Gigi's Recital

I'm late on posting about this, but life is very hectic right now & I'm playing "catch up" on many things!

The recital took place on June 21st at 1:00 p.m.  We were so excited!  The two previous shows in which Gigi was involved were so beautifully done.  We couldn't wait to see her on stage again.

Getting her ready was the hardest part since my left hand isn't working and my right eye is still intensely blurred.  Her dance studio is very picky about hair & make-up, but with God's help & a whole lot of hair gel I managed to get her extremely long hair up into a perfect bun.  Then I began putting on her stage make-up.  To say that she dislikes the long lasting lipstick would be an understatement!  (Like mother, like daughter in that area...only for me it's lipstick in general!)

Gigi's dance was in the second half of the show.  She was Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.  She did such a beautiful job!  I was so very proud of her!!!  She gets on that stage & brings to life the character she is portraying.  It was beautifully choreographed as well.  I could really see the advancement she has made this year in her ballet training.  The other little girls in her class did a good job as well.

Her Daddy presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers which she immediately put into a vase & placed upon her dresser.  She said she wanted to go to sleep each night seeing something beautiful.  As I gazed at her sleeping that night I thought to myself, "Me too."

Stacey

First Rainbow

Today Gigi saw her first rainbow!  She was so excited!!!!  We were driving home when DH spotted it.  Gigi couldn't see it out of her window, so I had him pull into a parking lot.  We jumped out of the car & I have to say that it was the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen!  She got to see the whole thing...not just a piece of it, but the entire arch! 

I'm just so happy for her.  She had tears in her eyes as she was looking at it and talking about how God always keeps His promises.

After trying to catch a glimpse of one for years, this was a very happy ending to our quest!

We've been so busy this week!  We took a great field trip to an aquarium. I'll be posting more about that when I get a chance as well as some other things.  I just wanted to post about the rainbow while it was fresh on my mind!

Stacey

Unique Mother's Day!

Of the 7 Mother's Days I've been blessed with as a Mommy, yesterday won the award for being the most unique!  I should start by saying that I do not like eating in the bed.  In fact, when I'm in the hospital I always have a nurse help me into a chair to eat.  My DH is such a sweetie.  He's been trying to do the breakfast in bed thing for Mother's Day for years and I've always convinced him that I'd much rather eat at the table with my family.  This year he didn't mention it.  I didn't even think about it.  I've been so sick that food has been the last thing on my mind.

Saturday night I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop coughing and a drummer from a marching band had crawled inside my head wouldn't stop beating that snare (side) drum!  I finally drifted off at about 6 a.m.  I was awakened by my sweet little Gigi giving me Mother's Day kisses.  She said, "Boy, do we have a surprise for you.  You must have been really tired to sleep through what we did this morning."  It was then that I began to worry...

Imagine my surprise when I saw this on the bed beside me:

(Forgive the lousy picture...DH took it & he's no photographer!)

I'm usually a very light sleeper.  I cannot believe I slept through this!  They carried in my DD's table.  They'd made pancakes and french toast.  Beneath the colander was my plate of pancakes.  DH had actually remembered my trick for keeping them hot.  I was impressed by that since I haven't made pancakes in ages!  What you can't see is that there is a lit (yes, as in flaming) candle behind the syrup bottle.  I wasn't so impressed with that.

DH explained that he knew how much I hated eating in bed because I'd rather eat with my family at the table.  So, he & Gigi brought the table & the family to me in the bed.  How could I argue with that!  Besides, they both had such happy, glowing faces.  It was really sweet.  The pancakes were yummy, too!  So, I decided not to fault DH for the fire hazard he created with the lit candle on the bed.  He knows how I love to eat by candlelight & was only trying to be sweet.

After we all had breakfast in bed, Gigi presented me with this truly beautiful card she had made me.  It was a story in pictures.  She had drawn story blocks (like a graph) and each picture was a progression of the story.  It was the story of her Mommy and a special day they had spent together.  I was so touched.  I'll keep that forever!  I also got the movie Enchanted and some Ghirardelli chocolate squares with caramel inside.

Although my very first Mother's Day with Gigi will always be my favorite, this one will definitely stick out in my mind over the years.  Even though I was sick I had a wonderful, unique Mother's Day.  Thank you, my sweet Gigi & my dear hubby!

Happy Birthday, Princess Gigi!

Born on the 1st day of Spring in 2001, my Princess Gigi is now 7 years old.  How did this happen?  That once teenie, tiny baby is now almost as tall as I am (and three times as smart)!  One day I'm going to blog all about how God miraculously brought this miracle child into our hearts & home.  It was the journey of a lifetime.

I'd planned on a surprise party for her.  It was going to work out perfectly since her birthday fell on a Friday this year.  However, with the MS attack I'm currently under I was unable to pull it off.  I'm still hoping to do it in April which should be even more of a surprise for her.

I prayed for weeks that God would allow me to get out with her on her birthday to make the day special for her.  She has been so sweet and helpful through all of my attacks.  She doesn't complain when Momma can't do things.  I just wanted her to have a special blessing for being one.  God is such a loving God.  He made a way.  He even provided some extra cash so we could do it.  I listened to my doctors and did everything they said to do so they would give their blessing (although reluctantly).  So, equipped with my new wheels (actually, wheel chair), DH, Gigi & I headed out to do a few special things for her birthday.

First, we took her to the Rainforest Cafe for a birthday lunch.  She was so excited.  Whenever the animals would "come to life" she would just go nuts!  She had to see EVERY single one of them.  Her favorite was the lioness and she was beautiful swishing her tail back & forth.  We ended lunch with a volcano.  If you've ever been there then you know the waiters yell "VOLCANO" to the top of their lungs as they deliver it to your table.  That thing was huge!   It was also delicious!  The brownies form to make the volcano and there is vanilla ice cream hiding inside.  The best part was the sparkler that is on top when they bring it to your table.  She LOVED that!  She said she never imagined putting fireworks on top of dessert before.  Since I was unable to make her a cake I am so very glad we splurged on the volcano!!!

Next we surprised her with a trip to Build-A-Bear.  This was only the 2nd time she had even been in one so it was a real treat.  She got the cheetah.  She's such a neat kid.  There are so many add-ons there that it can really run up the bill...like the heart that beats or the sound box to put inside.  The helper kept showing her things and she kept going with just the basics.  We never said a word to her about keeping the price down.  She just kept making good decisions.  I'm so proud of her!  I wouldn't have minded getting the extras if she really had wanted them, but she likes to keep things simple.

We ended the trip with a search for a new dress for her.  I realized this week that her dresses from last spring/summer were definitely out of the running for this season!  She is so much taller and is developing early...way too early!  She spotted this gorgeous dress and instantly fell in love (I remember that feeling when I was a little girl).  I knew it was going to be way out of our price range, but upon investigation by my DH we found it was 50% off, plus an additional 50% off of that!  So, this $70 dress came all the way down to $17.50.  We tried it on her & she looks like a princess in it!  I was so happy.  She already had the perfect shoes to go with it at home.

As I look over the day I realize that God was there the whole time.  He went ahead of us & created a wonderful birthday for our daughter when I couldn't.  It's so hard to imagine that He loves her more than I do.  I know it is true, but it's hard to fathom.

Happy Birthday, Gigi.  I love you for always and forever and then some!

Blessings in a Box

We woke up this morning to find a box at our door.  In the box there was a turkey, stuffing mix, a box of instant mashed potatoes, can of cranberry sauce, canned green beans, canned yams, a bag of clementines & apples, and a bottle of juice.

There was a small card that said, "This is our simple way of saying that God loves you."  It was from a new church that just started in September.

I haven't kept it a secret here in this blog world that we have financial struggles, and this box just touched my heart so much!  I have no idea how this church even knew of us or our needs!  I know no one that goes there.  I hadn't even heard of the church before today!  What an awesome outreach these people are doing!!!

I had just been praying last night that God would meet our needs – thinking, of course, of all the BIG ones like the medical bills and mortgage payments, etc...  This box of blessings was just a little reminder from God that He supplies our DAILY needs.

I was ashamed that I had allowed myself once again to get stressed out over money & bills.  God has provided time & time again.  He's met out needs as we needed them most and even given us some desires of our hearts.

Please scroll down & turn off my music player, then play this video...this is the song in my heart this morning!  Don Moen's mouth doesn't match up to the words in this clip, but it's still good...

THANK YOU, LORD!!!

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