Brave Girl

Once upon a time, there was this cute girl who played soccer. She play so much soccer that one day, she totally tore her ACL.

Fast forward and here we are. She was called in much sooner than expected,  for repair surgery because someone else canceled and she got their spot. Brave girl, Lil!

Back at home now, she is loving fruit smoothies and sitting back in the recliner…exactly like she’s supposed to.

And her mom’s a pro at adjusting her brace…

and unwrapping…

and unwrapping…

and unwrapping her leg…

to see what a good job the doctor did! And what a great job Lily is doing too. Not much bruising, so far.

She’s even mastering crutches like a pro….something I never did figure out. 

We’re so proud of you honey!! Rest and keep healing. We love you!

 

My Sweet Advent Calendar

On the last day of November–alllll those weeks ago- haha– April and Lily came over and gave me an amazing surprise.

Ok, yes, they brought me a yummy cinnamon roll that Lily made and some hot chocolate, but the REAL surprise was…..

this beautiful box…

with all it’s mysterious littler boxes….

that April’s family filled up with…

all kinds of magical Christmasy things!

There were candy canes and water bottle stickers and brown sugar fudge…

yummy lip gloss…

a soft, fluffy wash cloth…

and even a ridiculous Perfect Man made of chocolate.

Ohhhhh Aprilllll. Hahaha.

One box held heavenly soft plaid socks…

another had a chocolate marshmallow Santa–that only April and I truly appreciate. Heh.

There were lovely ornaments…

chocolates and more ornaments…

and MORE chocolate!!!

I especially loved the teeny, tiny Mrs. Claus cup ornament.

You know, I always wanted to be Mrs Claus when I grew up.

I’m not even kidding.

Best of all–each of those different boxes came with a sweet little  note from Hazel, Lily, Beckham, Jacob or April that I will love and cherish forever.

Thank you so much my sweethearts.

You made it like Christmas every single day.

Our Gingerbread House Party

We do this awesome thing each year.

We gather and make the most adorable gingerbread houses–started for our family my my sweet daddy–Grampa to most of these folks–when I was only 16. Now, the very smell of the cooking honeycake will send many of us back to Grampa’s bake shop out back.

It’s a beautiful, sweet thing.

 

The Closeness of a Cat

I’ve heard many people say that they prefer dogs over cats because, “Cats are just too independent.” That’s true in many ways, I suppose. They love to come and go as they please–especially if they have a cat door…

which of course, mine do.  So, no problem there.

So, yeah. My kitties are free as finches–day and night with the whole wide world at their little feet. Yet for some reason, the choice they make over and over and over is to stay here…

and be by me.

And how I love them for it.