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Short & sweet weekly recap....

All photos are random pics from this week, with the exception of the 2 pics of the girls. They were left over from last weekend. I loved them and wanted to share them.

Only one story this week.. as it is the most important to me.  The girls and I made a fruit rainbow today (Saturday, March 19, 2011). Exactly one month ago, our vibrant Destiny became a beautiful rainbow in the sky. In her honor, I asked the girls to each share what they loved about their sisters, as individuals. We spoke of what family love meant and then we all said a silent prayer for Destiny, Melia, Riley and Hailey. Life is precious. Seek your own rainbows. Paint your life with color, laughter, joy, kindness and love. Destiny did. <3

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oh snow you d'int

School was closed due to icy conditions again. We cleaned the house some, did laundry, dishwasher, played around online, turned music up loud & laughed a lot. Kari wanted to go outside to play in the snow but this time, she was surprised to have Emily and Jenna join her! They had a lot of fun. Good to see them laughing together instead of fighting!!! When I opened the back door to take some pics, of course, they started throwing snowballs at me. Do you see all 3 snowballs hurling towards me? :) I love those chicklets.

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MCP Project 52
Week #5 - Theme: Muse

wreckage~ week 5

First of all, thank you to those who left some words of encouragement and support last week! It really helped!!

This week was full of creative energy. I was pulled out of my funk slowly but surely. My youngest daughter, Kari, has been begging to help in my journal since I started and I figured what better way to get back into the groove than to do it with a ball of energy that is Kari? Certainly only good things can come from that, right? I know!

So we started off by having Emily, my oldest, stand on a chair (she is tall) and drop the journal from high up! I barely got the shot but I think it turned out really cool! So do my girls, so that's all that matters! ;o)

I'm not sure if Kari was hungry or what but when I flipped to "chew on this page" I was repulsed and the hairs on my arms stood straight up as if I was back in third grade again when the chalk scraped down the board, I said THERE IS NO WAY I'M DOING THIS ONE...Kari quickly said "I WILL!!!"...ICK. EWW. ICK. EWWW!! Have at it babycakes! Just yuck.



Then we drew pretty flowers together and I didn't even get a bit uptight when she scribbled over her side at the end.....cringed a little but didn't get uptight. ha!



Then she was my friend that destroyed a page...

As you can clearly see, she enjoyed every bit of that too. Ever since she was in the womb, she has been my "chaos maker" child. She is notorious for reeking havoc. I finally caught her in the act. *snicker* Although, I think she was a little baffled by the fact that I was allowing her to be destructive without consequences!! LOL


Ok, she got sidetracked by our new kitten so I was on my own for a bit. And it is good that I was because I got a little serious with the project. Burn this page? Seriously? You want me to play with fire? I'm too scared!!! It is my biggest fear. Well, aside from something happening to my loved ones. Fire. Yep, it really makes my stomach hurt. I think it may have something to do with getting severely burned as a toddler by a pot full of boiling water. Right, no direct fire but still produces the same results...burn.

So, I got a bowl of water ready to throw the paper/book in as I went along because, well, I was petrified that I would burn my house down. I knew I didn't want to burn the actual page while it was still in the book. That was too much for my nervous system to handle! And I'm not kidding! So instead, I tore out part of the page and wrote some really negative, self-deprecating things that have lived in my soul for so long and then I burned it up! VERY cathartic!! Wow...let me just tell you that things got very emotional as I watched those words, the words that I have believed and lived for so long, go up in flames.








Then we had to wash away all the fears, hang ups from the previous week. Shower time!




Over all, a very productive, creative week!! Yay!

teen angel

Yes. She is now my teen angel. Today, she turned 13. There is so much I want to say but somehow, tonight, I am having a hard time finding the right words. Words to do her justice. She is truly one of the most well rounded, intelligent, sweet, and kind young ladies I have ever known.

And how lucky am I that she is MY daughter?

Very lucky. Seriously.

Wise beyond her years, she continues to amaze me every day with just how fabulous she is, inside and out. I wear my "proud momma" badge with great honor. Everyone that has ever met Emily has commented on how special she is and how lucky we are as parents to be gifted with this girl. She touches lives and that is just one great quality of my first born.

She loves to read and cannot ever be found without a book in her presence. It is the first thing, next to jewelry, that she wants to spend money on and the first thing she puts on a wish list. I am so grateful that she has inherited my love of books.

Art is her passion. And wow, what an artist she is. I will always encourage her to express herself through art... to be creative every day. To inspire and be inspired. She still says that she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up and now has added to that the desire to be a photographer too. She is very good with a camera in her hands and I have no doubts that she will be very successful in anything she attempts to do with her life.

She sees the best in people. She strives for peace. She longs for understanding. She seeks acceptance. She is blooming in new found confidence. She loves music. She loves her friends. She has been on the distinguished honor roll since first grade. She is a class representative. She makes me proud. So very proud. She is a joy. A true joy and brings so much warmth to our family.

And I know, without a shadow of doubt, that she will bring so much positive energy to the world around her as she grows into an amazing woman. She will change lives. She is going places. She will do big things. She will.

I will always be her biggest fan in life. I adore her and there will never be appropriate words to express just how much I love her. My teen angel. My beautiful young lady. My gorgeous daughter. I'm so blessed.

(please excuse the quality of the photo...it was taken with a cell phone at starbucks..her treat while shopping with momma..making memories)

gift of wings

As a mother, part of our job is to raise our children well so that some day, we can give them wings to fly into the magnificence of life. What we cannot prepare ourselves for, no matter what anyone else says, is that it comes sooner than we anticipate.

And it's not easy.

Friday night, we stood outside a charter bus that would transport our oldest daughter states away for a class trip, knowing she wouldn't return home until Sunday night. Even though we knew she would have the time of her life, it was (and is) very hard to give her the gift of wings so she can experience the world around her, without mommy and daddy nearby. She is just twelve (and a half!) years old. MY baby girl is so far away. She has been texting me and calling a often. I love that she is thinking about me while she is away. And yes, she is having the most incredible time with her friends.

The main thing that we were blessed with that has soothed me is that fact that Emily is rooming with a teacher. A very cool teacher. And she is very happy to be rooming with an adult. And they will (and have been) spending the day together at the park. It surely has eased some worry from my over active imagination. You know, the what ifs and the stupid thoughts that send you into a panic because you cannot be there to protect your child?

Um. Yeah. I have been through every silly thought imaginable. Unnecessarily so, at this point.

I must learn to rely on faith a bit more.

She went on her very first roller coaster and then some! I wasn't there to experience that with her. Yeah, I know, big deal, right? Not really. Moms like me want to be there all the way for all the "firsts"...it's just the way it is. And when we aren't, well, it can be a little emotional. I want the best for my children. I want to watch with crazy pride as they soar into their future as young women. And have faith that even when I am not nearby physically, I am always nearby in spirit.

And this is only one weekend away... can't even imagine the wreck I will be when she graduates!

The gift of wings....a beautiful thing.

and a somewhat scary thing too.

today she is ten.

Ten years ago, I gave birth to this gorgeous little girl of mine. I am so blessed that she is MY daughter. She is everything every mom dreams of having in a little girl. Her outer beauty is obvious and her inner beauty shines right through as well. She is amazing and will grow to do big things. Compassionate, empathetic, humble, gracious, fair, quiet, sensitive, kind, funny, and sweet are only a few of the words that I use to describe her. She truly is a very special girl. My gift. I love you, Jenna.

Happy Birthday, sweet baby!