Sentiments

I just noticed this is my 100th post! Wow!

Sarah and I just had a wonderful two days together. Ryan, Benjamin and Maya went to my parents for a few days to work on a project and Sarah decided to stay home with me. It has been so fun hanging out with her...she is a really cool girl!

It is amazing how you can lose sight of how the children are growing up even when you are with them all day every day, or maybe it is BECAUSE you are with them all day every day. I had totally lost sight of how grown up my little girl has become. I know she has always been mature for her age, but now, all of a sudden, she seems more like a young lady than a little girl...or at least in the beginning stages of becoming one. We laughed and talked and crafted together. We ate at random times and laughed about how often we were eating and enjoyed concocting really yummy and really nutritious snacky foods together! We rented some movies (An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving and something about sled dogs). We painted nails and took the dog to the lake for a hike. She is a wonderful companion. I truly couldn't have enjoyed any else's company more. I am so thankful for the time we had together. It hit me hard that she is almost 10! 10! It seems like our time together is half-over and I can't stand the thought that in 10 more years she will be out on her own, married, traveling, college, whatever. I am mostly reminded to EMBRACE...the days we have together...the hours we have together....

I am so sad
I am so happy
I weep
I rejoice
I thank God
for...
the hours,
the days,
the years...
I have
with
YOU.

Do Not Pass Go...

OK, Aaron...I just wanted to let you know that all those Monopoly marathons I forced you into as a kid are coming back to me...vividly!

Sarah has been working on counting money so I thought that after a few lessons we would play Monopoly, she could be the banker, get some practice in, end of story. WRONG!!! Three days later we are still on game #1 and that is all she wants to do in her spare time! Of course I LOVE spending the time with her and I LOVE seeing her add, subtract, make change, etc. But, I think my time of sitting on the floor, patiently going round and round the board with my little Scottie dog is quickly coming to an end. How do you end Monopoly anyway without one or the other just saying, "I'm done?" I guess I could go a few more rounds....

Pictures!

OK, here for your viewing pleasure are some pictures of the girls' baptism--finally.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Benjamin's birthday

Benjamin has had a birthday since I last wrote so I will try to do a few pics of him. He and his dad went hunting for his "man-outing" (they do man-outings instead of dates!) They didn't get anything but enjoyed it a lot anyway! It was rumored that Ryan took along a little knife and taught Benjamin a little whittling while they were in the blind-- my boy is in little boy heaven!!! I can not believe he is already 5!

A cool Benjamin story: the first of October he began asking God for a baby brother for his birthday! He was worried maybe God wouldn't answer so I assured him God hears his prayers and would answer them but sometimes He doesn't answer in the way or time we expect. "Oh, so you mean maybe God will give me three brothers instead of just one?" he asked!!!
We found out the end of October that I was pregnant but waited until my doctor appointment to tell him. My appointment was on his birthday so while he was opening his presents that evening, we got to tell him that God had answered his prayer and there was in fact a baby in my tummy! He was (and is) so excited! The girls started jumping up and down and Sarah even started crying. It was a precious moment.

They continually pray for their new little baby brother or sister and think and talk about it all the time. We have quite a wait as I am not due until July but we are looking forward to bonding with this new little blessing starting now!

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In other news, I don't know if I mentioned that Sarah and Maya are getting baptized this weekend. Their Daddy will be able to baptize them. What a precious time for our family!

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Since I haven't been so good about keeping up with this thing, I won't try to update you on all the details from my last post until now. This is the biggest news in our family right now! What incredible joy and blessing!

Sarah is 8!

Today is Sarah's birthday! I cannot believe she is EIGHT!
She is such a wonderful daughter! I love watching her grow and mature physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She is such an active girl with a wonderful, creative imagination. I cannot believe all the things she can do! She is extremely thoughtful and sensitive to others. She is also a leader (naturally, being the oldest). One of her biggest achievements this year was to quit sucking her fingers! She has sucked her two middle fingers since birth and just this year she has completely done away with that habit! We are all so relieved! (I was having visions of her going to bed with her husband with her fingers in her mouth!)

She still loves horses and dogs and wants to be an animal trainer and a vet when she grows up. She loves wearing blue jeans and boots. Her favorite colors are green and blue. She has two pen-pals she writes to faithfully. She loves to color and paint and create things. She has written three books-- the first one was about her cat Whisper, the second two are part of a series she is writing called, "The Horse Chronicles." Here is an excerpt from the first book called "Ginger":
After she was done with her horse chores, Dakota went inside the house where her Dad and her mom and David were sitting at the dinner table waiting for her. Dakota said, "I have already named the Chestnut mare. Her name is Ginger." Her dad said, "I thought you might name her. You may ride her tomorrow with David." Dakota said, "Thank you Dad." She ate her dinner and went to bed. Before she went to sleep she was thinking of where Ginger and she would go on their ride the next day.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I love being your Mommy! I love you Sar-Bear!

Even by her shoes, a girl will be known!

Sarah's shoe shelf





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Maya's shoe shelf






This is an amazingly real look at the differing personalities of the girls. I thought this picture captured what it would have taken me many words to describe!

(I couldn't figure out how to hide all that computer gibberish and didn't want to spend the time doing it so ..... sorry about that!)

Completion!

Here's a few quick pictures of Sarah's finished product. I was so proud of her and she was so proud of her new pillow! You can't really tell by these pictures but she hand-stitched around each of the flowers then sewed on a button before sewing the pillow top to the bottom. She did everything by hand except I helped her finish off the last few stitches and knots. She is ready to start another one! Way to go Sar-Bear!