Weekend visitor

(by the way this picture was taken at 6:00 am before she left for school with Rob, hence the squinty eyes!)

Lane was chosen (drawn out of a hat!) to be star of the week in Ms. Lesile's class this week. You know she can be pretty shy at times, so I think it was a great experience for her get to be the first one and share something with the class each day. The week actually started this weekend, when "Lizzy the Lizard" came home to spend the weekend with us. She came in a bag with her sleeping bag, journal, book, and toothbrush. Lane brushed her teeth, read her the book, and put her to sleep each night. This is soooooo Lane; she loves to take care of anything....animals, babies, plants, bugs! She wrote in her journal about Lizzy going to a football game with us and playing doctor with Lizzy. I also got to eat lunch with the star of the week on Wednesday. It was so strange (but good!) to be eating lunch with my child at school! Her daddy even got to sit down with us for a minute, which was a nice treat. I hope the rest of the class takes good care of Lizzy like we did!


By the way, here is a funny story on her....a few weeks ago we were driving in the car and Lane said to Bo, (don't know how the conversation started) "you know Bo, he is special like the typicals." Bo said, "what's a typical Lane?" She said, "Well, at school, some kids are special and need us to help them a little more, you know, "typicals...." (at her special needs preschooI, there are kids with disabilities and "typical kids" ; I thought this was so sweet, that she has the two mixed up! I love the heart that she has for kids with special needs, it seems so natural for her to love them. One of the related arts teachers at her school told me a story about her taking extra time and attention with a student in her class that needs some extra help. I remember in her 3 year old preschool class, there was a litte boy, that really loved Lane and always wanted to hug her, but he was a little rough. One day she had a scratch on her face where he had scratched her when he was trying to hug her and when I asked her about it, she didn't want to talk about it because she didn't want him to get in trouble. I think God has blessed her with that gift!

I need to remember her sweetness when I want to pull my hair out for her stubborness!!

30...so is it uphill or downhilll from here????

So, on the 30th of this month (yesterday), I turned 30 years old....didn't think about the whole 30/30 thing until I started chatting with this random stranger at Spindini (where Rob and I went for birthday dinner)...and she also was there with her husband celebrating her birthday, which was also 08/30....and she reminded me that is was cool to turn 30 on the 30th.......cool? I'm not so sure! I have had mixed emotions about the whole 30 thing....somethings in life are easier and better than when I was, say, 18 or so......but somethings are harder! For example, I don't have to do school work anymore...i rememeber people saying, "oh, when you finish college then you get a job and real responsibility"....well, I don't know whether it is because I love my job or what, but I would much rather work than go to school! Then there comes the kid thing, clearly I didn't have Lane and Bo at 18, so that is definitely something that is harder now! At first thought about turning 30, I was pretty bummed, but I think my girls night out in July with my friends kind of got me over that....I have figures out that there are man things that you are never to old to do.....enjoy the company of friends or have girl talk, go to dinner with your husband, kiss your babies, go to family dinners, sit in the presence of God or sing your favorite hmyns, read your favorite book or watch your favorite tv show, enjoy a good meal......but I am also learning there are some things I may never be able to do again......the splits, enjoy a typical college weekend free of responsibility, go shopping alone, have 20 year old skin, sleep past 8:00.....so, you get my point....so, 30 is here, but I am going chose to focus on the good and just take those other things as memories of the past! Here are some pictures from my birthday...Rob's sweet brother, David, gave us a night at the Westin Hotel in Memphis and came out and spent the night with the kids...he is one awesome brother-in-law, in case there are any of my friends out there with a 25-30 year old single gal you'd like to match make with him!! So, we went to dinner, used their work out room, and slept late (7:30!), then drove to Little Rock to get my new(used) van! The bottom pictures is the "party" at my parents....Lane was so sweet, she decorated Ellie's house in lots of pink hearts for my "I love you" party; she and Ellie (and Bo) made a homemade bananna cake that was incredible. And daddy cooked (per my request) steak and crab legs!
A self taken shot in our hotel room...forgot to mention that Rob got me a North Face jacket...I don't think I have ever owned an article of clothing that expensive...but he said I was worth it!! The best part was he got it 40% off, he knows I don't like gift that cost full price, I am strange like that!!

30 candles!

Notice the decor hanging from the chandelier!

Goin to the 4 year old class!

Bo was so proud to finally start back to school this week! First of all he is in a "new school" (new to him anyway, since the Tipton County Preschool has transitioned to Austin Peay) and also he is in the "4 year old class." Lane's move to kindergarten was a little hard on him, since she is at daddy's school and is going all day, so we had to build up the fact that he is going to a new school too! He was so proud of his new preschool shirt, he wanted to wear it the first day (it has their little logo on it)......

Clearly, I took this one myself, (no one else was home)!

I didn't get a picture of his teacher Miss Shawn, but here is one of the other teachers walking him in....what a sweet little wave!

BTW...I didn't get a chance to post, but baby Jackson arrived on 08/20/09 and was a health 8lb 7 oz...doing well!

Coming soon...baby cousin!

Our new baby cousin, Jackson, is planning to arrive on Thursday (my sister-in-law was due yesterday, bless her heart!) Momma is leaving in the morning headed to Chicago. Bo and Lane have talked about it all night.....Here are some funny Bo stories from the night.

Bo: "Dear God, I love Jesus. Baby Jackson is going to come out of Chele's tummy and I can't wait to see him. Amen"
Me: "Amen, Good night, Bo" then I turned to walk out of his room, and he said,
Bo: "Momma, do you think Jesus is proud of me cause he could hear me praying and I told him I love him."
Me: "Yes, baby, I know he heard you and he is proud of you."
Bo: "Cause you know Jesus is in our house"
Me: "Well, not exactly..."
Bo: "Yes, he is, Miss Sara said that he is in the house too"
Me: "Oh, well, yes, I guess he is..."
Bo:" And I think he is in the sky and in the middle of the road too"
Me : " I guess he really is all around us, isn't he"

He hit me like a ton of bricks with this conversation...I never think of it like Jesus is sitting in my house with me....but I guess he really is!

Rob then went upstairs to tell him good night (he got home late from a meeting) and Bo said, "Daddy, after 2 more naps (that is how he measiures time), baby Jackson will be coming out of Chele's tummy" Rob said, "I know, but you know Bo, you wont' be able to play with him for a while, he will be so little." Bo said ,"I know Daddy, you can't fight babies." (that is what he and Rob play a lot "fighting like ninja turtles or Ben 10"

He also made a picture for Jackson tonight (Lane made one for Reagan) and he is working on copying letters, so I wrote "JACKSON" for him to copy and then he said, "mamma, how can I write, 'I wish I could see you really really soon baby Jackson'....i got really sad, because I wish we could be there when he is born and that Lane and Bo could see them more often!

Meet my kindergarten girl!

Well, the first day of Kindergarten is over and all was great! She was grinning from ear to ear when I took her in and still grinning when I got home from work yesterday. She told me about art, lunch, going on a bear hunt, naptime...now she couldn't remember any of the kids in her class's names (there were only 6 yesterday), but she does know her teacher's name now! She told me she "saw daddy peeking in the window of my room"(as she snickered!) She was not even sleepy last night, it is like she is walking on a could right now....we will see how long it lasts! Also, she and Bo were like best friends last night after being away from each other all day...I have worried a bit about how they would do being separated this year, but maybe it will be good for them!

Time flies...

We just put Lane to bed on the night before her first day of kindergarten. She is so excited that she will probably not go to sleep for another hour or so! You would think she was going to meet Hannah Montana there or something! She hasn't met her teacher yet, so I guess it's just as good that she will meet her teacher, Miss Lesile. She chose her outfit, chose her snack, decided she would take money to buy her lunch, and we packed her backpack up. As we said her prayers with her, Rob and I looked at each other and got teary eyed....he said that it seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. I remember that little white and pink polo outfit, she was 6 pounds bundled up in that infant seat. I can remember sitting on the bench waiting on Rob to pull the car up to pick us up, looking at her sweet face. I remember rocking her in her in the middle of the night in her nursery down at our old house on Drummonds Road, thinking please don't get any bigger than you are right now. I know there are a lot of friends of mine out there thinking these same thoughts, so you guys will be in my prayers tomorrow and in the coming days too....'cause seeing them grow up ain't easy! But seeing her so excited about it does help to make it better, I think.... La'La', I love you, have the best first day of kindergarten ever!

Winding down summer fun...

I have taken off some and only worked 2 days a week during July to spend some extra time with the kids before they go back to school, and I have really enjoyed my time with them. Last week we had two fun days, one at the mall (the spider jump pictures) and then at the Ripley waterpark with friends......

What's better than ending a day at the waterpark with sponge bob ice cream...x 4

For some reason, Bo seemed to catch up to Jonah everytime they came down the slide!!