Birthday Week

Monday was Brody's 6th Birthday! He's been counting down the days since big brother's birthday last June. We did the time honored tradition of going to Hickory Park Restaurant & homemade cupcakes. What more could a guy ask for...bbq & cupcakes with pressed sugar baseball mitts on top? I'd add a picture of him but iphoto keeps "closing unexpectedly". AARRGG!

Tuesday we celebrated Jesus Birth with Jeremy's parents & sister's family. The kids were excited to play with Cade & we were all excited to learn of the 10th cousin joining us in July!

Christmas day we went to Gma Sparks' farm to have a big family Christmas with dinner, an ornament exchange & program. Sage, Brody & Julia sang a couple of songs for the program...they aren't timid when it comes to performing. The men got to participate in a rousing rendition of Rudolph the Red 

Nosed Reindeer with Sage as Rudolph & "The Rugged & Handsome Uncle Steve" as Santa.

New Christmas slippers

Because Christmas is tight this year I'm making my gifts .... My dear friends and family, It is somewhat embarrassing to admit, Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You'll most likely agree that it's a splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I've included the instructions below. How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads: You need four maxi pads to make a pair. Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part. The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top. Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part. Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc. These slippers are: * Soft and Hygienic * Non-slip grip strips on the soles * Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh * No more bending over to mop up spills * Disposable and biodegradable * Environmentally safe * Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags. I've attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the nifty slippers for yourself.... Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each one of you. And for the men I'll leave the them plain.

Family Picture

Christmas love

This Christmas version of I Corinthians 13 is a good reminder of how we can get caught up in the "busyness" of the season & lose focus on the true reason for celebrating Christmas.

Christmas Love (source unknown)

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling & shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozen os Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals & arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home & give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels & crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried & tired. Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china & table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

The greatest gift we could ever receive is our Savior Jesus. Enjoy the season of Advent and the anticipation of His birth.

philosophical questions from a 7 year old

So, yesterday I got a small break while the 3 littles took 2 1/2 hr. naps! Totally amazing! But while they were sleeping Sage had to figure out what to do. He had to stay in his room for 1 hr. but after awhile he came down & announced to me that he had prayed 12 times for God to turn his teddy bear into a nice monster that ate garbage so that he could take care of something real. After another hour I found him sitting on a stool in front of the Christmas tree & crying. When I asked him what was wrong he told me that he had prayed 12 times and God still hadn't answered his prayers. So...we got to have a discussion on the fact that just because you pray doesn't mean God will say yes every time. Very disheartening for a little boy who thinks that this is a great idea so why wouldn't God want to do it? (This picture is of Sage with his cousin Luke in the hog confinement last September)

Happy Birthday, Gma Glenna

~Yesterday was Grandma Glenna's birthday and we got to celebrate at Hickory Park Restaurant after church. When asked what they love best about their grandma, these were the replies: Sage- reads us stories, lets us do fun things like build traps for the bunnies, & she lets us spend the night...Just everything! Brody-she lets me sleep in the bunk bed and in her room, she lets me have swords, she lets me watch TV, & I just love 'er very much and that's it. Julia-she lets me play outside, she lets me sleep in the bunkbed (on the top sometimes), & I love her, love her, love her, and she paints my nails, and she watches Jon & Kate + 8 with me. We all love that grandma takes us on interesting field trips, introduces us to Mr Clark (Julia's best friend), fosters our creativity, fixes our favorite foods, is always available when we want to stop by for a chat or to play.  We are so glad to have her as a major influence in our lives!~

Happy Thanksgiving!

I left last Friday to go stay with Aubrey and help while she's on bed rest. I got to see my mom for a day before she flew out and I had a nice time with my niece & nephew (Aub & Nick, too). Please, if you think about it, pray for my sister. She's not used to going any speed but really FAST and it's hard to lay still when you feel fine. I got back from Aubrey's house on Wednesday night after driving in holiday traffic for quite some time...I left Aub's at 12:37 and got home at 5:26pm! For those of you who know Minneapolis traffic, I got to go 15 mph until I was about 5 miles from the I35W south/I35 south merge! I did stop for a 1/2 hour to take care of Corbin but it was still a long trip that normally takes 4 hrs at the most.

It's been nice to be home but I must admit that not having Sage here creates quite a hole. Sage got to go with Gma Glenna, Gpa Bill, & Gma Sparks to Kansas City to see Aunt Opal, Lance, & Uncle Steve. I am glad he's having a great time (probably being really spoiled!!!) but I'll also be really glad when he gets home. I haven't been gone from any of my kids for so long before. 

Our day consisted of a quick trip to Cub Foods (so I could get dinner supplies we were missing), high stakes checkers games, playing outside with the neighbors' grandkids, cooking & eating, book reading, & lots of loving. Tomorrow I was thinking of putting up the Christmas decorations but I think I'll wait for Sage to get home now. Maybe I'll hit all the sales tomorrow ;)

I hope your day was full of people to be thankful for!

Fall Leaf Elves

Guess what I found in the leaves at the park...a bunch of leaf elves! Aren't they cute! Of course I did find a very tall giant who uses whole trees as swords!

Immunized...yucky!

We are green today! We spent the day at the doctor's office for Corbin's 1 year check up (4 shots & finger stick), Julia's 4 year check up (4 shots, hearing check, & vision check), Sage & Brody's flu mist, 3 strep cultures to check to see if these angels are carriers & my allergy & flu shots! Can you believe we were only at the clinic for 2 hours? Corbin was already feeling yucky because we tried just a little bit of cheese the last 2 days and his stomache was not liking it...we're pretty sure he's allergic to milk. Just 1 minute after I took him out of his high chair from a fussy dinner of mandarin oranges (bad idea but that's all he wanted and he begged for it when he saw Julia's) he threw up all over me, the couch and carpet. Thank you, Daddy for cleaning that up while I cleaned us up! You're wonderful! Now I'm feeling just a little bit nauseous myself so I figured you wouldn't want a picture to be posted. Hoping your day was better than mine!

Corbin's 1st birthday!

I can't believe it's his 1st birthday already. He's so sweet! Everyone comments on his smile because it's always present. He has all of his teeth (minus 2) even his molars and he loves to chase his siblings. He really likes brooms; so what did he get for his birthday? Sweepin' Sam of course. He was very lucky to have Gma Glenna, Gpa Bill. Aunt Aubrey, Uncle Nick, Christian, & Ava attend his special birthday dinner tonight. Corbin says just a couple of words so far: UhOh! Dada, brother (bwuwu), Julia (Doo-yuh), Goodnight (nInI) w/ a wave. NO MOMMY, can you believe it! I try really hard to to teach him too. When I say, "Corbin, say Mama." He promptly says, "DADA" and then cracks up laughing! He thinks he's so funny! He goes with the flow and is pretty patient with his brothers but has learned to voice his opinion when Julia is involved. :)

Camping....hummmm....

Two weekends ago we took another short RV trip from Ames to Mechanicsville for my cousin's wedding. We stopped one night at Rock Creek State Park the boys got introduced to the camp fire, toasted marshmallows and burning leaves. The family had a great time and we enjoyed hiking around the lake one cool morning. We even saw turkey vultures hanging out with geese for no reason...

Julia's birthday & 1st ballet class

Our sweet Julia turned 4 years old last Thursday! She is a total princess & loves all things pink, shoes & purses! After a lovely lunch with Gma Glenna & Gpa Bill we had castle cake & opened gifts. Then, after dinner she got to do something she's been begging for for months...go to her very 1st DANCE CLASS! She was so precious in her pink leotard, tutu, and bun. It just made my heart so full watching her learn shuffle steps, plies, & relivees (sp?). She was so cute and so were the other 13 girls in her class. Thank you to all our family for sending her mail throughout the month. She got at least 2 envelopes a day to open to reveal her treasures.

Julia is full of joy & smiles. She is always looking for the beauty in everything. One of her hugs can brighten any sad moment!

Wow! I'm so up in the techy world!

This will be my first attempt at being a techy without any help from my resident techy husband so be patient while I learn.