Sara can unwrap presents...
That is all I am going to say...
My blog entry for the day...
The stinkin' cat can unwrap presents...
Yes...
For. real.

Christmas past.

Sunday morning--before church (read: the kids get up super early so we have lots of chillaxin time)--Grace and I sat together and looked through hundreds and hundreds of pictures and videos.  We began with those of Grace, when she was a baby, and worked our way up to Sam's first few months of life before we had to pry ourselves off the couch and head to worship.

I was amazed!  I see these children day to day to mundane day.  They look the same to me as they did the day they were born.  Except for a few teeth thrown in here and there, and oh yeh, they walk and talk...  Okay so maybe they don't seem the same as they did when they were born, but I suppose what I'm trying to get across here is that I don't notice how quickly and drastically they change when I'm living life with them up close and personal.  I guess you could say I can't "see the forest for the trees"...I'm just putting puzzle pieces together and I forgot to step back and take a look at the big picture...

So...here's me...stepping back...

Allow me to present...

a little snap shot...

Christmas past. 

2005.  Grace's first Christmas.  She looks like a little doll.  Look at those teeny tiny delicate fingers.  Oh...we prayed for her so long and hard.  And she came rolling into our lives and we have never been the same.  She sat and stared at that tree for over 20 minutes.  Never touched a ribbon.  Never pulled an ornament.  Never tore a package.  Just looked...in complete awe. And we experienced Christmas for the first time as parents.  Thank you Grace for that gift...making Earl and me parents.

2006.  I couldn't find a picture of Grace during her second Christmas with us.  I'll have to dig deeper.  But...if you wanna come over...my very favorite picture of her is framed on our mantle.  She was 18 months old.  We took her to see Santa...cause that's what you do...right?  She was dressed in the most darling pink dress...the cuffs were faux fur lined, the fabric was covered in a dusting of glitter.  We placed her on Santa's lap.  And she. began. to. WAIL.  and kick. and flail.  Santa sat stoically, a tight grip around her waist.  This was not his first rodeo.  A picture was taken.  Grace was released from the fat man's lap, and the yearly tradition was complete.  The picture?  It's priceless.  It makes me giggle everytime I walk by it.

2007.  Her third Christmas.  Her last one alone.  We had just moved.  Life was upside down and inside out.  But she was still Grace...still twirling.  I couldn't find a picture of her sitting still to save my life.  Or with any clothes on....

2008.  And then there were two.  Sam's first Christmas.  Grace's fourth.  Goodness how quickly my little doll grew!  But those eyes!!!
...michef...wonder...excitement... 

Little brother.  He's always had a rather worried look plastered on his face.  I don't blame him.  He came into a diva's world but he learned quickly to sit back and enjoy the ride. 

 He also was the exact opposite of his big sister in regards to respect of the Christmas tree and its decorations.  He ate everything off the tree.  Ornaments. Tinsel.  Ribbon.  I think he was part goat that first year. 

2009.  Grace's fifth Christmas.  Sam's second. 

 Also known as the year Grace played the part of Mary in her own self-directed Christmas pagent....

 And baby brother played the part of Herod....you can read about that here.

  

Christmas 2010.  Grace's sixth.  Sam's third.  The annual photo.  Nobody cried.  Kinda makes a momma wanna cry... 

Merry Christmas. 

I know I say this a lot on here.  Time goes quickly.  Take lots of pictures. 

A new post everyday? What was I thinking?!?!

This week is the children's Christmas musical program at our church.
Thursday December 9th and Friday December 10th. Starts at 7pm.  Nothing gets a person into the Christmas spirit like a stage full of singing children and a cookie reception.   
I wouldn't say Grace is an angel...but she does play one on stage.
Come join us...you'll be glad you did. 

Sentimental.

I've become a bit...sentimental. You see, I have this kindergartener living in my house.  Who IS she?  I'm not the mom to a kindergartener...to an "almost 6 year old"..to a child with loose teeth...a child with legs so long they spill off my lap when I hold her....a child that can read real books and even sound-out words her father and I spell out in hopes that she can't understand us, like some sort of secret parental code.  

 Nonononononononno...it can't be true! 

But there's this voice inside me that screams "Believe it!" and I find myself sitting so still, soaking it in...praising God for the blessing of my children.  Begging Him to help me remember when they were little...what they sounded like...what their hand felt like in mine...the weight of them in my arms.  Asking Him to tuck these things back into a special part of my mind...a place I can easily access and remember. 

It's only been 5 1/2 years....and my brain. is. full.  I feel like I am forgetting.   I'm scared that I will get swept up in the sea of everyday life and lose the sweet memories of my children when they were little.  I often ask God to help me remember!

God is good.

And He answers every prayer.

It's just how He answers them.

He's creative.

He created us in His image.

We are creative.

And so I am praising God this morning for creating the person who created video cameras.

In my weepy mommy sentimental "why are my kids growing so fast?" moments...I sit at the computer and watch the loads of video we have captured in 5 1/2 short years.

It makes me laugh

It makes me cry.

It helps me remember.

And in the spirit of the season...I wanted to share this one with you...

Grace is 2 1/2 here.  She is the same age in this video as Sam is now.  Crazy.  Her language ability has always been, well, insane.  (I would liken Sam's language ability to that of a caveman...) She started talking at 10 months, and hasn't stopped since.  Enjoy.  And this morning?...let's praise God for children, and videos cameras, and Christmas.

And just so you know, she loves Santa now. And to think, it only took 3 years of SCREAMING when she saw him to get over her inborn fear.

Yesterday...

You may think that I devote bit too much of my blog space to a certain cat that has come to live in our house...

But believe me when I say this people,  I could create an ENTIRE blog devoted soley to Sara and her stupid cat antics. 

Yesterday...Sara climbed 3/4 of the way UP our 9 foot tall Christmas tree.  Going up was easy.  She managed to avoid most of the ornaments and almost all of the ribbon.  It was the coming down that got her.  She tried to jump straight out from her perch atop the evergreen, taking with her half of the decorations and leaving ribbons trailing in the aftermath.  Cats love Chrismas.

Yesterday...The weather was above freezing so she spent her afternoon playing with the school children on the playground.  Grace came home and asked "Momma, did you get a call from the school 'cause Sara was on the playground....again"  *sigh*

Yesterday...She managed to kill and gut a mole.  She left it as a present in the driveway.  The neighborhood kids were facinated with the blood and gore.  I scooped it up and gave it a proper burial.  There is still blood on the driveway.  Pray for rain...

Yesterday...Sara jumped into the kitchen window.  Flat foot from the kitchen floor straight up into the window above the sink.  Into. the. window.  The window was closed.  It's a miracle she didn't break her little kitty nose.  She was trying to catch the birds that eat at the feeder there.  The birds chirped mockingly...it almost sounded like little birdy laughter. 

Yesterday...Sara, roughly a 7 lb cat, killed. a. full grown squirrel.  I can't make this stuff up people.  Killed it dead.  My neighbor's husband offered to skin the squirrel...said it would be "good eating"...I have great neighbors. 

Today?

Well...who can blame her?

Sara...is sleeping...

Cousin: a noun

Rhymes with dozen

Meaning "a child of one's aunt or uncle"

But really...I think "cousin" should be a verb.  At least in this family.

Cousin: a verb

Meaning to teach, to love, to hold close in your heart because you share a common bond.  

To teach that removing one's shirt makes your cool factor go way up...even if you're only 7 and 2.

 To stay up late reading and giggling even when your mother's are yelling at you to "TURN OFF THAT LIGHT AND GO TO BED!"

To carry on your back when liddle legs get tired, and in your heart for a lifetime.

 To find cool trees and help each other climb them.

And to share that cool tree with the boy cousins and help them climb the tree too...

 To eat pancakes with and smoother them in way more syrup than your mother's would ever allow...

To learn with...to grow with...to love and to teach...

To share the common bond of two crazy sisters...now aunts...

To cousin.

A verb.

11 years ago, I bought Earl a flashlight.  It was one of those mini-maglite flashlights.  It was a present for his birthday.  We had been dating a little over a month, and I had no idea what to get for him.  I give my mom the credit.  It was her idea...she suggested I buy him a flashlight, and she offered to help me engrave his name on the handle.  Problem was, I didn't know how to spell his last name.  We tried looking in the phone book, but he was "unlisted"...11 years later?  Well, we're still unlisted...he's paranoid like that.  So I took a guess...and I guessed right!  Little did I know, someday that last name would be my last name...I was just trying to get a cool gift to impress my new boyfriend...

Earl?  Do you still have that flashlight? 

Oh...and P.S. It's Earl's birthday today...he wouldn't tell you so, but I will...He's getting sexier with age... ;)