{kate turns fourteen}

did i really just write that title?
somehow fourteen seems SO much older than thirteen.
and my mind can't help but to automatically do the math that if she goes to college at eighteen..
let's see, that's.. wow... four more years!

and something suddenly screams inside me that i'm not finished yet.
that there's still so much more to do, that i want to do, that i wish i had done!
and though every single person tells you they grow up way too fast you just never believe them..
you really don't.

when you're standing with bags under your eyes and spit up down your shirt,
thinking if you have to change one more poopy diaper you're just possibly gonna snap...
nope. you don't really believe in those moments that they'll be potty trained and feed themselves someday.
but. it's true.
and then suddenly you're that one saying to the moms of little ones -
"oh, don't worry. these years will be over before you know it..."
and they too look back with eyes that say, "shut up!" just like yours once did.

i think the older my kids get the more i grow to understand my own mom.
the things she's said to me through the years make more sense.
i get it. a little bit now.
the delicate dance of turning loose, but letting them know you hold them close. always.

there's something about that first child, isn't there?
not that you love them any more than any of your other children..
only, maybe your heart twists and tugs a bit harder with them because after all - they're the first!
the first at everything you've attempted with this parenting stuff -
so in many ways you kinda feel you're really forging through together, finding your way.

and what a gracious forging partner kate's been.

it's so fascinating having daughters.
so cool and yet, complex.
so much their very own person,
and yet, so much of you too.

it might sound funny, but i have to say one of the biggest discoveries in parenting, that's kinda surprised me..
has been how much i LIKE my kids!
not just love them, but like them. and enjoy being with them.

the friendship and fellowship and just feeling like, "i'd rather hang with you than anyone..."
so neat. and it's a prayer of mine daily that that type of relationship will always be there.
"keep us friends."

last week, before kate's birthday i asked what she wanted to do.
and she'd shrugged in typical kate fashion and said she didn't really care.
she's pretty laid back that way - not high maintenance at all and easy to please.

i told her it would be fun if the two of us could take a trip together...
i'd wanted to do that when she turned thirteen -
a special "coming of age" kind of trip,
but i'd just had a baby then.

her eyes suddenly lit and she said, "could we maybe go to cincinnati?"
and that's how the whole scheme started.
it was a wednesday night.
and friday morning we loaded up and headed out...
emma came too, because that's just the sweet big sister kate is.

we took our time traveling. stopping lots for snacks and wendy's frosty's,
and playing our music obnoxiously loud.

yes. i'm the one that pulls up next to you at the stop light,
causing you to look around wondering where on earth that loud boom boom boom is coming from...
only to discover it's the nerd mom in the MINI VAN!!!

kate likes to have a theme song for every trip we take, and she chose this one for this trip.
not that it has anything to do with anything at all about our trip.. only, we both love adele!

a bit of emma's photography when she grew bored on the trip

we didn't tell my parents we were coming, and late that night,
turned off the headlights as we pulled into the driveway...
sneaking around the side of the house, giggling, and trying to keep quiet.

i peeked in the back door and saw my dad sitting in the family room,
in his favorite brown chair where he always sits.
i stood looking in for a minute and though a smile was plastered on my face at the surprise we were about to give,
i felt tears mist over my eyes too.

kate and i hid around the corner as emma stood up on the step..
her little chin just barely peeking up over the bottom half of the door, through the window.
she did a soft tap tap tap on the glass...
i was about to tell her to knock louder, but i think her giggling got his attention.

i stepped around just in time to see my dad throw open the door,
his entire face just beaming, as emma jumped into his arms!!
then mom was coming out from the family room... "what..? oh, my goodness.. how..?"
and then just lots of hugs and smiles and mom saying over and over, "i just can't believe you guys are here...!!"

it was so fun. so,so!!
i've wanted to do that since we've moved.
just up and go home unexpectedly one day.
and when i asked kate what the best part of her birthday was she said,
"surprising mamaw and papaw. that was just pretty cool!"

yes, it was.

we enjoyed our weekend. just being with family and friends,
and as always, tried to pack in all we could, and eat at all our favorite places.
hitting sonic's happy hour and last minute, hurry before they close, runs for hot fudge cake's at frisch's.

and of course, some good old american shopping!!

trying on pretty things at anthropologie~ someday i'm going to live in that store!

we were going to head home on monday,
but found out my grandparents were coming down to camp at a nearby campground..
so the surprises continued, and we stayed and got to spend time with them~

i think it had been almost a year since we'd seen them last, so i was so glad it worked out.
i feel blessed to still have grandparents living, and that my kids have been able to know them!

around the campfire. singing jonny cash and bob dylan and burning marshmallows~ good times!

on our last night we had a party for kate.
i think a highlight was everyone spontaneously going around the room saying what they appreciated about her life..
there were tears and laughter. truly so special.

my heart just doubled as i listened...
to realize beyond the material gifts that had been given, this was the true gift. a family like this.
loving and affirming and challenging you. given you a vision for something bigger. and pointing you to Christ.

the trip back was a bit less hyper as we just talked quietly over our time -
and stopped at every target we knew between cincinnati and detroit!
goodbye to the familiar, no matter how often said, never comes easy.
i know it in my own heart. i see it in my girl's too...
as they've had to sort through this year of being away from family and the only home they've ever known.

but, on saturday, as kate and i drove over past our old house.
down through our old town, talking of how it felt at times we'd never left..
and others, that we'd been gone for years.

as i turned onto main street, and headed past the farmer's market that always set up every saturday, i said,

"do you ever wish we'd never moved?"

"sometimes." she answered. "but then i think of dana, and mac, and the other kids i've gotten to know..
and maybe they wouldn't have heard about Jesus had we not moved. and i think...
i think if that's the only reason God took us to Canada, then it's worth it."

and i couldn't say back to her all i wanted because of the huge lump in throat.
so i kept my eyes staring straight at the road in front of me and nodded as i whispered, "you're right."

and of all the things i could share with you about kate on her birthday THAT story sums her up best of all - -
she has a heart for others. period.

i think i said earlier that the biggest discovery in parenting was how much i enjoy my kids -
well, i'm going to change that and say it's been how much i learn from my kids. every single day.

kate. i'm so humbled by you. and it's just such a joy to be doing life together..
of all the girls in all the world, i thank Him everyday He put you in my home!

happy 14th sweet girl~

coming out of cincinnati we followed this truck for a long time...
i didn't see it at first, then, across the bottom, there it was.
summing up what i was feeling so perfectly.

yes. very much, "Thanks, Lord."

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

{maybe you're feeling a little wet too}

shayne came in early this morning to tell me goodbye as he headed out to a seven o'clock hockey game with ben..
i love my boy. but i'm afraid my baby wouldn't love any of us if we drug her to the ice rink that early. so we stayed back.

i'd been awake for awhile already though.
watching through the crack at the bottom of our old pull down shade,
as the shadow of the tree outside my window became more visible with the growing light.

"pray for me..." i whispered to him as he bent to kiss my forehead. "for my heart to calm."

i had just woke from a dead sleep with a million things racing through my mind-
like, "oh, no!  it's garbage day and i've got to get that bag of rotten potatoes in the food compost bin.."
and, "i wonder if i could appeal to my landlord about those kitchen cabinets again.."
{he said no to painting them, but good night is that yuck brown color driving me nuts!}
to, "i sure hope work keeps coming in for shayne's company, things have been so up in the air...
and what if.. and then.. and we might have to.."
and, "i've hardly spent any time with ben this week, and last night i was way too cross with him about his room.."   

and so my thoughts spun and my heart raced. and sometimes you just have those times of feeling that everything in life..
like, e.v.e.r.y s.i.n.g.l.e area needs some kind of attention from you -
from the little things to the not so little things, and you just can't possibly keep up and do it all.

and i felt while laying there the words, "hold on" come to mind.
in those times of feeling the most that i can't, is the times i need to cling hardest to Him.

shayne told me to go read this blog by a friend of ours. that it encouraged him and he thought it would me.
and as i did, i couldn't believe when i read the words~

"The monotony of low-grade suffering made it difficult to concentrate on anything, but in the distance, I could hear the drumming patter of background thoughts. “Hold on,” they seemed to say—and that was about all I could do."

and i wanted to just jump on here real quick and share the link..
i have a feeling i'm not the only one needing to be reminded of those words, "hold on."

"It feels spiritual to minimize our troubles...
But unfounded optimism is as damaging as unfounded pessimism because both are forms of dishonesty."

that part stood out to me too.

so, when life goes crazy, here's to clinging to the Only One who never does!!!

happy weekend friends~

{a song for my day}

we got back home late last night...
it seems no matter where i am, i miss the part of my family that isn't with me.
always that feeling of a piece missing.

it's hard not to wish the pieces were combined. like they used to be.
and though homesickness dims with time, 
the goodbye's never get easier.
feeling my mom's arms tighten around me, as she hugs me, and holds on extra long.

i think there will always be that part of me that aches for those i love when not with them.
i guess i just like being with the people i love. as i'm sure we all do.
and though glad to be back with the people i love HERE-
it seems to take my emotions a few days to settle and be okay with how things are now.

when i woke up this morning to the busyness of normal life again,
there was this urge to throw the blankets over my head and just hide away for a bit.

why is it when you go away, you would think you'd be come back ready to embrace reality..
instead, it's kinda like you have to slowly crank yourself back into the swing of things once more.

i'm sure being tired from driving all day yesterday and pms-y doesn't help either.

as i was cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast and just feeling my heart full of so many things..
emma started playing on the piano in the next room.
she doesn't really know how to play, but she likes trying to make up songs-
singing, usually whatever comes to her mind, and then hitting a few keys every now and then between.

and this morning her little voice sang out in it's squeaky, high pitched tone..

"Jesus, would you fix me. Jesus, would you fix me. Jesus, just fix me everywhere..."

i paused at the sink and looked over at her.
with her head pointed up, eyes closed.
singing with every ounce of seriousness and conviction her little six year old body possessed.

and my eyes rimmed with tears.
how perfectly her childish, made up song expressed the need of my heart.
to simply gather up all the pieces of life i was struggling with and bring them to Him.
the Only One where true wholeness is found~
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." ps.147:3

yes. Jesus, just fix me everywhere!

as i read over that sentence it strikes me that the key is in the fixing of ME.
not fixing everything. fixing my circumstances. changing the situation.
the changing needs to happen in me.

i think i'm gonna be humming emma's little song all day.
and probably tomorrow and the next and the next too.

"when we need peace – we only need to say yes To God’s purposes."

an old picture, breaking the first two rules of photography i'm sure, of being over exposed and feet chopped off.. 
but one that always speaks to me of surrender and learning to let go. of trusting.
the expression i desire my heart to live out!

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

{impulsive}

last minute road trip for kate's birthday had us showing up at my parents door friday night..
totally surprising them.

so fun.
so.good.to.be home.

thinking tonight, and reminded with being here~
of the importance of giving my kids the freedom to GO..
if that's what God has for them someday.
but also, making home the kind of place they don't "want" to leave.
{where there's not a, "i'm outta here the second i'm old enough" kind of attitude.. ya know what i mean?}
a place of rest and unconditional acceptance.
where you feel pulled in and loved on, but also pushed out to learn to lean on the Lord.
~ thanks for that mom & dad.

more on our crazy impulsive trip soon.
happy monday.

and.. happy canadian thanksgiving.
so, so much to be grateful for.

"what if you woke up tomorrow with only those things you gave thanks for today?"

gulp. now that's a thought!!

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

{a little bit of fall_ing}

so, october has arrived and flung it's colors in place of summer..
reminding us all over again why we always fall in love with this season.

her first week certainly did not disappoint with glorious sunny days.
and brisk nights that made us pile on extra blankets~
but, of course, never close the windows.

there's just something about that chilly leave scented autumn air stealing through the windows at night that is so cozy, isn't there?

the little girls and i went for a walk in the woods one afternoon.
and in true shanda-esque form we explored through nature, and found all kinds of beauty.
















then, we brought some of the beauty inside to add a little fallish feel to the house~



emma and i hot glued these leaves onto black construction paper and put them in a frame.




the extra leaves went into a jar.



this leaf wreath below we made out of paper leaves...
which turned out looking a bit like a poinsettia.
but that's okay. we can just keep it out till christmas then.



using a book page background for the poinsettia leaves reminded me of this..
a few wks ago when company was coming, a empty picture frame was bugging me.
so i just stuffed some book pages in and problem solved!



which, by the way, book pages are my new favorite thing right now.
did you see this? love.
i'm working on wallpapering one of kate's walls in pages.
that's alot of books, dude!  

this tin thingy {since i don't know what to call it}
came from a broken sign that i used to put on my patio each fall..
i was going to throw it away but thought maybe i could do something with it.
last year i put it with the pumpkins and such on the mantle, and this..
just a piece of cardboard in a frame with the "tin thingy "shoved in the sides!

i love that about decorating.
that there's no rules or rhyme or reason.
it can be just cause you thought it would be nice to hot glue some leaves on construction paper with your girl!

and .. if you could sum up your favorite part of fall, what would it be?


what's better than a apple a day? how about two!

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

{about those teenage girls}

below is an entry i wrote months ago, just in the little notebook journal i keep by my bed..
and the pictures of kate are from back in the summer sometime, in a canola field~
i never knew canola oil came from such a pretty plant.
there was just field upon field of them around here.

journal entry from summer::

i sit on the bed in her room and look down at her long skinny legs drawn up tight to her chin. her head is down.
i can't see her face. but i know there are tears.
tears that come from hurt and confusion. from insecurity.
from, just because she's thirteen.
and thirteen can be hard like that.
you can cry for no reason at all.

and we sit in silence for moments long.
and i sigh a few times. and wonder after the million words swirling round my head.
words that i could say, and maybe i should.
and how i want to get it right and not mess it all up.
i think of scripture i could give. inspiration to offer.

instead. i find myself slipping down on the floor beside her.
my shoulder brushes hers and i say quietly, "i understand."

and then we sit some more.
she and i. the two.
only this time, it's different.
not me overhead, looking down.
but right by her side.

and i feel it so strongly. just then.
her trying to figure out this thing of womanhood.
me, trying to figure it out as well.
us together. on this journey.

and i realize there will be times along the way..
when she doesn't need the great lectures.
the speeches and scripture verses quoted.
the reminders of God's bigger purpose...

no. sometimes she.just.needs.me.
silent.
beside her.
letting her know i get it. i'm in this thing with her.

not as the wise teacher i used to think i'd be, before i had kids.
but simply, learning as i go. as we go.
figuring it out one grace paved step at a time.

crazy girl emotions and all!

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

{baby girl and her cupcake and a few other things}

loved when i spotted this

last weekend we celebrated reese & emma's birthdays with a big party~
inviting all the families that have been so warm and welcoming to us in this last year
{can you believe it's almost been a whole year that we've been here now!}
wow.
i was talking to my mom tonight on the phone,
and she told me my dad was outside building a fire for them to roast some marshmallows later...

"when i look out and see that fire," she said, "it reminds me of this time last year..
when we sat around a fire out there with you and shayne, and you told us you were moving to canada..."

gulp.
how i miss them.

the birthday party for the girls made me miss them extra hard...
it felt weird to celebrate reese's first birthday without them.
birthday's in general are always big in our family.

but. grateful for those here who have embraced not only us, but our kids as well.
and my homesickness was softened some by the packed house and fun of the night.

it was funny how the men gravitated to one room, the women to another.. and the same with the boys and girls in the basement. the men said they were scared to join our conversation. what!

we had 16 adults and something like 22 kids..
give or take the occasional neighborhood kid that was picked up along the way!

i wasn't going to decorate much.
but the night before kate and i got to watching a movie -
and talking of fun party ideas.
so.. we decided to put together a few. {until 4 in the morning!}
nothing fancy. just lots of pink~
and some cupcakes all the kids help ice that looked a little more like the icing bag pooped the icing out,
verses flowing smoothly into beautiful stars and fluffy balls!

marshmallows dipped in chocolate were fast and easy to make, and a big hit with the kids

oreo pops

and baby girl loved her cupcake.

she loved it so much she wanted to eat the plate!

..........

i think fall has officially moved in up here!

i'm never overly enthusiastic about it at first.. but eventually, it grows on me!

in honor of fall i darkened my hair {iow~i went to a new hairdresser!}:/ 
it's now a mousy brown with blonde highlights, though you can't see it well from the pic. it is.
i'm already missing my summer whiter blonde, but like i said...
i'm trying to embrace the season, and WARMTH is something i'm going to like alot of before too long!

the timer on the bread machine just went off.
mmm. love the smell of fresh, warm bread wafting through the house.
cozy.

hello october!

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

 

 

 

{my laundry room}

i read once that every blogger has to come to a point of defining what their blog will be about.

which made me think. gee. i wish i had one of those nice cooking blogs.
where i just talk about how to roast a chicken or boil eggs properly.

or a decorating blog. simply showing pictures of beautiful fluffy things {all in white},
which seems to be all the rage now.

instead. i have a blog about life. my life.
which isn't anything overly super cool or extraordinary.

i've learned {hopefully.workingonit} to blog just for myself. if that makes sense?
to write as if talking to friends, and view this place as simply one to record life lessons.
and yet, there are times when even open book me hesitates to record.
when i don't want anyone to see my ugly side, for fear they'll run away screaming..
when trying to write down and process what God's working over in my life might come out just a bit too messy.
and weird, and not coated in all the "spiritual" sounding things it should~

when sometimes. i just want to say, "life kinda sorta sucks today." and not feel i have to tag on the disclaimer,
"BUT! there's so much to be thankful for!"

maybe some just turned and ran away just then. but, that's okay.
if anything, i'm tired of the try hard life of pleasing others, and ready to drop the walls and just get real.
dirty laundry? yeah. maybe sometimes.
but ya know what, girlfriends.. dirty laundry is part of life.
trust me. you'll never see my dirtiest. and i trust i won't see yours.
there's boundaries and some things only meant to be shared between us and God.
but i'm done with closing the door all the time on my laundry room before i let a friend through the front door~
do you get what i mean?

especially in the online world.
we've become so airy fairy with our lives that some are afraid to ever admit to having a bad day~
and sure. online isn't exactly the "real world." i get that.
but the women on the other side of this screen are certainly living in the real world, same as me.
and in most real worlds, bad days {weeks.months.years} happen.
and i want to allow others the freedom to admit when life isn't all, praise Jesus and kumbaya. with no disclaimers necessary.

to works toward being the kind of christian that lets others breathe a bit easier when they're around me~

and. "you breathe different in a room when you know it’s not about the good you can accomplish but about the grace you can accept."

at times though, when i'm not necessarily feeling "on," i tend to hunker down and hide.
from those closest to me, to of course, blogging about it.~

but as i discovered once again this week.. satan likes it when i hunker and hide.
he wants me to. he knows he's got me then.
out of reach from those that God might use to encourage my heart, uplift and point me back to Him.
and as hard as it might be to stand and allow my faults to be seen full on, i know ultimately, that's what i need~
to be reminded. no, Satan. you're wrong. i'm not alone in this one.

and though different people and different journeys, people and journey's just the same~
hopefully all striving towards the same finish line. the finish line of "well done," when someday, our eyes meet His.
for now. some may walk. some may sprint. some may limp along. but we're all going to eventually get there.
BY HIS GRACE. we're all going to eventually get there.~

and yeah. maybe with a bit of dirty laundry every now and then flying all over the place in the process!

 

-------

 

and just because this made me laugh out loud when i saw it the other day...

miss. teen u.s.a 1972 & first runnerup, mary a. grabavoy.

do you think it's obvious who won?

 

off now to ben's hockey game, which let me tell ya.. are pretty entertaining to watch!
it's like football, only on skates.
and ben hasn't quite mastered the whole stopping part yet!!

 

have a great day.

 

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

 

{she's one}

a look back...

her birthday was yesterday.
and you know what...
i didn't even realize!
i totally thought it was the 21st!!! :/

kate said to me last night,

"i thought she was born on the 20th?"

"no. i'm pretty sure it's the 21st..."

but then i had this feeling.
that sent me peeking at the birth certificate.
and even when i saw the 20th right there in bold black print..
i still thought, "oh, they must have put it down wrong!"

i felt so awful. i cried.

but. today we just completely played it cool and have happy birthdayed her to death.
and i really don't think she has a clue.

i told kate that maybe we'll just tell her she was born on the 20/21st...
and depending on which day has the best weather each year, she can decide which to celebrate it!!

oh.dear.
regardless.
i still feel bad.
i'm grateful there's many things our kids won't remember we did "wrong" when they were growing up...
thank you, sweet grace!

which is exactly what comes to mind each time i think of my baby girl~
the grace that carried me through years of wanting another child and not being able to.
of two miscarriages back to back.
of learning her tiny life was tucked inside mine.
and then.. the days of thinking it no longer was.

many of you journeyed all that with me, and clothed me in your prayers.
i'm sure you remember her story well.

it's one i honestly, almost every day, think of.
when i hear her sing songy voice early in the morning,
and go and push open the door.
peering in around the corner at first, unseen to her.
and i stand for a bit. just watching her...

and in those moments, often, it all rushes in~

the day the sonogram screen was dark. empty.
and we heard the words, "i'm sorry. but this pregnancy has terminated itself..."
and i lay there with tears streaming out the sides of my eyes and down into my ears.
going home in a hopelessness and trying to make sense of a God that would give something,
only to take it away.
and the darkness that set in. and the most intense time ever in my life of wanting to give up on my faith.
of feeling it was all too hard. ~ and yet. yet in it all. feeling held. and carried. and calmed.

and yes. if you read my blog back then you know how it goes...
that we went back in for a follow up ultrasound, before a scheduled d&c,
and laying on that same table where i felt my faith so shaken days before -
became the same place where my faith strengthened and was given sight...
literally. as yet another blank empty screen suddenly flashed a tiny, fuzzy figure.
and there she was. with that little fist in the air as if to say, "i'm still here, mom..."
and yes. again. there were tears.

we cry alot as moms, don't we.
from finding out there's another life that will have a birth day..
to stupid things we do, like forgetting the actual date a year later!!
but these little people so fill our hearts in every way,
and i guess it's true that often, there's no where else for those emotions to go but out our eyes.

it doesn't take long each morning, until she spots me peeking round.
then. her entire face erupts in that contagious smile.
and now. "mum.. mum.. mum..." and lifts her arms up big for me to get her.

sometimes. when i walk in and scoop her up i whisper close to her cheek~ 
"and they told me you were gone!"

and she pushes away, because she really just wants to play,
and as i set her down and she takes off, i watch her go and think to myself - -
"but how glad i am that you weren't."

how glad i am that He let me keep you!
little package of so much joy.
what a gift you are to me and daddy. and ben, and kate, and emma too!
a life we love and feel humbled to have been entrusted with.

happy 1st birthday to our megan reese {child of light with an enthusiasm for LIFE!! ~the meaning of her name fits her well!} 

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber

{fall into his arms}

suddenly, she's just walking everywhere now!
crazy.
i know everyone always says the same thing...
but.
where.does.the.time.go?

i never got it when the kids were small when people would say that.
i'd just stare at them through baggy, sleep deprived eyes and fight the urge to knock em up side the head.

and now. fourth one in,  i think i'm finally getting it.
that it doesn't last forever.
the sleepless nights,
and searching for pacifiers that magically disappear.
trying to find sippy cups that really don't leak,
and chopping food in itty bitty tiny pieces.
getting to church on a sunday morning with spit up stains down your shirt,
and those diaper blowouts that leave you contemplating tossing all the clothes straight into the garbage can.
but, as my mom used to say, "no kid ever goes to their wedding day not potty trained!"
eventually. it all happens.
less dependance on us. more independence in who they are.

it's what we do as parents, right.
teach them how to stand on their own.
how to walk.
little by little.
each and every day...

and i love her face when her daddy kneels down and holds out his hands to her.
she stands. thinking for a second. taking one, then two, still shaky steps, and then...
puts it in full gear and flies to him. arms straight up. face all lit.

as she gets closer. she just FALLS forward.
right into his arms.

and every time i see it. e.v.e.r.y.t.i.m.e.
i get this very strong sense that that's exactly how my heavenly Father wants me coming to Him.~

it's her birthday in a few days..
so we're kinda just celebrating her all.week.long.

happy monday from a rainy fall day in canada.
peach cobbler in the oven if anyone wants to stop in!

·´¸.·¨) ¸.·¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber