Providence...

2013-02-16T08:03:00.001-08:00

Baby Ballerinas

2013-01-03T20:52:00.001-08:00

Lately, these sweet girls have really been into dressing up and "putting on a show!" They even require a formal introduction and background music. It has made for some hilarious moments but also some sweet, tender times too!

Carlisle has a signature leg lift now. So essentially the entire time Emerson is twirling and dancing Carlisle stands on one foot and lifts her leg! It's so cute and so funny! We clap and cheer and she is so proud of herself! Emerson takes her performances very seriously and I look forward to seeing if her love for dance grows. She has always enjoyed dancing to a beat but she's definitely loving it even more lately! We love these baby ballerinas!

The savoring

2013-01-02T20:44:00.001-08:00

Well, here we are—2013. I’ve never been much on New Year’s resolutions and such, but I could use a fresh start as much as the next person. Luckily, with God you don’t have to wait until January 1st to start anew. He affords us that opportunity everyday… But like many others, I’ll take this opportunity to begin again.

Lately I’ve been reading 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It’s been one of those books that I can’t put down but at the same time I’m reading ever so slowly. I don’t read more than a few pages in a day because they are so full, like if I read on I won’t fully absorb what my eyes have seen. In fact, I find myself going back and reading pages over and over as to fully grasp the depth of what the Holy Spirit is saying. It’s been soul-shaking..

Today, I read these words and they have left me on my heels…

“And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time. I wipe a water spot off the tap; there is a reflection of me. Oh yes, I know you, the busyness of your life leaving little room for the source of your life. I’m the face grieving.

God gives us time. And who has time for God?

Which makes no sense….

Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing…Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.

In our rushing, bulls in china shops, we break our own lives.

Haste makes waste.”

As I’ve leaned hard into these words today, trying to pull out all I can, the Lord has shown me some very clear things. Your life can be full and not be full at all. I try earnestly to guard my time. But try as I may, things seem to creep up. Things that seem good. Things I feel I must say yes to. These things won’t stop. And I can fill my life full with “things” that won’t matter in the long run. But to have a life full, a life of purpose, a life that makes a difference, I need to be doing God things.

And no I don’t mean just ministry “things.” Though that may very well be it, but what I mean and what I want is to be listening and dependent on God to direct me in ALL my “things”

I want my actions to equal eternal fruit…Oh that’s hard to even type because my flesh knows full well how hard it will be to live. It’s been my prayer for months and months…to be about eternal things. Maybe, just maybe the Lord is opening my eyes, moving my feet along that path.

Slow down,

savor this moment,

listen intently…

Ah, the still small voice.

Yes…Yes, I will follow.

My little princesses

2012-11-15T08:22:00.001-08:00

I’m a little late in posting these but we had a fabulous time dressing up for a fun princess party at Keggie’s house and for Hallelujah Night at church!! My girls were ecstatic about dressing up as princesses. In fact, Emerson pretty much puts on her princess dress every single day. She likes to dance in it, play mama & babies in it. The other day she even helped me bake a cake all while dressed like a princess, heels and all

I love encouraging her and letting her know that she is a princess and a one in a million girl! We talk about how she is God’s little princess and that He made her special with specific gifts and a great purpose! It’s a fun time full of possibility! I pray she clings to her faith in Christ and His plan for her life!!

Princess Gracen & Emerson!

Loved getting these special princesses together! They had a wonderful time! Thank u Keggie for such a fun idea!

We even had a couple monkeys join us, although one was camera shy

The princesses loved on this monkey!

The next day we had a BLAST at church! The jumpy houses were a huge hit!

Pretty Noe!

I loved this smile!

Oops!

I love this beautiful girl!

And this funny one!!

The hay ride was packed!

And apparently the smores were worth fighting over…

or just stealing! Funny shuggy!

These girls love each other!

So glad the Thornton’s joined us! We’ve missed them!

Even Pops joined the fun!!

How many snaps does it take?

2012-10-25T19:56:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of the month, my girls were in a wedding as flower girls. It was such a fun day and they had an absolute blast dressing up like princesses, eating yummy food, and of course dancing. I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of them and the family. I thought for fun I’d include of the humorous photos too!

A little fun dancing together! I loved this moment! They were watching the bride & groom dance and then I looked down to find them doing the same thing! Sweet sister love

A sweet one

A cute one

A downright funny one…haha

Poor papaw we never did get a decent shot…but it sure was fun trying!

This cracks me up because it is SO Carlisle!

And this is Carlisle’s cheese face…

And one with my baby girl…she loves her mama so much! I figure eventually she will be a daddy’s girl like her sister, so I’m eating up every moment she wants her Mama!

Providence Pokeno Rocks!

2012-10-21T07:20:00.001-07:00

I absolutely love my church and the reason why is simple...I love the people there. I love how they love and have fun and forgive and give grace and encourage and support!
I'm challenged and pushed and held accountable. I have people who are real with me and will honestly share their struggles and then together we will cling to the hope of Jesus in the midst of the hard times.
One fun thing that we started this year was a monthly Pokeno for our ladies. It is a time for fellowship and who doesn't love a friendly competition?!
This month was no different. Full of laughs and good food, it's something I always look forward to! I love u ladies!!

Riding the big green tractor

2012-09-30T20:58:00.001-07:00

To say this has been a long harvest is a bit of an understatement. We've had plenty of bumps in the road, but we are thankful to be almost done. We have one small field left to cut and a lot of field work left to do.
We've really been missing the man of the house the last few months. Phillip is such a hard worker and we are so thankful for him! He's also a great husband and daddy and let's us know he's missing us too!
So lots of days the girls and I take lunch to the farm and sometimes we even go for a ride on the tractor! I'm sure we look a little funny with all 4 of us packed in there but it really is one of the highlights of our day!
Here are some pics from one of our rides last week!

Tell Your Story…

2012-09-27T12:30:00.001-07:00

Last night I had the privilege of speaking to our youth group at church. Our youth pastors overheard me telling a story of my past and it just so happened to go along with what they were learning about so he asked me to share. I was thrilled with the opportunity, but it was actually much harder than I had anticipated. I’ve taught Sunday school in the past and had other opportunities to speak to a group of people but this was different somehow. This was a time in my life when the Lord grasped me and held on and completely altered the path I was on.

It was the time that I decided that I needed God and nothing else. Nothing could outdo Him, and nothing could satisfy but Him. That point in my life is still so tender to me; it’s almost hard to talk about. As I was dwelling on it, and praying about what exactly the Lord wanted me to share, I was almost breathless. All I could do was step back and see all the Lord had saved me from. How He had spared me and the threads of His faithfulness running all through my life. I was in awe of Him in a fresh new way.

My talk last night was muddled with tears and a shaky voice. It wasn’t anything a “public speaker” would be proud of but it was straight from my heart. It was words of thankfulness and honesty about how desperate I was and still am for God. How gazing at Him has brought peace and joy that I never knew existed. I only pray that it penetrated hearts, that seeds were planted.

All of that to say this, take some time to think of your story with our Faithful Father. Look often at where He has brought you and tell others. Our testimonies will bless them, but I promise you this, it will draw you ever closer to the God that has brought you thus far and is leading you on.

Let’s do this!

2012-09-24T17:26:00.001-07:00

Oh, my…how did I stay away from my blog for so long? At first it was just a nice break from feeling like I had a deadline but then it turned into the feeling of I’ve missed so much, I don’t know where to start. Well, it has been long enough and I’ve decided we will just start where we are. Hopefully, I will get around to back tracking and recording what a great summer we had!

But for now, here are some recent pics of my sweet girls! They are growing up so fast! I can’t believe I’m already starting to plan for another birthday party?

Emerson is doing a preschool program at home with me, and everyday I’m amazed at how bright she is! She has the memory of an elephant and can easily recall her memory verses each week and small facts from stories that we’ve read weeks ago! I love this time with her and I love watching her desire to learn! She loves books more than any kid I’ve ever been around! She has a voracious appetite for stories and conversation and questions. I’ve had people talk about how curious she is and how she always has a question. I guess it could drive some people crazy but it’s just our normal so thankfully it doesn’t really irritate me or Phillip She has such a kind heart and loves to make people feel loved. She gives out hugs to anyone asking! She’s growing into such a sweet girl and we are so proud of her!

Our “cheese” faces…just cracks me up!

Oh Carlisle, this kid just keeps us cracking up and completely on our toes. She is so grown up and wants to do anything her big sister is doing! In fact, she has been asking to potty for months so a few weeks ago I decided we’d give it a try! After about 2 days, she totally had it! I was amazed and elated! We still have an occasional accident but they are very few and far between! Carlisle is also such a talker. I remember being happy when Miss E was this age and starting to put small sentences together. Well, Carlisle has been speaking in complete 5 & 6 word sentences for months now. It blows our mind regularly. She has always been such a copy cat and since Emerson is constantly talking, she’s picked it up quick She’s also a wild woman, without an ounce of fear when it comes to playing on the play ground or heights or anything of that nature. Although, she’s such an affectionate girl and loves to be held and hugged, she does not like big groups of people and tends to be pretty shy in those situations. However, after a few minutes she usually warms up and starts trading smiles with people! We love the light she’s brought into our lives and couldn’t imagine our family without her!

We’ve had some wonderful cool evenings lately and have so enjoyed going outside after supper to swing and play “soccer” and just play! These girls are so fun and I’m so grateful to be their mama! I pray constantly to love them like the Lord and to lead them closer to Him every single day

Fully Loved

2012-06-15T06:36:00.001-07:00

Lately the word Love is everywhere, for me anyway. It’s one glorious way the Lord speaks to me. He has a phrase or a word that He is teaching me about and it’s everywhere I turn. I love it! It not only teaches me, but it builds my faith that He is indeed intimately acquainted with the details of my life. That’s providence…touching the little things to effect change in Big ways!

Anyway, the Lord has been whispering that I am fully Loved, fully known & fully loved! It’s been refreshing, it’s been freeing!

If you walked in a church or listened to Christian radio or read a Christian book, you’ve probably seen something about how we should “love” our neighbor. That the world needs love to lead them to Christ. I’ve gotten this concept. I’ve agreed with it. I’ve even “Amened” it But the Lord has been so sweet to point out the little I really know about this elusive word, verb, idea called Love.

If I don’t understand how fully I am loved, how can I possibly love my neighbor? If I’m not rooted in this love, if I don’t believe it with every fiber of my being, how can it overflow into other parts of my life?

I think the answer is, it can’t….

So I’ve been on a search throughout scripture to see how I am loved…here is some of what I’ve found:

Love without stopping (1 Corn 16:14)
Love never gives up, cares more for others than self (1 Corn 13)
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have (1 Corn 13)
Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t force itself on others (1 Corn 13)
Love doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of sins (1 Corn 13)
Love takes pleasure in flowering truth (1 Corn 13)
Love puts up with anything (1 Corn 13)
Love trusts God Always (1 Corn 13)
Love always looks for the best (1 Corn 13)
Love never looks back & keeps going to the end (1 Corn 13)
Love never dies (1 Corn 13)
Blessed God! His Love is the wonder of the world! (Psalm 31:21)
Love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. (1 Peter 4:8)

This is just the tip of the iceberg but it has overwhelmed my soul. As I reflect on this complete love that Christ has for me throughout the day, it naturally moves me to love those around me. Just the other day, I had been meditating on “love without stopping” I was in the throws of decorating for my sisters wedding. It was going pretty smoothly and I was really enjoying the process but there were definitely opportunities to get frustrated. Every time I felt those feelings rise up, the Holy Spirit would sweetly whisper…Love without stopping. It was so refreshing to let those frustrations roll on over my shoulder and instead choose love. Sometimes this exercise is much easier in theory but the Lord is so gracious as He teaches me about His Love! It’s often a remedial lesson but His Love never dies, Never looks back, & keeps going to the End!

He Loves Fully!! Take refuge in that today! Let Love Spill over!

Happy Mother’s Day

2012-05-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

We had such a fabulous mother’s day I couldn’t just skip my post on it. We had a marvelous lunch with Phillip’s mom and grandmother and then we came home to enjoy dinner with my mom and grandmother. As I awoke to a hot cup of Chai Latte and a banner hung on the wall, I marveled over this gift I’ve been given. These two precious girls who I love more than life itself.

Being a mother is something that is so hard to put into words…it’s Amazing but so hard. It causes you to lay down your rights and choose to live for the betterment of another. Since the day I learned that precious Emerson was tucked away safely inside me, I have strove to be the best I could for her and then for her sister. It’s kinda funny that the thing that has called me to greatness has been the one thing that has revealed my greatest flaws and weaknesses.

I think God for this refining fire of motherhood. It keeps me on my knees…ever reminded of my absolute lack of true wisdom. It keeps me humbled….knowing I need my Savior with every breath, with every game of hide and seek, in every teachable moment. It keeps me searching…the Word for more of my God, more of His Presence. It keeps me determined…to gaze on Jesus so that in simply beholding Him I become more like Him. I know these are the only real steps to being a great mom.

So if you are a mom out there, I encourage you not to worry about the latest toys and gadgets or who has the cutest clothes or the best snacks or even the greatest activities you can do with your children, all of those things are fine but they won’t make you the best mom. Passing on a legacy of loving Christ with all that you are so that it overflows into loving others…that’s what your children truly deserve!

Happy Mother’s Day!

My two babies…

Easter Morning—He is Risen!!

2012-04-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful Easter morning! We started it off with a yummy breakfast and then we read about what we were celebrating…Phillip read from The Jesus Storybook Bible. If you have children and don’t have this book, I HIGHLY recommend it! I have learned so much from it as an adult too!

Throughout the day we talked about what Jesus did for us by dying on the Cross! Not just the forgiving our sins, making us new creations but also giving us access to the Father! Tearing the veil and opening the door wide to a fulfilling relationship to God our Creator! Wow! What a powerful day we celebrate with cheap eggs & chocolate. I hope you took a minute to ponder the Risen King, His sacrifice, and the Victory that is ours in Christ!!!

Then it was time to break out the Easter baskets! We are all so excited about this wonderful springtime weather we have been having the gifts revolved around that theme!

Some excited girls! Carlisle got the big pink ball and she was ecstatic! That child loves a ball, any color, any size, any shape!

Miss E has been asking for a tennis racquet for months. I play in a league on Tuesday nights and I can’t wait until she is old enough to play with me

Fresh bed head…

My happy big girl!

A special treat…tee ball in the living room! She’s loving this! and Daddy is proud! Ha!

You beckon me

2012-03-27T08:34:00.001-07:00

Last week was just one of those weeks. You know what I mean. It wasn’t necessarily bad. In fact, in a lot of ways it was good. My baby sister was in for the first time in months and we were super busy with wedding plans, family dinners, and lots of fun. It was also a busy week with work and my farmer husband was back in the field planting.

See it wasn’t bad just really really full.

On Saturday evening a long twelve hours after I left my house, I finally headed back home from work. It was a glorious sunny evening with perfect temperatures and I settled in to enjoy the hour & a half road trip back to the house. I opened the sun roof and cranked up my favorite Christian radio station.

I began to sing praises to my God, who I felt like I had been missing for most of the week. See I had been praying and even doing my daily Bible reading, but I was just checking them off my list…

As I sang, I began to ask the Lord for forgiveness for not truly digging in & seeking Him. Then one of my all-time favorite songs came on. The chorus goes like this:

At the cross, You beckon me

Draw me gently to my knees

Lost for words so Lost in Love

Gently Broken, Wholly surrendered

In those words, I heard the whisper of my sweet Savior. He was saying..

I’ve been here all week Carey, beckoning you to come to the cross. To lay down your burdens. You will find no condemnation here. Just turn around and run to me. I’ve been waiting for our time together.

That whisper left me Gently Broken, Wholly surrendered….

I encourage you no matter how busy you are, how distracted you are, take a minute and listen for Christ. He is at the cross beckoning You! Slow down enough to meet Him there…

Make a wish!

2012-03-08T12:06:00.001-08:00

My girls have discovered dandelions on our evening walks and they are HUGE fans!! Carlisle, of course, almost always eats a few but she sure is trying to “blow them”

They are such sweet sisters!!

Wordless Wednesday—Pig Tails :)

2012-02-29T04:33:00.000-08:00

Time for a walk…

2012-02-24T04:27:00.000-08:00

Some people I know have been complaining that we never really had winter. Now I agree that it sure has been mild, but you won’t find me upset about it! or my kids for that matter! We have enjoyed this string of 70 degree days during the middle of February!

We’ve played outside on the swing set, drew pictures with our sidewalk chalk, and kicked the ball in the open lot behind our house; but, our most favorite thing to do is going for walks! Our sweet neighbor has a circle drive and she is nice enough to let us make endless loops around it! This is good because keeping up with a three year old on a tricycle, a one year old in the stroller, two dogs, and a cat can be somewhat of a challenge!

Here is Miss E ready to go!

I wonder what she’s thinking about…

Come on Mom!!

My view for most of the trip :)

Hey what you doing back there?!

Emerson always rides her bike over but after a loop she usually gets off and runs! She is her mama’s child :)

Havin Fun!

She’s a speed demon on that bike!

Molly tries to keep up with her :)

Carlisle is enjoying her snack as we walk!

We usually take this time to have somewhat of a nature walk. We look for interesting leaves, seeds, birds, and squirrels! Here’s E showing off her latest find! Carlisle would be reaching for it so that she could eat it I’m sure! That’s what she tries to do with everything

Some interesting seeds that Miss E always loves looking at!

My beautiful big girl!

Here we go…

Time to head home!

Go Shuggy!

2012-02-22T19:42:00.001-08:00

The other night we went to cheer on my moms basketball team in the playoffs! Apparently we cheered loud enough because they were able to pull out the big win!
The girls had a blast watching the game and dancing when the band played during timeouts and at halftime! Miss E even asked today when Shuggy was having another game....apparently the love of sports is genetic ;)

A very Lovely V-day

2012-02-16T12:33:00.001-08:00

Meet Giraffe…

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

Carlisle’s bed buddy is her jelly cat giraffe! She’s had it since she was a wee one thanks to a good friend! If you asked me to think of 10 words that come to mind when I think of her they’d probably be..

smile
joy
dancing eyes
sleepy head
busy busy busy
giraffe
cuddler
loud
talker
big eater

So the other day I set out to capture the special relationship she shares with her giraffe. I love how these turned out.

Check out that bed head…

This is my giraffe…don’t mess with him!

We have FUN together!

relaxing…

hanging out…

uh oh!

and that’s what sisters are for!

Now it’s cuddle time…

I love him!

Betty Crocker in training…

2012-01-20T04:39:00.000-08:00

The other day I asked E if she would like to try out a new cookie recipe…this was her response! Ha!

So I had every thing laid on the counter & measured out so that she got to be the one who “made” the cookies! We learned some essential rules of the trade and had a fine time!

Adding the sugar to our softened butter…she even figured out how to work the mixer. This could cause problems in the future :)

Looks like she was really concentrating on getting all of our dry ingredients well mixed!

We were making smores cookies so when it came time to add Miss E’s most favorite ingredient…the marshmallow. She was little excited!

She may have eaten one…just one! :)

Excited about the final product! I was so proud of her cooking! She did a fabulous job & I can’t wait to bake with her again

Funny girl :)

After the cookies bake a little you add these Hershey bites and they really are the finishing touch! So cute & so good!

Giving them a try….

and she likes it!

I found this yummy recipe along with lots of others on Pinterest…come join me!

Sleepy Head

2012-01-18T19:15:00.001-08:00

The other afternoon, Carlisle was snoozing way past when she should…so I took the opportunity to open the blinds and catch some precious shots of an angel sleeping! So so sweet!

My other angel fresh from her nap with bed head and all! I am so blessed!!

This is what happens when…

2012-01-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

you leave a glass of juice unattended on a side table! The little tornado finds it and decides to go “bottoms up!” She is so busy!

Back in the saddle…

2011-12-30T18:46:00.001-08:00

Well I’m hoping to get back on the blogging bandwagon! I never really decided to “take a break” but it just seemed to happen. With the rush of two birthdays in two weeks. The birth of my brand new nephew, a 7 hour trip to see him, and then Christmas, I just couldn’t find time or energy to blog!

However, with the new year, I have some new resolve to share my family again and continue recording these precious memories of my kiddos. I’m afraid I’ve already forgotten things they’ve done & said over the last 30 days! They are changing and growing SO much! If you interested I’ll be going back and posting the detail of Sweet C’s birthday & chronicling our many Christmas Adventures!

For now, I’ll share with you some of my favorite pictures that I had the privilege of taking over the last month! Meet my nephew Connor who is just a sweet as he looks! We are smitten with him & Miss E can’t wait to go see him again!

And of course, we had to get big brother Grant in on the action!

Head over to Kitchen Bellecious & tell Jess Congrats! You’ll find lots of yummy recipes too

The Rushing Christmas

2011-12-27T11:40:00.000-08:00

On the 23rd, we all showed up at Nanny & Papa’s house expecting to have a good time and I’m pretty sure no one was disappointed! It was a great night full of good food, funny stories, and family!

Carlisle & Pops, these two are so funny together!

Cyndi & Ruth Lauren’s annual picture

The Rushing Girl's…I think their other name was t.r.o.u.b.l.e

Cyndi, Hillary, Emery, & Jackson…such a sweet shot!

Nanny & her girls!

Aunt Carmen & Ruthie, two sweet ladies!

Hil & her mama!

I’m pretty sure Phillip is showing Jackson a deer picture. He was into it whatever it was

Nanny & the great-grandkids that were able to make it in for Christmas! We missed u, Grant, Connor, & Cotton!

Somebody was excited to see what her present was….

What is it???

And she LOVED it! A baby bed for all 26 of her babies

And she does put her babies down for a nap every single day…many times a day!

Carlisle patiently waiting for her baby!

And she Loves it!

Nanny & Papa…their love is inspiring!

What a great night! We really enjoyed this time and getting to see so many family members! We Love Yall!

Christmas with Keggie & Pops

2011-12-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve morning, we got the girls and headed to Keggie & Pops’ house to share Christmas with them! We started the morning with pancakes and then after everyone was up and going we opened gifts. Once again, it was nice to slow down and watch everyone open gifts and really talk! We learned a lot about truly treasuring our family this holiday season!

Here are the girls giving Keggie & Pops their big gift! I’m pretty sure they really like it & have been enjoying it ever since!

Carlisle’s favorite thing about all the boxes was sitting on them!

Miss E got into the unwrapping too!

Here is Carlisle climbing on yet another box!

I’m think she likes her mini trampoline!

Sheer Joy!

Emerson’s new V-reader!

Keggie showing her how it works! She’s been “watching” stories ever since! This thing is great for the car!

Phillip’s new work overalls!

Here’s E reading to her baby You’ll notice that nice Nikon box beside her…I got a new lens for my camera & I’ve been putting it to good use ever since!!

A group pic!

Thanks Keggie & Pops for a wonderful morning & the amount of love you show us & our girls on a regular basis! We are so blessed to have you!!