four score and seven years ago...

presidents day offered us a great educational experience.

we got to mingle with our founding fathers...and great leaders...
hang with friends and make some great patriotic crafts...learn about the spindle and making thread and the inappropriateness of cleavage from clara barton...and learn how to more quietly whine for snacks during the gettysburg address.
it was a beautiful day, one which brought me great joy...

...especially since daddy could join us and keep mason entertained while ella and bennett participated in all things presidential.
so, from our family to yours... happy presidents day!

valentines

so when bennett saw the message on the white board yesterday: "happy valentine's day! xoxoxo" he quickly responded with: "no, instead lets write 'happy super sugary candy day!"
pretty much.

i started wondering yesterday why i had such a bad headache. possibly the cinnamon sugary toast, the m&m's from valentine bingo, the redvines from the licorice race, the sugar filled valentine package arriving promptly before lunch... or was it the screaming hyperactive children running circles around me and thoroughly enjoying the intense spike in their blood sugar?

valentine celebrations started friday night. we traded babysitting with dear friends (which of course means FREE!) and anthony and i celebrated love month with an awesome dinner, walk down main street, red velvet cake for 2 and of course a convenient stop at the goodwill for a steal on some new pants for bennett.

(of course no picture of this night because such things as unsuccessfully calming an irate 2 year old, searching for bennett's shoes, packing up wipes and filling sippy cups, retrieving a deep splinter from a tiny hand and hunting down jackets... all as we were trying to rush out the door, prevented me from remembering the camera.)

saturday night was ella's big date. with daddy. she started picking out her clothes the second she lifted her head off the pillow that morning.ella lives for date nights with daddy.
i can't say i blame her.

they went to a super fun place for pizza and were surprised with quite the fancy dessert (for free!!!) and then it was off to shop where he let her try on all kinds of clothes and lucked out and found this little gem for her to bring home and beg me to wear every single day.
(yes, date night involves buying her something. you're welcome future son-in-law.)

sunday night was bennett's date. lets just say it was pretty cute when he asked me, "mom, can we go on a date? but," pause and total seriousness... "i can't drive."so we thought it would be fun to go the same great little place as daddy and ella, only to find out that of course they don't serve pizza from that amazing brick oven on sunday nights. so why not head to baja fresh. i mean, i didn't put on a dress for nothing. and besides, they have chips! what more could you want? (or so the 4 year old is convinced)

and anyway, we can head back to that awesome restaurant for dessert where they scoop ice cream with teaspoons and then proceed to forget about you while your 4 year old begs to leave for a 1/2 an hour.

but hey... who's complaining?i got to spend my night with this handsome stud and all these ladies kept stopping and saying how incredibly handsome he is which all contributed to the reason he hates it when i make him wear that hat and tie in the first place. he'd rather be invisible and get no attention whatsoever.

which is perfect in like 10 years.

at the end of the night, he said to me, "thanks, mom. this was the most amazing night EVER!"

and that just makes my heart smile.

snow days?

so, i hear its been cold around the country.

ice storms, snow, canceled school.

i spoke with my brother the other day and the wind chill was -20 that morning.

(not to brag or anything... but...) i kinda like that i live where my kids can eat ice cream in the backyard.
(friends, family, are you reading this? please move here... you're gonna love it.)

on a more serious note...

so in the interest of keeping it real, not all of my life is full of sarcasm and the crazy stunts my kids pull.

somewhere between new years resolutions and the day o' fun at the zoo, i had a miscarriage.

i debated about posting this blog entry at all. its incredibly personal and might make some of my readers uncomfortable. like, dear friends who never knew i was pregnant in the first place (which was pretty much all of you, so please don't feel left out). or not so dear friends that are saying, "what?!?! you were going to have ANOTHER kid? you can NOT be serious!"

but the reality is, i have way more friends than not who have actually suffered a miscarriage themselves. this heartbreak is entirely too common and so i figured a little vulnerability on my behalf could possibly encourage someone else out there in blogland.

after the initial shock and hormone assault wore off, i'm actually doing quite well. i attribute this not as much to the excess of chocolate i consumed but rather the generous amount of prayers on my behalf.

its sad of course. and many other emotions at many different moments of the day, but ultimately, what really sums up my peace about the whole thing is this: there is no greater comfort than knowing God is in control of my life.

and i don't just say this because it is what i am supposed to say. i say it because it is an absolute certainty. there is a peace that surpasses all understanding that is found in God alone, and really, that is all it can be.

i realize the pain of going through a miscarriage at only 6 weeks with 3 other children is nothing compared to what others close to me have experienced... years of infertility, miscarriage after miscarriage and no other children to hold tight or distract you from yourself with spilled milk and lego towers and muddy windows and boisterous laughter. i recognize how incredibly blessed i am to have the precious sleep deficient children i do.
i am also blessed to have family and friends who love me and pray for me and encourage me. and i also learned a valuable lesson. never underestimate how powerful the simple act of dropping off flowers, a sweet card and doughnuts at someone's doorstep can be.

it was shortly after this, anthony and i were having an unrelated conversation about our current town really feeling like home. and while there are many things that make it completely heavenly here, the doughnut/card gesture is what i told anthony put everything in cement for me. friends who love me and encourage me when i'm hurting. who reach out and are there.

so there you have it... a little update on my life. i'll try to get back to something less serious tomorrow.

but in the meantime, should you (or your children) know my little ones, please know they are completely unaware of any of this. someday, of course, when they are older they will find out and ella will possibly say, "oh... is that the day you couldn't stop crying into your cereal bowl and you let us eat all kinds of junk food and watch way too many movies?"

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. - C.S. Lewis

my daddy is so special

by ella joy

my daddy is so special
i love him so much
i missed him when he was gone
now he is home

my favorite human in the world
is my daddy

he helps me fly my kite
he goes to work for me and my family
he drives the car for the family

yes, this is true
every word that i say in this poem

while i hear the words of this poem
it makes me feel so proud
'cause i love my daddy so much.
recently, anthony had a trip to costa rica.

(yes, some of us around here get to live exotic lives.)

(and "some" of us does not include me... not that i'm bitter about it or anything...)

so ella wrote this poem to welcome him home.

my second favorite thing about this poem is when ella dictated to me that daddy was her "favorite human" she sorta mumbled it.

so i asked for clarification and she looked at me all worried and said, "but does that hurt your feelings?"

a little girl loving her daddy more than any other human?

never.

my first favorite thing about this poem was the tears in daddy's eyes when he read it.

because she is definitely his favorite little human girl in the whole world.

my third favorite thing was when i asked ella if i could put this on my blog she hesitated at first. and after talking her into it, she agreed, "ok, mom. i'll let you do it if you pay me a quarter."

yep. that's my girl.