My Life is all about Singing

My Life is all about Singing

By Gabrielle Hicks

Written 03/26/12

This is what I like to do, I do it every day. 

It's my favorite thing to do I say.

Can you guess what it is?

SINGING! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Singing!

It's also good exercise. Well, sort of.

Every night I listen to music and dream until tomorrow when I can sing again.

Oh, and that's not all. I want to tell you even more! I like singing at home and sometimes I like whisper singing in school.

I have lots of fun singing! 

It's basically the only thing I do. 

You should try it too and be like me.

Anyways, why not give it a try?

I'd like it if you did that.

That would make me really really HAPPY!

I asked my dad to sign me up for singing. 

Well, not for lessons because I'm already good at it.

That's why I like it!

It's just amazing how I never even took lessons.

It's like boom, there you go Gabi, well actually that's my name.

Now I need to tell you something else.

I'm only going to tell you my first and last name.

My first name is Gabrielle and my last name is Hicks and that's all I wanted to tell you.

Remember that name, because one day I might be famous!

About the Author Gabrielle Hicks

Gabrielle lives in Olathe, Kansas

She loves dogs and she has a pet dog named Quila.

Gabrielle likes riding her bike and coloring.

She like her teacher too!

This masterpiece came home in Gabrielle's backpack yesterday. I didn't find it until this morning and it was music to my heart. 

No pun intended!

The child LOVES singing. We will often hear her speaking of it being her talent or gift. 

Some day, Ms. G, Daddy and Mommy will afford for you to take lessons. 

Some day. Until then, keep singing and dream big.

Love, Mommy

The Changing of Seasons

This past week brought us unseasonably warm weather for March in the Midwest.The kids spent every possible free moment outdoors playing with neighbor friends, riding bikes, drawing with sidewalk chalk or digging up worms. On this particular day Daddy was in the garage stripping and re-staining a table for our master bedroom and Papa's mothers antique end table for our entryway so we all passed the afternoon hours in the driveway.

McKenna wasn't happy that the bigs were bicycling and scootering (is that even a word?) and she didn't have anything near as fun to entertain herself. Dawson brought out his old beloved Mater toy from the basement and girlfriend instantly became attached.

She loved motoring herself around and squealed in delight when we pushed her. I was so concerned her piggies would become raw from the cement.

Gabrielle is always expressing her love for her family as shown in her simple sentiment in sidewalk chalk. Looking back I wish I would have kept a folder over the years with all her drawings of our family. It would have been fun to see the changes through her eyes.

And this. 

Well, what's wrong with a little snot for a snack once in a while? Baby girl was a snot factory for a few short days while she cut her upper first molars. This makes six teeth up top and two on bottom. And in other news, she is finally walking 100% of the time now. It's like something clicked and she came to the realization that walking in fact does get you from point A to point B just as fast or faster than speed crawling :)

Fasting

We are part of an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G growth group through our church, Cedar Ridge Christian Church. I love the couples that have become such an integral part of my Christian walk. I love the readings, teaching, the discussions & depth shared within. I love the shared prayer requests and the privilege of praying for others requests. But what I may love most is the encouragement and accountability we share with one another. Recently a particular couple made the decision to partake in the Daniel Fast. If you aren't familiar, you can read more here. They didn't challenge others to participate, but what they did do is ask that others would come alongside of them and partner in prayer during their time of fasting. I was amazed at how others returned the following week to say that they had decided as individuals or as a couple to also commit to the fast. Not just the diet part, but also establishing prayer & other "fasting" commitments during the period as well. Did I personally consider doing the fast? Nope. Not me. I knew in my heart of hearts I would fail. I am admitting my shortcomings and am not proud of it. For those of you who really know me well, you will know that I have food issues. Don't misread that. I am not and have never been an anorexic, bulimic or anything of the sorts. When I state I have food issues, I mean I eat A LOT and have no self control when it comes to food restraint. The flesh part of me became jealous of those who had the will, determination and dedication to advance with the Daniel Fast but the drive in me said, "What is something else that I 'serve' or that has control over me that I can fast from?" Want to know how long it took for me to answer that? Point two seconds! So the fasting began and the fasting has ended with LARGE SUCCESS. I chose to fast or abstain from my daily Dr. Pepper intake, any & all interaction with Facebook and Pinterest. These things may seem small to some, but to me they were holding me a prisoner in my daily life. I had the impulsive NEED to have my DP with lunch everyday, I was hostage to the ease and access of my smart phone being readily available to check or update my status on Facebook multiple many times a day, I fell into the trap of wanting more, desiring talents that others had, etc through the eye of Pinterest. I began my fast on Monday February 20th and ended Monday March 12th. I didn't have a DP until Tuesday and you know what? It wasn't satisfying. In fact I threw 1/2 of it out. I did log back into Pinterest on Wednesday of this week and am going to limit my time and use of it in the future. As for Facebook, I am going to continue "fasting" from it through the lent season and reevaluate at that time. It has been pretty amazing to me that God has completely removed that compulsive "need" from me. Will I return to FB? Most likely yes. I love keeping up with my previous school mates, out of town friends, relatives, etc. I enjoy seeing their photos and learning about what life is throwing their way through reading their statuses. What did I gain from my time of fasting? More quality time with my family, a cleaner more organized home, more energy (no lie), and increased self worth. I spent the time that I used to get sucked into FB and/or Pinterest doing my daily women's Bible study reading, our weekly chapter assignment reading for our growth group, having more meaningful conversations with friends, I cooked and baked more (the fam' would say praise Jesus to this), and just generally had more time to be. 

And it {fasting} was good! God is good!

Little Bear Cub

Meet Micah aka Little Bear

He is an incredibly beautiful boy with brown eyes and the perfect little eyelashes. His momma and daddy started their search for a childcare provider for their little guy well before he entered the world. After his momma Lynee met with me and together she & Mark prayed about it, they asked me if I would watch after Little Bear the few hours a week that she works. I feel honored and privileged that they are entrusting him to my care.

Lynee returns to work in just 2 weeks so in an effort to make that time of transition a teensy bit easier for both mommy & babe, I am keeping Micah a few hours one day a week the next couple of weeks. We had him Thursday late morning/early afternoon for the 1st time.

Can you tell someone was a little smitten with him?

McKenna LOVED having a "baby" in the house. She shared plenty of gentle hugs & did a great job of sharing her toys with him. She even wanted to help when it came time to his bottle feeding.

It's a bit surreal to look at these pictures and see my baby loving on another {much smaller} baby. It goes without saying that time flies with our wee ones.  I'm excited to see how my kiddos will adjust to my attention being diverted to a newborns needs and our schedules changing up a bit. There is just an 11 month age difference between McKenna and Micah. I can only hope they will grow to become fantastic friends!

G's Room Make Over

This is post is LONG overdue as this mini makeover took place several months back. When we found out we were expecting McKenna we played room switcheroo. What was Gabrielle's bedroom became the nursery and what was previously our guest bedroom/my craft area became Gabrielle's room. It is a huge bedroom - what some may call a 2nd master with a full en suite bathroom. When we made the room swap we did little other than move Gabi's furniture and belonging into the space. We left the walls the builder beige color they were, hung a few of her decorative pieces and called it done. The walls screamed for a fresh coat of paint and much to our surprise Gabrielle picked out this purple ... not what I would have guessed nor picked, but we went with it.

We had wanted a homework station for G the past year or so but just never pulled the trigger on it. Then one day I stumbled upon this old antique desk and chair at a local antique store. Handy hubs sanded it and gave it several coats of Krylon's Watermelon paint. I also picked up the matching candle sconce & the circle turquoise {pie plate} frame at the antique store.

We changed out the original hardware and bam, instant cuteness! The lamp dates back to Gabrielle's nursery, the funky frame was a gift from my niece & I crafted the pencil holder out of an old cardboard tube, some craft paper & pom pom trim. The storage tray is from the Target dollar spot.

To the left of the desk is her "play" & reading area. The doll house that you are getting a peek of is one of thee best garage sale purchases that has ever entered our home. We have had it for years now and I can honestly say it gets played with multiple times throughout the week. To my surprise it has held up beautifully!

See that hallway there on the left? The wall directly behind the frames houses the closet and the bathroom is at the end of the hall. Awkward? Yes, a little.

I wanted to do something with the long wall opposite the closet. What better place to display some of Gabrielle's masterpieces! And that hot mess on the right is where she hangs her plethora of purses, scarves, hats, bathrobe, super G cape, etc.  Praise the Lord there was a stud located there.

This is the view from the foot of the bed. We have a terrific queen sized bed just taking up space in our basement, but sister is perfectly happy in her comfy twin bed. She is our cuddle bug so I think she would feel somewhat "lost" in a bigger bed.

 

And opposite the bed is her dresser.

Gabi is loving the finished room. I'm thrilled that it all came together in just a couple of days time thanks to a dedicated Daddy!

What's in a Name?

MJ,

I was cleaning out a drawer today and came across a post it note with your potential names scribbled all over it. I don't recall ever keeping similar records for Gabrielle or Dawson so before stashing it in the pit I call my craft area or worse yet tossing it, I wanted to take a couple of minutes and record the names that we considered for you.

First:

Emersyn/Emmerson - Mommy was pretty dead set on this name. I liked Emme for short which I thought went well with Gabrielle's nickname, Gabi. Daddy never was a fan thinking it was more of a masculine name. I really thought I could convince him to fall in love with it, but alas he never did.

Gianna - this name placed heavily at the top of the list. We liked Gia for short.

Harper

Molly - this name was on our short list when naming Gabrielle as well. She was born and more than a day old before we settled on Gabrielle Annique over Molly Christine. I have always loved the name Molly!

Annalise - a French combination of Anna & Elise, both classic beautiful names

Eden

Harlow

Ryann

Luca Bella - Luca is possibly a female version of the name Luke and Bella is an old French expression meaning beautiful

Middle:

Kate - has and will most likely always be one of both Daddy & Mommy's favorite names

Grace - Mommy's maternal great grandmother's 1st name

Lily - Mommy's maternal grandmother's given name was Lillian Muriel however she always went by Muriel or Mur for short. I have always loved the name Lily and had even asked Daddy about using a combination of both my grandmother's names Lily Grace.

Christine - your Mema's middle name and Mommy's 1st name

Claire - again just another beautiful name I like. Your big sis was "named" Emma Claire at the time of my baby shower before we completely nixed it from the list :)

We narrowed our favorites down to Gianna Grace, Harper Kate & Molly Christine before your Daddy got the itch from out of no man's land to name you McKenna. When Daddy chose the name McKenna for you we immediately knew we wanted to be able to call you MJ, so began the hunt for a middle name. I liked Jane from the start, Daddy liked Jewell (Y.U.C.K!). We both liked Journey so-so and loved Jentry but we quickly decided a single syllable name flowed the best with McKenna so you are our sweet, sweet McKenna Jane.

McKenna - the literal English interpretation is Son of Kenneth

Jane - God is Gracious

God showed his favor on us when he added you to our family. You truly are such a ray of sunshine in our every day! Each of us gets a little lost in love with the little person you are. You make us smile, double over in laughter and make each of us realize our family wasn't complete before you became a part of it. We love YOU baby girl!!!

New Year's "To Do List"

I'm not one to make resolutions. Why? Because I would most likely fail very early on. So this year rather than make a resolution and set myself up for impending failure I decided to set several goals. When I look at my list it seems like a daunting set of tasks but I'm going to view them as just another to do list because who doesn't love making lists and having the satisfaction of checking items off once done?

My goals are to:

• Revamp our utility room
  It is a pass through from the garage to the kitchen. It is narrow and not nearly large enough for what purposes we use it for; shredding of documents; housing the recycling; overstock storage; coat & accessory storage. We (because hubs is the fix it man around these parts) have a pretty good start on the mini makeover, but I am wanting to remove an existing cabinet, paint & install vertical floating shelves to house odd & end essentials.
• Make more time for reading
  This one is pretty cut and dry
• Familiarize myself with my camera and become a more seasoned "photographer"
  I'm sick and tired of hearing myself complain about not getting good quality photos. It's not the camera, it's the individual operating it, or in other words ME. Thanks to some great Internet resources and online classes I am in the very early stages of moving forward in achieving this goal.
• Stream line and organize our families recipes
  My current method isn't working for me. I have recipes stored with links in a word document, typed out and filed in an e-mail folder, pinned on Pinterest, thrown haphazardly in a cabinet along side the many cookbooks we own and don't frequent. 

And the most daunting goal of them all. One which will be a true miracle in and of itself if and when it does indeed get checked off my to do list  completed is .....

• To organize photos
  Including but not limited to storage (on the hard drive, external hard drive, burned to CD/DVD, printed & not scrapped or in an album, etc.), completed layouts that are not in their respective albums, uploading and printing photos. The.list.goes.on.and.on.and.on. I'm overwhelmed just giving it thought.

My hope is that at the end of this year I can look back and say that I completed each of these tasks or at the very list 3 of the 4. Can you guess which one may be forgone? Ha. Any and all accountability in keeping with achieving these goals is welcomed and appreciated.