Letters to Our Sons - March

 Each month I, along with several other ladies, write a letter to our sons.  Jumping out of order a bit this month, as I'm sharing a letter to my youngest son.

"Dear Little Man,

What would our life be without you?  Dull and boring to say the least.  You are a ray of sunshine to our family.  Your antics keep us all laughing.  Your messes keep us huffing.

At 2 years old you amaze me.  Nothing seems to escape your notice.  You are always busy examining, calculating, imitating, and experimenting.  You are never more than a step behind your older siblings.

You have developed your own unique communication skills, and very successful in expressing your needs to us through them.

Did I mention that you love to eat?  Every morning I feel your tap and nudge as you murmur, "eat" to your groggy Mommy.  You are game to try everything we put before you and your developing quite the discerning taste as you sample from your father and I's plate. Just last night you shared our Chilean Sea Bass with us.   You devour my mediteranean olives within minutes of me opening the jar.  Even my favorite hot salsa is yummy to you.  

 I affectionately call you my wild child, because you are wild!  I love your wildness...the jumping on the furniture, free falling into my arms, scaling the counters, running through the den and doing a flip, break dancing, zooming cars around the house, flying with your daddy, having shoot outs with your brothers, being loud...all of it makes you the wonderful boy that you are.

Despite the wild, you have your moments of calm and contemplation.  Moments where you sit with a book and the times when you snuggle in my lap and fall into a deep slumber.  I savor the wild, but I especially savor the quiet times, when I catch a glimpse of the baby you were.  If I could freeze time I would, but alas you must grow, and change and become who you were created by God to be.  Just remember alway and forever my baby you'll be.

I love you my Little Man."

Mommy

Please continue on through our circle as you visit Becky and read what wonderful words she's written to her son at http://www.letterstosebastien.blogspot.com

Uganda - Preparing for the Journey

EEEK!!! One week from today my daughter and I board a plane headed for a country I know little about, yet God has ordained for us to spend a week there getting to know the people created in His image and loved unconditionally by Him.

The emotions running through me as I prepare are numerous.  On the one hand I'm excited to travel and see the world with my daughter, but on the other hand I'm apprehensive to leave the rest of my family an ocean away and venture into an unknown.  Let's face it, I'm a pampered and spoiled first world gal!  I've not been without needs ever and its rare that most of my wants don't get met.  God has chosen to bless me with so much both spiritually and physically.  Many times, more than I'd like to admit, I take these blessing for granted.  Now I'm about to enter into a third world country, where needs are too evident to ignore and I feel God is about to rock my world and stretch me as I learn to see with His eyes  beyond what we feel is important.  He is going to open our eyes to see the hearts under the physical needs.  I am confident He will equip us to nurture and love these precious souls that we meet on our journey.  I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that we will come back changed, for the good, but change makes me nervous and a bit uncomfortable.  Just the same I am ready to go, to answer my Creator's call to the purpose He has for us on this trip, to spread His love and good news to all we meet.   I am ready to have my faith stretched and trust in Him strengthened.  Ready to be emptied of myself and selfish desires and filled to overflowing with His goodness and love.  Ready to break outside of my comfort zone and experience this country, culture and people that He created.

God, here I am send me, lead me and I will follow!

Tomorrow I will be sharing just how God led us to go on this journey.

Take time to visit Sixty Feet to learn more about the ministry we will be serving with and how you can get involved here in the states.

And because every post needs a photo....

I Love Spring

Spring energizes me.  It is time for us to get outside and explore and visit with friends.  Earlier this week we spent a couple of hours at a local state park, hiking, exploring and enjoying God's beautiful creation.

Little Things - Sunshine

It seems to have been a really long, gray winter and I am more than ready for spring.  Thankfully the last couple of weeks the sun has shone a bit more and we have taken advantage of getting out in the warmer temperatures.  Here are a few of my favorite sunshine images.

Letters To Our Daughters - March

Each month I participate in a circle with a lovely group of ladies as we share a letter to our precious daughters. Make sure you follow the link at the end to read Anne's wonderful letter.


 "Dear Sleeping Beauty,

 That is the name you've given yourself, although you really don't like to sleep much because you are too busy exploring, asking questions and spreading joy and happiness.  It's no doubt that our family is richer because of you.  I treasure every moment we have together. I love your decisiveness, and at times bossiness.  You really like to rule the roost.  It's evident that God created you to lead and for such a little person, you have an enormous personality.  I still chuckle at how you attempt to command your 16 year old brother.

For all your fierceness, you are also our little sunbeam, spreading cheer, bubbling over with giggles, and twirls.  Personality oozes from your every move and those twinkling, brown eyes, full of mischief and warmth.

Your grandmother says that you are a reflection of me at that age, maybe that is why my heart enjoys you so.  Somewhere along the years something dulled some of the spark in me and I lost my boldness, and individuality.  I turned inward, afraid to let the real me show.

My prayer and hope for you is that you remain true to who you are created to be.  That you don't give in to the pressure to conform, but that you stay free...free to color outside the lines, dance like no one is watching, leap, and twirl and lead.  

I know God has great plans for my little girl and is using you even now to bless others with your sunshine.  You remind me to slow down and savor each moment, to find joy in every moment, and to stop and smell the roses.  

I love you my precious one!

Mommy"

Now take the time to drop in and visit Anne Canon: Anne Canon | Kansas City Photographer and read her sweet letter.

Tea Time

The weather has been a bit nippy for Georgia so I've been sure to keep plenty of chai tea on hand for my favorite treat to savor.  My little man, also enjoys savoring a cup with me.

"Enjoy life sip by sip, not gulp by gulp"

- The Minister of Leaves

Food - Southern Biscuits

Growing up my father was the biscuit maker in our home, and Saturday's we always anticipated waking up to frying bacon and home made biscuits.  My friends used to love to stay the night with me so that they could experience this treat as well.  My father's recipe was one that was handed down from his grandmother and mother, but for whatever reason I could not grasp how to make them.  Time and again I tried and would end up with my hands stuck together in one big doughy mess.  The problem was my father knew what consistency he wanted and guestimated all the measurements...I need exact measurements and instructions.  Later when I was married, a mother and living far away from the south and all its good biscuits I determined to learn to make them myself.   I stumbled upon a treasure of a cookbook at a neighbors garage sale.  It was an older paper back version of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  I paid .25 for it and it has been my most used cook book ever.  It is packed full of reliable basic recipes that taught me how to cook, a skill I was too busy to learn growing up.   In that treasure of a book I discovered the perfect biscuit recipe.  It's been my go to for the last 13 years and I have now turned it over to my 16 year old son to make.  He is our official biscuit maker at this point.  I've made it a point to teach my children the skills I was too busy to learn.

Here it is:

2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of butter
2/3 cup of milk or can add 1/4 baking soda and use 3/4 cup buttermilk

In bowl stir together dry ingredients, cut in butter until it resemble coarse crumbs(I leave a few clumps of butter large because the make for flakier biscuits).  Make a well in center, add milk/buttermilk and stir lightly until the dough clings together.  Use hands to gather and knead a couple of times, roll or pat onto well dusted counter or pastry mat and cut with a biscuit cutter or ring.  Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.  We usually brush with melted butter right before the come out of the oven.  Recipes makes 10-12, I usually triple it to feed the 9 of us, because no one can eat just one.

Enjoy and make sure you stop by and visit Stacy and follow through our group to see what other delightful treats they are sharing with us this month.

New Shoes

Choosing Shoes 

By Frida Wolfe

New shoes, new shoes,

Red and pink and blue shoes.

Tell me, what would you choose,

If they'd let us buy?

Buckle shoes, bow shoes,

Pretty pointy-toe shoes,

Strappy, cappy low shoes;

Let's have some to try.

Bright shoes, white shoes,

Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,

Perhaps-a-little-tight shoes,

Like some?  So would I.

BUT

Flat shoes, fat shoes,

Stump-along-like-that shoes,

Wipe-them-on-the-mat shoes,

That's the sort they'll buy.

Little Things - Dreaming

As a little girl I remember dreaming of falling in love, dressing up in a beautiful dress and being the center of attention for a day...being a bride, getting married and living happily ever after.  It seems I'm a hopeless romantic, that's been blessed with a fairytale life, at least if you look at it through rose colored glasses it is a fairytale.  Despite the imperfections it's a blessed life that I'm thankful to be living.

Now I watch as my daughters dream about the future.....

What a delight to watch my youngest daughter dream as she played with my veil.  How I laughed as she demonstrated lifting the veil and kissing.  But her exclamation of, "When my mahwee Paul, then my goin' to be in charge!" was the icing on the cake.