I love the funny things Lily comes up with. She brings so much laughter into our home! Here are a few of the things she has said lately that put a smile on my face…

"I’m going to grow out my hair real long and catch somebody in it."

She saw an Asian couple at the store and said, “look there are some Omma guys.” Omma is what she called her foster mom.

"Thank you Kayla. You are a big helper girl."

"We don’t need the heater on because the sun is on."

I asked her what movie she was watching and she said, "How To Drag Your Train." The movie is really called 'How to Train Your Dragon.' It cracks me up how she gets things so mixed up!

I found a chunk of her hair on the floor and when I asked her what happened she told me the light bulb pulled it out.

She didn't want to eat her supper and said, "my mouth is stuck in my throat."

"I’m exhausting!” and I said..."truer words have never been spoken!"

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Love,

Charla

dolls added to my shop:) You can find them here

JANUARY

new books from Lily's foster mom:)

art projects with my girls

me and my baby

We were outside enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon when I looked up and saw this sweet sight. I was so glad I had my camera with me! They melt my heart.

I had an evening out with Matt. We ate at one of his favorite restaurants and watched a movie. I enjoyed my time with him so much!

she calls all her dolls Olivia

grocery shopping while the big kids were at school

Each day before I put Lily down for her nap I read her a library book or two. She snuggles up close while I read to her and then we sing some songs together. Her favorite is I've Got the Joy Down In My Heart. She is starting to remember the words to a lot of different songs. Listening to her sweet little voice belt out songs about Jesus always puts a smile on my face.

I had the flu for a few days and several times throughout each day Lily would crawl up beside me and rub my arms. She brought me her stuffed animals and told me stories and said, "momma has a headache in her stomach!" My hubby took the older kids to Brittany's soccer game and Lily stayed home with me. As soon as they walked out the door, Lily looked at me all excited and said, "Momma I have an idea. It can be Lily time now. We can play ring around the rosy! Will that make you not sick?!"

I will be adding these two little red riding hood dolls to my etsy shop next week, so be sure to check back!

Thank you for stopping by my little blog. Your support and words of encouragement mean so much to me. I hope you have a lovely weekend! xox

Having her as my daughter is one of the best things in my life. She is happy, easy going, patient, helpful, and full of energy.

She loves babies, reading, playing games, and doing art projects.

She is my little angel and I love her so.

When Brittany turned twelve I took her on a momma/daughter weekend getaway and Kayla looked forward to her 12^th for two years knowing I would do the same for her!

A month or so before the long awaited weekend arrived she could talk of little else!  Every day or two she would hand me an updated list of what we were going to do that weekend, what we were going to eat, and when we would go to sleep:)

I will always look back on our weekend as such a special time. I spoiled her rotten, doing whatever her little heart desired!

We stayed at a resort, shopped, played miniature golf, ate at her favorite restaurants, went swimming, played games, ate way too much junk food, listened to Preparing for Adolescence, and looked at magazines at the bookstore.

I can’t believe I am just now posting about this! She turned 12 back in October! I can’t seem to keep up with this old blog. Oh well!

Last year I taught art class to 20 fifth graders. I helped them make a journal about their life. They made a page about their personality traits, what they want to be when they grow up, their favorite color, things they love, three things they wish for, their favorite food, what they are thankful for, and their favorite thing to do.

I have helped a lot of kids make journals similar to these over the last several years. I volunteer to teach art in my children’s classes because I enjoy getting to know their friends & classmates. My kids go to a private school and their teachers have always worked so well with me, letting me come in whenever I can. I help the kids' work on their journals throughout the school year. Most of the children have a lot of fun and they are always excited at the end of the year when they get to bring them home. I always enjoy it too, except for all the prep work at home:)

Whew...we made it a whole year! Here are all twelve collaborations I did with my sisters. I love the way all the photos look together! Someday we want to make it all into a book. I think it will be such a neat keepsake!

Have a blessed New Year everyone! We are off to celebrate with family and friends! May God bless you all!

xox

Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift ~

indescribable

incomparable

precious beyond words.

L. Lebar

This is the twelfth and final collaboration with my sisters, Alisia & Mandy.

I was inspired by the Elf on the Shelf and decided to make a little Christmas elf for Lily. We named him Oliver and each morning she had to find him to see what he wanted her to do that day . One morning she found him hanging from the curtains in the living room. The next morning he had on her rain boots and was standing by the front door all ready to go to town! Each day he was holding a note telling her to do a fun Christmas activity. They were simple things we could do together…

pick out a new Christmas book

make cookies for the neighbors

go watch a Christmas play

make Christmas cards...

I had so much fun doing this with her! I sure do love Christmas traditions!

I hope you had a very merry Christmas!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

xox

Seventeen years ago God blessed my life with a baby boy! I will never forget holding him in my arms for the first time. He stared up at me with his big dark eyes and I fell soo in love!

Some days I look at him and wonder where the time has gone.

When did he stop sleeping with his stuffed animals? When did he stop asking me to read him a story? I miss his little love notes and the bouquets of dandelion puffs he used to pick just for me. I even miss him asking me a million questions every day. So many things I miss. Sigh. Why do kids have to grow up so fast?