Come on College Life!!

My little pumpkin is off to the next phase.

She's a college girl!!!!

(I am not old)

I am so proud of her!!

(I am still young)

Look at her go!!

:)

(She looks just like me five years ago, hahaha)

Here's to a great semester for a great girl!!

Back to School

So this year brings some pretty big changes for our little clan.  The oldest of the offspring starts her first year of college.  It all passes so quickly!  I feel like I am still close to college age!  I guess that's good...young at heart and all that...Her first day of school won't be until Wednesday so she'll get her photos later!

My middle daughter is a FRESHMAN!!!

A big, bad high schooler!

But still a very sweet girl

:)

My baby is an eighth grader!!

She marches to her own fashion drummer, which I completely encourage!  When she was maybe seven or eight she dressed herself in her dance recital costume (complete with tutu) and a pair of jeans and boots.  When Mr. H2 told her to change she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted while stating "nobody appreciates my fashions!"

She's my own little super hero!!

I hope everyone had a great back to school day and here is to a great year!!!

Proverbs 31:26

"She opens her mouth with wisdom,

And on her tongue is the law of kindness."

We all know the saying...'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all'.
How many times did my mother say that?
Do I always do that?

No.

Lord knows that I am more than capable with a sharp tongue.  I struggle with my mouth quite a bit actually.  I have heard another saying recently - 'be careful what you say, when you talk your heart is showing'.

Ouch.

That really puts a new spin on it for me.  My words reflect my heart???  Yikes...no wonder I was feeling chest pain today!  I thought it was stress from yelling at my kids to clean the den...
Sometimes I say some stuff that sounds pretty yucky.  Bitter.  Angry.  Resentful.  That is not what I want in my heart.  It reminds me of the picture of the smoker's lungs.  I can just see the poster of my poor, pitiful heart.  Shriveled.  Blackened.  Small.
That is not what I want.
I want a beautiful heart.  I want a loving heart.  I want a kind heart.
And I want that heart to be visible to others through my actions and the words I speak.

I want that heart to be visible to my children especially.
Sure we have to be firm and discipline the kiddos sometimes.  I think it is good for my kids to think that I am just a little bit crazy - be crazy once and they will always know that I could just snap at any minute :)
It keeps them in check.
However, I am their teacher when it comes to instructing them on what kind of woman they will be.  What I model for them in my behavior, they will learn.  They'll soak it up like little sponges even if they aren't aware of it.  So I want to make sure that I am setting a good example for them.  I want them to see me show mercy, love, forgiveness, honesty, kindness, compassion.
I should be more thoughtful and sensible with my comments.  I should be more kind with my words.

A kind word and a kind heart - that is how I want to be known.
That is how I want to be seen.

 

Jason Mraz and My Inner Hippie!

My very dear friend (Monica) invited me to go to the Jason Mraz concert with her.  I absolutely love his music.  His funky folk hippie vibe channels straight through to my inner hippie self.  It was a great time!  The crowd was so diverse - from age, ethnicity and style.  He brought out an interesting mix of people.  We had great seats and a cool breeze, which in Texas means a lot.  He put on such a great show.  So good that we sang his songs the whole drive home and today I am still humming his tunes.  Matter of fact, it was so good that I feel the need to go hug something or smile at rainbows.

(I just snapped a quick shot with my phone - the rest of the show I just totally grooved his sound!)

Edible Egg-less Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

My nieces came over for a slumber party and what girl slumber party isn't complete with pajamas, Disney movies and eating cookie dough?

But of course we all know that eating raw eggs aren't the best thing for you (even though I do eat regular raw cookie dough - who can't resist when you are baking cookies?).

I mixed this Pinterest recipe up and ate it with some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla - that's some girl fun right there...

Edible Egg-less Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix the brown sugar and butter together until smooth.  Stir in the vanilla and milk.  Add the salt, flour and the chocolate chips until completely incorporated.  Store in the freezer.

I nibbled it a bit when it was just mixed and it didn't really taste like the real thing.  However, when I mixed it in with my ice cream it was like a cookie dough Blizzard from Dairy Queen.  Pretty yummy and the girls loved eating it in their fort. 

:)

Proverbs 31:25

"Strength and honor are her clothing;

She shall rejoice in time to come."

How many times have I flipped through magazines and ogled the clothing that was way out of my pocket book's reach?  Lots.
I remember when I was growing up Guess jeans were all the rage and they had that little tell tale triangle on the back pocket that said Guess.  Well, we couldn't afford Guess jeans in my house so I had the knock off Palmetto jeans.  Anyone remember those?  They had a similar triangle logo, but to a young girl trying to fit in they were painfully not the same.  I learned pretty quickly that name brands did not mean a thing.  I actually began to look for clothes that were unique and different.  Just because it doesn't have a status logo on it doesn't mean that it isn't stylish and fabulous.  But I digress....

Proverbs 31:25 does not talk about expensive name brand clothes.  It states that strength and honor should be our clothing.  It is our inner woman that should be dressed with God's word.  Our spirits should be gussied up with the strength that we get from God and with the honor that our Lord blesses us with.  What a great wardrobe that is!  So much better than some weird eagle bird thing on my polo shirt...

And not only are we blessed with honor and strength, but we will rejoice in time to come!

Rejoice in time to come?  Like, the future?
This is a tough one for me because I really don't feel prepared for the future, much less ready to rejoice in it.

A Proverbs 31 woman prepares herself for her future and the future of her family every day.  That's why she is rejoicing.  I might not be at the rejoicing stage yet, but at least I'm trying to learn the preparation part...

And there are so many opportunities to learn how to care and provide for our families future.  Sewing, gardening, canning, crocheting - all of that 'women's work' kind of stuff.  Those are great ways to care for our families now and prepare us for whatever the future brings.  A God honoring woman isn't afraid of the future, she rejoices because she is ready for it.

She knows that God will provide.

What a great God we have!  

Smart phone blogging...

So I am trying the blogger Droid app...

Um mmmm

I feel like I don't have creative control! But I'm going to post this anyways just to see what it looks like....

And a photo just to see how it works out!

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