Decisions

I've been agonizing over a decision lately.  It's not a life or death thing....just something that could change the way my life looks and the way I spend my time.  Is this good for me?  For my family?  Is this what He wants for me?

I've been praying and reading and taking every opportunity to sit quietly and just LISTEN...but the answers I get are not the clear "Do It" or "Don't Do It" that I long to hear.

Well, I'll just quit being so elusive - I'm trying to decide if I want to step into another business.  I'll still be doing photography, that's for sure.  This is something that I'd do in addition to my daily stuff and photography.  It involves a product that I'm really excited about....which was developed by people with a strong track record for success...which I believe can be a blessing to people...and to top it off, it's brand spankin' new to my city.  I think this could be the financial opportunity of a lifetime (imagine if you were one of the first people to bring Mary Kay or Scentsy or Tupperware to your area - you'd be a happy camper right now!).

I WANT it.

But not if He doesn't want it.

I've heard three little whispers from Heaven, and they're tumbling around in my brain while I try to fit them together in the form of a solid answer.

The first is 2 Corinthians 9:6 "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."

The second was in the form of my own recent words to my child.  Clara had three pieces of candy in her hand, and she was trying to figure out which piece to have as a treat.  "Mommy, these are the pieces I'm trying to choose between, but I can't!  Which one should I have?  They all look so good, I just don't know which one to have!"

"Well, sweetie, it's completely up to you.  They all look yummy, and I'm sure you'll enjoy whichever piece you choose."

"But which is the RIGHT choice?  Tell me which one I should have!"

"It's up to you, Clara.  You choose whichever one looks best to you."

His answer spoke gently into my heart:  "Yes....exactly."

And finally - the sweetest answer...or reminder...I've had yet.  It came as I clicked through the archives of my own blog (something I never do).  I stumbled across THIS post, and was reminded that He'll love me no matter what...that I'm the apple of His eye.

I should sow generously.
     The choice is mine to make.
          He loves me like crazy.

Can't I just please get a "Yes" or a "No"?

Read more...

5 Year Old Baby Girl

Oh my, I just can't believe that my little Samantha is 5 years old!  It seems that just yesterday she was like this:

To my precious baby girl,

Samantha, I love you so much!  You bring a peaceful sense of joy with you the moment you walk into a room.  You've always had the gift of bringing smiles to people's faces wherever you go.  You certainly make your Mama's heart melt!

You've grown so much in this past year.  You've developed quite the little spunky attitude.  You sure know what you like and what you don't!  I love that about you.  Now if we can just help you to speak your mind without stomping your feet so much ;-)

You love art and pretend and performing.  You're always directing or starring in some sort of play or concert of your very own design.  You love to sing and dance....and your imagination is beyond belief.  I swear, you can come up with an entire pretend world with two of anything!  I love watching you play.   You also love helping.  Washing dishes and making windows sparkle are two of your favorite chores.

You have a sweet and gentle spirit.  You're kind and quick to comfort someone who might be upset.  You're a bit on the shy side in a big crowd, but as soon as you feel comfortable, you just bloom where you stand.  You flash that sparkly-eyed and dimpled smile of yours and suddenly all eyes are on you.

Little girl- you light up my life.  I love the soft warm smell of your golden hair, and the way your little body melts into mine when we snuggle.  I pray that your every dream comes true...and that you grow up to live no farther than about 10 miles away from your Mama!  

Happy Birthday, Sammy.  I love you,  Mommy

*******************************

We had a big bash for Sammy's birthday.  She's been telling me for about 9 months now that she wanted a "butterfly birthday" when she turned 5.  We did our best!  We started by inviting 20 (yes, TWENTY) of your little friends to come and play.  I think we had about 14...

I was sure to have your favorite dress clean and ready for the party:

 And we found the cutest little butterfly pinata!

I was up until 2 the night before preparing for your party, and I had a slight cake mishap that I thought meant certain disaster.  We managed to save the butterfly cake after all (frosting tip: put the cake in the freezer for an hour or so before frosting).  Sammy personally oversaw the decorating of the butterfly cake:

Since we had so many people coming, we also made a couple dozen cupcakes that the kids were in charge of decorating:

All ready for her friends to arrive:

"Mommy!  Watch me twirl!"

"Me too! Me too!"

One of my favorite birthday traditions is the mini photo shoot I do with the birthday kid.  They love their time in the spotlight:

I love that she still has these sweet baby girl fingers:

We had lots of fun playing pin the tail on the donkey, dropping clothes pins into mason jars, and coloring butterflies at the table.  You had fun being the star of the show when we played a slideshow of photos only you.  And the pinata - my favorite!  All the kids got their shot at it, and then someone jokingly said to me "You should give it a whack!"  Sammy encouraged me to give it a try, so I did.  And I gave it the death blow!  You should have seen the look of awe and admiration on Thomas' face when he came up to me and said "Mama, you BIIIG hit!" :-)  Made my day!

Singing to our birthday girl:

Happy Birthday Sammy!

Read more...

37 Years Old

....feels a LOT closer to 40 than 36 did.

Yikes.

Read more...

Halloween 2010

We had such fun this Halloween!  The kids are old enough (mostly) to design their own jack-o-lanterns and to have specific ideas about what they want their costumes to be.  Their creativity always blows me away :-)

Luke's brother and his little boy were visiting during the festivities - made it all the more special.

Of course, pumpkin carving just isn't a complete experience without the "pretend you're eating the guts" photo :-)

Thomas saw me coming at him with the spoon, and hid under the table.  Clearly, we have some trust issues to work through!

I'm pretty sure we found the world's thickest pumpkins this year:

Ben thought he could outsmart the get-your-hands-gooey system by simply dumping the contents of his pumpkin into a bowl.  No dice, buddy...but nice try ;-)

This might be my favorite Halloween pic of all time:

By the time we finally got dressed up to visit the local grandparents, Thomas was sacked out in his Buz Lightyear costume.  Pretty cute.

My pretty little ladies.

My sweet little punkin' :

The whole clan:

Read more...