Party Update

Well, it was another successful party! My friends Sarah and Deen, perusing the spread......




















many friends enjoying the food and companionable conversation
























and my crazy friend Randy in his twisty Santa hat.....kinda fits his personality! he is a big fan of my sausage balls (to the point that he even told his mother that mine are better than hers! yikes!!) so he usually gets to go home either with leftovers or with a special bag marked out for him ahead of time.

Even with the inclement weather (temp around 30 degrees with light wintry precipitation) there were still 41 folks in my home! Several new families including our missionaries just returned from Togo were able to come and several friends who had only see my home in photos were able to make it this year. It was wild and crazy chaos for a while with little boys scampering around, but I am very happy to report that nothing was broken and everyone had their fill of yummy treats and fun.

Ten years

I can't hardly even believe it.....10 years ago, I graduated from college!! Went back this past weekend for Homecoming.....it was fun, though exhausting.

Miss Emily before the parade - her sunglasses don't quite stay on well yet!

Here comes the band! March Grandioso anyone?

Another great thing about ACU is the fact that it pulls students from all over the world. They are doing even better at celebrating that diversity and exploring different cultures.

Little miss was so cold that she wouldn't even smile for me....but she did watch the parade! She followed most of the floats as they passed by in front of her street level view....

And there is Willy Wildcat.....

After the parade, we went home and Emily showed off her new trick to me.....she is starting to jump! Mom unearthed the Johnny Jumpup that Heather & I used. Emily is starting to get the hang of bending her knees and kicking off the floor. It is so cute!

I had also brought home some roses for mom......Emily "smelled" them with her hands and came away with a leaf! Thankfully, it wasn't a particularly thorny one.....

Safety Advice for Moms and Dads

At work each month, we have a staff meeting. Over the past few months, we have started each of these meeting with a "safety moment" highlighting some particular topic of safety.

The one presented today was a great idea and I thought I'd pass it on to you.....we were talking about children getting lost at the zoo, mall, etc. A mom has come up with temporary tattoos that are personalized with your cell phone number that you can rub on your child's arm before you head out. That way, if you are separated somehow, there is an instant way for contact with you. The website is www.safetytat.com. It also has several different options for identifying food allergies, autistic/non verbal children, etc which could prove very helpful in situations where your child is not well known.

Another idea mentioned was to take a photo of your child as you are entering the amusement park or whatever (on your digital camera or phone - which you all carry all the time, right?!) so that you have exactly what the child looks like that day and what they are wearing (because really, do you remember what clothes you put on your child each day?)

One last item of note was to somehow mark or label your stroller -- so many look alike and it could keep you or someone else from just walking off without looking closely that it is your child in the stroller! We label our suitcases when we travel, but many strollers probably don't have any sort of identifying marks on them or contact info for you.

All these things would be meaningless if someone was maliciously trying to take your child, but could prove very helpful if you are accidentally separated!