My sweetest things...

labeled

Sometimes I feel labeled. Claire and Luke's mom. The short girl. I label myself sometimes... I tell myself I'm "THAT mom" you know the one, the one with too many rules for her kids. I used to tell myself I was "chubby". Well, you get the idea.
This old Lane Bryant add really made me sad. I think it set a president for our Grandmothers and Mothers that if they needed a bigger size they where not "regular". SO WHAT if you need a bigger size. Yeah, you might need to improve your health. Yeah, you might be better off in the long run if you lost a few pounds. However, how much you weigh and the number in the back of your jeans is irrelevant. 1 Samuel 16:7 says:

7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

This is one of my favorite scriptures. I think about it often, actually I think of it daily. I hope you are not discouraged by the way our Master has created you. He is a wonderful artist and we are all beautiful in His sight.

Decorating

Yesterday I let Claire and Luke put a few things on the walls in their bedrooms. They thought it was SOO fun! Claire chose to hang her huge fish that she made for her preschool program, and a picture of her and Papa Gerry. Luke chose to hang a picture of him and Claire, and the giant life preserver that he made for his preschool program. Out of all the picture choices that I gave him here is the one he chose... He loves his Sissy VERY much!

Emily is like...

Here is a fun one...
I usually don't participate in these, because honestly, I think they are annoying! However, this one was fun. Here are the instructions:
1. Go to Google 2. Type in "(your name) is like" - make sure it is in quotation marks 3. Write down the first 10 things that come up.
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1. Emily is like my favourite name now ...
2. Emily is like the coolest person ever.
3. Emily is like }i{ DOODLES }i{.
4. Emily is like learning to ride a bicycle.
5. Emily is like a childhood friend to me.
6. Emily is like her old and worn down house, since the world changes ...
7. Emily is like all her women friends.
8. Emily is like a second mother to the pack as she cooks and cares for them on regular occasions, while being treated like part of the pack in return.
9. Emily is like Jane Austen manners-- ladylike with a biting and insightful wit, always, always, dressed for the occasion.
10. Emily is like, "we all sit down together, hold hands and sing Kumbaya," and I just cracked up.



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Bonus points if you can tell me what book #8 comes from!

Manna

Several months ago Claire and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with a few of my roommates from school (love you girls!). Stephie and her daughter Sofia took Claire and I to a mother- daughter "pajamarama"! We had so much fun doing crafts, and having breakfast for dinner. The best part, and the part that Claire remembered most, was making manna bags.

A manna bag is a gallon zip lock bag filled with non-perishable foods. Our manna bag was filled with: a water bottle, apple sauce, cookies, peanut butter crackers, vienna sausage, a napkin, a spoon, and a note of encouragement made by Claire! The idea of this bag is to be able to keep it in your car and to be able to hand it to someone when you see it fit. A homeless person on the corner, someone that looks hungry...etc. In Matthew 25:34 it says

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed
by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the
creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited
me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after
me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

So, on with my story... Claire and I had the opportunity to give out one of our manna bags to a homeless man and it was a great experience for her! I in-turn thought that creating manna bags with our whole small group at Church would be such a great event! So, a few months later, we where able to have nine families participate! I have written before about how much our small group means to us...I am thankful for such a wonderful group of friends that are filled with compassion for community and family. It was so fun seeing all of our children filled with that same compassion!

Here are some pictures from the evening...

All of our munchkins holding a manna bag!
Amanda and Sydney

KJL with his Mommy!