I think that this is the first year in a long time that it hasn't rained, drizzled, or been unbearably cold for Fall Festival. I don't know about the rest of you, but my kids ate way too much candy. On the way home, all Emma could say was "No more candy for the rest of my life!" For some reason, I don't believe her.
Since I posted an old pic of Sarah, I thought I would post a couple of Emma too. The first one is from her first Christmas..the second tow are from her first summer. By the way, Stefan was shorter than me in these pictures....my how things change.
Considering she is the topic of so much conversation/blogging, I thought it would be funny to look at how much Sarah has changed since we brought her home from the hospital almost 3 years ago. This is how she looked for the first couple of weeks...Remember she was my biggest baby at 9 pounds 2 ounces.
Emma was so tired after today's activities that she passed out in the chair while drawing. Isn't it so sweet when they just fall asleep sitting up at this age. It always reminds me that she isn't as big as she seems sometimes. Other times, it makes me wish that I could just fall asleep sitting up like she does!
In the ever continuing saga of Sarah antics:
Sarah came into the front room and asked everyone within yelling distance if they could "See my booty?" The she shook it and said, "I so sexy". To which Emma said, "You're just a girl! Sit your booty down!" So, anyone got any ideas where Sarah got the idea that she is sexy? This one wasn't from me. By the way Shell...she actually said bootay.
Here she is in the middle of her "sexy" dance.
I think that is what I should change my blog name to. We went over for a playday with Alli. A good time was had by all in the Foster clan. In fact, so much fun was had that when it came time to leave, the girls threw a fit. Of course, the youngest had to add to the excitement by taking off out the front door, across the yard, down the ditch and onto the street. I'm sure we were a hilarious sight to see. Needless to say, I captured the culprit and received really nice mud splatters on my jeans from running through the ditch. Shell is my witness....God bless Sarah. What doesn't kill me will make me stronger, right? Anyway, this isn't a picture from today, but it may as well have been with the runny noses that the girls are battling.
OK....so now my kids have the runny nose, scratchy cough stuff that everyone else has had. Sarah is pulling through and I think Emma will be better by Thursday. They don't have temperatures...they just feel bad. And Sarah is whiny....by the way...here is a Sarah quote for the day...
She told mom that she was a "pain in the butt". Hmmmmmm...I wonder where Sarah has heard that phrase from? And she looks so innocent.
So I am feeling a little sentimental today and decided to go through some old pics...it's amazing how quickly things change....here's Stefan
Be thankful that I didn't put a picture up with this entry....
Last night, I was giving the girls a bath. I walked out of the room for a minute. Of course, they began to argue over something - a toy maybe. Anyway, I went back in there and proceeded to get onto Emma about yelling at her sister. Out of nowhere, Emma looks down at the bathtub and starts screaming, "What is that? What is that?" Then Sarah looks down, looks at me, and yells, "What is that?" All I can say is that Sarah should not have been yelling, because "that" was two floaters that came from Sarah. The next five minutes were spent with two naked girls being left shivering on the bathmat while Mommy drained the bathtub, flushed the floaters, sanitized the bathtub, filled it with FRESH floater free water, and then gave the girls another bath. YUCK!!!!
Tell me I am not the only one to experience this exciting event.
I had a job yesterday, so Mom watched the munchkins as usual. As I was getting ready to leave, Mom had them sitting at the table getting ready to eat lunch. Mom was a little aggitated (I'm sure Sarah had something to do with that). Emma decided to take things into her own hands...she looked at Mom and said..."Ohh grandmother! Why don't you relax and chill out!!" That will be filed under "kids say the darndest things". Mom didn't even know what to say in return. Anyway, here's a pic of Em chillin out.
As I was getting ready to go see Ms. Inez this morning, I received a phone call. Perry's secretary called to let me know that Ms. Inez passed away yesterday evening. I couldn't believe it. It's been a year now that I have been going and sitting with her twice a week. She was the sweetest, gentlest, kindest, Christian woman that you would ever meet. But don't let that fool you...she had a stubborn streak a mile wide. I know that she was 93 years old and in a way, we have all been ignoring the possiblity that she could go at anytime. She has been in really good health though. Needless to say, I am thankful that I went and spent time with her yesterday. Ironically, she was down and bluesy...for no real reason she said. Inez just said that she was missing Vern. (Her husband of 63 years who passed away a year ago). Before I left, she asked me if I would be coming today. I replied, "Of course, I wouldn't want to miss seeing my sweet Inez." She hugged me and told me that she loved me and I didn't really know how much our times together meant to her. The last time I saw her was yesterday sitting in Vern's recliner smiling and promising to get some rest. I guess she's resting now....I guess she's not lonely for Vern any more...thank the Lord I know where she is now.
Here is Inez...young and like she was recently:
This is how they felt when I told them that I couldn't post a blog because we didn't have DSL in the country. They were totally bummed about dial-up!
We are at our place in the country....so I thought I would post a little blog.....that was like 20 minutes ago. I MISS MY DSL!!!!! I forgot how slowwwwwwwwww dial-up is. Forget it....I'll post tomorrow.
So we were driving somewhere today---don't ask me where----and Greg is talking to the kids. It goes something like this:
Greg: "Emma are you my pie?" (We've always called her Emmapie)
Emma: "Yes, I'm a pie."
Sarah: "Daddy, Daddy..."
Greg: "What Sarah?"
Sarah: "I'm no pie Daddy....I'm just a genius."
So there you have it...if you have a problem, Sarah can fix it. After all, she's just a genius! Her superior intelligence will impress all of you. Just look at the picture that Daddy took of our little genius. (Yes, that would be a pull-up on her head) We are so proud...
Yesterday would have been Mom and Dad's 44th aniversary. It's sad...even 2 years later. I don't really know how long it takes to get over the loss of a parent. I can't imagine how it would feel to lose a spouse. I understand alot more about grief than I use to...sometimes I wish I didn't. 1 miscarriage, the death of a father and the death of a father-in-law can really give you a good dose of grief. Somedays it's real easy to say that all is well and God will get you through....some days it hard to just smile and make it through the day.
It's easy to get caught up in silly arguments, be competitive, engage in petty disagreements, hold grudges, etc. In the end though, none of that stuff matters. Whether you were the best or the worst...whether you beat everyone out, or lost the race, whether you could smile when your whole world was crashing down around you or have the courage to tell everyone that you were hurting inside...none of that matters in the end.
That being said....I give you this picture because it makes me smile....
As I sit here late at night...I really did try to go to sleep Laura...I am weeding through old e-mails. I don't know how many e-mails that I found regarding bible studies and opportunities to get together and try to improve our Christian walk. I think that's great that so many people feel led to pursue these studies. However, I noticed that so many of them are occurring at the same time (starting to ending date). They are stacked throughout the week. If someone really wanted to, they could spend absolutely no time with their family because they are so busy attending bible studies. Are we so busy trying to do the "Christian" thing that we forget that it's not about being busy? Don't get me wrong, everyone that I get e-mails from are people that manage to do it all: family, church service, and growth.
I guess I was just thinking that while some of us are so busy trying to grow and serve, there is a whole lot more that don't. If we can all make time to do so much, why can't the majority find time to do a little? How many of us know people that come to church every Sunday morning and seem so committed, but are never around for anything else? It just seems like with all the opportunities they would serve more.
I don't know...maybe it's just me.
So here is a picture of my soon to be born nephew. It's kind of strange....follow me on this:
I'm 34 and my children are 14, 3, and 2....got that?
My brother is 43 and his child is 20...and baby number two is on the way!?!
I guess we really like wide age gaps in our family!!!!
But seriously, I'm really excited about the baby....who knows maybe this will be the thing that brings my brother to the Lord....I pray that it does!
Here I sit...once again...2:00 am. I am sure that I will be kicking myself in the morning, but right now I'm too charged to think about it. After much sweat and aggravation I have finally got my website up and running. Can anyone say FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Despite all....here it is......
