Freedom Stones

I was blessed in some amazing and unexpected ways today and I'd really love to share...

Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with all the different "causes" and "charities" out there- It always seems like there's someone you know doing something really good and you think, "I really need to support them". And it usually stops there. At least for me.

Well, my good (no, I'd say great) friend, Jessica sent an email out a few weeks ago to a few people, asking if they'd be interested in coming to a Freedom Stone jewelry making party she would be hosting, with the founder, Leah. I had heard a little bit through the grapevine about this project, didn't know a whole lot about it, but offered to have it at my house. Mostly because I love Jessica so much. :)

So, the crew came over this morning, we made a nice brunch and set up the tables and just hung out for awhile until everyone got there. We ended up having a lot more than we thought- over 20 people! And I at this point, was still not really grasping the whole concept of what we were doing. Then, Leah gave a brief overview of her work, and this new Freedom Stone project that was starting up- the Ghana project. It immediately took my breath away- such a simple, but powerful concept. Here's an excerpt from the Freedom Stones facebook page...

"We are currently working with trafficking victims and those at risk in Thailand, Cambodia, Ghana and Nigeria. Women in poverty are often preyed upon by traffickers who trick or coerce them into selling their bodies or their children. Economics often drives this problem so we are seeking to change the economic situation which often leads to human slavery. We are developing jewelry projects and marketing these fair trade products in the states to sell to socially concerned consumers. While in the program, women and teenagers are able to attend training and classes which focus on holistic development (spiritual, relational, emotional, physical, economical healing)"

Today, some amazing women made some incredible pieces of jewelry from stones made of recycled glass in Ghana and stones from Thailand. I have never seen more gorgeous colors in my life- and the creativity of the women in my house today blew me away.

Jaron had taken the girls out, and we were still working on jewelry when they got back. They were interested in it for a little while, but there was a little too much excitement for them to really help. After while, Makayla figured out what we were doing and decided she needed to be involved. I let her help me make a necklace- she picked the colors and we made a pretty fabulous pattern, which turned into a pretty fabulous necklace. She THEN decided she needed to make a necklace by herself. I let her. With a little guidance from me on a pattern, she hand picked and strung this entire necklace by herself...





I helped her with her unraveling string a couple of times and my patience was definitely stretched (those bead holes are SMALL!), but I have never been more proud of my precious girl!!! She meticulously spent over an hour on her creation. What a blessing to watch and know that the purchase of that necklace would go towards enriching the life of a child recently taken out of slavery. Or giving a poverty-stricken mom facing the horrible threat of having to sell her child, the gift of a better life.

My heart is full tonight and I know God is going to do some big things through this incredible project.

Let me know if you'd like more information and thanks for letting me share my heart.

Halloween 2009

We had a great Halloween. Their first "real" trick or treating experience and they loved it. Jaron made Makayla's costume and did a great job.

Introducing, Cinderella and Batgirl...

Catch up time...

I know you've all been on the edge of your seats waiting for a Pitts update, so here you go...

**Disclaimer: my camera still does not have a flash and I haven't had a chance to upload all my phone pics, so I have "borrowed" some pics from friends and family. Thanks in advance ABL, Aimee, Becca and Jason. :)

Its been a fun, but exhausting couple of months. With all the birthday fun in August, I forgot to post about Divine Consign! I worked both Plano and Grapevine and they were great (as usual). The girls are gonna look super cute this fall/winter! Here's some of my favorites (including a different spin on Christmas dresses this year)...











We celebrated my Mema and Grandad's 50th anniversary at 3 Forks in August- had such a great time with our family!!








We got to go to Hillsong United (on Makayla's birthday, Aug. 25th). It was incredible! Awesome to worship with a big group like that. New favorite worship song- With Everything (My favorite part's about 3:45 into the song).

The first weekend of September was my cousin, Chandra's wedding. My mom and sisters and I made their cupcake cake and it turned out great! We had such a blast- who knows, there may be a future business. :) Here's some pics...









We spent Labor day at my cousin, Josh's house and had a blast with a bunch of family and friends- thanks for being great hosts, Josh and Jeff (not that they're reading this). :) Here's what the kids did...



The girls went to the first of FOUR princess parties we will have over a 5 week period at the end of September. They had such a fun time celebrating Addy's 4th- there was even a bounce house- so fun!!

That was about it for September...

Our 2nd princess party was for Nat and Lainey. The girls were in heaven! REAL live princesses came (Ariel, Belle and Cinderella) and they put on makeup, got their nails painted, made necklaces and got to hear Cinderella's story from Cinderella herself! But the kicker was the ride in this...




It was such a blast and the girls are still talking about it. Here's some more pics of the princesses...














October 11th was my niece, Emmeline's first birthday. We celebrated the day before at my Mema's house with a fabulous tea party (but in the girls mind, it was their 3rd princess party). :)









And the highlight of October (well, maybe the year)... Jaron and I went with Aimee and Eric to the U2 CONCERT!!! Muse opened for them and we were on the floor- about 10 feet from the outer circle. During the first song, the Edge made his way over the ramp and stopped right in front of us!! Aimee and I about lost our marbles. It was very surreal. As much as I love Bono, I think I was a little more excited about seeing the Edge- he's incredible! Great experience and something I will never forget.








Other than that, our lives have consisted of Sunshine school, work and church. I've joined MOPS at Irving Bible Church and absolutely love it! We've also been doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, which has been VERY helpful- I definitely recommend it. I've enjoyed doing the Beth Moore "Esther" study and we've started a small group with a couple of couples that has been SO great. Wow, no wonder I'm so tired. :)

Lastly, I wanna brag on my hubby a bit... he's been taking such good care of our yard and did this while Makayla and I were gone yesterday....





I couldn't get very good pics of the whole yard, but the plants add so much and he did such a great job. Thanks honey!!

We enjoyed lunch outside on this fabulous day, hope ya'll are taking advantage of this gorgeous weather, too.



Ok, we're caught up... have a great rest of the month!!

CRAZY GOOD DEAL!

Ok, you definitely need to do this, so listen up...

www.restaurant.com

Find the restaurants you want to eat in (read the minimum purchase amount to the right of the restaurant name), and click the gift certificate you want. When you're ready to check out, enter this code- NINETY and get 90% off the gift certificate amount! There ARE stipulations, so make sure you read the fine print for EACH restaurant. And..

THE NINETY CODE IS ONLY VALID TODAY (it was supposed to only be good yesterday, but it looks like they've extended it through today)!!!!!

I just spent $5.40 on $135 worth of gift certificates (including Mercy Wine Bar)!! CRAZY!!! I got this info from one of my couponing websites that hasn't let me down yet, and I've had friends use this site and say its legit. Just printed out the coupons and everything looks good. SO excited- hope ya'll take advantage of this too. :)

My little girl's growing up!

Makayla finished her second day of Sunshine School today and absolutely LOVES it. I think she's going to be one of those people that just loves to learn. Both days, she has given me a hug and kiss (and Bryn today), gone right to her desk and opened her notebook. Its the cutest thing ever!



Its worked out great b/c Bryn gets to spend some time with her daddy on Mondays while I drop off Makayla, head over to the gym, pick her back up from Sunshine and then head home. Brynley comes with me on Thursdays and gets to be apart of the "Monkey Business" class we have at the gym. Its been such a fun week!









Makayla's also been riding her bike (actually, Brynley's bike- Makayla's needs a little tweaking). She looks so grown up and is getting really good.






No, I'm not super obsessive with the elbow/kneepads- they were in the bag with the helmet and she wanted to wear them!

So that this is not purely a "Makayla" post, here's some super cute pics of Brynley from earlier this year. Not gonna lie, I kinda miss the bangs...





That's it for now... if you're interested, I put several videos up on Youtube- www.youtube.com/bekahpitts

Have a great Labor day weekend!!!

Happy Birthday, Makayla!

Well, I'm posting this late (of course)... my sweet girl turned 4 on Tuesday. I cannot believe I have a 4 year old!!! She had her favorite breakfast- chocolate chip waffles with syrup and then we were off to get the girls nails done! They had a fabulous time- they just kept looking up at me and smiling. They loved it. I wasn't super thrilled about their color choices (Bryn got bright green, Makayla was a little better with purple and red). They looked so big in those chairs and were such perfect little ladies. Here's some pics of that adventure...


This is their new pose any time they take a picture- how cute are they???


Look at Makayla's smile. :)















Trying to get a close up of their flowers


Didn't quite work.





Backing up to Saturday, we had the girls party/housewarming. It was a whirlwind of a week, getting ready for the first week of school at the gym and trying to get my house presentable, but we ended up having a blast. Poor Brynley threw up in the car on the way to get balloons that day, so she had to miss out on the big party. :( But she still got to open her presents and then went to Grandpa and Grammy's for some sweet lovin'. Thanks so much mom and dad for taking such good care of her! Here's some pics of the party (still no flash on our camera, so inside pics don't look so great; thanks for the outside pics Angie!)(Also, I'll have captions on these pics and more pics in facebook, if you're interested)...






















Lastly, I took the girls for their 3 and 4 year checkups on Wednesday. They did such a fabulous job and it was a looooooong appointment (the nurse screwed up Brynley's weight (by a lot- she wrote it was 22 and she's 27 lbs!!) and Makayla's height so their BMI's were off, so the Dr. had to redo everything). They actually had fun since they play doctor at home. That is, until it was time for Makayla's shots. She didn't really cry until the last one and then looked at me like I was the biggest traitor... so of course, I took them for ice cream immediately (before lunch). Got some cute pics, since we had such a long time to wait...




















Makayla got ahold of the camera without me knowing it for these next few...






Ice cream makes everything better.

Bye Bye Summer

Well, its been a fun, but exhausting couple of weeks... VBS was last week and I did all the music for it. We had over 200 kids! and I was not prepared for that. But I think we adjusted well and the kids had a blast, which is what its all about, right?

We had our first real playdate at our new house with Natalie and they had a blast!

I'm starting back at the gym this week (just helping get ready for school and then I'm going to cut back some on my hours this fall) and we're gonna try and finish our house by the weekend (I'm sick of these boxes in the office just staring at me).

These pictures are taking way too long to load, so I'm going to be lazy and just give you my facebook link...

Facebook pics

Have a great week everyone!!!