Well, guess who finished up at the office

hours before she thought she would

and ended up getting to have three little fairies

come over to spend the night?

Apparently, from what their father told me

when he called to ask if they could come over,

they were missing me as much

as I had been missing them

(as if that’s even possible).

And so, my Thursday night

ended up being filled with

cooking dinner, baby dolls

and kisses goodnight as I tucked them into bed.

As I was tucking them in bed,

Angelina, the oldest, asked if I’d sit

on the edge of the bed and tell them a story.

I struggled my way through a fairytale

and then, when that was done,

she asked me to sing to them.

I can’t sing very well.

But they didn’t mind at all.

Every time I finished a song,

they begged for “one more.”

These three,

Angelina, Juliana and Olivia,

haven’t had a mother in their home

in almost two years.

When I got in my bed last night,

I thought about how many nights they

must have fallen asleep wishing

to have someone sing to them.

And then I thought about how many nights

I have fallen asleep

wishing to have someone to sing to.

It made me cry, but a sweet cry.

What a privilege, literally,

that I get to be the one to sing them to sleep

on some nights.

How creative God must be

to take a girl who begged for little ones to love

and then bring more of them to her front door

than she even knows what to do with.

I am not their mother.

I am their Amy Beth.

– — –

Juliana just woke up,

and came and got in my lap

and told me what kind of birthday party she wants

before giggling and laying her head on my chest.

Juliana is three.  Almost every chance she gets,

she climbs into my arms.

She is three and she needs to be held,

as most three year old little girls do.

What a great way to start my day,

because today is a 16 hour work day.

Yikes!  Yikes!  Yikes!

I’m going to need some strawberries, I think.

– — –

Remember how my friend from high school, Melanie,

came to visit me last weekend?

While she was here, we put her in a couple of dresses

and headed to the fields.

Listen, Melanie and I are Tennessee girls,

always have been, always will be.

There’s a lot you can say about Tennessee girls,

but I’m just going to flat out tell you

that everything is sweeter in Tennessee.

(Please, please click the picture above

so you can appreciate the trees in their full glory.)

I think it is one of my favorite shoots so far.

See more of it here, if you’d like.