Innocence: Childhood Memories, Song by Avril Lavigne

"This innocence is brilliant, I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect, Please don't go away.."

~ "Innocence" by Avril Lavigne

The song "Innocence" by Avril Lavigne has always reminded me of the last moments that my daughter Nora was home with me before her father took her away when she was five years old. I was a stay-at-home mom since my children were born, my whole world centered around the care and nurturing of my children. The loss of my children has hit my heart with the impact of a meteor smashing into earth. I grieve the loss of my children everyday, and cherish the memories that I have of them. 

Innocence: Sunlight filtered through brittle branches, casting a kaleidoscope of shadows on the woodland floor. Nora and I liked to explore the local parks, and today we walked side by side through the nature preserve. The wind gently whispered a language I could not decipher but Nora heard. She took off running down the hillside path just as the window plucked straggly brown and gold leaves from a tall tree. I remember how Nora raced through the woods, laughing as the leaves fell on her shoulders. With every step Nora clunked and rattled, her pockets were full of the “treasures” she found – rocks, small branches, a lost button… she was always collecting things.

Innocence: I have saved every drawing and picture, Nora made, from when she was just a small toddler to now, as she is growing into a young teen. How Nora liked to draw, telling stories with pictures even before she could write. I was the same way as a child, a natural writer, who began writing stories with pictures of stick figures and square houses with triangle roofs, the simple drawings could not convey the adventures my mind was dreaming of.

I remember spending hours with Nora, curled up together, with her head resting against my heart, as we read books. There were more books, and notebooks of drawings in her bedroom than toys.

I remember teaching Nora how to write Haiku... patiently teaching her to count out syllables, stringing short sentences into word pictures

My daughter, my joy 
A diamond mined from my heart 
You are a treasure.

No matter how difficult things have been, and how painful it is that my daughter is not with me, I pray that a part of her heart has kept that innocence, the hopes and dreams of childhood. For in the innocence, you will find me, your Mommy standing at the edge of the woods, as the leaves fall, I catch you as you run into my outstretched arms.

Tu Eres Mi Corazon. xoxo

 ~ Daylen Swift, 2016

Mom Braves the T-Rex That Almost Ate the House

The lights flickered on and off; the house shook from its foundation to the shingles. The sky darkened as the ferocious T-Rex neared… tree branches snapped then flung against the window in broken splinters, lightning tore through the sky….

I screamed in terror, and kicked the quilt from my bed. The small feet of a 6 year old slapped against the white and lime green linoleum floor. I shoved my bedroom door open, there was a boom as the door hit the wall, and another boom as the hungry T-Rex approached. Down the hall I ran, into Mom’s bedroom. I launched through the air, bouncing the cat off the end of the bed, and slamming my small body into a pile of blankets and pillows.

“There’s a T-Rex coming to eat us!” I cried to Mom, who mumbled in a dreamy reply.

Mom was there, somewhere, under the covers, warm and safe, and totally unaware of the coming menace. The cat hissed from somewhere on the floor. Then jumped back to his favorite spot at the end of the bed.

“Did you hear the roar?” I screamed, “My night-light went out too! The T-Rex is coming!”

Mom threw her arms out, struggling to sit. Her eyes were squinted with half-sleep. Her hair stood up in all directions. There was a loud pounding noise followed by hard droplets of rain pelting  the window.

“That’s just the storm, go back to sleep.” Mom said

“But I heard…”

“It’s thunder. Thunder is just angels bowling in Heaven.” Mom explained.

I curled into the powder blue comforter decorated with small blue roses, somewhat skeptical.

“Strike!” Mom cheered faintly with another boom, “The angels are having a good time tonight.”

I imagined an angel rolling a large bowling ball at the T-Rex, knocking him from the sky, he fell back into an overgrown jungle, and disappeared behind a massive palm tree.

I could have swore I heard a T-Rex…but that was what angels are for, to keep you safe.

~ Daylen Swift, ©  Sept. 2015

Psalm 91:11, “For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways..”

Happy Mother's Day from the Cats

Happy Mother's Day - 

Two Siamese Cats. 

Mama and Kitten. 

Listen To Your Heart: Song and Letter for My Daughter

"Listen to Your Heart" cover by D.H.T. is one of my daughter's favorite songs. Funny, because I also love this song. That happens alot with my daughter and I.. we have similar likes, and even when we are apart and cannot talk, we find each other in our favorite songs.

A letter for my beautiful, amazing Daughter:

Sissy, listen to your heart. 

Always know your Mommy loves you, always and forever. 

Even though we cannot be together now, one day you will be able to come home. 

On that day, I will throw the biggest party! We can listen to all your favorite songs. And dance around the house. 

I will let you raid my closet, wear anything you want. 

And we can do make overs, even on your little brother (grin). 

Listen to your heart... you are loved and cherished. 

I love you Baby Girl. xoxo Mommy xoxox

Journey to the Cross: Bringing Good Friday Service to my Children

Hello to my lil Easter bunnies, Bear & Nora,

I miss you both. And love you very much :)

I am writing because today is Good Friday and I wanted to take you to church with me for the special "Journey to the Cross" service. I did ask if you could come with, and the answer was no. So since I cannot take you to church with your brother & I physically, we will just have to visit another way :) 

The Bible does talk about the power, and purpose of people praying together. 

Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." 

Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." 

Psalms 50:5,"Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

So I want to begin by saying I woke up this morning with the both of you in my heart, and in my prayers. I am so thankful to God that I am your mommy, and pray to be the best Mommy I can be. I am thankful for the wonderful kids you are. 

Bear, that you have such a kind heart to help others. You have a gift in science and math, and want to use those gifts to start a foundation to help people with charity and humanitarian projects, is just amazing. Bear, I remember when you were 5 years old, and we would read that science magazine. I remember how we were studying the different parts of a bone, and that we went to the grocery store to look at the cuts of meat, to see those parts. And then we made up that song "Break it off, bone!". "Break it off bone, got me movin' fast, break it off bone, I'm an osteoclast.." Osteoclasts are cells that break down bone. It was so funny because when they went to test you to enter kindergarten, they found that you knew subjects and things that were not even on the test.

Nora, you are such a beautiful girl, and truly a joy in my life. I remember the first time you went to daycare at just a few months old. The note I got back from the daycare said, "Nora is a joy". That is so true. Nora, I love that you write books and draw pictures. And am excited to see your talents grow. It makes me so proud that you are carrying this gift, because I also write books and poetry, and your Grandpa is a storyteller too. I grew up hearing tall tales from Grandpa, they are some of my fondest memories. Nora I think of you when I am shopping, and think of how you like to design clothes. I can't help but to buy cute jeans, baby tees and designer hoodies for you...maybe this way you won't be stealing the clothes from my closet (grin).

Belle also misses you, she is laying in front of me and purring right now (sits on my arms as I type!), sending love to you both.

So today is Good Friday. And what that means is that we honor, and remember, that Jesus went to the Cross to die for our sins. It doesn't sound like "good" news but it is because Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to die, in order to take away sin, the whole world was forever changed when Jesus gave his life to defeat evil. Good Friday tells us that God forgives us when we make a mistake, and that no matter how dark things may seem, there is always hope. Jesus was buried in the tomb and on the third day, which is Easter Sunday, He rose and went to heaven. In our family, this is a holy day, and we would be celebrating and going to church. I would read you the Bible, and we would learn about Good Friday together.

At church, there is a special worship called "Journey to the Cross". It is a service that takes you back into time, to Jerusalem, in the days leading up to Jesus death (Holy week). When you go to church, everyone is dressed up in clothes from Bible days -- robes, sandals, long head coverings and shawls for the women.  There are even Roman soldiers with spears and shields. 

There is a Jerusalem marketplace where you can play games that they played in Bible days, and you can look at and touch common objects from Bible days. 

The service takes you through all the events of Holy week and it is really cool because they have an electric piano on wheels, that rolls along so we can sing and praise the Lord.

We get to wave palms on Palm Sunday as Jesus enters Jerusalem on the back of a donkey....

We get to share the Last Supper with Jesus and the Disciples

You can enjoy a traditional Passover meal of grape juice, bitters (herbs), salt water (to remember the tears shed) and unleavened bread. Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recorded in the the Book of Exodus. On Passover, Jews also celebrate the birth of the Jewish nation after being freed by God from captivity.

You can see Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane

The Disciples slept while he prayed

You can see Judas betray Jesus, and receive gold coins in exchange

The Roman soldiers come to arrest Jesus. You can feel a real crown of thorns and nails.

You can see the trial of Jesus before Pilate, Herod and his soldiers mock Jesus and he is found guilty, though innocent of any crime

Jesus carries the cross to Calvary. 1 John 4:9, "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him."

You can see Mary crying at the foot of the cross

And you can visit a replica of a tomb with a granite boulder to remember where Jesus was laid to rest. 

We go to church on Easter Sunday to remember the resurrection, when Jesus rose from the grave, and went to Heaven. 

-- Daylen Swift, 2015

Hallelujah! He is Risen! Matthew 28:6, "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

Also see images on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/daylenswift/testimonies-about-god/

The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson (Dedicated to my son Bear)

                                                                   

This song reminds me of my amazing firstborn son, Bear. He is kinda eccentric like this song. And very tender-hearted. I love that Bear holds my hand when we go shopping at the Mall. And he still curls up in my lap and asks me about "the gold in his hair" - a story I made up for him as a child. Bear you are a blessing, and I am so proud of you!! xoxo Mommy xoxox

Amazing: Mommy Sea Turtles Return to Beach where Born, after 30 years, to Lay Eggs!

Sea turtles live in almost every ocean, all around the world. Loggerhead sea turtles have been on Earth for 250 million years and are related to the dinosaurs. “Loggerhead” sea turtles are known for their big, clunky head and large beak. The Loggerhead shell is golden brown, like honey, and their skin ranges in color from yellow to brown.

After birth, Loggerhead sea turtles head into the sea, where they spend most of their life. Sea turtles spend their day eating and resting. Sea turtles can sleep under water, curled up under rocks or in reefs. Or, they float on top of the water with their fins pulled back, and laying against their shell.

Sea turtles spend most of their lives alone, but there are short periods of time where turtles “date”. A female Loggerhead is usually ready to breed after 30 years (can you imagine if your parents made you wait that long to date! Haha – kidding). Sometimes male turtles fight over a female turtle they really like. Dating for a turtle involves play fighting—a turtle may gently bite another or bump shells (kinda like bumping fists!).

After this, the male stays at sea while the female goes to land to build a nest and lay eggs.

Loggerhead sea turtles are known to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from its feeding ground to its nesting place, this is called “migration”. Scientists are not sure how sea turtles map their migration but guess that sea turtles may be able to read the Earth’s electromagnetic fields, and use that to find their way. Zzap!

When a Loggerhead is ready to build her nest, there is only one place she will go—back to the very same beach she was born! After 30 years, the Loggerhead will somehow know, over thousands of miles of endless blue sea, how to find the way back home. At night, Loggerhead will leave the water to make a nest on land, which she makes by digging a hole in the sand with her flippers. The female Loggerhead will lay between 50-200 eggs, each the size of a golf ball, and then hide her nest to keep it safe. The sea turtles are very fragile animals so out of the many eggs hatched, few turtles actually survive.

 

After two months, the eggs hatch and the baby Loggerheads make their way back to the sea (this happens when temperatures are cool, between the time the sun goes down, until it comes up again). The baby Loggerheads wait until the sun goes down then use the light of the stars and moon shining off the water to find their way into the sea. The baby Loggerheads will swim back into the sea and will drift on the currents for many years, eating and resting and growing.

- Daylen Swift

Sea Turtle Conservancy: http://www.conserveturtles.org

(Greek Island Sea Turtles) Zante Carretta Caretta Loggerhead Turtles: http://www.explore-zakynthos.com/zakynthos_caretta_caretta_loggerhead_turtles_zante.htm

3 Queens Video Honors Motherhood

This touching video, "3 Queens" narrated by a child who describes a day in the life of his "Mommy" through imagery, prose and music. "3 Queens" beautifully depicts the Mother-Child bond, and honors the work , sacrifices and efforts put into mothering. 

Proverbs 22:6(King James Version), "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

"3 Queens" a celebration of 3 stay at home moms in three different regions of the country ...

director: matt bieler
music: dane leon & chris newlin
editor: matt bieler & aidan haley
music mix: danny cocke
final mix: tom @ lime
color: david hernandez

Bravo to the team behind "3 Queens"! Love this <3

A Mother's Prayer - (Hannah's Song) by Rachel Aldous

A beautiful prayer set to piano music for children


Psalms 127:3, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a
reward.”

The Benefits of a Mother's Love and Nurturing

A recent study reveals the benefits of a mother's love and nurturing on her children...

"Children who are given love and affection from their mothers early in life are smarter with a better ability to learn.

The study by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found school-aged children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress.

The new research is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing, Neurosciencenews.com reports." ("A mother's love can boost brain power, study shows" by Daily Mail Reporter, 1-31-2012). 

The way a mother nurtures and loves her child actually begins before birth. Not only does a mother's body biologically support the baby growing inside her, but most mothers facilitate a bond with their baby before birth-- praying for the baby or participating in religious ceremonies, hugging or caressing her growing belly, talking or singing to baby, sharing the pregnancy with family and friends and joining mother's groups or classes are all common ways the mother-child bond begins before birth. At as early as 20 weeks, an unborn baby can recognize his mother's voice and after birth, will prefer her voice (and her smell) to any other

After birth the bonding continues between mother and child, it is recognized that skin-to-skin contact between mother and child is immensely beneficial to newborns. Breastfeeding also increases that bond, mothers who bottle feed also benefit from holding or cuddling their babies. What babies learn about the world, begins first at home. 

Babies prefer the music their mother listened to when pregnant over any other music, they also recognize the smell of the mother's body and the sound of her voice. As young as 6 months old, babies learn to communicate by lip reading--and learn emotion from watching the faces of mother, and other adults important in their lives.

Although a mother has a special role in the lives of her children, researchers say that the effects of nurturing on the children are also beneficial from others providing care including fathers, siblings, grandparents or adoptive parents. Perhaps if we as individuals and members of a larger society, realized what power there is in demonstrating love and care for other people, the world would be a better place? We only need to look to our loving mothers to know this is possible. 

A mother's love can boost a child's brainpower, study shows