Sheldon Needs Help

Please tell me you see that large thing coming towards my cage! I'm serious, it is freaking me out! It is going to get me if someone doesn't do something soon! HELP!!!

Sweet Visitors

A friend had her wisdom teeth pulled and sent her kids to stay with me. I'm not saying I'm glad she is in pain, but I sure do love her kids.

Everyone wanted to feed Sweetheart.

Isabella was my prisoner. I'm going to keep her.

Emogene and Jake turned into cell mates.

They played dress up with the wooden dolls. Jake was concerned it was a fashion show.

He insisted his girl had to wear jeans if it was a fashion show.

He was glad Emogene told him it was just for fun. He picked a stylish dress.

Christmas Eve

We did our traditional reading in Luke on Christmas Eve. Eric did it the high tech way, on the Bible app on my phone. We rejoiced in the arrival of our Saviour. Without him, we would be hopeless and weak. He is our everything and our supplier of joy.

They were very attentive.

This monster tried his best to distract everyone.

He finally gave up and collapsed in HIS chair.

He has destroyed our favorite free chair. I am ready to send it to the street.

Emogene wanted to read a book to us before heading to bed.

Hattie was ready to be nestled all snug in her bed.

Christmas 2009

The girls woke up bright and early, 5:15. That is what I get for making them go to bed at 7:15. They all slept together in Isabel's room. Emogene thinks she heard Santa landing on the roofs in the neighborhood. She heard a lot of loud bangs.

I love the hallway picture. I remember doing this picture every Christmas as a child. As we got older, this took longer because the teenagers had to fix their hair and put on makeup first.

Hattie got a hula hoop. This was actually supposed to be Emogene's. I had bought it for her because she decided late in December that she wanted it. I was worried that Santa wasn't going to bring her one so I got her one. Well guess what Santa had sitting in front of the tree? A hula hoop for Emogene. He did know after all. Well Hattie was glad to get it. It will take a lot of practice for her to learn, but I know Emogene will be happy to show her.
I can't help with this. I am terrible.

Emogene is really good at it. This is the hoop Santa brought her. I hope I don't make that mistake anymore. We don't need double of anything else.

Emogene was very interested in this gift.

I think it was the item she had been asking for since last January.

Santa finally came through for her.

It was a Nintend* D S!!!!!

Hattie was trying to show all of her gifts at once. She was sitting on her weiner dog, riding her c*aster car, and wearing her cowboy hat. By the way, the c*aster cars are awesome. They haven't left the kitchen because of the cold weather, but we have been riding them, me included, around and around the kitchen island. Eric gets a little aggrivated that we do it while he is cooking, but he has figured out how to get out of the way.

Isabel got a hula hoop too. It is weighted to tighten her tummy. I think I need to use it more than she does. Santa also surprised her with a big girl bike this year. Isabel thought she could drive from class to class in college. I'm glad Santa knew better.

We had a great Christmas!!!

Santa's Cookies

I tried to skimp on cookies this year. I had bought store made cookies and then told the kids they could decorate them. My husband talked some sense into me. I mixed them myself from a box mix and baked them. They didn't come out as good as my truelly homemade cookies of previous years, but they were edible.

How did we get here?

The girls added icing.

I could see some messy hands in my future.

Some added a little more icing than others.

Hattie made a beautiful cookie.

Emogene bit into her "classmates." She could tell you all of their names.

Isabel took her time creating a garden masterpiece.

This is also her tenth picture.

The older they get, the pickier they are about the picture that shows up on the blog.

Hattie enjoyed her knife most of all.

Here are my joys. The milk and cookies were ready. Well the milk wasn't yet. It was only 6:30. Santa would have been drinking hot, nasty milk if I put it in the mug that early.

A Princess Among Us

We had a princess with us while grocery shopping the other day. I didn't feel like fighting with her to change her clothes. I just let her go in her royal garb. She did leave her crown at home. She is not a showy princess.

The princess needed an escort across the parking lot.

Gift Bag Etiquette

#1 Please don't ask for a gift bag back. I have been guilty of this one. I had a student ask me days later for a bag in which she had given me a gift. She said her mom wanted it back. I didn't think she was serious until she insisted for days that her mom kept telling her to get it back. I had to dig around at home for that bag. I usually use the Christmas gift bags for Eric or my girls. That way they stay with us, and I can use them again next year.

#2 It is a known fact that people will reuse the gift bag you give to them. Please do not write on the bag. I don't even write on the tag. Please don't stick a gift tag to the bag. It is unsightly when it is peeled off. I like to stick the tag on the tissue paper. That way it won't damage the bag in anyway. I had little business card sized tags made with Emogene and Hattie's name on them. I slip them in the bag for birthday parties.

Sorry, I am so weird about this.

A Special Night

We got to meet Isabel's mom!!! We were so excited. She was in Texas and California. It was a last minute decision and surprise for her to come our way. We met at an incredible restaurant owned by her friends. We were treated to a night of delicious food cooked right before our eyes. Emogene and Hattie were in amazement by the very talented hibachi chef.
As you can see, Isabel's mom is just as beautiful as Isabel.

Could you see my joy?

Here was our big happy family that night. All of Isabel's family is part of our family.

These were the owners of the delicious restaurant.

I'm hoping to see a lot more of them. They are such sweet people.

Emogene and Hattie now have a lot of cute toys they gave them.

Emogene became fast friends with their son. Look at Hattie's joy.

This was such a blessed day that we have prayed for for over a year.

Now we need to go to China to meet Isabel's dad.

Maybe Lydda will come from a city close to his city.

Mommy's Little Helper

Hattie and I had a day alone. Emogene and Isabel stayed the night with Isabel's mom so Hattie and I had a day together. We didn't do much, but it was still a special day to just spend with my baby girl. We ran the roads a little. We were on a mission to mail out our Christmas cards. Before getting out of the van, I told Hattie that she would be in charge of putting stamps on some of the envelopes. I proceeded to show her how to peel off the stamp. Hattie then surprised me by pointing right to the spot where she needed to put the stamp. I looked at her in shock. I asked her how she knew where to put the stamp. I thought maybe her kindergarten teacher taught her this valuable skill. Nope it was Agent Oso. He doesn't just incredibly annoy me, Oso taught Hattie a skill.

Look at her concentration. We heard, "Awwwww" a lot. She was so meticulous.

I did 33 in the same amount of time that she did 6.

She made sure the stamp was perfectly square to the corner.

The rest of our day went like this:

3 trips to W*lgreens

2 trips to the post office

a trip to a friend's house to deliver a tortoise pen

a meet up with Nana to pick up my check (I love Thirty-One!)

a lot of cleaning

Hattie watched a few movies at this time. She repeatedly told me she was not helping me clean. Hattie spent some special time with Sweetheart. She made sure he ate all of his food and loved on him.

Sleeping Beauty

How could you not want to see Holly Bolly? This is what Hattie calls H*bby L*bby.

She did not want to take a nap when everybody else wanted to sleep.

She chose the store as her nap destination.

Christmas Lights

We went to look at Christmas lights with some friends. We always have a good time with them. Here are a few pictures from our night.

Emogene and, fingers crossed, her future husband

 Jake is such a sweet child.

He has a heart for orphans and loves Jesus with all his heart.

Jake was trying to stick Hattie's face to the North Pole.

My girls under an inflatable. This yard had over 100 inflatables. Eric talked to the homeowner. He confessed to having over 700 total. Not even half were displayed.

This one was my favorite. Where is Rudolph? I guess it wasn't foggy.

part of the back yard

part of the snowman collection

more snowmen

This was part of the backyard. I didn't take any front yard pictures.

A Lunch Visitor

I took my little girls to our favorite Honduran restaurant for lunch. We had a visitor that attached to us and didn't want to leave. She sat with us whenever possible and only left when the waitress made her. She was all into Hattie's business (eating). She was precious. Her name was Daniella, and I promised her I would write down some Spanish phrases for our next visit. She just rattled on about something. She climbed into Hattie's chair and visited with us. I understood very little.

I wonder what they talked about.

Adorable! She has a little sister arriving soon.
We may have another lunch visitor in a few years.

The Spirit of Giving

Each Christmas our church puts together goody bags for the new mothers at our charity hospital in town. We have so much fun putting them together and delivering them. We made 21 bags this time. That is way more than last time. Two of our members worked very hard raising money to help purchase the items and some of the things were donated by our members. I remember having to open diaper packages and seperating them. This year, each bag got a whole pack of diapers. We had an overwhelming amount of gifts. I hope they blessed the babies. We gave away three in the postpardum ward and six in the NICU. We got to place them inside and got a glimpse of a precious little boy. We gave one to a lady in the waiting room with her baby girl. We left the rest for the future babies. I hope this helps teach the girls about giving. We need to do more all year long for it to be effective. I discussed this with them. I also had to explain what a safe drop off place meant. Emogene saw the sign. It was very sad to tell her about babies that are left at the hospital. One of the ladies that was with us was adopted. She is such a blessing to her family and our church. She is such a beautiful person and advocate for adoption.

Those teddy bears were adorable.

They were ready to help. Hattie had trouble carrying ONE so she didn't have to carry ANY into the hospital. She was told to open and hold the doors for us because our hands were very full. She ran ahead and slammed all the doors in our faces and went and sat in the waiting area until we showed up. She then pushed three buttons on the elevator so we had to make an unnecessary stop while holding 21 bags (She loves ELF!). She did not get many nice looks from some of the tired helpers.

Emogene was a strong girl. She carried two bags!
This was Isabel's second time helping us. She loved it.

She really wanted to take home the only pink bear available. That girl loves pink.

Love It!

I am loving the garbage bags disguised as gift bags.

What genius came up with this one?

A Special Gift

I was surprised by my Secret Santa this year. She is a good friend of mine.

I was so lucky she picked my name.

She gave me this precious frame with my girls in it.
I cried of course. Now I need to find a spot to put it. I think I am going to start doing some pictures in my hallway. This one could be the centerpiece of all my pictures.

Silent Night

We hope you have a silent night too.

Merry Christmas!

Eric, Tricia, Isabel, Emogene,and Hattie

Disclaimer: No children were harmed in the making of this picture. Mommy knows a trick.

Santa's Helpers

Talk about waiting till the last minute. I finally finishing unpacking my Christmas decorations and put them out. The girls got into our dress up things and had a ball. I even put them in charge of wrapping a few gifts for me. They had fun being helpers.

Emogene was happy to be in charge of tape.

Her ears totally pull off this hat.

Hattie was in charge of bows.

I hope you will understand why your bow does not match the paper at all.

This big helper was on a mission to drive me crazy, especially during picture time.

I have to thank Isabel for giving Hattie this LOVELY shoe. Hattie was asking me if it could go on the tree. Of course. My tree is already a collection of anything that a hanger will go on.