10th Anniversary and Happy Birthday, Annalee!

It's 6 a.m. and I can't sleep.  And it took me forever to fall asleep.  And I woke  up a lot in the 6 hours I was in my bed.  You know, kinda like the night before Christmas when you were a kid.  Or, in this case, as an adult, the night before a big trip.  We leave in an hour for Hawaii...it's our 10th anniversary trip that Lee promised me he'd take me on when we first got married.  Can't believe it's finally here!  But, fulfilling Murphy's Law, something has already gone wrong.  We dropped off the boys to stay with Luke & Lindsy last night around bedtime (and the girls are staying with Tim & Terri), and Dawson, who has been sick ONCE in his 13 months of life, threw up all over Lindsy's entry way.  I felt horrible.  He had had a fever since about 2, but is also teething; so with that being his only symptom (up until that moment), I honestly didn't think he was sick.  Poor baby.  And poor Lindsy.

We had Annalee's birthday party last week...I can't believe she's 6!!!!  Here are my favorite pics of her from over the years...

4 months

1 year

2 years

3 years

first time at the beach (San Diego) - 4 years

5 years

last weekend at the Ft. Worth Zoo - 6 years 3 days

on her birthday

party!

On raising children in this world: been meaning to share this for a while

I have been trying my best since June 22, 2005 (Annalee's birthday) to raise her (and now her siblings) in a way that would honor God and give Him glory, and hopefully be a light in this dark world.  A lot of you who read this blog are on this parenting journey with me, and so I just wanted to share with you the books on parenting that I've read over the years that I'm a huge fan of...in case you're interested in reading any of them.

this is actually a series, beginning with Prep for Parenting and going on through the teen years

 

the one I'm currently reading...fabulous!!

next on my list:

 

One more thing I'd like to share with you is a blog called Clover Lane I read on occasion, although as a mother of 5, the author doesn't post very often (imagine that).  I find that I relate to her, her life, and her personality (which you can read more about in the "about me" section of her blog).  I don't agree whole-heartedly with everything she writes, but most of it I love; especially her most recent post, written back in March, about raising girls in this God-forsaken country that has changed so much (for the worse) just since we were little girls.  She puts into words so many things I agree with, that I feel like I could explode every time I read it (which is probably up to a dozen times by now), because I'm terrible at articulating my own thoughts but really good at recognizing them when I see them written out by someone else who does have that gift.  Anyway, if you want to know how I feel about this subject, read her most recent post, titled What About Our Girls? Childhood Cut Short. For that matter, she has a lot of posts that deal with the variety of issues and topics within motherhood and family life...just check out her sidebar for the most popular posts.

I hope you feel encouraged.