Park Days.

Regular Days. . .

Monkey see, Monkey do. 

A rare bit of snuggle lovin.

How you choose to eat most of your meals.

Being pretty. 

Being awesome at gymnastics. 

Life is good. 

Sweet, Sweet Baby

Two things have happened recently that give such a true glimpse into Roo's heart; I want to make sure I get them down before I forget them.
Driving down the road on the way to a birthday party, Roo and I listening to our favorite Christian radio station. A story came on about a preacher in Iran who had been arrested for spreading the Word of God to the Muslim people. He had also dedicated enormous amounts of time to building orphanages in the country, but that did not matter. He was sentenced to EIGHT years in prison for sharing God's love. I knew when it came on that Roo and I were about to have a pretty serious conversation as a result of this story, but I didn't know it would effect her the way it would. She is aware that many people/countries do not worship the same God that we do. What she could not seem to understand is how someone could be arrested for sharing the Word of the real God (her words) with others. With tears in her eyes, she said as heartfelt as I have ever heard anything said before, "Mommy that is so sad.  Without Jesus in their heart, those people can't go to heaven! Everybody should have the chance to have Jesus in their hearts. He is a good man for telling those people how to love Jesus so they can go to heaven!"
That little incident was such a perfect glimpse into her sweet soul. She loves Jesus with such a ferocity that it melts me. I am so proud of her love for Him and her desire to please Him.
The other incident was something that made me feel horrible as a parent. You know those choices you make as a parent that you really think are right, but it takes about 2.5 to realize that you made a mistake? Yeah, we had that the other night. I came across this beautiful video made from a man who was bullied as a boy. It was sort of animated, but in a sophisticated way, and narrated with a very passionate poem. I did watch it before hand, and it was sad, but bullying is sad, and I felt it was important that she see it. Not because I feel like she would ever bully someone, but because bullying is so prevalent and I wanted her to see just how it made people really feel. I also wanted her to watch it because I wanted her to see the importance of always befriending those people who are left out, picked last for the team, or just plain picked on. I wanted her to see how vital it is for everyone to know they at least have one friend in the world. No one should ever feel alone.
There was one particularly sad part in the video that spoke about a girl who was his only friend in the 5th grade, and how, beginning on the very first day of that year, she was teased and called ugly, and to this day, as a grown woman with kids of her own who think she is the most beautiful person they have ever seen, she still can't see the beauty in the mirror. It was heartbreaking, really.
I should have known better than to let Roo hear that part. She barely recovered.
She literally cried herself to sleep that night, so hurt that a person could be that cruel to another. Her brain just cannot fathom that kind of behavior. There is no part of her little heart that could imagine causing that kind of pain.
And that is her heart. So sweet and gentle. I am so proud of the person she is and her amazing, kind spirit. I know she is destined to do great things in this world. She asks me all the time what I think her talent is. Without a doubt, I know it is her ability to show love to those who need it most. To me, that is the greatest gift I could ever hope for her.

Get Your Hands Off My Mama!

Here is what happens if Rob is ever unfortunate enough to get caught showing me any kind of attention.
We go from this. . .

to this. . . in a matter a milliseconds.

Is it bad that I was laughing hysterically during the whole incident??
Or that I kind of like that she is so protective over me?
Nah. 

Wacky is 15!!

Wacky just celebrated his 15th birthday!! It is so hard to believe that he is only one year from a license and only three years from college!!!! We did our usual for his birthday-familygathering-only this year, we are doing all birthdays at home instead of at a restaurant. I love when we all get together as a family. It is always such a good time, and I love that the kids get to have all of their family in one place.

Valentine's Day

We went a little nuts this year and tried to do every Valentine's Day craft posted on pinterest. It was madness, but the girls had a lot of fun.

The day started with yummy yummy pink sprinkle, chocolate chip pancakes from Daddy.

Then the crafting bonanza began. 

This was pretty fun (and counted as part of school. Sneaky sneaky mommy!). I gave Roo a few candy hearts, 5-10, and she had to write a story using all of them. Her stories were pretty funny and mostly involved proposals, excited acceptances, and hilarious rejections. It kept her busy for quite some time. 

 Flowers for the girls from Daddy. 

Somebody was extra sweet that day. 

After nap, we made cookies. 

Someone was EXTRA excited. 

Letting them decorate their own cookies was super fun.

Phia kept asking for more "tookties"but what she really wanted was more icing! 

We also made strawberry "quicksand," red cloud dough (neither of which Phia was a fan of because it involved putting her hands into it, but Roo loved and could have played in for hours), and watched Cinderella-you have to watch the ultimate love story on Valentine's Day!