Sanctus Real - Lead Me (Slideshow With Lyrics)

Candy-Lion Picking

What a gloriously sunny day this was! The dandilions are all gone now, but the girls had so much fun bringing me bouquets of them, and I remembered how to make a crown (sort of). My little fairy princess will never know it wasn't perfect!

Matt Maher - Christ is Risen

Empty and full

I am feeling a little empty today: my husband has been gone for 4 days, the kids are at each other's throats and on my second-to-last nerve, we are tired from all our keep-busy-while-daddy's-gone activities, the fridge is empty, the Diet Pepsi is gone, and I am wondering how much patience I have left. But then I see these wild roses I cut from outside, and smell their rich, incredible, perfect rosy perfume, and think how they just survive, without pruning or fertilizing, through severe winds and freezing temperatures, thunderstorms, and summer heat, and they are so beautiful, so fragrant. My life is no thunderstorm. My husband will be home in two days. If I am a little thorny, my children will forgive me, because after bedtime stories, songs, and prayers, they will be assured that I love them and all is well. And if life is rough, may my fragrance become even sweeter, my love more vibrant for having survived each storm.

Ups and downs

All that I've found through the ups and the downs
Is that I'd have it no other way
Life in the raw is both fragile and strong
It's both lovely and ugly the same
Who can attest that when they're at their best
Oh their worst is still crouching close behind
Its coming to peace with the darkness in me
That allows the true light inside to shine

So let it go for we are still far from home
Though you try and you try to escape
To live and to love will always be dangerous
But it's better than playing it safe

From the Kendall Payne song "Ups and Downs"