Your Advent Ribbon for Christmas 2017

Oz,  I love your crazy hugs and kisses  (even with wax lips!).   I especially love being able to see you and your brother's lots more now that we live closer.  Diva 

Your Poppa and Diva are so blessed to have you in our life.  We love your attention and the smile on your face when you see us.  I pray that we will always have a special place in your heart.

Oscar,  I love to see you and your brothers playing together.  You have a great Dad who loves you so much and is a great example of a Godly Man.  I hope you grow up to be just like him.  Your Diva and Poppa

I hope you know how much your dad loves you and what a great help he is to Poppa and me.

Oz, how did you get to be nine years old so quickly?  Poppa and I pray for you every single day.  We are so pleased to see what a quick mind God has given you.  We love you more every day.  Poppa and Diva

Do you remember the turntable Poppa made for the Lamborghini on your birthday cake?  He was so pleased that you were pleased.  You told your mom that you wanted a car on your cake but not in the icing.  

Oscar,  What a wild crazy family you have.  Your mom and dad certainly know how to dress up and celebrate.  We pray that 2018 will be an exciting year for you.   We love you buddy,  Poppa and Diva

  

Oz, what crazy looking bugs you’ve caught.  Love your costumes.  You Bug me...but I like it.   Crazy Diva and Poppa

 I love that your family does a "family Halloween costume"  I asked you what you were going to be for Halloween.  You said, "I don't know, mom hasn't told us yet."  

 

Oscar,  you look very handsome in your Scout uniform.  Congratulations on getting your woodcarver badge.  Poppa loves to be apart of your scout troop to be with “his boys”.    Diva and Poppa

Oscar, you are one good looking Warrior Cat.  I am glad you like your cats and our Lucy and JJ.   I bet that fur made you itchy.  Diva

I know you encouraged Emma to read the Warrior Cats series.

Oz,  I am glad you “spoil” your mom.  She loves being treated like a princess.  I love to watch you open the door for her and help carry her packages.  You are growing up so fast.  Pretty soon you will be taller than mom.   Diva

Oscar,  I love your Christmas picture with Santa this year.  I know you weren’t feeling very well so I am very proud of you for still smiling even though you probably did not feel like it.  You are a good example for your brothers.

 Diva and Poppa

Oz had to laugh when I saw this picture of you guys….You know how much I love watching Rabbid Invasion with you guys! (Not)  almost as much as Iggy and the cockroaches.    Diva

Oscar, I am glad you are a reader.  I call this position the “grasshopper”  .  You are so flexible and double-jointed.  Love you, buddy, even though I hate it when you twist yourself in strange positions.  Diva

Oscar, Poppa and I really liked going to the grocery store and letting you pick out food for the Food Bank.  I love that you boys are “mission minded” and love helping others.  Diva and Poppa

Your Advent Calendar for Christmas 2016

Oz...I love watching you do nice things for your brothers without   anyone asking you to do it.  You have a kind heart and it makes my heart happy watching you.   Your Diva

Oscar, Poppa really likes that you are enjoying scouting.  He likes to be a part of what you are doing.  You will learn many new skills that you will be able to use all your life.   Diva and Poppa

 

Oscar, you have a wonderful brain.   You teach me so much about cars and trucks, space ships , animals and so many other things.  Who knows, maybe one day you might even be flying around in your own rocket ship.

Diva

Oz, This picture always makes me laugh.  Poppa and I pray for you every single day.  We pray that you will always be aware of all the wonderful and amazing discoveries all around you.  Diva

Oz, this is a picture of your dad when he was young.  You look a lot like him.  You have a great dad that loves you and your brothers, and most of all your Mommy.  I hope you grow up to be just like him.  Diva

Oscar, do you remember catching your first fish at Uncle Joe’s house in Alabama?  It was so much fun.  Thank you for letting Poppa and me be a part of the adventure.   Diva

Oz, I love that you are brave and always up to try something new.  Your bravery makes your brothers want to be just like you.  Make sure you are a good example for them to follow.   Diva

 Oz, you won't remember this, but I will always remember the many nights I was awake and talking with you as a baby.  You had your nights and your days mixed up so I sat up with you so your tired  parents could get some much needed sleep.  I prayed over you then and I pray for you every single day.  Diva

 

Oscar, I am so glad you love to read like your Poppa.  I laughed at Poppa and told him that if there was writing on the toilet paper, he would read that too. I love that you share with me all the wonderful cars you like and all their special features.  Thanks for helping me learn.  Diva

Oz, Poppa and I enjoy living close to you.  We love spending time with you and love that we can be together more often.  Thank you for including us.  Diva and Poppa

 

Oscar, this picture makes me laugh...I love ice cream too!  I am a vanilla ice cream girl.   We will have to go out for an ice cream outing.   Diva

Oz, this is one of my favorite pictures of you.  Poppa and I were so pleased that you asked Jesus to come into your heart and that you were baptized by your dad.  I love to hear you memorize Scripture, and I love to hear your prayers.  You make me feel very loved with your hugs… Diva

All about Diva

 

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.  

Diva Camp Day 7

Dear Oz,

This afternoon your mom and dad will drive from Baltimore and join us.  They had a wonderful time in Iceland and are bringing back some treats for all of us to enjoy.  This morning though we are going to Bridge Christian Church for the Easter Eggstravaganza.

It was a very cold and wet day so the eggs couldn't be hidden outside.  So, instead they gave each child a plastic bag with about 15 candy filled eggs.  You had your picture taken with the Easter bunny.  Charlie did not want to have his picture taken so you stood with Henry so he wouldn't be frightened.

They had face painting and cookie decorating in one room.  You had your face painted first (always the brave one).  You chose a Pokeman character and it was drawn on your face with water colored pencils.  

Charlie had a ninja turtle on his cheek and Henry went for a Superman symbol.

They also had sugar cookies you could frost and put sprinkles on.  Henry chose blue you had white with no sprinkles and Charlie frosted his purple (because it is Mommy's favorite color.)  They were tasty cookies.

The place you liked the most was the bounce house.  They had two of the them this year.  One was bigger with a slide and there was also a smaller one for smaller kids.  You were very kind to help a small boy who got frighten on the slide to come down.  You are one very bouncy boy.

by the time we left it was snowing big flakes.  We came home, had our lunch and watched some Myth Busters till Mommy and Daddy came to Diva's.

It is so good to have your parents back home.

I am somewhat sad because I also know that you and your brothers will be leaving for home tomorrow and Poppa and I will miss you.

So glad you had a special chocolatey day.

Love you Buddy,

Your Diva and Poppa 

Diva Camp...Day 6

Dear Oscar,   Today is the day you have been waiting for all week long.  We are going to go to Harrisonburg to the Explore More Children's Discovery Center.  We had an early lunch and Diva packed water bottles and snacks so we can stay all day.

Poppa found us a place right across the street from the Museum.  There is so much to do and it is somewhat overwhelming when you go inside.  The first place we stopped was the science room.  There were models of dinosaurs, build a bug, the visible man with body parts that you can remove, rocks, geodes, and lots of slides in a huge microscope.  You were intrigued by the super big projection microscope .

Charlie liked the human anatomy model and tried to get all the internal organs to fit back into the body.  He looks like a doctor....doesn't he?

Henry loved the polished rocks and the build a bug.  Poppa and Henry built this one.  We had a hard time getting you to leave this section so you could see the rest of the museum.

The museum has a spinning wheel in the entrance for those who don't know what to do first.  Each section has a colorful piece that if you land on it you can start your visit from there.  Poppa and I laughed because the wheel looks like a game show called "Wheel of Fortune".  We were afraid that if your parents saw this picture they would think we took you gambling in Los Vegas.

 You liked the ambulance and that you could sit in the drivers seat and operate the steering wheel and emergency lights.  You can also put on the siren and pretend to be a paramedic. 

Your favorite was the Joe Bowman garage.  The small car is on a rack and you can change the tires, the muffler, and add fluids.  The background is an actual picture of the service department at Joe Bowman Auto.

Henry liked playing with the Thomas the train village.  He spent a lot of time moving the trains around.  Whenever I couldn't find him he would either be with the trains or over at the car garage.

Henry didn't get a nap today.  He was very tired by the time we got home.  I know you will want to take Mommy and Daddy to the museum the next time you come to visit us.

What fun we had today.

Love you Buddy,

Your Diva

Diva Camp Day 5

Dear Oz, 

You had a really rough day today and it wasn't even your fault.  Poppa and I thought we would take you boys to the Green Valley Book Fair today as all of you love books.  Poppa especially enjoys the book fair and so we thought you would too.  We had some chores to do this morning so we got in the car with all of you.  The sun was shining on Charlie so he was hot and wanted more air conditioning.  You were squeezed in the middle and had the cold blowing directly on you so you were cold.  We ended up opening an umbrella and putting it in the window to keep the sun off Charlie especially when we were waiting on Poppa in the car.

Henry had a temper tantrum at the dollar store and was really mad at Diva.  He was sitting in his car seat so couldn't reach me so he decided to hit you as hard as he could in your face as you were right next to him.  You were just trying to be a peace maker so you were not expecting to be hit.  You cried and Poppa promised Henry a spanking when we got home.  Henry had a time out when we got home and did tell you he was sorry.

After lunch Poppa took Henry into the bedroom and gave his a quick swat (not wanting to hurt him but he had promised Henry a spanking).  Henry laughed at Poppa and told him it didn't hurt.  * ( Never, never say that to Poppa....as you might have thought Henry found out Poppa can spank harder!)

You are a very sensitive young man and helped Poppa with the wood and furnace outside .  Poppa really appreciated your help as the wood is heavy and needed to be stacked as well as the ashes scattered from the furnace .  

You and Charlie helped Poppa put "green slime" in one of the lawn mower tires. Poppa and Charlie drove the lawn mower tractor around the back yard for a while.   You and Charlie had races in the back yard.  You can run so fast....just like the wind.  I love to see you run.

After Charlie's nap.  We went to the Green Valley Book Fair.  You and Poppa went off to find a book especially for you.  This is what you picked.

The book is about warfare at night...a history of how things have changed over the last 100 years.  There are lots of pictures of planes in it.

Charlie chose this book and it came with legos and instructions on how to build special cars, trucks, and boats.  Both you and Charlie spent hours building with these special Legos.  Tomorrow we plan on going to the Children's Museum in Harrisonburg.  I am excited to take you.

Thanks for your help today.  I am sorry you got hurt trying to be a peacemaker.  I hope you never stop trying to help others.  I love your sensitive heart and your enthusiasm.  You made me very proud to be your Diva today.

Love you buddy,

Your Diva

Diva Camp Day 4

Dear Oz,   Today was building day at the nest...Poppa has lots of spare parts down in the "man cave"  so he helped each of you build a control panel for your rockets or anything else you ever decide to build. Each control panel had a hand held microphone so you and your brothers could communicate in your rockets. He also cut boxes to make helmets and helped put sides on your rockets.  You decorated your helmet with "7's" and stars.  You have quite an imagination.

You built some chair rockets yesterday so Poppa thought you might like to expand the project and make sides, a nose cone and paint them.  My dining room chairs were ready to blast off by the time you were finished.  You had a picnic lunch in your cockpits while watching Ninja Lego cartoons.

When Henry woke up from his nap we all went to Gypsy Hill Park.  You were an instant hit on the playground.  You especially enjoyed the tire swing and rode it most of the afternoon till you fell off it. You were such a brave boy and you got back on the swing right after.  The boy who was pushing it made it go much too fast and that is why you fell off.  You met a little 8 year old girl named Sophia who wanted your phone number so she could call you about meeting at the park tomorrow.   You were getting cold so watched your brothers feed the ducks.

After we left the park, Poppa took everyone out for ice cream cones.  You had a vanilla cone with 3 scoops and ate every bite of it.  After Henry was in bed Poppa took you outside and let you use the night vision goggles....Super Cool.

It's been a busy day buddy....lots more fun coming tomorrow.

Your Diva......