It has been a while since I have posted anything on our blog. Josh has taken it over for a while. He also lets the kids post their pictures they have taken of the cats. He is nice that way, unlike me. (: Anyways, the kids are funny as usual.
Yesterday, Ava said two notable funny things. I was grocery shopping with the kids and I was buying more groceries than usual. Ava took notice. She kept saying, "Mom, you are getting too much food." I just smiled and kept right on adding things to the cart. Again Ava said, "Mom you are getting too much food!" I then said, "Well, you do like to eat food. Don't you?" She then said, very seriously, "And how do you expect to PAY for this?" I think that is a line right from my mouth. They do absorb EVERYthing.
Okay, the second funny. Wednesday nights Josh and I teach a little kids class at our church. Right before we start the lesson; we ask if anyone has anything they would like us to pray for. The usual responses are: please pray for the scratch on my leg, please pray for my sick Grandma, and please pray for my dog. Those are the typical prayer requests. However, Ava's request generated some giggles. Ava raised her hand and I called on her. She said, "Momma, we need to pray that the kitties don't poop in the garage!" Silly girl!
My Beautiful Gifts
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Hyon and Cole Go Home
January 16, 2009 Ken's wife passed from this life to the next. He stayed home from work that day not realizing (though he may have had an intuition) it would be his last day with her on this Earth. Ken would call Terry that night and I would be honored with a call from him the very next day. He asked me to be a pall bearer. On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 he had his wake. I took my children and my wife. It was Ava's fourth birthday and we took her to Arby's and let her have some curly fries, a roast beef, and a chocolate shake. The children were fairly good and we stayed about an hour. Ava made a few people happy by coming up to Hyon's body that was dressed in a beautiful Korean traditional garment (hahn boke). I was telling Ava how Hyon had gone up to heaven, and Ava just says, she is very beautiful...those in the first row on the right side could here it and I could tell they thought it was very sweet. On Thursday, January 22, 2009, Paula came over and watched the children so Stacy could accompany me to the funeral. We arrived right around 1200. They had some food already prepared and ate before the funeral. In hindsight, it was a better arrangement and allowed people some nourishment before the additional emotional trauma that was sure to follow (no one would pass out or anything). There was a great coconut cake, some great pudding, beef tenders, potato salad, garden salad, and some deviled eggs as well as chicken and dumplings. The little church, Arkadelphia Baptist Church, was quaint and beautiful. The weather was about 70 degrees and cloudless..in a word, perfect. The plot right out the church had only a few occupied sites and Hyon would be buried next to Ken's father who also had passed on after a bout with cancer (the year prior). Ken performed remarkably in his eulogy and even was one of four carrying the casket. He was emotional, but help together the entire time. He was able to get through a dedication/eulogy to Hyon and there was narry a dry eye in the place. Ken has already said that he plans to be back to work on Monday...yes, just a few days after the funeral. We are praying for the family that they continue to be strong and Ken's faith has been an inspiration to those that know him.
We had the misfortune of being so far away from our extended family for little Cole's passing. This said, my parents kept us informed and it made for an even harder week for us and for many others. We understand that his funeral will be this Tuesday, January 27, 2009 with the wake the night earlier. The specifics of Cole's passing are hard to get into to. It was sudden and shocking. I do know that Jesus claimed him as his own and that passing away means entering some place far better. Our prayers to the family...especially the Buckinghams and the O'Briens, but for everyone. I understand that little Cole has helped others with his Cornea, Kidneys and Liver and this is no small gift! Here is a copy of the obituary for little Cole!
Cole James Buckingham
Buckingham, Cole James age 4, born June 27, 2004, died unexpectedly on January 21, 2009 at Minneapolis Chil- dren's Hospital. Cole was an absolute blessing to all of us and we know our lives will never be the same without him. He had a spirit that lit up any room he entered and you couldn't help but completely fall in love with him. Cole is survived by his parents, Jesse and Shannon (O'Brien) Buckingham; his adored brothers, Casey and Anthony; his grandparents, John Buckingham, Carole Buckingham, Phil and Vonnie O'Brien; great-grandparents, Delores Rouillard, Adeline May, Don and Elaine O'Brien; aunts and uncles, Jennifer Buckingham, Jason Buckingham, Molly (Tony) Hines, Katie O'Brien, Jennifer (Patrick) Jordan and cousins, Erin and Jordan McEachern, Jonathan Buckingham, Sam, Charlie, Joe and Stevie Hines, Lauren Jackson, Drew and Abby Jordan; as well as many family and friends. Cole was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, Norbert May, Roger Rouillard, John "Jack" and Dorothy Buckingham. Mass of Christian Burial will be Tuesday, January 27 at 11 AM at Mary Queen of Peace- St. Martin Campus in Rogers. Visitation will be held AT CHURCH on Monday from 3-8 PM, with a prayer service at 7 PM. Additional visitation will be one hour prior to Mass. Burial to follow in St. Martin's Cemetery.
I Love My Birthday Cards
I'm not really crying! I am just so happy, happy that people love me so much!
Cinderella by Emily
Thank you, Emily for your beautiful artistry. You have made Ava's birthday just a little bit more special! Thank you for your sweet gift of remembrance and art!
I Shall Dub You "CAN"
I like this Rhino...He has a nice horn and if daddy gets too crazy I can have CAN poke him...he he
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Boy, can he eat!
My little man LOVES to eat! Today for lunch we had sandwiches. (I know, Molly, we have them all the time!) Anyways, Sterling had a banana, a PB&J sandwich, a piece of cheese, and a sippy cup of milk. Sterling wolfed down his cheese, sandwich, banana, and milk. He then looks up from his plate and points to my cheese. He says, "Dis?" He means, "Mom, I want your cheese." I reply, "Sterling, do you want Mommy's cheese?" He starts to bounce and giggle. So, Mr. Man gets Mommy's cheese too.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Smart Cookie
It is amazing how much babies know. Yesterday, Sterling did a few things that show how much these little people know. Sterling happened upon a piece of garbage on the floor. I looked at him and said, "Sterling, throw that in the garbage." I was testing him because I didn't know how he would respond. He looked at me shook his head yes and trotted off to the trash can. He opened the lid and deposited the scrap of plastic. That's my boy!
Sterling is only allowed to have his sippy cup in two places. The first place is in his high-chair. The second place is sitting on the throw rug in the kitchen. He has often tested me with the second place. He would try to walk around the house with his cup in tow. That does not fly with me. Even though sippy cups don't spill they can drip on the floor---- and not to mention he doesn't need to have his milk with him 24/7. (manners and civility, please) So, the other day Sterling walks into the kitchen and sits on the rug. He said, "Sit down. Milk." Hurrah! He gets it. The way he said it was sooooooooo adorable. It was like this: si dow mlk. I love baby language!
These are most of the words that Sterling is saying now---Mom, Dad, Lily, Bel, kitty, meow, please, this, sit, down, milk, thank you, bye-bye, night, oo--oo--ah-ah, (what a monkey says) num-nums, (nummy) uh-oh, hi, hello, sisters, bath, and no. I think I have listed them all....
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Ava and Daddy go shopping
It was Saturday and Ava and I are going to Wal*Mart just to get lasagna-related materiels. Ava is trying to jump and step over every single crack...and there are a lot of them (it is Louisiana yuh know!)...and then she says. "Daddy you broke momma's heart." "You did, daddy...you broke momma's heart." "What?," I say. "You stepped on a whole bunch of cracks." I laughed quite loudly and then said.. "Don't you mean, step on a crack, break momma's back" "That's right daddy, you broke momma's back." Kind of funny. It was cuter in person.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Sleeping Beauty
Sterling and Ava share a room. Unfortunately, we can't put them to bed at the same time in the same room. Sterling will stand up in his crib and giggle and try to get Ava to play with him. That is an easy task. She'll hop out of bed and play all night with him--IF we'd let her. She often will give him book and toys in his crib too. So, we have a solution to this little issue. We put Sterling in his crib and put Ava to bed in our room. After she has fallen asleep and we are ready to go to bed ourselves, we transport the sleeping stinker into her room and bed. When we went to move her this night, she was in this pose. Apparently, one must be a lady even when she sleeps. Her little legs were crossed. We managed to take a few pictures and even turn on the hall and bathroom light without her waking. Funny little red head!Christmas 2008
Can we open the presents now?
I am the MAN!
Ava looks a little like a pirate here..
We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It is too bad that we couldn't share it with family and friends. Never the less, it was very nice. Josh had to work Christmas Eve, but when he came home we had a traditional Christmas Eve dinner with Pizza Hut. Okay, not so much traditional...but it was fun. We let the kids open one present and they begged to open more. The presents had been wrapped and under the tree for nearly a month. The girls were so excited about what was in their boxes. We played a little trick on the older two. I was sure that they'd be able to tell what a few of their presents were, so I swapped names on the presents to throw them off. All of Lily's presents had Bel's name on them. All of Bel's presents had Lily's name on them. (It was great fun on my part!)
Christmas morning was great fun for the kids. We have NEVER had stocking for the kids before. However, this year since I bought some and put them up after the kids had gone to sleep. In the morning the kids were so shocked. I heard Lily's saying with much excitement to Bel, "I don't believe it! We have stockings. Get out here! Which one is mine? Bel, do you know?"
Throughout the day we opened our presents. We spread it out all day long to keep it suspenseful and fun. We let them open two after breakfast--two a little later--and so forth. Since we are without the extended family, and they all send down their gifts to the kids--we have a LOT under the tree.
We had a turkey dinner with all the fixings. I make sure to put on all of our fancy dinner ware. I want the kids to feel special. I don't want them to be cheated out of the holiday mood just because we are away from everyone. I let them have their white grape juice in wine goblets. They love the glitz--so do I!
Well, we had a wonderful time, and I hope and pray that next year Christmas for us will be up north!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Obsession and Chili's
Today we went to Lake Charles. We brought about $60 of Chili's gift cards and the whole warrior clan. By the way, I had Chicken Club Tacos (Chicken, Bacon, ranch, cheese, tomatoes and a side of rice and black beans) which were surprisingly good and not too expensive. We also ordered a side of Chips and salsa (They have good salsa). Anyhow, I must have told Stacy several times how good the chips and salsa were because at one point she smirks at me with that stinkery smirk and says, "Huh, I must be married to a broken record. I like chips and salsa. I like chips and salsa. I like chips and salsa. I like chips and salsa." I reply, "Yeah, I can kind of be obsessive sometimes." Lily immediately says, "Daddy, its not always good to be obsessive." To which Isabel replies, "Unless you're into hippos."
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