We Call Her Fizzy

Michael turned NINE this year. I know. Where did the time go?

We had planned a big "bey-blading" party with lots of friends, food, and games.

                                     But In the end, Michael opted for something he's wanted much more.

                                                                                more than cake...

                                                           or any other gift he could recieve.

he wanted a new friend.

                                                       One he could hold, love, and take car of,

                                                                      and watch for entertainment.

So we went down to the pet store. Bought all the supplies. And He chose his little friend. On the way home, he named her "Fizzy"...

And he's never regreted it.

Not ONCE.

And I'm glad.

Fizzy's a lucky hampster.

Santa

                                 So...Santa's been to our house. Although....

                                                     He looked more like a war veteran...

                                        And Justin questioned the authenticity of his beard.
                                             You can't pull anything by these kids! *sigh*

Overwhelmed

Do you ever just feel overwhelmed? I have been having varying degrees of it lately.

Overwhelmed with the large supply of "stuff" in our house.
Overwhelmed with the amount of "clutter" (I'll refrain from using the word "junk" since although it applies to many things, it doens't apply to all things) that stuff provides.
Overwhelmed by the amazingly long, large and rapidly growing, "to do" lists every day.
Overwhelmed by the amount of cleaning that needs to be done despite the endless hours of cleaning that has been done.
Overwhelmed by the non-stop "mommy-ing" there is to do 24/7 without any break, regardless of the desire that others have to give it, but simply can't.
Overwhelmed by the relentless travel that has to be done by a very wonderful husband and father.
Overwhelmed by the constant homesickness, even when home.
Overwhelmed by the endless home renovations that are needed and are currently in progress.
Overwhelmed by the time needed by each individual childr.
Overwhelmed by how happy the children get upon arrival home after even the shortest period of time.
Overwhelmed by the beauty of the fall with it's gorgeous red, gold, and orange leaves.
Overwhelmed by the sweetness of a kind friend offering their help when they are aware of any struggle that might be occuring in church.
Overwhelmed by the generosity of others who drop a note in the mail or make a phone call, just to say how much their lives have been blessed by some, insignificant act on the giver's part.
Overwhelmed by the comfort of a great hug from somebody who knows the trials, loves anyway and gives freely on an especially difficult day.
Overwhelmed with Gratitude for the many wonderful things learned as a child by parents, teachers and leaders that have been exteremely valuable throughout adulthood.
Overwhelmed by the Love of the Lord who blesses,  is mindful, and allows these feelings of opposition, but still understands the necessity of it for learning and growth.

So you see, I'm overwhelmed. But overwhelmed isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it is the sweetest blessing that our Heavenly Father has to offer us.

May you feel "Overwhelmed" this Thanksgiving Holiday too. Overwhelmed by His goodness.

What They Say Wednesday

While the roofers have been feverishly working on top of our house (approximately 10 or so of them), I was reading stories to the children when Justin broke in and said, "I thought they are here to slam our house in pieces!"

I truly appreciate those sentiments. Beacause it did sound like the house would split in half,

 

We went to Papa's pizza for lunch. *sigh*

*special note: check out my giveaway going on now at Ginger Snap Crafts! click here

What They Say Wednesday

Michael: "I'm practicing my Bambi eyes."

Mom: "Who told you you have Bambi eyes?"

Michael: "No one, that's why I have to practice."

Alyssa's first Haircut

The Victim:

The Crime:

The Evidence:

The Scene:

The Criminal:

One of the most charming features of this adorable boy...

is his curly hair. People keep asking me why I cut/shaved it. Well... here's the story:

Last Sunday I was combing his hair for church, when I realized something just wasn't right. But what? Then it hit me! His hair was quite a bit shorter in the middle on top. What?! He had cut his hair! It wasn't too bad because his curls made it easy to hide. That evening, after dinner, he and his older brother were rough housing in the Living room. He fell back and hit his head on the fireplace brick. To everyone's horror, that wound was gushing blood. I learned a long time ago that head injuries are notorious for this kind of thing, making them look more serious than they are. I spent the next little while trying to figure out if that head was split and needed urgent care for some stitches. Both Jeremy and Michael held Justin's hand while I shaved around the wound, they got him water, an ice pack and  bandaid. They offered their hands each time he cried, for holding, telling him to sqeeze them as tight as he needed for relief.  It was an excrutiating ordeal for Justin, but he was lovingly cared for by his brothers and we were able to see that the cause of his pain was a goose egg the size of a quarter with a little gash in the middle like a volcano. Poor guy!

He was soon back to his happy go lucky life within minutes of Michael's careful bandaid application.

We all enjoyed his laughter and were glad he was feeling like playing again so quickly.

   Aren't children amazing that way?  I'm struck by what a little love will do.

Off to Nursery

 Since Steve knew he would be out of town most of the month of October, he arranged with the church nursery leader to have Amy start going a few weeks earlier than the typical 18 mos. to relieve me for those couple of hours to enjoy my lessons. Sunday was her first day...

 She loved it! I have really enjoyed her blossoming personality these days. She is such a truly sweet treat.

Her ability to express herself has increased and she is learning and saying new words daily.

 Lately anytime I say "Good Girl", she repeats it. {I have reason to say this to her a lot.}

Our baby doll is growing up...

                             I'm not sure how I feel about this, so I'll just enjoy her in the meantime.

Change of Plans

Last Thursday, Bryon was voted into the Homecoming Court. What? Yeah, that's what he said! He came home rather surprised and skeptical. He thought his friends were pulling a prank on him. Surely it finally sunk in when he was called up to the stage at his school assembly on Friday. He came home telling me it was for real, donning the official, glorious sash:

*These first three pictures are at the game courtesy of Kate's family via facebook, so please excuse the blur ;).

The girl he was voted in with was Kate (on the right), a friend of his from school and seminary.

This turnout was completely baffling to him, especially since neither he NOR Kate were even planning on going to Homecoming at all and had other plans for Saturday night. We were laughing about it at home, creating extreme senarios in our conversations. After scrambling for a new plan, Bryon met up with some friends for the Friday night game:

{He's pictured here with Kate and her twin brother Zack, who was crowned King later that night}

 then showed up to the dance to fultill his courtly (is that a word?) duty. After the dance, he and his friends enjoyed a homecoming party at one of their houses...

and came home having had a good time, (even though it "inconvenienced" him a great deal to have to attend Homecoming) instead of playing some game on the town called "Commandos".

All in all, Bryon decided he was glad that he went to homecoming. Turns out the guy that arranged the whole game that night, went to homecoming instead too. 

Ahhh, the joys of High School!

Life's a bore!

I haven't posted much lately, as you can well see. It isn't that there isn't anything going on...no! Quite contrare! In fact, there are a lot of things going on that are rather occupying my time. Want a few examples?

Here are a few:

*Note the background mess and uncanned boxes of apples.

Excuse the blurry picture. Although, I don't think it draws away from the point too much, do you?

After cleaning this mess up, I found two more the next day in the same location. I guess it's a great location for egg cracking. We had a good talk. It hasn't happened again. *Whew*

If you look closely you will note a few green lines on the cupboards, maybe dots, maybe more...oh, and on the fridge too.

They continued on until they reached past the back door, then changed direction... 

and became dining room wall art. There was even some decorative element in the entry way.

The bright side is that it encouraged a much needed scrubbing on cupboards, walls and fridge. Things are all a sparkle around here. Although I don't expect it to last, I'll enjoy it while I can.

Simple pleasures are like a holiday around here!

Peaceful Slumber

Babies keep life interesting. You never know what habits they are going to take on, keep, lose, change, or develop. What schedules they are going to form, adapt to, or when they will mix them up completely.

When Amy started to drink from a bottle, the only way we could get her to settle was to commit the cardinal sin of laying her down all a-slirp. She would drink that milk down and quickly give way to blissful slumber. She would then wake up for a 2a.m. feeding and repeat the process. This lasted all the way until well after her 1st birthday. She was our first baby to wake in the night consistantly, even after 4months of age. So, we gave in too tired to do otherwise. After all, sleep is too precious right? So when we gave her that bottle, it was happy magic. That sweet baby would grab that midnight snack, be done with it in seconds, and let sleep again take over until well around 8a.m. Anything to keep our precious babe happy...

Those feedings have been long since forgotten and Amy has decided, contrary to Dr.'s beliefs since the beginning of time, that her nightly bottle is no longer a necessity. She pushes it away and prefers Mr. "D"  (pictured above) for naps, and Mr. Ted (her teddy bear) for bedtime.

She grabs him

 hugs him to her with a smile...and falls peacefully into dreamland. We much prefer this new habit,

                                                                  for she seems to be in such peaceful slumber.