Lydia's 12th Birthday

This picture of Lydia was taken when she was only 1 day old.  Lydia is sitting next to Love E. Bear...the teddy bear Chris gave me the first Valentines Day we were married.  Yes, she was born with all of that hair and no she didn't loose it.  Notice those long fingers...I always knew those were piano fingers.  : )  I still can't believe that 12 years have passed since Lydia May came into this world.  I remember that morning so distinctly.  I remember looking out the window of my hospital room and wondering if anyone out there realized how much my life had changed...I had a little girl.  When we left the hospital with our baby girl Chris drove extremely slow through the streets of Chicago.  I still smile when I think of the beginning of Chris' protectiveness for his little girl.  They always had a special bond.  I think they bonded so well, b/c Lydia is SOOO much like me in personality that Chris knew how to handle her...he was used to me.      

This first picture is a "trip down memory lane."  This picture of Chris and Lydia was taken the day Lydia turned 9...3 years ago on this date.

This year the puppies even got in on the present giving.  They thought she should announce to the world her devotion to them.

Lydia really wanted to have 2 of her friends, Lauren and Meredith, spend the night.  They came and we had tacos.

Lydia, the birthday girl.

One of the activities on the agenda tonight was to play Raving Rabids on the Wii.  Here are the girls dancing.

National Acrobats of China

Tonight the girls and I had a special treat.  My friend, Marla, and her daughter took us to Zanesville for dinner.  After dinner we went to Secrest Auditorium to see the National Acrobats of China perform.  It was breathtaking to see them do the stunts and acrobatics.  Wow!!  There are no words to explain.  We were not allowed to take pictures, but I found some pictures of them on the web.

Here are JoAnna with her friends Aliyah and Olivia waiting for the show to start.

The men set up these rings and did flips and different acrobatics to get through the top ring...amazing.  They made it look so easy.

This young lady is double jointed and did an amazing routine.  She balanced these objects and turned so that she was facing the other direction w/o dropped her possessions.  At the end they brought out a special stand that had a mouth piece on it.  She fitted it into her mouth and balance herself straight up into the air...truly spectacular.

16 female acrobats performed acrobatic tricks and balances on moving bicycles.  Here they all climbed on to this one bike.  This was spectacular.  The young lady powering the bike could not see b/c there is another young lady right in front of her.  Have I said WOW, yet?

Here are Lydia, JoAnna and Lauren with one of the performers.  This young lady has incredible strength.  She balanced on one arm and did a  "dance" in the air with her legs.  Spectacular.  By the end you could see her muscles in her arms shaking.  I am still in awe of the abilities of this troupe.  It would be well worth the money and I would encourage you to see it, if they come to a place near you.

Bible Quiz

One of the activities my children are involved in is AWANA.  Every year the T&T clubs in this area have the chance to participate in an annual Bible Quiz.  The quiz consists of a 10 question written test and a 10 question paddle test.  The test covers the things they are learning in their books.  

Lydia and her friend & teammate, Kennedy, are getting in some last minute studying before the quiz starts.  They were one of only 3 teams that tested in book 4.  They studied hard and were well prepared.

Lydia is getting ready for her written test.  Kennedy said it was pretty easy.  Lydia told me that she thought the test was tricky.  

Lydia and Kennedy waiting for a question on the paddle portion of the quiz.  They worked well as a team and did a great job.  

 (Left to Right)    Elizabeth and Grace took 1st place in book 2.  Brooklyn and Ben placed 4th in book 1.  Kennedy and Lydia placed 1st in book 4.  Ruth-Anne and Victoria took 2nd place for book 3.  These young people did extra work sheets and had several Thursday night practices to get ready for the day.  The priceless reward that all of the participants of todays quiz received was the treasure of hiding God's Word in their hearts.  

Born to be Wild

The other day my 'peeps' left us in the mudroom again.  They said something 'bout an eye exam. The little 'peeps' came home with big pupils and these nifty plastic sunglasses.  Last night the middle sized 'peep' decided to see how I'd look in them.  Mama 'peep' took my picture 'cuz I looked way to cool not to have one taken.  I think they need to go get me a leather jacket and maybe one day I can get a Harley.  Oh, Yeah!!

Piano Recital

This past Thursday Lydia and JoAnna had their piano recital.  Their teacher decided to have it a little earlier, so that the students could play Christmas music if they wanted to.  They both did a beautiful job.  Lydia always amazed me with her abilities.  I wish I could capture her music for you to hear.  JoAnna actually played her music.  Two years ago, during her first recital she got up to play and she just plunked her fingers up and down the keyboard...not playing anything but a bunch of notes...and then she got up with a great big smile and bowed--so proud of herself.  I sat there choking back the giggles.  Last year she played a Yankee Doodle duet with Lydia.  As they went along JoAnna got faster and faster--they should have gotten a speeding ticket.  She is my sweet little girl and I love her.  Chris' mom and sisters have told me that if I want to know

 what Chris was like as a young boy I only need to look as far as JoAnna.  She has her daddy's laid back, happy go lucky personality.  

Today in the store JoAnna, who had been happily chatting all morning, got real quiet.  When I looked over she had a sad look on her face.  I asked her what was wrong and after several attempts at getting her to share she buried her face in her hands and started to cry.  I put my arm around her and asked her if she missed her daddy.  She nodded her head.  I asked her if it was hard to see all of the kids in the store with their dads.  She nodded.  I hugged her.  She still misses her daddy so much.

Many people have seen this picture already, but this picture is of JoAnna and it shows her feelings for her daddy quilt.  She snuggles with it every night.  She put this picture on her Most Precious Treasure page in her photo album.  On the page titled Make a Wish she put a picture of her Daddy and her Uncle Tim.  She had me write out the words, "If I could wish for anything I would want my Daddy and Uncle Tim back."   

Hot Dog

The running joke in our house right now is:  What do you call a dog who loves to lay in front of the furnace duct?  The answer of course is a hot dog...in this case Maia.  This winter we have a simple way of telling when the furnace is on...Maia enjoys the warm air that blasts from the duct in the kitchen.  It's pretty funny to watch.  She'll lay with her back to the hot air and after a minute or so she'll turn over and roast the other side.  Last night Lydia went to a winter retreat at Skyview Ranch and tonight I caught her on the floor catching up on a days worth of lost snuggle time.  

Caleb's mouse

The children always try to get things cleaned up before Grandma Harmsen comes to visit.  Grandma has this way of seeing things that need to be cleaned up, especially children's bedrooms.  This past fall she went down to the basement and saw that there were quite a few dirty dishes scattered around on the bookshelves and tables.  She reprimanded the children, b/c dirty dishes invite unwanted guests.  Caleb is the biggest offender b/c he always eats down there and forgets to bring up the dishes.  This past week the children wanted me to play Raving Rabids on the Wii with them.  When we descended to the basement and I found lots of dirty dishes.  Let's just say that mama was not happy.  Upon further examination of things I realized that there were droppings on the some of the dishes and shelves.  Now let's just say that mama was furious.  I made Caleb clean up his dishes and told him he was in charge of mouse removal.  He set out his traps last night and this morning he found that he had successfully eliminated one mouse.  I am fairly confident that there was only one mouse, but we will leave the traps set for a while to make sure.  There will also be NO more eating in the basement.