a royally dreamy day

there's a little princess in all of us

daddy telling a bedtime "princess Gracie" story

a beautiful Resurrection Sunday!

He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter!

spring break thus far..and the heart of God

Ali has school.

Quinn and his pals are keeping the streets

of our neighborhood safe with their Nerf gun skills...

and these two are stuck together like

PB & J

if you are not a follower of my friend Linn's blog,

please take the time to read

THIS entry.

our family had the privilege of participating

in a small way by sending some items.

read HERE

to see the follow up.

it will break your heart,

as it did my own.

ALL are precious in His sight.

I want to be His hands & feet,

and bring His Kingdom to dark, hopeless places.

may the Father continually break our

hearts with what breaks His own.

this life is too short.

praise Jesus that these precious lives were touched

and honored in Uganda!!

DC in pics

Erin & I had a wonderful trip.

we're in recovery mode -

catching up on some sleep &

tending those aching feet!

the view of the Potomac from

George Washington's Mount Vernon home

National Archives

Abraham Lincoln's top hat

at the Smithsonian

not to be outdone by

Michael Jackson's hat

First Lady Michelle Obama's

Inaugural Ball dress

definitely outdone by

Rick Flair's cape & boots

"whooooooooo"

loved Julia Child's kitchen

in the American History museum

the 8th graders at the White House

Air Force Memorial

the National Cathedral -

a beautiful, breathtaking tour

the National Zoo

changing of the guard at

the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington -

that ceremony never gets old

Erin's first Metro ride

WW2 Memorial

4,000 stars representing the over

400,000 American lives lost during the war

DC DC, Baby

three years ago I headed to Washington DC

with Ali's 8th grade class

tomorrow Erin & I will be on a bus at

5 am (really?!) with

62 8th graders

15 sponsors

and a positive, joy-filled attitude

(Bwah-hah-hah!)

ok, really, I'm sure if I can keep

a steady stream of caffeine,

orthopaedic shoes on my feet,

and some factory-grade earplugs,

I'll be just fine -

honestly.

so, thank you government

for not shutting down.

thereby avoiding countless hours of

free time.

(not the words you want to hear

involving 62 fourteen year olds)

Quinn pointed out the other morning

that when I accompany Gracie's class

to DC that I will be a

grandmother...

do the math,

he could be right.

(I'm saving up money for botox

and B-12 supplements starting now)

I'm honestly looking forward to sharing

this experience with Erin.

that girl can make me laugh,

and her company fills her mama's heart with

JOY!

looming on the horizon

what's looming??

a government shutdown?

tax day?

spring break?

spring cleaning?

Easter Sunday?

Gracie's next surgery?

all of the above!

we were in Charlotte yesterday

to see Dr. Matthews who was still pleased

with Gracie's palate healing, and ready

to schedule her next surgery!

He will be repairing her uvula

(it is split in half basically),

her lip, and also working on her nostril,

which actually will be the most difficult

aspect of this procedure as far as

her recovery goes. she will

come home with packing in her nostril,

which will be interesting b/c it will

obviously affect her breathing, and

we will go back a week after to have a

tube-like device placed in that

nostril to hold the shape as it heals.

it will be an interesting summer...

he listed some things we should avoid/limit

after her surgery, mainly for the incision healing...

sun exposure,

sugar in her diet,

and he mentioned that with some Asians

wheat and dairy

can cause thickening of the skin

at the incision site.

ok, so any ideas for a

sugar-dairy-wheat free

diet for a 3 year old who loves food?!!

I guess we'll cross that proverbial diet

bridge when we come to it!

two of my favorite peeps

playing in the back yard

and here's a taste of the unbelievable musical

talent that resides in our home. I see a

worldwide tour in her future...

hearing that sweet girl plat her harmonica

thrills my soul...

she couldn't do that before her palate repair.

God is so faithful!!

april fools

so last night was Ali's first official
ride-in-the-car-with-other-teenagers-
without-parents-dress-up-get-
your-hair-done-receive-a-corsage-
wear-shoes-other-than-flipflops-
outing.
can't bring myself to say the D word.

it was like the car commercial where the dad
is looking at his 3 year old daughter
sitting in the driver's seat as he gives her
safety instructions, and the next shot is his
teenage daughter backing out of the driveway....

yep, that's what I saw - our little Ali playing dress
up and pretending to go out on a da__,
I mean outing with her daddy.
sniff sniff



"come on dad, please stop embarrassing
me, and quit threatening to be cleaning your gun
when my da--, I mean outing friend arrives"

this masterpiece took an hour -
wish I could take the credit for doing it!

someone was really excited for her sister
(I can't understand why said person
kept giggling all evening...)

the sweetheart of a guy who was our
baby girl's "friend-that-accompanied-her
on -the-formal-outing"

how did the family survive you ask?
after sitting down for dinner to an empty
casserole dish (April Fools kids!),
we ate dinner at Yogurt Mountain.
Yesiree - chocolate, vanilla, and
a plethora of sugary toppings can help
a mom & dad through anything!
(I still don't understand why
Erin keeps giggling to herself)