Special Person of the Day

I knew I'd get behind on this. 
Didn't think it'd happen two weeks after I started it.  ;)

Well.  A special little girl turned NINE last week and this is for her. 

This is the girl that makes my bed and cleans the kitchen without being asked.  She made beautiful earrings for me with beads and paperclips for Christmas this year.  She loves to toss the football with her daddy and go to the library with me.  If Ethan and I had tried to dream up the perfect big sister for our other kids, we wouldn't have been able to imagine such a great girl.  Love you lots, Spunky!

(hanging with her baby sis!)

A New Room for Spunky!

My dear sweet girl is NINE years old today!  We sent her off last night and hurried to get her new room in shape.  Here are the before pictures of Calico's nursery . . .

And here are the after pictures . . .

These aren't the best pictures because I took them with my phone.  I forgot to get the complete picture of the canopy, but we just took some tulle and pinned it to the ceiling.  I'm thrilled with the finished room, but more importantly, so is our girl!

New Artwork

I don't know why I just don't paint all of the time.  I mean, it makes me happy and sometimes people buy the completed projects, so why not?  But I think all creative people get in a rut once in a while, right? 

Anyhow, some of the latest projects.  I would love to have more scripture around my home, so I decided to start putting it into the paintings.  This one is for sale, but in the meantime it's fun to have on the wall!

The following picture is for a VERY special upcoming project.  Little Miss Spunky is turning nine years old this Wednesday and she's getting a big surprise.  Her baby sister is almost two, so we're going to redecorate the baby's room and give it to her sister!  Spunky has never had her own room and she has shown a lot of responsibility in the past year.  The best part of this is that she has no idea what's coming.  She's going to play at a friend's house Tuesday night while we scramble to move furniture, hang curtains, etc.  Her favorite colors are turquoise and lime, so that will set the tone for the rest of the room. 

She has no particular interest in peacocks, but it was different and fun.  I can't wait to post pictures of the completed room!

Some Women Are Dripping With Diamonds

If you've ever seen the Annie movie, you may remember a song that Miss Hanigan sings. 

Some women are dripping with diamonds
Some women are dripping with pearls
Lucky me, lucky me
Look at what I'm dripping with . . .

Little girls

I feel a little like Miss Hanigan this week.  Our dear friends R. and T. had a getaway for a few days and we get to take care of their daughters who are seven and five.  They are GREAT kiddos!  However, I've learned that jumping from four to six kids is a bit challenging.  We keep running out of kid plates and have had to separate the older two from the younger two at night due to too much giggling.  :)  The nice part is that the girls are also homeschooled, so they fit right into our routine.  And their mama packed three meals for everyone plus daily schoolwork for them, so it helped quite a bit.

One funny moment: last week Spunky told me that she had figured out glue works really well to stick things to the fridge.  We had to have a big talk about why we don't do that, of course.  So yesterday we had a Mad Hatter Tea Party and the two big girls wanted to surprise me.  Bright and early in the morning they tidied up the downstairs and put up little teacup decorations that they made.  It was so sweet!  . . . until I figured out they had GLUED the teacups to the walls!  And the cupboards.  My eyes must have gotten really big when I discovered it, because Spunky was quick to point out "But don't worry mom; we didn't glue ANYTHING to the fridge!!" 

Sometimes there just aren't words. :)

When Opportunity Knocks

Spunky was invited recently to join a girl scout troupe. I have been thinking and thinking on it and can't make up my mind. On one hand, I love the idea. The uniforms, the friendships, the ideals . . . oh, and did I mention they are going to Sea World next year? Yeah. On the other hand, I don't know if I can handle one more activity. Two girls in ballet, two girls in Awana, homeschooling, two girls in art class, one boy doing preschool and occupational therapy. And a baby. Since I did just a brief stint of being a Brownie when I was little, I really have no idea what to expect. Anyone out there want to voice an opinion?

Silly Story

A couple of days ago I was talking with Spunky about how long we had been going to our church. I told her that her dad and I both went there even before we knew each other. Then I told her "you know, your daddy was one of the first people I met at our church".

She got this impish look on her face and said, "What did he say . . . (and then in a deep voice) 'I don't have a wife. Do you wanna be my wife?' !!

Crazy girl! Ethan and I both got a good laugh out of that one. :)

Kids and Cleaning

I appreciate it when my children want to help around the house. It's thoughtful. Sometimes, though, it can be a disaster.

We had home team tonight and the girls decided to give mommy a hand before everyone arrived. I left them upstairs for a little bit with a movie and a couple of cleaning wipes. They were all excited to wipe down the coffee table and the walls and whatever else they could imagine. Usually after a mad cleaning with 3 or 4 wipes they lose steam and start doing something else. Well, this time they decided to be EXTRA helpful and they sprinkled baby powder over the whole room. They actually got the powder from inside a ziplock bag in the top drawer of Bubba's changing table. They thought it was like the scented powders I've used on the carpet before. It was all over our green sectional, up the walls, in my craft area . . . everywhere. Then Spunky decided to clean the microwave up there. She did a good job, but for some reason every time I shut the door the microwave starts now. I don't know how she did it. This is the same girl who once managed to make everything on the computer screen appear upside down just by pressing a couple of keys.

Well, that was today. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds . . .