September 2017

Highlights Include:  Trip to see Mamaw and Papaw, Colors week in Pre-K, Papaw’s funeral, Crash Weekend, Disney on Ice, Reed meeting Grandma Betty, Spending time with cousins, New shed in our backyard, and My matching boys.

August 2016

Highlights Include:  Colorado Vacation, Watching the Olympics, Indoor T-Ball, Reading to Grandma Betty, Meeting Brooks, Baptizing 4 of our youth, Shoe Symmetry, Zoo with Duncan and Arlen, Getting a New Nephew/Cousin Austin, Pig Tails, Daddy’s New Old Truck, Mother’s Day Out, Cleaning out the Dryer Vent, Duncan’s 4th Birthday Party, and Grumpy Claire.

Mother’s Day 2016

I can’t resist getting matching outfits.  I just can’t…. It’s silly, I know.  I feel like now that I’ve started, it’s going to happen every Mother’s Day.  Even when Mollie is thirteen and I have to drag her to church with matching mom.  It’s going to be great.

This year, it was just super sweet.  I mean…. super sweet!

I always have mixed emotions on this day...

I have been so blessed to have the most caring mother. Always sacrificing and loving me, and my brothers, with patience and grace. She is simply the best!  I can never thank her enough for everything she has done and continues to do for me and my family.  It has been so sweet to see her come up every Tuesday for her time with Mollie.

But I also know girls that haven't been so blessed. This day is full of longing and wandering what ifs and whys.

I have also been beyond blessed to have the sweetest daughter in the world. Every day is a joy being her mom and I praise God for every single minute. She is simply the best part of our lives and I am so grateful for her.  She makes Mother’s Day awesome for me, for sure!

But I also know what it is to long to be a mother. My heart hurts for these ladies.

And lastly, I have been even more blessed to have the greatest Grandma and Nana. These two ladies have loved me since even before I was born and I'm so grateful for their influence in my life. It has been hard to watch Grandma fade away right in front of my eyes.  I don’t visit her very often, but when I do, staring into her blank eyes breaks my heart.  I don’t know if she’s in there or not, but I pray she’s not.  Then, Nana is still crawling down on the floor to play with Mollie and all her great-grandkids.  She is always praying for us and thinking about us and I am so grateful that we still get to enjoy her light in our lives.

All these ladies…. in plenty, in want, or in need… are an encouragement to me.  I don’t forget how blessed I am, that is for sure. 

At our Mother’s Day Breakfast at church, Tonya reminded us all that we are lovely.  I am lovely.  Loved by the King, and made righteous through Jesus! He sees me right where I am. May He always be my joy and comfort.

Halloween 2014

My little Tinkerbelle was so stinkin precious!  I loved her little outfit so much.  Complete with shoes and wings ;)

 

We had a fun night at our church’s “Walk Through the Bible”.  Mollie, of course, loved all the candy in her basket.  She figured that out really fast.  And, she got her face painted for the first time… a Tinkerbelle.  She cried when it came off in her bath.

I always remember going to see my grandparents on Halloween.  So, I want to continue that tradition with my girl.  Going trick-or-treating door-to-door just doesn’t sound safe to me anymore.  It’s sad but true.  So… going to see Grandma and Papa, Grandmama and Granddaddy, Grandma Betty, and Nana and Papa Bill sounds much better.

 

We walked down Main Street to see Granddaddy and Grandmama.  The lines for candy were craaaazy long, so we just skipped all that.  This will probably be the last year she will let us.  She loved playing on the train and even got to sit in a brand new fire truck.

So sweet!