"The Lesson"

"She...works with her hands in delight." Proverbs 31:13

As you know, I have a deep passion for sewing creations for my sweet little girls. A gene that runs deep in the heart of women in my family. I remember, while rolling my eyes, trying on endless projects my mom and grandmother would make for me. I never thought I would be grown one day working away on creations for daughters of my own. However, here I am and I could not love it anymore. God is so great to have given me a gift of "creating." It does such good for my soul to just dig in with my hands and come out with something "worthwhile" and, sometimes, even beautiful!

My amazing mom gave me a lesson in heirloom sewing. As a child, she made me the most gorgeous french hand sewn dress with antique lace, embroidery and a collar. I have always wanted to make something so special for my girls but I never had the confidence. I am more for making the fun, sassy everyday twirl outfits using exciting fabrics and patterns. However, with Adelynn's dedication arriving quickly, I decided there would be no better time to learn the art of heirloom sewing. (Actually, as it turned out, there might have been a better time because my mom broke her foot in the middle of our two week lesson! She is doing a little better now and was a spectacular coach even from the recliner with her leg in the air!) She so graciously "allowed" me to finish each stitch of the laces, collar, and sleeves. Even when it seemed too tedious and I would have rather just passed it off to her for finishing. Mom is a wonderful teacher, I guess why she made it her career for 30+ years, and it was so fun to create such a meaningful gown with her guidance.

Dear Daugthers,
I hope one day as you girls begin families of your very own, you will pridefully pass this dedication gown around to your infants. I pray you will feel in your hearts the vast amount of love that went into each tiny stitch and forever feel the guidance from your "mimi" as you make your way through motherhood. I know the hours I put into this dress will in no way compare to the many hours of dedication and love I will put into raising my precious daugthers inside God's will. I do and will continue to pray diligently for each of you through out my days. As I sew, I dream of our days ahead together while, at the same time, savor the memories of our past days of joy...the first times I held each of you and saw your darling smiles, our tea parties and picnics, our lazy afternoon naps all snuggled up in mommy's and daddy's bed, and our late night prayer times together and hearing your simple but loving requests. As I stand before our church tomorrow, Adelynn, and dedicate you to your Heavenly Father and promise to teach you His ways and His goodness, I will be snuggling you close to my heart. In my arms, you will be dressed in your "homemade" heirloom gown and I can imagine the future as you girls stand before your church family with your little infants nestled close while bound in the stitches of my love!

I love you, dear angels! Mommy

"Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

Set Free!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Cor. 5:17

My Mom surprised the girls with caterpillars a couple of weeks ago as a end of school year gift. As the girls were set free to enjoy summer vacation, we too would soon be able to set free another one of God's beautiful creations.

As we watched the caterpillars grow to triple their size before building their chrysalis, I thought about how as we grow we become more and more covered in sin. However, when we take refuge in Jesus Christ and ask Him to become our Savior, we are a new creation and He sets us free from our sin! I tried in childlike terms to explain this awesome analogy to my sweet girls. It was beautiful to me to see the butterflies flutter about our backyard as the girls so carefully released them today.

Whitley, a dear friend of ours, Ailee, the butterfly garden, and Anna Grace.

He has the whole world in His hand, even the little bitty butterfly in His hand..."

Memorial Day Fun at the Pool...

Country Club Memorial Day Pool Party 2009

Today was such fun! We had some wonderful family time just laughing and playing with one another. However, we did not forget to pause and remember the ones who pay and have paid the ultimate price so that we may enjoy such freedom and fun together.

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 1 Peter 2:15-17 Within our freedom, we have the right to share the good news of our Savior. May we let His light shine through us and His love reach all those near and far.

Daddy and I would just get tickled at some of the silly things you sweet girls do and say. It is refreshing to see the world through your eyes at times! You never seem to let things get dull around here. Being your mommy and daddy is such a Blast!

Adelynn, you are so full of personality already! Saying you loved the water is a little bit of an understatement!
Anna Grace, you were just sure you would HATE jumping off the diving board. However, once daddy got you off of it once you wouldn't stop. First, with your ring, then, just free as a bird! You would swim like such a big girl to the side of the pool. We are so proud of you but cannot believe you are such a little fish swimming in 10 feet of water, yikes!

Ailee Claire, you were jumping in too from the side but not without your securities. You kept telling us "when I get bigger I will jump like Anna Grace." Tonight as I was tucking you in, you asked me if you were still the same number or if you were like Anna Grace yet. A little confused, I said that you were still three. You rolled your big, brown eyes and threw your hands up, "why do I just keep being 3 in a row?" I guess you think time should pass more quickly but to me it seems like each of you are in a time machine in high gear!

Sometimes I just love being the mom of girls (well, actually ALL the time!). Today at the pool I was trying to twist my hair up out of the way and Ailee was watching from the water. She came running over and bent down in my ear and whispered, "Mommy, you look JUST like a rockstar!" I got so tickled and wished it was just that easy to be confident in myself, especially at the pool.

This is Adelynn's new smile! After you grin your huge grin that stretches from one side of you face to the other, you barely stick out your tongue and smile so precious!

The relationship between the two of you girls is so sweet. Anna Grace is the mothering, gentle type and Adelynn adores her. Everytime she spots Anna Grace, she begins to throw her arms up and down and bounce with the biggest smile! It is as if she already worships her big sister and finds complete joy in just being in her presence. Of course, Ailee fits in the mix great, too, but being more like her daddy, she is the more social, outgoing one. She is always venturing out to find new friends and strike up conversations with the parents of children nearby.

I love seeing the adoration for one another in each of your faces. Content just being together, the two of you so different in age interact so perfectly!

8 Months and Just Precious...

Adelynn, you are already 8 months old. You are full of sweetness and Mommy just adores the way you love and cuddle with me. You have such bright eyes and a personality that is bursting with joy! You are crawling everywhere, now, but you really do not get into things you are not supposed to yet. Your sisters are always near by to rescue you if you do seem to venture off too far.



You seem to be noticing that most things are occurring above you now days. You are trying to pull up on things nearby. You have almost pulled up on the ottaman, as well as Daddy's tummy a few times. Each time you accomplish a new task, I feel my heart sink. I wish I could keep you this little for longer. You are such a fun baby and are really easy-going. You just tag along with whatever the big girls and I have planned. I feel bad sometimes that you miss out on your little "nesting" time at home but you seem to enjoy the active lifestyle of being number "3."
Here are a few examples of how you seem to always be exploding with happiness. When others speak to you to reach out to them with this face and snuggle up close to them. Granddaddy especially loves this because it gives him a chance to steal a few of mommy's kisses.

I love how bright and cheerful your big, blue eyes appear. You are truly a very special baby girl and I cherish every moment I am given as your Mommy!

Here you are again, one month older, next to your little bunny. You really growing. I can see such a difference from month to month with you in this same chair in your nursery.
The past couple of weeks you have begun eating green peas and some small carrots. You love it! We went on a little picnic today for lunch and the big girls picked out their own lunches. We packed peas for you and you were thriled. You sat still on the quilt and shoveled in snacks as the big girls ran and played on the playground nearby. Every once and a while you would let out a squeal of joy, as if to say how badly you wished you could be playing with them.

Graduation, Last Day of School, and Ballet Recital

Well, we all survived the hectic week and even managed to find some time to play too! Anna Grace did wonderful at Graduation and she is officially finished with her preschool experience. The three short years at FPP flew by but were so much fun and very beneficial to her social interaction, as well as, the academic advantage she will have upon entering Cartersville Primary. Anna Grace, you are now a "little Cane" and Mommy and Daddy are excited about the years ahead! We love you and are so very proud of your sweet, gentle personality.

Ailee Cat, as your teachers and friends at school called you, the first year of preschool for you rushed by also. You love school and adore playing with your friends. You are very smart and are becoming a little artist like your big sister. It broke Mommy's heart when you would get upset that Anna Grace will not be at your school next year. "I need her, Mommy. I love her and she is my best friend," you would often say this week as we talked about Anna Grace's graduation. I know it will be hard for all of us to send her to somewhere new but it will be good for you to establish your own place now! We love you, Little Sunshine! You brighten everyday of our lives!
This was a really special recital because we were able to watch both our beautiful ballerinas dance for Jesus! We are so very proud of how wonderfully you both performed. I love that your studio is so focused on paying tribute and offering thanks to our Savior through their dance programs and mission work.

As I finished getting you dressed in your costume and makeup this morning, Ailee, you looked straight at me and said "Mommy, am I beautiful?" I grabbed you in my arms and told you that you are very beautiful on the outside but, most importantly, on the inside too. You bounced away and began jumping up into the air while blowing kisses toward the ceiling. You looked over and said you were giving kisses to Jesus. Please remember as you dance that your talents are a gift from above and while you are dancing you are praising your Heavenly Father!

What a beautiful little ballerina you are becoming, Anna Grace. I love your sweetly, pointed toe! Way to go!

After Graduation on Friday, we found sometime to play outside and for Mommy to work in her garden. You girls enjoyed the warm weather and picked a few flowers to enjoy for yourselves. I loved seeing the friendship you share with one another played out right before my eyes. Of course, I had to grab the camera!

Adelynn, you enjoyed your first visit to the pool Friday afternoon. You loved the water and watched the girls playing and splashing for a couple of hours. What a cutie you are in your sunhat and swimsuit!

Anna Grace, you remembered how to swim underwater and even come up for air if you were going a long distance. You are a very brave diver and you even jumped from the side and swam around. It usually takes you a few days to warm up to the idea of swimming again but this time you were not afraid at all.

You guys had fun in the sprinklers too and I couldn't help putting this shot of our very own "drama queen" in this post. This shot is identical to your first birthday picture of you in your birthday hat. I love how you can explode into this in a matter of seconds. The good thing is that smiles come right back that quickly too!

Adelynn, you turned 8 months old today. You have changed a lot this past month and I cannnot wait to post more on this later. Now, I am tired. A couple of my good friends and I got up early this a.m. and ran a local 5K. It was fun but my body is screaming "rest!"

No Surprise...

I should not be surprised that the enemy is after me right on the heels of such a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. He knows my weaknesses and my insecurities and he was ready! I had a awesome time with my family and my little girlies last weekend. Celebrating being a mommy was great and I so much enjoyed the daily homemade cards and handpicked flowers from the girls. Anna Grace seemed more excited about the day than me. She is such a sweet and thoughtful child. It is extremely rare for me to have a day where motherhood is just too much. However, once Monday came it all started. This is one of the busiest weeks I have experienced since becoming a mom of three. I have so much crammed into one week that a single person could barely keep up, much less someone caring for 3 small children, alone! Yes, Jon's work has taken him to Texas for a few days this week and yesterday I felt things begin to come crashing down. I let the stress of my busy schedule filled with dinners, meetings, dress rehearsals, ballet recitals, awana ceremonies, end of year parties, rummage shifts, a teething and sleepless infant, sewing projects, church picnic planning, 5K race, graduation, and so on get the best of me. Graduation brings me to another struggle this week. I didn't realize the emotion that would come from having my first born graduating from preschool. As a mom, years are calculated on a school year instead of a calendar year and the close of this year brings a lot of changes. I will no longer me a mom of all preschoolers. I now have a school-aged child. I am not ready! I heard Satan whispering to me all day that I would never keep up this week, the girls would suffer and I really was not good at mothering 3 young girls anyway. He knows the one area to get me is motherhood. If I am nothing else, I desire to be a great mom for my sweet angels. I let him convince me I was struggling and I did begin to fail yesterday. My nerves were raw and I longed so badly for a warm, bubble bath. I knew with the regular chores of the house to finish after I finally got everyone down, I would never have time for that either. However, my Savior reminded me of something my friend shared with me last week...God's will does not take you where His Grace will not go! He knew I was here doing all of this alone and He knew I would survive once I called on Him. He so gently reminded me of the mom I am by 2 precious preschool parents in Ailee's class this morning. Their encouraging compliments were like a huge pat on my back from above.

I am better today. I feel renewed and refreshed. I told Satan I had enough to battle this week without him and to take his lies and head away! The reality of motherhood is tough but the blessings are SO amazing! Thanks, Dear Jesus, for carrying me through this week and giving me the strength to keep going.

On one hand, I cannot wait until Dance recital is over Saturday afternoon and the week will close but on the other hand, that will mean graduation is over and Anna Grace is now moving on to "big" school. I know this week is not finished with it's share of tears but I am prepared now!

"The LORD is my strength and song,And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him." Exodus 15:1-3

Adelynn participated in the Baby Walk at church on Mother's Day. She smiled the whole time and yelled "dada dada" through the whole entire prayer. How could this sweet face not cheer up any mommy and it definitely does the trick for me!

Home away from Home...

We began the Mother's Day weekend at Mimi and Granddaddy's. It is always like being at a bed and breakfast with all of mom's gorgeous decorations and warm, inviting style. When she is not slaving over her sewing machines to make all 5 of her Granddaughters adorable outfits, she is working in her amazing garden. The view from our bedroom window is so wonderful. It's a small glimpse of what Heaven is like. It definitely looks like Heaven with little angels twirling through the flowers and fluttering on the grass.

I love watching the friendship you two older girls share. Only being five months apart, you adore one another.

This was the first time Cybil and Ailee really began to pair up. Normally, Ailee, you are running 2 steps behind the older girls trying to find your place but this trip Cybil was big enough to buddy up with you, if you could catch her. Cybie, you are one hundred miles an hour, little one! I could barely catch you on camera! I wish I had your energy and I wonder how your sweet mommy can handle your fast pace life!

I also wanted to share with you girls what it looked like when we walked in on Friday evening. Mimi spent all day setting up for our Mother's Day dinner and Cybil's 2nd birthday ice cream party. For all my friends who wonder why I am the way I am, here is the reason...

This is the gift at every mother's spot...a festive flower pot and bright daisy but the real treasure is hidden within...a polka dot pot filled with a rooted piece of a very special cactus. The tag attached read like this...A Mother's Day Cactus rooted from one grown with love by our Guardian Angel who is watching and waiting above.

This is my Granny's cactus that mom has taken over caring for and she rooted each of the women in our family our own plant. How special that is was blooming so beautifully during this weekend when we all gathered together and remembered one of the greatest mothers we have ever known...Aileen Kendrick Duncan, Granny!

I have an awesome gene for creativeness and hospitality. I was reading a devotion the other evening and I ran across an entry concerning being in the family of God. The author described the feeling and the reality of being born spiritually into God's family and the family privileges. I immediately began thinking about how blessed I am to have been born into my family that consists of such an amazing history of women. All of them had and have such a heart for their children. Growing up I would always wonder why my mom would so willingly do without so that we would have whatever we needed or wanted, even something as small as a bigger piece of pie. I heard a story of a little boy whose teacher asked him the following math problem...You are in a family with 2 parents and five children, what fraction would be used to split the pie? He answered 1/6. The teacher reread the question but received the same response. The boy was so confident and steadfast with his response. She wondered why he continually answered this way...He replied...My mom would do without so we could each have a bigger slice because she knows how much we love pie. THIS IS MY MOM! And only one of the many reason I love her so dearly..."Since you are His child, everything He has belongs to you" Gal. 4:7

I never question what ends of the Earth my sweet momma would go for me. However, I have a huge guilt for the distance I do ask her to travel. I wish I could somehow repay her but the only way I know how is to pour myself into my girls the same way she does for me. She has taught me that being a mommy means sacrifice. The minute I held Anna Grace in my arms I realized that my near death journey of constant sickness to bring life (3 times) was a high price but no price would ever be too high for me to pay for my children! There is absolutely nothing I would not do for the safety and well-being of my girls.

Although I am still learning from you daily, thanks so much for teaching me how to be a mom, not just a mother. I love you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!!!

This is the other project Mimi has been working on for you girls...your nest! When I was little, my Granny called her little bedroom "the nest." Danielle and I loved sleeping in it with her when we spent the night. It was so fun to wake up to the birds singing out the window in her garden. How lucky you five little princesses are to share this "nest" together.