Love is...

Payton's Valentines Day Heart Project was collaged and printed, then cut out and pasted to the heart and decorated with yarn, stickers, glitter and paper. He chose the pictures and the words that are important to him. Words that remind him of L-O-V-E. He and I enjoyed working on this project together.
He was proud to bring it to school to display in the hallway.

Meet Lottie

This is my girlfriends new puppy.
Her name is Lottie, short for Charlotte. She was brought in after she became sick when a couple adopted her from a shelter over at Touhy and Harlem.
She has parvo and the people couldn't afford to keep her.
My friend works at an emergency animal hospital and they are trying to give her a chance to get healthy.
You can see the sickness in her eyes, but she is so sweet still...
I hope she pulls through this, poor girl.
This is why every puppy should be neutered.
It's not fair to them to be born into neglect and sickness.
She is so lucky to be taken care of right now, most of the puppies with parvo get put to sleep.

momma's little boy

This is what Payton woke up to this morning in the kitchen... Reagan caught him singing happy birthday to himself!

My baby boy is having a birthday today?!!!
I can't believe little payton hatched 6 years ago already. how time flies. i can remember every detail about his fast birth, only a few hours in labor and 2 hours from hospital check in to being born at 4:00 am. I remember watching the president on the TV in the hospital in a meeting with Saadam Hussein. I remember getting a shamrock shake on the way home from the hospital when we brought Payton home for the first time. I remeber having only 2 boys and living in an apartment, buying our first house with him in the carrier. Now here he is in kingergarden. Learning to enjoy school and sounding out words as he is about to start reading. Solving math problems in his head and saying, "momma, momma." about 1,000 times a day to get attention.
My little boy, my middle child, my wonderful blessing, Payton Alexander. I am so proud and happy to be your "momma". I pray for you to continue on the path you are headed. sweet, loveable, silly, respectful and most important, loving the Lord. I pray you will follow him and he will bless your life.
love, momma

My 6 year old boy!

The Three Musketeers

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just a decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the tree with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on my love for Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

The Day Before

today is the day, now night, before payton's 5th birthday party. he is having a star wars theme this year. at first he wanted a star wars, pokeman and power rangers theme combo, but we talked him out of it. so now, the night before, we have all the party preps ready for action. i did all my due diligence and looked on ALL the birthday party web sites on the net. planned, shopped at like 16 different stores to make sure i had every ingredient for dark side vs. light side necessities. we will have the yoda soda and darth malt to drink. jedi mix and darth mix to snack on, light sabers to battle with, an asteroid game, a battle scene cake and even a jumpy for jedi training. yet somehow after all the stores, purchases, baking and prep work, i feel like i didn't do enough. like somehow, my famous five year old star wars birthday isn't going to live up to the "famous five year old star wars birthday" protocol. which is posted where? i didn't quite find some elite standard i had to attain when i was searching for the themed goods. no one said, "you will be a failure as a mom" or a "party planner" or a "jedi" if you do or don't do it this way... i always have these perfectionist tendencies that haunt me. i go on this auto pilot ride called "this is your standard", "this is what you must achieve" and don't want to get off...

well, i'm off, i've exited the ride, for this party at least.

when i was making the cake tonight i was so excited, ready to cut that rice krispie treat full of chocolate frosting at just the right angle so the lava could flow out of the volcano that anikin and some other dude would be battling on shortly. well, oops, just as i was about to be so proud, the side of the volcano fell off. then the side of the cake did the same. as i watched the cake slowly crumble onto the side of the tinfoil wrapped cardboard i somehow equated it to my pride in being the best starwars throwing party, the best mom of payton, the best cake maker... it was like i watched myself fall apart as i watch the cake crumble. but you know what, when i went to tell payton about it as reagan licked all the pink (and i couldn't quite make red frosting since i ran out of food coloring) off the spoon, i saw he was sleeping. peacefully. and i think knowing he went to bed probably thinking "wow, i have the best mom in the world. she is doing ALL this for me" made it all ok. so here i am, ready to face the 5 year old critics tomorrow with a half collapsed cake, knowing the next strive in the quest for perfectionism is just around the corner. and hey, even though i know it is me to do it, i know i will still be loved if i don't. i just have to remember that!

before the crumble

after the crumble