The Eyes of My Heart

My husband Eric and my daughter Jenna took me out to lunch today. We ate at a restaurant called Caesar's that had a new lunch buffet I wanted to try.

It is a small restaurant with open seating, but manages to stay quiet and peaceful for the most part.

That is, until today... Jenna was so happy today and full of energy. It was all she could do to sit still long enough to finish her food. The entire time, she just wanted to sing.

She would stretch her arms out and sing her song. And, in a restaurant like Caesars,.. well, I had to be courteous and quiet Jenna and explain to her that the restaurant was not the time and place for singing. But I couldn't bring myself to actually stop her. I quieted her down... but I didn't stop her. It was the song she was singing that completely overruled any other thoughts in my head.

With arms stretched out, she would sing "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you. I want to see you" (which is by far, one of my all time favorite songs that I would sing at church retreats and events). She was so happy singing her song over and over... and to top it off, she looked at me with this smile as big as the sky and said "Mommy, we had chapel in school today and I learned my new song and I really like my new song a lot!"...and continued on singing "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you"

Not a soul frowned on us in Caesars for our little singer... in fact, Jenna brought a smile to the face of any person who paused a moment to listen. The waiter just loved it, and nobody once complained about her outbursts of song. I believe when Jenna sang "Open the eyes of my heart"... the Lord opened the eyes of our hearts to the true wonder of a childlike faith. A little girl, who loves her Lord in Heaven with all of her heart - and isn't ashamed to sing his praise in the middle of a nice restaurant.

Mark 10:13-16 And they were bringing children to him that He might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

Mr. Snowman's Arms

Winter 2010 has been beautiful and fun! One weekend we had ice that was perfect for hours of fun sledding...and this weekend we had beautiful white snow that was perfect for snow ball fights and building a snow man!

Jenna was constantly throwing snowballs at anybody that got too close from the moment there was enough snow to fit in her hand. I know I was hit with quite a few of them!

Jenna has been begging for snow all winter just to build a snowman, so that was our first task last night. Jenna placed Grandpa Perry's hat on his head and Grandma Neesie gave us two buttons for eyes. Jenna picked out one of the carrots from the fridge for his nose, and gave him her purple scarf from around her neck. He looked so cute, but needed one more thing... ARMS. We found two sticks to use as arms. After securing the first arm, I went around to the other side to put the other arm on... and suddenly our boxer dog, Destiny, came FLYING across the yard and YANKED the first arm off of Mr. Snowman and took off running and jumping around the yard thoroughly enjoying her newfound game. Every time I put an arm on Mr. Snowman, Destiny would run up and yank it off and run through the yard. Everyone was laughing at our silly dog and her fight to keep us from putting arms on Mr. Snowman. We finally put her inside, so we could finish putting on Mr. Snowman's arms and take a few pictures.

When we finally let Destiny back outside..... hmmmm, suddenly Mr. Snowman has no arms again! ha ha... more pics at www.dropshots.com/pilkentonpearls

The Balloon Man

After basketball practice last night, we ate dinner at Corona's Mexican Restaurant. There was a gentleman wearing silly glasses, carrying a large black bag, and moving from table to table. Immediately, my four year old studied him to find out what he was doing. Her eyes sparkled and lit up as a hug smile stretched across her face as she exclaimed "Mommy! He's a balloon man! He's making balloons!!!"

As a mommy, I knew full and well that this was the perfect opportunity for a challenge. So I said, "Jenna, if you sit still and eat all your food, he will come to our table and I'll let him make you a balloon." My plan worked! Jenna sat still, ate all of her cheese quesadilla, and waited patiently (well, as patiently as a 4 year old can wait - meaning she asked at least 3 times when he would make it to our table).

Jenna got lucky though- the table he was next to looked over at us and lo, and behold, it was some friends I grew up with. Lee Coker called over to us from their table to say hello. My dad went over to speak with them and Jenna took that opportunity to get closer to the balloon man and went with Grandpa to visit. Of course, after saying hello to Lee and the guys, her true reason for being there became obvious as she turned and watched the balloon man as he made a ladybug for someone at that table. Lucky for Jenna, it was a table of women...and all thought she was "the cutest thing"... so Jenna batted her little eyes and VOILA, Jenna is now included at the table where the balloon man is! (She's a smart little cookie, isn't she?)

The balloon man got a kick out of her enthusiasm and so he made an extra special balloon for her. He made a balloon to look just like her, even wearing her same outfit! He finished the little girl off with a smile, freckles, and gave her purple flowers per Jenna's request. The balloon girl actually looks a LOT like Jenna and the balloon man received a round of applause from all after he presented it to "Princess Jenna".

Thanks Balloon Man, for making my Jenna Jade feel like a real princess.

Oh- and Dear Corona's Restaurant, FYI -since last time you provided "the real Santa", and this time it was "The Balloon Man", you have now created a little girl that most certainly has high expectations now for you... Good luck with that!

Grandma vs. Roxy

Grandma Neesie (my mom, Denise) slid down the hill on a tin lid... Roxy (my parent's boxer dog) made an attempt to stop her... well, that didn't work out so well for Roxy!

SNICE!! (Snow/Ice Mix)

We had a lovely mix of snow and ice blanket our neighborhood this past weekend. And they are calling for more this coming weekend! Because of the ice and freezing rain... the snow was frozen SOLID... so no snowmen making, however, we had a BLAST sledding and "lidding" down the hill. The sled moved so fast on the ice! Jenna went by herself a few times- she absolutely had the time of her life. She had to learn to steer after hitting a tree her first time down Her newfound enemy is the city scraper truck that took away all of our fun while we were inside eating lunch. She dislikes that man very much HA HA.

The term "lidding" is what I came up with for the two tin lids that Dad found for us to slide down the hill in... and those things flew way too fast for me, I got scared and jumped off! Eric went all the way down and flipped... my mother went all the way down and hit Roxy (my parent's Boxer dog - video to come very soon ha ha),... my dad went down and almost fell out, and Jenna kept BEGGING for a turn, and I really didn't want her too, maybe if the snice comes back, I'll let her have a go--- only if Eric, Grandpa, and Grandma guard the bottom of the hill to make sure she doesn't fly off the side...LOL... I just might have to close my eyes though. ha ha. My mommy nerves get completely shot at the idea of my 4 year old flying down the hill on a tin saucer at 35 miles an hour...

The girls and I when we first got out there- Lexie liked the snow, but did NOT like the cold. She got fussy and wanted back inside after only 20 minutes. ha ha! Jenna on the other hand- could have been out there in a t-shirt and you'd had to have dragged her back inside by her frozen arms while she insisted she was hot... ha ha...

Grandma Neesie (my mom) and Lexie Noelle just moments before Lexie decided she had enough of the winter weather for one weekend ha ha... in her defense, Lexie really struggles with allergies, and her allergies were giving her a rough time.Eric finally off work to play in the snice! yay!Grandpa Perry (my dad) and Jenna at the beginning of the first trip Jenna took by herself down the hill... she forgot to steer, and went off the road, into the woods, and was stopped by a tree...only to get back up and say "I wanna do it again! this time I'll turn right!" ..and she did! she did very well the rest of the day! And the tree did not hurt her at all- she wasn't really going that fast, and hadn't gone that far ha ha...Here you see Grandpa Perry (my dad) on the lid. Grandma Neesie had gone down the hill with Jenna on her sled- and Dad flew down the hill on that tin lid--I tried it next and fell off into the woods... unfortunately I never braved to try it again. Maybe next time and maybe with guard rails. ha ha...more pics at www.dropshots.com/pilkentonpearls