arteaga family

prayer request:
nathan arteaga was born on Christmas with Congenital Diaphramatic (sp?) Hernia. Basically in as few as words a possible, his diaphragm developed a hole and his intestines moved up into his lung cavity on his left side and pushed aside his lung and prevented it from developing completely.

surgery went well and he is recovering. please pray for his lung to develop and his body to fight infection. also pray for santi and ruth (dad and mom) during this time.

there are more details on their blog, so feel free to stop by, read and pray. thanks.

at long last

Thanks so much Uncle G and Aunt S for taking our pictures!
you were so patient! we like posing for you. thanks again!
em and mad

cute quips

em last night while watching an original scooby doo:
"have you seen this before, mom?"
"yes, when i was little."
"wow! i'm watching a show from the olden days."

em last saturday when i asked her to clean her room:
"that is not what saturdays are for.
saturday is for having fun!"

last week

em doesn't want to
smile with her
mouth open

because














she doesn't have
any teeth













mad is
healing












our snowman

















we used blueberries
for the eyes and mouth
and em painted the
snowman with the
berries











backyard
fun








































some hot chocolate
to help warm mad up
after having fun in the snow

santa claus is comin' to town

em, mad and i just finished watching the classic 1970 Christmas tale, santa claus is coming to town. here are a couple of interesting quotes:

when kris kringle and mrs. kringle tie the knot the narrator states, "they stood before the Lord in a grove of pine trees."

when kris (aka santa claus) decides to start delivering presents one night a year the narrator proclaims, he chose the holiest nights of the year."

there were a few more similar quotes.

em pointed out that santa claus is coming to town comes before rudolph.
at first i thought she meant that we recorded santa before rudolph on the dvr, but no. she meant chronologically. santa is younger in santa is coming to town and older in rudolph.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He's making a list,
He's checking it twice,
He's gonna find out
who's naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake.
He knows when you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!

So...You better watch out,
You better not cry
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Little tin horns,
Little toy drums.
Rudy-toot-toot
and rummy tum tums.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Little toy dolls
that cuddle and coo,
Elephants, boats
and Kiddie cars too.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

The kids in Girl and Boy Land
will have a jubilee.
They're gonna build a toyland town
all around the Christmas tree.

Oh....You better watch out,
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why.

Santa Claus is comin'
Santa Claus is comin'
Santa Claus is comin'
To town.

"merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

thanksgiving from em's perspective

our budding
photographer
took all of these
pictures
over the
holiday weekend


























































































































jessie had very
little to be
thankful for with
the addition of
another tormentor

5 stitches

for mad














late saturday night
our little monkey
was jumping on the
bed.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away
But there's something about that name.

1 John 2:12
I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.

robert la salle project

yes, her mom helped
her. i've seen the
damage she can do
with a glue stick and
elmers. giving her
a hot glue gun seems
like a bad idea.












an orthodontists
dream













em initiated this
project after finding
the plans in a la salle
book we checked out
of library. "lets build
a fort, after all we have
the plans." to bad the
plans are in french.










here is the final
draft of the report
i had her write.


these are her words,
but i wrote the final
draft.




















mad had been sick
all week. here she is
wiped out on the
couch. she has
successfully passed it
to the rest of us.

Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

see below if you want to know what crop i'm interested in harvesting.

fright free fun night

the snow princess
aka - the white witch
she wanted me to carry
a tube and trumpet
every time she entered
a room.














princess leia
ready to battle the
dark side with a
orange plastic
pumpkin












the rubber chicken
toss.














ready, aim, fire













the infamous bounce
house where she broke
her arm last spring













bowling














quietly approach
deer, concentrate,
fire
















holy bat mobile!













batman is at
fffn!!!
mad became flustered
at the sight of the
caped crusader!














what's halloween
without a fat black,
white and tan cat










every year our church HHBC hosts fright free fun night. the girls love playing games, jumping in the bounce house and eating candy! can't wait 'til next year!

pumpkin carving

the carving begins















em's pumpkin is
huge




















the fruit of
her labor

















mad was angry
most of the
afternoon.






























painting her pumpkin














em with her
pumpkin
masterpiece















mad with
her pumpkin
work of art












em picking out
the seeds to bake


this picture is dedicated
her cousins who don't
like to get their hands dirty