Summer's friend from youth group is taking an online photography course. He called and asked if he could take pictures of my kids at a local park.
The sun was getting low in the sky, but they turned out fine. I'll post my favorites!
(Actually, my favorite one of Lily was posted on November 19 -- her birthday!)
Thanks, Jordan! Feel free to practice on my family anytime! :o)
Lily attended a birthday party at the ice skating rink last year. Ever since, she has been asking to have her next birthday there. It only cost $15 to reserve the picnic table (the party room costs much more, plus it was already booked), so that's what we did. It was GREAT! The kids didn't want to spend their time at the table, anyway. Once we had cake and ice cream and opened gifts, they all wanted to get back out on the ice for more fun!
Summer made Lily's owl cake pops. I helped her come up with the idea for displaying them. It's simply a styrofoam wreath with 2 feather boas wrapped around it. It worked out just fine for not much money, but I wonder what other people do when they serve cake pops at parties. Do any of you readers have any ideas?
My neighbor helped me make these cute owl favor boxes while I was recovering from surgery.
We also made adorable (and trendy!) feather hair clips for each of the girls who attended. The hair clips fit perfectly inside the little owl boxes, along with a small note thanking each friend for attending the party.
It's a little hard to see the clip in the above photo, but you can get the idea. They were a HUGE hit. Lily had a fun, happy birthday surrounded by friends and family who love her. We topped off the evening by taking her out to her favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. After our meal, the staff placed a glitzy sombrero on her head, served her some warm churros, and sang Happy Birthday. It was definitely a fun-filled day for celebrating our girl.
Happy birthday, Lily-Bean!
This year, Erich's parents came to our house for Halloween. They alternate between our house and Erich's brother's house every year. We were happy it was our turn. :o) It's our tradition to have pizza, hand out candy, and rave at the costumes of the little children. (Um, and swipe candy from the kids when they get home from trick-or-treating with Erich.) Summer dressed up and helped us hand out candy, but she spent much of the evening working on her biology poster.
Earlier in the week, we carved pumpkins. Jay carved his from an actual photo taken of him doing a trick on his skateboard! Very creative!
A few days before Halloween, Summer baked Halloween cookies. Then she invited the neighbor girls over to decorate them! Lily made a "candy corn" ghost. Cute idea!
(Better late than never? Over the next week, I'll be posting some more pictures from October as well as pictures from Lily's birthday party. While I'm typing this little aside, let me update you on what I learned from the surgeon on Friday. It turns out he could not remove my gallbladder with the laparoscope because the organ was inflamed and full of very large stones. He had to make an incision in my abdominal wall, make the incision in my skin larger, then remove the organ that way. Talk about an "Aha!" moment. I didn't know he had to do that! Apparently, an incision to the abdominal muscle makes for a longer, more painful recovery than if I'd had the gallbladder "sucked out" through a tube. The whole idea behind laparoscopic surgery is to AVOID cutting through muscle, but in my case it turned out to be an absolutely necessary evil. I am relieved that it no longer feels like a hot poker stabbing me in the abdomen when I cough, sneeze, laugh, or even breathe. And I am ever so thankful to the friends and family who helped me take care of my family while I was recovering!)
Because of weather issues and scheduling, we didn't get out to the pumpkin patch until the Saturday before Halloween. No worries! There were still literally TONS of pumpkins left, and we practically had the place to ourselves.
The kids got to ride on the tractor train a couple of times. See the puddle in the background? That's actually a pretty deep mud pit. They dug it specially for the tractor to pull the train through! The kids thought it was a scream, and loved it when the driver drove over the top of pumpkins or "circled the wagons" around an unsuspecting observer. Every year, the same guy drives the tractor, and every year, I get a huge kick out of how much he enjoys doing it. He laughs and smiles just as much as the kids do!
(Mommy's little sugar pumpkin)
Unfortunately, the insurance company put the ki-bosh on the pumpkin trebuchet. To quote the tractor driver: "They don't see the humor in pumpkin cannons, pumpkin slingshots, or pumpkin trebuchets." I can understand, but it would have been fun.
Not the greatest self-portrait, but it's hard to do with a Blackberry. I love my mother-in-law. She's one of my best friends! We had a fantastic Halloween weekend together!
Look who is 8 years old today!
Happy birthday, Princess! We love you more and more each day!
(photographer: Jordan Scott)
(It is 8 days post-op, so I decided to try to go to sleep without a pain pill tonight. After 45 minutes of tossing and turning with a VERY sore abdomen, I realized I was going to need at least 1/2 a pill. So now I wait. Might as well blog! I meant to catch up over the past week, but I was really much too miserable. Bygones. Off we go! Onward and upward!)
We have taken great delight in showing our new neighbors (who were born and raised in Las Vegas) the joys of autumn in the Pacific Northwest. First stop: Bellewood Acres!
Lily and Millie enjoyed the bumpy ride to the orchard and pumpkin patch. Fast friends after just a few months... Love it!
Check out the impressive view of Mt. Baker from the pumpkin patch! We could have stared at it all day. Gorgeous mountain on a gorgeous day!
We didn't choose pumpkins at this time because it was still more than 3 weeks before Halloween. Besides, we had to save another weekend for Boxx Berry Farm and their giant pumpkin patch!
Wait, I take that back. We did allow the kids to choose a couple of gourds, which were growing in the pumpkin patch.
We picked a few honeycrisp apples, but not too many. When we paid for them, we realized we picked them from the wrong section of the orchard. Oops!
Also, what's a trip to Bellewood without giant honeycrisp caramel apples and miniature apple cider donuts? Tasting is a must! We were surprised they didn't offer hot coffee, tea, or even hot cider. When I asked, they said it's because they lack a handicap-accessible restroom. That's all going to change next year, though -- they are expanding and erecting a new building with all the amenities. It's wonderful to see such a great local farm growing and prospering in our community. Until then, Bellewood Acres!
After more than 2 years of fighting with my gallbladder, I said "sayonara" to it yesterday afternoon. I even have a lovely pair of non-slip hospital socks:
The doctor was convinced that my surgery would be completely straightforward. In fact, he scheduled it for an hour, when he would normally schedule 90 minutes for gallbladder removal. While I'm not sure exactly how things went down, I do know these things: My surgery was more than 2 hours. At least one gallstone was the size of a golf ball. I went under at 3:00, and did not wake up until 7:00. I don't know why, but I had an incredibly hard time coming out from under anesthesia. In fact, the nurses nearly admitted me to the hospital for overnight observation. When I heard that, I did everything I could to get HOME!!
I am still bloated from the carbon dioxide gas, and the skin around the 4 incisions is bruising beautifully. My best friends right now are ice packs for my abdomen, a hot pack for my shoulder (common pain from carbon dioxide gas), and Vicodin. I am lucky Erich was able to take 2 days off. His mom is here for several days, and my mom has been in and out several times already.Thank the Lord for so much help around the house.
While I have been on a restricted diet for more than 2 years, I'm content to stay low-fat until my body becomes accustomed to digesting food without the aid of my gallbladder. Did I ever mention how much pain I had whenever I tried to exercise? I look forward to getting back up on the treadmill once I've healed!
I still can't get over how surreal it was to walk myself into the operating room. I was nervous before, but my anxiety went through the roof when they asked me to get up on the operating table! Let's hope I don't have to do that again. Like, EVER.
Now that I have some down time on my hands, I'll try to catch up on some autumn blog entries.
I was just going through some pictures on my Blackberry. When I don't have my camera handy, I'll use my phone for quick photos. This particular photo was taken as we were walking back to the car after our city's big annual parade this summer.
We got a huge kick out of it!
Yesterday afternoon, I happened to look down at my left hand and noticed my diamond was gone. The entire prong attachment broke off, taking my diamond with it! While realizing a diamond is just a thing that can be replaced, I kept replaying Erich's tender marriage proposal in my mind. You could say I have quite a sentimental attachment to THAT particular diamond!
During the day I walked Lily to and from school, went out to lunch, and ran a couple of quick errands. The diamond could have fallen off anywhere. I prayed desperately for a miracle. I texted my prayer warriors. I cried. I searched. Meanwhile, Summer talked Jay into walking our usual route to the elementary school -- in the rain. (Awwww!) After about 40 minutes, they came home with incredible news! THEY FOUND IT ON THE SIDEWALK!
We were overflowing with thankfulness to God. Our home was filled with the sounds of laughter, thanksgiving, and tears of joy. Talk about finding a needle in a haystack! This was nothing short of a miracle. We prayed. God answered. And in His almighty wisdom and mercy, God used this miracle to teach His daughter a lesson.
I've been having trust issues. Sure, I believe God loves my children. I believe He wants the very best for them. I confess that I have been unwilling to let go and TRUST God with them. I want control, and oh, how I fight deperately for it. What an incredible Father. He chose to gently and mercifully show me that I can trust Him. When I saw the diamond in the palm of Jay's hand, I heard a quiet voice in my head. It said, "See? You can trust Me." (Yeah, I totally fell apart.)
Now, you need to understand that I realize my children are millions of times more important than a diamond. The two cannot be compared. God is the only one who knew of my struggle with control and trust. Yesterday He showed me that I can trust Him in every single thing. He loves my children more than I ever could. They are His before they are mine! How could I NOT trust Him with them?
I choose to trust God. I choose to surrender control. I choose to obey. And I choose to give Him the glory for His loving hand in our home.
Do YOU trust God? I mean REALLY trust Him? In every single thing? Leave a comment or email me. I would love to hear how God has been working in your life -- in big or small ways!
I thought I remembered blogging about the first day of school, but apparently I was remembering posting them on Facebook! I must say, this whole Facebook thing is sure taking away from my blogging... Carry on. Here are my traditional first day of school pictures. Even though it's October.
(Summer is 14 and a freshman!)
(Jay is 11 and a 6th grader at our NEWLY REBUILT MIDDLE SCHOOL!)
(Lily is 7 and in 2nd grade at our neighborhood school. We walk every day with our new neighbors, Sophie and Camille!)
Another first day of school tradition in our home is warm chocolate chip cookies! When the kids get home, we sit around the table to talk about their first day while we eat freshly baked cookies. I made 2 types: g-free and dairy-free (for Erich and Lily), and regular Toll House cookies.
