Lala and I took you to see Disney on Ice “Dare to Dream” on Sunday.  You really liked it.  You were amazed by the costumes, lights, ice skating (though I’m not really sure you understand what ice skating is), music and of course, the towers of cotton candy (for only $12 a bag!).  You and the other little girls in your princess dresses were absolutely precious.  You were sparkly and bouncy and all of the wonderful things that a little girl likes to be.

First was the story of Princess Tiana - my favorite of the show.  Tiana is a gutsy girl who has a dream of owning her own New Orleans restaurant.  She works hard to make her dream come true and just happens to find love in the form of a prince who was turned into a frog by a voodoo shadow man.  The music is a wonderful jazz and zydeco mix and the story of accepting who you are and loving who you are is great.  I especially like the song, “Dig a Little Deeper”, with the lyric, “Dig down deep inside yourself, You’ll find out what you need.”

After Tiana became a princess and rode off into the sunset with Prince Naveen, it was time for Cinderella - the quintessential Disney princess.  She’s the one with the evil stepmother and stepsisters.  She’s the one whose dress was made by mice.  She’s the one who got a horse-drawn carriage bibbity-bobbity-booed from a pumpkin.  When she finally got to the royal ball, Prince Charming fell madly in love with her.  They waltzed around singing, “So, This is Love” until the clock struck midnight and she ran away.  Well, the dingbat lost her shoe (which somehow didn’t disappear at midnight like everything else did).  The prince came looking for her and lo-and-behold, she had the other shoe stashed away.  Cue music and big wedding, then happily ever after.  The Disney website describes her as “kind to all… She has faith that if you keep on believing, your wish will come true. With help from her fairy godmother, she gets a chance to live her dreams.”  I am so glad that Cinderella is kind to all.  That’s a great thing to be and something that I hope you will strive for.  What I need for you to know, though, is that there are no fairy godmothers to make your dreams come true and just believing in your wish won’t make it real.  If you want your dreams to come true, you have to make them come true.  I don’t think I’m bursting your bubble by telling you this.  You live in our house, so independence shouldn’t come as a shock to you.

After Cinderella, we got to the story of Rapunzel.  I kind of like Rapunzel.  She’s spunky with her lizard friend and her frying pan. Plus, she’s the only one I know of who actually is royalty by birthright and not because some prince came along and picked her to be his princess.  If it weren’t for the whole “rescued from a tower by a strange man” scenario, I’d be all about Rapunzel.  I just wish she would’ve escaped from the tower on her own and then found her man, but that’s just not the way the story goes.  I’m really glad that Disney is making their “princesses” more modern and more like real girls (except for the crazy long hair, the giant eyes and the unrealistic figure).

Since before you were born, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with princesses.  I debated about taking you to this particular show, but decided to take you because I knew you would love it and I wanted to share that experience with you.  Now that it’s over, I have to share a few thoughts…

I see so many little girls in their “I’m the princess, that’s why” t-shirts and they have the entitled attitude to go right along with it.  I really hope that you won’t be one of those little girls.  I hope that you’ll be the girl who thinks princesses are beautiful, but knows that real girls ride bikes and sometimes horses, not horse-drawn carriages.  I hope that you’ll be the girl who loves twirly dresses, but feels just as beautiful in jeans and a t-shirt.  I hope that you’ll be the girl who knows that fancy parties and tiaras are fun, but so are football games and ballcaps.  I hope you’ll be the girl who enjoys nice things but knows that they aren’t gifts from Fairy Godmothers, but come as a result of education, hard work and smart decisions.  I hope that you’ll be the girl who dreams big but knows that wishing on a star doesn’t make your dreams come true.    Most of all, I hope that you’ll be the girl who finds her Prince Charming but knows that the only men you can ever count on to save you are Jesus and your Daddy.

I am not writing this to you to steal the joy of playing pretend.  I would never take away the magic and fun of the stories, the tea parties, the dancing, or the fairytales.  Cinderella and Prince Charming sang, “So, This is Love…”  I want you to know what love really is:

Love is not a prince on a white horse.  Love is a guy who takes you to the doctor when you’re too sick to drive and then makes sure you have orange juice and tylenol until the flu is over.

Love is not a lavish wedding with doves and ballgowns.  Love is being surrounded by your family and friends as you make promises to another person to love and cherish and protect each other forever – and then keeping those promises.

Love is not a boy who likes you because you’re “hot”.  Love is a man who likes you even when you’re not.

Love is not a physical relationship.  Love is an emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical relationship that is built on trust, fidelity, equality, and faith.

Love is not about a tiny waist or a tiara.  Love is about knowing who you are on the inside, where you come from and what you believe in.  You have to love yourself before you understand what love is.

Love does not happen in an instant.  Love happens when you realize that you can’t imagine your life without him.  Love happens when you hold your baby for the first time and know that he or she is the greatest gift God will ever give to you.  Love happens when you see the man you’ve devoted yourself to holding that baby with tears in his eyes.  Love happens when you’re watching that baby take her first steps, when you let go of his hand on the first day of school, when you fall to your knees praying that the fever will break, and when you hear him say a prayer to God that is so simple and heartfelt it can only come from the soul.

Love is what I have for you, sweet girl.  You are a beautiful princess in purple, a child of God, a strong-willed girl full of sugar and an extra dash of spice, a blessing, and a joy.  Love is what I hope for you, what I wish for you, and what I pray for you.

My heart is yours,

Mama

While we were in Tulsa, we spent lots of time at the house, just letting the kids play.  We also did a little shopping (including a new Macbook Pro for me) and we celebrated both Christmas and BIL’s 40th birthday.  The grown-up guys took a day trip to Kansas for a pheasant hunting excursion and had a blast.

LaLa & Pops’ house in the snow!

We woke up on December 26th to a winter wonderland!  It snowed 8.5″ overnight.  That is just short of unheard of in Arkansas!  Merry Christmas, kiddos!

Then we left the kids open theirs.  It was so much fun watching them!

Nola and Caleb made out like bandits – even though we tried to scale back our gift-giving this year.  Lala and Pops went all out as usual.  Nola got dolls, a Barbie case, a barking puppy, a huge sticker book, some books, pajamas, and a couple of movies.  Caleb got a globe, some Beyblades, some PJs, some games for his DS, a couple of movies, and some books.

Caleb and Pops playing with the tinker set/marble run that Pops and I made for him.

Nola playing with her new puppy, Frosty. 

We got Mom a piece of pottery from an Arkansas company.  She picked it out herself at the Holiday House and it looks so pretty in her house!

After the excitement of opening presents, the kids crashed and burned for a little bit.  I grabbed the camera to capture this moment because we don’t see it too often!

We had a wonderfully lazy morning by the Christmas tree and watched as the rain outside started to turn to freezing rain.  The pine trees began to bow and we hoped that we wouldn’t lose power.  Mr. L went home in the jeep and got his truck, just in case the roads got slick.  We watched the rain continue and snow start to mix in as we made a traditional lunch complete with ham, corn casserole, green bean bundles, salad, mashed potatoes and rolls.  We sat down to eat at about 2:15.

About the time we put our forks down and started to clean up, the power went out.  Hot Springs is notorious for power outages during winter weather and we had a hunch that this would be no different.  We kicked into high gear and packed a couple of days’ worth of clothes and necessities, then headed over to Mom & Mr. L’s house, hoping their power was on.   As I posted on Facebook, “Over the lake and through the woods to Lala’s house we go…because our power is out & they have a gas-powered heater at their house.”

We were so blessed that they didn’t lose power.  Though Entergy estimate that ours would be out for a week, it ended up being out for 4 days.  We stayed at my parents’ house for 2 nights, then went to Tulsa to celebrate Christmas with Rudy’s family there.  When we went home to repack before going to Tulsa, it was 50 degrees in our house.  We were worried about Swimmy (the fish) surviving the cold temperature, but we couldn’t take him with us, so we just hoped for the best.  The garbage disposal was starting to smell pretty bad since we were in the process of cleaning up lunch when we left.  The power came on while we were gone and Mom came over to flip light switches, run the disposal and check on things for us.  They also were so kind to take some of our refrigerated food so it wouldn’t spoil.

It was definitely a Christmas Day we won’t soon forget!

We drove home from Branson on Christmas Eve after a yummy breakfast at Denny’s.  The kids were so excited to get home and I was so grateful for the DVD player in the car!

Not long after we got home, we got ready for the Christmas Eve service at church.  The kids looked so precious in their Christmas outfits.

They (of course) made me work pretty hard to get decent pictures.  We went from this…

to this…

in a matter of seconds.

You know how things play out so much differently in your head than they do in real life?  Mothers imagine a  Christmas Eve service of beautiful music with angelic children.  We imagine singing Silent Night by candlelight as we gaze at our little angels and consider that we have the miraculous experience of motherhood in common with Mary.  We imagine sweet faces gazing back at us knowing that we love them so much that we would never dream of not sharing the majestic experience of a Christmas Eve church service with them.

Here’s a rundown of our Christmas Eve service…

Made it to church with a little time to spare. (wow!)  Chose seats toward the back so the kids wouldn’t bother people if they were a little wiggly.   Nola was up.  Nola was down.  Caleb wiggled, sprawled across a few chairs, sat up, sat down, and wiggled some more.  We took kids to the bathroom.  We squeezed back into our row.  (God bless the people sitting between us and the end of the aisle.)  I snuck Nola out to an empty space behind the chairs where she could move around a little.  As a guest vocalist was performing a phenomenal rendition of O Holy Night, Nola decided to break out her ballet moves.  She spun and twirled like a pro with a a scattering of loudly whispered, “Mom, watch this!”  When she was finished, we apologetically went back to our seats.  We hadn’t been back for 5 seconds when Caleb audibly passed gas during a prayer.  I barely noticed it, but I couldn’t ignore the giggling that followed.  Nor could I ignore the shaking of Rudy’s shoulders as he tried to maintain composure.  It was then that I realized the people behind us – who happened to the be principal at the high school and his family – were also cracking up laughing.  I really wasn’t sure we were going to make it through the service and I wish I could tell you one single thing that was said, but I can’t – other than the repeated “shhhh!” that came from Rudy and me.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get much better, they started lighting the candles.  Nola was intrigued and insisted on having her own.  She did great with it until it came time to blow it out.  The hot wax dripped on her fingers and the crying began.  It’s nothing short of a Christmas miracle that we managed to get a decent family picture after the service…

I think I’m starting to understand why we never went to Christmas Eve services when I was a child.  Come to think of it, I didn’t know that Christmas Eve services existed until I was at least in high school.  Coincidence?  I think not.  My mom knew better!

On the 22nd, we took a trip up north for a little pre-Christmas fun at Silver Dollar City.  We bought our season passes last Christmas before we knew we were moving, so we thought we’d go up for a Christmas trip while the passes were still good.  We have really grown to love Christmas at SDC.  It’s such a fun tradition with the kids.

On the way up, though, we stopped at The Catfish Hole in Fayetteville for a Christmas lunch with the Villines family.  It was so fun to see everyone.  We ate until we were almost sick because it’s just so good and then we sat for a long time just visiting and enjoying each other’s company.  Before we left, we had to get one picture of the whole family.  What?  Your family doesn’t take pictures in front of a huge inflatable hog?  Well, too bad for you!

Rebecca, Tom, Nola, Rudy, Terry, Haley, Caleb, Jerry & Sherry

After we left the Catfish Hole, we headed on up to Branson and checked in at our hotel.  We did a little last-minute shopping at the outlet mall and then went to a late dinner.  Just as we sat down to order, Nola started crying and saying her ear hurt.  We ate and went back to the hotel, mentally preparing for a long night.  The next morning, I took her to the urgent care clinic while the boys enjoyed the indoor pool at the hotel.  One quick look in her ear and the doctor wrote a prescription for an antibiotic.  I asked if it would be okay to take her to SDC and he said she should be okay.  Whew…  After lunch, we went to the park and made Nola promise to keep her hat on over her ears.

Nola was excited that she was finally tall enough to ride some new rides, but still wanted to ride the frogs and butterflies.  She even convinced Caleb to ride with her a couple of times.  (Doesn’t he look thrilled about it?)

Rudy was Superdaddy and rode the rides with her while Caleb and I went to ride a few of the big rides.  Caleb decided he was ready to try to ride the Powderkeg again. (He had a not-so-happy experience last summer.)  We got in line with a warning that it would be well over an hour before we got on and he chose to ride anyway.  We passed our time in line joking and talking and really enjoying having some time between just the two of us.  He was so patient and so much fun.  And, then…we got almost to the front of the line and the line stopped moving.  The ride broke down and we were told it would be quite a while before it was repaired.  I fully expected Caleb to be really disappointed, but he chose to throw in the towel and go find Rudy and Nola.  I was so proud of him!  He handled it so well.

After that disappointment, we enjoyed the rest of the day together.  We watched the Frosty show and rode the train, complete with the beautiful telling of the Christmas story and the sing-along through the lights.  It was really a fun day and night.  We had a little difficulty shuffling through the mass of people as usual, but in the end – a great day with the family enjoying Christmas lights and sharing some fun experiences is worth the price you pay.  Nola and I even had time to take a few self-portraits as we rode the children’s carousel together…

2nd – We were honored to be asked to light the first Advent candle at church. The kids looked so sweet in their Christmas outfits.

That evening, we went to the Advent fair at church, where they made all kinds of crafts and listened to a Christmas book.  Look at my cuties snuggled up and listening so intently.  You’d never know that 5 seconds later, they were rolling around on the floor distracting everyone in the room.

A Nolaism:  ‎9:15 – After almost 2 hours in bed, Nola comes to the living room & sits down beside me.    Me: “Whatcha’ doing, Nola?”     N: “I’m just going to chill out here for a little bit.”

3rd – Caleb rode in the the Cub Scout float in the Hot Springs Christmas parade.  Rudy had to walk with the band, so it was up to me to stay with Caleb.  Nola and I rode in the back of the truck that pulled the trailer.  Caleb loved being in the parade!

6th – We took the kids to see Santa at Garvan Gardens!  Nola told him that she wants “3 Barbies and a present.”  Caleb keeps asking for a skateboard, even though he knows he’s not going to get one!

Since we don’t pretend that Santa is real, we talked to the kids before we went just to remind them that Santa is fun, but he’s not really the one who brings us presents.  We really try to encourage them to understand that they don’t get Christmas gifts because they are “good” or “bad,” but because we love them and want to celebrate the birth of Jesus with them.

7th – After school, Mom and Mr. L took the kids and I to see the gingerbread house and Santa at the Arlington Hotel.  Nola was excited to see Santa again, which surprised me.

8th – Rudy and I went to a Christmas party at the Laytons’ house.

9th – Rudy’s band had their Christmas concert and it was great!  That evening, he played in the church Christmas concert as well.  Busy day!

12/12/12 Tweet:  no poopy pants kids, I had time for lunch, and a tube-fed child pulled a spoon to her mouth for a bite for the 1st time #luckyday

13th - Caleb: “Mama, I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but I have a girlfriend. Her name is Stormie. She’s in kindergarten and she rides my bus. I just asked her and she said yes.” Oh my…”

14th – A horrible day.  A sick person entered an elementary school in Connecticut and killed 26 people, including 20 kindergarteners and first graders.  I spent the better part of the night in absolute shock, outrage and mourning for those babies and the adults who were killed while trying to protect them.

15th – My kitchen assistant and I made Christmas cookies for our neighbors!

17th – FB status:  I was NOT prepared for my sweet 6-yr-old to ask me, “Mama, is it okay to kiss a girl right after she starts being your girlfriend?” I bet y’all can guess my answer!”

18th – Nola:  ”Mama, why your hair turning chocolate?”

19th – I got my hair cut & colored.  (Coincidence?)

20th – Major 1st grade mom drama:  I am mor-ti-fied!!! I showed up at Caleb’s party with 4 great games planned for the kids. I even had prizes. Turns out I was supposed to bring drinks. I am in charge of games for Valentine’s and Easter…NOT Christmas. The room mom rolled her eyes at me and texted her husband who showed up with 2 boxes of Capri Suns. Minor in the big scheme of problems, but embarrassing nonetheless.  

Oh, well…Caleb’s party was fun anyway.

After that was Nola’s Christmas program.  She was so excited about seeing her friends outside of school and getting to sing her songs.  Her favorite part was the jingle bells that she got to ring the whole time.

Nola was excited to have fans in the audience for her big performance!

21st – Nola’s Christmas party at school.

And…he made the honor roll for the first nine weeks!

He earned a 99% in word study/phonic spelling and a 95% in math!  He also got a 97% in conduct!  On his STAR Reading assessment, he was in the 43rd percentile, which is “at or above benchmark”!  Yay, Caleb!!!  We are SO proud of you!!!