Bad Hair Day!

Birthday Girl!

Elizabeth turned three on Friday and we had a very fun weekend, full of parties, presents, princesses, and pink! I successfully made a sleeping beauty cake that Elizabeth loved. I was working on it during nap on Saturday, when she came out of her room she gasped and said, "Oh beautiful!" That alone was worth the work! I did enjoy making it though.

Without having discussed it with anyone else, this became the dress-up clothes themed birthday. She got lots of dress up clothes and loves them all. It is fun to have new things to play with! Nate and I gave her a new bike/big wheel. She was so excited about it, the picture of her outside with a darling smile on her face is right before she opened it.

The silly picture of her mouth is when I was trying to convince her to smile by asking her to show me her teeth! She is a little stinker when it comes to smiling for the camera! She got pink roses from her daddy and shared popcicles with her playgroup friends!

Anyway, it was a very fun weekend of celebrating Elizabeth. She is a joy and so special to us. I praise the Lord for her - her fun, caring, adventurous, and sweet personality.
Happy Birthday Beth!!

Piggy Tails

Here are those cute little pony tails I mentioned in the post below!

(I had to put in "The Look" picture because not many people believe me that she has "the look" and the attitude to go with it at times!!!)

Seasons

I feel a little down today and I am not sure why. Then I think it hit me that life is going so fast, my babies are growing up. Yes, Sarah is still a baby but she is getting so big and yesterday I put her pair in piggy tails for the first time which made her look very big!
Isn't it funny how we can sometimes not want to be in certain stages of life and then when those stages are gone we feel a little sad about it. A friend of mine reminded me recently that there are different seasons in our life and without one we probably wouldn't be as thankful for the next or another. God has given me the opportunity to minister to my children from the moment they stepped into this world until he takes them (I pray it is not before me). Each day I want to wake up and thank God for the season we are in. Thank you Jesus for helping me to love my girls and teach them about your love. Without you I would be a terrible mother, thank you for being my paitence, my grace, my all.
Not only is Sarah looking big these days but tomorrow I will no longer have a two year old! Elizabeth is having her long awaited birthday, she is so excited, and for some reason it brings tears to my eyes. The twos were so challenging for us but as I look at her and see how much she has grown and how much I love her, I just can't help but thank the Lord for the "terrible two's" season. It brought a strength I didn't realize I had, a dependance on the Lord I didn't realize I needed, and a deep love for Elizabeth that I didn't realize could get deeper. My little first baby girl is growing up, yes I know she is only three but it seems like a milestone to me!!
Lord, turn this down feeling inside me into one of reflection of your love for me and all the amazing blessings I have in my life. Thank you Jesus for Elizabeth and Sarah, the two little shining stars in my life and for Nate, who keeps me sane in the midst of it all!

"Weekend" Projects!

Every once in a while I will get the itch to start or continue another house project. Nate is so good about going with the flow of my inspirations and helping (more like doing) with most of the work. Our newest project was our main bathroom. Now, nothing was really wrong with it, it was just plain and kind of ugly, very 70's. So I went bold and painted it pink and we replaced the counter and sink, and got a new light fixture. So it wasn't that we did a ton, just a few changes and oh my it looks amazing!!! Here are some pics to show the before and after of our week-long weekend project!

Pitiful

We have two very pitifully sick girls this weekend. They both have such sore throats, headaches, body chills, and feel miserable. Lord please heal their little bodies!

So much

There seems to be so much to write about these days, yet nothing to write about! We have been battling sickness pretty much ever since Christmas. It has been one thing or another, at least one of us has not felt well every week, or so it seems. After a while that gets fairly tiring, however, I think it is somewhat of a blessing as well. It has forced us to slow down and be home bound. I like to be busy doing things, especially with friends and my family, all good things no doubt, but they can sometimes take over and become too much. Through this season of being sick we have slowed down and I have not been able to get out as much and do as much with other people. You know what I have found out? That I am actually enjoying it. During this season of my life my main purpose is to be Elizabeth's and Sarah's mommy. They are my disciples, what I should be putting most of my energies into. It is a simple revelation but profound just the same. By filling my life with so many good things I have slipped the most important things to the back burner. May this be a lesson that I never forget!
Along with being mommy I am also a wife (and the most blessed wife ever to have the husband that I do!). We have insituted once a month date night and it has been so fun! We each plan a date, switching every other month. Last night Nate planned our date and took us to see the Peking Acrobats, it was so much fun!
It is something that we are both really enjoying doing for and with each other, gets those creative juices flowing and adds excitement and fun to our relationship. Something that I don't ever want to lose and something that we will really have to work on in order not to lose it.
I pray that this time of slowing down will continue for us - it sure would be nice to not be sick anymore though!