A butterfly hovers closely

A butterfly hovers closely
And then quickly moves away,
Swiftly going wheresoever
Her heart may freely say.

A butterfly lowers and rises
With the wind's gusty breath,
As if coupled within a dance
Of a loving tenderness.

The butterfly only knows
How it feels to have wings,
To kiss the petals of flowers
In such elegant flitterings.

To have but one moment
Of such an esquisite flight,
Would be like a dream
Where all seems so right.

Author Unknown


The butterfly exhibit was beautiful. I recommend it to anyone. The butterflies landed on our shoulders and hair and flew around so freely.

What a wonderful Christmas it was

To all of you, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful one here filled with family, laughter, chicken and noodles, cookies, presents, Skype, visit to the park to play, t-ball with the family, and an hour of reading our new stories at bedtime. The house was torn up from the mess. I know that Bud couldn't stand the sight of it for the entire day. But, he put on a smile and just left it alone. Faith loved her presents. By far I think her favorite was a new soft blanket and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse leggo set full of three characters and the slide and all. She enjoyed playing t-ball. I think that Bud will enjoy it more. As we layed in bed last night he said, "I can't wait to teach her how to play t-ball." It is a boy thing. He played baseball for the longest time and to think that he could help his daughter learn what he loved so much was just what he wanted. Nothing else could do. Just to be able to teach her something he enjoys. As for today, we are off to the city. We excited to go to the Smithsonian's National Museum of History along with a visit to the butterfly exhibit. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

That is how you say Merry Christmas in German. Faith is quite the star pupil in her class as she was chosen to say this special greeting to the entire Rainbow Station Christmas concert audience by herself. Not an ounce of shyness that sometimes surfaces; not an ounce of quietness, she spoke it as loud as she could for all to hear. She could say it the best out of all her friends, that is why her teacher chose her. She was dressed so beautiful in her Christmas dress and little red bow in her hair. She shook her jingle bells to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas with all her friends. I found myself one of those moms at their child's recital of some sort. I was so proud.

The first present

It has arrived. The first present under the tree and Faith has officially claimed it. Each year we get her a book for her library since she loves to read. This year it will be a collection of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales. She loved Grace's Bedtime Stories collection that Bud decided to get her a shorter version. I didn't think that at her age she would ever just sit and listen before bed to a story without pictures. However her new favorites are the Pooh Animal Encyclopedia and the Bedtime Stories collection. I can't believe that Christmas is one week away. I'm excited to see Faith's spirit come alive with giving. She is making presents this year. What will you get?

Read to your bunny often

It's twenty minutes of moonlight...it's twenty minutes brand new....read to your bunny often and your bunny will read to you. I remember this story and thinking that the day would come when Faith would pull out her books and read me a story to go to bed. The day has come. Tonight the story was Pooh's Leaf Pile. As she told me to get into bed and lay with Lamby, she opened up her book and began on page two. "Crunch, crunch. What is that loud noise? said piglet. Where have all the leaves gone on the trees? She turned a few more pages. With much excitement in her voice she said, "Oh no! Now we have a big mess, said Rabbit. Maybe we should do something not so messy." She continued on. "Let's use the leaves to make crafts. We will glue them onto some paper. Will we use our handprint. No we will not. We will make crafts." As she continued on through the other pages I realized that she loves reading and when sometimes I find myself just not wanting to read, I need to put a smile on my face and be thankful that she has come this far. She has her books memorized and she has shown me tonight her love for them. At school I have realized that she often sits alone and reads by herself in the morning. She is often reading when I pick her up from school. So thank you mom for teaching me the importance of reading to my child. And now my bunny is reading to me.

Breakfast with Santa

Yesterday we woke up early and headed off to a small historic town up the road to have a holiday breakfast with Santa. We waited in line for a while before we caught sight of the man in the big red suit. Faith was excited. Her eyes much reminded me of Grace's at Thanksgiving when she saw Santa arrive into town in his carriage. She smiled from ear to ear and asked Bud to lift her up so she could see. A breakfast filled with eggs, pancakes, sausage, fruit and cinnamon rolls. It was good. Then we headed to line to get pictures with Santa. She did great. Wasn't scared at all. She gave the lady her ticket and then walked over to Santa's lap like she had seen the other children do. She told him what she wanted for Christmas, how old she was, and that she had been very good this year. She was so excited to get a gift from Santa. Of course, that will go in her stocking for Christmas and she will have to wait for Christmas morning. Christmas just seemed to get better this year as we see the spirit of Christmas shine through the children.

Ahhh....the spirit of Christmas has arrived

The sound of the Salvation Army kettle bells ringing. The music that fills the air wherever you go. The smiles on peoples faces. The houses all lit up. The trees sparkling. The children's voices singing. The happiness in my heart knowing that my family is coming for Christmas. This morning I told Faith her Andma was coming to see her for Christmas. She said, "yeah, and maybe she is bringing Santa with her." I hope she doesn't think that Santa is staying here for the week. We are all going to have breakfast with Santa on Saturday and then have pictures taken, hayrides through a historic town and then off to the hunt parade filled with over 100 hound dogs and riders. I am excited as I see our house become filled with the joy that only the holidays bring. Faith just told me that princesses don't typeon the computer so I should go play with her.