beautiful ladies with beautiful mothers

i took these pictures when i went to oregon for my sister's graduation... the curly haired girl is my sister... all the other young girls are my sister's daughters... i am the only one in my family (that has had children so far) not to be blessed with a girl yet... maybe later :)... my sisters have been a source of inspiration for me... each of them have plowed through their trials and sorrows and as a result have grown beautiful hearts and beautiful children 

what i love best about my sisters is their thirst for beauty, knowledge, progress and creation...

they inspire me to do and be more... all of us have a hunger to change...we all feel how vital it is to look inward and see what is good and see what is unhealthy... and change it... fix it... not weeping for the burden of guilt, not bullying or beating ourselves up... but looking honestly... searching for why we do what we do and changing where changes need to be made...it is hard to look and see what is admirable and pat ourselves on our back.  maybe even equally hard is to see what needs to be changed... so much easier to ignore and justify our actions... but i believe it is so vital to be candid with ourselves and searching always for..." good better best... never rest till good be better and better best" (thank you mother goose)

my sisters have been brave and strong... all of them stepping out of their comfort zone and not only creating lovely families but creating beauty, intelligence and strength also... amongst my sisters accomplishments are: four houses designed and built with their husbands.  literally, they mixed the cement and built the walls... etc etc..  two of my sisters built two houses each.  one has two published books ("Falling for Rapunzel" and "Waking Beauty"...) ...  another sister and her husband are producing artistic gymnastic performances for little children (they feel the competition is unhealthy and the rules stifling to true artistic merit) so they changed from competition to performance... i haven't seen them yet... but i have heard about what they are doing... my sister made one skit about pregnant women doing gymnastics (the girls just used pillows).... they are all good cooks and love to experiment... maybe not all the experiments come out well... but it takes a certain courage and fortitude to tackle the unknown when you are cooking, this, not star trek, is the last frontier.  proof being that captain kirk will frequent our kitchens in between his alien adventures... for something more culinary...

another sister is a cake decorator who is coming into her own (watch out cake boss... soon you will have a 4'11 artistic fireball to contend with)... there is a marathon runner (the plan is to run a marathon together one day as a family)... and  a painter whose art i would love to have on all of my walls (in fact, i have one on my wall right now... i love it because it makes me feel so peaceful)... all of them writers (one day we may be as famous as the Bronte sisters :)...all of them physically active... gardeners (I personally LOVE gardening and think there it is a place of expression, learning, growth and achievement and bonding with nature)and hard workers ...  piano, singing, and acting... sowing their own wardrobes and prom dresses for sisters and daughters and friends... and all of them have that soft and gentle exterior and heart (don't be fooled they are as strong as anybody or anything)

for me, they change the name of a stay at home mom... a stay at home mom is not merely a person who stays at home and slowly goes crazy trying to keep the hard pace of cleaning and teaching and loving their children... but they are creators... they are leaders... we show our children (the future) who they are and what they are capable of  being by expanding our own talents, by everything we do and create... whether it is art you hang on your wall, or the studying and progressing you make, or the service or smile you give to another...  being a stay at home mother isn't limited to insanity :)... but expands to infinite possibilities(not only the ideas that I mentioned) while you teach your children to love themselves, to love others, and to love God.