Songs and Hugs

I was putting the girls to bed the other night and they were BOTH being very sweet. Here are the stories....

Normally, when I put Ally to bed, we pick out two books to read, say our prayers and then Ally will ask for me to sing her favorite song, "Lord you are" while I pat/tickle her back. (Lord you are more precious than silver, Lord you are more costly than gold, Lord you are more beautiful than diamonds and nothing I desire compares to you.)Well, this night was different. SHE wanted to sing this time. She sang "Jesus loves me" and "Lord you are." It was so precious to hear her little voice quietly sing these songs. It melted my heart and made my night. What could be better than this?!?!?.......

After putting Ally to bed, I was ready for Maddie who was waiting for me in her room. We read another book and she said her prayers on her own. She said "Thank you for Mommy and Daddy, Maddie and Ally, thank you for everyone AND thank you God for who you are. Amen" I look forward to her prayers every night. It is my favorite part of the day. There is always something so sweet about the way she prays and loves God. After her prayer, we were talking and she asked me if she hugged herself, if God would feel it.....Yes! He would! So she hugged herself so tight and then we said our goodnights.

I LOVE the way children think. Their child-like innocence can be so profound. There are many times that I forget to "sing" to God like Ally and many more times that I forget to "hug" God like Maddie. Thank you girls for teaching me as I teach you!

Thankful

I am thankful for my life, my girls, my husband, my family and most of all my Lord who has blessed me with all of these things. My life is full and I need to remember this every moment that I breathe. I was reading an article last night, and I will spare you the appalling details, of the horrors going on in the Congo....Bukavu, to be specific. The disregard for human life, and most of all the disregard for God, is nauseating. I had to stop reading because the stories were amazingly heart-wrenching, agonizing and almost completely unbelievable. (Not exactly the best bed time story.) I keep wondering, how could this be happening in TODAY's world???? It just doesn't seem possible. It reminds me of a blog that my friend, Carol, wrote recently about a book called A Thousand Splendid Sun's , a book about the horrors in yet another nation. There is so much hostility, sorrow and fear going on across the globe and it helps me to realize what an unbelievable life I am living...that my family is living. And also helps me realize that I need to pray more, not for myself but for others. I am thankful for this country and for the freedom with which we are so blessed. It is amazing to me to think of such chaos going on just across the ocean. These people, living in th Congo have no sense of the security and freedom that we so easily take for granted. My prayers were earnest last night for no one in particular, but just for the pain and tears of those less fortunate in a country that is falling apart around them. My prayers turned to my girls who I pray will never feel such pain and never cry such heart-breaking tears. I am thankful for the privilege to pray, for the need to teach my children to pray, and I am thankful for a God who listens. I am so THANKFUL.............

Is the Grass Greener?

My brain has been working overtime..... I find that I have been "comparing" my parenting style to other's parenting styles and my kids to other's kids. You get the picture. And I am second guessing myself on how I am potentially "molding" my girls and what women they will become. Am I doing the right thing? Am I being too hard on them? Am I too soft on them? (Do all mother's go through this?) The answers can be hard to find. No child is perfect, I know that, but sometimes the grass looks a little bit greener right over that hill! :-) I have found that it can be hard to distinguish between children being children and defiant behavior. When I call Maddie and she doesn't come, is she too wrapped up in what ever her brain is doing to really hear me or is she being a "turkey" and not coming because she doesn't want to? The other day I was trying to get Maddie and Ally up the stairs to take a bath. Maddie was already on her way but Ally was lagging behind. "Ally! Let's go!" I said in a "not so quiet" voice. Maddie pipes up, "Mom, she is coming, she is just slow!" Well, there you go. She is just being a child. I start thinking.....how many times do I get onto them for being a child? Probably too many. I want to make sure that I teach them the values and morals that I deeply believe in but I want to make sure that I let them enjoy just being a kid. I don't want to teach them to rush through each day. Life is too short to let these moments pass by. Maddie and Ally are incredible little girls. And I know that God has his hand on them and who they will become. I will stop comparing and second guessing and start enjoying these amazing children that are growing up before my very own eyes. The grass on THIS side of the hill is just right!

"Family Vacation"

Okay, where do I start..........I feel like there are so many stories to share. We just got back from our week long family vacation to Galveston with Brian's family. We had an amazing time. The girls did great on the way down, for FIVE hours. I didn't even hear a peep. Oh, right..........I guess that was because I wasn't in the same car as those little hoodlums! I am not sure how we lucked out on that one........probably because we have some amazing husbands, but Amy and I rode with Poppy and Baba (Brian's parents) in a separate car. We were able to sleep the day away!!! Yea! We were there in no time, although if you ask Brian and Josh it may be a different story! :-)


We arrived at the beach house and it looked incredible! Maddie ran up the stairs to explore, as did the rest of us. Because she was younger and faster...she reached the top floor in lightening speed and seemed to be "drawn" to her room. She called to me...."Mom!!! Come here!" I ran up the second flight of stairs where Maddie was waiting for me with a huge smile on her face. "Mom, it is the room that I have always wanted!!" she said as I came up the stairs. Hearing this from a four year old made me laugh. I walked in and what do you think I saw............for those who know Maddie really well, I imagine you can guess.........PINK!!! The room was adorable. Bathed in pink and flowers, the girls were in heaven! There were two twin bed and a bunk bed which the girls thought was so cool. They were so excited and it was a great way to start the vacation........other than the five hour nap I had on the way there- wink, wink!

My second story is about Ally. As you all know, she has been somewhat challenging with her tantrums.....well, during the trip she did really well. There was only one time that I had to remove her from her surroundings. All was well. One morning, after breakfast as I was wiping down the kitchen table, Ally was climbing on the chairs just "hanging out" and she asked me....."Mom, do you like tantrums??"- plain as day............ it made me laugh, because she has been so good.....I was trying to think, what made her think of this. Their minds are so amazing. I told her, "No, baby, I don't like tantrums ." Then she asked.........."Do you like CAKE??" With this question, I really laughed. "Yes, I LOVE cake!" I responded. From then on she has been asking me what I like and it has been precious. Do I like snakes, grasshoppers, ladybugs, whining, pink.....everything that little girls can imagine and more. I love that she can think about these thing with out prompting. Her brain is constantly going and I know that we are making progress on the whole tantrum issue. For instance, she went into Sunday School without any problems this morning, which is a huge deal after a week and more of having Mommy and Daddy all to herself. I even got a kiss and hug AFTER she already went in. It was so nice. I relished in it for a moment. The little things make such a difference. I had a skip in my step for the whole day!

Family Vacation- a time to spend with family and enjoy all there is to enjoy about one another. This is my definition of "Family Vacation." I am a huge believer in family vacations. They can bring out all the good and bad, but as long as you are with family it makes no difference. They love no matter what....even when a certain someone (for those that can't guess...my sweet Ally) throws a tantrum because they wanted mommy to open the door and no one else. Silly I know, but it happened. These things fall by the way side because it is family. We had an amazing time; it is something that I will never forget. (Well, how can I.... I have 300 pictures to sort through from the trip- YIKES! )

The Power of Hugs

This summer has begun! The girls stayed with my parents for a week while we went to our national sales meeting in Austin. I was of course anxious, as any mother would be, about leaving them for so long but I was grateful and excited for some time away with Brian.

The trip was wonderful. I slept in and enjoyed some time by the pool. It was my cup of tea!!! (I hope I wasn't suppose to go to any meetings!:-)) Oh, and Brian and I spent some time together driving through the Hill Country and "exploring" on our way to Austin. I recommend a "road trip" with your spouse with out any type of plan. We drove through the beautiful stormy weather without knowing where we would stop for the night.......the unexpected with someone you love can be so amazing. Try it, you never know what will happen!

At the end of the week, we arrived to pick up the girls without a hitch and they were excited to see us. On the way home, they told us about all the adventures they had with their cousins at Grandma and PeaPa's house. I asked them what their favorite thing was that they did while staying with Grandma and PeaPa......and Ally's response was so sweet......."The hugs!" she said. Of all the fun things that they did, Ally remembered the hugs. This is what is so amazing about the "power of a hug".....it meant more to her than going to Chucky Cheese, WOW! :-)

It was so nice to hear something so sweet about their time away from us. They were loved so much and it feels wonderful. Brian and I are so lucky to have an amazing family, on both sides, that will love our children as much as we do. This is a reminder for me how important it is to make the time to hug and kiss and tickle and LOVE every second we can. They will remember every moment!(And so will we!)

An Innocent Prayer

Tonight has been hard.

Brian is out of town and the girls have been a mess. I am on my last nerve and have had a "not so mother of the year" night. I know that all mothers go through this but tonight seems harder. It is not all roses, right?!?!? I tip my hat to single mothers who have no one to "relieve" them.....they are incredible. I have been thinking....is there something that I need to do better to prevent nights like these.....

My answer came while putting Maddie to bed. This was her prayer:

Dear God,
Thank you for everything. Let us have a very good, good, good, day. Thank you for helping us watch a movie. (I ordered one on pay-per-view that she loved. :-)) And I know that you are always here. I love you. Amen.

The part that hit home in a very innocent way were her words...."And I know that you are always HERE." The night that I had tonight was all me. I did not rely on God for help but instead did it all on my own. I know in my heart that God is always here but did not acknowledge it. If I had, I might have handled these struggles better.

I had a hard night but tomorrow will be better. My answer came in Maddie's innocent prayer.

Cue the Tears

Brian, being the thoughtful dad that he is, got the girls a new movie. It is about a girl and her horse, a sweet Disney movie. You may be thinking what I am thinking...uh-oh a Disney movie. It seems that all Disney movies are tear jerkers. Why IS that?!?!? We put the movie in and went on to do chores around the house before putting the girls to bed. As the evening continues and Ally has already been put to bed, I see a little blond flash out of the corner of my eye. I look and she is gone but I hear.....sniffling. Is she crying? I go into the room and find Maddie SOBBING in front of her movie. The tears were just streaming down her face. Her heart was breaking over this horse. "Baby, what is wrong?" I asked. "This movie makes me sad." she cries to me. Cue the tears. My eyes start watering. I should have known....that darn Disney movie. Brian and I rewound the movie to the "sad part" where the poor horse gets hurt.We watched it with her and consoled her explaining that it is just a movie and sometimes sad things happen. Well, the movie got better and the horse "pulled through." :-)Maddie was no longer upset.

The lesson I learned from this, other than never leave her alone with a Disney movie :-), is how much I want to protect her from ever having her heart broken. Seeing her sobbing made me want to "hide" her from the world; keep her in a safe place at least till she is thirty. Obviously, that is not realistic but my overprotectiveness is kicking in. I remember calling my mother "overprotective" in a bad way. As a teenager..."Geez, my mom is SO overprotective!" Now I KNOW in my heart how right she was to be just that. (Music to mother's ears, I am sure.)I won't mind being called an over protective mom, at all. Bring it on!

Oh, and don't worry if you do not see Maddie for the next twenty-five years......