faith is the courage to accept acceptance ~ b. manning

{my dad and i- father's day 2008}

i feel like i need to address what i wrote about last night. i just want my parents to know that I love them so very much and i am so thankful to be their daughter. the support they have given me and daniel is amazing. one example is how they (and our entire family) rallied around daniel and i in a phenomenal way after gracie was born and we were all rushed to the NICU. they all stepped up, coordinated, took care of our needs, provided us a hotel, food, encouraging gifts, took care of sophie, spent time with gracie when we couldn't be there, encouraged, prayed for, cried with us, cleaned for us, and the list goes on and on. we have been so blessed to have a family that is not afraid to love deeply.

i'm learning something the hard way. parents aren't perfect. how humbling. whether they don't know the Lord or whether they seek Him with their lives, they aren't perfect. because they are human. they will mess up. gosh. i. mess. up. everyday. i pray for mercy every single day as i endeavour to love, nurture, train, and discipline my girls.

there is only ONE perfect Parent. He is a perfect Father. He loves unconditionally, His patience never runs out, His love never fails, His timing is perfect. His plans are perfect. His discipline in perfect. He is never selfish. He is never rude. He is the only Holy One.

That He seeks to pursue us, to love us, to never, ever give up on us is amazing. Amazing love.

My part, our part is to truly accept this Love, this Forgiveness, and to Trust, to Rely On HIM, to Surrender. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. My identity comes from Him. My acceptance comes from Him. Not from my parents, my husband, my family, or my friends. If I am depending solely on them for acceptance, approval, and unconditional love then I will never be satisfied. I will never feel whole. My wholeness lies solely in the one who created me. The one who breathed life into me. The one who dreamed my life from before the foundations of the earth.

As our speaker at church said this morning, "Don't treat God the way the world is treating us." He gets blamed for so much and the truth is we are in the middle of a battle. The Lover of our Souls vs the enemy of our souls and we are the "trophies" to be won in the war. He is the giver of all good things and oh the plans He has for us.... if we were to recount them they would be too wonderful to tell!

Jesus, I love You. Light the fire once again. Teach us the true heart of a parent.

Family, I love you. Thank you.

Friends. Ya'll are the best. Thanks for listening and letting me preach a little. :)

{better get to bed. i'm in a good ole hampton inn king size bed. sleeping in tomorrow. wooo hooo!}

quiet house

tonight it's quiet. everyone is sleeping and i'm sitting here thinking, reading, making lists. its been a good day/weekend, but for some reason i feel emotionally exhausted. decisions to make, a challenging afternoon with my almost 3 yr old, feeling like i disappoint people, feeling torn.... i'm not sure why even the simplest of decisions are so difficult for me to make sometimes (all the time)? it's like i am always struggling with all the pros/cons to make sure that i am making the 100% best decision and that i am not going to disappoint anyone (primarily dan, mom, dad, other family, etc). i have dealt with this my whole life. my parents were divorced when i was two and although they really did try to make it easy for my sister and i (no court appointed custody, child support, etc), i still became (at least felt like) the go-between. the one in the middle. the one who had to reconcile both sides. two sides that often had different ideas on even the most basic things (i.e. when/where to meet, visit lengths, etc). i love my parents both so very much and i have always tried to please them individually which has sometimes been hard. i know that God is my Master and that the most important thing is to please Him... not others. i do try so hard though and i am definitely addicted to people's approval. what a mess i am! thank You, Jesus for your love and mercy. i so want to walk in peace, freedom and joy and to keep my eyes on YOU and not myself. teach me how to live this out day to day. {all that said, i think i am learning that every decision isn't life and death. sometimes either way is ok and that if i make a bad decision it will be ok...also, my parents are great! the Lord has done/is doing a great work in their lives and i am so blessed to have all of my parents. :)}

enough about that. the girls were so sweet at bed time tonight. sophie was EXHAUSTED from a long day of playing hard at the park and at the fair (with her daddy & papa). she was being a stinker tonight and i was happy to finally get her in bed. we started to pray and she reminded me of her sore finger. i held her hand and started praying for her. she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep covered in love and blessings. gracie b. stayed home with mommy & junie tonight and after dinner she nursed for an entire hour! at bedtime she was wide awake. she finally started waning at about 10 after fighting it pretty hard. i laid her in her bed on her tummy and rubbed her back as she slowly tossed her head back and forth and drifted off to sleep. sweet, sweet baby girls.

tomorrow we'll head to church, say good bye to junie and head to NWA for the holiday. i'm looking forward to spending time with the whole family as well as meeting a certain boy who is apparently pretty sweet on my little sis! :)

ps- thanks, for all "the fridge" comments. who knew it would be such a hot topic! *wink*

the fridge

Last night I cleaned out the fridge. I've needed to do it for a while, but I kept putting it off because I knew it was going to take some time. Well, the time came! We have company coming today and I had to get the visible grime off the shelves.

Here's some evidence that this much needed cleaning was loooong over-due...

Exhibit A: The "Bowl" of Chocolate

I'm sad to say that this "bowl" of chocolate has been in our fridge since June '07. It is actually left over from the chocolate fountain at Steph's baby shower last summer. I kept thinking I might be reuse it and to be honest, I had NO IDEA how to get this frozen piece of chocolate out of the plastic bowl it was in. So.... I did nothing. I just kept over-looking it and putting it as far back on the shelf as possible. I missed being able to us the bowl, but felt as if I had no choice. This all changed last night! My handsome-hubby-to-the-rescue (again!) saw the bowl and asked me what what the heck was in it?! I told him the story and he had it solved in minutes. The chocolate went the trash can (after it was photographed. Dan thinks I'm so weird!) and we now have use of one more plastic bowl. Woo hoo!



Exhibit B- Grossly Over-Expired Food

EEEEWWWWW! Expiration Date 11-04-07. Yikes! The crazy thing is I hardly ever buy yogurt but I did today and I'm so glad I didn't open this one and eat it before I saw the date.


Well, if the yogurt was EEEWWWWW this is triple EEEEEWWWWWW! This once yummy, Pumpkin Pie creamer has been in there since last fall. You can actually see the moldy spots through the plastic. I'm so glad that I didn't pull this one out to serve at LIFEgroup! Yuck-eeee!!

Exhibit C- Un-necessary Food Duplicates


I laughed to myself when I found three containers of lemon juice in the fridge. Now, lemon juice certainly won't break the bank, but some other items could and why, oh why spend money on items you already have, Jennifer?! I also found 3 containers of mayo, 2 containers of miracle whip, and 2 new containers of whipped cream.

Am I too gross? Can we still be friends???

Here is my freshly cleaned refrigerator. Germ free and somewhat organized. It looks so empty with out all the leftovers.

I guess the freezer is next!

What does your fridge look like? Any crazy, year old stuff??

prayer requests....

are you familiar with the NieNie Chronicles? i've been broken hearted for this the family from AZ ever since i read about their situation last week. today, thursday the 28th has been proclaimed as "nie nie day" by design mom. there are online auctions all over the web today to raise money for this family in need. i've seen some of the items at "a room somewhere" and they are really beautiful. maybe you'd be interested in a an item or two? either way, please pray for this family. for a complete healing and restoration in their lives, for their children and families and that Jesus would be lifted up and that His purposes (salvation, hope, peace, healing, wisdom, joy, ect) would be accomplished in this situation.

(isn't the influence of the blogosphere absolutely amazing??)

also, there is a sweet family from my town that recently had a baby boy, tycen. tycen was airlifted to arkansas children's hospital today for respiratory problems and a low white blood count. last i heard, the dr's thought it might be pneumonia. please lift this baby and family up. daniel have been where they are today and it is a very scary, confusing and painful place to be. Jesus, i lift them up to you and i ask that you would surround them with peace, that you would touch this precious baby and heal him. i pray for wisdom and direction for the dr's and for you to draw this entire family to yourself and minister to them. Lord, please show us how we can help.


"The fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective...." James 5:16

thanks!

thanks, mom(s)!

today has gotten better as it has progressed.

when i was awoken this morning at 5:45 am by my darling daughter, sophie, i was not so happy. to be honest, i felt like i had been hit by a truck.... congested, achy, terrible headache. maybe it was the benadryl i took last night? nonetheless, by 6:25 am sophie could not stay in bed any longer! she needed chocolate milk, a snack (how about breakfast?), and a movie. dan was still here so i gave her the goods, turned on "boz" and headed back to bed. about 45 minutes later i consented to the fact that i was, in fact, up for the day even though i felt terrible.

i'm sure you all aren't that interested in a full play-by-play of my day, but i just needed to set the stage and say thank you to my three moms. they all really helped me today without me having to ask for anything. i am a blessed woman.

first off, mom (jackie) had already scheduled to keep the sophster today. it worked out good since i had to take grace to the dr for a check-up. she must have seen how sick (terrible) i looked when she offered to make us some of her delicious & nutritious chicken and vegetable soup. (and encouraged me to go home and go to bed if possible.) thank you, mom! sophie had a great day playing in the sand box and learning to play "candy land" and the soup hit the spot!

secondly, mom (cheryl) called to let me know when they are coming to town (tomorrow) and that grandma "junie" will be coming with them! that in itself cheered me up, but i have to be honest...when she asked me if the girls or i "needed" anything i perked up even more. can't beat a little "retail therapy!" :) thanks, mom and we are looking forward to spending the weekend with you all!

thirdly, mom (lisa) called at about 10 am to see if i could use any help for a couple of hours and if i wanted anything from mc donalds (cinnamon melts...yummy!). i said sure. grace was about asleep and to be honest if she hadn't offered to come by i would have probably spent the remainder of my morning nursing my wounds, wasting time on the internet or sleeping. having her here helped me to get the laundry sorted (while she folded), unload/reload the dishwasher, etc, etc. thank you, mom! i enjoyed visiting and i really appreciate the help!

so, my day did get better. i did get a short nap before i took grace to the dr., i did a much needed wal-mart run, i spent time loving on my man and my girls, i cleaned out the fridge, and got most of the laundry done. (well, at least washed and dried.)

i've still got a runny nose and i'm definitely not feeling my best yet...but, i know that i am loved and am very blessed!

happy birthday, Jerusha!

today is my sis-in-law, Jerusha's birthday. although she lives far away and i haven't got her card in the mail yet (shame on me!), i just want to say happy birthday! you are a wonderful wife and mother, graceful, strong, beautiful, creative and a true blessing to your whole family! we miss you and the whole neufeld gang!






may God bless you with a fantastic year!



love,

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

*** This post was originally written the week after The 4th of July. ***

Last Thursday, we arrived in Northwest AR for the weekend. My Dad bought several tickets to see the AR Naturals play. They are a farm team for the Royals. (Listen to me talking like a true baseball fan. ha!) We arrived just in time and had excellent seats. They were covered which turned out great as the night continued. Mom, Dad, Dan, Me, Sophie, Grace and Sarah met up with my sisters, Jaclyn, Brittany, my brother, Jon and our friend, Tyler. (We call him T-Dog for short.)

I'll just be honest... none of us are die-hard baseball fans. I'm sure the "true Naturals" fans in front of us got quite a kick out listening to us observe the game and ask questions. (For instance the other team from San Antonio hit a home run and my bro, Jon wanted to know why no one was cheering?! Or when, my Dad said we'd go eat at "half-time." :))The Rose fam was primarily there for some good 'ole American fun and to watch fireworks and listen to the post game symphony! Too bad it didn't work out that way. We did spend way too much money on some good ole stadium food, see some more family (Steph, JM and Ro Ro), enjoy goofing off with one another, laughing at the Sasquatch mascot, Strike and just spending time together.

All was well, until my sister, Jaclyn (in the picture above) got her toe smooshed in the back of the chair ahead of us. I was sitting beside her and all of a sudden she started screaming and hitting the guy ahead of us in the back. I realized what happened, stood up and tried to help the poor man out of his seat. Poor guy! Poor Jac! Her toe was pretty severely smashed but she handled very well.

Then the rain started. And it rained and rained. Then the lightening started. And the lights went out. They covered the field more than once (which was really neat). We were super thankful for our covered seats. In the end, the rain won out and the game and post-game activities were cancelled. Oh well. We still had a lot of fun! Thanks, Mom & Dad!



************************************************************************************

Well, it turns out that we got a rain check! We are going to a rescheduled game this coming Sunday night and they will have the Symphony and Fireworks! Nick Jr's "Diego" is also set to make an appearance. Sophie will beso excited! WOO HOO!

Watch out Arvest Ballpark... the Rose's are headed your way once again! :)

Rain, rain. Stay away!

under the weather...

coughing + sneezing + congestion + sore throat + low grade fevers= one slightly under the weather family.

all four of us (and my dad, too...) aren't feeling our best today. sophie asked me to pray for her as soon as we were up this morning. so sweet. we're staying pretty low key. we had some chicken noodle soup for lunch and both girls are sleeping away the afternoon.

this morning sophie made a bed for lots of babies in the hallway.

gracie b. in the bath today... i love her big eyes in this picture.

i will eventually have to venture out to good ole "me mart" to get some groceries. we are out of everything! but, for now we'll just continue to snuggle and maybe put on another episode of "the waltons."

ps- remember simple mom from last week? she is having a great gift basket giveaway! you can enter until midnight tonight. check it out!

gracie's new do

pondering.... taking a breather

sophie is finally down for a nap. first one in three days. not fun! i'm really hoping her nap days aren't coming to an end. i still think she needs one. she gets pretty cranky by the end of the day and i'm ready for a little break by 2 pm.

lunch was a little crazy today. daniel walked in to me cleaning up a big baby food mess. sophie accidentally knocked grace's jar of food onto the floor and it went everywhere. (strike 1!) we got that cleaned up and grace knocked over sophie's tea. (strike 2!) i finally sat down 15 mins later to finish feeding grace and she knocked over my tea glass. it shattered everywhere. (strike 3!) that was actually the second broken glass today. sheesh kabob, what is up??!!) we finally ate lunch and dan took sophie to the bathroom where she proceeded to miss the potty and pee all over the floor. (the rug was already up because has gotten some poopy on it this morning. Lord, help me!)

sooo... i think you can see why i was ready for NAP TIME today! grace is watching a little "praise baby" and i'm just vegging for a few minutes.

i've been reading some parenting wisdom at Raising Godly Tomatoes. you can actually read her entire book here. looks good. i definitely need wisdom today. i've been praying for wisdom to raise the girls. the awesome thing is that God knows sophie and grace specifically and what their individual needs are and how dan and i are to raise them. He said to ask for it... "If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get His help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. " James 1:5 The Message.

sometimes i certainly feel like "i don't know what i'm doing" and honestly, i can get so frustrated with the disobedience (especially at nap time) that i want to give up. i know that isn't an option. so Lord, please give me wisdom, grace, patience and love as I deal with sophie. i love her so very much and I know that she is a gift from you.

but, today is FRIDAY! daniel will be home in a few minutes. we're having steak and shrimp for dinner and taking it easy! i have some shopping to do later and we've got to get ready for sarah jo's "spa princess" birthday party tomorrow. we have LIFEgroup over here on Sunday night and we're really looking forward to our new Andy Stanley video study on parenting.

here's to a happy, restful weekend to us all! :)

Sophie's Chore Chart

I have been very inspired by Simple Mom's organization skills and been blessed by her willingness to share her ideas and her work. One of the first things on her site that caught my my eye was the Pre-schooler's Chore Chart. She did some research on age-appropriate chore for little ones and came up with some good ideas.

Last Saturday night I printed out the PDF file and customized it a little more for Sophie.

I introduced her to it on Sunday night and we started on Monday morning. So far it's going pretty good. She has made her bed (and helped me make mine) every morning, unloaded the silver ware from the dishwasher, helped with laundry, helped in the kitchen and done some extra work. The main challenge has been keeping her from adding extra stickers! :)

At the end of the week, Sophie will get $.05 (one nickel) for each sticker she has on her chart. Sophie loves money, but up until now she has just been given cash and change by her family...mainly grandparents. The girl always has cash! I don't mind this, my late Grandpa J.R. always gave us kids $1-$3 and called it "walking around money." I just want Sophie to have respect for money and work. I also want to teach her about giving (tithing) and saving at an early age. She already knows how to spend! :) Soon she will move up to the 3-4 yr old class at Church, so she will be with us in the service for worship and the offering. That will give her an opportunity to start learning about the joy of giving.

So.... the chore chart is a success. (If you can say that after only 3 days?) Hopefully we will all continue to grow in this. To be honest, I have had a pretty negative attitude about housework in general and have had to learn much about being a proper home-maker after I got married...kicking and screaming all the way! (Since by nature I am am a 'messie' and Daniel is a 'cleanie' about 90% of our fights the first year we were married were about cleaning! Ick!) I want both of my girls to learn how to keep a home with a happy heart before they get married! :) Don't get me wrong...I still have a LOT to learn about being a good home-maker, but I really am trying. Simple routines for each chore like washing/drying/folding/putting away one load of laundry each day or unloading the dishwasher in the morning, etc have really helped me lately.

Lord, I give my children to you once again. I give you my home. Thank you so much for blessing us with it. Please help me to be a good steward of it. Help me to be content with what I have and to find joy in the mundane, but also very important parts of taking care of my husband, children and home. I love You so much.

ps- Check out Simple Mom for lots of great tips on homemaking/life-management!

EEEWWWWWW!

This morning I was roused from sleep by semi-projectile spit up right to my face and pillow. Good shot, Grace! :)

In the words of Earnest P. Worrell.... EEEEWWWWWWWW!

ten on tuesday

1- today was sophie's day to go to mimi & papa don's (daniel's mom and step-dad). she loves going over there to play. today she called me from the car to tell me that mimi had bought her a thomas the train umbrella. she was so excited!



2- grace & i enjoy these days. they are usually pretty laid back... especially on rainy days like today. can you believe this crazy weather??? 60 degrees in august!


3- i started making birthday lists today. i'm trying to stay a little ahead of the game with soph's birthday. we are having a "bug/flower/garden" theme. (inspired by the incredibly cheap paperware that i found at "oops" in springdale. you can't beat $.40-$.80 stuff!) i'm ok with food and decorations... i'm just struggling to come up with age-appropriate party games. any ideas would be appreciated. :)


4- we are looking into getting gymnastics/tumbling lessons for sophie as part of her gift. she is a sumersault girl! our chaise & love seat have become her flipping ground!


5- i worked on putting together an "all about today" poster for the playroom. it is loosely based on something like this that i found in a childrens' catalog for $35. i am trying to make it for a lot less. i think sophie will enjoy changing the dates/day/weather, ect. she often tells people "i see you see 'tomorreo'" or "i see you see 'saturday'!" :)


6- i have also been doing a little research on some scripture memory for her. i have been wanting to do this for a while and was inspired by this post/comments. i know that "hiding His Word in our hearts" is so important for the young and the old. i want my girls to love the Word! :) i'm also going to look into awana's cubbies for sophie this fall. any ideas for this??


7- my grandma ninkie (soph calls her "ma ma ma") brought by some more yummy garden veggies today. she is such a great gardener and has blessed us with her bounty many times this summer. thank you, grandma! the fresh, summer stuff sure beats our old standby- canned green beans!



8-grace & i made a quick trip to cruizzers (our local drive-in) for some fresh squeezed lemonade. goofy me missed " 1/2 price happy hour" by 3 minutes! oh well...

9-*update*- it's thursday...i just skimmed this and realized that i had left out number nine. oops! i must have been super tired!

10- i love my hubby SO much. he has been sending me sweet text messages all week. he is such a hard worker and a great friend and daddy! he worked on the fence again this afternoon and he is getting close to getting done. yippee!!


ps- i added music today. i hope it isn't annoying. the diverse group of artists is funny to me. 'night!

mickey mouse & "tic tac toad"

sophie will turn three 3 years old in a few weeks. amazing! my brain is definitely in birthday party mode. tonight while soph was in the bath i asked her what she wanted for her birthday. "mickey mouse," she replied. what color? "blue. i want to see him." this was a little weird to me because aside from a mickey mouse toy telephone she has, she is not familiar with mickey mouse at all. (unless someone has been talking with her about going to disney world???)

after bath time, we read bed-time stories and her latest favorite is actually a word book. something like "1000 words" and it has pictures of lots of different places/scenarios and the words and pictures involved. (i don't care to read this e-v-e-r-y single day because there is no plot or story, but she loves it and has learned lots of new words with it.) tonight she wanted to read the "birthday party" words... one of her favorites. after we finished i asked her what she wanted to do at her birthday party? "blow out candles," she said. then i asked what kind of games she like to play? "cards." cards, huh? "yep. cards and tic tac toad."

"tick tac toad?" sounds fun! :)

gracie b.= 7 months old

today grace is 7 months old.

it is amazing to me how fast these months have gone by. God has blessed our lives so much with the sweet addition of this little girl.

she has the sweetest disposition, a contagious laugh, a hearty appetite, a loud squeal/screech, a cute button nose, a wild cowlick!

here is grace with her daddy soon after she was born. i was still in recovery from the c-section. a few minutes after this, grace was put on oxygen and did not leave our hospital nursery until she was air-lifted the next morning to Arkansas Children's Hospital NICU.

this picture was taken on saturday morning. grace was 2 days old and had been intubated and given a chest tube the night before. daniel and i both agree that this was the most difficult day. we were hurt, scared, tired, and confused. we brought our Bible to her little bassinet and looked up many, many scriptures on healing and breathing and life and spoke them over her. she was so precious and sweet even in the midst of the pain.

i am often asked how grace is doing and if she is all better. it is such a blessing to be able to say that she is 100% healed. the Lord did a complete healing in her little body and we are so grateful. she has a tiny scar from the chest tube, but that is the only physical evidence of her serious health problem. Praise the Lord!

here she is last week. our little piano playing love bug! she has very long fingers and toes. wouldn't it be neat if she played the piano one day like her great aunt "b" and her aunt suzy?

love those smiles!

grace adeline you have blessed our lives and we are so thankful that you are a part of our family. you are healthy, whole, full of purpose and destiny. you are loved so much by the One who made you and the ones who have been blessed to raiseyou. may your life always bring Him glory.

we love you!

ps- i know i sound like a hick in this video! just tune me out and listen to grace's super beats! :)

today's adventure: flower shopping with pappy

after a leisurely morning hanging out with dan and grace, pappy (my dad) called to ask if me and the girls wanted to join him, mammy, my aunt b, and sarah jo on a little trip to glenwood to buy plants for the company. the bonus was a delicious dinner at at "little italy", an authentic mom and pop italian restaurant. since dan was busy working on the fence and most of the housework was done i agreed and we set out for the 45 minute drive. the nursery, "blooming baskets" was overflowing with flowers and greenery at great prices.

we had fun looking at all the plants and the girls loved running through the sprinklers! sophie had just woken up from her nap when we left so she was still in her pull-up when we arrived. after some sprinkler action she needed to go potty asap! there was no public bathroom there so i reluctantly told her to go in her pull-up. (bad idea for a newly potty trained chickee!) she couldn't do that so i suggested we "squat" in some grass since there were no other customers around. that was bad idea #2 since i had grace strapped in the baby bjorn, sophie made quite the pee-pee mess! good thing we had extra clothes! we changed her clothes and all was well!

sophie wasn't too happy at the moment!

the girls had a great time playing, my dad blessed me with my very own purple "crepe myrtle," and i bought a couple of large bushes for $8 a piece!

gracie b. with mammy

sophie with pappy's glasses


sarah with dad's glasses

they had fun popping bubbles!

we also has a yummy dinner at "little italy" and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with aunt "b" and the rest of the fam! my only regret is that i didn't get a pic of aunt b or pappy (him and sophie have matching "life is good" t-shirts.) maybe next time! they were pretty busy shopping and lugging away!

i love this picture of soph & sarah. they love each other so much!

a change of scenery

today i made a big move. a blog move. i'm moving over from my former blog home at xanga. for the past 5 years i have posted about my life... marriage, jobs, ministry, getting pregnant with sophie, being a first time mom, buying and remodeling a home, second pregnancy with grace, our time in the nicu, the challenges of parenting two, my joys and frustrations and so much more. but, i've decided i need a change and a little more blogging freedom. bye xanga. i'm sure i'll be back to visit often.
i'm here because i'm addicted to blogging. there i said it. i love reading about other women's lives. i love the encouragement, inspiration, humor, and great ideas that i garnish from blogs. to me it's all about relationships and our desire to "be known" and be heard and valued. please know that i value you and i really appreciate you taking the time to read about me and my fam.

about the fam... i'm so blessed to be married to daniel. (six years this month!) i love dan because he's not a compromiser. he's passionate about His relationship with the Lord and He's consistently committed to seeking God. he's a hard worker, a great dad, a major goof ball, a dreamer and a patient husband. he loves me and i am so thankful. we have been blessed with two sweetie pie girls, sophie (curls) and gracie (cowlicks). they are fun little munchkins and they have some wild hair!

i'm a stay at home mom and they keep my hopping! (if i could just keep the laundry going...) i love to craft & decorate. i'm a beginner sewer. i stink at gardening. i like to cook, but cleaning is not my thing. :) i am trying though and i know one day i will look back on these challenging years as some of the best years of my life.

welcome and thanks for tuning in! i love comments! hint, hint... :)

tree climbing girl and her proud sister

sometimes sophie reminds me so much of myself. (scary sometimes...she's stubborn!) i loved to climb trees as a young girl and still love to swing on a tire swing hanging from a big, stong tree. (i actually had to stand "at the wall"once in second grade for climbing the small tree on our playground. caught by mrs. schroyer!) our home has a big shade tree in the front yard and sophie had to climb it the other day. she knows no fear.

sophie climbing the tree

no fear!
pretty sophie
she's so little and so big at the same time...
wow!
go, sophie!

gracie loves her so much and she was entertained by her monkey sis.

sweet times.