11:05 project

My little Anibella reaches her adorable little arms up to me when she wants to be held! Then she looks at me with.......

her sweet hopeful little eyes! I mean really.......who can resist? She is just precious!

This is baby multi-tasking at it's very best! Anibella is sucking on her fingers, trying to blow raspberries, sitting up & holding her foot ALL at the SAME TIME! : ) That's quite an accomplishment for a little 6 month old!

My little Ava found a pink "hawt bead"! It was the highlight of her necklace making activity today!

My little Abby was very focused on sliding her beads onto the string!

My little Ashley was working hard & sweetly tried to not be bothered by Mommy taking pictures!
My sweet happy Anibella!
My little Amy was intently working on her necklace!
This is what happens when you tell a toddler to "look up" for a picture! I love how literal 2 year olds are! Ha!

I love my smiley boo!

This is when Ava first found her special heart bead! I love how excited she is about it!

Abby surprised Mommy with a gorgeous new bracelet! SO sweet!

Ashley made me a beautiful "gold" necklace since, "You can't afford a real one! Do you love it Mommy?"! SO sweet & OF COURSE I DO Baby! : )

Amy led the Sissy team in making jewelry for Mommy! SO sweet & such an amazing example to her little sisters!

I just can't resist these pictures of my littlest Princess!

I love Ava's joy over her little pink heart! If you look closely you can see her two bottom little eye teeth coming in! Precious!

My Abby with her sweet creation!

My Ashley with her sweet creation!

My Amy with her sweet creation!




These are my "11:05 project" pictures. A while ago I wrote a post about taking more spontaneous pictures of my girls without making sure they look "just so". I love having pictures of them playing & just being little girls! Mostly, I started this little project as a way to mortify my selfish ambition (pride) & the desire to be perceived as always having it "together" (more pride & fear of man). I obviously never have it together & it's sad to think that I really care about those things but, if I'm being completely honest, in my heart, unfortunately those things matter to me way more than they should! I need God's grace in these areas! So, as I'm "putting off" these sins of pride, selfish ambition, fear of man & many others, I thought that posting pictures of my sweet girlies would be a fun way of "putting on" humility & selflessness! Besides, I just REALLY love my 5 little girls & it makes me happy to see pictures of them! Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava were making bead necklaces (for Mommy : ) !) this morning when I took these pictures & my little Anibella was sitting up playing so sweetly & contentedly on her blankie with her toys! I am one very blessed Mama!

My life today.....Monday 5/24/2010

My life today........


Right now I am...fighting for joy even though I have an intense sinus headache.

Outside my window... the sky is bright blue & the Florida sun is shining strong & HOT!

I am hoping.....that I will choose to be selfless today & take my girls outside to play & have fun even though I don't feel good.

I am thankful...that God arrested my heart 20 years ago & He gave me the grace to love Him!

I am smelling...my hazelnut coffee.

I just...sat on hold with the state of Florida for 45 minutes. UGH!

From the kitchen...cinnamon struesel muffins that I made my sweet girlies for breakfast.

I am wearing...a pink tank top & striped jammie shorts.

I am creating...a mess in an attempt to get MORE organized. Um.....how does THAT happen?

I am going... to put lots of clean laundry away today.

I am STILL reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... how grateful I am that my 5 sweet little girls bring their Mama so much blessing & happiness every.....single.....day!

I am hearing...my incredibly adorable 6 month old baby girl blow raspberries & make her new favorite sound, "ga ga ga ga ga"!

Around the house...5 little girls that will someday have hubby's to love & respect, babies to cuddle & adore & homes to care for of their own! Talk about a sobering thought!

Some of my favorite things...knowing that God is working in my heart every day, even when it doesn't feel like it, my sweet Hubby who loves me even though I have SO many ways I need to grow & my 5 delicious baby girls who love me just how I am cause I'm their Mama!

Some of my plans for this week:

~ *NAPTIME* potty training my sweet little 2 year old
~ menu planning & grocery shopping
~ getting out of the house & playing with my girlies
~ putting all of our laundry away
~ *STILL* reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ putting my amazing Hubby & sweet girls before myself in thought, word & deed. Endeavoring
to encourage, love, serve & ENJOY my family!
~ Trusting God to help me in everything I need to do. Relying on God for His strength & grace
to be the kind of Wife & Mommy that I desire to be.

My Life Today.......Monday 5/17/2010

My life today........

(I borrowed this from another Mommy's blog! I love it because I'm not very creative & it helps me share what's going on with my little family without me having to think too hard!) : )


Right now I am...nursing my sweet baby girl & loving feeling her soft curly hair!

Outside my window... the sky is gray & cloudy & the Florida palm trees are blowing in the rain.

I am hoping.....that this "extreme POTTY TRAINING" works & that we'll have a completely diaper-less sweet little 2 year old in a few days!

I am thankful... that my Hubby & 5 little girls are healthy, that my Hubby has a good job, selling our home in SC in SEVENTEEN DAYS! & my Hubby graduating from college this weekend!

I am smelling...my sweet baby's yummy baby smell!

I just...talked to a gal from the "Census Bureau" at my front door.

From the kitchen...roast with potatoes, carrots & spices in the crock pot for dinner tonight & then shredded beef soft tacos with the leftovers!

I am wearing...a turquoise t-shirt & my comfy jammie pants. We're all still in our jammies.....it's that kind of sleepy day!

I am creating...a closet organization system for my little girls' closets! We have LOTS OF CLOTHES! : )

I am going...to get my new Florida drivers license this week.

I am reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... that I'm excited that I'm making homemade baby wipes & laundry detergent this week for the 1st time.

I am hearing...my little girls giggle in the play room! I LOVE IT! (uh.....& a *little* bit of arguing every now and again too!)

Around the house...there are sweet little infant baby girl toys on a blanket in my living room, little girls dress up clothes & play kitchen dishes.......pretty much everywhere!

Some of my favorite things...nursing my precious little 6 month old baby girlie & snuggling with my 5 sweet little girlies! I love when they come for a cuddle! (even my 6, 8 & 10 year old's but don't tell 'em I told you!) : )

Some of my plans for this week:

~ POTTY TRAINING my sweet little 2 year old
~ Swimming with all my girls
~ Driveway water painting in the afternoons
~ making homemade baby wipes & laundry detergent for the 1st time
~ Reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ Looking for ways to make my Hubby feel more loved! Showing him that he is an absolute priority in my heart & that at the end of a long day of being needed physically, mentally, emotionally, physically & spiritually by my girlies that I still have time for my love! (AGH, I need SO much of God's grace & lots of energy.....plus an afternoon nap & some...MORE coffee!)

Man of my heart!

Happy 16th Anniversary to the man of my ♥ ~ my amazing Hubby! I am even more in love with my sweet man today than the day we began our life together! He is my best friend & I am so grateful to God to be his wife! I love you my Randal!

My Anibella is SIX months old!

My sweet little Anibella is SIX months old today! She is such a sweet, gentle, content, happy, cuddly & lovable little baby girl! Our little peanut weighs 13 lbs & 6 oz & she is 25 inches tall! She says "Mama", she can sit up, she loves to cuddle with Daddy & Mommy & she absolutely adores her 4 big sissies! : ) I am so grateful to God for my Anibella & I ♥ her SO much! ♥

My 11:05 Project

I love to take pictures of my family but I am also the kind of Mommy who always wants my children to look nice in pictures. Most of the pictures I have ever taken are posed & I make sure my girls are wearing something cute & their hair is done (usually) & they are looking, in my opinion, "picture ready". I have begun to realize over the past year that this is an area of sin for me. It's a control issue, which is really just selfishness, pride & selfish ambition, if I'm being completely honest with myself. I have also come to realize that I have extreme fear of man, which is again, just pride, in the area of sinful comparison of how my pictures look. I love to go on photography websites or other friends' blogs & I have been sinfully comparing my pics to others & feeling "inadequate". I realized that this is hindering me in sharing some really precious pictures of my little girls just because I know they don't measure up to the ones my friends take. I have a really nice camera but I just haven't taken the time to learn how to use it properly. I am going to be learning but in the meantime, I am trying (by God's grace!) to not let my pride & discouragement about my own lack of photography skills affect me! I'm trying to grow in the area of humility so I'll be sharing some pics that I would normally think don't look as good as they could. I have the most adorable little subjects to practice on, so I'm having tons of fun learning! : ) The kind of pictures I *like* to take are not really a realistic representation of everyday life with 5 little girls 10 & under but rather what I would "like" for us to look like all the time. I absolutely adore my sweet little girls & no matter what they look like, if they have disheveled bed head, sleepy eyes, a crazy outfit or not-so-neatly-little-girl-painted-finger-nails, they are mine, they are precious & I want to capture these sweet everyday moments because that's what life is all about! So, in an attempt to capture the everyday real life of a 34 year old Mommy who loves God, is crazy IN love with my Hubby, absolutely adores my 5 little girls ages 10, 8, 6, 2 & 4 months, home schools, changes diapers, does laundry, tries to be faithful to have my devotions with God everyday & just really enjoys the sweet & simple mundane of everyday life.......I am starting a little project for myself & I'll be posting it on my blog every once in a while. I decided that every few days I would go around the house & take pictures of my girls at a specific time of day no matter what they are wearing, what they are doing or what they look like. I chose "11:05" am. I chose this time because "11" is my Hubby's favorite number & we have "5" little girls. This is gonna be *real* life folks! : ) If I were really brave.......ahem.......HUMBLE, I would be posting pictures of mySELF, but I'm not that godly yet! I would love to be one day but definitely not yet! : ) I loved seeing what my camera captured today when I was NOT trying to "make it happen" myself!

Amy in the living room!

Ashley doing school!

Abby being really silly!

Ava peeking through her hair!

Anibella happily sucking on her fingers!

I love these 5 little girlies ( & their cute Daddy too, of course!) so much & I'm so grateful to share my plain ol everyday life with my sweet little girls! : )

My little readers

This morning my little 2 year old snuggled up next to my little 4 month old with a book & said, "Okay Sissy, I read dis bookie to you now, k?" Anibella was actually very interested in the book that Ava was "reading" to her! It was SO sweet! ♥ I love how they both have their knees up too!