HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHLEEN!!!

Kathleen turned ten on the 22!! Double digits baby.

give away!!

the jocee at thecupcakedictionary.blogspot.com is having a 300 follower give away!!! chrck it out!

Marshmallow

In case you don't know, marshmallow is the name of my white miniature Schnauzer. One word that describes her utterly is obsodelutous. A made up adjective which here means, completely cute and totally obsessed with chasing balls, barking at squirrels,and licking my face in the morning.
Last week or so we decided to put her in a reindeer costume that she didn't seem t like so much. Oh well, she still looked really cute.

                                     this is a pic of her when we first got her three years ago.

                                 lastly, I have a very special picture that Claire drew for me.

May your Christmas Eve Eve be filled with balls and scritches on the ear,
Gracie

Goodbye and hello

I have just spent 5 amazing days in colonial Virginia on a school trip. The people there were so amazing I have to give them a hand.

Dear lily,
This us not the end by Gunger is officially. My favorite song.

Dear Hannah,
I'm sorry if I bored you to death with wicked songs. Also, your knitting is pretty amazing.

Dear will,
We all love your laugh and missed it Thursday night.

Dear smith,
It's all my fault if you were bored to death by our singing.

Dear Darr,
WE DO NOT sound like a windshield wiper when we sing. P.S. Mr. G won the deer game.

Dear stuart,
You are very smart although very crazy.

Dear nick,
You just don't get it.

Dear Chris,
Why you insist in talking to us I don't know why.

Dear Nate,
STOP BOTHERING US!!!!

Dear jonny,
Have you noticed that since you came with us the other guys swarm when your van pulls in after school.



Dear jack,
Your obsession with wikipedia went a little too far in case you haven't noticed.

Dear Isaac,
Your voices are hilarious and never get old.

Dear thorin,
Your name is totally awesome. The stonewall chess move is really cool. P.S. Do you have another riddle for me?

Sincerely yours,
Gracie

Sorry

(sorry guys, I shouldn't be taking this out on y'all. But I need someone to talk to.)

Do you ever feel like your family isn't family any more. I don't mean Mom, Dad, sister, brother. I mean church family. The ones who are supposed to pray for you and lift you up in hard times. Not make times harder. ... Handbells used to be so much fun. But that was before I had to share with Anna. You would think that because I had done it before her that she would ask for help and admit I was doing it right. Instead she does everything her way, makes the whole song sound bad, and then roll her eyes and insist that I was the one doing it wrong.  I know it's not your fault, and that your most likely not going to read this post. But I need someone to talk to. Girls can be mean. We all know that. But when someone crosses the line.  We need a friend to talk to. Thank you, unknown person, for being my friend. Please pray for me.

From my teddy bears arms,

Gracie

A Birthday Post

Birthdays are magical, exciting, full of adventure. They are times celebrating you and who you are. Today is a very special thirteenth birthday of my amazing best friend Reagan. I've known her since kindergarden and been with her ever since. Endless sleepover of secret filled stories have we expirenced. Laughing and crying, we've done it all. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

left: Reagan right: Me

sleepover fun, Reagan's in the lime green shirt

Decorating cookies

the pineapple pose

left: Reagan right: Me

left: Reagan right: Me

Many wishes on your very special day,
Gracie

flawed

ok Jocee, I admit, your post was amazing. I admit, that was just what I needed. too, I admit I'm going to copy it onto my blog and save it forever and ever amen. ok, here it is darlinks.

i think we're obsessed with looking in the mirror. like we're almost infatuated by the ideas of beauty created by the top forms of society, and when we see ourselves, we realize:

we're not it. we can so easily find a part of us that is not satisfactory. the size of our nose. the shape of our eyes. our body form. whether tall or short, big or small, we can find something about us that we don't like. and we won't rest until it's fixed. 

even if that means eating less, exercising more, because we don't matter, it's our bodies that need all the attention. by everyone. we have to find ourselves worthy. and so does everyone else. 

but can we not see that there is so much more than what we see on the outside? 

He loves us, oh how he loves us, oh how he loves us, oh how he loves. whether we see ourselves as too fat, because we never see ourselves as too skinny, or whether we see ourselves as too short or too tall. we our hair is too curly or too straight. He loves us the way we are. He made us like this. 

but we choose not to accept it. 

we want to be the kim kardashians, the heidi montags, the ones with the barbie doll bodies. we want to be anyone. we just don't want to be ourselves. we're constantly jealous. staring ourselves down in the mirror with a sad sneer, cursing at ourselves. why don't you just lie down in a ditch and die? you're so ugly. look at that nose. of course he's not going to love you. constantly fixing our hair. is there something on my shirt? my makeup looks horrible today. look at those eyelashes. so perfect. she doesn't even have to touch them up. she's naturally like that. and i'm not. 

we don't see that God loves us just the way we are. oh my daughter, can't you see that i think you're beautiful? come running into my arms, because i want to embrace you. i want everyone to see your beauty. but most of all, i want you to see your beauty. i sent my Son to die on the cross for you. how could you not think you're special? 

he became flawed, so we could be flawless. 
he took our scars and our zits so that we could be blemish free. but we can be so dense as to not see that? who are we? what have we become? a viper who wants nothing else but to be noticed, and we plaster on the concealer so that we don't have to see our impurities. but can't you see that God is the cleanser? He is the one who washed that away. 

when someone tells me i'm beautiful i respond and say "yes i am, thank you." you may think it sounds conceited. but i refuse to think of myself as ugly. i am beautiful in Him, and others can see it so that way they will believe they are beautiful as well. i have many friends. every time i see them i say "you look gorgeous". they roll their eyes and say "well, i don't think i'm gorgeous." but they don't realize that i mean it. do we not see that we are perfect? that we are precious? 

apparently not. but just because we can't see it, doesn't mean we aren't. 

Look beyond the outside,

Gracie 

(not forgetting that all the credit goes to Jocee, cupcake extrordinaire)