For the love of Kitty

When Mary received this kitty for her 1st birthday, it was love at first sight.

 

It was soft, and fluffy, and white,

and squishy in all the right places to hug and to hold.

Mary has loved this kitty like no other and takes it everywhere.  EVER-Y-WHERE. 

It has had to have a couple of essential washes since she first got it.  That coupled with non-stop lovin' has left this kitty with a few bald spots, no whiskers, not much fluff, and wee bit of soil.

 

Mary sadly pointed out its bald spots to me and was quite worried.

She asked me to sew it up thinking that would fix it, but when I explained that Kitty wasn't ripped, but rubbed bare,  Mary was so sad.

 

When I was a little girl I had a favorite teddy bear and no matter how bare and worn out he was there was nothing that could replace him.  It was the same for Eric.  And have you ever read the Velveteen Rabbit?  Well, then you know you can't just replace a loved stuffed animal.

Still, knowing all this, Eric checked E-Bay and found one!

{retired TY Crystal}

 

:-)

 

 

Mary is so happy!

There will be no retiring of Old Kitty {ya think?...saw that one coming!}

because Old Kitty and New Kitty are best friends, of course,

 

and play peek-a-boo with Marsy.

 

and look exactly the same.

Old Kitty and New Kitty.

 

 

Multiple Choice

A. She is THE cutest child ever.
B.  She is the CUTEST child ever. 
C.  She is the cutest child EVER.
D.  All of the Above.

A very special day

Today is special!

 

 

not because of this...{well, my husband IS wonderful, sigh!}

 

Y Y Y

But, because of this...

at 4:59 in the morning, Daniel John arrived.  Our own little Valentine from God. 

{February 14, 2003}

 

 Y

 

 Valentine's Day is a fun day....

 pink hearts and I Love You notes,

 

 

 

Y

a surprise package in the mail from a super special friend

{How cute is that....giant M&M cookies in CD envelopes tied with ribbon and

girl and boy Tootsie pops.} 

 

Y

I usually have a little special Valentine at the breakfast table for everyone,

but the rest of the day, we celebrate Dan.  

 

 

I got this far, but then all but one of the children got sick, then I got sick, so I never did finish anything related to Valentine's Day; somehow, I don't think the children will mind.

 

YYY

 

Birthday traditions in our home:

 

Tradition #1

A birthday chair awaiting them first thing in the morning.

 Tradition #2

Opening presents in the morning, so they have the whole day to enjoy them. 

{I never schedule school on birthdays ~ a definite perk of homeschooling!}

2-14-13 {10}

 

Lego...his fave

 

 

the politically incorrect child....caps for his cap pistol

 

 

Tradition #3

On the 10th birthday...their first pocket knife. 

 

Tradition #4

Their choice for birthday dinner and the kind of dessert. 

This year Dan chose corn dogs for dinner and cheesecake for dessert.

 

 Dan, we pray God will continue to grow you into a Godly man, directing your paths, showing you the truth from His Word, thereby making you strong.

Swag

Every now and then Daddy brings home unexpected swag from work.

He couldn't resist the little sized tee for Mary Anne.

 

" I love Windows phone....and the lollipop too."

One

This day one year ago, I was cherishing the fresh scent of a newborn, delighting in holding and nursing a new baby girl, and contemplating with utter amazement the grace of God in the safe delivery of healthy Mary Anne at home. 

This year has brought the usual milestones for baby - growing, crawling, sitting up on her own, joining us in her highchair at the family dinner table, eating solid foods and now table foods, using a cup on occasion.  I am so thankful that she is healthy and achieving those things on schedule.

Some other fun things about Mary Anne...

• Her eyes are still blue.  Our only blue-eyed babe in the bunch.
• She has anisocoria.  That is where one pupil is larger than the other.  She was born that way. We, of course, had it checked out as that can be a sign of/result of serious things, but yet again, by God's grace, it is just a physiological trait for her...perfectly fine. 
• Her blond hair is growing - but mostly in the back.  Some days she looks a bit like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. 
• She is standing on her own and cruising along the walls and furniture, but not walking without holding on yet.
• She LOVES to play Peek-a-boo.
• She smiles and laughs A LOT!
• She would rather be held than anything else.  {Who wouldn't?!} But...only by family.
• Carrots are her favorite food.  I gave her a sip of some juice from my Ruby Red grapefruit ...she cried.   Not thinkin' she liked it!
• She's 18ish lbs. and wearing 12 month size clothes.  (just like all my other girls...on the small side.)
• She still takes a pacifier...with great pleasure.
• She is a lickety-split fast crawler!
• She has 6 teeth, 4 on top, 2 on the bottom. 
• She has begun to take an interest in Otis.  He is so patient with her.  {What a good dog!}

Today she will have her first taste of cake and ice cream.  {Vanilla ice cream and white cake with chocolate frosting...that ought to make a splendid mess!} Good thing she loves bath time!
We don't have any particular plans for the day since she is not feeling well.  What timing to get a super bad head cold and bronchitis! 

Thank you, God for the blessing of Mary Anne and your providence to place her in our family.  I can't imagine our family without her.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Mary Anne. 

Birthdays - round 2

It's crazy-busy here!  If only time were like a stop watch where I could hit the stop button, catch up, and then resume again. 

There are quite a few women in my church expecting babies so there are quite a few baby showers.  I've been sewing up some cute burp cloths to give as gifts.  I happened to hit a pretty good sale at a local store for baby clothes.  Sadly, they just don't make very many little girl dresses - mostly pants or tight leggings seem to be the "style".  Well, I just don't like that!  I picked up an easy pattern so I can make a simple dress with bloomers.  I think I'll just make those for my "signature gift" for baby girl gifts.  I'll just keep my eye out for sale fabric and pick it up when I come across some that is cute.

I'm also planning one of those baby showers.  That will be fun.  I'm really looking forward to it. I gleaned some cute ideas here.  I really like her blog. 

When we have had a baby arrive, it has been such a blessing to receive a meal.  Not that Eric can't cook (he is way better in that department than me!), but it's so nice to have that break and just be able to enjoy the new baby.   Since I've been so blessed, I love to bless others in that same way.  So - we've made several "new baby" meals lately too.  In fact, I'll be making one today to deliver tomorrow.  A simple menu of hamburger vegetable soup, home made Spelt bread, sugar cookies in the shape of baby carriages with blue frosting (super cute!) and Martinelli's sparkling cider.

Eric recently discovered that the tractor had a blown head gasket.  I can't help but think of this Green Acres episode.  So, the Mister has been busy taking apart the motor, delivering said motor to the machine shop, and putting it all back together again.  It's our work horse, for sure.  We hope to finally put in a garden this year, so he is working hard to get it running for the work ahead.

And then...in the midst of life...more birthdays!

We celebrated Abigail's 3rd birthday. She's still too young to count down the days, but she counts down the birthdays. "First it's Daniel's, then Daddy's, then it's my birt-day!"

Birthday girl in her new birthday dress made by Mom.

Eric was able to take the day off from work. We went to the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett.

It had been many (like 15) years since we had been there. They have renovated it completely. They have done a really nice job.

Not only did the little ones have a great time, but the older kids did too. In fact, I'm not sure who had more fun?!

Dr. Matt, DVM for a day 

The theatre stage complete with lights and sounds

Abbie in the glow in the dark room

Crazy bus driver!

Abbie

Ellie, the milk maiden (should be a goat!)

Hannah and Ellie

Farmer Eric and Lil Mary

Add caption

Ellie still loves octopuses

2 crazy drivers!

Just think...he's just about ready to get his driver's license.

Sweet sisters

Voice Actor, Caleb

Back at home. Hannah had made yummy cupcakes with butter cream frosting and pink sprinkles.  We didn't have quite enough frosting for all the cupcakes so on a couple of them she just made smile faces.  That's the one the Birthday Girl chose.

~~~
A while back Caleb had mentioned that he had never had a surprise party.  (Like that wasn't a hint!) Since this was a milestone birthday, we thought we'd try to pull it off.  Matthew helped me by secretly talking to all the peeps.  We decided to have it the day before since he wouldn't probably suspect anything - especially since we stayed for potluck at church.  Dad took Caleb "driving" to give us the time we needed to get the people here and decorate. 
Surprised?  Yep, he was!

All the things guys like - Dew, dogs on the grill, chips, chocolate

What a great time singing and jamming

and talking

even Mary enjoyed all the melody and merry making!

The next day...

Modeling his Scottish flag belt buckle

Now THAT'S a mug o' coffee!