Tooth be gone

This is how we started the day. 

And this is how we ended. She pulled her tooth herself. 

Welcome to Haleigh's spa

I was invited to Haleigh's spa today. Convienently located in Haleigh's bedroom. She thought I needed to relax. 

We started with make up and a little color in the hair. She's a big fan if rosy cheeks. 

Then we needed some hair accessories. 

Here they both are...working hard. 

Lots of accessories added...Including bracelets, earrings, and a few necklaces. Next up was lotion on the feet and legs (I admit it felt very relaxing) followed by a polish on the nails and toes. She chose an OPI color for the toes (bc according to her, its the best).  And then she said "wait, one more thing mom..."  She ran out of the room and returned with a dress, scarf, and shoes to complete the ensemble. I put it all on and she said "we must take a picture (no clue who she gets this from)!"  She told me to put my hand up like that. Lol. And she said..."mom, you look just fab!"  God love her. She had such a good time. And she was so proud of herself. Fun day at the spa for me. 

Sunday funday

A friendly game of trouble!!  Fun times. 

Wish was part of the excitement too. 

Caught her reading a chapter book. She said, "please don't turn out the light until I finish this page because I love reading!"

Wish

Wish is keeping us entertained, busy, and  single-pawedly increasing our paper towel budget. But he's worth it. All the animals have come to terms that he is now part of our family. Snowball and Shadow have been playing with him. It must be true, that puppies bring back the youth in old dogs. We have seen Snowball play like she hasn't in years. Granted it is only for a brief period of time before she is ready to retire back to her cozy spot on the couch.  Here he is sleeping on James's shoulder, watching Jamesy shovel him a path on the deck, and getting a bath. 

Snaggle tooth no more!!!

Before

After

Jar of Joy

At a New Years party a friend gave us an empty jar as a gift for our family. She encouraged us to write things down on slips of paper to help us remember the good things that happen throughout the year. My jar is currently sitting empty at the table by the door. I keep looking at it...

So now I'm going to sit a pad of paper and pen beside of it to help us commit to writing more things down.  

I want to encourage the kids to use it too: to write down good things that happen, special moments they don't want to forget, prayers that are answered, or things that simply make them smile. Because don't we all tend to forget to find the joy somedays. Even among the most chaotic days, we should choose to find some joy. Because it's there...somewhere...always...even in what seem very small ways. I look forward to sitting down at the end of the year and looking through our jar of joy to see what has transpired.  :) thankful to my friend for encouraging us to find and remember 

the joy ...

It’s SO Good

I’ve been so bad about being on here lately.  People ask me why.  I don’t have a good answer, really.  I went from posting once a day, to once a week, and sometimes once a month!  I’m sorry to my family that check it faithfully for updates on the kiddos.  But, it’s 2014.  It’s a new year.  And one of the things I want to make sure I do more of is get back on here—not just more pictures but more words too.   So here I am…my first post of 2014!

Family, I really hope that you can play the video posted at the end of this post.  Listen to the song because this song is what this post is all about.  The lyrics to this song express EXACTLY how I feel. 

This song is for you, Chris.  Just change the hims to hers and wife to husband. 

 This is us…Love you.. love us! It is so good.

As I reflect on 2013, and what’s to come in 2014…these are the words that stand out most from the song:

I thank God for things that never change…

I’ve got more than I ever thought I would…

Help me count these blessings like I should…

Every day is a gift that I’ve been given…

I’ve been given more than I deserve…

And it’s so good…

Sometimes we need words and thoughts and feelings to ground us, to humble us, to move us.  These words are it for me.