Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from one of my angels!

Middle Angel

9 years

Happy anniversary to Stranger!  (And I guess to me too!)

Nine years.  Wow.  It feels like 10 minutes (under water).  8 )

We could never have imagined the joy and the heartache that we've experienced over the past 9 years.  What a ride it's been.  I can't even imagine what the next 9 will bring.

Happy anniversary to my husband!

Remembering

Today we remember our sweet, perfect daughter.  Four years ago today our princess passed away so peacefully in my arms.

Finally a family of four

Finally a big sister

A leaf from my big sister

Remberance Garden

A perfect flower.  Made to bud on Earth and bloom in Heaven.

We miss you.  We love you.  We are hollow without you.  We think about you every day.  We patiently wait to be with you again.

Love always,

Mommy and Daddy



Halloween in Strawberry Land

I'm too tired to write anything witty - but enjoy these photos anyway!

What it takes to get three little girls ready to trick or treat

Strawberry Shortcake

Blueberry Muffin

Apple Dumpling

Some attempts to get all three of them to look at the camera and smile -

I can't wait to see what they dream up for next year!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!

I'm sure that I'll have more pictures to post later, but here is how we started our day -

Ready for school!

Sisters with matching ribbons!

An extra dose of cheese!

Check back later for more photos from Strawberryland (that's a preview of their costumes for this year!)

Four

Happy Birthday to our sweet SleepingAngel. 


She'd be 4 today if we were lucky enough to have her with us.  Instead she is sleeping in God's hands - waiting for us to join her when it is our time.

Two sisters sitting on the couch.

The baby that wasn't supposed to make it out of the delivery room.

Sleeping - holding onto the necklace that her big sister made for her.

We miss you sweet baby.  And we'll never forget you.

Rapunzel's Crown

Three Rapunzel's

A few days ago the girls and I did a craft from Family Fun magazine.  They had a good time and the crowns came out pretty cute.


TinyDancer made hers look just like the real crown - complete with the jewel in the back.

Jewel in the back

EasternStar was very proud of the job she did "all by herself".

All by myself!!

Check out my shoes!

I made RainbowBaby's for her -

The girls had a good time and even Daddy joined in.

 

Cute little hands



How cute are these little hands?


Today was EasternStar's first real day of preschool.  Technically they started yesterday, but it was an abbreviated day.  Half of the class came for 1 hour and did 10 minutes of each activity.  Then the second half of the class came later for 1 hour and did the same thing. Today the entire class went for the full 2.5 hours.

I wish that I could have been there to see her off.  Sadly I had to work and Stranger was the lucky one to take her and pick her up.  It sounds like she had a great day and made this picture all by herself.  She was most excited that she used the potty and got to have her cheese & pretzels at school.

I am so excited for her to start something new all by herself.  She is really growing into her role as a "big kid" and sometimes wants to do things on her own.  I hope that school will help build her confidence in herself and her skills.  If nothing else, I hope that going to school will teach her that Yes, she can pull down her own pants, climb on the potty, wipe, pull her pants up and then wash her hands.  All. by. herself.  Please God.  If nothing else, let us finish the year mastering using the potty alone.  8 )

Second day of first grade

Here are some photos of our second day of first grade.  I love this cute sweater.  Although I don't really get it.  It's a sweater .... but it has short sleeves.  Why would they make a short sleeved sweater?  Shouldn't sweaters have long sleeves?  If it is cold enough to wear a sweater,  shouldn't you be wearing long sleeves?  Won't your arms be cold?  And on the other .... errr - arm ..... If it is warm enough for short sleeves, won't you be hot in a sweater??  That's my thought to ponder today..... on to the pics!

Second favorite "go to" pose.

How cute are those shorts - right?  And those completely impractical for running around at recess but adorable shoes?

Goofing off while waiting to leave for school.

Adorable!

I hope that her second day is as great as her first!


To celebrate the end of summer, tonight TinyDancer and EasternStar are packing their bags and heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Tomorrow they are headed to the track to make us some money! bet on the ponies see the horseraces while RainbowBaby, Stranger, and I get to make up for goofing off during the past few weeks and catch up on laundry and clean.

First day of first grade!

Yesterday was TinyDancer's first day of 1st grade.  Can you believe how grown up she looks in her uniform?

Proud first grader!



Don't you love that pose?  That is TinyDancer's new "go to" pose.  Lately the only photos that I have of her include that pose.  And don't you LOVE those knee socks??  She is very proud of them!

The kids have been excited to see summer come to a close and get back into the groove of school.  EasternStar doesn't start for a few more weeks (which she is very put out about...) and TinyDancer has been counting down the days.

Here are some more pics of the morning -  

French braid for her hair.

Only RainbowBaby was up early enough to say good-bye.  EasternStar woke up and immediately asked for TinyDancer.  She was not happy that TinyDancer got to go to school while she had to stay home.  8 )

Right before the scramble to leave for school / work.

We brought her teacher this cute plant -

Plant.

Card.

TinyDancer had a great first day and was full of excitement when she came home.  We're looking forward to a great school year!

Rainbow Birthday



What type of first birthday party could a RainbowBaby have other than a Rainbow Party of course?  We had a simple party for RainbowBaby - just cake and presents in the backyard - but what a cake it was!  I found several cool examples of rainbow cakes online and had to try my hand at making one. 

Birthday cake - outside

RainbowBaby blowing out her candle.

Birthday cake - inside
How fun is that?

RainbowBaby even got her own rainbow cake all to herself!

What do I do with this?

Eat it???

In addition to cake, we had umbrella and raindrop cookies and cupcakes with suns on them. 

Umbrella and raindrop sugar cookies.  Yum!

Sunshine cupcakes

The cupcakes didn't turn out exactly as I'd pictured them in my head.  I used those sugar covered orange slices that you find in the candy aisle.  I flattened them with a rolling pin and then cut them into strips.  Some of them got stretched out making them look kind of like octopuses (or octopi? or an octopus?)

We also had party hats and decorations.  I loved the idea of making these tissue paper flowers, but then discovered that we didn't have anywhere to put them.  Oh well - they looked fun on the fence!

Birthday girl in a party hat!

We had so much fun that the birthday girl fell asleep in her swing! 

Oh when the mighty fall!

I can't believe that it's been a year!  Well, over a year now......RainbowBaby is 15 months old!