Natalie and Lexi's First Dance Recital

Natalie and Lexi performed in their first dance recital last Friday.

I was more than a little overwhelmed by the amount of sequins and glitter involved in the costumes! Then, of course, there was the hair primping and make up application. Yikes. Lipstick and blush on a four year old kind of makes me cringe, but I had some good moral support. (Thanks Gaby!)

In the end, the girls were super adorable! They danced their sweet little hearts out. Afterward, Justin gave them each a bouquet of flowers. Glowing. I think that pretty much describes the faces of our tiny dancers.

I'm also pretty sure they had their very own cheering section!

I'm beyond grateful that our kids have so many people in their lives who love on them.

We Dream Big Around Here

Ah... the conversations one may overhear in our house...

(We had just finished reading a book about a boy struggling to know what he wanted to do when he grew up. Everyone else in his family had an "it." This little boy didn't know what his "it" was.)

Me: What do you dream about being when you grow up?

Natalie: A mom.

Justin: A superhero. I'm really excited about having rocket boots that make me fly.

Lexi: Ummm.... I think.... I think I will be a lion.

Of course! A lion. Why didn't I think of that!

As if Lexi growing up to be a lion isn't funny enough, the conversation continued...

Justin (quite emphatically): Lexi!!! You can't be that! People can't be lions!

Ohhhh, but a superhero? Yeah. That's much more realistic.

If you've spent any time at our house lately you would know Lexi's recent movie of choice has been The Lion King. Over and over and over and over. More than once we've spotted her crawling around on all fours carrying her other toys in her mouth. You know, like a mother lion carrying her cub. She's got a pretty good snarl going on too.

Here's the picture I took of her that night. Sound asleep. Surrounded by her own little pride.

On a side note, the book we were reading that sparked the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" conversation is called, You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy.

Such a great book. I thought it shared a great message about faith and trusting the Lord with our dreams. In the afterword, Dungy writes, "I'm glad I had parents that helped us to dream. I'm glad they taught us to pray about the things that were on our mind. And I'm really glad that God answers our prayers..."

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

I was a moment, seriously, a moment, away from hitting the "publish post" button on this gripping tale of the Mocabee family's big dreams, when Lexi saunters up to me and declares:

Mom, I don't really want to watch Lion King anymore. We watch that movie really so many times. Now, I want to watch Aristocats.

We just checked that one out from the library today. I guess I should brace myself for more feline adventures.

When Storytime and Baseball Season Collide

Most Wednesday mornings we head to the local library for Storytime with Ms. Bonnie. The girls always look forward to it.

However, don't let the term "storytime" fool you. It's so much more than just stories! Ms. Bonnie plays the tambourine and ukulele. There's jumping and wiggling and giggling. Storytime always begins with a mini show and tell session. Most of the time Ms. Bonnie breaks out this ratty brown puppet, fittingly named Grumpus. He's ill mannered and dirty and never remembers to cover his sneezes! Later, Ms. Bonnie invites the children to come up to the front and sing. At first, Natalie and Lexi rarely took part in the singing. Then, I began bribing them with tic tacs and now they are the first to volunteer! (Serio

usly, it's amazing what I can get my kids to do for one measly orange tic tac!)

Most of the children at storytime sing songs such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, or The ABC's. There was about a 3 week stretch (in March, mind you) when Lexi chose to sing Away in the Manger.

But now... in case you hadn't noticed... it's April. That means it's baseball season. More specifically, The Cubs are now part of the Mocabee's daily routine. For those of you who are less than familiar with the Chicago Cubs, let me fill you in... (because I have become more than familar with our dear old Cubbies).

So, there's this little song called Go Cubs Go that they play at Wrigley Field after the Cubs win. (Insert your own "after they win!?" joke here. I won't tell Scott.) Go Cubs Go is actually Scott's ringtone, so we get to hear it all year round.

Now, let's put this all together....

It's April, baseball season, Cubs on the brain....

It's Wednesday, library day, Mom has orange tic tacs in her purse.

Long story short...

Last week, at Storytime with Ms. Bonnie, the girls ditched the usual catalog of preschool songs and decided to sing Go Cubs Go.

I only captured part of it on video and the sound isn't great. But, much to their Daddy's delight, they sang it!

"Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!"

Truthfully, it did take a bit of extra convincing on my part to get them to sing this particular song. I could see that the orange tic tacs were, perhaps, not as persuasive as I needed them to be. I reached a bit deeper into my bag of bribes. Ah hah! There it was. Gum. "If you sing Go Cubs Go, you can have an orange tic tac AND a piece of gum." They were sold!

Happy Easter 2010!

Here's a few pictures from Easter:

Decorating our eggs

Checking out baskets on Easter morning

We managed a quick family picture after church.

With our good pals Makayla and Aubrey

Saving this one for their wedding invitation! ;)

Justin took a spill on the playground.

Who's ready to hunt for eggs?!

And above all, may we accept the Gift of The Cross. The Sacrifice of Jesus. Celebrate that He is Risen. By Grace we have been Saved. Happy Easter!!!

My Competition

Looks like I may have a bit of competition.

Here's a snippet of a conversation Lexi and I had recently:

Lexi: I'm going to marry Papa.

Me: Oh, sorry Lex, but Papa is already married

to me. He's my husband.

Lexi: Well... (considering this for the briefest moment) No, Papa is going to be my husband.

Me: What about me?

Lexi: You have to get a new husband.

And that settled it.

Root Root Root for the.... the.... Dodgers!?!?

Never thought those words would be chanted in the Mocabee house.

Of all the teams Justin and Natalie could have been placed on...

The Dodgers?! Really? C'mon!

Obviously, anything less than the Cubs is completely unacceptable to Scott.

As for me, my true disdain for the Dodgers dates back to 1988 when dumb Kirk Gibson hit that dumb home run against the A's in the World Series. Seriously, it's been 20 years. I'm so done watching his gimpy home run trot around the bases. But somehow the clip continues to haunt me on the random video montages that inevitably appear every baseball season.

Whatever. I just don't like the Dodgers.

But I do like these little cuties.

If anything can soften my heart to Dodger Blue, I supppose it will be my own kids. They played their first game last week. Justin played 1st base. After the game, Coach Kirk (of all names) chose Justin as the Player of the Game for his "effort and good catching and hitting."

Natalie played a sort of "first & a half base" position... situated behind the pitcher/between first and second base. With 13+ kids on the field, they squeeze in wherever they can. It suited her fine, as she spent much of the time with her glove over her face, peering up at the sky through the webbing!

Week 2's match up... Dodgers vs. Cubs. Time to pull out all the stops. Decided we needed to invest in real baseball pants. I just think they are super adorable! Natalie was excited too. Before getting dressed she exclaimed, "I can't wait to wear my new costume!"

Please disregard the soccer cleats. I'm saving our money for the snack bar.

Certainty

(Wrote this entry on February 1!!! Kept meaning to come back and post it. Time really does fly.)

I'm so grateful I took the time to journal some of the experience. Even just 2 years down the road, I reread a journal entry or look back at pictures and realize there's so many little things I've forgotten!

One thing I have not forgotten, though, is the absolute certainty I felt when I finally met the children. The years we spent waiting had been difficult. The weeks leading up to finally meeting the kids were grueling. Not so much because we were anxious to finally see them, but because we were terrified. What if these were not meant to be our children? The medical reports had been vague. Doctors had given us great cause for concern. There was not a certainty in those weeks leading up to the meeting. We were not sure if these 3 children were our 3 children.

But there was faith.
Faith that we were to keep going. Faith that the Lord had carried us to this point and, one step at a time, we were to keep pressing on.
So, that's what we did.
As much as I was making room in my heart and already beginning to love these 3 children, I was simultaneously preparing the bandages for the broken heart I knew might be coming. But, somehow, that was okay. We boarded an airplane to travel around the world, and had complete faith that it was what we were supposed to do.

And then...
Oh.
When I looked at those 3 little faces...
There was such a peace in my soul. An absolute certainty that filled every ounce of my being.

I don't take that certainty for granted. I realize it doesn't always feel that way for everyone. That certainty was a blessing. A gift.

In the past 24 months, I've been trying to navigate my way through becoming a mother. There have been many times when feelings have failed me. I've struggled. It often seems like my world is spinning and I'm just hanging on. Days when I don't feel like a mother or... (honesty here)... feel like being a mother. And yet, I know, for certain, that they are mine and I am theirs.
I'm sure of it.
When I tell the children that God had a special plan for the way we would become a family, I mean it.

On those days my world is spinning, I recall that peace, that certainty the Lord blessed me with 24 months ago. It's what will ground me.