She's a teenager now!

Happy 13th birthday my sweet Madison Grace!
As i look back through some of these, my most favorite pictures of you, there are many thoughts and prayers I have for you.

You are delightful. You are always smiling & you have such a cheerful disposition. I pray you continue to enjoy life, enjoy where you are , enjoy the moment.

You are beautiful. People have always commented on your gorgeous blue eyes. I pray that you see the beauty around you. That you see the good in people.

You are fearless. I pray that you continue to be strong & brave in all you do. That you believe that you can do anything you want to ....that you can be anything you want to be. That you focus on what is good, what is true, what is beautiful.

You have a creative spirit. You are our fashion plate. You effortlessly can turn anything into a fabulous outfit. I pray you continue to be grounded, that you not follow the crowd. That you continue to be the steadfast, quiet leader that I see you becoming. You never demand the spotlight but you just keep on keeping on.

You are so easy to please. I pray you continue to have a grateful spirit. That you enjoy the simple pleasures. That you not get caught up in the world nor take what you do have for granted. I know that spirit will bless those around you & encourage them to have a grateful heart as well.

You are a graceful dancer. It has given me much pleasure for the last 10 years to watch you dance. To see your enthusiasm grow & watch your talent unfold. I pray that if this is indeed the road you choose, that you will find favor with your instructors & that you will stand out in a profession that is filled with often times, self absorbed people. That you will rise above any of those tendencies & just be the natural sweet spirited young lady that you already are.

You love well. You are kind, encouraging, considerate, compassionate & tender. You make me proud to be your mom. You are loved so much. I pray you always know I'm here for you, I'm your #1 fan & I'd do anything for you.


On March 2nd 1995, coming 3 weeks early, my perfect little 6 pound 6 oz blue eyed baby girl came into my world. You have been a source of great joy to me ever since
Happy Birthday, my little bird.

Good bye Princesses

We had planned on our vacation this year being a trip to Disney World. The older girls have gone before ( the two older girls have actually been twice) and we thought Caroline was at the perfect age for her turn . She's a fan of all the Princesses--ariel, cinderella, belle, etc.

She climbed into bed with me recently & asked

"mamma, when can we go back to the beach?"
I reminded her that this was going to be her year to go to Disney & how very magical it would be for her. She sorta sighed & replied " well, ok, as long as you promise we can go back to Seaside next year."

hmmm....... made me stop & think ......not that we are allowing the 6 year to decide our family trip by any means, but this really was for her. Sounded like she was indifferent to going. Not that I'm suprised. She's been asking for sometime now when I'll allow her to start reading the Harry Potter series (insert eyes rolling here).

Anyway, I played it up somemore & told her what a fantastic place it would be & how much she'd love all the rides and the characters. Still, she really preferred the beach ( what can i say, the apple didn't fall far from my tree!)

So Dan & I thought about it, talked about it, slept on it & talked somemore. Taking 6 people to Disney was going to be quite an expense--we really couldn't swing both trips this year. However I really felt Care was the perfect age to go to WDW and wanted to make sure she had the opportunity to go. Despite the fact that the older girls say they barely remember anything ( yikes---$$$) I truly felt 7 years old would be such a great age. But I tell ya, we love our beach trip. We love Seaside , we love the food there, the shopping, the cottages, the white sand, riding our bikes, the shopping ( did i say that twice) & the just whole Seaside experience. If little one really prefers the beach over Belle, who I am to say this year would have been the only year to get there?

So~~ the reservations are made & the shopping has begun......
Seaside Florida we'll see you first week of June!!!!
Or as Caroline said when we told her "YIPPIE~~goodbye princesses, hello white sand!"

My Valentines Day girl

My baby girl turns 15 today!
I'm so proud of you Savannah.....so proud to be your mom!! You make it easy for me~ i hope your heart is full of joy today!!! & more importantly I hope you feel totally loved !

a little letter I wrote to her last year.....


Your due date was to be February 28th, but honestly I knew you'd come on Valentines Day. As I told friends & family no one believed me. Firstborns rarely come early.

But, you did! My sweetheart warmed my heart Valentines Day 1993. I had talked about my baby-girl-to-be "Savannah" before I was ever even married. Your daddy Gregg would be so proud of you cutie, so proud. My heart hurts for you that at such a young age you had to witness loosing him to cancer. You were so special to him. Never forget that…keep it in a special place in your heart that you can always go back to!

You were such a bright young little girl. I know you have heard us talk about how you memorized the "birthday girl" book on your 3rd birthday. You loved books, you loved your preschool. You were my best little buddy those few years without a daddy~always my helper, always my sweet little friend. When I look back I realize you were always so much more mature than your actual little age. I guess being forced to grow up quickly will do that to you. However, I hope when you look back on those days you remember being days full of joy, games, books & fun.

I will never forget telling you I was to marry Dan. You so sweetly looked up at me & said " I will always love my first daddy and miss him. But I'm really glad we are getting a new daddy".
You are an amazing big sister, they all look up to you. You have always had leadership qualities , an outgoing friendly personality, and such a cheerful happy disposition.

Honestly I was quite concerned when I knew we would move you from the little private school you had grown up in to a huge public middle school. But -wow- you never missed a beat. You have been so inspired by the academic and social opportunities only a large school can truly offer. I am so proud of you!!

You have made all A's your entire K-8th grade!!

Many of those grades were made in advanced placement classes. You were chosen a leader in FCA & a leader in your church youth group. My heart just leaped when Randy ( our beloved youth leader) introduced you as one of his favorite people....what a compliment!

Your hearts desire since you were about 3 years old has been to be a cheerleader. What a proud moment for me a few weeks ago to witness you making the JV Football & competition Squad at Parkview!

When I think of you I remember ~ pink & green, chocalate chips & peanut butter waffles, Harry Potter, IM, winning an iPod, tumbling class, poms, a new chi, your bff annie, wonderful days at Seaside, silver hoops, all A's, confidence, loyalty, wisdom, laughter, secrets, a girl with more friends than she can count, and an amazingly beautiful young woman who loves the Lord.
I know the Lord has so many wonderful things ahead for you.

You can do anything!
I will always be here for you!
I am so proud to be Savannah's mom!
I love you sweetheart!

Happy 15th birthday my valentine baby!

Sweet baby boy

In the midst of a crazy couple of weeks, I was blessed to have some precious time with a dear friend of mine and her adorable baby boy! Think I may need to find more time for some of this....

This was my favorite shot of the day.

I don't think she was even aware that I was about to take this shot.....I just love her expression~~the priceless look of a mother's love....is there anything more beautiful than a new mommy?

Have a blessed day!
xo

my girls wonder--

why i don't wear high heels on a regular basis....

today's schedule:
gym
laundry
run errands
play ball with brinkley
put away the laundry
clean toilets
let brinkley out again
vote
take caroline to the ortho 2:00
pick up madison from school 4:00
take madison to ballet 4:15
feed small two
take emily to church 6:00
pick up madison from ballet 6:30
pick up savannah from cheerleading 6:30
feed big two
(dan has a basketball game--don't think we can get to that one tonight)
pick up emily from church 8:00
try to have some quality time with hubby
fall into bed
& we call ourselves "stay at home moms"! ha!

She did it!

She's been talking about cutting her hair for some time now & yesterday she did it! The stylist cut off over 10 inches to donate to locks of love and left her with this super fun sassy bob!! Way to go Madison--we love it!! a few more pics from our snow days last week ( give or take a lollipop or two!)

I love this last picture of Emi--she usually doesn't prefer me to take many pictures of her. I love it that i captured her anyway with her sweet little smile & hair all fallin' down....precious girl of mine!

as promised...

a light hearted post today--

i wanted to share one of my oil paintings. i am in my second year of class & i love it. sometimes on a rainy cold morning i want to just stay home in my jammies ( being the homebody that i am) but i do love it once i get there. i love to feel the brush against the canvas.

i love to smell the oil paints and especially the cleaner (no surprise there!)

& enjoy the classical music playing in the background.

this snap shot was taken a couple of summers ago in a wonderful sunflower field with sweet Caroline as my little model. below is the painting. most of the paintings i've done are just propped up in my closet....but this one i do enjoy & it makes me smile so it actually made it to the wall!
okay, so i fell way behind in the scrapbook kits once the holidays rolled around. decided i needed to cancel my beloved Jenni Bowlin monthly kit & just get caught up with some of the many projects & papers i already have. i find that when i feel rushed i just throw a layout together just to "get it done" & of course that's not what i want to do. i still prefer my simple one photo 12x12 pages but hopefully without the pressure of 'keeping up' i will be able to just enjoy the process. below are some from the November kit. the first is an all out scraplift from Jenni--just a bold faced 'almost' copy!

thank you precious friends for all your warm comments on the last post. i treasure each one.

may you have a blessed day

xo

i promised a light hearted post, unfortunately i can't do it completely. -- a precious friend of mine buried her 13 year old baby girl saturday after a 3 month battle with cancer. this precious mother is truly remarkable....her gracious spirit, her kind gentle voice, her strong faith. she is choosing to praise the lord in this storm. she entered in her post last night that she & her husband are in a new ministry--one they would not have chosen, but one they were placed in none the less....that of coming along side other parents who have lost a child.

she stated so eloquently---"The ministry I envisioned was that Ashley would be completely healed on this side of heaven and I was going to take her on tour to visit the youth groups who had been praying for her so that the kids could see a walking miracle of God. Instead, He chose to completely heal her on the other side and allow her life to impact the world. It is up to John and I to continue to walk closely w/God and to do the work He has called us to do...even with huge broken hearts! "--amazing grace, that's what that is my friends, amazing grace. Gods grace is present tense. He gives us the grace we need at the exact moment we need it. Reading what this precious mother wrote, you might wonder where that peace comes from. The scriptures tell us that He gives us peace that passes all of our understanding. I don't understand how she feels nor will i try to pretend that i do. I realize that nothing i say could bring her any comfort but I do realize the our Heavenly father can & will take care of her & the rest of her family. I realize that one day she will see that precious child again--free from her cancer & free from her pain. until then~please remember them in your prayers~