Celebrating Abby

Sweet Abby turned 10 February 2. 

We had so much fun celebrating her life!! 

And boy, she got a lot of celebration! 

Num Num, Papa, and Auntie Tricia came down the week 

before her birthday for an early birthday lunch with her.

I'm always looking for a reason to make our new

family favorite caramel cake, so I willingly made one 

to share. Num Num and Papa gave her a beautiful necklace

and Auntie Tricia gave her a family ring. 

It was a sweet, sweet time! 

Abby made the really cute heart thank-you notes and 

placed them on everyone's plates. 

The day before her actual birthday, I got to take her

and two of her dear friends, to the mall to

GET HER EARS PIERCED!!!! 

She had been longing for this day, and waiting and waiting. 

She was so brave, while I was a nervous wreck. 

These are a few phone pictures of our time that day: 

And finally Abby's real birthday day arrived. 

We had a pretty low-keyed Saturday, just baking cookies,

making an ice-cream cake and decorating. 

Abby actually went to the driving range with her dad and brothers

and then that evening we had a few families over for a birthday celebration. 

Abby got some sweet gifts, one especially from a dear lady at our church....

her wedding dress!! 

These days you will most likely find Abby:
moving
listening intently to music
irish dancing

full of energy
watching Pride and Prejudice with her older sister
playing out front with her siblings
drinking tea

making cookies
watching any little baby that is in her presence
begging to help in the nursery
dressing up
(in her new wedding dress or the dresses my mom sent her!!)
out on "dates" with her mom

playing china dolls with her little sister
rough-housing with her brothers
climbing trees
making a back-yard kitchen
listening to books on tape
writing letters
wearing a hat
crafting or drawing

sleeping over with friends
shopping at Clare's or Justice
(she has a fine collection!!)
talk, talk, talking
memorizing poems
helping around the house
reading/listening to Elsie Dinsmore books
growing in the knowledge and grace of our Lord

If you are interested in seeing how she has grown, check out these links:
Abby's 9th birthday.
Abby's 8th birthday.

Happy 10th Birthday my dear, sweet Abby. 
You are truly a gift from the Lord,
and I can't wait to see what He has
in store for your life!!! 

January

Another month has come and gone at lightening speed ....

and I am once again reflecting on how I need to make the most of each day that I have 

with my dear children. This month has been a good one! 

As I mentioned before, we had guests (my family) here until shortly after the 

new year. Soon after they left, we tried to get back into our

school routine. Some days were better than other....

The on-line "Inspired Home" class that I took for the month

was a smashing success!! I will never again see light the same.

I'll be looking for it and THINKING about how it will affect my pictures. 

How I do love the light, and have been so thankful for the handful of

BEAUTIFUL, Northwest days we have had in the midst of the

darkness and the rain. This class truly boosted my spirits this

first month of 2013, and I'm thinking might become a new tradition for me!! 

Along with taking my class, I've been reading quite a bit.
Have I mentioned I started a monthly book club??
This has primarily been women at our church, with the hopes
of being an avenue to bring our neighbors into the group. 

We've been reading books which we all vote upon, and boy

has this been a surprisingly, sweet monthly highlight for me! 

Our book for January was a non-fiction book titled Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand,

documenting the life of a man named Louie Zamperini. It was fabulous!! 

This month, I'm trying to make my way through Death Comes to Pemberley

by P.D. James. 

I also read a wonderful book on mommy life called Fit To Burst: Abundance, Mayhem and

the Joys of Motherhood by Rachel Jankovic.

My dear husband gave that one to me for Christmas. 

I highly recommend it. 

The author reminded me of the simple fact that mother-hood (as well as all of life)

can be compared to a race. I am the athlete, and every day I am in training. 

Training is hard work. Who ever would think that there would be no pain with gain? 

Indeed, there has to be much pain in order for there to be gain. 

And as I grow and discipline myself, I am taking little baby steps toward 

my Savior. And reflecting Him and His glory. 

Another book that I have recently started reading, is a book by Sally Clarkson and Sarah Mae 

called Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe.

And yes, this title describes how I feel. A lot of the time.  

(BTW.... the first pic below is Drews "Ryan Lochte" pose. Can you tell?)

I think at this stage in my life, what surprises me most, is that I don't have things "more together"

than they seem to be. At least "more together" than I think or imagine they should be. 

The truth is, I don't really know how my life with five kids. at home. all the time.

should really look. I can idealize. And that, I do believe, gets me into trouble. 

I'm thankful for women who have gone before me, who've "been there, done that"

and can encourage and disciple me. And often times, these women are like

Sally Clarkson or Elisabeth Elliot. They are writers. Women I don't personally know. 

Their words encourage my heart and cheer me on in my mothering. How thankful I am. 

What I've been reminded of in the first part of this book,

is that we were made for community. Even those of us who claim 

to be introverts. We need each other. We need friends. Real life friends.

And we need mentors. Real life ones. Ones who are older, who have

already traveled this path we find ourselves upon.  

I'm looking for such women to be in my life, and to intentionally invest in. 

Another thing that the Lord has been reminding me of ..... (and reminding me 

that I need to be teaching my children,)

is that we are in a war. 

A war between two kingdoms. 

The kingdom of self

and

The kingdom of the Lord. 

And every day we are at battle ..... or in a race,

depending on how you want to look at it.
(funny how when the Lord is trying to teach you something,
you hear it in so many different ways. different books. sermons. people speaking into
your life. at least that how it is with me!!) 

Boy, it's hard to train my children to get their eyes off of themselves,

especially when I'm trying to get my eyes off of myself!! 

How hard motherhood is and what a HIGH calling it is. 

I've been reading out loud to my children the biography of 

Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China in the late 1800s. 

What a wonderful way to get outside of ourselves and think about

sacrificing for the sake of the Gospel. 

I know I've been rambling .... once again, forgive me dear ones (you know who you are)

for not posting regularly here lately. I need to figure out my rhythm again.

This month has been a really good one, of self reflection, and hopefully

growth that is going to last. Just thought I might leave you with a handful of verses that

have meant a lot to me lately...... 

"Do not fret, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My

righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden,

and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.

For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one

who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down

together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who

is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

"For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me." Romans 7:19-20

And thank the Lord for the hope of the Gospel:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Romans 8:1-4

May I run the race and

fight the good fight

with perseverance

and confidence that the

Lord is with me and my children.

as Sally says in her book: 

He is my constant strength.... and He

will help me conquer the battles in my home.

He gives me the freedom to find rest in 

His abundant grace for me!

pg. 47