Ava doodled this today during a mad card making spree. Kid's drawings are one of the biggest perks of being a parent and with Ava I am spoiled rotten. I am pretty sure she is a genius. Now and then she says she wants to be a cartoonist when she grows up and I say that would be a pretty sweet life.
Happy Valentines Day!
Especially to you, JD, wherever you are.
People Are Often Unreasonable
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may just never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it's all between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
-Kent Keith
Merry Christmas
Here you are on this very (warm and rainy) day.
And one year ago.
And on the rock.
Height: 41 3/4 inches
Weight: 41 lbs.
I would choose you
all
over
again.
Peace.
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the mist of those things and still be calm in your heart. -Anonymous
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. -Buddha
Whatever the tasks, do them slowly with ease, in mindfulness. So do not do any tasks with the goal of getting them over with. Resolve to each job in a relaxed way with all your attention. -Threh Nhat Hanh
Happy New Year!
The chaos, 7:49 am.
The festivities started at 5:21am (the time stamped on the first picture of the morning) and those pictures are the real great ones with looks of amazement and sleepy, sleepy eyes and first of the morning hair (my favorite). But the sun hadn't risen, so I had to use the flash and the pictures have that artificial cold whitey brightness that didn't feel at all like the morning really was, lamp lit and warm and cozy.
The favorites of the loot, and you just never really know what that will end up being, was a tiny Playmobil Pirate Set.
That FLOATS, and anything that might extend bath time is a toy we want. This was our first bit of Playmobil and now I, I mean THEY, want more. Like maybe the Grande Mansion (Becca - check out the kitchen!) or the Country Life Super Set. Is that a girl feeding a calf with a bottle, a draw well, and carrots you can pluck from the ground?! Or a Horse Drawn Cart loaded down with pumpkins?! And the Bird Feeder I can not live without. Or the Chicken Coop or the Forest Animals with Cave OR the Forest Lodge COMPLETE WITH FURNITURE AND A CARE CENTER FOR DEER.
Ooookaaay. A little Playmobil freak show there. Sorry about that. I had never visited their website before, perhaps I should have went alone.
Anyhoo, You will NEVER guess what made #1 on the list of most played with Christmas toy to date.
WOODEN BLOCKS!?! It had occurred to Santa that Jack had never had a set of building blocks (Ava's had long since disappeared) and I believe these came just in the nick of time before poor Jack was scarred for life.
And for Ava, they brought a bit of nostalgia for the good ole days when she was little.
Mama's favorites? See the wooden table? Their bottoms have barely left it's seats since. Eating, playing, building, coloring, play dough, tv. It replaced the little purple Dora table you see in the first photo and is absolutely fabulous. 100% hardwood, a spill catching lip (we've already tested it), and both the table and chairs fold up for easy storage. It's tabletop is spacious without being to large and the chairs are super comfy and rated for up to 150 pounds. My grandchildren will play at this table, no doubt.
And on the TV there - Discovery's channel Planet Earth DVD set. AMAZING. We laughed, we cried, we could have watched the entire 5 episodes straight through, but we had somewhere to be.
Someplace where the gifts are perfect and the eats are out of this world!
Just before bedtime last night, Ava asked me to help her write her Daddy a letter, "I tried to, Mama, but I can't spell the word apologize." Then she handed me her blue color and this piece of paper,
(bless her heart)
and began:
Dear Daddy,
I am sorry and apologize that you can't be home for Christmas. If I didn't have you I would cry tears. I love you and I am so sorry you had to go to work. Happy Birthday, Daddy.
I Love You,
Ava
P.S. Your favorite color is green.
Then she nodded and said that's it. And I had to go blow my nose.
It moved me so, I decided to write him something, too.
The gifts are wrapped
the cookies baked
there's nothing left to do
but sit around
and think about
how much we all miss you.
So I made a special
trip to town
to sit on Santa's knees
I whispered what
I wanted most
and followed up with please.
But I guess I wasn't
good enough
because, my dear, it seems
that you will be
home for Christmas
but only in my dreams.
First Annual Handmade Ornament Day, Salt Dough Edition. A Pictorial.
Sometime from now, in the far Christmas future, when Ava and Jack are off decorating their own trees, JD will haul a box down form the attic and on the side it will read: Handmade Ornaments. Then he will stoke the fire as I unwrap small bundles of tissue paper, all the way back to these, and remember.
Then I will blow my nose and tell JD to call them both and ask them to come by AND BRING THE GRANDKIDS. Then I'll wash my hands and start the Monkey Bread.
My contribution to Ava's kindergarten Christmas party today. I set out to make them this morning with only the vaguest notion of what I might do - but a star tip here, sprinkle there and, what do you know, CUPCAKES!
Next time, I may ice the top with a simple confectioner's sugar glaze (like with a petit four), let that set, then make the tree. That way you would have full coverage icing and the sprinkles would stick only to the tree. And maybe I would pipe a yellow star on top with the same hard set icing and a tiny star tip.
The kids lit up each time I set one on their plate, which is THE BEST. And, you know what they did next, right? Ate the icing tree right off the top - NO CAKE. That is hardcore, man, even for me.
