Christmas Collage.

Good Morning, Christmas Day. Some of us thought you'd never come. Here's a little collage of our family festivities. If you click on the pictures you can see the enlarged version. And zoom in on the mess. Wouldn't want to miss that!

Miss KP, after weeks of being taunted by the sight of this BIG present under the

tree, finally defies the "no peeking" message on the wrapping and gets to it.

And she's thrilled. A horse for her Canadian Girl doll.

Don't you love it when they say, "Oh, I always wanted that!".

She says it. Even if she doesn't mean it. But I think she does.

What can I say.

We have some crazies in our family who sport their very own sense of humour.

And sport their very own monkey suits too. Stylin'.

Surrounded with new pressies. Totally spoiled, they are.

A few of the big kids, pictured moments after the terrible awakening.

Looking like they desperately need some coffee sent their way. El pronto.

Jammin' Cam with his new toy. Electronic drum set.

Temporarily set up in our basement.

Providing permanent housing facilities for drum sets is a thing of the past for me.

Been there, done that. Yep.

A few of the lovelies, enjoying one of the new DS games.

And (im)patiently awaiting the presentation of the roasted fowl.

Here we are. A tableful of food and family.

So delighted that we could all be together.

Miss Lannie in her cracker hat(s).

And Miss Kayleigh in her element.

Our resident spud lover. Mashed potatoes is definitely her thing.

Genetically predisposed, I'd say.

The group games pretty much alternated between Dutch Blitz and Twister.

I was the picture-taker, so not much participation from me.

Really, could you even imagine me on that Twister deck, all bent out of shape?

They'd be callin' 911.

Clearly, Jessica didn't participate much either.

Food and fun. And best of all, family. Good times and great memories. We are blessed.



The Season of Giving and Getting.

Even though we might be reluctant to admit it, the season has consumed us. All this business of giving and getting. And if you're anything like me, you've maybe gotten such an overload of stuff that you've had a senior's moment and almost forgotten just who gave you what.

But as I sat this morning and remembered the Lord Jesus Who, more than two thousand years ago, died for my sins and rose again the third day, I regrouped my giving and getting thoughts.

I thought of my Heavenly Father, and what He gave.
He gave His Son.

His only begotten Son. Given to be born in the lowliest of earthly places. Given, to grow up in the despised town of Nazareth. Given, to be rejected by His own creation. Given, to suffer for the sins of mankind on the cross of Calvary.

I thought of my Saviour, and what He gave.
He gave His life.

He willingly suffered and gave His life, that I might receive eternal life.

What do I give Him? My time? My thoughts? My focuses? My energies?

By and by when I look on His face,
Beautiful face, thorn-shadowed face;
By and by when I look on His face,
I'll wish I had given Him more.

Holidays. Aaaah.

No packed lunches. No schedules. No coffee on the run.
Holidays are the best.
Sleeping in. Playing games. Drinking coffee, from a china mug, with friends.

Holidays are the B.E.S.T.

Monday we hooked up with Pat (a member of our basement family) and walked to a newly renovated local coffee shop. Alana and Kayleigh downed their hot chocolates like nobody's business and then chatted up the waitresses, while we sipped our gingerbread lattes and nibbled on cake by the fire. Bliss.

Came home and baked all afternoon. Filled my freezer with some Christmas goodies. Hip-enhancing goodies that I probably don't even really NEED to have within a 5-mile radius, but you know, just in case.

Must be the Irish in me.

School's Out!

Woohoo.

The concert rehearsals, choir practices and class parties are finally done.

At least until next year.

So... we stayed up late Friday night to celebrate the beginning of Christmas break. And if you can believe it, the all-day-sugar-high kept the girls going until 12:30am, so no shortage of time to play a few rounds of Rummy-O, watch a Christmas movie, and even lose a tooth!

And just to clarify, Miss Kay lost the tooth, not me. Yeah, I know I've joined the ranks of the Middle Ages, but thankfully I'm not losing teeth just yet.

Then as if that wasn't enough, we had to make a huge mess and decorate our annual Gingerbread House.

 Haha, looks like Alana's wearing a halo. Trust me, she wears no halo.

This year's gingerbread house is lookin' a whole lot better than last year's attempt.

Great pains were taken to meticulously place all those little red balls.

And finally this past Tuesday, setting anticipation aside, we celebrated the arrival of Kyle and Ally from Nicaragua. I can't begin to describe the sheer delight when this brother and sister-in-law showed up on the doorstep. You MUST have heard Alana and Kayleigh disturbing the whole neighbourhood?!

The rest of the family came to visit too. Good times. We are blessed.

Definitely by all counts, he's one of the best looking missionaries I know.
I'm biased, you say.
Of course I'm biased, but you'd agree with me, wooden ya!?

Jessica. Ally. Me.

I've inherited a variety of names around here.

Sue. Mama Bear. Mother Teresa. MIL.

And a few others that we'll just say can go without mention.

The oldest and the youngest. Love them both.

And last but not least... Funny Face and the lovely Steph.

The Return of the Blogger.

Hello. I'm back.

Five days of concentrated learning on the intriguing topic of ASD. Phew. I did it. Made it through a whole week of being a student in the classroom! But now I find I'm pschyo-analyzing myself. And thinking I may possess some borderline behavorial deficits.  Oh-oh. I guess I always knew I had something. Nice that I can finally define it with an abundance of technical and scientific terminology! Lol. An interesting week it was. But certainly a truckloadful of information for an old lady like me to process.

Unfortunately, I also had some sad news to process this week. On Tuesday, my mom was diagnosed with a terminal disease. Never the post-surgery update that one expects to hear, but this time, my family and I were the ones on the receiving end of such a report. So in a few words, it's been a difficult week... six thousand miles away, unable to physically embrace those loved ones so dear to my heart. Tough. I've been doing plenty of praying. Praying that, whether here or there, we each will rest in the promise of His immeasurable presence, as He walks with us through the days ahead. Whatever they may hold.

On the long drive to school this morning, I watched as the dawning colors of daylight gently displaced the darkness. The black sky metamorphosed through varying shades of blue, and the rising sun airbrushed the clouds with glowing hues of pink and gold. It was a stunning panorama of God's handiwork. Eyes back on the road, ahead there was nothing but the gray blur of another dull morning. As I made the visual switch back and forth, it hit me how it was so much more peaceful to look up, than to look straight ahead! And how infinitely better it is to depend on God, rather than man.

"My times are in Thy hand." Psalms 31:15

My times are in Thy hand - my God, I wish them there,
My life, my friends, my all - I leave entirely to Thy care.

My times are in Thy hand, whatever they may be,
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright, as best may seem to Thee.

Sabbatical.

This week was busy, as usual, but more than usual. Here we are again, another new week.

Yesterday morning, Dave and Steph cooked us up a delicious breakfast. Delightful. Totally a great way to start the day. Amazing to wake up smelling fresh coffee, berry crepes and sizzling sausages. It was yum... and I didn't even have to clean up! Wish I'd taken some pictures, but I forgot. So you'll have to take my word for it. Thanks D and S.

Skyped the family, did some shopping. Prepped my Sunday School lesson. Made brandy sauce for the freshly baked plum pudding. Another yum. And a little whetting of the appetite for Christmas Day.

Tomorrow I'm taking a sabbatical from blogging... lots of things on the go this week, so I need to prioritize my focus.

But don't worry, I'll be back.

Cuteness.

Just look at that sweet face. Pinchable, huggable cuteness personified.

Adorable little bundle of preciousness.
Don't those dreamy chocolate-brown eyes just melt you?
At the mention of anything chocolate, I melt.

We were thrilled to have this little fella drop by on Saturday for the evening.
And delighted to have his parents too, of course!
A baby in the house and the girls are beyond excited.
They cuddled him and carted him all over the place.
Tried to take turns.
But mostly fought over who thought who was holding him the longest.

Shouldn't have told you they were fighting. You really can't tell from the pictures.
They look like the little man's guardian angels, don't they?
Turned on the instant charm for the camera.
Because honestly, moments before the click, they were anything but angelic.


 
The mother of the handsome little man. Beautiful mama she is too, inside and out.

Miss Kayleigh, getting in on one last snuggle, before they headed home.

And the stunning trio.
Great times. Great friends. Great memories.

A Day Off.

Today I decided to take the day off. Yes, totally off.

Didn't go to work.
Didn't drive for a field trip.
Didn't volunteer in the classroom.
Didn't do any housework... except for one load of wash.

I took the little ladies to school, boot-clad, mitten-clad, hat-clad. Not the typical clad for this Vancouver climate, but with the chilly temperatures we've been having lately, there comes the need to dress like we're living in Toronto.

Dear Vancouver Winter,
Please come back. I miss you.
Love Me.

I came home and called my family, eight time zones and six thousand miles away. Sometimes I truly dislike this vast distance that separates us. How I wish that, instead of drinking coffee solo and having a telephone conversation, I could "drop in", enjoy some face-to-face repartee, and sip tea. But, I resign myself, since the latter is not to be. Still, I was grateful to hear those cherished voices and chat with all members of the home-based crew... even my baby sister, who, for once, happened to be on the premises. Turned out she is actually house-bound, due to her recent altercation with a fence. She brought me up to date, huh-hem, on her breaking news.

I returned some "didn't-like-them" items to Costco and Walmart. Stood forever, in what seemed like post-Christmas return lines, but mission finally accomplished, I went cash-refunded on my merry way.

I took Miss Lannie's violin to the Tom Lee Music Shop. This is an old violin that belonged to the mother of an elderly family friend, and was kindly passed along to us for free. Very grateful for that, despite the fact that I know squat about violins and therefore have no true sense of appreciation for their worth. This one definitely needed some minor work done on it, but I wasn't sure if it was even worthy of repairs at all. Turns out, as the friendly music man at Tom Lee declared, it's in perfect condition, can easily be restrung for a small fee, and... wait for it... is an excellent quality German model that retails new for around $1,000. Whoa. Guess it's worth the $75 in repair costs. Hope Miss Lannie takes really good care of this expensive piece of musical apparatus. And takes the time to practice it too.

Picked Stew up from work and we went for a drive together. He had to run some errands, so I went along for the ride. And conversation. It was nice, just having an uninterrupted dialogue. Need to do that more.

Drove to school to collect the little ladies... and the Term One Report Cards. They're doing awesome. Good grades, eager learners. Always putting out their best effort, which is most important. Love them so much. Proud of them too.

Made dinner for the troopers, then I headed off for an evening at a tapas restaurant in Whiterock with eight fabulous moms from school. We met when our now Grade Four offspring began in Kindergarten class. An unusually close friendship formed back then, and we've had regular outings together since. Lots of laughs and sharing. Thanks, ladies, for another fun-filled evening!

Stew headed off to hockey, so the girls and I got on our PJs and had a Read-In, huddled together in our big bed. They love that, snuggling and reading together. Alana is currently into the Babysitters' Club series, loving it, and learning lots of new words. I'm trying to encourage her to use her dictionary to look up definitions, but, lacking in the patience department, she insists on referencing mama instead. Kayleigh's still reading PM books from school, the latest being about Oceans. She asked me last night if she had ever been to the Pacific Ocean. Child dear, we LIVE on the Pacific Ocean. We do? Yes, yes we do. And your school, child, is named for the ocean that flows by our beautiful city. Oh yeah. I LOVE her.

A pleasant day off. Must do that again sometime.

Friends from Israel.

We said goodbye this morning to the two young exchange students who had spent the last five days staying at our place. They were visiting from a christian school in Nazareth on an exchange program with Pacific Academy. Sweet girls, and now we miss them already!

Interestingly, over the last few days the weather here has been unusally cold... yesterday with the windchill factor, the temperatures dipped to -20 degrees. Cited to be the coldest November day on record since 1985!

Our poor Israeli friends... coming from a climate where 30 degrees is the norm, this cold must have been a new experience for them!

Hopefully they enjoyed a warm welcome despite our wintry weather.

Surprise Snow.

We don't usually get snow around here in November.

So you can imagine the sheer excitement at a mere inch of the white stuff on Saturday. It was decidedly enough reason to drag out the snowsuits.

And recreate Frosty.

Silliness.

Crazy Bandz, they're called. Or Silly Bandz.

They're the whole rage. The latest fad. The hottest in school trading trends.

Silicone bands shaped into just about anything you can imagine. Wear them on your wrist. Use them to tie up your ponytail. But as soon as you lay them flat again, they'll revert to their original shape.

Animals. Fruit. Disney. Cars. Western. Sports. Music. Letters. To name just a few of the themes.

Most come in primary colors. Some are neon. Or rainbow. Even scented. Some that glow in the dark, which are currently rated to have the highest trading value.

Innovative. And they're pretty inexpensive. You can aquire a generous supply for only a few dollars.

Quite the pre-teen fashion accessory. And my little girlies are caught up in the frenzy and excitement of accumulating their very own stash of Silly Bandz. Counting them. Showing them off. Trading them. Then counting them again. And again.

Fun and games. Until the next fashion trend.

Leaning on Him.

The road of life can take some unusual twists and turns. Unexpected bumps in the road. Diversions from the normalcy to which we so easily resign ourselves. Even in the christian life. More so in the christian life.

So what do we do... give up? Blame God? Resort to our own devices?

The picture is beautiful... the disciples are sitting with the Lord, sharing in the last supper with Him, and He is tenderly washing their feet. Then the disturbing news comes from the lips of the Saviour... one of these chosen twelve will betray Him. A bump in the road.

The disciples are immediately consumed with self-doubt. They stare at each other with worried concern. Troubled, they enquire, "Lord, is it I?"

But there is one disciple who "leans on His breast". Unperturbed by the tumult of fear around him, this disciple chooses, in quiet confidence, to rest on the bosom of his Lord. A place of comfort. A place of devotion. A place of intimacy.

Let me be like this disciple, the one "whom Jesus loved".

Let me cast aside fear and anxiety, and lean on the One in whose Hand my breath is. (Daniel 5:23)

For thus saith the Lord God... the Holy One in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.
(Isaiah 30:15)

Hamburgers in November.

Delightful little hamburger cookie treats I made for tonight's Bible Hour.

If you come and bring your favorite buddy along I'll make sure you get one. Or two.

No fries on the side, though. We specialize in sugar only.

October Thirty First.

October 31st. Glad it's over and done with for another 364 days.

Several of the little people who came trick 'r treating at our door were dressed in some of the most ghoulish and devilish costumes I've ever seen. So much for my thinking that it's only the "living-on-the-edge" adults who don the garb of witches and vampires and all manner of bloodied beasts. Guess we're living in the days where evil child costumes prevail, and decent ones are few and far between.

Our girls, however, were giddy with the excitement of dressing up as Pioneer Girl and Snow White. And of course, predisposed to their mother's genetic weakness, they are eager little beavers when it comes to acquiring one's very own supply of chocolate. So for about twenty minutes they charmed our street neighbours, then returned home with a bag full of goodies that would make Cadburys proud.

Then off came the costumes and on went the meeting clothes.

We took some of our own abundant candy supply to the hall, and before gospel meeting, handed it out with Bible verse magnets and invites to our Monday Night Bible Hour. Praying that some of those cute little zebras and lions and princesses who received the invitations will come and join us on Mondays.

The scary little witches are welcome too, so long as they come in their regular attire.

Sad and Happy.

Sad moments at the funeral service were seasoned with a few happy moments too.

Even though it meant waking up at six o'clock, driving (half asleep) for two hours and crossing the border in our jammies... getting to cuddle with big brother Kyle was definitely one of those happies.

Precious.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

(Psalm 116:15)

A beautiful verse, read today at the funeral service for Bethany (Kroeze) Beckett.

"Death". Without any words at all, the reality and solemnity of death spoke bold and clear, as we stood by the casket and silently viewed the remains of this young woman. In his message to the audience, Shad Kember reminded us that as each of us have a day when we are born as sinners into this world, so we each are appointed a day of death.

"The death of His saints". The message of the gospel was presented with fervour and urgency. Do we choose Christ and His death on the cross to save us from a life of sin and eternal judgement? Or do we reject Him, and pass from this life to endure the wrath of God forever? Will we experience death as a saint, or as a sinner? A solemn choice.

"In His sight". What a comfort it was to be reminded that, in the face of death today, the Lord was looking on. He was quietly standing by, beholding our sorrow, and He was touched by the feeling of our infirmities.

"Precious". Why would the death of His saints be so precious to the Lord? Because their work for Him on earth is completed. Because they have finished their course with joy. And because they have landed safely on the eternal shores of their heavenly home. Precious.

Today, as I ached for the family passing through this tremendous trial, I prayed earnestly for them in their grief. And with such a large number of unsaved in attendance at the service, I prayed earnestly that in hearing the clear message of the gospel, lost souls would acknowledge their sin, and trust Christ for salvation.

Beautiful memories were shared of a young woman who had a deep desire to tell others about the Lord Jesus. A young woman with a kind heart and a spirit of meekness. A young woman who loved and willingly served her husband of four months. And as Bethany's earthly body was laid to rest, there was much weeping and many tears. Hugs were shared and words were spoken in an effort to soothe and ease the physical pain of loss and separation.

But there was One looking on.
One, who was touched by our sorrow.
One, who alone is the Giver of divine peace.
So amid the grief, there was comfort.

Comfort in knowing that, at 12 years of age, Bethany had trusted Christ and received eternal life. (John 3:16)
Comfort in knowing that, a day shy of her 24th birthday, Bethany had kept the faith, and finished her course with joy. (2 Timothy 4:7)
Comfort in knowing that now and forever, Bethany is with Christ, which is far better. (Philippians 1:23)

Precious.

More Grief and Mourning.

Another shock. Another tragedy. Another death.

Many of us were stunned, and are still reeling from yesterday's news of the sudden passing of Bethany. A young missionary, serving the Lord in Mexico, working alongside her husband of four months. Today is her birthday. She would have been 24 years old.

But instead of a birthday celebration, there is overwhelming sadness. A husband, parents, innumerable family and friends, grieving with heavy hearts.

But for Beth in the presence of her Saviour, what heavenly joy contrasts our earthly pain. Here we shed tears of sorrow; there - the tears are wiped away. Here is the valley of the shadow of death; there - are the streets of gold.

Thou wilt show me the path of life;

in Thy presence is fulness of joy,

at Thy right hand there are pleasures for ever more.

Psalm 16:10-11

Bethany's brief path of life has been completed. She been called to her heavenly home.

For the family mourning her loss, may they receive the strength and comfort that only the eternal Comforter can give.

Faith.

I've been looking at the subject of "faith" with a little more interest these days, since having decided to study Hebrews 11 with my Sunday School class.

FAITH. What is it? Often explained with the acronym, "forsaking all I trust Him", and an appropriate definition that is, too.

What was Abel's faith? He trusted God with obedience in offering the best from his flock, disregarding his brother's idea of a sacrifice.

What was Enoch's faith? He trusted God day by day, making communion with Him, and not others, his priority.

What was Noah's faith? He trusted God by building the ark and believing God, that he and his family would be saved from a destruction that had never before been seen on the earth.

Abraham also displayed all three of these faith attributes: obedience, communion and believing God despite the unseen.

But this is the thought that has struck me this week.

Old Testament faith is not described by SEEING God's promises fulfilled, but by simply BELIEVING that God will fulfill His promises.

Abel never lived to see the man who was offered as the One Sacrifice for sins for ever.

Abraham never lived to see the innumerable descendants from his seed that were promised to him.

What about me. Am I taken up with the things of time, and living for reward and fulfillment in this life? Or do I look for the heavenly city, as Abraham did? Am I waiting, in keen anticipation of the promise of His coming, knowing that, when I see Him, I shall be like Him, and be with Him for all eternity?

What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see,
When I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land;
What a day, glorious day, that will be!

Life is Short.

Just over a year ago, our lives came to an abrupt halt. Grief and sorrow consumed us as we received the shocking news. The sudden and tragic death of a young friend.

Douglas Harold Hanna.

Fondly known to us as Doug, had passed from this life into eternity beyond.

We miss him still. Miss him wandering into our house with his warm smile on the evenings he'd spend at our place, pre-hockey. Miss him taking time for our girls and making them feel special. Miss him being goofy. He was good at that, as in such a moment captured above. A lanky, six-foot kid on a tricycle. Miss him making us laugh.

We wept that day, then wept some more. We questioned the whys and hows. We grieved over the many troubles and challenges Doug had to face in his short life.

Yet, in all of our sorrow, there was hope.

The most important day in Doug's life is recorded in the Book of Life. A day in August 2008 when he trusted Christ, and received eternal life. And today he's in the presence of his Saviour, where there is fullness of joy.

Just think about that... fullness of joy.

Too young to die, you say, and yes, perhaps he was. But being ready to face death is what matters most in life. And Doug faced death with God's promise of eternal life.

Are you ready to face life after death?

Vanilla Bean Scones.

If you've never baked Pioneer Woman's Vanilla Bean Scones before, you'll find it difficult to avoid baking them again and again. As I have.

You'll find her recipe here. These little pieces of goodness are simple to make, and you probably already have all the ingredients on hand.

Saying nothing about the fat content, because hey, who's counting calories.

Put on a pot of coffee and dig in.

One with your cuppa just won't be enough. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Hola October.

What to blog and where to start?

The weather here has been G.L.O.R.I.O.U.S. So glorious, in fact, that we've been walking to school. Brisk mornings, sunny afternoons. Love days like this, when God's handiwork glistens in all its wonder and amazement.

No winter on the mountains yet, but the colour of fall surrounds us.

And every day the warm sun and crunchy leaves beckon to us after school, making the idea of staying indoors to do homework seem completely unreasonable.

So outside we go.

Oh the fun.

But the rain is coming and apparently plans to visit us for a while. This is Vancouver, after all. And rain'll be fine. We've got three days of Thanksgiving Conference ahead of us in a beautiful big auditorium that has oodles of interior roaming space. No need for me to be worrying about the rain.

In Grade 4 Music this year, Alana's learning to play the violin. Which, in these early stages, means listening to ten minutes of string-picking practice every night.

Not exactly therapeutic.

But last night, in the process of trying to block out the noise, I recognized the tune. Good King Wenceslas. Ah. I love that guy. And Stephen too. And the jolly season they bring. Good progress, Lannie.

Monday was a Grade 4 Class field trip to a local nature park, coinciding with their study of Habitats and Food Chains. Educational, and I think the kids really enjoyed the hands-on outdoor activities.

The young program host, however, NOT being from this country and therefore NOT having English as her first language, had an unusual accent and often mispronounced words during the classroom presentation. Definitely added an element of entertainment for me (come on, I'm sure you've done it too.... and I'm pretty certain that lots of folks chuckled at me and my odd Spanish this summer in Nicaragua!). But we were taught how "CORNivores SERVive in a predoMENTly meat-INhabITed enveerOment". It was comical.

The worst part was that her spelling lacked, despite the fact that she had the correctly spelled words on a printed sheet in front of her. Bad spelling bothers me. Especially in a teaching environment.

Nor was she too favorable to the polite one-on-one correction from the classroom teacher.

Honestly. Some people.

A few of the students even noticed her misspelled words. Which, I guess, was a good thing.

As most families do, we've had a double dose of kid challenges in our family lately. The spirit of self-will has raised its ugly head and is running rampant, so we're back to basics again. The importance of putting others first. Effectively resolving conflict. Confessing to wrong-doing, which appears to be, ahem, a big one. "Wasn't me!". Really? Anyways, all of this calls for varying levels of discipline and a temporary loss of privileges. One of the little ladies in our house has earned herself some cardinal punishment this week. Hopefully change ensues. Positive change. Fast. Because I'm truly weary.

Subsequently, I'm enrolled to attend an autism training session in a few weeks and was discussing this with Stew one night after supper. Kayleigh, overhearing part of the conversation, stares at me in sheer disbelief and asks, "Mom, you're gonna go to school for five days and learn how to deal with kids?!" Um, uh-huh. That's exactly what I'm going to do.

And maybe five days isn't enough.

See this guy? Love, l.o.v.e. him.

He did the grocery shopping for me this week when I was stressin'. Replenished the fridge with the basic necessities, and bought us some bread. Filled the fruit bowl with yummy fall apples. Thanks babe! You're the best. Love the goodies and love you.

Homework definitely seems to be on the increase this year, so our evenings have become more busy than usual. And tiring. Good thing the idea of grilled cheese sandwiches for supper flies around here. And cereal. Because our dinner menus these days are definitely NOT gourmet.

Today is Thursday, and we're school-free. Tomorrow too. Love those Pro-D days.

Then a three-day weekend for Thanksgiving.

Bliss.

Too big. Too fast.

Last night we spent a short while at the playground for some fun before the sun went down. The lighting was perfect for subject shots, so I clicked away.

Lovin' these sweet smiles.

Mama's pretty and happy girl.

And the first lady, always cheesin' for the camera!

No more baby swings for these girlies!

Don't be fooled by the smile. She's a spicy one.

Shot, on self-timer.

I'm thinking they're growing up way too fast.

It kinda hit me watching them at the playground last night. Dominating the monkey bars. Hanging upside down hands-free. Fearlessly diving and sliding down the fireman's pole. Swinging high, without the help of mama's under-duck.

Love them, with all of the ups and downs that are part of our journey.

But sometimes I wish that these precious moments could linger just a little longer.