Andrew Has A Golden Ticket

A Golden Ticket. well actually it is white, blue and made of plastic. But today marked another phase in this journey of life. Andrew obtained his driver's license. So watch out world! Especially those in Hampton Roads.

Great job Andrew!.

Not so nice ending to a Beautiful Day

As I left you hanging on the last blog..We had a wonderful Tea and then one of Danielle's friends came to spend the night. The girls played and laughed the day away. Having a wonderful time. Then I told them it was time to clean up. A little later we heard a small crash above our heads but we had been hearing them all day. Then Danielle comes down the stairs, very pale, eyes teary and holding her right hand. They had been playing tug of war when the friend lost her grip and Danielle went flying, landing back on her outstretched hand. We put ice on it wrapped it, gave her some Tylenol and sent her to bed. (we have been through this before and being a mom of 5 I tend not to panic). But in my heart I knew it was broken. She slept through the night and on Sunday she still had pain and could not use it. So off to the ER we went. After a 4 hour stay she came home in a cast. Danielle broke her radius and possibly the ulna.

We have always said that Danielle is our butterfly because she just floats through life. We just wish she could float and not fall and break bones. This is now broken bones 4 and 5 for her. One week without dance and she can start back this week. Maybe tomorrow she will get to have the cast cut down to below the elbow. She has not had much pain and we are thankful for that.

Tea Party for the Ladies

Danielle's birthday falls right in the middle of the Christmas Holidays. This year she wanted to invite a few friends and go to a tea house for Tea. Now please keep in mind Danielle does not like tea. But she wanted to experience a TEA. So on Saturday, January 31st, Danielle, a couple of her dearest friends, Arielle and I went to tea at With Flair Tea House. This place is a hidden gem of Chesapeake. Pam Fogle, the owner has converted a small older home into a charming tea house. When we arrived we were seated at a table with the china tea cups, crystal water goblets, glass plates and linen napkins. Pam brought out the tea menu and we each chose our own tea. Three of the girls chose Wild Raspberry, Danielle chose a lemon blossom, and I had Pomegranate Raspberry. We were each served our tea in individual silver tea pots and sugar cubes were plentiful, which is good. I am a southern girl and I like all my tea sweet. Then Pam brought out serving trays piled with wonderful food. Because we had reserved the Royal Tea, we had finger foods. Tiny sandwiches, and desserts. I will try to name a few; Chicken Salad on Croissants ( this was fabulous), Pimento Cheese on Wheat bread, Quiche, Virginia Ham on Yeast Rolls, Cucumber sandwiches, stuffed grape tomatoes, lemon bars, Raspberry Scones that were DIVINE, and two other desserts that were rich and sweet. It was a fun time and I know that Danielle loved her experience. I am thinking I am going to set up a luncheon there with some of my girl pals. I could go back and just enjoy trying each of the teas. Hey what a great idea! The day was a success. The night did not end well but that is another blog.

Chinese New Year 2009

Arielle called it a work of art.

Craig loved the plating of the food.

The Girl loves her noodles!

We had a quiet Chinese New Year celebration this year. We stayed home and ordered in Chinese Food. So not much to blog on this time just a couple of pictures.

The Things They Pick Up

Arielle, Danielle and I are memorizing Bible Scriptures this year along with Beth Moore and a couple of thousand other people. You memorize 2 Scriptures of your choice a month. On the first and fifteenth of each month you choose a Scripture verse, post it on Beth Moore's Blog, and then get busy. It is a such a joy to read the thousands of verses and feel a bond with these sisters in Christ. Anyway, on the first of January I chose Isaiah 43:1-2. So each day I repeat it out loud. Then this past week as the girls and I were reviewing, Shoshannah starts saying my verse. Not word for word but pretty close. Once again this just reminded me what little sponges these little ones are and how much they can truly learn. And what better thing to learn than God's Word. So, starting now we are going to include Shoshannah on our adventure. I have recorded her saying Isaiah 43:1-2. The facial expressions are great. Again remember to turn off the music at the end.

And the Emmy goes to....

Okay before you watch this there is a warning. If you are a fan of the Disney Teen idols then don't watch. Don't read but if you choose to no offense is attended.
My girls thankfully are not Hannah Montana, High School Musical or Jonas Brother fans. They have not found these "teen idols" to be anyone they want to look up to. And they just don't understand what all the hype is about. But anyway, we watched part of Jonas Brothers show on TV and Danielle found the girls reactions funny. So being Danielle she has worked on and perfected her reaction to the Jonas Brothers.. Don't forget to go down and turn off the music before you play this video.

Happy 14th Birthday Arielle

I am behind on the blogging. So we are backtracking to Monday, December 29. It was Arielle's 14th birthday. Arielle requested homemade donut holes for her birthday breakfast. So, Danielle and I arose early and made her donuts. Danielle and Shoshannah took her breakfast in bed and the day began. After breakfast we headed to the mall. Arielle's big gift this year was a docking station for her ipod which she got for Christmas. We found one right away and then we just walked the mall checking out what was going on. We didn't discover any big sales. It was very sad for us but great for the bank account. We decided to have lunch at Chick Fil A. We ate and then headed home. I put Shoshannah down for a nap then got that sick feeling you get when the food you eat is bad. Yes, Arielle, Danielle and I ended up with a slight case of food poisoning. WE took some supplements and prayed for the best. Not a good way to spend the birthday. But later that day we were feeling somewhat better. But the birthday girl did not want more chicken for dinner which is what she had requested. So instead we had pizza rolls and she did not want a dessert, but I couldn't let the day go by without something so I picked up one of those Oreo Frozen pies and it was just the thing. So she opened a few more gifts and we just hung out for the rest of the night.

Arielle is 14 but going on 17. She has matured into such a sweet young lady who is such a joy to have in our family. We love you Arielle, you are a blessing to us!