One more fairy lagging behind...

"Sugar and spice and everything nice"



....and everything God has created her to be.




...Made in His image, made to glorify Him, made for this family.



Thank you, God, for little girls!






I know it's coming way quicker than I want it to, but someday, our little girl will be a grown woman...ready to leave the nest. I don't look forward to that day. Right now, I am cherishing every mommy moment I can get.



Our prayer for each of our children is that we equip them with the right tools to go forth in the world, and be a shining testimony for God. If God has it for her to marry, I pray he is a man who loves God with all of his heart and soul. If God has it for to have children, I pray she has the kind of daughter that she has been to me.



And if God has it for her to be single, I pray that she finds contentment and completeness in Him...living "happily ever after," being God's little princess.

Fairies in the Field

This picture illustrates the ultimate carefree life of a little girl...no worries, no fears, no house cleaning, no bills to pay, no boys...at least not yet. :o)



Almost makes you want to put on a fairy costume and go out frolicking, doesn't it?






Seriously, what do these two talk about?





The princess and her frog...


Imagine her surprise when this guy showed up!



"I want one, too!"


"Just how many cute guys are down here, anyway?"

"For the Beauty of the Earth"

This morning, we woke up in the clouds! What a breath-taking view it was to look around and be completely encircled in the clouds.








Only God can create such beautiful things! Look at the colors He uses. As Emma said, "God has the best box of crayons!"

An Aunty and her other Niece

It was Allie's turn for a date last night. For our date, I had contacted the lady that had given our girls the horsey rides and asked if we could come pet the horses. I was so happy that she gave her approval. I picked up Allie and we went to dinner first. It had been a rainy, foggy day and I was hoping for some sunshine, but we never got any. When we arrived at the stable, there wasn't a person in sight. We walked around to the barn, and noticed a chain blocking the entrance. We stood there for a while wondering what to do. I said, "Well, we have permission. Let's go." So, we ducked under the chain and went in. From that moment on, the place turned haunted on us!


The first thing we heard was this long "mmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow." I looked at Allie and she looked at me. One thing we did know was that horses don't say "meow." We heard it again. It sounded like it was dieing. It was this aweful, sick sound. I said, "Ok this is sort of creepy." We couldn't really see too far ahead in the barn, because it was so dark. We heard the haunting "meows" again, but didn't see anything. Pretty soon, a limping cat came around the corner. At first we felt bad for it, and then the thing was just bugging us. It wanted to be petted and since both of us are allergic, that wasn't gonna be happening...limp leg or not!


Don't let the cuteness fool you. She was creepy!

Because it was so dark in there, it took our eyes a little bit to get adjusted. When we first started looking in the stalls, we couldn't really see anything. And then all of a sudden, you'd see a big horse eyeball pop up. -took us a bit off guard at times.



We kept hearing weird "banging" sounds. (I think it was a horse kicking in his stall.) Then, we heard other "creaking sounds." (I think it was just the old barn.) Also, there were "echoing" noises. (I think it must have been the way the place was built) A car drove by. (I think it must have been a car that had some place to go.) Another creepy, scarey noise... (OK, now I was about ready to wet my pants.) At one point, I grabbed Allie, wrapped myself around her and said, "RUN!!!!" :o)

We ignored the noises for a bit, and went around to each stall petting the horses. Each of their names was on their stall door. It was fun reading them.

Clearly, this guy wasn't up for company.



Then, there were the extra friendly fellas who were wantin' some luvin'...




As we approached the end of the long line of the horse stalls, we heard a weird crunching sound. And this is what we saw:



This guy has had quite the time snacking on his entire wall. He completely ignored us, and continued slamming his huge, yellow, buck teeth into the wall and chewing. We just let him be. I think he had a rough day.

There were more creeking sounds, echoing bangs, and meowing. Suddenly, we heard high pitched squeaking...bats! That was the last straw for us...between the dark, spooky fog, scarey noises from within the stalls, "Gimpy the cat," bats, and a horse that was eating his way out, we were ready to leave.

As I was driving away, we saw a huge flock of geese crossing the road. I kiddingly joked with Allie, "Wanna hit some geese?" She laughed and shouted, "YEAH!" I said, "Alrighty, then" and gunned the car toward the geese. Allie shouted just like the shark on Nemo, "WE'RE HAVING GEESE TAAAANIGHT!!!" She made me laugh so hard.



Next, we went shopping. We were very tempted to buy a few items at the dollar store and go back to the stables, and dress up the horses. We saw baby bibs that read, "I love my mommy," sunglasses and fake orange hair that would have looked lovely on their tails... however we contained ourselves. Let me tell you, it was difficult when we found, grass skirts and coconut bras! Then, it was REALLY difficult when we saw hair removal. :o)

We put these medieval looking hats on. I said, "Ok, act really serious." We took the first picture and Allie said, "Oh, I think I smiled."



We took another. And she said, "Ohhhhhhh, I smiled again."


At this point, we were laughing, so trying to strike a serious face was a little difficult.


But we finally got it.


Allie,
I hope you enjoyed our date to the haunted horse stables. :o) I loved every minute I was with you. I will always remember our night together.
I love you, funny girl!

Tag, I'm it!

I've just been tagged by Alyssa at www.xanga.com/resolved2worship. As I understand the "tagging rules," I need to disclose to you "10 weird, random facts about me." So, here are the weirdo, fun facts in no particular order: :o)

1. I can make a lot of weird faces. My most famous being my "puffer fish" face. (you'll have to e-mail me for that one. It's just plain ole way too embarrassing to put up here!)
2. In grade school, the teacher told my mom that I was the class clown. -Shocking, I know.
3. Someone once told me that I looked like Ricky Lake. (I did not take that as a compliment!)
4. I gag very easily. The most embarrassing was when a lady was giving a testimony at church about her dog's eye "oozing" something, and I started to gag.
5. My husband and I got engaged when I was 18 and he was 20. I look at this picture and wonder who those kids were.



6. I have a birth mark on my left leg...or is it my right? Nope, it's my left.
7. I still have a hard time telling my left from my right. (wedding bands help.)
8. I hate putting the toilet paper on the roll, and trying to get that stinken, springy thing put back! It's making me mad just thinking about it!
9. Last night, I hid in the closet and scared the baloney outta my husband. I was like a little kid in there, heavy breathing and holding my nose to keep from laughing. And why is it that, without fail, whenever you get in your hiding spot, you suddenly have the urge to go to the bathroom??! Anyways, I got him SOOO GOOD. I'm still laughing about that!
10. Each night before I fall asleep, I look at this picture on the wall next to my bed and feel blessed.




I have to tag 5 people now.

I tag:
Mom
Trish
Kris
Annie
DeAnna

If you don't have a blog, just put your 10 weird, random facts in the comment section here.

Super Heroes or Super Goofy?

Joel and I were practicing singing the other night. We were singing a very serious minded song when these two came blowing through.



The thing that made this so funny was Annie in the Spiderman costume. She went from fluff to buff in one zip. We couldn't stop laughing. The fact that she even put this on, and came downstairs to show us was a shocker. Emma loves to show off. She'll do anything for a laugh or any dare if she feels it will "wow" her audience. Annie is little "Miss Don't look at Me." Often times, we can tell if we should even say "Good Morning" to her just by the way she enters a room. If the back of her hand is over her mouth, and her head is down, that's a pretty good indication that we should bypass the greeting.



I think Annie's been hanging around Emma too long.

Mary's first recital

If you look back on the blog, you can read about "The Happiest day in Mary's life." The reason for her happiness? She got her violin, something she had only dreamed about since she was 4. Mary has been practicing and working hard for a year and a half now.



All that practice paid off this past weekend. She performed in her very first recital! She has been looking forward to this ever since her teacher first told us about it back in February.



She played a solo piece as well as performed in a group, which she really enjoyed. It made her little violin sound big when she got to play with 25 other violinists.



When I use to play my flute in things like this, I can remember my mom being nervous as a cat. I think she truely was more nervous than I ever was. I now know the feeling! I sat there with my stomach in knots while Joel made check marks on his program next to each child who just finished performing, and my mom counting how many left until Mary. She was almost last, which just added to my nervousness. I looked over at her, thinking, surely! she must be feeling the same way. Nope. She was cool as a cucumber, just enjoying listening to the other children play. When it came time for her to take the stage, I about killed over with a heart attack. She bravely walked up there, and began playing. Mary has this cute, little way about playing. She will begin playing and not long into the song, she'll look around the room at people. Usually, it will throw her off. I made sure to tell her to concentrate on her fingering while she was playing. About half way through her violin piece, her eyes glanced up and she began looking around the room. Then, she caught Grammie's eyes. She smiled so big, while her little fingers continued playing. It was so cute, and she played it perfectly! She took a quick, awkward bow, just as her teacher had taught her to do, and off the stage she went. Joel, my mom and I all let out a sigh of relief.





Good girl, Mary! We're so proud of you! You played wonderful, but even more admirable than playing a perfect song, was your sweet testimony which sang even louder. What a precious gift you are to your Daddy and I!
We love you, Sweetheart!