Beach 2008

We had so much fun at the beach this year. Tori came with us and so the girls got to spend some special time with her before all the wedding chaos commenced and she left for OK. Below are some highlights and pictures.

• Charlotte stepped off the bottom stair of the pool after Tori just warned her not to without her swimmies on and of course she almost drowned. Tori jumped in and saved her (even though if Charlotte hadn't panicked and just stood straight up her face would have been above water). Sarah-Grace said Tori was a super hero and saved Charlotte's life.
• We learned that baby jelly fish don't sting, because the beach was covered with them on the last day we were there.
• Pompano Joe's is MUCH cooler in June than in August, but you may have to wait an hour or too - no matter who you have on the "inside".
• Charlotte likes it eat Fetta-JeJe Alfredo (it's what she calls Fettuccine Alfredo).
• When we went to the local grocery store and I went to the wrong side (because it was a different layout than mine at home) and had to turn around, the girls were asking why we had to walk to the other side of the store. I explained I was confused and went in the wrong direction. Charlotte likes to repeat any new information she receives to whoever else is with her (even if the person is standing right next to her). So she started yelling at Sarah-Grace (whom she calls Sarah-Drace), "Sarah-Drace mommy went in the wrong ERECTION, mommy went in the wrong ERECTION". The entire store was laughing at us and Tad was almost in tears by the time he met up with us.
• Tad can not do the butterfly, no matter how hard he tries. And when having Sarah-Grace practice the backstroke he learned he needs to stand on the side to help her stop instead of just letting her bang into the side of the pool with her head!

We went minature golfing...and Sarah-Grace was really good!

I love this picture because it captures our normal family drama!!

Sarah-Grace is always posing!

The girls with Aunt Tori...

And here is where the girls are over me taking pictures...at least Aunt Tori was a good sport!

I just love this picture because their heads are tilted for some reason!

I am only posting this pic because I posted one of Tad in his suit yesterday...

Tad's not afraid to sport pink when his girls ask him too...

Hanging out in the condo...

Another picture of the condo...

This was our last day at the beach, aren't they sweet?

And Charlotte is distracted AGAIN!

Quick Pic from the Beach

Not much time to post today, but I was going through my pictures from the beach so I could write a post and I found this one that just made me laugh. I think it's my most favorite picture of our family. It just captures them so well...

June Bug

Well, June just flew by and it was slammed full of activities. We had SG's birthday party (oh yeah that's right, her birthday is in April but June was the first available date we could squeeze in - if that tells you anything). I posted some pictures below. It was so much fun and the girls looked so cute. I gave the children aprons as favors so they wouldn't get chocolate all over themselves.

We had Ian's birthday, Tad's birthday, JeJe's birthday and father's day. Tad, myself, the girls and Tori went to the beach and we had a wonderful time. Tori had several showers - all lots of fun, she got married last weekend and left on Sunday!! We miss her so much already but we are so excited for her new life as an army wife. I will definitely post some pictures when I get them because she was a beautiful bride (and the flower girls were too cute).

I was SO looking forward to this week because, dun, dun, dun it was the END of Swim Team. It's been fun and we've met lots of people, but my idea of summer was seriously cramped with practice every single morning and swim meets once a week (which means you have practice, eat lunch, rest, get to the pool by 4pm to get a spot in the vicinity of the pool, wait until 6pm when the meet finally starts, pray that there is no rain and then sit for the next 2 -4 hours during the actual swim meet). This was a pretty intense sport for us. So I was already planning on what we would be doing once we got our summer back after swim team. But, last week we got the glorious news that SG placed in the county and will be competing in the county championships. And so, my plans went down the drain because practice for county started the day after the regular season ended this week. Not only is practice everyday - but it's longer than the regular season practices and worse, the county championships are at GA Tech!! We are very proud of our little girl but we are looking forward to a much needed swim team break.


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First Swim Meet - Check!

Sarah-Grace had her first swim meet tonight. It was 98 degrees (only it felt like 1000). We were all melting. Everyone's shirts were stuck to their skin with sweat seeping through so bad you could see it!! It was SO gross!! The most traumatic thing (at least for me anyway) was the fact that I had to write on my child with a permanent marker!! Oh yeah, that's right, if you want to ensure your child doesn't get "lost in the shuffle" with the parent volunteers lining them up for the events and heats you must write ALL OVER THEM. Their name on their back, and their event/heat/lane on their arms. Oh and let's not forget our team spirit because only the cool kids wear the team tattoos. I vetoed the tattoo on the forehead (which 3 girls had walking around) and there was NO way I was allowing her to "tramp stamp" it onto her lower back. So, we chose the most appropriate/conservative place around her triceps on the arm I already had to write on. This way I could look at one side and not cringe. I assume I will no longer care about this if she continues in swim. I made this conclusion after seeing that the children a year older than Sarah-Grace had marker their mothers put all over their backs with quotes like "eat my bubbles" and "go ahead and kick me". More disturbing were the pre-teen girls who actually drew mustaches and goatees on their faces!! Not sure if I will ever get that "relaxed" and not sure I want to!!

Sarah-Grace did pretty good. She was the fastest in freestyle until the last leg and then she just slowed down and came in 3rd. I took her to the doctor for a follow up visit on the day she puked in the pool and it turns out she STILL has STREP!! This particular strain of STREP won't go away. She's now on a super strong antibiotic and she has to go back next week and be tested again!! I felt bad that she had puked in the pool in front of everyone, had to go to the doctors and take this horrible medicine so that day I let her eat ice cream for dinner and her actual dinner for dessert. Tad & I think she is still feeling under the weather. The poor girl swam 175 meters this morning at practice, another 100 in warm up at the meet and then 100 meters in the actual meet for a total of 275 meters which is a lot for a 6 year old. I will post pictures tomorrow.

I think I forgot to mention that Charlotte is off spending the week with her great grandparents and so it's just Sarah-Grace and me this week! Wednesday we went to the free movies and saw Night at the Museum and then we went to our local library for the first time. I must say it's been well over 10 years since I have been in a public library (maybe even 15 years) and I was really impressed! Sarah-Grace is reading more and more lately, it's getting to the point that I can't spell much anymore in front of her because she can understand it!! We checked out 2 chapter books. She is really enjoying our time together and Charlotte is having a BLAST with her great aunt and great grandparents!!

Swim Lessons Learned #1 & #2

The important swim lessons I learned today are as follows:

Lesson #1
One Cathead biscuit & cup of OJ consumed by a 6 year old 30 minutes prior to swim practice +
50 meters of the freestyle +
75 meters of the backstroke =
6 year old puking in the pool!!

Lesson #2
When puke has occurred in the pool all practices are immediately over and the pool must be processed, thereby restricting the pool from human contact for a minimum of at least an hour. Bottom line - Sarah-Grace closed down another neighborhood's (a very large neighborhood's) pool today.

Friend or Fo-Get It?

So it was the first non holiday weekend of summer and it was CRAZY! We had 2 birthday parties on Friday, a birthday party Saturday morning, a baby shower Saturday night in Atlanta, church on Sunday, a wedding shower for Tori on Sunday afternoon, Tad had a company picnic on Sunday afternoon and I had the Sex & the City movie with friends Sunday night. Today was non stop as well and this is the longest I've been home since Thursday (not counting sleep of course)!!

My friend "G" whom I love and is basically my friend who can sum up every crisis in your life with the best one liners I've ever heard tells me often that I have too many friends - an interesting concept I think. We were joking around a few weeks ago and I told her that she better not make tons of new friends next year at her new school and forget about me. She responded with, "No I am pretty much at my limit with the number of friends in my life, I have enough". I laughed because not only was it funny but I knew she was serious. And although I know she didn't mean that she's never going to make new friends and that concept seems foreign to me, my current schedule might prove her point. Don't get me wrong I love my friends, I wouldn't trade them for the world. I am blessed to have each and every person in my life and I cherish that always. But, relationships - friendships - take work, take time and when you are a young (OK maybe not young, but spry) couple with children and with obligations pulling you in every direction at what point do you say, "I love you, but I just can't make it to the dinner, party, shower, etc". So far for me that's been a response not often heard in this house. Now maybe, "Crap, I totally forgot about that" or "I am so sorry but we already have an event that morning and another I'm hosting that evening" would be more often heard around here. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe "G" is right. To me friendship is showing up, making the effort, putting in your time and the work it takes to maintain that friendship and as our family grows so does the network of people we come to know and I'm just not ready to say that certain friendships are not worth the effort or worth nurturing. But on the other hand what is this really doing to my family? Is it really enriching my life to be trying to do everything and get to know everybody? But on the other hand how do you weed out who is worth getting to know and is that fair or the best way to live? Is not showing up to all these events going to really make a difference? The answer is I have NO idea, but these are just some of the struggles that this young (OK, maybe not young but sassy) mom is facing.

On another note, the best one liners from my children this week were:

• Charlotte on Sarah-Grace being exhausted after swimming lessons, "She's tired from all that stroking".
• Sarah-Grace on all the special places she has with each family member (note: Grampa likes to flip the girls and I (as so many would never guess) get a little nervous so he began flipping them on the bed as to reduce the risk of injury. However this doesn't fair well in 6 year old discussions.), "Grandma's special place to take me is at Steak & Shake, JeJe's is at Dairy Queen, Aunt Tori's is at Chick-Fil-A and Grampa's is on the bed". Tad suggested maybe Frontera or any Mexican restaurant would be a better "special place" when having this discussion again.
• Sarah-Grace when meeting Tad's boss, "So how does Mr. Mark have enough money to pay for all of this and you, Daddy?"
  

The Aftermath of School's Out

Our camera is broken, so no new pictures!! Sorry. But hopefully I will have some soon. It apparently wasn't working when we got to the lake, but then yesterday when we were backing the boat into our driveway (after driving 2 hours home from the lake) I saw that our camera was hanging by it's strap from the pole of the stair handle on the boat trailer. I think it's safe to say it is officially broken now.

School is over! I'm so super happy. Thursday we went to swim practice and rested. Friday we went to swim practice, packed and left for the lake. We had fun at the lake with all our cousins, we swam, went out on the boat, we ate, and then ate some more, went shopping, we saw Indiana Jones (which was kid of a let down). Charlotte had some sort of reaction (either poison ivy or a reaction from putting Tori's lip gloss all over her face and body on top of her sunscreen and then being in the sun for an hour or two "baking" it into her skin on Saturday). We had to give her Benadryl which knocked her OUT for about 3 hours solid. She is better now but had a pretty awful rash most of yesterday.

Sarah-Grace is swimming exceptionally well. Friday she swam the freestyle completely unassisted across the width of the pool 3 times!! Today she swam it the length of the pool twice. I am very proud and she is very proud of herself. It's amazing how quickly kids learn. Sarah-Grace and a friend will begin horseback riding lessons soon and so we went and checked out the first place we were "interviewing" today and then went and had them fitted for boots and helmets. We can't wait to begin buying them their pants, shirts and blazers - they are going to be adorable!! One of the horses was named Crash and my friend (whose little girl will be taking lessons with Sarah-Grace) said she didn't want her daughter on a horse named Crash!! I thought that was so funny. I've just suspected for a while that Charlotte will be a horse lover and today the riding instructor watching Charlotte look and interact with the horses said the same thing! If she was old enough to take lessons we would be in real trouble, but thankfully most places won't take them until they are 6.

My hydrangeas are finally blooming and so I've been cutting them all day and putting them all over the house (the den, the kitchen, the foyer, my room, my mom's room, the girls' rooms, and some for friends). I was on my last arrangement and I asked Tad to go and cut me 2 more blooms. The girls followed him out and Sarah-Grace remarked on her way to the bushes that we really need to be careful that we don't touch the poison ivy at the bottom of the deck stairs (yes these would be the ones I passed oh I don't know 7 or 8 times today)!! Ever since Tad informed me of Sarah-Grace's discovery I can't stop itching all over. I don't know if it's because I actually have poison ivy or because I think it could possibly have it. I will now probably be taking the Benadryl we bought for Charlotte!! AHHH...

Over the weekend a neighbor two doors down screamed a coyote away that was trying to jump her fence to get to her dog. I bought the girls' a night vision, motion sensor camera for the backyard a few months ago for Tad to set up. I was hoping we would you know get pictures of birds, rabbits, squirrels even maybe a deer that are very common to see in our neighborhood. Tad never had time to put it up, but tonight he was like a little kid getting that sucker set up in the back yard so he could possibly get a coyote picture. At least one of the cameras we own still works!! We might not have pictures of the girls over the next week, but we will of whatever creeps around our yard at night.

Catch Up

One more day of school and I am sad and excited all at the same time. I will miss my friends and the girls' teachers so much. But, it's time to move on and I definitely won't miss the drama and all the hours and hours of work!! I enjoyed volunteering and I really enjoyed all the amazing people I met and being able to give in such a big way. I know we made a difference in the lives of not only the students but also the parents this year and it makes it all worth it!! If you haven't served at your child's school you really should. It will make you appreciate your teacher's and your school staff more than you could ever imagine. I will also say that I worked in some pretty competitive cut throat corporate jobs and I learned more in the past 10 months than I ever learned at a paying job!

Sarah-Grace started swim team yesterday and I think we are really going to like it. It fits us well, it's practice every weekday from now until the middle of July plus swim meets once a week and then it's over. If you know me at all you know this is right up my alley - intense, hard work for a short period of time!! Charlotte wants to join the team as well but considering I have taken her to the pool 4 times in the past few weeks and all she does is look at the water I see swim lessons in her future rather than swim team. I told her the other day I don't know why I go to the trouble of putting her in a swim suit, lathering sun screen on her, packing the towel, the toys, the swim cover up and more just so she can run around on the cement and scream at Grace!

Tori graduated last weekend. I just still can't believe she is moving away in 7 weeks!! She is such an amazing girl and Kevin is such a lucky guy!! I just hope he brings her home someday - to live here!! I would be a total mess if I were David and Jeannie and they have been really wonderful and holding up (I think) incredibly well. Charlotte is convinced she is moving with Tori. She told me the other day that she was going to miss me but that she needed to sleep at Tori & Kevin's house since it was so far away from here. I explained that she would be visiting Tori & Kevin but that she was going to continue to live here with us. I still don't think she quite understands!! Mother's Day was nice, hectic but nice. We went to church, then home to change, then Old Town Tavern for lunch with 1,000 other people, then to Jeannie's, then home, then out to BiBa's for dinner and then home at last! Below is one of the 8 slide shows we made for all the women in our family from the girls. I thought they were precious!!

Overwhelmed

The past 2 1/2 weeks have been overwhelming. Prior to spring break I had the auction (which met it's goal this year - yeah), then we went to Disney (apparently we didn't get the memo it was monsoon season)!! Two weeks ago our school had a mother of 2 little girls (ages 2 and 6) pass away from breast cancer. Our school community was really affected - especially all the moms. But I am so proud at how we came together as a school community to help this father and children! We are fixing school lunches, helping with summer care, collecting money and organizing a fundraiser to make a (hopefully large) donation to Susan G Kommen in the mother's name. Tad's grandfather has had (what we think) are a few minor strokes, the school is as hectic as ever with the end of the year fundraisers, parties and then elections (YEAH!), I had my March of Dimes walk this past Saturday which was incredible and then oh yeah among all that my mother filed for divorce!

I thought we had out run the FLU this season, but unfortunately I was wrong. Both girls were sick starting Saturday night and Charlotte is still at home today. I slept the ENTIRE day yesterday. I'm really not kidding. I've been running on little or no sleep and food the past 2 weeks and I think it all hit me yesterday. I feel much better today. I have a huge schedule the next 3 weeks. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I am sick at my stomach when I think of all that needs to be accomplished over the next 3 days and I am at home with a sick child unable to get anything done. I must say that I have loved serving on the board of the school, running the lunch program and heading up the room mom committee - I just haven't loved doing it all at once. I literally work I would say 20-30 hours a week (Tad would say more like 40) for FREE. It's very rewarding, but at times overwhelming. I really don't know what I'm going to do with myself in 4 weeks when all of that is over, but I'm sure I will volunteer for something (the addict that I am). I have a shower I am throwing this Saturday for the sweetest most deserving couple ever and then next weekend is graduation, Laura Kate's 1st birthday (can you believe that) and Mother's Day!

I haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks but I am starting back next week (hopefully with a trainer - more on my 1st visit in another post)! I have lost almost 6% of my body weight and I am hoping to kick it into high gear in May. (OK I know I said that about April but I'm serious this time.)

Biggest Loser

SO I've been participating in the Biggest Loser at the school. The pot is up to $1300 (I think that was the new total) and it will go to whoever loses the biggest percentage when we weigh in on the final day of competition in May. My goal is to get down to my fighting weight in college (OK, so that might be a little ambitious), I would be happy with my weight before I had Sarah-Grace - or even my weight 3 months into my pregnancy with Sarah-Grace!! Time will tell, in any case I am going to start blogging about this since I think will help keep me accountable. SO far I've lost 4.91% (and yes it was neccesaary for me to add the 1 at the end because I earned it)!

This week was the first week I started going to the gym. I actually "ran" a mile on the elliptical in 8 minutes yesterday. I know for many of you veterans this does count - but hey, this is the only time I've ever even RAN a mile - let alone in 8 minutes. I think this was the only time I ever ran for more than 2 minutes when I wasn't working and in a mad frenzy to get some where. Granted I thought I was going to throw up and pass out when I was done. In total I ran 4.25 miles in 38.33 minutes yesterday. I couldn't move last night. Literally my "back fat" as I like to call it (some people call them rear love handles) is still aching today. I don't exactly know how when I run I worked out the fat in my back (I say fat because I don't believe there are muscles back there) so either I'm doing something wrong and running like Napoleon Dynamite on the elliptical or this is normal when running. Either way I'm not too fond of my back fat and I think pain means it might being getting whipped into shape!! Walking was extremely painful - especially after I had been sitting for a while last night. Watching me walk must be a sight and Tad was generous enough not to comment on it!

Fierce

It's 12:30 on Thursday and I am very happy to report that myself and the girls are STILL in our PJ's. The girl's have a winter break at school (did I mention I LOVE their school) until Tuesday and today's agenda was to do NOTHING!! We may go to the mall later, but they have so enjoyed staying in their PJ's and playing in Sarah-Grace's room for the past 4 hours!! The past week has been great!

Last Thursday we went to Savannah to visit Tad's great Aunt Marceline (and Harriet and Joe). We stayed at the Westin on Hutchinson Island and our room overlooked the river and River Street. The girl's had so much fun staying in a hotel. Charlotte is extremely frightened of heights and when we first took her out on the balcony to watch the ships she latched on for dear life to me and demanded to be brought back in. It took her a few hours, first she would only go out if we held her and stood in the doorway, then she would let us step out onto the balcony but only if we squatted below the rail holding her, then she would stand in the doorway by herself (but she had to be touching the glass or door frame) and then she finally would sit on the balcony with Sarah-Grace. They got to have room service for the first time, ride a ferry back and forth from the hotel and River Street and we ate breakfast at Huey's and ate beignets! It was really nice and the girls got to spend time with Tad before he started his new job.

Tad stated his new job yesterday and he's very happy - soon the dream team from Melita will FINALLY be back together. They are so excited (seriously they are like school kids), they have been trying to work together again since they split. I hope Kennesaw is worth it! His new company was rated by the NY Times as one of the best small business places to work and it already shows. He's pretty much addicted to his iphone (like I didn't expect him to be). I think they put crack in those things.

Tori's wedding is coming along well. I think she's decided on a dress and possibly the bride's maids dresses and possibly a color. Her engagement pictures were incredible, one because Tori (like her sister) is the most amazingly photogenic person EVER and two because Anna took them!!

The Project Runway Finale was last night and I was SO excited when I saw Christian WIN!! I am seriously addicted to this show. I loved the finale but hate that it's over and I have to wait another year or so before it's back. But, Christian winning did ease the blow! I don't know what I love more, his clothes or his personality!

Well, I think that is all for now. I might actually have some time to blog over the next few days. Possibly even upload some photos!

Wedding Whirlwind

Well, I finished one wedding - took a week off and then whamo - my sister-in-law gets engaged!! Tori is engaged to Kevin and so far in one week we have set a date, booked a location for the ceremony AND reception, bought dresses for Sarah-Grace & Charlotte and have Tori narrowed down to 3 dresses so far (although yesterday we were down to 2 dresses so techincally today we are going in the wrong direction). We spent the whole weekend in a wedding whirlwind, which is hectic but I'm in heaven. I love weddings, I love planning, I love details and I love Tori so this has been wonderful. It's also time we all get to spend with her because once she is married in July she will be moving to Oklahoma to live with her husband and so whatever precious time we can spend with her - we will take!!

I'm off to start planning the details of the engagement party we are hosting this weekend, so there's not much time to blog but here are a few items to note:

The girl's now know the entire chorus to the "apple bottom jeans song". They picked it up off the preview commercial for a new movie out and one of the kids at school. Very cute and very not appropriate.

Charlotte was asking Tori who her parents were the other day and when Tori said JeJe and Grampa (the same as Tad's) she responded "Why can't you get your own parents?".

Sarah-Grace just realized she has a webkinz and spent the entire day on the computer with Tad in webkinz world (lucky him).

While blog stalking a few weeks ago I have found the funniest blog ever. It is http://www.tobaccobrunette.blogspot.com/ and I think this chick is hysterical. Her post this week titled "Who's Afraid of Fertlity Support Groups?" and past posts like "Practicing Aloof" and "Reigning It In" had me laughing so hard I was crying. I only wish I was a good a writer as she is!

Shin Splints for Infants 2008

Hi everyone! I am participating in a March for Babies event on April 26th that raises funds for March of Dimes. If you aren't familiar with March of Dimes it is an organization that funds research and development to understand and prevent prematurity, birth defects and infant mortality. This event and organization is very near and dear to my heart because of our experience with Charlotte and also because of the experiences my friends and family members have had with complications and prematurity.

I am hoping you will help support me in whatever way you feel moved, either through a donation, by joining our team (Shin Splints for Infants) and walking with us or through your thoughts & prayers. If you would like to donate please know donations don't have to be large to make a difference. Tad and I have started a "Dime Bank" where we are emptying any change (especially dimes) we have at the end of each day into the bank. Sarah-Grace and Charlotte are collecting their dimes as well.

I have a personal web page that you can visit to read more about the event, why I am participating and where you can choose to make a donation if you feel moved to do so. You can visit this web page by clicking on the following link: http://www.marchforbabies.org/kgraces
I know so many of you have been affected by prematurity. If you would like to join our team please visit the following website and click on the 'Join this team' link at the top:
http://www.marchforbabies.org/498855

I appreciate each and every one of you, your thoughts and prayers for us and for Charlotte where overwhelming and that experience was life changing for us. Thank you for your love, your support, your friendships and God bless you all!

Kimberly

The Weekend-O-Frenzy is a Success!

Hi everyone! Not a lot of time or energy, but I survived the weekend-o-frenzy!! Kristina and Joe are happily married and in Hawaii!! Their wedding was beautiful and wonderful and all things lovely. BeBe & Papa had their surprise 60th wedding anniversary brunch that I heard was wonderful. Charlotte had a great birthday party yesterday. And today Charlotte's much anticpated doctor's appointment went well. Her AFP levels have actually come down a little which is good and most importantly normal!! We aren't sure why the nurse wanted us to speak with a doctor about the results - but we would much rather everyone be a little on the cautious side when it comes to her scans! The doctor was also very pleased with Charlotte's progress over the past year. She said she has come very far and surpassed where she wanted and needed Charlotte to be so we were very pleased to hear this. I am now sick and don't have much of a voice, so if I promised to call and update you I apologize!!

On another note... my term "blog stalking" has officially reached the blogging world (outside of my blog). I was reading a friend of a friend's blog the other day (actually "blog stalking" myself) when I saw that this person used my term on her blog!! http://www.shawnaherring.blogspot.com/ Notice the January 20th entry AND the list on the top right titled "Blogs I Stalk"!!

On and even other note.... During my "blog stalking" I found out about this amazing non profit organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. It's an organization that helps bereaved families of stillborns and early infant deaths for FREE. I encourage everyone to check out their site and tell people about it. It's something that I hope never happens to anyone I know ever again, but if it does I would like to know this organization exists to possibly help them. http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

Working on a Heart of Gratefulness

My life is CRAZY right now. Can I say I wouldn't recommend serving on the board of the school's PTA, chairing the room mom committee, being a liaison for 4 other committees AND running a lunch program? I am insane. I did it to myself and right now the only valuable lesson I've learned is that at least I am making these mistakes early in the girls' lives so hopefully they won't remember too much of this. I hope, I pray. I keep telling myself (and Tad) that even though I'm technically working 40 hours a week for free, I at least have current work experience just in case I choose to go back to work anytime soon. I do think the girls, especially Sarah-Grace, find comfort in the fact that I'm pretty much at the school or involved in almost every aspect of the school everyday. At church on Sunday we were asked to try and pursue a heart of gratefulness each day by writing down 10 things (small or big) that we are thankful for that day. So even though I cringe every morning when my alarm goes off and my stomach aches when I look at my calendar I choose to have a heart of gratefulness today. Today I am thankful for…
1. A husband and 2 precious little girls.
2. A calendar that is full of activities.
3. The opportunity to serve at my children’s school, to be involved and have a voice for my children’s needs.
4. Being able to stop by and watch my girls in class. Sarah-Grace usually invested in some detailed math problem and Charlotte eating snack for the 3rd time that day!!
5. The benefit of forgetting snack the second week in a row and no one really saying anything to me because they are too worried I might snap.
6. A mother-in-law who calls out of the blue because she misses seeing her grandchildren since last week and wants to know if she can pick them up any day or if I need to drop them off to run some errands. A mom who is willing to drive Sarah-Grace home everyday so Charlotte can get a good long nap (even though today she was at JeJe’s house).
7. Cousins who call or write an e-mail out of the blue with encouraging words for no reason – just because.
8. The fact that as of this very moment I only have 3 loads of laundry to get “caught up”.
9. Friends to pray for over days, and months and years.
10. Answered prayers, especially for those expecting little miracles of their own!

Grace-r-osity

Well, it was that time again on Saturday. I measured Sarah-Grace's hair last week and she was begging me to take her to get it cut. So on Saturday, after she convinced her daddy to get online and donate $10 from her piggy bank to the 'Nothing but Nets' program for Africa she insisted we get her hair cut and donated. I took her to a children's hair salon I heard about and below are the pictures from our trip. I must say that Sarah-Grace is such a generous, thoughtful, sensitive and compassionate little girl. Everyday she just amazes me with the things she says and does. I am so blessed to be her mother and I can't wait to see what an amazing woman she grows up to be!! I've listed just some of the little stories about her below. I love her so much!!


- So on Saturday Sarah-Grace had Tad count up all her money (over $100) from her piggy bank. We had NO idea she had that much money. She really doesn't get that the money is for her - she thinks it is all to give away. She really wants to sponsor a child in Africa because she was up late one night and saw a commercial and hasn't stopped talking about it. In the mean time we all agreed she could donate $10 to the Nothing but Nets campaign that sends nets to families in Africa to use when they sleep and protect them from mosquitoes that carry dangerous and fatal diseases. This she also saw on TV. Their logo is "let's cover Africa". Anyway, while Tad and Sarah-Grace were online trying to donate the money Charlotte kept yelling for Sarah-Grace to come play with her. Sarah-Grace finally frustrated with Charlotte screamed back "Charlotte just wait a minute I am trying to cover Africa right now and when I'm done I will come play with you". Priceless.

- We had the Discovery channel on the other day and a special on tornadoes was on. Sarah-Grace asked me if God created the earth and loves us all then why would he let a horrible storm come destroy things and kill people. I told her that her daddy was the one who turned the Discovery channel on, he's the science guy in our family so go ask him!

- I thought it was genius of me to "pass the buck" to Tad on the whole tornado conversation. However God "one upped" me the very next day! I was reading the new princess Bible that Sarah-Grace received for Christmas. We were reading the story of Adam and Eve's fall. I finished reading the story and was ready to put her to bed when she asked, "Mommy, I don't understand. If God wanted to be with Adam & Eve in the garden then why did he put the tree there in the first place, why did they have to have rules?". Are you kidding me? What child gets done with the creation story and asks this question? Maybe lots, but no one ever asked this question in my Sunday school class. We asked questions like, can snakes really talk, why didn't Adam stop Eve or not listen to her. It ended up being one of the most amazing conversations she and I have had. We talked about free will and how the only way that God could show Adam & Eve that their obedience to Him was their choice and Him not forcing it upon them was to have a rule, this tree. I was so amazed she actually understood what I was trying to say. She has been so excited about our conversation she begs to read her Bible with me every night. I was so amazed that when she asked such a deep question at her age God gave me the words to explain an answer to her.

- Last story, this one I'm sure everyone but Tad & me will think is funny. So, Sunday we went to church. We are in the drive through (at Starbucks of course) afterwards and Tad and I are having a discussion in the front seat. Tad decided to reprogram all of his seat settings and radio stations on my keyring and I was simply pointing out that he was wrong in doing so. He begged to differ. Sarah-Grace was sitting in the back seat and said "Um, Mommy & Daddy you know what we studied in church today?" To which we responded "No, What?" And she said, "Peace". Tad and I busted out laughing. She then went on to say that we needed to decide if we wanted to be "peace makers" or "peace breakers". Nice, real nice.

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Christmas Morning

We have a million pictures, but I think this video sums it up. The girls had a great morning - we still don't know what Sarah-Grace told Charlotte.

International Night 2007

International Night is an event the girl's school hosts each year. Each child dresses in a costume (preferably a from a specific culture), each class stands and sings a few songs and the parents bring food from the region/country of their heritage. The girl's class studied Africa and the songs they sang were I'm Proud to be an American, Put a Little Love in Your Heart and Lean on Me. What these have to do with Africa I have no idea - but it was adorable. That is until Charlotte decided her belly was more interesting than paying attention and singing like she was suppose to. Nope, instead she thought pulling a string from her skirt and then insisting someone come take it from her was far more pressing to accomplish. Tad didn't happen to video the part where Sarah-Grace finally tired off Charlotte's antics grabbing the string from Charlotte - which ensued a small tug of war until the teacher came to get it. Sarah-Grace never stopped singing or looking forward like she was suppose to when she grabbed the string or when Charlotte went looking for it once Sarah-Grace grabbed it. Mind you my 2 children were at the CENTER of the line of children on stage. It was hysterical.


This video was when they were singing sweetly...




OK, and here is the beginning of the debacle...

Merry Christmas 2007!

Christmas is over!!! Woo Hoo!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas, but it was really stressful this year with the week or so we lost due to Tad's surgery. Tad is doing very well, he can actually breath through his nose now!! The girls had so much fun the past week! We had a Christmas dinner with Josh & Anna, then with Judge & Kathy, they a Christmas brunch with my mom and sister and the spent the rest of Christmas with all of Tad's family!

Charlotte received 4 gift cards and $10 cash from her aunts and from BeBe. My sister took her to the mall to spend her $10 and she of course chose drum sticks (wondeful)! Thankfully Sarah-Grace chose a quiet webkinz, however on Christmas Eve she received a keyboard AND guitar from her grandparents, so we now have a little band going! The girls got so much stuff. I still don't know where we are going to put it all. Tad's decided to give up his office in the basement to make way for the girl's "new" playroom! I'm not sure if the amount of stuff or their new instruments helped make this decision!! They each got a bike from santa as well as a new power wheels Escalade that they can "share" and ride in together. The battery has been charging since yesterday morning, so they didn't even realized it actually moves until tonight when Tad explained it to them. Charlotte loves it because it has a real radio in it. For the record she loves the latino station. She keeps turning it on and blaring it around the house. The girls also got a new cleaning set that has a squeegee. I think they've played with that the most! They keep cleaning all thier new toys, especially the car. Tad says they are detailing it!

I'll have more pictures to post soon from Christmas and Christmas Eve, but until then I am posting my Christmas card. Anna came to our house, took all the pictures and then made the card!! She is so wonderful. I highly recommend her. I have had so many people ask for her website after they received our Christmas card that I decided to post it here - http://annacookbrown.com/. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Holiday Stressmas Season 2007

Well, November came and went and now December is flying by as well!! November was just NUTS - I had my annual Oprah's Favorite Things party (which I think went well this year - dish gloves, lip gloss, room spray, custom koozies and a Williams & Sonoma cookbook made my list), Thanksgiving with 28 people at our house and then another party with Anna the last week of November!

Last week I got to see my friend Jenny at her Junior League event!! I miss Jenny, she is so much fun - I would have never lasted at Federated without her. I can't say I miss Federated but I do miss working with her. Even better she got to meet Anna and just loved her (let's face it who doesn't she is pretty incredible). Tad had sinus surgery on Thursday. Thursday was insane - I had a small meltdown at the pharmacy and poor Anna bore the worst of it. Think Shirley McClain in Terms of Endearment - Tad was overdue for a pain pill and the pharmacist went to lunch and wouldn't give me the prescription for someone else to fill it. Needless to say, several phone calls later once I calmed down and swore off Rite Aid I got home and settled in. That night Tad had to have pain medicine every 4 hours, his dressing changed often and Charlotte got up twice in the night. His grandparents and aunt came into town Friday, thank the sweet Lord, Tad's parents and family took the girls for the entire weekend (I don't think I would have made it otherwise)!! Ian was dedicated on Sunday morning and he did wonderful!! He was so precious and we are so happy that Julie & Elliott have a church home that they love and have as a place for Ian to grow up in. Tad rested all weekend and he willed himself to be there. We were only able to stay for the dedication and most of the music before he got really dizzy and we had to leave, but we were glad we got to be there at all.

Today we had to go and have all the packing and straws removed from Tad's nose and head. He had 5 sinuses operated on and all 5 had their own packing that had to be "unpacked". He felt much better after getting all that stuff out (the pressure of it all in there was driving him crazy), but he is still pretty beat today and has a killer headache (no wonder)! I'm just on hold this week waiting for him to get back on his feet and trying to get ready for Christmas?!! Anyway I wrote most of this so years from now I will have something to explain (to myself) why I was such an absent blogger for the past 2 months!! Below are some things about the girls I didn't want to forget...

Two weeks ago Sarah-Grace had a memory verse from church, John 3:16. It took she and Charlotte all of 15 minutes to memorize it!! I was so proud. That makes 7 scriptures that they know, John 3:16, Deuteronomy 6:5, 1 Kings 3:9, Psalm 139:14, Psalm 47:1, Jeremiah 29:11, James 1:17. I hope that they keep going!!

The girls have International night next Thursday. I will definitely be taking pictures. Tad doesn't really know his heritage, of what I do know of mine it is German, Austrian, Scottish and Dutch. Normally I would have taken time to hunt down the perfect costumes that matched one of the countries I have to choose from my lineage. However due to the insanity of our life right now I opted to choose from the assortment of costumes the school has for us to borrow for free (just the dry cleaning bill once they wear them). In that spirit Charlotte will be wearing a red and gold outfit from India and Sarah-Grace will be wearing a fuchsia outfit from Asia!! It's going to be hilarious!! And, just another reason why I love their teachers, Katy & Courtney, the children will be singing "I'm Proud to be an American" at International Night.

Sarah-Grace is working diligently on a latch hook rug - I think it's so funny that she loves to do that.

Peanut, our Elf on the Shelf, is back and I swear Charlotte has an "elf lo-jack" tracker because the child can locate the elf in a matter of seconds no matter where he has "flown" to.

Tonight I asked Charlotte what she wanted for Christmas, she said "a ring, a bell and a gift card"?! The child is 2 and hysterical.

Everyone keeps asking so I thought I would give an update that Charlotte's next scan is scheduled for December 27th, it's just her regular abdominal ultrasound and AFP blood work. Her nurse from Scottish Rite called last week and stared the process to set up her appointments for the Pediatric Plastics & Pediatric Orthopedic doctors. Things are going well and we appreciate everyone's prayers.