Summer Plans

Going to school/work this morning was brutal.

I was in denial, honestly.  I simply could NOT wrap my mind around the fact that we had to go.  I'm not sure what I expected.  Maybe someone would call and cancel?? ha! Not so! We had to go.

I felt especially sorry for Emma since it was class as usual for her.  I was in the middle of tearing my room down while Olivia read/played/ate snacks, all while watching me work.  She was so patient - though, I'm not sure how that will work on Thursday. 

Have I mentioned how much we are all wanting to be out of school???

Though we will not have a set schedule, I know I have to be intentional about some things we will do together.  To be honest, this will be our first summer without TV and I'm a little nervous about it. 

But, just like every other summer, we will have devotions together that are a little more in-depth than the rest of the year.  This is always a special time with my girls and I learn a lot about where they are spiritually during the summer (mainly because we have no distractions!).  I'm pretty excited about what we have planned.  I've been working on lessons and activities for weeks.

God has shown me in several different ways that our focus needs to be specifically on purity/modesty/true beauty.  I realized I have spent a great deal of time studying and teaching that to the high school girls I used to teach, but aside from general conversations with my own girls, I've never been intentional in teaching them (in-depth) what God thinks about it. 

Emma, in particular, is at the prime age to really learn and internalize what God has to say about it.  Don't get me wrong, she hears a lot about it, but we've never actually studied God's Word together on the subjects.  She needs this time with me and I need it with her.

I'll post more about what we're doing as we do it.  Ofcourse, there will be plenty of swimming and playing and all the things that make Summer special, but what better time to teach them how valued and special they are? I am praying God blesses this time and stirs a love inside my girls for Him, His ways and His Word.

I can't think of a better way to spend my Summer than to pour into these precious girls ....

May He be glorified!

Almost Summer

This weekend is a tease, is it not? I mean, I certainly know the reason we celebrate Memorial Day and I'm so thankful for the sacrifices made by so many for my freedom.  But, the tease I'm talking about is because it feels like summer, yet there is still a week of school left.  Ugh! I want this last week to fly by.  I'm SO ready for a no-schedule couple of months.

I think I can .... I think I can .... I think I can .....

Emma had her very best friend over Friday night to spend the night. 

They have been best friends since Kindergarten.  We are so thankful Emma has such a sweet friend at school.

They decided to make peanut butter balls.  (and I decided to be patient :)

My nieces were also here for a few hours on Friday night, so our house was loud but FUN!

A few times, I was surprised to find Olivia taking a break from all the company to sit in a chair and read.

Emma gave her a book for graduation and she's really serious about finishing it. ha!

The girls are at Eric's parent's mountain house right now and then coming home for a cookout at my parents this afternoon. 

It sure feels like summer.

I think we can make it another week (fingers crossed).

Graduation

Olivia came to my room just before we left for her Kindergarten graduation looking so grown up.  I whimpered and said, "I don't want you to graduate".  She answered, "I don't want to.  I don't want to leave you".  I had to think about what she was talking about.  Is the leaving home? Ha! Then, I remembered ... Her Kindergarten program is half-day.  She and I are alone from 12 to 2:45 everyday.

And that's the part both of us will miss the most.

Other than that moment, we were all excited to see her graduate.  I'm never sure how she will do performing in front of a crowd, but she did so well. 

 She received the Character Awards for Wisdom and Love.

 I heard that and my heart melted :)

I was so proud of her.  Proud of myself, too, for not shedding any tears :)

I was genuinely happy.

Here's a picture of her first day of Kindergarten.  I, sincerely, would turn back time and go back to this day :)

We have had a good year - blessed with THE best teachers (for both my girls, actually).

This morning her teacher told me she was going to 'fail' Olivia so she would have to be in her class again.  I told her that would be just fine with me!! I'm going to miss my sweet girl when she goes to school all day. Yuck!

And, just for fun, here's a picture of Emma on her Kindergarten Graduation day.

I wrote about her day here.  Seriously .... it feels like just last week.

I need to lie down :(

Life this week ...

I refuse to use the word 'busy' when talking about our life right now - because I have developed serious disdain for that word (more on that later except to say it's overused and ridiculous :)

Anyway,  I will say that life has been very full.  Yes, full.  I like that.  Because I would really not want to be doing anything else.

** John Patrick (my little brother) spent the night with us last night.  He brought his X-Box to show us N*tflix.  (Yes, we are seriously behind the times, but have become even more intrigued since getting rid of our cable service).  We, by all means, have no intention of adding TV back to our home, but I loved the idea of being able to watch movies on demand - especially during the Summer.  JP and I watched an old movie last night that we grew up watching and I laughed til I cried. 

** Preschool ends tomorrow.  Though I have a few work days left, tomorrow is my last day as a Preschool Assistant.  Ever.  I have made (the very easy) decision to not work next year.  I'll post more about this later, but I have very good reasons and am so thankful God speaks clearly when I listen.  With that said, I have had a sweet class this year that I will miss.

**  Eric and the girls (and my Dad) took the first swim of the Summer Monday night.  My parents opened their pool and Olivia has been dying to swim.  Monday was finally hot enough to do so.  I didn't have any desire to swim yet.  The water needs to be WARM for me to do it.

**  We finally made Summer vacation plans.  I'm relieved since it seemed we had waited too late to book reservations anywhere. 

**  This sweet girl is graduating from Kindergarten tomorrow night.

I know! It just doesn't seem right.

More later ....

Baptism and Character Awards

I feel like I could run a marathon today.  I believe God gives us encouragement at just the right time, as if to say, "you are doing okay .... keep up the fight."

And that's how I feel.  There are days I feel like I have failed or that at the very least, could have done a better job.  But He, in His sufficient grace, takes the offering that Eric and I give to Him as parents and fills in the gaps.  He is perfect in our weaknesses and He is doing a beautiful job with our children.  We are so grateful to Him.

My Olivia was baptized last night.  She was saved on March 2nd, which I wrote about here.

Olivia is my child that will crack you up in a second without meaning to.  She dislikes very much being the center of attention.  So, even though she wanted to be baptized with all her heart, she was so nervous to do so.

Eric and I tried to be sensitive to how she felt and talked very little about it unless she brought it up.

And, she did think about it a lot.  She even asked me if she could wear her goggles in the baptism pool?  haha

I simply told her 'no'.  She later told her grandmother that she wasn't allowed to wear them because it wasn't pleasing to the Holy Spirit.

See? She cracks me up.

So, no goggles.  And lots of tears.  She was so conflicted last night over following through with it. 

But, she did it!

The pictures show the emotional progression.  She starts with all out tears and then steps out of the pool smiling. 

Here she is asking if she can do it again.

Ummm .... no.

Olivia afterwards with Preacher Dale (love this picture!).

Olivia (Baptism) from Deidre on Vimeo.

Now, switching to Emma ....

Today was the Character Awards ceremony for Emma's 3rd grade class.  I post this every year, but I am beyond thankful for a school that nurtures and awards godly character in its students.  We are deeply blessed to have our girls in such a grace-filled, positive place.  We do NOT take this gift lightly and thank God DAILY for His provision for us in this way.  I just know of no other place like it.

With that said, Eric and I were really looking forward to this morning.  Emma wondered what she would get, and we teased her like we always do and told her she may get the award for the best talker :) ha!

What she did get was the Lover of God's Word award.

Emma - Character Awards from Deidre on Vimeo.

I was a puddle of tears! After Miss Ray gave the award, I dug my finger into Eric's leg, trying to will myself to hold it together.  What an incredible award!

Goodness, my prayer is that Emma will always see the importance of God's Word in her life.  How else will she learn of His will, follow His direction, live a life that honors Him? His Word is life!

So .... today is a good day!

Girls, I could not be any more proud of you! I love you more than you'll ever know.  You're Daddy and I are so pleased to be your parents.  The single greatest decision you will ever make is to accept Christ as your Savior.  You have both done that.  I love that I could ask you both at church yesterday morning where you were when God saved you.  Emma, you turned around and pointed to the exact place at the altar when you accepted Him during an invitation when you were 5.  Olivia, you simply said, "On our sofa at home".  Now, you will have to decide daily to follow Him.  No other way will do.  His way is best.  Always choose to walk with Him.

I love you.

Double Threat

Eric finally got home at midnight last night.  It's been awhile since he's had to travel for a whole week.  I think the girls and I did pretty well while he was away considering all we had going on, but this morning I woke up tired ... and relieved.

He just left to take the girls to breakfast before school.  They are both so happy he's here and were talking non-stop. 

Ahhhh ... I love my family so.

And I'm a proud Mom.

Emma had her piano/violin recital last night. 

She kept asking me if my Dad would be there because she had a surprise for him.  I thought she was going to play his favorite song because she's been practicing it. 

That wasn't it at all.

My dad has nicknames for all his granddaughters.  Emma's is 'Queen'.  He mostly calls her 'Queeners' ... and she loves it.  So, what does she do? She had her name printed like that in the recital program.

My first thought was people are going to wonder why on earth I named my child that.  When I asked her about it, she said it was just important to her to make Papa smile :)

And it did.

She has the sweetest heart.

Emma is getting more confident with the violin.  She doesn't focus on it as much as piano during her lessons, but is still learning a lot. 

Most of all, she has fun learning both, which I am so happy about. 

This picture is blurry, but I love how she's smiling. 

What adult doesn't wish they could play the piano or another instrument? I'm so thankful I don't have to make her take lessons, but instead, she looks forward to them.

Oh, and guess who starts lessons in the fall?

She isn't thrilled about it.  Mainly because she wants to play the guitar and drums instead (of course she does!), but piano will be the starting point.

Either way ... I am proud of my girls!

Phone Pics

I take pictures of random things with my phone.  Most of the pics, I put on Twitter, but I just noticed I have a few I haven't.  So, this post will be a phone dump of the pictures I've taken.

I know.  You can't wait, right?

Well, wait no more ....

Olivia napping while we wait in the carline for Emma.  She never wants to take a nap ... and yet she takes one every day while we wait in line :)

Emma's piano and violin recital is tonight.  Eric will be flying home tonight, but won't be here in time.  He hates that he's missing it, so we sent him a picture of Emma practicing.

 I saw this kid-sized table and chairs yesterday at R0ss.  I love them.  I really wanted to take them home, but the price was still too high .... $40 for table and $20 EACH for the chairs.  Someone will grab this in a hurry.

We have had some of the oddest cloudy skies lately.  And, when we have heavy cloud cover like this one, it wreaks havoc on a migraine!

Emma wants to make necklaces for all her classmates.  She took the orders in Italian.  Why? I have no idea!

Only Emma.

I found this on my desk at school one day ....

Emma's lunch.  You should know ... she didn't starve ;)

My van just turned 120,000 miles.  Unbelievable for me considering I used to trade cars all the time.

But, that was before we paid tuition to a Christian school. Now, we just pray it holds up.  We've had our van 6 1/2 years! A record for me!

I have always wanted a Kitchen*id mixer.  I mean like really wanted one.  I bake almost every single day.

This is the closest I will ever come to one ... my $10 mixer carefully propped on a pyrex bowl.  Same thing, right?

Wrong.

I took this picture to make Eric feel bad.  I know - I'm mean.  For the record, it doesn't work on him :) So, this is what I'm reduced to.

That's it.  Enjoy your Thursday! Just one week until Olivia is out of school - yippee!

Nine and A HALF

Today is Emma's half birthday!!

Isn't that exciting?

Except for the fact, we have never celebrated half birthdays :)

The subject came up because I was reminding Emma when she turns 10 (which she talks about daily!), she will be responsible for doing dishes. 

She hates for me to remind her of that.  So, at dinner she was asking me how much longer until she had to start.  I counted, realizing the date, and said "in exactly 6 months!!"

I was cheering ... singing a song that resembled "I have 6 more months of dishes and then my sweet girl will fill my wishes and SHE will do the dishes" ... ha! It's a catchy tune :)

She interrupted my celebration and said, "Wait! Today is my half birthday!! You said we would celebrate!"

I did????

She asked, "Did you get me anything?"

I looked around the kitchen and spotted a pack of pencils I bought earlier at the dollar store.

"Yes, here.  Happy Half Birthday!!"

I got a look like this ....

I don't think she bought it :)

Olivia and I sang to her.  I sent Eric a text to tell him it was her half birthday, so within a few minutes he called to sing to her, as did my Mom. 

It was all very silly and fun. 

I would ask, "How old are you, sweet Emma?", and she would hold up 9 (and a half) fingers :)

So, that's where we are ... almost to TEN!!!!

That makes my heart hurt!!

Isn't she beautiful??

And, looking way too grown up??

Happy HALF Birthday, Emma!! The only thing I'm looking forward to in 6 months is help with the dishes ;)

Stop Pretending

Boo boo bunny ....

When my girls are hurt, they run to get her out of the freezer.  She's a tell-tale sign that someone is hurting. 

Olivia fell yesterday and hit her face against the door.  I immediately grabbed boo-boo bunny and put it to her face. 

She cried and I held her.

Ten minutes later, she forgot about being hurt.

We picked up Emma from school an hour later.  As soon as we got home, Olivia grabbed boo-boo bunny and plopped on the sofa dramatically, making sure Emma saw the bunny on her face. 

Right on cue, Emma asked "What's wrong? What happened?"

Olivia replayed it all as if she was hurt a few seconds before.  Emma played right into it.  She told her she was sorry and even got Olivia a piece of chocolate candy to make her feel better.

I just laughed to myself.  You gotta hand it to Olivia ..... the girl knows how to get what she wants :)

It made me think about my girls and how, when they hurt, they want the world to know.  They want to be held, acknowledged and comforted.  They don't cover it up .... put on a mask and say "No thanks, I'm okay". 

They are real.

I was still thinking about it when I tucked them in bed last night. 

I thought of something I had written in my quote journal ....

"When we pretend we're not broken, we keep God at a distance."

I think of that often.  Mainly because I think we (mostly me) spend a lot of time pretending we're okay .... adjusting our masks each day, pretending we have it all together.  We avoid feeling 'sad' because we don't like that feeling.  Or, we pretend we're never broken, which is completely unrealistic.  We live in a fallen world - to never feel broken by it may mean we're living too much like it.

God desires for us to be real .... especially before Him.

We can plop dramatically on the sofa, let out a big sigh and pour it all out to Him.  He hears us and wants so much for us to trust Him with our hearts.

Pretending we don't feel broken ... especially before God .... keeps Him at a distance and sends a message that we don't need His redemption and His ever-working presence in our lives.  It makes us arrogant.  Acting as if we are able to handle it on our own. 

Masks manifests themselves in our lives in many ways .... anger, sense of entitlement, unforgiveness, bitterness, loneliness, alienation, arrogance.

Let's just be real.  He's listening.  We need Him.

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me:
I found trouble and sorrow.

Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

Psalm 116:1-7



He deserves more glory in our lives than just causing us to breathe everyday.  He is working in us and through us and there's a lost world looking to see if it's real.  If He's real.

Monday Love

Mondays get a bad wrap, do they not? I mean, what do they really have to offer us except for the start of a looooong work week, a constant reminder that the relaxing weekend is over and it has the nerve to drag on and on and on.

For as long as I can remember, I would spend my Sunday nights complaining or crying over a Monday morning. 

I've gotten in the habit of telling my girls (who have the same Monday-dread-disease) that Mondays can be great days if they can look over all the negative.  It's a choice.

So, I choose on Mondays to see the good .... the beauty .... the ordinary in everyday life that makes my day a blessed one.

** Starting the day with cinnamon bread and my girls telling me it's the best.ever.

** A morning quiet time focusing on God's compassion towards me.  Goodness knows I needed that precise word this morning, along with the reminder that He dwells in me.

"...but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

John 14:17

While staring at these beauties on my back deck ...

** A husband that loves my girls enough to do silly things.  He takes their stuffed animals on trips and texts them crazy pictures of those animals traveling the country.  Here is Daphne (Emma's dog) working on the computer at an airport in New Hampshire.

** Having a nice lunch (outside!) with my friend, Rita.

** Going to the Y with my girls so I can walk while they ride scooters and bikes.

** Laughing at a squirrel at the park that isn't at all afraid of us.  He may even be smiling for the camera? ha!

** A sweet, healthy girl who, just a week earlier, was in the hospital.

Monday, you have been good to us!