From one Star Wars boy to another

Caeden's Star Wars obsession is pretty well known by those around us, and he has shared some great conversations with other fans.  

Our friend Ben recently decided to get rid of all his Star Wars action figures.  He is getting ready to move and didn't want to sell them, but wanted them to go to someone he know would enjoy them as much as he did.  He chose Caeden as the lucky recipient of most of them.

Caeden did give him a little bit of money, 

but surely nothing close to what Ben could've made selling the items.

There're some really cool ships--about each of which Caeden can tell you ridiculously obscure details.  (I don't even know how to spell the names of them.  For example, he is holding Sebulba's pod racer in this picture.  I do know who Sebulba is, and remember the pod racing scene in one of the  newer movies, but I had to Google how to spell Sebulba.)

Lots of cool characters, and even some trading cards.

And one very happy boy.

I hope one day he will learn how to give to bless others, without thinking of his own gain.

Thank you, Ben.

Galaxy, pancakes, corn, and trains

This morning before we took Owen and Eliza home, Caeden and Owen worked to beat Super Mario Galaxy 2!

Sylvia and Eliza made pancakes for brunch.

On our way home from taking Owen and Eliza home, we stopped at some friends' who invited us to take lots of sweet corn.  

Sylvia thought it was fun to pick the corn.

 I'm not sure what inspired him, but Caed got his trains out today and built them in the living room!

 He was having fun reminiscing about the days when he played with trains all day long, and we talked about who gave him various trains and pieces of his trainset.  Good memories!  And, I think trains are always fun--at any age!

Putting away childhood

The first night of volleyball practice, Sylvia spent 45 minutes ransacking the house (mostly her room) trying to find her kneepads.  I went up for about 1 minute thinking I might help and saw that every drawer, corner, nook, and cranny of the girls' room was overfull and a mess.  

This morning I told Sylvia she needed to clean up the mess she made the other night and go through all of her things and LET GO of some.  Throw things in the trash; it's okay!!  Well, she decided to go through the "toy closet" and put things she and Annah don't use into bins in the attic.  Goodbye dolls and Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop toys and Strawberry Shortcakes and being a little girl.  

The girls spent many, many hours playing with Barbies and dolls in this space.  They not only loved Sylvia's Barbie house, but created many more rooms to expand the house all throughout the closet.  They used folders and cardboard boxes and duct tape and other toys and craft items.  And they really played and pretended with all of it.  

While Sylvia was a bit more of a "dolly girl" than Annah, they always played dolls together.  I remember a very difficult discussion the day last summer when Sylvia realized that Annah wasn't interested in playing with Barbies most of the time.  Sylvia didn't want to play with them by herself; she loved the pretending, acting, giggling time with Annah.  She wasn't really ready then to outgrow that special activity with her sister, and it hurt when I explained that Annah was older and it was okay for her not to want to play with dolls anymore.  Sylvia was afraid she would lose the special sister bond they shared, but understood.  When I explained Sylvia's realization to Annah, she cried too.  No bond was lost.  Memories made are now cherished, and they share tween/teen activities just as happily.  

Sylvia asked me to take pictures before they packed everything up.  I have to admit, my momma heart was having some trouble with this decision to pack these things away.  Their childhoods are passing so quickly; that's a painful realization for me.  As I came into the girls' room to take pictures, Sylvia showed me around the Barbie house and pointed out each little item they had made or repurposed.  Tears began to stream down my face.  At the same time it hurt so much to see the girls packing their childhood toys away, I am also grateful for the treasured memories they have.  I asked Sylvia to give me a tour on video.  I love the creativity they used in their play and making the space a haven that's now full of memories.  

I also share memories with them.  Many of the items they have in their room are from my own childhood.  Their furniture and lamps, Holly Hobbie items.  

The kids each have one of these pencil drawings in their rooms.  I bought them  at Hearts at Home conference years ago, and the artist personalized each of them for me.  I love the reminder they are to the kids.  

"I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." - Isaiah 49:15b-16a

Here is the wooden Barbie house my parents and brother and sis-in-law gave Sylvia several Christmases ago.  It has been well-loved.

The girls used the boxes their cars came in for garages.

This extra bedroom is made from plastic folders (walls), fabric scraps (carpet and blankets), pencil box (bookshelf), a pizza pressure guard thing to keep the pizza box lid from falling into the melted cheese (table/stool), and plastic ice cream dish (nightstand).

This is a bedroom made from my old Caboodles case!  

The sink, toilet, and tub in this bathroom are all made out of duct tape.

There are many other creative items throughout the house, including a shower made from a Velveeta box, and an entire patio set made from duct tape and other items.  It's all so creative and sweet.  I love the children my girls were and are.  I think they are growing up wonderfully.  I'm so blessed to be their momma and to get to watch them grow up.

The girls decided to keep the wooden Barbie house, a few Barbies, and one of the cars in the closet for little girls who may stop in to play.

"I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." - Isaiah 49:15b-16a

Playing Barbies

The girls had lots of fun playing Barbies with Tessa this weekend.  

I heard lots of "wedding" and "marry you" and "marriage" talk coming from the room while they played.

Ahhh, love cousin time so much!!!

Sibling Friends

After we got home and unpacked this evening, the kids were restless.  Sylvia was feeling particularly sad because Annah didn't want to play Barbies, and hasn't wanted to for a while.  I had a talk  with each girl about understanding one another as they grow up and treasuring the friendship they have as sisters.  They both seemed to get it.  We decided to find something they wanted to do together, and the result was playing outside.  

Grandma L gave Caeden a toy cap bomb yesterday, and he used up every cap tonight.  (I'm sure the neighbors loved it.) 

We bought some nice new sidewalk chalk last week, and the girls were excited to use it up.

Everything is awesome!

A few weeks ago, we went to see The LEGO Movie on its opening night.  It was really great and funny, and Caeden immediately dubbed it, "The Best Movie EVER!"

He often checks out various LEGO websites, and late last week realized that there were minifigures from the movie available "for a limited time."  He became fairly obsessed with them and worried that if we didn't order some right away that he would never be able to get any.  While we knew that wasn't going to happen, his Daddy did order him some.  He has been waiting all week for them to arrive, and was literally squealing with joy when he opened them tonight!

The girls are helping him enjoy them too.

Bubblewrap and a Box

I love it when simple things add joy to life!

We had a couple long strips of big bubble wrap waiting to be thrown away, so I put it down on the kitchen floor where the kids would pretty much have to walk over it this morning on their way into the kitchen and bathroom.  They giggled and popped around the kitchen for an hour before going off to school.  It definitely added joy to the morning for all of us today!

We also had a big box going to be recycled tomorrow, so Sylvia and Caeden decided to play airplane pilots in their few spare minutes before going out to the bus stop.

This evening, Caeden's neighbor-friend Nate came over to play.  It was too hot to play outside, so they played with the Hotwheels RC and its iPad controller.  They spent some time building obstacles and a course for the car inside the big box. 

Simple fun times are the best!!

What's up, Wednseday?

I took the Prius to the dealership this morning to have it Simonized with a glass coat to prevent paint chipping and rust damage, etc.  They gave me a 2013 Avalon for a loaner!!  Not too shabby!!  I had a few errands to run, so I enjoyed cruising around in this baby for a while before heading to the church to work.  Nice!!!!

Sylvia dutifully practiced her violin right after school today, without being asked.  She likes to play her violin, and she also likes to have free time to just play.

Tonight, she got out the Crayola Glow Dome and created an underwater scene.  She had to show everyone her creation once it got dark.  

Broken Hearted

Caeden had been invited for a sleepover with Reece tonight, and when he found out about it he nearly hyperventilated; he was so excited.  But, when Addie (Reece's sister) got sick at school and had to go home, we had to cancel the sleepover.  Caeden's teacher just delivered a message to him at school that he was supposed to ride the bus home instead of going with Reece.  

The kids came home on the bus while I was on the phone about church business.  I could see instantly that Caeden was upset and tearing up.  He whispered to me, "Am I still going?!" And when I shook my head no, he began full-out crying.   Clearly, he'd not received the full explanation of why he had to ride the bus home.  

I try hard not to be on the phone when the kids get home from school, but it was unavoidable today, and that was not good timing.  By the time I got off the phone, Caeden understood that there would be no sleepover, and he was completely broken-hearted!  I tried to talk to him about it, explain that Addie didn't want to be sick, offer for him to get to do something special with Daddy tonight instead, promise there would be other chances for sleepovers...But, he was so upset, he just cried and said thinks like, "I'm just so sad!  I'll never be happy again!  I don't want to do something special with Daddy!  Nothing is going to make me happy again!"  Oh my it was dramatic.

After a few minutes, I decided he'd had enough explanation, and I just needed to let him be sad for a while.  I told him he could cry on me, or go to his room and cry, but he needed to not be angry or destructive.  He happened to then remember he'd earned a new puzzle at school, so he got that out and focused on putting it together.  That helped.

Soon, the girls' friends arrived and they started playing together.  Fortunately, they included Caeden.  When Jeremy came home, he had stopped by the store for a few groceries and also picked up a little Lego Star Wars set for Caeden.  Well, that was more than enough to bring Caeden back to happiness.  He took it upstairs right away and put it together.  Daddy saves the day!!

After supper, he chose a Goofy dvd, and he and I snuggled up in my bed to watch it.  I fell asleep, but when it was over, he went back downstairs and watched another movie with Daddy and all the girls.  

I'm glad that, even though he was thoroughly broken hearted, it was easy to mend.  

Weekend Fun

Last night both of the girls had a friend spend the night.  Ashley came to stay with Annah, and I didn't even get a single picture of them together!  Shame on me!  

Sylvia's friend Isabella and her family moved to China last summer, but came "home" for the holidays.  The girls were so excited to have some time together!!  Isabella really wanted to play in the snow, as she won't have any opportunity to do that in Shanghai.

The girls decided to make a miniature snow fort, with tunnels and bridges.

They used icicles and chunks of ice for a "flag" and other parts of the structure, 

and named it "Fort Friendship."

Caed was honestly a bit bummed that he didn't get to have a friend over, but did pretty well leaving the girls alone to play with their friends.  Later in the day, they did tease him about not leaving them alone and jokingly "made" him wear "the hat of shame."  They all cracked up about it--including Caeden.

Daddy and Caeden got in some living room wrestling time today...

Love these boys!!

This evening, Jeremy took the girls with him when he took Ashley back home then went to setup at church.  So, Caeden and I got some time together at home.  We played Epic Mickey 2, and some Wii Fit.

And we hung out with Skippyjon Jones and one of his books when it was time for bed.

“The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn