Caroline's classroom visit

After several trips to Mommy's classroom, Caroline finally got to visit hers. She was a little nervous at first. It didn't take too long to get acquainted! She liked the new toys and her new friends. She has 7 kids in her class which I think is great! We are very excited about our year with Mrs. Brown.

such a good start!

latest Caroline-ism

Andy and I needed to go to Target to pick up some diapers. We realized that we didn't have any cash. So we started counting our change. No sooner did I get out the words "maybe she won't mention it" and we turned the corner, she said...

c-"I seeeeee iiittt!"(smiling the entire time)
d-"What do you see?"
c-POPCORN!!!!! Yeah!!!!

weekend

we continue to have computer issues so my post will be very short!...

i had a wonderful opportunity to see Beth Moore LIVE this weekend! she was wonderful! there was a short period of time where she was only about 17 people away from me... :0) and to make the weekend even better, I got to spend the weekend with my sweet aunt and uncle! they treated me like royalty!!!!!

i got a phone call while i was away that our nephew had been admitted to the ICU. jay had a seizure and wasn't able to come out of it and was on a ventilator. thankfully they were able to remove the vent however he is still in the hospital. they will continue to run test and hopefully we will know more soon.

Ansley Kate spent the afternoon with us. she thought it would be a great idea to push caroline in the stroller. Caroline loved it!

funny stuff

we are having major computer issues but i hope to get caught up with the blog soon. everyday caroline comes up with something new. here's the latest....

c-YEAH!!! i did it! well almost...

m-caroline here's your yummy breakfast
c-nana yucky
m-it's ok
c-no right there yucky(pointing to the brown stop)

c-mommy it's broken... daddy fix it?

c-come on lucy

m-look caroline, these are your new school shoes
c-aaaahhh (big smile)
c-too big mommy
m-these are just right sweetie
c-(smiled) just right mommy

we headed off to school to work in my classroom....

m-heres some milk to have with your b bar
c-i don't want it, i don't like it, it yucky (as she takes a bite)

c-(holding a baby doll) oh dear mommy it's broken
m-what's broken
c-(lifts up dress and points to the dolls behind) hinny broken, daddy fix it?

fun with abby and josie

we had our good friends abby and josie over for a morning of fun! the girls enjoyed playing dress up as well as playing outside! we can't wait for them to come again!!!

caroline making a splash

abby was "reading" to the girls! so sweet

catherine's birthday party

Happy 2nd birthday Super hero Catherine! We had a great time!

Goodbye paci....

Last night while going through some pictures, I found this one on my old camera. According to the date, I am pretty sure it was the last time she had her paci before we took it. It looks so strange now to see her with it... She is such a big girl down!!

summer fun

This afternoon Caroline invited her friends Jude and Catherine over to play. It wasn't too hot and the kids enjoyed each other. Looking forward to more fun days ahead.

discovered it's more fun to go in head first

best attempt to get all 3 kids in a picture together

Jude... such a cutie having a blast Catherine-"Caroline back up, I have long legs..."

all cleaned up and in jammies... I see some great potential here. Hope Jude's parents don't mind him "dating" older girls! :0)

Jack, Grace and Caroline

Jack and Grace spent the morning with us. We had a wonderful time. The kids are so good with Caroline. They kept her entertained while I got a lot of things accomplished around the house. I should have invited them over more often this summer!

taking in everything grace did...

grace gives great piggy back ride....

sweet, sweet girls so sad that Jack didn't make many pictures...

Fun Saturday

We had an awesome day today! Caroline got invited to her friend Jude's house to play. She had a blast. We were able to go to the grocery store together, without her! We didn't know what to do with ourselves...

Caroline's sweet cousin outgrew this piano and gave it to Caroline. I finally set it up today and Caroline loved it!

She loves the mic! Notice she is almost eating it, it's so close to her mouth!!! She love to sing "Jesus love me" and "the BIBIB" aka BIBLE...

Living on a budget, we are always looking for ways to save money. Andy thought it would be a good idea to purchase some clippers/razor/sheers. So while Caroline I was napping I gave Andy his first "Rita" buzz cut! It was a little short but i will keep working until I get it right.

before

after

After Caroline's nap, she and I met her friend Catherine and her mom at the Y to go swimming. She had a ball! :0) I love watching her and I love to hear her say "I wanna swim."

Caroline and Catherine

swimming to mommy

she made it

Happy Saturday!

help in the kitchen!

Last night I had my Ruth Bible study group over. The books comes with great recipes to cook for each gathering. Last night was my turn to cook and I had plenty of help in the kitchen. I was wearing my apron and she wanted one as well. Since she doesn't have one, we used the next best thing... her bib! I see an apron in Caroline's near future, either for her birthday or Christmas... Maybe we could even get ones that match!!! :0)

shaking the flour

reading the recipe

deciding which measurement tool we needed
fun, fun, fun!

words/phrases i hear most often...

• who did dat (that)?? (questioning look in her eyes, hands in the air)
• i see it
• daddy working... railroad... choo choo
• shhh, daddy sleeping
• com on lucy (come)
• lucy hug, lucy kisses (continuously throughout the day)
• bye lulu
• i call ___ (as she picks up the phone)
• c ya
• i do it!
• yes ma'am
• lep (help)
• i want mato (play doh)
• opsy daisy
• oh man
• lope it (open it)
• i so sorry
• i want... water, juice or milk
• i read book

And last but not least...."mommy, what doing?" I hear this at least once every 10 minutes

God is faithful!!!

Almost 9 months ago on the way to the Carolina/Clemson game, Andy and I seriously began talking about me not teaching full time. I really wanted to be at home with Caroline more but we weren't sure that we could "survive" on Andy's salary. We began praying about it. I felt like we would hold out until I had a part time job or until contracts came out. However, we both felt like I wouldn't sign my contract whether I had a part time job or not. So after reading the following verse in Sunday School, Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" we knew that we needed to trust the Lord. Trust him for what we hoped for even when we couldn't see the way. The following week, I typed my resignation letter and gave it to my principal.

From that moment on, we have seen God move MOUNTAINS! The last 7 months have been filled with lots of changes for us. We crunched numbers to allow us to meet our monthly budget. It hasn't been pretty and we have learned to "deny" ourselves of certain pleasures, certain wants. (However we must remember that very few of us truly know what it means to deny ourselves because we are all truly blessed!) But God has met our every need! We have had plenty of food, a roof over our head and lots of family time. It's been fun to learn to be creative on a budget. We have had some great date nights at home, fun family vacation with very little money spent on extras etc.

God has opened my eyes to many things. We lived very foolishly when we had my income. We look back now and think, man if only we had been saving that money... I could have my new minivan, Andy could have a jeep, we could have a bigger house, etc. But then again, this is all material things. What God has truly opened my eyes to is TRUSTING HIM! His plan is so much better than ours! It's we when we step out into the deep water, out of our comfort zone, when we begin to see God at work in our lives.

Shortly after I turned in my resignation, I met with a preschool director of a really great preschool. I felt like this was the place I wanted to work and send Caroline. My family has been involved with this school for almost 12 years now. I knew a lot about the school and felt like it would be a great place to call home. Several months went by and I still hadn't heard anything. I really felt like the Lord wanted me to trust Him regardless of whether I got a job or not, He would work out the details...

Two weeks ago, I got a phone call from the director. She felt like they would have a spot for me AND Caroline!!! We followed up with a second interview and filled out some paperwork. Today I got a phone call... WE ARE BOTH GOING TO CALVARY PRESCHOOL!!!!! Yeah! Praise the Lord!! We are so excited! I will be teaching 4k three days a week. I am so thankful for this opportunity and look forward to meeting the families of my children in the next few weeks.

God is good and faithful!

Cousin's divided!

Today we got to enjoy having Alston and Emma visit! Caroline loved having someone to play with. They all did really well together! Emma and Alston were so good with Caroline and she loved the attention from the big kids. Hopefully it won't be too long before they come back!

Sweet Emma wanted a picture of just her and Caroline. Sweet, sweet girls!

I love this picture!! My brothers are both HUGE Clemson fans and we are HUGE Carolina fans. Alston wore his jersey just for me today. So I had to pull out Caroline's jersey for this season. (thanks Rylie for thinking of Caroline) So I thought it would be great to capture a picture of the cousins in their "team" colors!! :0) (if you click on the picture, you will see the gamecock on Caroline's jersey!)

God winked at us today!!!!

This morning started super doubles at Harris Teeter. Caroline and I were there shortly after 7:30. We got the things that we needed and headed to the check out. There was an extremely long line and it wasn't moving. Not only was it not moving, nobody else was opening up. We realized that they were having computer problems. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the lines started moving. It didn't take long to realize that they were GIVING us the items in our buggies for FREE!!!! Seriously, FREE??? I was so excited yet I almost felt like I was stealing. Then I felt like I had just won the grocery lottery! As I stood there amazed, I realized that God winked at me! What a blessing!

No good dead happens without someone taking advantage of the situation. Once people realized what was happening, they started adding items to their cart. I hope that throughout their day today, that they will feel some sort of conviction because they truly took advantage of the situation...so sad!

reflecting

This weekend, I really began to feel like I was starting my new job as "household executive." I didn't have the anxiety of starting back, summer coming to an end, etc. I wasn't sure how I would feel when this day came, the day my friends headed back to work, a job that for the most part we all love and enjoy!

I spent some time this morning looking at my blog at this same time last year. What was it like leaving Caroline... it wasn't too bad. We loved Mrs. Jerri and were very thankful for our time with her. I wanted to stay at home, but it wasn't an option due to financial obligations, aka adoption expenses. (which were worth every dime!)

Last night as I went to sleep and again this morning as I got up with my hubby, I had a great appreciation for him. He gets up every morning to go to work to provide for us. He doesn't complain, although he does wish he could be at home with us. He joyfully goes to work and encourages me at home.

To all my teacher friends, good luck! You are awesome and your students will be blessed to have you.

Blessing

(the above items slept in her room with her last night, she thougt they needed breakfast too)

This morning as we sat down to say the blessing, this is what we got!

Caroline...

"Dear Jesus,

thank you for (this) day

go away bug (smashing the ant on the table)

thank you for food

AMEN" (hands in the air)

Play date with Tyler

Today Caroline's friend Tyler came over to spend the day with us. We had a great time and Caroline enjoyed the company. We hope Tyler gets to come over again soon!

amazed

Each day I realize just how quickly Caroline is growing up... each day brings new changes her in her ability to communicate and achieve the things she wants to. Just this morning as I was checking my email, she went to the pantry, got a box of wheat thins, put some in her cup and then put them back. Never once did she ask me for help. It was really cute but also made me very sad... She also got a new booster seat after we returned home from vacation. She no longer uses her high chair. She is a rule follower when it comes to her booster, it HAS to be buckled. :0)

Some of my favorites:

• she loves to give ugs (hugs) and kisses
• anytime we tell her thank you, she says "u welcome"
• she has learned to say "mam," and even says "yes mam" to daddy
• tells me when she is wet or stinky... potting training next week
• loves to say the blessing before eating and her favorite part is AMEN!
• this morning her hair was pretty crazy... while eating breakfast and trying to keep it out of her face, she said "put up please"

Some of her new phrases

• "I eat it please?"
• "I want juice please"
• "What doing?"
• "I help"

helping mommy keep the flowers alive

We having been going to the y in the mornings. Yesterday when we got back, I put all my stuff in the chair. I walked back in the den to find this!!

I am very thankful that Caroline and I get to enjoy this time together. She is such a blessing to us! I am thankful that Andy goes to work every day so that I can be at home. I pray for Andy as he is the head of our house and is our provider both spiritually and financially. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best house keeper and somedays are really tough... but oh how I love my family and this fun and exciting journey!