SISTERS

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there.
-- Amy Li

I have an older brother and although we are now the best of friends we used to be...well let's just say not.  I broke his nose, he put my head through a window, you get the picture.  And even though I wouldn't trade him for the world because he is quite possibly one of the coolest guys I know I always wondered what it would be like to have a sister.  Someone to talk about boys and movies, hair and make-up, someone to stay up late with just to stay up late.

One of my biggest daily blessings is watching our girls interact.  Don't get me wrong they fight, OH do they fight.  I probably hear "Grace...Mommy Grace" or "FAITH!" at least a hundred times a day but when they play, their laughter fills our entire house.  Sometimes the hubs and I just sit down and listen as they pretend to be princesses awaiting their prince or as they travel to Africa (Grace has a wild imagination) with their babies on their backs. 

Grace is the typical first born and acts as the ring leader of their escapades.  Faith is just so happy to be with her sister that she willingly plays the part of the minnion.  Grace is the conspirator, Faith is the comforter and although I am well aware that those two roles will swap over the years I love it right now.  Because to Faith a sippy cup, fixes EVERYTHING. 

I think most of all I just thankful that they have...each other.

SISTERS

LOST

Yesterday we almost lost this girl...

...as rough as the morning started, the afternoon was even worse leaving me literally shaking.  The hubs dropped Faith off at my school like every other day and although I am extremely diligent when it comes to the child and stairs I dropped my guard for one second.  In that one second Faith tumbled head over heels down an entire flight of stairs.  I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest as I watched her fall.  It was one of those moments that seemed to take FOREVER yet still I couldn't force my body to move.  Instead all I could do was stand and stare in disbelief. 

As I picked up her little body off of the floor the words that I had written just hours before flashed through my mind.  One more day...  Never before was I so thankful to hear her screams and as she clung to me and I clung back I fought to keep the tears at bay.  She was okay and it was only by God grace.

Last night as I held her in my lap and breathed in the sweet little girl smell I began to think about how different things could have been.  Would I have still been thankful?  Would I have still been praising God for His goodness?  I hope that I would but as I struggled to even put Faith in her own bed I had to wonder.  I guess I still am wondering today but as of right now I am just so thankful that I don't have to find out. 

So hug your kids and kiss your spouse because we don't ever know when the mundane will be something we can no longer attain.

"Remember that my life is a but a breath..." Job 7:7

Thank you Lord for ONE MORE.

ONE MORE

I am not usually a dreamer but when I am, they are vivid and normally frightening.  For some reason last night my sleep was tormented leaving me with a pounding heart and a sour stomach.  It's so amazing to me how powerful dreams can be.  Even when they are completely illogical they still have the ability to shake you to your core. 

 In my dream we lost someone very near and dear to our hearts and I was devastated.  My mind spun with the loss and even as I came to I had this feeling that I must call and check on all of those that I love.  Irrational, I know but I was SO upset.  As I quietly slipped into the rooms of our girls and listened to their even breathing I whispered a thanks to our Lord for at least one more. 

One more day to see their sweet smiles...

One more day to listen to their giggles...

One more day to watch them grow...

One more day before I must let go...

THANKFUL

I realize that I have used this title before but I thought that it might be fun to take pics of the things that I am thankful for each week and post them as a reminder of all the good in my life.  The majority of the time it is the smallest things that make the biggest impacts on our lives and for me that definitely rings true! 

Today I am thankful for...

...a husband who cooks me breakfast because I am perpetually late.

...monkeys on cups.

(This makes me smile every time I see it.)

...the little girl who put it there!

...iced tea

...my rocking bracelet compliments of Grace.

Funny story...I can't get it off!

...this little girl and her cow, Annabelle.

...family...nuff said.

ROBOTS

As Valentine's day approaced I began searching for ideas that I could incorporate into their tees.  I finally settled on robots and man I love them!  They were the perfect mix of cute yet fun and they will still be able to wear them throughout the year because afterall they are robots.  :) 

 The day of though we called them LOVE MACHINES hee hee!

I scored the shirts on sale at Wal-Mart for a buck a piece and with a little work they turned into something adorable! 

Vday morning each girlie recieved their shirt and a love bug cookie.  Both brought excited squeals and I couldn't have been more excited!

My unwilling model.  Faith walked around all day patting her chest saying "O-bot" with a big grin on her face.  It was, quite possibly the cutest thing EVER.  Well at least that day.

Grace couldn't wear hers to school that day due to our uniform requirements and although I love them most of the time I was a little bummed that morning.  She quickly changed as soon as we arrived home but of course by then I couldn't find the camera!

We even made one we made for a friend...

 And one for cousin!

 I beefed it up for my nephew and was so excited about the vintage look that was created!

This was just a fun project for me to complete but I think that next time I am going to let the girls help. 

If they turn out THAT bad I will just make them buttons. 

 Buttons that say "I dressed myself!" hee hee



REJECTED

It always amazes me how much the little things hurt.  Our family has been fighting colds and ear infections, teething and coughs, for the past week.  Needless to say we have spending a TON of time indoors and were all going a bit stir crazy, so on Sunday I offered to take Grace out with me.  I had to go grocery shopping which, I will admit is not the most exciting outing ever but, I figured we could go grab a coke and just hang out for a bit. 

Anyway, I told her that if she took a really good nap she could come.  She proceeded to ask about the hubs and Faith and when I informed her that it would be just the two us her face fell.  “But I love my daddy” was her response and she began to pout.  Oh, how my heart hurt at that moment.  She is only 5 yet still her words cut me like a knife. 

I would love to say that I just let the words roll off my back but I promised to be real.  I felt like I was in Jr. high again and that no one wanted to be my friend.  This was not how this was supposed to work!  We were supposed to go shopping, sing and play games, laugh at stupid jokes.  Immediately I withdrew from the situation not wanting to acknowledge the fact that my little girl didn’t want to hang out with her mom.  As I look back it wasn’t that she didn’t want to hang out with me, it was in fact that she wanted to hang out as a family.  Unfortunately, my perspective was skewed by my hurt and I failed to see anything but it. 

As I struggled to find the words and the appropriate response I was struck by my own rejection of God, perhaps, not in such a bold fashion, but in my everyday actions for sure.  Did His heart ache when I chose earthly “things” over my quiet time with Him?  Did He want nothing more than for me to want to spend time in His presence?  My insides twisted as I realized the pain I had caused my Lord. 

Grace and I did go out and in fact we ended up having a really good time.  She apologized and so did I but I don’t think that I will ever forget how I felt that day.  And in many ways I hope that I don’t.  Because when the feeling of rejection is fresh we are so much open to the fact that God is always there with arms wide open just waiting for us to say, “I’m sorry” I hope I am too. 



VALENTINES

WOW!  Today was quite the day...or should I say that last night was quite the night?  I am running on only 4 hrs of sleep so I guess that either would be accurate.  Even though I had the best laid plans to finish the girls Valentine gifts early I was STILL up until 1am!  They turned out absolutely adorable though and the kids LOVED them so all's well that end's well right?

I had seen these floating around the blog sphere and thought that they were too cute to pass up.  I ordered the shovels off of EBAY and then we stuffed bags with conversation hearts tied on party circle that said "I dig you" and they were ready to go!  You should have heard the Littles when these were passed out!  Crazy cute!

I also wanted to do something special for the staff at the school and Faith's teachers

so I started searching for cute cookies.  After a bit of "digging" I found these at Our Best Bites...

My inexperience with a piping bag sure came into play but I still think that they looked really good when they were bagged up and ready to go.  Even better...they tasted GREAT!

One of my favorite things about Valentine's Day is that I get to be punny!

I also needed something for BIGs (my 8-10th graders) but I was running out of time so I stopped by Wal-Mart and picked up these S'More pops.  I have to admit that I was quite irritated as I was checking out because I was paying a buck a piece for something that would have cost me 25 cents to make.  Oh well...there's always next year!

I made a quick circle, attached it with ribbon, and within minutes had a lovely bouquet.  The eight bucks was way worth it when I saw them all together.

Get it?  I am their teacher so "Let's Learn S'More"...hee hee hee hee

ADVENTUROUS

I don't about anyone else but my hubs is less than adventurous when it comes to culinary excursions.  I mean seriously, the man could exist on chicken fingers and bacon cheeseburgers for THE REST of his life.  I on the other hand am getting quite tired of the same ole same and am ready to branch out.  I stumbled upon Our Best Bites while surfing blogs and loved the easy recipes with step by step pictures!  Since I was flying solo tonight I decided to try the lemon-herb zucchini fettucine.

I should tell you that I despise doing the dishes.  It totally bums me out to spend more time cleaning up than I did cooking so typically I have a two pot rule.  Let's just say that doesn't quite work for this recipe.  My final count was 13...on one meal! 

The recipe is actually VERY easy and one thing that I loved about it is that I could cook the chicken beforehand cutting down my cook down considerably.  I did have to laugh after I burnt my garlic to a lovely crispy brown exactly like the recipe tells you NOT to do!  I turned down the gas and the then started working on something else while waiting for my water to boil.  Five minutes later when the water still wasn't boiling and the garlic was black I realized that I had turned down the wrong burner!!  OOPS!  That's what I get for using more than two pots!

Other than that things went smoothly and the end result was terrific!  Definately a keeper.  Next time I will reduce the amount of oil because it was a bit much for me and add some more zucchini but overall I am sold! 

STILL

When I wake up in the morning and begin getting dressed one of the first things that I do is turn on the TV.  When  I am on my way to work as soon I shut the truck door I reach for the radio. 

When I run I have headphones blaring music.

When we get ready for bed we have music.

 

I am constantly feeding my "need" for noise.  Not because I am actually listening to what is going on.  No, 90% of the time it is just background music in this play we call life and during that 90% of the time I find myself discontent. 

The more I think, the more I realize that we live in a media driven society.  At every turn more "options" are available to us.  TV, radio, Internet, phones, Skype, MP3 players...the list could go on and on yet our society hungers for more.  More what?  Time wasting, money spending, mind numbing...things.  But the life we are called to live is much different, in fact we are specifically instructed to, "Be still and know that He is God" Psalms 46:10. 

I am frequently asked how I am and my consistent response is "Busy" but am I really busy or am I wasting my time and numbing my mind with these things.  If I were to take an honest look at the amount of time that I spent engaged in media driven activities I truly believe I would be amazed.  30 to play wouldn't be so hard if I gave up 10 minutes on the computer, 15 watching TV, 5 setting up my IPOD. 

The wear of daily life is inevitable but I wonder how much less it would be if I could learn to be STILL.

SIX!

My "niece" just turned 6 and her momma entrusted me with all the details.  We decided that a movie theme would  be a blast and less cleanup for all of the grown ups!  Aftering pouring over invites I just couldn't find one that I was right so I made my own...

And from there the whole "vintage" movie theme just fell into place. 

We made all of our own paper goods,  designing them in PSE with digital papers from Tracy Ann of TADA and the printing them at Staples. 

We used deep reds, creams, black, and of course stripes to pull together the decor.

 But the popcorn cupcakes were what really stole the show. 

Although labor intensive they truly made everything scream "MOVIES!"

The posters added the perfect backdrop for the sweets table and we didn't have to do a thing!

My favorite part of the day by far though was when I was walking with the birthday girl to go snap a few shots.  She looked up at me and said "Auntie, this was the best birthday EVER!"

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY!  WE LOVE YOU!

COUSINS

Snow + Cousins = Memories

We had over negative temps and over 6 inches of snowfall  in the last few days leaving many without heat and electricity but with plenty of opportunities for 30 to Play snow days!  I am SO thankful that my brother and I live in the same town.  It is such a blessing to watch our children grow up together.  Cousins are precious, especially when they are cute like ours!

These make me laugh every time!

Hee hee!

 

This was taken right before Faith declared she was THROUGH!

 Oh to be 5!

Sweet C!

Hope you are all staying warm while you marvel in the wonder of His creation!

SNOW

Flakes started to fall yesterday morning and stopped around noon today leaving us with 6-8inches of beautiful SNOW!  The whole town came to a standstill, schools closed, stores opened late, the base ran with only essential personnel, and we just enjoyed the day together. 

Sending warm wishes your way!