December 3

Another trip down memory lane today! This picture is from 2007.
I always make sure to get a picture of the kid's faces on Christmas morning when they come in to see the tree for the first time. The look of wonder and awe on their faces makes every sacrifice worth while.

And I included a picture of what they saw as they rounded the corner on Christmas morning. Every year my husband and I stand back after all the presents have been wrapped and placed under the tree and give God the glory and praise for how he blesses and provides for our family.

December 2

I thought I would continue with the walk down memory lane today. 1) Because it's fun 2) Because I have no Christmas pictures ready for this year :)
This was taken in 2006. Our first year in Florida. It was very hard for the boys and I to get into the Christmas spirit that year. Our brains could not convince our hearts that it was time for Christmas when we were still wearing short sleeves and flowers were still blooming in our yard. But one trip to Walt Disney World to see the Osborne (has nothing to do with Ozzie) Family Christmas Lights and we were singing Christmas songs for the rest of the night. (On a side note if you have never seen this fantastic display, you really must! It is amazing!)
And just encase you cannot tell from the picture my daughter, had no trouble at all getting in the Christmas spirit. I love the look of pure wonder on her tiny face as she is overtaken by the glow of millions of lights).

PS I thought some of you might want to join me on this little adventure so if you click the picture below you will be taken to a website that will explain this project better than I ever could!

December Photo Project

OK I'm not going to offer any excuses or even try to catch up on all of the things that I have not blogged about. I'm just going to pick up here and start fresh! I'm not even going to promise that I will not disappear again (cause sometimes life happens and there is nothing we can do about it).

This month I have decided to participate in the December Photo Project (Thanks Tammy, I think). Everyday I will post a picture of how I see the Christmas season.

So here goes.

December 1

I thought I would start off with a walk down memory lane. This was Christmas 2005! My goodness how they have grown. This was back when reindeer still flew, Christmas lists were filled with toys, growing-up seemed a long way a way, and paper chains counted down the days till Christmas.
How precious are my memories of those days! Blink and they are gone. That's why this Christmas I'm determined to hold on to every minute and count every second because in a few years the pictures of this Christmas will be my walk down memory lane!

First Mother-Daughter Trip!

My daughter and I went on our FIRST Mother/Daughter trip this past week. We went to an All-Girls Conference called "Hadassah" with my best friend and her two amazing daughters.

Hadassah was the Hebrew name of Queen Esther. Her story is one of the most amazing and inspiring stories in the Bible. A simple girl, chosen by a King, who saved her entire race because of her boldness and courage.

My favorite scripture from this story is found in Ester Chapter 4 Verse 14

"For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this?"

The SUCH A TIME AS THIS is the part that always chokes me up (but I think I'll save that for another post).

We had a wonderful time. Delaney and I started building the foundation for our future friendship. My daughter is 8 years old and I know that I cannot be her best friend right now (I need to be her mother, she needs a mother more than she needs a friend) but one day I hope and pray that I will be her friend. I am smart enough to know though that our friendship is not just going to happen, that I need to begin building that friendship now. So that is what I started doing! And it was wonderful. I learned that my daughter is a special little girl that is growing up into quite a little lady! I cannot wait to see the woman that she will become and I'm very excited to have a friend like her in my life.

Here are a few pictures from our trip (part of my plan is for us to start a Mother/Daughter scrapbook), I hope you enjoy them.

The first night is a formal banquet (tiara's are optional)! A prettier princess there never has been! The plan for the tiara is that she will wear it every year to Hadassah and then she will wear it on her wedding day.


The first day is Princess Prep classes and yes, you may wear a tutu when learning to become a princess!

Butterfly wings, tutus and games with other princesses! What a great way to start the day! OH and they throw candy at you too!

The second night is a church service and the perfect opportunity to give her a special gift. I gave her a grown up Bible (it's pink with little fake diamonds on the clasp - she is a princess after all).

She loved it, of course!

After church it's time to PARTY! And nothing says PARTY like butterfly wings, tutus and roller skates! This was her first time on skates and she did great! By the end of the night she was barely holding on to the walls and she has now added skates to her Christmas list.

The last day is more Princess Prep Classes and then Coronation for the 15 year old girls.

So I'm going to mark our first Mother/Daughter trip down as a huge success! I'm already planning our next outing and counting down the days till our next Hadassah!