The Truth Is...

The truth is, that in a certain light her hair looks a delightful shade of red.

The truth is, that on any given Thursday she can be found wearing an evening dress in the middle of the afternoon.

The truth is, every day her legs form a new roll that make them even more scrumptious than the day before.

The truth is that even though it drives me crazy, she ends up on the counter whenever I'm cooking and when I look back at  the pictures, I love it and I know I'll miss it one day.

The truth is that when the light is right, it does pretty to things in my house.
Like this,

and this,

and this.

The truth is her eyes are captivating.

The truth is, her imagination is contagious.

The truth is, I took a dozen pictures of these flowers, even though both girls were crying and my husband was hungry for dinner.

The truth is...it's time for bed.
Grace and Peace
And lots of pictures

xxx

I'm Singing!

Every one of these pictures are admittedly poor quality...
We had a moment the other day though, when I just had to grab the camera and start clicking.  We have this mysterious cable that comes out of the floor in the dinning room.  Even through the crawling, curious years, I managed to steer the Little away from it for the most part. Just this week she found it, and much to my delight, it inspired her musical debut...Man, I wish I could have found the video camera, b/c believe me, this post would be so much better if it had sound.

Her song went like this...JESUS! JE-SUS! JEE-HE-SUS!  Followed by uncontrollable giggling.

This is the start... Standing still, but singing really loudly "JESUS"

She's started to feel it now...giving it a little hand to the side!


Now she's got attitude! Hand on the hip.."JESUS!"


Watch out...she's getting ready...


WOOOOOO!  The head toss!  Here it comes...


She knows I'm watching now..."JEE-HEE-SUS!"



Cue the uncontrollable giggling.
Man I love this child.  She is hysterical.
Sing at the top your lungs today.
It is fun.

Grace and Peace
xxx

Sleepy Littlest

I just unloaded more pictures then I care to discuss at this late hour that I should be sleeping.  So here is a picture of our  MaggieBell, sleeping like a baby, to tide Cousin Jill over until I have time to sit down and blog some more.  Please don't tell anyone, but every morning when I wake, she is sleeping next to me, MaggieBell, not Cousin Jill.  I don't know how this happens.  She starts out in her own bed.  I always plan on putting her back, but she is just so cozy.  She squeaks in her sleep, then smacks her lips together a couple of times, stretches with both fists up above her head, and I cave.
Don't judge me ...she'll stop sleeping with  me when she leaves for college and I think I'm okay with that.



Good night Blogland...here's to sleeping like a baby, or sleeping with your baby, or finally putting her back in her cradle!

Grace and Peace

The Snail and The Whale

"She gazed at the sky, the sea, the land,
The waves and the caves and the golden sand,
She gazed and gazed amazed by it all,
And said to the whale, I feel so small"

~The Snail from The Snail and The Whale

My Little has wanted to read that book several nights in a row.  All day long I hear the stanza above in my head and then I quote it over and over to my girls. I think it is because this week in particular, I know just how that snail feels.

I do feel small, sometimes very small.
So small when I think about the greatness of God.  How he can fade winter into spring before our very eyes, and He can make  the earth tremble, and stir oceans, and yet in all that Greatness He still has time to think of me.
He gave me this man.
This man who sacrifices so much to be with me...to take care of me and his little ladies.  He works tirelessly for us.  Five weeks running, of him running, to this state, then that state, ends tonight.  His flight gets in late.
Midnight can't come fast enough.

"I must not fail
said the tiny snail..."
I love that book.  I totally get where that little snail is coming from.

Here's to midnight.

Grace and Peace
xxx

FYI

These pics are from Williamsburg VA.  It is so pretty there, plus on any given day you can a conversation with a man who thinks he is George Washington, see a horse drawn carriage, or talk with a woman trying to her best to speak with a British accent to my husband, who really does have a British accent.  Plus, they have the best chocolate shop in Merchant's Square.  It is my favorite place to go.  Come visit us, we'll take you there!

Anxious

I have taken pictures of these flowers every year since we have lived here...

My sister says the crocus get anxious for spring.
 I do too.
Virginia is a weird place.  One day feels like a snow storm from the west could blow our way at any minute.  The next day finds us sporting short sleeves and laying our blanket out in the back for nap time.
  It keeps you guessing...so does she.

As I carefully watch the Little's developmental process unfold (when I throw around words like "developmental", does it make you laugh...remember this post, you know how carefully I keep track of these things).  I have noticed that although her personality might be a mirror image of mine,  her talents may come directly from her Dad.  She likes numbers, she likes to count, she likes to categorize things and such...all traits that couldn't possibly come from me.  I try to get her to draw and paint and the like, but it doesn't hold her attention for long.  So the other day when I turned the corner to find her creating art with her flowers, I was pleased to see that she did get some of the good in me, and not just the sass.  I don't know what she was playing, but I love the way she carefully turned each flower upside down on the pretty green step.  It was very creative I thought.

Welcome spring!
Come quickly and grace us with your 72 degree days for weeks to come.  May we lay in the yard for hours on end while we bask in your splendor...
Welcome spring! We are anxious for you to stay.
Amen
Hmmm, let me just hop off my melodramatic soap box and get back to trying to write a post.
Speaking of being anxious about things, I can not wait for this busy time in our lives to be over. However, in a way I am thankful for it.  I can feel God using it to draw me closer to Him.  Mostly b/c my poor excuse for parenting, has me calling and begging for His help every hour of every day.  It goes something like this...
 "God, I am about to lose it.  I just caught Libs feeding the baby chocolate, b/c she has been crying for 10 minutes, b/c I can't hold her, b/c the  dog did something ridiculous, and I am trying to clean it up.  I found two pairs of princess panties on the grill, I just tripped over some plastic produce, and I'm pretty sure there is a load of clothes in the washer that have been there for three days ...HELP!"

 Somewhere, from amidst the chaos, I hear Him whisper, "My Grace is enough. I am enough for you. I am enough for them.  You don't have to be everything, I am that for you, I am that for them."  In that moment, when I feel like I'm about to pop my lid, He gives me a sweet word to say them, and even a sweet word to say to the dog...So, yes, I am thankful for this time.  Thankful for this time that He is teaching me to love them like He loves me.

Thankful for these moments I captured of my love with his little ladies last weekend when he was home (He's home again this weekend too...hoping to capture some more)...Every time I turned a coner I would catch him loving them or I would catch them simply adoring their  Daddy....
I love all these shots.
Gotta pick some to frame for our new....Did I mention that?
Coming soon...Casa de Jones'

Happy Spring, we welcome you with arms wide open!
Grace and Peace
xoxo

Quintessential Libby

Dear Libby,

Please stop growing up so fast.

You are so good at being a little girl. If being a little girl was a job, you would be a professional.

You are the kind of girl that people write stories about. You would make the most captivating heroine... wings, smudges, and all.

Oh Libby, please stay small just a bit longer. You make it look so beautiful.
Love, Mommy

Midnight With Maggie

It is nearly midnight.

I'm feeding Maggie.

I still need a shower.

I have so many pictures to attach  to words in this space that I have started 4 different posts tonight and have yet to make sense of any of them.

I started this one b/c I just have to write down (again) how wonderful it is to hold her.  She locks eyes with me and wraps her little hand around mine and won't let go.  When her tummy is full to the brim, she sinks into my chest and nuzzles her head back and forth, while making the most spectacular baby noises, then she gets to just the right spot and drifts off to sleep.

I'm telling you if it was possible I would hold her all day long...that is how great it is.  Ahhh, life, responsibilities you rob me of these moments.  Why must you always get in the way of the truly wonderful things?  Why do you move so fast?  Slow down with us, so that I can fully appreciate each moment with my baby.

Sigh.

It is past midnight now.

I laid Maggie in her cradle and her eyes are heavy and ready for rest.

I stopped typing a moment ago and took a shower.

Hello bed.

Good night world.

Grace and peace.

xoxo

The Terminal

I have a love/hate relationships with airports. They are where I would see him for the first time in forever and  where I would have to let him go again. Airports makes me smile from ear to ear or cry in an embarrassing fashion in front of  TSA officers.
Kev was due home after being gone for a long time, and even though his car was parked in the parking garage outside, I felt the need for a smile that only the airport arrivals gate could bring. So we all got dressed pretty, fixed our hair, and cleaned the eternal smudges off the Little's face.

Oh, Buzz Light Year came too!

Who knew the airport was such a great place for a toddler to run? When it's not coupled with the stress of actually travelling with a toddler, and it's an airport as quiet as RIC, it is a fabulous play place, with lots of open space. I probably wouldn't suggest it in a place like Atlanta, but Richmond, sure why not.

We arrived a bit early, just in case, so the Little had plenty of time to charm her way into the hearts of other people waiting for loved ones, the hostess at the token airport Applebees, the cashier at the Hudson News, and various other people spending their afternoon in the terminal.



Speaking of Hudson News, I never knew how much Disney Princess paraphernalia they sell, until my Little single handedly tried to rob them blind of all of it. I repeatedly said "Libby, running out of the store with the princess coloring book is called stealing, and most stores don't like that"

Then came the big moment. I knew it was going be like a scene from a movie. She would run to him and fling her arms around his neck and declare to anyone who would hear that her Dada was home!

Well, she saw him, she ran to him, hugged him, then ran back to Hudson News to show him those Princess coloring books faster than my finger could click the camera

It wasn't picture perfect, but it was perfect for us. We were together, all 4, and my single parenting days, even it is just for the weekend, were over. Poor Kev has been so busy and tired, he almost looked confused seeing us there.  I could tell that he needed his girls, a hair cut, and some ice cream (wait, may be I was the one who needed the ice cream after his long absence)...whatever, he's home!!!!  Again!

I hate when he has to go away, however, I love when he comes home!  The reunion is always sweet and worth the wait.

Libs is glued to his hip this weekend.  She will barely let him leave the room with out her.  We'll send him off again this week...insert a long heavy hearted "sigh" right here, but I have been teaching Miss Sass-a-frass about having a happy heart, even when you don't get the princess coloring book :), so I guess, I'm going to have to have a happy heart too, even if I have to let my bearded Brit go again.

On Monday, I will hate the airport again, but on this Wednesday afternoon, I loved it and wouldn't have been anywhere else.

Grace and Peace
xoxo