Busting Time...and then some

So this is a picture from Thanksgiving. We call this "Busting Time." It is a typical pillow fight, which my girls happen to LOVE.

Here you can see Daddy and Uncle Bret getting into the action. The first picture is to prove that the girls actual enjoy it. If I had posted just the second one, you might would have thought we were torturing them, but "No" they ask for it.

Now, here is a picture of the Aunts getting in on the action. Can you see Lanie in mid-air? Gotta love it.

Now, unlike some of my friends who have 100+ readers reading their blog/day (just kidding, Whitney)...I have perhaps two or three people who read my blog. The sweet girl on the left, in the crazy pajama pants, well that would be one of my three regular readers, Sweet Aunt Lanie. So this post is for you, Lanie. Lanie has been such a precious addition to our family. She is the glue that holds everything together, and we just adore her. We got to go to her parent's house over Easter break and had a blast. The darling girl on the right, no, not Mollie, is Aunt Neise. Aunt Neise (aka Denise) also holds a huge place in my daughters' hearts. Denise is always intentional about making memories with the girls, and will drop everything to be with them. You can't say that about many people. Denise is one of those people that when your heartbeats, she feels it. I can't imagine not talking to her every week.

This picture just makes me smile!

Final days of April

Are you like me and wondering where did the month of April go? It is crazy to think how quickly time has passed. In so many ways, it feels like we just moved here, but it will be a year come the first of July. Crazier too, to think that we only have another year left here. Travis got a great recommendation from his boss, and it looks like we might be headed to Washington D.C. next.

If you know me, you know that I love nature. I love surrounding myself with beautiful things. Oh, not the things that cost money, far from it...but those things that remind me of God's provision...a certain unexpected joy when a tree blooms for the first time that spring or a sunset hits a flower in such a way to almost make it translucent. I felt it in Colorado Springs...not so much in Wichita Falls...then a lot with my yard in Abilene, and now more than ever in our neighborhood. I'm not exactly sure what kind of tree this is, but they line the street coming to our house. For about two weeks, they were a radiant pink, and I just happened to catch it on camera during our walk last night. If you look just beyond the blooms you can see a pond that the girls love to throw rocks into.

The trail goes all through our neighborhood. It was gorgeous last evening...a nice 75 degrees...and the girls and I decided to take a walk. Ellie absolutely loves this car...it has paid for itself many times over...having used it back when Carlie was Ellie's age. Then of course, Mollie is being a trickster, and sticking out her tongue. Oh, Carlie, too...if you can see the "bunny ears." Quite a silly crew we are.

I love this one of Mollie. I should post the one where she is swinging her head back, too. When I think of Mollie, this picture captures it. She takes life by the horns...holds nothing back. She loves with all her heart.

She is also...true to nature...loves to make a mess.

This picture captures Little Ellie. She loves any attention she can get, and has gotten quite good at smiling when I pull out the camera. Carlie hated touching the grass at Ellie's age. Of course, that was in Wichita Falls, Texas...where the grass was extremely dry and scratchy. Ellie loves it, though...a soft blanket here in O'Fallon, Illinois. Which reminds me. I've got to get a picture of the girls in the tulips. They are so popular here. I haven't seen any bluebonnets, but tons of tulips. Ellie had so much fun pulling up the blades of grass.

Funny story-- The other night Travis was watching the girls, and I asked him where Ellie was. I have to keep a closer eye on her now that she is crawling. Travis replied, "Oh, don't worry. Mollie is watching her." Now, knowing my sweet Mollie, she wasn't watching Little Ellie. Carlie, I have complete confidence in. Mollie not so much. So I go looking for Ellie. There is sweet Ellie, in the living room...Mollie is upstairs playing. Precious little Ellie is having a staring contest with our cat, Tiger. Their faces are within two inches of each other. Tiger seems relaxed, and Ellie is overjoyed to be so close to him. Unfortunately, she has a huge wade of his hair in the palm of her hand. You see, Ellie has discovered this truth...When unable to get to something, simply drag that something to you. In most cases, it has proven quite helpful...with blankets and such. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend dragging the household cat toward you. Tiger, the gentlemen he is, exercised patience with our precious little one.

Easter in Nashville

We drove down to Nashville to celebrate the tomb being EMPTY. Yes, more than two thousand years ago several people celebrated a RISEN SAVIOR and still we do today! The weather ended up being beautiful for Easter Sunday. Here is the gang...

This was Ellie's first Easter, and she took the show.
A quick picture before the Rural Hill Easter Egg Hunt. This was the church where Travis and I were married almost 9 1/2 years ago.

Such a typical pose...Carlie wondering what someone else is doing across the room and if anyone will "correct" them, Mollie wondering what mischief she can get into, Ellie wondering if anyone is pay attention to her, and me being glad that I'm actually in this picture. lol

I love this photo of Carlie's hair. When I was a little girl, I never could get many eggs. I always would find one, and then someone would get there before I could. Unlike me, my girls are QUICK! They don't waste any time.

Just precious...

What an empty wrapper? Is that it?

If everyone that held me could only by this soft and fuzzy...it would be Heaven On Earth.

Eggs, Eggs and more Eggs...

Well, Easter is in full swing at the Walters...first on the track is this little speed racer, Ellie. She is always in the action.

The FIRST Easter Egg Hunt began last Thursday, April 2nd. Carlie was in school and Mollie was at Mother's Day Out...but Ellie got to hunt for eggs. It was wonderful getting to talk to my girlfriends from Fairview Heights Church of Christ. Ellie even took a long nap, and I enjoyed the brunch. I'm not quite sure what Ellie was grabbing at.

This is the awesome bounce house, several of us went in on back in October. The weather is finally nice enough to get it out and begin enjoying it. I can't wait to use it more this summer.

This photo is CLASSIC. Can you see all those eggs? The mommas did an amazing job spreading them out. This set of pictures is from the SECOND Easter Egg Hunt at the Walters today, Wednesday, April 7th. I invited several ladies from my OSC Playgroup (Officers Spouses' Club) to come over for a brunch and egg hunt. It was totally a God thing that the weather was nice, because we had snow on Monday, very cold on Tuesday, absolutely gorgeous today, and rain/sleet predicted for the rest of the week. Thank you, God!!! Oh, and Texas friends...Notice the green grass? Oh, yes...they have green grass here.

Look at all those kiddos!! Man, we have cute kids! LOL The children did such an awesome job of sharing. I was worried I might have invited too many, but all the kids did great. Between all the toys, air castle, sand box, riding cars...we kept them very entertained. Our backyard is perfect for big gatherings. I had forgotten how much I love to host parties. I use to do it so often in Abilene, especially with having the pool...but hadn't done much entertaining until now. Of course, my girlfriends are always so generous and bring a ton of delicious food. There might be a cookbook in the works. :)

Jenny, a dear friend, was kind enough to take this picture. So often I'm behind the camera. Thanks, Jenny.

Unlike me as a child, Mollie is fast. She had a ton of eggs at the end, and tossed a few back out for the little guys. She is more in it purely for the "hunt."

I couldn't get everyone in the line up, but I love this picture. There is definitely an art to mothering. I was amazed we could keep the kids restrained for even a few moments.

WONDERFUL MEMORIES!!! Now, I'm off to take a breather, clean my house, and prepare to head down to Nashville for our THIRD Easter Egg Hunt. Can you survive off of chocolate and Dr. Pepper...because lately I have been? Don't expect any swimsuit editions too soon.

Can you package up LOVE?

My precious cousin, Rachel, is having her first little girl. So to celebrate Julia Jane's arrival, I got my creative juices flowing and decide to find the perfect material to make her a baby quilt. After much searching, I found exactly what I was looking for...this pale pink toile with chocolate brown accents. Then to really make it nice, I backed it with white minky...oh, so soft. I've been blessed to have made my own three girls their very own baby blankets, and it is funny how excited I was to again go out searching for the perfect blanket... fit for a queen. I would love to do an entire nursery in this fabric. I love it that much. Don't worry though, we are done having girls. I can have fun though celebrating with family members. Then I had enough material left to add a matching wipee/diaper bag...super convenient when you don't want to drag the "real" diaper bag in. I hope she likes it.

Unfortunately, it is bittersweet, because I won't be able to attend the baby shower. I had to mail it..in hopes that it arrives on time. You see...this is one of those moments I hate being in the military. The reality is that we live literally 18 hours away from where I grew up (Madisonville, Texas) and plane tickets are costly when times by 4...where all my family still resides or at least within 2 hours of. So whereas, my cousins can easily drive in that morning for the shower, it is a little harder for me. And when I say cousins, I mean cousins. I was one of those lucky few to actually grow up with their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins. My mom is one of 4 sisters, and most everyone from her generation remained in Madisonville. It wasn't until all the grandkids grew up that we scattered to Houston, Dallas, O'Fallon, Illinois, etc.

When I was little, it was my grandparents that made Easter extra special. Oh, the memories of huge Easter Egg Hunts...literally 30+ people all together...and loving it. Now, my Uncle David and Aunt Ola Mae have the huge Easter brunch and Christmas brunch every year. It is a tradition I have grown to love...my mouth is literally watering just thinking about it. Rachel is their daughter and so the shower is this weekend along with the annual Easter brunch. They live out in the country, and it is absolutely something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. The weather is gorgeous, green pasture as far as the eye can see, beautiful flowers blooming, little newborn calves learning to walk for the first time...the presence of God everywhere. Then you add on top of it, the fact that all my cousins now have children close to my girls' ages, and the noise of children laughing...chasing one another. I really wish we could be there.

Fortunately though, since we do live in O'Fallon, IL, we are closer to Travis' family. So we only have to travel 6 hours to Nashville, TN to enjoy the warmth of family. I had prayed that this assignment would bring us closer to his family. When we lived in Texas, the girls only got to see Grandma and Grandpa once or twice a year. Since living here, we have gotten to see them much more. The hard truth I've come to realize is that in every relationship you have to be intentional, and whether or not we like it... distance does hinder that closeness. I wish I could have seen Rachel's face when she first found out she was pregnant or touched her tummy...knowing Julia was inside. As I sewed each stitched, I thought about all the wonderful things I love about Rachel and the amazing gift God has given her. I pray she feels all the love I could manage to squeeze in that box.

What to say???

I'm giving my testimony next month, and as you can imagine I'm super nervous. It isn't good to leave a woman alone with her thoughts too long. Almost everyday this week my thoughts have wandered to what I should say, how I should say it, have I dealt with it, etc. It is interesting. I've never been completely vulnerable to a group before. Felt the freedom to truly reveal the amazing work Christ has done in my life in its entirety. Even on this occasion, I won't have time to truly go into every tool mark the Lord has carved, as He molds me into a masterpiece. I do however have some points I hope to bring out that I pray will bless someone, and wonder if anyone else has this longing or struggle. For those of you that are more "spiritual" than me, I would welcome any scriptures that illustrate these points better. I've found myself being inspired more and more by one of my favorite books in the Bible, Romans. So here they are:

-Adoption- Christ dying for our sins knowing full well the pain of being in a relationship with us. I've never adopted a child, but I can only imagine parents who do adopt feeling the same way I did when I held Carlie for the first time...Oh, the wonder...the anticipation of what she would be like...the incredible love of parent to a child...a certain mystery of sorts. My adoption happened later in life (27 yrs old), when my step-dad, Carl, wanted to adopt me. Every official document I had prior to my married name was changed to Dorothy Brassell, instead of Dorothy Smith. Oh, how I put this poor man through many sleepless nights during my teen years, and yet he still wanted to call me his own. Dad, or Carl, knew exactly what he was getting into and yet chose me. It gave new meaning to me as I viewed it through Christ's eyes, "and while we were still sinners, He died for us."
-God being our Rock. In my testimony, there are a lot of times I wish certain people would have been different, better perhaps, than they were...the rejection, the uncertainty, I felt as a young woman, was almost paralyzing. Yet again, during my Esther study, I realized that NO ONE can be your rock, except God. God purposely put inadequate people and caused me to feel inadequate to His glory...so that the arms I ran to every time I was disappointed or when I failed would only be His.
-Everyone needs to know they are loved...a God shaped hole that wants to be filled. Have you heard, "I love you!" enough? If you haven't heard it enough, are you willing to let God's Word tell you over and over again how much you are? My life is different today, because my mother pointed me to God and His Word...when I felt so unlovable. Somewhere, sometime, I surrendered all...and it made ALL the difference.
That is all I have so far. I don't know if it will touch any one's heart. All I know is that Christ is the only hope I have, and I'm praying for the courage to shout that statement from the rooftops these upcoming weeks.

Ellie started to crawl!!!

Yes, Ellie crawled today. Pretty AWESOME! It was a commando crawl, but she went several steps. It was Ellie's attempt at snagging Mollie's popcorn. Who knew popcorn could be so tempting? So I wanted to be sure to remember today.
I also came across some pictures of Carlie at 3 in a scrapbook and had to do a double take, because I thought it was Mollie. So I've spent a few minutes with my Creative Memories software trying to match the girls up with their ages. You can definitely tell they are related. LOL
I thought this was a funny picture, too. The one on the left is Ellie and Carlie (excuse the powder donut) and then one of Carlie and Mollie on the right.

It is fun to see them at the same age side by side.

These two pictures warmed my heart. The one on the left is Mollie at 7 mths. and then the one on the right is Ellie at 7 mths. Mollie's eyes are definitely more blue than Ellie's, but almost exact same features.