Liebich Wedding

My cousin Melissa had her wedding over the weekend and I helped take pictures. She was a beautiful bride and I enjoyed the time together taking stunning pictures and trying to make everyone laugh. Taking pictures at weddings are certainly interesting and I think requires a lot of practice. I enjoyed cracking jokes to get everyone to relax a little and got some really nice, natural shots. If I didn't have a young family I could totally get into this industry.

Here are a couple of the ones I took. Some of the poses are taken from other wedding photographers I adore!

Mother's Day Tea

One of my favorite traditions in Mrs. Fox's class...The Mother's Day Tea. The kids decorate pots on Father's night in April and then plant flowers to give to us moms. They also make homemade flowers too. You can't see it in the picture but I am wearing corsages with their school pictures on them. Such sweet memories!

Happy Birthday Grace

Sometimes it is hard to believe our youngest is 3, and others times we are doing a happy dance! We have officially left the 'baby' stage and moved right into being a big girl! SO much we love and adore about her. She is funny, strong willed and very determined. She has just started playing pretend and some of my favorite moments are listening her talk to her babies and barbies.

Cake and presents last night...so much fun when you are 3!

And of course and strawberry sprinkles donut for her birthday breakfast!

Grace's 3rd Birthday Cake

I finished up Grace's cake today. I am for the most part happy with it. It is cute but I need to improve getting my icing smooth and making the color more vibrant. She is thrilled and keeps asking when we get to eat it!! She wanted to 'taste' the icing every time she walked into the kitchen. I love it when the kids hit this age because they are so much more aware of what is actually going on they are participating. She also keeping saying "I can't wait for Zoee to come over and play for my birthday!" So cute!

The color of the cake looks better in person... I edited this photo to try and get it what I wanted. She likes Dora and when I found this ribbon to put around the bottom I just know I needed to use it for the cake.

Hair post...(it's been a while)

I haven't been particularly inspired to do my daughters' hair recently. Sometimes I think the amount of time it can take to do a more creative style can seem a bit overwhelming. I have found myself in the last couple months doing something that will take around three hours but will last 4 weeks. And I totally get that I could spend more then 3 hours on hair if I had to do it every day like with my oldest, but our weekends haven't given me the concentrated time. So, enough excuses...Shane was at Men's retreat this past weekend and I did nothing but hang out at home...finally a weekend and although not completely inspired with a creative burst I wanted to do some fun bead colors as summer is approaching. I love the color!!!

A delicious, light dinner

I again spent too much time on Pinterest this morning but this recipe grabbed my attention and I decided to make it for dinner tonight. It is not only a feast for the eyes it is also really tasty! This recipe is techinically vegetarian but I think I will make grilled chicken breasts sometime and use this as a garnish because yes, it is that good!!!

See What I mean...sooooo yummy!! (Even Samantha liked it...she was actually the only kids willing to try it but I still hope for the day they will eat more than their boring, kid staples.)

Recipes: http://bevcooks.com/2012/02/vegetarian-mexican-salad-boats/

Oh and I totally cheated, (that's what 5 kids will do to you..). I used a tablespoon of taco seasoning instead of the chili powder and cumin simply because I had it and time. I also kept out the radishes. That is what was so appealing about this recipe...it really can be changed to your taste buds. Enjoy this special treat as the temps heat up...

So much thinking these days

I am almost done reading a book called "Grace for the Good Girl" by Emily P. Freeman. I am reading it as part of a leadership retreat for our woman's ministry group. I have had this book for over a  month and I actually started reading it shortly after I got it but then stopped because frankly the 'truths' in the book are convicting. Would I say I am a "good girl"? Probably. Have I made some intensely profound mistakes in my life? Yes. I find myself in this weird place of agreeing with so much the book describes because I think deep at my core I care too much about right and wrong. The way this book describes a 'good girl' I do fit it to a tee...and it hurts. I picked the book up again this past weekend because I need to have it read for discussion on Saturday and I must be in a place to hear it this time because I haven't really been able to put it down. It is not hurting any less reading it but I am anxious to keep going in hopes for the resolution (and hope) I am sure the end of the book brings.

Some of the hardest parts of this book for me to swallow have to do with pleasing people. I was the kids in school who wanted to be everyone's friend but was so ill-equipped to understand what that means and how that works. I see in my oldest daughter this same characteristic except she is thriving in the best way possible. God has made her intensely social and this desire to be everyone's friend. She does what I never was able to achieve...she doesn't worry about making sure everyone is happy. She has not put herself in the middle of her friends making sure the balance is right and making sure there is 'peace' between all the girls. She is able to set appropriate boundaries and doesn't wallow in shame if one of the girls challenges her boundary. She will say to one girl, "I want to spend a little one on one time with so and so and then we can go swing if you want." Then she bounces away confidently. Amazing! And the girls in the past year especially have grown to respect that about her because she is a young girl with great integrity and she follows through with what she says. They can trust her. Without sounding like a downer, it is my greatest hope that she can maintain this way of thinking/living in all her relationships as she grows...I pray, I hope desperately for the little girl inside me who didn't have nearly the confidence she has. I am so proud of her. See, I couldn't handle the rejection. I couldn't handle if someone else felt rejected by me, so I would waiver in my convictions to make sure that person 'felt' good. I couldn't handle being rejected. I would change myself in order to 'fit' into the box I had to be in at the moment. This book talks about wearing masks and I am a pro. The following quote nailed this concept on the head for me...

"That's how the mask wearing begins...For everyone, something happens that leads to a feeling be it rejection or fear or elation or pride. And that feeling becomes a belief deeply ingrained and carefully coddled. In turn, that belief turns into ways we choose to cope with things and live our lives."


I think deep in my core for some reason I just wanted to be accepted so badly. And if I wanted to be accepted so badly than that must mean I have to accept EVERYBODY and make myself what ever I needed to be for the given situation. The big problem with that is I never accepted myself to begin with and therefore how could I offer true, authentic relationship to anyone. Makes so much sense!!!! I think this must be the fundamental difference between Samantha and I. She absolutely accepts herself for who God created her to be. Shane and I have been pounding that into our children's head from day one. She cares and feels deeply, authentically about each one of her friends but she is not trying to make them like her...they either do or they don't. Even as children we crave authenticity in our relationships. When we are authentic we can find those places of strength and confidence. She is certainly my example.

So much more to share from this book...