Girl time!

Emily is home on spring break this week and I've had it on my to-do list forever to set up a special manicure and pedicure time that we can be together and pamper ourselves.  Today while Sam was down for his nap the girls and I got to spend some much needed time together enjoying the beauty of being a woman!

I laid out a pretty comforter down on the floor and set up our station.

Mary Kay's Satin Hands (thanks to my MIL), nail polish remover, cotton balls, nail files and clippers, and of course the line of nail polish to choose from.

I lit some candles and put on Michael Bubble to set the mood (our favorite CD).

Then I started by reading from 1 Peter 3:3-4.  I want to teach the girls to take care of their bodies and to enjoy the beauty of being a woman but I always want to use these times to point to the scripture and to matters of the heart.  I want them to understand that it is important to take care of our bodies and that we can still do things to make us feel beautiful and enhance our natural beauty, but that what's really important is the beauty in our hearts. 

Then we got into the pampering, starting with exfoliating our hands and then on to our feet.  I think the girls' favorite part was definitely getting a foot rub from mommy.

And then for the final touch, our fingers and toe nails painted.

I hope to make this a monthly tradition!  What a special time it was today with my girls :-)

Tutu's in the rain

 Yesterday I came home from running some errands to find myself caught in a downpour and the garage door unable to open.  Neither of which was occurring when I left the house.  I look into the back seat at my two youngest, one in a blue tutu and another in a button up shirt and no pants.  Sigh.  I had hustled them into the car not really concerned with what they were wearing because I knew they would never leave the car with the errands I had to do.  And since we park in the garage I wasn't concerned about jackets either since they wouldn't be hitting the outside air.  But now, the power is out and the garage door is not working so an outside dash up and around to the front of the house is the way we will have to go.  I put Sam on my hip and hop Sarah down to the ground and we made a dash to the front door in the pouring rain.   

If you could have just seen the people in the cars on our road grin while Sarah bounced up the walkway.  Sarah in all her glory, rain coming down, curls a bouncing, giggling, blue tutu & pink sunglasses on.  Yes, she is a Joy for sure, a moment I hope I remember for a long time. 

My life verse

Over the past year I had the opportunity to meet with my pastor's wife as I was seeking some encouragement and direction in my life.  Sometimes the busyness of it all can become so overwhelming and I had lost my focus on the One who should be receiving my all.  So, she encouraged me to pick a life goal and to pair it with a verse or verses which I did for a main goal, a goal for motherhood, being a wife and friendships.  Today I just wanted to share what I selected for my life verse/goal.

Philippians 1:9-11 - And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

My goal: I want to be authentic, to know the truth.  I want people to see Jesus in me, my actions, my speech to the glory of God, to further His kingdom here on earth.

My action steps: First to spend more time in the Word and in prayer to be open to the Lord's leading as I seek His will for my life.

Sarah-style

 The Michael Jackson

 High heels and make-up

 Apple picking in style

It's 30 degrees outside and I still want to be a princess.......with boots.

Victory is Won

My thoughts today....

Last week my friend Kathy asked her readers, what has helped you choose joy in your life?  My response was centered on our two miscarriages and how that brought me a deeper appreciation for the children that I have.  October is infant loss awareness month and on days like today the loss seems so recent, the pain still stings, and the remembrance of the days that felt like they went on forever seem so fresh in my mind.  And I am learning that days like today are good.  Days when I remember the pain and fear and frustration.    A time in my life when I would cry out to the Lord in desperation for another child.  And after the second loss, running home to squeeze Emily so tight and feeling so blessed to even be able to have this one child, the only one (i thought at the time) that I may ever be able to have.

You see, yesterday afternoon 'mean mommy' came out to rear her ugly head.  Tired, head cold, overwhelmed mommy snipped at every little request and I'm quite sure I squashed some eager hearts just wanting to play.  How quickly I forget just how privileged I am to have these three blessings!  How quickly I can lose focus and become overwhelmed and lose my JOY!

Days like today I have learned to treasure.  It may hurt a little to remember the loss but thank you Lord for bringing me back to my knees, for bringing me back to the pain, for the remembrance of what a JOY this life is.  Thank you for allowing the trial in my life to bring me a greater appreciation and love for the children I have.

Lessons Learned

 As many of you know Hurricane Irene hit this area a little over a month and a half ago.  We actually made out great compared to what could have happened, but what we did have to deal with was the power outages.  Our power went out first thing Sunday morning and we did not get it restored until Saturday evening.  I took some time (in the day light) to write down some lessons learned through this ordeal:

~ First, one bathtub full of water will only provide enough water to flush toilets for a family of five for 2 days.  Should have filled up that second tub.

~Second, cleaning dishes outside in the fresh air is kind of refreshing!

~Third, the cell phone with data plan that we just purchased turned out to be a nice luxury, along with the battery operated iHome.

~ The time I spend on the internet on a daily basis really is way too much.  Life felt more full in the days without it.

~ The amount of water we use on a daily basis truly is wasteful.

~The stars are BREATHTAKING when all lights are out.  Praise be to the Creator.

~The people in this area do not stop or slow down.  The big corporations had all their employees expected back at work first thing in the morning, just hours after the storm calmed down.  No one with power, traffic lights down, trees blocking many of the roads, some families with structural damage to their homes, etc.  Would it have killed them to close for the day to allow ONE DAY for the state workers to have safe roads to clear things up or allow families to be together to asses the damage done or help those around them who may be in need?  I don't know, call me old fashioned, but it just seemed that they could have placed more value on community and the family rather than $$.

~In all seriousness I gained a great appreciation for some of the things I take for granted on a daily basis, like WATER for instance.  So many families around the globe do not even have access to water, or if they do it is unsafe to drink.  The worst I had it was 7 days without, and that's not even entirely true!  My parents live 15 minutes away (and only lost power for a few hours) & we drove their every day for water/bathing/cooking/etc. Some of the worlds poorest have to walk hours away just to fetch basket full of water, many children do this task and because of that can not participate in schooling.

A new school year

Last year at this time we were preparing to homeschool for kindergarten and this year we prepared to send Emily off to our local school for first grade.

As with last year we started the day with a nicely set table and a hearty breakfast.

Stewart stayed home from work in the morning to watch Emily get on the bus for the first time. 

That's Sarah and Sam pressed up against the back window watching for Emily if you can make that out.

Here comes the bus!

And there she goes!  We are so proud of you Emily!