Why I Stopped Wearing Make-Up

"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7

A little over a month ago I was in charge of the middle school girls' retreat at our church.  My theme for the retreat was Free to be Me.  I really wanted the girls to understand that God makes each one of us special, unique, beautiful, and in His image.  One day in February, I had the details of the retreat on my mind.  I was getting ready to go somewhere and I looked in the mirror and thought, "I look hideous!  I need to put some make-up on."  For some reason, as soon as the thought crossed my mind, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  How could I preach to a group of middle school girls about inner beauty and being comfortable with who God made them if I thought of myself as hideous without make-up?  So, I didn't wear any.  The next day I didn't wear any, either.  I decided I was going to take a break from make-up until I knew I was beautiful without it.

I didn't wear make-up at all until after the retreat.  In the beginning I was extremely self-conscious. I felt like people were staring at me.  I worried about what they thought of me.  I assumed they thought I was ugly.  I didn't tell anyone, including my husband, about my make-up fast.  And nobody asked, either.  Slowly, my worries started to go away.  It was nice to have the extra five minutes in the morning.  I liked not having to worry about smearing it.  I realized it was extremely selfish and vain of me to think someone would study me so closely to notice I made the change.  I truly started to feel beautiful for who God made me au naturale. 

A few days before the retreat, I was going over my message with Justin and I told him about my two months without make-up.  He said he didn't even notice.  He thinks I'm beautiful all the time.  I'm sure he thinks I'm beautiful on the outside, but what that really meant to me is that he thinks I'm beautiful on the inside.  That's where it really counts.  And I am one lucky girl!

I told the girls about my stop in make-up.  I'm not sure if it made a difference.  Middle schoolers aren't known for telling you how they feel.  I can say that it breaks my heart when I see any girl or woman with tons of make-up on.  My first impression is that they are insecure about their beauty.  On the other hand, I am not trying to say make-up is a bad thing.  It can be fun to have a spa day, get all dressed up for a special occasion, or it can be an excellent tool of expression.  I do think it is bad if a person thinks they need make-up to be beautiful.  I just challenged the girls to really think about why they wear it, how much they wear, and when they wear it. 

My mom has never worn make-up a day in her life.  She has never had any desire to do so.  And, I know she doesn't worry one bit about what people think of her choice to be make-up free.  It just isn't part of her style or who she is.  I think it is pretty awesome that she is comfortable in her own skin and it has been quite inspirational for me for a very long time. 

I have worn make-up one time since February.  Justin and I got to go on a much needed date and I decided to get dressed up for the occasion.  I didn't wear much and I don't think Justin even noticed.  I may or may not wear make-up for special occasions from now on.  It will probably just depend on my mood and the amount of time I have to get ready.  I do know that I will never, ever wear it because I need it to look beautiful. 

"Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. ⁴ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."  1 Peter 3:3-4

She's Gonna Be a Great Mom Someday

The Letter P

What we lacked in the letter O week, I think we made up for with P.  Aside from our last name beginning with P, we found a lot of our favorite things to eat and do start with P, too.  We had a blast last week with some awesome summer weather!

Bible: We read various stories about Peter and Paul.  One of the things I like about this newer Bible we are using is that it goes past Jesus' death.  A lot of the other toddler Bibles I've seen just stop with the resurrection.  Hello---there's an entire New Testament after that.  This Bible goes clear through Revelation with stories, so we were able to find several having to do with Peter and Paul.  I also discovered we don't read much from the New Testament.  All of Aria's favorites are in the Old Testament.  I need to work on broadening her Bible story horizon.  Or, I can just celebrate how many stories she does know! 

Activities:  This is where I got really excited!  We started the week off with some painting...

She had to bring a purse just like Mommy when we went shopping...

We bought some new flower pots and planted flowers...

And we got out the pool for the first time of the year...

Not to mention, we had a picnic on Sunday for Mother's Day at the park and a picnic outside at her new garage sale kid table another night, went to the park again, had a party at our house to say goodbye to some dear friends and celebrated Papa's Birthday!  We didn't even get out the Play-Doh, but I did let her stay in her pajamas a bit more than usual!

People We Know: Well, us!  Our last name starts with P and so does one set of grandparents and her one and only aunt!  We also know Pam, Peggy, and Paul, Pluto, Piglet, and Prairie Dawn

Food: This is the jackpot!  We love P foods!  A new tortilla pizza that I invented on the spot for lunch one day, tortilla, pizza sauce, pepperoni, cheese, microwave about 30 seconds.  Excellent!  Pepperoni pizza, peanuts, pretzels, peanut butter, purple popsicles (strawberry yogurt, blueberries, blackberries, spinach, flax seed, blend it, freeze it, voila), pancakes, peaches, pears, peas, pasta, pepper, pepperoni (by itself), pizza

Pictures to Color: pig, pineapple (Aria doesn't like it or we would have eaten it, too), paintbrush, pencil

Books: I went overboard on the P books at the library and we didn't even read all that I checked out.  And, since I love penguins, we already had plenty to read.  Here is what we did read, Polly the Polar Bear, If You Give a Pig a Party, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Colorful Peacocks, Giant Pandas, A Pair of Polar Bears, Pam's Trip to the Park, Pumpkin Pie, Where is Home, Little Pip?

Songs: Pop Goes the Weasel or, as we like to sing in our house, Pop Goes the Toaster

All around the Pegump house,
The tummies are so hungry.
We can hardly wait to hear the sound,
Pop goes the toaster.

Singing

My daughter is a singer.  She belts out so many different songs from the Hy Vee commercial song to Jesus Loves Me to Ring Around the Rosy.  I can't even really say what her favorite is to sing because she sings so many of them.  She sings in bed.  She sings at the dinner table.  She sings in the car.  She sings in the bathtub.  She sings all the time.  She knows songs on the radio and has specific preferences.  However, it is extremely difficult for me to catch any of the songs on video.  Every time I pull out the camera she gets shy and whispers about five words of the song.  Then, she wants to watch the video.  So, when our friends were here a couple weeks ago, she whipped out her phone and Aria didn't realize it was recording.  Success!  She is singing the Iowa Fight Song...well, the first line of it over and over.  She really does know the whole thing.  It is adorable when she makes the gun noise after "we'll cheer until we hear the final gun."  Sorry to the non-Hawkeye fans out there who don't have a clue what that just meant.  :)  We love hearing her sing all songs and I'm excited for her to continue her love of music as she grows!

Papa's Birthday

Aria is one lucky little girl.  Her Papa requested for his 'birthday party' to go swimming at the beach with Aria.  She was absolutely thrilled!  And then we got to go eat pizza, too.  Thanks for being such a cool Papa (and Dad)!

The Letter O

O week was not much of an O week because we chose to spend all of our time with our awesome friends who were in town staying with us!  We did manage a few things, but it was minimal.  I considered just not doing a letter for the week, but I'm kind of OCD sometimes and if we keep at our one letter a week pace, we will be on our vacation this summer during Z week and go to the zoo.  How cool is that!

Bible Stories: In Aria's Sunday School class on Sunday during O week, they talked about obeying and she brought home a big poster with a verse and a saying about obedience.  I followed that lead and pointed out how our favorite characters obeyed or disobeyed God.  The word obey is something Aria understands and it was cool to point out obedience in different stories.  The ones we read the most were Noah and Jonah.

Activities: Here is what I wanted to do.  I thought it would be fun to create an opposites circuit.  I would have had hot and cold, big and small, soft and hard, etc.  I think she would have really liked it and I will probably do it sometime. 

We don't know anyone whose name starts with O.

Food: Oreos, oatmeal, oatmeal bread, olives, onions, (Aria doesn't like oranges)

Pictures to Color: octopus, ostrich, otter, olive

Books: Oink (very fun!), An Octopus Followed Me Home (read this one a ton!), Owls Adventure in Alphabet Town, Five Oceans, The Shy Ostrich, Otters, Quiet Owls, My 'o' Sound Box, Ovals

Songs: Didn't even think about songs...we had friends to play with!

P Preview

Nothing better than homemade Purple Popsicles by the Pool during P week!

Friends

Almost six years ago, we decided to join a small group of couples from our Sunday School group.  It was a six week study put on by our church.  I don't even remember what it was about, but the result of those six weeks are the best friends we've ever had.  The group started as eight adults, all married two years or less and without kids.  Since then, four more adults joined, five kids were born, and two more are on the way.  And the biggest change is that three of the families have or are soon moving to another state.  We had the opportunity to have a little reunion last week and it was so awesome.  It was like nothing had changed at all and we were all getting together for our weekly small group.  We have all cried together, celebrated life changes with each other, and taken care of each other.  I am so very fortunate to have them in my life.  We have so much in common, yet are so different.  We can play a game like Boxers or Briefs and laugh ourselves sick.  We know where the silverware is in each other's kitchens and our kids have their own 'room' in each other's houses.  While it royally stinks that we will be separated by many states, I know I can always count on them.  We will be getting together for reunions like this for years to come and the group will keep growing.  Thank you, God, for putting these people in my life.  I don't know where I would be without them.

A Lot Happens in May

May is always a crazy busy month.  There is usually the ahhhh of nice weather, playing outside, going to the park, taking bike rides, and the sun setting later.  You have graduations, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day.  It is the end of the school year and with that many types of parties and celebrations.  For us, May marks the anniversary of a lot more good things, too.  There are two family birthdays in May and three good friends.  Three years ago we went through our second in vitro cycle with an egg retrieval on May 7, embryo transfer on May 12, and probably the best day of my life, finding out we were indeed pregnant on May 22.  Hard to believe all that has been three years ago now.  Throw in May 14 as the day an awesome guy asked me to be his wife and we certainly have a lot to celebrate this month!

Our most recent add to the anniversaries in May is living in our house.  I cannot believe it has already been a year!  On one hand, it feels like we've lived here forever.  We love our house so much and it has just been such a wonderful blessing compared to the tight quarters at our old one.  On the other hand, my how fast time flies.  When I watch videos and look at pictures of Aria from when we first moved in, I realize she is such a totally different kid!  She has hair!  She speaks in totally comprehensible sentences!  She is a lot taller!  I'm sure it will only continue to amaze me to look back at different seasons of her life and see how much change there is.  It is a wonderful reminder to cherish each moment because it will be gone before you know it.

So happy anniversary house and in vitro and engagement!  Happy birthday friends and family!  Happy graduation all you awesome seniors!  Thanks for making May one big party!

Just a Picture Post

The Letter N

N was hard for some reason.  I'm not really sure why.  Here goes...

Bible Stories: We read about Noah and Naomi.  They have been studying Naomi in Sunday School, so that was one she recognized a little bit, but it is a hard story to put on a level she understands.  On the other hand, Noah's Ark is a story she knows very well and enjoys!  We have a wooden ark that is a shape sorter with all the animals that she loves and we have several Noah's Ark books.  She was happy to read the story every morning!  I tried to expand beyond the base of the story and talk about God keeping his promises, but I'm not sure how much she caught on.

Activities: We painted our (toe)nails like a rainbow because of the rainbow in the story of Noah's Ark.

Aria absolutely loves to have her toenails and fingernails painted.  She does a great job sitting still and not touching them, too.  Usually it is the bribe of how I get her to hold still to get them cut.  And, I usually have to paint mine, too.  I'm not generally into have well manicured nails or pedicures, but I do have a lot of fun painting toenails with my daughter!

I also gave Aria a numbers puzzle this week.  I bought it when a favorite store of mine went out of business last fall.  I was saving the puzzle for some random opportunity to spoil my child and I thought N week was the time.  She can count to 13, but doesn't really recognize too many numbers, so I also thought it was time to start learning them more.  When we got the puzzle out, though, she knew more than I thought.  That is almost always the case.


People We Know: Grandma Nancy, Norah, Naomi, Nala


Food: Nutri-Grain bars, Nutty Bars, Nilla Wafers, nachos, chicken noodle soup, nectarines, nuts


Pictures to Color: net, nose, nuts, nurse


Books: Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique, Nightingale's Adventure in Alphabet Town, My 'n' Soundbox, Numbers on the Street, Nose


Songs: I didn't try very hard, but I didn't come up with any N songs, unless you count "Who Built the Ark?  Noah, Noah" 

The Letter M

Half way through the alphabet-crazy!  When it is 'M' week you are supposed to eat mac 'n cheese every day, right?  According to Aria it doesn't even have to be 'M' week to make that request.

Bible Stories: We read a lot about Moses during M week.  Aria really enjoyed the story of him as a baby in a basket in the river, so we read that part a lot.

Activities: We made mini-muffins!  Aria loves to help make anything, so she put the liners in the muffin pan, poured all the ingredients in the bowl and stirred!  I had to spoon it into the muffin cups if we wanted any of it to land in the paper.  However, somewhere along the way something didn't work because the muffins liners stuck like glue to the muffins.  I have no idea why, but I think I'll just spray the pan next time instead. 

We also watched a movie for our family night!  We do watch "movies" sometimes, but this was the first time we sat down to watch an entire movie as a family.  We watched Winnie the Pooh.  It is one hour and three minutes long and Aria actually sat still and watched about 40 minutes of it.  Then she had to play while watching the rest.  I was impressed!  We may actually try the theater sometime this summer if the right movie comes along!

People We Know: Mommy, Maggie, Matt, Matthias, Madhana, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse

Food: Meatloaf, mini-muffins, M&Ms, Mike and Ikes (thanks to our friend Connie!), mac 'n cheese, mango, milk, meat, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, marshmallows, maple syrup, mozzarella

Pictures to Color: monkey, mouse, moon, mittens

Books: Milo the Mouse, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, If You Take a Mouse to School, My 'm' Soundbox, Mice, It's A Baby Moose, Phases of the Moon, Monkeys

Songs: Me, You, We; Mickey Mouse March

 

What's he's name?

Aria's question of the month is, "What's he's name?"  (We're still working on learning pronouns.)  She literally asks me that question about every person she sees...in person, on tv, in the newspaper, in a book, etc.  She truly wants to know.  We met Connie, Liz, and Kerri at HyVee yesterday and Tyrese at Wal Mart today.  It is really fun when people respond to her and tell her their name.  She is always delighted, but a bit shy in telling them her name.  It usually comes out, but just a bit quiet. 

So today in Wal Mart, we are in the check out line and of course she points to the man in front of us and says, "What's he's name?"  I told her I didn't know what his name was and he didn't turn around to respond.  Then Aria said, "It's probably Jim." 

It was all I could do to control my laughter to a small giggle.  I have absolutely no idea how she decided his name was Jim.  We know a couple Jims, but I don't think she knows them very well, if at all.  Holy cow--the things that come out of the mouths of babes!  My day is never dull!

And just while we are on the topic of funny phrases..

Last night we went for a family walk.  Augie was having a little trouble with her poop and had to squat about 4 times before she finally got it all out.  As we were waiting for her to finish, Aria says, "Whoa, Augie, that's a lot of poop!"

Justin and I both laughed out loud at that one!