"Poop, I am your father!"

In a galaxy far, far away...




Darth Vader came to clean out our catbox.

{here's what 8 1/2 years of friendship looks like}

Brock and Emma have been great friends since Emma was born. I've got some pictures of them that aren't on my computer that would melt your heart {an almost 2yr old Brock holding tiny baby Emma, Brock w/his arm around Em's shoulders at her 1st bday party}. I'm talking some seriously cute stuff here!

July 2004
Brock{back left} & Em {back right}

Aug 2004

August 2005

Fall 2006
Dec 2007
May 2008
Oct 2008

{I'm sure their story of friendship isn't anywhere near over...}

Trauma and Preciousness {all in one night}

Last night was horribly traumatic for my sweet boy.

You see, he's sucked his thumb since he was about 4 months old. And {yes, I know you're not supposed to start a sentence w/the word and} when I say "sucked his thumb" I mean he's really had a very torrid love affair with that darned appendage. He started out just sucking his thumb when he was tired, but that quickly turned into him sticking it back into his mouth between bites of baby food or while playing. It has reached the habit stage now. His poor front teeth have been pushed so far out that he can hardly close his lips together and his bottom teeth are being pushed back to the point that they're turning in. Can you say orthodontic work?!

Anyway, back to last night. We decided that it was time to take matters into our own hands {again} so Daddy-o taped little man's thumb down w/athletic tape. The dude was not happy! He sobbed for a solid hour and this momma's heart was breaking. I finally took him upstairs to his room to read some books and try to take his mind off the fact that his very best friend was taped to his palm. It didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped. I read him stories between his sobbing and talked to him about our reason for doing the taping down of his BFF. I told him that we were trying to help him since he was having a hard time stopping on his own and he just cried "I can't help it." It was so sad!

Then he started telling me that it was stinging and hurting. He had been pulling on the tape, so the tape was pulling the skin and I knew it had to hurt. So, after about 1 1/2 hrs of pure torture for my baby, I relented and took the tape off. I thought he'd be thrilled, but he continued to cry for another 15 minutes.

I finally got him in his jammies and he asked if I'd sleep with him. Now, I'm not the greatest mommy, but I just couldn't resist his sweet little tear-stained face at that moment. So, I snuggled under the covers w/him and asked if he wanted me to sing him a song. His first choice was You Are My Sunshine and when I finished singing that I asked him if he wanted me to sing another song. This time he asked me to sing "Si no". I told him that I didn't know that song, but he insisted that I did. I finally told him that I needed him to remind me how it goes by singing me a little part of it. In his sweetest, most tired little voice, he sang, "the Bible loves me si no". So I began to sing, "Jesus loves me thi "Si no". For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong."

How precious is that?! Oh how I love that little man!

I'm a bad, bad blogger!

Apparently, some of my {many} fans think I don't blog quite as often as I should. So, here's to all of you out in blog-land who have been stopping by only to be so greatly disappointed not to find a new post! ;)

I can't really think of anything to blog about so I'm going to do a list for y'all. Since it's the 10th month, I've decided to make a list of the 10 biggest events {by month, if possible} that have happened to me/my family this year.

Drum roll, please.......

January-My little ring bearer. Eli was in our good friends, Eric & Heather, wedding. He was so stinkin' cute!

{who can resist a boy in a tux!}

February-Sir Eli turned 4 on the 25th of Feb. When you hear about the rambunciousness {I don't think that's even a word} of little boys, just picture Eli. He does have his sweet spots though. He loves his momma, his sissy and nobody cries alone when Eli's around. Bless his sweet little heart!

{me and eli on the day he was born}

{mags, eli, brock & luke at eli's 4th bday party...notice eli's claim to mags}

March-A home invasion. Our home was broken into in the early morning hours of March 25th while my family was sleeping peacefully on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The dirtbag(s) pried our backdoor open probably w/a tire-iron, entered MY house and proceeded to steal a few things. They stole 2 wallets, 2 cell phones, 1 mp3 player full of my fave praise & worship songs {I bet that was thrown out the window quickly}, 2 cameras {my beloved fuji and my "had less than a month Canon 5D}, my set of keys and our van. Yep, you heard that correctly...after the dirtbag(s) took stuff from our house, they then went to our detached garage and stole our van.

April-My sweet Emma turned 8 on the 19th of April. She has been a joy her whole life. I'm so glad I got to start being a mom w/Emma...I thought I was doing everything right! ;) She has got the most tender little spirit and contagious giggle. I love this girl!

{Emma just after she turned 4...this is the oldest picture of her on my computer}

{Charlotte, Emma & Lilly at Em's 8th bday party}

May-Camping at Tuttle Creek w/our great friends. Picture a little Ford Ranger loaded to the gills w/coolers, fishing equipment, bags, chairs, bikes, etc truckin' down I-70 carrying 2 grown men{one who is 6'6"} and the oldest 2 kids...followed closely by a minivan carrying the rest of the gear, 2 gorgeous moms and the younger 3 kids. I'm sure passersby thought Clark Griswold's cousin Eddie was moving to town!

{Eli, Luke & Emma roasting marshmallows over the campfire}

June-Naked child in Taco Bell. You can read all about Eli's Taco Bell expose by scrolling back on my blog. He also decided it was a good idea to go potty off the back of a paddle boat while on an outing w/the teens from church. Oh that boy!

{this is called blackmail people!}

July-Emma Grace gets baptised. Her daddy and I couldn't be more proud of the Jesus loving, young lady she's becoming.

{I love this shot of her getting dunked}

{of course Eli had to get in on the action}

August-House for Sale. We spent all summer working on our house getting ready to put on the market. After 7yrs here, it's a little bitter-sweet to think about leaving all the memories. So many firsts happened here...Emma's 1st day of school, her first loose tooth, Eli's 1st step and tooth.

September-10 {wonderful} years! Rich and I celebrated our 10yr anniversary on Sept 19th. God has blessed my life so greatly by giving me a wonderful, godly husband. I love you babe!

October-HSM The Ice Tour. Last night I took Emma, Brock & Maggie to see High School Musical, The Ice Tour. It was a blast! There were some pop quiz questions shown before the show...Brock got every one right {his dad would be so proud}. I think the kids had a great time except none of them liked the guy who was Troy Bolton {he didn't look anything like Zac Efron}.

Welp, friends, that wraps up some of the high lights {and low lights} of the year for our family. I'll try to update more often {I promise!}

Until next time...