So Busy!

It's no secret that this time of the year is beyond busy for most, but methinks I've gone and given myself more to do than time allows.

Let's see...

Jersey Village Craft Fair on Dec. 6th to get ready for (I still have 21 bags to make!)

I am also making desperately needed belts for Jude using this great tutorial.

Oh yeah, there's also the normal mommy duties, thanksgiving preparations, Christmas decorating, etc, etc, etc...

So what do I do in the middle of all of this?

I go and get myself wrapped up(literally) in a NEW project.

A seriously fun one though!

When I find the time, I'll post the awesome patterns I've picked out for this project.

Until then, just reminisce over my old blogs. =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Watch Them Grow

No matter how many times I hear this song, it always makes me cry those bittersweet tears that come from love and loss.

I cry not only because of the beauty and challenge of my children, but also for my own childhood.

Children just aren't children long enough.

Maybe God makes parenting such an involved process because He wants to make sure we will never forget that childhood.

Enjoy your children today.

If you don't have any or can't be with them...enjoy someone else's.

Every single life is precious and a miraculous gift from God.

(Turn your speakers on and push the play button so that you can fully enjoy this song!)

"Watch Them Grow" by Zach Gill

She's close to God, I'm sure of that
She sits him down, and they have a chat
She asks for sunshine, and he agrees
You see, for her, He'd do anything

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

She is a monkey, and I'm her tree
And now she's climbing all over me
Swinging on my vines dancing on my limbs
Her monkey sounds sound like angel's hymns

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

She is an angel, she is an imp
She's got my big toe, and her mother's lips
She gives fishy kisses, and great big bear hugs
42 pounds of pure love
Then one day she'll be 17, feelin' too big for her home
Seems she was just only 3, oh how our children they grow

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

Then one day she'll be 33, maybe with a child of her own
Seems she was just 17, oh how our children they grow
He'll ask for sunshine, and she'll agree
You see for him, she'd do anything
He is her child, the center of her world
She is his mother... my little girl

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

She's 11 years old now....

Time goes by so quickly as you get older.

I remember time dragging by so slowly when I was a kid. Those birthdays took FOREVER to arrive. And I was never "old enough". It always seemed like the next birthday would be the best one for whatever reason, because as most of you know, a child can never (in their mind) grow up too fast.

Fast forward to adulthood....

Now you catch yourself saying "Woah! Where has the past year gone??" or "It seems like only yesterday that I was _____!".

But the thing that will make time fly the fastest is having a child of your own.

Those baby/toddler/pre-school years pass in the blink of an eye. And a school year?...like a nano-second.

So here I go with my "It seems like only yesterday" phrase...

It seems like only yesterday that I took this picture of my mom holding Cecilia the day after she came home from the hospital. My mom was the one there with me during the delivery (hence the shirt), but we never got a pic of her and the baby at the hospital.

So as soon as we got a chance, she put on the shirt and we took this shot.

Then something agonizing and amazing at the same time happened...

...she started growing up...

...VERY QUICKLY.

Here she is at 3 months (still a little angel) ;-)

And then what happened?? We turn around and she's 13 months already!

Then 2 1/2?!

And oh my gosh...Pre-K...


And here is when time started to get away from me...
...Kindergarten.


Next thing I know she's in the 2nd grade and playing soccer

And this...this is one of those pictures that your kid brings home and all of a sudden you go "What happened to my baby??"

~3rd grade~

But today...today she turns 11 years old.

Today she is no longer a baby, she is almost a teenager.

Today she sang at the Veteran's day celebration as a 5th grader.

She is in her last year of elementary school.

She is at the brink of a whole new era in her life.

But to her....I'm sure this has been the longest 11 years EVER.

For me...not nearly long enough.

No matter what I do, I cannot slow down time.

Can't turn back the hands of that clock.

A growing child causes a parent so much excitement yet at the same time, so much heartache.

Because you've been there.

You know the wonderful and horrible things that will arrive so unexpectantly in her life.

All that can be done is to prepare that child for what is to come so that when the wonderful and horrible things strike, she will afterwards be stronger, wiser and all the more beautiful.

I sat with her at lunch today and for the first time in years actually sang "happy birthday" to her at 12:44 pm...the exact minute of her birth. Those are the moments that seem to help stop time for just a bit...those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.

Happy Birthday Cecilia!

Wow...What happened to October? (or...Gosh I'm late with the Halloween pics!)

Yes, the past week slipped by me quite quickly and I just wasn't able to sit down long enough at the computer and write up a post about our Halloween festivities.

But better late than never, right?

We had a great night and all of the grandparents got to see the kids this year in their costumes.
We stopped by Terry's dad's house on the way to my parents' house(we always do our trick-or-treating in their neighborhood).

Terry's dad really enjoyed seeing the kids.

Here's our little "Spiderman" with daddy. Definitely a rare shot of him actually wearing the mask.

And lovely "Batarina"(AKA Cecilia) looking quite the aloof pre-teen in this shot.

We struggled to get a good shot of the 3 of them together since Jude is quite the wiggle worm these days, but we finally got it to work...kind of. =)


From there it was off to Nana & Paw-Paw's for some candy mooching!

But first we had to get the mask on to complete the costume...


Uhhh...no.

Instantly trying to take it off!

So we gave up and got on to the good stuff...CANDY!!
(My dad holding Jude and though hard to see, my mom is in the back wearing the green boa witch's hat)

"Too-cool-for-you" Cecilia getting the goodies... (but isn't she cute?!)

Here, finally, is a nice shot of her....beautiful smile and all. =)

(not sure where her wings are hiding though!)

Being the first Halloween where Jude could somewhat interact in the trick-or-treating, I made sure to get some of the "door" shots.

And a priceless Terry smile...rare to see one this big on his face, for sure!!

And though the boys (Terry & Jude) cut out a little early because of the chilly air and persistant mosquitos, all in all, it was a good night.

We managed to finally get a good shot of the two kids together just before heading home. Of course it took a couple of boxes of Nerds in hand to prod the little one into sitting still for 2 secs.

I do have to add my reason for being so far behind on posting these pics.

I have been extremely busy these past few weeks making "potato bags" for my first craft fair!

For anyone who doesn't know, I make these amazing bags that allow you to make perfect baked potatoes in the microwave! How awesome is it that you don't have to heat up your oven (AND kitchen) and wait an hour or more for a delicious potato?? What's even cooler is that the bag is just the right size for warming up tortillas and keeping them hot on the table! It actually reheats any kind of bread nicely that a microwave would typically dry out. Things come out so moist with this bag.

ANYWAY, didn't mean to go on like a commercial, but I'm super excited about these bags that I am making and I did really well yesterday at the craft fair. My friend Astrid and I shared the booth (she makes precious bows, tutus, and diaper cakes) and we both really enjoyed the time to be our own people for the day. Both of our husbands did beautiful (and much appreciated) jobs of caring for the kiddos so that we could jump feet first into our first craft fair event. Things went so well that we are already signed up for another fair in December!

So I have a day or two to breathe for now, but I will VERY soon be having to get a jump on making more bags.

Oh...one last thing...in little more than a day's time my little girl will be 11 years old...

....where does time go?

Have a beautiful and blessed week!