Little Ballerinas

I happened to have my camera with me the other day at the girls' dance class. Thought you all might enjoy a sneak peek!

Eulogy for a Fish

Today was a very sad day for our little Molly. Her beloved blue Beta fish, Peter Pan went belly-up this morning. Our sensitive little 5 year old has been in tears, mourning the passing of this pet that she has cared for for about a year. When McKenna came home from school, we had a little service for Peter Pan, and buried him in the back yard, complete with little heart-shaped marker, stone, prayers and flowers. Ron and I have felt our hearts squeeze with sadness over how hard Molly is taking the loss of Peter Pan. She is such a tenderhearted little girl.

Ofcourse, we took her to the pet store this evening and let her pick out a new Beta. The one she chose is red. On the way home, we asked her what she wanted to name her new fish. Her prompt answer was, "Jesus". Ron and I both had to stifle laughter at the thought of naming her fish after our Lord and Savior. She was adamant, however, that she wanted to name this new pet Jesus. Neither Ron nor I could bring ourselves to call the fish by his newly given name, so once we got the red beta settled in his new home, we explained why we were hesitant to have her name her fish Jesus. After some thought, she seems to have agreed to come up with another name for him. We told her to sleep on it and make her decision in the morning, however. She is going to announce the new name at breakfast tomorrow. If it is still to be Jesus, then, so be it. I know He must be getting a kick out of the whole thing!

Despite her new fish taking up residence in his new home, it will likely take awhile for him to take up residence in Molly's heart. As she lay down in bed tonight, she asked what we were going to do next with Peter Pan. I told her that we did all we could to, and that it was all over, there's nothing more we can do except bring flowers to his little resting place. The finality of it all settled over sweet Molly as she said, "But I will never see him again", and the tears fell new and fresh. She is learning a very tough lesson today, but through it, hopefully she is learning to not only take her sadness to her Mommy, Daddy and Sister, but also to her Heavenly Father. And Lord, I thank you for our precious Molly who loves even the smallest of your creatures deeply. May you continue to grow in her the loving heart you have blessed her with, that she may shine your light and love to all she encounters.

UPDATE: The new fish's name is Heart.

Scenes from Molly's B-day Party

Molly and her friends celebrated her 5th (yes, 5th!) birthday this past Saturday with cake, dancing, balloon tossings, and general "merry-making". A good time seemed to be had by all. Take a look for yourself!

Valentine's Surprise

Last evening, we were surprised to look out our window and see snow swirling madly to the ground, and miracle of miracles, actually laying on the ground! There was no mention of this unexpected delight in the news to prepare us, which is highly unusual... snow is BIG news down here. Ron and I were anticipating a 2 hour delay for the girls as we snuggled into our warm bed last night.

Sure enough, there was a 2 hour delay this morning, so we got to savor the Valentine's giving this morning with the girls. I only wished they would be able to play in the snow a bit, but they had to get ready for school, so they could only gaze at it from the window. I was surprised to discover 50 minutes before McKenna was due to leave for school, that school had, in fact, been cancelled!

Well, there was no time to lose! The sun was already coming out and doing it's disappearing act on the snow that glistened in it's rays. I rushed the girls into their snow gear and ushered them outside to enjoy the snow before there was no snow to enjoy! We managed to scrape together 2 little snowmen before our frolic in the inch of snow was over. They are slowly becoming puddles as I type.

What a sweet surprise to have my 2 little Valentines home with me on this special day when we celebrate our loved ones. And this day is made all the more sweet knowing and rejoicing in the fact that Ron passed the ordination boards yesterday. All that hard work and stress is behind him, and we look forward to his being ordained at Lake Junaluska come June. So we have a double reason to celebrate this February 14. We are blessed.

Valentine Creations

Both of the girls' Valentine ideas came from Family Fun magazine this year, and we did, indeed, have fun making them.

Molly's "You Color My World" valentine was probably the most fun to make. One afternoon we scoured the house for old, used crayons. After rounding up a good amount in various colors, we peeled the wrappers off and broke the crayons up into smaller pieces. We placed them in my mini muffin tin and baked them until the crayons melted into the beautiful little "crayon tarts" you see Molls displaying in the photo above. We stuck them to hearts with the words: "You color my world" and voila! a finished Valentine, ready to grace the boxes of her preschool classmates. Molls was so sweet the whole time we were making the tarts. "This is so MUCH FUN, Mama! And we're doing this AGETHER!". It was an afternoon very well spent with my sweetheart of a 4 year old.

As soon as I saw the Dinosaur Valentines in Family Fun magazine, I knew they'd be perfect for McKenna to give to her friends. (She plays dinosaurs everyday on the playground with her buddies, Olivia and Carl). I cut out hearts and wrote "You're Dino-mite!" on them. Then we stamped heart-shaped "footprints" on them and McKenna selected which party-favor dino would leave it's tracks on which Valentine. She was delighted with the end result and eager to give them to her friends. But alas, they are home due to a snow day this Valentines Day, so the dinos will have to wait until tomorow to stomp their way into McKenna's classmates Valentine bag. Poor Molls will have to wait until Monday. They may be a bit disappointed not to be in school today, but I love having my Little Sweethearts home with me this Valentines Day. It was a lovely surprise!

Thirty-six

Just thought I'd post a photo of my "new look" for thirty-six: 'wispy bangs' and the tell-tale sign that I am getting older... glasses! ( I didn't realize how poorly I see out of my left eye until my recent eye-exam... as the doctor said, I'd been getting by solely with my right eye!).

I had a wonderful birthday with my family. It was just a great day and I was certainly "feeling the love" from family and friends. Thirty-six ain't so bad... but check in with me 4 years from now, and we'll see if I'm singing the same tune!

Princess Tea Party Photos and Footage