Uncategorized Archives - Girls To Grow

Saturday Salutes ~ Scripture Prayers, Bible Apps, and Slow Cooker Chicken

May 11, 2019 by Tracey 4 Comments

Happy early Mother’s Day to all the moms who read here!! I’m so thankful for my own mom, and for the two girls God gave us to parent.

There were several years when Mother’s Day was hard for me. I wanted to be a mom, but that hadn’t happened for me yet. If you’re in that place, I’ll be praying for you this weekend.

Here are some good posts I read this past week.

Alisa has 4 Things to Remember When You’re Stepping Out in Faith.

Lyli lists 10 Powerful Scriptures to Post on Your Prayer Room Wall.

Arabah Joy shares 12 Must-Have Bible Apps for Every Christian Woman. Many of these were new to me! I use the You Version Bible app for my daily audio Bible reading.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought we should revisit Kari’s 10 Truths Moms Should Know.

This Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken Recipe sounds so easy, but delicious. I’ll be trying it soon!

And while Easter is behind us for this year, Sarah has a compilation of Best Easter Side Dishes that I think would be great for any family meal.

We had the last choir/band concert of the school year on Tuesday, and the school’s sports banquet on Friday. (Here’s a link to one of my favorite pieces from the concert by the handbell choir. Our girls are third and fourth from the left.)

All of the official school functions are over for us until high school graduation on the 31st. May is a full, fun month!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

12 Modest Skirt Outfits for Fall

September 1, 2016 by Tracey 4 Comments

While the weather here in coastal South Carolina will continue to be warm (well, hot, actually) for the next couple of months, I am really starting to look forward to autumn. I enjoy fall foods – think anything pumpkin and big bowls of soup – and I like fall clothes, too!

I want to thank you in advance for indulging my once-a-season foray into fashion. I wear lots of skirts, so I enjoy gathering ideas for different looks each season. I may not even buy much in the way of new clothes, but it gives me fresh perspective so that I can rework clothes I already own.

As I’ve mentioned before, I like to browse Pinterest for outfit ideas – you can find a lot of the ones I like on my Pinterest Fashion Board. I recently found the blog Now THAT I Can Do, Mama (I like her tagline – “A Blog for Moms Fighting the Frumpy Monster.” 🙂 I adapted her Basic Fall Capsule Wardrobe for the Stay-at-Home Mom checklist to the type of clothes I like to wear, and used it as a starting point to see what I might want to add to my closet for fall.

One of the main things I want to find is cute, casual clothes that I can throw on quickly if I’m just driving the girls to school on cool mornings – but won’t mind being seen in if I have to stop by the grocery store. This outfit is a perfect example!

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Here’s another one along those same lines.

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This is a step up from the first two outfits, but would still be a casual look.

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Some fall afternoons include sitting outside at soccer games. I’m also typically running errands before I pick the girls up from school, so these next few looks would be great for either task. I’m looking for a plaid shirt so I can re-create the outfit below. I’m funny about plaid though – it will have to be just the right color combination and a more fitted shirt as opposed to oversized.

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Here’s an outfit that’s still pretty casual, but doesn’t feature a denim skirt.

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Yes, please – I’ll take this outfit in several color schemes!

ModestPop is an online store I just discovered that features some nice styles. I haven’t ordered from them yet, but I really like the outfits they put together – this next one is an example. I already have a basic chambray shirt and a print skirt I could use.

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While I resisted the maxi skirt trend for quite a while, I now own several of them. Here’s a good casual look with a maxi skirt.

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I can definitely see me wearing an outfit like this for a dressier occasion.

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This dress is also from ModestPop. I could wear it now while the weather’s still warm, then add a cardigan or cute jacket for church when it gets cooler.

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So if I were dressing up for church, I would wear this combination – but not those heels! There are a few things in life that I know have passed me by, and heels that high is one of them.

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This is definitely a look I’d like to wear for church or a dressier occasion – simple and classic.

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So what are your favorite fall pieces? I didn’t post pictures of any jackets, but I think I’d like to find a light one that I can throw on over some of my short-sleeved shirts as the evenings start to cool off a bit.

So This Is Christmas

December 11, 2015 by Tracey 3 Comments

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It all collides in December….various parties, piano recital, school Christmas concert, church cantata, get-togethers with friends, both daughters’ birthdays, basketball practice and games, decorating, Christmas card sending, present wrapping, cookie baking.

These are all good things, occasions for gathering together and enjoying relationships and celebrating giving. But sometimes the good can take the place of the best. Rather than feeling like this month is chewing me up and spitting me out, I want to be drawn into the important moments with family and embrace the true significance of the season.

On my list this week is taking my girls shopping for presents for friends, getting teacher gifts, buying Nacho Cheese Doritos for a children’s Christmas party on Wednesday night, helping my younger daughter plan her birthday scavenger hunt, finishing mailing Christmas cards. I’m sure you have a list of your own.

I’ve been caught up in it all, but I know that if I don’t make the time to slow down and think about why Christmas is here, December will simply be one unending round of busyness. The Christ of Christmas isn’t going to intrude on my calendar unless I purposely put Him there. Even the giving that happens in these days can end up being about me, and not about Him, the ultimate giver.

It’s an age-old story. In the midst of a busy season of Roman taxation and crowded inns, Jesus came. I doubt it was all that quiet in the stable for a brand new mom away from home, with few material comforts, soon to be descended upon by shepherds. Yet I have to think she kept her mind’s eye turned to the true meaning of it all, as best she could understand it, since, upon the shepherds’ leaving, Mary “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” [Luke 2:19]

So what will Christmas be this year? Just the trimmings and the presents and the parties or an appreciation for the relationship that matters most of all, the One we can truly celebrate this year? And how will I show Christmas to others? Am I giving grace to harried shoppers and drivers and fellow moms? Am I loving my family and serving them?

Let me ponder, along with Mary, what Christ’s coming meant for me and for the world.

3 Lessons To Carry Me From Parenting Toddlers to Parenting Teens

December 9, 2015 by Tracey 5 Comments

I’ve hardly had time to reflect on the fact that I’m now the mom of two teenage girls. I can only imagine how much wisdom I will need in the coming years!

As I look back from this milestone, I’m discovering three lessons that applied during those early years of mothering that I can still apply today.

1. “It” will come. What is “it?” That changes from one stage to another. Sleeping through the night, potty training, learning to read, showering daily without having to be reminded – if a child develops normally, all of those things will happen at some point. It may not be on my time schedule, but it will come. My part in the process involves praying for patience, quietly encouraging my child, and cheering progress, knowing that sooner or later, it will come. (I’m thinking our next “it” will be driving. 🙂

2. Each child is an individual with his own personality and interests. It’s not my job as a parent to force my child to like what I like or what I think they should like. My girls are very different and I want to respect and appreciate those differences. One child is very social and one, while she enjoys her friends, very much values her downtime. I want to not only note, but also enjoy the differences and help them to develop their specific interests and talents.

3. God answers prayer. From their friendships to ministry opportunities to getting a good grade on a test they’ve prepared for, the greatest work I can do as their mother is to pray for them. These days my prayers center on their personal walk with God, asking for their hearts to be open to His leading in these coming years.

What a privilege I have been given to walk with these young women through each stage of their lives!

I couldn’t let the day go by without remembering Angel. Eighteen years ago today, I became a mother for the first time. That precious daughter went straight to heaven, a gift from God that demonstrated to my husband and I God’s grace and goodness in a way that I believe we could only have understood through that trial.

Today I take a minute to wonder what it would be like with three teenage girls in the house??? Wouldn’t that be something! I’m thinking we’d need another bathroom so that everyone could get out the door on time in the mornings!

How thankful I am for the lessons learned from those months of carrying our special baby. It birthed many other blessings in our lives, and I look forward to the day we’ll see her again!

You can read all about our story of God’s goodness and grace here.

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November Goals and Reading Update

December 7, 2015 by Tracey 5 Comments

Mountain view from the Pigeon Forge cabin we stayed in Thanksgiving week

I’m a week late on this, but thought I’d recap how I did with meeting my yearly goals and the books I read last month.

Here’s how it went in November.

1. ~~Read through the Bible in 100 days.~~

2. Write a new, very specific prayer list for my husband and my children at the beginning of each month. Done in November.

3. Spend one hour with each daughter each month doing an activity that she likes to do.
We all spent time together last month, but I didn’t designate a particular time for completing this goal.

4. Send a note or e-mail of encouragement to someone every week. I only did this twice last month.

5. Complete my reading plan each month. I finished two of the four books I planned to read last month.

6. Exercise for 25 minutes a day, 4 times a week. I was definitely hit-and-miss with this goal in November..

7. Eat at least 3 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. See #6.

8. Complete Copyblogger’s collection of 15 ebooks and implement 5 changes to my blog by June 30.

I read two books from my list last month, Mama Needs a Do-Over (read full review here) and Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography (a very interesting book if you’re a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan).

I have decided to let go of my goals and reading list for December. While I still hope to exercise, eat healthily, read a few good books, etc., I’m also prioritizing my time to enjoy this season – and our schedule is anything but normal for the next couple of weeks! Hopefully I’ll have some new goals for 2016 to share at the end of the month.

Have you met many of your goals for 2015?

Saturday Salutes

December 5, 2015 by Tracey 3 Comments

My husband and our girls at Dollywood just before Thanksgiving

It’s been a fun and busy week with celebrating both girls’ birthdays, my parents visiting, sports practices, and the girls’ Christmas piano recital!

Here are a few good reads I’ve gathered over the past couple of weeks.

Rebekah shares Motherhood: The Best Kind of Hard.

Jennifer writes about How We Eliminate Entitlement.

Along those same lines, Susan says Don’t Give Them Everything: The Danger of Entitlement.

I love creating traditions around holidays, and here are 5 Reasons to Make and Keep Holiday Traditions.

And, in case you haven’t read it yet, Rory brought me to tears again with Braver Than Me.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

What This Forty-Something Mom Learned from a Football Movie

November 30, 2015 by Tracey 5 Comments

Believe it or not, girly movies aren’t all we watch around here!

While we were on vacation last week, our daughters watched Facing the Giants for the first time Monday night…..and liked it so much that they watched it again on Tuesday night!

I had seen the movie – or at least parts of it – before, but I sat and watched it with them the first night. A quote from the movie really stuck with me, and it’s going to get a lot of use around here!

I love this line!! If I or my daughters are having a bad attitude, it’s because something “stinks” in our heart. If my heart is right with God, I’ll show kindness, I’ll be patient, I’ll forgive graciously, I’ll be willing to put others ahead of myself. If, however, I’m harboring anger, laziness, pride, or other sinful feelings and emotions in my heart, then my attitude will eventually reveal that.

Recalling this sentence will be a great way for us to remind each other that an attitude issue is, at its core, a heart issue. Hopefully we can encourage each other to keep our hearts smelling sweet!!

This post contains an affiliate link, which means I receive a small percentage if you make a purchase using this link.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 23, 2015 by Tracey 2 Comments

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I will be taking this week off from blogging as I spend some special time with my family. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, giving thanks to the One Who has so richly blessed us, and enjoying the fellowship of family and friends.

Book Review: Mama Needs a Do-Over by Lisa Pennington

November 20, 2015 by Tracey 3 Comments

I’ve enjoyed Lisa Pennington’s blog for a long time, so I was excited about the opportunity to review her book, Mama Needs a Do-Over: Simple Steps to Turning a Hard Day Around.

As a mom of nine kids, Lisa obviously has experience in this area of hard days! In her book, she gives moms steps they can take when they feel frustrated or overwhelmed with how their day is going. She has readers list their gifts, dreams, and problems, then explains how to match those areas up to overcome the problems. For example, if you enjoy decorating, use that gift to address your child’s struggle with organization and create a nice area where they can arrange their possessions in an orderly way.

Lisa emphasizes that we should always be willing to change a plan that’s not working and, of course, the importance that our attitude makes when addressing a difficulty. One of my favorite tips is using humor – doing something to turn a tense moment into a lighter one.

We can also fill our “success suitcase” with prayer, applicable Bible verses, and the fruit of the spirit to help us have the right responses to problems. Most of all, she encourages us to enjoy motherhood by taking time to breathe and making real connections with our children.

Much of Lisa’s book is written in the vein of her blog. Lisa doesn’t take life – or herself! – too seriously. While I felt the book lacked flow in certain spots, I appreciated her perspective on mothering and her practical ideas. You can tell she has a heart for moms and wants to help them along on their parenting journey.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book to facilitate my review. All of the opinions expressed in this post are my own and
I was not compensated for this review in any other way.

Saturday Salutes

November 14, 2015 by Tracey 3 Comments

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Lisa gives us One Surefire Way to Know You’re Doing This Parenting Thing Right.

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house, you may want to check out Amy’s Free Printable Thanksgiving Meal Planner.

I love Terri’s idea for an Acorn Gratitude Banner. This would be lots of fun to make with your younger children.

Alicia has Christmas Planning: 5 Things to Do Now.

Since I’m in the same season of life, I really appreciated the encouragement in Elizabeth’s posts Why I Still Stay Home (the why) and Why I Still Stay Home (what she does all day!) I also had to include her What the Lady at the Grocery Store Didn’t Tell Me to encourage all of you with little ones!

We’ll be getting our annual family pictures taken this morning. Fun times 🙂

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!