My daughter sleeps with so many animals, pillows, dolls, and blankets in her bed, that sometimes when I go in to kiss her before I go to bed, I can’t find her. One night I thought I saw her and then realized I almost kissed her cabbage patch doll. Can you find her in the pile? It reminds me of the old Where’s Waldo books. Here’s a closer look… there she is!

This weekend I was reminded of how a little care and attention can make one feel loved and cherished. They lathered me with love as they enthusiastically rubbed my legs and feet with lotion. Then my son found a battery powered fan and eagerly cooled me down when our power went out on Saturday afternoon. (seriously, was I living the high life or what?) On Sunday they woke me up with breakfast in bed and flowers.

22 months after we brought our son into the world, we eagerly welcomed his little sister. I came home from a MOPS meeting a week before my due date noticing on and off contractions. I remember walking up the stairs and telling my husband I was having light contractions. I then burst into tears because we hadn’t yet vacuumed the car and I didn’t want to bring the baby home in a dirty car.

Earlier, I alluded to the fact that my daughter finally got it after her first game of soccer. As the season has progressed, she has truly gotten it, indeed! Here she is getting ready to steal the ball from the pack.  Hmmm… notice a little blocking going on here? And she goes in for the score!  She did it! I love the look on her face after scoring another goal!

** May 3, 2010 ** Write it down folks. Circle it on your calendar. I’ve dreamed of this day for months. I’ve gotten so close only to be thwarted. But, folks… it finally happened. The circus family is caught up on laundry. I know, I never thought it would happen either. Friday afternoon I washed my Christmas table cloth. This evening, I dry cleaned our sweaters with one of those handy Woolite Dry Cleaning sheets.

Tonight I was reminded of the value of hard work. For the past two years I’ve had the joy of teaching my son’s beginning catechism class at our church on Sun evenings. The kids are working through the The Shorter Catechism Questions, and by completion of level 3 the kids will have memorized all 150 questions and answers. My son was in the beginning class which covers questions 1-32. Last year he came really close to getting them all, but we didn’t quite get them all.

Lately some friends from church have been having babies and it is quite humorous to observe all the face book stalking that takes place now a days when one is in labor. Even just 3 yrs ago when I had my youngest, it wasn’t like this. Now when your in labor you update your status before heading to the hospital and then the whole world is checking your page and your close friends page looking for updates.

In the past week I’ve had some humorous discussions about my ever growing belly. I had forgotten the funny things kids will do and say to a women with a big belly. I was teaching 3 rd grade when I was pregnant with my son and my students were a never ending source of comical observations on my pregnant belly. But, my own children are quite used to pregnancy. They get it more than most.

We took a lot of pictures of my son’s first baseball game of the season, but without a doubt, this one is my favorite. His look truly says it all. Is that the face of a happy ball player or what? This is what little league is all about…the pure love of the game. May he never outgrow it. Visit here or here for more picture fun.