Misc. Post

There's not a whole lot worth writing about happening around here, although a lot is going on...gymnastics, softball, Awanas, school.  

We're staying busy and continuing to adjust as hard as it may be.  Today was a rough day for me.  I just feel down and I'm missing home.  Plus I got a hair cut with a new lady, of course, and I don't like it at all.  I wish I hadn't gotten it cut at all.  I asked the Lord if we could just rewind my day for an hour and have a do-over.  :)  Ha!  

The girls started gymnastics yesterday and loved it.  Actually the girls were so good, they want to move them up a class.  I was impressed b/c Anna was the youngest in the class.  So Harrison friends-- the gymnastics there on Main Street is actually pretty good.  :)  

Megan continues to enjoy school.  Every day she says, "It was great!"

Anna and I have been able to walk her to school every day and either ride bikes to pick her up or walk....and I am loving that.  

It was so hot today, we had sprinkler fun this afternoon when Megan got home.  It was a good time to laugh together and play together....my soul needed the joy.

Hair cut!

I cut Anna's hair Friday.  It's a big change, but we think she looks adorable.   

Megan's First Day of School

This is right before we left for school. 

This is Megan at her desk.

This is Megan walking out after school.  You can tell she had a great day. 

Megan started school today.  She was so excited and never showed any sign of anxiety or worry.  She just walked right in and started talking with the girl next to her like she'd done this before. 

Things just weren't quite the same without her, but Anna and I enjoyed time together.  We traveled to Conway to meet a very good friend of mine, Becke' for lunch at Chick-fil-a.  It was a good time and nice to keep my thoughts elsewhere.  Then Anna and I stopped at Wal-Mart.  I have to admit, it was so much easier with just Anna.  We just really had a nice day together.  

Jason took off today, so we all walked to the school this afternoon to pick Megan up.  She had a great day and enjoyed all the activities and kids.  Sounded like everything went smoothly and she has a nice teacher.  

We made a "school bus" cake together and the three other kids on our street that are starting Kindergarten are supposed to come eat it with us in a little while.  

Here are some pics.  

Kindergarten Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the big day for Megan.  She's thrilled to be starting school.  She's excited to meet her teacher tonight.  She's excited to meet new friends and play at recess with all the kids surrounding her.  She's excited to eat in the lunchroom.  Just about everything she's heard about school excites her.  She's a social butterfly and I pray she'll flourish.   But.........

Mommy's as sad as can be.  I'm sad she's leaving me.  We've been together day and night 5 straight years (minus a few days here and there).  She's been my world (and Anna), and I've pretty much been her world.  She comes to me for everything.  We do everything together.  She's my eating buddy, my reading buddy, my game buddy, my puzzle buddy, my tickle buddy, my wake-me-up-early-in-the-morning buddy, my coloring buddy...you get the picture.  Anyway, I can't stand the thought of her not being with me all day, and I sure can't stand the thought that I won't be "her world" anymore.  She will be changing so much and things at school will quickly become a big part of her world. 

In a way, I feel like the major part of teaching her is behind me.  I know I've got years more of parenting and teaching, so let me explain what I mean.  I've spent this time with her teaching her how to act, how to handle certain situations, etc.  Now, I won't be there when things happen at her school to help her or direct her.  It will be up to her to handle things on her own.  She will be making decisions on her own based on the past 5 years.  Kids will say and do mean things, and it's up to her and her completely to respond appropriately.   

I feel in a sense that I'm setting a portion of her free from under my wings of protection.  I pray God takes over and watches over her every move.  I pray she has a wonderful teacher and wonderful friends.  I pray she'll be a strong person with strong morals (even as a 5-year-old), and that she'll have a positive influence on those around her instead of others having a negative influence on her.  I pray her first year will bring her great joy. 

If I'm this bad with Kindergarden, what will I do when she leaves for college?  Let's just stay far away from that thought as long as possible.  

Please join me in praying for her success and happiness and for God's protection and blessings upon her life.  Thanks!

New Find!

This must be the day for blogs.... 

Anyway, just had to share that I have found a wonderful product.  It's an aerosol can that eliminates the dust when you spray it on your plants/trees, etc.  It had a strong odor (not terribly bad, just strong), but it worked like magic.  Now my greenery looks greener, and brand new.  I got it at Hobby Lobby.  

See, I'm still a kid at heart too!

This is me, Melissa, because I can't resist the fun either!!!  :)  But this is back in Harrison with the neighbors across the street from where we used to live.  I left a comment for you and Liz on my comments section.  I don't know if that works or not, b/c you probably don't go back and re-read the comments, so that's why I'm telling you guys here.  I think it's under the other slide blog. 

Melissa and Emersyn!!!

My good, good friend, Melissa, from Harrison came to visit us this week with her daughter, Emersyn.  We just love them and were so glad they paid us a visit.  What fun we had!!!!  Melissa joined me for a Southern Living party, and then we went shopping at Target while Jason kept all the girls for us.  What a sweet man!  Then we stayed up playing dominoes and just catching up.  The next day we went to Chick-fil-a which we both love.  

The girls were so excited to see Emersyn.  They played in the rain in their swimsuits and played like angels the whole time she was here.  I think they were in their own little heaven having her here.  

Thanks, girl, for coming all the way here to visit!!!!!

Here are some pics.  The one with the girls in the tub is them making "soap beards."  :)  I wish I'd gotten one of Melissa and myself.  Next time....

 

Water Fun! (thanks to the neighbors)

Our next door neighbors set up this water slide and all the kids flock to it for lots of fun.  The moms try to find some sort of shade to watch and talk.  

Ice Cream Truck!!!

The ice cream truck is faithful in our neighborhood, so the girls are loving that.  And so are all the other kids as you can see.  As soon as they hear the music they start running for their money stash and yelling "ice cream! ice cream! ice cream!"  It's pretty funny.  

These are AG, Braden, and Ethan (three kids in our neighborhood that will be starting Kindergarten with Megan).  

Church

I'm feeling kind of sad that we haven't found a church home yet.  The two churches we liked the most have no kind of kids program during Sunday morning or night church after the age of 4.  So we have to take Megan with us to both services and soon we would be taking Anna too.  I wouldn't mind taking the girls to one service, but both is a little much.  For one, I miss out on learning and worshipping because I'm so concerned with keeping Megan still and quiet (she's quite a wiggle worm).  And second, I feel like there are so many other opportunities being lost by not teaching these kids through music, puppets, activities, etc. that's age appropriate to them.  She's not getting much out of an adult service at the age of 5.  

The other churches we've visited that do have children's church are missing things in other areas.  It's just difficult.  Keep us in your prayers. 

Dixie, I'm sure you'll read this at some point.  We went by the Parkway Place church yesterday to check it out.  It took us 30 minutes to get there.  The more we thought about it, we just felt like that was an awfully long way to drive to church 3 times a week plus any activities going on there.  And, when the girls made friends most moms wouldn't want to drive 30 minutes to Bryant to drop their kids off for a playdate, drive 30 minutes home, 30 minutes back to get them, and 30 minutes home again (assuming most people going to church there probably live in West LR).  We were hoping for something a little closer.  But their info on the website looks great.  Who knows, we may end up giving it a try after all.  We just miss Harrison FBC!!!  :)

If God moved us here, though, He has a church in mind for us.  We just need His direction.

Bike Fun

Visiting Family

We headed to Oklahoma to visit my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins.  Jason had to head to Texas to help with the power outages after the storms, so it was a good time to go before Megan starts school.  We had a great time playing games, doing puzzles, watching TV, riding bikes, and visiting.  The girls got Icee's and candy every single day and just LOVED it.  I think they had enough sugar to last them for the whole month.  

Picking Peaches

We went peach pickin' with our neighbors from across the street.  It was quite hot, but boy, were those peaches good.  I think it's a neat experience for the girls to pick the fruit right from the trees.  They had a great time with their little buddies, Regan and AG.

New Dresses

Here are my sweeties wearing their new dresses this morning all ready for church.  I just thought they looked so cute, I had to post the picture.  

11th Anniversary

Jason and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary today!  We've had many trials and many joys.  I'm just so blessed to share my life with him and we're more in love now than we were 11 years ago.  

We decided it would be fun to go to the lake for a full day of adventure.  It ended up reaching 105 degrees today, so unless you were in the water, you were miserable.  So there went my ideas of playing ball and building sand castles and hanging out all day at the lake.  And the water was hot, dirty, and full of other people.  So, after driving an hour to get there, we left after 45 minutes.  As we were ushering the girls toward the shore, I stepped into some muck in the lake and literally sunk about 8 inches.  I was totally grossed out.  :)  I just couldn't get home quick enough to shower.  The funny thing is when we were driving away, Anna said, "That was sooo fun.  I want to go there again and again and again."  Jason and I just grinned at each other.  

Then all four of us headed to McAllister's for a great anniversary dinner.  All in all it was a fun day.  

New Table

Well, after four weeks of an empty kitchen, we finally bought a new table at Sam's.  Never mind that it's still in the back of the van waiting to be unloaded and assembled...I'm just glad we have one! 

Jumping!

It's too incredibly hot to do anything outside unless you do it early in the morning or late in the evening.  And I don't really know anyone here other than neighbors to get out and do anything with.  So we've been sitting in the house all day entertaining ourselves.  I've started getting restless (probably more than the girls) and found something in a magazine that looked like fun.  It's a jump zone place with all the blow-up toys, slides, etc. here in Benton.  We went yesterday and had a blast!  The girls played for almost 2 hours straight.  They were completely worn out when we left.  After watching them for about 20 minutes, I couldn't stand it any longer.  I had to join them.  I had a blast too, but I'm sore today--is this yet another sign that I'm getting older?  Remember the good old days when we could play all day and not worry about the after effects?  :)  

Anyway, it was nice finding something fun to do here other than grocery shop or cruise the aisles at Target.