Is It Really Thursday Already??

These are what I see when I look up from my computer! What a nice reminder of spring. Risi picked them out of the yard for me. At least she says they were for me. I think maybe she was afraid she was going to get in trouble.

Look What I've Been Doing...

Bows! Bows! Bows! I don't know that I've ever mentioned that I am once again legally allowed to make bows! The 'powers that be' in Washington decided that the law was ridiculous not well thought out and gave home businesses like mine a year's reprieve. So I am back in business.

And I am super busy! Last Wednesday I did my first bow party. It was incredible! Lots of bow loving women, let me tell you! Along side the party and some internet orders I have taken over $600.00 in orders in the past week!!

Grace is super excited because all proceeds from bow sales go to paying for her to go to Cuba this summer. I think it is definitely some answered prayers.

I have another party scheduled for May and someone else interested in doing one later in the summer. How about you? Are you interested in a party? Some free bows? If you are not in the area, I think we can do one via the internet! Just a suggestion!

Guess I had better get the link to my website back up here on my blog! 4 Princess Bows.

Oh....My.....Goodness!!

What a week this has been! And I've really been absent from the computer! Let me try to give a bit of a recap....

Gracie had her play on Tuesday. She was the cutest little giraffe ever! I'd show you a picture, but I forgot to put a memory card in my camera. Ooops!!

Wednesday she was home recooperating from her performance sick from school. Seriously, I know she had a stomach bug because she so lovingly shared it with me!

Wednesday night I did my first ever bow party!! It was amazing! I sold tons and tons of bows!! Getting them done will be a challenge! But the money will all go to help pay for Gracie's Cuba trip this summer. I've received a lot of orders lately.

Kevin has spent most of this week trying to schedule his trip to Miami this week to get Jose. Car rentals are incredibly expensive right now!! Finally have that settled. Now we just need Jose to get his permission to travel from the Cuban government.

I babysat 4 days this week. Had a doctor's appointment for me and one for Ella.

Last night, Kevin and I went to see the musical at the local high school. Lots of our church kids it it. It was really funny.

Today is a combo birthday party for Grace, Ella and Charis.

OH, AND I FINALLY BROKE THE 30 POUND MARK!! I AM 1/3 OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL!!

Wow!! How have you all been??

Conversation Overheard

Charis: I'm not a mommy! I'm a person!!!




Sigh........

Names Part.....oh I give up, this is the last one

Isn't this a funny picture of Charis. She is such a funny kid. Either the happiest child on the planet or screaming. She loves to perform. It's kind of like raising Robin Williams. Her character changes every few minutes. Just hyterical.

Okay, Charis (which we pronounce Ka-Rees) is the original Greek word for GRACE. Get it? All of the girls have some form of 'grace' in their names. Kevin actualy came up with Charis's name. We usually call her Risi (Reesie) or Reese Cup.

Her middle name is Xiao-Xing (yes, her middle name actually starts with X and it looks kind of cool when we have to fill out forms.) Xiao-Xing is Mandarin for "Morning Star." Which is Kevin's favorite name for Christ in the Old Testament. I wonder if she'll ever be able to spell it? I am not even going to attempt to write it phonetically. If you want to know, you'll have to ask me.

So there are my kids and where their names come from.


And a special thank you to Kathy and Dawn for showing me how to do this!

Names Part III

Yes, I know I am out of order, and frankly, I think it is just a little rude for you to point that out! Just kidding. Seriously, I need someone to teach me how to strike through my words!

This is our son Josiah Solomon. He turned five in the beginning of February. As you already know, if he was a girl he was going to be called Ella Katherine. Obviously, he wasn't a girl.

Up until five days before Josiah was born, he was going to be name Theodore Solomon. It wasn't a very scientific process to choose that name. One day in the car headed north, Kevin and I started with the top 1000 names for boys from 2003. And we just went through the list crossing out the ones we didn't like. Theodore is a Greek name meaning 'Gift from God.' Just like Grace and we really liked it. Solomon was after King Solomon in the Bible. It is Hebrew for peace.

Five days before Josiah was born, I heard his name on the radio. I don't remember the context. But I liked it and I looked up it's meaning. The Lord Saves. Wow. Doesn't get much better than that. I looked it up in the Bible and read about the boy king, Josiah, who brought a lost Israel back to the ways of the Lord. See the story of King Josiah here.

When I mentioned it to Kevin, he told me that he had come across that name, too., liked it and we immediately felt this was God speaking and switched our plans for a boy name. At that point, we both really felt that we were having a boy.

Yeah, there is a lot to live up to in Josiah's name, but we really feel God has big plans to use this charismatic little guy for great things in His Kingdom.

Happy Birthday, dear Elliana Names Part IV or is it Part V?

My baby is 4 today!! I cannot believe how big she is. (And I guess I can't use her as an excuse and say this is baby weight I am carrying!!)

Anyway, Ella's name kind of morphed from what Josiah would have been called had he been a girl. We'd have called him Ella Katherine. Not for any particular reasion except we loved the name. Josiah was only 5 months old when I found out I was expecting. I have really rough pregnancies; I don't know if I was more scared to tell my ob/gyn that I was pregnant after he said, "no more babies!" or to call my mom. Honestly I was scared to be pregnant again. But, as always, God knows best, and I cannot imagine my life without my Ella-bella.

Elliana means 'God has promised.' And He has and He is faithful. Notice the lian in Elliana. You might remember from yesterday that Olivia's middle name is Lian. So there is a little bit of Olivia and Grace in Elliana. God has promised grace! Get it???

Elliana's middle name is Karen. Just as Grace has Kevin's mother's name, Ella has my mom's name. My mom is an amazing lady. I'll have to tell you more about her sometime...

Happy Birthday Elliana Karen..........

Names Part II

Olivia Lian. This child had her name before she was born.

The night that Jesus was betrayed, he took his disciples to pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane was an olive grove. Olive oil was life giving to the Hebrew people. It was used for food and it was used for light.

Jesus is life giving to his followers.

As olives are pressed in order to eek out the oil, we are pressed to see our need for Jesus. Therefore, her name is Olivia.

The name Lian has a couple of meaning to us. My middle name is Leigh (pronounced Lee) as well as as my mom, my cousin and my niece. So Lian was after me, kind of. But it is also after big sister Grace. You see, in Chinese, Lian means lotus flower or graceful willow. Keep that in mind, because you'll see the theme of Grace again as I introduce you to the stories behind the names of the other children.

Tomorrow is Elliana Karen's birthday, so I'll be skipping out of order, I'm sure Josiah won't mind.

It's Finally Done!!

After month of waiting and delays our friend and brother Jose, from Cub@ ,has received his American visa! Praise the Lord!!

He was originally supposed to arrive in the U.S. in early December. He will finally get here at the end of this month. It is the 4th itinerary Kevin has had to send to Habana.

I cannot even guess the number of hours, the amount of phone calls and the mountains of paperwork Kevin has had to do since the whole process began in February OF 2008!!! But, it is finally here.

Now all Jose has to do is get the last little bit of approval from his government and book a flight. Thank you to all of you who have been on this journey.

Our God truly is an awesome God!!!!!

Names Part I

In the Old Testament days, names were really important. Jacob (one who grasps) was named because he grabbed the ankle of his older twin brother at birth. His brother, Esau, was also called Edom (red) because of his ruddy appearance.

When I was a little girl, I decided that if I ever had a girl I would call her Margaret after my great grandmother. Great Grandma was one of the sweetest ladies ever. I thought it would be a great surprise for my grandpa. So I never told anyone. Sadly, Grandpa didn't live to see my children or even meet my husband. They'd have loved each other.

Anyway, when Kevin and I got married, I knew there would be no problems with the name Margaret because it is his mother's name, too. It was nine years before we had that baby girl. But her name isn't Margaret, it's Grace Margaret. Grace means gift from God.

A year before she was born, I was home sick from work. I admit, it was a mental health day, but I was home. It was late morning/early afternoon and I was praying. Kind of on and off as I drifted in and out of sleep. But I remember very clearly a voice in my soul that was so loud it was almost audible. It told me that I would have a girl, but her name was to be Grace. How do you argue with that? And our Grace truly is a gift from God and Margaret means pearl. And she is an amazing rare pearl in our lives.

All of our kids' names have stories to them....tomorrow...Olivia Lian!

Conversation with Elliana

Elliana: screams, cries and jumps up and down.

Me: Ella, what is the matter? Use your words

Elliana: Risi say I not perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my......

conversation with Josiah

Josiah: My new name is Fire Face!!

Okay not a conversation, but funny nonetheless!!

Daddy Daughter Dance

In February, our schools hosted the annual Daddy Daughter Dance for Kindergarten through sixth grades. The girls love it. They get all dressed up and go with Dad. Once they get to the dance, they ditch Daddy to hang out with friends. Somedays I see pictures like this and I am amazed at how grow up they have gotten.

If you ask them their favorite part of the night, they will all three tell you that the best part is going out for ice-cream before coming home. It's become a tradition in the last 5 years!

Hmmmmm.....

I think Josiah was a little chilly.......

I Hate This Movie!!

My neighbor very generously lent us her copy of the movie ET. I have always hated this movie. I hated it as a kid when I went to see it in the theater. I have a vague recollection of having to go see it because my sister wanted to. But that could be wrong. I hated it this summer when a friend lent her copy to my kids because they LOVED it! (eek) I was not crushed when our reliable old VCR died so we couldn't borrow that copy anymore. How sad I was to realize that the neighbors had it...sigh....on DVD.

I just find the whole thing really creepy. He looks squishy. He has no hair. Kind of reminds me of a hot dog. A squishy wrinkly yucky hot dog, with gross eyes, a freakishly skinny and long neck and it talks! Yuck! It's chest lights up and it's fingers. And they are all hugging on it like it is a sweet little teddy bear. It just gives me the willies! (Is that a word.)

So, I got to spend some uninterrupted time reading my Bible today while my preschoolers were mesmerized by a hotdogish alien......did I mention, YUCK?

More Wii!

Are you getting tired of hearing about the wii yet?

Yesterday I did wii fit for 45 minutes. I broke all kinds of records. Did step aerobics and, my new fave, wii boxing! Talk about a great way to get out some aggression!! It was too funny to watch Ella beside me. She got out the little stool from the downstairs bathroom and stepped right along with me. And was completely in the way, I mean completely adorable! (I need for someone who knows how to strike through words to tell me how.)

Sometimes I think the call it wii, so you will think it is more fun than it is! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Off to get more fit! Something must be working because I have to take my wedding ring off to type because it spins around on my finger. Kind of like those hula hoops I'm getting good at keeping up.


Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii