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Take time to Look Up!
Happy Fall, Ya’ll! Fall and winter are my happy places 😊. I love the weather, the clothes, the feelings… I could go all day, but I know that most people don’t share my deep love for these seasons, so I won’t drag it out 😂. Seasons of Life. Some come and go, some come to stay. It is all in how we choose to welcome them, isn’t it? The picture above is my niece during our first visit to Build-a-Bear. I love this picture, and when I say love, I am over the moon in love with this picture. Let me tell you why. First, the awe and wonder in…
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Dot. Dot. Dot.
Today is an exciting writing day for me. It is a day known around the world, mostly among teachers and children book lovers, it is International DOT Day! A reminder that EVERYONE has the opportunity to “Make your mark!” This day originated from Peter H. Reynolds’ book, “The Dot.” One of my personal favorite books, and also one of my favorite children’s authors. (link to more about this at the bottom of today’s post.) “Trust in your abilities by being brave enough to ‘make your mark,’ it begins with a small dot.” “Each day is a NEW day – a blank page – a chance to make it the BEST…
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Those Who Make Our Lives GRAND!
Grandparents. Special older influences. The people that make you think, make you smile, make you slow down for a while. Front porch visits, a pack of nabs, a Pepsi, an episode of the Andy Griffith Show. This coming Sunday we celebrate and honor, these very special people. And as I have experienced as a child, and as a Mommy and Aunt, I love children’s art no matter the occasion, I want to slow down and reflect on what really is so GRAND about the investments they make! GUIDE with grace: The beauty of grandparents guidance is that they have experience. In the eyes of a child, it seems like they…
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Where Has All The Clapping Gone?
Only a little while ago we were seeing reports of people opening their windows during the hospital shift changes. Hundreds, millions of people clapping, whistling, making music. All for the work that our healthcare workers, our first responders, our medical researchers were doing. What in the world made us go from celebrating to being severely critical? I am honestly beyond appalled. Do you feel the “I am about to snap” feeling? Well, you would be correct. The past two weeks I have had a few normal doctors appointments, simple routine check-ups. And I have never seen a shortage of staff like there is right now. It’s discouraging to see. Because…
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Heart of Urgency
As I mentioned last week, my niece and nephew were with us for almost a week, for what we like to call Camp Palmer Pines Jr. We took a little journey to the Billy Graham Library Teddy Bear Tea, and had fun staying in a hotel, with a tv in the bathroom mirror, I might add 😂 (The other TVs are no longer fascinating 😊) After our little adventure, we had some “taking it easy” time at home. Each summer we have, what my nephew named, “Bible School.” Just 30 to 45 minutes of talking about Jesus and God’s Word, which we repeat, “The Bible is the MOST important book…
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Teddy Bear, Tea or Hot Chocolate?
Oh the blessing of being an aunt ☺️ I come to you today a little sleepy, I must admit. But with many memories made over the past five days. Recently I received an email from the Billy Graham Library, letting me know that they would be having their Teddy Bear Tea this past weekend. It just so happened that my niece and nephew would be staying with us for their “summer camp,” as they do for about a week each summer. As I read on, I realized it would be my niece’s last year to go. And a big plus, was now my nephew could go and my parents and…
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Celebrate? Now? How?
As I walked back into our house, into complete silence, I wept and couldn’t catch my breath. I just remember thinking, “when will I be able to come back up for air? This hurts so bad!” As I crawled into the bed that I now couldn’t remember her not being beside me in, I wrapped myself in every blanket that was hers and cried and breathed, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” A deep breath in and breath out, Jesus. Repeated until my heart rate was somewhat normal. Although my head felt as if it was going to explode. I would be lying if I said this was a one time thing. The…
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Thoughts of a Broken Mommy
I want to take you on a trip today, one that I find not many will allow me to talk about. One that I am literally aching to tell the world is okay to talk about, ask me about, and is making the world of grieving parents feel as if they are insane. So if you are one of these parents, let me be clear, you are not alone, and you are not insane. I may not know you, but we are together in this journey called life. Keep sharing your story, your child’s name, their story, the world need you and them! Let me take you on a trip,…
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Journey down the Road of Remember…
Last week I left you with the question, what will be remembered of you? This week, I would like to share some of the consistent experiences, moments, and people I have had in my life. The following have influenced me in my desire to leave a “road to remember:” First, would be handwritten notes! This seems to be more and more rare. The picture today is of my Paw-Paw’s handwriting. When I started my business, I wanted to have a statement to display, to explain the purpose of my shop and the short story of the name of shop. My Paw-Paw worked and worked on this, I can’t even explain…
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What Will They Remember?
Today, I can’t quite describe my state of reflection, but I am going to try… Stories, history, a hunger to know more has always been a deep longing for me. I love to learn period. But also for the purpose of looking at the experiences of the past, gathering and applying lessons that we can improve upon, and passing on knowledge, heritage, culture, etc. So my reflecting today is this: What will I leave as a legacy? What will they remember? A few reasons why: I recently was listening to a podcast, and this was the “talking point.” The man being interviewed has written a book about being his brother’s…
