The Jolly Rogers

The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotion, let me tell you. The hardest part was the funeral for Seraphima. She was so tiny and beautiful. I have always had a hard time with bodies; I've never been able to touch them, which has been frustrating to me. I really wanted to kiss Seraphima good-bye, but I didn't know if I'd be able to. I am so thankful that when I saw her, she was just the beautiful little baby I'd held a few days ago. I was able to touch her and kiss her without a second thought, which was very healing for me.

The funeral service for children is an amazing thing. I've never been so sad, yet so filled with hope, all at the same time. Seeing Danielle (her Mom) was the hardest part. Please continue to pray for this family. They have so much faith, which is pulling them through this tragedy, but they are all suffering.

Dn. John continues to plug away on the entryway. The priority now is getting the siding done before frost. It is doubly hard because 1) the pieces he has to cut to finish are complicated, time consuming, and annoying, and 2) he has about an hour and a half of daylight to work on it from the time we finish dinner until it's too dark outside to see. Last night was a sunny (but COLD!) evening, so I bundled Marina up in a snowsuit (no, I'm not joking) and plunked her in the stroller. She hung out next to Megan and I while we planted 80 tulip and daffodil bulbs around the yard. They will be so beautiful in the spring! I can't wait.

My kids continue to baffle me. Parenting is hard! Who knew? Megan waffles between being such a sweet little helper, and a screaming, whining whirlwind of madness. Today was the third day out of about the last five where she's begun the day by throwing herself on me in bed and screaming. What a way to start the day. Of course, right now, she's just playing with her baby dolls and being fine. Marina is having a massive growth spurt. For breakfast, she ate an entire banana, two eggs with diced ham, and a handful of cheerios. She's eating more than Megan these days. It's crazy. I took her to the doctor yesterday (she's been having some intestinal problems) and he's sending us to a gastro-endrochronologist for a check-up. He's not overly concerned, since she's growing and happy, but she's pooping bile salts (whatever that means) which apparently isn't a good thing.

As for me, I am sooooooo close to my savings goal for my new super-fancy sewing machine. I'm hoping to order it this weekend! I just have to get my bakery paycheck tomorrow, and I'll be there! I can't wait.

Prayers for the Hartmans

It breaks my heart to tell you that my friend Danielle's baby daughter, Seraphima Rose, died in her sleep early this morning. She was a month old, which is a few weeks longer than she was expected to live, thank God. She passed away quietly, in her mother's arms. Please keep the whole Hartman family in your fervent prayers.

Why we're broke

So the other day, I happened to walk by the trash. I did a major double take--on top of the pile of trash (thankfully, the can was almost full, so I didn't miss it) were two crumpled up five dollar bills. I pulled them out, and looked over at Megan, who was sitting at the table and eyeing me curiously.

"Megan, did you put these in the trash?" I asked.

"Yes Mama."

"Why?"

"Because I was done playing with them."

I thought about this for a minute, then another--much more important--question came to mind.

"Where did you get these?"

"I took them out of your purse."

Yikes.

It is freaking cold outside

Yes, you guessed it--it is FREAKING cold outside. There is snow on the mountains, and it was 39 degrees when I got into the car this morning. Plus, this evening I had to drive home IN THE DARK. Stupid winter is coming. I usually try to make it until October before I get out my winter coat, but I suspect I will cave this year. I bought Marina a super-cute winter coat today (for only $10, yay for used kids' stores), but Megan doesn't have anything. She needs the works...boots, coat, gloves. Ugh. Oh wait, that means I get to go shopping! I love shopping! Hooray!

Tomorrow is Dn. John's birthday. Megan has been telling everyone she meets about how he's going to turn "Firty" on his birthday. It's very cute. Although, this also means that I will be married to a thirty year old. Oh, excuse me--a "firty" year old. Weird.

A Star Trek Universe

I think if I lived on Star Trek, today would be the day to have a parallel universe. And in this parallel universe, there would be no dishes, no vacuuming, no laundry....heck, if we're fantasizing, then I just have a maid (and while we're fantasizing, I'm also 40 pounds lighter). This universe also involves babies who don't eat deodorant, and toddlers who don't delight in making gigantic messes when I'm not looking. Here in La-la Land, I am the perfect housekeeper, and there is always time to do things that I enjoy, like scrapbooking and sewing. Also, my novel is also in the Top 10 of the New York Times Bestselling List. Plus, I am so good at couponing that I only spend $30 a week on groceries, and all children are potty trained at 12 months.

*Sigh* A girl can dream, right?

Videos

Entryway Pictures

Sassy little girl!
Our new sliding door
From the front door, looking into the entryway
Dn. John doing important things (I have no idea what, though).
Notice the new paint on the dormers! They match the rest of the house now.