heart broken

my heart is breaking tonight for a friend who lost her precious 5 yr. old daughter this evening. she went to sleep and didn't wake up. this little girl was in my mary's club and in my atrium class. she was so beautiful and so sweet and it is hard to believe that this has really happened. i had randomly been looking at pictures and looked at one of her just 10 minutes before i got the call. so she was so freshly on my mind when i was asked to pray for her. i am so heart broken for her family. it is my worst nightmare.

this week i was listening to the song we live by superchick in the car and i, for some reason, really paid attention to the lyrics. it talks of holding your kids close and recognizing that each day we have here is a gift. it also makes me think of the song held by natalie grant. another beautiful and sad song about being held up in impossible times.

as i went back to sewing and finishing a project that one of my daughters waited until the very last minute to do... one of those... "oh mom! i have this huge project that needs to be sewn and finished and is due in the morning" type of comments.... i am not as angry as i might have been otherwise. with tears burning in my eyes, i am so grateful to be up late finishing this project for her.

a riddle...

i think he's trying to tell me something....

i just can't figure it out.

home school

yesterday we stumbled upon the asu surplus supply warehouse. it was awesome. we found the old desks that paul and i used to sit in when we attended asu. the kids wanted them so they could play school at home. they were only $10!

this one thinks she is clever... writing in french. i may have forgotten most of what i learned in the 8 years of french that i took, but i'm pretty sure she has some questionable sentences on there....
L likes things nice and tidy....
little S likes to draw people... and her name.
D is working hard on a fancy lady.
i also found this awesome stool for $5.
and this huge chalkboard we are going to hang in the basement. D is super excited to practice her cursive on it... that is what she does at school she says.
we also found the perfect retro desk to use in the office. now we just need a floor....

citrus trees

the trees are all bursting with citrus. S and i decided to make juice and the best smoothie ever made.

trying to figure it all out...

on open-mindedness, multi-cultural ism... should i be proud? or slightly concerned....

S has been volunteering in the toddler room at school... she is crazy about one little boy in particular and tells me cute stories about him....

S: "mom, you should have seen Enzo today. he is so cute. do you know what? he can speak german!"

me: "cool. his parents must speak to him in german at home."

S: "yep, they do. his mom is from spain. you know what? people are like dogs. you can breed them with people from different countries and then you have a beautiful child."


on stranger danger... combined with a little paranoia....

D: "mom, be careful. there is a bad man following us."

me: "where? and how do you know he is following us?

D: "i have been watching him. he has been behind us for 2 lights!"

me: "how do you know he is bad?"

D: "because he has a black car, black glasses, tiny circle silver earrings, red hair and a black watch. and because he is smoking!"

mlk day 2011

i just have to note what a beautiful, peaceful day we had in welter world. the kids were off today and we certainly celebrated our freedom. we slept in a little, met some friends at the park and stayed for 3.5 hours. when we returned home, the kids played in the backyard until the sun started going down. paully made a delicious homemade dinner... pork loin with a rub i got from the farmers market, fresh mashed potatoes, sauteed garlic spinach (i made that) and homemade applesauce made by paul's parents... with apples from their apple tree i assume. the kids cleaned their plates and had seconds. and had apples for dessert. it makes me feel so happy when they eat well. we got them all cleaned up, lunches made for the morning and are now sleeping soundly in fresh clean sheets. i just finished my 20 minute work out video... i hate jillian michaels...... i just do the work out with my eyes closed.....

but i can say that i feel healthier and the scale says that i have lost 10 lbs. not sure how accurate that is, but it makes me happy anyhow. halfway through the month and still going strong. i do have some pretty strong callings for a corona now and then then tho.....

here are some pics from our day. january is a pretty perfect month in az!!

now let's see what tomorrow brings....

she's got the whole world in her hands...

this little kindergartener is on a roll. she has been learning so much. she is just soaking up the french that her teacher is presenting to her, feeling so proud about the books she is reading, and she loves to point out countries and continents on the globe and spell them out too. this morning she spelled out russia, china and india and then found them on the globe. she also has been teaching herself the piano. paul showed her middle C and gave her a book. next thing i know, i heard he's got the whole world in his hands being hammered out on the piano.

she's a go getter that little D.

first sporting event

baby R and daddy had their first sporting event together. i guess it's a boy thing. paul was just as excited watching the game with baby R as i was when taking my girls to their first tea party. baby R loved it. he wasn't scared of all the noise, he just yelled along with them. he liked all the lights and things to look at... paul insisted he was really involved with the game. he even got his own little miniature basketball as a souvenir.

milk-frother

this is my favorite thing in the kitchen ever. it is $1.99 at ikea. i love it.

highs and lows

lows:

1. not having time to drink my coffee this morning before i left

2. 2 of the girls being sent out of religion class for fighting

3. L bumping her nose pretty hard on a brick corner

4. D falling several times and being grumpy and tired today

5. feeling a little overwhelmed at some work i need to do but don't want to do it

6. feeling tired after 3 nights of NO to little sleep

7. putting baby R down to crawl around while i ate my dinner, freaking out because he almost put an old dirty cheerio in his mouth, sadly relieved when i realized it was cemented to the floor and there is no way he could get it up.

8. realizing i need to sweep the floor more... see #5

highs:

1. after a long hard day, D running through the house shouting "i love this day!"

2. having a tea party with S and R this afternoon

3. sending the big girls with a list into the coffee/smoothie shop and having them successfully come out with the order.... and watching them hold hands while crossing the street as if setting off for a big adventure (i was parked right outside and could see in the windows)

4. getting dinner prepared early and having it ready when we got home... and making homemade cheese muffins with S.

5. having time this morning to eat the big bowl of oatmeal pscrubs made for me.

6. visiting with some lovely friends and discussing amazing stories with happy endings

see here and here check out the 911 call, i cry every time i listen to it

7. the huge smile baby R gets when he looks at his sisters

8. looking at these phone pics... they make me happy....

9. being motivated to write this post about my dirty floors, and realizing that i have had more highs than lows today.

goodbye 2010

happy new year!!!

welcome 2011!

this is how i feel about christmas break being over tho. other than 2 of my favorite friends moving away, for the first time ever, my kids were sick almost the entire break. maybe even stemming back from thanksgiving break. i think their little immune systems didn't quite recover and then they caught everything they came in contact with. big bummer. so we stayed home a lot during the break.
we did have a lot of nice family time together tho. i wanted to throw in a few pics of fun memories during the last few weeks of the year...

playing the beautiful fall leaves in downtown indianapolis. right next to the whispering bench.
the girls pretending on my grandmas bed. i used to play in this exact spot when i was a little girl.
our little st. nick....
the kids with santa... right before baby R started screaming...
baby R loves to swing :)
a very elaborate mermaid game that went on for 2 days...
the tortured "catfish" in the mermaid game
a lovely rainy day...
this was the perfect present for this girl.... we have a future major scrapbooker on our hands. she put together this book all day.
a litle holiday baking... better late than never :)

grandma G's famous sugar cookies with powdered sugar and water icing. so delicious.

the girls helped with these...



while watching ratatouille, paul fixed ratatouille with the girls. he sliced up the veggies and then S took over. i must say, it was quite a treat.



nice presentation.

we have had a wonderful year. it makes me a little sad to see another year pass and my kids are now another year older. i am so thankful for them and while i look forward to seeing my kiddos grow and develop, part of me wishes that i could just keep them little forever. i converted a bunch of old tapes to dvd for paully for christmas. we have been watching them all and feeling a little nostalgic. time goes by so quickly. i think we taped every moment of S's life. she was so cute. the way she talked, walked, slept... we died over just about everything she did. the perks of being a first child. we were so joyful and innocent in a way. we didn't have much, but had everything we could ever want. i want to try to keep that spirit. i am so thankful for my kids and really want to cherish this time with them. it is so easy to get frustrated or overwhelmed or stressed out about the little things. i need to keep reminding myself to make the best of every moment. and to just soak up the good times and the not so good times.