Her First

"Identity is our understanding of who we are-who we were created to be-as unique individuals. When a child is given the freedom to choose and to be, that child learns the Life-Lesson of identity as a separate and capable individual."-MOPS devotional

Last night was Taylor's first slumber party. She was fine. I however wasn't...or it took a lot of effort for me to be okay. She has had friends stay the night at our house but has never slept over at their house. It was with her best friends, that she has been friends with since the start of Kindergarten. I know the parents well and completely trust them. It was a hard decision to say yes to her staying but she was SO excited for her first slumber party. This is her school picture this year, doesn't she look so grown up? And beautiful!!! We have a disc to make pictures from, put in your orders for the size(s) you want my out of town family:)

" We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety...But we need to have no such fears. Our Lord does not come to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not committed."-A.W. Tozer

But will they make sure the front door is locked? Will she be checked on through the night? Will she go to sleep feeling safe and warm? If she wakes up at night will she be able to go back to sleep? What if she wakes up too early and no one else is awake? So many questions of just wanting to know if she is alright...and I completely know she is. It is hard to let her grow up.

"As moms, we sometimes bump into a wall of worries, an obstacle only completely counteracted through faith. If we see mothering as a partnership with an all-powerful God who is ultimately responsible for our child and utterly able to care for our child, then we have hope." - Anonymous
I took her last night and stayed for about an hour at the party. They did crafts, ordered pizza, opened presents, and ran around squealing with excitement...the look on the pizza man's face was quite shocked when he was greeted at the door by a door full of screaming six year old girls by the way. Good birth control!

"A mother who walks with God knows He only asks her to take care of the possible and to trust Him with the impossible, she does not need to fret."-Ruth Bell Graham

One of her little friends looked at me and said, "This is my first night party!" with such excitement in her voice. I thought about this. These girls will hopefully be friends throughout school and will attend many parties together. I guess if we as parents, start early setting our expectations but also allow them to seek out their own independence they will learn to make smart decisions. And thank God for cell phones, literally, Thank You Jesus!

"To let go is to fear less and love more."-Anonymous

Taylor has had her cell phone since she started school last year. She hardly uses it. In fact yesterday, I told her I was going to keep it home to charge while she was at school. She was like that is fine Mom, there is never any emergencies for me to use it anyhow. To which my response was, yes and that is a good thing! Last night, it came in handy to have. I could call and see how she was doing. I had to refrain from calling to much...don't want to be that Mom. Both times I called I got her voicemail...funny to hear her on there. Anyhow she called me back right away. I love this, she shows me she is being responsible.

"The purpose of discipline and limits is to lead to self-discipline. It brings the external boundaries inside the child, internalizing a standard for choice-making. Independence helps a child learn that the person in charge of me is ME!" - Anonymous

Then as I was leaving, the Mom said she will be fine and I agreed with her, my only question was, "Will I?". It is hard to let go. I was fine. Aaron, Tommy and I did a little late night shopping. I love when the stores are open so late and there are great deals to be had! However, we were looking for Tommy and got nothing. Fun all the same to be out with my boys. Just wondering what to get for him. The one thing we liked which was on special at Toys'R'Us was out of stock...and their holiday help was no help at all. And why have something on special if you don't even have it in stock? When I asked for the number to another store, he told me they don't have it and they don't check. Really? Don't work in customer service if you don't like people and are not willing to help! What was I saying????

"If you want your children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders."-Abigail Van Buren

Oh yeah, Taylor. So is it too early to call? Did she sleep okay? I am SO anxious to hear all about her night. Of course I know she is fine, in fact the Mom texted me that she was asleep with her daughter and that they had a fun night. Texting, how convenient. Thank you Jesus for cell phones that text! They have a yummy breakfast planned, we will go get her before too long. I need to see her before I have to work this afternoon.

"Every child needs independence. In order to grow and become healthy, fully functioning adults, children need to learn to operate within a scope of freedom where choices are independently made and consequences experienced." - Anonymous

Letting her grow up is hard but my prayer is that Aaron and I will instill in her the confidence to be independent. To be independently responsible. I hope that as we allow her to make more decisions on her own she will make the right ones. I hope this gives her confidence and inner strength. We want her to know she can ALWAYS come to us, even when the choices she may make are not the right ones. Lord, give me grace in those times. More than anything I want her to know Her God is always with her. I think she knows this. I also wouldn't mind her being a little on edge that God sees and knows every thing...and Mom of course has eyes on the back of her head and great intuition!!!:)

"A mother's lap is meant to be a launching pad for life." - Anonymous

Update...it is now 9 am and Taylor just called to say, "Good Morning." She is having such a great time:) I will go pick her up soon:) I'm not ready just yet to send her away to college or anything like that but ready to just take this growing up thing one day at a time. Have great weekends:)

Going On's

So what's been going on...

I think blogging for us has become second to facebook...Pat I think you need to get an account. You too Mom. I have noticed that everyone seems to be blogging less. Must be the time of year. Or we all said what we have to say...not sure.

So what has been happening around here....

I am reading Twilight. I love it. I would say this to you if you are skeptical, I was too...don't knock it 'till you've tried it. Then get back to me on how great of a story it is.

Tommy now opens up the fridge. After being told "no" too many times he decided to just have a seat.

My kids are good. My husband is good. We've been passing around a snotty nose.

Our lights are on the outside of the house now, looks like a gingerbread house. I'll try and post pictures soon.

God is stirring in my heart, some things that are heavy and hard to face but need to be faced.

I love the girls I work with. I can be my completely goofy self around them. Serious talks or laughs, they are all great girls. It is nice to laugh at work.

Makeup is fun. I love to do it, it is my art. I have had some repeat clients that are fun, my favorite is a 13 year old girl. I did her makeup for her 13Th birthday and she has come back a few times since. Last time we did green glitter eye liner, it was pretty awesome. Not too much, but just enough to be fun. I love when I have the chance to convey to each client that what they feel on the inside is the best "makeup" for the outside.

We have two Christmas parties coming up, one for each of our jobs. Not sure what I will wear...but am hoping to wear these heels. So I have been practicing walking in them.Tommy has been practicing too. See picture below...I think he might have needed a diaper change, Mags was getting a sniff of something!...Oh how he loves when Daddy gets home to wrestle and do boy things:)

It is harder to leave for work when it is cold and dark outside and our house is all warm and cozy.

For some reason I have felt better about living here in this house, I think it might be the winter months. The time of year. Not sure but there is more peace.

I am getting back on the "wagon" with my weight loss. It sucks to think of where I was, where I want to be, and how far where I am now is from that. I feel like everyday I eat well and exercise and loose, I should count the way an addict does. Maybe I will. "Hi I'm Courtney and I am an addict of chocolate, chips, and salsa. I have two days sober." Now you all can say, "Hi Courtney."

The gym will aide me in my sobriety. The gym is like my quiet time, it is spiritual, and I need it.

I have a new favorite Christmas song. You are currently listening:) Check out a funny video to it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxsDctMcR0M&feature=related

Kind of a silly post. Hope you are well.