Christmas Recap

The past few weeks have felt like a bit of a roller coaster with all sorts of "exciting" things going on, but I'm going to skip right over to our Christmas.

For the past several years we have visited Big Daddy's family on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas Day with my mom, dad and my sister and her family. My extended family (mom's side) gets together on Christmas Eve, so we miss that. I don't mind too much because we see them all on Thanksgiving and throughout the year as well. It's fair to say that I do not enjoy spending Christmas Eve at the in-laws house for a variety of reasons, but this works best for us. (It would no doubt blow your mind if I told you just a few of the things that she "attacked" us with this year, from homeschooling to church all the way to what I do and do not eat.)

Every single year, my mother-in-law waits until a day or two before Christmas and asks what the girls would like. She always waits until my mom, my sister and I have done all of our shopping and most of the Christmas lists have been checked off. This year, I ordered a present for each girl (Disney Princess baby dolls) and gave it to her so that she could give it to them. Therefore, our "Santa" gifts were scaled back by quite a bit.

My mom and dad bought both of the girls "horses on a stick". I had ordered boots for both girls and my mom needed one more gift to give them, so she took the boots. Maggie & Ellie both have new horses, new boots and a new cowgirl hat, as well as a few other things from Nana & Poppy.

After we had opened Christmas gifts on Christmas morning and were getting ready for church, Maggie asked if she had received everything on her (very long) list. I reminded her that we never get everything on our list and as if she wanted to prove my point, she said, "You're right. I really wanted a horse on a stick and I didn't get that." She was very happy to open that gift from my parents.

I wrapped the Santa gifts a day or two before Christmas Eve and realized how little we had purchased for the girls. Big Daddy and I both had the same reaction: go buy more gifts. We didn't and everyone was still happy. While we know and celebrate the true meaning of the Christmas holiday, it's hard not to go all out for the kids. On Christmas morning, Maggie & Ellie each had four gifts and a stocking full of fun things. They also received a (giant) easel to share. They have enjoyed the easel SO much already and we are looking forward to using it when school resumes on January 2!

Our church was only offering one worship service on Christmas morning and there are normally three. They were offering childcare for preschoolers, but the older children were not having children's church or Sunday school. We made it to church plenty early, but it was a full house! We chose to take Ellie into the service with us. She did okay and managed to make it an hour. We missed the last fifteen minutes, so we were pleased.

Now, the pictures!

Maggie & Ellie's stockings and gifts.

Maggie with her new Barbie and her Barbie "styling head", as she calls it.

Ellie loved her new "buggy" and was excited to push around the Snow White that Grandma & Grandpa gave her.

This is the extra large easel. I was reminded that objects inToysRUs appear smaller in that big store. When Ellie starts more homeschooling, we will be turning the bonus room (currently Big Daddy's man cave) into a school room and the easel will live there. Until then, it's happily residing between the living and dining area. Ellie is quite obsessed with Toy Story, so she likes to pretend to be Cowboy Woody or Cowgirl Jessie. The girls love that movie and received several (7) Toy Story books and a couple of Woody and Buzz Lightyear figures too.

Another Whirlwind Week!

I feel like I've made it through another whirlwind week and I'm already looking at a busy calendar for the week that's about to start!!

I have had so many things that I wanted to take the time to blog about. This blog is a scrapbook of our daily lives and lots of things happen that I don't want to forget. Unfortunately, my free time seems to get less and less and homeschooling takes up so many of my thoughts. I plan to post a few things about homeschooling later. There are things that we're doing that I'd like to document for when the girls are older.

Big Daddy will be out of town all of next week. We'll have dance class, registration for homeschool electives, a teacher's meeting for our new Awana year at church and a field trip with our homeschool group on Friday. Thursday will be our only real free day and I think we'll spend it hanging out at home. There are times where I feel busier as a stay at home homeschooling mom of two than I felt on my busiest day in real estate.

I was finally able to finalize our Disney World reservations! Maggie woke up with a fever at 1am on Friday morning, threw up in her bed as soon as she woke up at 7am and spent the rest of the day on the couch. I used naptime to finish up our travel details with the travel agent (Small World Vacations- Annette F.) I cannot recommend them enough! I had already planned out exactly what we wanted, so we were able to do everything by email until time for payment. I feel so relieved...and excited.

Sunady is a special day. We had planned to attend Maggie's Graduation Luncheon at church, but it looks like she'll be staying at home and missing it. She's already asked if we could have a special luncheon at home. She will be leaving the preschool department and going to classes in a different building with all school-aged children. We feel so blessed that we go to this church and that she's had such a positive experience with everything involved in the Preschool Ministry.

Ellie will also changing classes. She will be going to a big girl class and will have the same teachers that she had for Bible School- Mr. Danny and Ms. Virginia. I know that she'll be okay because she talks about them all the time and everyone just thrives in their class. I'll really miss her sweet teachersMs. Alice and Ms. Denise.

Playing Catch Up

The past couple of weeks have been challenging. I have had daily headaches, Maggie has been VERY Maggie, we had bible school and Big Daddy was out of town.

This week has already been so much better. I went to the doctor yesterday for my second spinal manipulation and I really think that Dr. M has magic fingers. I woke up this morning without a headache and had the housework complete before 9 am
.
Next week we have three special activities during the week and one on the weekend. We also have a special visitor coming to town. Of course, my birthday is next Tuesday, but we'll be celebrating with my family this coming weekend.

Our week of bible school was wonderful! Our church calls it "Week of Wonder" and it's open to everyone. They also do Preschool Summer Day Camp in June for preschoolers and Camp SONshine in August for K-5th grade and an overnight camp for middle school and an overnight beach trip for the high schoolers. Maggie will be attending Camp SONshine next year, Ellie will go to Preschool Summer Day Camp and both will go to Week of Wonder- it looks like I'll be busy for one week in June, July and August!!

I'm still working on Ellie's big girl room. She has her bed, comforter and one set of butterfly sheets that make me want to puke. I have been looking for more sheets and fabric for curtains and pillows, but haven't found exactly what I have in mind. I have several ideas for wall art, but I'm still waiting on fabric so that I know what colors to use.

Homeschooling Maggie is my saving grace some days. She loves it and is always eager to "do more". She will be finished with her kindergarten math curriculum soon. It was the only kindergarten curriculum that we've been using, so I guess that she'll sort of be in first grade. I love that she can work at her pace on not have to wait on anyone before she moves on. She loves math and has really enjoyed our Singapore Math curriculum. The time that I used to have as "free" (relatively) I know spend teaching Maggie, reading to Maggie or looking up more homeschool ideas. I have found that many of the moms that can't believe I would want to homeschool my children feel that way because they don't want to be with their children all the time or they want that free time when their children are in school. Believe me, there are days where I want to ship Maggie & Ellie off to Nana's or drive Maggie to the nearest public school and put her out on the curb. LOTS of people seem to think that you have all the patience in the world to homeschool, but I promise that I have my moments. I have felt more fulfilled and useful as a mommy in the past six weeks. So...homeschooling works for us, for now.

We have a family trip coming up in August and we have decided that we will be going to Disney World (unless something happens) in the fall!

And then there's Pinterest. I received my first invitation a few months ago when I had NO idea what Pinterest was. I decided not to do it and I continued to rely on my memory, bookmarking and writing down the web address to things that I may want in the future. Time passed and I thought that I should jump on the Pinterest bandwagon and then I got an invitation from someone and the love affair began. You can request an invite from Pinterest, but I've heard that it takes a while to get accepted. I'd be happy to invite you if you want to leave your email address in the comments or email me.

Is it Friday yet?

I posted this picture on Sunday, but I really love it! It's also the only picture that I have of Maggie from this week. She loved the "Block Party" on Sunday and has had a great time every night this week.

All of the two year old classes are on the playground at the same time, so I've been able to see Ellie play with her friends.

I have to pick Ellie up (right next door to my class) and then go to another building to get Maggie. Then, I go to another floor of that building to get Callie. The "Worship Rally" was still in progress on Monday night so we joined in. Maggie loved it! Our church is quite large and it was nice to see that every seat was full of Kindergarten through 5th graders. Maggie loved the music and wants the set to stay there "forever"...especially the fountain.

Ellie is a huge fan of the slides on the playground!

We have had a great time this week, but the later nights and Daddy being out of town have not mixed well. Maggie & Ellie are both extra tired and missing their Daddy.

The Week Ahead

This is our "Week of Wonder" at church so I'll be teaching bible school. I'll also be homeschooling Maggie, cooking dinner and feeding the kids extra early, putting the kids to bed extra late and being a single parent. And I'm not feeling well.

In other words,
I'm going to be away from the computer a whole lot this week and could use some prayers.

We had a nice Sunday evening as a family at our church Block Party. I wish I had taken more pictures, but my hands were full. There were all kinds of food, several bounce houses/slides and great music. It was a community-wide, free event, so hopefully lots of people came to church that might not normally come.


I think everyone found out why Maggie wears shorts under all of her dresses, too.

BIG Weekend!!

We sort of started our weekend on Thursday since Big Daddy had been out of town all week! We went out to dinner and then to buy a tree.

Maggie helped pick out a Weeping Cherry tree. Since it was April 21, I told her it was her due date present. :-) Both girls LOVE it! It is their job to water it every evening.Ellie's new favorite thing is to pick out her own clothes. I know that Maggie started doing this early, but not this early! Ellie's favorite thing is to wear two shirts at the same time. We call it "Ellie's layered look". I tried to ignore her when she wanted a second shirt, but she put it half of the way on by herself and I gave in.

Maggie came down with a fever (and puked on the couch) on Saturday. She was fine by mid-afternoon, but the fever came back before bed and was till there on Sunday morning. Ellie and I went to church alone.

Maggie stayed with Daddy and enjoyed wearing her jammies a bit longer.

Ellie's getting so big! Her teacher said that she'll probably move into the "big" class next week. I know she'll love it because it has centers and tables where the class that she's in know is just a nursery for "movers".

Maggie's first concern when she was ick was missing her little party on Sunday afternoon. She was fever-free and feeling good, so we had the party.

I could ask every single day, but how on earth did they get so big????

A Happy Heart Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Sunday just because it was a little easier. Big Daddy bought Ellie a train track (with Thomas & Mavis) and we picked out Pre-K/K level reading books for Maggie. Both girls received Cinderella Pez dispensers for their sweet treat. Ellie loves her train track and Maggie really enjoys having books where she can easily read nearly all of the words on a page. Big Daddy and the girls gave me new perfume (!!!) and a sweet card. We didn't get Big Daddy anything, which is just the way he likes it.

Sunday evening was "Spice Up Your Marriage Date Night" at Church. They provided free dinner and childcare for the children (so we were all over that) and the parents had finger foods and educational entertainment. The church Family Life Center was full and I think everyone had a great time. We had fun and found out that we're not as different from other couples as we may have thought.

For Valentine's Day, we went to a local burger place where our family of four had diner for $12. After that we went to Lowe's for hooks to help organize the garage. Maggie and Ellie looked at light fixtures, riding mowers, washer and dryers and the ever popular toilets. Big Daddy bought me a level and we picked up hooks for the garage. After we put the kids to bed, we had homemade angel food cake with fresh strawberries and Big Daddy said it was "the best Valentine's ever".

A List...or something

I don't know where to begin, but there's lots of things that I don't want to forget and since this is the scrapbook of our lives I decided to just make a random list.

• Last week, I had what I like to call a "Great Week in Parenting". I'm not sure what was happening, but it was good and I liked it!
  
• On Thursday I dropped the large, expensive bottle of perfume that Big Daddy gave me for Christmas. I wasn't crazy about the smell, but loved that he picked it out and I wore a little every single day. The bottle broke into lots of pieces and perfume went all over the bathroom. I had to clean the tile several times so that it wouldn't be slick and I swear the smell is still in the grout. The smell is also in the towel that I used to clean up the perfume and it's been washed several times.
• Maggie is reading more and more words as she goes about her daily activities. I picked out three Pre-K/Kindergarten reading books for her Valentine's gift and I think she's going to enjoy reading them.
• Ellie is trying to say lots of things now. She understands everything, but is still sort of quiet. She communicates pretty well without talking. She says truck all the time and unfortunately says it with an "f" at the beginning.
  
• Maggie and Ellie are really into Play-Doh now. It provides entertainment at the table when Big Daddy's not at home and I'm cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.
  
• Plans to homeschool Maggie in the fall are in full swing. (Eeeek!!) I should be getting one of the books that I ordered (for me) today or tomorrow and I am pretty sure I've found a curriculum that I want to use.
• Maggie and Ellie love the new minivan! We drove it on Saturday and Sunday, and they were all giggles. I was pleasantly surprised that it doesn't feel that much larger than my SUV when I'm driving, but it looks like a bus in the garage! I lovingly refer to it as "The Tank".
  
• After I picked Maggie up at school yesterday I told her about Baby Chase. She said, "OH NO" and then started to cry. Of course, then I started to cry too. She wanted to know if something happened to his "invisible cord" and said in her sweet little voice, "You know I could've died when I was born". She prayed for her friend Sara and her parents last night and is very curious about what happened to Chase.
• On Saturday, Big Daddy and I are taking Maggie to the circus!! I think I was about Maggie's age the last time that I went. Maggie and I are very excited and I think Big Daddy will be after he takes his test tomorrow. We are leaving Ellie with Nana & Pawpaw and will probably take her next year.
• On Sunday morning we are having a special program at all three morning worship services. The morning theme will be about families. There's also a "Spice Up Your Marriage Date Night" on Sunday evening and Big Daddy and I are going to it too. They are serving dinner for the kids and snacks for the adults, so it really will be like a little date night. Maggie's excited about going to a different class at church and getting to eat dinner there. We really love our Church.
  
• Maggie spent an hour yesterday fixing Valentine cards for friends and teachers at preschool and all of the teachers that she and Ellie have on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. She decided to fill bags with candy, give them Princess cards and "Happy Valentine's Day" pencils. We are also fixing red velvet cake balls this weekend.

And I think that catches us up to today!!
Happy Tuesday!

A Little Devotion

(From our Church devotional booklet)
You Still Matter

Fans rooted for the competition, Cheerleaders switched loyalties. The coach helped the opposition score points. Parents yelled for the competition. What was this?

This was the brainchild of a big-hearted football coach in Grapevine, Texas. Kris Hogan skippers the successful program of Faith Christian High School. He has seventy players, eleven coaches, quality equipment and parents who care, make banners, attend pep rallies and wouldn't miss a game for their own funeral.

They took their 7-2 record into a contest with Gainesville State School. Gainesville's players, by contrast, wear seven year old shoulder pads and last decade's helmets and show up at each game wearing handcuffs. Their parents don't watch them play, but twelve uniformed officers do. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility. The school doesn't have a stadium, cheerleading squad or half a hope of winning. Gainesville was 0-8 going into the Grapevine game. They'd scored two touchdowns all year.

The whole situation didn't seem fair. Coach Hogan devised a plan. He asked the fans to step across the field and for one night only to cheer for the other side. More than two hundred volunteered.

They formed a forty yard spirit line. They painted "Go Tornadoes!" on a banner that the Gainesville squad could burst through. They sat on the Gainesville side of the stadium. They even learned the names of Gainesville players so they could yell for individuals.

The prisoners had heard people scream their names, nut never like this. Gerald, a lineman who will serve three years said, "People are a little afraid of us when we come to the games. You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they're yelling for us. By our names!"

After the game the teams gathered in the middle of the field to say a prayer. One of the incarcerated players asked to lead it. Coach Hogan agreed, not knowing what to expect. "Lord", the boy said, " I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank you, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world who cared about us."

Grapevine fans weren't finished. After the game they waited beside the Gainesville bus to give each player a goodbye gift- burger, fries, candy, soda, a Bible, an encouraging letter and a round of applause. As their prison bus left the parking lot, the players pressed stunned faces against the windows and wondered what just hit them".

Here's what hit them: A fullside of "You still matter" and "Someone still cares". Their mission? Break down barricades that separate God's children from each other.

I don't know how she does it?

I'll be honest...I get this comment (compliment?) a lot. I guess I make crazy look easy.

People would say it about me when Ellie was itty-bitty and being worn in the sling and I was busy doing something other than holding her. Like getting groceries, pushing kids on bikes, drinking coffee, sweeping and mopping, holding Maggie's hand or holding someone elses's baby. It just helps me get things done and it's easier, more practical and tons more comfortable than actually holding her...even now.

Lots of people are amazed that I'm moving to Georgia and will be able to survive without my parents two miles away. I'm amazed too.

If you knew me in real life before I was married you would have thought I would have figured out a way to build a house smack in the middle of the yard between my parents' and my sister's houses. Instead, I moved an hour away and after a couple of (tough and homesick) years made Sanford my home. Then fast forward nine years and we made a move back to my hometown and built a house two miles from my family. Living near my family and buying this house were the only two things we felt sure were positive changes. After 18 months here, they have remained the most positive things and you can add our church to that list too. We haven't really enjoyed the area, but we weren't exactly hoping to move. Sometimes opportunities come up and you think that they may be best for your long term goals.

When things seem so overwhelming I try to focus on the positive things, but it is not always easy. I am at peace with moving because I have prayed through sleepless nights and worried until I can't worry anymore.

Things have happened that have put it all in perspective and let me know that the world is not big enough to keep me from my family.

When I went to pick Ellie up in the nursery after Awana on Wednesday, one of the ladies (Lisa) told me she had gotten hurt. I told her it wasn't a big deal as I was getting Ellie's things together and asked Ellie (who was playing like a wild child) if she had a boo boo. Then Lisa said it wasn't that kind of boo boo and told me that she'd been bitten by another child. I've been around long enough to know that bites happen. I still didn't really have a reaction and just told Lisa that it was okay. I could tell that she had been worried and was relieved that I wasn't mad or upset. She said that all of the ladies had been trying to decide who had to tell me. Lisa had spent the past hour worrying about how I might react because another child had taken a little bite of Ellie's forehead while they were hugging. They said what made it even worse for them is that Ellie is always so sweet and polite. (They always say that she's "polite" which cracks me up because I know how loud she can squeal when she doesn't want to share with her sister!) The little teeth marks were gone by the next afternoon and Ellie didn't seem to mind at all.

As we were all leaving the nursery, Lisa's son came in and I complimented him on his new mohawk. The one that he had been asking for...for months. He doesn't know that his mom finally let him have a mohawk because he has to have half of his head shaved before his brain surgery on Wednesday.

Seeing his sweet face that was so proud of that mohawk was one more reminder that moving and having bite marks on your baby's head isn't that big of a deal at all.

Please pray for Zach. His surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Here There & Everywhere

With Big Daddy being out of town all of last week I feel a little like I'm playing catch-up around the house. We really did have a delightful week and I can totally handle things on my own, but it was lonely. Big Daddy is going through some changes at work that may require even more time spent there and school id keeping his "free" time occupied.

Big Daddy took Monday off from work to study, take a mid-term and eat lunch out with his best girls. Both kids lost it when he left before dinner to go to the local university library to meet his proctor for the exam.

I'll be taking Maggie, Ellie and maybe Callie to the zoo on Saturday. We'll be meeting some of my very best forever friends and their children there. I'm excited to spend a little time with these special people and Maggie is ecstatic.

Ellie absolutely refuses to ride in a shopping cart or at least ride while sitting on her bottom. Thank God for my ring sling. I can put it on super-quick and she's pretty happy in it. Not as happy as she would be running through the aisles of the store, but she's happy. I took both girls to the grocery store last week and we tried out the race car shopping cart. Ellie sat in it until the check out, so it was sort of a success.

Ellie is starting to say more words and I'm so thankful. Maggie talks all.day.long. Seriously. I'm so thankful when she takes a nap just because my ears need a break.
On Saturday, I took Maggie & Ellie shopping...alone. They were so well-behaved! Maggie picked out a couple of new outfits and everything we bought at the Carter's store was priced at $5 each! I wish they had my size!! I HAD to have new Big Sister/Little Sister shirts and of course, Maggie had to have the same Big Sister shirts as her best twin friends, H & A. H & A have a new set of 8 week old boy-girl twin siblings. (Moment of silence for their sweet mom...)

I'm thankful for my Awana class and I think we're finally getting into a nice routine. I am in charge of our records and I realized last Thursday that there was a paper I was forgetting to fill out. I'm hoping to get o Church a little earlier tonight and get caught-up. The problem is, it's hard to get caught-up with Maggie & Ellie going wild in my classroom!

Big Daddy hasn't been attending Church with us for several weeks. He was able to go (along with my Mom) to hear the Children of the World Choir. Our Church took up a love offering in each of the three morning services and raised over $15,000 to drill wells in poor countries.

Tonight we kick off our Awana Harvest Box Mission Project. Maggie & I enjoyed filling a shoe box with fun and useful items for needy children in the community. Next Wednesday the boxes will be delivered to those children and hopefully, they will be blessed and feel the love of Christ.

What A Weekend!

We had decided to do something special on Labor Day, but then we decided to make it extra special and do it on Saturday! Maggie was very excited because she's always up for an adventure!

We decided to go to Pilot Mountain (or Mt. Pilot as Big daddy always seems to call it) for a little family hike. It was a little cooler on the top of the mountain and breezy, so Maggie was "just so cold". I wrapped Ellie in the ring sling and let Maggie use the tie from the Baby K'Tan as a scarf (I LOVE that these two babywearing devices are so multi-functional) and we walked around a little before finding a sunny spot for a picnic.

After lunch I put Ellie in the Baby K'Tan (two hip carry position) and we were ready to take the easy hike up to the big pinnacle, or "The Knob" as we like to call it.

After our hike, we drove to Mt. Airy and had ice cream and walked around a little. Maggie enjoys "The Andy Griffith Show" so she was excited to see where Andy "was borned" and also to see a replica of the squad car. We had to get home because we had a late birthday celebration (for my nephew) to attend, so we ended our evening having dinner at my sister's house.

Sunday was "Promotion Day" at Church and both of our girls moved to new classrooms. This is Ellie contemplating the big move!! Ellie was crying for me Sunday before Church (while I was trying to get dressed) and she went to her "special spot". When she's upset she goes to the window beside of her highchair and stands or sits in the floor until someone can comfort her. Her Daddy decided to take a picture of her pouting.
Ellie moved out of the baby nursery and into the toddler class. I'm pretty sure that she was supposed to move as soon as she started walking, but her teachers just wanted her for four more months! She was very happy in her new class and didn't cry when we left. She usually cries just until we get out of the room, but she didn't this time.

Maggie was a little nervous, but really like her new class. I know she'll miss Mr. Mark, but she's going to enjoy her new teachers a lot. They like to do art and were excited to find out that Maggie loves art too!

We celebrated a successful Sunday by getting dinner and taking it to a local lake for another picnic. We love picnics!! There were a ton of kids at the playground there so we drove over to my sisters house so that Maggie could see Callie a little more.

On Monday we had another picnic. We decided to eat lunch in the backyard this time before nap. I managed to squeeze in a two hour nap with the girls while Big Daddy worked on the school work that he neglected on Saturday and Sunday.

Today was Maggie's "Preschool Open House" and tomorrow is her first "full" day. I'm sure Ellie will miss her for the entire three and a half hours that she's away! I have another Awana meeting tomorrow night and then I'll start my countdown until the weekend! This is the weekend that Big Daddy and I are going away and I'm getting so excited! I need a break!

FYI- Yes, Maggie wore is wearing the same outfit on Saturday and Monday! She just couldn't resist it when she saw it all clean and folded in the laundry basket!

It's Official...I Rock!

I left the house a little after 8:00 this morning and just arrived home a little after lunch. I think I wore Maggie & Ellie out since they are both fast asleep!

Our first stop was Maggie's preschool. She met with her teacher and we went over what kinds of fun things she'll be doing this year. They focus a little more on teacher-guided activities and also work on handwriting and phonics. Maggie has no trouble with phonics because I started "The Phonic Song" (what I used to call it when I was a preschool teacher) with her when she was a few months old. Of course, she would also write all.day.long. if I would let her. I think she'll have an awesome year! Ellie & I will also be going on some fun field trips with Maggie & her class.

We went to "just look" at toys after that. Maggie is in the "I want it" phase right now, but she did a fantastic job of controlling herself. I have tried to explain that we can't buy everything we want or we won't be able to pay for our cars, house, clothes and food. We are also talking a lot about need vs. want. I always tell her that it's completely normal for her to want, want, want but that we just can't give into everything that we want...or Mommy would be the size of a house and constantly go shopping! Ha!

We made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby to look at Fall & Christmas decorations, then went to the local mall. I hadn't planned on going there, but Maggie really wanted to and I wanted to do something special for us all before she started back to school. I read on Tara's blog that Belk's was having a great sale, so we stopped there first. I managed to get Maggie two dresses for Fall at 40% off and two matching dresses for each girl for next Summer at 75% off with another 30% off of that. So...I left with six dresses and spent $51 and saved $130. I'd post pictures of the cuteness, but the laptop doesn't feel like importing pictures at the moment. After all the savings we stopped at the little indoor playground. We had the place to ourselves so I let the girls run wild. Then we had Chick-Fil-A and Ellie fell asleep before we left the parking lot.

Maggie is going to the grocery store with Nana after nap and I'm going to enjoy Ellie, fold laundry and read over my Awana papers that I got from Church last night. I'm really excited about teaching one of the three year old classes and I think Maggie is going to have a blast in her class.

And by the way, Maggie saw the clothes that I had picked out for her to wear today and she said, "That's just what I wanted to wear! Mom, you rock!". I asked her to repeat it and she did. Maybe she'll let me pick out her clothes a little more often!

Maggie On The Brain (alternately titled: Muffin Head)

For some reason, I cannot get his image of Maggie out of my mind! I think it's because I was so surprised when she turned around and I got my first glimpse of what her teen years will look like! I knew that Cousin Callie had brought her make up and I knew that they were playing with it in the kitchen, but this shocked me.Needless to say, I obsess over a lot of parenting issues. For several weeks, I have been trying to make decisions on our schedule for the next preschool year. I want Maggie to be involved in fun activities without being over scheduled. Maggie will have school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for three hours each day. She insists on going to Storytime at the Library on Thursdays, so we are left with one free weekday, which I think is great. I was asked to join MOPS at our Church, but it's every other Tuesday so our free days would be cut in half. I think I've decided to skip MOPS and take her to Awana Cubbies, but I'm still not sure! She also has children's choir on Sunday evenings. We (me & Maggie) had talked a little about signing up for dance classes (for her, not me) but I'm pretty sure we won't be doing that. I have no doubt that she'll enjoy all of the activity, but I also know that she loves having free-play time.

So...I'm curious. What coordinated activities did you do as a child?

Accomplished

We have finally finished the extensive art project that we started last week.

I did most of the bead-rolling, Big Daddy drilled the holes, the girls painted and I put the beads on strings and covered them in a clear sealant. It took several days for the beads to dry and then several days for Big Daddy to drill the holes. If I didn't have children that insist on being fed, changed, played with and entertained it would have taken a lot less time!

I'll try to post pictures of our necklaces next week, but first I have to complete mine! I did a turquoise and chocolate brown combo that I think is really cute. I'll be wearing it to Church on Sunday with a denim dress, so we'll see how it looks.

I'm getting ready to make a menu plan for next week and a grocery list for tonight. Our Week of Wonder (VBS) starts on Sunday, so I'll be busy in the evenings. I'll be taking Ellie to Nana and Pawpaw's and Maggie & I will go to Church for WOW. Big Daddy will be picking Ellie up and putting her to bed each night. He has never put Ellie to bed, so I'm a little worried. Of course, all I do is carry her to her room and lay her in the bed and then she grabs her sister's old receiving blanket and goes right to sleep. I can only hope that things go okay without me.


Happy Friday!

A Spa Party?

This song is so stuck in my head! It's one of my favorites and we did at Church on Sunday and it just plays over and over in my head! (pause the music at the bottom and press play!)

Anyway...

So...tomorrow I'm taking my girls to a Spa Party for Maggie's friend Sara's fourth birthday. I've had mixed reactions when I tell people that we're going to a children's spa to celebrate the birthday of a four year old. Callie wasn't invited, but when I told the mom that I was keeping her during the summer she insisted that Callie join in the fun. Needless to say, Callie was fully prepared to do her own nails and make up before the party!!
We do hair, nails and make up on a regular basis around here, but I don't put a lot of emphasis on it. I never want Maggie or Ellie (Callie either) to think that they have to wear make up or do their nails to be pretty, loved or accepted. I do insist that hair is out of eyes when we go anywhere where it might get in the way. (nothing worse than trying to do art at Church or preschool while your hair keeps getting in the paint!)

My birthday is coming up soon and I'd love to spend a little time with my out of town Mommy-friends at a spa! (More details on my upcoming birthday celebration later.)


What do you think, is a Spa Party for a four year old appropriate??

Pictures & Answers

We had another fun and exciting weekend! Maggie is all about fun and exciting, so I made it extra special by calling it "Family Date Night". We started our evening by having dinner at Panera. Big Daddy and I both got our "usual" and Maggie had her own bowl of French Onion Soup. (Her favorite restaurants are Panera & Logan's Roadhouse...both very grown up.)

After dinner we went to a cruise-in in a local small town. They close part of the streets downtown so it was a lot of fun to be able to walk and explore. The highlight for Maggie was a toss up between visiting the ice cream truck and finding "the real cross where Jesus died". I tried to explain that the little Church had just put a cross up on the lawn, but she was very adamant that Jesus died on that exact cross.

On Sunday, we went to Church, had a picnic in the backyard, took a family nap, paid a visit to the river and went to one of our favorite places for dinner.

Now for the answers part of the post.

How did you end up in Sanford??
Big Daddy is from a small town almost exactly halfway between Sanford and my hometown. He always liked Sanford and sort of wanted to live there. After he graduated, he was offered and accepted a job about three hours away. He didn't like the job or the city and quit after three months. Right after he had moved in with his parents he was offered the job that he had really wanted in Sanford. He moved into "our" apartment and then I moved in with him after we were married in 2000. I think we'll always think of it as our hometown because it's were we started.

How did you become a babywearer??
Big Daddy and I bought a Bjorn type front carrier right after we found out I was pregnant. it was on clearance and I thought it would be cute to carry our baby around in it. It wasn't really suitable for a newborn, but I thought we would enjoy it later.
Maggie was a terribly fussy baby. She seemed to have tummy issues and sleep issues right from the start. The doctor mentioned colic a lot earlier than what she wanted to, but it seemed to be the best explanation for what was wrong. I did a lot of research on fussy babies and what helped them. The one thing that seemed to be consistent was that wearing the baby seemed to help. I was so proud when I told Big Daddy that I'd found the "answer" to our problems!! I bought a pouch sling and started using it right away. I mainly used it around the house and when we went for walks. Once Maggie was able to hold her head up well, we started using the front carrier. I liked it for the grocery store, walks and doing yard work.
When I became pregnant with Ellie, I knew that I needed a way to hold her and keep my hands free for Maggie. I had read a lot of information about the front style carriers (lots of sling & wrap users refer to them as crotch-danglers, with good reason) and how they weren't good for extended wearing because of the way they support/don't support the baby. Not to mention that many babies get fussy because of the over-stimulation of facing out. I decided that I would use the pouch sling and add a ring sling for extra versatility. Of course, I also added the Baby K'Tan a little later. I discovered that using the slings and the K'Tan were easy and completely pain-free. I always had shoulder pain when I used the front carrier.

And now someone is up from there nap and I must go before I can finish up.

When is it okay...

to wear a baby that belongs to someone else??

When you, another adult and a helper is in charge of getting six babies from the nursery to the sanctuary with two double strollers and my handy dandy ring sling. And you ask the permission, of the baby's babywearing mama, of course!

It was my pleasure to wear sweet, little bitty five month old Mason today while pushing Eden and Ellie in the stroller. Ms. Joy carried her baby, Nathan and our helper, Haylee pushed Kamerynn and Alex in the other double stroller. Mason was the only one that couldn't sit safely in a stroller, so he was practically saying, "Wear me. Wear me.". I loved wearing that sweet boy!

It was the perfect way to end Preschool Summer Day Camp although camp ending was perfect all on it's own even without the babywearing. My week wasn't that bad, but I'm glad it's over with and ready to get back to something that resembles normal.

Some call it summer camp, I call it exhausting

Let's just say that I'm ready for Summer Day Camp to be over.

I've enjoyed staying in the nursery with six or seven little ones this week, but my brain is jello. JELLO. I had forgotten how it feels to watch over other people's children and it's just so different for me now that I have my own babies. Ellie doesn't mind sharing me, but she wants me all to herself again.

One of the big perks has been all of the Ellie-loving that I get in the afternoons! She has never been snuggly and cuddly like her sister, but this week she's been all over me. She also enjoyed being worn in the sling today while I was changing diapers and carrying a little baby. She loves it when the other children start to leave at the end of the morning because she is ready to come home.

Of course, Maggie has had a great time. She loves Church, art and learning new things. I think she'd go to Summer Camp every week if they offered it!

Next week we'll welcome Cousin Callie into our home to spend the mornings with us. I'm thinking we may go to the zoo to celebrate the first full week of her summer vacation...if it's not too hot.

P.S. It's alarming to change a diaper and see a p.enis when you haven't changed a boys diaper in 7+ years.

Summer Day Camp- Day 1

Thank goodness I did my grocery shopping and meal planning yesterday because Summer Day Camp wore me out. I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything for the rest of the day!! HA!

Maggie had a great time, to say the least. Of course, she loves having a mission and "school work"! When we were walking to our car she said, " You know what the best part of my day was??? The puppet show.". She is so excited about going back tomorrow!!
I stayed in the nursery and was only expecting to have three children ,but I ended up with seven. Now once upon a time, I could have handled it...like several years ago before I had kids and was a preschool teacher myself. I helped out with the babies a few times and could easily handle having 5 all by myself. We ( me and fellow mother, Joy) quickly found out that most of the bigger kids (between 1 and 2 years old) were used to having a morning nap. We had two babies, both 5 months old and the rest of them were between 1 and 2 with Ellie being the youngest of the big kids. When one cried, they all cried and of course, three of them had separation anxiety. In other words, the only ones that didn't have separation anxiety were the babies (one was Ms. Joy's baby) and Ellie. And, they all wanted to be held at the same time!!

Tomorrow, I'm taking a sling, but today I'm sharing pictures of my girls on their first day of camp.Notice Maggie's socks!!