joey!

we had a friend over for dinner. the kids love this guy!  joey wanted to get dressed up for him. we spent the afternoon painting her nails and doing her hair 

she chose her dress and her puppy's outfit as well 

my little Shirley temple 

her hair the next day!  still curly.  and her tooth thats been hanging by a thread for over a month now! 

the girls spent a rainy afternoon, literally 2 hrs playing bakery!  play doh is totally worth the mess. 2 hrs for me to read!

and that would be the pigs outside! haha  one on the driveway and one in a towel 

ive been making a lot of changes around here over the last yr.  one is this. i started a course last fall and committed to every mon night to get together with a group of ladies. its a program from celebrate recovery and its for EVERYONE.  i love the diversity my group brings.  i NEVER thought id meet a group of strangers and open up/share the deepest hurts and struggles.  i spend prob an hr a week doing the lesson, plus daily journaling.  i committed to spending the winter months with a new evening routine. one of (after the kids are in bed) i journal, read. pray and work through some real hard issues.  i wanted to be mindful and focused/ quiet before bed and clean up the messes ive made in my life.  its been SO hard. so many tears.  so many talks with chris and my support people.  

in jan i was thinking to myself "when is this course going to get easier?" the questions we work though and share weekly are deeply personal and its hard work!  at the start of march i felt a break in my spirit and its starting to be lighter, hopeful and im encouraged to keep going and finish.  i actually look forward to my mon night meetings.    

back to life!  i mean look at this! can life not BE any better?!  shes the perfect way to end our family. one girl os just SILLY! and so much emotion! 

joey!

cadets started back up again! nate is a good 3+" taller than me! i think hes going to be taller than chris!  

and he is such am amazing brother. the way her interacts with his sisters is delightful to watch 

he only said "dont get any popsicle on my uniform" 

i am SO glad joey snapped this selfie of herself.  it reminds me to blog this story

about 2 wks ago joey was out riding her bike with ellie. they are allowed to go around the block together.  joey was being herself and was dressed in sparkles and glitter. she strapped on her purse and put her stuffed puppy in it and off she rode

they passed 3 teenagers and one of them said to joey" i like your purse but not your face"

she came home completely confused and upset!

after i talked to her about how hurting ppl hurt people and not everyone is nice in the world, we prayed for the girls and i was able to use the verse we were talking about the day before "a soft word turns away wrath" and being kind to people who hurt you....anyways. i was on the couch and i could hear her talking to herself. she snapped this pic and said "why would they say that? why did they say they didnt like my face? im beautiful!"

thats right joey! you ARE beautiful! 

 

Posted by mel at 5:45 PM