A day for the books

Today...

The last troops left Iraq, bringing a 9-year war to an end.

Kim Jong Il, the dictator of North Korea, died.

And our family survived its first road trip to Utah.

Obviously, those first 2 are a little more significant to the world. But the last one feels like a big milestone for me.

Thank goodness for kids who were much better than I anticipated and Aunt Jennifer who welcomed us with warm beds, dinner, and cousins(!) to play with halfway through.

Now, let's get down to enjoying our Christmas visit, shall we?

xo,

Mama

What a crazy 21 months and 19 days it has been

Today, Henry is exactly as old as Lucy was when Henry was born.

Ooooooo-eeeeeee. No wonder I got shingles this year.

A little early for the F word, don't you think

You said FAT today. As in, you were worried that having babies someday would make you fat.

Say wha-huh-huh?

I tried not to COMPLETELY FREAK OUT as I think it was more of a blip you overheard than an actual concern but MY GOSH - you're only 3 and a half years old!! Aren't you scheduled to worry about this years from now??

In fact, can we can skip the worrying about being fat altogether? That is definitely what I am hoping to help you do.

You have a wonderful body. Please be happy just the way you are.

Lucy made the tribal newspaper!

This is from the December Ta'c Tito'oquan News. It was a sweet day. Papa gave a cultural presentation and there were several Afghani women that couldn't get enough of you. You were very friendly, talked with them and took pictures. When the foreign men in the group asked to take your picture, you weren't quite as willing. Go figure.

As a side note: your dad was the editor for this paper when we first got married.

If I had a dream

If I had a dream that...

My daughter, taking her queue from an Orange Blossom doll, would rub oranges slices all over her hair while I left the room for 2 minutes.

And that I'd be caught using a (possibly dirty) sock to wipe a smear of disgusting boogers off my son's nose.

And that I'd have to stick my hand into a public toilet to retrieve a truck.

...then my dream came true today.

Yay me.