Christmas Picture Fun!

I ended up working on cases at the shop most of the day on Tuesday even though it was Gloria's birthday. I didn't feel too bad since she had already had two fun birthday parties AND my mom and dad picked her up around 10:00 a.m. and spent a good portion of the day with her at the mall. We met my two sisters-in-law and their families at Walmart for a group kid picture at 7:00 p.m. All the kid's were dressed in Christmasy colors with clean faces and (mostly) combed hair. We were hoping to surprise Rob's mom and dad with a picture of the grand kids for Christmas.

As the parent of a former two-year old girl, I could only sympathize with Matt and Marr as my youngest niece let us know in no uncertain terms that she would not be participating in this ridiculous scheme.

Instead of throwing in the towel, we headed over to familiar territory and hoped she would cooperate in the comfort her own home. The tears were gone but it was pretty exciting to her to have all this unexpected company!!!

The older kids were patient and tried to hold their poses while the adults all tried to cajole the youngest into sitting still for a moment!

She really didn't want much to do with our plan!!

Did we think about giving up????? Not for a moment. . .

We finally discovered the secret in two little magnets that Zach had in his pocket!! We quickly took a bunch of pictures and the magnets kept her happy enough to get a few really good ones!!

What a little cutie!!

Cody and Kelsey even had a few smiles left over for this lovely picture:

AND I finally found a picture for my Christmas cards!! Now I just have to find the time to send them out!!

I think Gloria's birthday turned out just fine.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her out of the hundreds that I took this year:

We rounded out the evening by wandering around Walmart looking for Christmas ideas. We even bought paint for Gloria's eventual room remodel!! We ended up back at the shop helping Rob with the cases until midnight when I came home and uploaded Gloria's birthday pics on my blog (until 3 a.m.!) with the beautiful song by Plumb which I happened to hear for the first time on Gloria's birthday!

In My Arms / A Little Princess

If I were tech savvy at all, I could make a video with the following pictures and this beautiful song by Plumb. I'm not, though, so I'll just play the video and cry sentimentally as I scroll through photos of the last 9 years of my youngest baby's life . . .

Happy 9th Birthday, Gloria! I love you!!

In My Arms by Plumb

your baby blues

so full of wonder

your curley cues

your contageous smile

and as i watch

you start to grow up

all I can do is hold you tight

knowing clouds will rage

and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

rains will pour down

waves will crash around

but you will be safe in my arms

story books full of fairy tales

of kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn just in knowing

you'll someday see the truth from lies

when the clouds will rage

and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

rains will pour down

waves will crash around

but you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble

dreams may not come true

but you are never all alone

cause I will always always love you

when the clouds will rage

and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

rains will pour down

waves will crash around

but you will be safe in my arms

In my arms

On Monday, Gloria and I picked Lauren up from preschool while Victoria went to a funeral. We brought her home and she and Gloria played for awhile before Vic came and picked her up. Always the brazen one, Gloria asked Vic if she could go with them to their house. Vic was nice enough to say yes so Gloria got to spend almost an entire day with the Ritchies! Vic even hand delivered her back to the shop where Rob and I are working our tails off on a case order that has to be ready by Wednesday afternoon.

Of course, I made all the kids pose for pictures!!

Just for fun, I even tried to get them all to pick their noses but Lauren wouldn't have anything to do with it!!

She's far too dignified to pick her nose:

After they left, we continued to slave away on the cases. Since I'm writing this in retrospect, I know this is the beginning of a long, tiring and difficult week. . . .

Pastor's Christmas Open House Pics

Birthday Party For Jesus

On Saturday the Education Committee at church hosted a party to remind kid's why we celebrate Christmas. Jody supplied everything they needed to make a gift for Jesus that they will open on Christmas Day.

When the boxes were decorated and filled and after playing several rounds of party games, we all headed into the gym to hit the pinata.

Zach and Andrew were in charge of raising and lowering the donkey for the kids to whack.

I thought for sure it was coming down when Ian came up to bat.

The donkey stayed intact for several more hits. Gloria took an unsuccessful turn.

When the donkey finally lost the battle, the kids gathered the candy and toys and, amazingly enough, no one cried!

Back to the fellowship hall for cake and ice cream and to fill the boxes with the gifts for Jesus.

I spent the remainder of the evening catching up all the posts I had started and couldn't finish during a very busy week instead of cleaning my house and getting ready for Christmas. I guess I know what my priorities are!!!