Only a freak would put swords in a dedication cupcake!

Dedicating a son to the Lord...much different than dedicating a daughter. What makes it different? We are doing the same thing regardless of gender, yet for some reason my heart had a different kind of gladness. Could it be that in a small back corner of my mind I fear the path a son may be called to take? Not that a daughter cannot to be called to the same thing; but if we raise our sons to be warriors, does it not make sense that a mother may get a flutter in her stomach as she says, "Okay Lord, he is yours, use him mightily for your kingdom".

A very dear friend has told me on several occasions when I start in on my nonsensical fretting, that fear is not the spirit of the Lord. And she is absolutely right. So I suppose I must choose faith, trust and joy and reject the fear that tries to steal me of the others. I also suppose I could have not chosen swords to stick in his dedication cupcakes that we served at the luncheon....that could have something to do with my fear. I have already mentally sent off my ten month old to battle. Sometimes I wonder if I am the weirdest human alive.

Stopping Time

Dear Ella and Caroline,

I believe without a doubt that I will never enjoy you two more than I do right now. Your very wise Big Pop says that the best age of a child is the one they are right now, at this very moment. I believe him, I want to believe him, I really do, but what else could be better than two daughters that are 4 and 6. What will I do when I am no longer awakened every night by a 4 year old coming into our room to announce that she is going to go to the bathroom (as if she needed permission at 2 am)? What will I do without a 6 year old who every night during prayers wants to know what the "game plan" is for tomorrow? What will I do when I no longer have a 4 year old who tells me she cannot clean up because she is a "teeny tiny baby, and teeny tiny babies do not clean up"? What will I do when I no longer have a 6 year old who tells me "I just feel like I can't stop hugging you today mommy"? What will I do without a 4 year old who wants to say the blessing every night at dinner, but then says she can't, so she instead follows the lead of her father and says everything he prays? What will I do without a 6 year old who pushes back the little girl who just pushed her little sister out the way, and then looks across the room at me and smiles proudly at how she just stood up for her little sister? What will I do without two little girls that let me dress them alike and put pink bows in their hair? What will I do without the giggles and the screaming that I hear coming from the upstairs playroom everyday? What will I do without two little girls to watch out my back window catching fireflies?

The time is approaching. It is happening so fast it almost takes my breath away. I feel is coming like a freight train. I see the way those little hands that used to have a baby feel have a little girl feel. I see how your faces are changing from that of a toddler and preschooler to that of little girls. I hear the way the questions are changing from simple to more complex. The desires of your heart are turning just a bit....you are just starting to think about what else is there...what is going on outside the doors of our home. Stop time! Stop! I am not ready! It wasn't long enough, and I will never get it back...just a little while longer...please. Please!

Though time will not stop, I do still have today....and for that I am grateful.

I love you both more than words could express....

Mom

I love decorating for girls!

So here is the inspiration. Can you see it? Look very carefully behind this bed and you can barely see the tulle that cascades from the ceiling behind the headboard. It is a combination of soft tulle and white lights...quite beautiful! This is that store I told you about several posts ago, As For Me and My House in Pawleys Island. I could move into this place and live there for the rest of my life. It is a lovely store!So I came home and looked at the pile of unused trim that we have stacked in the corner of our room that is under construction. I picked out a few pieces and oh so sweetly asked the cute carpenter if he would mind whipping up a little cornice board type thing for me. He rolled his eyes, but he loves me, so he did it.I painted them in about 15 minutes and hung them the next day. I used tension rods for window treatments inside the cornice boards to hold the tulle and lights. I love tulle because you just cut it, NO sewing! The lights behind the tulle add a girly, princess touch. The girls (especially Caroline) are thrilled!