Full Circle

Carrie has come full circle today...back to her starting point.
Well, sort of.

Take a look at this, and you'll see what I mean.

On December 4, 2007, I drove Carrie to the orthodontist to begin her journey as "The Wearer of Braces."

Look at that bright, optimistic smile!



A few hours later, reality began sinking in.
And so did the pain of braces.
I think you will notice that her smile isn't as bright in this second picture.



And now here we are, almost 22 months later.
Again, we start with that bright, optimistic smile.



A few hours later, we have a...
What's that?!
Look at those pearly whites!
Look how straight they are!

Look how old she looks!
How beautiful!



Wow.
What's her Daddy going to say?
If he shakes his head when she gets a new pair of girly shoes or a new lip gloss, what's he going to say when he sees "Baby Girl" tonight?

Full circle.
Well, sort of.
And I think it was worth it.

The Insightfulness of a Four-Year Old

This summer, my dad and Gilda and our family got web cams.

Here's a picture that Josh took of himself with the web cam...

 

What a blessing those little cameras have been for our family...especially the youngest members, Joshua and Matthew. I knew it would be fun for Dad to be able to see the kids whenever he wanted, but there was no way for me to foresee how meaningful it would be for the little boys...the ones who can't quite understand why they don't get to see Papa B and Grandma Gilda without driving for three to four hours.

But in the past few months, we have been able to watch Papa B eat one of the first ears of corn out of his sweet corn patch...butter and all. Josh has shown him cars, trucks, and light savers (sabers). :) Matthew has sat waving his little hand and blowing kisses. One afternoon, Josh was talking to Papa B and thought of something that he wanted to show him, so he took off running to his Lucky Drawer. On his way there, he hollered back over his shoulder, "Hey, Mommy! Leave Papa B right there!"

And there's nothing for me like seeing my dad sit and belly laugh over something that the kids have said to him. You just can't get all that from a telephone call.

Today, I realized how much a part of his life that web cam is for Josh.

He was sitting there on the arm of the couch while I was reading a book to William. Suddenly, he said, "Hey, Mom! Wouldn't it be neat if God had a web cam?! Then I could talk to Duke!" Duke is the dog that we had before Josh was born. We talk very fondly of Duke and have several pictures of him that Josh likes to look at.

Then he added, "And you could talk to your mom."

On a day when I am silently thinking of those who are already waiting for me in Heaven...Grandpa Bellman would have been 91 today, and he and Grandma would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary...I get teary.

What else is going on in that little head of his?

Where Do the Sticks Come From?

Joshua, Matthew, and I decided to take a quick trip to the local apple orchard this afternoon while William was at his robotics meeting and Carrie was at basketball practice.

The reason for the trip was to buy some of their big, beautiful mums and to pick up another bag of Jonathan apples...my favorite pie apples.

Of course, we ended up with a few other things...some apple cider, a pumpkin roll, and a caramel apple-making kit. That last item was Josh's pick.

When we got home, Josh could hardly wait to open the box for the caramel apples.

After checking out the tub of caramel, he pulled out the sticks and said, "Hey! I know where the orchard gets their sticks! They sneak into the doctor's office at night and get them!"



"Yep! These are the ones! They taste like the ones at the doctor's office!"



This is Matthew, enjoying his apple cider and pretzel stick.



This picture was taken before Josh decided to play doctor with Matthew.
"Open up and say 'AHHHHH!'"

No, Josh!

Money Trouble

Josh bought a Penny Gumball Machine with his birthday money. This week, he got a dime stuck in it, and we all thought that the Penny Gumball Machine was done-for.

Daddy to the rescue! Paul got the dime out and gave Josh instructions to use pennies only.

This morning, Josh asked me if I would get a gumball out of his gumball machine for him.

He said, "Remember...only use the grayish, reddish, greenish monies."

Joshua's description of a penny.