Springtime??? Yes please

Normally February is a very cold, gray, dark, icey, snowy time here in the bluegrass. Not this year. This year we are teased weekly of spring. Wake up one morning and its sunny and 65*. We run and play outside, bask in the sun feeling happy and knowing that spring will soon be here. The next morning wake up with snow flurries and 29* outside. BOO HISS. I for one can deal with winter. I like cold and snow for a little while. What I cannot deal with is warm/cold/warm/cold. It makes me crazy. However we do take great advantage of this warm breaks we are getting.

And the award for Mother of the Year goes to........

ME!!!!!!!

When you have preemies, every now and then the doctor wants to check their weight to make sure they are growing the way they should be. So that's how Shayne and I spent a good chunk of our Valentines Day, hanging out at the doctors with 2 wild toddlers. So after checking their weight and ears and lungs and all was great Dr says do you have any other questions.... Why yes yes I do.

Why do the backs of my kids ears look like the skin of an alligator?

I have been so worried it was something like eczema caused by a food allergy and that my poor babies would have to go through testing and elimination diets etc....

So Dr Hawse looks and both of them and giggles. Yep you read that right.... GIGGLES.

"that's eczema alright. caused by dried shampoo."

See's it all the time apparently. So I guess the moral of this story that your mom was being serious all those times she said to wash behind your ears... or in our case RINSE.

Happy Valentines Day!

February 14th is a day of love and hearts and flowers and chocolate and in our case RAIN. I know for a lot of people its a day of pressure. Pressure to plan the right date out, buy the right gift, buy the right card, buy the right flowers, buy the right candy, have the right date. Pressure on boyfriends and husbands to create this romantic atmosphere for their girlfriends or wives. To live up to this notion that a lot of women have made up in their heads(or that they think the women have made up). But I saw this one day and it rang so true in my heart.

Now I ask you... which would YOU rather have this Valentines Day? Flowers that will wilt and die, chocolate that will be eaten and disappear, dinner at an overpriced restaurant, jewelry that will tarnish OR the love of a Father that will thrive forever, will never vanish, is FREE to you because of a price paid long ago and will shine brighter than the most precious jewels on earth?

Think about it.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Lets NOT rock this look.

I know you think.. " man I am cool."

I ROCKED slouch socks in every color

I pegged my jeans....

My hair was the highest....

I was the COOLEST!

So now what? Now we are moms. We are still trying to be cool. We wear the latest fashions(or try to at least) the hair is smaller, so are the socks and the jeans don't risk causing such a loss of blood supply that we can no longer feel our feet. But when in our years of striving to be cool and be the one people wanted to look like did we find this......

acceptable? Grown ups, in cutesy colorful pj pants IN PUBLIC? I will admit I rocked my Old Navy (not plus size) pj pants to the Mum's pajama day meeting... Then I drove straight home and GOT DRESSED. What does wearing your pj pants in public tell people about you???? "Why yes I have given up" That's what it says. In a world of super cute stylish and more practical casual wear PUT THE PJ'S IN THE DRAWER after DAWN and leave them there until after you are in for the night... if comfort is what you seek for a quick run to the store for that gallon of milk you forgot there are these great things called pants. Throw on some yoga pants and a shirt. At least then when people see you they will no longer think "that poor woman." they will think" man I wish I had time to workout, she is so lucky"

So to recap..... say it with me fellow mommas (and apparently some dads, which I have to admit is even sadder than the mom's) ....

PJ pants GOOD INSIDE.....

PJ pants BAD OUTSIDE.....

the one and ONLY exception is when you 15 year old daughter has smart mouthed you for the last time. Then you throw on the pj pants and pick her up at school, standing BESIDE your van and waving like a lunatic and screaming "HERE I AM HONEY!!!!!!!! MOMMAS HERE TO PICK YOU UP.... I LOVE YOU SO MUCH"  and feel free to follow that with "oh he IS CUTE!" and point to some boy.



Its a double blog entry sort of day!

This one is short and much less deep than the one before but still need to share...

Jessie Green, one of the sweetest funniest friends I have, and a fellow momma of 3 and of twins! We have a bond through that (even if she doesn't know it lol) She shared with us all one day the name of a book. The Jesus Storybook Bible.

My mom went out the next day and picked it up for us. Now as some of you know Bella asked back before Christmas when she could be baptatised(yep super serious when you add the extra ta) and I asked her what she thought that meant and she said that it was what you did when Jesus came to live in your heart. Needless to say momma bawled.

Each night she and I snuggle in my bed and read this new bible. The look in her eyes as I read these stories about Joseph and Moses, Jonah and Naaman, a young slave girl who loved God even though she had been through such tragedy. These people and stories are coming to life for her.

2 days ago she begged me to hurry up and read so we could get to the good part. When I asked her what the "good part" was she said in her most "you are the dumbest person in the world voice" she sighed and said "JESUS". I love that the "good part" of the book we are sharing together in her eyes is Jesus. Makes me a very proud momma.

So all of this to say GO RUN RIGHT NOW BUY THIS BOOK! It is a gift to yourself and your family.

How is He working in your life?

That is the question for the day. How is He working in your life? Through you? For others?

Romans 8:28 tells us : And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God calls us to go out into the world and be his hands and feet. To spread his word and be his voice. Show not just speak. How are you showing the world you are His child?

I think about this a lot in the moves that I make daily. Am I being a shining example of a daughter of The King or am I hiding the most precious part of who I am? When I speak and others listen what do they hear? Do they hear words of encouragement and praise or do they hear negativity and doubt? When I do things through out the day are they actions of a faithful child or a selfish one?

How many times a day do I think of what I can do to help myself or do I think of how I can help others?

I am not perfect. Not by a long shot. I have my why me moments and my pity parties. But each day I wake up with the hope that just through my words and my actions someones life will be touched. I can make someones day a little better and by doing that I can glorify the Lord.

Proverbs 3:6 says Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Do I do that? Do I think of His will before I do something? Not always. The path I have taken in my life more often than not was MY path and not HIS. It was not until I started to seek His will that my life took a turn onto a new path. A path where sun shines through the tree's, the sounds are happy and sweet instead of scary, the trials are there but they are ones I can overcome through Him.

I love my God moments. I honestly feel I get more out of them than the person I am serving through Him. Simple things like seeing a new baby, talking to a stranger and hearing her story of how her husband passed away 5 1/2 months ago and he never got to see his grandson. Hearing His voice in my ear telling me that this sweet woman's husband DID see his grandson and held him before his birth and to share that message with this woman who was in the in between of grief and celebration. Seeing her tears at this message and giving her a hug as she smiles at me and through the window at this perfect little being. Walking away feeling such a feeling of peace and blessings.

How is He working in your life? Are you letting Him work through you or as you walk down YOUR path are you fighting him without out knowing it?

Each day that I let His light show through my actions is a good day. And who couldn't use a few more good days.

Why yes I would love to write a book.....

Hey Ladies, from the moment I learned how sick Maddi really was I began to pray. For alot of different things, alot of it just Maddi related but other things as well. I prayer for guidance and knowledge and reason. One of the answers to a prayer has come in the form of a book. I have started to write the book I have always wanted to write just didn't know what it would be about. I know now. I want to write a book about those moments in our lives that change us forever.
So that's where some of you may come in. So many of us have had that moment in our lives where our worlds are rocked to their cores, the walls crumble around us and we are in the dark. A moment when we throw up our hands, curse the Father and we walk away. What I want to write about are these stories. From the start to the moment you turn back and find the truth and the Father again and how you are changed by what has happened and the journey back.
This does not have to be a story related to a child although I am sure for alot of us it would be, it could be a death of a parent, a spouse, it could be a divorce, a rape, an assault, an injury whatever YOUR moment was.
My promise to anyone who chooses to share their story with me is that it will be treated with respect and privacy. If you choose I will change the names of places and people to keep your privacy. In fact this will be done unless I am told otherwise. 
The only 2 people who will know your stories will be me and my husband who will serve as my editor until the time it is published (if that happens.)
If you choose to share your story please email me at tinkerbellamom@yahoo.com subject line should be MY STORY. you do not need to go into great detail of the trauma if you can't talk about it that way, this book is more about that moment that changed you, the dark place you went and mostly how you found your way back and how it changed you for the better in the end.