Look closely...

 Anna is into all things busy!
She keeps my mind challenged on how to teach her, play with her, and have fun in new ways!
This day we built a tunnel :)

Brett is such a good daddy. This day, instead of looking closely at the bubble marks on the ground I chose to look closely at Anna's fascination, Brett's love and delight in his daughter, and the fact that the floor could be cleaned any 'ol day. This was a moment to be shared!

 Something I tried with Anna Ruth was letting her play with bowls, cups, and other things in different sized bowls of water. She splashed some and then quickly dumped the water on herself.

It provided a bit of discovery and fun for her though!

 You know what they say..."One man's trash is another man's 

treasure!"
I am almost always the "other man's treasure" part of that quote!
Momma and Daddy gave me these shutters...I spray-painted them and decorated with them on the mantle!
I am enjoying how bright and cheery it looks.

Anna loves her swing in the yard! Thanks Uncle Jack and Dada for hanging it up for her!

Sometimes I measure myself up to other people and think "how do they do it?" I see picture perfect homes, hair and makeup, bodies, kids, etc. not realizing there are less than picture-perfect moments in these homes too.

For example, while my mantle might look pretty and decorated, the rest of the house looked liked the picture above. A mess! 

While I might always look and sound happy and cheerful, that isn't always the case!
My choosing to see the rosy side isn't a naive viewpoint. I know there are real hurts, real loneliness, real stress and exhaustion.
But, I pray for God to give me new eye-sight. 

Sometimes I'm obedient and I look closely to see the beautiful in things..

other times I'm disobedient and just plain grumpy.

I'm so glad God's love for me IS picture-perfect.
Nothing can ruin it!
I want to look closely at THAT.