You Are Special Today

I did not hit the snooze button yesterday when my alarm abruptly interrupted my sleep at 6:15. I had a lot to do. It was one of those days that I woke up feeling behind. After doing my morning Bible Study and prayer time (which I have to admit, was more rushed than it should have been), I jumped into the shower and began planning every minute of my day which included but was not limited to graduation practice for Joshua, library, bank, 2 loads of laundry, balancing checkbook, sorting the mail/bills and creating treatment plans for tomorrow's work day...all by noon because I had to be at work at 1:00.

Obviously there would be no time to play with the kids today.

I came downstairs trying to figure out what I could prepare for breakfast that would be quick and not create a big mess. I walked into the kitchen and found this on the counter. The note reads "for mom today, Love Joshua."

In our home, it is a true privilege to eat on the You are Special Today plate. Being the mommy and the cook, I have never eaten on it.

It was more than a privilege for me...it was an answer to a prayer I had said that morning. Please Lord, during this crazy day, remind me of what is important to you and help me be a godly wife and mom.

He answered my prayer with a plate, a handwritten note, and a 5 year old boy who thinks I am special.

Party Time!

Yesterday we celebrated Lydia's 4th and Katherine's 2nd birthay with a Pink Pig themed party (yes they make Pink Pig plates, napkins etc). We celebrated with our family and friends-thanks to everyone who came to celebrate this day with us.
Katherine likes to sing Happy Birthday! Notice the pig plates.

Pink Pig plates $3.50, candles $1.00, pizza for all our family and friends $50.00, the look on Lydia's face when she saw this cake...priceless.

Our neighbors bought Lydia a pink pig yard ornament! His name is Oinkey.

Among the many, many gifts received, Lydia got her first bicycle!

Lydia's 4th Birthday!

Lydia's birthday was on Thursday, I can't believe she is four years old. We are having her party along with Katherine's next week, so for today-we just made it all about Lydia. First, she was able to choose what she wanted to wear -her favorite dress. She also had the privilege of choosing what we would eat for all three meals. In our house this is a privilege because typically they eat what I prepare with little input (for those of you who know of the Funnel analogy in parenting-our childen are at the small end of the funnel, we keep their world small). Anyway, for breakfast she chose pop-tarts with red sprinkles (we don't have any pink), for lunch she chose PB&J with blueberries, and for dinner chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, and cauliflower. All of this was served on our special Happy Birthday plate. Oh, she would want me to include her drink for lunch-mommy's Pepsi! The Lord blessed us with a gorgeous day so we played outside, went hiking (yes in the dress), made pink cupcakes, ate snacks all day, and read her favorite books. Actually, she read Pinkalicious to me...and it is a pretty long book. She has it memorized almost word for word. She ended her day with a bath of bubbles! All day she kept asking, "am I 4 years old now?" I would respond "yes". Then she would wrinkle her forehead and say, "hmm". I finally figured out that she was expecting to feel different now that she was four. We talked about how aging is a gradual process. By then I had lost her..she was twirling around the kitchen.

Licking the beaters...the best part!

A hike in the "forest"
Pop-tarts!

I wanted to post my favorite 4 memories of the past year but there are way too many! I decided to post the top 4 things I love (pronouned luuuuuuv by Lydia) about my girl:

1. Here sincere prayers, which can be lengthy at times as she thanks God for every pink thing she can think of.

2. Her motto "I love to smile and be happy" and how she lives this out daily!

3. Her love for pink

4. Her endless energy...if only I had a small portion of it!

Creator God

On Saturday we spent the day at the Science Center. We enjoyed time in the Kidzone playing at the water tables, building skyscrapers, going into space, and even riding a bus driven by a 5 year old! We also saw the Imax movie, Animalopolis. When asked their favorite animal in the movies, Joshua replied the lions, Lydia replied the pink flamingos. There were no pink flamingos in the movie, in fact there were no pink animals. But being the ever optimist, she pretended that there were. The movie was great for kids but gave credit to the fictional "mother nature" for all of the beauties and wonders created by our God. It occured to me how pervasive the godless worldview is in our society, that an elusive mother nature would be more believable (and acceptable) to people than a Creator God who purposefully and deliberately formed each and every creature that takes a breath. It also saddened me that at such young ages our children are being indoctrinated into this meaningless existance. It also reinforced my belief that Steve and I have been granted a tremendous responsiblity to make His Name known to our children.
Thanks Grandma B for the free passes. Here are some photos of our day.

Grand Prix

First, it has been so long since I updated because we have not had internet access at our home for a while. At this time, we seem to be up and running.

Last Saturday our church had an AWANA Grand Prix race. This is similar to the Boy Scouts Pinwood Derby. The dads, I mean the children each were able to carve their own race car. There were lots of rules with length, weight etc. Joshua and Lydia were both able to participate and our family had a lot of fun making the cars. Joshua's car had a large engine on the front. Lydia's car has a pink pig driving. Although they did not win tropies for overall speed (Steve is buying a book and a 6 point inspection kit next year... for the kids), they did win for design.

This is Lydia painting her car.

Joshua is proud of his finished product

The competition...

This is a picture of Joshua's car "Speedracer" in the lead!

The trophy presentation.

Pig Power won first place for novelty design. Speedracer won fourth place for design.

Lydia's First Date

Another milestone for our family. Lydia went on her first date last Friday night. It seems like just last year that she was potty trained. I was not worried because her admirer was a true gentleman who knows how to properly treat a lady. I know this firsthand. Though he did drive a hot-rod yellow mustang... he assured me that her car seat was safely secured in the back! First he took her to Steak and Shake for a pink milkshake then it was off to Toys R Us (just like her mom she considers shopping a wonderful date night) where she found a pink bunny that she just loved, evidently he could not turn her big blue eyes down (I've tried to teach her how to bat her eyes when she wants something, but at 3 she just looks like she has something stuck in her eye as she squeezes them closed and open). Anyway she wore her favorite polka dotted dress (yes, I had to do an extra load of laundry to have it clean in time). We also fixed her hair with 5 clips-usually I don't let her wear so many when we are going in public, but this was a very special night. She was so excited, all day she asked questions such as "do you get in water on a date?" She told everyone she saw that her daddy was taking her on a date and then with the expression of only a 3 year old said, "...and I hab neber been on a date before!" The night was a hit, I think he asked her out again.

We will continue this, that way when she goes on her first "real" date (between 24-26 probably), she will know how a guy should treat a girl...and will never settle for less.

the Gate

This week has been quite eventful. Last Wednesday Lydia fell down and hit the door frame in just the right place to cause a 1/2" laceration on her forehead just above her eye. After about 10 minutes of trying to get the bleeding to stop, I took a photo and emailed it to her dad (technology is great) he assured me that she needed stitches. She hardly cried and the doctor loaded her up with stickers and suckers.
Although, I could not stop that injury. I did stop another one this week. The other day Joshua and Lydia were pushing Katherine around in the laundry basket. She is tiny, so they were moving along pretty well. I happen to walk out of Katherine's room in time to see Katherine at the top of the steps, in the laundry basket with Joshua and Lydia behind her trying to figure out how to get the basket over the 1" tension rod of our baby gate. I calmly asked what they were doing and with faces full of excitement they told me they were taking Katherine downstairs to push her around some more. I asked, "how are you going to get her down the steps?" they replied confidently, "we are going to push her!" I hid my smile because this episode was as dangerous as it was funny. I explained to them why this was a really really bad idea. So they decided to carry her down...in the basket...each picked up one end and said something about teamwork. Needless to say, I did not let them do it. They were so very disappointed. Katherine was not too happy with me either...she was enjoying the ride.
If it were not for our gate...and the small tension rod at the bottom...I'd be posting pictures of a tiny 22 month old with a cast or two... or maybe matching stitches with her sister.