daybook, may 24th

Benjamin Richard Bailey's 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Benny Boo

Outside my Window...there was quite a windy storm this afternoon, but the Sun came back out, it's dark and calm and quiet now

 

What We're Learning...Philippians 2, the Ottoman Turks, Planet Earth, multiplication tables (still), and how to not be jealous of others on their Birthdays...or stingy with your Birthday Presents

I am thankful for...Benjamin's health

 

From the kitchen...we had Ben's favorite tonight, Chicken Nuggets and French Fries. I felt like I was cheating him, but Brian reminded me that he won't always want the easy stuff, so I should enjoy it while I can. He wanted a "blue" cake, so I just made a Hershey's Chocolate Cake, dyed some Vanilla Icing Blue, threw on some Sprinkles, Dirt-Track Lightning McQueen, and a Number Two Candle...Happiness...

I am wearing...khaki capri pants, Liberty University tee

I am reading...The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

 

I am praying...for my Dad

I am creating...plans for our Summer

 

I am hearing...the dishwasher

 

I am remembering...the day Ben was born, Thank You

I am going...Bubba has a game tomorrow night, other than that, we will be Home Sweet Home

On my mind...Homeschooling...I Love Kimberly's 6 Distinctives, and Tamara's Educational Philosophy

 

Noticing that...I'm glad I let the kids play outside a lot these last few months...because it's already Super Humid and Swarming with Skeeter Bugs here...boo...I bet West Palm Beach is Lovely this time of year...boo hoo...

 

One of my favorite things...food coloring. I know it's SOOO bad for you, but it makes things so nice and pretty and special

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...ball games

great books for girls: a list

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

The Orange Shoes by Trinka Hakes Noble

Sarah, Plain and Tall Series by Patricia MacLachlan

Racketty-Packetty House and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery

The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill

Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Mother by Kathleen Norris

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John

American Girl Books (esp. Felicity, Kirsten, and Addy)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Before I was Your Mother by Kathryn Lasky

All-of-a-Kind-Family by Sydney Taylor, read by Suzanne Toren (the girls have read this series, but listening to Miss Toren is the BEST)

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh

Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field

 

AND, for any ***Ballerinas***

Steps in Ballet: Basic Exercises at the Barre, Basic Center Exercises, Basic Allegro Steps by Thalia Mara

The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories by Jane Yolen

Ballet Flashcards

daybook, may 21st

Outside my Window...the night sky, but it was beautiful and sunny today

What We're Learning...planet Earth, Joan of Arc

I am thankful for...it all, really, I am blessed

From the kitchen...grilled BBQ chicken, broccoli, and rice pilaf for dinner

I am wearing...yellow top, gray capris

I am reading...On The Banks of Plum Creek and Story of the World 2 aloud to the kids

I am praying...for JP and a family back home

I am creating...a plan for Ben's special day Monday...hoping WalMart still has that Radiator Springs rug, and a Car or two that he DOESN'T already have

I am hearing...the AC, Brian flipping the pages of his Book of John notebook

I am remembering...that 12 years ago today, I was still a Single Lady

I am going...to the grocery and the library in the AM

On my mind...how much different right now is than I thought it would be back in 1998

Noticing that...Summer weather makes for sleepy boys...and happy Daddies and Mommas

One of my favorite things...being outside in the yard with the blow up pool, and bikes, and flower bouquets, and fisher price mowers, and mud, and water hoses, and the sandbox, and the camera, and the grill, and lawn chairs, and tonka trucks

A Few Plans For The Weekend...celebrating 12 years, Olive Garden TO GO, church, hanging out as a family

daybook, may 11th

Outside my Window...heavy rain (last night), this morning: wet and NO SunShine :(

What We're Learning...Genghis Khan, 10 Commandments, Venus

I am thankful for...coffee and vanilla creamer, and my glasses...what did people do who couldn't see before glasses were invented?

From the kitchen...coffee (and chocolate milk:)

I am wearing...my blue moon and star jammies, Brian's socks, my (used to be) lilac housecoat, and my glasses

I am reading...Veritas Press' new catalog, obsessively, we got 3 in the mail yesterday

I am praying...for Miss Nellie, Hannah, J, and our family

I am creating...a Proverbs 21 Study for 2010, join me Thursday to see what I've learned so far

I am hearing...the furnace just kicked on...did I mention it's "cold" heavy rain...who turns on their heat in the middle of May...I bet no one in West Palm Beach does...sniff, sniff (last night...I'm done whining...the Sun is waking up now)

I am remembering...to be a Super Mom ...thanks Tara!

I am going...Bubba has a Baseball game tonight, as long as the fields aren't flooded...GO GEORGIA BULLDOGS!!!

On my mind...Sunday School ...and Youth Group... and College Ministry... and Giving...

Noticing that...it's not cold outside this morning (but it was last night)

One of my favorite things...Clinique's Happy...guess what I got for Mother's Day :)

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...just Baseball...Ballet is sadly over until August (whatever will we do?)

children's book monday: before i was your mother

Before I Was Your Mother

By: Kathryn Lasky

Illustrated By: LeUyen Pham

I bought this book for the Girls for Christmas back in 2003, and we have read it many times over 7 years. It's always fun for children to find out that, believe it or not, their parents were little once just like them. And I know, from my own childhood, how important your parents' stories become to you. This book reminds me to share *MY* stories with my children.

 

Little Katie finds out her Momma wasn't always making lists and wearing pencils in her hair (which I SOOO do). She also finds out her Momma "stood perfectly still in first position" (and we all know how much we love BALLET in our home).

 

She finds out that her Momma had a special place, with special things, an imaginary friend, and a doll, a teddy bear, a fuzzy duck and a velvet seal named Katie.

This book is Very Sweet with Very Pretty watercolorish-illustrations. I recommend it especially for Happy Mommas with their own Sweet Little Girls.

pouring

“Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children” - Lamentations 2:19



As a Mother needing all the help I can get, I have begun to take this verse very literally. And it has become an important part of my relationship with God. A time to reflect on what exactly the day held for me and the children, and what I think could have been different, better.

We have a Bedtime Routine. Brian and I tuck the kids in, say that well-known Bedtime Prayer (Now I lay me…), and give good-night kisses all around.

But I always return to their rooms before I lay down to go to sleep. I walk quietly to each child’s bed, straighten rumpled, twisted covers, watch for that gentle up and down of their tummies as they breathe, lay my hand on warm, sweaty foreheads and Pray. I make each Prayer specific to the child, really trying to remember discussions, playtimes, and boo boos. I may ask for something as simple as healing from seasonal allergies, or I might ask for guidance on how to deal with a certain behavior, or how to get over a learning difficulty. I’ve asked God, more than a time or two, “Please give me more time, one more day to be with them, to be their Mother.” I’ve also had nights where my prayers have not been easy prayers. They’ve been prayers asking forgiveness for something shameful I did. Something the child and I battled over, and I took it too far.

Whatever the prayer may be, late at night when our home is quiet and asleep, has become a much needed and looked forward to time for me. A time when I beg for His blessing on my children, who are not really mine at all, but His. How could I care for them well enough without seeking Him, without pouring out my broken heart like water, lifting up my full hands to Him for the precious lives of my seven beautiful children He has entrusted me with, through my whispered Bedtime Prayers?