I know....I know...

Well...I've been getting fussed at from all sides bc I haven't written a new blog post in two months! So, until I have time to write a proper post, here's a glimpse at what we've been busy doing this summer.....

A Wedding!

We had a family wedding this weekend.

My nephew got married...the first grandchild of 9.

That's the groom in the picture.

That's the gaze on

the face of the groom

that brought tears to my eyes.

It's the gaze of a groom

awaiting the arrival of his bride.

And it was beautiful.

The song playing as he waited was "Out of My League" by Stephen Speaks.

"I love her with all that I am. And my voice shakes along with my hands. Cause she's all that I see and she's all that I need and I'm out of my league once again."

And then,

she came through the door.

A beautiful princess bride

prepared to meet her groom.

Our little princess leaned over and whispered, "When is the kissing part?"

With her hands folded against her cheek, she sighed, "The kissing part is the best part."

I'm sure the groom thought so, too.

But I Don't Want to be a Big Girl!

With her head buried in my shoulder as she sobbed, I felt her little tears trailing down my arm. 

As the Mommy, it was bad enough (in the best way possible) that our youngest baby just turned 6 years old. Must we add insult to injury and discover not one but TWO loose teeth? 

"But I don't want to be a big girl," she sobbed. "I just don't want to be a big girl! When will this be over?" 

I hear ya, sistuh. 

There are times when I just don't want to be a big girl! 

 There are times when I wish my biggest concerns in life are if the Tooth Fairy will come or where my princess crown is hiding.

 There are times when I wish my biggest decisions in life are which swimsuit to wear to the pool or which headband best matches my outfit.  

There are plenty of times when I, too, want to sob..."When will this be over???" 

You, too?  Umhmm. That's what I thought.

The good news is that whatever is going on in my life or yours, it's ok to tell Father that you just don't want to be a big girl. 

Just like my little Princess did today upon the startling discovery of her first two loose teeth, you can crawl into Father's lap and let Him shelter and comfort you. 

He'll rock you while you cry. 

He'll whisper that it will be ok...that you won't ever be alone. 

He'll wipe away your tears. 

He'll tell you the "teeth still have to come out", but that He'll be with you every step of the way and you can trust Him. 

And He'll sing a sweet song over you until you feel His peace once more.

And you'll joyfully return to Big Girlhood with renewed hope and faith and confidence only found in Him. 

Now...where's my crown...?

We LOVE this! Love Story Meets Viva la Vida...

American Idol - Top 4 Through the Eyes of a 13 yr old...

My 13 year old, Rayray, had so much fun live blogging for me, she's agreed to try it again!

Have fun and be sweet, Rayray!!

Hello again, everyone!
Be sweet? Am I not always sweet? ;)

Top 4! Here we go!!!
Duets?! No way!!! This will be interesting!
AHHH! What are you wearing, Adam?!
What was up with that guy on fire in Slash's music video?
Did his mama name him Slash on purpose?
So many questions, so little time.

Adam, (what song was it again?): Ahh!!!! Another Ring of Fire flashback...this one may be worse!!! (no offense, Adam...) I can't even understand what he's saying. "Keep a cooler, baby"? Is that it? Adam...you're frightening me again. I'm just a little girl...I'm calling my Daddy!

Hey look. Kara and Adam have on the same jacket...that's not weird...

Cool hair, Allison!

Allison, Cry Baby: WHOO!!!! Go Allison! You ROCKED it!!! LoveloveLOVED it!!! Great job!...The end.

Kris and Danny, Renegade: Who knew Kris and Danny could rock!!! That was impressive! Loved it!!!

Kris, Come Together: Wow...He.Can.Rock!!! He totally rocked it! Pretty incredible! Great job, Kris!

Me and PJmama both think that the judges are trying to set up Kris or Danny to go home and Adam to win...ridiculous.

Danny, Dream On: OY!!! OY!!! OW!!! That note hurt my vocal chords just listening to it...Sorry, Danny. I wish he could have gotten the last notes...but it just fell apart at the end. The beginning was fine...the last notes gave me laryngitis just listening to them. I wonder if it hurt Danny's...if I ever meet him, I'll ask him and let you know.

Allison and Adam: Wow...that was awesome. Good duet match, definitely.

That's crazy! They showed Danny's worst moment on the recap! As I said before: ridiculous.

I hope y'all enjoyed my recap! :)

Peace, love, joy,
Rayray

This Made Me Smile Today

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Rayray's Recap of American Idol

Since I haven't blogged on American Idol in awhile, our Rayray is going to blog tonight in my place. So without further adieu, here's your American Idol recap, through the eyes of a 13 year old.

Hey people!

I am so honored to be my mama's first guest blogger!

Here we go...My first American Idol blog! I'm so excited! :D

Allison, I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing: Oh, Allison. Why in the earthly WORLD did you pick that song? That's David Cook's song! *Flashes back to last season* David brought it on that song last year. *flashes back to present* It was too low pitched. I wanted to see her hittin' those big notes tonight. I'm a big fan of Allison, but it just wasn't that great tonight.

Anoop Dawg, Everything I Do I Do For You: You should've taken Randy's advice. Rough it up! It sounded like he didn't even try to take his advice. I'm kinda sick of ballads, too. Is it just me, or has he done one like, three weeks in a row? (PajamaMama loved it. Period.)

Adam, Born To Be Wild: Ohhh, Adam. I'm so sorry, but you creep me out more every week...

I just flashed back to "The Ring of Fire" a few weeks ago! *screams in horrified terror*! *screams in horrified terror again*! Sorry, but you're just scary. Go back to no black fingernails and no eye makeup, then I'll attempt to recover.

Matt, Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman: So Matt, have you ever really loved a woman? I thought it was beautiful. He's flawless on the piano.

Danny, Endless Love: What do you have against harps, Simon? I liked the soft arrangement. I thought he did great. (PajamaMama - Loves Danny, moaned and rolled eyes at song choice.)

Why is Ryan pretending to be Randy, why is Cara growling, and why is Randy standing up?....The judges continue to confuse me.

Kris, Falling Slowly: I've never heard of that movie or the song, but I loved it. I could tell it was pitchy in spots, but it was beautiful. (PajamaMama's FAVE of the night.)

Lil, The Rose: As my dear mother put it, "The song from every bad beauty pageant." Lil, you can bring it when you pick the right song, but you just didn't bring it this time. And it really annoys PJmama and I when contestants talk back to the judges for no apparent reason. I have a bad feeling that we'll have to say bye-bye to Lil-Lil tomorrow...

I hope you enjoyed my American Idol recap!

Keep smilin'!

~Rayray