Lexie's Birthday Pics!

 Before November has come and gone, I thought I'd hurry up and post Lexie's birthday pics! I can't believe my baby girl is now 18! CrAziNeSS!!

Karleigh Mei singing her heart out! She loves a good party!

And sweet big sis let KM help her blow out the candles!

And I have no idea why the candles were reflecting like that...and reflecting off of what? I'm assuming all the angels that were gathered around as well. :)

Putting Up Christmas Decorations

Everybody is getting into the Christmas spirit! Even little Annie!

Am I a tease or what?! I'm sure you can tell how incredibly cute she is though!!

Garrison untangling the lights and making sure they all light up.

Karleigh Mei found some multi-colored lights, and she was too excited about them.

{Can you believe her cute little nose!? I hope to do a post on her before and after pics soon.}

Katie let Karleigh Mei have her dorm room Christmas tree and she helped her set it up in her room!

She was so proud, so happy, and so excited about having a little tree in her room!

Nothing says Christmas like a manger scene and a neon florescent piggy bank! HA! And way too many muti-colored lights!

I am so thankful we can add Annie's stocking this year. Trusting the Lord for next year!

Karleigh Mei's Fifth Birthday Party

{Pictures by big sis Lexie}

What a month November has been! I'm so behind on posting pictures. 

Karleigh Mei had her first birthday party with friends. It was a party she has been planning for a long time! It was a special day in which we all gathered to celebrate the girl we all love!

Karleigh Mei decided on a fairy princess theme! She loves Tink*rbell and so we decided to get all of her friends fairy butterfly wings and tutus. Of course!

Here is KM ready and waiting for all of her friends to come to her house!

{She's so cute!! I love her so!!}

Waiting to blow out her candle as we all sing to her!

 

Opening gifts!

A hug from a sweet friend!

Everyone trying to get a good look at the goods. 

They all adore Karleigh Mei! 

Such beautiful girls!

It's pinata time!

Yippie! Candy!

All the pretty girls!

Ever wondered what God wants for Christmas?

Hey All...It's Lexie (my mom added me as a writer on her blog...so now I can just hop in and write...whenever! So get excited to see more of me. Ha!)

First off, thank y'all for the birthday wishes! I had a perfect birthday. Not only was my birthday on a Friday (which means, off campus lunch for seniors!!), but it was also the start of thanksgiving break! Perfect day to have a birthday, I say.

And as if that is not enough to make my day so very happy...my friends surprised me with a little party during off campus lunch :)

You see, we like to go on picnics during off campus lunch at a near by park...

...it makes us feel like little kids again :)

Call us nerds. Whatever.

Well, this friday (my birthday) they told me that we would go to Red Robin. You know, so that the big red bird could sing for me? Well, little did I know...that was all a lie. Instead, they brought me to the park...and had set up a whole picnic for me. It was precious.

They are the best! And I was completely surprised!

Cake and all! With an inside joke written on the cake...of course!

Then later than night I went to dinner with my family...which was also perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

But, thats not what I came to write about today.

I want to introduce y'all to somebody.

Meet Christie. Let me tell you a bit about her... She became a Christian just this past January...and right after thanksgiving... she is moving to Uganda, Africa to live radically for Christ!

She is sold out for Jesus.

I urge y'all to read this post to learn more about her decision to move to Uganda.

I have fallen in love with her story. And that is why I am writing you. You see, she is going to Uganda do be a headmaster at a Christian school. But, she must find sponsors for each of her children. God has told her to find sponsors for 220 children. She already has 80! And I don't doubt that God supply sponsors for the rest of the children.

Could you be one of the 140 people that is needed to fulfill this goal?

Here are the details:

• Cost - $100 will cover tuition, uniform, shoes, school supplies, a meal during school, and medical/dental visits (as needed) forone year. I would prefer the payment in a lump sum. However, if you can only pay monthly, let me know so we can work out the details.
• Child - I will get pictures and profiles of the children when I get to the village and will post them in an album on Facebook. The profiles will tell you specifics about the child (name, sex, age, parent(s) names, favorite sport, how many brothers/sisters, what they want to be when they grow up, favorite color, favorite food(s), and favorite animal) and this info will be listed in the caption of each photo. You can then comment under the child you (or your family) chooses. If you are not friends with me on Facebook, add me by clicking on the badge in the right hand column :)

• Communication - I will be right there in the village, so communication with your child will be as often as you want to check in with him/her. This will be in addition to the normal communication - exchanging actual letters, and pictures with him/her when I come to visit the States. I also have a brand new laptop that some friends bought for my ministry that has a webcam on it, and have been daydreaming about the children using Skype to communicate with their sponsors. This is something I think your family would really enjoy, especially if you have little ones at home.

• Concerns - God has just recently revealed to me what my ministry is for Him. Due to this, I do not have a 501(3)c to make your donations tax deductible at this time, but I am praying about when I can do that. Until then, if you are more comfortable donating to an organization that will give you a tax deduction for your donation, please leave me a comment and I will give you suggestions. Please note that the Bugabo Village sponsorship is only $100/year and the other organizations are usually a monthly commitment of $30-40/month.

Time is running out as she is leaving for Uganda very soon...so I beg you to pray about it! I have looked in the eyes of children in Uganda as they tell me what they want to be when they grow up...a pilot, a pastor, a teacher...a doctor. But, the first step to becoming this is going to school. And oh, how they all want to go to school and learn!

Can you spare about .27 cents a day to give a child an education? I do believe this is what God wants for Christmas this year!

Pass the word on, and pray for Christie as she prepares to leave for Uganda!

Happy 18th Birthday Lexie Lou!!

On this day, 18 years ago, I gave birth to one of God's most favorite! Alexandra Lillian was born!

She was a darling girl from day one and I was in love!

Here she is at 3 years old. Such a doll!

I honestly do not know where the time has gone. It has gone by much too quickly. Much. Much. Much. too quickly. This will probably be her last birthday at home. {weep}. I don't like that much. 

I know that as part of my role as her mother, I'm to teach her the ways of life, so that she can be released to the world, whole and complete, and ready to tackle the world. But, sometimes I feel that I have learned so much more from her. I've seen what true selflessness looks like. And how to be a friend to all at all times. And to love all unconditionally. How to have a ready smile no matter the circumstances and a gentle word of reassurance when things may not be going as planned.

Oh, my girl Lexie. What a gift and a blessing the Lord gave to me this day, 18 years ago. 

Lexie is ready to tackle the world. 

And when she talks about her dreams of her future, I start singing this song. But half way through the song, I'm the one crying and I realize how much I'm going to miss right where we are today. 

So bittersweet watching your children grow up. But I always remember my great grandmother, Bess, telling me, "It's exactly what you want your children to do. You wouldn't want them to not grow up!" 

I'm still going to miss this though. :)

I love you, Lexie!!! Hope your day is as beautiful as YOU!!

A Darling Girl In Need

I have been behind at my blog reading (I wonder why!? HA!) and this morning I skipped over to Sarah's blog. 

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this darling girl named Genevieve.  

Is she not a doll or what!?! Sweet baby!

Genevieve lives in India at Sarah's Covenant Homes and she is in need of surgery on her right eye. Sarah felt called to raise funds for her surgery and has a chipin button on her blog for those that would like to help this darling girl. 

Oh...and as a bonus to helping this girl receive the surgery she needs, Sarah is also having a giveaway for those that chip in to help!

Go check it out and read more about sweet Genevieve at Sarah's blog!

She did GREAT! And a very special thank you!

Karleigh Mei was such a brave girl yesterday!  We are so proud of her. 

The surgery went great...and the recovery is going great to! Sweet girl has not complained at all. She is the perfect patient. 

These photos are from my iPhone. 

Here she is playing in the waiting room :) 

Ready to go!

And out of surgery...all good! Sweet girl! 

She had quite the set up in the recovery room...A T.V. and crackers! Of course she charmed all of the nurses. 

And a very special thank you is in order....

Yesterday evening Karleigh Mei had a very special guest! One of her very best friends from school came to the house to check on KM. What a sweet girl Miss Caroline is! 

She brought one bag of treasures she found around her room that she thought KM would like, and her and her mommy picked out a set of princess puzzles that she thought KM would enjoy while she was recovering. So sweet. Caroline thought of everything...she even brought some pretty napkins that KM could use for her nose, and she brought a little toy for Annie! :)

What a sweet friendship these girls have...they adore each other! 

This morning with the help of her big sister...Karleigh Mei finished all of the puzzles! And LOVED it! 

Thank you, Caroline! Karleigh Mei can not wait to see you back at school after she has recovered!

Thank you to everybody else for your prayers! We felt them! And keep them coming! Keeping a 5 year old still and quiet to recover is hard stuff. sigh.