I love these children!!!

If you are on my Christmas card list, I feel certain you WILL be seeing this picture again.

I love everything about it – the expressions on their faces, Harrison’s hand on his face, Elizabeth’s arms around everyone like the big sister she is… I love it!!

What was a trip that changed your life?

I have subscribed to the Friday Letters blog for over a year.  Sometimes I look at the question and think, “I have absolutely no idea how I would answer that question!”  or I think the question is totally and completely not relative for me, my life or my children.  However, when I read her question for this week, the answer immediately popped into my mind. Edited...Bev has made a change on her blog and now does have permalinks.  This was question #171.  :)  Visit her blog, subscribe to her blog, admire her photography.  I do.  :)  

What was a trip that changed your life?

I prayed a lot on the nine-plus-hour drive across north Mississippi and Alabama. My husband had said, “How they respond to her will determine whether they ever see her – and us – again.”  I wasn’t just nervous, I was scared.  “Will they love her? Will they think she’s cute? What will I do if they are indifferent?”  We’d not spoken to my husband’s parents in years – ten, to be exact. I take that back: he had called to tell them we were expecting and received a very cool, “Well, that’s nice” in response.  And then he called again to tell them their granddaughter had arrived after a troublesome labor and c-section.  Again, a cool “that’s nice” reduced my husband into a sobbing mess at my side in the recovery room…I was still angry over that one…no one makes my husband cry without feeling my wrath.  In one respect, I was ready for them to be cool to us – and to our precious baby girl. I was loaded for bear.  But on the other hand, I desperately wanted my husband’s parents to love this baby as much as we did (still do, actually!).  To love her as much as my family loved her. 

We pulled into their driveway early that April evening, took a deep breath and walked to the door.  The windows and storm door were open.  Brad knocked.  His mom looked up from the nightly news and said, “Yeah. Come on in, it’s open.”  We walked through the butterfly-filled formal living room, past the wall that divided that room and the family room where the TV was.  Brad said, “This is your granddaughter, Elizabeth Jane.”  Elizabeth looked at them and smiled.  I saw my mother-in-law melt.  She jumped out of her seat, grabbed Elizabeth from me and started kissing her, talking in that high-pitched baby voice that women tend to go into when they see a baby, and showing her to my father-in-law (who started crying, a side-effect of his Primary Lateral Sclerosis was that he had absolutely no control over emotion welling up inside him).  And with their reactions, every concern I’d had melted away. I silently thanked the Lord for His kind answer to my prayers. 

We’ve not talked to my in-laws about the ten-year rift in our relationship – so I still don’t know what we did to offend them so much they’d stop talking to their own son. Honestly, I’m not sure it matters any more.  They love my children above and beyond what I could’ve ever imagined and that is what matters.  The baby girl who mended the rift absolutely adores her Grammie and the feeling is mutual.  They share a love of jigsaw puzzles, making cookies and having short hair.

Nine years ago, I would have never imagined the day would come that I would call my mother-in-law, listen to her have a sobbing melt-down about my father-in-law's health, and desperately wish I could be there to help her.  (that’s a whole ‘nother blog post)  A close friend of mine once said, “Babies are the great equalizer.”  And, in our family at least, that has proven to be true.

Harrison is three!

I cannot believe my baby boy is already three.  It’s weird, really, to have my baby be three.  By the time Elizabeth Jane was three, she’d already been a big sister twice over.  When Katherine turned three, Annie was almost six months old.  When Annie turned three, Harrison was 10-months old.  Our sweet boy is the last baby…and he’s three! 
He weaned about three or four months ago (I’ve honestly forgotten when he last nursed). He is a smart little boy, can already spell his name – he’ll bring me a piece of paper and a crayon or other writing utensil and say “Mommy, write my name H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N!”  He still loves to sit in my lap.  He sleeps best when he sleeps with someone – whether me, his daddy or his sisters.  He loves his sisters, but has a special bond with Elizabeth Jane.  He loves Mr. Rick and Mrs. Teresa, his Sunday School teachers. He loves any and all books.  He loves all the Toy Story movies, anything on Nick Jr. and just about anything on PBS.  He’s kind of outgrown Sprout, which makes me sad! I loved watching The Goodnight Show with him each night!  He has a fierce temper, though – and he has since the second he was born! It is the one area where I most pray for him.  I figure God is going to use it to sanctify both ME and him!!
His actual birthday was earlier this week, but we had dinner at my parents’ house on Friday.  We were joined by my sister and brother-in-law (their boys were at a high school basketball game), my sister-in-law and her girls (my brother was at work) and the previously mentioned, much-loved Mr. Rick and Mrs. Teresa.  When Rick & Teresa arrived, Harrison flew into Rick’s arms with a huge hug and an even bigger grin. When we ate dinner (Paw did brats, hot dogs and hamburgers on the smoker…delicious!), Harrison sat at the head of the table with Rick on his left. The chair on his right was empty. He turned around and said, “Mrs. Tere-eee-eesa! Come sit by meeeeee!”  We howled.  But then, even funnier, was when he decided he wanted to change into his pajamas…we hear from the back bedroom, “Mrs. Teresa! Come put my PJs on me!!!”   Silly little boy.
The plan was for him to spend the night at Mom & Dad’s with Elizabeth. I told Mom to call me anytime if he flipped out.  At 10:15 our phone rang, I said, “Hello?”  Mom, “Hi” and I could hear the wailing in the background. “I’m on my way.”  By the time I got there, he was asleep.  She said as soon as she told him I was on my way, he snuggled up with her and went to sleep.  He slept all the way home, and then until 8:30 this morning – which is very late for him!! 
We are so thankful that he’s a part of our lives.
Here are a few photos from our celebration:

Harrison’s birthday cake, also a celebration of his favorite movie, Toy Story 3.  The cake is chocolate and there are crumbs all in the icing, despite a crumb coat! I wasn’t too worried about decorating the bottom layer (Woody’s shirt) perfectly since in TS3, Andy is 18 and I’m sure Woody would be well-loved.  :)

He did this at Christmas, too, he tells Mimi all about his gifts!

Love this sweet birthday boy!!

When we started singing Happy Birthday to him, he got embarrassed and started laughing.

Blowing out the candles. He wouldn’t lean in, toward the cake, like most people do when blowing out the candles. He stayed just like he’d been since he sat down.  He was so funny!  And, proving he has good lung function, he blew out the candles by blowing lightly from where he was sitting. 

Snow Day

We've had quite a few snow days in Central Arkansas recently thanks to a wacky jetstream, El Nina, and general global warming {yeah, right}. 

I didn't share photos from the first snow day, but here are some from last week...we got about 6" at our house. Some areas of the state got TWO FEET.  They were predicting we'd get "8.57 inches."  Yes, seriously, one of the local meteorologists put that out there.  We ended up getting a little less than that.  With no further ado, I bring you The Shoe in the snow...

Harrison would only get out in the snow on Wednesday. 

When the girls went out on Thursday he said, "Momma, I not crazy! It's cold out there!"  I died laughing!!

This girl is her daddy's child.  She loves the snow and literally cried the years we didn't get any at all.  

Bitsy loved catching the snowflakes on her tongue. She was having a blast, too.

Making snow angels...is it any wonder they came in about 10 minutes later freezing to death?! 

Elizabeth measured the snow in our backyard. She said it was right at 6 inches.  All I know is there was a lot!

On Thursday we had beautiful sunshine, after having snow all day on Wednesday. The girls got out to play in it - and Nin took Flat Stanley outside. He was visiting from Canada, where I'm sure this kind of snow is old hat!

The Abominable SnowBitsy!

It was a beautiful day - sparkly sunshine on all the snowy trees...a great day to be in by the fire looking out the window...

...or outside riding on a sled!

By Friday, we were seeing a lot of melting. By Friday afternoon the major roads were clear and since it got into the sixties on Saturday, you can barely tell it snowed! The only places were still seeing snow are areas on the north sides of buildings - where the sun never shines.  However, since we're actually supposed to see SEVENTY on Thursday, I'm thinking those spots won't last the week.  Yeah, lovely Arkansas weather where you see lows in the minus-teens one week and highs in the seventies the next!  One thing for sure, it's never boring around here!

Will You Be Mine?

After having a three-day break from school last week due to the snow, Annie is ready to go back!  And, just in time for Valentine's Day.  She decided that instead of giving her classmates the same ol' purchased Valentine greetings, she wanted to make them a Valentine treat. After discussing a few ideas, we settled on heart-shaped Rice Krispie Treats made with pink marshmallows (and no, I did not make my own marshmallows for this!).  Then she decided we'd dip the tops in chocolate and add a little candy heart decoration.

Place Rice Krispie Treats in well-greased 9x13 pan and cut with a well-greased heart-shaped cookie cutter

When I was melting the marshmallows, I added a little bit of Wilton's "Dora Pink" to pink them up some

Here's a group of them.  We made 15.

Dipped in semi-sweet chocolate with a little sugar decoration on them.

We are going to bag them in Valentine zip-top bags I purchased at Michael's and she's going to also give everyone a handmade Valentine.  She's excited. 

At Amanda's recommendation, I'm linking this post to Sweets for a Saturday here:

Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce

I got this recipe from my sister and she got it from a Junior League cookbook - I wish I could tell you which one, but I don't remember.  We love this.  It is delicious and a wonderful treat.  Also, if you have any pork left over, you can use it in pork fried rice (which we do all the time).  If you don't want the expense of a 3-pound pork loin - get the little tenderloin.  That's what I used before we had kiddos. 

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup bourbon
2 Tblsp brown sugar
1 (3-pound) pork tenderloin
1 Tblsp dry mustard
1-1/2 tsp vinegar (I use white for this)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise (use the real stuff!)
1 Tblsp chopped green onion
salt to taste

To marinate the pork:  Combine the soy sauce, bourbon and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well.  Add the pork.  Marinate in the refrigerator for several hours, turning occasionally.  {I do all of this in a gallon-size Ziploc bag - why dirty up a bowl?}  Drain, reserving the marinade.
To cook the pork: Preheat the oven to 325-degrees, place the pork in a baking pan.  Roast for 45 to 60 minutes or until cooked through, basking frequently with reserved marinade.
For the sauce:  In a bowl, dissolve the dry mustard in the vinegar. Mix in sour cream and mayo.  Stir in the green onion and salt.  Serve with the sliced tenderloin.  (this reminds me a lot of a horseradish kind of sauce - it is delicious with the meat!!)

Glitter everywhere!

Elizabeth Jane loves all the Martha Stewart Crafts stuff at Michael's.  Last year with her Michael's Gift Card she bought herself some Martha Stewart Iridescent Glitter.  This year for her birthday she got a set of Martha's Glitter Essentials.  We've been glittering fools lately!  And it's been a ton of fun.  Right now, we're making and glittering "name plates" (made of paper) for some sweet college friends.  They're a lot of fun to do and she loves choosing the colors we'll use for each girl.  I will post photos of them once we're completely finished. 

One thing for sure, if you use Martha's glitter, you definitely want to use either Diamond Glaze or some sort of acrylic spray to keep the glitter on the paper.  This stuff is *fine* and will shed at the drop of a hat!  But it's so pretty!!! (and the fineness of it is what makes it so pretty, I think)

Our next project is going to be clipboards for the preschool.  My friend, Jane Chandler, is on the design team for DecoArt (she's amazing) and she designed this Holiday Clipboard  (close up here)  but I've seen on her Facebook where she did school-themed ones for teachers.  I immediately thought something like that would be cute for the preschool to use for their sign-in sheets. 

I'm anxious to get my crafty hands "dirty" again - it's been too long.  I made tote bags for all the kids back in October.  I used this tutorial and here are the bags:

The pink/purple one in back is Nin's; the pink/brown one on the left is Elizabeth's; the froggy one is Annie's and Harrison wanted two - one is Mickey and one is Thomas-Harrison-the-Tank-Engine (that's what he calls Thomas).

I'd like to make more of those as gifts.  They are simple to make, I can do them in about an hour, and they're cute!

From the Moutain Top to the Valley

My last Joyful January Journal post was about my excitement for my friend, Jo.  The tumor in her abdomen is gone, without medical intervention.  And of course, we are still rejoicing over that.  However, about a week ago, she learned that she has a metastatic cancer in her T8 vertebra.  I said to another friend of mine, "I feel like I've been sucker punched."  It is not that I think God is not good or kind because I know that He is just as good and just as kind in the valley as He is on the mountain-top.  I'm sad and I'm still processing.  Not sure what this means. She's to have a consult with a radiology oncologist to discuss radiation (and given what she thinks about radiation, I'm surprised!).  She told me she is meditating on Habakkuk 3: 17-19:

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
   and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
   and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
   and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
   I will be joyful in God my Savior.
 ¹⁹ The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
   he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
   he enables me to tread on the heights.

(that is the NIV, by the way)
It is so like her to remind me of these verses - there is emptiness and barrenness - the "bad" stuff, if you will - in verse 17  and then there is a pivotal word in verse 18 - YET.  Despite all that is true in the midst of the "bad stuff", Habakkuk makes a choice to rejoice in the LORD, makes a choice to be joyful.  These verses brought me much comfort during the infertility days and I find them bringing me much comfort again.

I've been sitting on this blog post for several days...never really able to get it finished and not sure exactly how I will finish it.  Craig Courtney's song My Wordless Prayer is pretty much how I'm feeling about this situation these days.  (a soloist's version is on YouTube, it's okay but not as lovely as when our choir sings it)