My Daughter is a Teenager

Recently, my daughter celebrated a birthday. She turned 13. It was a very fun time in our house, slumber party, family celebration, jokes about PG-13 movies she could now legally see (definitely only joking!), and most importantly, realizing that while she is now 13, she has "decided" not to fall into the sterotype we call "a teenager". Go Rachel.

My daughter is breaking the mold in many ways, and I am proud of her. The choices she is already making show a commitment to Godly living and a decision for Christ that I did not have at her age. I think I can safely say that many kids her age now do not share her views on modesty and purity, but she is determined to stand for her choices and I am determined to encourage and support her.

I decided last year that it was time to stop being in denial about how old my kids were getting and just embrace each age. I'm doing pretty well with that philosophy, except when I break out the baby pictures. I mean, just look at this kid! It really does feel like I blinked and she went from this:

To this:

But, I guess if she has to grow up, I'm glad she's growing in the direction she is. We trust our kids to the God who entrusts us to raise them. We teach them about Him, and His boundless love for us. We pray for our kids, play with our kids, walk and talk with them through all of life's challenges and gifts. And one day, we let them go. I know that day is coming...but not yet, thank goodness! I am happy she is 13, only 13. I love her and am trying to enjoy this time with her so I do not blink and find we have already reached another milestone.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3 John 1:4

Grace is Nine

Ahh, my youngest is nine today. I cannot be in denial, I don't want to be, except that I can no longer pick her up. She can practically pick me up. That part just plain stinks!

To Grace: You bring so much to my life - laughter, drama, bugs (ugh!), brains (you're welcome!), energy, a stubborn streak, and our shared love of math, just for starters. I am so in love with you, darlin', and blessed to be your mommy!

Getting her ears pierced

   

 With her birthday present 

  

Grace Loves Tomatoes (aka the Instagram Demo)

 The other day, I was randomly snapping photos with my iPhone of my daughter, Grace with some tomatoes on a cutting board. (Don't ask!)...Anyway, she loves tomatoes and loves the camera, so we had fun with it. Then, by chance, I found out about an app for iPhones called Instagram. You can apply any of about a dozen different filters to your photograph. Then you can share it through email, Facebook, or followers on Instagram, etc. It's a free app (the best kind), and I have to admit, I am hooked!

See for yourself with "Grace and the Tomatoes":

  

two different filters applied

to the same photograph for comparison

Fun stuff! Look out world...as Paul Simon would say...I got an iPhone camera, love to take a photograph! Oh, wait...he said Nikon camera. Well, goodbye Kodachrome, hello Instagram!

Parenting 001

This article by Kevin DeYoung is so good, I had to link it to my blog. I want to read it over and over again. You should read it, too. It's a (very) funny, fresh, and freeing viewpoint on parenting. (Click on the link below)

Parenting 001

Rachel...This One's For You

My darling Rachel,
   Please forgive me for being so very late in saying "Happy 12th Birthday" to you on my blog. I hope this little video makes you feel better. I love you, Lu! You are precious to me!

The Swim Princess turns Eight...and Mommy makes a Pool Cake!

My second baby had a birthday last Saturday. She turned eight...thankfully not fourteen! We let her open her family presents in the morning, because patience is still a hard-fought-for virtue in this house...and hey, that's just what we do!

My thanks was a kiss from the dog! (not really)

Actually, Grace wouldn't stop thanking her daddy & I for her presents...it was so sweet!

Then it was on to Grace's pool party, which she had been talking about non-stop fuh-evah! Which means that I had been cleaning and improving our home a little too much (can you say *cough* frustrated perfectionist *cough*) Well, I am much improved from my previous self...

So, the house was clean, except for the nasty, hairy cat chair (doesn't something always get missed?) and the kids arrived, and it was a wonderful party. The weather was windy and a little on the cool side, but the kids had fun getting in the pool, squealing about how cold it was, getting out of the pool, jumping on the trampoline, and then getting back in the pool. I edited the other kids out of the pictures to protect their privacy, but really, they were there! =)

The fun part for me, with a little anxiety thrown in for kicks, was making the cake. We decided to make a pool cake to fit the theme of her party. At first, I was just going to frost it blue and call it done. Then while looking for party ideas, I saw a picture of a pool cake with, of all things, blue Jell-O! Why not? So I made the cake, and we made cupcakes, too, because I had made this cute three tiered cupcake stand, so we had to have cupcakes to put on it! Rachel frosted and decorated the cupcakes (which came out super-cute...she even put bathing suits and sunglasses on the teddy grahams!) and I worked on the cake, which was not without it's disasters. Poor Craig got an earful the night before the party and I had to apologize to him later. But by the grace of God and the miracle of frosting, it all came together, and yes, I did get that Jell-O to become a pool. The 8 year olds were impressed, my 8 year old was impressed, and that's all that mattered to me!

What could make a day like that any better? Going out to dinner...to one of Grace's favorite places, "Good Times." In fact, we went there for her birthday dinner last year. It looks like a 50's diner, with lots of movie memorabilia and "I Love Lucy" episodes playing on the TV. The food is fantastic, too. We always have a good time when we go there (oh, sorry about the pun)!

So, that's Grace's birthday. She is eight now. Oh, how the years go by!

I love you, Boo!

I started it...she finished me

Me to Grace: "Just to let you know, you cannot turn eight this weekend. I forbid it. Seven is a nice number."


Grace to Me: "I could turn fourteen."

They finished well...

School is out, summer has begun (officially this weekend, I think) and I am here to tell you that my girls finished well...very well. We pulled them out of public school with six more weeks to go, and put them in a Christian
co-op home school. What an amazing blessing! We had already made the decision to home school them next year, but being able to transition them now was such a gift. It was not without it's drama, tears and difficulties, but God just worked through all that in wonderful ways.


These pictures are of the last two days of school. The first group is where the school spends the day at this beautiful, local place with a large swimming pond, sandy beach, palm trees...hard to imagine such a place exists where we live! =) The kids had a blast, swimming, catching frogs, kayaking, just having fun with one another.

The last day of school was for graduation and awards, and for receiving their character quality certificates. This was all new for my kids...they never received character certificates with Bible verses from public school! Grace's character quality was "determination" and Rachel's was "joy" - how special that in just that short time with these teachers, they were able to see these qualities demonstrated in my girls!


Both girls also received Gold Level Honor Roll certificates, which means they each earned 4.0 on their report cards. They were super excited about that, Rachel for finally getting straight A's, and Grace for finally getting letter grades on her report card!


Here's what made their mommy cry, though. They showed a video during the morning's event, and in it, they asked the kids how they wanted to be remembered, or known by others as. Grace said, "I am a very sweet girl." Rachel said, "I am a fierce lover of God." How awesome that God is not only shaping their brains, but more importantly shaping their hearts as well!

(This is how sad they were that school was out for the summer!)

So, now I officially have a 7th and a 3rd grader. How do I feel about that? Ask me in August. For now, I'm going to enjoy my lazy, summer, swimming, reading, playing, loving, silly girls. Thank you, God, for entrusting them to my care. They sure are special!

Grace Got Glasses!

Okay, so I know my title is not very grammatically correct...but who cares??? This is all about the cute pictures of Grace, anyway! And who can say she isn't super-cute is these glasses she picked out all by herself?

Her mommy tried to get her to pick out something more, uh, subtle. I mean, these are black on the outside and a brilliant shade of blue on the inside. But this girl knew what she wanted...and besides, she's the one that gets to wear them, right?

Looks like she made a smart choice...smart girl!

What Makes Us (Almost) Late to School, Part 2

Rise and shine...it's going to be a bee-you-ti-ful mornin'!

What? Not so easily convinced?

Come on, I see you peeking at me a little!

 Open those eyes...do I need to bring the dog in here???

What Makes Us (Almost) Late to School, Part 1

It's not breakfast without a book!

What?

It's my second bowl!

All I Want for Christmas...

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

My first-born, precious daughter is 11 years old today. I have been calling her chopsticks...get it 1 1...chopsticks?!?

I don't know how it happened...because I am certain just the other day she looked like this...

And now my baby looks like this...

Wasn't I just wiping her nose, her bottom, her tears...and now more often I find myself wiping more of my own tears as I mark her milestones, and thank God for the remarkable young woman she is growing up to be.

The loving, bossy big sister

The animal lover



The book lover


Rachel brings kindness, joy, and conviction into my life. She has a heart to please others, but is not afraid to stand up for what is right. Rachel is a natural singer, and it makes me smile to hear her sing, and I am blessed when we have the opportunity to sing together. Rachel is smart, strong-willed, and always questioning, sensitive, and loving, and I am madly in love with her.



She is a committed follower of Jesus Christ, and a fierce prayer warrior! I love it when she is aware of a prayer need, because Rachel will make sure that need is lifted up to God's ear in prayer. She has strengthened my relationship with Jesus through her questions and her desire to know Him better. I am humbled by her faith in Him.

Happy 11th Birthday, Rachel-Lu!