Five ...

Dear Sophie Lee,

Five years ago today I watched you take your first breath.  I will never forget the moment they placed you in my arms. I was the first to hold you. Your Mama Kim wanted me to be first since I would be your mommy.  I got to hear your first cry, watch your first bath, put your first piece of jewelry - your hospital i.d. bracelet - on you and you took your very first nap on my chest.  Words cannot explain the Blessing that day was to me. 

And every day since then, being your mama, has brought me great joy.

Yes, I watched you take that first breath. I was there for your first word (which, FYI, was "mo" ... as in give me "mo" of that banana!!!), your first steps, your first tooth, your first LOST tooth and so many more of your firsts. 

But yesterday, I was there for a VERY big first.

It started a week ago, when you got your very first glimpse of your next big adventure ... KINDERGARTEN!

 You were SO excited to check out your classroom and meet your teachers!

 Of COURSE you found the class microphone ... talking has always been your "thang"!

 You found your name and sat in your seat for the first time.

 And you walked the halls with your big sister, your best friend, your hero! 

 And then ...

 ... with great excitement and joy ...

 ... you DANCED all the way to the car! 

 And a week later, it was time to let you loose in this big giant building ... so big for someone so small!

 And yesterday, you put on the clothes you had picked out for the big day, strapped on that heavy back pack full of school supplies and the lunch (with a love note from your mommy tucked down deep) that you packed yourself , and declared yourself ready to go...

 And, truly, I don't know that I have ever seen you more excited about a thing in this world.

YOU, my wee little baby girl, were ready for school. 

 The big yellow bus came ...

 ... and you climbed in without ever looking back.  Off into the world went my baby girl.

 Once you got to school and found yourself in that big crowd of people, you seemed a little anxious about it all. But not for long ...

 Soon enough, you were hand in hand with Mrs. Olcese and walking away from me - again, not looking back. 

And, as I sat there, with tears streaming down my face, I realized that while I lived a dream five years ago when I watched you come into this world, now YOU were living YOUR dream!  You have wanted on that bus for as long as I can remember. Even sneaking on with Hattie and making me come up and get you a few times.

But now, THIS bus was for you. And you bravely climbed on and faced the adventure head on.

And, sweet girl, I am so very proud of you!

Sophie, five years ago I could never have imagined the amazing girl you would grow to be. You are the sweetest spirit I know. You LOVE people with all that you are and you seek joy in every step you take. You are music set in a body and you are adventure with skin on. 

Being your mama is truly one of my greatest joys. I am so head over heart in love with you, my sweet, sweet girl, that words could never tell you of my love.

I love who you are becoming and I am HONORED to be the one chosen to lead you through this life. 

I pray that I will lead you with honor and dignity and grace. 

I pray that I will lead you to the One who loved you first ... and loves you most.

I pray that I can be the mama that you need and deserve and WANT me to be.

I pray that I can love you well and make you as proud as you make me.

Because, OH, my girl, I do love you so. 

You and your sister and brothers and, of course, your daddy are my greatest joys in this life. I love you all with all that I am. Forever and ever and ever and ever.

To infinity and beyond.

Forever and a day.

I love you,

Love,

                      Your Mama

Biblical ... not political ... BIBLICAL

OK, so I just want to make sure I've got this straight ... An openly Christian man, who happens to own a national corporation, makes a comment about his OWN beliefs to a Christian publication.  And now the parties offended by said comment are the ones whose rights are being minimized?

Oh, and, he gives his money to ... oh no, don't say it ... a CHURCH!  A church that holds to those same beliefs? Woah ... shocker.

Ummmm, someone check the map cause the last time I checked we were still in the United States of America. Where, try as some might to change it, the Declaration of Independence still stands for freedom of speech.

Am I wrong about that?

I don't think so...

See, here's the thing. Mr Cathy did not say that gays were wrong, that they were not allowed in his establishments, that they are sinners bound for hell, or less than human or that they should be banished from the face of the earth. He did not say that the government should shut down gay marriage or that Christians should hate on those who partake in homosexual relationships and those who support gay marriage. He did not call for action on anyone's part to fight against gays or their right (or lack there of ) to enter into marriage. He simply said that he himself believes in the Biblical definition of marriage - that it should be between a man and a woman.

Period.

A Biblical stance shared with a Christian publication.

And an opinion with which I happen to agree.  But that's not the point.

I do NOT understand why this has caused such a war. He has never claimed to be anything BUT what he is. Why should it be such a surprise that he voices his opinion. Better yet, why should it be such a crime FOR him to voice his opinion? And HOW is him voicing his opinion infringing on anyone's rights?

And HOW did this all get to the point where it's about hate?

Because we, as Christians, are not called to hate. No, if we are doing this thing right we would be loving them. Not enabling them, but loving them.  Because, hi there, WE are sinners too.  Maybe I haven't murdered, but I have hated. Maybe I haven't stolen, but I have coveted. We are all sinners and, last time I checked, the 10 Commandments were not listed in order of importance.

ANY amount of sin is enough to keep us from God.

And, my friends, ANY amount of sin was enough to take Christ to the Cross to get us back to Him.

And just as we have all sinned and fallen short, His grace is enough to cover ALL our sins ... even the sin of homosexuality. Why we think that hating them is going to bring them any closer to the Cross and the saving Grace of a loving God is beyond me. No... no... it's his KINDNESS that leads to repentance.

And we are called to share that kindness.

I will not ever say that it is OK for them to be gay. Just as I will never say it's OK for someone to murder. But I will also NEVER say that it is OK for me to hate them for their sin. Because who am I to look down upon anyone else's sin? And, really, who are YOU?

My personal opinion is that marriage SHOULD be between a man and a woman.

There, I said it ... not in hate, just in standing for my Christian faith.

It is not a political statement, it is a BIBLICAL statement.

And so was Mr Cathy's.

If I lived ANYWHERE near a Chick-fil-A I would be eating there today. Not to make a political statement or because I am anti-gay or even because I happen to agree with Mr Cathy's statement. No, I would be there today because that is some dern good chicken and the owner of that business should be supported for his quality product.

The fact that I AGREE with him is just a cherry on top of the sundae ... or, in this case, extra barbeque sauce on top of the chicken nugget. And maybe even the waffle fries. And, ya know, extra ice in that AMAZING lemonade.

Now, I need you to know that if you leave me a hateful comment, I WILL delete it. For two reasons. 1) I am not here to perpetuate the hate or cause some political - or even Biblical - uproar. No drama, just my opinion. And 2) this is MY blog and I can. so there.... ;-P

Now, be nice y'all!

P365.2012.13

Week 13 ... April ... wow.

Somebody stop the clock. Time is RUSHING past!  And, here is how we spent it this week...

Sunday - Ken ... in his beach wear and Flynn Ryder's boots.  Yep, he's stylin!
(a male toy does not stand a chance in this house)


Monday - Conversations in the House of  B:

Sophie: Mama, is today Hattie's birthday?
Me: Ummmmm, nope, not today.
Sophie: Is today Daddy's birthday?
Me: nooooooooooooo
Sophie: Is today YOUR birthday Mama? Or maybe it's Grandma Jeanie's birthday!
Me: No Baby, today is nobody's birthday.
Sophie: Awwwwww man ... but Mama, I really want birthday cake!

So, I did what ANY good mama would do ...

... I got out the stuff ...

... and we made a birthday cake ...

... for WHO, we do not know. But here in B Manor, we had ourselves some cake!

Tuesday - Photo shoot with this beauty.  Seriously? Easiest photo shoot ever!

Wednesday - It will always baffle this AZ girl's mind that trees start out white or pink or yellow, before they turn green in the spring!  Amazing!!!

Thursday - She let me do her hair.  YAY!

Friday - rainy day ... we jumped in puddles. And now that MAMA has some spiffy rain boots, even I enjoyed it!

Saturday - so many choices ... so little coffee.

And, with all that energy, I was able to start the picture wall. (Well, coffee and the nails that Hubby FINALLY picked up from the store!!!)

Sooooooooo ... how was YOUR week?!

P365.2012.12

Week 12 ... wow.  And this week was crazy!!!  Non stop. Fly by the seat of your pants. Wow!

Sunday ... this is where you would see pictures of Hattie with lots of tiny braids in her hair ... IF I hadn't reformatted the wrong memory card and wiped them all out.  **sigh**

She wanted curly hair and we set braids all over to do a trial run for Easter. But then she pulled them all out in bed before falling asleep so she looked more like an unkempt orphan than a glamour girl the next day. But SHE thought she was beautiful. So, there ya go!

Monday - My sweet friends Aron & Erica called me and said they were headed to the hospital. And, since I was on tap to be the official delivery room photographer, I hit the ground running.

Now, seriously, tell me ... does this woman look even REMOTELY like she has just given birth?  Yeah ... NOT!

Sweet Selah Joy ... I adore her!

Tuesday - The tree in our front yard was beginning to bud ... so exciting to see what is gonna pop up in our yard since we have never seen it in bloom!

Wednesday - yeah ... I got nothin.  OK, that is not entirely true ... I do have a picture of me getting my hair colored. But the chances of me putting that on here are nill.  I avoid publishing pics of myself ... especially when there are multiple chins present.  Just sayin...

Thursday - Eli.  This was a big day for our little guy ... this was the day he became a .....

..... BIG BROTHER!

Friday - Fridays are floor days in B Manor. I hadn't washed the pad on my Shark mop since it had cleaned the old house and could not find the second pad at ALL.  So I wet 4 rags, threw em on the floor and let the girls go skating ... they had a BALL and I had clean floors by the end of it all. SUCCESS!!

Saturday - Emma Ruth!  Eli's little sister!  LOVE her too!  And, those cheeks ... edible.

That was our week ... how was YOURS?!

P365.7-11

Sooooooo, it's been a busy few weeks.

Well, five weeks, to be exact.

And, don't worry, I will not subject you to FIVE week worth of pictures.  Just a sampling of what we have been up to...  Here we go!!

We moved into a new house ... here are the welcome doors!

We had a little Blessing party - we asked our sweet friends and family that prayed us here to leave their Blessings on all of the walls that would eventually be painted.  I will cherish every word!

What do you do when you have unpacked the available boxes and you are STILL waiting for the UPS dude, so you can't leave the house?  Mani-Pedi's of course!!!

Sweet Hattie Grace turned eight!  We put candles in her breakfast bar to start her day off right!

She chose an Incredibles themed party ... and I HATE that with the move I just could NOT get myself together in time to make her a cake myself. I did design a picture and have the bakery print it on edible paper for the top of her cake though.  She seemed to enjoy it!

She was NOT thrilled, however, with her pancake dinner on National Pancake day.  (I am so sad that she does not share my love for pancakes...)

I LOVE me some glass jars, and now that I have the counter space to use and display them, I have someplace to put my weakness ... LOVE me some tootsie roll pops. Grape is my favorite! YUM!

I also have room to properly display my antiques. This was my grandma's (and possibly her mother before her) sewing machine.  BEAUTIFUL!

Eli's first visit in the new house. He LOVES all the extra space.  He also loves Sophie!

My sweet friend Amanda's son Brayden was in the hospital for TWELVE days with a mystery ailment that they could NOT figure out. Poor guy was so sick. This is a little love note that the girls wrote.  Yes, SOPHIE wrote the whole thing out too - hers is the bottom one! SO proud!

(PS - Bray is home and fine now and I LOVE that the children from our church are learning the power of prayer so early! LOVE!)

Poor Woody ... a cowboy - SHERIFF no less - should never be treated this way.  But ANY toy in the house of Sophie is likely to end up in a bikini top and a tu-tu. It's just the way she rolls...

This was the day that my piano finally made it to the new home.  I am SOOOOOOO happy!

Unpacking boxes has been so emotional - these treasures are left behind by loved ones gone on to Heaven.  All in one box.  I was a puddle on the floor by the end.

Alexis is a big sister now and I FINALLY got to do a photo shoot with sweet Jocelyn!  How adorable is she in her tu-tu?!  LOVE the way it turned out!

Alexis in an outfit that her mommy wore at her age! SWEETNESS!

The girls together - Alexis is smitten - has been since first sight. The way she loves her "Baby" is completely precious!

So, there ya go, a sample of the last few weeks.  Still putting the house together, so a pictorial of our new home is coming.  SO happy to be here though ... and so Blessed!

Thank you Sara for hosting!