Sam's Hair Cut

It really is terrible, how rarely Sam gets his hair cut. I'm too cheap to pay even $8 for him to get a hair cut so I wait till it looks horrible. Then, when I'm sick of it looking crazy I haul out "Mr. Clippers", read the hair cutting manual for the 20th time and go at his hair. In the past I've tried to leave Sam's hair a little long on the top but the last time it didn't look so good. Sam really doesn't mind getting his hair cut because it means he can watch cartoons till I'm done. So this afernoon I went for a close cut and was really happy with the results. Sam's super happy with it too. And with his hair so short I can wait even LONGER before cutting it again!

Shaving Sam's head today reminded me of one summer when I was home (in Zambia) from college with my brother Adam. Adam, knowing full well I had no experience, trusted me to shave his head. We decided to do it outside so we'd have little clean up. Getting through Adam's thick hair proved to be more of a job than I'd expected...it didn't help that he asked me to give him a mohawk before shaving it all off. We wanted to see what he'd look like with one. Well half way through my terrible hair cutting job the power went out! Poor Adam. Some of the missionaries got wind of the fact that only half his head was shaved so they came over to have a look for themselves. I can still picture Adam running through the yard with a bucket on his head. He was not about to let anyone laugh at his misfortune. That memory still makes me laugh!

Our Expressive Izzy

Over the years we've seen the many faces of Sam. Izzy is proving to be just as expressive. What a joy it is to see your baby smile for the first time! She even coos at us, but only when being talked to! What a social little girl we have. Although right now we are experiencing the fussy nature of an overtired baby. The smiles make it all worth it!

A few nights ago when Sam was dancing around the living room and Izzy was on the floor we realized she was attentively watching her little brother. This has been a regular occurrence around here since. It's unbelievably cute. Those two are equally eager to play with each other. My younger brother was also some four years younger than me. I remember playing with him as soon as it was possible. It brings me so much joy seeing how much Sam loves his sister!

Chocolates for Valentine's Day

Yesterday Sam and I did a little chocolate candy experimenting, which gave me wonderful ideas for an activity today. Every year, after big holidays I love to shop all the clearance items for baking goods, specifically sprinkles and sometimes cupcake liners. Over the past few years I have amassed a nice sized collection. I remember seeing a video on youtube of a woman who loves to make cupcakes and has wardrobe (the old fashion kind) full of sprinkles. Her comment was that some women collect shoes, she collects sprinkles. I think that is what got me going. I thought that massive wardrobe full of sprinkles was marvelous. At this point I only have a small box full, but it's enough to have fun. Thankfully Sam loves sprinkles as much as I do.

This morning we had the time to do a Saturday activity so we made chocolate Valentine's Day candies using tiny cupcake liners and sprinkles! I layered milk chocolate with rice cereal (for an extra crunch) and white chocolate. And yes, I bought the chocolate on clearance after Christmas. :) Sam and I had a blast! Later we'll package them to give to his teachers.



I know you're supposed to melt chocolate in a double boiler but I just cheat and use the microwave, carefully that is!
I really hate cleaning those reusable decorating bags so for this project I just used a ziplock bag for my piping bag. This is a much easier way to fill them. The first time I tried I used a spatula and was scraping the chocolate into the bag...bad idea=big mess.



You'd be surprised at how nicely the paper peels away from the chocolate!

A Taste of the Past Year Jan-March

I didn't really take as many photos last year as the years past. I am happy for the few I DID take.



My aunt had paid for a reservation at a bed and breakfast near us before she passed. After much thought we decided that she would have wanted us to go. So my mom stayed home with Sam. Unknown to us I was already pregnant with Izzy. It was good to get away, but was a bitter sweet weekend getaway.
!The monster snowfall we got last year! It was insane...and even more than that it was a ton of fun


Me and the Monkey suited up to play outside!

Weathering the Storm

Dear Friends, Family and Followers,

It's been almost exactly a year since my last post. I thought I'd posted up till March last year but then I remembered that in early February I got influenza, I think that's what it was, and was laid up in bed for over three weeks. That was the start of some pretty challenging chain of events for our family. The main reason it's taken me this long to get back to my blog is the passing of my dear Aunt Jeri who I was terribly close to. In March last year I came home from meeting with my Bible study ladies, was skyping with my mom in Africa when she got the call that her sister, my aunt, had died. Over the course of the following hours it became apparent that this well loved, single, giving, talented early childhood teacher had overdosed on anti anxiety medication. At first I was waiting to write till I felt ready to talk about her and her amazing achievements. But as time goes on I'm realizing that I may never feel "ready". Suicide is by far the hardest way to loose a loved one. The year before Jeri had asked if I'd be willing to be the executor of her will. I had no idea it would be so soon. In my mind I pictured my children grown and Jeri enjoying THEIR children. It's been a difficult journey, but in His wisdom God has surrounded us with Jeri's friends, who were also family to her and to us, and they have been a great source of help and comfort.

About the time Jeri passed Nick realized he was studying the wrong thing in school and withdrew. Two months later I found out I was pregnant with our second child and suddenly the morning sickness took over and left me pretty much useless. The following months it seemed that both Nick and I were in a funk. Sam was amazing and made it through pretty much unscathed. We pretty much took two months off from life. Can a person really do that? Well as much as we could we did. That time together was really good for us. We bonded as a family and were able to move past the obstacles before us. My mother had come back from Africa and stayed three months helping out, if it hadn't been for her hard work and organizing of the estate issues I don't think anything would have gotten done. Her visit also gave Sam an opportunity to get to know his Grandmother better. It is hard to say that in reality there were small blessings that came about after Jeri's death and as a result...for it seems like a poor trade for her life.

We are moving forward, and since then our family has grown. Dec. 9th we welcomed our second child into the world, a daughter! Isabelle is her name and at just six weeks old she's already brought joy and healing to our family. We gave her my aunt's name as her middle name so she'll always have a connection to her Great Aunt who died too young. It's funny how God works things out. For over a year Nick and I were trying to have another child. It was stressful and didn't do good things for our relationship. It put too much stress on us as a couple. Once we let go and put matters into God's hands we felt peace...and then suddenly with the tragedy in our lives God gives us a gift. Sometimes it seems He brings one life into the world to help fill the gap left by a loved ones' passing.

So hopefully now that I have written this post I can get back into blogging. I've missed it and so many changes have happened for us!

Thank you for hanging in there. :)
diana