A Funny Story about your mom and Auntie Suzy as Children.

 When we lived in North Dakota, "Happy Joe's" Pizza Palor was a favorite of our children. They made a good pizza and it was definitely a kid-friendly environment. They also gave each of the children their very own helium-filled balloon on a string. The balloons would be secured on the back of their chairs until it was time to go home and then I would tie them on each child's wrist as we headed to the car and home.

Becky was 6 and very independent. She declared that she was old enough to hold the string by herself and didn't need it tied on "like a baby". Suzy, who wanted to do everything her big sister did, also decided that she didn't want her balloon tied on. Not wanting to make a scene, I told her ok but warned her if she let go of the string the balloon would float away.

Sure enough, we had barely made it out of the door before Suzy's balloon slipped out of her hand, passed Mr. Wonderful, and into the North Dakota sky. Immediately salty tears poured out from Suzy's eyes and she began to cry. Mr. Wonderful picked up Suzy and held her closer to the sky and said, "Don't cry Suzy, your balloon is going on a trip......I bet it's on the way to Texas for our family reunion. It's small so it needs to get a head start. Wave it goodbye and tell it to have a good trip!"

This seemed like a perfectly logical thing for a balloon to do and so Suzy started waving and shouting to the balloon. "See you soon! Bye Balloon!"

A day or so later Suzy asked her Daddy, "Where's my Balloon now?"

So Mr. Wonderful would get out a map and show her where we were, where the family reunion was to be held and all the states in between. Then he would say, "The weatherman said, it was windy today so I'm sure Balloon didn't get very far. I think it's probably in South Dakota by now." That seemed to satisfy her curiosity so off she'd go.

Every night before she would jump in bed she would have to say her prayers. She "God Blessed" everyone she knew and she always ended with, " and God help my balloon help make it to Texas."

A few days later the grandparents arrived and the house was busy with activities in preparation for our long car trip to Texas to the family reunion. In all the activities the balloon was soon forgotten and we didn't bring up the subject again.

Imagine our surprise and Suzy's delight one morning when we were eating breakfast at a restaurant and looked out of the window to see a huge hot air balloon that looked very similar to Suzy's "Happy Joe's" balloon. "Oh look, Daddy," Suzy said excitedly, "Look how big my balloon got! It's here, just like you said it would be." "How did it get so big?" she asked.

"Well," said Mr. Wonderful, as if he were expecting this question all along. "The balloon had to get bigger to make the long journey. Every time you prayed God made the balloon bigger."

Again, this sounded perfectly logical to Suzy and she was satisfied with the explanation. Becky, ever the skeptic, looked at her Dad and said matter of factly, "Aren't you glad she stopped praying when she did?"

The Faith of a child is so pure!

First full day with Diva

Our Canadians arrived right on time and Miss Emma went right to Poppa . (They have a special connection....she bats her eyes and he turns to mush!) After collecting baggage and several attempts at putting the car seat in correctly, we were off to Chick-fil-a ( Becky's favorite). On the two hour drive home, all of them fell asleep in the back seat ( hey, it's a long plane ride and Momma are the last to get any rest!)



Wednesday was spent shopping for the girls, and Barnes and Noble for the Daddy. Emma was quite patient riding in the buggy while Mom bought replacement dishes (broken from the flight), baby food, and lots of things she doesn't have in Canada. Conversation went something like this..

Becky:....."Do you know how much I pay for this in Canada?"

Me: "No, I don't have a clue."

Becky: "At least twice as much"

Who knew how much excitement you can get from baby wipes and cereal? Needless to say there were many conversations that started this way. The merchants were pleased to take our money and the car was packed by the time we got home from shopping and grocery buying.

Lunch was spent at (you guess it! Chick-fil-a!) Emma delighted her Diva with her new trick, drinking from a straw! Any guesses who bought her the Daisy bib? I was also introduced to baby place mats. Plastic colorful mats that have sticky strips that you peel to stick to the table and keeps it from sliding. Emma loves finger foods and loves feeding herself. She enjoyed the freedom and mom enjoyed the clean surface. Clean up is easy too, just by rolling up the uneaten food in the mat and tossing it.

Emma enjoyed our big back yard where there is always a new discovery. She liked the grass and enjoying rolling in it. Poppa especially liked her new hat. No outside retreat is complete without a ride in the new red wagon. Emma and Poppa took it out for the inaugural ride. It was hard to decide who had the best time....Emma or Poppa!




Last night we ate at Cracker Barrel....this time both a Mommy and Daddy favorite. We made a quick trip to Target for a wading pool for Emma and some allergy medication for Mom. Both Emma and Mom have allergies. Em is cutting more teeth so this Diva wiped lots of runny noses and drooly chins yesterday.

Emma loves her bath time but we only have a shower. Leave it up to Poppa to come up with a way to keep our baby happy and clean. He bought a small pond liner for a water feature that is black plastic and fits inside the shower. As you can see Emma liked the concept really well! When she is done it is easy to empty the water down the shower drain and easy to fill from the shower head. Emma slept all night long which definitely makes for happy parents. More adventures today! Stayed tuned!

Happy Birthday Becky and Emma

Thursday Thirteen..About Becky

Thirteen Things about Becky that I hope her daughter inherits!

1.Today is our daughter Becky's birthday. This is her first birthday as a new mom. As a first time Diva and lover of Fairy Tales these are the gifts I would bestow on her that you possess yourself.

2.The first thing I see and is still true about you is that your smile lights up your face and electrifies the whole room. I am reminded of this comment.....Sitting in a cafe this afternoon, a random cute bearded old man walked by and said: "I hope the baby has your smile." I hope so too!

3. I hope Emma inherits your love of book and a hunger and thirst for knowledge. I laugh knowing full well her nursery theme is golden books and she already has wonderful posters on her walls of great children's book. I wouldn't be surprised to see her cutting her first teeth on a cardboard book.

4. I pray that Emma will always feel loved, cherished and protected. I love this picture of you kissing your sweet Emma's head while she is sleeping peacefully. I pray that she will always feel safe and secure in your loving arms.

5. I pray that Emma inherits your sense of adventure. I never hear the Dixie Chicks song "Wide Open Spaces" that I don't think of you. I hope she is as fearless as you my darling "Warrior Princess"


6. I hope she inherits your beautiful head of hair.....it took you a long time to grow hair and were pretty much a cue ball as a baby.. She already has a pretty good start in that department.

7. I hope she has your sense of humor (that you inherited from your dad). I hope she can look at a "Far Side" Cartoon and laugh hilariously.

8. I pray that she will react as strongly as you do at injustice, and cruelty and will be an agent for change in her generation.

9. I hope she has an active imagination and always has some creative outlet for it, whether it's making up stories, drawing, or building with Legos.

10. I pray that she will be a leader and an independent thinker just like you.

11. I pray that she will be physically active and enjoy participating in sports. Can you see Emma as a young soccer referee?


12. I pray that she will always keep the lines of communication open with you even if you don't agree with what she is doing. I always loved that you didn't shut us out of your life.

13. I pray that you can give her Wings and Roots. Happy Birthday Becky.