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YAY! We're finally back from or 3 1/2 week trip to Texas. BOY were we glad to get back into our own beds and get back on a real routine.

We arrived back home just in time to say goodbye to my dear friend, Lori. She and her family are moving across the state--about 8 hours away. *sniff, sniff* I am terribly sad to be losing my daily walking buddy.

On a complete other topic I thought I'd mention that yesterday I took my kids and Lori's son to the park to play. While we were there a bunch (at least 6) of other little kids--all looking to be 2 and under--were there playing, too. I was running back and forth between mine--helping them climb, showing them how to use things, making sure they didn't fall off the slide, etc. Then I quickly discovered that the other 6+ babies were part of a daycare. However, the two teen-looking gals (maybe college-aged?) watching them were sitting and reading magazines they brought to the park. I was ASTONISHED because I was so busy keeping up with mine, keeping them safe, teaching them new skills, etc. I watched one of the other little boys fall from about a 4-foot landing and at another time there was an angry scuffle between two of them involving hitting/shoving. But the young ladies didn't notice any of it.

Let's just say that whenever I go through those times where I miss adult interaction or money-making work and begin to wonder if my being home is making much difference, I'm going to think of today and remind myself just how blessed I am to get to raise my own children and keep them safe and loved all day long. I will always be their best teacher if I do my job right!

Let's see...what else. Ah ha! This morning my daughter said the prayer at the breakfast table. We all took hands and before my husband or I could start the prayer she busted out with, "Thank you for our house. Thank you for our food. We're out of nanas (bananas). Amen!" We both had to stifle our laughter a bit--we didn't realize she had heard our discussion about being out of bananas before we got breakfast on the table. Lately she's repeating everything back to us in different conversations. Its amazing how much they learn by watching mommy and daddy every day--our priorities, our dreams, our values, and even our disappointments. It just reminds me more and more just how I must work every single hour of every day to instill the best values and the most love that I can.

Brandon Running

Surprise Snowday!

Today we had a surprise snow. Mind you, we've had temps up in the 80s. Then overnight we got a surprising 7 inches of snow!!!!

Last week we bought some cute children-sized snow scoopers on clearance (we love it when Walmart thinks winter is over) so the kids had fun scooping snow with mommy today. We also got to build our very first snowman since moving to Nebraska. We've tried before but the snow was too dry and cold to stick together. Since the temps got well above freezing, it was perfect for building a snowman. We got out a small carrot and had fun using Brandon's old snow attire (hat and gloves). People were driving by smiling and honking--it was so neat to see our neighbors appreciating our hard work. And the kids were so adorable out there playing, scooping, and building the snowman.

Sadly, our snowman didn't even last a full day. By sundown we found his head (and carrot nose) laying on the ground and we got the gloves off his arms just before they fell to the ground. Oh well...it was fun while it lasted and, as the song says, Frostie will be back again some day. We took plenty of pictures to commemorate the day.

Happy Birthday to Kathryn!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHRYN! Kathryn has been one of my dearest friends since childhood (of course she was "Ann" back then!). We were "best friends" in elementary school, long-distance pen-pals in high school, roomies in college, and maid/matron of honor in each other's weddings. And we've been in the hospital with one another to welcome babies into the world. I've been so blessed by her friendship and am thankful that God brought her into my life. I love you, Kathryn!

Happy Birthday to Dana!!!!

Yep, today is my grandfather's birthday--Raymon Dawkin Fullerton, Jr. Would you believe that he's 86 years old, just married a hip young chick that he's madly in love with (after having lost his love of almost 60 years), and he substituted all day today!? That's my Dana and he's like the Energizer bunny, I tell ya! I'm just so proud of him. He loves his family immensely and, more importantly, he's dedicated his entire life to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ both as a missionary here in the states and overseas in Sidney, Australia. And oh the stories he can tell about all of his world travels and the amazing encounters he's had. I just love that my 3-year-old daughter is already crazy about the man, her great grandfather. Lately he's the FIRST one she prays for at night, which cracks us up!

Anyway, happy birthday, Dana. We love you longer and longer...

I already know all this stuff...

Well, I just had to pop on here today to announce that I finally found something that would work for Lee's Valentine's Day gift. I'm still sad about the pillowcase and will continue looking for it, but I found another thing to do for this year. There was another sweet childhood memory Lee has shared about being in first grade. His teacher was talking to the class and when she looked up she noticed that Lee had his fingers plugging his ears. She walked over to him and asked him what he was doing. He responded, "Oh, I already know all this stuff, so I'm just not listening."

We've laughed over the story many times. So when I found this mug carver that specialized coffee mugs to the customer's liking (http://stores.ebay.com/Crystal-Rose) I had to jump on board and get the quote carved in stone, so to speak. The picture above is the final product.

Lost Auction

I wanted to write about all sorts of fun parenting things that happened today like how my son flushed a nice turquoise necklace of mine down the toilet this morning and how I followed my children up a huge snowpile before sinking knee-deep in wet and cold. YIKES!

Instead, I'm very sad and gloomy about an auction I lost. I know, I know. How in the world could an Ebay auction ruin my whole day??? Well, it was a very special auction. See, when my darling husband was a young child he had this pillowcase. His only description to me was that it had the roadrunner on one side and Wile E. Coyote on the other. He said he would punch the roadrunner and flip it over and console the coyote with a hug before sleeping each night. It's one of the most endearing stories he's shared with me about a sometimes confusing childhood. I suppose it was just chance that I decided to search for one online a few weeks before Valentine's day in hopes that I could present it to him in a finely wrapped box and watch his eyes dance as he unwrapped it.

My Google search led me to Ebay where I sat, stunned, staring at the 2" photo starring back at me. Although I had never actually seen the infamous pillowcase, I knew without a doubt that this had to be the one based on his stories. There was no air to breathe. I carefully examined the auction description, wondering why no one would be bidding on such a priceless treasure. To me it would have represented far more than a silly cartoon from long ago--I hoped it would symbolize just how precious his childhood memories are to me and, furthermore, to let him know that I remember all of his stories whether they are sweet or silly, happy or sad. I love it when he remembers something so sweet and how his face looks when he tells the story to me. And, let's face it, when you're a parent of two babies, there's little sleep to be had. So in a crazy way I suppose I thought that maybe a return of his favorite childhood pillowcase might grant him more peaceful nights of sleep so that his long days of working hard for our family could be more effective and enjoyable. Silly, I know. But remember that I've had no sleep.

Now all I have of this dream gift is a picture that the seller was nice enough to email to me before shipping it off to the winner. She was so nice that she even contacted the buyer (who, incidentally, beat me by only bidding in the last 10 seconds) to see if he might reconsider and let me purchase the item. But he was a collector of roadrunner items and said he really wanted it and that he had a box full of collector's items like that.

So...if you happen to come across such a pillowcase, give me a holler. I still hope to have my husband hugging Wile E. Coyote (and me) again in no time.