A dog party! A BIG dog party! - thank you P.D. Eastman

Because she's lost 6 teeth and is nearly a Kindergarten graduate, #3 has deliberately given up pink and kittens as her favorites.  She insists that dark green and dogs are her greatest loves now.  So even though she started planning her My Little Pony birthday party about 10 months ago, her desire to seem "grown up" forced her to reconsider her party plans.

At first she declared it would be a werewolf party.  (Ugh!)

The next week she revised her plans: a wolf party. (Not much better.)

At last, two weeks before her birthday, a final decision was made: A German Shepherd party it would be! (What? Huh?)

Me: Do you even know what a German Shepherd is?

#3: Yeah, its a huge police dog. Like in Underdog!

Me: (in a very nervous voice) Uh, OK.  Sure, yeah.  A German Shepherd party. If that's what you want?

{I'd already been feeling like my creative days are over and that I'm ready to retire from mom-made birthday parties. So it was hard to meet this German Shepherd idea with much enthusiasm.}

We made it happen.  #3 and her puppy friends went to obedience school, had a kibbles eating contest, played a kitten chasing game and went digging for buried bones (or skittles) in the sand at the park. For a grand finale, we were visited by a real (huge!) German Shepherd which was sweet enough to be pet and cuddled by 9 little girls (and one 8 year old boy who didn't want the dog to leave ever!).

Happy Birthday #3!

#1 was determined to dress #4 as a puppy for the party. You can't see it in this picture but #1 fashioned a tail to hang off her back.  The necklace is #4's dog collar.

#3 with Sage, the beautiful 12 year old German Shepherd that surprised our guests. Sage is a retired seeing-eye dog for a the blind. She was so calm and well-behaved. 

Sage's owner is telling the kids all about how she helped serve a blind man and got to go to movies and restaurants and even to church!

Coco Puff kibbles!

How do you get 9 girls to all look at a camera and smile?

Buster did not want Sage to leave. He is one dog-hungry boy.

paw print pupcakes

My beautiful birthday girl with a look of contentment. 

The only weekend we could give this party happened to fall on a weekend that Spouse was already committed to work.  He wasn't around to "enjoy" any of the preparations or festivities.  (Thank goodness for a super responsible and helpful 10 year old daughter!)  This party exhausted me to the core.  But while I was sweating and swearing under my breath I was encouraged by the thought of #3's happiness.  I worry that she is too often left out of things, is dragged along to her brother's and sister's activities, is made to wait, is told "no" inequitably,  is put to bed too hastily.... is not getting as much of me as I'd like to give her.  It felt good to make a deposit in her bucket of happiness.

On the eve of her 6th birthday

I was starting to think #3 was going to be one of those 8 year olds with training wheels. Despite having received a bike from Santa, there was just no motivation to learn. I tried to manufacture motivation by offering rewards. Candy, donuts, extra computer time, a movie date were all turned up; the value not high enough to confront her fear of falling.

After expressing my frustration to a friend she wisely counseled, "Oh, everyone has a price. You just need to figure out what will really motivate her."

Friends. That was it! So I bribed her with play dates for every practice session. After a month and a half, yesterday she finally figured how to balance and rode unaided on and off for about a half hour.

As the wind whipped through her hair she squealed, "I LOVE this! I'm going to ride every day!"

Today we got out an old, smaller bike so she could work on her turns and stops. A chunky baby and a shy 10 year old came to witness what we all thought would never happen: #3 riding (happily) riding a bike!

Big month for #4

April has been a month of change for the littlest miss. Her crawling speed doubled, opening up a new world of adventures. Like hiding and keeping quiet while mom combs the house calling for her. The smile and laughing that ensue when she's found are almost worth the momentary fear that she's hidden somewhere chewing on an electric cord or choking on a rouge Lego.

She pulls herself up to standing and walks along the edge of furniture and toys. She's getting better and better at the dismounts and has only had one big forehead bruise so far.

For over a month she's been doing all her sleeping in the quiet darkness of my closet. This arrangement is great for her sleep but horrible for the cleanliness of my room! It seems like I can never go in my closet so the clothes and shoes are just piling up.

#4 has reached a new level of interaction and communication; the kids fight over who gets to play with her first after school. But her favorite is #1. #1 can make her smile and laugh like no one else. Plus, it doesn't hurt that she also changes diapers and makes bottles and can put the babe to bed. Ahhh, the joy of having an older sibling!

Here's to another month of growth and change!

Blustery afternoon

It's a very windy afternoon and while I was distracted with older children's homework and piano this little elf was busy making her own kite out of construction paper, curling ribbon and tape. I heard a little voice singing her heart out in our front yard and came to investigate. This is what I found:

Easter Best

Before you scroll through these (what looks to me like) pictures of perfect children, know that this weekend they fought, messed up the house and complained just like all kids do. 

But when I see these pictures my heart swells with love for their brilliant, good spirits.  My heart aches with hope for the world because of the light and joy that these children bring.

The gifts they've been given can do so much to build up and bless God's children.  #3's compassion, #2's innate joy, #1's earnestness and #4's strength.... So much power! 

Their potentials humble me and I feel the weight of my stewardship: to help them recognize their gifts and teach them how to use their gifts to serve God. 

Which brings me to Easter.  Its through the grace of Jesus Christ, this enabling power, that I have any hope of not failing my family.  All my diligence, all my strength, all my efforts aren't enough. I can't do it alone. But through grace I'm granted the strength, patience, and wisdom that I wouldn't otherwise possess.  If I allow it, Christ's grace will make up for my shortcomings, my failures, my foolish pride.  Its wonderful! I love Easter.

Very much alive

It's been difficult to find time to sit at the computer for more than 2 minutes. I also have an infant and three other kids. And the dog ate my homework. Good excuses, right?

Well, no more from me! I've downloaded the Blogger app and I foresee easier and more frequent blog posting in our future. That is, if this test run is a success.

Even though I have a nice camera, and a new lens, I seem to be taking lots of random photos with my iPhone. In fact, my iPhone photos can pretty much tell the story of the past few months.

A successful Ragnar Relay, #1's spring tennis session, 3's foray into soccer and missing top teeth (unrelated), #2's Cub Scout fun run, Spring Break adventures, #4's chunky legs and attempts to crawl, and Spouse and Buster making his first pinewood derby car are among my iPhone photo gems.

baptism review

 

The day of Buster's baptism he woke up early and excited and asked how soon he could put on his white jumpsuit.  "After breakfast" couldn't come soon enough for him.  He put that thing on and danced around the house, happy as can be, unable to contain his excitement.

We got to the chapel 10 minutes early and as our family arrived, Buster greeted as many as he could with tight hugs and high fives.

He sat through the talks by his cousin and uncle with anticipation and sprang from his chair when it was time to get wet.

After the ordinance prayer and when it was time for immersion, Buster jumped up, causing Spouse to have push him down into the water.  It was funny to watch and even funnier that his feet never made it under.  There was a redo.

Buster immerged from the changing room in his new suit and white shirt, his grin a mile wide.  He looked perfect to me.

Not long afterwards, out in the parking lot I found him racing around, chasing his cousins.  He tripped, hard, skidding to a stop.  I heard 5 aunts gasp with me as we expected to see holes in the knees of the new suit pants and possibly a few tears or at least a sad face.  But he popped up, pants in tact, dusted off his scraped up hands and kept running. 

During our luncheon I lost count of how many bottled root beers Buster consumed.  Its his favorite beverage and I wasn't going to slow him down on his special day. 

A few days later, back at home in AZ, a while after I had tucked him in and turned off the light, I heard murmurs coming from his bedroom. I cracked the door and found him huddled under blanket with his night light, reading from his new, engraved scriptures. 

What a kid.