Culinary Masterpiece or Act of Desperation?

You be the judge.

(But don't judge me.  I needed some chocolate.  The donut had none.  I think of it as being resourceful.)

Slice of Life

Just for kicks I'm entering this picture in the I Heart Faces challenge this week.  They are asking for photojournalistic style pictures...a slice of life.  This is a picture I took while we were in Florida for Christmas, and I loved it.  It is Christian and his cousin at the edge of the lake where their grandma Diana lives.  It's very beautiful, especially when the sun is setting. 

We are always looking forward to the next time we get to see family, since they are all far away (Virginia and Florida).  Looking at this picture makes me want a visit!  Summer is just around the corner, and we'll get to see everyone then (my parents, and then Mike's family a little later).  That makes me smile.

Speaking of smiling, if you want to smile yourself, head over to I Heart Faces and check out the entries.  There are already a gazillion (okay, over 600, but that's sooo many!), and they represent all kinds of little slices of life, from weddings to kids playing outside to laundry piles.  Capturing life as it is is a wonderful thing.

Some Stuff From This Year Part V - Michaela Edition

Michaela.  She is my steady girl.  She is emotional, but not like her siblings.  She is along for the ride, but loves to make the plans.  She loves to read, be outside, and do artsy things.  She has spent a lot of time painting the last couple of years.  Most of the time she makes up pictures on paper, a scene or an image that she loves. Recently, though, Mike bought her this heart for her to paint and put on her door.  Hopefully little things like that will help her feel more like this is home.  She took great care to create a color that would match the quilt I am making her (Yes, I am making it!  Don't doubt it!  She'll have it before she's married, for sure.)

Mike also painted her room white (it was baby blue) and we added some pretty daisies around the top of the wall.  I did my best to paint a sort of vine in between the daisies, but after a few (I really should have stopped at zero) it was clear that free-handing vines across a wall is much harder than on a sheet of paper (that I'm really good at).  (I'm hoping Mike doesn't have to paint the wall again.)  Michaela had fun helping put the daisies on.  And she was very sweet and told me my vines were great.  I don't know if I should be concerned because she doesn't tell the truth, or be grateful for her eyes that can see beauty even in ugly things.  (insert a big smile here...I think she is precious)

Michaela is my quiet sidekick.  She's almost always with me, whether I'm running to the store, going to pick up the other kids from school, or getting dinner ready.  

She spends a lot of time shadowing Eliana, or entertaining her.  She is an amazing big sister, so patient and sweet (most of the time...we all have our moments, no?).  When we went to the fire station she helped Eliana, who was very hesitant, through the fire engine.  She cheerfully encouraged her to climb the steps and check out the midsection of the engine.  

Eliana demands (and gets) a lot of attention around here, so I am glad for the opportunities that come along for Michaela to take center stage.  Or stage right.

She and Christian were in a musical through the childrens' choirs at our church, and she played an angel (she is the closest angel in the picture) in a play about Jonah.  She had many lines, and it was really fun to see her in a role, rather than just a background singer.  She did a great job!  We were very proud of her.

Soccer season also started for our sweet girl.  She has come a long way from the very timid player she was almost four years ago.  In this first game (they didn't even have a practice beforehand, and the team is made up of girls from at least three schools, and she doesn't know anyone) she tried to score a goal!  It was also freezing (in the 40s) (so, technically not freezing, but dang, it was cold!) and she and the other girls were all running around trying to play like they were supposed to, but you could tell they were so cold.

She is such a unique person.  Sometimes I make a comment about what she has on, some crazy combination of clothes she has put on, or clothes and shoes...she'll say,"I'm me, and I wear what I like!"

Like, a leotard with a tutu, and some blue jeans.  

And if that isn't the perfect outfit for climbing trees, 

then I don't know what is.

What I know is that this girl is a wonder to me.  She brings joy wherever she goes, she delights me (you can be sure she exasperates, too) and makes me so proud.  I feel like I'm just waiting and watching to see what amazing thing(s) she is going to do or be a part of.  The truth is, though, that she has been watching me.  She has seen me at my worst in the last couple of years, and do you know what?  At the end of every day she would hug me tightly and say,"I love you."  I, as her parent, am supposed to be teaching her so much, but she is the one who is teaching me, and has been for ten years.  The lesson?  Unconditional love.

Some Stuff From This Year Part IV - Christian Edition

Christian is a builder.  He loves to create things.  Give him Legos, give him K'Nex, give him Lincoln Logs, or Tinker Toys, or bread...he's going to make something out of it.

After we arrived home from Florida, he was able to get into some of his Christmas presents that we asked him to wait on until we had them at our house.  One of those gifts was this creature made from K'Nex, his pet, he called it.

While my photography skills are indeed lacking, the blur in the photo is not because of me (entirely)...this funny little guy actually moves.  And he wobbledy clacked over to me and tried to go right up my leg.

I'll say this much:  that's the closest any pet of my kids will get to my leg.  Once, a real live dog did something similar and peed on my toes.  I had on open-toed shoes.  You can imagine how glad I was that happened.  Ha.

Christian also likes to dig.  That is what he does while Michaela has soccer practice, and he is very good and patient about teaching his sister this important skill.  (Aren't you impressed that I let my children dig in the dirt?  Right next to a tree at the park?  Where at least one dog is sure to have whizzed?!)

And don't forget the balls.  He throws, kicks, dribbles, and bounces.  Even two at a time! 

 

Last but not least, this year Christian has been working on growing his two front teeth.  He wanted them for Christmas, but it took a wee bit longer than that for his pearly whites to show up. 

I wrote about his birthday the other day...did I mention that he turned eight?  That sounds so crazy to me.  When we moved to Dallas he was just about to turn four!  That's like a baby!  When I think of him when we came here, I remember someone soooo small.  And now he's not too far from being in the double digits.

Christian is one funny dude.  He has a great sense of humor, and his laugh is one of the most contagious laughs I have ever heard.  He is sensitive, and extremely passionate.  His intensity can be...challenging.  But there is a deep well of emotion in this boy, and we have a very important job to help him learn to navigate the rough waters of life that he will face in relationships and circumstances.

(Sorry for mixing metaphors.)

His place is a tricky one.  He is the brother of two sisters, one older and one younger.  He has lamented the fact that he is often surrounded by girls, and has pleaded for a brother.  (Never mind that even if we did have another, we can't guarantee that his new sibling would be loaded with testosterone.)  I hope we can cultivate in him the instinct he has to watch over and protect Eliana (and one day, Michaela, when she doesn't seem like she's so much bigger than he is, to him) and to help her and teach her.  It's so wonderful to see those things when they do happen.  His name means "follower of Christ" and from the time we chose that name for him until now I have prayed that he will live into it.  May it be so.  There is no one else worth following.

Some Stuff From This Year Part III - Eliana Edition

Since Eliana gets so very little attention around here (ahahahahahaha!), I am dedicating this post to some of the things that she has done so far this year.

Eliana has obviously been working on writing her name at school, and she was able to practice (a lot) when we made her Valentine's cards for classmates.  She signed her name on each one, all by herself!

We spelled it out each time: E-L-I-A-N-A.  She was able to do it on her own (say the letters in order) by the time we were halfway through.

At school, the kids designed their "mail boxes" and then delivered the cards to their friends.

There was, of course, a snack.  Look at all that fruit on her plate!  Oh, don't think she ate it.  She didn't.

We have also taken advantage of the weather on some very beautiful days.  All of my kids love to swing around on these poles just outside of the doors that we use most frequently at the church.  Eliana has discovered the joy that comes from flinging herself wildly around in circles while holding onto the pole.

 

She also discovered how delightful it is to slide down the pole at the playground.  I can't believe she is big enough to do this!!

You can be sure that I had several heart attacks and almost wet my pants as she made this discovery.

Speaking of sliding down poles, Eliana's class went to visit the fire department.  (Where did you think I was going with all of this pole business?!)  It was a wonderful experience, and two fire fighters spent a good bit of time talking about the things they do, from how they handle meals to what engines/trucks go out for the different kinds of fires.  Then they showed us the fire-fighting gear.

There is a suit, a mask, an oxygen tank, and boots.

They have about one minute to get this suit and the rest on...I have an unspeakable admiration for these men (women, too; I don't know if there are women in this particular department).

They explained to the kids that even though this gear looks kind of scary, if a fire fighter came to help you, this is what they would be wearing, and not to be afraid.  I thought that was a great idea.

The suits can handle heat up to about 800o.  They absorb the heat, but after that point they can't absorb more.  Can you even imagine?!

The helmet pictured above is actually yellow.  The fire fighter was crawling along (obviously in a fire) and a blast went over him and his fellow fire fighters and that hat shows what a helmet looks like after that happens.  I had tears in my eyes.  This particular fireman was okay (minor injuries) but had to get a new uniform (suit).  These men go into these situations knowing that they might be giving up their lives for someone else.  Again, I have no words for what I feel and think about them.

After seeing the gear and listening to the firemen, the kids had a chance to walk through one of the fire engines.  Eliana went cautiously...Michaela was sweet and went with her.

 

How silly is she?  Who wouldn't like to get carried out of a fire engine by a handsome fire fighter?!  They were so kind with the kids.  It was a really wonderful trip.

She also got to celebrate her half-birthday with her class.  She wore a crown (which she kept on for about five minutes) and they sang "Happy Birthday" to her in chapel that week. 

Um, do you see the number on that crown?  It's a "4"!

A "4"!!

Does she look dubious?  That's exactly how I feel.  I'm pretty sure I just gave birth to this child, what, last week maybe? 

No?  Well.  I have always had trouble with time.

One thing I do know.  I love this girl.  Even though she can make me want to pull my hair out one at a time.  Like every single hair that I have on my whole body.  I do love her so much that my heart could explode sometimes.  She is funny, sweet, fiesty, girly, and yet not entirely dainty...complex and enchanting.

We named her Eliana, which means "My God has answered (me)".  We knew that he had responded to our grief and our prayers following two miscarriages with this amazing, healthy pregnancy.  And now, four years later, (yes, there I go admitting it!) I say with great gratitude, she is a gift, and a blessing.  He did answer, indeed.