~Daddy/Daughter Dance~

The house is quiet now, however, just seconds ago, it was filled with excitement. Lauren and Daddy just left on their first date, the Daddy/Daughter Dance at our church. They have been planning this for weeks. Today, I picked Lauren up from preschool and we headed to the mall to pick out her "Belle" Dress that she wanted to wear. We then went home and Lauren excitedly chattered about her dance with her Prince...She put on her new dress, slipped on her ballet shoes, and then we headed to the bathroom counter. I curled Laurens hair and added yellow butterfly clips, Lauren applied "mommy's makeup" to her eyes (just like mommy does to the tee) We then sat on our bed and Lauren looked through my jewelry box oohing and ahhing. We found the necklace that was perfect for her tonight and it happened to be the necklace mommy wore on mommy and daddy's wedding day!

Daddy then came home and brought Lauren a beautiful corsage made of baby white roses. Lauren placed this on ever so delicately and her smile showed how very special she was feeling tonight. Then Daddy opened the car door for Lauren and off they went to the Ball. Oh, to be a fly on the wall tonight and watch them dance and laugh together! What an amazing dream come true...

Thank You Peoria Fire Department!

Last night Lauren got a behind-the-scenes look at our fire department,but she was not thrilled about it to say the least. After work last night, I went to pick Lauren up from my mom's. I put Lauren in her carseat and as I was saying my goodbyes to my mom, Lauren started crying! I looked in the car and she held her finger up to show me that she had put a small washer part (I have no idea why this was in my car) on her ring finger and it was STUCK! Mom and I quickly brought her in the house, tried soapy water, vaseline,ice....nothing was working at getting this thing off! I called Dan who was coming home from a long day at work as well. Mom had the great idea to go to the fire deparment, so off Dan, Lauren, and I went to the fire house down the street from us. The firemen tried several different tools and were unable to break the washer piece...so another fireman stepped in, lubed up her finger and twisted and pulled until is was finally off! whew!! He did such a great job, there was not even a cut on her finger! Lauren was crying throughout the process, but as soon as it was off she stopped and smiled! She left with a fireman's hat on and a stuffed puppy they had given her. Thank you Peoria Firemen!! You are heroes for sure!

Fun (and yummy!) Blog!

The Pioneer Woman

I found myself watching the Food NetworK" today, which I really rarely do. However, I just loved this woman known as the "The Pioner Woman". I think I connected with her instantly because if I could live more than one life, I would live my other life as a cowgirl on a ranch. :) When she mentioned she was a blogger, I had to check this out! To my bloggy friends, you will love this! :)

PS: The spicy Dr. Pepper%^ pulled pork looks amazing!

Happy New Year!

I have been pondering what my "word of the year" was going to be for 2012. The last couple of days I have had different words in the back of my mind, but it was not until this morning at church that I felt one word was solidified in my heart.

My Word of the Year: Fearless

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2Timothy 1:7

"Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." 1 Peter 3:13-14

Definition of fearless - oblivious of dangers or perils or calmly resolute in facing them.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”~Corrie Ten Boom

It is amazing how much fear can paralyze. In this day, it is easy for fear to creep in. However, I do not want to live with fear or anxiety of the unknown. I don't want to teach my daughter this either. From the simple actions of being afraid to look silly in public to flat out saying 'No' to God due to fearing the consequences or discomfort it may bring, fear is not something I want in my life anymore. I want to live fearless this year. I want to say Yes to God no matter what.

While researching the word Fearless, I came across a book that I will have to read next, it is titled, "Fearless" of course. :)

Merry Christmas

Blessed beyond words...Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Oasis Mini-Meet!

Polar Express 2011

We had a magical time at the Polar Express again this year and it was doubly fun since Lauren's best friend Emma and her mommy were able to join us! The girls had an absolute blast together and we have all decided to make this an annual tradition!

KBM

I just returned from having coffee with one of the giants in my life. Dwight Robertson is the founder of Kingdom Building Ministries. He and his wife were in town and what a blessing to be able to sit across the table and hear the amazing God-stories they were able to share that they are seeing happen globally. I felt driven to post their website and welcome any of you who know a young person who would like to dig deeper in their relationship with God to check out their mission camps/trips. I went on a mission trip with KBM at age 20 and it changed my life forever. This is a God-driven ministry filled with people of integrity. I can already foresee Lauren attending one of their camps someday. Their link is below:


Kingdom Building Ministries

Best Portrait's Ever!

Lauren's preschool class was talking about things they hear and see this past week. During art center she was asked to draw things she likes to hear at home. She drew the following...

Halloween Fun!

Last weekend Lauren went to her first official Halloween Party and had soo much fun dressing up with her friends! Then, last night Grandma put on an awesome halloween party with fun baskets of spooky treats and we enjoyed her awesome homemade chili, then we were off to our neighborhood for trick-or-treating. As we were walking house to house, Lauren said numerous times, while holding my hand, "I love trick or treating with you mommy and daddy, this is so fun!" This Snow White warms my heart with her heart of gold...

Family Portrait's 2011

This past week we have enjoyed taking a little break together as a family during Dan's fall break. One of the things we did was met up with Suz Hanson for our annual picture fun. It was good to see Suz as always, as we walked and talked, it really amazed me that a whole year had gone by already. I wanted to share how awesome Suz is and if anyone lives locally, I definitely recommend her for any pictures you need. She is a teacher by profession, but has a passion for photography and she does a great job! (proof:see the picture of both dog AND toddler looking in the camera together at the same time!) :)

FALLing more in love everyday...

Fall is finally here and Lauren was so excited to finally break out her school cardigan that I had to catch the morning on film. Braids have also been a big request from her, so I have been trying my hand at braiding for the first time. This day I had braved the double braid. It is just more and more fun everyday being Lauren's mommy. I keep telling myself I really need to make more time to catch these precious days on my blog. So, While daddy and Lauren take a nap, I am finally getting a post in!

Lauren is doing well in preschool after a few bumpy first weeks. Her second day of school she cried and screamed with her arms outstretched to me when I left. I bawled all the way to work and prayed all day as to whether I was doing the right thing or not. Each day got a little better from there and now she happily walks into class and has lots of fun making new friends and learning new things. Parenting is an amazing fine balance of so many decisions. I'm so thankful for my relationship with God. I cannot imagine trying to do this without His guidance.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Fall season! It is just beautiful here in Arizona and we are looking forward to many walks and lots of time outside! Lauren plans to be "Snow White" for halloween.

To all my bloggy friends, I wanted to let you know how much you still mean to me.Although we may not post as much as we used to, it's funny, if I've had a stressful day, I find myself going to all your blogs to see any updates and I realize that this has become a coping skill of mine that I must have picked up after all those years of waiting together. You are my comfort zone. :)

Preschool Day One!!

Lauren had a great first day at Preschool! Her teacher's name is Ms. Stolinski and she made a new friend "Sara" who she played with on the playground! I couldn't believe how grown up she looked in her uniform and backpack! When I came to pick her up, she ran to me with a big smile and gave me a big hug and said she had lots of fun! We then went out of the classroom and as we walked down the hallway side by side, she excitedly told me all about her first day. She makes me smile like noone else... :)

Lauren's 4th Birthday!

Our little girl is 4! We celebrated by going to the Children's Museum on her birthday and had a blast with just the 3 of us running through four stories of fun! We painted castles, ran through the "noodle forest", and laughed and laughed together. The next day we had her big party at the gymnastic's gym and the kid's got to swing on the trapeze, go through a really awesome obstacle course, and had so much fun together! Lauren talked about her party for days, what she liked most was having all her favorite people at one place!