. Some of the photos will be fun. Some are just shots from our everyday life. Some, I may not even be able to capture.

For the first day of December, the assignment was to capture the color "red." So, for the past week or so, I've carried my camera pretty much everywhere I've gone and captured things that were red and caught my eye.

This first photo is a shot of Sara Madalin's dress that she wore to church this past Sunday.

And this, of course, is where I spend far too much time and money, especially this time of year. Reagan has taught Sara Madalin to say, when I tell her we are headed to Target, "Target is dangerous."

This is just a shot of a pillow I have in our living room during Christmas time. (I got it at Target, by the way.)

On my writing desk in the living room, I have a glass canister holding red, white, and red/white striped ornaments. They're very sparkly. SM and I LOVE sparkly things.

We decorate our tree with ornaments that we've collected throughout our marriage. But, I also fill in any gaps I might see with red ornaments I've purchased (at places like Target). This is one of my "filler" ornaments.

And finally, the last red thing I captured this week is a shot of some red burlap. I love burlap. Again, I pinned a DIY tutorial for making burlap Christmas stockings that I plan to work on this week or next. But, I bought enough of the burlap for a couple other projects as well.

I had fun looking for red things that caught my eye and reflect some of what is Christmas around our house.

One of a Kind

2011-11-30T06:00:00.003-06:00

My girl loves two things:

Spiderman and Princesses.

She would rather watch Spiderman cartoons and be called Spiderman than most anything else. (She told Reagan a few days ago that she was out of webs, and could he pick her some up at the grocery store.) And she would wear that Princess nightgown and a pair of Princess shoes everyday and night if I would let her.

She's one of a kind, and we love her.

Working on a Project

2011-11-29T06:45:00.004-06:00

Sara Madalin loves to work on projects. I will catch her sometimes in her room with her dolls set out on the floor, with a sheet of paper in front of them, and she'll tell me they are working on a project. So, when I want to keep her entertained for a few minutes, I get her started working on a "project."

Monday afternoon, I set her about working on a project so that I could straighten the house a little. I brought out some shoeboxes that I'd kept set aside for this particular project. Then I put out a couple rolls of wrapping paper I'd bought at Target for $1 each, and some ribbon that I'd found on sale as well. I told her that we were going to wrap the boxes and use them as decorations under the tree. She was so excited she could hardly sit still. But then, sitting still is NEVER a strength for her.

She loves ribbon. While I was getting the boxes and wrapping paper ready, she sat and held a roll of the ribbon like it was gold.

I really did let her wrap a box on her own. I cut the paper for her and guided her on where to place the tape.

Then came the ribbon. She loves ribbon and was so excited to finally get to use it in a "project."

She made it through wrapping on box, then all she cared about was playing in the ribbon and wrapping paper. So, I finished wrapping the boxes to use as decorations. However, if you look closely, you might know that I - an adult woman who has wrapped hundreds of gifts in her lifetime - wrapped the rest of the gifts. Please tell me I'm not the only one that this happens to.

I was just a little short on when judging the amount of paper I needed for this box. Maybe rather than me giving her directions on wrapping, she should have given me some. I guess I can turn that side of the box to the wall.

Christmastime Is Here

2011-11-28T07:15:00.002-06:00

I'm not one of those people that starts putting out my Christmas decorations as soon as Halloween is over. I wait until after Thanksgiving. One reason is that I love Thanksgiving as much as any other holiday. I enjoy decorating my house in warm Fall colors and enjoying them as long as I can. Another reason I wait is because of this girl right here.

If I put all my Christmas decorations out in October, like I've seen and heard some people do, they wouldn't make it until December 25th. Since I put the tree up Friday, she has touched EVERY ornament she can reach. She has asked about "baby Jesus" in my nativity display a million times. She is in awe of all the pretty lights and decorations. She has asked everyday, "Is it Christmas Mommy?"

Yes, baby, Christmas is finally here.

Christmas Ornaments

2011-11-26T18:00:00.002-06:00

Sara Madalin is very excited about Christmas decorating this year. She has loved helping me get things out and put up around the house. I let her decorate her own tree (almost) completely on her own in her room for the first time. It's white with pink ornaments. (I will post pictures of it later in the season, along with our family tree and the tree I've put up to hold her handmade ornaments from church and school.)

Friday, we made a few more ornaments for her tree. I simply bought some NON-BREAKABLE (a key consideration when I buy anything these days) clear balls and some pink iridescent shredded gift filler. We opened up the balls and filled them with the pink, sparkly filler. And by "we" I mean me. Sara Madalin just played with the sparkly filler while I tried to get it into the little holes of the balls. Here's a shot I took of some of the filler. It was a mess all over the table and floor by the time she was done with it.

Here's one of her finished balls. I did 6 total. They look really cute on her tree.

I thought about adding some polka dot or initial stickers to them. But I think they look cute simply with the filler in them.

Thankful

2011-11-25T07:50:00.001-06:00

So thankful for the day spent with family and friends.

Sara Madalin with her cousins Timothy, Mitch, and Jeffery.

Papaw and his girls - Susan, Mandy, and Sara Madalin

While outside playing, Holly from next door came over to see Sara Madalin.

Sara Madalin dumped a bucket of water out in the yard. Before I knew it, she had kicked her shoes off and started playing in the mud.

Nap time for Day-Day and Mandy.

Mallory and Mitch

Sara Madalin and Mallory

My glory and the lifter of my head...

2011-11-22T22:05:00.002-06:00

This past Sunday during worship service I sat with my husband. Normally I sing in the choir. But, because right now all practices are pertaining to the Christmas program, in which I will not be able to sing, I decided I'd sit with him and not sing for a few weeks. By the end of worship, I realized I was exactly where God wanted me to be that day because I needed to hear what the choir sang that day. And I needed to hear it right where I sat.

For special music, our choir sang the song in the video above. (And in my opinion, they did just as great a job as The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.) As they began to sing the chorus, I turned to Reagan and said, "I love this song." Although I won't say it's my favorite song of all times, it has been a song that God has used to minister to my heart. See, not too many years ago, I was a very broken girl. I was in need of much forgiveness and restoration. And I believed for quite some time I didn't deserve either of those things. I spent many days with my head cast down in shame. I had a close friend who, at that time, prayed for me daily and often reminded me that God forgives and restores. And He'd even do it for a broken girl like me. During those days, God used the words of this song to speak to me that my God is "a shield for me. The glory and the lifter of my head" during broken and troubled times. As I listened to this song this past Sunday, I was reminded of all God has done for me. I was reminded that gone are those days of hanging my head in shame for past sins and mistakes. God has restored and healed. He has traded me beauty for all my ashes and He has lifted my head. I didn't know I needed to hear those words, or to be reminded of this message. But God did. Since hearing this song this past Sunday I have listened to it repeatedly, through many tears of thankfulness.

Then, today, God used this song and these words to minister to my broken heart in another way.

Reagan called me late this afternoon with news concerning a very close friend. It's the kind of news that you never want to hear. The news many of us fear hearing. The kind of news that has you researching statistics and options. The kind of news that makes every other difficulty or hardship of your life pale in comparison. The news that figuratively, emotionally, and spiritually brings you to your knees. The kind of news that seems to change every plan you think you've had for your future. The kind of news that you cry about until you can't cry any more. Then, when you think you're done crying, you cry again without even realizing you've started. Our hearts are heavy. We are hurting. We are sad - both for ourselves and for our friend and his family. We are full of questions. We are full of disbelief that this could be happening - again - to someone so close to us.

"But thou, oh Lord, are a shield for me

The glory and the lifter of my head."

Psalm 3:3

Although our heads may be downcast in grief and questions and disbelief today, we know God has a purpose. And we know that He will again lift our heads. We believe, in the good times and bad, HE is God and HE is just and HE is sovereign and HE is in control. He is "my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust. Psalm 144:2"

I do ask, those who read our blog and are believers, please pray for our friend and his family. There is much in store for them in the coming weeks. Even with what we are feeling, it is nothing compared to what this family is going through at this time. They need much comfort now, and in the future. And please pray for my sweet husband, to whom I will have been married 15 years tomorrow. His heart is so heavy and broken tonight. He is going to need strength and wisdom during the coming days as well.

Now, where was I?

2011-11-22T08:45:00.004-06:00

I think it's been about a week since I blogged and I can't even remember half of what has happened that I've neglected to record. I'm pretty sure (if I could remember) that my posts would have been about nothing but cooking, cleaning, and SPIDERMAN. I know I have some pics on my camera of SM helping her Uncle David in their yard. I think I also have a few left from our Disney vacation. But, to be quite honest, I've not had much time to upload them. Or, I haven't taken time to do so.

We got home from vacation and moved right into preparation for Thanksgiving. Reagan's family is going to be at our house Thursday and I'm planning on visiting with my Daddy some, so I've tried to get as much done as I can in the past few days. Since Sunday, I've made 2 pies, 2 dozen cookies, a green bean casserole, a roast with vegetables, and 2 pots of chili. Most of that was to freeze and carry to my Daddy. I still have to cook for Thursday. But, luckily, I only need to prepare a dessert and a couple sides for that.

Also, thanks to my husband perfecting his caramel macchiaoto recipe, I have cleaned my house from top to bottom, made SM a new jumper for Thursday and decorated my front porch.

And what has Sara Madalin been up to? I'll tell you it hasn't included any more sleeping than I can FORCE her into. That child fights sleep like nothing I've ever seen. And she hasn't had ANY caramel macchiaoto. But she still looks and acts like she has the energy of 10 hours of sleep a night. Here she is this morning, dressed and ready to do a little sprint shopping with Mommy before we head to the Drug Store for their Thanksgiving lunch.

You can't see her top really well, but it's the reverse side of the pumpkin outfit I made her to wear to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. It has her monogram on it.

She wears me out, but she is so funny. I can't remember all the funny things she says, but Reagan and I look at each other some times after she says something and it's all we can do not to laugh at her.

Now, if she would only sleep.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

2011-11-16T19:15:00.000-06:00

For the past couple years we have attended the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. This year we decided we'd try the Christmas party and see how we liked it.We made plans to go to the party while visiting the Glenns for Micah's birthday party. So, Sunday evening, Reagan, Sara Madalin, Nicki, Jonah, and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom party with our friends.

We parked at one of the resorts and caught the monorail over to the park. Before boarding the monorail, Jonah and SM spent some time questioning the monorail attendant. SM walked right up and said, "What's you name?" Jonah looks like he's explaining something to the guy here.

These two are buddies. I think SM is a little too high maintenance for him at times, but the majority of the time, they played very well together. She adores him and thinks he hung the moon.

Sara Madalin's reaction to everything was so funny and sweet. She was really in awe of everything this visit. It's been a year since she was there and she's changed a lot in this past year. She just couldn't believe her eyes when we turned the corner and saw Mickey and Minnie.

This next picture is her when she first walked up to Mickey Mouse.

I love seeing this sight in person.

Riding the teacups. Because we were at the party, and only those with armbands are allowed to ride during the party, we really didn't have to wait for rides. Some rides, like this one, we didn't even get off of, but rode a couple times in a row.

Peter Pan and Wendy

Jonah and Nicki stayed with us for a few hours, then headed home. Jonah had school Monday and had a special part in the school announcements. So, we said good-bye to them and headed over to watch the Christmas parade. I think these two will miss each other a little.

After leaving Jonah and Nicki, we found a spot to watch the parade. SM loved it.

After the parade, we walked over to wait in line to get photos with Cinderella and her Step-Sisters. We really wanted to see Cinderella more than anything. We ended up waiting in line over an hour. During that time, SM's bedtime came and went. She was tired after all the activity and the long day she'd had. But don't be deceived by this next picture. She didn't stay in that position for long.

While waiting on Cinderella, we watched the Christmas Wishes fireworks display. In the past, SM has not liked the fireworks at all. This time, she LOVED them.

We finally got to see Cinderella. SM was so tired, she didn't even smile.

I could have done without the stepsisters, but SM seemed to like them. Maybe because they are almost as sassy as she is.

The castle with the Christmas lights. Beautiful.

One thing Sara Madalin did remember from other visits to Disney was the HUGE balloons. We told her that if she took a nap (which she fought almost the entire ride from Nicki's to Orlando), she could have one. She ended up napping for about 30 minutes before getting to Disney, so we bought her a balloon on the way out of the park.

It was another great visit to the Happiest Place on earth. We can't wait to return!

Micah's Party

2011-11-14T22:00:00.000-06:00

While in Florida, we attended Micah's first birthday party. Nicki did an amazing job with decorations and it was a fun party. Here are a few pics I took.

The birthday boy and his mommy.

We have come to the conclusion that SM has a very noticeable reaction to chocolate. And it is not a positive reaction. So, we told her she could not have any chocolate at the party. But she did finally get a piece of the plain layer of the birthday cake. She enjoyed every bite.

Her daddy also let her have a "wollwee-pop."

Two tired mommas.

Dan did his part in making sure SM was worn out from jumping so that she would sleep good Saturday night.

We had a great time and were glad we got to be a part of this special celebration.

Buddies

2011-11-14T07:36:00.004-06:00

We've been visiting our friends in Florida this past weekend. We came in for the Disney Christmas party and to help with Micah's first birthday party. I'm not sure how much help we were to them, but we enjoyed seeing them and SM enjoyed spending time with Jonah. She adores him. He enjoys being with her, to a point. She's pretty high maintenance, so by the middle of the afternoon each day, he was pretty relieved that she had to lie down for a nap and he got a little peace and quiet.

Friday morning, as we were all getting ready and were busy doing things around the house, Nicki told me to grab my camera and look in Jonah's room. He and SM were in his bed and he was teaching her to play one of his Leapster games.

They played pretty well together. At one point, they pretended to be bears. They used Micah's Pack-n-Play, turned on its side, as their cave.

(Don't you love the 'fro SM is rocking? Bless her sweet heart.)

Sunday morning we visited at their church. As we were all getting ready Sunday morning, Jonah said to Reagan, "Did you know my dad is a pastor?"

PASTOR Dan got ready and headed out a little earlier than us. Reagan, Nicki, and I finished getting the kids ready and we left a little later. All the way to the church, SM asked, "Where's Jonah? Is dat Jonah up dere?" She loves him. Here they are as we headed into church.

She helped him carry in his Operation Christmas Child boxes (that she had unpacked a few times back at the house before they were delivered).

Finally, we headed over to the nursery area where SM was greeted like a regular member. She walked right up in there like she knew everybody and they knew her. She didn't even turn to tell us 'bye after they opened the gate for her to go back.

After church, we took a few pictures since Dan had meetings Sunday afternoon and would not be around when we left their house. Before pictures, SM met Gentry Rose. We've seen Gentry Rose before, but I don't know if she and SM have met before. They took an instant liking to each other.

Then SM and Micah spent a few minutes climbing the steps.

Finally, we took a quick picture of both our families before headed to lunch.

And one last picture of SM and her buddy Jonah on Sunday morning.

After lunch, Nicki, Jonah, and our family loaded up and went to see the big Mouse. I'll post those pictures separately.

"Wook Mommy! It's Peter Parker!"

2011-11-11T15:45:00.000-06:00

Thursday morning we packed our bags and hopped a plane to go see a few of our friends in sunny Florida. It's the first time Sara Madalin has flown in about a year. It was such a different experience with her at this age. She's so much more aware and able to handle things so much better. We told her at the end of the day how very proud we were of her.

As we were going through security, she helped us push the baskets along the table and then onto the conveyor belt. She sat and waited as we gathered everything back up and headed to our gate. Once at the gate, she and her daddy watched some of the planes while we waited for our plane.

Right before it was time to start boarding, she and I made a last minute visit to the restroom. We went into the family restroom, which she had a little more room and freedom to explore while I went potty. As I was doing that, she used her spider-powers to climb up on the counter and play in the water.

She didn't really make much of a mess. I was more concerned with her falling and hurting herself. But not so concerned that I forgot to take a picture, I guess.

We got back to the gate just as boarding began. The plane was already half-full, so they let all the families board first. Luckily, we got a row of seats together. Here we are right before she and I traded seats. This trip she wanted the window seat. She was so excited and we loved seeing and hearing her reaction to flying.

She didn't sleep on the flight. She was afraid she might miss something. She asked about every sound. "Mommy, why dat baby crying?" She pulled out and looked through every piece of literature in the seat pocket. At one point, as she was looking at the brochure on procedures to follow in various emergencies, she pointed to an animated picture of a man bent over in his seat demonstrating how to act in case we crash, and she said to me, "Wook Mommy! It's Peter Parker!"

(For those not in the know, Peter Parker is Spiderman's alter ego. I'm afraid our child is going to need some serious therapy if she doesn't soon grow out of this obsession with Spiderman.)

As I said, she didn't sleep on the flight. But this was her about 10 minutes after getting into the rental car.

She slept the entire drive to our friends' house.

Once there, we visited with my friend Nicki while we waited for her husband and their oldest son, Jonah, to get home from soccer practice. I wish I'd had my camera rolling when they came in. Sara Madalin was so excited to see him. Here they are as we all ate dinner.

(Please excuse the goof-balls in the background.)

After dinner, SM and Jonah went to his room to play while we sat and talked. After a few minutes I heard Sara Madalin say, "Mommy, cwose your eyes!" I did and when I was instructed to open them again, this is what greeted me.

Therapy.

Serious therapy.

"Am I going to get a shot?"

2011-11-09T20:30:00.001-06:00

Tuesday night our little girl did not feel or sleep well. She tossed and turned until about 4:00 a.m. She has had a cough and some congestion for a few days. Tuesday night she just coughed and coughed and was really whiney. We took her temperature and it was around 99. Reagan gave her a little Motrin and something for her cough. And then she just couldn't be happy unless I was holding her. (I knew for certain she was sick then.) I sat down on her pallet and held and rocked her for awhile. Finally, we put her in the bed with us. She slept until about 8:00.

Reagan called the pediatrician and made an appointment for her and I carried her in for him to check her breathing and ears. She asked everyone from the receptionist to every nurse she saw, "Am I going to get a shot?" Since her fever was down, she appeared to be fine. She played in the exam room while we waited on her doctor.

She pretended to be Spiderman and climbed up on the exam table.

He examined her and said she had an ear infection and he put her on an antibiotic. She DID NOT get a shot. And on the way out the door, she made sure I didn't miss that bit of information. She was pretty happy she made it out without getting "pinched" as she also refers to it.

She was also happy about the sucker and sticker she got from the receptionist on our way out. As I checked out, the receptionist handed me a Princess sticker and a sucker for SM. I said, "Come look Sara Madalin. You got a sticker!" She said, "Is it Spiderman?" I sighed and said, "No." Then I turned to the receptionist and said, "You wouldn't happen to have a Spiderman sticker would you?" Turns out she did. So, our sweet, girly-girl got a Spiderman sticker. She is going to drive her mommy mad with this Spiderman obsession.

Maybe it's because I'm her mommy, but I can tell just by looking at that pictures that she doesn't feel well. Her little eyes show it.

After leaving the clinic, we headed to see her daddy and get her medicine. She has spent most of the day resting and playing around the house. Hopefully the ear infection will clear up in a couple days and she can enjoy herself as we visit with friends this weekend.

We Voted

2011-11-08T23:10:00.001-06:00

I took Sara Madalin with me to vote today. And EVERYONE in the precinct knew we'd been there by the time we left.

She wanted to touch the voting screen for me and vote "by myself!" By the time I was on the last voting screen, she was screaming, "Wet me do it! Wet me do it!"

I thought we were going to make it out without much more of a scene than that. I was wrong.

One of the precinct workers saw her and said, "Oh, she's so pretty. Did she get a sticker?" After that, there was no leaving without getting A STICKER. When the worker, at first, couldn't find the stickers, SM fell OUT in the floor, face down, and gave an Emmy-worthy performance of a child DYING of neglect. Well, the poor worker said that she just couldn't have that baby crying over not getting a sticker. The stickers were quickly found and SM got up off that floor like she'd never shed a tear.

First School Portrait

2011-11-07T22:55:00.002-06:00

As her Mommy, I sure am proud of this little picture right here.

That's her first school portrait and I think it turned out so cute. You can tell she's not shy around the camera.

Photos from my Phone

2011-11-06T19:15:00.002-06:00

Here are a few photos from my phone that were taken over the past several weeks. The first is Sara Madalin at lunch one Sunday afternoon. She was enjoying some homemade banana pudding at a local restaurant where we often eat on Sundays. Now, everywhere we eat on Sunday, whether it's this place or somewhere else, she asks, "Do they have banana pudding for dessert?"

This next picture is at Sunday lunch again, only we were at another of her favorite places to eat. It's a local pizza parlor. They serve ice cream here. We basically visit places on Sunday for dessert.

This was the Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Patch. It was at lunch. I made the outfit she wore that day. She had already gotten ketchup on her sleeve and I told Reagan I wanted to take a picture of her before the whole outfit was filthy.

I snapped this photo as we were headed to school this past Wednesday morning. She's holding her Operation Christmas Child gift box. I dropped it by the church while she was in school. I wanted a picture of her holding it. She was like most any other 3-year-old when she saw the gift. She wanted to keep it. But I took the picture so she could be reminded in the future how important it is to give gifts to little children who are less fortunate that she is and who might not receive a gift for Christmas if she didn't send them one.

This was her at Baskin Robbins this past week. She had stayed for lunch bunch and I had promised that if she took a good nap for her teacher, we would stop and get ice cream on the way home. She will do anything for chocolate ice cream.

Guess who we saw this past Friday night.

We were eating dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. (Do we seem to eat out a lot? I guess cause we do.) Someone came in a said that Santa was next door (at the checking cashing business) and would be leaving in about 5 minutes. So, I grabbed her up and we ran over right quick. She still had tortilla shell hanging out of her mouth. She told him that she wanted a whistle for Christmas. Then, as we were walking out, she asked me, "Where's his sleigh?" I (lied) said, "I bet he parked it in the back."

These next couple pictures are not from my phone, but from my friend, Shea. She took them this morning and posted them on my Facebook wall. In Sunday school they were learning about David, the shepherd boy, and how God called him out of all his brothers to be king. In this first picture she is dressed as a shepherd. She is holding a sheep (a cotton ball on a popsicle stick) that she made.

At the beginning of Sunday school, they all go into the puppet room for a lesson. They get to sing and watch the puppets, and hear the lesson for the day. In this next picture (I was told this by her Sunday school teacher, my friend Stephanie), SM is being David and is being anointed. Her teacher said that the lesson leader said, "And God had big things planned for David." Stephanie said God has big things planned for this girl. We believe that too. SM loved begin a shepherd and being part of the lesson.

Those are use some of the pictures I seem to have collected on my phone recently. I often forget to carry a camera and find myself snapping pictures of her more and more with my phone. I guess that's just a result of our active life.

A Little Lipgloss Goes a Long, Long, LONG Way

2011-11-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

Reagan and Sara Madalin spent some time together running errands today so that I could get a little research and writing done. She loves going out with her Daddy. And he said she talked the whole time they were gone.

Their first stop was at the tire store. Reagan needed to get his tires inspected. He said she carried on quite a few conversations and made several friends.

Next they went to Sam's. He picked up a few things on our list and did a little Christmas shopping as well. And of course, no visit to Sam's is complete without an Icee for the two of them. One additional thing they picked up was a little Barbie make-up set for her. (He had promised her a prize if she was good at the tire store. She reminded him of that while they were at Sam's.) Until now I've not gotten her any lip gloss or make-up because I dreaded the messes I knew would follow her playing with it. Well, after her playing with it for about 20 minutes, I discovered I need only worry about one mess and nothing further. Why? Because after that 20 minutes, there was no make up left. Here are a few pictures of her playing in her make-up.

She had about 2 tubes and 3 small containers of lip gloss. She thought it was appropriate to wear ALL of it at one time.

She also put on a little eye shadow. You know, to balance things out a bit.

She put the lipgloss on her hands, rubbed them together, then just wiped it all over her face like lotion. All the while, she was telling us things like, "You do it wike dis, cause that's the way you do it." I love that girl and her personality.

One Nation, Under God, "Indibisible"

2011-11-02T19:46:00.002-05:00

I could just eat her up.

Fall Festival at Harmony

2011-11-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Monday night we got dressed for a little fun at a Fall Festival sponsored by the church we attended before Sara Madalin was born. Before we headed out, SM and I headed next door to see Miss Holl-wee (Holly). She kept Sara Madalin for me one semester and SM loves her. It doesn't hurt that she had chocolate when we arrived.

After leaving Holly, we went to the drug store for a few minutes. SM took the opportunity to trick or treat while there. Mrs. Kim gave her chocolate.

Scooter also had chocolate. But Scooter always gives her candy when she sees him.

He asked for a kiss in exchange for a little more candy. He knows SM's love language.

After picking Daddy up at the drug store, we headed out to Harmony. SM ran straight to the kitchen to see Ms. Ann. I saw Ms. Ann a couple weeks ago and told her we might come out to the festival. I'm so glad we were able to make it because she and SM were both so happy to see each other.

After a couple games, SM saw Ms. Lynn.

Then we saw Susie. We love Susie and her husband, Wayne, dearly. They have been such a blessing to us and we are so thankful for God placing them in our lives.

Then, after giving Mrs. Mary a quick hug, SM went fishing. It was just pretend, but she thought she was really fishing. Dr. Tony was behind the wall putting candy on the fishing "hook." He pulled and tugged her line and she believed even more that there was a fish back there.

Sara Madalin and Dr. Tony

We saw lots of other people that we have loved for years. One of our favorite people is Ms. Stacey. She was SM's first Sunday school teacher. Sara Madalin LOVED Ms. Stacy. SM was always so excited to see her.

And finally, I got to meet this next family in person. I've blogged about them. I've seen pictures of them. But I had not met them until last night. If you're wondering who they are, you might want to read this post or this post I wrote back in February.

That little cow is the sweet little boy they adopted. He was a little tired Monday night and didn't really want anyone but his mommy. But I was so excited to finally meet them and get to give him a little love.

We enjoyed ourselves. Sara Madalin finished up the night by jumping her heart in the bounce house. She's done that a couple times in the last few days. And each time, when we come home, she sleeps better than she has in months. She has slept all night for the past two nights. We are seriously considering investing in a jump house to keep here in our backyard. When you are as tired as we are, you will go to extremes for a little un-interrupted rest.

Fun Fest

2011-10-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

Sunday evening we went to a Fun Fest Carnival with our friends the Douglases at their church. Sara Madalin was excited to see her friends Grant, Drew, and Connor. She was also excited to get a little candy. To get that candy, she played a few games. Here she is shooting a water gun at a moving target.

Me and my Spiderman

Spiderman and her buddy Superman - these two are quite a pair

Waiting for one of the games

She did this little bungee game. Reagan strapped her to a bungee strap and she was to run until she couldn't run any more, then it snapped her back. She loved it.

She had a great time. After we played for a couple hours, we went to dinner, then she came home and slept great. We all did. I know she's having a great time at all these carnivals and Fall activities. I'm tired and part of me will be glad when all these little things are done. But another part of me knows that in such a short time she won't enjoy these festivals as much and I'll wish she was still this age. So, I'm pushing through whatever fatigue I have and I'm enjoying seeing her have fun.

I guess I can always sleep when she goes to college.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-30T22:05:00.000-05:00

Saturday we made a trip to a pumpkin farm about an hour away. We'd been told it was worth the drive and it certainly was. Sara Madalin had a great time.

We got there around noon. It was sunny and just a little cool. A perfect Fall day. We went no a little ride around the farm, then let SM pick out a few pumpkins for us.

When I posted that last picture on Facebook, I realized it says, "Hell Farms." It really said Mitchell Farms.

After we left, they probably changed that sign from "don't kick the pumpkins" to "don't throw the pumpkins like a softball."

We were probably at the farm for about 2 hours. Sara Madalin played her heart out. We will definitely make the trip again next year.

While Mommy's Away...

2011-10-27T19:00:00.000-05:00

While I was away this past weekend, Reagan and Sara Madalin spent some time together having fun. Friday night they went to Backyard Burger for dinner and play time. Saturday, they went to Reagan's dad's to see him for a little while. After nap time Saturday, they went to one of their favorite places - Sam's Club. They both like going there because they can get a Coke Icee. Reagan has always liked getting an Icee there. When SM was old enough that we'd let her have a little caffeine, he'd give her a sip or two from his cup. Now, if he gets an Icee, he better not even THINK about coming near SM unless he has a second straw in the cup for her. He texted me a picture of her enjoying her Icee Saturday night.

My reply to his text was, "Can you please do something about that hair bow." This was the next text I received.

At least they were enjoying themselves.

After leaving Sam's, he took her to play a little goofy golf. He sent me a few pictures of that as well.

After golf, they ended the night with a little ice cream. She chose blue.

I'm so glad they got to spend some time together. She loves her Daddy and he has spoiled her rotten.

Girls' Weekend

2011-10-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

My husband and daughter were kind enough to let me get away this past weekend to spend some time with a few of my girl-friends. We traveled to the Alabama coast for some relaxation, food, and shopping. And I'm sad to say, but this is the only photo I have to show for it.

Just kidding. Although, I didn't take many more than that.

Here's a photo of Janice and Mandy at Lambert's. We had lunch there Saturday. We were all stuffed at the end of the meal.

And here I am with my friend, Julie.

We had a great time together. I missed my people terribly while I was gone, but I was thankful for the opportunity to spend some time away with some of my friends.

Fall Carnival

2011-10-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night Sara Madalin's school hosted a Fall Carnival. It was our first year to attend. Sara Madalin was so excited. She was most excited that she FINALLY got to wear her Spiderman costume, and she wore it proudly. I wish I had a video of her walking from the car to the carnival. She was walking like she thought she really was a super-hero.

As we were walking to the football field, where the carnival was held, we heard someone yelling, "Spiderman! Spiderman!" We turned and saw Sara Madalin's teacher, Miss Melodi.

While waiting in line for one of the attractions, a little pirate ran over to us and started talking to SM. It was one of her classmates, Wright. He was so cute. They were both so cute talking to each other. I think they were telling each other what they had done since being there or what they were going to do next. So cute to see her interacting with her friends.

While waiting in line, she informed us that she was "throwing spider webs." Here, I got a picture of it.

This is our little Sugar waiting her turn on one of the attractions.

We ran into several of SM's friends. Here she is with Gracie. Gracie goes to our church and has a sister SM's age. Sara Madalin loves her.

We also ran into Jo-Jo. She goes to our church and is also in SM's class (K3) at school. She was dressed like Cookie Monster.

All I can say about this next picture is these girls are three of a kind. Miss Melodi and Miss Tricia need our prayers daily. Sara Madalin doesn't come home talking about too many of her friends, but she does mention these two girls pretty often. This is Katherine and Cloe. They are both in her class and Cloe is in her Sunday school class. They are so funny on their own, and a handful together. I can't wait to see them grow up together.

Next, we ran into Isabel, another member of her class.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Sara Madalin decorated a pumpkin for the "contest." I took pictures of some of the other pumpkins. As you can see, some people put quite a bit of time into decorating their pumpkins. Everyone won a ribbon.

You can't tell as well with this photo, but this is a Cinderella carriage. Pulled by tiny mice.

And here's our girl's pumpkin. Her class went out earlier in the day Tuesday to look at the pumpkins and she got to show it off to her friends. She was so proud.

After looking at the pumpkins, I went to work my shift at the drink (sweet tea) table. Sara Madalin and her daddy went into the gym to play games.

She saw a few more friends while in there. Here she is with sweet Addison.

And here's SM with Shields, Addison's older sister. Those girls love Sara Madalin so much. They are all three always excited to see each other.

The weather had actually turned pretty cold Tuesday afternoon. And it was really windy. But from what I could tell, there was a bunch of kids who had a great time.

Mascara

2011-10-17T20:40:00.003-05:00

I keep an extra make-up bag in my purse. I'll give you one guess as to who found it this past weekend.

That's mascara all over her face. But look at her mouth.

Chocolate. It makes her do bad, bad things.

Spidey-Sense

2011-10-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

This coming week Sara Madalin's school is having their annual Fall Carnival. We are very excited. Or, should I say, our little girl is very excited. She keeps telling me what all she is going to do at the carnival and that she is going to win prizes. I love seeing her so excited.

I'm contributing a few things to the bake sale portion of the carnival. I spent most of my Saturday morning baking cookies and pies. (I still have to bake a cake and make a couple casseroles.) While I was working on those things, I asked Reagan if he would take Sara Madalin out to pick up a pumpkin to decorate. Another part of the carnival is the Pumpkin Decorating Contest.

(I have to stop here and say, the side of me that likes control wanted to decorate the pumpkin for her. I found some really cute ideas online of painted and Mod-Podged pumpkins. I saw one really cute pumpkin with polka dots and a monogram on it. But, I wanted her to have fun and be proud of the pumpkin as something she had done herself. So, I fought the urge to buy brightly colored paint, ribbon, and rick-rack last week at Hobby Lobby. For now. I may have to decorate a couple for my front porch just because they were so cute. Instead, for the contest at school, I bought a little decorating kit at Target that I knew would be right up our girl's alley. )

So, Reagan went out with her to a local farmer's market and they picked out a couple pumpkins - one to carry to school and one to keep here at home. Here she is picking out the perfect pumpkin.

He said she wore those sunglasses the whole time they were gone. She is who she is.

Here she is with the pumpkin they picked out to decorate for school.

And here she is with the smaller pumpkin that she bought to decorate for our porch.

She wanted to put stickers on it. This was all I could find. She was more than happy with them.

Heading outside to decorate her pumpkin for school.

Daddy poked the holes and got her started, then she would finish inserting the pieces to decorate.

She was so excited when her Spiderman pumpkin was finished.

I'm still debating on whether or not to spray paint the entire pumpkin red and re-insert the pieces.

Control - it's very hard for some people to give it up.

Friday Night at the Fair

2011-10-10T16:49:00.003-05:00

About mid-afternoon Friday we realized we didn't have plans for the evening. Since the State Fair was going on, we decided we'd go to it so SM could play some and we could get some good (unhealthy) food. We got there around 7:00 and it wasn't all that crowded. We think that the reason was that most people in our area were probably at Friday night football games, or waiting for later in the night for unlimited riding.

SM was so excited when she saw all the lights and rides. But the first thing on our agenda was a little something to eat. I always like to get a chicken-on-a-stick. For those unfamiliar with that, it's not a whole chicken on a stick. It's chicken nuggets, onion, and pickles fried on a stick. I could them pretty much anytime at a local restaurant. But for some reason, I only get one at the state fair or a local flea market when I visit it. Here's the mascot that was walking around for the restaurant that has the chicken-on-a-stick.

After we ate, we walked over to get ice cream. Then we went to the big slide for Sara Madalin's first ride.

Just as she and her Daddy were about to climb up to slide, we saw one of her classmates, William Wright. They went up together and came down at the same time. The little curly head that you see in front of them is his little sister. I had a picture that included her, but it wasn't really blurry. I was excited for SM that she saw one of her friends.

We rode an elephant ride, then she rode the carousel. She loves to ride the horses.

But her favorite thing about the night - by far - was the jumper. It's bungee ropes (cords??) that you're strapped to while you jump on a mini-trampoline. She saw one at another event a few weeks ago and couldn't jump because she was so small. This one was especially for little kids, so we thought she would be fine to jump.

First, they weighed her. The minimum weight requirement was 30 lbs. She weighs about 33 lbs. So, she passed.

She loved it so much, we came back later for her to jump again.

After jumping the first time, we went to the petting zoo so she could feed the animals.

Guess who we ran into - one of her best buds, Grant, and his family. They are our friends that we spent the weekend with a few weeks ago. It was great to see them again.

A lot of the rides had minimum height requirements. To be sure we met those, we let her stand beside a height chart to see how tall she is. I think if I re-adjust that hair bow of hers, she can pass for 42 inches.

She rode a car ride. She thought she was really driving. She told us when she got into the truck, after we got her to smile for a picture, "Weave me awone, I'm driving."

She and I rode a roller coaster. She was a little unsure at first, but loved it by the time we got off it.

Then it was back tot the jumper one last time before we left for the night. She had a great time.