Stylish Boy

My son...good thing he's cute 'cause he usually isn't very well kept looking lately. Here's is a good example. Shoot most days he's wearing a bit more dirt than this and has a few more bruises on his shins. In spight of all this, I think heis just the cutest thing! The descriptive little signs above read:
Charming Smile
You always have the perfect accessory to any look: your charming wided-mouthed smile. Accented by your baby-blue eyes, you are always in style!
Reversed Shorts
You have dealt with that new challenge of dressing yourself brought on by potty-training with finesse and ignored tradition by wearing your shorts backwards.
Mis-Matched Shoes
You compensate for your trouble keeping track of your shoes well by always making sure you know where a right is and a left shoe is at all times, even though they may not be exactly the same.

To create this scrapbook layout, I used some fun little goodies (doo-dads) from my friend, Mo. I used a combination of elements from Mo's Cottage set (little wood signs, wood texture on the title, and the "S" and "B" are from the adorable alpha) and her new Michael set (Alpha used for "Patrick," rusty nails, and the grass and dirt backgrounds).

Ode to Mousey

It was a sad morning in our home today. My Anna discovered that her dear hamster, Mousey, had left us. Anna has such a soft spot in her heart for all of God's little creatures and, of course, this goes double for her own dear pets. She wept and wept. There was no consoling her until she got her tears out. I tried to tell her that Mousey had a great life. She was 3 1/2 years old which is a lot in hamster years. When I looked in her cage, she looked totally peaceful. She was even curled up with one of the little plastic strawberries that Anna had given to her after she saw the mice at the zoo had some just like it. It was just her time.

Death. What a hard thing to explain to your child. I told Anna that it is a part of life and it hurts like crazy for the rest of us. We talked about little Mousey scampering around heaven with God. We placed Mousey in a pretty blue check box with her plastic strawberry and tied it closed with a pink ribbon. We carried her out to the little apple tree by the creek that has become the final resting place of many of our pets and buried her. Patrick joined us and we said a little prayer to thank God for the gift of our time with Mousey and Anna placed the first handful of dirt. Then we finished the job and placed stones on her little grave. Anna gathered dandelions and apple blossoms to decorate it. A fitting farewell to Mousey.

Mousey was a totally sweet and docile little creature. She could withstand the love and attention of many small and careless hands and was never mean. To set the record straight, we believe Mousey was really a boy, but when we first got him, we weren't sure and my girly girl, Anna, decided to call him a her. As he matured, we became fairly certain that she was in fact a he, but by that time we were all in the habit of referring to him as a girl. Thankfully, Mousey never seemed to have any psychological issues with this from as much as we could tell.

I think one aspect of Anna's mourning is not just for the lost of her loved pet, but also for the loss of merely having a pet to hold and play with. After many requests, I gave in to a trip to the pet store this afternoon and Anna is now the proud owner of a little dwarf hamster named Sam. Anna informed me that Sam can't take the place of Mousey, but he does make it a little easier to let her go. Death from the perspective of an 8 year old.

Now for death from the perspective of a 3 year old. Patrick's take on this whole Mousey thing is much different than Anna's. He was the one today to inform me that something was wrong with Mousey as I was making my way up the stairs to check on Anna's crying. You just don't know exactly what is going on inside the mind of one that age. He is very unemotional and matter of fact in the way he discusses that Mousey is not moving any more, but she is not sleeping. When I shared with Daddy and Elizabeth about Mousey, Patrick said in a serious tone, "Mousey's dead, but we didn't flush her. We buried her." I am not really sure where that came from, but it did give me a chuckle. Oh my! Death. Definitely not an easy subject to explain to your child.

Running my race....

I've never been much of a runner. Even as a child I was only moderately athletic. I could run if the need arose during a game at recess or gym class, but it was never my thing. When it came to a race, I could hold my own and keep up with the pack, but rarely, if ever, won. The same holds true for me and swimming. I was on a swim team from about the age of 9 to 15. I did a decent job, was constantly complimented on what beautiful form I had in my strokes, but rarely won a heat. One day, when I was probably a bit down about that fact, my mother sat me down and explained that I didn't want it bad enough. I was good and pushed myself, but the other swimmers wanted it more and they were the ones who won. I wasn't really driven to win and therefore didn't push myself that extra little bit that it would take to get ahead. I did finally reach a point that I really wanted to feel what it was to be a winner and gave myself that extra push and I did start winning many of my heats. It took a lot of work and determination.

Why am I dredging up these childhood memories? This morning during my quiet time, as I reviewed some of my memory verses, one stuck out to me. It is 1 Corinthians 9:24 and it says, "In a race, all the runners run, but only one wins the prize. Run the race in such a way to win the prize." It is Paul who wrote this and he was talking about his goal of bringing others to Christ, which, if you know anything about Paul, is first and foremost in his life. He continues to say, "All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified."

So, as I read this, I am thinking about what my race is. My life looks substantially different from Paul's. The race before me at this time is filled with a multitude of family responsibilities. When I look around at all I need to do, I feel completely overwhelmed. I feel like that race before me is filled with all these gigantic hurdles that I have no idea how to get over. The task looks exhausting. So, I question, "Am I running the right race?" I do think that I am right where God has placed me and He has a purpose for me being here. Perhaps I have placed a few extra self-imposed hurdles out there for myself, but for the most part I am in the right lane - on the right path. I think the key to many of my struggles is in that first verse. "Run the race in such a way to win the prize." I am running, but I am doing it just like I did it as a child. I am working hard, but I don't want the prize enough. I am not driven. I don't live with that extra push. I see this in my relationships, educating my children, how I manage our home, trying to be healthy and lose weight...every aspect of my life. I am working hard - really hard, but I am not giving it that extra push. I am not driven and focused enough to win.

I need to clarify that I am not competing with other people. On the contrary, I believe most of us are on the same team. This is a personal race. Perhaps it should be looked at as a spiritual race. There a couple of other verses that go right along with this race concept. They are Hebrews 12:1-2. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." I truly need to live my life with more diligence and perserverance. I need to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus to know the race set before me and I need to get rid of everything that hinders and distracts from that purpose. Who would have thought life would be so much work! But I am up for the task with Christ before me and God's strength at my back! I AM running to win that prize!

Abigail's First Haircut

I finally broke down and got my baby girl's hair cut. What is it about a hair cut that makes a kid look SO much older? Maybe it's just a mommy and her baby thing!


Anyway...journling reads:
After months of telling myself that I was going to just let Abi’s hair grow out, I finally decided that I just couldn’t bear to see my beautiful little lady looking so shaggy anymore. So, took her to Great Clips, along with her siblings, to get her a $5.99 special haircut. She sat like a big girl in the chair all by herself except for holding Mom’s hand which I think was more for Mom’s comfort than her’s. Her sister Anna found a singing stuffed Barney to distract her and in a mere 5 minutes she went from messy to marvelous.


I scanned the little card that the beauty shop filled out and put her little curls on.
I used Katie Mann's Sew Long Ago kit for this. Aren't the cute little scissors just perfect? And the bright colors were just right with these photos with her bright colored smock.

BathTime Joy!

We have a new sense of bathtime joy in our house. Up until a couple of months ago bathtime was always lots of fun for my wee ones. Patrick and Abigail usually bathe together and have a ball. But that all changed after one slip in the tub. At least I think that is what caused the shrieks of terror that came from my baby girl whenever she got near the bathtub. One day I went to put her in the tub and she freaked. I vaguely recall that she took a little spill at the end of her last bath, but I really didn't think too much of it. I mean every child slips on occasion and take s plunge under the water. It happened and I comforted her. For the past few months every bath has been misery. Abi screams no matter what I do to comfort her. I have tried using the bath seat, and even taking her into the shower with me and holding her. It was so sad. She was TERRIFIED! She finally got to the point that she would play with Patrick from outside the tub, but if I made any motion to put her in, too, she would scream and run away. Last Monday, I went to give my little ones a bath and was prepared to make it quick for my little lady. As usual, when she saw my wet hand from testing the water temperature, she whined and ran away. I chased her down and plopped her into the tub and she only whined then got distracted with the tub toys and Patrick. The only time she screamed was when Patrick poured water even though it wasn't onto her.

This morning, I gave them both a bath and Happy Bathtime Abigail had officially returned! I am SO happy! She only cried when I made her get out. Woohoo!

ToothFairy Guild

Is it possible to get thrown out of the Tooth Fairy Guild? If so, the little fairy responsible for our household is in jeopardy of being tossed out right along with her male assistant! These two have got to be the most incompetent fairies in existence. Their record has been tarnished by totally forgetting to look for teeth under pillows, falling asleep before children who have lost teeth and most recently, the inability to even LOCATE a tooth under a pillow. (sigh) After this most recent fiasco the other night, my daughter, Anna, sadly informed me that the Tooth Fairy had forgotten to come. As she said it, she motioned to the sweet little baggie containing the prize tooth that she had even wrapped a pink scrunchy around to make it look like a pretty bow. It was sitting smack dab on top of her throw pillow on her bed next to her regular pillow. I quickly covered for our incompetent tooth fairies by telling her that she lost it so late in the evening that the tooth fairy probably didn't get notification of the tooth early enough to come that evening - a believable story that seemed to make sense to her. Then, I have it under good authority that our tooth fairies FORGOT all about it the following evening. Fortunately, the one woke up early and remembered in time to complete the sneaky exchange of tooth for Susan B. Anthony dollar just as the sun was rising.

But this is NOT the first time this has happened. Anna's older sister, Elizabeth, has actually had her tooth forgotten for days on end until she finally gave up. When she lost her next tooth she carefully placed both teeth under her pillow. Fortunately, our dear fairies came through with a wad of bonus cash to make up for their indiscretions.

I suppose there are many excuses that can be made for our Tooth Fairies. They have to work really hard hunting for well hidden teeth. Our children often lay awake quite late in their beds making surreptitious tooth snatching quite difficult. But, they had really better get their act together or I really fear what sad disappointment awaits our other two children when they reach that stepping stone in their life of losing teeth. I overheard the our male fairy commenting to his associate that he really feels that there needs to be a new system. Perhaps a more obvious location for teeth exchanges. I don't know - I certainly hope they can get their act together, and soon!

Princess of Fashion

What can I really say about this picture? This is my little Princess of Fashion, Anna. We only WISH we could all be as stylish as my little lady here! She IS stunning, isn't she?

I used Katie Mann's (www.katiemanndesigns.com) Ramblin Rose kit for this scrapbook layout because it's pretty and feminine just like my daughter!

Pizza Picnic

What could be a finer way to spend a Sunday evening sharing a meal with family? Sundays are traditionally family day. After church, all of you cousins along with your aunts, uncles, moms , dads and grandparents spend the day hanging out together at Grandma and Grandpa Richhart's house. Sometimes we even decide to do dinner together. This week there was Papa John's pizza and you little ones got to picnic on the family room floor on this tablecloth that has probably been around since your daddies were your age. The babies thought it was such a treat because they were not required to be confined to their high chairs on this occasion.

Elements used to create this scrapbook page are by my friend, Mo. They are from her Vintage 60s kit and Gingham Buttons and Bows kit. Both are from www.scrapbook-elements.com

Little Miss Sandy Pants

Spring has arrived and Abi has discovered the sandbox. It is so cute to see her toddle on over to it and struggle to get her chubby little legs over the edge. Once she's there, though, she will have her bottom planted in the sand for quite some time.

Another recent scrapbook page representing another sign of spring: anthills on the sidewalk. My little boy is SUCH a BOY! He loves bugs! And then, of course, his little sister does, too, because she adores him and everything he does.