Princess Gymnastics

 Molly just started a gymnastics class.  It took some convincing to get her to go the first time.  I had to call it "Princess Gymnastics" before she decided to go.  After her third class, she told me, "There were two princesses and two Prince Charmings at Princess Gymnastics!"  Now, she loves it and asks to go to gymnastics often during the week!

 Yummy snow!

Your Grace is Enough

2010 brought the most difficult times of my life.  Painful circumstances left me feeling alone, ashamed, and completely powerless.  Yet, God was abundantly faithful during my lows. 

He comforted me with His presence.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Psalm 46:1

I praised God that my inheritance is in heaven.
There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.  Proverbs 23:18

God hears all my cries.
The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.  Psalm 145:18


God loves righteousness (even when others do wrong, God's ways are ALWAYS RIGHT!)
Your righteousness is everlasting and Your law is true.  Psalm 119:142

He is my Father now that my Dad has gone to heaven.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  Psalm 68:5


He provides for my every need.  He provided so beautifully for our finances.  He provided a great job for me and childcare for Molly. 
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.  Psalm 145:15

He painted His love for me in beautiful sunrises that made me cry out in worship.
His compassions never fail. They are new every morning;  great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:21,22

I have an Advocate.
Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.  Job 16:19  I love this verse!

God showed His love to me through precious loved ones that blessed me.
So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  Romans 12:5

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Mod Peony Black 5x7 folded card

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Warmth and Caring

I received this book awhile ago from booksneeze.com to review for Thomas Nelson publishers.  I've been busy with my new teaching job and haven't had a chance to write about it yet.  I was home today handling some personal business and thought I better squeeze in a quick book review while it's still naptime!

This hard-cover children's book is called One Hand, Two Hands.  It is a poem suitable for preschool aged children that talks about all of the things our hands can do.  There is especially an emphasis on how we can serve others with our hands.  There is just a line or two of text on each page- it's short enough to hold the attention of young ones.  The rhyming sometimes seems a little more forced than natural.  At the back of the book there is a page filled with suggestions for how "your hands can be helping hands".  The illustrator, Gaby Hansen, does a fantastic job capturing action and emotion of a cute little girl playing, helping and playing.  The colors and images are whimsical and imaginative. 

I love the lesson in this story to remember to be thankful for our hands and to look for ways to use them to serve others.  I really like this book, but my three-year-old wasn't that interested in it.  I'll give it a couple more tries.  Often, familiarity increases her interest!  Try this story with a little loved one.  Hopefully it will be a family favorite!

Fall Photos

Mollyisms

A couple weeks ago, we were having a tea party and were trying to match the tea cups with stuffed animals.  I decided that Sparty would drink from the green cup, naturally.   Apparently, I don't say his name often enough.  Instead, I often break out singing the MSU fight song when we play with Sparty.  During the course of tea-time conversation, Molly repeatedly referred to Sparty as Rah Team Fight. "Would you like some more sugar, Rah Team Fight?"

She also likes to clink glasses together and say, "To Yours."  I try to correct her and tell her that it is cheers, but she ignores me.  She has very good pronunciation normally, so these aberrations are amusing.

She was talking to me the other day, and I asked her where her eye lashes are.  She touched them, and then she pointed to her eyes and said, "These are my peoples.  Do you see my peoples, Mommy?"

New Bed

Molly has a new bed thanks to Ma Mere!  She bought her the bedding a year ago, and we just decided she was ready to move into a big-girl bed.  This picture was taken with my phone, and it doesn't show the colors very well.  They are actually pretty bright.  Last night I put a toy noodle for the pool under the fitted sheet along the edge as a bumper to keep her from falling out.  She slept the whole night through on the bed!

Happy Third Birthday Princess Molly!

Inspiring and Amazing

I recently received The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews to review as part of my participation in booksneeze.com. I was disappointed when it arrived, and I noticed that it was a gift book with not a large amount of content. I had really enjoyed the novel by Andrews that I read last, the Heart Reader, and had hoped that this one would be comparable. In the brief pages of The Butterfly Effect, however, there is a great richness of content. Andrews tells a couple little-known stories whose results had immeasurable impacts on global history. In these stories, Andrews shows how the actions of everyday heroes were part of pivotal moments in our country’s tale. As my eyes pored over the words, I literally spoke aloud, “Wow.” Andrews’ gifted story-telling and motivational style coupled with the wonder of the stories themselves will likely elicit an emotional response in most readers. The book is very short; I read it in about fifteen minutes. This makes it very easy to pass on and makes it likely that your friend will actually read it! Throughout, Andrews encourages the readers to make the most of their lives insisting that each of us were made for a reason and have a unique role to play.

Toddlerspeak

At prayer time, I'll often ask Molly if there's anything she wants to thank God for.  Recently, she began by naming things in her room and then looked at me mid-prayer.  She continued, "Thank you for eyes... and legs... and butts... and poop..."  Ha ha!  Can you tell we're still potty-training!

In the car today, Molly let out a couple burps.  She said, "I have two burps.  'Scuse me.  'Scuse me."

She is very girly and often will comment on my outfits.  She really notices it when I wear a dress.  Tonight I changed into a purple knit shirt.  She said, "You're wearing a purple shirt.  It's so cute!"  Then she made two more comments about my shirt within the next two hours before bed. 

Trip to MI

We got away for a quick trip to Michigan last week.  We stayed in a cabin with Molly's Ma Mere and spent lots of time with Aunt Katie.  She loved the attention and love she received!  We spent mornings at the beach, ate out for our lunches and cooked at the cabin for dinner.  It was wonderfully relaxing and temperate!

To be beautiful

Captivating - Unveiling the Mystery of Woman's Soul by John and Stasi Eldredge was my recent selection from booksneeze.com (They provide a book for free in exchange for my honest review on this blog.).  As I read, I pondered its offerings both in self-reflection and from my perspective as the mother of a little girl.  The book describes how as women we are designed to share God's beauty and life-giving qualities with the world.  Unfortuately, too many women are too wounded or busy or unattached from God and fail to reveal their captivating qualities.  The authors describe an ideal where women are fully living out their feminine uniquenesses while not being helpless and weak, but instead serving God and loving others as "warrior princesses".  It contained many anecdotes, many personal ones shared by the authors, which kept the writing very relational.

The authors write in tandom, and at times it was confusing trying to discern who was writing.  I have read a book by John Eldredge before.  His writing evokes passion and encourages the reader to connect with God on a heart-level.  I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.  I believe that it contains essential truths that help women fully realize their role in God's story. 

m&ms

We stopped into Ace Hardware this morning.  Pulling into the parking lot, Molly inquired about m&ms.  On our last visit, I had told her that we would get popcorn.  They have free popcorn all day every day, except for our last visit (of course) when I had promised it to Molly.  So, I let her get some m&ms from a gum ball machine instead.  Getting out of the car this morning, she insisted on m&ms.  I told her that we were only going to get popcorn.  Again, getting a cart in the store, she saw the candy machines and asked for m&ms.  In response I handed her a bag of popcorn!  We browsed for a few minutes while she munched.  After we paid and were returning our cart she told me, "I changed my mind."  What kid changes her mind about m&ms?  How did I get so lucky for no toddler emotions to erupt during this whole exchange?

Off-Roading

Recently as when we've been out driving, Molly has implored me to drive on the grass.  Our conversations go something like this:

"Mommy, drive on the grass."

"No, honey.  Mommy might get in trouble."

"Try it.  Drive on the grass."

"I might wreck the car if I did that."

"Go ahead.  Try it."

She is persistent and very sweet in her requests.  It makes me smile.  Where did she come up with this idea???

Sweetie Girl

The top two pictures were from a set of about two dozen shots I took trying to get a nice one of her and her new kitty from KK and May May.  She will not pose for pictures for me!  I told her to sing a song, and that kept her sitting somewhat still while I tried to catch a good shot. 

The bottom one is from a ride in our neighbor's car.  We went with Molly's friend Rylee to the planetarium to see a Big Bird show.  The girls had fun, but we quizzed them at lunch, and they didn't seem to remember anything educational from the show!