I'm Here...She's There

(On her 2nd birthday)

Yes, I feel like the most horrible mom in the world. I am on a business trip (the only one usually that I take every year that doesn't involve my family) on my daughter's 7th birthday.

I can't tell you how great this kiddo is. She is one of the most mature 7-year-olds I know and yet still the funnest kid when she wants to be. She knows who she is and is learning her security in that. Do you know how I wished I would have had half of what she has now at her age? She is so sensitive to everything and everyone around her and yet still steps up and wows you with her words when you need them the most.

If you haven't met her...you sure are missing out!

I have posted a few things about her birthdays before...here is her 6th and here is her 5th

Shouldn't have read that. Crying again!

(Sidenote: Hubs...be sure and read her those letters in the other 2 posts today.)

My Darling Baby Girl:



Seven? Who said you could turn seven? Did you ask our permission? I want a recount!

Seriously, I couldn't be happier than getting to share seven whole years with you! You rock your Daddy and my worlds every single day! You and your funny-teethed self! Do you know how much you make us laugh? Half of my blog is something about something funny you have done. And what's even funnier? Is every time you do something funny, you say, "Momma...you HAVE to put that on your blog!"

You're 7. You shouldn't even know what a blog is!

But alas...I get the privilege...the honor to sit here and watch as God unfolds this wonderfully destined little lady of beauty and grace that you are becoming. You are so sweet and so compassionate and have such a heart for people.

Even your brother...and even after he's been mean to you.

You are such an example to your friends and your brother. To me and your Daddy. You allow God to play out the Word thru your life. I can't tell you how many times I've thought of the Scripture that says to "honor one another above yourselves" and "the first shall be last and the last shall be first". You are the living and breathing evidence of those words.

I'm so very proud of you too. To have your teacher say some of the things she has said about you is amazing! And even though we all have to room to make mistakes, you always pick yourself back up and head straight for the goal again! You go girl!

But most importantly, you are my friend. My confidant. My encourager. My hugger. My shoulder to cry on. My singer. My dancer. My laughter. My I Love You. My source of my deepest tears. My source of my biggest smiles.

My heart.

So even though I am miles away, you are still right here with me.

I love you, my Sunshine!
Momma

PS--This is for you! (Even though it's kinda dark)

She's So Much Like Me

My lack of posting is due to a CRAZY last week/weekend/beginning of this week.

Last week I was preparing for Baby Girl's 7th Birthday party (pictures coming soon). Then we had said birthday party and brought 3 more 6-7 year old girls home with us to stay the night. Then a photo shoot after all said girls went home (pictures coming soon) then laundry and packing for my trip to the New York (coming to you live now!)

However, during the unpacking I came across this:



It is a ribbon with notes for every day leading up to the day I come home. I am to pull one off every day and see what she has drawn for me. (Don't tell her but I snuck a peek at Friday's paper...it has an airplane with me coming off of it saying, "I'm Home!")

Can't wait, Baby Girl!

Here is a close up of one of the pictures. This is the stuff in my hotel room. From Left to Right: couch, lamp, TV, and chair.



Now, here's the best part. Here is a picture of what I left her hanging on the wall before I left.



The front has how many days are left with a Scripture to read. The back has a note from me. (Got this idea from Boomama.)

Like Mother like Daughter.

"The Neatest Kid I Know"

Friday I had just picked Baby Girl up and we were just pulling out of the school parking lot when my phone rang.

Ida Burns.

Why in the world is the school calling me?

"Mrs. Overstreet? This is Mrs. Cline."

Baby Girl's teacher.

Uh-oh.

But by the end of the conversation I was laughing so hard! She said that she just wanted to let me know that she was the neatest kid she knew. She went on and on about how smart she was and kind and sweet she was and that even though she gets in trouble every now and then for talking (wonder where she got that from) she is the absolute least of her worries and a complete JOY to be around.

Rock on, Baby Girl!

But I just had to share one of the funny things she said about her. Because any of you who know her, this will make total sense.

You have to understand...Baby Girl in many ways thinks, acts and talks way beyond her years. She's still a kid and still acts like a kid at times, but her heart and mind cause me many times to take a step back and try to remember that I'm dealing with a kid here...not an adult.

So Mrs. Cline said that every time she asks the kids to just write and draw in their journals whatever they want to, Baby Girl's is always different. She said while other kids are writing about their dogs or Hannah Montana, Baby Girl chooses to write about things like how purple cabbage juice can decide if something is an acid or a base.

Then she said, "But the most interesting one was the one where she wrote that Princess Diana died in a car wreck. She was married to the son of the Queen of England and they had sons. The End."

I saw the journal entry too.

It came complete with a box car with a very pretty woman in it.

At least she drew her alive.

Family Night Eidtion #35

Remember that list of Family Nights that Baby Girl made? The ones that had some on there specifically for her brother?

This one is quite possibly HIS favorite.

Little Einsteins Night!

Now, Baby Girl loved this show when she was little so I knew she would enjoy it still. But Baby Boy was beside himself!

Let me introduce you to the Little Overstreet Einsteins:


Me=June, the Dancer
Baby Girl=Annie, the singer
Baby Boy=Leo, the conductor
Hubs=Quincy, the instrument guy

We started the evening with our meal from the many places that the LE's have been.


We had Pizza from Italy, Chips and Cheese dip from Mexico, Cheese and Crackers from France, English Muffins from England and Dr. Pepper from America.

From there we made these to prepare for our stop in Antarctica:

Aren't they cute? Olives, cream cheese and carrots.

Then we made some of Leo's batons for later:


We then worked on our very own Masterpieces. Maybe they'll use these on the next LE episode:


Then, it was time to go on a mission. They each loaded up in their (printed) Rocket and they pat-clapped, pat-clapped, pat-clapped their way to the different destinations.

My bathroom (with the shower on and door closed thus creating thick humidity) was where Quincy lost his trumpet in the South African Rain Forest. They had to tiptoe, pianissimo, to the gorilla holding the trumpet and then clap fortissimo to get the gorilla to let go of the trumpet.

Then Rocket zoomed them to Antarctica where June had lost her slippers on a glacier. They had to dancy-dancy-dance across the glazier to retrieve a pair of dance slippers and then dance back to Rocket.

From there we dug thru the sand of the Pacific Ocean in search of Annie's song notes that she lost. They had to retrieve them and get them on the "score" so we could sing her "I Love Family Nights" song (made up on the fly by Baby Girl).

Our last stop was in NYC where a bald eagle had taken Leo's baton. (The Ones we made earlier).

So again...Mission Completion!

What's Our Goal?

“If our goal is to be happy, thousands of obstacles will get in our way. But if our goal is to honor God, we can accomplish that goal no matter what circumstances we encounter.”

Kid-Isms

Sunday evening I was handing a piece of cardboard with some Baby Boy-isms on it. Basically things that he said during class that were noteworthy.

Case #1 in Point:
Teacher--The Bible teaches us and trains us.

Baby Boy--I Love trains! They make loud noises.

Case #2 in Point:
Teacher--What is God-Breathed?

Baby Boy--A very big breath.

And so as not to leave Baby Girl out, I walked into her room the other day and she was standing there in just her pants and her 'top undergarment' with her head down and shaking it in disgust.

I asked her what was wrong.

Baby Girl--Every day this thing is a jigsaw puzzle!

Amen.

Playing the Part

In case you don't know, Baby Boy has a list of girlfreens.

Most of them are slightly older than him.

And by slightly I mean much.

Sunday he saw something in a little bubble gum machine that he wanted.

One of his girlfreens obliged him the $0.50 to purchase it.



He disguise should now work with wooing the older women.

They will never reject him for only being 3 again.

PS--His teeth even look like falsies here!

At Least I Still Have a Few Years Before I'm No Longer His Love

I picked up Baby Boy from school the other day and his teacher said she had to tell me something.

"Curly's" Momma came in that morning and asked to meet Luke. She said he is all "Curly" talks about. How much she loves him.

"Blondie's" Momma came in shortly after and asked to meet Luke. She said he is all "Blondie" talks about. How much she loves him and is so excited that he got a new shirt the other day with green frogs on it."

That day at nap time his teacher realized why he hasn't been getting his nap.

He's flirting with both "Curly" and "Blondie" and by the time they both fall asleep he's too wound up to sleep.

Listen, girls. He's mine for at least the next 24.6 years. I have his heart and as of right now he still plans to marry me when he grows up.

Watch it.

Labor Day Weekend a Week Later

Man, I am so up to the minute on my posts that it simply astounds me.

Yeah, last week was a very crazy week for me, so I'm just now getting around to Labor Day weekend!

Um, excuse me, Mr. Government? Can we have one of those every other week? I Labor every week. I don't think it's too much to ask.

Moving On.

Friday night we went to the Vilonia Eagles Football game which is where all of our youth go and/or play/march. We won on our brand new field! Go Eagles! Here are a few shots from that night.


Here are my girls Johnna, Casey, Hailey and Brianna


This is a very special photo for my girlfriend. This pressbox was named after her uncle who was the voice of the Eagles for years.


#16 is my boy Clay. I couldn't get a good shot of him playing b'c he was too fast so here we go.


This is my son's other favorite person. His preacher! This picture is framed and on his desk and one framed and in Luke's room.

On the way home we tuned into the post-game show on the local radio station. One of my girlfriends (aka THE babysitter as she loves to be called) texted her Pops (the voice on the radio) and the next few moments cracked my stuff up!

He talked about my kids on the radio. He said their names 3 times. The first time Baby Girl was just excited to "be a star". Baby Boy still didn't get it. Until the final time he said their names. He goes ballistic! "They said our names! They said our names! That's me. That's you!!!! That's me!!! We're cool. We are on the radio!"

Man, I wish it was that easy to make my world a better place!

Saturday we headed to Grapevine, AR.

Oh, you've never heard of it? Neither had I until I went. We have family that lives there and some other family met us there. We had a wonderful time and I wished I could visit with them every single day.

Now, Yes, I took Nikki with me however I neglected to get any photos.

Except for this one.



And those of you who know me, know why I took it.

I also tasted 2 or 14 of them...

Sunday was church and the nursing home (no photos needed of that) and Baby Girl spent the evening with her girlfriend at the park doing a cookout. When did she grow up and start being a social bug? Wait...she always was.

I went out with my best girlfriends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We got no photos of this as it was spent laughing and crying until (literally) they were vacuuming around us at the restaurant. Girls, I love you more than my luggage!

Monday my folks wanted us to load up and be tourists. So, we obliged. We first headed to the Clinton Library. Now, no matter what your feeling are about Clinton (and I have my very own) this is a great place to just see. I have been there once before with my work but none of them had. And the kids actually really enjoyed it.


Here we are being all touristy


Any of you who know my Momma will laugh at this one. It's her sitting in the chair designated for the "President of the United States" in the Cabinet Room. How appropriate, huh?


I, however, laugh even harder at this one...as Baby Girl tries to look like the President in the chair.


Our touristy family photo. Doesn't Hubs look THRILLED?


On our way out we took off our shoes and ran thru the VERY THICK grass. Country goes to town, people. But doesn't she look like she loves it?

From there we ate lunch and went to the Old Mill. Now, my Momma worked for Glynda Turley for years. Some of her most popular artwork was of the Old Mill. But Momma had never seen it. So we went and it was still as beautiful as the last many times I've been. This time we were trying to capture some shots for Daddy's album cover and insert.


My handsome Daddy


Love this one...even with the shadow


One of the favorites


Had to slip in a few of the kiddos playing on that bridge!


My...look at her!

PS--I chose this one to go on the album cover...


You'd buy a copy...right?

Who's That Girl--Jr Edition Revisited

STILL working on the Labor Day post...

In the mean time, I thought I would share Baby Girl's newest look.

Baby Girl has some majorly thick hair. Not real sure where she got it from, but it is wild and unmanageable without sever help every time we need to get gussied up. So I got the idea to ask our hair dresser about thinning out Baby Girl's hair. She thought it was a splendid idea.

So we went with it.





Doesn't she look all grown up? I mean...this is by far my favorite look...

after this one...of course...



Be still, my heart...

For Real?

While I get my Labor Day post together...

Remember this picture that I posted a few days ago? About these 2...how they have known each other forever and just lurrrvvveee each other?



Well...looskie what else I stumbled across...



Andurah...is this doing the same thing to you that it is to me? I can't wait to see where these 2 end up!

It IS Harder

I am in the middle of a Womens Group Study right now that is one of the toughest...correction...THE toughest study I have ever done.

It is called "A Call to Die" by David Nasser.

Holy pajamas!

The link above gives you a synopsis of the book. But let me tell you...if you are NOT wanting God to point out the stuff in your life that is deeper in the recesses of your mind and soul...the places you didn't even know existed...don't start it!

The author even calls you to fast from something...something in the world that is taking a wrong place in your life while you allow Him to spend 40 days (or in our case 40 weeks) helping you die to yourself.

Guess what?

Dying is painful! The ripping away of flesh is oh, so painful.

But so much more worth it.

Nasser says in just the introduction, "It's much easier to be a nice Chrstian than a radical one. It's much more fun to be entertained by Jesus and the church than to struggle and strain in the pursuit of purity and the presence of God."

Ouch! But oh, how true!

As I started this study I saw a sign on a little country church sign that says, "Character is not what you show everyone. Character is what is done in the dark."

Oh, Lord! Tear away the flesh so that my dark and light characters not only are equal but bear witness to You.

Now I Know What She Really Thinks of Me

Baby Girl brought this home the other day from school.

I laughed.

Hard.

Truth...is is funny.



Hey...at least I'm sportin' a cute black maxi dress and rockin' my hair do.

I Love These Kids

A few shots that I threw on here as I continue to work on the others.








Ahhh...friends.