Saturday Night Southland

For the past few weeks we have been going to Southland for evening service. We have wanted to permanently switch to going on Saturday evenings so that we could spend Sunday doing things together as a family. Over the past year we have grown disconnected with Sunday School and truly enjoy being able to go to church with Adam and Rebecca. We have grown to love the people in our Happily Hitched class and know we will have to make an extra effort to get together with friends. But after much thought and prayer I really feel this is the best decision for us. So many of our Saturdays are spent doing things around the house, running errands, cleaning, and spending time with grandparents that we rarely have a full day to just be together. So, Danny and I decided that when school started back, we were going to make a real effort to get to church on Saturday nights. We absolutely love it. I feel so at peace with our decision. I am so much more relaxed and focused during service because my mind isn't wandering to all the things I have to get done before the day is over. Ellie loved being there tonight and I think a few of her friends from Tots were in her class. We will see how it goes...

Back to School - Highlights & Lowlights :)

*Well, school is definitely in full swing. I feel so blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people and such precious children. I absolutely love my school. Special students remind me each and every day how much they need me. How could I ask for a better job? My wonderful husband sent me the most beautiful boquet of flowers yesterday. I don't think I have had a "first day of school" in my teaching career that hasn't included beautiful flowers. Thank you Danny for loving me!

*We have a brand new front office at NES which has been super fun! We have windows (no windows in the old office), new mailboxes, and all kinds of other cool new stuff. Being in a VERY old building makes the little things seem huge when they are NEW!

*I have started a new mentoring program this year at school. I have worked hard to get this "up and running" and I just know God will work in the lives of students through the work their mentors will do with them.

*Ellie and Olivia are adjusting. The transition back into long work days - 5 days a week - for mommy has led to some tears. We are trying to spend quality time together every night and make the weekends extra special. I expected this from Ellie. She always has a rough time with change. She has been sad about Zoe and many of her other classmates leaving for kindergarten. I am so thankful that Austin, Matthew, and Alex have moved into her class.... just in time! For some reason I wasn't prepared for Olivia to have trouble.... she is doing better each day!

*Tonight we got McDonalds and took a blanket to the park. The weather was beautiful! We enjoyed a picnic and play time with the girls. It was much needed as is this WEEKEND!!!

Tot Shots

I am trying to get caught up all that happened this summer one post at a time. For some reason the summer and working less days caused me to be LESS organized. Go figure...
Anyway, next week Ellie will start in a new gymnastics class called "Tot Shots". It is an invitation class that meets twice a week and it is supposed to prepare the little ones for pre-team classes which are the next step. Ellie amazes us with the things she is able to do on the bars. However, the floor exercises are not really her strength at this point. It is so hard for me to watch her pull herself right up on the bar and have so much strength in her moves and yet I CAN NOT get the child to do a cartwheel. So, we will see how it goes. The coach assurred me it was the class she needed to be in. I would just feel so much better if we could go into it doing a cartwheel! :)

Marly and Me

Last night I decided we needed to spend a little quality time with Ellie. We decided to rent a movie, pop some popcorn, bring the pillows downstairs and have a movie night! We rented Marly and Me. It was the sweetest movie and Ellie actually sat and watched the entire thing. She asked LOTS of questions throughout the movie. Her little mind just goes and goes.

Toward the end of the movie I could tell we were going to have some problems. I have not written much about Ellie's constant questions about God and heaven... but they are frequent. Well, when Marly passed away at the end of the movie the tears came by the ton! She was a total wreck! Mommy should have read reviews about the movie before renting. I thought it was a comedy. For the most part it was... until the end.

Our precious Ellie is just a little too wise for her own good at times. Her deep thoughts never ceases to amaze me. Simple answers that you would typically give a four year old child do not satisfy her in the slightest. Last night was no exception. We finally managed to get things calmed down and her to bed. Lesson learned... no more sad movies for a WHILE!

Hilton Head Pictures

While at the beach with our family this summer we took the opportunity to have pictures made. Here are a few.... we had so much fun. About 10 minutes into the photo session Olivia ran into the ocean in her dress. Eventually she was soaking wet and we had to take her dress off!!!