What's a boy to do??

Okay, I know it's going to look like we go to this place alot and we're American Girl snobs, but we really don't!!  Here's what happened....

A couple of months ago, Stephen had to fly to a big city far away and use a large airport in another large city, not quite so far away.  This city JUST SO HAPPENED to have and AG store and I HAPPENED to have 2 very weepy, sad girls.  Okay... so maybe it was just one sad, weepy girl, but if you count ME there were 2!  I felt that we needed some serious diversion and cheering up, so that's how we ended up here....

LOTS of girliness!  We didn't actually buy anything.  ....well.   Except LOTS of food.  :)

See all the fun??!!

Isn't it great??!!  Iris especially liked the hooks in the bathroom that hold your doll while you're um...

It was very diverting for all!  :)

Except for Clyde...

...at first!  But then he became a good sport!

He decided to bring Mr Moose!

And he built a spit so he could "roast" his fruit over an open yogurt.

How I love my boy, he always seems to make the best of any situation!

First Day of Colonial Finishing School

Big News!!!  I sent Lucy into a home I have never been to before, let someone else feed her, the house had pets and she came out alive and happy!!!  Thank you, Mrs E!! a million times over.  In case you can't tell....we don't typically do this ;)

But Lucy has never really exhibited this much excitement or anticipation about anything before, so we felt we had to give it a shot.  After coating the child in prayer, dosing her with Benedryl, puffing her inhaler, and dressing her in THE DRESS (that has sapped me of all sanity)....

...we found these lovely, equally excited Colonial students....

Good times!  This is such a special and neat opportunity for which I am SO grateful.  So grateful the Lord saw fit to keep her well! 

signed,
 Slowly, but surely Learning to Trust! (while trying to be wise with my not-so-wee one)

The Trio

Lucy's friends invited her to the American Girl store.  So, of course I went too :)

Girls with dolls!!

Raspberry & Strawberry sparklers.

Opening presents from Lu....

Matching outfits.....what more could a group of girls want?

Much fun had by all!

My Little Seamstress & Her Gifts

My darling daughter spent her own money to purchase a pattern and fabric for 3 semi-matching doll outfits. 

(disclaimer...I cut the fabric, ironed and pinned the sleeves, but SHE spun her bobbins, threaded the machine, cut the pattern, and sewed everthing by herself)

Took me a while to help her get started, but she has sewed....

and sewed....

and sewed.....

well you get the picture...

and now she has this!

The yellow for her Felicity doll and the blue & purple are for friends who have invited her to go somewhere special on Friday.

Speed, Friday, speed....for the anticipation here is GREAT!!

Moose Head

My Dad's birthday was last week.  And I did not document it well.  (I seem to be letting important b-days slip a little lately.)  I didn't even bring my camera, cause....

It was one of THOSE days.  You know...where every little thing goes wrong?!  It was CRAZY!!

Weeeell, we were, of course, still without power, I was still sick, Lucy was getting a different kind of sick, and....just, well, EVERYTHING was not going well!

But it was still my Dad's birthday and we were excited.  The kids had picked out this rubber moose head that covers the hitching ball on the back of a truck.  Cause Dad likes moose just a wee bit ;)

So we're signing the birthday cards, pulling out the moose gift bag and ......wait!  Where's the moose head?  Here's the Sportsmans Warehouse bag, but there's no moose head in it!  Wait a minute...there are little ferret teeth marks in this bag.

Okay, let me rewind one day for you, so you can better understand the events unfolding here.  See, our power has been out for days, so we took a showers Wednesday at my Mom's.  Then Stephen kindly offered to go to our home and pick some things up so the kids and I could go straight to church.  He came in the house and fed and watered the ferrets, but DIDN'T CLOSE THEIR CAGE DOOR!  I love him so much!

Okay fast forward one day to my Dad's birthday again....you with me?  We CANNOT FIND THE BLASTED MOOSE HEAD ANYWHERE!!!  We looked under everything, completely tore the house up.  I'm thinking how on this earth did two such tiny creatures get that moose head somewhere we can't see??  And I'm really upset, because what's a birthday without a moose hitch ball cover??

We tried to do my Dad's birthday up, anyway.  By smashing his pie when we laid on the breaks in the van and sharing our multiple sick germs with him.  (love you, Dad!)  And we had to just tell him, "sorry, we bought you a moose head, but our ferrets have hidden it."

Well, yesterday Clyde was keeping up with Thing 1 and Thing 2 for me while I cleaned their cage.  I heard....

"No!  Don't go up in there!"  grunt grunt...shuffle....shuffle

"I -    can't-     get-    you!"  grunt grunt....shuffle....shuffle

"What on?!....."

" I FOUND IT I FOUND IT I FOUND IT I FOUND IT!!!"

you see....the ferrets, over time, have made this hole in the bottom of mine and Stephen's box spring.  Guess where he found it?

and there was much rejoicing.

Ten Years

Somehow I made it 20 years without knowing there were so many people in the world who hated us THAT much.

As the buildings were burning and smoking and we were watching it all unfold on TV, the news reporters would do some little segments on who they thought may be responsible and why.  

That was what stunned me the most.  REALLY?!  I mean, I knew there were people who didn't like us, maybe thought they hated us a little....but THIS?!  They hate us this much?

And it started sinking in....how awful evil is.  Of course I always knew "evil" was bad.  I had a very biblical definition of evil, I knew the world was full of it ever since the fall and all of that.  But this embodied it for me.  And I became very afraid.

What was I doing??!!  Why on earth was I bringing a baby into this awful world?!  Too late now.  I would just have to do everything I could to keep the crazies in the world from hurting her.

The vivid fear wore off over time.  But as I had my baby and watched her grow, I often wondered what about those kids who were like Lucy.  They were growing inside their mommies when 9/11 happened, only their Daddies didn't ever come home, see them take their first breath or hold them.

Then this year, I saw this...



and it just tore me up.  Part of me was bothered that a photographer probably looked at this girl and said, "Hey hold out that picture of your Daddy you never met so I can get a good picture."  But then I thought....If she didn't want the world to know about her Daddy, she wouldn't wear that pendant.  So I just had to read the article. 

And I learned about 10 moms who were pregnant when I was and all their kids are 9 like my daughter.   And I looked at their sweet faces, and now I have real people to pray for when they come to mind.  And I showed Lucy, "Look honey, they're all your age!"  And it made the awfulness more real to her.  Not that I want her to be fearful.  But our children should know that it WAS horrific and evil.  As time goes on, it seems to be popular to just sweep it under the rug.  If I left it to our culture to inform her about our world and good and evil....well, she'd be messed up indeed.  We CANNOT ignore evil or pretend it doesn't exist.

And she and I both know that we have a loving and all powerful God, Who will make this all alright in the end.  He knows about the people who hate us.  He loves some of them and will bring them to Himself.  From the rest of them, He has the power to protect us if He chooses.  And if He doesn't?  Well, then we will just get to be with Him until the end, when all will be made right.  I love my God.  I love His crazy-powerful attributes.  I think about all the people who were left behind when their loved ones left THIS world, and I pray that they know or will one day find THIS peace.