The power of a new tooth.

Last night, we were having dinner and I noticed Maddie had a funny expression on her face. She said, "Oh, this hurts, I think I have some chicken stuck in my tooth." She walks over to my side of the table, opens her mouth and shows me. To my surprise I see a new molar popping up on the left side of her mouth. "Maddie! It is a new tooth" I told her laughing. You would have thought that she just won a lifetime supply of CANDY....her face lit up and her smile illuminated the room. She was so excited. She walked back to her seat with her shoulders back and standing tall. The words that I had just said transformed her into this REALLY big girl!

After dinner, I had her sit up on the counter so I could really take a good look at this new tooth. I looked at it again, said "Wow!" and gave her a big hug and then set her down as she exclaimed, "You are kidding me! I am so excited...I think that I am going to CRY!" She buried her head in her hands for a moment and then looked up with her watery eyes and then ran to go take a bath with a definite skip in her step.

How fun to see her have this kind of excitement over something that I would normally take for granted! I sometimes wish that I could see the world and experiences through the eyes of a child. It is much more exciting and perfect. She has the sweet innocence and the simple ability to make something so small make a world of difference in her night and ultimately make a world of difference in mine. Ah, the power of a new tooth!

These are a few of my favorite things!

I have noticed lately, that there are some things in my life that really make me smile. Little things....that melt my heart and lift my spirits. They make me think that they are God's little ways of letting me know that He is near. These are a few of my favorite things.......

Lately, in the mornings, Ally has been getting up earlier and coming downstairs. It is funny how I always wake up to hear her feet "padding" down the hallway BEFORE she makes it into our room. It is like our hearts are listening to one another and are perfectly in tune. This has become one of my favorite parts of the day and for those of you who really know me, you know I am not a morning person. So for this to be one of my favorite times of the day is amazing. She comes to the side of my bed. "Can I lay with you a widdle-bit." she says sleepily. She sounds so innocent and precious and perfect, how could I say no. I pull the covers back and she climbs in, immediately snuggling into the crook of my arm as we lay on our sides. Only God could make her fit so perfectly there. We fall back asleep every time and for about thirty more minutes, I am in the most perfect place (on earth!)

The other evening as I was checking on the girls, I went into Maddie's room and she was completely flopped over in her bed. She looked really uncomfortable. I picked her up and held her in my lap and whispered "Are you o.k. Maddie?" I didn't expect a response, so when I heard a very quiet "Yes, Ma'am." I smiled. Even in her sleep she used her manners, my sweet baby. I told her that I was turning off her Christmas lights before I left which she would normally balk at but this time she said another perfect "Yes, Ma'am." I have tucked this moment away in my heart as one of my favorite things. Maddie has been really using her manners without prompting and again, only God could be involved in something like this. :-) I know that He used that surprise in the middle of the night as a way to make me notice how well she has been doing.

My incredible husband got us all golf clubs for Christmas, the girls included. It is his sweet way of making sure we spend time as a family doing something that we all enjoy. We all went this morning to hit some balls and we had the best time aside from Brian being hit in the knee with a club by Ally. Poor Ally was so upset that she had hurt her Daddy, that she was crying when he should have been crying. :-) I couldn't help but smile. Ally was crying in my arms, Brian was biting his lip to keep from crying, Maddie was studiously hitting balls oblivious to the crying, I wanted to be hitting balls instead of listening to the crying...It still makes me smile to think about it all.

After the unfortunate golfing "incident", I was watching my family as they hit balls and laughed and smiled and I knew that this was one of my favorite things....spending time with them, the laughter AND the tears. It all goes hand in hand and that is what makes it perfect. It feels good to know that God has put us here together and there is no other place that I would rather be than with them, in these perfect moments that God has created for us. These moments are engraved in my heart as a few of my favorite things.