Mother Daughter

 

One of the gifts we gave our girls for their 10th birthday was their first "Mother Daughter" get-away.

It was something I've dreamed about since they were born!

For over 20 years now, my mom and I have gone on Mother Daughters, aka a girls get-aways.

When I was blessed to have 2 little girls of my own, I started planning our little get aways!

My dream came true last week

 as we headed to the beautiful seaside town of Santa Barbara for a few days.

There were many lovely moments, but this one was my favorite!

I gave the girls a list of activities they could choose from to fill our time.

One girl was very excited to watch a movie in our room!

All in our jammies and ready to cuddle in bed with a movie, we were disappointed to find that we didn't get movies in our room!  Imagine that! 

 I guess they wanted us to look out the window at the ocean or something!

We ended up watching an episode of "Little House" on my phone and it was magical!

Left over pizza, tiny phone propped up on a pillow, long past bedtimes..

 I really felt like I was hanging out with my girlfriends!

 

 

I have to say, this trip came at a great time.

Honestly, life with 2 girls can be a bit rough from time to time.

Especially when they're twins.

Especially when they're 10!

And to be even more honest, these past few weeks have felt rather hopeless in the "mother of girls" category.  I get so frustrated with them and their endless arguing or bossing or talking back!

Take me now Jesus!

But this time away together felt like a breath of fresh air.

They didn't bicker or compete for my attention.

They acted like best friends.

Our time away gave me the reassurance that everything is going to be ok.

I'm going to be ok.

Sometimes it takes getting away, out of the everyday normal, to see people in a new light.

I saw 2 little girls that are not so little anymore, 2 girls that I can't wait to take away again!

Little Girls

These little girls are my greatest source of 

fond memories and joy!

And conviction!

I'm sure I've said this before, but having twins was one of the best gifts I've ever been given.

And twin girls at that! - the greatest!

2 little girls.

These little girls daily give me flash backs to when I was a little girl.

They are like me in so many ways!

When they play with their baby dolls, I remember changing my baby dolls into jammies before I went to bed, tucking them into their blanket and putting them to sleep with a kiss.

My little girls still do the same!

From swimming, ballet, writing books, drawing, dolls, dressing up, watching me put on my make-up or cook - they remind me daily of the little girl I once was and all those fun things I too once did.

It's like a magic time machine when you have kids!  They blast you back all the time.

But these little girls also bring conviction into my life daily.

They are so much like me - not just in the fun little girl ways, but also in my ugly ways.

Seeing them daily, the things that are less than kind, constantly leave me reeling in the fact that they've learned a lot of that from me.

I know that my example to them speaks louder than any words and as I dream for the women I pray they become, I am convicted that I must first be that woman.

I'm impatient.

I'm task focused which means sometimes I forget about the people involved in the task.

I scowl.

I yell.

I'm ungrateful.

Oh I know this is nothing new - as mothers and parents we see 

the good and bad of ourselves in our children.

But I do think there is something unique about a mother daughter relationship.

I don't see my junk as much in my son.  

(He gets his stuff from his daddy!  Let's just be honest!)

Children are a gift from God - a beautiful refining tool that cuts us to the deepest parts and eradicates our ugly sin so that God can be glorified and we can become more like Him as they become more like us!

Mother Daughter

On Saturday I got to spend the whole day with my little ladies

on a special Mother Daughter date.

My mom and I have been going on what we call "Mother Daughter" for quite some time!

Here's my mom and I on our Santa Barbara Mother Daughter when I was pregnant with my daughters!

 This is our Mother Daughter crew, doing what we love most!

Talking late in jammies, comfy socks and pizza!

I've known these women since I was 3 years old and they have been my mothers and my sisters!

Such special relationships and memories together!

I've been so excited to do more special things with my daughters to pass the Mother Daughter tradition down to my little loves!  We're not on our weekend get-aways quite yet!  But a whole day together, alone and then with some other mothers and daughters, was just the right start!

We started the day with manis and pedis!

 

 Then we met up with our God's Girls and their moms for tea.

After tea we headed to the theater to see the Sea Princess ballet.

What a special day with my little girls and their amazing friends and moms.

I feel so blessed to have 2 daughters.

I pray that we will have the close relationship that I have with my mom because there is 

something really special about a Mother Daughter relationship!