Pumpjama Party!

Bear with me as this post is extraordinarily late, but I would be remiss to not include Coco's 3rd birthday party for our family scrap blog!

The Birthday Girl decked out in all things Ariel from head to toe:

hairbow, pj's, slippers & necklace!

We had a Pumpjama party at Pump It Up to celebrate Coco & Jansen turning 3. All the kiddos looked adorable in their pj's and had a blast. Seriously, whoever came up with the idea of huge rooms filled with inflatable jumps is a genius. She had so much fun and talks about going back to the "bounce house" all the time.

Coco & Jansen riding in their gift wagon.

Coco & Daddy sharing some serious play time.

Time to eat!

Coco & Momma: just being silly

Coco & Jansen in the birthday chair. We are singing Happy Birthday to them. Coco is getting a little shy & Jansen is totally clueless!

The Ariel cupcakes on a stick!

(Jansen's were Spiderman but I forgot to get a picture before they were all eaten.)


This is the aftermath of Coco oh-so-quietly opening all her presents! You know what they say about quiet toddlers. We should have known she was up to something. When I walked into her room, she said with utmost amazement, "Oh Momma, Look!"

Prayers for Sebastian

I post this to ask for your prayers for Sebastian. He has pneumonia again (3rd time in as many months) and is a very sick baby. All of his "first" holidays have been clouded by illness: Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas. Obviously it's not "normal" to get pneumonia that often so we are about to embark on the journey of figuring out the root of the problem. Specifically, the doctors want to test for aspiration and cystic fibrosis. We won't be able to start testing until his lungs are clear. Please pray neither of these issues are the cause of his sickness. We are so worried and hopeful that the cause is a more simple issue: like being allergic to Jack. Finding a new home for our four legged family member wouldn't be nearly as hard as a feeding tube or a life sentence of not being able to breathe. There are so many possibilities, we will have to rule them out one at a time starting with these 2 most likely. We are nervous and scared but know God is in control and have faith in the power of prayer; which is why I am asking all of my blogging buddies to put Sebastian on your prayer list. Miracles happen every day and I can't wait to see the one God works in our baby boy's life!

Happy Birthday Coco

Our December flower turned 3 years old today. Man how time flies! We had a busy day but were determined to make sure her day was properly celebrated. Simply enough, an Ariel birthday cake & Disney princess gift bag were all it took to put a heart melting smile on her face.

Happy Birthday Coco!

Sebastian's Special Day

Sunday we dedicated our sweet baby boy to our blessed Lord. The ceremony was short and sweet but no less a reminder of the awesome responsibility God has entrusted us with. A good friend once said something about children that I've never forgotten and has altered by view of parenting ever since. Her theory is that God doesn't "give" us children. They are His all along and He has charged us with the duty to raise them according to His word. Every parent would agree that it's not always the most fun job but when you put it in an eternal perspective, there is certainly no higher calling than that of being a parent.

After church, we continued Sebastian's special day with a spaghetti lunch. If hind sight is 20/20, this may not have been the wisest dish to serve. Considering the guest of honor, wearing the most adorable dupioni sailor outfit, was passed around from person to person. In all the passing, his precious outfit was littered with tiny spaghetti sauce drops!!!! It is at the cleaners now and I'm not optimistic they will come out.

It's Official!

Well, it's official. The good news is our house is sold and we are set to close on Dec. 2nd!!! The bad news is that we haven't found another one to purchase. There are a couple of options but they are still full of "if's & maybe's." So, rather than living in the store room at Fineberg (ha!) or going to the expense of setting up a rental for only a few months, my parents have graciously agreed to let us bunk with them. It could be interesting and will certainly require concessions but with the right attitude, it could prove to be one of the best Christmases ever! No house to clean (Mom has a housekeeper) and doting grandparents ready & willing to spoil and love every day. It may not be ideal but I can think of worse ways to spend the holidays. We will keep you updated on where our next address will be. In the meantime, if you have any boxes, send them my way! Today I start the dreaded task of packing.

Supper Club's Pizza Contest

This month's Supper Club was a blast. We divided into teams and had a pizza pie contest! There were only two rules: 1. You could not vote for your own pizza. 2. You had to taste them all in order to vote. We had a taco pizza, a 'blanco' pizza, a BBQ chicken pizza and the winning recipe was a Mediterranean pizza! Yum! The best part was letting the guys "work the dough." It really does take some elbow grease to turn a lump of dough into a pizza crust. After a tie breaker with the 'blanco' pizza team, the Cranford's were crowned as winners with a chef's hat and turkey apron.

Terry Wayne was the mastermind behind the taco pizza!

Jan Hensley "workin' the dough!"

Donald & Erik: You can't tell from this picture, but they really did have fun!!

Ryan & Christi: The Winning Chefs!


Laura's sauteed peppers smelled yummy to us girls but ran Donald & Terry Wayne out of the kitchen.

BFFs & creators of a yummy BBQ chicken pizza!

God bless girlfriends!

It's a new day and a new season of life when getting a group of girlfriends together to play bunco is a monumental task. When our bunco group started playing, not all of us had children and most didn't have more than one. Several years and lots of dice rolls later, ALL of us have children and most all more than one. We have officially hit the time of life when "me" time is almost a thing of the past - but a thing that can & should occasionally be relived. Tonight, we did just that. We had a well-deserved night of pizza, cupcakes, girl talk and laughter. I think we did manage to get one round of bunco played but who cares? The rules of the game were a little rusty but the conversation was anything but. Man how I miss our monthly outings! I wanted to take at least one picture of our group just in case it's another year before we all convene again with no pretense other than fellowship.

P.S. I have no idea why the picture is so tiny...anyone know?