An Evening With His Blue-Eyed Girl

I had to leave early so Will was the official family
photographer this evening.  He did a great job!

Our American Heritage Girls Troop NC1230 held a Daddy-Daughter dinner and dance last Saturday night.  

We even had a photographer who took great pictures when the fathers and daughters arrived.

(photo credit: Debra Richardson)

Seeing fathers and daughters in this kind of setting always stirs the deepest of warm fuzzies in me.   The troop leaders helped the girls create homemade rose-shaped boutonnieres for their dads!

I was helping out with the set up, food prep, serving, etc. so I was able to spy on Scott and Eliza Grace on and off during the evening and I managed to get a few iPhone pictures.

This is not all that different from what it
looks like when Scott and I dance together :) 

From what I could tell, they had a wonderful time. Eliza Grace later confirmed my assessment when she said it was even more fun than the super fancy Father-Daughter dance they attended last year with their Y Princesses tribe!

Love them so much.  I really do.

The Way To Mommy & Daddy's Hearts

Apparently our children know quite well the way to their parents' hearts.

Scott and I received homemade Valentines this evening from both our little cherubs. They both landed on similar themes.

Eliza Grace included a list of "gift certificates" for Scott which included what is shown above:

• 1 free one hour nap
• 1 free two hour nap
• 1 yell-free day (meaning the kids would not yell/scream/fight for a day)
• 1 free car wash for his new truck

Will also gave me a card with little chits for what is nearest and dearest to my heart:

He cut to the chase and just made three "fre nap" certificates that never expire.

Are we complete old farts who just talk about how much we just want to take a nap every weekend?  Why yes, yes we are!

You can bet I plan to whip out one of my "fre naps" chits this coming Saturday afternoon.  Here's hoping!

Bye Bye Baby Tooth # 2

Baby tooth # 2 came out with very little fanfare but still plenty of excitement for the tooth fairy's visit.

Will is especially lucky because his big sister has decided she needs to supplement what the Tooth Fairy leaves behind, so he had a pretty decent payday!

Flashback Friday: Her Little Girl Voice

When you're in the midst of parenting, it's so easy to forget some of the fabulous little things that are happening during the daily hustle and bustle.

Let's face it, when you are busy wiping bottoms, cleaning up spit up/barf, tripping over toys, working full time, trying to make decently healthy meals and attempting to get just two precious minutes to go to the bathroom without an audience, you have to really make yourself stop and savor the good stuff.  And I mean more than just the easy stuff to enjoy like snuggles and sighs and chubby little thighs.

It's for this reason that I try to take a lot of pictures and videos.  Because we forget.  At least I forget.  And until I watched this video the other day, I'd forgotten how absolutely adorable Eliza Grace sounded when she was little.

Well, littler than she is now.

Her little three year old girl voice was so sweet, so articulate and so filled with a tone of wonder. I completely forgot how much I loved her little girl voice.

Here's a sample of this sweet little voice when she first met her little brother, at her first dance recital and her 3rd Christmas morning.

Couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?!

And The Children Will Lead Us

Despite the bright, sunny sky this morning, the whole family was feeling very homebody-ish.  Most Sunday mornings we look forward to heading out the door to the church we love. But today we decided we wanted to hang out at home, just the four of us.

A few minutes after we decided to stay home, Eliza Grace said that she wanted to lead us in a church service.  A fabulous idea! (and a little convicting, no?)

Over the next hour, while we played some of our favorite contemporary Christian music, Eliza Grace worked on the message she wanted to share, creating what she referred to as "grown up" church as well as a kids program for Will.

When we were all seated on the couch, Eliza Grace welcomed us and began her message on how to deal with anger.  (There's that conviction again.)

She gave us a scenario of activities we encounter throughout a typical day, asking us to provide input about different things that might happen to make us angry.  Each time we told her something that might make us angry, she blew a balloon up a little bit. 

Each angry reaction resulted in the balloon getting bigger and bigger until the last straw caused the balloon to fly out of control - just like what can happen when we are angry.

She then repeated the scenario, this time allowing the balloon to lose a little air after each time she blew it up. "As you can see," she said,"if you let some of your anger go each time, you won't get to the point where you burst after letting the anger build up all day."

She then read from the Bible. "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." James 1:19-20. She then led us in prayer, asking God to help us better control our anger.

Wow.

Next came the kids program.  Eliza Grace had cut out hearts for her and Will to decorate. 

It was a fabulous, wonderful, convicting, splendid church service at our house today. We do so love our child who has a heart and soul for God.

Flashback Friday: Cute Pics of My Little Chicks - 2008

The Daddy sandwich!

"We are the music makers"

'Smores around the Dusek's fire pit

"Read me a book, Eliza Grace!"

Cheesy smiles

Boy Of Many Faces

There's not really a time when Will is not ready to be a little silly or a little smiley for the camera.

Today She Is 10!

Ten years ago today Scott and I became parents.  The first time I held Eliza Grace in my arms, the only thing I kept thinking was, "I'm a mommy! Finally!"

Welcome to double digits and happy, happy birthday to our sweet, smart, beautiful daughter!

***

The birthday girl chose to have a party at The Scrap Exchange in Durham. The kids had a great time creatively finding ways to turn trash into treasures. They also enjoyed the mint chocolate chip/chocolate cake ice cream cake!

Eliza Grace picked out her cute party outfit. Accessory gifts from Grandmommy and Aunt Michelle added just the right touch!

 Seriously? How cute is she??

 

Who Knows, Maybe He'll Be A Dentist

So, Will.  He is something else I tell you what.

A week or so ago, when he got tired of his first loose tooth just hanging around, he decided to take matters in his own hands.  Thankfully I had the foresight to grab my Flip so we could record the shenanigans.

Warning: don't watch if wiggly teeth and/or a child attempting to pull his own tooth with pliers gives you the heebie jeebies.  See also: I am a bad videographer.

For the rest of you non-whimps (hee hee), we thought this was hilarious.  I especially loved his reaction after he finally got the tooth out.  You'd have thought he'd just scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl.  Man how we love this fearless, take charge kid.

We also love knowing that his sister will always be in his corner, cheering him on!

 

Oh, and don't ask me why he was wearing that Burger King crown at bed time.  It's just how he rolls.  

It Was a Very Merry Christmas Indeed

And just in case you're wondering, I did get the other cowboy boot!

Going Home for the Candle Tea

The kids and I headed over to Winston-Salem (my home town) yesterday to meet up with my Mom and attend Old Salem's Christmas tradition of the Candle Tea.

The women of Home Moravian Church have been doing the Candle Tea for decades. If you like history, singing traditional Christmas music, watching bees wax candles being made, eating Moravian Sugar cake and hearing the Christmas story, this is the place for you.

I love Old Salem and, if you have never been, I encourage you to plan a visit soon.

A little history.

The pedestrian bridge from the visitor's center

Home Moravian Church across the town square

Eliza Grace volunteered to sing the solo on "Morning Star," my all time favorite Moravian hymn

Bees wax candles being made for the Love Feast services

Taking a break to look at Salem Creek

On A Carousel

Pullen Park in Raleigh reopened a couple of weeks ago after a really long renovation.

We caught up with our friend Dara and some of her family to check out the all the changes.

Pullen Park boasts a real Dentzel Carousel, one of 23 remaining historic Dentzel carousels still operating in North America.

It was crazy crowded, but hey, that's what you get when you go to Pullen Park on the second Saturday it was open, which also happened to be Thanksgiving weekend!

The renovations to the park are fabulous and, despite the crowds, we had a really nice time.

Waiting in line for the carousel. 
Eliza Grace and Ashley are patiently
waiting with smiles but Will, not so much.

Eliza Grace riding an ostrich.

Welcome To The Number Six!

Welcome to the number six, sweet little man Will!