baby s

Like I said...more pics coming soon! Like right now! :) While I was in NJ for a friend's/might-as-well-be-my-cousin's wedding, I got to see another good friend/might-as-well-be-my-sister and her family. (I have a lot of might-as-well-be-my-family family... :) I love that.) She has a 7 week old (another one of my almost-nephews...) who I had only seen pictures of...so of course I got my hands on him as fast as I could...and held on to him for as long as I could! He is soo scrumptious!! and squishy!! :} I stole him twice for a couple mini photo shoots.

This first set on the gold couch is not quite as good because the lighting was dim for a romantic setting at the reception place...but he's still just as cute! :)

The next day I stole him again while the family packed to go home. I got a few shots up in my hotel room where the lighting was much better with the sheer curtain over the window! And this time he was awake.

Sadly, this one is a little blurry since I had to hurry to catch the shot before he lost this pose...but I still like it. :)

I'm so glad I got to see him in person...and I hope it won't be too long before I see him (and the rest of his family!) again!! :)

just sayin' hi :)

Hi! :) I'm still here. Just been super busy in the last week or so. I've been all the way up to NJ/NYC and back...dinner with friends...and today my kids' basketball games. Pretty funny to see a bunch of 4 year olds running around in bball shorts that are approximately 5 sizes too big! :} Now I am waiting for the girls' game and editing pics while I wait....so...more coming in the near future! :)

(LMG took this picture on her mom's phone...a rare glimpse of the girl who would rather stay behind the camera! ;)

valentine's day fun

My kids and I decided it would be fun to have a little Valentine's Day party. Sadly, Shannon had to work that day so we missed having her and Jonathan over, but Leah and Laura came with their cuties and we just had a laid back, wonderful morning together!

Of course, no party is complete without a Leah cake. My girls were so excited to have a "real" Leah cake - all fancy and beautiful...and delicious! :) And with all the sugar flooding the house this day, I made sure all other snacks were healthy ones! Thankfully my kids love healthy stuff and ate about half the baby carrots! lol

This is Aiden. He's getting so big! I love this last picture above...Leah had my camera at this point and he is looking at her like "Oh brother, mom! Quit taking my picture already!"

Leah...I couldn't resist this next one...

Tee hee!!!

This is why Leah had my camera for a few minutes... :}

"Baby Leah" as we call her when Cake Leah is around :) looves to be read to by Little Miss Sunshine.

She's cute. :)

Look at this little beauty!! Annie is melting so many hearts with that big smile these days!

Well...her mom did used to be a teacher.... ;)

Sharing some V-day love. :} She gave Aiden a kiss...then he tried to hug her back...as she quickly hopped down from the chair. :}

Leah left to take her two kiddos home for naps and Laura and Baby Leah stayed for a little while longer and went to our playground across the street. Mr. Happy is instructing her in the proper ways of swinging a "big kid". :)

My little buddy. :) You can ask him what color a "hunk" is and he will say "green!" because he thinks it's the same as a hulk...like the green hulk!

She's making a heart. :)

After Laura and Leah left, we hung out at the playground for the rest of the afternoon. It felt soo good to be out in the warm sunshine breathing the fresh air!! After a while, our new little friend, Lulu, and her mom came to play...and our favorite dog, Smiley, even came to see us! A great end to a great Valentine's Day! :)

a valentine craft and one extra pic

I love Valentine crafts...and Valentine decorations...and all the fun Valentine stuff in the stores. Mostly cuz it's all red. And pink. ("it's pink!!" heehee...that was for you m.) :} We did a few crafts this year for Valentine's Day and making our own conversation hearts was my favorite. I found it here.

This was so simple and easy to make! All you need is powdered sugar, water, powdered sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, and um...oh...powdered sugar! :} You slowly add 2 lbs of powdered sugar to the liquid part one cup at a time until it becomes stiff like in the picture above.

The next step is plopping it on a **very generously dusted (with more p.s.)*** surface to knead it until it is smooth and not sticky. Did I mention you'll need more p.s. for this part?? lol

This part took the longest - trying to get it not sticky - but was totally fun. This was also the only part my kids did not do themselves. So, to keep them for getting bored just watching me, we pulled out some sticker sheets I'd been saving and they created a pirate scene...which had absolutely nothing to do with V Day. :)

Oh, and before you start kneading, you can let your child have a taste. It doesn't really taste like a candy heart yet - just a lot of sugar - so you may get this face in return...

Ha! :)

Then we mixed in color and flavoring (we chose banana, peppermint, and almond...but there are many more you could do). Next we rolled each color out and cut out our hearts. The smallest size heart cutter I had was about 1 to 1 1/2 in, which was a great size since it was a little easier for the kids to write on them at that size than if they had been as tiny as the "real" ones.

Last, they have to dry for at least 24 hours. The next morning I looked at them and flipped them all over since I could see darker spots on the bottoms where they were obviously not dry yet...and we had a busy day that day so we actually didn't do them until two days after we made them. We used food markers to decorate them.

I asked Mr. Happy what he wanted to write on his green ones and he said, "Um...how 'bout...'God loves you soooo much...cuz he made everything...aaand...etc....etc.(I don't remember everything he said but it was quite the paragraph!)..etc......from Mr. Happy!"

I told him that was an awful lot to put on such a small little heart! and could we just put "God loves you." and he said ok. So we did. :)

We put these in little jars with ribbons around them and gave them to our friends and the kids parents and grandparents...and I totally forgot to take a picture of the jar. I'll try to do that tomorrow and add it later. :)

We had such a fun day today filled with all kinds of friends. And oh my goodness! I LOVE getting to have grownups around for a little bit!! Makes me feel refreshed. Although part of that today was the fact that we were outside almost the entire day - looved the warm weather!! Anyways, still editing those pics and will put them up soon. I'll leave you with just one from today.

If you look closely, he's kissing her nose. :}

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

200 shirts and ties and little boys, oh my!

"Let's pretend" idea overheard the other afternoon as my girls were playing:

LMS: "Hey LMG, let's pretend you're an orphan in an orphanage and I'm your new mommy and I'm coming to take you home. ...Ok, this is your new house...and this is your new room...and come over here and I'll show you the kitchen!"

Hmm...I think I'm starting to rub off on them just a little bit...! I love it! :)

And speaking of the orphan...

You know the parable in Luke 14 about the great banquet? The king invites a bunch of guests...but when the banquet is prepared and ready and the servant is sent out to tell everyone to come, all the guests make excuses and back out of the invitation. So, king gets mad and says fine! go to the streets and alleys and invite the poor, the cripple, the lame, etc.!

Have you ever really stopped to put yourself in one of those people's shoes (or lack-thereof...) for a minute? You have no home. You have to beg for even the tiniest bite of food every single day, depending on the kindness of those who walk around you with plenty. No one thinks twice about you. They couldn't care less about getting to know you...or even just your name. You are no one special...no, you are simply no one.

THEN...one day you see a servant of the king. Now this may not have been so unusual...but this day he is running around like crazy, stopping to speak quickly to other fellow beggars around the city and as he speaks, they stare unbelievingly and slowly at first get to their feet and as others do the same, more quickly follow in the direction the servant had come. Then, all of a sudden, you realize this servant is heading straight towards YOU! Your eyes widen as he looks directly into your eyes and says "Come!! The king is giving a feast - and YOU are invited!! He wants you to come quickly...no, seriously! Get up and go! Follow the others!!"

After you pull your chin up off the ground, you get up and follow the others as well, thinking the whole way...is this real?? Why on earth would the KING want ME to join him for a feast?! I am nothing! I have nothing to offer, nothing to bring!

Now imagine entering that feast! Perhaps the king even greets you as you come in. You see more food that has been prepared than you have ever dreamed of in your life! You know this is one day you will NEVER ever forget.

Now...skip ahead about 2,000 years. :) You have just gotten engaged and are so excited to be planning your wedding. But this is not going to be your typical American wedding. Because you help run a ministry to the street boys in Kampala, Uganda. So, naturally, you are choosing to have your wedding in Africa. And you are inviting 200 street boys to your wedding!

For these 200 orphans...this is somewhat similar to the king inviting you to a banquet. These boys have nothing. And I mean NOTHING. Did you hear me? Nothing. Just the clothes on their backs...if that. This will be a day they will never forget. But not only because they get to join in on a wedding and wedding feast, but because they are going to be showered (ha! pun only slightly intended...) with love even before the wedding begins...!

How do I know this? Well, Linny at A Place Called Simplicity is mom to ten treasures and a blog I have come to love reading. I have a list of blogs I check every day and I go through that list a certain way, saving my very favorites for last - hers is usually my very last. :) Oh, I still love the other blogs I have mentioned too, don't worry. :) I just always leave her blog feeling so encouraged. Anyways, she and one of her daughters are leading a mission trip to Uganda this spring...and it just worked out that they will be there the same time this young couple is getting married - and they and the mission team have been invited to the wedding. But that's not all! Linny and Emma have decided to take on the fun task of loving on these young street boys before and during the wedding. They want to be able to take 200 dress shirts and ties with them and take the boys to get showered and dressed up for the wedding! They are encouraging anyone who would like to help, to go to your favorite thrift (or consignment) store and pick out a dress shirt and tie in size 4T all the way up to size 18, or a men's small and mail it to their church (Linny's husband is the pastor) and they will take them this spring to Africa!

I am taking my kids with me to help pick out a shirt and tie. We (obviously!) talk about the orphan a lot and they will be tickled to get to help pick out something for a little boy on the other side of the world!

Want to help too? (Or even if you have a gently used and outgrown shirt or tie from a son at your home, you could send that too!) Click on over to Linny's blog post and read all about it! And while you're there...stay a while and get to know her and her sweet family. (I highly recommend scrolling down and finding her "Special Posts" list and reading through the ones titled "Our Wild Adventure". A.m.a.z.i.n.g. how God cares for the orphan and will move mountains/time/hearts to bring them home!! :)