Rainbow colored fingers

And rainbow colored toes,

Makes a girl feel pretty,
Most everywhere she goes!

His trees

I live in a beautiful place!

I am sure that God displays his majesty everywhere in some way.

But here, for me, it is often in the trees.

I LOVE palm trees, and this place has all kinds. The girls and I spied this one on a recent skip to the beach for some afternoon shell seeking. From the car those bright orange "leaves??" looked like feathers.

up close they were actually kind of poky and sharp.

God could have, if He had wanted to, just covered the earth with just one kind of tree, or even no trees at all, and we wouldn't have ever known the difference, but in His wonderful, glorious way, He chose to gift us with all kinds, in all shapes and sizes! What a creative God we can choose to serve!

How does He display His glory to you, where you live?

8 seems like so much more than 7

She has always been the baby, and in my mind she is still 4. A few weeks ago It dawned on me that she was going to be 8, and I cried! I did, I cried, because 8 seems like so much more than 7!

Every year I give her the option of skipping her birthday. "If you would just skip it" I'd beg, "then you can be the same age for one more year, and if you keep skipping it, then you can be my little girl forever!" She used to think about it real hard when she was smaller, and come to me later all apologetic and sad. "Maybe next year" she would say, "maybe I will skip it next time". This year she smiled sweetly, the way she does, and said, "oh Momma, I want to be 8, and I have to grow up". And of course she knows that I really wouldn't want it any other way! I just wish I could slow the clock a bit.

So at eight years old, she is still my baby, and I just love being her Momma.

She always has a song in her heart and on her lips.

She LOVES to make new friends, and she has never met a stranger.

She is the biggest animal lover in our family, and the most tender when it comes to 4 legged creatures.

She hates getting her hair brushed, yet wants to grow it until it reaches the ground.

She has an incredible imagination, and can pretend for hours.

She needs lots of hugs, and I hope she always will.

Strawberries and apples make her feel sick, but she loves oranges, bananas, and grapes. And pizza, and mashed potatoes, and any kind of pasta!

She loves to listen to history CDs and books on CD.

She loves to dress up and wear a bow in her hair, but she can get dirty and play hard with the best of them.

She is itching to get on a stage with a microphone.

She is afraid of lizards, but not of giant gray rats named Chuckie!

She is up for most any adventure, and is definitely the most outgoing of all my children at this age.

She will always be my baby.

She is my ElizaJane!



Brazil, TACKY, Marlo Thomas, and call your Momma!

Oh my goodness, where have I been, and what a lame post about squirrels that was! I think my blog was hacked.

Almost a month since I blogged, and I don't know why. I think we can safely blame Pinterest!

Kartwrights in the green

Kartwright returned from Brazil with lots of stories, some failures, some successes, lessons learned, people met, family missed. Good stuff! I would deem his trip a total win win, and now I am thankful his feet rest firmly in the great US of A. His first text home when his rainbows flip flopped onto the Atlanta airport pavement was "God bless America!" Always making me laugh that boy!

Have you ever thought it strange that it is perfectly culturally acceptable to eat the same breakfast day after day, but that eating the same lunch every day is weird, and the same dinner every day is totally unacceptable?? Just thinkin.

A few important birthdays happened while I was off eating bon bons instead of relating my exciting squirrel filled life. My BFF, otherwise known as my better half, is now just a tad over middle age, if he makes it to 100 that is. Our first born, another of my BFFs celebrated making me a momma by eating our food, haha, love to feed my boys, and then the next day I got to sit for my cutie pie grands while he went out with his pretty wife. It was so fun, and I didn't take my girls along, so I didn't have to share the cuteness with anybody, they were all mine! And, guess who's almost crawling, yeah baby, the Ryder man is almost mobile! I had both cuties bathed and in bed when the parents returned, because I am a cool grandparent like that :)There were no drugs involved I promise, just a rocking chair. Oh the joy, you have no idea, well, unless you do, but if you don't, then you have no idea!

Do you think it is bad to tell your seven year old daughter that things she picks are tacky? I mean in a nice way. You know like "no sweety you can't have that purple feathered, rhinestone encrusted, supergirl scarf, because.....it's tacky!" She then proceeded to pick equally tacky merchandise up and ask, "Is this Tacky Momma, is this tacky?", in that loud whisper scream...you know the one that could wake the dead?! On the road home she sweetly asked "Momma, what's tacky?".

So Haven received this movie series for Christmas this year, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a period piece, but not without humor for sure. So fun, and the costuming alone is worth the watch. This is not for girls (or women for that matter) raised on the Disney channel and Hannah Montana, not hatin on Disney, just sayin. Although if you're raising your girls on that junk, just stop it!

Oh yeah, guess what I saw the other day, right on my own TV. And excuse me if this is old news because we now have TV (on a trial basis) after being without for several years, and I know nothing.

That Girl!

 Remember???? took me right back to 1974! I Loved me some Marlo Thomas back in the day, in fact me and my BFF Susie Frifeldt down the street, vowed together that we would name our first Born children Marlo, after that cute star. We also dreamed of being Miss America. Oh the dreams you can dreams if only you try.  Anyhoo, my girls and I watched it, and aside from some really really cute retro clothes, that show was incredibly stupid. She was apparently a very successful NY city girl with her own very cool apartment, fully furnished I might add, and clothes.....did I mention the clothes??? but she didn't have any sense in her pretty little bob covered head. really! In the episode that we watched she didn't even have a job, she was trying out for a play!But, cute clothes, for real!

Ever had all your kids contact you on the same day? I mean your away from home kids. It is the best! One calls stuck in traffic, and just wants to talk. Okay, he probably called his daddy first and couldn't get through, but it still counts. Then his brother texts cause he's bored in class, I know he shouldn't be texting in class, but it still counts. Then even DILove (daughter in love) texts with a prayer request. This is good stuff people, really good stuff. So, what am I sayin you ask??

If you still have a Momma, she would love to hear from you.

See ya, gonna go call my Mom.