turning a corner

This year has been a tricky one for me.
Not easy (not that it should be).  Painfully normal.
It's September and I've been feeling more and more like my word for 2011 was OVER.  Not a more positive word - I was  feeling like life was all OVER the place.
Not Somewhere over the rainbow.
More like Woman overboard.
Over it.
Over and out.

But today I feel like i did the above, turned a corner.
Several things contributed to the turnover i experienced today.
I invited quite a few wonderful people for lunch, changed a few things round in my house, my current situation got recognised by precious friends and spoken about and we as a family were more than ourselves today.  I was hugged, loved and encouraged by others today.
Life felt again, that it was bigger than myself.
Overwhelmed.  A bit teary.

I began to feel like spring was entering my mind and body, like I was thawing out and experiencing the  new.  I haven't felt like this for a long time. It feels good.

His banner over me is love.
Over and over and over again He turns up, he shows up for me.
It's been a bland year. A hard year. But it's not over yet.

(photos are a few small areas in our home that I adore x)

love these cow-gals!!

Make-up, costumes, candy floss and more of that goodness made for a recent fun evening out.

Eating K-bars, bobbing for apples, riding a mechanical bull along with other western stuff was right up these lassies alleys.  Tickled pink.

My heart kind of stopped this last week with some things that came flying our way.

Felt like I was experiencing a ride on that mechanical bull all week (having only my imagination to picture or feel what that would be like as I'd missed out on my turn due to the denim number i was wearing that evening)

Things that made me feel insignificant and a tiny bit useless. A bit agro at my babes.

Things that made me want to hire a hit-man (a kind one) to get my kids back into line!!

One was over-tired and therefore rather sensitive to anything out of the ordinary.  I reacted like a bull in a china shop.  Hillarious for on-lookers or perhaps an eye opening experience.

A mum of three older girls came round and gently encouraged me with her wisdom of sensitive 

cow-girls who are parenting slightly different than others .....

And another one had been causing girli-fights at skool and when sent information about this via text message, I went a bit flappy again. Ah my wee girls weren't behaving (he he)!

This kind of stuff throws me off a bit, i tend to over-react and then want to run for the hills.

Prayer with others, encouragement and hindsight, truth and perspective .....

are all things that helped our week feel like it was just a bump in the road of our lives

and that my sweet pink-lipped gals 

are pretty normal. 

It's probably their mum that needs her head read more!

I really appreciated my friend popping round to talk about parenting.  I loved asking another to pray when i was on the phone with her.  Thanks Shell. 

 Any thoughts/ideas/prayers etc are always welcome here!