A Breath of Fresh Air

Run as fast as you can and pick up a copy of the best thing to hit newsstands since Lily.  Life: Beautiful  . The new beauty-filled and inspirational magazine that is sure to be a hit and a blessing to your soul. I called and ordered all three issues given that I can't find a bookstore that carries it around here. What a gorgeous, God-inspired gift to the tired media world. You can look and drool on line at their gorgeous web-site. www.lifebeautifulmagazine.com 

I had a small party planning business for years called Life is Beautiful. So they are singing my song. Make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy every beautiful page. You won't be disappointed.

My Cup Runneth Over

Little one so tiny and small. Little one who has such a huge place in my heart already. I felt you kick your tiny feet! I can hardly believe it! What a gift to know you are there! The very first kick was this past Sat. on March 22.  Almost 16 weeks to the day. Today you gave us a good scare. I went in to the Doctor for my 16 week check-up and she could not find a heartbeat. She tried and tried for quite some time- over and over again. I knew you were there, because I had just felt your first kicks a couple of days before. But fear struck my heart as we have been through this before. We have three babies in Heaven. I prayed and waited and waited and prayed until the ultrasound tech could see me. Finally it was my turn and almost immediately you appeared on the screen, curled up and kicking away. Your heart was beating, although probably not as fast as mine. The tears were streaming my face in Thanksgiving to God. She asked me if I wanted to know what we were having and I said yes, of course! I already know that it is a boy- but please tell me if you can. She said ..."You are having a baby boy!" I felt like my heart was about to burst! Another son. I am humbled and honored and cannot wait to hold you in my arms.... my sweet, precious Prince.  I came home and waited for Daddy and we told all the children together and video-taped their reactions! It was quite a party and there was a lot of excitement in the air. So much so, that our baby Pearl- stood up and took two steps by herself!!! She is 9 months old and we were in luck that the camera was already running. My heart was overflowing with joy and anticipation and thanksgiving and in that moment I was reminded of a very beautiful scripture. " My cup runneth over, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of  the Lord forever." - Psalm23:6

Life is not a dress rehearsal

This Easter I had big plans. Big dreams. Big ideas of how our day as a family would unfold. I had deep desires in my heart of just being able to bask in Him and all that this day represents- while embracing my precious gifts in their beautiful Easter wear and enjoying Sunday brunch with my family! (Think Martha) Needless to say, our day unfolded a little differently and I thank God for my sense of humor and ability to uh-umm...look past some things. We started out the morning early and the children woke up to an Easter egg trail from their room leading to their baskets. All the way down the stairs they blazed a trail and literally "tore" into their baskets before I could capture a decent picture! You can see for yourself in the picture of ......Easter grass. Then our family of six needed to shower, powder and puff and attempt to make it to the 9:30 a.m. children's service. Which we had to make it to since we then had 11:30  brunch reservations afterwards! (Need I say more?)This is where the fun began! BG's dress was at the cleaners, which I failed to pick up in time the day before, which meant baby sister and she couldn't match, which is no big deal- except that I love for them to match. Then baby brother couldn't get any part of his foot into his "good shoes", which we just purchased a few months ago for the baby's christening! Which is no big deal as well, except that meant that he could not wear his beautiful taupe monogrammed outfit and little knee socks. Which is fine, except that I just love for him to wear this type of thing and the opportunity rarely comes around, seeing that we just don't have a lot" good shoes" occasions. Anyway, then my husband and I were both sweating profusely (after we had already showered) just trying to get our 25 pound Pearl into her Sunday tights. I then couldn't find her "Praise the Lord" bloomers to cover up the fact that her tights were quite possibly cutting off her circulation, just in case anyone noticed.   I will spare everyone the details of what I had to go through and end up wearing but it wasn't pretty! 

No time for pictures- we are late. Rush, rush, rush all the way there. Get there. Standing room only and our family of six is sitting in the floor. It's elbow to eyeball and one of the little ones

is fussy- "she was hungry"- I realized at that point that nobody had eaten a bit of breakfast (except for maybe some jellybeans, does that count?) and was feeling pretty bad about myself. The tears were flowing and I was wishing for a better orchestrated, much more

peaceful morning - when the most beautiful voice began to sing the most glorious song and I was able to enjoy the most important part of Easter morning -part of what I had dreamed about- basking in Him- in His presence. Right there on the floor. Right there without everything just so. Right there in the midst of the crowded sanctuary. Right there- even though we were a mess and even though we were late- He still met me in spite of myself. He still showed up and poured out His grace one more time. He still allowed me the gift of experiencing my own Easter miracle. That I am nothing without Him-except someone who struggles. That I can do nothing without Him- except continue to mess up and make mistakes. That He still meets us- whether powdered or puffed- or just in a fluff.  Whether pulled together or pulled apart. Whether our exterior looks great and our interior is rotting. Or whether our interior looks great and our exterior is rotting. He is no respecter of persons. His only requirement is that we have a heart turned toward Him and there He is. What a gift. What a blessing. Thank you Father  for a beautiful Easter with my family and another opportunity to experience you and your unconditional love.

The Hunt

Today every one was beyond excited to hunt for their eggs at our annual Easter Egg Hunt. I have to say that to get any decent pictures of the children hunting would have to have been a small miracle in itself. The two of them were like lightening. Blink and it's over. I felt so frustrated trying to watch them- and enjoy every second of it and take pictures of them all at the same time. They were literally out of breath trying to get to the "golden eggs" along with all of the other eggs. I did manage the above picture which was a post hunt kiss for baby brother!