Thanksgiving in Missouri

We headed up to Missouri this year for Thanksgiving!  I will say that flying (and only a 50 minute flight) to St. Louis beats driving!   It allows us to have more time with family and less time with everyone sick of being in the car!  Thankful for airplanes!  We spent a day in St. Louis with Grandpa, Barb, Parker and Kaitlyn.  The girls LOVE their time with all of them...and are quick to tell Jason and I to leave them alone!  

After a day in St. Louis we drove over to Kansas City to celebrate with the entire family!  We stayed with Aunt Joyce and she had a HUGE surprise for the girls.  She had transformed their basement into a fairy princess dreamland!  The girls spent most of every moment trying on dresses, putting on jewelry and dancing.

Princess Reese dressed to the nines for the Big Tea Party

Some of the wild dancing

Reese and Brynlee taking a break from the dancing

A little dance time with Daddy!  Our girls LOVE to dance with him and he makes sure to make them feel like a princess.  What a gift!

Tea party in progress

Just a sneak peak at the amazing dress-up selection

Intense jewelry making with Aunt Joyce, she truly thought of everything.

We headed over to Aunt Sharon farm to see more family and had a wonderful time.  

Grandma Shirla, Grandpa Dennis and the grandkids.

Uncle Chris with Nolan and Hadley!  I am not sure what Nolan thought of the girls...but they think he is amazing and I am pretty sure Brynlee thinks he is her toy.

Another big highlight getting to be on Sharon's horse!  They laid on her and rubbed her and talked about her for days after!

We had a wonderful time and our only regret as always is that we don't live closer to be able to see everyone as much!  But, we are thankful to have such incredible family to love on us and our girls!

Thanksgiving programs and such

Well, sad but true...I am having a hard time getting through my "to do" list each day...and blogging has not made it.  I have decided I still want to keep it up really to log my girls stuff and to help me remember things.  Some catching up from fall.  Hadley and Brynlee both had their Thanksgiving programs at their sweet preschool.  I love hearing all of the sweet songs and listening to them recite scripture.

Hadley was a pilgrim...hard to spot, back row to the left.  She sang every song and did every motion.  

 Our little Bryn was a turkey...wow if there was ever an appropriate part...a turkey she was.  She lasted about 5 seconds up on stage...and then..well see below.

 She sat in her teachers lap while everyone else sang.  At least I have had many performances at home!

 Love that Turkey's smile

We are still adjusting in the new house, but are loving it.  Fall brought quite a few leaves so the girls decided to destroy my hard work  we decided jumping in the leaves would be fun!

How can I say no to this sweet face!

Out of order but our sweet little Pilgrim. I am so grateful that for this program they said the girls could wear dresses.  In so many things they ask the children to wear jeans or t-shirts...two things that Hadley CAN'T STAND!  She literally pitches a fit saying pants and t-shirts are for boys...wow do we have our work cutout for the next 20 years!

 This year has been tough on me with Reese being in 1st grade.  The transition has been great for Reese, but I have struggled.  She is just growing up too fast.  Her fall school program was a patriotic one...she did great and they had a little time to show off their instrument talents.  I miss the little preschool programs with Reese, but I am beyond blessed that she loves schools and she loves her teacher.  

Hadley's Fairy Birthday

Well, more than a month later I am finally taking the time to document all of Hadley's Birthday celebrations.  We started the birthday morning with our tradition of balloons and streamers covering the door!  She and Brynlee both came out screaming and laughing about the decorations.  I wish I had gotten a picture of them walking out...but truth be told...we were sleeping! (until we heard the squeals)!

 Birthday Pancake!

 Showing off her Ariel fashion loot from Grandpa and Barb. (please ignore the boxes and crazily half painted rooms in the pictures to follow...note we had only been in the house a week before this birthday...ok at least I feel better having said that).

 The night of her actual birthday we celebrated with an ice cream cake from Brusters, which was incredible...if you have not tried one you are missing out!  We had some of our small group over that night to help us move all of the furniture from downstairs back upstairs and they celebrated with us! (and yes I began to cut the cake and then realized I had not take a picture)

No onto the...FAIRY PARTY

Hadley had mentioned wanting a fairy party way back in the Spring...so I had begun preparing, and trying to keep things organized with the move...I ordered the invitations a full month before the party...well considering all of our moving craziness...it may have been a better idea for me not to plan ahead.  Oh well, luckily 4 year olds don't care if your house is in order or not!

 Hadley helped me pick the decorations for the party which included lots of yard butterfly decor...which the girls refuse to let me take down!  

 Fairy house painting...lots of paint, glitter, feathers, clip on butterflies and everything else you can imagine

 The Fairy playhouse...we did not quite finish painting it before the party...but came close.

 Fairy fun...yes Reese is wearing her leotard...it has butterflies on it so she thought it was great...a battle I chose not to fight that day!

 Our beautiful Fairy Princess Hadley in her favorite color

 Reese was a great helper to the little ones

  The trampoline looked more like a fairy filled bounce house...but they all had fun!

 The Butterfly piñata

 The candy craze as the pinata broke

 Fairy Nectar (aka lemonade)

 Pretty much my favorite part...Hadley saw this cake in a little mini version at Publix one day and had to have it...I LOVE IT!  I love Publix cakes...they pretty much have done all of my girls birthdays and never disappoint!

 Blowing out her candles

 The "big girls" Reese and Addie Gail hanging out in the "cool kids" area

 Maggie and Hadley enjoying the cake!

 Little Miss here...didn't miss a beat...or a bite of cake, she didn't even want to share with mommy!!! (and no that is not her bottle, but yes she did try to drink it)

Fairy wand fruit kabobs, a big hit, so easy and yummy!

 Bebe love

 Happy Birthday Hadley...you are our very Fairy Princess indeed!

Hello My Name Is...

This is a random post, but sometimes there are things that just hit you in a certain way.  One thing that Jason and I spend a lot of time telling our girls is how much we love them, but even more how much Jesus loves them.  Last year was really the first year that I noticed Reese getting her feelings hurt by friends at school or feeling embarrassed about certain things.  So, at that point I began to sit her down anytime something happened and would say, 

Me: "who are you?"

Reese: "Reese Kathryn Beckner"

Me: "who loves you?"

Reese: Mommy and Daddy and Jesus

Me: "who made you?"

Reese: God

Me: "whose are you?"

Reese: God's

I just want her to remember that when life happens sometimes you need to remember who you are, whose you are, and who loves you...those are the things that matter.  

All of that said...I heard this song tonight and it spoke volumes...to me!  I need to remind myself of this...I spend too much time rehashing what I could have done better or should have done instead.  I am so grateful for these words!  Song by Matthew West!

Hello, my name is regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
That won’t let you forget

Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief

Oh, these are the voices. Oh, these are the lies
And I have believed them for the very last time

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King

I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King

What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children
I am a child of the one true King

What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King

I am a child of the one true King

My beautiful girls who are daughter of the King...may they never forget!!!

The First Day...of First Grade!!!

 Well, it's official, our baby girl is all grown up and going to Big school!  Reese started first grade on Monday!  Honestly, this entire summer I would get a sick feeling in my stomach when I thought about her going to school, so I just tried not to think about it...but it came anyway!  Last Friday we headed up to Vestavia Hill East Elementary to meet Reese's teacher.  She was really nervous and I was fighting back the tears.  I was beyond excited to meet her teacher...especially after we had about 5 friends come up raving about her to us!  Also, Reese has 3 friends from her Covenant Kindergarten in her class which is crazy, considering there are about 10 first grade classrooms and only about 8 children from Covenant at this school.

Also, one of her sweet friends that she does gymnastics with is in her class...I know that God totally handpicked everyone in that class and I could not be more thrilled!  Reese had a great first day, I wanted to walk Reese in, she wanted me to walk her in on Monday and Tuesday and she about squeezed my hand off the first day, but when I picked her up she was grinning ear to ear!

Our family has a tradition of doing "Roses and Thorns" to tell our highs and lows of the day, week, ect.  Reese said her "rose" of the day was spending time with her teacher (I love that).

Our beautiful first grader ready to go!

Jason and I tried to make last week a special week for Reese.  Jason took her out on one of their "daddy-daughter dates" and she was in heaven.  Hadley and Brynlee were both crying that they did not get to go, but their date will come soon as always.  

Reese and I did a special Mommy-daughter afternoon date...Reese's first Pedicure!  She was really excited and just like her mommy she giggled and squirmed during most of it!  We did a little shopping and had some sweet treats together!

She picked out a doughnut with the chocolate "squishing out" as she said!  After having this treat she asked if we could come here all the time...sorry sista!

Big girl in front of her school sign, beautiful smiles!

This is by far my "rose" for the week!  One of Reese's homework assignments from yesterday was to bring in 2-4 items that would fit in a brown lunch bag to help her class get to know her better.  Her teacher gave ideas like: small stuffed animals, toys, favorite candy, pictures, ect.  Reese wanted to do some pictures so I gave her a stack of about 10 pictures that were still in a stack of things I have yet to unpack in the new house  I had.  She picked out the one of she and sisters at the beach, one of the girls and Bebe and then asked for one of the dogs.  Then she put in a ceramic cross that was in her room.

I asked her if she wanted to put in a toy or something, I said you don't have to do lots of pictures.  She looked right at me and said, "none of that stuff matters, what matters is Jesus and my family!"  I was wishing I had given her a picture of Jason and myself was blown away!  I mean, don't get me wrong this girl can argue and fight with the best of them and scream over who gets what toy...but it just made me think that in her heart...she knows what matters!  

We are so proud of you Reese, you shine so bright in our family and we know that you will shine for Jesus wherever you go!

4 years for our Sweet Hadley

Today marked the making of another 4 year old at the Beckner house!  Hadley Grace turned 4 today...although she seems to most like she has been 4 for a long time!  Words to sum up our sweet Hadley, well, sweet, kind, tender, feisty, loving, girly, sassy and a lot of spunk!

Hadley is so darn smart...she really remembers everything and while it scares me a little it is a huge help because she remembers people's last names...as in she knows their first and last name the first time she meets them...and sometimes she remembers her friend's mommies names for me!  She is my wing girl!  Hadley really seemed to grow up a lot this year, became more and more independent and she was a huge help.  She loves to be held as always but is very content playing quietly in her room with all of her princesses.  She dresses up almost every day...and on the rare occasion that I dress up when I dress up, her eyes light up as she scans my dress and jewelry trying to decide what she wants.

I joke that Hadley may be our family evangelist, she LOVES Bible stories...but the funniest thing about it is that she will walk around with any book and just start quoting Bible stories.  Like I mentioned earlier, her memory is amazing so she will tell stories word for word how we read them to her. The Jesus Storybook Bible is her favorite, and mine actually, if you have children and don't have this book...get one, and even better get the audio cd's that go with it.  She remembers her Bible verses so well, and it is the best reminder to me, whenever I am not having a good day she will look at me and say, "mommy, God is always with you."  It melts my heart, it was our theme verse in the car this year as the girls would be sad about doing something new or going to the Dr, ect, and we would quote Joshua 1:9 as some encouragement.  

Hadley, we are beyond blessed to be called your parents, you teach us so much...please don't stop.  Happy Birthday sweet girl, you give our lives so much LIGHT!

Hadley loved every minute of Disney this year...she asks all the time when we are going back!

Hadley completed her first year of ballet this year and she loved it.  I am pretty sure she loved wearing a tutu the most, but she has said she wants to do it again, we will see.

Hadley loves the water, and this year she has started to swim all on her own...so we have put the lady bug vest to rest.  

Like I mentioned earlier, Hadley never misses a chance to dress up...no matter where she is.  Here she is at Bebe's house and has put together an ensemble of an Abe Lincoln hat that my brother used for school and a fancy top of my mom's...basically she is channeling her inner Slash!

There is not a picture that sums her up more than this one...Diva princess at her best.

It's the small things...

  We have been in the throws of selling our house and buying a new house.  We have been so excited about and it for sure feel very blessed.  To start, a few months ago...well, for those of you who know me, I like to plan things out and I like them to go that way...I think God just smiles at me and says, “you will learn”!  

In my mind we would have put our house on the market in early April so that it would have time to sell and we could find a house well before Reese would start school.  Well, life happened and we just could not get it listed, I had been so frustrated for two months but finally two weeks before we listed it I had a light bulb moment where I said to God, “I’m crazy...it does not matter how cute the house is or how perfect, its not my house to sell....if You want it to sell it will...I give up trying.”  I really said that, and I meant it.

We listed the house the last Friday of May...it went into the MLS on Friday morning at 10:00 am, we had a call at noon saying people wanted to see it that afternoon, we had a call Saturday morning that people wanted to see it that afternoon...we had a contract on the house on Monday!  Dumbfounded...in awe...felt crazy that I had even thought it would sell because of anything I had done. I totally felt as if God was saying...”Lauren, step back, do your part but let me do mine.”  

We were so excited, but we did not have a house to move into, so we began to frantically look at everything there was...we looked and looked...NOTHING. (at least nothing we liked that we could afford).  Here it came again...that doubt that part inside of me trying to figure out what I could do to fix this...then the reminder to just let it go and trust.  Then, right as Jason was about to secure us an apartment to live in, a neighbor was over and said she had a friend who was about to sell her house and she thought we would love it, I had my doubts.  I WAS WRONG...we loved it...we put a contract on it!

We were amazed and  humbled seeing God’s hands wrapped around the whole thing...and knowing we don’t deserve it, we don’t deserve a house at all...we could only point to Him in the whole thing.  It was hard for me to swallow, knowing the things that people struggle with, knowing the heartaches that people have and the struggles my own family has gone through...all of this seemed so silly and us so undeserving...but then we serve a God who loves us and wants to show us that we don’t deserve it, but He wants to give us things.

I began packing the house...top to bottom...we were living like hoarders with boxes everywhere...but it was fine we were going to close in a week....then that week came and went...closing pushed back 3 days, 5 days, a week, two weeks!  I was coming apart...I was telling God that I did trust Him, that I did believe regardless of what happened that it was going to be the best for it...but trying to get my stress level to agree with what I was telling God was hard.  I would think back to 17 year ago, as my mom waited days, and weeks and months to find out what was wrong with my brother.  Then as we would all wait days and weeks over and over to find out results of tests and more tests.  Closing on a house is so small in the grand scheme of things...why is it sometimes easier for me to trust God with the big stuff...but not the small stuff?!

All that being said, we finally closed on our houses...and God’s timing was so much better than what we had planned.  Stressful, yes!  Ups and downs, yes!   Things are not perfect, but the reminder that they don’t need to be and that God is just begging us to do our part and then hand it over to Him and say whatever it is BIG or SMALL we trust you.  Jason reminds me that as we read through the Bible it is full of amazing people who did the same thing...doubted and God had to remind them to trust, there was even one of Jesus’ disciples who we call “doubting Thomas”.  I hope my name is heaven doesn't have "doubt" in front of it...but looking back over the past few months it might fit!

We are beyond grateful that all of this happened, not that we got the house, but that God got us to a point again where we realize what matters is to trust regardless...to live knowing He is in control of the Big and Small...struggles have always pushed me close to my Savior...as hard as it is to say...if that’s what I need...keep them coming!

A picture of the new house

 We moved in...and because we are crazy...we started demo the day we moved in...so here is a peak into a lot of craziness that is going on!  Hopefully updated pictures will come soon...

Our prayer through all of this is that we keep our focus on what is important...with the ups and downs having children was the best reminder.  As stressed and disappointed I was at times...knowing there are three precious girls watching how their mommy responds makes a difference.  So, each time our plans were turned upside down I would say, "Mommy is a little sad and mad that it is not going how I thought...but God says to trust Him and we know He loves us...right?"  They all agreed, so with each up and down I would ask them all to give me reason why it was good that we ...(could not move when we thought we should...and then again and again).  I think it helped me way more than them to hear their sweet hearts and positive thinking!