The King and the Princess

Here is Harrison on his throne - doing what he does best...eating.
While Julia is wearing her crown jewels mopping the floor.

Four Miracles!

My friend Shari came to visit this week from California. It is the first time we got to meet each others 2nd child (the ones in the middle of the picture) It is amazing to me to look at this picture. We both had pregnancy losses and struggled with wanting children and here are four gifts from God. It was great to have them all together. It seems like just yesterday Braeden and Julia were little babies. Now look how big they are. Time goes too fast. We had a great visit.

The many faces of Dora

We have way too many Doras in our house!
A week ago Julia and I decided to gather up the Doras and have a Fiesta. These were only the ones we could find. It doesn't include the Dora house, sheets, blanket, clothes, bags, plates, silverware, underwear, sprinkler, hats, fruit snacks, toothpaste, the ones embedded into the ceiling....etc, etc. They are making a killing off her face! Stick a Dora on it and kids want it and we buy it. Some day we will have one killer Dora garage sale. By then no one will like her and we will be throwing it away!
Please no more Doras this year!

Mommy-Daughter Day!

On Monday Paul and Harrison went to his dad's house to watch Football.....So Julia and I actually had a day together - ALL By OURSELVES!!!!
We photo documented our day...here are a couple of pictures. We decided to go to a movie on our day. We went and saw Chicken Little. Julia said she liked it, but I think she was a bit bored with it. Here she is with her popcorn just after spilling it on the floor because the seat flipped her up when she sat down. So she sat on my lap the whole movie eating her popcorn, m&m's and sprite. I think that is what she likes best about movies. After the movie we went to Michaels to pick out a craft for her to do. She picked a "make your own goldenbook - Dora theme." I drug her through a linen store that was closing. By this time she was getting crabby so we picked up lunch and went home. After lunch we crashed on the bed and took a nap. It was a fun day with my baby. She is so sweet right now. I need to do more individual time with her. I don't even remember the last time she had alone time with me. It was nice.

Coconut Cake

This is my very first totally from scratch cake.
It was a lot of work, but it was beautiful. I did bake it a little too long (according to directions) so it was a bit dry - but the icing was fabulous!

Happy New Year to me!

Since Paul was complaining that I have not posted....I will post now at 12:50 AM on January 1st. Our company just left and I finished cleaning up the kitchen. I am a bit tired....
We had a good time tonight. Friends from Small group and friends from the past came over to eat and play games.
Another year goes by.....
Time is going so quickly now. My kids are growing faster every day. The last year was a challenging one, but a good one. Harrison has grown into a little boy this year. Going from 4 months old to 16 months old. He is so wonderful. Julia is almost four and has gone from rotten earlier in the year to the sweetest thing ever. She is so thoughtful of other people right now. She wants to snuggle and says she loves me all the time. It is a nice new phase!
Paul and I have had lots of together time. It has been 10 months since Paul quit TCC. It has been a journey to say the least. God has been so good to us. I have learned a lot this year. It is hard with him out of work- financially and just the fact that he is home all the time, but on the other hand I love having him here. Paul has also grown this year spiritually and emotionally. We have grown together. Our marriage is better than it has ever been. I love him so much. I know that we made the right decision when he left TCC. I know he has us in his hands. I pray that this next year we will be open to what God has in store. I think this past year has been preparing us for our future. I don't know what is out there...but I am ready.