Filler Up!

Since my surgery I have promised Abigail "as soon as I'm doing better and up to it I'm taking you on a date- just you and me!" Well, last night I took her on our "Mommy/Daughter" date. I think I turned a corner in my recovery about 3 days ago and have had a lot more energy so I decided to take the plunge and fill up my oldest gal's emotional tank. She's been talking about it for weeks now and really looking forward to her time with just me. I've been asking her where she wanted to go, what she wanted to do, etc. She told me she wanted to go somewhere outside, to dress up a little bit, watch the stars, and talk. Is she a girlie girl or what! So...she picked out our clothes, our jewelry (yes, she wanted us to coordinate!), the cd in the car, and I picked the place!

Before we left I obviously had to tell little sister that Abigail and I were going to "run an errand" or she'd be freaked out that we just disappeared for several hours. Well, uh, that didn't go so well! CROCODILE tears streamed down her face accompanied by, "I want to go with Mommy!!!!" So...shift gears and try to make her think her time is coming to be alone with mommy. Try telling that to a five year old while you're getting all dressed up with big sister! All was still not well with miss little bit when I told daddy-o that HE HAD to take Audrey An out on a date that night, too. It wasn't good enough for me to tell her, but when DADDY asked her out...let's just say her dimples reappeared!

I took Abby to a little Cafe I had in mind, and it was locked up tighter than a drum when we arrived! Nothing like getting your little girl's hopes up, and then don't get to go there! I called a friend who lived in the area and she suggested a place...she saved the day! We walked in and some great desserts greeted us at the front door. I asked to be seated outside by the river, and they agreed. Abby was smiling ear to ear the entire time- so precious. She decided on chocolate cake (YES...my kind of girl!), and they brought out a HUGE piece with chocolate dipped strawberries. Can we say yummo?? We sat and chatted for awhile then went to a couple of shops. As soon as we got into the car she asked if we could go look at the stars. I opened up the sunroof and we counted stars for awhile. You would have thought I had given her a million dollars that nite. I was reminded of a valuable lesson last night about my sweet gal.  Fill up her emotional tank and make her feel like a princess and she's good to go for awhile (aren't we all like that!). This is my child who wanted to sit out on the porch each nite last week on a family vacation with me and snuggles up with me and says, "I feel so loved when we do this." Abs is definitely my "quality time" girl!

I love you, sweet Abigail. I think you're beautiful on the inside and outside!!!  Now, off to plan our next date!

first ramblings

Wow, the past month has been quite a ride for me and my peeps. It started out with the anniversary of the death of my mother-in-law, then God answering a several month prayer request with a "no", finishing up school for the girls, deciding on schooling for next year, grieving a death of my best friend's stillborn child, scheduling surgery for me, recovering physically and emotionally from surgery, and praying/processing some major life decisions with David.

David and I are exhausted physically, emotionally & spiritually to be quite honest. Our faith in God is the only stable thing we have to cling, and for that I am extremely grateful! I hate for my first post in a new blog to be kind of a downer, but the fact is that life is sometimes really hard, and that's what we've experienced these past few weeks.

Our bright lights in the midst of the trials are our two precious blessings, Abigail & Audrey An. They both are truly such gifts from the Lord, and they have been troopers as they observed mommy and daddy work through some difficult situations. My prayer is that they know without hesitation that mommy and daddy know where their strength, peace & guidance comes. I'm so thankful for a husband who loves the Lord and seeks to lead his family in the ways God desires him to lead.

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed...In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:3,9