Summer Bliss

We have decided that for several reasons its best to go ahead & take our summer vacation a bit earlier this year. So, we're packing up & headin' out this weekend!

These 8 days are undoubtedly my favorite days of the year..... being with my family in a beautiful little town, white sand & crystal clear water....pure bliss.

We hope to do some of this...

loads of this... plenty of this...some of this too...

hope to find some of these...
& a little time for this....

ahhh....

Hope each of you has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend & we'll see you when we get back!

& one more thing....

DAVID COOK IS THE MAN!!!!!!!!!

a little of this & a little of that

You sweet blog friends,

you just never know what you'll be subjected to when you drop by here.

Sorry about that!

But, none the less, you continue to be some of the most encouraging friends!

Thank you , again, for all the heart felt words of concern lately. We've had some heavy days lately combined with some heavy conversations.

I appreciate each & every note so much. You are so dear.

I realize some wonderful bloggers keep things just "business" with wonderful photos of personal creations & loads of crafty inspiration and I love those. Some of my favorite blogs inspire me with amazing photography or wonderful eye candy. A few blogs that I read are full of broken hearts that are just getting through to the next day. Each of those speak to me, whether connecting to a deep place in my soul

or just leaving me with a beautiful verse or quote and a smile.

I guess mine is just a "where I am" for the day kinda blog

--usually uneventful & probably quite boring....sigh.

I wish I was better at keeping a hand written journal~ I'm working on it!

The local strawberry patch is in full bloom.

For the last several years we've made a few trips each summer.

Our freezer & our friends are all loaded with yummy homemade strawberry jam. I'm hoping we will get a chance to get out there before they are all gone.

Here are some pictures from years past...

all pre-digital camera so sorry for the lack of clarity.

I love the first two-Caroline with a mouth full of berries & juice stained fingers to match!

between several pairs of red cowboy boots,

red hannah andersson clogs

and some cute straw hats,

Caroline has always been a good sport for

"i'll take the pictures, you pick the berries"

smile

sweet emi, about 8 1/2 years ago...

I also wanted to include a few of Madison in class. She has worked so hard this year & I've seen so much improvement. Due to the level she dances, she goes to class 5 days a week...whew!

switching gears...

Have you seen the new Amy Butler goodies

( found them at Michaels)

....oh my....

great colors, great textures, little fabric swatches ,

fabric tape, cute little tote , way too fun die-cuts,

fabric colored brads,

glittered & flocked paper.....give me strength!

Since I'm all over the board,

for all you AI fans...

we have some serious love going on

for our man

David Cook !!!!!

Another thing.....found these t's at the gap.

Surely they are the softest t-shirt I've ever worn & at $16!

run & grab a few!

6 more days & those cuties will be out of school...home all day, asking when we can go to the pool, eating all the food, leaving me remembrances of them in each room, wiping me out of diet coke .......

I mean , 6 more days until I can spend loads of time with my sweet girls....wink!

tears

I just got off the phone with Lil.

She has been feeling so emotionally up the last few times we've spoken that her fragile voice caught me a little off guard.

She tells me that her cancer is terminal this time....the doctor didn't want to use a number but told her it would be considered a stage 4.

~~that took my breath away~~

I can't imagine her tender heart right now. She's beat this nasty ole disease many other times. I'm certain she's never been told her diagnosis was terminal.

Our little conversation went back & forth between talking about the soup made by a sweet friend that I'll bring by tomorrow, to her feeling like "all these doctors appointments" aren't doing any good, to she wants to weed her yard today because it might rain tomorrow, to the fact that there is no cancer in Heaven.

Her sweet hubby was sitting right beside her. I tried to picture what his sweet facial expressions were ( yes, he has creases in his face from his perpetual smile). I've been in his position before.

I've sat there while the doctor explained to my loved one that the cancer had spread & was worse than they expected. I've sat there as my stage 4 loved one talked about trips we would take ( someday....) to where "all the papers" were kept.

I wonder if despite his full day of being Lil's primary caretaker & just the business of getting it all done, if he ever lets her see his tears fall.

I never did.

I'm not a crier.

I don't like to feel that whatever I'm dealing with is bigger than me....I much prefer the days when everything is in its place & as it should be.

But today as I sit here typing these words , the tears are falling.

I hate for her to feel ( even if its just today) that she is loosing hope.

I want her to continue to balance ( as hard as it is) between preparing for what may come however hanging on to hope~

that's all I have in me right now..........

toothless!

I tell you what, one of the cutest things to me has been when my girls have lost both front teeth at the same time...I love it!
I love how they have a little temporary lisp
I love how their little face even changes shape
Its the quintessential cute kid time Caroline lost her first tooth last week & then the second one yesterday.
OH my, I could just eat her up.
I'm praying those big girl teeth don't drop in before we head to the beach!


Sweet Emi lost her two front teeth during an accident she had when she was only two years old. You talk about cuteness...we saw that toothless grin for years. & yes , she did indeed have a speech impediment that has since resolved. She now ( after the help of orthodontia) has a beautiful full smile.

Madison only had both of them out for a short time. Between those humongous gorgeous blue eyes & the toothless grin .....

Now Savannah happened to loose all four top teeth at the same time.......good grief was that cute.

We had a large charcoal portrait done of her during that time. The artist asked if I would like for her to "draw them in". Was she crazy? of course not!

I know some of you sweet mothers prefer a mouth full of pearly whites...but give me those few precious toothless grin days any day!

Have a wonderfully blessed weekend

ps~ i listed a few little goodies on ebay if you wish to come visit

Recently I have been very moved by a young family & the loss of their baby sweet baby girl.
Their testimony has touched my heart ~~
touched me because they are so precious --so transparent.
touched me because as I've read Angie's blog, I feel that I can just hear her tears fall as she so eloquently writes each entry.

But it has also challenged me~~
challenged me because their faith in the Lord is raw, its real, & it has been stretched in ways some of us may never experience.
challenged me because I have listened as they try to make sense of their experience...
as they come to understand a deeper faith in the Lord....
a faith this isn't made strong because "everything turned out ok"
a faith that wasn't based on "just believing happy thoughts will change the outcome".

When Angie found out their baby would not survive outside the womb, she began to ( as she so beautifully describes) delicately balance preparing for a loss yet hoping for a miracle.
I love that.
I believe that is so profound.
In my life, both in my professional life as a pediatric oncology nurse & in my own life experiences, I have seen those who chose this same path. Walking through the realities--facing their challenges head on, whatever they maybe yet at the same time, never loosing hope.
Hope in the fact that miracles do occur.

I know that God allows things to happen, sad things happen to good people everyday.
Does it make sense to me--absolutely not.
Does it change the fact that I still trust Him--not for a moment.
There is a scripture in Romans that talks about all things working together for good. I believe that "good" is not necessarily what we define as good....good for our life-plan, good for our perfect happy healthy wealthy life.
But rather good to His glory. Yes , that's hard to understand, hard to wrap my mind around some days...hard to accept, but I know we have a loving God that can be trusted.
& the good I believe that scripture defines is for His good, for His glory.

We don't know the final chapter.
We don't know, yet, all the lives that are touched & drawn to him because of whatever the "sad story" is.....but one day we will.
In Todd & Angie's case, they believe that one day they will see in Heaven all those that came to know the Lord because this one life,
this precious little 3 lb baby girl that came into this world & only stayed for 2 1/2 hours.

Angie's blog is amazing ....her words are so beautiful & bittersweet. I'm sure my words have not done her justice. You will fall in love with her.
If you have the time, I strongly encourage you to listen ( for 20 minutes) to their testimony here...I promise you too ,will be touched & challenged.

The tulip house

My oldest daughter is convinced that we are the only family staying home for spring break, that surely we are the only people left here in Atlanta.
I'm not so sure why she was concerned....as she left Thursday for Cumberland Island & is staying in one of the former HGTV dream homes--sigh.
Well, we did have a nice spring break even if we stayed in Atlanta. Caroline got a way too cute little haircut. I think I've told you before she has a skin/hair/nails condition making her hair very very slow to grow. Her little bangs up top have never been cut. I snapped a few pics when we got home from the salon & just love how cute & stacked it is.
Who says I don't know how to have fun on spring break?
Last year I posted on our visit to one of the most gorgeous homes in Atlanta. The tulip house as we affectionately refer to it was featured in one of our home & garden tours. Its an older home in a very affluent part of downtown & it is breathtaking!

of course, we had a quick wardrobe change~

I wish I had taken a panoramic view of the house for you to get a better idea of all the hundreds of tulips.

a little time for skipping....


I want to thank you for all the warm & thoughtful comments you have left over the last month. I must tell you Lil was just so tickled when I handed her 32 pages of printed comments & emails. Unfortunately the chemo they've given her has caused a tremendous amount of pain. She was admitted to the hospital yesterday to receive chemo over the weekend. Please know how very much the prayers & notes you sent her have given her hope & encouragement.

thank you thank you

xo