"I Am Gorgeous"

Well, Faith has been asking and asking to have "beautiful pretties" in her ears. So, after asking Ryan if he minded, I went ahead and let her have her ears pierced on Sunday while we were at the mall. Our friend Amy took pictures for me, and they tell a very accurate story of how it all went. After the first one, you can see she is a little shaken, then really mad after the second one. Finally, in the third one, she is thrilled with the end result. After we were finished, and she was looking in the mirror while I was waiting to pay, "I am gorgeous". I have found her standing on the stool in the bathroom several times this week, admiring herself. She also asked to wear some of my "ear pierces", which for those of you who don't know, means dangly earrings. I convinced her that we need to leave these in until Daddy comes home. All of this is creating a personal struggle for Grace, who would really like to have her ears pierced, but can't get over the fact that it will hurt. She told me she'll just wait until she's 13.

O Christmas Tree

This is the artificial tree that I got at Kohl's at 4:00 in the morning on the day after Thanksgiving. Faith says it is beautiful and Grace says it's too skinny (who is she to talk?). However, once we got the decorations on it, they both decided it is pretty and that Daddy will like it. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Faith put about 17 ornaments on one branch. I tried to move them after she went to bed, and she wondered why I put the ornaments up high.

God is very good and there was no fighting as we put the ornaments on. I overheard a discussion while we were decorating about Santa (whom we had visited at the mall earlier). Faith said that he was "chubsy" and wondered why he had white hair on his face. She then said to me," but Grace said Santa knows where the prizes are, right?"

So, it was hard to do it all without Ryan, but we had a good time together. And while I am still trying to get used to having a fake tree in the house, I am glad it will be able to be up until Ryan gets home.

Ready for Church

We were ready for church, and nobody was crying, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a couple of pictures. We don't usually make it out of the house without someone crying over something. It's usually Faith wanting me to carry her- she is not easy to carry down the stairs. Or, they are both crying over who gets to feed the dogs. Grace is sometimes crying over the fact that I won't let her wear flip-flops or old Crocs to school. Mornings are not good times in our house. They belong to their mother in that regard...we are all at our best in the afternoon and early evening. Anyway, they both looked so cute in their dresses, and it was nice out, so these are the days we try to remember.

Surgeon Ryan?

These are pictures of Ryan assisting with a surgery that was removing screws from a guy's arm. He is actually making the incision in the arm in the first picture on the left. I am so excited for him with all of the pratical experience he is getting, even if I am a little scared that he is doing the work of a surgeon. For any one else who is a little nervous about Ryan with a scalpel, the face and hands you see in the first picture belong to the actual surgeon.

Chapel Day

Wednesdays are Chapel at school. Grammie got this skirt for Grace last week, and Grace has been counting the days until she could wear it to chapel. Since Grace talked so much about wearing a skirt, Faith needed to wear one as well. Faith doesn't really have skirts, but we were able to compromise on this fancy dress with Tigger, Pooh and Piglet on it. Does anyone besides me think that Faith has her own version of a "War Cry smile" going on?

Hallelujah Night

Our church has "Hallelujah Night" every year on October 31st. We are grateful for this option, since it is too cold to be outside Trick or Treating. This year, Grace and Faith were Bronco Cheerleaders, and in my opinion, the cutest cheerleaders the Broncos could ever hope to have on their team. We missed Ryan a lot, but were thankful that Grammie and Papa were able to be with us this year. There were inflatables everywhere, a bounce/trampoline thing that both of the girls went on, and plenty of candy, cotton candy and funnel cake for everyone.