The Favorite Christmas Present

This is by far their favorite....thanks Aunt Leah!
Oh, and these pictures are not staged, they really do share it that well too. Amazing! I think that's why it's my favorite Christmas present too!

A Five-Year-Old's Perspective On Heaven

Mara Lin has been asking tons of questions and talking a lot about salvation lately. Well, she doesn't use the term 'salvation', but rather says..
-Hey Mom, let's talk about sin again.
-Momma, does Jesus cry when we sin?
-When did you ask Jesus to be your forever friend?

She's really thinking a lot lately and learning so much. I'm not sure if she's 'there' yet, but if she's not 'there' then she's very close.

Several nights ago, I asked Phillip to talk to her to see what he thought and here's how the conversation went.....

Daddy: Mara, did you ask Jesus to be your forever friend?
Mara: I did, Daddy.
Daddy: What about your sin?
Mara: I told Jesus that I was sorry for my sins.
Daddy: How does your sin make Jesus feel?
Mara: It makes Him sad.
Daddy: That's right. So why do we get to go to heaven?
Mara: Huh?
Daddy: Do we get to go to heaven because we're good or because Jesus was good?
Mara: Huh?
Daddy: How do you get to heaven?
Mara: You die.

I was laughing so hard at that last response that the meaningful conversation was over. I LOVE all of her questions and her sweet, sweet faith though!

It's that time warp again.

So you're bee-boppin' along on January 24th....
Then you cover your eyes from the bright flash in the sky....
It's another Lost time warp....
And you find yourself one month back in time on Christmas morning.

Ok, so the truth again is that I'm just now getting around to posting Christmas photos. Only took me one month!

I LOVE this first one. Mara and Emily were up at the crack of dawn. Before we went downstairs to see what Santa brought, we had to wake Becca up out of a dead sleep. She wasn't quite awake and I love the half asleep confused look on her face!
I also love the 'in PJs with messy hair Christmas morning' pictures.
Yep, we jumped on the bandwagon and got a Wii from Santa. Love, love, love it. We've had the best family times with it this month. Oh, and I'm not too proud to admit that my five-year-old usually beats me in bowling every time!
We drove to Memphis on Christmas afternoon and had a great time with DeeDee and Grand. This is Becca after the "Happy Birthday Jesus" cupcakes...so glad I got her naked first...she had blue icing EVERYWHERE!
Ok, careful...cover your eyes again cause you're fixing to get flashed back to January 24th.

I must be in one of those Lost time warps...

...because there is no way that it has been two entire weeks since I have posted.

The real reason though is that life has just gotten in the way. We've been incredible busy...running from this meeting to that meeting, this birthday party to that birthday party, and this doctor's appointment to that doctor's appointment.

I am also not a worrier but am experiencing a whole new world of worry for this new baby. I miscarried last time around 16 weeks so the last couple of weeks have been tough. I did go to the doctor this week though and got to hear the baby's heartbeat fill the room at 162 beats per minute (sounding like another girl!). All three of the girls have also had Fifth's disease which is not a big deal for them but pretty bad for an unborn baby. I found out this week that I have an immunity to Fifth's disease so all is well with that too. Now only eleven more days until the ultrasound where we'll find out we're having another girl!

The busyness and lack of blogging lately has got me thinking about why I blog though. I have made some incredible friends that I never would have met outside of this blogging world, but the main reason I blog is to remember. I love that I have a 'scrapbook' (my real life friends have just gasped knowing how much I hate scrap booking) of sorts of this time in my life. God has blessed us immensely with these three gorgeous and hilarious little people. Although life with three preschool children is pretty tough some days, it is too sweet all of the time. Time is going WAY too fast and I know I'll forget this season of my life all too soon. How fun will this blog be to read when I'm sixty and have grown children and grandchildren on the way? Yep, that's why I blog!

So with all of that said, let's just pretend that I've not been gone for two weeks, and your google reader has been full of lots of memories from the Three Girl Circus!

Oh, and I have to confess that I totally did not learn Motherhood Lesson #389 cause I changed a poopy diaper again yesterday...with a scarf on!

Motherhood Lesson #389

Never change a poopy diaper with a scarf on!

All Over Again

Could he be a better Daddy?!?
He made these three little girls the happiest little princesses (with gorgeous pink toes) on the planet.

Makes me fall in love with him All. Over. Again.

Miss Patty Cake came out of the TV!

We love some Miss Patty Cake at our house. All three of the girls like her, but Becca Sue is CRAZY about her.

When we saw her last year, we left Becca with Daddy cause she was so little. But she got to go this year.

I loved seeing the amazement on her face the entire time. She just kept saying "Miss Patty Cake!" "Miss Patty Cake!" "Out of the TV!" "Miss Patty Cake!"
Here are all of the girls in her 'house' after the show. (The one with pigtails is my niece Regan.)
And then we got to talk to and hug her.

We had so much fun and can't wait for her to come out of the TV again next year!

Merry Christmas!

From the Three Girl Circus!

Sweet, Sweet Family Time

Last weekend we went on a live nativity hayride at a local church. It started with cookies and hot chocolate then continued with a hayride to several 'scenes' around the church grounds. We saw the prophets foretelling the coming Christ, the wisemen complete with real camels, and the shepherds with real sheep and angels in the sky (Hmmm, the angels were in the sky but the sheep were on the ground!). It ended with a sweet experience up close with the Christ Child.
That's me and the girls in the foreground of this picture. We had a great night to remember for a long time. When we were leaving, Emily asked if baby Jesus was going to get to go on the hayride too. We know what was her favorite part!

Why I Love Preschool Christmas Programs

#1....You can stand right between a wise man and baby Jesus and no one tells you to move, and everyone thinks it's cute.

#2....You can pick your nose cause there's at least four others doing the same!

#3...The string on your hat is not just to keep it on. There are hours of entertainment wrapped up in that tiny little stretchy thing! Connie, I've got lots more of these great pictures I need to email you. I love that little guy!

#4....When you hold up your sign backwards (or not at all) it's cute and not at all embarassing.

#5....It's ok to check every two minutes to make sure Mom is still looking at you.

#6...And absolutely acceptable to wave at Mom every five minutes.

#7...And if she happens to look away for a second, you don't even need to hesitate to holler "Mom" in the middle of the program.

#8....As if all of this wasn't good enough, you get to see the big guy when you get done!
I LOVE preschool Christmas programs! They let the kids be kids, and how precious to hear them sing about the Christ child.

No seriously, it snowed!

We had a very rare snow day last week. Thankfully Daddy was working from home so he took a little break to take the girls out in the snow before it melted. Yep, he definitely won my heart cause I got to stay in my pjs!

Of course he took his camera with him and got some fabulous pictures...

Bandaids come in brown?

Emily fell in the parking lot at school a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't too bad and she didn't need a bandaid...but to her, bandaids are magic. Yes, I resort to the bandaid magic often!

I didn't have my purse though so I asked the preschool director for a bandaid. She brought me one and as I was putting it on Emily's hand she excitedly said, "Hhhhh! Momma, it's brown!"

It cracks me up that she'd never seen a brown bandaid. Now the Dora and Barbie ones we have just won't do....she wants brown ones!

Oh my heart...

...it's hurting today.

Even though it totally seems like this...
...was yesterday. It wasn't. It was FIVE years ago.

I can. not. believe. that Mara Lin turned five today.
Oh what a happy, happy baby she was. She was exactly what I needed to break me in as a mom and make me want many many more babies!
She's grown SO fast and is such a lady, so nurturing and mommy to everyone.
I'm so proud of the sweet, sweet girl that she has become,
and am SO lucky that God picked me to be her Mommy!
Mara Lin,
Since you say that you can't be four forever, I guess I'll let you be five. Just be patient with Momma as she learns to let go and launch you into the world. I thank God everyday for the amazing little girl that you are and can't wait to see what God has planned for your life. I love you so much baby girl!
Love,
Mom

"I do it"

Yes, you know you have an independant two-year-old on your hands when she cries every time she needs a diaper change. Not because she doesn't want her diaper changed, but because she wants to do it herself.

I think God made two-year-olds cute for their own protection!