Snow (well, it's white)

My little snow bunny

I want to be happy about the snow that is coming down. Well, it's really a snow, sleet, rain mix, but it is white anyway. Derek is stuck at the Dallas airport. He is trying to get home but his flight has been canceled. The Little Rock airport has been closed for most of the day and the weather is only getting worse. I don't expect him to make it home until tomorrow. =( We are ready for him to be home. He has been out of town all week, and it's been a long week. It's not as fun being snowed in without him here.

I just love this little coat. I found it at Dillard's this week on sale big time. Love me a bargain.

The kidlets and I have been prepared to be snowed in. I made chili for the kidlets, taco soup for me, and brownies for all of us yesterday. We have had fun staying in our lounge wear, playing and munching. Ella Grace and I did get out for a little while to play in the snow (I think it was mainly sleet) this afternoon. We didn't stay long because she has a cold. She had a ball though! Evan decided not to join us, so we brought snow inside to him. =) He liked touching it.

Trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue

"Skating"

Extremely proud of herself here

Getting brother in on the action

Now this was cheap entertainment. This kept her busy for a while (until it melted).

Hopefully my other half will be home tomorrow. I wanna like the snow, but I would have been happy had it held off until after Derek made it home. The weather also messed up my plans of meeting Laura tomorrow. She is a blogger friend (and another Horton but we are not related) that was going to be in my area. =( I was really looking forward to meeting her. Maybe we will get to do it again sometime.

I hope you are staying warm!

It was Bound to Happen

Yesterday, I spent the day with my beautiful niece, Sarah, celebrating her birthday. We spent the day with my mom, sister, nephew, and Ella Grace shopping, eating at the Purple Cow, and going to the Jump Zone (where Evan and Derek joined us). It was a fun day! I can't believe Sarah is nine. It seems like yesterday that we greeted my sister and brother-in-law at the airport as they brought that sweet baby home from China!

Ella Grace (wearing LOTS of bubble gum lip gloss), Stone and Sarah

Sarah enjoying her birthday ice cream sundae at the Purple Cow

So what was it that was "bound to happen?" Well, every Sunday, Ella Grace enjoys helping me clip coupons (or "tickets" as she calls them). I was right there with her and she proudly announces, "Momma, I cut my hair all by myself!" I gasp, "What did you say?" Her facial expression immediately changes as she answers, "I didn't say anything." Ha! She indeed had cut her hair all by herself. It's amazing to me that children's scissors can cut hair!

Luckily, there is still hair on top of the chunk she cut so I should be able to cover it good until it grows out again.

What she looked like when she realized what she had done. She was BAWLING (see the tears and runny nose)! Through tears she whined, "Now, it is short like Daddy's," not meaning it as a compliment. Derek was like, "Hey, what's wrong with my hair?" Ha!

Here she is with the damage!
As I type this, I hear her telling Derek, "Daddy, I'm sad that I cut my hair!"

I guess all children try to cut their own hair. Although Evan never has liked cutting enough to even consider cutting his own hair. I really think she is remorseful. Maybe she won't do it again??? I hope she learned her lesson. It really could have been so much worse. Plus, it was bound to happen. Every time I have gotten the scissors out for us to work on her cutting, the thought has crossed my mind that I knew she would try it one day. It's kind of funny now! Whew! This girl keeps me on my toes (and I sure LOVE it)!

Last Night

Last night, as I was lying on Ella Grace's bed with her until she fell asleep, I saw her little hands go up by her face to say her prayers (unprompted) and heard her sweet little voice (she has the littlest voice) say,

"Dear Jesus, thank you for this day and thank you for my friends."

I always thought I was creating a bad habit laying down with her every night, but had I made her go to bed all by herself, I would have missed that sweet little prayer! Seems like we are creating a good habit! =)

Oh, and just another thing, we were looking at a story book about Jesus, and she said, "Where's Jasmine?" It took me a minute, and I said, "Oh, that's the Wisemen, not Jasmine!" LOL! Such sweet, sweet times.

It's Been a While

Here we are on Christmas day

Sweet Christmas kidlets

Well, it has been a while. We had a fabulous Christmas and vacation. We were at home together for two whole weeks, and I can honestly say we had the best time and never got tired of each other. Wow!

Ella Grace got her grocery cart and was SO excited! She loved EVERYTHING about Christmas, and it was so fun to experience it through her eyes. She cried when we took down the Christmas tree. =( On Christmas Day, we told her it was Jesus' birthday, and she said with a gasp, "Are we going to see him?" So sweet!

Ella Grace on Christmas Eve

Evan loved having a break from school and played so hard every single day. We weren't on any schedule for two weeks, so he stayed up late and went to bed early. He loved it! His favorite Christmas song to sing was "Jingle Bells" and we sang it A LOT! I think his favorite toy he got was a Gumby and Pokey. I don't know if you remember those. They were even before my time, but he loves them! =)

Derek and Evan on Christmas Eve

My party boy all crashed out with his Nerf swords

The day after Christmas was my birthday. I turned 37, and I never thought I would be happy to be 37! However, for most of December I had somehow convinced myself I was turned 38 until Derek was like, "No you're not. You are going to be 37!" Thank you, Jesus! I just gained a year. Ha! My favorite birthday gift was this card I got from Derek and the kids. It wasn't just the pretty card or carefully scribbled names on the inside, but it was one of those recordable cards that play music. When I opened it, I hear my son, my 7-year-old son who has autism that has had such a hard time talking say so loudly, "Happy Birthday!" Now, Evan has been able to say Happy Birthday for years, but for some reason hearing him say it on MY birthday on MY birthday card made me want to cry! It made me realize just how far we've come, and how happy I am to be 37 and hearing my son tell me Happy Birthday and not back to the 31-year-old mom that was crippled by the diagnosis my precious little boy had received and worrying if he would ever utter one word! It's just the best gift I have ever been given. Happy Birthday to me indeed! Oh, and yesterday he asked me his very first question in 7 years! He was looking for a car and asked, "Where is the car?" I thought I could just fly to the moon! What an amazing boy he is! This was/is HUGE! Oh, how thankful I am for every word!

Did I mention, Evan asked me a question??? A QUESTION!!! What a great start to a new year! I have so much hope for the future!!!