When my kids make me smile!

If I was honest with myself, I've probably been dealing with a little bit of depression.  It seems to be stemming from selfishness...a pity party for myself of where I am and what I am without.  The frustrating part is that I know it...I know that I am NOT the center of the world, that life is NOT all about me and that GOD's timing, ways and thoughts are NOT my own!  So why do I continue to wallow and miss out on what's going on around me?!?

I'm slowly coming around.  Yesterday morning was a beautiful picture of what I've been missing while in my self absorbed state.  After doing our morning devotion (praising Jesus for the God Time cards the kids get from church!), Kate was sharing about a little girl from church.  It was a long story of how Kate really wanted to get to know her, but was too shy to talk.  Then finally one Sunday they talked.  As talk of school began, they realized they were going to the same school and hoped to be in the same class.  Then first day of school...they WERE in the same class and now we are best friends Mommy. (of course everyone is her best friend except for the boys) Anyway, across the room Blake says "That's a God thing.  That's how He rolls!"  SMILE!

Same morning after dropping Blake off, Kate and I are listening to the radio.  Her favorite song these days is God's not Dead by Newsboys.  (Thank you Papaw for the cd!)  Mind you this song is not playing as we go down the road.  She says to me:  "Mommy, you know what the people who sing God's not dead, He's surely alive are missing?"  Surprised I said No.  With a huge smile one her face she says "ME"  pointing to herself then BELTING out the chorus!  SMILE!

So today, I'm praising my Jesus for kids who love Him and bring me to Him when I find myself to busy in my pity party to come to Him or even see Him!  Thank for the smiles through two of the best gifts you've given me!  Please don't let me allow these days to pass without relishing them.  It may not be where or how I envisioned, but it is your perfect will for us right now.

Blessings!

We have SO very much to be thankful for this year and every year!  We hit the road last Monday and made our way back to Texas to celebrate with friends and family that we haven't seen in a while.  The kids were so excited to see their friends again.

I don't know how I missed getting pictures, shame on me! The kids had their first sleep over on Tuesday night at the Z's house.  ALWAYS a blast there.  Chia Lu will have to share any pics she got of the four of them.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner with Lolly, Pop, Z's and Papaw on Wednesday night so that we could eat on the leftovers longer!  ;o)  What a crazy night...I know Papaw got some great pics, so I hope to post them later.  After dinner we ditched the kids at the White House and enjoyed some quiet time.

I "borrowed" some pics from the best blogger ever!  While the kids waited on lunch they had a mid-morning swim...what?!?  You don't go swimming on Thanksgiving Day?!?  Neither do I, brrr...

They had a blast...you try getting 6 kids under 9 to look at the camera at the same time while in the swimming pool!  

I managed to squeeze in some cuddle time on the couch before lunch.  He is the cutest!  

Good friends are such a blessing!  I pray they never forget each other!!!

With Thanksgiving over (almost),  Little Pumpkin was ready to get into the Holiday spirit!  Christmas nails with Lolly.  Truly a favorite thing to do while at Lolly's!

Another favorite at Lolly & Pop's?  Cuddle time.  Cute boys...couldn't resist getting this pic!  Surprised Pop's eyes are actually open! ;o)  

Our last meal together was chosen by Little Lion, "Shotguns."  I know that sounds like an appropriate name for a Texas restaurant, however, it is actually Shogun.  A hibachi style Japanese restaurant that the kids love....as you can tell they were mesmerized by the chef!   

Saying goodbye is hard to do.  So why not stall it with some pictures!  I have never seen my kids so opinionated on poses and arrangement of people in the picture.  I will say, I'm glad we got this one with Papaw.

What a great way to spend our Thanksgiving break enjoying some of the people we are most Thankful for!  Love you all!

Belated Birthday

I've been under the weather for the past week, so that's my excuse for the delay in posting Kate's birthday pics!  ;o)  However, don't let the title fool you!  We celebrated on her birthday without delay....she would not have let us postpone for ANY reason!  Here she is sporting her first birthday gift of the day: a purplicious outfit!

After a full day of school, we headed to gymnastics then to the restaurant of her choice.  Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I did not accept her first choice of McDonald's!  But finally we found a good second: BlueFin!  It's a local Sushi Bar... and YES she did eat Sushi for dinner.  (Okay, it's "cheater" sushi according to our waiter since it's cooked, but it's my favorite too!)  After stuffing ourselves, we still had room to walk next door to the frozen yogurt place!  Daddy let her get 6 toppings!  She did not make it through them all.  ;o)

Finally, home for presents!  We started off the night skyping with her bestie, Mary.  They were so sweet to mail a special gift...a diary that she has not put down since!  I LOVE it!  I was SO enjoying seeing their sweet faces, I didn't take a single picture...bummer.

Kate was so excited to get her OWN scooter.  This item has been the center of many heated debates at our house recently.  So a welcome sight for this momma too!

GRAPE!  No little girl can have too much purple, or pink or baby blue (apparently the new favorite)!  I think the huge purple bean bag was a hit Papaw!  Thank you!!!

Lolly and Pop scored big with the new Strawberry Shortcake friends!  Cherry Jam was a new one we had not even seen yet.  She wanted to break into them right away to play...unfortunately we were getting really close to 9 o'clock on a school night!  (We are normally in bed by 7:30!)

 The best part of her gift from Grandpa and Grandma Myers was them being here in person!  She got a very special purple Bible from them, which we used immediately that night for our devotions.

Still struggling to wrap my brain around the fact that she is SIX years old!  The fact that she is starting to read  as I type is mind boggling!  Love this little girl....though still praying for rapture before the tween years!  PEOPLE get READY it is coming!  ;o)  

Fall break!

The county school here in GA is closer to a year round school schedule (at least that's what they say).  So we started the beginning of Aug but now we enjoy a week off for fall break!  No complaints here! ;o) With Grandma & Grandpa here, we decided this was a great time to take a mini vacation.  So we spent a few days down in Atlanta seeing some of the highlights.

Wednesday we started at CNN, taking the studio tour.  It was very interesting to see the "behind the scenes" of the everyday news.  Kate did was an anchor with the help of Daddy reading the teleprompter to her.  Blake did the weather for us:

and they both experimented with the green sheet:

The face is compliments of a comment Daddy made...it doesn't take much these days!

Grandpa getting a picture...loved this one!

Next we headed to the GA Aquarium.  The kids found these dolphins out front, so we had to stop for pics!

I'm glad we did because my phone battery died and I didn't get any pic inside the aquarium, bummer!  I'm sure I'll get some from Grandma's camera.  We got to see the Dolphin Tales show...that was pretty cool.  I think Dolphins are my favorite next to active otters!  ;o)  The aquarium was closing early for an event so we missed some things, but the kids were okay with that since our next stop was THE COCA~ COLA MUSEUM!  

Cracks me up, but they both remember that more than the aquarium...I think it's all about the amount of pop they consume at the end of the tour!  I will admit though, it is a very interesting place and they seem to keep it that way.  We were there last year at Thanksgiving and there were new exhibits on display.  My favorite this time around were all the different torches from the Olympics!  Never realized they used a different style each year...pretty cool.

We finished off the night with a yummy dinner at Legal Seafoods and a dip in the pool at the hotel!

Our first/only stop on Thursday was the Atlanta Zoo!  What a blast.  This was our first time there and I was impressed with how well they maintained such an old zoo (est 1889!) and they pack a lot of things into a small park.  This is Willie B the gorilla...they had a very large gorilla exhibit, my favorite one.

The kids were able to enjoy unlimited rides on the train, carousel, and rock climbing wall.  I lost count how many times Blake rode the train!  Crazy boy.  

Someone had the great idea of telling the kids no dessert unless they reached the top!  They both made it...guess who first?!?  She loves her some dessert.  ;o)

On our way out the kids found another dolphin!

I love trying new places, so we found a high ranked pizza place on urbanspoon: Antico Pizza!  It was quite the experience and very yummy besides...we'll go back without the kids someday!  ;o)  After pizza we had to find a dessert place due to our promise...what did we ever do without smart phones!  Found a Kilwins at Atlantic Station, another first for us.  Not disappointed at all...of course how could you not go wrong with ice cream, fudge, caramel apples, shaved ice.....The choice was hard! 

Again the end of our day found us in the pool at the hotel!

Day three found us at Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  It was the first day of the Genghis Khan exhibit, very interesting!  They had a neat hands on area and the NatureQuest interactive play area was great for the kids!  I'm sure they could have stayed another hour or two there!

Behind the kids is the world's only fully mounted Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever classified!  

What is a road trip without a meal at Cracker Barrel?!?  We stopped and filled our tummies one last time before arriving home.  It is good to sleep in my own bed without snoring kids in the bed next to us!

a GROWING tradition

Although I was very sad that the weeping willow in our front yard died shortly after we purchased the house, I am very excited about watching our new tree grow with our children! 

We planted a tree in Oregon soon after Blake was born and I was very sad to live it behind a year later.  I had high hopes of taking a picture of it with Blake every year. So here we are in a new town with our new tree and hopeful a new tradition of picture taking!  

Legoland or Bust

So it was the Little Lion's big day!  It fell on a Saturday which always makes it more fun.  Since we are so new to the area and this momma wasn't ready for the chaos of a b-day party, we opted for a day of fun - his choice!  

So Saturday found us on the road to the Atlanta area where we spent the morning at Legoland Discovery Center.

Learning how Legos are made.

That's how much he weighs in lego bricks!  I didn't try this one! ;o)

Little Lion had made the comment that my profile pic on facebook was of Little Pumpkin and I, was I ever going to put a pic of him and me on there.  We tried several times through out the day...but this was the best we got.  He was just not interested in standing still long enough for a pic!

Dreams coming true!  Building till his heart's content.  There were two "adventure" rides and lots of different stations where you created.  Here he is building a structure to stand the test of an earthquake.  Success.

They even had a great GIRLS area including karaoke, cupcake legos and LOTS of pink. 

This was her creation during the Master Builders Academy.  (forgot to get a pic of Little Lion's)  It's a "water park" with steps to a diving board, a fruit tree and a "regular" tree.

Birthday Boy's choice!  I promise I did not sway him!!!

This is the SPUD MAX for those of you unfortunate to not know about McAlister's!  The best spud in the world.  Side note only about 3/4 of the skin was left of this thing!!!!

Yummy cookies for dessert!

The evening was topped off with special calls from friends and even a Skype session!

PRESENT TIME! PRESENT TIME! OPEN THE PRESENT AND SEE WHAT'S INSIDE!

(can't say I miss Blue)

It was a team effort!

And I do mean the whole team!  ;o)

He was so excited about all his great gifts!  In fact as I type this it is 10:35PM and Daddy Lion and him are having an all night Wii fest...we'll see how long they last! lol

So special to have Grandma and Grandpa Myers here all the way from Oregon to celebrate with him!  

We never wait long to break into the Legos...this one was a family event!

Thank you to all who sent your sweet bday wishes to him throughout the day!  I had him read/ listen to every one of them.  We miss you all. 

Where have the last NINE years gone?  

Fight or Flight?!?

WARNING:  If you visit my blog for pics, this post contains NONE!  You are free to quit reading.  

After moving out of the apartment (June28), I became lax in my running.  Okay, I just quit all together!  It was harder to motivate and time and summer and house stuff...I could keep going with excuses.  July 12 we moved into our house!  Everything unloaded and in it's spot for most part in the same day.  Including the treadmill...hidden nicely in the corner of our bedroom.  In fact you can enter the room and never know it's there!  My excuse now?  I want to get a pad to go under the treadmill so it doesn't damage the hardwood floors! 

Last Monday (Aug 13), I put on my running shoes and hit the pavement!  Scared I wouldn't make it, I only did 2 miles.  It felt great!  Tuesday, I went for three... a little harder, but I attribute some of that to the downpour that came halfway through my run!  Something about soaking wet shoes that make them SO heavy.  I finished the week proud of myself for running M-F!  And this week I've even made it four miles two times!

I know you are starting to wonder about my title...I'm getting there!

I'm normally a treadmill girl with my TV on CC and tunes blasting.  Who knew how enjoyable an outside run could be by yourself!?!  That's always been my excuse (I can find one for anything):  I wanted someone to run with if I was gonna run outside.  But I have throughly enjoyed my tunes and God's creation.  I have found I AM running with someone:  My Heavenly Father is right there beside me.  Cheering me on, encouraging me not to give up and just given me sweet revelation of Him with me.

I have loved seeing all the little things I would have missed on the treadmill!  The bunnies are so adorable, the butterflies and dragonflies are brilliantly colored, and even the creepy crawly things that come out after/during the rain seem so meaningful.  Then there are the smells!  It takes everything I have not to stop and try the honeysuckle!  And there is one spot that every time I close my eyes and am immediately transported to my childhood neighborhood.  I can remember the smells as I would walk down the street to play with the "older" girls!  So very thankful for this new found joy in running with Jesus!

Okay, if you are still reading you are my real friend and I can share openly with you!  Yesterday, I helped out at K's school so my morning run didn't happen.  After spending three hours sorting papers (that's a whole other post), I came home for lunch and devoured more than my fair share of potato chips.  So after the kids were tucked in bed and the hubs was busy in the garage I decided to go for an evening run.

Because of the time I thought I should only do two miles.  Well, at my mile mark I looked at my time, I was doing good so I thought I'd press on.  As I crossed to the other side of the street to run towards traffic, I noticed 4 deer in the thicket area; three does and one small buck.  (This is a regular occurrence since we are so close to Berry College.)  It's normal to see them in the back yard grazing or along the side of the road.  But I'd never come up on them while running...I must say I was a little excited.  Then I noticed the one closest to me was no longer grazing but headed towards me...

Fight or flight?  Well, I wasn't sticking around to see which she was gonna choose, I chose flight!  I turned right around and decided I stick to my two mile plan!  I was pretty sure she could outrun me and I was NOT about to find out for sure.  And I did not want to make headline news: Runner Attacked by Deer!  Google it, it can happen people!

The life of a 5 year old!

 WOW!  Mark always says "Five is the best age to be!"  And I'm starting to believe he is right! ;o)

Kate the great is really starting to shine.  I love her to pieces.  We (I) am finally coming to terms with the fact that we are SO much alike.  

Both kids went in for teeth cleaning in July.  Blake had a perfect report of excellent work keeping his teeth clean and no cavities.  Kate was informed she had two on the verge of wiggling!  (We won't talk about the three cavities.)

So ever since our dentist appointment we have been in the wiggling mode.  Every moment she had a finger or tongue free to wiggle she was!  So much fun seeing her this new experience through her eyes.

Just in the past month so many "firsts" have happened for Kate!  She is now the proud rider of a two wheel bike.  (This was a much harder sale than I thought.)  She is doing great minus getting started...still haven't quite gotten that down yet.

Kindergarten of course!  She has amazed me with her bravery & her memory.  She had her lunch number memorized before the first day of school.  Today she told me she went to the office all by herself before class to look for a lost bow from yesterday!  WOW, she is growing up fast.

Last Saturday, we had a pool party with some co-workers of Mark.  What a blast!  The kids were in the pool from 2 until we dragged them out around 9 with only a momentary stop for dinner!  They even skipped dessert to get back in the pool.  (No worries they found their way to the cookies in between cannon balls!)  There was however a minor accident.  Kate's goggles came apart and she asked me to put them back together...no problem.  Then she proceeded to throw them to me...problem!  They swung right back around and cut her directly under her right eye.  I wasn't sure if it would ever stop bleeding.

Well, with all the swimming she was out cold on the way home.  Apparently so out, that in the middle of the night she rolled OFF her bed and hit her night stand....yep you guessed it:  right eye!

Our first shinner at 5!  She's actually doing better than Blake...(uh, Grandma?)!  lol

It's looking better and should be gone by fall pictures on Aug 22...pray tell how is that fall pictures?!?  More like late summer pics...I digress.

Another first!  Kate received her first American Girl doll from Lolly & Pop.  (This may well be her only!)  It was perfect!  McKenna is the 2012 girl of the year.  A gymnast (I'm sure b/c of the Olympics) and she looks just like Kate!  Kate of course has been begging for nothing else but gymnastics classes since we moved to GA.  (We will be signing up next week....I wanted to see how wiped out she might be from school first.)

SO we come full circle...

All she wants for her birthday are her two front teeth! ;o)

(I'm sure she'll have by Christmas so I had to modify!)  

They both came out tonight.  I was showing her how loose they were and encouraging her to go ahead and pull them when the dental floss got hung on it and twisted it.  Daddy to the rescue pulled the first and the second after much convincing.  It was barely hanging on...I was really afraid she'd swallow it in the night!  Good thing the tooth fairy is prepared! ;o)

Oh, to be 5 again!

First Day of School

08-08-2012

The best birthday present ever?  Sending both my children to school!  ;o)

The first day of school for Blake and Kate was my birthday...Seems so EARLY!

They were all smiles...though I know both of them were full of anxiety!  Kate the good kind...she could not be more excited.  Blake was not looking forward to another NEW school.  He is a great kid and makes friends easily, but change is still change!

Since we were unsure if we would be able to go to the county schools, I did not buy school supplies until the day before school!  (If you are reading this, you know me well and know that I was NOT comfortable with this!)

 They are at separate campuses, so we headed to the Elementary campus first (third - fifth grade).  So the good news is that every third grader there is learning the campus not just Blake!  ;o)

Blake and his home room teacher, Mrs. T; she teaches reading, spelling & language arts.  Mr. F is his switch teacher for math, science & social studies.

She was just beside herself!  I don't think we could get to the Primary campus quick enough!  ;o)

She was leading the way!  Mind you she's only step foot in the building two times and the first time we didn't go 100 feet past the front doors!  

Mrs. M and Kate the great!  Can you believe she's been teaching K here for 20 years?!?  And her parapro has been with her for 16 of those!  It's gonna be a great year.

Still smiling, though I think she was a little tired!  So proud of her.

The greatest answer to prayer!  See that smile?  He LOVES school.  This is a huge thing.  I am beyond words at how our God loves us so much that He takes care of the smallest of details in our lives!  Praising Jesus for carrying my children through this transition.

A huge shout out to my amazing husband who surprised me and stayed home to help see the kids off and spend the day with me celebrating!  Another way I know my Jesus loves me.