The Wedding....and the Kids

The loveliest ladies there

Getting ready....

The anticipation grows....

Hey Miss Brittany...I like your crown! Can I have it?

Brittany, John, Luke, and Susanna

Luke took his job QUITE serious!

Note the expressions on everyone's face...
except for Tony who didn't realize his kids were passing by him!

Susanna remembered on the way OUT to put down petals!

Her day was made when a little girl came over because she wanted to

"see the princess"

Oh dear, what if I drop them???

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of attending one of my dear friend's wedding. We both moved to Park Rapids about the same time and were part of many of the same church activities. Britt has been like a kid sister to me, and one of her biggest dreams has been to marry the man of her dreams and have a bunch of kids. Part of that dream finally came true! It was also an honor to have our children as part of the wedding party. Those pictures are coming up next!

Congrats, John and Brittany! May God bless your new lives together!

woo-hoo! She KISSED him!

Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson

And she's officially married!

Don't blow out the candle, John!

Cutting the cake

Before the wedding....

Brittany and her dad

The cake...yes, those are black bears on the top!

Kids Say the, well....(part 2)

Today at breakfast, Susanna quite frankly told me, "Mama, would you like me to tell you how babies get in Mama tummies?" I was glad I didn't have anything in my mouth at the time...and quickly reminded myself "always ask....always ask....."

And so I did. And was greatly enlightened. And still haven't found out how she figured it out.

"Well, Mamas go to a doctor, a SPECIAL doctor, and he takes a very sharp knife (I started breathing a little easier) and cuts her tummy ALLLLLLL the way down. Then, he puts the baby inside and sews her all the way back up." (little shrug) "That's it."

Serious face. No laughing. "Wow, Susanna. That's, um, that's AMAZING!" Then Tony walked in. "Honey, tell Daddy now."

"Daddy, you wanna know how babies get into Mama tummies?" (I almost choked keeping back the laughter at the look on Tony's face!) Same story again. I asked her, "Susanna, do you ever want to have a baby?" "NO WAY!"

Whew. Although I suppose some day she's gonna have to find out it's just a little different than that!

And you should have seen the look on Cousin Clinton's face when she matter-of-factly filled HIM in on the facts of life at supper!

Kids Say the, well....

I had an appointment this morning, so Tony took the kids with him to the farm for a bit. When I returned home, long enough to collect the kids and head out to Jack Pine Java for the rest of the day, Tony commented in passing "Oh yeah. Susanna had diarrhea at the farm and took a bath." What???? I grabbed an extra change of clothing to take with us...just in case.

The afternoon was uneventful. A few good sales. The highlight was, of course, when Santa arrived (he comes in from 4-6 p.m. on Fridays). My kids know he isn't "real," but they still love to sit on his lap (maybe it's the "reindeer food," maybe it's because he listens as Susanna lists off all her grievances and boo-boos, maybe it's because he's Drew & Tasha's grandpa....). Well, as I was sitting writing out post cards, waiting for some action at my Watkins booth, I hear Luke bellowing out, 'NO! DON'T TELL SANTA ABOUT YOUR DIARRHEA!!! NO, SUSANNA!"

Okay, that is the wrong thing to say to Susanna. Ever. She was off and running. "Santa, Santa! I gotta tell you something!!!"

I hung my head lower and pretended I was some childless customer sitting and enjoying a coffee or hot cocoa while writing out my Christmas cards. Trouble was, I had no coffee or hot cocoa in front of me. And everyone in the coffee shop knew those two.....children....were mine.

NO!! SUSANNA! DON'T DO IT!!!!

Be quiet, Luke! I want to tell Santa something!

NO! DON'T TELL HIM!!!!

Santa, I gotta tell you something. Today, at the farm, I had diarrhea. And grandma had to give me a bath because I had white stuff all over me. I told her I had to take a LONG bath. I really like bath time.

SUSANNA! THAT IS SO EMBARRASSING!!!!!

Ignoring your children does not make them go away. Nor does it stop them from telling private things.

Hm. Maybe I'll tell this story to her first date.

Church Today

(Thanks for taking our picture, Uncle Mark!)

Things Are Happenin'!

Wow, I've got soooo many photos to post, and after Christmas, I'm gonna start doing that (maybe I'll have some time before then, too)....first day of school photos, more pumpkin party photos, summer activities, Thanksgiving feast, and there might be more hiding on my camera, too!

If you're in the area, this Saturday we are having a big Christmas Showcase (and there was debate about the name...but hey, this is CHRISTMAS and if you're one of the very few people who don't recognize Christmas...oh well) at St. Peter's Parish in downtown Park Rapids. Lots of home-based businesses -- Watkins, Mary Kay, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, Party Lite, Heritage Makers, Shaklee, Norwex, Cookie Lee, Tupperware, Young Living, and more -- are gonna be there. All that shopping and seeing what's new without having to go to a bunch of different parties, woo-hoo! Doors are open from 10-3. Bring a food donation for the local food shelf....and come prepared to bid on some great silent auction items to raise funds for the local Women/Children's shelter and the local Pregnancy Resource Center! Santa will be there, and photos will be taken...you can just order prints from Snyders for $0.19 - $1.50, depending on the size (how affordable is THAT?)....and David Overly, our local theater star, will be doing dramatic story-telling for kids of all ages from 10-1. I wanna have him set up close to me so I can hear his stories as I'm working my booth!

I've also been working a booth at Jack Pine Java down town -- we're having a craft/bazaar Monday thru Saturday from now until December 23...gotta stop in and see all the great stuff (and buy some, too!). And I am SOO thankful for my great team that's helping out at my Watkins booth there! We've got a great big closet behind our booth, too, so on days when I'm in there for a long period of time (or in the afternoons), the kids come and play there, we do some school work, or they dance around in the middle of the floor and entertain everyone walking by (I've been trying to tell Susi that laying on the floor in a dress with her legs pulled over her head is NOT proper entertainment....she isn't convinced.).

And things are slooooowly getting caught up at home, too. Loads of laundry are done sporatically, and my wonderful husband has been helping to fold clothes while I'm teaching the kids how to match pairs (I love this home school stuff! Make everything a learning experience!) and making them fold all the socks, hehehe! They also fight over who gets to take the clothes from the dryer, then transfer the clothes from the washer to the dryer, then put more clothes in the washer. Hm....maybe I'm not the one doing the laundry....

Amongst all this, I'm tired of seeing the originally very white walls downstairs now such a dingy color. Long story, not going into it....but we're gonna paint them. I'm hoping a cream color with some bright color thrown in for shock, I mean contrast. I might have to do that color paint sometime when Tony's gonna be gone for several hours....

I'm also tired of all the JUNK laying around downstairs. ("junk" translates into all the toys and papers that the kids, mainly Luke, are accumulating...Luke cannot bear to throw anything away, so every once in awhile after he's asleep, I raid his corner....so far he hasn't noticed). But Tony is going to build a wonderful little shelf set, and EVERYTHING is going to be stored in boxes with lids. And they can play with the contents of one box at a time (or one box each), and if they DARE start playing with another box before the other stuff is picked up, it's gone. Trust me. It's gone. I've done it before. I'll do it again.

Christmas program practice has been going wonderful. My 40 or so kiddos are amazing! I am blown away at how well they are doing for the program. PLEASE, if you live in the area, come see our program Sunday, December 20, at 10:45...but come early, if you want a seat! And (proud parent grin), Luke is playing Joseph in the tiny tot nativity! He wants everyone to have a front-row seat to see him....

We had a wedding shower for my friend Brittany this past Tuesday. It was great just sitting around gabbing with a bunch of ladies, and someone commented that we don't do it enough. So... I took the idea and ran with it! Talked with several of them, told 'em Tony would kill me (not literally, don't worry) if I took on one more responsibility, but SOMEONE needs to head up putting together a ladies' night out each month -- we can meet at church, bring games, order pizza, and just have fun catching up with each other. I finally found a patsy...I mean volunteer to head it up....my wonderful SIL Beth (love ya, dearie!). Hopefully, it'll all work out :)

Brit is getting married in a few weeks....and asked my kiddos to be in the wedding ("because they're so stinkin' cute!). Susi is the flower girl, and Luke is the ring bearer. He's taking the job quite seriously and is worried that he might lose the rings, then what is gonna happen????

The kids are doing great in home school co-op, which in itself is wonderful since I've not had alot of sit-down time with them for book learning. However, Luke can now count to 100 by himself, and he's figuring out how to write the numbers by himself, too (maybe it's the reward of a big candy bar that was motivation!). He never can remember the word "hundred" though, and usually refers to it as one zero zero!

I'm finding more fun things to do with Susi, as she is a very hands-on learner....she doesn't retain something unless she makes it with her hands....which is SO not me! We practiced writing our A B Cs up to G and she just wasn't getting it....remembering what is what....until I handed her modeling clay, THEN she took off! It's a challenge figuring out different ways to have her make things to retain the different letters, but it's also fun figuring out what will work!

Out of the clear blue the other morning, after she crawled into bed with us at 6:30 in the morning (the one morning this week that I actually didn't have to get UP at 6:30!), she sat up and said, "We haven't watched Wipeout for a long time." Um...it isn't on tv right now. Then at supper last night, she asked if "Shark Tank" is really "in this world." Okay, we really don't watch much tv with the kids, but that stuff is really floating around in her brain!

And I love how my kids have figured out some things are in this world and others aren't. It really helps them realize that alot of stuff around isn't real. Santa isn't "in this world," but he is part of Christmas decorations. Scary parts in movies (like the talking Cheetos that are about to be eaten in The Pirates That Don't Do Anything" or the Grinch taking away Christmas) aren't in this world...so it isn't too scary.

But now...my rug rats are home. And I am home (I was at Jack Pine Java this morning...the kids were at the farm)...so I'm gonna go spend some fun time with them! And maybe get out the alphabet melty-bead mold and get some fun school work in!

Drop me a line...I don't have lots of time for posts right now, but I LOVE to hear from you!

Oh yeah! And I got all the Christmas presents wrapped last night, yippee!!! Now to start my Christmas baking......next week.