Sometimes

getting the sillies out is what life is ALL about!

This will be a perfect picture at her rehearsal dinner one day, dontchathink?

I'm not tellin...

but I'll let you guess who is ALMOST 4!

MY BABY!

JV Game

Part of Callie Grace's cheerleading camp included them cheering at halftime for the first JV game.  OH MY GOODNESS, it was HOT!  Caleb suggested us going home and leaving CG at the field. :)  The children did a great job.  Callie Grace definitely knows how to shake her booty!

Look at my baby's pink cheeks!

cheering on the field - CGB is the 1st white shirt on the left

more pink cheeks - We left right after she cheered!

Many thanks to Mimi for coming to see Callie Grace cheer and bearing the heat with us!

Alleluia

We started Alleluia at our church last night.  We will meet each Wednesday through Thanksgiving (I believe).  Crystal and I are in charge of the little ones.  We had 12 children in our group last night.  Crystal did the lesson and it was wonderful.  The children were so good.  Crystal talked about Joseph and how God had given him the gift to interpret dreams.  She talked about how the governor wanted Joseph to interpret his dream about the skinny cows and the larger cows.  She had everyone say the word "governor".  A 6 year old little boy in our group said, "Nikki Haley is the governor".  We all laughed.  Pretty impressive from a 6 year old, I would say!!

My pictures aren't the greatest but I wanted to capture a few.  The children were lying down saying, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep" while one child was standing up showing their favorite thing to do (eat, sleep, run, skip).  It was like the children were interpreting that child's dream.  The children loved this activity!

CG's was running

Moira's was hopping

I'm not sure that Caleb got it - he just said "I choose Morna".

They had cow masks as well which went right along with the governor's dream!

Yummilicious Take II

Caleb has been talking about Yummilicious so much that Callie Grace started begging to get to go.   After dinner last night we went to get some yumminess again!  Caleb loves cake batter yogurt with strawberries and blueberries.  They were out of vanilla so I told CG that the New York Cheesecake was vanilla.  I need to enjoy this while I can because she is going to be reading soon!  She chose sprinkles as her topping which made Caleb want sprinkles as well.  Caleb ate his yogurt up but CG was not a fan.  She said that it was the sprinkles that she didn't like!  What a picky eater.

sharing a sprinkle with his mama

Weekend in Review

We enjoyed a great taco dinner (for the adults) and pizza (for the children) dinner at my brother's house on Friday night.  It was a belated birthday party for my sister and a good-bye summer, hello school party as well.  Everyone had a lot of fun!!

All the cousins minus Andrew

Here's the little Andrew cutie now with his mimi (my sister)

On Saturday morning, Caleb and I went to celebrate Brock turning 4 at Monkey Joe's.  Tiffany had a family party on Saturday evening but she wanted Brock to have a little play time as well.  Caleb and Brock had a ball together.

Riding the bus together

Fun times at Yummilicious (this was Caleb's first visit)

Caleb wanted the picture to be of his yogurt only but I managed to get him in the picture almost all the way! :)

We had a nice weekend.  Yesterday was Rally Sunday at church so we stayed for a cookout of hamburgers, hot dogs and homemade ice cream.  It was so good.

No words...

First Day of School (kind of)

Callie Grace went to school for 2 hours and 15 minutes today with half of her class.  Tomorrow is her first full day and the entire class will be in attendance.  Kip and I both went to drop her off this morning and to attend a parent meeting.

Excitement on this girl's face was an understatement...

Mrs. Brant greeted us at the door and told Callie Grace to give her mom and dad a bye hug.  It felt like the world's largest band-aid was being ripped off of my entire body.  I think I told Callie Grace that I loved her and to use her listening ears.  I felt like things were moving super quick and super slow at the same time.  What a weird feeling!  Callie Grace was heading into her classroom before I could even make heads or tails of the situation.

Kip and I then went into a parent meeting in the library.  There, the guidance counselor spoke of emotions and dealing with our children who were growing up before our very eyes.  I...so...did...not...want...to...be...in...that...room.

Miss Cindy brought Callie Grace and Caleb by my work around 10:30am so I could see them and see how CG's day went.  CG's reply, "it was great; just like old times".   Caleb was excited that he got to go with mimi to pick sissy up from her new school.

here is a picture of our girl when she came to visit me at work today

Well, one day down, a bazillion more to go (hopefully).

Looks like I'll be making that dr. appt. for some serious medication sooner than later!:)

I love the following words that my friend, Jamie emailed me today.  They are from her pastor.

The first day of school always brings about many emotions and memories. A couple years ago, a parent at Mount Hermon emailed me pictures of the first day of Kindergarten for her daughter. The child was beaming wearing her new backpack and trying to hold back pure excitement and maybe a little fear of the new experiences that awaited her. The mother admitted that she was trying to hold back tears.

Today reminds us that our children are a blessing and gift from God to us. Over time we begin to give them back that they may grow and be a blessing to the world. Offerings - if they are true offerings - involve some sacrifice and are not easy on our part. If something or someone is truly a gift of God, then it still belongs to God and must be shared and given. Such is the nature of a true gift. Such is the nature of our offerings to God.

If you are a parent and fighting off some tears today, be of good courage. You are doing a good thing. You are sharing a blessing with the world. May we all remember to be so generous with our gifts from our loving heavenly Father.

Amen.

Teacher Meet and Greet

There are 27 children in Callie Grace's kindergarten class.  Wow!  There are several familiar faces in her class which was nice to see!  We already really like Mrs. Brant and Mrs. King.  We joined PTA and payed CG's dues last night.  There are many volunteer opportunities at CG's school which I am already excited about participating in!

On our way to her school...

Inside school - Jamie took the picture and I know that she will be checking the blog to see if I posted it.

On our way out the door!

Time with Daddy

I know that the quality of these pictures aren't the greatest but what they stand for is beyond words.  Callie Grace asked her dad to read some to her from the bible last night.  When Callie Grace was a baby, her mimi and papa gave her a Precious Moments bible and she loves it!

I didn't want to interrupt their special time so I snapped this picture without them even knowing.

Caleb wanted nothing to do with any pictures so his dad proceeded to tickle him all over.  I LOVE Caleb's expressions!

What a week...

What a week we have in store for us!

Tuesday night - Teacher Meet and Greet, 6pm
Wednesday - CG goes to school from 8-10:15am (Parent meeting 8-8:15am)
Thursday - the BIGGG day
Friday -  my sister's belated birthday dinner at my brother's house

My friend, Jamie teaches at the school that Callie Grace will be attending.  I know that I am driving her crazy with all of my questions.  Her daughter, Ainsley took Callie Grace on a tour of the school on Saturday afternoon.  Callie Grace really enjoyed it and can't wait for her first day of school.

I, however feel all over the place with my emotions.  I am excited, emotional and just plain scared.  I am not letting CG know how I feel.  I want her to enjoy this momentous time in her life.  But, to be honest, I just want to hang on to my baby.  I want to shelter and protect her.  I guess this is all part of the growing up process. 

I have been praying for God's protection over her.  I pray that God will bless her with sweet friends and great teachers.  I pray that Callie Grace will be a good listener and eager to learn.  I pray that she will be a good friend to others.

A few pictures from the weekend...

We went to K-mart on Friday afternoon.  I let the children ride this dirty old carousel.  I remember riding the K-mart carousel when I was child so when they asked, I said sure... (no illness to report as of today!)

These two love each other sooo much!

After the tour on Saturday, Jamie treated the girls to ice cream at Chick-fil-A!

Back to School Night at Bogarts

We enjoyed a family fun evening at Bogarts last night.  They had a lady that was face painting and making balloons for the children.  Children ate free which was a nice bonus!  I took a few pictures of the Callie Grace and Caleb with their pretty painted faces.

Caleb sat nice and still for his face painting!

Callie Grace and her new friend, Emma.  We were excited to see her at the restaurant!

BC Bearcats Go Go!

Callie Grace really enjoyed bearkitten cheerleading camp last week.  We were able to get a few pictures of her in action.

This one is blurry but I love seeing her give her daddy a kiss!

I needed to hear that...

Every morning, I call Kip and the children to tell them good morning since they are normally still asleep when I leave for work.  When I spoke with Caleb this morning, he said, "mom, I have to tell you something important.  I love you very much".  I love you, Caleb - more than you can ever imagine.

I snapped a few pictures of the children after bathtime last night.