Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thoughts from a Mama

Last night as I was tucking our darlingest daughter, Gi-Gi, into bed she opened up her heart to me. Those times are so precious because I can see the working of the Lord in her heart and her desire to live for Him and to be more like Him. She confessed to me the fear she has of the future at times. This was heartbreaking for me because as her mama, I never want her to feel fearful for anything. However, this is something that I have dealt with myself throughout my life, so I felt that it was something familiar that I could encourage her in. I reminded her that God knows everything and that nothing ever takes Him by surprise. He loves her and she is a child of His. I wish I could say that nothing bad would ever happen, but I can't. However, I could remind her that He will never leave her or forsake her. She was encouraged and went right to sleep. This conversation stayed with me, though. I've been reading a book by Beth Moore called, Living Free. In it she says, "The more you know of God, the less you have to fear." Talk about revolutionary thinking for me! Am I passing my fears onto my children? I pray not. Second Corinthians says, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (vs. 10:5) Thank you Lord for reminding me through my child how much you care for me and want me to live freely in You.

Date Nights!

We had two nights in a row of stimulating (?) adult time with each other this week! Our first date we got to go to The Melting Pot, which is a fondue place. We had a fabulous time! Look at the looks on our faces with that plate of goodies and a pot of ooey-gooey chocolate. Unfortunately, the pot was still to hot at the end to just lick all of the chocolate up. It was a really experience divertido (fun), especially because we've never had fondue before. I have to admit, it was a little embarrassing when we were served raw meat for our entree and we had no idea what to do with it. Thankfully, we had a very gracious server who showed us what to do.

The next night, we got to get all dressed up and go to a fundraiser dinner with Mamasita Rosarita and some of our best friends at the Biltmore hotel in Phoenix. How fun it is to pretend to be high-class society when you know inside you're a homeschool mama who just hours before was in cut-offs, sandals and a baseball cap. Thankfully, no one saw me nodding off during the key speaker! I can always pull the pregnancy card if I need to.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

How fun is this? We missed church last Sunday because someone (I won't mention your name, Hubby) forgot to set the alarm. So, we had a lazy morning. The kids all wanted to take a bubble bath together in our tub. This rarely happens, so it was a treat for them! Much fun was had by all, especially since it was a chilly morning with all the windows open.

Colorado!

Colorado, at last!! We were so blessed with the oppurtunity to visit some very dear friends of ours who recently moved to the Denver area. I've never been to Colorado before and I believe I have found a place my heart could call home, especially in the autumn! How wonderful to be able to let our kids run and run and run to their hearts' content. There were gorgeous trees everywhere changing colors and cool weather to enjoy. What a great time with friends, who are incredible hosts! The time went too quickly (although the drive home didn't!). Be thankful I didn't include pictures of the uh, well, the adventurous trip back. Who knew that the girls have sensitive tummies? Ewww!

Yummmm, Fall!

It's that wonderful time of year again! It's my favorite season and what better way than to make sugar cookies to not only make our house smell good, but to relish in one of our favorite past times in our home? Feeling ambitious the other day, I got the kids together to make our cookies. It started out really well. We used leaf, acorn and pumpkin cookie cutters. Can't tell what's what? No worries, some did get smooshed beyond recognition by little hands. Towards the end, energy flagged and sprinkling went down the tube. Ah, well! What a wonderful time to give thanks for the fun memories.

Soccer Babies

Greetings from a soccer mom! We're almost done with soccer season! This has been our family's first experience and it's been wonderful (especially now that it's cooled off some).

Daddy has been Bubba's coach and it's been so much fun. He's been learning the basics of the game and we can see a huge improvement from the beginning of the season. I can see the love of soccer (heck, any sport) growing daily. He's always been athletic, much to his father's great pride! I can see more soccer (and football, baseball, basketball) in our future. He does like to exaggerate the number of goals he scores at each game. Apparently, three isn't enough. It has to be inflated to four.

Gi-Gi has been having a blast! What a difference from ballet! It's been great watching a different part of her be developed. She's doing a great job on the defense and is constantly being complimented by her coach. She's just eating it up. This is a great way to handle her competetive side. There was a funny/sad little incident where she just launched the soccer ball when it came to her during a game. Unfortunately, it hit an opponent's nose. The game stopped, which was a great time for her to deal with emotions and for us to help her overcome tears.

Even though it's kept us busy, this was definitely something worthwhile. We'll be out there again next fall!