Thursday, April 30, 2009

This n That


We have been having lots of fun with our new puppy. She's often called "Miss Daisy" or "Daisy Waisy". She's just 4 lbs, but of lots of energy. She loves to bite, especially my feet! We love her, even if she is a lot of work at the moment!

Sarah's Kindergarten Musical was tonight. It was called "How Does Your Garden Grow?". It was adorable! She had lots of fun with it. After we took the 1st picture, I asked her where her missing arms were. So in the next picture, she said, "Here they are!" and did a wave dance with them. We then went out for ice cream afterwards...yum! Sarah was eating her cone from both ends...great smiles, good memories!



Last week Morgan broke 2 bones in her arm when she fell off the Monkey bars. She didn't get a cast, just a brace, which is nice for bath time, but not so protective when she accidentally bumps it (ouch!)! Hopefully it's enough to keep her arm steady enough to heal in the next 4 weeks. She's hardly missed a beat. We even went to Silver Dollar City Sunday (avoided most rides, just went to shows...which were amazing!).

Only 16 more days left of school! I am really looking forward to summer vacation! But for this weekend, we have a date night for Friday and a Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday evening. Mike's also hoping to fix the boat this weekend, so we can get it out soon! :) Should be a fun weekend, even if it's rainy and cold!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Price of Children

I just got this email...thought it was good enough to post!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into: $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, $171.08 a week. A mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be rich. Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?
Naming rights. First, middle, and last! Glimpses of God every day. Giggles under the covers every night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate. A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites. Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to: finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to: keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watch Saturday morning cartoons, go to Disney movies, and wish on stars. You get to: frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for: retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the: First step, First word, First bra, First date, First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Meet Daisy

















We've been talking about it for awhile now and today we finally did it, we got a dog! Meet our newest family member...Daisy. She's a 6 week old beagle (born 3-7-09). Isn't she sweet!?! Can I just stay home from work this week and love her?

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter


What a beautiful day today was (and I'm not talking about the weather!). This morning began with the girls searching for candy eggs in the house and then we headed out for church. I actually thought I would miss Easter at Woodcrest... but Northpoint's Easter service was so moving that tears snuck out near the end. Oh the message of Easter... that of a creator that loves us so much that he pursues us throughout our lives. I thought Northpoint captured so well the heart of God towards us in their Easter service and I loved every moment of it... from the 3D glasses, to Slumdog Millionaire clips and dance, to the message and the worship "Oh, happy day!". I love that the girls are always excited when we leave church and eager to tell us what they are learning.


We returned home to a treasure hunt to find their Easter baskets (the baskets were hiding in the dryer). We then finished preparing Easter dinner and Darian (our friend and sitter) joined us for dinner and a relaxing afternoon. We all smile and laugh a lot when Darian is around and enjoy her company very much! Morgan said her favorite part of the day was Darian coming over and Sarah said hers was the treasure hunt. My favorite part was being moved by the love of my Creator once again. I love this life I get to live!

Oh yah, did you notice Sarah's new toothless grin?

Monday, April 6, 2009

Something Right

Most days I wonder if I'm making the right choices as a mom...saying the right things, doing the right things, am I building character into my kids, raising them up to be proud of the person they are. It's probably why I like the saying "I'd like to be the ideal mom, but I'm too busy raising my own kids." There's no set of instructions or set formula for raising kids...it's a complicated journey with lots of risk. And yet lately, I've received a few glimpses that perhaps we, as parents, are doing something right.

Like tonight, when Morgan prayed, "Thank you for giving me life, so that I can live with you!" Wow! At some level she's beginning to understand relationship with the creator!

And last month both girls won awards at school.
Sarah won a Caring Kid award. Her teacher wrote, "She is always honest and has a great attitude. "
Morgan won a Super Citizen award for self-discipline (her classmates nominated her).

It's nice to know that they make wise choices even when I'm not around. They are great kids and I'm so proud of them! And every night I thank God for letting me share life's journey with them!