"One of those days"....

No, actually maybe "one of those years".....

or probably more accurately, "one of those lives".....!

My first posting of 2014 is happening about 8 weeks into the "new" year!  

Well, I've been sort of busy:
we have toddlerhood with Bubba.....

I know, he looks so sweet and innocent, except for when he's very busy 

breaking and entering into his sissies' rooms while they are at school!  

He loves "helping" mama---and keeping mama very busy.

Anyhow----back to "one of those days."  

Just as I was about to get Lil' Miss Mae dressed this a.m....

I realized her full body-suit she wears under her clothes (it's a tight fitting suit that really stabilizes her walking), was still in the washer.  Not being willing to risk her falling by sending her to school without it, I tried to brainstorm the next option.....and being the good parent I am, decided to let her and K-Bug stay home from school for the a.m., and tag along to the safety fair at the mall with Sammy and I and do some shopping at Target....They have some money, more like some special Valentine gift cards from Meemaw, burning a hole in their cute little purses from Meemaw as well.....so all dressed up and......

nowhere to go.........the van door with the ramp for Lil' Miss Mae's wheelchair makes a loud snapping sound and will not open, and that was that....I texted RyDaddy, attempting to stay "The van door will not open," but the swipe function on my phone insisted on saying the "da#* door will not open," which was pretty much summed it up anyhow.  So he came home to check on it, and confirmed that yes indeed, the van door will not open, and we were in fact going nowhere other than now walking to school......sigh.......

so safety fair canceled, shopping trip postponed, but the body suit did manage to get dried in all that, and off to school!  As for the van, I don't know.....

and life, even one of those lives!" goes on....

with plenty of reasons to smile.

Highlighting K-Rae

A free slideshow by Smilebox

Partners in Crime...

 And they're both pretty happy about it! 

Good night Mummy!

Most toddlers have a security object of sorts...

a nice little blankie,

or a cuddly teddy bear.

Well, ours has a mummy....

Yes, an actual mummy.

 "We" spend a lot of time with Mummy....

so much time with Mummy in fact, 

that Mummy even has its own little bed in Bubba's room...

way up high....

we don't actually let Mummy sleep in Bubba's crib with him; 

you'll see why!

This mummy was purchased by me as a gag gift for hubby 

(before little Bubba was even born)....

and graces our house for laughs around Halloween time....

Well, just be careful what you have around for household "decor" though,

because something you may have intended to be fun and games for a couple of weeks, 

could turn into your little one's best friend.....

Plenty of laughs provided!

And fortunately, Mummy needs to take lots of naps (for this Mommy's sanity!)

Good Night Mummy!

Snow cute!

Yes, first snow of the season, and it was a good one!

 

And enjoying our time with Sampa!

It's Shoebox Time---Is yours packed?

Yeah, if you can see it, hit that little green play button below-
I worked hard to embed this song!
I have better luck getting the song to play on my laptop than our iPad.
  

(If it doesn't give you the choice to play the song, so sorry....
my technical skills are fairly limited, enjoy the posting anyway!)

Anyhow: I LOVE Operation Christmas Child!  

This year we were able to pack 5 boxes-

one box from each person in our family!

After giving it a kiss, 

Chloe added a monkey (to my box!) that was given to her at the hospital when she had a minor surgery recently...it touches my heart when this project becomes personal!

 

Kelsie made sure the toys were in working order...

Sammy helped a lot......

Did you know that since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God’s love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child?
 
  

 
And guess what, it's really not so much about the tangible gifts the children receive: the candy, the toys, the toiletries, the school supplies.....those are all nice and fun and I'm sure very much appreciated, but the real ministry of this project is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.  

 Samaritan’s Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts, 

and share the life-changing news of Jesus with children that may not otherwise ever have a chance to hear about Him.  

 Not only do the children get a "free" tangible gift (the shoe boxes WE pack), but they get to hear about the true free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ....God's Son. 
 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Mark 16:15

We love this ministry of Operation Christmas Child and their mission work to children!

And somehow, I think we are just as blessed doing this project together 

as a family each year, as the kids are that receive the gifts!

So, say cheese....and get to packing! 

We send our shoebox gifts each year as a dedication "gift"
for Sampa and Meemaw in lieu of buying gifts,
.....so this blog posting is dedicated with love to both of them
as an early Merry Christmas!
For specific tips on packing a shoebox, check out Uncle Si's shoebox...
click here: pack-a-shoebox-with-uncle-si

Too cute to spook!

Yes, she carved this all by herself!!!!

And, while she was doing that, 
Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another---
his mother called him "WILD THING!" and Max said "Ill Eat You UP.....
 
I designed his "Wild Thing" costume from the children's story by Maurice Sendak Where the Wild Things Are.
And since I love this book, you get to put up with parts of it being interjected into this posting!

BUT, our story actually goes more like this.....
I decided pumpkin carving (like most things lately!!!) 

didn't seem like something that would be overly productive with Bubba's help,

so we left the big girls and Dadda to their carving tools and pumpkin guts and

went to "Trick-or-Treat Street" downtown for a "pre-trick-or-treat" event.
Instead of creating mischief, 
Bubba was quite contented being carried around by Mama for an hour, 

looking cute in his "Max" suit and collecting lots of candy
and even cotton candy---which was the best thing ever!

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the iconic town dinosaur eating "someone" though, 

but he went right up for a closer look---

...and tamed him with a magic trick of staring into its yellow eyes...

...without blinking once,

(and when he played a spooky tune on the piano...)
 
it was frightened, 
and called HIM the most wild thing of all!
 

Daddy designed the awesome ship from the story for Lil' Miss Mae.

Creamie and Grandpa helped get it all assembled about midnight the night before.

These pics were from a week ago at "Truck-or-Treat."

 

Although "Monster" Lil' Miss Mae drove the ship, "Max" got to pose for a picture!

 

“And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!”

 ...a very camouflaged cheetah--who is also "wild," please know!

 

We ended the Halloween festivities with the

Victory Life Church Trunk-or-Treat,

and Carnival...

that's our pastor helping K-Rae shoot the TP gun!

Just kidding....I mean: "Let the Wild Rumpus Be Done!"...
at least until next Halloween!