A little love from my girls

So my girls worked really hard on their Mother's Day gifts and on Sunday morning as we are getting ready for church I hear this from downstairs..."MOM, DON'T COME DOWN HERE".  So I smiled and said no problem and to let me know when it was safe to come down.  Once I got the okay, this is what I found.....

Elise had made me a bouquet of flowers.  And the best part is these will never die.  She worked really hard and I love it.  Then the girls handed me the rest of their beautiful artwork.  The next few photos are from Elise.

And when you flip it upside down it says "WOW"


Miss Lauren made the next few photos...

On Mother's Day I was a little tearful in church for various reasons, first being, Pastor Burcham's daughter sang a song to her mom called " A Mother's Blessing" which was beautiful... and yes, I am a sap.  Then the message went on about how our mothers leave a legacy without even trying and how they teach us things just by doing, not necessarily by sitting us down and saying "you need to do this".  We just watch them and learn from them and then we find ourselves doing those things when we are older because that's what we did when WE were kids.  It was an amazing message and really hit home with me because I only had a short 15 years with my mom and I find myself doing things that she did or my Aunt Joyce did (her identical twin) and I realize that she had a bigger impact on me that I think I realize.  The last thing that really made me lose it was yesterday morning before school Elise was asking me how my mom died.  I tried to explain what an aneurysm and stroke were in 7 year old language like " her brain had an owie and the brain tells the rest of our body how to work so when the brain doesn't work, nothing else can work."  She seemed to understand and then she went on to say with tears in her eyes.  "Did you get to hug her and hold her hand and say good-bye?"  As tears are falling from my eyes in sadness and AMAZEMENT from this little 7 year old brain, I replied with "Yes I did get to say good-bye and for that I thankful, and I know that she is watching us from Heaven and she can't wait for the day to meet you and your sister and your Daddy too."

Of course we ended the conversation with "How can she see through the roof in the house? Maybe the roof comes off and she can see us but it doesn't REALLY come off because that would be weird."  I love this kid!

Happy Mothers Day

Another fun Mothers Day.  We started our day going to church and the day turned out beautiful, so the kids were outside all afternoon, I was in the house with PEACE and QUIET!  I even snuck a little cat nap in, can't remember the last time I did that.  Eric told me I was snoring, but I don't snore so not sure what that was all about.  We ended our day over at Roger and Sharon's.  Eric and Roger were in charge of making us dinner so we had grilled pork tenderloin (yummy), strawberries, green beans and chips and dip.  It was great.  We also had a small birthday party for Lauren since Grandma and Grandpa were in Florida on her birthday.  It was a really nice and relaxing day.

The girls are all about making funny faces.

Eric and his mom, Sharon.  Look how tan she still is from Florida... jealous!

The Soccer Super Star

I finally remembered to bring my camera to Lauren's soccer game. She had a great game and she is so much fun to watch. Grandma and Grandpa Hubbard came along (as you will hear in the background of the videos) to cheer her on.

Lauren, Finn and Carly... that's about as close to the ball as Carly ever gets.  I am not sure if she actually touched the ball today.  Bless her heart, she says how much she "loves" soccer but usually just runs around the field... or walks  :)

Action photo... I love it, right as she is scoring a goal!

Lauren and Carly

Our cheerleaders~ Elise and Grandma Hubbard

One of Lauren's goals!!

Mrs. K..... an awesome teacher



I brought up Mrs. K's (Kovacavich) goody bag today and took some class photos.  The kids were so excited to give her the bag, now we just have to get the book of thank yous finished.

Kids LOVE it when you tell them to make silly faces...

Mrs. K... another blessing for our family.  She has been such a wonderful teacher and these two just hit it off from the first home visit last summer.  Lauren got her hair cut earlier in the year so she would look like Mrs. K too.  She is really sweet and bubbly and fun.  Traits that Lauren is drawn to since she is the same way.  I hear often from people that Lauren is going to be the one that gives me grief ( I think they think that because she is really loud, no REALLY loud people.  The child doesn't really have any volume control).  But you know what?  She is the easiest kid on the planet.  She is so kind hearted and listens well and gets reward all of the time for helping others.  You don't have to ask her to be helpful or kind, it's just in her nature and I adore that about her.  No, she won't be my problem child... at least no signs of that yet :)  And this also isn't to say that Elise IS going to be, it's just that Lauren... she's just an easy going, go with the flow kind of gal!

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is teacher appreciation week and I put together a bag (forgot to take a photo of it) for Elise's teacher Mrs. Moore,  It was a little straw bag with goodies, a cute coolie cup and a magazine.  I am currently putting a book together of thank you letters to give her next week on the last day of school.

Elise's first grade class.

Kids LOVE it when you tell them to make funny faces!

Mrs. Moore has been a true blessing to Elise.  She is the defintion of the teacher you WANT for your child.  She is funny, patient, kind and most of all supportive and nurturing.  I can only hope the rest of the way through these years we are this lucky.  I will miss her too.. (unless Lauren gets her next year... fingers crossed!)

Lauren's 6th Birthday Party

Lauren's Birthday Cake, I think this might have been the easiest one yet... love that!

Natalie Freundl gave Lauren her La La Loopsy Doll... she loves them.

Back Row: Sofia, Ella Murphy, Lizzie Alsteen, Natlie, Giada Grimes, Kaylee, Gracie, Faith Feurhelm, Kennedy Jorgenson, Caroline Murphy
Front row:  Elise, Averie and Lauren

These girls had a great time and HOLY BUCKETS are they loud, lots of giggle, high pitched screaming and only a few tears!  Ahhh, the drama of girls.

This is a game of pass the orange.  They had to use only their feet and if it touched the ground, they had to start over.  They all had so much fun, then they all got mad because it took FOREVER to get one team down and back without dropping the orange.

How the mail works... according to Lauren

At dinner tonight we were talking about the mail.  Lauren asked me how the mail gets to our house.  So I explained how the mail man comes through the neighborhood and gathers the mail, then he takes it back to the post office etc. etc. etc.  She looked at me like she was a little confused, so I asked her "does that make sense to you?".   She said to me "really???? That's how the mail gets here?  I thought that when you put it in the things with the holes (mail boxes) that there were holes on the other end that the mail went through and then there were eyes in there that read the mail and sent it down about a thousand different tubes and the mail came to your house that way".  I was laughing so hard.  That kid makes me smile every single day.  These are the moments that I treasure, sitting around the dinner table as a family, and talking about life, how things work and hearing their  version of how things work, there little minds amaze me and I wish I had just a fraction of their creativity and imagination. 

At the girls Christmas program this year there was a song called "Christmas through the eyes of a child" and I thought of that today.  I sometimes wish that I could see the world through the eyes of a child.  Where all is good, and life is just about having fun, playing hard, snacks and laughter.  It puts things into perspective when we get so wrapped up in our daily lives and stressors that we forget to sit back and enjoy the ride.  Our time here on Earth is just a moment compared to our eternal life in Heaven and that we need to live in the moment, not in the what ifs, and what could have beens.

I had lunch with a very good friend of mine the other day (Melissa Gourley) and we just talked the afternoon away.  But we were talking about how some parents and neighbors get so caught up in competition and possessions and it can be easy to fall into that trap and when it comes down to it... I get to stay home with my kids, volunteer at school, work 20 hours a week taking care of patients and just how blessed I am for that.  I will never regret taking this time with the girls even if it means my carpet is dirty, my window coverings are paper and the house needs to be updated.... those will all come in time and in the grand scheme of things, are just not that important.  Don't get me wrong.... I REALLY want new floors etc... but if it has to wait because I am only working part time than it has to wait.  I know that in twenty years from now, I won't remember that I needed the new floors, I will remember how blessed I was that I had all that time with the girls while they were young and loved to snuggle and read me books, the pure joy in their eyes with every accomplishment they make, and I got to see it all.  That, I won't regret for a minute.  But working fifty hours a week and putting them in before and after daycare, would make me sad.  And it's not a judgement on those that have to do that, it's just that for me, personally, I would feel like I missed it all.

WHEW, my quick little story about Lauren's mail theory turned into a full out soul search I guess.  Let the madness of another week begin!  Peace.

Prom Night for the Girl Scouts

The Girl Scouts had a prom night for girls only.  Girls ages K-6 got together and danced the night away (well they were there from 6-8 but they were beat).  They even had a D.J. ... a lady too!  I think the girls had a great time and it was fun to get all dressed up!

Good friends Lauren Wood and Natalie Freundl

The room was so cute.  Balloons, disco balls, white lights and a TON of room for running around and dancing.

The girls were really WOUND up after the dance and they giggled and laughed the entire way home.  Us moms, Gloria and Jes, went out for dinner while the girls danced.  That was nice too!