Regions

Today was a great day for a regions meet!  I didn't get many pictures this swim season but here are a few highlights!  This may or may not be Caroline's last meet this season...she has two start consideration times so there is a chance she's going to state but we won't know for sure until next week.  Either way, she's had a great season!  

 

Sports Mom!

 I saw this shirt and had to have it!  One of our preschool moms has a shirt business and was able to make it for me!  This is truly the life I am currently living...and while it is exhausting, I love every minute of it!!

And sometimes one of the perks of being a sports mom is that you get to spend the weekend at the beach for a swim meet!!  Pretty good reward if I say so myself!

Maggie's 4th grade school picture

 No this picture isn't perfect...but it surely does represent our girl perfectly!!  So thankful for this smile and all the personality in this one little human!  What a gift she is to us!!

Homework Helper!

 Today Maggie had several pages of math homework to complete.  Math is definitely her weak subject and she struggles with new concepts. Tonight she had more homework that usual.  She was frustrated with me and Andy as we tried to help.  Thankfully her sissy came to the rescue and they worked on it together.  They love to aggravate each other and I pray often that one day they will grow up to love each other well...it's moments like these that make me think they might actually really love each other deep down!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Greg

Tonight we got to celebrate one of the most selfless men I know!  This guys loves family well and shares everything he has.  His motto is 'everybody doesn't have to own everything, just know somebody who does!'  What a treat to celebrate him with dinner and dessert!  Happy Birthday Uncle Greg, here's to many more!!

 

Friday Morning Fun

We have been extremely blessed by Amelia's family picking up and taking Caroline to school each day.  I have to be at work before Caroline has to be at school.  On Friday's she has started going to FCA, which requires her to get there early.  So I have offered to take Friday carpool.  Today we made a quick run to Starbuck's and everybody was ALL smiles!
 

She's got a permit!!

The latest you can show up at the DMV is 4:00 for a permit test...we knew that wouldn't work because she doesn't get out of school until 3:30.  So after work today, I went straight to school and signed her out.  She said "Momma if I fail, I'm not going back to school ok."  

We filled out all the paperwork.  I didn't realize that you have to pay $2.50 to take the test.  Thank goodness I had my emergency cash from my momma or I would have had to put it on my credit card which my daddy would certainly have something to say about that!!

While she was in that testing room, I was so nervous for her.  When she turned around, she had a very neutral look...as she walked out the door, she gave me a thumbs up and smiled!  I was SO relieved.  FYI, you also have to pay $2.00 for the actual printed permit.  :0)  There went my $5 emergency cash...

After school, Andy took her for a drive around the neighborhood.  They just worked on getting a feel for the car...the gas and the breaks.  Once they were finished, she took me for a ride around the neighborhood.  She did really well.  I pray that she continues to be a cautious driver...

 

Upstate Invite

 Caroline got to spend her actual 15th birthday at a swim meet in Fort Mill.  After a big night last night, we had to rise and shine this morning and leave the house in the rain at 6:15 to pick up Mrs. Charissa and Catherine.  Thankfully the rain cleared out and it turned out to be a really nice day.  We came home to steaks on the grill, which the birthday girl requested.  All in all, I think she had a great day!

Celebrating Andy and Caroline...mostly Caroline

15 years ago when we found out that Caroline was going to be born on September 9, I asked Andy what he thought about sharing a birthday so close to his...he said he couldn't think of a better yearly birthday gift.  It's a good thing he feels that way because that is definitely the case these days.  We've been keeping a HUGE secret since July.  We unexpectantly found Caroline a car!!!  We've been hiding it at Tomi Jean and Greg's house.  Anyway...we knew we wanted to give it to her for her 15th birthday.  She didn't really want to plan anything.  So we had to come up with a back up plan.  We told her we were going to have a family birthday dinner at Aunt Tomi Jeans for her and her daddy.  She could invite a friend or two...that turned into 10 girls coming to swim.

We picked up pizza, a large fruit tray, made a salad and had chips.  After dinner, we had Andy and Caroline open gifts. 

Several of the girls wanted to feed Uncle Greg's fish!

After gifts, we did cake and ice cream.  While finishing cake, the doorbell rang.

Thanks to our friend John, he left a big box on the doorsteps and rang the doorbell and ran.  Caroline got the box and began openings.  My mom wrapped 6 or 8 boxes inside a box.  Each time she unwrapped a box only to find another box to unwrap.  It was hilarious to watch.  Her friends thought it was hilariousthe box had no name on it so she had no idea who it was from. 

Finally she got to the last velvet box and found a key...funny part to this.  When she picked up the package off the front door steps, there was a white car waiting outside...it was Ariella and Brielle's momma but Caroline thought that was her car when she got this key!  She immediately jumped up and I made her wait so that I could get a picture of her when she saw her car...

She was so excited!  She couldn't believe it was hers.  When she opened the door, she said "Y'all come here, it's nice!"  Her friends piled in and we took it for a short drive down the driveway...

What a gift!  The Lord was so gracious!  I've been praying for a little over a year now that the Lord would provide something we could afford, something that would hopefully last her through college and a bonus request was that it was a little old lady who didn't put many miles on it.  Y'all the Lord gave us ALL 3 and more!!  The little lady who had it  drove it to church and to get groceries...it was as neat as a pin.  No dents, scratches or spots in the interior.  We bought it from the dealership where my mom buys all of her cars and they have ALL the maintenance info on it.  What a gift!

 

Happy Birthday Andy!!!

I love celebrating birthdays!!  However, two of my three people have September birthday's which are so very hard for me because it's so close to the start of my school year.  Things are crazy busy, I'm exhausted and we have Caroline's swim schedule to work around.  This year, I planned early so that I could be intentional in celebrating my people!  We had Andy's favorite breakfast, cheese danish at 6:15.  I didn't have a number 6 candle so we used a 1 and a 5 to represent 6. :-)  Then Maggie and I enjoyed his favorite dinner together and we opened gifts once Caroline got home from swim.  I realized I didn't get a picture of the actual gift however I did get the expression on his face when he opened it.  He's been looking at the mini 5 pound propane tanks for the blackstone while camping...I surprised him with one!  I think by the look on his face, he was excited!!

We are so thankful for this wonderful man.  He loves well and works hard to take care of us!  It was a gift to celebrate him today!!

 

A new swim PR

 Tonight Maggie had softball tryouts and Caroline had a swim meet.  I took Maggie to softball while Andy took Caroline to swim.  Of course, the one meet I don't attend, she dropped 7 seconds on her breaststroke and set a new personal record!!!!  So very proud of how hard she is working this season.  She spent the summer working on cardio, legs and arms training and it is paying off!  

On this day...

 Facebook reminded me today of all the special from this day...this was a big one.  So often when I'm talking to my girls, I still see these little sweet faces of years gone by.  It truly is crazy how quickly time passes!!

Yummy Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Maggie's AR book this week had this recipe at the back.  Of course, we had to try it.  I have to say it may very well be the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.  Not sure if it's the recipe or if the girls did something just right but my goodness these were SO good!!  We are definitely saving these for the future and hope they taste just as good as they did today!

Caroline's got jokes

Caroline slipped this note to me during church...she thinks she's funny...
 

Football season Kickoff!!

 Tonight marked the kick off of football season!  The last few years we have watched the opening game with Lia, Stacey and their girls!  We all look forward to this game together!  Here's to hopefully a good season!

Thank you Lord for Friday's

Thank you Lord for Friday's!!  Today, being September 1 which begins Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Caroline and I wore our Callie Strong t-shirts to show our support for a 6 year old little girl battling cancer.  She's fighting hard and so are her parents!

This afternoon was also the first time in a long time that I got to enjoy our backyard.  It has been such a HOT summer and today felt amazing. I enjoyed reading while Maggie worked on homework.  So thankful for days like today!