Advent Calendar Christmas 2016

Henry, you make the funniest faces.  You make me laugh.  My heart smiles whenever I see you.  Diva

Henry, I like making cookies with you and I like eating cookies with you even more!  You are my smallest Cookie Monster!  Diva

Henry I hope you will always look up to your big brothers.

I love your curiosity and your willingness to try new things.

Diva

Henry we need to go on an ice cream cone date.  I like doing fun things with you.  Diva

Henry, you are my super hero when you do kind things for others and when you charge up Mommy’s batteries with your kisses. 

Diva

Henry, I love watching you and your brothers play.  You are so smart and I enjoy watching you build with Legos or do puzzles .  I am so glad we live here now so we can see you all the time.  Diva and Poppa

Henry, do you remember the two man rocket Poppa built for you out of my dining room chairs?  I love your imagination and sense of adventure.  Diva

Henry, Poppa and I love doing fun things with you and your family.  We love you Buddy and hope we can always be close by to help you and hold you hand.  Diva and Poppa

Henry, you make me laugh.  I love your “Cool Running Shoes” songs and silly faces.  You make everything an adventure.    Diva

Henry, what a lucky boy you are to have so many wonderful  books to read and look at.  Your Mommy and Daddy love to read as well as your Poppa and me.  One day you will be able to read all by yourself but until then feel free to snuggle up with me and we will read together.  Diva

 Henry, look how much you have grown since you caught your first fish at Uncle Joe’s pond .  Quit growing so fast!  Diva

Henry, I love to hear your prayers.  Thank you for praying for Poppa and Me.   Diva

Things that make me excited

 

What makes me excited?

1.  Anticipation:  Looking forward to something that is coming up.

2. Daydreaming: hoping about something that I want to happen.

3.  Fireworks...I love to watch the night sky light up with all the pretty displays.

4. Praise Music:  Brightens my day, my mood, and lifts my spirit.

5.  My Kids and Grandkids:  Happy Days!

6.  Cake....will make me do a happy dance every time!

7.  My Cats....they think I'm wonderful so I try not to disappoint them.

8. Volunteers: ....people who share my passion and vision and show up to work hard and get a project done.

9.  A completed project:  I love checking off an item on my "to-do list."

10.  An adventure:  a day trip, visit the library, a visit from a friend, a trip to Dairy Queen for a small blizzard, visit a greenhouse, a bouquet of flowers from the grocery store, or a movie date.

11.  Nature:  I love a great sunset, fields of flowers, mountains, the beach, sitting on a porch swing sipping sweet ice tea, and watching the world go by.

12. Home:  Dorothy had it right all along....there's no place like home especially if Mr. Wonderful is there beside me.

Hope you weren't expecting something lofty and inspiring.  

Easter Eggstravaganza

Dear Henry....Today we went to Bridge Christian Church for the Easter Eggstravaganza.  The weather was cold and wet and before we left it was snowing big flakes of snow.  You weren't able to hunt eggs but they gave you a plastic sack with about 15 eggs loaded with candy.   The Easter bunny showed up and you and Oscar had your picture taken with him.  Charlie didn't want to stand next to a stranger so opted not to be in the picture.   

You had your face painted with a Superman symbol on your cheek.  The lady told you that you needed to sit as still as a statue and you did.  You were so good and so still....Diva was surprised at how still you can be.

When she finished she showed you the symbol in a mirror.  You laughed and laughed and showed me your super muscles.  Do you think Mommy and Daddy will recognize you?  I do!  

She drew on your cheek with water colored pencils.  Diva and Poppa had never seen watercolor pencils before.  Charlie got a ninja turtle and Oscar got a Pokeman cartoon.  You also got to frost sugar cookies and put on sprinkles.  You chose blue with lots of sprinkles.

They also had a bounce house....your favorite.  It was snowing when we left so you opened your mouth and ate snow flakes on the way to the car.  It was a fun time and you got lots of candy to take home.

Mommy and Daddy will be coming to Diva's house this afternoon after your nap.  I know how excited I am....and I know you will be so happy to see them too.

I love you my super hero.  

Your Diva

Day 6 of Diva Camp

Dearest Henry,


Today started much better.  Today we are going to the Children's Museum in Harrisonburg.  You wanted to wear your superman shirt with your cape.  We ate an early lunch and spent all afternoon at the museum.


The Explore More Children's Discovery Place is very exciting.  One of your favorite things to do was the train station.  You liked it so much.


This is one of my favorite pictures of you and the train station. You played with all the trains and liked to pretend.  

You liked the Science Room too.  You decided to build a big bug.  You liked the rocks and geodes, and looking into the microscope.  Poppa knows lots about science and dinosaurs. 

You and your brothers really liked the car station.  You were able to put tires on and off and change the muffler.  You fixed the car and even crawled under it.  It was a lot of fun and you liked it very much.

The Children's Center has a TV studio.  We got to see what you would look like on TV or doing the weather.  You got to stand in front of a green screen and be on TV.  What fun.

We will have to take Mommy and Daddy to the Discovery Center next time.  You liked spinning this wheel.  It looks like a game show wheel.  You were very tired but did not want to leave.  I promised you we would come back next time you visit.

On the way back to Diva's house we stopped and bought an Easter basket for the Easter egg hunt tomorrow.  We had good news....Mommy and Daddy are back and will come home tomorrow from Baltimore.  You got to talk to Mommy and tell her about our adventures.

Sleep well....and have good dreams about all the fun times you had today.

Your Diva and Poppa

Day 5 of Diva Camp

Dearest Henry...Today was not one of your best days.  You were very cross and fussy.  I think it's because you miss Mommy and Daddy.  You had many "Time Out's" and Diva found out you have a very big temper for such a little boy.

You like to do everything your brothers do, and do not like to be told "you are too little".  We had planned some trips today but Diva does not reward bad behaviour .

This  is a picture of some of the activities we did today.  You like dressing up like Spiderman and Captain America.  You especially like capes.  While you took your nap the big boys helped Poppa with the lawn mower.

When you woke up we went to the Green Valley Book Fair.  These are the books you got.  You love books about trucks.  You laughed and laughed at the garbage truck book called I Stink!

The book called I'm Dirty is about another big truck.  You told me, "Diva I like to get dirty too!." 

You were Poppa's helper this morning when he went to put wood in the heater.  You are so strong and lifted big pieces of wood for Poppa to put into the fire to keep our house nice and toasty.  Thank you for your service today.

I love you buddy....hope we have a better day tomorrow. 

Your Diva.....

Diva Camp Day 4

Dearest Henry...Welcome to day 4 of Diva Camp.  Today you ate 4 mini powdered sugar doughnut for breakfast.  You said that they were "Yummy and Mommy likes these kind of doughnuts too!"  We talked about Mommy and Daddy in Iceland and then you were ready to build with Poppa.

Poppa found all kinds of microphones, dials, switches, and hardware to make each of you a control panel for your dinning room rocket chairs.

You think you are just as big as your brothers and showed Poppa how to use the microphone right away.  Poppa also helped you make a box helmet and put aluminum foil on it to make it shiny as well as sides to the rocket chairs.  You all had your lunch in your cockpits as you were pretending to fly around all the planet and moons.

 After your nap we took a picnic lunch to Gypsy Hill Park and you had a big time at the play ground with Poppa.  Poppa caught you on the rock climbing wall or you would have really hurt yourself.  You make me laugh whenever you run and fall....You look at me and say, "I'm alright".  Diva has gone through a lot of Mickey Mouse band aids these last few days.

After you fed the ducks we all went to get ice cream.  You had a chocolate ice cream cone and ate almost every bite.  At the park you saw an airplane in the sky and said, "Look Diva, that's Mommy and Daddy's airplane!"  I think you miss your parents...but that's alright.  We still have some more days to play.

Sleep well .....More fun tomorrow.

Your Diva

Dear Henry,.....Today is Tuesday and Poppa and Diva took you to where we work.  We work at a mission called Equipping the Saints.  We wanted you to meet some of our friends and let you do some mission work.

The first thing we did was roll some clothes and put it in the big box smasher.  Diva has a big mountain of clothes she calls Mt. Clothesmore.  It has lots of big black trash bags filled with clothing.  Poppa let you climb on it and took your picture.  Poppa doesn't usually let people climb on the clothes but you are special.OOne

Poppa took you on a tour of the building.  There are lots of rooms filled with lots of items like typewriters, computers, medical stuff, even musical instruments.  You really liked the drums and especially the keyboards.  

One thing you really enjoyed was popping bubble wrap.  You liked jumping and dancing on it and making it sound like firecrackers.  You laughed and laughed and even your big brothers thought it was a great idea.

This morning you and Oscar made a rocket ship out of my dinning room chairs.  You used shirts on your heads for helmets and Oz even made a seat belt for you.  You enjoy planning pretend.

We went to a special park today called "A Dream Come True".  It was made by a Girl Scout for her eagle project.  The playground is a place that even children with disabilities can play.  You liked it very much.  Especially the slides....Poppa had to run to keep up with you.

On the way home Poppa stopped at the Dollar Store and let you boys buy the best toy for 2 dollars....this is what you chose.

Day 2 of Diva Camp

Dear Henry....Today was rainy and wet...not a good day for going to the park.  So we went to the library instead.  Poppa went with us and we checked out books, played on the computer, built with big blocks and saw a big multicolored dinosaur in the lobby.  Her name was Lucy but you were scared of her even though your brothers assured you she wouldn't bite.

You especially liked the computer because they had a lot of programs for preschoolers with numbers, animals and ABC letters.  I had a hard time getting you away from it to go home for lunch.




You enjoyed building with very large blocks...but you didn't enjoy sharing them with other kids (and especially not your brothers!)  You also liked doing puzzles and punching buttons on the computer.  



After the library we went to Food Lion to get some more milk.  You liked the grocery carts because they look like cars.  You didn't like it when Ozcar tried to run into your car and pretend like he was a policeman and give you a ticket for reckless driving.

  At home we colored, took a nap, and worked puzzles.  It was a busy day but we liked seeing pictures of Mommy and Daddy.

Diva got this email from my friend, Miss Donna that you visited yesterday.

"I loved it! 

Thank you so very, VERY much for all the gifts and candy.

And the artwork ... please let the children know how much I appreciate it.

You'll have to let me know what their impressions were after visiting.

Heard lots of wonderful comments about the boys!

Again, thank you once again."

You see Henry our trip yesterday to my friend really meant a lot to her.  Thank you for being so sweet and nice and giving her your time and attention.

Love you buddy.....Your Diva

Diva Camp Begins

Dear Henry,

Today was the first day of Diva Camp because Mommy and Daddy went on a special trip to Iceland today.  They were sorry to leave their boys but know how excited Diva and Poppa are to have some extra special time with you and your brothers.  You were so sweet to Mommy and Daddy and gave them lots of hugs and kisses to keep them filled up while they are on their trip.  Just remember Buddy...what happens at Diva Camp, stays at Diva Camp.

You and Poppa played with Legos today.  Poppa is a good builder and so are you.  I laughed and laughed at Poppa because I think he is having a really good time by the way he is flying his lego plane.  What do you think?

You and Charlie made some art work for my friend Miss Donna .  She lives in a nursing home and is in a wheel chair.  You gave her two Almond Joy candy bars and she let you hook the horn on her wheel chair.  You were very sweet to my friend and that made my heart smile.



You got to pick out your favorite candy at the grocery store...you chose Sour gummy Octopus....(oh my, you really are your Poppa's boy!)  You can be very determined and stubborn just like Poppa too.  

Tonight, you wanted to wear your candy cane pajamas even though the pants were yours but the shirt was Charlie's.  Charlie wanted to wear his shirt but you wouldn't wear any other shirt and insisted you had to wear Charlie's shirt.  I had to bribe your brother to get his shirt or we would still be debating over it.

Sleep well little man....tomorrow is another day filled with adventure.  I love you and we pray for you every single day.

Your Diva