Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Here are some shots of my "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" as well as a few of the not so sugar and spice.

Our house is buzzing with activity as we prepare for our departure to CO. Most of the buzzing however is unrelated to actual preparations and is more daily maintenance. Laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, cooking and entertaining 3 very bored and very active children. Throw in the birth of our niece (my sisters beautiful daughter) and a retirement party and we have very little time to get things ready to leave so our trip west may be delayed somewhat until we can find some time to get it all together. I am dreaming of more peaceful more organized days once we get settled in Colorado but until then we are plugging along and as I have trudged through the days I have drawn such strength, encouragement and inspiration from some amazing blogging mom's. As I have enjoyed reading through some of these blogs I am reminded of the scripture in Proverbs 27:17 that says

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

I love it how God can use His servants to point us in the right direction when we sometime lose our way as well as opening our eyes to new insights while reminding us of those things which are right in front of us but we just fail to notice them. For example Kim, from Lifesong has renewed and birthed within me a desire to pour Godly principals into my beautiful daughters while encouraging my spirit to draw nearer to the Lord. Then Kimber from 3 Peanuts inspired me with her healthy eating and living and to be more conscientious about what is going into the bodies of my family and then my sweet friend Jeannette whom I have never met but feel like I have known all my life from Threads of Faithfulness and Sara Beth Bows who reminded me how blessed I am to have these two precious girls to call daughters, reminding me not to get so caught up in life that I forget to enjoy "girly" things with them. I have felt such a deep conviction to give more to Emily and Grace during my day. I have been reminded of so many lost moments of being able to teach them valuable lessons while enjoying each of their precious personalities. I have to admit that my Cody's personality as well as his physical and emotional needs often require more of me than I am able to give therefore my girls get very little of their mama.

My girls are such blessings and I am so thankful for the joy that they bring to my life. Grace is so incredibly caring and has such a tender heart. She amazes me with her ability to absorb the activities around her and remember every detail. She is self-sufficient and is perfectly cable of running a household. She has watched me so intently and has taken in more than I imagined of what I do on a daily basis. As I have become so aware of how much she soaks in I have to confess that I have not always given her the best picture of what is a Godly attitude. My speech has not always been seasoned with the gospel and in the midst of frustration my actions have not been what I would want her to imitate. She is so eager to learn and help with the cooking and LOVES to prepare for a party. I have a great desire to spend so much more time fostering her innate desire to be a homemaker and teach her the art of gracious entertaining.

And my sweet Emily, she is just full of joy. She too is such a little lover. She is very quick to offer words and physically expressions of love and affirmation and can make the darkest day seem bright with her encouraging words. She makes me laugh with her wittiness and bright and funny comments. I love seeing how she has overcome her fears and embraces life with such energy and excitement. She too loves to kindle the fires of a pretend home and I want to make a better effort to foster that desire.

Both of my daughters are so incredibly feminine which I adore. They love to dress up and look pretty. They are in heaven when I let them play with pretend make-up and paint their nails. They love princesses and fairy tales and having tea parties. Everything about them screams girl and I love it but I don't always join in on the fun.

What a gift daughters are to a mother. As mothers we have the ability to give our daughters a picture of what God would want for them. Young girls of today are pulled in so many different directions and I pray that I will seize each and every opportunity to pour into my girls what I believe are biblical guidelines of honoring God in all that they do. I look forward to enjoying my girls and taking advantage of doing more of the girly things that we haven't been doing and that celebrate who they are as girls.

So as we embark on this journey in life I have the hope of having some new beginnings one being a fresh start to truly bask in the beauty of my girls.

My new blog design was created by Danielle at Blogs by Danielle. She does a great job at creating cute designs to showcase your blog but most importantly she is a delight to work with. If you are looking to spice up your blog I highly recommend her and now is a great time because she is having a sale. THANKS DANIELLE...I love it!