THE KITE RUNNER

Wow!  I just finished this book and it was amazing!!  There are so many “themes” in this book I don’t even know how to begin to tell you all of them.  Unconditional love, devout devotion that I cannot comprehend, honor without question, hope, friendship, respect………………….hopelessness, sin, guilt, shame, trembling fear, unspeakable acts of evil, the weight of your conscience…..REDEMPTION!

I cannot get the images and characters out of my mind.  This will be a book that will definitely stay with me for a long time!

If you have not read this book and are considering it now, know that there is almost nothing “happy” about this book.  This was what I was told when my friend gave it to me…and she was right.  I am so glad I read it and I have a totally different perspective now of the people and country of Afghanistan.  Just remember, it is NOT light reading:)!

This was author Khaled Hosseini’s first novel…and it was amazing!

If you have already read this book, I would love to know your thoughts/comments!

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Slide Show

I have too many darling pictures to let them all go to waste, so I decided to make a slide show.  Check it out at the top of my blog!

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HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

I am that dork that LOVES to celebrate EVERY holiday!  I get so much enjoyment out of decorating and buying things for the kids.  I have passed this excitement on to Carter as well…and it is SO MUCH FUN!!

The excitement started last night when we got to make Carter’s Valentines for his class.  He loved folding the “batman” cards and putting heart stickers on each one.  He would carefully tear off a piece of tape and attach a sucker.  All the while commenting on who would get each one and how excited his friends would be to eat the sucker.  He was just beaming.  “Thanks mom for letting me do all of this!”…so sweet!

~Do you remember how much fun it was as a child on Valentine’s Day at school?  You got to decorate your paper sack and then everyone would come by and drop a valentine inside.  You would totally analyze each one…wondering if that boy/girl meant to give you the one with the heart on it…maybe he/she liked you:)!  So funny how much a little piece of paper meant to you.  I can remember this like it was yesterday~

Well, I put the kids to bed and then I got to decorate the house:)!  I put a balloon on both of the kids doors ….and then I laid out a trail of large red hearts from Carter’s bed out to his gift in the living room.  I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face in the morning.

He woke up at 6:45 this morning, which is early for him, and Ben and I could hear him say, “Wow, what is this?”  He comes and jumps in bed with us, “Mom, Dad, there are presents in the living room!!…  I don’t believe it!”  We built up the anticipation in bed for about 20 minutes…and that was about all he could stand:)!

What little boy wouldn’t LOVE silly string?

Carter was excited about his gift bag…with candy, DVD, glitter glue sticks, and silly string inside.  He kept asking me, “Mom, how did you know I would like this?”  “Mom and Dad I love you so much!”  See why I love doing things like this for him!  He is SO APPRECIATIVE! 

Ben and I both got cologne/perfume…and Miss Caroline got a stuffed animal!  We had a lazy morning playing with all of their gifts. 

Carter had a great time at his Valentine’s party at school.  When we were getting in the car after school he told me, “Mom, I loved one another today at school.”   I adore this little boy!

We topped the day off by playing outside….

 I hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day!  We celebrated early with the kids because we are off to Charleston, South Carolina…..KID FREE!!!  YEAH!!!

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My Little Bookworm!

 

Caroline could sit and read books for HOURS!!  She has a bucket of about 50 books that she looks at over and over and over.  If she ever sees you sitting still for one minute she brings you a book and insists that you read to her.  If she is not reading she is still carrying them around with her.  Ben says that she carries them around like they are her treasures!  After seriously reading to her for 1 hour the other day…I finally told her NO MORE!  She cried as if her little heart would break!  You see, I LOVE books, and I never thought I would see the day that I would be tired of reading.   She grabs one first thing in the morning and I think to myself….Oh no, not yet!!!!

 

 The picture below is the “surprised look”….as if she hasn’t seen this book a million times!

 

Little Miss Caroline, I really am glad that you like to read.  I hope you carry your love of books with you for the rest of your life!

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I love what I do!

Most of you know that I love being a hygienist.  It is hard for me to explain to people how neat it is to step into your patient’s world for a window of time.  I am going to try….here is how my morning has gone so far….

7am…the typical stoic business man…doesn’t want to talk…and that is OK, because I don’t want to talk at 7am either!

Next patient:  Sweet guy my age…he and his wife are expecting their first child.  See, I started seeing this guy when he was dating his wife.  I got to hear all about the proposal….next appointment I got to hear all about the wedding…next appointment I get to hear all about “trying” to get pregnant…and now their son is due in March!  They are a darling couple!

Next Patient: 50 year old man…has been fired from his job as VP of advertising that he has had for 28 years.  He has been out of a job for 2 years now and still no luck.  He is over-qualified and let’s face it too old!  We get to talk all about the challenges/blessings of this time in his life. 

MY FAVORITE PATIENT is next:  Mrs. Hester…93 year old…sweetest lady I have ever met!  I absolutely LOVE her.  She is beautiful, has the sweetest heart, and has a great outlook on life.  I could sit and talk about life forever with her…such wisdom!  She still drives herself around and you will always find her doing crossword puzzles.  She brings a book of them to every appointment.  I met her when she first moved into the retirement home over here..4 years ago.  She wasn’t too thrilled about having to live there.  She told me a story of one of the first days at the retirement village.  She was sitting beside the pond and was asking God what he wanted her to do with the rest of her life here in this new home.  He told her to bring joy to other people’s lives by playing the piano.  She bought a piano for the home and now plays during all of the meal times.

She says the same thing every time she leaves my office, “Girl, I love you!  Now go kiss on those babies because they grow up overnight!…I sure hope I get to see you again!”  ….she gives me a big hug and we both always wonder if it will be the last.

I want to be like her when I grow up!

Next Patient: sweet little 8 year old boy…not a care in the world…and all we talk about is his new Wii he got for Christmas…he jumps out of the chair to show me how he moves for all of the games…So Sweet!

Next Patient:   This is the first time I have seen her.  A 45 year old lady who works very hard for an accounting firm in Dallas.  She looks longingly at the pictures of my children.  She tells me to cherish these days, etc.  There seems to be a sadness in her voice.  By the end of the appointment she tells me that her children are all grown now….she wishes that she hadn’t worked so hard while they were young…it all went really fast…she wished she could do it all over…she would have worked part time or stayed at home…too late now!

So this is how my morning has gone.  Truly life lessons that I take from everyone I see.  I hope that I showed you a little bit of how my days go.  Sure I clean teeth (boring) but more importantly God puts people in my life to remind me of struggles, dreams, lessons, joy, excitement, and pain of people in the world around me.  I LOVE MY JOB! 

My lunch break is over…I better go see who is on my schedule for the afternoon!

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