I Want my Baby back......

.......baby back, baby back. Yes, Big J is off on a Grand Adventure in the Ukraine--his 2nd of 3 extended stays in Eastern Europe. We hope the trip proves worthy, so far it's proved to be a trial for him. He came super close to missing his flight from Paris because of a semi-short layover mixed with an airport amidst construction and having to be shuttled to a distant terminal, didn't have luggage his first 1 1/2 days or so, has a bit of a crazy doting landlady, has had terrible jet lag and hasn't been able to get to the information he wants as of yet in the archives. On top of that he misses us terribly and the feeling is mutual. One never quite realizes the gem one has until it is gone. These are a few of my favorite things about my man:

Kisses and hugs and cuddles on couches,

Help with the kiddos, dinner and dishes,

Smiling so cutely with that 'fake' dimple and long eyelashes,

Never complaining, cursing or shaming,

Always thinking of those creative ideas,

Playing piano and goofing off with family,

Ping pong-ing and sporting (he's good at all and great at most),

Yet serious too,

Yes, Big J is the best honey bunches.

Te Amo Bebe! Ya lublu tebya Liubovnik!

And then I don't feel so bad cuz I've got it pretty good to have him forever.

Musings of a Teaching Moment?

OK, So, now that Christmas is over and decor is just about down--except for that 'holiday' stuff that's fun to leave up until thoughts of Valentines appear--let's have a little chat. So, Big J was feeling a bit, guilty perhaps, about leading our children to believe in Santa Claus and I feel much the same way. Now, mind you, he and I are just fine with the Santa tradition and have 'Santa' bring stockings and a small gift in the stocking. We make sure we are NEVER the first ones to mention his name and keep to tradition without overemphasizing his visit but rather emphasizing the birth of our Savior. Speaking of which, this srikes a funny feeling because we believe in Jesus Christ and therefore celebrating Christmas involves a fictional character and a non-fictional character. To us, this is confusing to a 5-year old. Our little 5 1/2er has been (re)learning the latter part of 2008 the difference between fiction and non-fiction. If we lead her to believe there really IS a Santa then logically she will likely question the other character in the Christmas season. Now, this is good because we think she should have her own beliefs and testimony yet at age 5 one may have a hard time telling the difference between truth and fiction--man, don't we all sometimes. Anyhoo, so while in his "thinking spot" Big J came up with what I consider a fantastic idea. B knows there is no Easter Bunny (we think)--we hide the eggs and Big J did get to BE the Easter Bunny for W-M one year and have pics that B has seen. So, his idea: a conversation begins about the Easter bunny coming and how we know he's not real.....just like Santa. The frill of Christmas is over, the truth is already known about the Easter Bunny and she's hearing it from the people she (hopefully) trusts most plus we're no longer 'lying' to our little girl to go along with ever-growing commercialism. We can explain how we don't need to argue over his existence with those who care to but that it's a tradition we like to celebrate because it's fun, not to mention everywhere, but Santa is fiction. Thoughts??

Little Miss Adventure Winter Fun!

Our sweet B continues to amaze us with her positive attitude when new adventures arise. She and her daddy went on an ice skating date to celebrate him coming home from 3 months gone and they had the time of their lives. And daddy got to see first hand that the older boys are quite taken with his little girl--a couple kids from her bus were there at the same time and were holding her hand to help her skate, helping her up when she fell and helping her off the ice as well as showing off their skills. I was glad to hear how gentlemanly they behaved! Boy do we have our work cut out for us when she's a teenager. Yipes!

Can you believe this girl?! Here's yet another adventure our little B turning big B aced within an hour. Sure she's not ready for black diamond runs, but for the little time Daddy, Grandpa and me spent explaining and practicing she 'so totally rocked' dude! (yes, Finding Nemo is one of my favorite quotable movies) I was again amazed at her positive attitude through the falls, which there were few, and quick learning. If you look close enough I'm in the background in blue, not doing as badly as I thought--must be kinda like riding a bike more than I thought--and Daddy is somehow skiing backwards while filming. Yeh, we know where the talent in this family comes from.........

Ya see what I mean, this girl is adventuresome! We just hope we can help teach her to find her limits! This is at a good friends' house in Utah while on vacation. We, the boys mostly really, made a fun tubing/sledding hill that spanned three small hills to make for quite the ride. B was probably less scared than me of going into the trees. She did fine on this run videoed, but on one not on video (unfortunately) she smacked a tree head-on while on a sled and it ran half way up the scrub oak with her in it. She of course spilled a little and got up laughing and was ready to go at it again! Amazing.