My sweet Elisabeth

Turn about is fair play, right?

I have been blessed with 2 sweet babies-- right from the heart of God (which, by the way, is where we tell our kiddos they were before Jesus put them in Mama's tummy).  My last post was about our sweet Daniel, so I thought I would take a moment for today's post to share a bit about my sweet, silly Elle-Belle.

 

Not long after she was born, I wrote this note in regards to the adjustment of having my joy doubled...

September 16, 2009

As a natural born romantic, I have always loved this passage in Ecclesiastes. I remember as a young girl, reading this passage and just DREAMING of the day when the other half of my "two" would come and complete my "one". Now, don't get me wrong. I'm still a romantic, and I am still so grateful for the other half of my "two". I am indeed better because he is in my life.

However... in recent days-- today specifically-- this verse has taken on a new meaning for me as a mother. I remember when I was expecting our first child, Daniel, having my older, wiser sister warn me that you never realize how selfish you are until you have children. So, I braced myself in the early days of Daniel's life, waiting to be confronted by the Lord with the hidden selfishness that was buried deep within my heart. Days turned into weeks turned into months, and before I knew it an entire year had passed. And I actually found myself thinking, "Wow! I must not have been very selfish at all! This has been great-- almost easy, in fact!"

Yet, it is amazing to me that I have only had two children for less than 2 weeks, and I am already learning the other half of that romantic verse: "...for they have good reward for their labor." While I was enjoying my "one" with Daniel, thinking that I had already attained this wonderful unselfish state, the Lord was waiting for that perfect moment to send me my "two" found with my precious Elisabeth-- not that Elisabeth is a "hard" baby. Quite the contrary-- she is a precious delight. She snuggles and coos and looks at me with those big trusting eyes. My labor comes in the form of my own selfish control. Oh, how I am learning just how hard that labor can be as I struggle to find the balance between mother of Daniel, and mother of Elisabeth, wife of Ashe, and woman named Leah. But I am constantly-- and gently-- reminded by my Savior that it is not in my strength that I am able to do this. I can try as hard as I'd like to control and manage and plan, but I am quickly learning just how selfish I really am. I am learning things about myself that I never would have or could have learned with just my "one" Daniel. I am learning that I desperately needed my "two" Elisabeth in my life so that I will be able to truly HAVE my "good reward".

Two ARE better than one...

Yes, my sweet Ellie is just the icing on the cake in our little family.  She has such an adventurous, yet timid spirit.  Her heart is always full of love-- for her brother (can you see that adoration in her eyes even from near-birth?!), her Daddy, her "babies", and-- of course-- ME!

Wearing mama's socks and shoes

Sportin' her pretty hair-- while clutching her sidekick, "Peter"

FEARLESS, I tell you-- climbing to the top of the "wall" at the park.

Whew!  Being brave is thirsty work!

Thank You, Father, for this sweet Princess!

My sweet Daniel

So here is the sweet story about my sweet boy that I mentioned in my Mini Vay-cay #1 post yesterday.  And I mean it.  If you have any heart at all, you should probably grab a tissue and begin to read...

To set the stage, I need to give a little background.  First of all, Daniel loves soldiers.  I know it probably mostly has to do with his beloved Uncle Jay.

Daniel proudly wears his favorite outfit and real Army Hat!

The other thing you should know before I tell this story is that I am truly my father's daughter.  Have you seen this floating around Pinterest?  Well, it pretty much sums up what I mean by "Father's Daughter".

The last thing that you should know (especially in relation to #2) is that Ellie is-- drum roll, please-- officially potty trained!  Whoo-hoo!  Yes, that is a whoo-hoo in regards to diapers and the like; however, it is NOT a whoo-hoo in regards to the need to stop.  Every 45 minutes.  But, it is what it is. 

Now, to the tissue part...

We are scooting right along last Monday on our way to West Virginia.  Probably only stopped about 4 or 5 times at this point (to potty in the little potty chair in the back of the mini van, of course).  Yes, you do note a bit of sarcasm.  But my kids are not fussy, and traffic is not too crazy.  So I'm feeling pretty good.  Enter not one, but two big buses filled with "soldiers".  I have my cruise on, so I am just a-zippin' on by.  By the time Daniel sees the bus, realizes who is on that bus, I am already passed them.  But he exclaims, "Stop, Mama!  There are soldiers on that bus!  Uncle Jay might be on that bus!"  I reassure him that Uncle Jay is NOT on that bus; he was already in Texas.

But Daniel continues. 

"But I didn't get to wave to them!  Slow down, Mama.  Please!"

Now, I have to confess that there was a great struggle in my spirit for the briefest of moments.  (Remember #2?!)  My first instinct was to rationalize (ha!) with him that we had already passed them, we'll look for more, etc.  But the Holy Spirit gently encouraged me in my heart, "Leah, what is the rush?  It will not kill you to slow down."

And I am.  So grateful. That I can say: I listened.

Granted, I had to go about 50 mph for about 5 minutes for those blessed buses to catch up, but 50 mph I went!

(Seriously, if you don't have a tissue.  Now is your last chance.)

The Lord was so kind.  The buses had "split" with one on my left and the other on my right.  Daniel's seat is on the right side of the van, behind the passenger seat.  I was really dragging so that the first bus (on our right-- Daniel's side!) could "catch" us.  Some of the soldiers were sleeping-- or at least resting against the window of the bus.  But as they came past us, I started waving like a crazy person and pointing back to Daniel, who was also waving like a crazy person so that they could see that it was actually a little dude who was so thrilled to see them.  And the expression on their faces.  Oh, my.  When the first soldier realized what was happening (a small little boy was just thrilled beyond belief to see them!), they started motioning to the others behind, and the whole side was waving and grinning like nobody's business to my sweet little boy who proudly proclaims, "Mama!  They see me.  THEY SEE ME!" 

Enter the bus on the left.  Again, I start the waving and pointing like a crazy person bit.  And, again.  One soldier sees what's happening (this time, my sweet boy is leaning over as far as his federally approved child safety seat will allow!).  And, again.  Their faces just light up as they begin to wave to my happy little man.

Now, I stayed between those buses as long as I was able, but there was a split in the highway coming right up (Thank You, Lord, for Your perfect timing!), but we were heading one way as the buses were heading the other.  We kept waving and smiling-- with waves and smiles being returned-- as long as we could.  And as the bus headed off in their direction, my sweet Daniel says so matter of factly...

"Oh, the bad guys must be over there.  Because all those soldiers are going that way.  To keep us safe.  Just like Uncle Jay."

Praise the Lord I was still going 50 mph.  I am not kidding you.  Tears were streaming down my face.  And I was just thanking the Holy Spirit for His gentle reminder that my GPS was not nearly as important as I had previously imagined.  What a precious memory-- for me and my sweet boy.  And those soldiers.  I found myself thinking that perhaps at least one of them needed to see the adoration of my child-- they needed to know that they are my little boy's hero.  And I needed to remember the value of a moment.

Mini Vay-cay #1

So now that school is out, the visiting of family has commenced.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, my sweet hubby Ashe took my sweet kiddos Daniel and Ellie to North Carolina for a quick visit the week before I was finished with school.  They had a great time visiting Nana, Uncle Jay, Auntie Sybil and all the others-- all the while NOT taking naps, NOT going to bed on time, and probably NOT missing me at all! ;)

But now it was my turn. We packed in on up and head down to Country Roads... (feel free to sing along) take me home... to the place... where I belong.... WEST VIRGINIA!!!!!!!!!!!  Whoo-hoo!!!!!! 

The drive was lovely.  I have a sweet story to tell you about my sweet Daniel, but that will come at another time.  (Warning:  grab a tissue...!)

I have the privilege of serving on the Ladies Auxiliary of Appalachian Bible College in Bradley, West Virginia.  I'm the membership gal.  It's actually a great ministry.  As a quick promo:  if you are ever able to attend ANY of the conferences/luncheons/events that are put on by the Auxiliary, do it!  Your heart will be blessed, and your walk with the Lord will deepen. 

So last week was the WV trip for the annual Ladies' Conference.  Our speaker was Dr. George Purdom from the Answers in Genesis ministry.  She had so many wonderful lessons about the importance and fundamental groundwork of the Word of God-- in every aspect of life.  Wanna listen to the sessions on CD?  Feel free to call, click, or print your request, and they (we! :) ) will get them right out to you!  Great stuff.

While I was being blessed and challenged, my children were also being blessed and challenged!  They had the wonderful excitement of going to day camp at "Auntie Bek-Bek's school"-- also known as Kids of Harmony with Ms. Christy (whom they a-DORE!), Ms. Courtney (another crowd favorite!), and of course:  Auntie Bek-Bek.  They had a great time learning about how the Lord wants to transform us-- from the inside out!  (I'm still humming that little theme song! "Totally Transformed")  But in the afternoons, I was a super cool mom.  Instead of having them take their usual afternoon nap, I instead took and/or sent them to the pool.  Yah, I'm pretty much a rock star in their world.

Watch this, Mom!

SPUH-LASH!!!

Diving for "water rockets"

The spoils of war! :)

Needless to say, they had an awesome time.  In fact, there were two puh-retty disappointed kiddos strapped in the mini-van come Saturday afternoon!  But they were appeased (somewhat) with the news that we would return again (for Mini Vay-cay #2!) in just another week or so. 

I think perhaps the highlight of my week came Saturday morning.  My sweet Daniel says to me, "Mama, I'm having a really great time with Grampy.  But I can't wait 'til I get to spend time with just you."  Melt. My. Heart.  God is so good!

Happy Father's Day!

I am so blessed.  I trust I will never get over the lovingkindness of my Heavenly Father-- Who so graciously blessed me with such an incredible earthly Father.  

 He is the best.  I mean.  The. Best.

But not only have I been blessed with MY father, I also have the blessing of serving with the most incredible man-- whom my children are in turn blessed to call Daddy.  Wow.  God is so good.

So I say to these two great men:  Happy Father's Day!  

Thank you both for the daily testimony of the lovingkindness of our 

Heavenly Father that you daily show to me.  

I love you!

You should probably sit down for this...

You can tell that I am obviously on summer vacation-- because here I am with my second post.  In one day.  (I actually just "lol-ed" right now. :) )  But you will know WHY I am so pumped and couldn't wait in just a few moments.

As we all know, Father's Day is just around the corner.  Literally.  I have been super blessed with a super husband-- who is a super father.  Thus, I am totally pumped for Father's Day! :)  My husband is usually the "out of the park" gift giver.  I am a blessed woman.  But this year, *I* am (quite possibly) the winner.

"What is it that makes you think you're so special?"  You may ask.

I made him these cupcakes:

I call them: "The Caramel Mock-iato"  Eh...eh...!  Get it?  (My sweet hubby's favorite "treat beverage" of all times is the Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks.)  For all of you Pinterest addicts out there, I'm sure you've seen a wide range of recipes for this and other delectable delights.  However, none of them really ever grabbed my attention before-- as in the "Oh, I must stop everything I am doing and go make these cupcakes.  Right now." kind of grab the attention.  Until now.  These did.  And I did.  Though, naturally, I had to tweak them. ;)

Here's what happened...

I found this recipe from a new interesting blog that I shall revisit quite often, I am sure... Bakingdom.  I have never made my own caramel before today.  Nor had I yet ever used coffee IN my baking.  But, as luck would have it (really, it was fate, wasn't it????), we had some left over coffee from breakfast.  It's like the Lord wanted me to make these for my incredible husband. 

I started the caramel sauce...

Please don't judge my messy stovetop...

If you choose to make this wonderful concoction, please oh PLEASE be extra careful on the "slowly add the whipping cream to the boiling mixture" step.  No, I don't have a good story about a bad experience.

Praise the Lord.

Just be careful.

If all goes well, this is what should be the end result:

I left my "upside down, make the saute' pan level" red bowl in the background on purpose-- so you could see how deliciously golden that sauce is.

Then we move on to the cupcakes.  As I have mentioned before in previous posts, regardless of WHAT cupcake recipe you may be trying, I firmly believe that the very first step is one of the most important.  Whip that butter.  Leave it a-LONE.  Cream in that sugar, and let them get close.  Let them become as one.  That is my opinion.  But I'm pretty sure I'm right...

After the cupcakes have baked and cooled, cut out the little top (very carefully!) and then spoon in a scoop of that decadent caramel sauce that you have just whipped right up.  Put the top back on.  It's like your cupcake has a secret.  And it does.  Oh, my.  It.  DOES.

Can you guess which of these cupcakes I have already unofficially "staked my claim"?  If you said the one in the top right corner-- you'd be right! :)

Then comes the frosting.  Now, my new friend (whether she knows it or not) Darla suggests a coffee icing before the "whipped cream" frosting.  However, I just didn't feel like making it.  I was trying to think of some really exciting and/or creative reason for not including that.  But I just don't have anything but the truth.

I topped them with my top-secret, super delicious vanilla cream cheese frosting.  Actually, it's not that top secret.   I'm pretty sure I've posted it somewhere on my blog before now.  Anyway.  Just a couple weeks/months ago (remember, it's been a long year... my sense of time is a little off right now) I made a very wise purchase: the Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit from Bake It Pretty.  Love that thing.  So I used it.  Piped out my delish frosting in an ever-so-impressive fashion on top of these gems.

You're starting to see it, aren't you???

Then comes the hardest part, in my opinion.  If the Lord ever allows for me to really have my bakery dream ("Gibson Goodies") hit full steam, I shall most definitely invest in one of those caramel-squeezing-out-bottle things.  That drizzling with a spoon could get really old, really fast.  But drizzle I did.  Fo-drizzle.  Lol.  If my husband reads this, he is rolling his eyes right now.

Remember that secret your cupcake was trying so hard to keep?

Do you see that caramel peaking out to say "hello"?

So there they are.  Don't you wish you lived closer to me?  I would make them for you if you did.  Honest.  I would.  Especially if you came to my monthly ladies' Bible study which happens the 3rd Saturday of every month at my sweet church, Grace Bible Church.  (Is that a good plug, or what?!)

Summertime...

As the music teacher, one of my responsibilities is to prepare the ever-popular "end of year program".  Generally speaking, it is only the kindergarten and 5th grade classes that require such preparation.  And this year was no exception.  One of the songs that my kindergarten did is entitled "School's Out!" by John Jacobson.  I've attached a clip if you'd like to see Mr. Double Dream Hands himself demonstrate the suggested choreography for this catchy little tune.

(On a side note, I didn't actually see this demo before today, and I would like to offer some props to myself for my motions that I taught the kiddos to help me them remember the words... I actually did some of the same ones he suggested.  No, not the cheesy ones.  The cool ones.)

Flash back to today.  I was fairly certain that I just might not make it to summer vacation.  In fact, this is the part where I confess that I do not know how "the rest of the world" makes it working year 'round.  Granted, I trust that "you" are not so naive as to assume that a teacher's "normal day" is quite often much longer and more stressful than many other professions' "normal day".  (This is NOT a "I work harder than you do" kind of post, so please relax! ;) )  All that to say (or rather "shout" since I'm about to go all caps lock on this post):  I AM FINISHED!  Whoo-hoo!  Say it with me now...  Whoo-hoo!  Whoo-hoow!  Whoo... Sorry.  Got a little excited there...

Anyway.  I just am so thankful that the Lord allowed me to make it to this day.  I'm not sure what exactly caused this school year to be/seem so much more stressful than years past, but it was certainly a big'un!

My sweet hubby returned with my sweet ones last night from a quick trip to North Carolina-- Ashe's oldest brother Jay selflessly serves as a supply sergeant for the National Guard and is being deployed as I type and you  now read.  I wasn't able to go with them on this quick trip due to closing ceremonies, end of school, etc activities-- you know, as shown in that awesome video clip.  So this week I got to veg a bit.  I'm not gonna lie:  I missed my babies (all THREE of them! ;) ).  Like. Crazy.  However, I will also confess:  it was kinda nice to go to bed before 9:00 and sleep all through the night without someone coming in to wake me up to go potty.  Or even spend a little time browsing around without feeling like I was "cheating" on family time.  In fact (prepare to be impressed!), I actually went to the gym 3 days.  In a row.  Wow.  Sometimes I even amaze myself.

But here I am.  First official day of summer vacation.  And I am loving it.