PuppyFooFooJieJie in the spotlight

It was Sunday night. We were all feeling a little yuck and a lot tired. It had been a full day already, so Josh and I decided to stay home instead of going to our small group.

Later in the evening, the kiddos and I were outside playing...just lazing around outside, looking for any excuse to be out in the beautiful weather.

As I watched my children playing so happily, I ran inside to grab my camera. Childhood joy should be remembered!

I was so pleased to see Samantha in a mood to take pictures. At some period in her past, we casually remarked how she makes weird faces in pictures and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think it's even made her hesitant to take pictures. [Now there's all the evidence I need to think and consider more carefully the words I speak!]

Anyway, back to Puppy FooFoo. She was being silly, but it was a fun and childlike silly.

Samantha was receiving lots of grace and patience from the Lord, because she was overflowing with love for Abby tonight. She played with her in the dirt, tried (unsuccessfully) to teach her how to use the rope swing, and played chase with her in the grass. All was going great until Abby tripped and face-planted in the grass.

"Abby sad!" she cried to me. "Abby hurt!"
Like any good mother, I kept snapping pictures.
Honestly, I don't have many pictures of my kids crying...so I kept clicking away.
Samantha was quick to offer her comfort and distraction. "I'll drive you in the car!" she suggested.
Abby happily agreed.
Happily, indeed.
I was so thankful I grabbed my camera when I did. The sun was setting, shining through the trees in our backyard and I just felt like this picture captured the spirit of the evening - gracious love between sisters.
I was getting all sentimental, but they weren't. They were still playing.
Silas was chilled out and watching all the action.
We played until the girls were so dirty I couldn't bear to let them dig any longer.

It was a great end to a lovely weekend.

Happy Monday to you all!

the changing of the names

Abby shocked me the other day when the word "Mantha" came out of her mouth.

My first reaction was to clap and tell her what a great job she did - we've been working with her on saying Samantha's name correctly.

But almost equally as fast as the first reaction was my second reaction: I was really sad.

See, Abby's history with Samantha's name is long and complex and usually keeps our entire family laughing. At some point, her efforts to say "samantha" produced "sa-pup-py".

Abby quickly shortened that to Puppy JieJie (jiejie means "big sister").

Somewhere along the way, Puppy JieJie morphed into Puppy FooFoo - which resulted in riotous laughter when we read The Prince and The Pauper.

Finally everything smushed together and Samantha has been known as PuppyFooFooJieJie for several months now. It's hard to get Samantha's attention and stay in a bad mood, because just saying that long name makes us smile.

It seems that now it's all over. Back to Mantha.

I hope I'll forever remember the days of PuppyFooFooJieJie, though...because it sure was fun.

"Pioneer Woman comes to Norman"

That's how it read in the paper that I glanced at one afternoon.

Who even reads the paper anymore? It was only by accident that I even stumbled upon the news of her book signing. Even more shocking was that I actually saw this blurb before the event took place - meaning I had time to plan to go!

I still remember the day Rachel was at my house telling me about some lady's blog she was reading, some weird love story about a girl from California meeting this cattle rancher and then writing about it for everyone to read about.

"She's from Oklahoma! You've never heard of her?" she asked me.

Curiosity got the better of me, and after she left, I went looking for that "some lady". A few clicks and a few weeks later, I realized that "some lady" was The Pioneer Woman.

I quickly became a fan - not a commenting fan, because who wants to be one of 76,235 commenters on any given post?

But she made me laugh and I loved her low-key approach to life. I love low maintenance. And I loved her recipes.

Rachel gifted me her cookbook when it came out, and I thought I could return the love and gift her Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Icing on the cake would be getting my dear friend a signed copy.

So I recruited Alicia, another dear friend, to go with me.

The night before, I had googled "What happens at a Pioneer Woman book signing."

I obviously had no idea what I was doing.

Since the signing was happening on a Friday, I had time that morning to run down to Hastings and grab a number. Apparently, they were doing the signing by numbers that were given out, first come, first serve. I got there at 1pm and got my number. Seven.

Then I went home. Cleaned the house, got the kids, played with them a bit, took a shower, and got ready to go.

When we arrived, there were people who had been waiting since 2pm. Sure was glad I had my number and didn't have to spend the afternoon at Hastings!

I had Silas with me - not to help bring Pioneer Woman back to the ranks of the childbearing, but just because he pretty much goes everywhere with me. It's actually much easier than leaving him at home because he's so low-maintenance.

When it was my turn, I went up there and told her how much I appreciated learning how to cook a steak from her blog. I told her that she she was instrumental in my learning to cook at all.

Actually, I don't think I used the word "instrumental". But you get the idea.

Anyway, she signed my book, and Rachel's - without even looking down, I might add. I guess when you've signed a million books, you've got the hang of it.

"Both of these going to Rachel?" she asked me. It's been confusing to lots of other people, too...Rach and I having the same name.

And that was about it. Alicia got her books signed, and that was it.

I do have Facebook to thank for allowing me to know that my super-fun friend Misty would be there as well! Before we left, we found misty in the crowd and asked a pleasant passerby to take a picture of all of us.

Alicia and I headed out for a lovely evening at The Olive Garden, and in my heart I blessed my husband for being so willing to give me a great night out with my friend!

cake, candles, rinse and repeat.

So, I still had the dilemma of throwing the best-ever birthday for six million kids, all without stressing out or losing my mind.

That's when I decided I personally didn't want to do anything.

I totally farmed out the birthday business to The Little Gym.

You may remember that all my girls have Little Gym classes during the week. They love the teachers there and always have a great time. Even though the parties looked a little pricy, in the end I decided it was worth it.

It was so totally, unbelievably worth it.

They told me they'd decorate a little bit, but I could bring stuff if I wanted. I thought that might meant they'd hang little "Happy Birthday" sign or something. Instead, I walked into this totally fun room:

I hung up this "Birthday Blessings" banner I'd made as a replacement for gifts. We asked all the guests to bring a handmade note, card, or blessing to hang here instead of bringing a gift. All of our guests brought really thoughtful and fun notes! I'll be so thankful to save them all for Emma and Abby to see when they're older; I hope it will help them look back and remember friends that they had for this season of their lives.
Here's a bigger view of the banner - overall, I was pleased with how it turned out, but I was a little irritated at how the Mod Podge on the letters made the cardstock turn up. I knew it was happening, but I felt powerless to stop it. Suggestions, anyone?
Emma had requested quite an elaborate Bunny Cake, but in the end, this is what she got: (oh, and try not to be distracted by their unusual leaning. Turns out that the bunnies didn't like each other very much, so they're each scooting to their respective sides. It has nothing to do with the fact that they were cut incorrectly and only barely salvaged at the last minute.)
Yes, Abby...that's right. Stand in front of the bunnies so no one will notice their irregularity:

Thankfully, I had asked my parents to bring a cookie cake. The bunnies turned out ok, but they weren't adequate for feeding a crowd!

Soon, people started arriving and I started snapping pictures.
Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a party at The Little Gym. Would they just give everyone free play? Would that last for very long? Would they have structured games? Would that be totally lame? Would the activities appeal to a broad range of ages? I was curious how they'd pull it off.

They started with a few minutes of free play, to give everyone an introduction to the gym. My kids already felt totally at home.

Then, they got in a circle and each child was introduced.
It was like a Who's Who of Eggroll America life. There were lots of friends from our new church:
This is probably Emma's best friend in Oklahoma, Davis:
Oh yeah, and there was that one part where Abby was acting like, "It's my party and I'll do whatever I want."
There were friends from Emma's Friday School:

And her incredibly awesome teacher from Friday School, Mrs. Ambra (Ambra, I'm so sorry the only picture I have of you is this one! I had to post it though, because Emma just loves you SO VERY much!)
What came next was 45 minutes of serious physical activity. I know my kids slept well that night! They had them doing all sorts of fun things! Here, they were imitating crabs:
and clams, opening and closing:
There was some hide-and-seek:
And of course, they busted out the parachute. And some balls. And then there was popcorn.

Don't you wish you were a kid again?
There was tons of action in the gym.


Once they were sufficiently exhausted, everyone was corralled into the party room for cake and drinks.


By the end of the party, all the cakes were gone. Lots of hugs were given. Many special memories were made. Smiles, laughter and giggles marked the entire afternoon.

And all I had to do to make it happen was swipe my Visa card.

After the last guest left, I made a quick plan to eat dinner at Harry Bears with my family. As we drove there, we all debriefed about the party. I asked Samantha what her favorite part was: knocking over the giant cheese mat.

Emma's favorite part? "Being with all of my favorite people."

It's true - that almost everyone on this side of the world that she loves and shares her life with was there. It was a very special day.

Just as we were leaving the restaurant later that night, I quickly decided to get a few extra pictures. I mean, it's not every day I take a shower! Ha!

My brother and Samantha:

My dad and Silas have "an understanding". They're great friends!
My family with part of my crew - not sure where Abby took off to. (How very typical!)

But, I especially wanted one with my big birthday girl.
I used to bemoan the fact that she's not tiny anymore, that she doesn't have that toothless baby grin, or the precious baby grip on my fingers. I used to feel sad that the bumbly toddler stage was over, that she doesn't fit very well - or at all! - in my arms.

But - what I gain with her age are insights into her heart and mind. We have conversations, she has opinions, she has preferences. I can watch her think and reason. I can watch her grow in wisdom; I can watch her learn from her mistakes. I have a buddy to run errands with me and someone to help me remember the next phrase of the verses we're memorizing.

I'm sure I'll always miss her tinyness, but I'm learning to love this phase too.

Happy 6th Birthday, Emma!

sing a song of birthdays

February can be kind of a crazy month for us.

Ok, well I guess that's making things a bit too dramatic. There's just this one week in February...where Emma and Abby both have birthdays.

This year was Abby's first birthday in America. Emma's last birthday in America was when she turned one. I wanted this to be a special year since all of our families were here to celebrate with us. We've made lots of new friends this year too, and I wanted them to be in on the birthday fun. How to combine my grand ambitions for a birthday party and not lose my mind?

Hmmm. It is a question. And I thought about it for a while.

Then I put off thinking about it.

Then I decided I had to start thinking about it or else I'd end up with a backyard full of kids with nothing better to do than dig in the dirt and a cake I'd picked up at Walmart the night before.

Not that there's anything wrong with a cake bought at Walmart.

It's just that when it comes to special occasions, my kids have learned to expect a lot from me. Ok, maybe the truth is, I expect a lot of me.

But I just didn't have it in me this year - to plan a party that included both Abby and Emma, to include everyone from great-grandparents to rowdy three-year-olds, and to have it be fabulous.

So I did something very uncharacteristic for me. I asked for help.

I asked my grandmother to plan a small party to celebrate with my immediate family. I asked Josh's mom to plan a small party to celebrate with his family. And then I farmed out the kid-party to someone else. (But more on that later!)

Here's the Abby & Emma Birthday Round-up, Part 1:

We went first to my Nana's house. She had prepared a delicious meal and a precious cake for my girls. Emma loved the heart sprinkles that decorated the perfectly moist cake. She did a great job sharing her birthday cake(s) with Abby. Abby also didn't seem to mind - not that she was terribly clued in, but still.

My Nana also got to play with Silas, which is saying something since only one other boy has entered our family by birth in two decades. We're a girl-producing family.
And then, right after that, my camera died. Note to self: birthdays are important. Please double-check batteries next time.

The next weekend, we went to Josh's parents house for another birthday bash. Debbie was wonderfully prepared with birthday crowns for the girls - and a princess crown for Samantha.
Abby's just...just...so stinkin' cute.
I was just hoping she'd hurry up and blow out those candles. There was cake to eat!And it was GOOD!
After a round of thank-you's, we all headed outside to play.
It was a beautiful day, perfect for lazing around outside. Abby, still with cake smudged on her mouth, wanted to give the bubbles a shot. It seems more like she was trying to eat them.
Emma and Josh's brother Jason are great friends and playmates. He's just a bit older than her, and loves to run and play. Perfect for Emma!
Pappy gives Abby some help with the bubbles as great-grandpa looks on:
Emma was ready to put some of her new gardening tools to work, so when Gigi offered to take her digging in the creek, they were out of there in no time!
Abby wasn't interested in digging, but jumping in the bouncy house was an attractive option.
Lots of digging brought little results. Not even a single bug to add to the bug jar!
With two birthday parties behind us, you'd think we'd be done - but actually, the biggest one was yet to come...